JP7638691B2 - Information processing device, communication system, content playback program, and content playback method - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to an information processing device, a communication system, a content playback program, and a content playback method.

Conventionally, there are distribution services that distribute content to users' terminals. Patent Document 1 discloses a system that specifies a content type and distributes the specified content type.

Patent No. 5857405

A first aspect of the present invention is an information processing device that provides a service for transmitting content to a terminal, comprising a storage unit that stores user identification information, membership type information associated with the user identification information, and a usage history associated with the user identification information, and a content request information including the user identification information and the content identification information.Newsthe content request information based on the membership type information of the user identification information corresponding to the content request information and the usage history; a playback control unit that plays back the content related to the content identification information included in the content request information on the terminal in a first mode or a second mode in which some elements are removed from the first mode based on the determination by the determination unit; and a history update unit that updates the usage history based on the fact that the playback control unit has played back the content in the first mode or the second mode.The membership types indicated by the membership type information include a first type membership and a second type membership in which the services that can be received are more limited than those available to the first type membership, and when the determination unit determines that the content can be played back, the playback control unit can cause the second type membership to also play back the content in the first manner.
A second aspect of the present invention is a communication system including a terminal and an information processing device that provides a service of transmitting content to the terminal, the information processing device including a storage unit that stores user identification information, membership type information associated with the user identification information, and a usage history associated with the user identification information, and a content request information including the user identification information and content identification information.Newsa determination unit which determines whether or not content can be played back based on the membership type information of the user identification information corresponding to the content request information and the usage history; a playback control unit which causes the terminal to play back the content related to the content identification information included in the content request information in a first mode or a second mode in which some elements are removed from the first mode based on the determination by the determination unit; and a history update unit which updates the usage history based on the playback control unit having played back the content in the first mode or the second mode,Is,a transmitting unit that transmits content request information and user identification information to the information processing device, a second receiving unit that receives content based on the content request information from the information processing device, and an output unit that outputs the content received by the second receiving unit.The membership types indicated by the membership type information include a first type membership and a second type membership in which the services available to the first type membership are more limited than those available to the first type membership, and the playback control unit allows the second type membership to play back the content in the first mode when the determination unit determines that the content can be played back..
A third aspect of the present invention is a computer of an information processing device that provides a service of transmitting content to a terminal, the computer having access to a storage unit that stores user identification information, membership type information associated with the user identification information, and a usage history associated with the user identification information, and a content request information including the user identification information and the content identification information.Newsa reception function for receiving the content request information, a determination function for determining whether or not content can be played back based on the membership type information of the user identification information corresponding to the content request information and the usage history, a playback control function for playing back the content related to the content identification information included in the content request information on the terminal in a first mode or a second mode in which some elements are removed from the first mode based on the determination by the determination function, and a history update function for updating the usage history based on the fact that the playback control function has played back the content in the first mode or the second mode.The membership types indicated by the membership type information include a first type of membership and a second type of membership in which services that can be received are more limited than those of the first type of membership, and the playback control function allows the second type of membership to play back the content in the first mode when the determination function determines that the content can be played back..
A fourth aspect of the present invention is an information processing device that provides a service of transmitting content to a terminal, the information processing device being capable of accessing a storage unit that stores user identification information, membership type information associated with the user identification information, and a usage history associated with the user identification information, and transmits content request information including the user identification information and content identification information.Newsa receiving step of receiving the content request information; a judging step of judging whether or not the content can be played back based on the membership type information of the user identification information corresponding to the content request information and the usage history; a playback control step of playing back the content related to the content identification information included in the content request information at the terminal in a first mode or a second mode in which some elements are removed from the first mode based on the judgment in the judging step; and a history updating step of updating the usage history based on the fact that the content has been played back in the first mode or the second mode in the playback control step.The membership types indicated by the membership type information include a first type member and a second type member who is provided with more limited services than the first type member, and the playback control step allows the second type member to play back the content in the first mode when the determination step determines that the content can be played back..

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a communication system, and is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a terminal and a server. FIG. 4 is a conceptual data diagram showing an example of a data structure of user information. FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing an example of an exchange between devices in a communication system. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the terminal related to FIG. 3; 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the server related to FIG. 3; 11A to 11D are diagrams showing example screens displayed on a terminal. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the terminal.

<Compliance with legal matters>
It should be noted that the disclosures described herein are subject to compliance with the laws of the country of implementation, such as communications secrecy, as necessary for the implementation of the disclosure.

An embodiment for implementing a display method etc. that allows confirmation of the status of transmission or reception by a terminal according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

<System configuration>

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a communication system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As disclosed in FIG. 1, in the communication system 1, a server 10 and terminals 20 (terminal 20A, terminal 20B, terminal 20C) are connected via a network 30. The server 10 provides a service that enables sending and receiving messages between terminals 20 to terminals 20 owned by users via the network 30. Note that the number of terminals 20 connected to the network 30 is not limited.

The network 30 serves to connect one or more terminals 20 to one or more servers 10. In other words, the network 30 refers to a communication network that provides a connection path so that the terminals 20 can transmit and receive data after connecting to the server 10.

One or more portions of network 30 may or may not be wired or wireless. Network 30 may include, by way of example and without limitation, an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, a virtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wireless LAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), a metropolitan area network (MAN), a portion of the Internet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), a cellular network, integrated service digital networks (ISDN), wireless LAN, long term evolution (LTE), code division multiple access (CDMA), Bluetooth, satellite communications, or the like, or a combination of two or more thereof. Network 30 may include one or more networks 30.

The terminal 20 (terminal 20A, terminal 20B, terminal 20C) may be any information processing terminal capable of implementing the functions described in each embodiment. Examples of the terminal 20 include, but are not limited to, a smartphone, a mobile phone (feature phone), a computer (such as, but not limited to, a desktop, laptop, tablet, etc.), a media computer platform (such as, but not limited to, a cable or satellite set-top box, digital video recorder, etc.), a handheld computer device (such as, but not limited to, a PDA (personal digital assistant), an email client, etc.), a wearable device (such as, but not limited to, a glasses-type device, a watch-type device, etc.), or other types of computers or communication platforms. The terminal 20 may also be expressed as an information processing terminal.

Because the configurations of terminals 20A, 20B, and 20C are basically the same, the following description will focus on terminal 20. In addition, as necessary, the terminal used by user X will be referred to as terminal 20X, and user information in a specified service associated with user X or terminal 20X will be referred to as user information X. Note that user information is information about a user associated with an account used by the user in a specified service. User information includes, by way of example and without limitation, information associated with a user, such as the user's name, user icon image, user age, user gender, user address, user hobbies and interests, and user identifier, which is input by the user or assigned by a specified service, and may be any one or a combination of these, or may not be the same.

The server 10 has a function of providing a predetermined service to the terminal 20. The server 10 may be any device that is an information processing device that can realize the functions described in each embodiment. The server 10 includes, but is not limited to, a server device, a computer (for example, but not limited to, a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, etc.), a media computer platform (for example, but not limited to, a cable or satellite set-top box, a digital video recorder), a handheld computer device (for example, but not limited to, a PDA, an email client, etc.), or other types of computers or communication platforms. The server 10 may also be expressed as an information processing device. When there is no need to distinguish between the server 10 and the terminal 20, the server 10 and the terminal 20 may or may not be expressed as information processing devices.

＜Hardware (HW) configuration＞

The hardware configuration of each device included in communication system 1 will be explained using Figure 1.

(1) Device hardware configuration

The terminal 20 includes a control unit 21 (CPU: central processing unit), a memory unit 28, a communication I/F 22 (interface), an input/output unit 23, a display unit 24, and a location information acquisition unit 25. The HW components of the terminal 20 are connected to each other via a bus B, by way of example and not limitation. It is not essential that the HW configuration of the terminal 20 includes all of the components. By way of example and not limitation, the terminal 20 may or may not be configured such that individual components or multiple components, such as the microphone 232, camera 234, and location information acquisition unit 25, are removable.

The communication I/F 22 transmits and receives various data via the network 30. The communication may be performed either wired or wirelessly, and any communication protocol may be used as long as mutual communication can be performed. The communication I/F 22 has a function of performing communication with the server 10 via the network 30. The communication I/F 22 transmits various data to the server 10 according to instructions from the control unit 21. The communication I/F 22 also receives various data transmitted from the server 10 and transmits it to the control unit 21. The communication I/F 22 may also be simply referred to as a communication unit. Furthermore, when the communication I/F 22 is configured with a physically structured circuit, it may also be referred to as a communication circuit.

The input/output unit 23 includes a device for inputting various operations to the terminal 20, and a device for outputting the results of processing performed by the terminal 20. The input/output unit 23 may be an integrated input unit and an output unit, or may be separate input unit and output unit, or may not be.

The input unit is realized by any one or combination of all types of devices that can receive input from a user and transmit information related to the input to the control unit 21. Examples of the input unit include, but are not limited to, a touch panel 231, a touch display, hardware keys such as a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, a camera 234 (operation input via moving images), and a microphone 232 (operation input by voice).

The output unit is realized by any one or a combination of all types of devices capable of outputting the results of processing by the control unit 21. Examples of the output unit include, but are not limited to, a touch panel, a touch display, a speaker 233 (audio output), a lens (for example, but not limited to, 3D (three dimensions) output and hologram output), a printer, etc.

The display unit 24 is realized by any one of all types of devices or a combination thereof that can display according to the display data written to the frame buffer. Examples of the display unit 24 include, but are not limited to, touch panels, touch displays, monitors (examples, but are not limited to, liquid crystal displays and organic electroluminescence displays (OLEDs)), head mounted displays (HDMs), projection mapping, holograms, devices that can display images, text information, etc. in air (which may or may not be a vacuum). Note that these display units 24 may or may not be capable of displaying display data in 3D.

If the input/output unit 23 is a touch panel, the input/output unit 23 and the display unit 24 may be arranged facing each other and have approximately the same size and shape.

The control unit 21 has circuitry that is physically structured to execute functions realized by the code or instructions contained in the program, and is realized, for example and without limitation, by a data processing device built into hardware. As such, the control unit 21 may or may not be described as a control circuit.

The control unit 21 may include, by way of example and not limitation, a central processing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a processor core, a multiprocessor, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

The storage unit 28 has a function of storing various programs and various data required for the operation of the terminal 20. The storage unit 28 includes, by way of example and not limitation, various storage media such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), a flash memory, a random access memory (RAM), and a read only memory (ROM). In addition, the storage unit 28 may or may not be expressed as a memory.

The terminal 20 stores the program P in the memory unit 28, and by executing this program P, the control unit 21 executes the processing of each unit included in the control unit 21. In other words, the program P stored in the memory unit 28 causes the terminal 20 to realize each function executed by the control unit 21. Furthermore, this program P may or may not be expressed as a program module.

The microphone 232 is used to input audio data. The speaker 233 is used to output audio data. The camera 234 is used to obtain video data.

(2) Server hardware configuration

The server 10 comprises a control unit 11 (CPU), a memory unit 15, a communication I/F 14 (interface), an input/output unit 12, and a display unit 13. The components of the HW of the server 10 are connected to each other via a bus B, by way of example and not by way of limitation. Note that it is not essential that the HW of the server 10 includes all of the components as the configuration of the HW of the server 10. By way of example and not by way of limitation, the HW of the server 10 may or may not be configured such that the display unit 13 is removable.

The control unit 11 has circuitry that is physically structured to execute functions realized by the code or instructions contained in the program, and is realized, for example and without limitation, by a data processing device built into the hardware.

The control unit 11 is typically a central processing unit (CPU), but may also be a microprocessor, a processor core, a multiprocessor, an ASIC, or an FPGA, or may not be such a unit. In this disclosure, the control unit 11 is not limited to these.

The storage unit 15 has a function of storing various programs and various data required for the operation of the server 10. The storage unit 15 is realized by various storage media such as a HDD, SSD, and flash memory. However, in this disclosure, the storage unit 15 is not limited to these. Furthermore, the storage unit 15 may or may not be expressed as a memory.

The communication I/F 14 transmits and receives various data via the network 30. The communication may be performed either wired or wirelessly, and any communication protocol may be used as long as mutual communication can be performed. The communication I/F 14 has a function of performing communication with the terminal 20 via the network 30. The communication I/F 14 transmits various data to the terminal 20 according to instructions from the control unit 11. The communication I/F 14 also receives various data transmitted from the terminal 20 and transmits it to the control unit 11. The communication I/F 14 may also be simply referred to as a communication unit. Furthermore, when the communication I/F 14 is composed of a physically structured circuit, it may also be referred to as a communication circuit.

The input/output unit 12 is realized by a device that inputs various operations to the server 10. The input/output unit 12 is realized by any of all types of devices or a combination thereof that can receive input from a user and transmit information related to the input to the control unit 11. The input/output unit 12 is typically realized by hardware keys such as a keyboard, or a pointing device such as a mouse. Note that the input/output unit 12 may or may not include, but is not limited to, a touch panel, a camera (operation input via video images), or a microphone (operation input by voice). However, in the present disclosure, the input/output unit 12 is not limited to these.

The display unit 13 is typically realized by a monitor (for example, but not limited to, a liquid crystal display or an organic electroluminescence display (OLED)). The display unit 13 may or may not be a head mounted display (HDM) or the like. These display units 13 may or may not be capable of displaying display data in 3D. However, in the present disclosure, the display unit 13 is not limited to these.

The server 10 stores a program P in the memory unit 15, and by executing this program P, the control unit 11 executes the processing of each unit included in the control unit 11. In other words, the program P stored in the memory unit 15 causes the server 10 to realize each function executed by the control unit 11. This program P may or may not be expressed as a program module.

In each embodiment of the present disclosure, the present invention is described as being realized by the CPU of the terminal 20 and/or the server 10 executing the program P.

The control unit 21 of the terminal 20 and/or the control unit 11 of the server 10 may or may not realize each process by a CPU having a control circuit, but may also realize each process by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, LSI (Large Scale Integration)) or a dedicated circuit. These circuits may be realized by one or more integrated circuits, and the multiple processes shown in each embodiment may or may not be realized by a single integrated circuit. Furthermore, LSIs are sometimes called VLSIs, super LSIs, ultra LSIs, etc., depending on the degree of integration. Therefore, the control unit 21 may or may not be expressed as a control circuit.

In addition, the program P (which may be, for example and not by way of limitation, a software program, computer program, or program module) of each embodiment of the present disclosure may or may not be provided in a state stored in a computer-readable storage medium. The storage medium is capable of storing the program P in a "non-transitory tangible medium." In addition, the program P may or may not be for realizing part of the functions of each embodiment of the present disclosure. Furthermore, the program P may or may not be a so-called difference file (difference program) that can realize the functions of each embodiment of the present disclosure in combination with a program P already recorded in a storage medium.

The storage medium may include one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) (such as, by way of example and not limitation, a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific IC (ASIC)), a hard disk drive (HDD), a hybrid hard drive (HHD), an optical disk, an optical disk drive (ODD), a magneto-optical disk, a magneto-optical drive, a floppy diskette, a floppy disk drive (FDD), a magnetic tape, a solid state drive (SSD), a RAM drive, a secure digital card, or a drive, any other suitable storage medium, or a suitable combination of two or more thereof. The storage medium may be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile, as appropriate. It should be noted that the storage medium is not limited to these examples and may be any device or medium capable of storing the program P. Also, the storage medium may or may not be referred to as a memory.

The server 10 and/or the terminal 20 can realize the functions of the multiple functional units shown in each embodiment by reading the program P stored in the storage medium and executing the read program P.

The program PDD of the present disclosure may or may not be provided to the server 10 and/or the terminal 20 via any transmission medium capable of transmitting the program (such as a communication network or broadcast waves). The server 10 and/or the terminal 20 executes the program P downloaded via the Internet or the like, for example and not by way of limitation, to realize the functions of the multiple functional units shown in each embodiment.

In addition, each embodiment of the present disclosure may be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program P is embodied by electronic transmission.

At least a portion of the processing in the server 10 and/or the terminal 20 may or may not be realized by cloud computing consisting of one or more computers.

At least a part of the processing in the terminal 20 may or may not be performed by the server 10. In this case, at least a part of the processing of each functional unit of the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 may or may not be performed by the server 10.

At least a part of the processing in the server 10 may or may not be performed by the terminal 20. In this case, at least a part of the processing of each functional unit of the control unit 11 of the server 10 may or may not be performed by the terminal 20.

Unless explicitly stated, the judgment configuration in the embodiments of the present disclosure is not essential, and a specified process may or may not be executed when the judgment condition is satisfied, or when the judgment condition is not satisfied.

The programs disclosed herein are implemented using, by way of example and not limitation, scripting languages such as ActionScript and JavaScript (registered trademark), object-oriented programming languages such as Objective-C and Java (registered trademark), and markup languages such as HTML5.

<Embodiment>
The server 10 according to this embodiment provides a service of transmitting content to the terminal 20 .

The content here refers to music, videos, and the like, and may also be novels, manga, and the like. In this embodiment, the content will basically be described as music.

Users who receive services from the server 10 include paid members who can use the services provided by the server 10 by paying a fee (mainly money) to receive the service, and free members who do not pay a fee but can receive more limited services than paid members. Paid members may also include those who can receive different quality of services depending on the amount of the fee paid (as an example, not limited to, the face value of the money paid).

As a non-limiting example, if the content is music, paid members will not be restricted from viewing, whereas free members will only be able to view the first 30 seconds, or the number of times the content can be played within a unit period (one month, as an example, and not a limitation). This playback restriction may be based on the number of times each song is played, the total number of times the content is played within a unit period, or the total playback time within a unit period.

For each piece of content, the server 10 can also provide the content in a state where some elements of the content have been removed. Specifically, if the content is music, the server 10 can provide it in a state where vocal elements are included and in a state where the vocal elements have been removed. Alternatively, for example, if the content is a moving image (e.g., a movie), the server 10 can provide it as both a regular movie and a silent movie.

At this time, if the content is provided to a member to whom the provision of content is restricted, the server 10 counts the content as having been provided, regardless of whether the provided content includes all elements or excludes some elements, as a basis for restricting the provision of content from the next time onwards, and executes management of the provision of content to each user. A detailed explanation is provided below.

(1) Functional Configuration of the Terminal 20 As shown in FIG. 1, the control unit 21 of the terminal 20 includes a content request unit 211, a playback unit 212, and a display processing unit 213.

The content request unit 211 receives a content specification from the user via the input/output unit 23 and a specification of the mode in which the content is to be played back, and transmits content request information requesting the specified content to the server 10 via the communication I/F 22. At this time, the content request unit 211 may transmit user identification information (also called a user ID) that identifies the user of the terminal 20 in association with the content request information. If the service provided by the server 10 is a service provided in a state in which the user is logged in to a service site provided by the server 10, the user ID can be identified to the server 10, so there is no need to transmit user identification information. The content request unit 211 may also transmit mode specification information that specifies the playback mode of the specified content in association with the content request information.

The content playback mode here may specify either a first mode in which the content is transmitted as is, i.e., no processing is performed to remove some elements from the content, or a second mode in which some elements are removed from the content. Here, the some elements may be human voice. In other words, when the content is music, the information may specify so-called on-vocal or off-vocal.

Furthermore, when an input specifying the quality of the content is received from the user at the input/output unit 23, the content request unit 211 may transmit quality information specifying the quality of the content in association with the content request information. The quality of the content here may mean sound quality (such as, but not limited to, frequency characteristics, distortion rate, signal-to-noise ratio, and dynamic range) if the content includes audio, or may mean image quality (such as, but not limited to, resolution and frame rate) if the content includes images.

The playback unit 212 receives content transmitted from the server 10 via the communication I/F 22 and plays the received content. That is, if the content is music, it outputs sound from the speaker of the input/output unit 23. The playback unit 212 also accepts input from the user to the input/output unit 23 and executes functions that a typical music player can implement, such as fast-forwarding the content or playing from a specified playback position. The playback unit 212 can play content in any format, such as streaming.

The display processing unit 213 instructs the display unit 24 to display information related to the content provided by the server 10 in the display area of the display unit 24. The display processing unit 213 displays, for example, a list of content, a menu for receiving input of the type and quality of content when requesting content, and the like.
The functional configuration of the terminal 20 has been described above.

(2) Functional Configuration of the Server 10 As shown in FIG. 2, the server 10 includes a determination unit 111, a playback control unit 112, and a history update unit 113.

The determination unit 111 determines whether the membership type associated with the user identification information of the user corresponding to the content request information received via the communication I/F 14 is a paid membership or a free membership. The control unit 11 stores the information received via the communication I/F 14 (content request information, mode designation information, quality information) in the storage unit 15. When the membership type associated with the user identification information is a free membership, the determination unit 111 determines whether or not the content can be played based on the associated usage history.

If the membership type of the user identification information corresponding to the content request information is a paid membership, the determination unit 111 determines that the content can be played.

On the other hand, if the membership type of the user identification information corresponding to the content request information is a free membership, the determination unit 111 refers to the usage history corresponding to the user identification information to identify the number of times the content indicated by the content identification information has been played. Then, it determines whether the identified number of times is less than a predetermined threshold (as an example and not a limitation, once). If the identified number of times is less than the predetermined threshold, the determination unit 111 determines that the content can be played. If the identified number of times is not less than the predetermined threshold (is equal to or greater than the threshold), the determination unit 111 determines that the content cannot be played.

The playback control unit 112 transmits the content to the terminal 20 according to the determination made by the determination unit 111.

When the determination unit 111 determines that the content can be played, the playback control unit 112 transmits the content indicated by the content identification information to the terminal 20 of the user indicated by the user identification information included in the corresponding content request information via the communication I/F 14. At this time, when the playback control unit 112 receives mode designation information together with the content request information, and when the mode designation information specifies the second mode, i.e., off-vocal, the playback control unit 112 transmits the content (content of the second mode) in which the vocal sound wavelength is erased and the content is made off-vocal. When the playback control unit 112 receives quality information, the playback control unit 112 processes the content so that the quality is specified by the quality information, and transmits the processed content. Note that, when there is no mode designation information, the content may be transmitted in the first mode. When there is no quality information, standard quality content may be transmitted, but this is not limited thereto, and when there is no quality information, the default may be to transmit high quality content.

Note that, here, content with the specified aspect and quality is transmitted by processing performed by the playback control unit 112, but content with various aspects and qualities may be stored in advance in the storage unit 15, and the playback control unit 112 may read and transmit content with the specified aspect and quality.

On the other hand, if the determination unit 111 determines that playback of the content is not possible, the playback control unit 112 transmits restriction information via the communication I/F 14 to the terminal 20 of the user identified by the user identification information included in the corresponding content request information. The restriction information is information indicating that playback of the content is not possible.

When the playback control unit 112 transmits content to a terminal 20, the history update unit 113 updates the history information corresponding to the user identification information of the user corresponding to the destination terminal 20. That is, if the content identification information of the transmitted content is not associated with the user identification information, the history update unit 113 updates the history information by associating the content identification information with the number of times it has been played. Also, if the content identification information of the transmitted content is associated with the user identification information, the history update unit 113 updates the number of times it has been played by incrementing it by one.

The above is the functional configuration of server 10. Server 10 may be realized by one server device, or may be realized by multiple server devices. When realized by multiple server devices, each server device may hold all the functions of server 10, or may hold only a portion of the functions of server 10 in a distributed manner and work together to realize the functions of server 10.

<Data>
2 is a conceptual data diagram showing an example of the configuration of user management information 200, which is information stored in the storage unit 15 of the server 10 and relates to each user to whom the server 10 provides services. The server 10 uses the user management information 200 to determine whether a user requesting content is a restricted free member or a paid member, and to determine whether or not content may be transmitted.

As shown in FIG. 2, user management information 200 is information that associates a user ID 201, a user name 202, a membership type 203, and a usage history 204.

User ID 201 is user identification information for identifying a user who receives the services provided by server 10.

User name 202 is the name of the user who has the user ID indicated by the corresponding user ID 201. User name 202 may be a real name or a handle name.

Membership type 203 is information indicating the type of membership of the user having the user ID indicated by the corresponding user ID 201. Here, there are two types of membership: paid membership and free membership, but there may be other types, and there may be multiple types of paid membership.

The usage history 204 is information indicating the content viewed by the user identified by the corresponding user ID 201 and the number of times the content was viewed. Although not shown in FIG. 2, information on the date and time when each content was viewed may also be stored. In this embodiment, the usage history 204 is reset at a predetermined timing (as an example, not limited to, when switching from the end of the month to the beginning of the month). This makes it easy to count the number of times each content is played by a user who is a free member. Note that the reset does not have to be performed uniformly, and may be reset for each user identification information based on the date on which the user information was registered. Furthermore, if the reset is not performed, the playback date and time of the content may be stored as history information to identify the number of times it was played within a predetermined period.

Note that the user name 202 is not essential information in the user management information 200. In addition, the user management information 200 may also include information related to the user other than the information shown in FIG. 2.

<Operation>
FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an example of an exchange between the terminal 20 and the server 10 in the communication system 1. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the terminal 20 accepts the specification of content and the specification of the mode in which the content is to be played (step S301). The terminal 20 transmits to the server 10 the user ID, content request information including the content ID of the specified content, and mode specification information indicating the specified mode of playback (step S302).

When the server 10 receives the user ID, the content request information, and the mode designation information, it identifies the membership type associated with the received user ID (step S303). If the membership type is a free membership, the server 10 determines whether the content can be played (step S304). If the server 10 determines that the content can be played, it transmits the content in the mode designated by the mode designation information (step S305).

The terminal 20 plays the content received from the server 10 (step S306).

In addition, after transmitting the content, the server 10 updates the usage history of the user who owns the destination terminal 20, regardless of whether the transmitted content is in the first form or the second form (step S307).

Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the terminal 20 for realizing the exchange shown in Figure 3. The process shown in Figure 4 shows the process from the point where the user selects the desired content.

As shown in FIG. 4, the input/output unit 23 of the terminal 20 receives an input from the user specifying the content desired by the user (step S401). The input/output unit 23 transmits the received input to the control unit 21.

Next, the input/output unit 23 receives a specification of the mode of content playback from the user (step S402). The input/output unit 23 transmits the received input to the control unit 21.

The content request unit 211 of the control unit 21 transmits content request information including identification information of the specified content, and mode designation information that designates the mode of playback of the content, to the server 10 via the communication I/F 22. At this time, the content request unit 211 may also transmit a user ID that identifies the user of the terminal 20 (step S403).

The control unit 21 determines whether the requested content has been received via the communication I/F 22 (step S404). If the content has been received (YES in step S404), the playback unit 212 of the control unit 21 executes playback of the content (step S405). If the content has not been received (NO in step S404), the control unit 21 determines whether restriction information has been received via the communication I/F 22 (step S406). If restriction information has not been received (NO in step S406), the process returns to step S404.

If restriction information has been received (YES in step S406), the display processing unit 213 displays the received restriction information in the display area of the display unit 24 (step S407).

The control unit 21 determines whether or not there is an end input from the user (step S408). The end input here may be an end input for an app for playing content, or an input to turn off the terminal or put it into sleep mode. If there is no end input (NO in step S408), the process returns to step S401, and if there is an end input (YES in step S408), the process ends.

In FIG. 4, the process of step S402 may be omitted. Also, in step S402, specification of quality information that specifies the quality of the content may be accepted, and in that case, in step S403, the content request unit 211 may also transmit the quality information.

Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the server 10 for realizing the exchange shown in Figure 3. The process shown in Figure 5 shows the process executed by the server 10 when one piece of content request information is received.

The communication I/F 14 of the server 10 receives the user ID, the content request information, and the mode designation information from the terminal 20 (step S501). The communication I/F 14 transmits each piece of received information to the control unit 11. The control unit 11 stores the received information in the storage unit 15.

The determination unit 111 of the control unit 11 refers to the received user ID and the user management information 200 stored in the storage unit 15 to determine whether the membership type 203 associated with the user ID is a free membership or not (step S502). If the user is not a free member, that is, if the user is a paid member (NO in step S502), the process proceeds to step S504.

When the received user ID is associated with information indicating a free membership as a membership type (YES in step S502), the judgment unit 111 refers to the usage history 204 in the user management information 200 and checks whether the usage history 204 associated with the received user ID contains content identification information contained in the received content request information. When the usage history 204 contains content identification information contained in the received content request information, the judgment unit 111 identifies the number of times the content has been played. When the usage history 204 does not contain content identification information contained in the received content request information, the judgment unit 111 identifies the number of times the content has been played as 0. Then, the judgment unit 111 determines whether the identified number of times the content has been played is less than a predetermined threshold (step S503). When the number of times the content has been played is less than the predetermined threshold (YES in step S503), the judgment unit 111 determines that the content can be played.

When the determination unit 111 determines that the content can be played, the playback control unit 112 determines whether the mode designation information corresponding to the content request information specifies the first mode or the second mode, i.e., whether on-vocal or off-vocal. If the mode designation information specifies off-vocal (YES in step S504), the playback control unit 112 performs a process to remove vocal wavelengths (specific frequencies) from the content indicated by the content identification information in the content request information, thereby generating off-vocal (second mode) content (step S505). Existing technology can be used for this process.

The playback control unit 112 transmits the content converted into the specified format, i.e., music without vocals, to the terminal 20 of the user indicated by the received user ID via the communication I/F 14 (step S506).

If the mode designation information specifies on-vocal (first mode) or there is no mode designation information (NO in step S504), the playback control unit 112 transmits the content indicated by the content identification information in the content request information as is to the terminal 20 of the user indicated by the received user ID via the communication I/F 14 (step S509).

After the content is transmitted, the playback control unit 112 transmits the user ID of the user to whom the content was transmitted and the content identification information to the history update unit 113.

If the received content identification information is registered in the usage history 204 corresponding to the received user ID in the user management information 200, the history update unit 113 adds 1 to the number of times the content has been played and updates the user management information 200. If the received content identification information is registered, the history update unit 113 adds information that associates the number of times the content has been played with 1 to the content identification information, updates the user management information 200, and ends the process.

On the other hand, in step S503, if the number of plays is not less than the predetermined threshold, that is, if it is equal to or greater than the threshold (NO in step S503), the determination unit 111 determines that the content cannot be played.

Then, the playback control unit 112 transmits restriction information indicating that the content cannot be played back to the terminal 20 of the user indicated by the user ID via the communication I/F 14 (step S508), and ends the process.

Although not shown in FIG. 5, if specification information specifying the quality of content playback is received in step S501, processing is performed in step S505 to convert the content to the specified quality.

In addition, each piece of information received in step S501 may be received individually if the server 10 is able to determine that the pieces of information are associated with each other.

<Display example>
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen on the terminal 20. As shown in FIG.

Figure 6 (a) is an example of a content list displayed in the display area of the display unit 24 of the terminal 20. The user selects (tap) the desired content from the displayed content list. Here, for example, it is assumed that "0007 DDDD" is selected.

Then, as shown in FIG. 6(b), the terminal 20 displays a menu requesting permission to execute the download of the selected content. This menu may also display buttons for selecting "on vocal" or "off vocal" as information for specifying the mode of content playback.

If the user is a paid member or a free member and the number of times the user has viewed the selected content has not reached the threshold, the server 10 transmits the content selected by the user. Then, when the specified content is transmitted from the server 10, the terminal 20 plays the content, as shown in FIG. 6(c).

On the other hand, when restriction information, rather than content, is received from the server 10, the terminal 20 displays the restriction information as shown in FIG. 6(d). Here, the restriction information is information indicating that the content specified by the user cannot be downloaded. At this time, as shown in FIG. 6(d), information recommending upgrading to a paid membership with no restrictions on content playback may or may not be displayed.

<Modification>
The aspects of the present invention are not limited to the above-described embodiment. Various modifications will be described below.

(1) In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which restrictions on content playback are imposed based on the number of times each piece of content is played, but as mentioned above, the restriction method is not limited to this. Other examples are specifically described below.

In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which playback is restricted for each piece of content when the number of times that content has been played reaches or exceeds a predetermined threshold, but the playback control unit 112 may restrict playback not for each piece of content, but when the total number of times that content has been played in a predetermined period of time reaches or exceeds a predetermined threshold. In other words, a request for any piece of content (the same piece of content may be requested repeatedly) is counted as one playback, and playback may be restricted depending on whether the total number of times exceeds a predetermined threshold. In this case, the usage history 204 may store only the number of times, without storing content identification information.

In addition, playback restrictions may be implemented based on the total playback time. That is, for a free member, a total playback time per unit period (5 hours per month, as an example and not a limitation) is set. When content request information is received from the terminal 20 and the content indicated in the content request information is played on the terminal 20, the terminal 20 transmits the playback time to the server 10. The server 10 sequentially adds up the received playback time and stores it as the usage history 204 of the user management information 200. When content request information is received from the user's terminal 20, if the total playback time stored in the usage history 204 corresponding to the user ID exceeds a predetermined threshold, the playback control unit 112 does not transmit the content to the terminal 20. In this way, a configuration may be adopted in which restrictions are imposed based on the total playback time on the terminal 20.

(2) In the above embodiment, music is used as an example of the content, but as mentioned above, the content may be a video, or some kind of text data or image. If the content is a video, the second type of content may be a silent video with the conversation sounds of the characters in the video removed as a partial element. If the content is a novel or the like, the second type of content may be data from the novel with some chapters removed as a partial element. If the content is a manga or the like, the second type of content may be content from which the lines of the characters have been removed as a partial element.

(3) In the above embodiment, the playback control unit 112 transmits restriction information to the terminal 20 (step S508) when the number of times the content has been played reaches a threshold value (NO in step S503), but this is not limited to this. Instead of the restriction information, the playback control unit 112 may transmit so-called sample data, which is a portion of the content (for example, the first 30 seconds, but not limited to this), to the terminal 20.

(4) In the above embodiment, the terminal 20 may have a so-called karaoke function. That is, when the terminal 20 requests content of the second mode (off vocal) from the server 10 as mode designation information and receives off vocal content (which may be content of the first mode (on vocal)), the user's singing voice may be collected via the microphone 232 of the input/output unit 23 and output from the speaker 233 together with the received content. The following description will be made with reference to FIG. 7. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the terminal 20 when playing back content.

As shown in FIG. 7, the communication I/F 22 of the terminal 20 receives content from the server 10 (step S701). The communication I/F 22 transmits the received content to the control unit 21.

At this time, the playback unit 212 determines whether or not the user has input a karaoke mode setting via the input/output unit 23 (step S702).

If karaoke mode is not set (NO in step S703), the received content is output as is (step S706), and the process proceeds to step S707.

If the karaoke mode is set (YES in step S703), the playback unit 212 further determines whether an effect has been set (step S703). Here, an effect refers to performing some kind of editing on the voice, and may include, by way of example and not limitation, an echo effect, a voice-changing effect (changing a male voice to a female voice, or a female voice to a male voice, or an animal-like voice), and the like.

If an effect has been set (YES in step S703), the playback unit 212 processes the user's voice collected from the microphone 232 with the specified effect and outputs it from the speaker 233 together with the sound of the content (step S704).

If no effects have been set (NO in step S703), the playback unit 212 outputs the sound of the content together with the user's voice collected from the microphone 232 (step S705).

The control unit 21 determines whether or not there is an end input from the user (step S707). The end input here may be an end input for an app for playing content, or an input to turn off the terminal or put it into sleep mode. If there is no end input (NO in step S707), the process returns to step S401, and if there is an end input (YES in step S707), the process ends.

In this way, the terminal 20 may output the user's voice along with the content when it is being played back, realizing a so-called karaoke function.

(5) In the above embodiment, it has been described that the content mode and quality can be specified, but these specifications may be able to be switched while the content is being used. As a non-limiting example, when the user inputs a command to specify playback in the second mode while content in the first mode is being initially played back on the terminal 20, the content may be changed to be played back in the second mode. This switching may be achieved by switching the mode of the content transmitted from the server 10 and transmitting it to the terminal 20, or by the server 10 transmitting content that can originally be played back in either the first mode or the second mode to the terminal 20 and switching the playback mode at the terminal 20. This also applies to switching the quality of the content.

(6) In the above supplementary note (3), it is explained that sample playback is possible when the number of playbacks reaches the threshold, but even if the number of playbacks does not reach the threshold, the user may be able to specify sample playback via the terminal 20. Sample playback is a playback method that allows only a part of the content to be played in the time axis direction of the content. In the case of music, it may be playback of only a predetermined time at the beginning (30 seconds as an example, not limited to this) or playback of only the chorus. When a request for sample playback is received, the server 10 transmits sample content to the terminal 20. The sample content may be stored in the storage unit 15 in advance, or may be a part of normal content cut out in the time axis direction. In the case of sample playback, the server 10 does not update the usage history 204. Note that the first or second aspect of the content is content that can be fully played in the time axis direction.

In addition, when sample playback is specified initially, playback may be switched to the first mode or the second mode midway through. When switching from sample playback to playback in the first mode or the second mode midway through, the server 10 updates the usage history 204.

(7) In the above embodiment, the server 10 receives quality information related to the playback of content, but the information related to the playback of content that can be received (also referred to as setting information) is not limited to the information shown in the above embodiment. As an example, and not a limitation, the setting information may be the brightness of playback if the content includes images such as a video, or may be a color tone specification. The setting information may also be a specification of whether or not to display subtitles for a video. If the content is music, the setting information may be a specification of emphasis on deep bass, a specification of cutting a specific range of sounds, or a specification of the playback speed.

Effects of the embodiment
When the server 10 according to the above embodiment transmits content in response to content request information requesting content from the terminal 20, the server 10 counts the content as having been viewed in the usage history regardless of whether the content is in the first or second form. Then, the server 10 can determine whether or not to distribute the content based on the usage history, and restrict the use of the content.
This allows the server 10 to receive a designation of the content distribution mode and distribute the content in the received mode, and also allows restrictions to be imposed on the reproduction of the content by recording the content distribution mode as a usage history, regardless of whether the content distribution mode is the first mode or the second mode. This allows the user to be encouraged to register as a paid member, by way of example and not by way of limitation, in order to remove restrictions on the use of the content.

The server 10 may also determine that the user is not allowed to use the content when the number of times the content is used per unit period exceeds a predetermined threshold value. Alternatively, the server 10 may determine that the user is not allowed to use the content when the total usage time of the content per unit period exceeds a predetermined threshold value.
This allows the server 10 to quantitatively determine whether or not it is permissible to provide the content to the user.

Furthermore, the server 10 may receive designation regarding the quality of the content in addition to the mode designation information as the mode of the content, and transmit the content of the designated quality to the terminal 20 .
This allows the server 10 to receive input specifying the quality of the content as well as the mode of content playback, and provide the content of the specified quality, thereby enabling the server 10 to provide users with higher quality services.

Furthermore, when the server 10 receives a designation of the second aspect as the aspect of the content, the server 10 may perform a process of removing some elements from the originally stored content and transmit the processed content to the terminal 20. When the content is music, the server 10 may remove a specific sound, for example, a frequency corresponding to vocals, to generate a voice without vocals.
This eliminates the need for the server 10 to prepare content for each mode, thereby realizing a reduction in storage capacity.

Furthermore, the content provided by the server 10 may be music or video, in which case the part of the element that is removed may be human voice.
In this way, the server 10 can provide off-vocal music in the case of music, and silent videos in the case of videos, and thus the server 10 can provide a wide variety of content.

In addition, the types of membership of users who enjoy the services provided by the server 10 may include paid members who pay a fee to receive the services and free members who do not pay a fee. In addition, the provision of content may be restricted for free members.
This makes it possible to distinguish between paid and free members and to motivate free members to become paid members.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Communication system 10 Server 11 Control unit 111 Determination unit 112 Playback control unit 113 History update unit 12 Input/output unit 13 Display unit 14 Communication I/F (communication unit)
15 Storage unit 20 Terminal 21 Control unit 211 Content request unit 212 Playback unit 213 Display processing unit 22 Communication I/F
23 Input/Output Unit 231 Touch Panel 232 Microphone 233 Speaker 234 Camera 24 Display Unit (Display)
25 Location information acquisition unit 28 Storage unit 30 Network

Claims (6)

An information processing device that provides a service of transmitting content to a terminal,
A storage unit that stores user identification information, membership type information associated with the user identification information, and a usage history associated with the user identification information;
a receiving unit for receiving the user identification information and content request information including content identification information;
a determination unit that determines whether or not content can be played back based on membership type information and a usage history of user identification information corresponding to the content request information;
a playback control unit that plays back the content related to the content identification information included in the content request information in a first mode or in a second mode in which some elements are removed from the first mode based on the determination by the determination unit, at the terminal;
a history update unit that updates the usage history based on the playback control unit having played back the content in the first mode or the second mode;
Equipped with
The membership types indicated by the membership type information include a first type membership and a second type membership in which the services that can be received are more limited than those of the first type membership,
The playback control unit
In a first terminal of the first type member, content can be reproduced in the first manner based on an input from the first type member, and content can be reproduced in the second manner based on an input from the first type member,
In a second terminal of the second type member, content can be reproduced in the first manner based on an input from the second type member, and content can be reproduced in the second manner based on an input from the second type member,
An information processing device that restricts playback of content in the first manner and playback of content in the second manner on the second terminal based on the judgment by the judgment unit, and displays information on the second terminal indicating that playback of content is restricted . 2. The information processing device according to claim 1,
The determination unit determines that the content cannot be played back when the number of times the content is used per unit time period exceeds a predetermined threshold value. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1,
The determination unit determines that the content cannot be played back when a total usage time of the content per unit period exceeds a predetermined threshold value. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The content is music or video,
The receiving unit is
The first terminal is capable of receiving quality information that specifies at least one of sound quality and image quality based on an input of the first type member at the first terminal,
The quality information is receivable from the second terminal based on an input of the second type member at the second terminal;
The playback control unit
Reproducing content at the first terminal based on the quality information received from the first terminal;
The content is reproduced in the second terminal based on the quality information received from the second terminal. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4 ,
The first type of member is a paid member who pays a fee for the service,
The second type of member is a free member who does not pay for the service. An information processing device that provides a service of transmitting content to a terminal, the information processing device being capable of accessing a storage unit that stores user identification information, membership type information associated with the user identification information, and a usage history associated with the user identification information,
a receiving step of receiving content request information including the user identification information and content identification information;
a determination step of determining whether or not content can be reproduced based on membership type information and a usage history of user identification information corresponding to the content request information;
a playback control step of playing back the content related to the content identification information included in the content request information in a first mode or a second mode obtained by removing some elements from the first mode, on the terminal based on the determination in the determination step;
a history updating step of updating the usage history based on the fact that the content has been reproduced in the first mode or the second mode in the reproduction control step;
Run
The membership types indicated by the membership type information include a first type membership and a second type membership in which the services that can be received are more limited than those of the first type membership,
In the regeneration control step,
In a first terminal of the first type member, content can be reproduced in the first manner based on an input from the first type member, and content can be reproduced in the second manner based on an input from the first type member,
In a second terminal of the second type member, content can be reproduced in the first manner based on an input from the second type member, and content can be reproduced in the second manner based on an input from the second type member,
A content playback method that restricts playback of content in the first manner and playback of content in the second manner on the second terminal based on the judgment made in the judgment step, and displays information on the second terminal indicating that playback of content is restricted .

Images