U.S. patent application number 14/110732 was filed with the patent office on 2014-02-06 for information distribution device, information reception device, system, program, and method.
The applicant listed for this patent is Toshio Asai, Akira Inoue, Takeshi Kondo, Takayuki Nagai, Susumu Okuyama, Soichi Tsumura. Invention is credited to Toshio Asai, Akira Inoue, Takeshi Kondo, Takayuki Nagai, Susumu Okuyama, Soichi Tsumura.
Application Number | 20140040948 14/110732 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47009187 |
Filed Date | 2014-02-06 |
United States Patent
Application |
20140040948 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Asai; Toshio ; et
al. |
February 6, 2014 |
INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION DEVICE, INFORMATION RECEPTION DEVICE,
SYSTEM, PROGRAM, AND METHOD
Abstract
Provided are an information distribution device, system,
program, and method that can increase the effectiveness of
advertisements. The information distribution device selects
advertisements to distribute based on viewer attributes collected
while distributing content to a display unit.
Inventors: |
Asai; Toshio; (Tokyo,
JP) ; Inoue; Akira; (Tokyo, JP) ; Okuyama;
Susumu; (Tokyo, JP) ; Kondo; Takeshi; (Tokyo,
JP) ; Tsumura; Soichi; (Kanagawa, JP) ; Nagai;
Takayuki; (Tokyo, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Asai; Toshio
Inoue; Akira
Okuyama; Susumu
Kondo; Takeshi
Tsumura; Soichi
Nagai; Takayuki |
Tokyo
Tokyo
Tokyo
Tokyo
Kanagawa
Tokyo |
|
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP
JP |
|
|
Family ID: |
47009187 |
Appl. No.: |
14/110732 |
Filed: |
March 21, 2012 |
PCT Filed: |
March 21, 2012 |
PCT NO: |
PCT/JP2012/058030 |
371 Date: |
October 9, 2013 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
725/34 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04N 21/2668 20130101;
H04N 21/4316 20130101; H04N 21/4532 20130101; H04N 21/812 20130101;
H04L 67/306 20130101; G06Q 30/0255 20130101; H04N 21/4667 20130101;
G06Q 30/0251 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
725/34 |
International
Class: |
H04N 21/81 20060101
H04N021/81 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Apr 11, 2011 |
JP |
2011-087492 |
Claims
1. An information distribution device that obtains content from a
content storage unit, transmits the content to a terminal device
having a display unit which displays an image of the content,
receives a personal attribute from an attribute collection unit,
included in each of the k (where k is a natural number which is two
or more) terminal devices, which collects the personal attribute on
a person in a viewable region for the image, selects advertisement
data from an advertisement storage unit based on a result of
statistical processing on the personal attribute collected while
transmitting the content, and transmits the selected advertisement
data to the n (where n is a natural number greater than k) terminal
devices.
2. The information distribution device of claim 1, wherein the
viewable region of each of the k terminal devices is an exclusive
region.
3. The information distribution device of claim 1, wherein the
number k is great enough to estimate the result to be obtained from
the n terminal devices.
4. An information distribution device, comprising: an advertisement
storage unit which stores advertisement data and an advertisement
attribute associated with each other; a conversion-information
storage unit which stores a first conversion rule from a personal
attribute to the advertisement attribute; and an information
distribution unit which obtains content from a content storage
unit, transmits the content to a display unit for displaying an
image of the content, receives, from an attribute collection unit
for collecting a personal attribute on a person in a viewable
region for the image, the personal attribute, determines the
advertisement attribute based on the personal attribute, collected
while transmitting the content, and the first conversion rule,
selects the advertisement data related to the determined
advertisement attribute from the advertisement storage unit; and
transmits the selected advertisement data to the display unit.
5. The information distribution device of claim 4, further
comprising: the content storage unit which stores the content and a
content attribute associated with each other, wherein the
conversion-information storage unit stores a second conversion rule
from the content attribute and the personal attribute to the
advertisement attribute, and the information distribution unit
determines the advertisement attribute based on the collected
personal attribute, the content attribute associated with the
transmitted content, and the second conversion rule, and selects
the advertisement data associated with the determined advertisement
attribute.
6. The information distribution device of claim 4, wherein: the
content storage unit stores the content and a collection time for
the personal attribute associated with each other, and the
information distribution unit selects the advertisement data based
on the personal attribute collected at the collection time.
7. An information reception device, comprising: an attribute
collection unit which collects a personal attribute on a person in
a region where an image of content displayed on a display for
displaying the content and advertisement data is viewable, where
the content and the advertisement data is received from an
information distribution device including a advertisement storage
unit which stores the advertisement data and an advertisement
attribute associated with each other, a conversion-information
storage unit which stores a conversion rule to convert the personal
attribute to the advertisement attribute, and an information
distribution unit which selects, from the advertisement storage
unit, the advertisement data associated with the advertisement
attribute determined based on the personal attribute, collected
while transmitting the content, and the conversion rule, and
transmits the selected advertisement data, and transmits the
personal attribute to the information distribution device.
8. An information distribution system, comprising: the information
distribution device of claim 4: and the information reception
device including an attribute collection unit which collects a
personal attribute on a person in a region where an image of
content displayed on a display for displaying the content and
advertisement data is viewable, where the content and the
advertisement data is received from an information distribution
device including an advertisement storage unit which stores the
advertisement data and an advertisement attribute associated with
each other, a conversion-information storage unit which stores a
conversion rule to convert the personal attribute to the
advertisement attribute, and an information distribution unit which
selects, from the advertisement storage unit, the advertisement
data associated with the advertisement attribute determined based
on the personal attribute, collected while transmitting the
content, and the conversion rule, and transmits the selected
advertisement data, and transmits the personal attribute to the
information distribution device.
9. The information distribution device of claim 4, wherein the
information distribution unit transmits the content to each of a
plurality of terminal devices each having the attribute collection
unit, receives the personal attribute from the attribute collection
unit included in each of the plurality of terminal devices,
determines one personal attribute based on a statistical value of
the received personal attribute, and determines the advertisement
attribute based on the determined personal attribute and the first
conversion rule.
10. A non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium storing an
information distribution program, causing a computer to execute a
step of obtaining content from a content storage unit, a step of
transmitting the content to a terminal a device having display unit
which displays an image of the content, a step of receiving a
personal attribute from an attribute collection unit, included in
each of the k (where k is a natural number which is two or more)
terminal devices, which collects the personal attribute on a person
in a viewable region for the image, a step of selecting
advertisement data in an advertisement storage unit based on a
result of statistical processing on the personal attribute
collected while transmitting the content, and a step of
transmitting the selected advertisement data to the n (where n is a
natural number greater than k) terminal devices.
11. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium of claim
10, storing the information distribution program, wherein the
viewable region of each of the k terminal devices is an exclusive
region.
12. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium of claim
10, storing the information distribution program, wherein the
number k is great enough to estimate the result to be obtained from
the n terminal devices.
13. A non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium storing an
information distribution program, causing a computer to execute, a
step of obtaining content from a content storage unit, and an
information distribution step of transmitting the content to a
display unit which displays an image of the content, receiving a
personal attribute from an attribute collection unit which collects
the personal attribute on a person in a viewable region for the
image, receiving the personal attribute collected while
transmitting the content, determining an advertisement attribute
based on a first conversion rule, being stored in a
conversion-information storage unit, from the personal attribute to
the advertisement attribute, and transmitting the selected
advertisement data to the display unit.
14. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium of claim
13, storing the information distribution program, wherein the
content storage unit stores the content and a content attribute
associated with each other, the conversion-information storage unit
stores a second conversion rule from the content attribute and the
personal attribute to the advertisement attribute, and the program
causes a computer to execute the information distribution step of
determining the advertisement attribute based on the collected
personal attribute, the content attribute associated with the
transmitted content, and the second conversion rule, and selecting
the advertisement data associated with the determined advertisement
attribute.
15. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium of claim
13, storing the information distribution program, wherein: the
content storage unit stores the content and a collection time of
the personal attribute associated with each other, and the program
causes a computer to execute the information distribution step of
selecting the advertisement data based on the personal attribute
collected at the collection time.
16. The non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium of claim
13, storing the information distribution program, wherein in the
information distribution step, the computer transmits the content
to each of a plurality of terminal devices each having the
attribute collection unit, receives the personal attribute from the
attribute collection unit included in each of the plurality of
terminal devices, determines one personal attribute based on a
statistical value of the received personal attribute, and
determines the advertisement attribute based on the determined
personal attribute and the first conversion rule.
17. A non-transitory tangible computer-readable medium storing an
information reception program, causing a computer to execute: a
display step of receiving and displaying content and advertisement
data from an information distribution device including an
advertisement storage unit which stores the advertisement data and
an advertisement attribute associated with each other, a
conversion-information storage unit which stores a conversion rule
to convert a personal attribute to the advertisement attribute, and
an information distribution unit which selects, from the
advertisement storage unit, the advertisement data associated with
the advertisement attribute determined based on the personal
attribute, collected while transmitting the content, and the
conversion rule, and transmitting the selected advertisement data,
and an attribute collection step of collecting the personal
attribute on a person in a region where an image of the displayed
content is viewable and transmitting the personal attribute to the
information distribution device.
18. An information distribution method, comprising: obtaining
content from a content storage unit; transmitting the content to a
terminal device having a display unit which displays an image of
the content; receiving a personal attribute from an attribute
collection unit, included in each of the k (where k is a natural
number which is two or more) terminal devices, which collects the
personal attribute on a person in a viewable region for the image;
selecting advertisement data from an advertisement storage unit
based on a result of statistical processing on the personal
attribute collected while transmitting the content; and
transmitting the selected advertisement data to the n (where n is a
natural number greater than k) terminal devices.
19. The information distribution method of claim 18, wherein the
viewable region of each of the k terminal devices is an exclusive
region.
20. The information distribution method of claim 18, wherein the
number k is great enough to estimate the result to be obtained from
the n terminal devices.
21. An information distribution method, comprising: obtaining
content from a content storage unit; transmitting the content to a
display unit which displays an image of the content; receiving a
personal attribute from an attribute collection unit which collects
the personal attribute on a person in a viewable region for the
image; receiving the personal attribute collected while
transmitting the content, and determining the advertisement
attribute based on a first conversion rule, being stored in a
conversion-information storage unit, from the personal attribute to
the advertisement attribute; selecting advertisement data
associated with the determined advertisement attribute from the
advertisement storage unit which stores the advertisement data and
the advertisement attribute associated with each other; and
transmitting the selected advertisement data to the display
unit.
22. The information distribution method of claim 21, wherein the
content storage unit stores the content and a content attribute
associated with each other, the conversion-information storage unit
stores a second conversion rule from the content attribute and the
personal attribute to the advertisement attribute, and the method
comprising: determining the advertisement attribute based on the
collected personal attribute, the content attribute associated with
the transmitted content, and the second conversion rule; and
selecting the advertisement data associated with the determined
advertisement attribute.
23. The information distribution method of claim 21, wherein the
content storage unit stores the content and a collection time for
the personal attribute associated with each other, and the method
comprising: selecting the advertisement data based on the personal
attribute collected at the collection time.
24. The information distribution method of claim 21, further
comprising: transmitting the content to each of a plurality of
terminal devices each having the attribute collection unit;
receiving the personal attribute from the attribute collection unit
included in each of the plurality of terminal devices; determining
one personal attribute based on a statistical value of the received
personal attribute; and determining the advertisement attribute
based on the determined personal attribute and the first conversion
rule.
25. An information reception method, comprising: receiving and
displaying content and advertisement data from an information
distribution device including a advertisement storage unit which
stores the advertisement data and an advertisement attribute
associated with each other, a conversion-information storage unit
which stores a conversion rule to convert a personal attribute to
the advertisement attribute, and an information distribution unit
which selects, from the advertisement storage unit, the
advertisement data associated with the advertisement attribute
determined based on the personal attribute, collected while
transmitting the content, and the conversion rule, and transmits
the selected advertisement data; collecting the personal attribute
on a person in a region where an image of the displayed content is
viewable; and transmitting to the information distribution
device.
26. An information distribution device that obtains content from
content storage means, transmits the content to a terminal device
having display means for displaying an image of the content,
receives a personal attribute from attribute collection means,
included in each of the k (where k is a natural number which is two
or more) terminal devices, for collecting the personal attribute on
a person in a viewable region for the image, selects advertisement
data from an advertisement storage unit based on a result of
statistical processing on the personal attribute collected while
transmitting the content, and transmits the selected advertisement
data to the n (where n is a natural number greater than k) terminal
devices.
27. An information distribution device, comprising: advertisement
storage means for storing advertisement data and an advertisement
attribute associated with each other; conversion-information
storage means for storing a first conversion rule from a personal
attribute to the advertisement attribute; and information
distribution means for obtaining content from content storage
means, transmitting the content to display means for displaying an
image of the content, receiving, from attribute collection means
for collecting a personal attribute on a person in a viewable
region for the image, the personal attribute, determining the
advertisement attribute based on the personal attribute, collected
while transmitting the content, and the first conversion rule,
selecting the advertisement data related to the determined
advertisement attribute from the advertisement storage means; and
transmitting the selected advertisement data to the display
means.
28. An information reception device, comprising: attribute
collection means for collecting a personal attribute on a person in
a region where an image of content displayed on a display for
displaying the content and advertisement data is viewable, where
the content and the advertisement data is received from an
information distribution device including advertisement storage
means for storing the advertisement data and an advertisement
attribute associated with each other, conversion-information
storage means for storing a conversion rule to convert the personal
attribute to the advertisement attribute, and information
distribution means for selecting, from the advertisement storage
means, the advertisement data associated with the advertisement
attribute determined based on the personal attribute, collected
while transmitting the content, and the conversion rule, and
transmitting the selected advertisement data, and for transmitting
the personal attribute to the information distribution device.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] The invention relates to an information distribution device,
an information reception device, a system, a program, and a
method.
BACKGROUND ART
[0002] An advertisement is one of important ways for well informing
clients of commodities and services, and it is preferable to
distribute a highly-effective advertisement.
[0003] For example, Patent document 1 describes one example of an
image display system that changes advertisement displays depending
on client features.
RELATED ART DOCUMENT
Patent Document
[0004] [Patent document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
No. 2004-157498
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Problem to be Solved by the Invention
[0005] The system distributes an advertisement to people in front
of an image display device in a public space. The system
occasionally distributes the advertisement to a person who has no
interest in content distributed from the image display device (e.g.
a person who passes fast). Therefore, advertising effect cannot be
fully increased.
[0006] A TV commercial is well-known as an advertisement which
impresses a large indefinite number of clients on commodities. An
advertisement corresponding to clients' tastes cannot be
distributed using only such push advertisement. The push
advertisement does not passively generate full advertising
effect.
[0007] In order to solve the above problem, an object of the
invention is to provide an information distribution device, a
system, a program, and a method which can increase advertising
effect by distributing an advertisement which matches a person who
is expected to be affected by appeal effect.
Means to Solve the Problem
[0008] In order to achieve the object, one aspect of the present
invention includes an information distribution device that obtains
content from content storage means, transmits the content to a
terminal device having display means for displaying an image of the
content, receives a personal attribute from attribute collection
means, included in each of the k (where k is a natural number which
is two or more) terminal devices, the attribute collection means
for collecting the personal attribute on a person in a viewable
region for the image, selects advertisement data from an
advertisement storage unit based on a result of statistical
processing on the personal attribute collected while transmitting
the content, and transmits the selected advertisement data to the n
(where n is a natural number greater than k) terminal devices.
[0009] The present invention provides an information distribution
program, causing a computer to execute a step of obtaining content
from content storage means, a step of transmitting the content to a
terminal device having display means for displaying an image of the
content, a step of receiving a personal attribute from attribute
collection means, included in each of the k (where k is a natural
number which is two or more) terminal devices, for collecting the
personal attribute on a person in a viewable region for the image,
a step of selecting advertisement data in an advertisement storage
unit based on a result of statistical processing on the personal
attribute collected while transmitting the content, and a step of
transmitting the selected advertisement data to the n (where n is a
natural number greater than k) terminal devices.
[0010] The present invention provides an information distribution
method, comprising: obtaining content from content storage means;
transmitting the content to a terminal device having display means
for displaying an image of the content; receiving a personal
attribute from attribute collection means, included in each of the
k (where k is a natural number which is two or more) terminal
devices, for collecting the personal attribute on a person in a
viewable region for the image; selecting advertisement data from an
advertisement storage unit based on a result of statistical
processing on the personal attribute collected while transmitting
the content; and transmitting the selected advertisement data to
the n (where n is a natural number greater than k) terminal
devices.
[0011] The present invention provides an information distribution
device, comprising: advertisement storage means for storing
advertisement data and an advertisement attribute associated with
each other; conversion-information storage means for storing a
first conversion rule from a personal attribute to the
advertisement attribute; and information distribution means for
obtaining content from content storage means, transmitting the
content to display means for displaying an image of the content,
receiving, from attribute collection means for collecting a
personal attribute on a person in a viewable region for the image,
the personal attribute, determining the advertisement attribute
based on the personal attribute, collected while transmitting the
content, and the first conversion rule, selecting the advertisement
data related to the determined advertisement attribute from the
advertisement storage means; and transmitting the selected
advertisement data to the display means.
[0012] The present invention provides an information distribution
program, causing a computer to execute, a step of obtaining content
from content storage means, and an information distribution step of
transmitting the content to display means for displaying an image
of the content, receiving a personal attribute from attribute
collection means for collecting the personal attribute on a person
in a viewable region for the image, receiving the personal
attribute collected while transmitting the content, determining an
advertisement attribute based on a first conversion rule, being
stored in conversion-information storage means, from the personal
attribute to the advertisement attribute, and transmitting the
selected advertisement data to the display means.
[0013] The present invention provides an information distribution
method, comprising: obtaining content from content storage means;
transmitting the content to display means for displaying an image
of the content; receiving a personal attribute from attribute
collection means for collecting the personal attribute on a person
in a viewable region for the image; receiving the personal
attribute collected while transmitting the content, and determining
the advertisement attribute based on a first conversion rule, being
stored in conversion-information storage means, from the personal
attribute to the advertisement attribute; selecting advertisement
data associated with the determined advertisement attribute from
the advertisement storage means for storing the advertisement data
and the advertisement attribute associated with each other; and
transmitting the selected advertisement data to the display
means.
[0014] The present invention provides an information reception
device, comprising: attribute collection means for collecting a
personal attribute on a person in a region where an image of
content displayed on a display for displaying the content and
advertisement data is viewable, where the content and the
advertisement data is received from an information distribution
device including advertisement storage means for storing the
advertisement data and an advertisement attribute associated with
each other, conversion-information storage means for storing a
conversion rule to convert the personal attribute to the
advertisement attribute, and information distribution means for
selecting, from the advertisement storage means, the advertisement
data associated with the advertisement attribute determined based
on the personal attribute, collected while transmitting the
content, and the conversion rule, and transmitting the selected
advertisement data, and for transmitting the personal attribute to
the information distribution device.
[0015] The present invention provides an information reception
program, causing a computer to execute a display step of receiving
and displaying content and advertisement data from an information
distribution device including advertisement storage means for
storing the advertisement data and an advertisement attribute
associated with each other, conversion-information storage means
for storing a conversion rule to convert a personal attribute to
the advertisement attribute, and information distribution means for
selecting, from the advertisement storage means, the advertisement
data associated with the advertisement attribute determined based
on the personal attribute, collected while transmitting the
content, and the conversion rule, and transmitting the selected
advertisement data, and an attribute collection step of collecting
the personal attribute on a person in a region where an image of
the displayed content is viewable and transmitting the personal
attribute to the information distribution device.
[0016] The present invention provides an information reception
method, comprising: receiving and displaying content and
advertisement data from an information distribution device
including advertisement storage means for storing the advertisement
data and an advertisement attribute associated with each other,
conversion-information storage means for storing a conversion rule
to convert a personal attribute to the advertisement attribute, and
information distribution means for selecting, from the
advertisement storage means, the advertisement data associated with
the advertisement attribute determined based on the personal
attribute, collected while transmitting the content, and the
conversion rule, and transmitting the selected advertisement data;
collecting the personal attribute on a person in a region where an
image of the displayed content is viewable; and transmitting to the
information distribution device.
Effect of the Invention
[0017] The present invention provides an information distribution
device, a system, a program, and a method which enables to increase
advertising effect by distributing an advertisement which matches a
person who is expected to be affected by an appeal effect.
BRIEF EXPLANATION ON DRAWINGS
[0018] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a
configuration of the first exemplary embodiment,
[0019] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an
advertisement storage unit 11 of the first exemplary
embodiment,
[0020] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a content
storage unit 12 of the first exemplary embodiment,
[0021] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of an
operation of the first exemplary embodiment,
[0022] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a
conversion-information storage unit 13 of the first exemplary
embodiment,
[0023] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a schedule
table of the first exemplary embodiment,
[0024] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a coefficient
table of the first exemplary embodiment,
[0025] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a
conversion-information storage unit 13 of the second exemplary
embodiment,
[0026] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of an
operation of the second exemplary embodiment.
[0027] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a content
storage unit 12 of the third exemplary embodiment.
[0028] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of an
operation of the third exemplary embodiment.
[0029] FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an
information distribution device 1 of the fourth exemplary
embodiment,
[0030] FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a
configuration of a terminal device 2 of the fifth exemplary
embodiment,
[0031] FIG. 14 is an explanatory diagram of an example of a display
unit 20.
EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS TO CARRY OUT THE INVENTION
[0032] Exemplary embodiments to carry out the invention are
explained below with drawings. In all the drawings, the same
elements have the same reference numerals and explanations
thereabout are optionally omitted.
[0033] Each unit which configures a device of each exemplary
embodiment is configured by hardware, e.g. a logic circuit. Each
unit may include a control unit, memory, a program which is loaded
on the memory, a storage unit, like a hard disk storing the
program, and an interface to connect a network. Each unit may be a
combination of hardware and software. Unless otherwise noted, an
achieving method and a device thereof are not limited.
[0034] The control unit includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit),
or the like. The control unit operates an operating system and
controls all of the devices, reads programs and data from a
recording medium placed in a drive device to the memory, and
executes various processes according thereto.
[0035] The recording medium may be an optical disc, a flexible
disc, magneto-optical disc, an external hard disk, a semiconductor
memory, or the like. The recording medium records a computer
program in a computer-readable manner. The computer program may be
downloaded from an external computer (not shown) connected to a
communication network.
[0036] The communication network may be Internet, LAN (Local Area
Network), a wireless communication network, or a network configured
by a combination thereof.
First Exemplary Embodiment
[0037] Next, the first exemplary embodiment of the invention is
explained with reference to drawings.
[0038] FIG. 1 illustrates an information distribution system A
according to the first exemplary embodiment. The information
distribution system A includes an information distribution device 1
and a terminal device 2. In the information distribution system A,
the information distribution device 1 transmits various types of
information to the terminal device 2 using a wireless or a wired
communication. Information transmission from the information
distribution device 1 to the terminal device 2 is carried out by
broad casting. The information may be distributed through an
Internet lines, e.g. an Internet TV (television). The number of the
terminal devices 2 may be more than one, or preferably more than
500 or more than 1000.
[0039] The information distribution device 1 includes an
information distribution unit 10, an advertisement storage unit 11,
a content storage unit 12, and a conversion-information storage
unit 13.
[0040] The information distribution unit 10 is broadcasting devices
placed in a broadcast station. The information distribution unit 10
has a capability of distributing information, like voices, images,
to the terminal devices 2 using electric signals. The information
distribution unit 10 may distribute the information through the
Internet lines, like the Internet TV. Various methods for
distributing information are well known, the method is not limited
to specific ones.
[0041] The information distribution unit 10 includes a function of
referring to a conversion rule described below and determining an
advertisement attribute associated with a personal attribute. The
information distribution unit 10 obtains advertisement data
associated with the determined advertisement attribute from the
advertisement storage unit 11, and distributes the obtained
advertisement data to the terminal devices 2.
[0042] The advertisement storage unit 11 may be managed by the
broadcast station, for example. The advertisement storage unit 11
stores the advertisement data obtained from an advertiser, an
advertising agency, or the like. As shown in FIG. 2, the
advertisement storage unit 11 stores the advertisement data (that
is advertisement) and the advertisement attribute associated with
each other. The advertisement data is, for instance, a still
picture or a motion picture including images and voices. The
advertisement data is stored in the advertisement storage unit 11
in a predetermined form. The advertisement attribute is information
indicating types of the advertisement data. For example, if content
of the advertisement is associated with golf commodities, the
advertisement attribute of "sports" is given to the
advertisement.
[0043] The advertisement attribute is given by the advertiser, the
advertising agency, or the like. The advertisement attribute of the
advertisement associated with the golf commodities is not limited
to "sports". The advertiser, the advertising agency, or the like
can give the advertisement attribute with an appropriate
granularity in order to make the advertisement easy to manage. For
example, if the golf commodities which are intended to advertise
relate to golf clubs, the advertising agency may give the
advertisement attribute of "golf club" instead of that of "sports".
If the advertising golf commodities relate to golf clothing, the
advertising agency may give the advertisement attribute of "golf
clothing". If the advertising golf commodities relate to toy golf
clubs for kids, the advertising agency may give the advertisement
attribute of "toy of golf goods". Giving such advertisement
attributes, the advertising agency can give the advertisement
attributes with fine granularity compared with totally giving the
advertisement attribute of "sports". The advertisement attributes
may be a name of talent or commodities appearing in the
advertisements.
[0044] The advertisement may be an advertisement for CM (Commercial
Message) broadcasting which is broadcasted between TV programs. In
this case, each advertisement is broadcasted at a time of a
predetermined advertising spot, as shown in a TV program schedule
table in FIG. 6. Broadcasting time for content and advertisements
are described in the TV program schedule table in FIG. 6. The TV
program schedule table may be preliminarily stored in a storage
unit (not shown) in the information distribution device 1.
[0045] The content storage unit 12 is managed by the broadcasting
station, and stores content data (that is content). The content is
a still picture or a motion picture including images and voices,
and is stored in the content storage unit 12 in a predetermined
form. The broadcasting station may obtain the content from a
content production company or a TV program production company, and
store it in the content storage unit 12.
[0046] The content may be content for broadcasting of TV programs.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 6, for example, content may be
broadcasted in accordance with the predetermined TV program
schedule. The content may be broadcasting programs which are
received by a TV receiver from TV broadcasting waves distributed by
the broadcasting station.
[0047] The content storage unit 12 may store the content data and a
content attribute associated with each other as shown in FIG. 3.
The content attribute is information indicating a type of content
and is given to the content by a content production company, a
broadcasting station, an advertiser, as advertisement agency, or
the like. For example, if the content relates to a golf program,
the content includes the content attribute of "sports program". The
content attribute given to the golf program is not limited to
"sports program". If the content relates to a golf program, the
given attribute may be "golf program". The content production
company may give the content attribute with an appropriate
granularity so as to make the content easy to manage. The content
attribute may be a name of a talent or commodities appearing in the
content.
[0048] The conversion-information storage unit 13 stores a rule of
conversion from a personal attribute to an advertisement attribute
(that is a first conversion rule). The conversion-information
storage unit 13 may store the table which associates time
information, the personal attribute, and the advertisement
attribute with one another for each cannel, as shown in FIG. 5. The
channel is identification information identifying a frequency band
at the time of content distribution. The time information is the
information indicating the time when the content is distributed
from the information distribution device 1 to the terminal device
2.
[0049] The personal attribute is a feature value representing
person characteristics. In FIG. 5, sex and an age of a person is
used as the personal attribute. The personal attribute may be an
amount of a hair and a hair color of a person, a hair style, the
presence or absence of a hat, the presence or absence of a mask,
the presence or absence of glasses, lightness of clothing, a logo
indicating brands of bags or accessories which a person wears, or
other information. The personal attribute may be a viewer's
response to content (e.g. laughing, crying, or being surprised).
Conversion from a personal attribute to an advertisement attribute
is described by using an example of FIG. 5. FIG. 5 shows that if
the personal attribute obtained by an attribute-information
collection unit 21, which will be described below, between 12:00:00
and 12:15:30, on Dec. 10, 2010 is "sex: male, age: 12 or less", the
personal attribute is converted to "advertisement attribute: toy".
Similarly, if the personal attribute obtained by the
attribute-information collection unit 21 between 12:16:00 and
12:30:30 on the same day is "sex: female, age: 20's to 30's", the
personal attribute is converted to the advertisement attribute
"cloth". The conversion-information storage unit 13 stores the
conversion rule to convert a personal attribute to an advertisement
attribute. The table of FIG. 5 is described as an example of the
conversion rule. If the conversion rule is a mapping in which a
personal attribute is inputted and an advertisement attribute is
outputted, the conversion rule is not particularly limited. The
conversion-information storage unit 13 may store the table
associating the personal attribute with the advertisement attribute
without distinguishing the channels. The conversion-information
storage unit 13 may store the conversion rule which does not depend
on the channel or the time information.
[0050] The terminal device 2 includes a display unit 20 and the
attribute-information collection unit 21.
[0051] The display unit 20 includes a display, e.g. a plasma
display panel, a liquid crystal display panel, a CRT (Cathode Ray
Tube). The display unit 20 includes a display control function of
outputting images and voices of the content and the advertisement.
The display unit 20 specifically includes a display control unit
200 and a display 201 as shown in FIG. 14. The display control unit
200 displays received content and an advertisement on the display.
As shown in FIG. 14, the display 201 may be placed outside the
terminal device 2. The terminal device 2 having the display unit 20
may be a TV receiver which is placed in a home and receives TV
broadcasting waves. The information distribution device 1 may
broadcast TV programs and CM advertisements to the TV receivers
placed in homes.
[0052] The attribute-information collection unit 21 has a function
of collecting the above personal attribute. The
attribute-information collection unit 21 has a function of
collecting the personal attributes of e.g. sex and an age of a
person, based on an image of the person imaged by an imaging
device, e.g. a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera, CMOS
(Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) camera, placed near the
display device 20. It is possible to collect a feature value such
as sex or an age of a person from an image of the person based on
various well-known methods. The method is not particularly limited
to specific one.
[0053] The imaging device is placed for example near the display
device 20. The imaging device images a region where the display
unit 20 can be viewed (that is a viewable region). The imaging
device may be mounted on the terminal device 2 or placed on a wall
or a ceiling near the terminal device 2. The viewable region is a
region where images or voices outputted from the display unit 20
can be viewed or received. The region may be a region arranged by
an administrator in advance.
[0054] The attribute-information collection unit 21 may collect
information on a person from a hand-held terminal, a smart card, or
the like which is held by the person located in the viewable region
of the display unit 20. If the hand-held-terminal includes the
personal attribute, like a sex, an age, or taste information, of
the person, the attribute-information collection unit 21 may
collect the personal attribute from the hand-held terminal based on
a RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) function in the hand-held
terminal, through a RFID reader placed near the display unit 20, or
the like. A method to collect the personal attribute is not
particularly limited to specific one.
[0055] When two persons or more are located in the viewable region,
the attribute-information collection unit 21 may select one person
using the way described below and obtain the personal attribute of
the person.
[0056] For example, the terminal device 2 stores a coefficient
table shown in FIG. 7 in a storage unit (not shown). A first
coefficient table includes a direction of a face of a person
located in the viewable region with respect to the display 201, and
a coefficient 1 related thereto. The attribute-information
collection unit 21 may compare a preset front view template image
of a face with a viewer's face, and determine the direction of the
viewer's face. A second coefficient table includes a person's pupil
size and a coefficient 2 related thereto. The pupil size is set by
an administrator in advance, so that the average value of people's
pupil size is used as a standard, and the size of the average value
is medium, the size larger than the average value by a given value
is large, and the size smaller than the average value by a given
value is small. The attribute-information collection unit 21
calculates a value of a given value.times.coefficient
1.times.coefficient 2, as a score representing a degree of
interest, for each person located in the viewable region. For
example, suppose that there are a viewer A (male, 10's), a viewer B
(female, 40's), a viewer C (male, 40's) in the viewable region, the
viewer A faces the front, and the pupil size of the viewer A is
large. In this case, if the given value is 10, the degree of
interest of the viewer A is 10.times.1.times.1=10. If the viewer B
faces rearward, the degree of interest is zero. If the viewer C
faces the right side and the size of the pupil of the viewer C is
large, the degree of interest is 10.times.0.5.times.1=5. In this
case, the attribute-information collection unit 21 obtains the
personal attribute of the viewer A whose degree of interest is the
highest, i.e. "age: 10's, sex: male", and does not collect the
personal attributes of the other two persons. As described above,
when two persons or more are located in the viewable region, the
attribute-information collection unit 21 may select one person
therein and collect the attribute thereof. Calculation of the
degree of interest may be performed based on the distance between a
viewer and the display 201, viewing time of the display 201, or the
like, instead of the direction of the face and the size of the
pupil, and is not limited to a specific one. In the above
descriptions, selection of the person is performed using the degree
of interest. However, the attribute-information collection unit 21
may collect the degree of interest itself. The degree of interest
may be used as marketing information.
[0057] The attribute-information collection unit 21 periodically
obtains the personal attribute, and successively transmits the
obtained personal attribute to an information distribution device
1, each time obtaining the personal attribute. When the information
distribution device 1 receives the personal attribute, an
information distribution unit 10 specifies the personal attribute
having the highest frequency in the personal attributes collected
while distributing content, in the received personal attributes.
The information distribution unit 10 selects the advertisement
attribute above described based on the specified personal
attribute. The information distribution unit 10 may refer to
content distribution time indicated in the TV program schedule
table of FIG. 6, and specify the personal attribute having the
highest frequency within the time. The information distribution
unit 10 may select the advertisement attribute above described
based on the specified personal attribute.
[0058] The attribute-information collection unit 21 may receive the
TV program schedule table of FIG. 6 from the information
distribution unit 10. After the terminal device 2 receives content,
the attribute-information collection unit 21 may periodically
collect the personal attribute until a predetermined time comes.
The attribute-information collection unit 21 may specify the
personal attribute having the highest frequency in the collected
personal attributes and transmit the personal attribute to the
information distribution device 1 at a predetermined time. The
predetermined time is the time earlier, by a predetermined period
of time, than the time the information distribution unit 10
distributes the advertisement data. For example, according to the
TV program schedule table of FIG. 6 received by the
attribute-information collection unit 21, an advertising spot is
set between 12:15:30 and 12:16:00, after the distribution time of
content data 1 for a golf program which is set between 12:00:00 and
12:15:30. In this case, the attribute-information collection unit
21 continues to periodically collect the personal attribute from
the distribution time for the content data 1 of 12:00:00 until the
time which is the predetermined time earlier than the advertisement
distribution time of 12:15:30 (e.g. until 12:14:00, if the
predetermined time is 1 minute, 30 seconds). Regarding the
collected personal attributes, if "sex: male, age: 23" is collected
3 times, "sex: female, age: 42" is collected 5 times, and "sex:
male, age: 50" is collected 7 times, the attribute-information
collection unit 21 transmits "sex: male, age: 50" which is the
personal attribute having the highest frequency to the information
distribution device 1 at the predetermined time of 12:14:00.
[0059] Operations of an information distribution system A in the
exemplary embodiment is explained with FIG. 4.
[0060] The information distribution unit 10 obtains content to be
distributed at the time from the content storage unit 12, for
example, by referring to the TV program schedule table in FIG. 6,
and distributes to the terminal device 2 (step S11).
[0061] When the terminal device 2 receives the content, the display
unit 20 displays the content (step S12). The attribute-information
collection unit 21 obtains the personal attribute on the person
located in the viewable region using the method above described
(step S13).
[0062] The attribute-information collection unit 21 periodically
obtains the personal attribute, and successively transmits the
obtained personal attribute and information of the time when the
personal attribute is obtained to the information distribution
device 1 each time the personal attribute is obtained. The
attribute-information collection unit 21 may obtain the time from a
clock installed in the terminal device 2, an external radio clock,
or the like. The attribute-information collection unit 21 obtains
channel information on the content displayed on the display unit 20
from the display unit 20. The attribute-information collection unit
21 associates the channel information, the time information, and
the obtained personal attribute with one another and transmits them
to the information distribution device 1.
[0063] When the information distribution device 1 receives the
information (step S14), the information distribution unit 10 refers
to the first conversion rule shown in FIG. 5, refers to the right
record of the channel information and the time information, and
selects the advertisement attribute related to the obtained
personal attribute (step S15). For instance, if the cannel
information is a channel 1, and the received time information
indicates the time between 12:00:00 and 12:15:30, the information
distribution unit 10 refers to the top row record in FIG. 5. If the
obtained personal attribute is for example "sex: male, age 23", the
personal attribute corresponds to "sex: male, age: other". In this
case, the information distribution unit 10 selects the
advertisement attribute of "clock" which is the associated
advertisement attribute next.
[0064] Next, the information distribution unit 10 selects the
advertisement data associated with the selected advertisement
attribute from the advertisement storage unit 11 (step S16). For
example, if the information distribution unit 10 obtains the
advertisement attribute of "clock", the information distribution
unit 10 obtains the associated "advertisement data 4" from the
advertisement storage unit 11 in FIG. 2.
[0065] If the first conversion rule does not depend on the channel
or the time information, the attribute-information collection unit
21 may transmits only the personal attribute to the information
distribution unit 1. In this case, the information distribution
unit 10 selects the advertisement attribute associated with the
personal attribute which is received while the information
distribution unit 10 distributes content, among the personal
attributes received by the information distribution unit 1, by
referring to the first conversion rule.
[0066] The information distribution unit 10 distributes the
obtained advertisement data to the terminal device 2 (step S17). As
shown in the TV program schedule table of FIG. 6, since the
advertising spot is determined in advance for each channel, the
information distribution unit 10 distributes the advertisement data
at while the period of time of the advertising spot of the TV
program schedule table.
[0067] It is preferable that the advertisement data determined
based on the collected personal attribute is distributed in the
advertising spot just after the content distribution, at the time
of which the person with the collected personal attribute is more
likely to stay in the region. Therefore, according to the schedule
of the channel 1 in FIG. 6, it is preferable that the information
distribution unit 10 determines the advertisement to be distributed
between 12:15:30 and 12:16:00, based on the personal attribute
collected by the attribute-information collection unit 21 between
12:00:00 and 12:15:30. In this case, the predetermined time above
described is preferably set in consideration of the period of time
while the personal attribute is converted to the advertisement
attribute and the period of time while the information distribution
unit 10 selects the advertisement data.
[0068] In step S14 to step S16, when the information distribution
device 1 fails to receive the personal attribute or when the
advertisement attribute related to the personal attribute is not
found, the information distribution unit 10 may obtain a given
default advertisement from a storage unit of the advertisement
storage unit 11, or the like, and distribute to the terminal device
2.
[0069] Next, the terminal device 2 receives the advertisement data
transmitted from the information distribution unit 10. Then, the
display unit 20 displays the advertisement (step S18).
[0070] According to the exemplary embodiment, the information
distribution device 1 determines the advertisement to be
distributed based on the personal attribute collected while content
is distributed. That is, according to the exemplary embodiment,
after distribution of the content, it is possible to select and
distribute the advertisement which matches a viewer who gets an
interest in content and stays in the viewable region while the
content is distributed.
[0071] Therefore, according to the exemplary embodiment, since not
only the advertisement is distributed unilaterally, but the
advertisement which matches the viewer who gets an interest in the
content is distributed after the content is distributed, the
advertising effect can be increased.
[0072] And, as described in the document of the background art,
when the advertisement to be distributed is determined by
extracting a personal attribute of a client who passes in front of
an image display device in a public space, a full advertising
effect is not necessarily produced because the client has possibly
passed in front of the image display device when the advertisement
is distributed. On the other hand, according to the exemplary
embodiment, since the content is distributed first, and then the
advertisement is distributed to the viewer who gets an interest
therein, the advertisement which matches the person who is likely
to be in the place can be distributed. Therefore, the advertising
effect can be increased.
[0073] The information distribution device 1 may include a
conversion rule which associates the personal attribute with the
advertisement data, and directly select the advertisement data to
be distributed from the received personal attribute without the
advertisement attribute. The information distribution device 1 may
transmit the advertisement not after the content distribution, but
in parallel with the content distribution.
[0074] In the above descriptions, the example is explained, in
which the advertisement to be distributed to the terminal device 2
is determined based on the personal attribute of the person located
in front of one terminal device 2. The exemplary embodiment is not
limited thereto. For instance, the information distribution device
1 may carry out statistical processing on viewers' personal
attributes collected from a large number (that is, k (which is
roughly 100, for example)) of the terminal devices 2 which are
separately placed, select the advertisement based on the result,
and distribute the advertisement to the plurality of the terminal
devices 2. The information distribution device 1 may determine one
personal attribute based on the mode, the average, the median, or
the like of the personal attributes obtained from the terminal
devices 2, and select and distribute the advertisement attribute
associated with the personal attribute. The information
distribution device 1 may select the sex which is major among sexes
(male, female) obtained from the terminal devices 2. And, the
information distribution device 1 may calculate the average value
of ages obtained from the terminal devices 2. And, the information
distribution device 1 may refer to the conversion rule above
described using the sex and the age, and determine the
advertisement to be distributed. In this way, the information
distribution device 1 may determine the advertisement to be
distributed to a plurality of terminal devices based on the
personal attributes obtained from the plurality of terminal
devices.
[0075] The information distribution device 1 may distribute content
to the plurality of terminal devices 2, and receive the personal
attributes from the attribute-information collection units 21 which
k of the terminal devices 2 include. The information distribution
device 1 may select the advertisement from the advertisement
storage unit 11 based on the result of the statistical processing
on the personal attributes collected while transmitting the
content, and transmit the selected advertisement to n terminal
devices (where n is a natural number greater than k). The
information distribution device 1 does not collect the personal
attribute from all the n terminal devices 2, but may collect the
personal attributes from the k terminal devices and determine the
advertisement to be distributed to the n terminal devices based on
the collected personal attributes. The k terminal devices 2 are
preferably the terminal devices which are selected from the n
terminal devices 2 by an appropriate sampling. And, it is
preferable that the information distribution device 1 is able to
estimate a tendency or a trend of viewers of the n terminal devices
by using the k terminal devices. And, it is preferable that k is
great enough to estimate a tendency of a population in order to
limit a sampling error in a given range. The number of samples with
respect to a population required to limit a sampling error to a
given range can be calculated using a well-known method. For
instance, the number of samples may be a range of 39 to 390
(.times.ten times) units per one million units. The value is based
on the following estimation. That is, assuming that the number of
the TV receivers in Japan is 48 million, the ratio of the number of
viewers in the Kanto area is 0.38 hundred million/1.18 hundred
million=32%, the number of viewing rate monitoring households=600,
and each TV receiver includes one attribute-information collection
unit 21, the number of the attribute-information collection units
21 per one million TV receivers is 39 (=600/(48.times.0.32)).
Needless to say, the number and the estimation method are nothing
but one of examples.
[0076] Each of the viewable regions of the plurality of terminal
devices 2 may not be overlapped and be exclusive region. The
personal attribute collected by one attribute-information
collection unit 21 may be a personal attribute of a person located
near the one terminal device 2. In order to achieve the above
situation, each of the plurality of terminal devices 2 may be
placed at each household, and may be separately placed.
[0077] A destination of the attribute-information collected by the
attribute-information collection unit 21 and a place where the
statistical processing is performed are not necessarily the
information distribution device 1. For instance the statistical
processing may be performed in a different device, and the result
of the statistical processing may be transmitted to a broadcasting
station or an advertisement agency. The statistical processing may
be performed on a cloud computing system.
[0078] The collected attribute-information may be analyzed by the
information distribution device 1 or other devices, and be used as
marketing information.
[0079] And, the information distribution device 1 may transmit
information on the selected one advertisement to a server of the
advertisement agency (not shown). The advertisement agency may
charge the advertiser based on the information.
Second Exemplary Embodiment
[0080] Next, the second exemplary embodiment is explained with
reference to drawings. In the exemplary embodiment, the content
storage unit 12 stores the content data and the content attribute
associated with each other.
[0081] The conversion-information storage unit 13 stores a
conversion rule (that is, a second conversion rule) from the
content attribute and the personal attribute to the advertisement
attribute. The information distribution unit 10 determines the
advertisement attribute based on the collected personal attribute,
the content attribute associated with the transmitted content, and
the second conversion rule, and selects the advertisement data
associated with the determined advertisement attribute. These
differences are mainly described below.
[0082] The content storage unit 12 stores the content data and the
content attribute associated with each other. The content attribute
has been described in the first exemplary embodiment, therefore the
descriptions thereof is omitted.
[0083] The conversion-information storage unit 13 stores the
conversion rule (which is the second conversion rule) from the
content attribute and the personal attribute to the advertisement
attribute. The conversion-information storage unit 13 may store a
table in which the personal attribute is associated with the
advertisement attribute for each content attribute as shown in FIG.
8. In this case, for example, the top row record of FIG. 8
represents that when the content attribute is "content attribute:
golf program" and the personal attribute obtained by the
attribute-information collection unit 21 is "sex: male, age: 12 or
less", the content attribute and the personal attribute are
converted to "advertisement attribute: golf toy". The table is
exemplified here, however the form of the conversion rule is not
limited to a specific one, if it is a mapping in which the content
attribute and the personal attribute are inputted, and the
advertisement attribute is outputted. In FIG. 8, the
conversion-information storage unit 13 includes the table which
differs from one cannel to another. However, the
conversion-information storage unit 13 may store the table in which
the personal attribute is associated with the advertisement
attribute for each content attribute without being distinguished by
the channel.
[0084] The information distribution unit 10, unlike the operation
described in the first exemplary embodiment, determines the
advertisement based on the content attribute associated with the
content transmitted to the terminal device 2, the personal
attribute collected by the attribute-information collection unit
21, and the second conversion rule stored in the
conversion-information storage unit 13. The information
distribution unit 10 selects the advertisement data associated with
the determined advertisement attribute from the advertisement
storage unit 11, and distributes the advertisement data to the
terminal device 2 after content distribution. Detailed operations
are described below.
[0085] Operations of an information distribution system A in the
exemplary embodiment are explained with FIG. 9. Initially the
information distribution unit 10 obtains content to be distributed
at the time in accordance with the TV program schedule table in
FIG. 6, and distributes the content to the terminal device 2 (step
S21).
[0086] When the terminal device 2 receives the content, the display
unit 20 displays the content (step S22). Then, the
attribute-information collection unit 21 obtains personal
attributes of a person located in the viewable region (step S23).
Here, the attribute-information collection unit 21 periodically
obtains the personal attribute, and successively transmits the
obtained personal attribute and information on the time when the
personal attribute is obtained to the information distribution
device 1 each time the personal attribute is obtained. On this
occasion, the attribute-information collection unit 21 may obtain
the time from e.g. a built-in clock of the terminal device 2, an
external radio clock, or the like. The attribute-information
collection unit 21 obtains channel information of the content
displayed in the display unit 20 from the control unit, associates
the channel information, the time information, and the obtained
personal attribute with one another, and transmits the channel
information, the time information, and the obtained personal
attribute to the information distribution device 1.
[0087] When the information distribution device 1 receives the
above information (step S24), the information distribution unit 10
obtains the content attribute of the content currently transmitted
from the content storage unit 12. The information distribution unit
10 may specify the content attribute based on the channel
information obtained by referring to the TV program schedule table
in FIG. 6 and the time information. For instance, if the channel is
the channel 1, and the time indicated by the time information is
the time between 12:00:00 and 12:15:30, the content attribute is
"golf program" as shown in FIG. 6.
[0088] Next, the information distribution unit 10 selects the
associated advertisement attribute based on the content attribute
and the obtained personal attribute by referring to the conversion
rule indicated in FIG. 8 based on the channel information (step
S25). For instance, if the channel information is the channel 1 and
the content attribute is "golf program", the information
distribution unit 10 refers to the top row record of FIG. 8. If the
obtained personal attribute is e.g. "sex: male, age: 23", the
personal attribute corresponds to "sex: male, age: other" in the
conversion rule of FIG. 8. The information distribution unit 10
therefore selects the advertisement attribute of "golf club" which
is the associated advertisement attribute.
[0089] Next, the information distribution unit 10 selects the
advertisement data associated with the selected advertisement
attribute from the advertisement storage unit 11 (step S 26). If
the advertisement attribute obtained by the information
distribution unit 10 is a golf club, the information distribution
unit 10 obtains associated "advertisement data 1" from the
advertisement storage unit 11 of FIG. 2.
[0090] Next, the information distribution unit 10 distributes the
obtained advertisement data to the terminal device 2 (step S27).
The terminal device 2 receives the advertisement data. Next the
display unit 20 displays the advertisement (step S28).
[0091] The information distribution device 1 of the exemplary
embodiment determines the advertisement to be distributed based on
the personal attribute of a viewer during content distribution and
contents of the content. The information distribution device 1
therefore can distribute not only the personal attribute but the
advertisement related to the contents of the content. The
information distribution device 1 can distribute the golf-related
advertisement to a viewer who is watching a golf program, and
further can change the golf-related advertisement to be distributed
into an advertisement of golf clothing, an advertisement of a golf
club, or an advertisement of a golf toy, depending on the personal
attribute of the viewer. According to such configuration, the
advertiser and the advertisement agency can preliminarily determine
the advertisement attribute which is intended to advertise,
regarding the content attribute and the personal attribute.
Therefore, a targeting advertisement can be carried out using not
only the personal attribute but the contents of the content.
[0092] Therefore, according to the exemplary embodiment, since the
advertisement is unilaterally distributed and the advertisement
which matches the viewer can be distributed to the viewer who gets
an interest in the content, the advertising effect is
increased.
Third Exemplary Embodiment
[0093] Next a third exemplary embodiment is explained with
reference to drawings.
[0094] The exemplary embodiment differs from the first exemplary
embodiment in that the content storage unit 12 stores the content
and the collection time for the personal attribute associated with
each other. And the exemplary embodiment differs from the first
exemplary embodiment in that the information distribution unit 10
selects the advertisement data based on the personal attribute
collected at the collection time. The differences are described
below.
[0095] The content storage unit 12, as shown in FIG. 10, stores the
collection time for the personal attribute of the attribute
information collection unit 21 and the content associated with one
another. The collection time is given by a collection time
provider, e.g. a content production company, a broadcasting
company, an advertiser, an advertisement agency, or the like. The
collection time provider sets the time when a highlight scene in
the content, or a part of content including a specific commodity,
facilities like a golf course, a hotel, a travel scene, or the
like, are played back in the terminal device 2, as the collection
time. The collection time provider may set the time when a part of
content in which a voice level is a predetermined level or more, or
a part of content in which brightness is a predetermined brightness
or more, are played back, as the collection time. The time may be a
relative time starting at a program starting time.
[0096] The information distribution device 1 may detect the part of
content in which a voice level is a predetermined level or more, or
the part of content in which brightness is a predetermined
brightness or more, by analyzing the content data. The information
distribution device 1 may store the time when the parts is played
back, as the collection time, in the content storage unit 12.
[0097] Two or more collection times are possible, and the
collection time may be a period of time. For instance, in the
example shown in FIG. 10, the collection time of the personal
attribute related to the content attribute: "content data 2" of
travel program is the time slot from 12:33:22 to 12:34:50. The
collection times of the personal attribute related to the content
attribute: "content data 3" of drama are 13:30:12 and 13:35:11.
[0098] The information distribution unit 10 refers to the
collection time stored in the content storage unit 12. The
information distribution unit 10 refers to the
conversion-information storage unit 13 of the first exemplary
embodiment or the second exemplary embodiment based on the personal
attribute collected by the attribute-information collection unit 21
at the collection time or the time near the collection time (that
is, the time within a predetermined time from the collection time).
The information distribution unit 10 selects a related
advertisement attribute. The information distribution unit 10
selects the advertisement data associated with the selected
advertisement attribute from the advertisement storage unit 11, and
transmits the advertisement data to the terminal device 2.
[0099] Next, operations of an information distribution system A in
the exemplary embodiment are explained with FIG. 11. Initially the
information distribution unit 10 obtains content to be distributed
at the time in accordance with the TV program schedule table in
FIG. 6, and distributes the content to the terminal device 2 (step
S31). At this time, the information distribution unit 10 may
distribute information on the collection time stored in the content
storage unit 12 to the terminal device 2 together with the
content.
[0100] When the terminal device 2 receives the content, the display
unit 20 displays the content (step S32). The attribute-information
collection unit 21 obtains a personal attribute of a person located
in the viewable region (step S33).
[0101] The attribute-information collection unit 21 transmits the
obtained personal attribute to the information distribution device
1. The attribute-information collection unit 21 periodically
obtains the personal attribute, and successively transmits the
obtained personal attribute and information on the time when the
personal attribute is obtained to the information distribution
device 1 each time the personal attribute is obtained. When
receiving information on the collection time from the information
distribution unit 10 in step S32, the attribute-information
collection unit 21 may obtain the time from a built-in clock of the
terminal device 2, an external radio clock, or the like. Only when
the current time coincides with the collection time, the
attribute-information collection unit 21 may obtain the personal
attribute and transmit the personal attribute to the information
distribution device 1. In this way, an amount of data can be
reduced rather than successively transmitting the personal
attribute from the terminal device 2 to the information
distribution device 1. The attribute-information collection unit 21
associates the channel information, the time information obtained
from the inside or the outside of the terminal device, and the
obtained personal attribute with one another, and transmits the
channel information, the time information obtained from the inside
or the outside of the terminal device, and the obtained personal
attribute to the information distribution device 1.
[0102] When the information distribution device 1 receives the
above-described information (step S34), the information
distribution unit 10 specifies the distributing content. The
information distribution unit 10 may specify the content based on
the channel information obtained by referring to the TV program
schedule table in FIG. 6 and the time information. Next, the
information distribution unit 10 refers to the content storage unit
12 and obtains the collection time associated with the specified
content.
[0103] Next, the information distribution unit 10 extracts, from
the obtained personal attributes, the personal attribute collected
by the attribute-information collection unit 21 at the collection
time or the time near the collection time (that is, the time within
a predetermined time from the collection time). Next, the
information distribution unit 10 selects the advertisement
attribute using the personal attribute (step S35). That is, the
information distribution unit 10 refers to the conversion rule
shown in FIG. 5 or FIG. 8. The information distribution unit 10
selects the related advertisement attribute based on the personal
attribute or based on the personal attribute and the content
attribute.
[0104] The information distribution unit 10 selects advertisement
data related to the selected advertisement attribute from the
advertisement storage unit 11 (step S36). For instance, if the
advertisement attribute obtained by the information distribution
unit 10 is "golf club", the information distribution unit 10
obtains associated "advertisement data 1" from the advertisement
storage unit 11 of FIG. 2.
[0105] Next, the information distribution unit 10 distributes the
obtained advertisement data to the terminal device 2 (step S37).
The terminal device 2 receives the advertisement data. The display
unit 20 displays the advertisement (step S38).
[0106] Since the information distribution device 1 of the exemplary
embodiment determines the advertisement to be distributed next,
based on the personal attribute collected in the specific part in
content, an advertiser can distribute the advertisement which
matches viewers viewing the specific part in the content, in
addition to the effects of the first exemplary embodiment and the
second exemplary embodiment. Therefore, according to the exemplary
embodiment, since it is possible not only to unilaterally
distribute an advertisement but also to distribute, to the viewer
getting an interest in the content, the advertisement which matches
the viewer, the effect of the advertisement is increased.
Fourth Exemplary Embodiment
[0107] Next a fourth exemplary embodiment is explained with
reference to drawings.
[0108] As shown in FIG. 12, an information distribution device 1 of
the exemplary embodiment includes the information distribution unit
10, the advertisement storage unit 11, and the
conversion-information storage unit 13.
[0109] The advertisement storage unit 11 stores the advertisement
data and the advertisement attribute associated with each other.
The conversion-information storage unit 13 stores the first
conversion rule from a personal attribute to an advertisement
attribute. The information distribution unit 10 obtains content
from the content storage unit 12 outside or inside the information
distribution device 1, and transmits the content to the terminal
device 2 displaying the content. The information distribution unit
10 receives the personal attribute from the attribute-information
collection unit 21 collecting the personal attribute of a person
located in a viewable region of the content. The information
distribution unit 10 specifies the personal attribute collected
while transmitting the content. Next, the information distribution
unit 10 determines the advertisement attribute based on the first
conversion rule stored in the conversion-information storage unit
13. Next, the information distribution unit 10 selects
advertisement data associated with the determined advertisement
attribute from the advertisement storage unit 11, and transmits the
selected advertisement data to the terminal device 2.
[0110] According to the information distribution device 1 of the
exemplary embodiment, since it is possible not only to unilaterally
distribute an advertisement but also to distribute, to a viewer
getting an interest in the content, the advertisement which matches
the viewer, the effect of the advertisement is increased.
Fifth Exemplary Embodiment
[0111] Next a fifth exemplary embodiment is explained with
reference to drawings.
[0112] As shown in FIG. 13, a terminal device 2 of the exemplary
embodiment includes the attribute-information collection unit
21.
[0113] The terminal device 2 receives content from the information
distribution device 1, and the display unit 20 displays it. The
attribute-information collection unit 21 collects the personal
attributes of one person or more in the region where an image of
the content displayed on the display device 20 can be viewed, and
transmits them to the information distribution device 1. And, the
terminal device 2 receives, from the information distribution
device 1, the advertisement data associated with the advertisement
attribute, which is determined by the information distribution
device 1 based on the personal attribute collected while receiving
the content and the first conversion rule, or based on the personal
attribute, the content attribute, and the second conversion rule.
The display unit 20 displays the advertisement data.
[0114] According to the terminal device 2 of the exemplary
embodiment, since it is possible not only to unilaterally
distribute an advertisement but also to distribute, to a viewer
getting an interest in the content, the advertisement which matches
the viewer, the effect of the advertisement is increased.
[0115] Though being explained based on the above exemplary
embodiment, the inventions are not limited to the above
descriptions. It is to be understood that to the configurations and
details of the invention of the present application, various
changes can be made within the scope of the invention of the
present application by those skilled in the art.
[0116] This application claims priority from Japanese Patent
Application No. 2011-087492 filed on Apr. 11, 2011, the contents of
which are to incorporation herein by reference in their
entirety.
EXPLANATION ON REFERENCE NUMERALS
[0117] 1 information distribution device [0118] 10 information
distribution unit [0119] 11 advertisement storage unit [0120] 12
content storage unit [0121] 13 conversion-information storage unit
[0122] 2 terminal device [0123] 20 display unit [0124] 21
attribute-information collection unit
* * * * *