WO2007036251A2

WO2007036251A2 - System for recording contributions sung by television viewers

Info

Publication number: WO2007036251A2
Application number: PCT/EP2006/006627
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sebastian Borek
Original assignee: 9Live Fernsehen Gmbh
Priority date: 2005-09-29
Filing date: 2006-07-06
Publication date: 2007-04-05
Also published as: WO2007036251A3; DE102005046708A1

Abstract

The invention relates to a system for recording contributions that are sung by television viewers, comprising means for displaying a text on a television screen, means for recording the contributions sung by the television viewers, a control facility for controlling the quality of the sung contribution using parameters of the sung contribution and desired parameters, evaluation means for evaluating the sung contribution based on the control carried out by the control means, and means for transmitting the result of evaluation or making it available to the television viewer.

Description

9Live Television AG & Co. KG D-85737 Ismaning

System for recording sung contributions by television viewers

The invention relates to a system for recording sung contributions from television viewers.

So-called karaoke shows are known in numerous different configurations and embodiments. Common to them is the feature that a participant of the text of a known song is displayed, which is then as authentic as possible nachzusingen the participant. Such shows take place, for example, at larger events or in discos.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a system by means of which it is possible to enable a large number of television viewers to participate in a karaoke show in a manner motivating them to participate.

This object is achieved by a system having the features of claim 1. The system for capturing sung contributions from television viewers according to the invention comprises means for generating a display of a text a television screen, means for recording the television viewer's sung contributions, testing means by means of which the quality of the sung contribution can be tested on the basis of parameters of the sung contribution and set parameters, evaluation means for the evaluation of the sung contribution on the basis of the test carried out in the test equipment and means to transmit or provide the result of the evaluation to the television viewer.

According to the invention it is thus provided that the television viewer is displayed on his TV screen, a text that the viewer can then sing, for example, with the aid of a phone. The sung contribution is recorded and subjected to a test according to specific parameters or criteria. The evaluation or grading of the sung contribution is provided to the viewer or transmitted to him. The rating may include a score or rating of the sung song It is also conceivable to set up rankings that are visible to the viewer on the television screen and in which the songs sung z. B. are sorted according to the achieved score or grading. In this way, a special motivation is generated to sing again a contribution to improve in the ranking. The position of the ranking can be linked with special prices etc.

The system may include means for recording, i. H. Storage of the sung contribution. The examination can be carried out during the entry of the contribution. It is also conceivable to carry out the examination of the recorded contribution.

The parameters of the sung contribution and the target parameters may be, for example, the rest and / or sound intervals of a sung song. It is conceivable, for example, that in the test equipment, a comparison is made between rest and sound intervals between the sung song and a reference song, ie the original, in order to be able to evaluate how authentically the television viewer sang the song. The parameters may also be audio frequencies and / or sound power.

To prevent that the voice (high or low voices) or the volume (strong and weak voices) of the sung contribution play a role, it can be provided that the test means are designed such that the pitch and the volume of the sung Contributions in the examination of the contribution are disregarded.

To detect possible delays by the telephone transmission of the sung song or to take into account in the evaluation, it can be provided that the test means and / or the evaluation means are designed such that these delays between the generation of the sung contribution by the television viewer (preferably on the telephone) and the recording of the sung contribution by the system according to the invention in the examination or in the evaluation of the contribution are taken into account, d. H. have no influence on the examination or the evaluation of the sung contribution.

Furthermore, it can be provided that a filter is arranged, which filters out background noise in the recording / recording of the recorded contributions of the television viewers, so that they also have no influence on the examination / evaluation.

In a further embodiment of the invention it is provided that means for generating background music are provided. This background music can be played in parallel with the text on a television by the viewer. For this the television viewer can sing his contribution.

Furthermore, it can be provided that means for generating vocals with background music are provided. It is conceivable, for example, that a certain section of the song is played with a sample song and the background music and parallel to the text is displayed. This can be the Watch TV viewers how the vocals should sound and already practice singing the contribution. Following this, it can be provided that only the background music is played back and the text of the song is faded in so that the television viewer can sing his or her contribution.

A participation of the television viewers is preferably by calling and singing the song, listening to the background music on the television and viewing the text on the television.

The system according to the invention preferably analyzes the callers and their singing. The vocals are evaluated using the mentioned parameters. On the basis of these parameters, for example, a note is issued for the participating television viewer. Based on these scores, a ranking of the participating spectators can be established. This can the television viewers z. B. be presented on the TV screen or transmitted in any other way. It is also conceivable that the ranking list will be made available for retrieval. The provided grades or scores and / or rankings can be z. B. be accessed by phone or internet.

As already stated, it may be provided that the means for recording the sung contributions are designed such that they record contributions transmitted by telephone. Thus, on the part of the television viewer, only a telephone and a television are needed to use the system according to the invention.

The means for generating a display of a text on a television screen and / or the means for detecting the sung contributions of the television viewers and / or the means for recording the recorded contributions of the spectators and / or the testing means and / or the evaluation means and / or the means To transmit or provide the result of the evaluation to the television viewer may be formed by software or controlled by software. It is conceivable that such software forms the core of the invention. according to the system by controlling the processes or means described in the desired manner.

It is particularly advantageous if an IVR (interactive voice response) platform is provided for communication with the television viewers.

In this case, the platform is preferably embodied such that the sung contributions of several, preferably a plurality of television viewers, can be transmitted simultaneously to the means for recording the contributions. Thus, it is possible to have a high number of viewers by phone at the same time. Preferably, it is provided that the IVR system instructs the caller and instructs him. It is particularly advantageous if the IVR platform communicates directly with the software or the software forms part of the platform.

In a further embodiment of the invention may finally be provided that means are provided which provide the television viewer the recorded sung contribution submit or play. Furthermore, it can be provided that the television viewer receives a PIN number, by means of which his contribution is clearly identifiable.

It is also conceivable that a test unit is provided, which is designed such that the communication with the television viewer is carried out in dependence on which period of time after a call participation is possible. For example, it may be provided that the viewers are informed that the participation is currently not possible, because within a certain period of time after the call no karaoke show is running. However, if this is not the case, d. H. If, in the foreseeable future, participation is possible after the call, the viewer will be instructed as to how he / she will attend.

Further details and advantages will be explained with reference to an example shown in the drawing. Show it: Fig. 1: a schematic representation of the participation process using the system according to the invention and

2 shows a schematic representation of a flowchart of the participation process subdivided into system levels using the system according to the invention.

The embodiment of the invention described below is based on the basic idea that a large number of television viewers can participate simultaneously by telephone in an interactive karaoke show. Each participant who owns a telephone and a TV is eligible to participate in the show.

According to the invention, it is provided that in each case only one song is played and the television viewer is prompted to sing along from the beginning or at least for the duration of a certain period of time, for example 20 seconds.

The system according to this embodiment consists of several components, which are described below:

1. During a TV show, a moderator presents various songs and motivates the audience to call and sing along. During a show, for example, several songs, for example, up to 8 songs can be presented.

2. By means of the IVR system, a large number of viewers can sing along by phone at the same time. The IVR system instructs the caller and assigns it to the service. The IVR connects directly to the karaoke software described below, allowing for channeling of proper operations. 3. The karaoke software is an integral part of the system according to the invention. It sends the lyrics and accompanying music directly to the television viewer via the TV signal. At the same time, the songs of the television viewers are recorded and evaluated by means of the software.

The software is directly connected to the IVR telephone system and the broadcasting system. In this way, it is possible that the audience can read the vocal text and sing along the phone at the same time.

1 shows an exemplary sequence of the karaoke show using the system according to the invention. First, it can be provided that a trial phase is set up, which serves for practicing the television viewer. This z. B. 40 seconds of the song or another period of time with a sample song and the background music played in parallel to the text is displayed. This gives the television viewers the opportunity to hear what the vocals should sound like. This song may contain the required target parameters, which will later be examined to what extent the recorded vocals of the television viewers with the original song or a reference song match.

After that, the song will be played without the vocals. The background music is retained, the lyrics are also faded in. This is done by means of said software, which emits these signals via the TV channel.

Viewers now participate by calling and singing the karaoke song, listening to the background music through the television and watching the text through the television. Upstream of this step, the test step shown in Figure 1 may be whether a song is played within the next 5 minutes (or other period of time). If this is not the case, the informed accordingly. If so, the viewer is instructed by the IVR platform how to proceed to participate.

Following this, a check is made as to whether the next song will begin within the next 15 seconds (or any other period of time). If this is not the case, the loop is run again and it is checked if a new song within the next 5 minutes.

If the test proves that the next song begins within the next 15 seconds, the television viewer has to wait until it receives a sound signal. Following this, the system records the vocals until the end of the song using the aforementioned software.

The software analyzes the callers as well as their singing.

Here, the sung piece is analyzed or tested on the basis of various parameters:

Parameter 1: Matching the sound intervals: The software checks to what extent the silence and sound intervals match those of the original.

Parameter 2: Checking the sound purity: The software checks to what extent the audio frequency and the sound power match the original.

The sum of the evaluation of the parameters 1 and 2 gives a grade for the participating television viewer. By means of the evaluation means, a ranking list of the spectators is established on the basis of their evaluations. This also executes the named software. Via the IVR platform, the viewer receives the message of how his rating has failed, ie a rating and which ranking list is assigned to him among the other spectators who have previously participated. Of the Viewers are then asked to enter name and contact number. This is followed by the registration and the communication of a specific reference number of the participant, which uniquely identifies his sung contribution.

By realizing the frequency and the sound power, differences in the evaluation between high and low voices, which sound different but still reproduce the correct vocals, and valuation differences between strong and weak voices can be avoided.

Beyond this scope, it is preferably provided that said software, which forms the core of the system, has the following characteristics:

It is conceivable to adjust male and female voices automatically in such a way that due to differences in gender there are no disadvantages in the assessment, ie. H. the voice is taken into account to the extent that it plays no role in the examination or the evaluation.

Since it is conceivable that delays occur in the telephone transmission of the audio signal, the software is able to take these delays in the evaluation into account so that they have no negative influence on the examination and evaluation. The same applies to background noise, which can be filtered out according to the invention.

By means of the software, quieter and louder vocals as well as a high and low voice are equally recorded and evaluated according to the correctness of the vocals, without the volume or the pitch playing a role that influences the rating.

As already stated, the software records all performances, evaluates them and creates a ranking list. The ranking is preferred to the television viewers. displayed on the TV screen. In principle, it is also possible to provide the ranking list retrievably.

The software can play the lyrics and background music via the TV signal or any other suitable channel.

Furthermore, a user interface is preferably provided for an administrator.

FIG. 2 shows a flowchart which shows in which level which actions or measures take place. As can be seen in the illustration of FIG. 2, the communication with the television viewers via the IVR system takes place, which takes the call and handles the communication with the television viewer. The IVR system or its software or related to this software is designed such that at the same time recorded a variety of TV showers or their contributions can be recorded.

The IVR system or the entire software is also used to tell the viewer what rating his singing has achieved and which ranking he has achieved.

In this case, the television viewer can be animated for further participation by informing him for which ranking list which winnings are advertised.

As further shown in Fig. 2, there are other options which include sending the sung and stored message to friends or friends, or making it available for later download on the Internet or on the IVR.

Claims

9Live Fernsehen AG & Co. KG D-85737 Ismaning system for the recording of sung contributions by television viewersPatent claims

1. System for recording of sung contributions of television viewers with means for generating a display of a text on a television screen, means for recording a sung contribution of a television viewer, with testing means by which the quality of the sung contribution based on parameters of the sung contribution and of Test parameters, to assess the contribution sums collected, on the basis of the examination carried out in the test equipment, and the means of transmission and / or the provision of the result of the evaluation to the television viewer.

2. System according to claim 1, characterized in that further means are provided for recording the detected contributions of the television viewers.

3. System according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is the parameters of the sung contribution and the setpoint parameters to the rest and / or sound intervals.

4. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it is the parameters of the sung contribution and the target parameters audio frequencies and / or the sound power.

5. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the test means are designed such that the voice pitch and the volume of the sung contribution in the examination of the contribution are disregarded.

6. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the checking means and / or the evaluation means are designed such that delays between the generation of the sung contribution by the television viewer and the detection of the sung contribution in the examination and / or evaluation of the contribution be taken into account.

7. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a filter is provided, which is designed such that it filters out background noise in the detection of the sung contribution or in recording the detected contribution.

8 System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that means are provided for generating background music.

9 System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that means are provided for generating vocals with background music.

10. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the evaluation means are designed such that they create the quality of the sung contribution characterizing score and / or a rating of the sung contributions comprehensive ranking.

11.System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means for detecting a sung contribution are designed such that they detect one or more transmitted via telephone contributions.

12. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the means for generating a display of a text on a television screen and / or the means for detecting a sung contribution of the television viewers and / or the means for recording the recorded contribution and / or the Test equipment and / or the evaluation means and / or the means for transmitting or providing the result of the evaluation to the television viewer are formed by software or controlled by software.

13. System according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) - platform is provided for communication with the television viewers.

14. System according to claim 13, characterized in that the IVR platform is designed such that the sung contributions of several, preferably a plurality of television viewers is simultaneously transmitted to the means for detecting the contributions.

15. System according to claim 13 or 14 and claim 12, characterized in that the software is part of the IVR platform or is in communication with the IVR platform.

16. System according to any one of claims 2 to 15, characterized in that means are provided which transmit the recorded sung contribution to the television viewer or provide for this.

17. System according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a test unit is provided, which is designed such that the grain Depending on the time period after an incoming call, the possibility of recording a sung contribution exists.