Patent Publication Number: US-2015073810-A1

Title: Music playing method and music playing system

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a continuation application of International Application number PCT/JP2012/67354, filed on Jul. 6, 2012. The content of this application is incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present disclosure relates to a music playing method, a music playing system, and a recording medium storing a music playing program for playing music in response to a voice of a user. 
     Conventionally, a music data playing apparatus for retrieving music data that a user likes from among the music data recorded in a hard disk or the like is known. When a voice inputted by the user includes a keyword for retrieving a music title or an artist name, for example, a conventional music data playing apparatus plays music corresponding to the keyword (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. 2003-84783 and No. H11-95790). 
     Further, an apparatus which acquires the music data of sound effects, background music (BGM), and the like associated with a detection result of the voice inputted by the user during a call through a communication line, and transmits a sound generated by synthesizing the inputted voice and the music data to a person at the other end of the line is also known (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2007-251581). 
     However, the conventional music data playing apparatus has a problem that a period of time required for playing the music after the user inputs the voice changes depending on content of the voice inputted by the user and the time required for retrieving a desired music from the database storing the music data. The conventional music data playing apparatus plays music so that a user who inputs his/her voice listens to the music or sings at karaoke. Accordingly, there was no need to consider an effect of variations of the period of time from the time when the voice is inputted until the time when the music starts to be played. 
     However, there is a problem that the effect of playing the music is reduced if the period of time from the time when the voice is inputted until the time when the music is played varies in a case where music suitable for a particular word spoken during a conversation is played to enhance a mood, or music is played in response to a word spoken during a presentation. 
     For example, when music for celebrating a birthday is played after a phrase “happy birthday” is spoken, if the music is played 0.1 seconds after the phrase “happy birthday” is spoken, the timing of playing the music is too early and the atmosphere becomes restless. If the music is played 5 seconds after the phrase “happy birthday,” the timing of playing the music is too late and the mood is broken. 
     Further, there was a problem that it was difficult to make an effective presentation in which the speaker wants to play desired music following a word that the speaker speaks during the presentation, if the period of time before the music is played cannot be estimated, because an unexpected moment of silence is made or the music starts just at the moment the speaker begins to speak. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, in one aspect of the innovation included herein, a music playing method, a music playing system, and a recording medium storing a music playing program for playing the music in a suitable timing in response to the voice inputted by the user are provided. 
     In the first aspect of the present disclosure, a music playing method for playing music using a computer, the method comprises acquiring an inputted voice, detecting that any one of a plurality of registered character strings stored in a memory is contained in the voice, and outputting music corresponding to the registered character string after a delay time stored in the memory has passed from the time when the voice containing the registered character string detected in the detecting is acquired is provided. 
     In the second aspect of the present disclosure, a music playing system for playing music comprises a computer, and a data managing apparatus configured to transmit and receive data to and from the computer, wherein the computer includes a voice acquiring part configured to acquire an inputted voice, a character string storage part configured to store a plurality of registered character strings, a character string detecting part configured to detect that any one of the plurality of registered character strings is contained in the voice, and a character string transmitting part configured to transmit the registered character string detected by the character string detecting part to the data managing apparatus, the data managing apparatus includes a music data storage part configured to store the plurality of registered character strings and a plurality of pieces of music data in association with each other, and a music data transmitting part configured to transmit the music data corresponding to the registered character string received from the computer to the computer, and the computer further includes a delay time storage part configured to store information showing the delay time from the time when the voice is acquired to the time when music based on the music data is outputted, and an outputting part configured to output the music after the delay time has passed from the time when the voice is acquired is provided. 
     In the third aspect of the present disclosure, a non-transitory recording medium storing a music playing program that causes a computer to perform acquiring the inputted voice, detecting that any one of the plurality of registered character strings stored in a memory is contained in the voice, and outputting music corresponding to the registered character string after a delay time stored in the memory has passed from the time when the voice containing the registered character string detected in the detecting is acquired is provided. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  shows a configuration of a computer according to the first exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 2  shows the configuration of an information terminal which is an example of the computer according to the first exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 3  shows an example of a flow chart of a music playing method according to the first exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 4  shows another configuration example of the computer executing the music playing method according to the first exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 5  shows an example of the flow chart of registering music in the music playing method according to the first exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 6  shows a configuration example of a music data package according to the first exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 7  shows another configuration example of the computer executing the music playing method according to the first exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 8  shows an example of the flow chart of registering music in the music playing method according to the first exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 9  shows another example of the flow chart of registering music in the music playing method according to the first exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 10  shows another example of the flow chart of registering music in the music playing method according to the first exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 11  shows an example of a communication sequence of registering music in the music playing method according to the first exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 12  shows the configuration example of a music playing system which consists of a plurality of computers executing the music playing method according to the second exemplary embodiment. 
         FIG. 13  shows a configuration example of the music playing system according to the third exemplary embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Hereinafter, the present disclosure is described through embodiments of the present disclosure. The following embodiments do not limit the claimed inventions, and all of the combinations of the features that are described in the embodiments are not always essential for the means for solving the problems of the disclosure. 
     The First Exemplary Embodiment 
     A Basic Configuration of a Music Playing Method 
       FIG. 1  shows a configuration of a computer  100  executing a music playing method according to the first exemplary embodiment. The computer  100  includes a control part  110 , a storage part  120 , a voice acquiring part  130 , a character string detecting part  140 , and a sound outputting part  150 . 
     The control part  110  is, for example, a microprocessor executing a music playing program. The control part  110  controls the storage part  120 , the voice acquiring part  130 , the character string detecting part  140 , and the sound outputting part  150  by executing the music playing program. 
     The storage part  120  stores data under the control of the control part  110 . The storage part  120  may be a nonvolatile memory or a volatile memory. The storage part  120  may be a recording medium such as a removable memory card or a CD-ROM. The storage part  120  stores the music playing program. The control part  110  may execute the music playing program stored in the storage part  120  or execute the music playing program downloaded from a server and the like through a network. 
     The voice acquiring part  130  acquires the voice inputted by the user. For example, the voice acquiring part  130  includes a microphone. The control part  110  converts the voice acquired by the voice acquiring part  130  into a digital signal and stores the signal in the storage part  120 . The control part  110  stores the time when the voice acquiring part  130  acquires the voice in the storage part  120  in association with the voice. For example, the control part  110  stores the time when the voice acquiring part  130  acquires the voice in the storage part  120  in association with each piece of voice data which is converted into the digital signal. 
     The character string detecting part  140  detects that any one of a plurality of registered character strings previously stored in the storage part  120  is contained in the voice acquired by the voice acquiring part  130 . For example, the character string detecting part  140  converts the voice into a character string by using voice recognition technology and then retrieves the registered character string from the converted character string. Specifically, the character string detecting part  140  compares a signal pattern of the voice acquired by the voice acquiring part  130  (hereinafter referred to as an “inputted voice pattern”) with a plurality of signal patterns of the voices corresponding to a plurality of registered character strings stored in the storage part  120  (hereinafter referred to as “registered voice patterns”). When a degree of similarity between a registered voice pattern A and the inputted voice pattern is larger than a threshold value, the character string detecting part  140  may detect that the registered character string corresponding to the registered voice pattern A is contained in the voice acquired by the voice acquiring part  130 . 
     The sound outputting part  150  outputs the music corresponding to the detected registered character string after a delay time stored in the storage part  120  passes after the voice acquiring part  130  acquires the voice in which the character string detecting part  140  detected the registered character string. 
     For example, the sound outputting part  150  outputs the music previously stored in the storage part  120  in association with the registered character string.
 
The sound outputting part  150  may output the music after acquiring the music corresponding to a music name previously stored in the storage part  120  in association with the registered character string from the server which is connected through the network such as the Internet.
 
     For example, the sound outputting part  150  outputs the music after the delay time which is longer than the maximum period of time required for the character string detecting part  140  to detect the registered character string passes after the voice acquiring part  130  acquires the voice in which the character string detecting part  140  detected the registered character string. The sound outputting part  150  may output the music after the delay time which is longer than the sum of (i) the maximum period of time required for the character string detecting part  140  to detect the registered character string and (ii) the maximum period of time required for preparing the music corresponding to the registered character string to be played passes after the voice in which the registered character string was detected is acquired. 
     The sound outputting part  150  may read the time when the voice acquiring part  130  acquires the voice in which the character string detecting part  140  detected the registered character string from the storage part  120 , and output the music at the time obtained by adding the maximum period of time required for the character string detecting part  140  to detect the registered character string to the read time. The sound outputting part  150  may output the music at the time obtained by adding, to the time read from the storage part  120 , (i) the maximum period of time required for the character string detecting part  140  to detect the registered character string and (ii) the maximum period of time for the music corresponding to the registered character string to be acquired. 
     The sound outputting part  150  may output the music after the delay time passes from the time when the voice corresponding to the beginning of the registered character string is acquired, or output the music after the delay time passes from the time when the voice corresponding to the end of the registered character string is acquired. The sound outputting part  150  may determine whether the time of a starting point of the delay time for outputting the music is the time when the beginning of the registered character is acquired or the time when the end of the registered character is acquired according to the length of the registered character string. For example, the sound outputting part  150  sets the starting point at the beginning of the registered character string for a registered character string whose length is shorter than a predetermined length, and sets the starting point at the end of the registered character string for a registered character string whose length is longer than the predetermined length. 
     For a predetermined period of time from the time when the sound outputting part  150  starts playing the music after the character string detecting part  140  detects that the registered character string is contained in the voice acquired by the voice acquiring part  130 , the character string detecting part  140  may stop detecting the registered character string. By this means, the music can be prevented from being frequently changed. 
     Further, when the voice acquiring part  130  acquires a plurality of voices at the same time, the character string detecting part  140  may detect the registered character string contained in the voice chosen based on characteristics of the acquired voices. For example, when Mr. A and Mr. B speak with voices which contain different registered character strings at the same time, the character string detecting part  140  detects the registered character string contained in the voice of Mr. A whose voice characteristics are similar to previously registered voice characteristics. The character string detecting part  140  may preferentially detect the registered character string contained in the voice of Mr. A when the character string detecting part  140  acquires the voices of a plurality of people including Mr. A at the same time, after the character string detecting part  140  detects the registered character string from the voice of Mr. A. 
     As described above, in the computer  100  executing the music playing program according to the present exemplary embodiment, the music is outputted after a predetermined delay time passes from the time when the voice acquiring part  130  acquires the voice containing the registered character string. Therefore, even when the period of time required for the character string detecting part  140  to detect the character string has variations, or the period of time required for the sound outputting part  150  to acquire the music has variations, the period of time from the time when the voice acquiring part  130  acquires the voice containing the registered character string to the time when the music is outputted does not vary. As a result, the user can correctly estimate the time from acquiring the voice to playing the music, and can make an effective presentation using the music. 
       FIG. 2  shows the configuration of an information terminal  1000  as an example of the computer  100  executing the music playing program according to the first exemplary embodiment. The information terminal  1000  includes a CPU  510 , a ROM  520 , a RAM  530 , a microphone  540 , a speaker  550 , a display part  560 , a user interface part  570 , and a communication interface  580 . In the information terminal  1000 , the CPU  510  reads the music playing program of the present disclosure stored in the ROM  520  and executes the program. 
     Specifically, the CPU  510  corresponds to the control part  110 , and the ROM  520  and the RAM  530  correspond to the storage part  120 . The microphone  540  corresponds to the voice acquiring part  130 . The speaker  550  functions as the sound outputting part  150 . The CPU  510  functions as the character string detecting part  140  by executing the music playing program. 
     The display part  560  is, for example, a liquid crystal display. The user interface part  570  is an interface which acquires an instruction of the user and is, for example, a touch panel placed on the display part  560 . The communication interface  580  is connected to the network such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN). The CPU  510  transmits and receives data with another terminal which is connected through the network via the communication interface  580 . 
       FIG. 3  shows an example of a flow chart of a music playing method according to the first exemplary embodiment. When the user speaks near the computer  100 , the voice acquiring part  130  acquires the inputted voice (S 302 ). The control part  110  converts the voice acquired by the voice acquiring part  130  into the digital signal and stores the signal in the storage part  120  with the time when the voice is acquired (S 304 ). The control part  110  may store the voice in the storage part  120  for a period of time longer than the period of time required for the user to speak the longest registered character string among the registered character strings stored in the storage part  120 . The control part  110  may delete the stored voice after the period of time required for the longest registered character string to be spoken has passed after storing the voice in the storage part  120 . 
     The character string detecting part  140  determines if any one of a plurality of registered character strings previously stored in the storage part  120  is contained in the voice (S 306 ). The control part  110  repeats the steps from S 302  to S 306  until the character string detecting part  140  detects the registered character string. When the registered character string is contained in the voice, the control part  110  waits from the time when the voice acquiring part  130  acquires the concerned voice to the time when the delay time which is previously stored in the storage part  120  passes (S 308 ). 
     For example, when the period of time required for detecting that the registered character string is contained in the concerned voice from the time when the voice is acquired is T1, and the delay time is Td, the control part  110  waits for the period of time of Td−T1 after the registered character string is detected to be contained in the voice. The control part  110  may acquire the music data during a waiting time if it takes a while to acquire the music data to be played. The period of time Td−T1 is preferred to be longer than the period of time required for acquiring the music data. After the waiting time has passed, the control part  110  makes the sound outputting part  150  output the music corresponding to the registered character string detected by the character string detecting part  140  (S 310 ). Here, the music data is the data required for playing the music and contains, for example, score information or acoustic signal information of the music. 
     The computer  100  may store a plurality of delay times corresponding to the plurality of registered character strings in the storage part  120 . The computer  100  may previously store the delay time in the storage part  120 , or acquire the delay times corresponding to the plurality of character strings from the user and store them in the storage part  120 . By previously setting the delay time which varies with the registered character string, the user can play the music at a timing suitable for the content of the registered character string inputted by voice and the music to be played. 
     For example, if the storage part  120  previously stores a delay time of two seconds in association with “happy birthday,” the computer  100  plays the music two seconds after the user speaks a phrase “happy birthday.” If the storage part  120  previously stores a delay time of 0.5 seconds in association with the registered character string “let&#39;s do our best today as well,” the computer  100  plays the music 0.5 seconds after the user speaks the phrase “let&#39;s do our best today as well.” As described above, if the user knows in how many seconds the music will start to be played after the user speaks, the user can have a conversation or a presentation in accordance with the timing of the start of the music, and so the atmosphere of the place is livened up. 
     [Registering a Character String and Music Data] 
       FIG. 4  shows another configuration example of the computer  100  executing the music playing method according to the present exemplary embodiment. The computer  100  shown in  FIG. 4  is different from the computer  100  shown in  FIG. 1  in a point that the computer  100  shown in  FIG. 4  further includes a character string acquiring part  160 . 
       FIG. 5  shows an example of the flow chart of registering music in the music playing method according to the present exemplary embodiment. The character string acquiring part  160  acquires the registered character string inputted by the user (S 502 ). The character string acquiring part  160  may acquire the character string via the user interface such as a touch panel and a keyboard, or acquire the character string converted from the inputted voice of the user by the character string detecting part  140 . 
     When the character string acquiring part  160  acquires the registered character string in the character string acquiring step, the control part  110  displays a plurality of candidate names which shows candidates of the music names stored in association with the registered character string on the display part (S 504 ). For example, the computer  100  displays names of the pieces of music which contain the registered character string in the lyrics. The computer  100  may display the candidates of the music names corresponding to the acquired registered character string by using a correspondence table that cross-references the plurality of character strings with the plurality of music names previously stored in the storage part  120 . The computer  100  may transmit the registered character string acquired by the character string acquiring part  160  to the server which is connected thorough the network, and display the candidates of music name acquired from the server. 
     Next, when the music name is chosen by the user (S 506 ), the control part  110  stores the music name corresponding to the candidate name chosen from among the plurality of candidate names in the storage part  120  in association with the registered character string (S 508 ). The control part  110  may store the music data corresponding to the music name in the storage part  120  in association with the registered character string. If the music name is not chosen by the user within a predetermined period of time, the music registering ends (S 510 ). 
     Here, a group of pieces of data which contains the registered character string and the music name stored in the music registering step is referred to as a “music data package” herein.  FIG. 6  shows an example of the music data package. The music data package includes at least one of the registered character string, a music data file, a registration date and time of the music data package, an image data file, a sound effects file, and a subtitle data file. The music data package may contain information showing the delay time associated with the registered character string. 
     The storage part  120  may store a plurality of music data packages. When the character string acquiring part  160  acquires a registered character string, the control part  110  may play the music corresponding to the registered character string as well as image data or subtitle data in the music data package which contains the music after the delay time corresponding to the registered character string passes from the time when the voice containing the registered character string is acquired. 
     The control part  110  may update or delete contents of the music data package stored in the storage part  120  according to an instruction of the user. The storage part  120  stores the music data package in association with unique identification information of the user, and the control part  110  may authorize only the music data package corresponding to the identification information acquired from the user to be updated or deleted. 
     The control part  110  may retrieve the music data package corresponding to the character string inputted by the user and display the music data package corresponding to the character string. The user can see the displayed music data package and delete unwanted music data packages. 
     [Registering the Music Used in a Broadcast Program while the Program is Watched]
 
 FIG. 7  shows another configuration example of the computer  100  executing the music playing method according to the present exemplary embodiment. The computer  100  shown in  FIG. 7  is different from the computer  100  shown in  FIG. 1  in a point that the computer  100  shown in  FIG. 7  further includes a broadcast receiving part  170 , an instruction acquiring part  180 , and a communication part  190 . When the user finds a music he likes while watching a broadcast program such as a digital broadcast or a program which can be watched by using a mobile terminal, the computer  100  according to the present exemplary embodiment can register the music data in the memory.
 
       FIG. 8  shows an example of the flow chart of registering music in the music playing method according to the present exemplary embodiment. First, according to the user&#39;s instruction, the control part  110  receives the broadcast program via the broadcast receiving part  170  through the network such as the Internet and the LAN (S 802 ) and plays the received broadcast program (S 804 ). 
     Next, according to a registration instruction of the user received while playing the broadcast program (S 806 ), the control part  110  acquires the music data contained in the broadcast program which is played when the instruction is received (S 808 ). Then, the control part  110  stores the music data acquired in the music data acquiring step in the storage part  120  (S 810 ). The control part  110  may display a registered character string candidate corresponding to the music data, and store the music data in the storage part  120  in association with the registered character string chosen by the user. The control part  110  may acquire the music data with the same music name as the music data acquired from the broadcast program from the server which is connected through the network. 
     As described above, according to the music playing method of the present exemplary embodiment, the user can easily register the music used in the broadcast program while watching the program. Therefore, an environment to play the music that the user likes in response to the voice inputted by the user can be easily established. 
     [Acquiring and Storing Dialogue and Music Data from the Broadcast Program]
 
 FIG. 9  shows another example of the flow chart of registering music according to the present exemplary embodiment. The step S 908  and succeeding steps of the flow chart shown in  FIG. 9  are different from the steps of the flow chart shown in  FIG. 8 . When the control part  110  receives the instruction to register the music data from the user who is watching the program (S 906 ), the control part  110  requests program data through the communication part  190 , and acquires a dialogue character string contained in the program that the user instructed to register (S 908 ). For example, the control part  110  acquires the dialogue character strings broadcasted in a predetermined range of time from the time when the instruction was received. Here, the program data contains at least one of image data, text data such as the dialogue and the subtitles, and the music name data of the BGM used in the program.
 
     The control part  110  may automatically extract at least a part of the dialogue character string as the registered character string (S 910 ). For example, the control part  110  extracts a word contained in a word book previously stored in the storage part  120  as the registered character string from among the dialogue character strings. The control part  110  may transmit the information showing the reception time of the registration instruction to the server which is connected through the network, and acquire the dialogue character string from the concerned server. 
     Next, the control part  110  acquires the music data contained in the broadcast program which is played when the registration instruction is received in response to the registration instruction received while playing the broadcast program (S 912 ). Further, the music data acquired in the step S 912 , the music data acquiring step, is stored in the storage part  120  in association with the registered character string extracted from the dialogue character string (S 914 ). 
     As described above, by acquiring the dialogue and music data from the broadcast program and storing them, the user can register the registered character string and the music data in association with each other without inputting a registered character string or downloading the music data from an external server. 
     [Storing the Music Data in Association with the Character String Chosen from the Acquired Dialogue]
 
 FIG. 10  shows another example of the flow chart of registering music according to the present exemplary embodiment. The step S 1008  and succeeding steps of the flow chart shown in  FIG. 10  are different from the steps of the flow chart shown in  FIG. 8 . According to the music playing method of the present exemplary embodiment, the control part  110  displays the plurality of dialogue character strings acquired from the program the user is watching as the registered character string candidates, and stores the dialogue character string chosen by the user in the storage part  120  in association with the music data.
 
     Specifically, when the control part  110  acquires the registration instruction in the step S 1006 , the control part  110  displays the plurality of dialogue character strings contained in the program which is played when the registration instruction from the user is received on the display part as the registered character string candidates (S 1008 ). For example, the control part  110  displays the dialogue character string acquired in a predetermined range of time around the time when the registration instruction is acquired as the registered character string candidate. Next, when at least one of the plurality of displayed dialogue character strings is chosen (S 1010 ), the instruction acquiring part  180  acquires the music data contained in the broadcast program which is being played when the registration instruction is received (S 1012 ). The control part  110  stores the music data acquired in the step S 1012 , the music data acquiring step, in the storage part  120  in association with the dialogue character string chosen by the user as the registered character string (S 1014 ). 
     As described above, because the control part  110  displays the plurality of dialogue character strings and stores the dialogue character string chosen by the user in the storage part  120  as the registered character string, it is not needed to store the unnecessary dialogue character strings. As a result, capacity of the storage part  120  is prevented from being increased, and the period of time required for the character string detecting part  140  to detect the registered character string can be reduced. 
     [Registering the Dialogue and the Music Data Before the Registration Instruction is Received] 
     It is known that it takes a few seconds for a user to move his/her muscles to press the registration button after thinking that “I want to register it” according to the information captured by using his/her eyes or ears. For this reason, the control part  110  may acquire the dialogue character string and the music data contained in the broadcast program which is played at a time earlier by a time an average person takes from the time when he/she thinks that “I want to register it” and begins an operation of the registering instruction until he/she completes the operation of the registration instruction (hereinafter, referred to as “reaction time”), and store the dialogue character string and the music data in the storage part  120  in association with each other. 
     Specifically, the control part  110  keeps storing the broadcast program for a period of time longer than the above described reaction time. For example, the control part  110  stores the broadcast program in a ring buffer with a capacity which can store the broadcast program for the period of time longer than the above described reaction time. 
     When the instruction acquiring part  180  acquires the registration instruction from the user, the control part  110  searches the broadcast program stored in the storage part  120 , and acquires the dialogue character string and the music data contained in the broadcast program which is played at a time earlier by a predetermined time than the time when the registration instruction is acquired (S 1208 ). For example, the control part  110  acquires the dialogue character string and the music data contained in the broadcast program which is played at a time earlier by the time specified in the registration instruction. 
     [A Communication Sequence] 
       FIG. 11  is an example of the communication sequence for registering music according to the present exemplary embodiment. When the instruction acquiring part  180  acquires the instruction for registering the music data from the user, the control part  110  requests the program data from the broadcast server  200  through the network such as the Internet or the LAN. The broadcast server  200  transmits the program data to the computer  100  in response to the request. 
     When the computer  100  receives the program data from the broadcast server  200 , the control part  110  stores the character string extracted from the dialogue character string contained in the program data in the storage part  120  as a registered character string. The control part  110  may store the registered character string and the music name in the storage part  120  in association with each other. The control part  110  may display a plurality of key words as the registered character string candidates, and may store the key word chosen by the user as the registered character string. 
     Next, the control part  110  requests music contents from the contents server  300  through the network such as the Internet and the LAN. The contents server  300  transmits the music contents to the communication part  190  in response to the request. When the computer  100  acquires the music contents, the computer  100  stores the music contents in the storage part  120  in association with the registered character string. 
     As described above, the music data corresponding to the inputted voice can be played without playing the broadcast program of which copyright is protected because the computer  100  acquires the music data from the contents server  300  which is different from the broadcast server  200  from which the broadcast data is acquired, 
     The Second Exemplary Embodiment 
     Music Playing in Cooperation with a Plurality of Information Terminals 
       FIG. 12  shows the configuration of a music playing system which consists of a computer  100 - 1  and another computer  100 - 2  executing the music playing method according to the present exemplary embodiment. The computer  100 - 1  and the computer  100 - 2  play the music in cooperation with each other. 
     For example, when a voice is inputted to the computer  100 - 1 , the character string detecting part  140  detects that the voice acquired by the voice acquiring part  130  contains the registered character string. Next, the registered character string detected by the character string detecting part  140  is transmitted from the communication part  190  to the computer  100 - 2  through the network such as the Internet and the LAN. When the computer  100 - 2  receives the registered character string from the computer  100 - 1 , the computer  100 - 2  outputs the music corresponding to the registered character string contained in the music data package previously stored in the storage part  120 . 
     Further, in the music playing system, the music may be played by a plurality of terminals at the same time by using a plurality of computers  100  with the music playing program of the present disclosure previously installed to the computers  100 . For example, the computer  100 - 1  transmits the registered character string contained in the acquired voice and the information showing the time to play the music to the plurality of computers  100  all at once. The computer  100 - 1  may generate the information showing the time to play the music based on the delay time previously stored in the storage part  120 . The plurality of computers  100  that receive the registered character string from the computer  100 - 1  simultaneously play the music at the specified time. 
     The plurality of computers  100  may play different parts of the same music according to their respective positions. For example, the respective computers  100  acquire position information by using the global positioning system (GPS) and the like. The computer  100  placed on the first area (for example, on the right side) of the computer  100 - 1  which transmits the registered character string may play the right side music of the stereo music, and the computer  100  placed on the second area (for example, on the left side) may play the left side music of the stereo music. 
     As described above, according to the present exemplary embodiment, by playing the music not with one information terminal but with the plurality of information terminals, the music can be heard even in a spacious venue. Further, by playing the stereo music by using the plurality of information terminals, more effective presentation can be made and the atmosphere of the place can be enlivened effectively. 
     The Third Exemplary Embodiment 
     The Music Playing System 
       FIG. 13  shows the configuration of a music playing system  10  according to the third exemplary embodiment. The music playing system  10  includes the computer  100  and the contents server  300 . The computer  100  is, for example, a mobile information terminal. The contents server  300  functions as a data managing apparatus, and transmits and receives the data with the computer  100 . For example, the contents server  300  transmits the music data to the computer  100  according to the instruction from the computer  100 . 
     The computer  100  may include the configuration described in the above embodiment, and execute the music playing method described in the above embodiment. For example, the computer  100  includes the control part  110 , the voice acquiring part  130  which acquires the inputted voice, a character string storage part  122  which stores the plurality of registered character strings, the character string detecting part  140  which detects that any one of the plurality of registered character strings is contained in the voice, a character string transmitting part  192  which transmits the registered character string detected by the character string detecting part  140  to the contents server  300 , a delay time storage part  124  which stores the information showing the delay time which is the period of time from the acquisition of the voice to the output of the music, and the sound outputting part  150  which outputs the music data after the delay time has passed after the acquisition of the voice. 
     The contents server  300  includes a control part  310 , a music data storage part  320  which stores the plurality of registered character strings and the plurality of music data in association with each other, and a music data transmitting part  330  which transmits the music data corresponding to the registered character string received from the information terminal to the information terminal. 
     When the computer  100  detects the registered character string from the inputted voice, the computer  100  transmits the information showing the detected registered character string to the contents server  300 . In the contents server  300 , the control part  310  reads the music data corresponding to the received registered character string from the music data storage part  320 , and transmits the music data to the computer  100  via the music data transmitting part  330 . When the computer  100  receives the music data, the computer  100  plays the music after the predetermined delay time passes after the acquisition of the voice containing the registered character string. 
     The delay time storage part  124  may store the delay time obtained by adding, to the time when the control part  110  acquires the music data, (i) the delay time described in the above embodiment and (ii) the period of time from the time when the character string transmitting part  192  transmits the registered character string. By this means, the music can be played at the timing when the scheduled period of time has passed after the user speaks words regardless of the period of time required for acquiring the music data from the contents server  300 . 
     The present disclosure is described with the exemplary embodiments but the technical scope of the present disclosure is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiment. It is apparent for those skilled in the art that it is possible to make various changes and modifications to the embodiment. It is apparent from the description of the scope of the claims that the forms added with such changes and modifications are included in the technical scope of the present disclosure. 
     It should be noted that execution order of each process of means shown in claims, specification, and drawings is not clearly indicated with the words such as “before” and “in advance,” and unless an output of a previous process is used in a later process, the process may be performed in any order. Regarding an action flow in the claims and specification, even when described using “first,” “next” or the like, it does not mean that it is essential to be performed in the order.