FR3067135A1 - METHOD FOR DISPLAYING A TEXTUAL DOCUMENT SEGMENTED IN RHESES GRAPHICALLY DISPLAYED - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method of displaying a textual document divided into a plurality of sentences separated by dots, the document being displayed on several lines. The method includes a step of detecting (2.7) within each sentence of non-displayable separators, called "tags", dividing the sentence into a group of words having a meaning, a step of graphically highlighting the groups of words delimited at the beginning. and ending with two separators, and a step of displaying (2.8) one or more groups of words in full on each line, or a fraction of a group of words occupying a displayed line followed by a next line containing only the rest of the group of words thus fractured. In this way, groups of meaningful words are graphically highlighted which makes reading easier for people with cognitive difficulties.

Description

® METHOD OF DISPLAYING A TEXTUAL DOCUMENT SEGMENTED IN RHESES HIGHLIGHTED.

FR 3,067,135 - A1 (5J) The present invention relates to a method of displaying a text document divided into a plurality of sentences separated by dots, the document being displayed on several lines. The method comprises a detection step (2.7) within each sentence of non-displayable separators, called “tags”, dividing the sentence into a group of words having a meaning, a step of graphically highlighting the groups of words delimited at the start and the end with two separators, and a display step (2.8) of one or more group (s) of whole words on each line, or of a fraction of a group of words occupying a displayed line followed by 'a following line containing only the rest of the group of words thus fractured. In this way, groups of words with meaning are highlighted graphically which makes reading easier for people with cognitive difficulties.

ME 1

Method of displaying a textual document segmented into rheses highlighted graphically

1. Field of the invention

The invention relates to the field of reading aid for people with cognitive difficulties. The invention relates more particularly to the possibility of displaying a text in which the groups of words having a meaning are highlighted graphically.

2. Prior art

Nowadays, it is possible to buy a literary work in digital form and reproduce it on a computer device. This democratization of books on digital media makes it possible to envisage new methods of assistance for people with reading disabilities. These difficulties occur in learning to read and write without any sensory (sight, hearing), intellectual or social disorder being responsible. The National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm) identifies dyspraxia (motor development and writing disorder), dyscalculia (digital activity disorder), dysphasia (language disorder) within these disorders. oral), attention deficit disorder, and dyslexia. Many health professionals consider dyslexia as a specific reading disorder, the essential characteristic of which is a specific and significant impairment in the acquisition of reading. The correspondence between graphemes and morphemes, as well as in the role of words in the sentence is the major problem encountered by children suffering from this phonological disorder.

To help people overcome these cognitive difficulties, publishers have produced adapted books. In these books, the use of specific text fonts, larger margins and spaces, or the refinement of illustrations allow a better perception of the meaning of sentences and therefore easier reading.

With the advent of digital, these people have a real tool that they can adapt according to their own cognitive difficulties. These people download their eBook to a computer device with a screen and keyboard and start reading the document. The book has command buttons or icons allowing you to modify the graphic highlighting of certain indications that appear on the screen.

Among these graphic elements, e-book publishers can use the "carriage return" or "CR" for short to stop the line of words displayed and move to the line below. Such a code makes it clear that a sentence or a group of words is finished, and that the word which begins the next line belongs to a group meaning something else. Other graphic codes can be used such as the underline, or the bold. It is thus possible to systematically put the verbs in bold to attract the attention of the reader.

However, the use of these standardized codes to indicate characteristics specific to reading is not optimal. Indeed, these codes can already be used in the digital book in order to control the display, in accordance with the wishes of the author of the document, which can be contradictory to their use in the context of a reading aid.

In addition, these codes which modify the display, can do it differently from one material to another, or when the user requests a zoom of the text. It is important that the graphic distinction affixed to a certain word or group of words, because of their particular meaning, be the same regardless of the size of the screen and the zoom level requested by the user.

There is therefore a real need for a specific code which triggers a modification of the text displayed and which allows real reading assistance for people with cognitive disorders.

3. Objectives of the invention

The present invention provides a solution which does not have the drawbacks described above, while proposing the advantages listed above. In particular, the present invention makes it possible to modify the display of a digital text, in order to affix a graphic characteristic to certain words or groups of words, and this regardless of the type of device on which this text is displayed.

4. Statement of the invention

On a functional level, the invention relates to a method of displaying a text document divided into a plurality of sentences separated by dots, the document being displayed on several lines. The method further comprises a step of detecting within each sentence of non-displayable separators, called “tags”, dividing the sentence into a group of words having a meaning, a step of displaying by graphically highlighting groups of delimited words. at the beginning and at the end by two separators, said step displaying one or more group (s) of words in full on each line, or a fraction of a group of words occupying a displayed line followed by a following line containing only the rest of the group of words thus fractured.

In this way, it is possible to affix a graphic distinction to a certain word or group of words, because of their particular meaning, by using a specific code which triggers a modification of the displayed text and which allows a real reading aid for people with cognitive impairment.

According to a first improvement, the method includes a prior step of introducing said separators into the document following a semantic analysis. In this way, it is possible to automate the segmentation of the text into Rhese.

According to another improvement, the preliminary step takes into account the size of the screen intended to reproduce the textual document, and prohibits rheses appearing on several lines. In this way, the text displayed on a given screen does not have rheses straddling two lines.

According to another improvement, the textual document comprises an audio document corresponding to the text read, each tag being associated with temporal information signaling its position within the audio document. In this way, the user can hear the text while reading it.

According to another improvement, the word or group of words delimited by two separators and which is currently in the process of sound reproduction is highlighted by a specific graphic mark. In this way, it is possible to know immediately the word (or group of words) having a meaning which is (are) being read.

According to another improvement, the word or group of words delimited by two separators is alternately highlighted by a specific graphic mark. In this way, the graphic marking is not overloaded.

According to another improvement, the method comprises a step of introducing a command indicating the word that it is reading, the word or the group of words delimited by two separators containing the word read is highlighted by a specific graphic mark. In this way, it is possible for the user to easily follow the place where his reading is located.

According to another improvement, the text document is saved in an ePub3 format.

The invention also relates to a computer program product comprising program instructions for carrying out the method described by the preceding paragraphs.

According to a material plan, the invention also relates to an apparatus for reading a textual document divided into a plurality of sentences separated by dots, comprising a display means displaying the document displayed on several lines, characterized in that it comprises a means of detection within each sentence of non-displayable separators, called "tags", dividing the sentence into a group of words having a meaning, the display means graphically highlighting groups of words delimited at the beginning and at the end by two separators, said means displaying one or more group (s) of words in full on each line, or a fraction of a group of words occupying a displayed line followed by a following line containing only the rest of the group of words thus fractured.

5. List of figures

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly on reading the following description of a particular embodiment, given by way of simple illustrative and non-limiting example, and of the appended drawings, among which:

FIG. 1 shows a structure of a reading device provided with a display device according to an exemplary embodiment,

- Figure 2 shows an example of a flowchart showing the steps to display a text in a form that makes it easier to read,

FIG. 3 presents a screen appearance according to the state of the art displaying a text without help for reading,

FIG. 4 presents a screen appearance displaying a text with a reading aid according to a preferred embodiment,

- Figure 5 shows an example of screen appearance showing the graphic highlighting of each story,

- Figure 6 shows a screen appearance showing the graphic highlighting of the rhesis being read.

6. Description of an embodiment of the invention

6.1 General principle

The present invention relates to a method for displaying a text document divided into a plurality of sentences separated by periods, the document being displayed on several lines. The method comprises a step of detecting, within each sentence, non-displayable separators, called “tags”, dividing the sentence into a group of words having a meaning, a step of graphically highlighting the groups of words delimited at the start and at the end. end by two separators, and a step of displaying one or more group (s) of words in full on each line, or a fraction of a group of words occupying a displayed line followed by a following line containing only the rest of the group of words thus fractured.

In this way, groups of words with meaning are highlighted graphically which makes reading easier for people with cognitive difficulties.

6.2 Description of a preferred embodiment

There are many methods to make an eBook easier to read for people with cognitive difficulties, such as people with dyslexia. These methods generally consist in highlighting in the printed text separators which better highlight certain words or groups of words. For example, the verb is printed in a different color.

These methods have been implemented as a software tool in a program executable on a tablet or laptop. A user chooses a work with at least one text component and asks this program to enrich the display. The program will graphically highlight certain words or groups of words in a sentence with a strong semantic meaning, people with cognitive difficulties have difficulty in distinguishing these words or groups of words. First, let's introduce a device capable of displaying an e-book in a form that makes it easier to read.

Fig. 1 shows a structure of a reading device 1 provided with a display device 2 according to an exemplary embodiment of the invention. According to a preferred embodiment, the book reader is a tablet, but other devices can also be used for the present invention, such as for example a smart phone or “smartphone”, a personal computer, or any device capable of accessing to displayable contents and having means of creation and display of navigation menus.

The tablet 1 comprises an ALU 1.1 central unit connected to a storage memory MP (executable program and downloaded data) 1.2, a screen S 1.3, a radio communication module 1.4, and an interface module 1.5 with a keyboard 1.6. The communication module allows communication in the radio frequency range compatible with wireless communication networks such as: 2G / GSM, 3G / UMTS or 4G / LTE. Screen 1.3 can be tactile, keyboard 1.6. is then integrated into this screen. The keyboard having at least one navigation key, typically arrows oriented towards at least two directions such as left and right. It is obvious that in the case of a touch screen, the user can introduce much more than four directions by movements applied to the screen. The tablet also includes a circuit 1.7 for displaying data on the screen, often called an OSD circuit, from the English On Screen Display (meaning display on the screen). The OSD 1.7 circuit is a text and graphics generator which allows menus, pictograms to be displayed on the screen (for example, a number corresponding to the channel displayed) and which allows navigation menus to be displayed in accordance with the present invention. The OSD 1.7 circuit is controlled by the Central Unit 1.1 and is inserted between it and the screen 1.3.

The storage memory 1.2 notably contains resident executable programs and possibly, a read / write type part for recording and executing downloaded programs. These downloaded programs are typically applications dedicated to a specific use such as messaging, searching for information on the Internet, downloading audio and / or visual documents, tele-shopping, etc. The program memory MP contains a reading module which will be called subsequently: the "Reader". This module is responsible for presenting texts on the screen and receiving navigation commands for changing the content displayed on the screen. The Reader is advantageously produced in the form of a program module stored in the memory MP. It can also be produced in the form of a specialized circuit of the ASIC type for example.

Fig. 2 describes in the form of a flowchart the main steps for displaying an e-book in a form that makes it easier to read. First, a book is selected and its semantic content is analyzed (step 2.1). This analysis consists in segmenting the text of the book into a succession of rheses. A rhesis is a group of words of a sentence which carries a meaning, that is to say that, pronounced without any context, this group of words or this word has a meaning.

The segmentation of the text into rheses is carried out in several stages:

- Punctuation segmentation

- Segmentation into grammatical propositions

- Segmentation on prepositions and pivotal conjunctions

- Segmentation according to rules based on syntagms (verbal, adverbial, adjectival, prepositional and nominal)

The determination of each story takes into account as variable the maximum font size, and the attention span of the typical reader (depending on the age of the target), as well as the length of the line linked to the template. The template indicates the digital model of a digital book. Depending on the editorial line of each publisher and each collection or even each book, the text area can be more or less wide and therefore contain more or less words. The length of the line is taken into account when the line should not be cut by a line change.

On the date of filing of the present invention, this analysis is carried out by a semantic analysis module coupled with a person who validates the software proposals and finalizes the placement of the separators in the text to segment it into rheses. It is not excluded that later, this segmentation is carried out entirely by a semantic analysis module, which does not rule out the present invention which consists in particular in using the segmentation regardless of how it is performed.

In step 2.2, the text is segmented into a succession of rheses delimited by separators. Then the text is enriched by the incorporation of tags at the places of the text separating the rheses (step 2.3). A tag is a computer code compatible with the standard in which the text is transmitted and which triggers an action at the level of viewing the text. A tag is not in itself displayable but will modify the way of displaying the text, and thus allow easier reading for people with cognitive difficulties. A tag can also include an identifier and synchronization information with the audio file. This last data allows on the one hand to graphically highlight the rhesis at the same time as the audio (principle of prompter to the rhesis in an audio reading, more adapted than a prompter to the word too fast or a prompter to the sentence , too heavy) and on the other hand, have only the group of words spoken (occasional audio support).

This last feature is particularly appreciable because it gives autonomy to the person having difficulties, who can thus read all alone without risk of defeat The operation of enrichment of the text is carried out at the level of a computer. Once enriched, in step 2.4, the text is saved in a file and accessible on demand via a network. The file can also contain images, sounds, javascript functionality, a template, etc.

Advantageously, the text is saved in a file in the ePub3 format, which is used by many publishers of literary works. This format designed by the organization IDPF (acronym for International Digital Publishing

Forum) allows you to store digital books. The text of the book is stored ίο in the file with additional information which will make it possible during the display to format the text and to add links, an index, images, etc. This format is open, which means that everyone can choose to edit an e-book in this format, and add data to it to improve the display characteristics.

Suppose that a user orders the download of an enriched digital book according to the process which is the subject of the present request. This user then addresses a remote server and then, after possibly having justified a payment or subscription, starts downloading this enriched digital book in his tablet (step 2.5).

Once the file is written to memory 1.2, in step 2.6, the user can launch the Reader at any time in order to select a saved book. The launch of the Reader can also be launched automatically when the user browses the memory by displaying the list of accessible books and activates the reading of one of them. The reader sequentially reads the text data and displays it respecting the pagination characters, and detects each tag delimiting the rheses (step 2.7).

In step 2.8, the Reader modifies the display of the text to take into account the presence of the tags. This modification consists in displaying the entire words or groups of words on each line, or in displaying a fraction of a group of words occupying a displayed line followed by a following line containing only the rest of the group of words thus fractured. In this way, the tablet user can better understand the presence of each rhesis.

Fig. 3 presents a screen appearance with a digital book displayed without the Reader application. In this case, the presentation rules apply and each word of the text is displayed without graphic distinction. In addition, for aesthetic reasons, each line of the book is justified, that is to say that all the first letters and all the last letters of each line are positioned along the same vertical line, parallel to the edge of the sheet. We can see π

that the whole of the words form a compact block and that visually, we cannot see the groups of words which carry a meaning.

Following step 2.2, the file containing the so-called "enriched" text now has tags. Using the example in Fig. 3, the tags are placed in different places. As these tags do not correspond to displayable symbols and the figures represent precisely what is displayed, the text is reproduced below by marking with "Φ", the places where the tags are located.

"Lost in thought, φ AliBaba is leaving the city. ¢ 11 leads his three donkeys ♦ to the forest, ♦ After a while, ♦ Ali Baba looks at the trees ♦ around him. ♦ Here! φ he said to himself. ♦ I never came to cut wood here. "

Fig. 4 shows a screen appearance with the above text displayed using the Reader. Display rules are then applied to graphically highlight the rheses using the tags. The first rule consists in that the group of words constituting a thesis is unbreakable. In this way, the line feed supports meaning. Without this and as shown in Fig. 3, comprehension can be impaired when reading stops at the end of the line. As far as possible, the work carried out upstream in step 2.1 makes it possible to prohibit overly long rheses which would appear on several lines. If the rhèse is too long then it is cut in the middle and each part is displayed on only one line. But if this is not possible, taking into account in particular the size of the screen on which the book is displayed, then, in the case where the rhèse is displayed on two lines, at least the beginning or the end of the rhèse coincides respectively with the beginning or the end of the line.

6.2 Description of variant embodiments

Fig. 5 presents a screen appearance with the same text displayed by the Reader, graphically highlighting the rheses. In this embodiment, the word or group of words constituting a rhesis is alternately highlighted by a specific graphic mark, in this case: a frame.

The Reader can also add a graphic distinction highlighting each story, and more precisely the passages from one story to another. A first example consists in affixing the same color on each word of the same rhesis and in putting a different color from the previous rhesis and from the following rhesis. Another embodiment consists in surrounding one rhesis in two with a frame which is sufficiently thin so as not to affect the good legibility of the characters. It is this exemplary embodiment which is visible in FIG. 5. The Reader can also alternate the display modes for each word: normal, in italics, and in bold, in the succession of rheses. In another example, the rheses appear in an area without a line around them, and with a colored background. For example, the letters of the words of the first and fifth rheses appear black on a green background, the letters of the words of the second and sixth rhesis appear black on a blue background, the letters of the words of the third and seventh rheses appear black on a background yellow, the letters of the words of the fourth and eighth rheses appear black on a red background.

Fig. 6 presents a screen appearance with the same text displayed by the Reader by bringing up a reading window. This display mode is for example used when the display is doubled with the sound reproduction of the text. According to this example, only the rhesis during audio reproduction is highlighted graphically. This reproduction can be carried out using audio content incorporated in the digital book, time markers are then placed in certain places of the text to synchronize the audio content. According to a variant, the reproduction is carried out using a text-to-speech module.

According to an alternative embodiment, the tablet 1 has a touch screen and the user follows the text of the book to be read by moving his finger over each word. The tablet then determines the word of the text on which the finger is placed and graphically highlights the rhesis that contains this word. This first command input means allows the tablet 1 to easily determine where the user is located in his reading.

According to an alternative embodiment, the tablet 1 has means making it possible to follow the gaze of the user reading the text, a camera for example. The tablet then determines the word of the text where the user's gaze is placed and graphically highlights the rhesis that contains this word. In the case of a reading with audio reproduction of the text, we see that the rhesis is a segment more suitable than the sentence or the word to support the path of the eye during the utterance.

The user can choose to activate one or more of these enhancements. The selection is made from a configuration menu that can be activated by a key or an icon visible on the screen. Thus, the text can be displayed by modifying the tabulation to take into account the position of the tags, and by graphically highlighting each rhesis by coloring them. According to an improvement, the person who analyzes the text and positions the tags, chooses a display mode which seems to him best suited for people with cognitive difficulties. This display mode is then saved in the file and taken by default when the Player is launched. Obviously, the end user has the possibility to change this mode at his convenience if it does not suit him. If the file is saved in the user's device 1, the display mode is then changed directly in the file.

It should be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention allows embodiments in many other specific forms without departing from the scope of the invention as claimed. Therefore, the present embodiments and variations should be considered by way of illustration but may be modified in the field defined by the scope of the appended claims.

Claims (10)

1. Method for displaying a text document divided into a plurality of sentences separated by dots, the document being displayed on several lines, characterized in that the method comprises a detection step (2.7) within each sentence of non-displayable separators, called "tags", dividing the sentence into a group of words with meaning, a display step (2.8) by graphically highlighting groups of words delimited at the beginning and at the end by two separators, said step displaying one or more whole group (s) of words on each line, or a fraction of a group of words occupying a displayed line followed by a following line containing only the rest of the group of words thus fractured. 2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that it comprises a prior step of introducing said separators into the document following a semantic analysis. 3. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that the preliminary step takes into account the size of the screen intended for reproducing the textual document, and prohibits groups of words having a meaning being displayed on several lines. 4. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the text document comprises an audio document corresponding to the text read, each tag being associated with temporal information signaling its position within the audio document. 5. Method according to claim 4, characterized in that the word or group of words delimited by two separators and which is currently in the process of sound reproduction is highlighted by a specific graphic mark. 6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the word or group of words delimited by two separators is alternately highlighted by a specific graphic mark. 7. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises a step of introducing a command indicating the word which it is reading, the word or the group of words delimited by two. separators containing the word read is highlighted by a specific graphic mark. 8. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the text document is saved in an ePub3 format. 9. Apparatus for reading (1) a textual document divided into a plurality of sentences separated by dots, comprising display means (1.3, 1.7) displaying the document displayed on several lines, characterized in that it comprises a means of detection (1.1, 1.2) within each sentence of non-displayable separators, called “tags”, dividing the sentence into a group of words having a meaning, the display means graphically highlighting groups of words delimited at beginning and end by two separators, said means displaying one or more group (s) of words in full on each line, or a fraction of a group of words occupying a displayed line followed by a following line containing only the remainder of the group of words thus fractured. 10. A computer program product comprising program instructions for the execution of the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 8 when said program is executed on a computer.