JP2003030098A - Content providing apparatus and content providing method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To provide a content providing apparatus and a content providing method which can display a link to content which is easy for a user to determine and which is easy to realize. SOLUTION: A content database 12 in which a plurality of contents are recorded, in which a display target is associated with attribute information of the display target, a display method storage device 11 in which a display method of displaying the contents is recorded, Receiving means 14 for receiving a content display request, display method determining means 15 for determining a display method adapted to the content display request from a display method storage device, and content searching means for acquiring a content satisfying the content display request from a content database 16, display information creating means 18 for creating display information corresponding to each content in accordance with the determined display method, and transmitting means 19 for transmitting and displaying the display information.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a content providing device and a content providing method for an information terminal, particularly a portable information terminal, which can be connected to a network, and more particularly to a content providing device when there are a plurality of contents of similar display. And a content providing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the development of communication networks represented by the Internet and intranets has been remarkable, and various information and services can be enjoyed through the communication networks.

Initially, it was the mainstream to access a communication network by using a desktop computer typified by so-called tower type PC and desktop type PC. Since these have a wide display screen, a communication device with high performance, and the like, it is possible to enjoy information via a communication network and display the information on the display screen by browsing software called a browser.

On the other hand, with the widespread use of mobile information terminals such as mobile phones, PHSs, and PDAs, the number of situations in which a mobile information terminal accesses a communication network to receive services and information is rapidly increasing.

However, in general, the portable information terminal is downsized because importance is attached to portability, and accordingly, the display screen of the portable information terminal is designed to be much smaller than that of a desktop computer. Therefore, the amount of services and information that can be displayed on the screen is limited. If you try to display more than that amount, you have to scroll the screen,
The operability for the user is reduced.

As described above, if the amount of information that can be displayed is small, it may not be possible to display it on one screen depending on the amount of content such as services and information, and the quality of service to the user may deteriorate.

As an example of the conventional link display method, an example of a screen displaying a map of search results is shown in FIG.

(A) First, on the screen P701, a search key is input.

(B) Next, a content matching the search key is searched from the content database, and a screen P702 is displayed.
At, the search result is displayed. Each content displayed on the screen P702 is linked to more detailed data as on a screen P703.

In the case of such a display method, screen P702
In, when the name of the same content appears,
It is impossible to identify which content the user wants. Therefore, by clicking various links and checking the detailed screen, the user will search for the desired content.

An improved version of this is shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, the address is described so that the user can identify the content. However, in this case, multiple lines are required to display one content, and when the user tries to browse all the content,
You have to repeat scrolling many times. Therefore, the method shown in FIG. 12 is not suitable for a portable information terminal having a limited screen size.

In addition, in the prior art which addresses such a problem, there is a function selecting device / terminal and a function selecting method (Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No.
No. 01-125698), a document processing device, a document processing method, and a storage medium (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-34384). The former relates to a menu to be displayed in particular, and displays the items of different menus as one to reduce the burden of operation and communication cost due to movement between menus. In the latter case, depending on the aspect ratio of the document display area, the electronic document data can be fixedly displayed or automatically displayed by switching or moving like the telop display, and the information that is easy for the user to see is realized. is doing.

As described above, some techniques have been proposed for the problem that the display screen peculiar to the portable information terminal is small.

[0014]

However, as another problem related to the small display screen of the portable information terminal,
There is a problem with hyperlinks (links below) to transition (link) to the next screen. In the case of a screen in which a plurality of links are present on one screen, the amount of information that can be displayed on a small screen is small, so the amount of information for uniquely characterizing the link is also small. As a result, the user
The link desired by the user or the link most suitable for the user cannot be known from the plurality of links, and as a result, the user may be confused about the determination. Therefore, a link different from the link that the user should select is selected, and the user is forced to access an unnecessary information source and acquire the content corresponding to the information source. This causes extra communication time and communication charges.

Among the above-mentioned conventional techniques, a function selection device, a terminal and a function selection method (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-12569).
No. 8) is a technology limited to displayed menus, and information displayed is statically universal. It is not suitable for displaying a dynamically changing screen in which information to be displayed changes due to a user operation, for example, a link is made to each search result of a database.

Further, the document processing apparatus, the document processing method, and the recording medium (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2001-34384) are complicated in many processes and functions such as the determination of the size of the display area and the creation of the telop display portion. . In the current browser display technology, it is difficult to link the telop part of the mobile information terminal, and there is a problem that a huge number of man-hours are required for development.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems. Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a content providing device and a content providing method that can display a link to a content that is easy for a user to discriminate and that can be easily realized.

[0018]

In order to achieve the above object, the first feature of the present invention is to provide a content database in which a plurality of contents are recorded in which a display target and attribute information of the display target are associated with each other. A display method storage device in which a display method that is a format for displaying content is recorded, a receiving means for receiving a content display request, and a display method determining means for determining a display method adapted to the content display request from the display method storage device. , From the content database,
Content including display information creating means for creating display information corresponding to each content according to the display method decided to be content acquiring means for acquiring content satisfying the content display request, and transmitting means for transmitting and displaying the display information It is a providing device. Here, the content display request is a request for extracting information desired by the user from the content database, such as a search request for a map of a store or a search request for a music CD. The display method means that when the content display request is a search request,
The display items for displaying the search results are determined.

In other words, this display method displays the names, addresses, and genres in order, or when there are many same names, groups them by name and displays the addresses and genres, or when there are many same genres. Grouping by genre, displaying name, address, etc. From these display methods, it is preferable to determine a method that corresponds to the search request specified by the user and that is easy for the user to browse. In this case, the search result may be displayed by the determined display method, and a link may be added from there to display detailed information. It is not necessary for these search results to display all display items from the display method recorded in the display method storage device. The display items to be displayed may be the minimum information that can differentiate the search results. As a result, the user can identify the search result with the minimum amount of information, and thus the screen displayed by the user's display request can be made small.

Therefore, in the content providing apparatus according to the first aspect of the present invention, the display division creating means adds the content attribute stepwise when the same display information is included in the display information. Information may be added to the display information to create new display information. Further, when the grouping for grouping the items specified in the display method as a grouping item is specified, the display information creation unit is a grouping unit that groups the content acquired from the content database by the grouping item. Display information may be created for the grouped contents.

A second feature of the present invention is that a content database in which a plurality of contents are recorded in which a display target and attribute information of the display target are associated with each other, and a display method which is a format for displaying the content are recorded. The present invention relates to a content providing method used in a content providing device including a display method storage device. That is, the second feature of the present invention is (a) a step of receiving a content display request,
(B) determining a display method adapted to the content display request from the display method storage device, (c) acquiring content satisfying the content display request from the content database, and (d) individually according to the determined display method. The method of providing content includes the step of creating display information corresponding to the content, and (e) transmitting and displaying the content based on the display information. Here, of the display information in (f),
When there is the same display information, a step of adding additional information that specifies the attribute of the content stepwise to the display information and creating new display information may be further provided. or,
(G) When grouping for grouping the items specified in the display method as grouping items is specified, a step of grouping the contents acquired from the content database by the grouping items may be further provided. The step of creating display information creates display information for the contents grouped in the grouping step.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description of the drawings, the same or similar parts are denoted by the same or similar reference numerals.

(Embodiment) FIG. 1 shows a system configuration diagram of a content display system according to the present invention. The content display system includes a content providing device 1 for displaying content and a content providing device 1 for displaying content.
The content providing device 1 includes a first content requesting device 2a (user terminal), a second content requesting device 2b, a third content requesting device 2c, ...
, The first content requesting device 2a, the second content requesting device 2b, the third content requesting device 2c, ...
Are communicable by the communication network 3. The communication network 3 is the Internet, an intranet, a LAN, a personal computer communication network, or the like. The content providing device 1, the first content requesting device 2a, the second content requesting device 2b, the third content requesting device 2c, ... Are a gateway server, a proxy server, an access point of an Internet service provider, a circuit switch, or the like. In some cases, it may be connected to the communication network 3 via.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the content providing device 1. The content providing device 1 includes a display method storage device 11, a content database 12, a communication unit 13,
Reception means 14, display method determination means 15, content search means 16, grouping means 17, display information creation means 1
8 and transmission means 19.

The display method storage device 11 is a storage device in which a display method which is a format for displaying contents is recorded. An example of data items and data recorded in the display method storage device 11 is shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the display method storage device 11 stores a sequence key, a search target, the presence or absence of grouping,
It has a grouping item, fixed display information, and additional information items 1 to 3. The sequence key is the display method storage device 11.
This is a key item used for searching for records stored in. The search target records what the content request received from the first content requesting device 2a or the like is. The sequence keys a to d are records when the content request for the store is received.
The sequence keys e and f are records when a content request for music is received. Further, the sequence key e is a description example in the case of further limiting the "music genre is classical" when requesting content for music. Here, the character strings are delimited by ".", But symbols such as colons, semicolons, and backslashes may be used.

The presence or absence of grouping specifies whether to display the search results collectively for a certain item when the search results are displayed. For the items to be grouped, refer to the item names written in the grouping items. The sequence key c is the name of the store, and the sequence key d is
Group by store genre. The fixed display information is an item that is always displayed when the search result is displayed on the screen. For example, the sequence key a displays the name of the search result, and the sequence key c displays the city of the search result. The additional information 1 to 3 is information added so that the search result can be identified when the search result cannot be identified only by the fixed display information. In particular,
If the search result cannot be identified even if the additional information 1 is added to the fixed display information and the fixed display information and the additional information 1 are added, the additional information 2 is added to the fixed display information to which the additional information 1 is added. To do. For example, the record of the sequence key c is suitable when there are more identical names than the record of the sequence key b. In this case, each search result grouped by name is identified by the item of city, ward, genre, and large letter (large section in town / village).

The content database 12 is a storage device in which a plurality of contents are recorded by associating a display target with attribute information of the display target. Specifically, it is a database in which all kinds of information such as store information, music CD information, member information, etc. are recorded. In this database, for example, HTML in which store information, music CD information, etc. are written
The link destination of the file may be recorded.

The communication unit 13 is a LAN board, a LAN card, a modem or the like, and serves as an interface for controlling the content providing apparatus 1 to connect to the communication line 3.
The communication unit 13 and the reception unit 14 that controls the reception information of the communication unit 13 receives the display request for the content transmitted from the first content requesting device 2a or the like. Receiving means 14
Displays the content display request acquired via the communication unit 13 to the display method determining unit 15 and the content searching unit 16.
It is a means to output to.

The display method determining means 15 refers to the display method storage device 11 and determines a display method adapted to the content display request input from the receiving means 14. The content search unit 16 is a unit that refers to the content database 12 and searches for content that matches the content display request received from the first content requesting device 2a or the like. The display method determining means 15 is means for creating display information corresponding to each content according to the determined display method. When performing grouping, the grouping means 17 may be used.
Grouping is to collectively display the items designated in the display method as grouping items.
This can minimize the displayed information.

When the grouping is instructed, the grouping means 17 groups the results obtained by the content search means 16 by the grouping item, and the grouped search results and the display method determined by the display method determination means 15. And are output to the display information creating means 18.
When the grouping is not instructed, the information obtained by the content search means 16 and the display method decided by the display method deciding means 15 are outputted to the display information creating means 18. The display information creating unit 18 creates display information to be displayed on the content requesting device that has transmitted the content display request based on the input information so as to identify each search result, and outputs the display information to the transmitting unit 19.

The transmitting means 19 transmits the input display information via the communication section 13 to the content requesting device which has transmitted the content display request, the display information created by the display information creating means 18, and further requests the content. Display on the device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process of creating display information after receiving a content display request.

(A) First, in step S101,
The content search means 16 searches the content database 12 based on the received content display request.

(B) On the other hand, in step S102,
The display method determination means refers to the display method storage device 11 to acquire the display method adapted to the content display request.

(C) Next, in step S103,
When the grouping is not instructed by the display method acquired in step S102, the grouping means 17 outputs the search result as it is, and in step S105,
Create display information. When the grouping is instructed, the grouping means 17 divides the search results into groups according to the grouping items.

(D) In step S105, the display information creating means 18 first creates the display information using the fixed display information of the display method acquired in step S102,
In step S106, it is checked whether or not there is the same display information. If the same display information does not exist, the process ends. If there is the same display information, the additional information 1 of the display method is added to the fixed display information for the content of the same display information, and the display information is created again in step S105. Steps S105 to S107
By repeating, the addition of additional information is repeated so that the same display information does not exist.

Thus, according to the embodiment of the present invention, since the same display information does not exist, the user can accurately find the target content. Furthermore, by adding the minimum amount of information for identifying the content, it is possible to reduce the information displayed on the screen and improve the operability of the mobile information terminal such as a mobile phone or PDA.

(First Display Example) FIG. 5 is a first display example of the content providing apparatus of the present invention.

In the first display example, the start three characters of the address are added as additional information to all the content display information on the screen P102.

(A) First, on the screen P101, a search key is input. Then, the content database 12 is searched for content that matches the search key. A name and an address are registered in the content database 12.

(B) Next, the result of searching the contents database 12 is displayed on the screen P102. Here, display information in which additional information is added to the name of the content database 12 is displayed.

(C) When one of the display information of the displayed contents is selected on the screen P102, the screen P10 is displayed.
As shown in 3, linked to the selected content. Although the map information is displayed here, it may be linked to information such as a photograph, an address, and a telephone number.

(Second Display Example) FIG. 6 is a second display example of the content providing apparatus of the present invention.

(A) First, on the screen P201, a search key is input. Then, the content database 12 is searched for content that matches the search key. A name and an address are registered in the content database 12.

(B) Next, the result of searching the content database 12 is displayed on the screen P202. Here, display information in which additional information is added to the name of the content database 12 is displayed.

(C) Next, when the address portion which is the additional information is selected on the screen P202, detailed information is displayed as on the screen P203. Furthermore, when one of the display information of the displayed content is selected on the screen P202, the selected content is linked as shown on the screen P204. Further, the screen P203 may be linked to the screen P204.

The second display example is the first display example and the screen P2.
02, the difference that ".." is displayed after the additional information and the screen P203 is displayed is different. In the second display example, by displaying "..",
It is made easy to understand that there is a further information screen P203.

When the content cannot be identified only by the displayed information, the user selects the additional information portion, displays the screen P203, and refers to the detailed information.
The user can specify the desired content.

(Third Display Example) FIG. 7 is a third display example of the content providing apparatus of the present invention. Here, a display example when the sequence key a of the display method storage device 11 is selected is shown.

(A) First, on the screen P301, a search key is input. Then, the content database 12 is searched for content that matches the search key. In the content database 12, the name, the prefecture, the municipality, and the additional information divided into large letters are registered.

(B) Next, the result of searching the content database 12 is displayed on the screen P302. Here, display information in which additional information is added to the name of the content database 12 is displayed.

(C) When one of the display information of the displayed contents is selected on the screen P302, the screen P30
As shown in 3, linked to the selected content.

In the third display example, the additional information 1 of the display method storage device 11 is set so that each content can be identified when the retrieved content has the same name.
Add the municipality that is the item specified in. Furthermore, if the same name is displayed even if the municipality is displayed, additional division 2
Add the large letter which is the item specified in. In particular,
On screen P302, there are two Toshiba Kaikans in Shinjuku Ward, but by displaying up to large letters, it is possible to distinguish the Toshiba Kaikan in Shinjuku Ward Shinjuku Ward from the Toshiba Kaikan in Nishi Shinjuku Ward Shinjuku Ward. In this way, the searched content is identified by gradually adding the additional information.

In the third display example, since the minimum additional information for identifying each content is added, the user can specify the desired content.
Further, in this display example, as in the second display example, a screen on which detailed information can be referred to may be displayed.

(Fourth Display Example) FIG. 8 is a fourth display example of the content providing apparatus of the present invention. Here, a display example when the sequence key b of the display method storage device 11 is selected is shown.

(A) First, on the screen P401, a search key is input. Then, the content database 12 is searched for content that matches the search key. In the content database 12, names, prefectures, municipalities, addresses divided into large letters, and content genres,
It is registered as additional information.

(B) Next, the result of searching the content database 12 is displayed on the screen P402. Here, display information in which additional information is added to the name of the content database 12 is displayed.

(C) When one of the display information of the displayed contents is selected on the screen P402, the screen P40 is displayed.
As shown in 3, linked to the selected content.

In the fourth display example, when the searched contents have the same name, if the municipality which is the additional information 1 of the display method storage device 11 cannot be identified, the addition is made. The genre is displayed in the information 2. Specifically, although there are two Toshiba Kaikans in Shinjuku on screen P402, by displaying the genre,
It can be distinguished from the Toshiba Kaikan of a hotel in Shinjuku and the Toshiba Kaikan of a restaurant in Shinjuku.

(Fifth Display Example) FIG. 9 is a fifth display example of the content providing apparatus of the present invention. Here, a display example when the sequence key c of the display method storage device 11 is selected is shown.

(A) First, on the screen P501, a search key is input. Then, the content database 12 is searched for content that matches the search key. In the content database 12, names, prefectures, municipalities, addresses divided into large letters, and content genres,
It is registered as additional information.

(B) Next, the result of searching the content database 12 is displayed on the screen P502. Here, the names are grouped, and the municipalities and genres of the additional information in the content database 12 are displayed as display information.

(C) On the screen P502, when one of the display information of the displayed contents is selected, the screen P50 is displayed.
As shown in 3, linked to the selected content.

In the fifth display example, grouping is performed by name, and additional information for differentiating the content is added. When there are many same names, grouping by name as in the fifth display example reduces the amount of information displayed on the screen. Furthermore, the content can be identified by the additional information.

(Sixth Display Example) FIG. 10 is a sixth display example of the content providing apparatus of the present invention. Here, a display example when the sequence key d of the display method storage device 11 is selected is shown.

(A) First, on the screen P601, a search key is input. Then, the content database 12 is searched for content that matches the search key. In the content database 12, names, prefectures, municipalities, addresses divided into large letters, and content genres,
It is registered as additional information.

(B) Next, the result of searching the content database 12 is displayed on the screen P602. Here, the information is grouped by genre, and the name of the additional information in the content database 12 and the municipality are displayed as the display information.

(C) When one of the display information of the displayed contents is selected on the screen P602, the screen P60 is displayed.
As shown in 3, linked to the selected content.

In the sixth display example, genres are grouped and additional information for differentiating the contents is added. When there are many same genres, grouping by genres as in the sixth display example reduces the amount of information displayed on the screen. Furthermore, the content can be identified by the additional information. Further, the sixth display example can provide a display screen that is easy for the user to understand when the user knows the genre of the desired content.

(Other Embodiments) As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described, but it should be understood that the statements and drawings forming a part of this disclosure limit the present invention. Absent. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples and operational techniques will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

In the functional block diagram of the content providing apparatus shown in FIG. 2, it is described that the display method determining means and the content searching means are performed in parallel. However, for example, the display method determining means is performed after the content searching means is performed. It may be done. In this case, the display method determination means can determine the optimum display method from the content display request and the content search result. Similarly, in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the order in which steps S101 and S102 are performed does not matter.

Further, in FIG. 2, if grouping is not necessary, the grouping means 17 may be removed from the constituent elements.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the system determines the content display method on the content requesting device, but the content requesting device may specify it. Further, although the system is described so as to determine the content display method and then search the database, the system may determine a display method that is easy to see and understand by referring to the detected result. For example, as a result of the search, the content providing device makes a determination such that if there are many contents having the same name, grouping is performed by name, and if the content address is similar and the genre is different, the genre is added as additional information. May be.

As described above, it goes without saying that the present invention includes various embodiments not described here. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is defined only by the matters specifying the invention according to the scope of claims reasonable from the above description.

[0076]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a content providing apparatus and a content providing method that can display a link to a content that is easy for the user to discriminate and that can be easily realized.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a content display system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of a content providing device.

FIG. 3 is an example of data recorded in a display method storage device.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process of creating display information after receiving a content display request.

FIG. 5 is a first display example of the content providing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a second display example of the content providing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a third display example of the content providing device of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a fourth display example of the content providing device of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a fifth display example of the content providing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a sixth display example of the content providing device of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is an example of a conventional content providing method.
(Part 1)

FIG. 12 is an example of a conventional content providing method.
(Part 2)

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Content providing device 1 2a, 2b, 2c content requesting device 3 communication network 11 Display method storage device 12 content database 13 Communications department 14 Receiving means 15 Display method determining means 16 Content search means 17 Grouping means 18 Display information creation means 19 Transmission means

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI theme code (reference) G06F 17/30 380 G06F 17/30 380Z F term (reference) 5B069 AA01 BA03 BB14 JA09 LA03 5B075 ND36 NK46 NR12 PP03 PP22 PQ02 5E501 AA02 AB15 BA05 CA03 CB02 CB09 EA12 FA13 FA14 FA22 FA48

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A content providing apparatus for use in a content providing system comprising a content providing apparatus for providing content and a content requesting apparatus for requesting the provision of the content, wherein a display target and an attribute of this display target are provided. A content database in which a plurality of the contents are recorded in association with information, a display method storage unit in which a display method that is a format for displaying the contents is recorded, and a content display related to the content displayed by the content requesting device Receiving means for receiving a request from the content requesting device; display method determining means for determining the display method adapted to the content of the content display request from the record of the display method storing means; If the content that meets the content of the display request is Display information creating means for creating display information corresponding to each of the contents according to the display method determined as the content acquiring means for acquiring the content; and transmitting the display information to the content requesting device, A content providing apparatus, comprising: a transmitting unit that causes a requesting apparatus to display the content. 2. The display information creating means sets additional information, which is an attribute of the content, in the display information to identify the content when the same display information is included in the display information. The content providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the content providing apparatus further adds the content. 3. A grouping unit for grouping the contents acquired from the content database based on the grouping item when the items specified in the display method are designated to be grouped as a grouping item, 3. The display information creating unit further comprises creating display information corresponding to the contents grouped by the grouping unit.
The content providing device according to item 1. 4. A content database in which a plurality of contents are recorded in which a display target and attribute information of the display target are associated with each other, and a display method storage means in which a display method in a format for displaying the contents is recorded. Equipped with
A content providing method used in a content providing system, comprising: a content providing apparatus for providing the content; and a content requesting apparatus for requesting the content to be provided, the content display relating to the content to be displayed on the content requesting apparatus. Receiving a request from the content requesting device; determining the display method adapted to the content of the content display request from the record of the display method storage means; Acquiring the content satisfying the content, creating display information corresponding to each of the content according to the determined display method, and transmitting the content to the content requesting device based on the display information. Shin and content providing method characterized by comprising the step of displaying on the content requesting device. 5. A step of gradually adding additional information, which is an attribute of the content, to the display information in order to identify the content when the same display information is included in the display information. The content providing method according to claim 4, further comprising: 6. The method further comprising the step of grouping the contents acquired from the content database based on the grouping items when the items designated in the display method are specified to be grouped as a grouping item. The content providing method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein the step of creating the display information further comprises creating display information corresponding to the contents grouped in the grouping step.