JP2002041555A - Device and method for retrieving information, and program recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To decrease the number of times to operate commodity retrieval when purchasing a commodity. SOLUTION: When a commodity selling server receives a hyper text request for commodity purchase from a user terminal, the server transmits the pronunciation description of each commodity and the list of that retrieval command to the user terminal together with a home page 11 showing that server and when the page 11 is displayed on the user terminal and when a user inputs desired commodity 'leek', for example, in voice, a retrieval command corresponding to the 'leek' on the list is detected by voice recognition and sent to the server. Then, a page 31 of 'leek' is transmitted from the server and displayed on the user terminal and the operation is completed by one time of input.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a user (user) terminal, a search method in a search server, and a program recording medium for a search, for example, when purchasing a product, via a communication network such as the Internet. , And a search device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As shown in FIG. 11, for example, in recent years, a commodity sales server 13 is accessed from a user terminal 12 via a computer network 11 such as the Internet to use hypertext described in HTML or XML. Search, selection, and purchase of products. This hypertext is sent to the user terminal 12
As a means for displaying a hypertext, a device that displays hypertext using software generally called a browser is used. A user (user) performs a product search operation on a display device that performs a display operation using a browser through an input device such as a mouse or a keyboard.

[0003]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, a user who is not accustomed to operating a mouse or a keyboard is difficult to operate a display device functioning with a browser, so that search and selection of a target product are difficult. There was a problem that it took time to perform. Even a user who is used to a mouse or keyboard must repeat the mouse operation many times in order to display the page that describes the desired product. You have to search for a target product from many products.

[0004] For example, a server 13 that sells groceries
Fig. 1 shows an example of the structure of the hypertext stored in
When the user purchases green onions and milk by a normal mouse operation, the user selects a product by transiting the following pages.

[0005] 1. 1. The home page 11 sent from the server 13 is displayed on the user terminal 12, and "vegetables" in the displayed item is clicked. Page 21 is displayed, and “Negion” in the display item is displayed.
2. Click to move to page 31. Page 31 is displayed, and "Order" in the displayed item is displayed.
3. Click to enter data indicating "green onion" into the order memory in server 13. 4. Click "Home" in the display items on page 31, which causes a transition to home page 11, and 5. The homepage 11 is displayed, and the user clicks on "dairy" in the displayed item. Page 22 is displayed, and "Milk" in the display item is displayed.
6. Click to transition to page 34, Page 34 is displayed, and "Order" in the displayed item is displayed.
Is clicked, whereby data indicating "milk" is placed in the order memory. Some software systems are known which can operate the personal computer by voice. These can also be used to operate the browser functions by voice, but instead of using the mouse, it is performed by voice.By scrolling the screen displayed by the browser by voice or reading out the anchor part of the link, You can jump to the display of the linked page. However, this conventional system merely performs voice input instead of mouse operation. For example, in order to display a hypertext page that cannot be reached without clicking the mouse three times, the voice is similarly output three times. I had to do it.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a purpose thereof is to enable a user to search and select a product or the like on the Internet or the like by voice, and further operate a mouse. An object of the present invention is to provide an information search method, apparatus, and program recording medium that enable search and selection with fewer operation steps.

[0007]

According to the present invention, a search request is transmitted from a user terminal to a search server, and when the search server receives the search request, a list of phonetic expressions of the last search item and its search command is generated. When the user terminal receives the search home page, the user terminal displays the home page. When the user inputs a voice representing the final search item into the user terminal, the input voice is recognized by speech, and the phonetic notation in the list is displayed. Is output as a speech recognition result, and a search command corresponding to the speech recognition result is transmitted to a search server. When the search server receives the search command, the search server fetches a corresponding final search item page from a database, Send to the terminal, and when the user terminal receives the final search item page, display it and display the final search item. Item is displayed.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described for a case of searching for a product purchase. A system to which this embodiment is applied has, for example, a configuration shown in FIG.
2 is configured, for example, as shown in FIG. That is, a memory 21 storing a program for displaying a hypertext like a browser,
The display 22, the voice recognition unit 23, the voice input unit 24, and the link collection memory 31 constitute a voice control hypertext display device 25. As the voice control hypertext display device 25, for example, a device similar to that shown in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-222342 "Hypertext voice control method and device" can be used. The voice control hypertext display device 25, the transmission / reception unit 26, the storage unit 27, the memory 28 storing the basic program of the computer, the CP
U29 is connected to bus 32.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which the product sales server 13 is also constituted by a computer. A transmission / reception unit 41, a storage unit 42, a search unit 43, a memory 44 storing a product sales program, a memory 45 storing a user authentication and purchase history program, a purchase history memory 46, a memory 47 storing a basic computer program. , CPU48
Are connected to the bus 49. The search unit 43 searches the product database 51 storing the hypertext of the product sales.

Hereinafter, the procedure of a product search order will be described to clarify the features of the present invention. 4 shows a processing procedure of the user terminal 12, FIG. 5 shows a processing procedure of the product sales server 13, and FIG. 6 shows a signal transmitted between the user terminal 12 and the product sales server 13, respectively.

In the user terminal 12, the hypertext display device 25 is activated (S1), and a link (address) of the server 13 which sells a product to be purchased is inputted.
If there is a link in the link collection memory 31, the link is taken out there (S2), the merchandise sales server 13 is accessed, and in this example, a user authentication request is transmitted (S3), and then the authentication OK is received from the merchandise sales server 13 Then, a request for the hypertext, that is, a search request is transmitted to the product sales server 13 (S4).

Upon receiving the user authentication request (s1), the product sales server 13 passes the user authentication (OK).
If so, this is notified to the user terminal 12 and the user is registered in the purchase history memory 46 (s
2). Thereafter, when a hypertext request (search request) is received (s3), the home page of the product sale, for example, page 11 in FIG. 1 is retrieved from the database 51 and transmitted to the user terminal 12 (s4).

In this case, in this embodiment, the list of the final product ordered by the user, that is, the phonetic notation when the final search item is uttered and the command (command) for searching the page of the product (item) is stored on the home page. To the user terminal 12. For example, about 500 to 1000 of the phonetic notation and the number of commands can be sent to the user terminal 12 and stored in the storage unit 27. However, if the number of products (items) is further large, In order to facilitate the determination of (items), a list of phonetic expressions and commands for products (items) frequently purchased (searched) from the user's history in the purchase history memory 46 and a plurality of products related to or similar to the products are displayed. It can also be added to the homepage. FIG. 7 shows a specific example of the phonetic notation and the command.

When the homepage is received by the user terminal 12 (S5), the homepage is displayed on the display 22 (S6). For example, the display of page 11 in FIG. 1 appears. The user sees this display and knows that the product can be ordered, and inputs the product to be purchased, that is, the last search item, for example, “green onion” by voice (S7). This input is made by uttering “green onion” to a voice input unit 24 such as a microphone.

When the product voice is input, the voice recognition unit 23
Performs the recognition of the input voice. In this voice recognition unit 23,
The phonetic notation in the list sent together with the received home page is transferred, and the phonetic notation in the list of the input product voice is determined and output (S8). The retrieval command corresponding to the phonetic notation recognized by the voice is retrieved from the storage unit 27, and the commodity retrieval command, that is, the final retrieval item command is retrieved.
(S9). That is, in the above example, "onion" is input by voice, and this is voice-recognized. From FIG. 7, "go (" p
age31. The search command “html”) ”is transmitted to the server 13.

When the product sales server 13 receives the product search command (s5), the search unit 43 searches the product database 51 based on the product search command, and obtains a product page (final search item page). The product page 31 is taken out and transmitted to the user terminal 12 (s6). At this time, if the user purchase history is taken, the searched product page is stored in the purchase history memory 46.
It is registered as the purchase history of the user (s7). Instead of registering the purchased product page for each user in the user purchase history memory 46, a search command for the product page may be registered.

When the user terminal 12 receives the product page (S10), the product page is displayed on the display 22 (S11). In the above example, the product page 31 is received, and this is displayed as shown as the page 31 in FIG. Looking at this display, the user confirms that there is no mistake in the ordered product by voice input, and notifies the confirmation, that is, inputs "order" (S12). This input may be by voice or a click input using a mouse. As described above, according to this embodiment, the final target page 3 can be input by one voice input without searching the page 21 in FIG.
1 can be displayed on the display 32. In this embodiment, when an order is input, an order notice (confirmation notice) is transmitted to the product purchase server 13 (S13).

When the product purchase server 13 receives the order notification (s8), the product corresponding to the order notification, in this example, data indicating "green onion" is stored in an order memory, for example, the order area 42a of the storage unit 42 in FIG. (S9). Thereafter, if the end notification is not received (s10), the process returns to step s4 in FIG. 5, and again selects the homepage requested by the user, page 11 in this example, and transmits it to the user terminal 12. If the user terminal 12 has not transmitted the end notification to the server 13 after step S13 (S14), the process returns to step S5. Therefore, in the example shown in FIG.
When "1" is displayed, the user inputs milk by voice, and the page 33 is immediately displayed on the display 22 so that the user can order it.

When the order is to be ended, the order is input in step S12 in FIG. 4 or the end is input separately. Upon receiving the end notification from the user terminal 12, the product purchase server 13 returns to step s1. When the purchase history of the user is not used, the user authentication request transmission step (S3) in FIG. 4, the step of checking whether the user authentication is received in FIG. 5 (s1), and the step of registering the user in the purchase history (s2). Is omitted.

As described above, in the example shown in FIG.
According to the present invention, Page 11 is displayed, and uttered “Negion” is input.
This causes a transition to page 31; The page 31 is displayed, and the user speaks and inputs "chumon". As a result, data indicating "green onion" is stored in the order area 42a of the storage unit.

3. 3. The page 11 is displayed, and "utterance" is uttered and input. A page 34 is displayed, and the user inputs "chumon" by voice. As a result, the data indicating "milk" is displayed in the order area 4.
2a.

That is, in the prior art, seven click operations were performed to search for and order "green onion" and "milk". In this embodiment, however, only four voice inputs are required.

Each of the user terminal 12 and the product purchase server 13 can be configured as an apparatus. For example, the product purchase server 13 includes a transmission / reception unit 41 and a storage unit 4 as shown in FIG.
2. Search unit 43, purchase history memory 46, user authentication unit 5
2 may be connected to the control unit 53, and each unit may be controlled and operated under the control unit 52.

FIG. 9 shows a music CD (compact disc).
2 shows a page search and display procedure corresponding to FIG. That is, the homepage 511 displays “Welcome to the CD shop, Western music, Japanese music, etc.”, and a list of phonetic expressions of each final search item and its search command is added along with this page. "Please Please
In the case of retrieving and purchasing a CD of “e Me”, conventionally, the Western music page 521 is searched and displayed, and the lock page 5 is displayed.
Search and display 31 and then "The Beatles"
The page 541 is searched and displayed, and then “Please
Click "PleaseMe" and select "Please P
The page 551 of “Please Me” is displayed. According to the present invention, when the homepage 511 is displayed, “Please Please Me” is input by voice.
The page 551 of "e" is immediately displayed, and the search operation is greatly simplified.

FIG. 10 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1 in a case where a product is generally searched and purchased. The top page 411 is displayed as a home page, and to search for product 1,
Normally, first, the page 421 of the category 1 is searched and displayed, the page 431 of the subcategory 1 is searched and displayed, and then, the product 1 is clicked and the page 441 of the product 1 is displayed. By voice inputting the product 1 while 411 is displayed, the page 441 of the product 1 is immediately displayed.

It is necessary for the user to know the correct phonetic notation when inputting a product, that is, the final search item by voice. If this can be known from a product catalog distributed in advance, Good.

In the above description, the present invention is applied to a product search at the time of product purchase. In general, when searching for data, the search is narrowed down in order of category, sub-category, etc., and the page of the last search item is obtained. In other words, the refinement operation was required many times. However, according to the present invention, when the target final search item was first input by voice, the search command corresponding to the phonetic notation was sent together with the homepage from the search server. By selecting from the list and sending it to the search server, the last search item page can be obtained by one voice input.

[0028] The present invention relates to HT as hypertext.
Not only ML but also other description methods such as XML may be used. The hypertext shown in FIGS. 1, 9, and 10 is not limited to the case where the hypertext exists statically, and the page may be dynamically generated when a request is made from the database.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the final search item page can be searched with a very small number of voice inputs as compared with the conventional click input and voice input, which is very convenient.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional example of a search at the time of product purchase and its page display, and a diagram for explaining the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a user terminal according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a product sales server as a search server according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation procedure of the user terminal shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation procedure of the server shown in FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a transmission signal between a user terminal and a search server.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a phonetic notation and a list of search commands.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another configuration example of the server.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example corresponding to FIG. 1 when purchasing a music CD.

FIG. 10 is a diagram corresponding to FIG. 1 generalized at the time of product purchase.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration to which the present invention is applied.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification code FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 3/16 340 G06F 3/16 340A 13/00 540 13/00 540A 17/60 318 17/60 318G

Claims (6)

[Claims] A step of transmitting a search request to a search server; a step of displaying the search homepage upon receiving the search homepage; and a step of recognizing a voice inputting a voice representing a final search item. A step of outputting one of a list of phonetic expressions and commands as a speech recognition result, a step of transmitting a final search item command of the speech recognition result to a search server, and a step of receiving a final search item page when the final search item page is received. Displaying a page, the method for retrieving information in a user terminal comprising the steps of: 2. The information search method according to claim 1, further comprising: transmitting the confirmation notification to the search server after displaying the final search item page; and transmitting a search end notification to the search server. 3. When a search request is received from a user terminal,
Selecting and transmitting a search homepage, receiving a final search item command, searching the database for the final search item page, and transmitting the searched final search item page to the user terminal. Information retrieval method in the server. 4. A step of performing user authentication of the user terminal that transmitted the search request, and a step of registering, for each user who has been authenticated, the last search item page transmitted to the user terminal as a history in a user history memory. 4. A step of selecting the search homepage based on the user history of the user terminal that has made a search request with reference to the user history memory.
Information search method described. 5. A means for transmitting / receiving to / from the user terminal, a database storing search items, a means for authenticating the user of the user terminal, a history memory storing a history of the last search request item for each user, Search means for searching the database by the final search item command to obtain a corresponding final search item page;
Upon receiving a search request, means for generating a search homepage by referring to the history memory for the requesting user, and means for registering the final search item page to the authenticated user in the history memory, and And a control means for controlling each means. 6. A recording medium on which a program for causing a computer to execute the method according to claim 1 is recorded.