WO2018138845A1 - Information processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

This information processing device has a storage means, a communication means, and a control means. The storage means stores a plurality of sets of content information to be searched, and also stores, as a database consisting of a multi-dimensional set of nodes and edges, both a plurality of keywords for searching the plurality of sets of content information, and association information indicating associations between the keywords. The communication means can communicate with a user's user terminal. The control means transmits, to the user terminal, a user interface that includes, as first selection candidates for the user, at least one keyword extracted from among the plurality of keywords, and upon the user selecting a first keyword from among the first selection candidates, the control means modifies the user interface so as to include, as second selection candidates for the user, at least one second keyword associated with the selected first keyword. Further, upon the user selecting a second keyword from among the second selection candidates, the control means further modifies the user interface so as to include, as third selection candidates, at least one third keyword associated with the selected second keyword, then searches the plurality of sets of content information on the basis of two or more keywords selected from among the selected first keyword, the selected second keyword, a third keyword that has been selected from among the third selection candidates, and transmits the found content information to the user terminal.

Description

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program capable of searching content information such as restaurant information and outputting a search result.

Conventionally, a technique for searching for data from a plurality of data registered in a database based on the similarity to the input query data and the strength of the relation is known.

For example, in Patent Document 1 below, registered data to be searched and error information indicating an error between the registered data are stored in association with each other, and the error is determined from the distance between the query data related to the search request and the registered data. A neighborhood search method for searching for registered data in which a value obtained by subtracting a distance corresponding to information is within a predetermined neighborhood range is disclosed.

JP 2012-234446 A

However, although the technique described in Patent Document 1 can search for data that is close to the query data, the user gradually narrows down the search data using the data suggested from the system as a query. You may not be able to reach the information.

In view of the circumstances as described above, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of extracting and presenting an appropriate next search route according to a search route followed by a user in content information search processing. Another object is to provide an information processing method and program.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention includes a storage unit, a communication unit, and a control unit. The storage means stores a plurality of pieces of content information to be searched, and stores a plurality of keywords for searching for the content information and related information indicating a relationship between the keywords in a multidimensional node and edge. Store as a set of databases. The communication means can communicate with the user terminal of the user. The control means transmits a user interface including at least one keyword extracted from the plurality of keywords as a first selection candidate by the user to the user terminal, and a first user interface selected by the user from the first selection candidate. The user interface is changed to include at least one second keyword related to one keyword as a second selection candidate by the user. Further, the control means changes the user interface so as to include at least one third keyword related to the second keyword selected by the user from the second selection candidates as the third selection candidate by the user. The content information is searched based on two or more keywords among one keyword, the second keyword, and a third keyword selected from the third selection candidates, and the content information obtained by the search is used as the user terminal. Send to.

With this configuration, the information processing apparatus presents an appropriate next search route according to the search route followed by the user from the first selection candidate (first keyword) to the third selection candidate (third keyword). Content information searched based on a route can be provided. Here, the content information is, for example, store information such as restaurant information or product information, but is not limited thereto.

The control means outputs at least one fourth keyword related to the third keyword selected by the user from the third selection candidate as a fourth selection candidate by the user, and thereafter selects from the nth selection candidate The user interface is changed to include at least one n + 1 keyword related to the generated n keyword as an n + 1 selection candidate by the user (n is an integer of 4 or more), the first keyword, the second keyword The content information may be searched based on two or more keywords among all the keywords including the third keyword and the n-3 keywords selected until the selection of the n-th keyword.

As a result, the information processing apparatus can repeatedly change the user interface according to the search route followed by the user and provide content information according to the narrowed-down route.

The control means may search the content information based on at least the first keyword and the n-th keyword selected last among all the keywords.

As a result, the information processing apparatus uses the first keyword, which is a premise for the user in the search for content information, and the nth keyword, which is the object of immediate interest, as the basis of the content search, so that the content information unintended for the user is obtained as a search result. Can be prevented as offered.

The control unit may search the content information based on all the keywords.

Thereby, the information processing apparatus can provide the content information that matches the user's interest as much as possible by reflecting all the search routes that the user has followed in the search of the content information.

The control means may search the content information based on at least the n-th keyword selected last and the n-1 keyword selected immediately before it among all the keywords.

Thus, the information processing apparatus can reflect the interest in the search result by using at least two keywords of the user's immediate interest as the basis of the search for the content information.

When the second or third selection candidate is output, the control unit may exclude a keyword that has been output as a selection candidate before that from the output target. In addition, when outputting the nth selection candidate, the control means may exclude a keyword that has been output as a selection candidate before that from the output target.

As a result, the information processing apparatus can prevent the keyword already selected by the user from being output as a new selection candidate and the user from being confused or selected again so that the same search route is repeated. it can.

The control means may extract and output a keyword related to the selected first keyword among the third keywords as the third selection candidate. Further, the control means may extract and output keywords related to all of the selected first to n-1 keywords among the nth keywords as the nth selection candidates.

As a result, the information processing apparatus can output keywords that are not related to the user as selection candidates by outputting keywords related to all the keywords selected by the user so far as selection candidates. .

The control means uses, as the third selection candidate, a keyword from which content information is obtained by searching for content information based on the first keyword, the second keyword, and the third keyword among the third keywords. You may extract and output. Further, the control means may extract and output a keyword from which content information is obtained by searching for content information based on the first to n-th keywords among the n-th keywords as the n-th selection candidate. Good.

As a result, the information processing apparatus outputs only keywords for which content information has been found to be obtained by a search based on the keyword and the keyword selected by the user so far as a selection candidate. However, it is possible to prevent a situation in which content information cannot be obtained.

The communication unit may receive the location information of the user terminal, and the control unit may extract the first selection candidate based on the acquired location information.

Thereby, the information processing apparatus can output the first selection candidate by regarding the current position of the user as an object of interest of the user.

Content obtained when the control means searches the content information on the user interface for the first to third selection candidates and based on two or more keywords of the first to third selection candidates. You may output with the magnitude | size according to the quantity of information. In addition, the control unit may determine the number of content information obtained when the n-th selection candidate is searched for the content information based on two or more keywords among the first to n-th selection candidates on the user interface. It may be output in a size according to.

Thereby, when outputting each selection candidate, the information processing apparatus can make the user know the quantity of the content information obtained by the search when it is selected.

The storage means may store weight information indicating the strength of relevance between the keywords as the related information. In this case, the control means sets the display mode of the second or third selection candidate on the user interface as the second or third selection candidate and the first or second selected by the user related thereto. You may change based on the said weight information between keywords. Further, the control means displays, on the user interface, the display mode of the nth selection candidate, the weight information between the nth selection candidate and the n-1 keyword selected by the user related thereto. It may be changed to a group.

Thereby, when outputting each selection candidate, the information processing apparatus can allow the user to grasp the degree of association between the selection candidate and the selection candidate selected by the user before that.

The control means may output the second selection candidate or the third selection candidate together with the selected first or second keyword on the user interface. The control means may output the nth selection candidate together with the selected n-1 keyword on the user interface.

Thereby, the information processing apparatus can grasp the keyword selected by the user immediately before together with the selection candidate. Specifically, the second selection candidate or the third selection candidate may be output around the first or second keyword, or a position that can be distinguished from the second selection candidate or the third selection candidate ( For example, it may be output to the end of the output area.

An information processing method according to another aspect of the present invention includes:
A plurality of keywords for searching the content information and related information indicating the relationship between the keywords are stored as a database composed of a set of multidimensional nodes and edges while storing a plurality of content information to be searched. Remember,
A user interface including at least one keyword extracted from the plurality of keywords as a first selection candidate by a user of the user terminal is transmitted to the user terminal;
Changing the user interface to include, as a second selection candidate by the user, at least one second keyword related to the first keyword selected by the user from the first selection candidate;
Changing the user interface to include as a third selection candidate by the user at least one third keyword related to the second keyword selected by the user from the second selection candidate;
Searching for the content information based on two or more keywords selected from the first keyword, the second keyword, and the third keyword selected from the third selection candidates;
Transmitting content information obtained by the search to the user terminal.

A program according to another embodiment of the present invention is provided in an information processing device.
A plurality of keywords for searching the content information and related information indicating the relationship between the keywords are stored as a database composed of a set of multidimensional nodes and edges while storing a plurality of content information to be searched. Memorizing step;
Transmitting a user interface including at least one keyword extracted from the plurality of keywords as a first selection candidate by a user of the user terminal to the user terminal;
Changing the user interface to include as a second selection candidate by the user at least one second keyword related to the first keyword selected by the user from the first selection candidate;
Changing the user interface to include at least one third keyword related to a second keyword selected by the user from the second selection candidate as a third selection candidate by the user;
Searching the content information based on two or more keywords selected from the first keyword, the second keyword, and a third keyword selected from the third selection candidates;
Transmitting the content information obtained by the search to the user terminal.

As described above, according to the present invention, an appropriate next search route can be extracted and presented in accordance with the search route followed by the user in the content information search process. However, this effect does not limit the present invention.

It is the figure which showed the structure of the restaurant information provision system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the hardware constitutions of the restaurant information provision server which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the structure of the database which the restaurant information provision server which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention has. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the restaurant information provision process by the restaurant information provision server which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of the search screen transmitted and displayed to a user terminal from the restaurant information provision server in one Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure explaining the holding | maintenance process of the keyword for a search according to the user's selection from the selection candidate by the restaurant information provision server in one Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the flow of the repetition process of the display of the keyword and restaurant information which a restaurant information provision server performs in one Embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the example of a transition of the search screen according to the selection from the selection candidate by the restaurant information provision server in one Embodiment of this invention. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the search process which a restaurant information provision server performs in one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 10 is a diagram conceptually illustrating the search process of FIG. 9. It is the figure which showed the flow of the listing process of the next selection candidate which the restaurant information provision server performs in one Embodiment of this invention. FIG. 12 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a list selection process of next selection candidates in FIG. 11. FIG. 12 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a list selection process of next selection candidates in FIG. 11. FIG. 12 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a list selection process of next selection candidates in FIG. 11.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following embodiments, a system in which restaurant information is searched and provided as an example of content information will be described.

[System configuration]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a restaurant information providing system according to the present embodiment.

As shown in the figure, this system includes a restaurant information providing server 100 on the Internet 50 and a plurality of user terminals 200.

The restaurant information providing server 100 is a web server that operates a portal site that posts information about restaurants. The restaurant information providing server 100 is connected to a plurality of user terminals 200 via the Internet 50.

The restaurant information providing server 100 provides a restaurant information search system for the user of the user terminal 200 on the portal site. Specifically, the restaurant information providing server 100 searches for restaurant information that matches the search condition based on a search request by a keyword or the like from the user terminal 200, generates a Web page on which the search result is posted, and generates a user. Transmit to terminal 200.

The user terminal 200 (200A, 200B, 200C ...) is a terminal used by a user, such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet PC (Personal Computer), a notebook PC, a desktop PC, or the like. The user terminal 200 accesses the restaurant information providing server 100, receives the Web page, and displays it on the screen using a browser or the like.

The user terminal 200 determines a restaurant search condition based on a user operation, and transmits a restaurant search request based on the search condition to the restaurant information providing server 100.

In addition, particularly in the present embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100 sets a plurality of keywords as selection candidates mainly for users who do not have a high search capability, apart from an active search request by keyword input from the user. It has a function of presenting to a user and narrowing down searching and providing restaurant information that matches it while repeatedly presenting a selection candidate based on the user's selection from the selection candidate. Thereby, the user can arrive at unknown restaurant information (restaurant information that does not know what keyword should be searched) simply by selecting a keyword from the selection candidates.

[Hardware configuration of restaurant information providing server]
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the restaurant information providing server 100. As shown in the figure, a restaurant information providing server 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, an input / output interface 15, and these components connected to each other. A bus 14 is provided.

CPU11 accesses RAM13 grade | etc., As needed suitably, and controls each whole block of the restaurant information provision server 100 centrally, performing various arithmetic processing. The ROM 12 is a non-volatile memory in which an OS to be executed by the CPU 11, firmware such as programs and various parameters are fixedly stored. The RAM 13 is used as a work area for the CPU 11 and temporarily holds the OS, various applications being executed, and various data being processed.

A display unit 16, an operation receiving unit 17, a storage unit 18, a communication unit 19 and the like are connected to the input / output interface 15.

The display unit 16 is a display device using, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an OELD (Organic ElectroLuminescence Display), a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or the like.

The operation receiving unit 17 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, and other input devices. When the operation reception unit 17 is a touch panel, the touch panel can be integrated with the display unit 16.

The storage unit 18 is, for example, a nonvolatile memory such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), a flash memory (SSD; Solid State Drive), or other solid-state memory. The storage unit 18 stores the OS, various applications, and various data.

As will be described later, particularly in the present embodiment, the storage unit 18 includes a restaurant information database, a user information database, a keyword information database, and a label information database, and uses these databases to select selection candidates for the user of the user terminal 200. An application and other programs necessary for processing for searching and providing restaurant information based on the keyword selected by the user are stored.

The communication unit 19 is a module for wireless communication such as a NIC (Network Interface Card) for Ethernet or a wireless LAN, and performs communication processing with the user terminal 200.

Although not shown, the basic hardware configuration of the user terminal 200 is substantially the same as the hardware configuration of the restaurant information providing server 100.

[Database configuration of restaurant information server]
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of a database included in the restaurant information providing server 100.

As shown in the figure, the restaurant information providing server 100 has a restaurant information database 31, a user information database 32, a keyword information database 33, and a label information database 34 in the storage unit 18.

The restaurant information database 31 includes, for each restaurant, the store name and location information of the restaurant, the ID (store ID) for identifying the restaurant, the category information of the restaurant business type and service, and the restaurant. Information indicating store characteristics such as PR statement of the store, event information performed by the restaurant, area information where the restaurant is located, restaurant address, telephone number, restaurant ( Stores image data (introducing stores), menu information about menus provided by restaurants, business hours, website URLs, and the like.

The menu information is information corresponding to a menu posted on each restaurant site on the portal site, and stores menu names of a plurality of menus that each restaurant can provide for each restaurant. . The menu information may be stored for each menu category such as appetizer / main and lunch / dinner / course. If the image data corresponds to a menu, the image data is stored in association with the menu information.

The area information is, for example, in units of prefectures, but information may be stored in units of a narrower range such as municipalities. The category information may include, for example, main categories such as Japanese food, Chinese, Italian, French, and yakiniku, and more detailed subcategories such as yakitori and tempura in Japanese food, pasta and pizza in Italian, and the like.

The user information database 32 stores information about a user who owns the user terminal 200 and who is a user (member) of the restaurant information service via the portal site provided by the restaurant information providing server 100. Specifically, the user information database 32 stores information such as a user ID, a password, a name, an e-mail address, a telephone number, an address, an age (layer), a sex, and a birthday for each user.

The keyword information database 33 stores a keyword for searching for the restaurant information and related information indicating a relation between the keywords as a graph database structure including a set of multidimensional nodes and edges. That is, the keyword information has a data structure that is a set of a plurality of keywords as nodes and edges indicating associations (combinations) between the keywords. Actually, the keyword information database 33 may be stored as a data structure (adjacent list) that holds a list of adjacent keywords for each keyword that is a node.

Also, the keyword information database 33 may store weight information indicating the strength (weight) of the connection (relevance) between two keywords connected by an edge as the related information. Further, the keyword information database 33 may also store information indicating the relationship between the upper / lower concepts when each keyword has a relationship between the higher concept and the lower concept. For example, the upper / lower concept information may have a data structure that holds a list of keywords of the lower concept for each keyword, similar to the above-described adjacent list.

Further, the keyword information database 33 stores keyword icon images corresponding to the respective keywords for outputting the above keywords as icons on the user interface screen as selection candidates by the user of the user terminal 200. The keyword icon is, for example, a character corresponding to each keyword surrounded by a circle, but is not limited thereto.

The label information database 34 associates label information (character string information) extracted from restaurant information (for example, area information, menu information, category information, introduction information, etc.) of each restaurant with a store ID of each restaurant. I remember.

The label information is stored as, for example, a data structure in which the relationship between the labels can be grasped. For example, if the label information is extracted from the menu information, the “drink” label may be a label corresponding to the type of drink such as “beer”, “sake”, “shochu”, “wine”, or a specific example thereof. Labels representing brands are stored in association with each other. The label “Food” is a label corresponding to a category such as “standard dish”, “local dish”, “delicacy”, “meat dish”, “seafood dish”, “vegetable” A label or the like corresponding to a cooking material such as “cooking” is stored in association with each other.

These databases are used by referring to each other as necessary in the restaurant information retrieval / providing processing by the restaurant information providing server 100 described later.

[Operation of restaurant information provision server]
Next, operation | movement of the restaurant information provision server 100 comprised as mentioned above is demonstrated. The operation is executed in cooperation with the hardware such as the CPU 11 and the communication unit 19 of the restaurant information providing server 100 and the software stored in the storage unit 18. In the following description, for the sake of convenience, the CPU 11 is an operation subject.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of restaurant information providing processing by the restaurant information providing server 100. The process is executed, for example, when a restaurant information search application is activated on the user terminal 200 or when the location information received by the restaurant information providing server 100 from the user terminal 200 has changed. The

As shown in the figure, the CPU 11 of the restaurant information providing server 100 first acquires the position information of the user terminal 200 from the user terminal 200, and selects at least one keyword corresponding to the area to which the acquired position information belongs. Then, it is extracted as a user selection candidate (step 41).

Subsequently, the CPU 11 displays display element information for a search screen (web page) including the extracted selection candidate (keyword) as a user interface or a search screen displayed by an application executed on the user terminal 200, as a user terminal. 200.

Subsequently, the CPU 11 starts a repetitive (loop) process regarding presentation of the following selection candidates and presentation of content information relating to the selected keyword (step 42).

In the repetitive process, first, the CPU 11 receives the result of selection input or selection release input of the selection candidate from the user terminal 200 (step 44).

Subsequently, the CPU 11 holds the selection candidate keyword currently selected in the memory as a selection element in the memory by the selection input or the selection cancellation input (step 45).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a search screen that is transmitted from the restaurant information providing server 100 to the user terminal 200 and displayed.

As shown in the figure, the search screen has a plurality of first selection candidates 1 that are keywords extracted based on the position information, for example, at the top of the screen, and is a keyword related to the first selection candidate. The second selection candidate 2 is provided below the second selection candidate 2.

In the example shown in the figure, as the first selection candidate 1, three keywords “Shiga Tomo Otsu”, “Shiga Tatsuhikone”, and “Shiga Tomonagahama” are displayed based on the location information of the user terminal 200. “Otsu” is selected by the user of the user terminal 200.

The second selection candidate 2 is a keyword icon corresponding to the keyword associated with the “Shiga Sakai Otsu” selected by the user from among the first selection candidates 1, and is “fish”, “local cuisine”, “ "Meat" etc. are displayed. The selection / non-selection state of the user with respect to the second selection candidate 2 is expressed by the background color of the icon (colored state is selected state, colorless (white) state is non-selected state), for example, as shown in FIG. It may be expressed in other display modes. In the example shown in the figure, the “local sake” keyword icon of the second selection candidates 2 is selected.

Furthermore, restaurant information 3 searched and acquired based on the keyword corresponding to the icon selected by the user among the second selection candidates 2 is displayed at the lower part of the search screen, for example. In the restaurant information 3, for example, hyperlinks to the respective store detailed information may be set.

FIG. 6 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a search keyword holding process according to a user's selection from selection candidates.

As shown in FIG. 5A, when “Shiga Kasumi Otsu” is selected as the first selection candidate 1, the CPU 11 of the restaurant information providing server 100 determines the “Shiga Kasumi Otsu” as a starting point (factor), and A keyword associated with the keyword on the graph database is extracted as the second selection candidate 2.

Then, as shown in FIG. B, when any one of the keyword icons is selected by the user from the second selection candidate 2, the CPU 11 selects the selected keyword from the first selection candidate 1. It is held as a holding list together with the keyword that has been set. In the example of the figure, when “local sake” is selected from the second selection candidate 2, “local sake” (element) is held together with “Shiga” and “Otsu” (factor) selected from the first selection candidate 1. An example is shown.

Returning to FIG. 4, in the repetitive processing, the CPU 11 searches for restaurant information based on the keywords held as the holding list (step 46). Details of the search processing will be described later.

Subsequently, when displaying all the keywords associated with the keyword last selected from the selection candidates as the next selection candidate (element), the CPU 11 executes a process of listing them (step 47). Details of the next element list processing will also be described later.

Subsequently, when the CPU 11 determines that the next selection candidate exists by the list selection process of the next selection candidate (element) (Yes in step 48), the CPU 11 next to the restaurant information obtained by the search is next. Are displayed on the search screen (step 49).

The CPU 11 repeats the above processing every time a keyword (element) is selected from the selection candidates by the user (steps 43 to 50).

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the flow of the above-described repetitive processing.

As shown in the figure, the CPU 11 starts repetitive processing when any one of the keywords is selected from the first selection candidate 1. In a state where the first selection candidate 1 is selected (loop 1), the search screen includes a keyword as a starting point (factor) corresponding to the location information of the user terminal 200, and restaurant information searched based on the keyword. Is displayed.

Then, the second selection candidate 2 related to the first selection candidate 1 is displayed, and after any keyword is selected from the second selection candidate 2, it is selected from the keyword as the starting point and the selection candidate. The process of displaying keywords as elements and restaurant information searched based on these keywords is repeated (loop 2 to loop N).

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a transition example of the search screen according to the selection from the selection candidates.

As shown in FIG. A, for example, when a plurality of keywords are displayed as the second selection candidate 2 and one of the keywords (“meat” in the example in the figure) is selected, the CPU 11 As shown in B, a keyword related to the selected keyword is displayed as the third selection candidate 23, and based on the keyword selected from the second selection candidate 2 and the keyword selected from the first selection candidate 1. The search screen is updated so that the restaurant information 3 obtained by the search is displayed. In this case, the keyword (“meat”) selected before the update is displayed in a predetermined area (for example, upper left) on the updated search screen.

Then, in the state shown in FIG. B, when any keyword (“cow” in the example of the figure) is selected from the third selection candidates 23, the CPU 11 A keyword related to the selected keyword is displayed as the fourth selection candidate 24 and is based on all the keywords selected from the first selection candidate 1, the second selection candidate 2, and the third selection candidate 23. The search screen is updated so that the restaurant information 3 obtained by the search is displayed. Also in this case, the keywords (“meat” and “cow”) selected before the update are displayed in a predetermined area on the updated search screen.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a detailed flow of the search process shown in step 46 of FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram conceptually illustrating the flow of the search process.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the search process, the CPU 11 first tokenizes keywords (elements) held as the holding list (step 61). That is, the CPU 11 analyzes the character string and divides it into a plurality of character strings so that the search engine can handle the character string indicated by the keyword. For example, in the example of the holding list shown in FIG. 6, the list is divided into three character strings “Shiga”, “Otsu”, and “local sake”.

Subsequently, the CPU 11 normalizes the tokenized character strings for the search engine, for example, by encoding them as necessary, as a continuous character string operation process (step 62).

Subsequently, the CPU 11 refers to the label information database 34 for each character string, and obtains a store ID associated with the character string and a label belonging to the layer immediately below the character string (step 63).

For example, in the example of FIG. 10, each of the keywords “Shiga”, “Otsu”, and “local sake”, and a label (beer, sake, shochu, wine) directly below “local sake” that is the keyword selected last among them. The store ID is searched by the search engine using any of the above as an AND condition.

Subsequently, the CPU 11 acquires restaurant information from the restaurant information database 31 based on the store ID obtained by the search (step 64). In the example of FIG. 10, as a result of the search, four restaurants information of stores A to D are acquired.

Then, the CPU 11 returns the restaurant information and stores it in the memory for display on the search screen (step 65).

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the flow of the list processing for the next element (next selection candidate) shown in step 47 of FIG. FIGS. 12 to 14 are diagrams conceptually illustrating the list selection process of the next selection candidate.

As shown in FIG. 11, in the list selection process of the next selection candidate, the CPU 11 first confirms the keyword selected from the selection candidates so far (step 71). That is, as shown in FIG. 12, the CPU 11 selects the keyword selected so far from the first selection candidate (factor) and the subsequent selection candidates (second selection candidate, third selection candidate). ,...,.

Subsequently, the CPU 11 filters the selection candidates to be displayed next based on the factors and the labels of the keywords as the elements (step 72). That is, as shown in FIG. 13, the CPU 11 uses the keywords (the above factors and elements) on the label associated with each store ID based on the store ID corresponding to the restaurant information obtained by the search process. In the example in the figure, “Shiga”, “Otsu”, “local sake”) and the label belonging to the keyword (“local sake”) as the above element (in the example in the figure, “beer, sake, shochu, wine, meat” , Fish ”) is included, and labels that are not included are excluded from the keyword labels.

In the example of FIG. 13, as a result of the label comparison, there is no restaurant where “shochu” as “local liquor” is associated with the store ID as a label, so the next selection candidate related to “local liquor” "Beer, sake, wine, meat, fish" excluding "shochu" is extracted.

Subsequently, based on the result of the filtering, the CPU 11 performs a pruning process on the selection candidate to be displayed next (step 73). For example, as shown in FIG. 14A, when “local sake” is selected from the second selection candidate 2, as shown in FIG. 14A, the CPU 11 selects the keyword associated with “local alcohol” on the graph database as shown in FIG. 14B. For the time being, the candidate 23 is extracted. However, in the above filtering process, among the labels of “local sake”, “shochu” does not exist as a label associated with the store ID corresponding to each restaurant information. As shown in FIG. 14C, the “shochu” is excluded from the third selection candidates 23.

In other words, the CPU 11 selects, as the third selection candidate 23, the keywords selected from the first selection candidate 1 and the second selection candidate 2 among the keywords related to the keyword selected from the second selection candidate 2 and the first selection candidate 2. Only keywords for which restaurant information is obtained are extracted by searching restaurant information based on keywords as the three selection candidates 23.

As a result, as the third selection candidate 23, only keywords for which restaurant information has been found to be obtained by a search based on the keyword and the keyword selected by the user so far will be output. Even if the selection candidate is selected, a situation in which restaurant information cannot be obtained as a result of the search is prevented.

Then, the CPU 11 determines the element after pruning (“beer, sake, wine, meat, fish” in the example of FIG. 14) as the next selection candidate (step 74), and returns it for display on the search screen. (Step 75).

As described above, every time a keyword is selected from the selection candidates displayed on the search screen, the CPU 11 displays at least one keyword related to the selected keyword as the next selection candidate. The search screen is updated from time to time so that restaurant information is searched based on all keywords selected from the selection candidates so far and the restaurant information obtained by the search is displayed on the search screen. . Thereby, every time a keyword is selected from selection candidates by the user, selection candidates are narrowed down, and restaurant information as a search result is also narrowed down. The user can finally find and browse restaurant information of interest by repeating selection from the selection candidates and browsing processing of restaurant information as a search result.

[Summary]
As described above, according to the present embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100 searches the search path (first selection candidate → second selection candidate → third selection candidate →... Nth) followed by the user on the search screen. According to the selection candidate), an appropriate next search route (selection candidate) can be presented, and restaurant information searched based on the search route can be provided. Therefore, compared to a case where restaurant information is narrowed down based on a keyword selected by the user, even if the keyword selected by the user at a certain selection stage is the same, the keyword selected by the user before that If they are different, the selection candidate presented next and restaurant information as a search result will also differ.

[Modification]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In the above-described embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100 searches for restaurant information based on all keywords selected from the selection candidates presented so far. However, it is not necessary for all keywords selected so far to be used for the search, and restaurant information may be searched based on at least the first and last selected keywords. Thus, the restaurant information that is not intended by the user is based on the search by using the first selected keyword that is a precondition for the user in the search for restaurant information and the last selected keyword that is the most recent object of interest. Are prevented from being provided as search results.

Also, the restaurant information may be searched based on at least the last selected keyword and the keyword selected immediately before it among all the selected keywords. As a result, the interest is reflected in the search result by using at least two keywords of the user's immediate interest as the basis of the search.

In the above-described embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100, when a keyword that has been displayed as a selection candidate so far is included in the keywords associated with the keyword that was selected last, will be used next time. You may exclude from the selection candidate displayed. This prevents a keyword that has already been selected by the user from being output as a new selection candidate and prevents the user from being confused or selected again to repeat the same search route.

In the above-described embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100 associates a keyword selected as the next selection candidate with a keyword selected two or more before from the keyword associated with the keyword selected immediately before. Only the keywords that have been extracted may be extracted and displayed. This prevents a keyword that is not of interest to the user from being output as the next selection candidate. This process may be executed as an alternative process to the pruning process described in the above embodiment.

In the above-described embodiment, a plurality of keywords corresponding to the position information of the user terminal 200 are displayed as the first selection candidates. However, the only keyword corresponding to the position information of the user terminal 200 may be displayed as the first selection candidate. In this case, for example, when the user taps the keyword, the second selection candidate may be displayed, or when the user accepts a selection as to whether or not to agree with the first selection candidate, and the user does not agree Other keywords (for example, keywords corresponding to positions around the position of the user terminal 200) may be displayed.

Also, the first selection candidate may be extracted based on elements other than the position information of the user terminal 200. For example, a keyword received by the user terminal 200 from a beacon transmitter installed at a location where the user terminal 200 is located may be extracted as the first selection candidate, and for the web search within the most recent predetermined time at the user terminal 200 The keyword input as the first keyword may be extracted as the first selection candidate.

In the above-described embodiment, the keyword icons as selection candidates are all displayed in the same size. However, the restaurant information providing server 100 has a size corresponding to the quantity of restaurant information obtained when the keyword icon as each selection candidate is selected and the restaurant information is searched based on the keyword icon. May be displayed. For example, in the example of the above-described embodiment, the area of a circle (and characters displayed therein) as a keyword icon may be displayed in a size corresponding to the quantity. Of course, the display mode of the keyword icon is not limited to the circular shape, and a keyword icon other than the circular shape may be displayed in a size corresponding to the quantity. Thereby, the user can grasp | ascertain the quantity of the restaurant information obtained by a search, when each selection candidate is output when it is selected.

In the above-described embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100 sets the display mode of the selection candidate as the selection candidate based on the weight information (the strength of the degree of association between keywords) stored in the keyword information database 33. May be changed based on weight information between the keyword and the keyword selected immediately before. For example, the size and color of the keyword icon may be changed based on the weight information. Thereby, when each selection candidate is output, the user can grasp the degree of association between the selection candidate and the selection candidate previously selected by the user.

In the example shown in FIG. 8 of the above-described embodiment, the keyword previously selected by the user is displayed, for example, in the upper left area along with the new selection candidate on the search screen. However, the area in which the keyword previously selected is displayed is not limited to the upper left. For example, a selection candidate related to it may be displayed around the keyword selected immediately before. Any mode may be displayed as long as the keyword selected before that can be distinguished from the new selection candidate.

In the above-described embodiment, an example is shown in which restaurant information is searched and provided as content information. However, the content information is not limited to restaurant information, and the present invention can be applied to various content information such as product information, accommodation facility information, sightseeing spot information, movie / video information, and music information.

In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the keyword is stored as a graph database has been shown. However, the configuration of the database is not limited to this, and for example, the keyword is determined by a configuration such as a relational database or KVS (Key-Value Store). It may be stored.

Among the inventions described in the claims of the present application, the invention described as “information processing method” is such that each step is automatically performed by at least one device such as a computer by information processing by software. Yes, it is not performed by humans using devices such as computers. That is, the “information processing method” is an information processing method using computer software, and is not a method in which a human operates a computing tool called a computer.

11 ... CPU
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 ... Memory | storage part 19 ... Communication part 31 ... Restaurant information database 32 ... User information database 33 ... Keyword information database 34 ... Label information database 100 ... Restaurant information provision server 200 ... User terminal

Claims (20)

1. A plurality of keywords for searching the content information and related information indicating a relationship between the keywords are stored as a database composed of a set of multidimensional nodes and edges while storing a plurality of content information to be searched. Storage means for storing;
   A communication means capable of communicating with the user terminal of the user;
   Transmitting a user interface including at least one keyword extracted from the plurality of keywords as a first selection candidate by the user to the user terminal;
   Changing the user interface to include as a second selection candidate by the user at least one second keyword related to the first keyword selected by the user from the first selection candidate;
   Changing the user interface to include at least one third keyword related to a second keyword selected by the user from the second selection candidates as a third selection candidate by the user;
   Searching the content information based on two or more keywords selected from the first keyword, the second keyword, and the third keyword selected from the third selection candidates;
   An information processing apparatus comprising: control means for transmitting content information obtained by the search to the user terminal.
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
   The control means includes
   At least one fourth keyword related to the third keyword selected by the user from the third selection candidate is output as a fourth selection candidate by the user, and thereafter, the nth keyword selected from the nth selection candidate Changing the user interface to include at least one n + 1 keyword related to as an n + 1 selection candidate by the user (n is an integer of 4 or more);
   The content based on two or more keywords among all the keywords including the first keyword, the second keyword, the third keyword, and the n-3 keywords selected until the selection of the nth keyword. Information processing device that retrieves information.
3. An information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
   The control means searches the content information based on at least the first keyword and the n-th keyword selected last among all the keywords.
4. An information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
   The information processing apparatus, wherein the control unit searches the content information based on all the keywords.
5. An information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
   The control means searches the content information based on at least the n-th keyword selected last and the (n-1) -th keyword selected immediately before among all the keywords.
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
   The control means, when outputting the second or third selection candidate, excludes a keyword that was previously output as a selection candidate from an output target.
7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 6,
   The control means extracts and outputs a keyword related to the selected first keyword among the third keywords as the third selection candidate.
8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 6,
   The control means uses, as the third selection candidate, a keyword from which content information is obtained by searching for content information based on the first keyword, the second keyword, and the third keyword among the third keywords. Information processing device that extracts and outputs.
9. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 and 6 to 8,
   Content obtained when the control means searches the content information on the user interface for the first to third selection candidates and based on two or more keywords of the first to third selection candidates. An information processing device that outputs in a size according to the quantity of information.
10. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 and 6 to 9,
    The storage means stores weight information indicating the strength of the degree of association between the keywords as the related information,
    The control means displays the second or third selection candidate on the user interface, the second or third selection candidate, and the first or second keyword selected by the user related to the second or third selection candidate. An information processing device that changes based on the weight information between the two.
11. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 and 6 to 10,
    The information processing apparatus that outputs the second selection candidate or the third selection candidate together with the selected first or second keyword on the user interface.
12. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5,
    The control means, when outputting the nth selection candidate, excludes a keyword output as a selection candidate before that from the output target.
13. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5 and 12,
    The control means extracts and outputs keywords related to all of the selected first to n-1 keywords among the nth keywords as the nth selection candidate.
14. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5 and 12,
    The control means extracts and outputs, as the n-th selection candidate, a keyword from which content information is obtained by searching for content information based on the first to n-th keywords among the n-th keywords. apparatus.
15. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5 and 12 to 14,
    The control means determines the number of content information obtained when the n-th selection candidate is searched for the content information based on two or more keywords among the first to n-th selection candidates on the user interface. An information processing device that outputs in a size according to the
16. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5 and 12 to 15,
    The storage means stores weight information indicating the strength of the degree of association between the keywords as the related information,
    The control means displays the weight information between the n-th selection candidate and the n-1 keyword selected by the user related to the display mode of the n-th selection candidate on the user interface. Information processing device that changes based on
17. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 5 and 12 to 16,
    The control means outputs the nth selection candidate together with the selected n-1th keyword on the user interface.
18. An information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 17,
    The communication means receives position information of the user terminal,
    The information processing apparatus that extracts the first selection candidate based on the acquired position information.
19. A plurality of keywords for searching the content information and related information indicating a relationship between the keywords are stored as a database composed of a set of multidimensional nodes and edges while storing a plurality of content information to be searched. Remember,
    Transmitting a user interface including at least one keyword extracted from the plurality of keywords as a first selection candidate by a user of the user terminal to the user terminal;
    Changing the user interface to include as a second selection candidate by the user at least one second keyword related to the first keyword selected by the user from the first selection candidate;
    Changing the user interface to include at least one third keyword related to a second keyword selected by the user from the second selection candidates as a third selection candidate by the user;
    Searching the content information based on two or more keywords selected from the first keyword, the second keyword, and the third keyword selected from the third selection candidates;
    An information processing method for transmitting content information obtained by the search to the user terminal.
20. In the information processing device,
    A plurality of keywords for searching the content information and related information indicating a relationship between the keywords are stored as a database composed of a set of multidimensional nodes and edges while storing a plurality of content information to be searched. Memorizing step;
    Transmitting a user interface including at least one keyword extracted from the plurality of keywords as a first selection candidate by a user of the user terminal to the user terminal;
    Changing the user interface to include at least one second keyword related to the first keyword selected by the user from the first selection candidate as a second selection candidate by the user;
    Changing the user interface to include at least one third keyword related to a second keyword selected by the user from the second selection candidates as a third selection candidate by the user;
    Searching the content information based on two or more keywords of the first keyword, the second keyword, and a third keyword selected from the third selection candidates;
    Transmitting the content information obtained by the search to the user terminal.

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