GB2511967A - System, device, and method for processing of three-dimensional time series data - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a system, a device, and a method for generating and displaying data for the purposed of displaying related electronic information included in transmitted or received electronic information, in such a way that associations thereof may be readily understood. This three-dimensional time series data processing system (1) selects a set of electronic information; from an electronic information DB (51), extracts electronic information associated with the selected electronic information selected thereby; calculates a degree of association of the transmission source of the selected electronic information and the transmission source of the extracted electronic information extracted thereby; and generates three-dimensional time series data for three-dimensional depiction of relationships of the selected electronic information and the extracted electronic information, in terms of the respective position information for the extracted electronic information in a virtual three-dimensional space having the transmission source, the transmission time, and the degree of association as axes. The three-dimensional time series data processing system (1) further depicts three-dimensional time series data for associations of the electronic information as cylindrical coordinates, which are displayed while changing the view angle.

Description

DESCRIPTION

Title of Invention: THREE-DIMENSIONAL TIME SERIES DATA PROCESSING SYSTEM, DEVICE, AND METHOD

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a system, device, and method for processing data in a three-dimensional time series.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, when exchanging information (for example, email) by communication (for example, internet communication), a communication management tool that manages the exchanged information organizes, manages, and enables browsing of sent and received information.

[0003] For example, certain email management tools that manage email, when browsing one email, will display all emails related to the browsed email by chronologically indenting. In addition, email management tools can save a document link or follow a link to the immediate preceding mail (the mail that is the source of the reply).

Further, for example, different email management tools, when browsing one email, will display all mails related to the browsed email in a cascade. This process is called a "thread view" and always displays the newest mail in front.

[0004] According to this type of email management tool, although related mail is displayed in a single thread, who sent the email to whom or what the content of the sent email is cannot be determined at a glance. Further, the time relationship of related emails cannot be ascertained at a glance when the threads are different.

[0005] For this type of email, patent document 1 is known in which an email management device is disclosed that can easily verify email history and attached file histoiy. This email management device displays a correspondence relationship for email in a tree structure based on historical data of accumulated email, Furthermore, this email management device displays attached files in a tree structure when an attached file is attached to an email.

[0006] Also, patent document 2 is known in which a message display system is disclosed that can simply verify related messages. The message display terminal of this system takes, for example, a series of messages and three-dimensionally displays the messages of each thread by displaying the message in the X axis direction, aranging the messages in chronological order in the Y axis direction, and adopts the type of thread in the Z axis direction, [0007] In addition, patent document 3 is known in which an information presentation method is disclosed that can easily verify update information for a plurality of content information data.

This information presentation method displays by arranging an update information display card that is supported for content information data in chronological order of updates for content information data.

Citation List Patent Literature [0008] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-5252 1 Patent Literature 2: Japanese Patent Application Publication No, 2010-146465 Patent Literature 3: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2011-228 11

Summary of Invention

Technical Problem [0009] However, even when utilizing the technologies disclosed in the patent documents and above, the relevance of information becomes complexly entangled when forwarding and replying are repeated for sent and received electronic information (for example, email) making it difficult to ascertain the flow of the sent and received information, [0010] Therefore, technology is sought for sent and received electronic information that can search related electronic information within an inbox, retrieve the send and receive time for the electronic information, the send and receive relationship of the electronic information, and the content of the electronic information, easily browse a series of electronic information, and ascertain content while searching.

[0011] An object of the present invention is to provide a system, device, and method for generating display data that allows a user to easily ascertain relationship between related electronic information from among sent and received electronic information. A frirther object of the present invention is to provide a system, device, and method that can display related electronic information from among sent and received electronic information in order to allow the user to easily ascertain such relationship and that can increase the visibility of related mails.

Solution to Problem [0012] The present invention, in consideration of the above problems, provides a solution as described below, [0013] (1) A three-dimensional time series data processing system including: an electronic information storage unit configured to store a plurality of electronic information that are sent and received via a given communication medium, each of the plurality of electronic information including content information and attribute information having identification information, sender information that indicates a sender, destination information that indicates a destination, send time information that indicates the time at which the corresponding electronic information is sent, and relation information that includes identification information of other related electronic information; a selection unit configured to select one electronic information from among the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; an extraction unit configured to extract electronic information related to the selected electronic information selected by the selection unit, from among the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; a relevance calculation unit configured to calculate the relevance between a selected sender indicated by the sender information of the selected electronic information and related senders indicated by the sender information of the plurality of electronic information extracted by the extraction unit; and a three-dimensional data generation unit configured to generate three-dimensional time-series data for three-dimensionally rendering a relationship between the selected electronic information and extracted electronic information extracted from the extraction unit, wherein the three-dimensional data generation unit generates positional information of each of the plurality of extracted electronic information in a virtual three-dimensional space in which a sender indicated by the sender information, a send time indicated by the send time information, and relevance calculated by the relevance calculation unit are axes.

[0014] According to the configuration of(l), the three-dimensional time series data processing system selects one electronic information, extracts electronic information that relates to the selected electronic data from the electronic information storage unit, calculates relevance between the sender of the selected electronic information and the sender of the extracted electronic information, and generates, as positional information of each of the extracted information in a virtual three-dimensional space in which the sender, the send time and the relevance are axes, three-dimensional time series data for three-dimensionally rendering the relationship between the selected electronic information and the extracted electronic information.

[0015] In other words, the three-dimensional time series data processing system according to the present invention generates three-dimensional time series data that can position a plurality of related electronic information within a virtual three-dimensional space. Therefore, the three-dimensional time series data processing system can create display data that allows a user to easily ascertain the relationship between related electronic information from among sent and received electronic information.

[00t6] (2) The three-dimensional time series data processing system according to (I) further including a three-dimensional rendering unit configured to render three-dimensional time series data generated by the three-dimensional data generation unit, wherein the three-dimensional rendering unit includes a cylindrical coordinate unit in which the z axis of the cylindrical coordinates (r, B, z) having a given radius r is the send time indicated by the send time information, and B is the relevance, a cylindrical placement unit configured to place, along the surface of a cylinder formed by the cylindrical coordinate unit, content information of electronic information having the same sender information as the sender information of the selected electronic information from among the extracted electronic information in the center of the surface of the cylinder with 0 as 0 degrees in order of the send time of the z axis, and places content information of electronic information having different sender information from the sender information of the selected electronic information from among the extracted electronic information on the surface of the cylinder by changing 0 for each sender information according to the level of the relevance in order of the send time of the z axis, and a cylindrical display unit configured to display the content information placed by the cylindrical placement unit by changing the configuration of the display that shows the content information according to the position on the surface of the cylinder at which the content information is placed.

[00t7] According to the configuration of (2), the three-dimensional time series data processing system described in (t) renders three-dimensional time series data for relevance of electronic information in cylindrical coordinates. Therefore, the three-dimensional time series data processing system can display related electronic information from among sent and received electronic information in order to allow the user to easily ascertain the relationship thereof and increase visibility of related mails.

[0018] (3) The three-dimensional time series data processing system according to (2), wherein the three-dimensional rendering unit further includes a rotation accepting unit configured to accept an instruction that designates the sender information from among the content information for each sender information placed by the cylindrical placement unit, and a rotational movement unit configured to make content information of electronic information having the same sender information as the sender information designated by the instruction accepted by the rotation accepting unit to be in the center of the surface of the cylinder, and to move content information of electronic information having different sender information from the designated sender information along the surface of the cylinder according to content information of the designated sender information placed in the center of the surface of the cylinder.

[0019] According to the configuration of (3), the three-dimensional time series data processing system described in (2) displays the relevance of electronic information rendered in cylindrical coordinates while changing the view angle. Therefore, the three-dimensional time series data processing system can display related electronic information from among sent and received electronic information in order to allow the user to easily ascertain the relationship thereof and further increase visibility of related mails.

[0020] (4) The three-dimensional time series data processing system according to (2) or (3) further including a rendering rule storage unit configured to store rendering rules in which rules for three-dimensionally rendering three-dimensional time series data are prescribed, wherein the three-dimensional rendering unit renders based on the rendering rules stored in the rendering rule storage unit.

[0021] Therefore, the three-dimensional time series data processing system can display related electronic information from among sent and received electronic information in order to allow the user to easily ascertain the relationship thereot and further increase visibility of related mails according to rendering rules.

[0022] (5) The three-dimensional time series data processing system according to any one of (1) to (4) wherein the electronic information is email, the related information is reply information recorded when replying to a received email, and the extraction unit includes, a related source extraction unit configured to extract electronic information identified by identification information included in related information of the selected electronic information, and further, extract electronic information identified by identification information included in related information of the extracted electronic information, and a related destination extraction unit configured to extract electronic information that includes identification information of the selected electronic information in related information, and further, extract electronic information that includes identification information of the extracted electronic information in related information.

[0023] Therefore, the three-dimensional time series data processing system can reliably extract and display electronic information having relevance from among sent and received electronic information so that such relevance can be easily ascertained.

[0024] (6) A three-dimensional time series data processing device communicatively connected to an electronic information server having an electronic information storage unit configured to store a plurality of electronic information that are sent and received via a given communication medium, each of the plurality of electronic information including content information and attribute information having identification information, sender information that indicates a sender, destination information that indicates a destination, send time information that indicates the time at which the corresponding electronic information is sent, and relation information that includes identification information of other related electronic information, in order to extract electronic information from the electronic information storage unit via the electronic information server and generate three-dimensional time series data, the three-dimensional time series data processing device including; a selection unit configured to select one electronic information from among the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; an extraction unit configured to extract electronic information related to the selected electronic information selected by the selection unit, from among the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; a relevance calculation unit configured to calculate the relevance between a selected sender indicated by the sender information of the selected electronic information and related senders indicated by the sender information of the plurality of electronic information extracted by the extraction unit; and a three-dimensional data generation unit configured to generate three-dimensional time-series data for three-dimensionally rendering a relationship between the selected electronic information and extracted electronic information extracted from the extraction unit, wherein the three-dimensional data generation unit generates positional information of each of the plurality of extracted electronic information in a virtual three-dimensional space in which a sender indicated by the sender information, a send time indicated by the send time information, and relevance calculated by the relevance calculation unit are axes.

[0025] Therefore, the three-dimensional time series data processing device can achieve the same effect as(i).

[0026] (7) A three-dimensional time series data processing device, including: an electronic information storage unit configured to store a plurality of electronic information that are sent and received via a given communication medium, each of the plurality of electronic information including content information and attribute information having identification information, sender information that indicates a sender, destination information that indicates a destination, send time information that indicates the time at which the corresponding electronic information is sent, and relation information that includes identification information of other related electronic information; a selection unit configured to select one electronic information from among the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; an extraction unit configured to extract electronic information related to the selected electronic information selected by the selection unit, from among the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; a relevance calculation unit configured to calculate the relevance between a selected sender indicated by the sender information of the selected electronic information and related senders indicated by the sender information of the plurality of electronic information extracted by the extraction unit; and a three-dimensional data generation unit configured to generate three-dimensional time-series data for three-dimensionally rendering a relationship between the selected electronic information and extracted electronic information extracted from the extraction unit, wherein the three-dimensional data generation unit generates positional information of each of the plurality of extracted electronic information in a virtual three-dimensional space in which a sender indicated by the sender information, a send time indicated by the send time information, and relevance calculated by the relevance calculation unit are axes.

[0027] Therefore, the three-dimensional time series data processing device including the electronic information storage unit can achieve the same effect as (1).

[0028] (8) A three-dimensional time series data processing sewer having an electronic information storage unit configured to store a plurality of electronic information that are sent and received via a given communication medium, each of the plurality of electronic information including content information and attribute information having identification information, sender information that indicates a sender, destination information that indicates a destination, send time information that indicates the time at which the corresponding electronic information is sent, and relation information that includes identification information of other related electronic information, and sending data to be displayed at a user terminal, the three-dimensional time serried data processing sever including; a selection unit configured to select one electronic information from among the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; an extraction unit configured to extract electronic information related to the selected electronic information selected by the selection unit, from among the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; a relevance calculation unit configured to calculate the relevance between a selected sender indicated by the sender information of the selected electronic information and related senders indicated by the sender information of the plurality of electronic information extracted by the extraction unit; and a three-dimensional data generation unit configured to generate three-dimensional time-series data for three-dimensionally rendering a relationship between the selected electronic information and extracted electronic information extracted from the extraction unit, wherein the three-dimensional data generation unit generates positional information of each of the plurality of extracted electronic information in a virtual three-dimensional space in which a sender indicated by the sender information, a send time indicated by the send time information, and relevance calculated by the relevance calculation unit are axes.

[0029] Therefore, the three-dimensional time series data processing sewer can achieve the same effect as (1) by sending the generated three-dimensional time series data to the user terminal and dispbying.

[0030] (9) A three-dimensional time series data processing method executed by a system having an electronic information storage unit configured to store a plurality of electronic information that are sent and received via a given communication medium, each of the plurality of electronic information including content information and attribute information having identification information, sender information that indicates a sender, destination information that indicates a destination, send time information that indicates the time at which the corresponding electronic information is sent, and relation information that includes identification information of other related electronic information, the method including the steps of: selecting one electronic information from among the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; extracting electronic information related to the selected electronic information s&ected by the selecting step, from the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; calculating the relevance between a selected sender displayed by the sender information of the selected electronic information and related senders indicated by the sender information of the plurality of electronic information extracted by the extracting step; and generating three-dimensional time sequence data for three-dimensionally rendering a relationship between the selected electronic information and extracted electronic information extracted by the extracting step, wherein the three-dimensional data generating step generates positional information of each of the plurality of the extracted electronic information in a virtual three-dimensional space in which a sender indicated by the sender information, a send time indicated by the send time information, and relevance calculated by the relevance calculating step are axes.

[0031] Therefore, the three-dimensional time series data processing method can achieve the same effect as(i).

[0032] (10) A three-dimensional time series data processing program that causes a computer having an electronic information storage unit configured to store a plurality of electronic information that are sent and received via a given communication medium, each of the plurality of electronic information including content information and attribute information having identification information, sender information that indicates a sender, destination information that indicates a destination, send time information that indicates the time at which the corresponding electronic information is sent, and relation information that includes identification information of other related electronic information to execute the steps of selecting one electronic information from among the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; extracting electronic information related to the selected electronic information selected by the selecting step, from the plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information storage unit; calcniating the relevance between a selected sender displayed by the sender information of the selected electronic information and related senders indicated by the sender information of the plurality of electronic information extracted by the extracting step; and generating three-dimensional time sequence data for three-dimensionally rendering a relationship between the selected electronic infonnation and extracted electronic information extracted by the extracting step, wherein the three-dimensional data generating step generates positional information of each of the plurality of the extracted electronic information in a virtual three-dimensional space in which a sender indicated by the sender information, a send time indicated by the send time information, and relevance calculated by the relevance calculating step are axes.

[0033] Therefore, the three-dimensional time series data processing program can achieve the same effect as (1) by causing a computer to execute the program.

Advantageous Effects of Invention [0034] According to the present invention, it is possible to generate display data that allows a user to easily ascertain relationship between related electronic information from among sent and received electronic information, Further, according to the present invention, related electronic information from among sent and received electronic information can be displayed and the visibility of related mails can be increased in order to allow the user to easily ascertain the relationship thereof

Brief Description of Drawings

[0035] FIG 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of the present invention, FIG 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a three-dimensional time series data processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a fbnctional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a three-dimensional time series data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an email DB as an electronic information DB according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relevance DB of a three-dimensional time series data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of a three-dimensional time series data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a placement of content information in cylindrical coordinates of a three-dimensional time series data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display of content information in cylindrical coordinates of a three-dimensional time series data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display of cylindrical coordinates of a three-dimensional time series data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG 10 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a three-dimensional time series data processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. II is a diagram illustrating an example of a three-dimensional time series data processing device according to another embodiment of the present invention,

Description of Embodiments

[0036] Embodiments of the present invention will be described hereinafter with reference to drawings, taking email as an example of electronic information. The example of electronic information is not limited to email and may also be BBS data, distributed content with questionnaires, or the like.

[0037] FIG. lisa diagram illustrating an outline of the present invention. FIG. 1(a) illustrates electronic information virtually displayed based on a three-dimensional time series data generated by a three-dimensional time series data processing system I FIG 1(b) illustrates electronic information storage unit that stores electronic information that includes attribute information and content information.

[0038] FIG. 1(a) illustrates that relevance of sent and received electronic information can be displayed based on three-dimensional time series data generated by the three-dimensional time series data processing system t so as to allow a user to easily ascertain the relevance. The three-dimensional time series data processing system 1 extracts electronic information J2 and electronic information 13 that relate to selected electronic information from an electronic information storage unit, calculates the relevance between sender A of the selected electronic information Ti and senders B and C of the extracted electronic information 12 and the electronic information 13, and generates three-dimensional time series data which is positional information of the electronic information 11, the electronic information 12, and the electronic information 13 in a virtual three-dimensional space where the sender, the send time, and the relevance are axes. For example, the relevance between sender A and sender B is higher than the relevance between sender A and sender C because the reply from sender B to sender A is earlier than the reply from sender C to sender A. Based on this three-dimensional time series data, for example, electronic information of sender C is displayed in a positional relationship separated further away than the positional relationship of sender A and sender B, and with a smaller size.

[0039] FIG 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a three-dimensional time series data processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The three-dimensional time series data processing system I is provided with an electronic information DB (database) 5 and a three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 that is provided with a selection unit 21, an extraction unit 22, a relevance calculation unit 23, and a three-dimensional data generation unit 24. A detailed description of each component will be given hereinafter.

[0040] The electronic information DB 51 stores a plurality of electronic information that has been sent and received by a given communication medium (for example, Internet or the like). The electronic information includes content information and attribute information, and the attribute information includes identification information of the electronic information, sender information that indicates a sender, destination information that indicates a destination, send time information that indicates the time at which the electronic information is sent, and related information that includes identification information of other related electronic information.

In an example where email is used as the electronic information, an email includes a header part as attribute information and a message part as content information, The header part includes an email lID, a sender, a destination, send time, and an email ID of a reply source in the event of a reply. to

The electronic information DB 5] may store electronic information for each sender indicated by, for example, a sender information such as an outbox and an inbox for the sender.

[0041] The selection unit 21 selects one electronic information from among a plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information DB 51. Specifically, the selection unit 21 selects a designated electronic information in which one electronic information is designated from an input device (for example, a mouse, keyboard, or the like). In addition, the selection unit 21 may also be configured to select automatically (to select ari email that includes a keyword within the message) based on designated information (for example, a keyword).

[0042] The extraction unit 22 extracts electronic information related to selected electronic information selected by the selection unit 21, from a plurality of electronic information stored in the electronic information DB 51.

Specifically, in email, the extraction unit 22 extracts related email based on reply information of email. The reply information of email stores an email ID of a reply source.

[0043] The extraction unit 22 is further provided with a related source extraction unit 222 and a related destination extraction unit 221 The related source extraction unit 222 extracts electronic information identified by identification information included in related information of the selected electronic information, and further, extracts electronic information identified by identification information included in related information of the extracted electronic information, The related destination extraction unit 221 extracts electronic information that includes identification information of the selected electronic information in related information, and further, extracts electronic information that includes identification information of the extracted electronic information in related information, The extraction unit 22, for example, traces the reply information of the email and extracts a reply mail of another reply mail by the related destination extraction unit 221 and extracts a reply source mail of another reply source mail by the related source extraction unit 222. The extraction is performed until no items subject to extraction remain, and the extraction may be terminated when, for example, a specified number of attempts to trace related information has been reached, or when a specified time for the extraction has elapsed.

[0044] The relevance calculation unit 23 calculates the relevance between a selected sender indicated by the sender information of the selected electronic information arid the related sender indicated by the sender information of the plurality of electronic information extracted by the extraction unit 22.

Specifically, the relevance calculation unit 23 converts, for example, the number of replies and the reply time (time difference between send time of a sent mail and send time of a reply mail) to scores, calculates a score for each sender and stores it in the relevance DB 31, Note that the send time of a reply mail may also be the receive time. In addition, the relevance calculation unit 23 calcu'ates the ratio of the total sum of the scores to the score for each sender to obtain the relevance. ii

The relevance calculation unit 23 may derive ranking according to the calculated score for each sender and calculate the relevance according to the derived ranking.

[0045] The three-dimensional data generation unit 24 generates three-dimensional time series data for three-dimensionally rendering a relationship between the selected electronic information and extracted electronic information extracted by the extraction unit 22. Specifically, the three-dimensional data generation unit 24 associates electronic information with three-dimensional data (sender, relevance, send time) to obtain positional information in a virtual three-dimensional space and stores the positional information in a three-dimensional data DB 33. In this manner, the three-dimensional data generation unit 24 can generate three-dimensional time series data such that the electronic information can be displayed in a three-dimensional space by a display process.

[0046] FIG 3 is a functional block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The three-dimensional time series data processing device lOis provided with the selection unit 21, the extraction unit 22, the relevance calculation unit 23, and the three-dimensional data generation unit 24 as described above, and is further provided with a three-dimensional rendering unit 25, and a rendering rule DB 32. A detailed description of the three-dimensional rendering unit 25 follows.

[0047] The three-dimensional rendering unit 25 renders three-dimensional time series data generated by the three-dimensional data generation unit 24. The three-dimensional rendering unit 25 is provided with a cylindrical coordinate unit 25], a cylindrical placement unit 252, a cylindrical display unit 253, a rotation accepting unit 254, and a rotational movement unit 255. A detailed description of each component will be given hereinafter.

[0048] The cylindrical coordinate unit 251 is configured such that the z axis of the cylindrical coordinates (r, e, z) having a given radius r is the send time indicated by the send time information, and 0 is the relevance.

[0049] The cylindrical placement unit 252 places, along the surface of a cylinder formed by the cylindrical coordinate unit, content information of electronic information having the same sender information as the sender information of the selected electronic information from among the extracted electronic information in the center of the surface of the cylinder with 0 as 0 degrees in order of the send time of the z axis, and places content information of electronic information having different sender information from the sender information of the selected electronic information from among the extracted electronic information on the surface of the cylinder by changing 0 for each sender information according to the level of the relevance in order of the send time of the z axis.

[0050] The cylindrical display unit 253 displays the content information placed by the cylindrical placement unit 252 by changing the configuration of the display that shows the content information according to the position on the surface of the cylinder at which the content information is places.

Specifically, the cylindrical display unit 253, for example, largely and clearly displays content information having high relevance placed on the front of the surface of the cylinder, and displays content information placed on the rear of the surface of the cylinder lighter and smaller as it leaves away from the front.

[00511 The rotation accepting unit 254 accepts an instruction that designates the sender information from among the content information for each sender information placed by the cylindrical placement unit 252.

[0052] The rotational movement unit 255 makes content information of electronic information having the same sender information as the sender information designated by the instruction accepted by the rotation accepting unit to be in the center of the surface of the cylinder, and moves content information of electronic information having different sender information from the designated sender information along the surface of the cylinder according to content information of the designated sender information placed in the center of the surface of the cylinder.

[0053] The rendering rule DB 32 stores rendering rules in which rules for three-dimensionally rendering three-dimensional time series data are prescribed. The three-dimensional rendering unit 25 renders on a display device 2022 based on the rendering rules stored in the rendering rule DB 32, Specifically, in order to render the content information, the rendering rule DB 32 stores the association with elements of the coordinate axis (for example, association of a unit of data with a scale for rendering), order, color and shape of senders, size, color and brightness based on the relevance, and the like.

[0054] FIG 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of an email DB 61 as an electronic information DB 51 according to one embodiment of the present invention. "To" in the header part indicates a destination, "From" indicates a sender, "Cc" indicates a destination where a copy of the email is sent, "Time" indicates send time, "Message ID" indicates an email ID, and "In-Reply-To" indicates reply information as related information in which the email ID of the reply source is stored in the case of a reply. For example, when email M4 (email ID: Ci) is selected electronic information, the email M2 of the reply source is extracted by the email ID: BI stored in the "In-Reply-To" and the email Ml of the reply source is extracted by email ID: Al stored in the "In-Reply-To" of email M2. Next, the email MS in which the email ID: C] of email FY14 is stored in the "In-Reply-To" is extracted.

[0055] In I.) FIG 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relevance DB 3] of a three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10, for example, when the email Ni] (email ID: Al) in FIG. 4 is the selected electronic information, the emails M2-MS are extracted from the email DB 61. For example, the relevance shown in FIG. 5 is calculated when 0.2 is for a destination, 0.1 is for a destination by Cc, 0.6 is for replying within 5 mm., 0.5 is for replying within 30 mm., 0.4 is for replying within 60 mm., and 0.3 is for replying outside of 60 mm.

[0056] FIG 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing operation of the three-dimensional time series data processing device] 0 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The controller 20 of the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 executes the following steps.

[0057] In step S 101, the controller 20 selects an email. Specifically, the controller 20 selects an email specified from a keyboard or mouse.

[0058] In step 5102, the controller 20 extracts emails related to the email selected in step SlOl.

Specifically, the controller 20, based on the reply information of the email, extracts all of the related emails (a reply email of another reply mail, a reply source mail of another reply source mail, and the like by tracing the reply information).

[0059] In step S 103, the controller 20 performs time analysis on the email extracted in step 5102 and calculates the relevance based on the reply time of the extracted email.

[0060] In step S104, the controller 20 performs sender analysis of the emails extracted in step 5] 02 and, after collecting emails for each sender, calculates the relevance based on the relationship between the senders and the receivers of the collected emails.

[0061] In step S 105, the controller 20 performs content information analysis of the emails extracted in step 5] 02, extracts keywords, analyzes the relationship of sending and receiving of the emails, and calculates the relevance.

[0062] In step S 106, the controller 20 generates an email model for the emails extracted in step S102 based on the time analysis, sender analysis, and content information analysis, and stores it in an email model DB 34.

Specifically, the controller 20 arranges the emails chronologically for each sender and creates a link tree model in which the emails are linked according to the reply information.

[0063] In step S 107, the controller 20 creates a three-dimensional time series model. Specifically, the controller 20 associates three-dimensional data (sender, relevance, send time) with each email to t4 assign positional information in a cylindrical coordinate space based on the rendering rules DB 32.

[0064] In step SI 08, the controller 20 performs rendering based on the three-dimensional time series data. Specifically, the controller 20 places the selected email and extracted emails on the surface of a cylinder. The controller 20 displays by changing the configuration of the display (for example, enlarging the display according to the proximity to the center of the surface of the cylinder and lightening the density of the display color on the rear of the cylinder) that indicates the content information according to the position on the surface of the cylinder at which the content information is placed. In addition, the axis of the cylinder is rotated by an instruction from a keyboard, mouse or the like, and content information of a designated sender is displayed in the center of the surface of the cylinder while other content information is moved to be placed along the surface of the cylinder.

[0065] FIG 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a placement of content information in cylindrical coordinates of a three-dimensional time series data processing device tO according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG 7 shows that the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 places, along the surface 311 of the cylinder of the cylindrical coordinates (r, 0, z) having a given radius r 301, content information of an email having the same sender information as sender A of a selected email from among extracted emails in the center 312 of the surface 311 of the cylinder with 0 302 at 0 degrees in order of the send time of the Z axis 303. FIG. 7 further shows that the three-dimensional time series data processing device tO places content information of emails having senders B, C, and D differing from sender A of the selected email from among the extracted emails on the surface II of the cylinder in order of the send time by changing 0302 for each sender B, C, and D according to the level of the relevance.

[0066] Furthermore, the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 changes the display configuration according to the relevance. For example, the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 clearly displays emails having high relevance placed on the front of the surface 311 of the cylinder in a large size, and displays emails placed around to the back side from both sides of the front of the surface 311 of the cylinder lighter and smaller as the emails leave away from the front. In addition, the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 displays marks 321 indicating emails by not only a sender (From) but also a receiver (To) at the send time and a receiver (Cc) of a copy, based on the header parts of the emails. In addition, the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 displays the arrow line 3 t3 that connects the marks 321, which shows that the email at the head of the arrow line 313 is a reply mail of the email at the root of the arrow line 313.

[0067] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of display of content information in the cylindrical coordinates of the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 according to an t5 embodiment of the present invention. FIG 8 shows that the display region of the display device 2022 is divided into a display region 401 and a view controller region 402.

The three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 displays a cylindrical diagram formed by cylindrical coordinates in the display region of FIG. 8, places marks 321 that correspond to emails on the surface of the cylinder, and displays the content of the emails that correspond to the placed positions. The three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 controls the display in the display region 401 according to an instruction specified in the view controller region 402.

For example, when "project" and "group" are selected as keywords in the view controller region 402, the terms "project" and "group" included in the emails are highlighted by a color display in the display region 401. The keyword is, for example, a keyword extracted by the content analysis at step 5105 of FIG. 6. Only the characteristic and important portions of the emails may be displayed in which a cascade display and an overlapping display are possible. In this manner, the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 can highlight information having higher relevance on the front plane so that the flow of information can be followed and required information can be searched for easily.

[0068] FIG 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display of cylindrical coordinates of the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 9(a) is a diagram illustrating that the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10, for example, rotates the z axis by a user operation to the view controller 411 according to a mouse drag to only display the relationship between emails, FIG 9(b) is a diagram illustrating that the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10, for example, changes the slant of the cylinder formed by the cylindrical coordinates by a user operation to the view controller 411 according to a mouse drag. In this manner, the three-dimensional time series data processing device 0 can move the display of the emails placed on the surface of the cylinder according to the changes in the slant or rotation of the cylinder formed according to the cylindrical coordinates, and thus can display the emails so that the relationship between the emails can be easily ascertained.

[0069] FIG 10 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention, Although a general description of an information processing device is given below using a typical computer, it goes without saying that, in the case of a specialized device or an embedded device, a minimum required configuration can be selected according to such environment.

[0070] The three-dimensional time series data processing device 0 is provided with a central processing unit (CPU) 2010, a bus line 2005, communication I/F 2040, main memory 2050, basic input output system (BIOS) 2060, parallel port 2080, USB port 2090, graphic controller 2020, VRAM 2024, I/O controller 2070, and an input part with a keyboard and mouse adapter 2100. Various storage parts, such as a flexible disk (FD) drive 2072, hard disk 2074, optical disk drive 2076, to semiconductor memory 2078, can be connected to the I/O controller 2070. A display device 2022 is connected to the graphic controller 2020. A relevance DB 31, rendering rule DB 32, and three-dimensional data DB 33 are configured in the hard disk 2074.

[0071] The BIOS 2060 stores a program executed by the CPU 2010 at the time of initializing the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10, a program that depends on hardware of the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10, and the like. The FD drive 2072 reads a program or data from the flexible disk 2071 and provides that to the main memory 2050 or the hard disk 2074 via the I/O controller 2070.

[0072] For example, a DVD-ROM drive, CD-ROM drive, DVD-RAM drive, or a CD-RAM drive may be used as the optical disk drive 2076. At this time, an optical disk 2077 that is supported by each drive must be used. The optical disk drive 2076 reads a program or data from the optical disk 2077 and may provide that to the main memory 2050 or the hard disk 2074 via the 110 controller 2070.

[0073] The computer program provided to the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 is stored in a recording medium such as the flexible disk 207], optical disk 2077, a memory card, or the like and is provided by a user. This computer program is read from the recording medium via the I/O controller 2070, or is downloaded via the communication hF 2040, and thereby, installed into the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 and run. The computer program causes the information processing device to operate in the manner described above.

[0074] The computer program above may be stored in an external storage medium. As an alternative to the flexible disk 207], optical disk 2077, or memory card, a magneto-optical recording medium such as an TvIID or the like, or a tape medium may also be used as the storage medium. In addition, a storage device such as a hard disk, an optical disk library or the like provided on a server system connected to a leased communication line or the Internet may be used as a recording medium, and the computer program may be provided to the three-dimensional time series data processing device via the communication line.

[0075] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a three-dimensional time series data processing device according to another embodiment of the present invention, FIG 11(a) is an example of a three-dimensional time series data processing device 11 including a sender electronic information DB 52. The three-dimensional time series data processing device 11 is provided with the sender electronic information DB 52 into which sender's electronic infonnation sent and received is downloaded from the electronic information server 50, and can achieve a similar effect to that of the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10. FIG. ] 1(b) is an example of a three-dimensional time series data processing server 12 including the controller 20. The t7 three-dimensional time series data processing server 12 sends three-dimensional time series data generated so as to be displayed by a user terminal 80 to the user terminal 80 via the Internet 70, and causes the user terminal to display the data so that a similar effect to that of the three-dimensional time series data processing device 10 can be achieved.

[0076] According to the above described embodiments, the three-dimensional time series data processing system t selects one electronic information, extracts electronic information that relates to the selected electronic information from the electronic information DB 5 t, calculates relevance between the sender of the selected electronic information and the sender of the extracted electronic information, and generates three-dimensional time series data for three-dimensionally rendering the relationship between the selected electronic information and the extracted electronic information in a virtual three-dimensional space where the sender, the send time and the relevance are axes, as positional information for each of the extracted electronic information. In addition, the three-dimensional time series data processing system 1 renders the three-dimensional time series data indicating the relevance of the electronic information in cylindrical coordinates and displays the data while modifying the viewing angle. Therefore, the three-dimensional time series data processing system I can display related electronic information from among sent and received electronic information in order to allow a user to easily ascertain the relationship thereof, and further increase visibility of related mails.

[0077] While the preferred embodiments of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above. In addition, the effects described in the embodiments of the present invention are only enumerations of optimally suited effects obtained by the present invention, and the effects according to the present invention are not limited to those described in the embodiments of the present invention.

Reference Signs List [0078] 1 three-dimensional time series data processing system three-dimensional time series data processing device controller 21 selection unit 22 extraction unit 221 related destination extraction unit 222 related source extraction unit 23 related source extraction unit 24 three-dimensional data generation unit three-dimensional rendering unit 251 cylindrical coordinate unit 252 cylindrical placement unit t8 253 cylindrical display unit 254 rotation accepting unit 255 rotational movement unit 31 relevance DB 32 rendering mle DB 33 three-dimensional data DB electronic information server 1 electronic information DB t9