JP2005122477A - Pseudo mail method, pseudo mail device and pseudo mail program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a simple pseudo mail device by which a user can transfer a pseudo mail with a virtual party even under severe environment in resource constraints. <P>SOLUTION: A mail message from a virtual person is displayed, and then a user inputs an arbitrary mail message as a reply to the displayed mail merssage. Since the virtual person displays the mail message prior to the user, the mail sentence to be inputtted by the user can be controlled to some extents according to the contents of the mail message displayed prior to the user. Also, a semantic interpretation using a morphological analysis or the like is not carried out, so that it is possible to realize the simple pseudo mail device capable of extremely suppressing the capacity of data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a pseudo mail apparatus that allows a user to exchange a pseudo mail with a virtual partner and related technology.

  Patent Document 1 discloses a virtual electronic mail system. This virtual mail system includes a user's personal computer, a service provider's server, and a reply creation computer. Then, the user's personal computer transmits mail to the server. The reply computer receives mail sent from the user's personal computer from the server, interprets the contents, and automatically writes a reply. This process is executed by an AI (artificial intelligence) program installed in the computer for reply creation.

  More specifically, this AI program extracts nouns, adjectives, adjective verbs, and verbs from the mail text from the user. Then, the AI program calculates the frequency of the vocabulary appearing in the sentence and selects a keyword in the sentence. The AI program creates a reply to the user based on these keywords.

JP 2002-73478 A (0010, 0011, FIG. 1)

  However, the virtual mail system described above requires a personal computer, a server, and a reply creation computer, and further requires connection to a network. For this reason, the scale of the system is increased, the cost is increased, and procedures such as registration and maintenance are required, which is complicated.

  In the virtual mail system described above, the user's personal computer transmits mail prior to the reply creation computer. That is, the server does not send an email prior to the user. Therefore, naturally, the content of the user's mail is arbitrary. For this reason, the reply creation computer must interpret the meaning of the mail from the user, and complicated processing for semantic interpretation by morphological analysis or the like is required. Moreover, the reply computer must have a large dictionary for semantic interpretation. If a reply creation computer with fewer resources (for example, processing speed and storage capacity) is used like the above virtual mail system, the complexity of processing and the capacity of data are not a problem. However, this problem becomes large and difficult to implement when trying to realize a pseudo-mail exchange with a virtual person using only a small device (for example, a portable device) with large resource constraints. It is.

  Therefore, the present invention provides a simple pseudo mail apparatus and related technology that allow a user to exchange pseudo mail with a virtual partner even in an environment where resources are severely restricted. Objective.

  The pseudo-mail method according to claim 1 is a first display step for displaying a predetermined character string, and accepts an input of an arbitrary character string from the user after the predetermined character string is displayed. Based on the input reception step, a predetermined keyword group, a detection step of executing a keyword detection process on the arbitrary character string from the user, and based on the detected keyword, An extraction step of extracting a character string from the determined character string group, and a second display step of displaying the extracted character string.

  The pseudo mail method according to claim 2, wherein a first display step for displaying a predetermined character string and an input of an arbitrary character string from the user after the predetermined character string is displayed. A first input receiving step, a first detection step of performing a keyword detection process on the arbitrary character string from the user with reference to a predetermined keyword group, and the detected A second display step for displaying a predetermined character string corresponding to a keyword, a second input reception step for receiving an input of an arbitrary character string from the user, and referring to the predetermined keyword group The second detection step for executing keyword detection processing on the arbitrary character string received in the second input reception step, and the detection in the second detection step. A third display step for displaying a predetermined character string according to the keyword, the second input receiving step, the second detection step, and the third display step are repeatedly executed. Including the steps of:

  The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3, storage means for storing a predetermined character string, a predetermined character string group corresponding to the predetermined character string, and a predetermined keyword group; The first display character string control means for reading the predetermined character string stored in the storage means and the character string input by the user with reference to the predetermined keyword group And a second display character string control means for extracting a character string from the predetermined character string group stored in the storage means based on the detected keyword. Display control means for displaying the predetermined character string read by the first display character string control means and the character string extracted by the second display character string control means on a display unit , After the predetermined character string is displayed on the display unit, and an input processing unit for receiving input of the character string from the user.

  5. The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the second display character string control means stores a character string that does not require the user to input a reply based on the detected keyword. Is extracted from the predetermined character string group stored in.

  The pseudo-mail device according to claim 5, wherein the predetermined keyword group includes a keyword classified into a character string expressing consent and a keyword classified into a character string expressing disagreement. .

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 6, the predetermined keyword group includes keywords classified as unique to the text.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 7, the predetermined keyword group includes keywords classified into character strings along the text.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 8, the predetermined keyword group includes keywords classified as a character string that reverses the meaning of the immediately preceding word.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus of the ninth aspect, the predetermined keyword group includes keywords classified into character strings that do not depend on the text.

  The pseudo-mail device according to claim 10, wherein the predetermined keyword group affects an extraction process of the character string from the predetermined character string group by the second display character string control unit. Contains keywords classified as non-given strings.

  The pseudo-mail device according to claim 11, wherein the keyword detection unit performs keyword detection processing while excluding one character from the beginning of the character string input by the user, and the keyword detection unit When the keyword is detected from the character string input by the user, a keyword detection process is executed by excluding a predetermined number of characters from the character string input by the user.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 12, the keyword is a character string including at least three characters.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus of the thirteenth aspect, when the detected keyword belongs to a plurality of categories, the keyword detecting unit determines a category to which the keyword belongs according to a predetermined priority rule.

  The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 14, wherein a plurality of keywords constituting the predetermined keyword group are classified into a plurality of categories, a plurality of predetermined elements are prepared, and the keyword detecting means The predetermined element is calculated according to the category to which the detected keyword belongs, and the second display character string control means is configured to calculate the predetermined character based on the predetermined element. Extract a string from a set of columns.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 15, the predetermined character string read by the first display character string control unit, and the character string extracted by the second display character string control unit, The display unit for displaying is integrally provided.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 16, the predetermined character string read by the first display character string control unit, and the character string extracted by the second display character string control unit, The display unit for displaying is provided as a separate body, and the display unit is a television monitor.

  The pseudo-mail program according to claim 17 receives a first display step for displaying a predetermined character string and an input of an arbitrary character string from the user after the predetermined character string is displayed. An input receiving step, a detection step of performing keyword detection processing on the arbitrary character string from the user with reference to a predetermined keyword group, and a predetermined determination based on the detected keyword The computer executes an extraction step of extracting a character string from the extracted character string group and a second display step of displaying the extracted character string.

  19. The pseudo mail program according to claim 18, wherein a first display step for displaying a predetermined character string and an input of an arbitrary character string from the user after the predetermined character string is displayed. A first input receiving step, a first detection step of performing a keyword detection process on the arbitrary character string from the user with reference to a predetermined keyword group, and the detected keyword A second display step for displaying a predetermined character string corresponding to the user, a second input receiving step for receiving an input of an arbitrary character string from the user, and referring to the predetermined keyword group , A second detection step for performing a keyword detection process on the arbitrary character string received in the second input reception step, and a detection in the second detection step. A third display step for displaying a predetermined character string according to the keyword, the second input receiving step, the second detection step, and the third display step are repeatedly executed. And causing the computer to execute.

  According to the pseudo-mail method according to claim 1, the pseudo-mail method according to claim 2, the pseudo-mail program according to claim 17, and the pseudo-mail program according to claim 18, the pseudo-mail program is determined in advance prior to the user. Since the character string is displayed on the display unit, the user inputs an arbitrary character string as a reply to the displayed character string. Thus, if a character string is displayed prior to the user, the character string input by the user can be predicted to some extent. Therefore, the character string input by the user can be controlled to some extent according to the contents of the character string displayed in advance (the reply from the user can be controlled to some extent). In other words, the designer can control the exchange of pseudo mail. In other words, the designer can assemble the story.

  When a character string input by the user is subjected to semantic interpretation by morphological analysis or the like, and a character string for reply according to the content of the character string is created, a complicated analysis program and a large dictionary are used. However, according to the present invention, since the semantic interpretation by morphological analysis or the like is not performed, it is possible to provide a pseudo mail method that is simple and can suppress the data capacity as much as possible. Therefore, even in an environment where resources (processing speed, storage capacity, etc.) are severely restricted, pseudo-mail can be easily realized.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3, since the character string read by the first display character string control means is displayed on the display unit prior to the user, the user responds to the displayed character string. As a result, an arbitrary character string is input. In this way, if the pseudo mail apparatus displays a character string prior to the user, the character string input by the user can be predicted to some extent. Therefore, the character string input by the user can be controlled to some extent according to the contents of the character string displayed in advance (the reply from the user can be controlled to some extent). That is, the designer of the pseudo mail apparatus can control the exchange of character strings between the user and the pseudo mail apparatus. In other words, the designer can assemble the story.

  When a character string input by the user is subjected to semantic interpretation by morphological analysis or the like, and a character string for reply according to the content of the character string is created, a complicated analysis program and a large dictionary are used. However, according to the present invention, since semantic interpretation is not performed by morphological analysis or the like, it is possible to realize a pseudo mail apparatus that is simple and that can suppress the data capacity as much as possible. Therefore, even in an environment where resources (processing speed, storage capacity, etc.) are severely limited, a pseudo mail apparatus can be easily realized.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus of the fourth aspect, since the designer of the pseudo mail apparatus can determine a phrase for exchanging character strings between the pseudo mail apparatus and the user, a better story can be constructed.

  According to the pseudo-mail device according to claim 5, the user can use the expression belonging to the character string category expressing consent such as “Yes” or the expression belonging to the character string category expressing non-consensus such as “No”. Character strings that can be returned can be included in a predetermined character string group to be extracted by the second display character string control means.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus of the sixth aspect, a character string having an arbitrary content can be included in a predetermined character string group to be extracted by the second display character string control means.

  According to the pseudo mail device according to claim 7, even when the user inputs an arbitrary character string along the text, the accuracy in extracting the character string as a reply to the character string input by the user is improved. be able to.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 8, even when the user inputs a character string of negative expression instead of a character string belonging to the character string category expressing non-agreement such as “No”, the user The accuracy of extracting a character string as a reply to the character string input by can be improved.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus of the ninth aspect, even when the user makes a reply independent of the text, it is possible to cope with it.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus of the tenth aspect, a character string that the designer does not want to handle as a keyword, such as a character string that causes an inconvenient result when handled as a keyword, can be arbitrarily set as the keyword. Therefore, a predetermined character string read by the first display character string control unit and a predetermined character string group to be extracted by the second display character string control unit are created. The degree of freedom increases. In other words, by ignoring character strings that cause inconvenient results, including such character strings in a predetermined character string and a predetermined character string group does not affect the processing. The degree of freedom of creation is improved, which is convenient for data design. Also, by ignoring character strings that cause inconvenient results, it is possible to improve the accuracy of character string extraction processing as a reply to a character string input by the user without executing complicated processing. In other words, in order to improve the accuracy of the extraction process of the character string as a reply to the character string input by the user, a character string that requires complicated processing is set as the keyword and is ignored.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus of the eleventh aspect, even when the keywords are adjacent to each other, it is possible to improve the accuracy when extracting a character string as a reply to the character string input by the user.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus of claim 12, when the character string input by the user is only hiragana or only katakana, the accuracy of selecting the reply mail text issued by the virtual person can be improved. . When the character string input by the user is only hiragana or only katakana, if one or two characters are used as keywords, a part of a certain word may overlap with that, and a virtual person will appear. There may be a case where an inappropriate mail text is selected as a reply mail text.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 13, since the keyword data can be hierarchically provided, it is possible to create keyword data that can be commonly used for a plurality of character strings displayed by the pseudo mail apparatus toward the user. . Therefore, even if the capacity of the storage means is large, mounting becomes easy.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 14, since a plurality of keywords are classified into a plurality of categories and a plurality of predetermined elements are prepared, a character as a reply to the character string input by the user When extracting a column, an unambiguous and alternative extraction process can be avoided. For this reason, the accuracy at the time of extracting the character string as a reply with respect to the character string which the user input can be improved.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus of the fifteenth aspect, since the display unit is incorporated in the pseudo mail apparatus, the user can exchange the pseudo mail if only the pseudo mail apparatus is owned. Moreover, it becomes portable and can exchange pseudo-mail without selecting a place.

  According to the pseudo mail apparatus of the sixteenth aspect, since it is not necessary to provide a display unit in the pseudo mail apparatus, the cost of the pseudo mail apparatus itself can be reduced. Moreover, since the television monitor serves as the display unit, the visibility of the display character string can be improved for the user. Furthermore, the restriction on the display image is reduced, for example, a fine image can be displayed.

  Hereinafter, a pseudo mail apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Here, the pseudo mail is used for the following reason. In general, a mail is an electronic letter exchanged between terminals via a network. In the present invention, no network is used. Also, electronic letters are exchanged using a single pseudo mail device. Thus, since the meaning of the mail of the present invention is different from that of general mail, it is expressed as a pseudo mail.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a pseudo mail apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the pseudo mail apparatus 1 has a configuration in which one end portion of the upper housing 3 and one end portion of the lower housing 5 are rotatably coupled by a hinge 7. A display unit 9 is provided on the inner side surface of the upper housing 3. Direction keys 11a to 11d, a clear key 13, an input mode switching key 15, an on-hook key 17, an enter key 19, an off-hook key 21, and character input keys 23a to 23m are provided on the inner surface of the lower casing 5. A speaker unit (not shown) is provided on the outer surface of the lower housing 5.

  The display unit 9 displays an image such as a mail text from a virtual person or a mail text input by the user. A ring tone or the like is output from the speaker unit.

  The direction keys 11a to 11d are pressed by the user when, for example, the cursor is moved in the corresponding direction, the screen is switched, or the screen is scrolled. The clear key 13 is pressed by the user when clearing an input character or the like, for example. The input mode switching key 15 is pressed by the user when switching input modes such as hiragana input, katakana input, alphabet input, number input, symbol input, and character input, for example.

  The character input keys 23a to 23m are pressed by the user when inputting various characters, symbols, numbers, or the like, for example. The determination key 19 is pressed by the user when determining (determining) an input, for example. The off-hook key 21 is pressed, for example, after the user inputs a mail text and presses the enter key 19, and thus it is considered that the mail text from the user has been transmitted. The on-hook key 17 is pressed by the user when the operation is terminated, for example, after the user transmits a mail text.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the pseudo mail apparatus 1 of FIG. In FIG. 2, the same parts as those in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals. As shown in FIG. 2, the pseudo mail apparatus 1 includes a display unit 9, a display control unit 31, a control unit 33, a key input unit 35, a RAM (random access memory) 39, and a ROM (read only memory) 37. Including.

  FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram of programs and data stored in the ROM 37 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 3, the ROM 37 stores programs and data such as a pseudo mail program 41, mail data 43, music data 45, and display data 47.

  The operation will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. The pseudo mail program 41 is a program that realizes pseudo mail exchange between a user and a virtual person. The mail data 43 includes mail text data and keyword data transmitted by a virtual person (described later). The music data 45 includes ringtone data and the like. The display data 47 includes virtual person image data, font data, and the like.

  The control unit 33 executes a pseudo mail program 41 stored in the ROM 37 to realize a pseudo mail exchange between the user and a virtual person.

  The key input unit 35 includes the keys 11a to 23m shown in FIG. The control unit 33 executes processing according to the operation information of the keys 11a to 23m according to the pseudo mail program 41. Further, the control unit 33 outputs display data 47 and a control signal to the display control unit 31 according to the pseudo mail program 41. The display control unit 31 displays an image (including characters, numbers, and symbols) corresponding to the given display data 47 on the display unit 9 in accordance with a control signal from the control unit 33. For the display unit 9, for example, a display such as an LCD (liquid crystal display) or an EL display (electro luminescent display) can be used. The RAM 39 stores programs and data stored in the ROM 37 and is used as a work area for the control unit 33.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the control unit 33 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, the control unit 33 functions as a start mail sentence control means 42, a keyword detection means 44, a reply mail sentence control means 46, and an input processing means 48 by executing the pseudo mail program 41. To do. Hereinafter, these operations will be described in detail.

  The control unit 33 plays the role of a virtual person who is a user's partner. Then, prior to the user, a virtual person issues an email. Specifically, prior to the input of the user's mail text, the start mail text control means 42 selects the start mail text selected from the plurality of start mail texts prepared in advance via the display control unit 31. It is displayed on the display unit 9. Thus, the mail text displayed prior to the input of the user's mail text is referred to as a “start mail text”. The start mail sentence control means 42 selects a start mail sentence to be displayed from a plurality of start mail sentences prepared in advance according to the pseudo mail program 41. Then, the start mail sentence control means 42 reads the selected start mail sentence from the ROM 37 or the RAM 39 and gives it to the display control unit 31.

  On the other hand, the user issues a reply mail message in response to the start mail message displayed on the display unit 9. Specifically, the user operates various keys 11a to 23m to input a reply mail text. Then, the input processing unit 48 displays the mail text according to the operation information of the various keys 11 a to 23 m on the display unit 9 via the display control unit 31 and stores it in the RAM 39.

  The keyword detecting unit 44 detects a keyword from the mail text from the user stored in the RAM 39, and calculates reply control variables (predetermined elements) A and R according to the detected keyword. This point will be described in detail.

  The keyword detection means 44 detects a keyword from the mail sentence from a user. This keyword data is included in the mail data 43 of FIG. This keyword is classified into seven categories. That is, this keyword is a consent type (A type) keyword, a non-consent type (B type) keyword, an inverted type (C type) keyword, a text-based type (D type) keyword, a text-independent type (E Type) keyword, text-specific type (F type) keyword, and ignore type (G type) keyword.

  The consent-type (A-type) keyword is a word that is classified into a character string that expresses consent for a mail sentence issued by a virtual person. For example, words such as “Yes” can be classified into consent-type (A-type) keywords.

  The non-consent type (B type) keyword is a word that is classified into a character string that expresses disagreement with respect to a mail sentence issued by a virtual person. For example, a word such as “No” can be classified as a non-consent type (B type) keyword.

  Inverted (C-type) keywords are words that are classified into expressions that invert the meaning of the previous word to the opposite meaning. For example, the word “not” includes the word “not”, but this word “not” is a word that reverses the meaning of the word “go”.

  The text-based (D-type) keywords are words that are classified into expressions according to the content of the mail text issued by a virtual person. For example, the word “Iku” corresponds to a question from a virtual person, “Would you like to go to school?”

  The text-independent (E) keyword is a word that is classified into an expression that does not depend on the content of a mail sentence issued by a virtual person. For example, the word “suki” corresponds to a question sentence from a virtual person, “Would you like to go to school?”

  The text-specific (F-type) keyword is a word that is classified as an expression specific to the content of the mail text issued by a virtual person. For example, the word “red” corresponds to an e-mail sentence “What do you like?” From a virtual person.

  An ignoring type (G type) keyword is a word that is not taken into account when extracting a reply mail sentence to the user. For example, an ignoring type (G type) keyword can be determined empirically by a designer.

  It should be noted that “0” is assigned to both of the reply control variables A and R as an initial value.

  As described above, keywords are classified. However, it is not classified according to strict rules, but it can be arbitrarily classified according to the designer's experience, statistical viewpoint, etc. as convenient for the system.

  FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the calculation of the return control variables A and R by the keyword detecting means 44 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, when detecting a consent type (A type) keyword from the reply mail text from the user, the keyword detecting unit 44 sets “1” to both the reply control variable A and the reply control variable R. "Is set. When the non-consent type (B type) keyword is detected from the reply mail text from the user, the keyword detecting unit 44 sets “−1” in both the reply control variable A and the reply control variable R.

  When the keyword detection unit 44 detects an inverted (C type) keyword from the reply mail text from the user, the keyword detection unit 44 multiplies the value set in the reply control variable R by “−1”, and The multiplication result is set in the reply control variable R. In this case, when the value set in the reply control variable R is “0”, the value is set to “1” and multiplied by “−1”.

  When the keyword detecting unit 44 detects a text-specific (F-type) keyword or a text-based (D-type) keyword from the reply mail text from the user, the keyword detecting unit 44 sets “1” to the reply control variable R. Set.

  Here, the keywords detected by the keyword detecting unit 44 may belong to a plurality of categories. In this case, the keyword detection means 44 selects any one category according to a predetermined priority rule. This point will be described in detail.

  FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of priority rules referred to by the keyword detecting means 44 in FIG. As shown in FIG. 6, in descending order of priority, ignore type (G type), sentence-specific type (F type), consent type (A type), non-consent type (B type), inversion type (C type), It is a text compliant type (D type) and a text independent type (E). The consent type (A type), the non-agreement type (B type), and the inversion type (C type) are in the same rank. When the detected keyword belongs to a plurality of categories, the keyword detecting means 44 selects any one category according to the priority rule shown in FIG. Then, the keyword detecting means 44 calculates the reply control variables A and R according to the selection result.

  When the keyword detecting unit 44 detects a text-specific (F-type) keyword from the user's mail text, the mail text prepared for the text-specific (F-type) keyword (to the user) (For reply) storage location information is registered (registration mail text registration). Further, when the keyword detecting unit 44 detects a text-independent type (E type) keyword from the user's mail text, the keyword detecting unit 44 stores a mail text prepared for the text-independent type (E type) keyword. Register location information (Register reply email).

  Next, a keyword detection procedure by the keyword detection unit 44 will be described with a specific example. It is assumed that the mail text from the user is “Maybe it will be”.

  The keyword detection means 44 is “Maybe it will be”, “Maybe it will be”, “Maybe it will be”, “Maybe it will be”, “Maybe”, “Maybe”, “Maybe”, “Maybe” In order, it is determined whether or not keywords are included in these character strings (first detection stage). That is, the keyword detecting unit 44 detects a keyword while reducing the last character of the character string one character at a time starting from the longest character string. Then, the keyword detecting unit 44 calculates the reply control variables A and R and registers a reply mail text according to the detected longest keyword. For example, when the keyword detection unit 44 detects the keyword “maybe and probably” and the keyword “maybe”, the keyword detection unit 44 calculates the reply control variables A and R according to the keyword “maybe and probably” that has a large number of characters. Register reply mail text.

  Next, the keyword detection means 44 performs the following sequence in the order of “Buntomo”, “Buntomo”, “Buntoo”, “Buntoo”, “Bunsuru”, “Bunsu”, “Bun”. Then, it is determined whether or not a keyword is included in these character strings (second detection stage). That is, the keyword detecting unit 44 detects a keyword while reducing the character at the end of the character string one character at a time starting from the character string excluding the first character of the character string determined first. Then, the keyword detecting unit 44 calculates the reply control variables A and R and registers a reply mail text according to the detected longest keyword.

  Next, the keyword detection means 44 uses these characters in the order of “Nontomo”, “Nontomo”, “Nontoo”, “Nontoo”, “Nonto”, “Nonsu”. It is determined whether or not a keyword is included in the column (third detection stage). That is, the keyword detecting unit 44 detects a keyword while reducing the character at the end of the character string one character at a time starting from the character string excluding the first character of the character string determined first. Then, the keyword detecting unit 44 calculates the reply control variables A and R and registers a reply mail text according to the detected longest keyword.

  The keyword detection unit 44 sequentially advances the detection stage according to the above rules.

  However, when a keyword is detected, the keyword detection unit 44 starts with a character string starting with the last character of the keyword and reduces the last character of the character string one character at a time. Detect keywords. For example, a character string “I don't want to go” is assumed as a reply mail message from the user. When the character string “I want to go” is a keyword, the keyword detecting unit 44 starts from the character string “I don't” starting with the last character of the keyword “I want to go”, and the character The keywords are detected while reducing the last character of the column one character at a time. In this case, keywords are not detected with the character strings “I don't want to” and “I don't want” as the first characters.

  As described above, when the detection process at one detection stage is completed and a keyword is detected in the mail text from the user, the calculation of the reply control variables A and R and the reply mail text are performed according to the keyword. Is registered. Therefore, when a keyword is detected at a plurality of detection stages, the contents of the reply control variables A and R are updated according to the keyword detected at a later detection stage, and the reply mail text is also registered. It is updated according to the keyword detected in the later detection stage. As described above, when a keyword is detected at a plurality of detection stages, a later keyword is given priority.

  Further, as a result of the detection processing at one detection stage, when a certain character string is a keyword belonging to a plurality of categories, the keyword detection means 44 selects one category according to the priority rule of FIG.

  Returning to FIG. The reply mail text control means 46 first checks whether the storage position information of the mail text prepared for the text-specific (F-type) keyword is registered. The reply mail text control means 46, when the storage position information of the mail text prepared for the text-specific (F type) keyword is registered, the mail stored at the position indicated by the storage position information The sentence is displayed on the display unit 9 via the display control unit 31 as a reply to the user.

  On the other hand, if the storage location information of the mail text prepared for the text-specific (F type) keyword is not registered, the reply mail text control means 46 converts the mail text from the user into a positive text. , A negative sentence, or any other sentence. This point will be described in detail.

  FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of the mail sentence classification process by the reply mail sentence control means 46 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the reply mail text control means 46 finally (at the end of the last detection stage) sets the reply control variable R to “-1” if the reply control variable A is set to “−1”. Regardless of the value, mail text from users is classified as negative text.

  The reply mail text control means 46 is finally (at the end of the last detection stage) when a value other than “−1” (“1” or “0”) is set in the reply control variable A. When “1” is set in the reply control variable R, the mail text from the user is classified as a positive text. On the other hand, the reply mail text control means 46 is finally set to a value other than “−1” (“1” or “0”) in the reply control variable A (at the end of the last detection stage). In this case, when “−1” is set in the reply control variable R, the mail text from the user is classified as a negative text.

  The reply mail text control means 46 is finally (at the end of the last detection stage) when the reply control variable R is set to “0”, and the reply control variable A is set to “1”. If so, the mail text from the user is classified as a positive text. The reply mail text control means 46 finally (when the last detection stage ends) is when the reply control variable R is set to “0”, and the reply control variable A is “0”. Is set, mail messages from users are classified into sentences other than positive sentences and negative sentences.

  If the mail text storage position information prepared for the text-specific (F-type) keyword is not registered, the reply mail text control means 46 sends the mail text corresponding to the above classification result to the ROM 37 or RAM 39. Is displayed on the display unit 9 via the display control unit 31. That is, a reply mail message to the user is prepared corresponding to each classification. However, when the mail text from the user is classified into a sentence other than a positive sentence and a negative sentence, the storage position information of the mail text prepared for the text-independent type (E type) keyword is If registered, the reply mail text control means 46 displays the mail text stored at the position indicated by the registered storage position information on the display unit 9 via the display control unit 31. On the other hand, when the mail text from the user is classified into a sentence other than a positive sentence and a negative sentence, the storage position information of the mail text prepared for the text-independent type (E type) keyword is If not registered, the reply mail text control unit 46 displays the mail text prepared in that case on the display unit 9 via the display control unit 31.

  As described above, a plurality of mail sentences for replying to the user are prepared in advance for one start mail sentence. This point will be described in detail.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of the start mail text and the mail text for reply to the user stored in the ROM 37 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, 14 reply mail sentences A [2] Y to A [3] OE to the user are prepared for a certain start mail sentence A [1]. Details are as follows.

  The mail text used when the reply mail text from the user to the start mail text A [1] is classified as a positive text (see FIG. 7) is the mail text A [2] Y, which is negative. The mail text used when classified into a simple sentence (see FIG. 7) is the mail text A [2] N, and the reply mail text from the user is a text other than a positive text and a negative text. In the case of classification, the mail sentence used when the text-independent (E-type) keyword is not included is the mail sentence A [2] O.

  Further, the mail text used when the user's reply to the reply mail text A [2] Y is classified as a positive text is the mail text A [3] YY, and is classified as a negative text. When the e-mail message used when the e-mail is sent is the e-mail message A [3] YN, and the reply e-mail message from the user is classified into a sentence other than a positive sentence and a negative sentence, it is text independent. The mail text used when the type (E type) keyword is not included is the mail text A [3] YO, and the reply mail text from the user includes the text-specific type (F type) keyword. The mail text used is the mail text A [3] YE.

  Further, the mail text used when the user's reply to the reply mail text A [2] N is classified as a positive text is the mail text A [3] NY, and is classified as a negative text. When the e-mail text used when the e-mail is sent is e-mail text A [3] NN and the reply e-mail text from the user is classified as a text other than a positive text and a negative text, the text is independent. The mail text used when the type (E type) keyword is not included is the mail text A [3] NO.

  Further, the mail text used when the user's reply to the reply mail text A [2] O is classified as a positive text is the mail text A [3] OY, and is classified as a negative text. When the e-mail text used when the e-mail is sent is e-mail text A [3] ON and the reply e-mail text from the user is classified as a text other than a positive text and a negative text, the text is independent. The mail text used when the type (E type) keyword is not included is the mail text A [3] OO, and the reply mail text from the user includes the text specific type (F type) keyword. The mail text used is the mail text A [3] OE.

  As described above, a plurality of reply mail sentences to the user are prepared for one start mail sentence according to the classification destination of the reply mail sentence from the user. Further, for each reply mail text to the user, a plurality of reply mail texts to the user are prepared according to the classification destination of the reply mail text from the user corresponding to them.

  In addition, when the mail text from the user is classified into a sentence other than a positive sentence and a negative sentence, a plurality of mail sentences are prepared for use when a text-independent (E-type) keyword is included. Is done.

  Note that sentence A [3] YY, sentence A [3] YN, sentence A [3] YO, sentence A [3] YE, sentence A [3] NY, sentence A [3] NN, sentence A [3] NO , Sentence A [3] OY, Sentence A [3] ON, Sentence A [3] OO, and Sentence A [3] OE correspond to story phrases starting from the start mail sentence A [1]. . Therefore, keywords for these mail sentences are not prepared. This is because there is no reply input from the user for these phrases.

  Next, the pseudo mail apparatus 1 according to this embodiment will be described with specific examples.

  FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of the contents of the start mail sentence A [1] shown in FIG. The start mail sentence control means 42 displays, for example, the start mail sentence A [1] of FIG. 9 on the display unit 9 prior to the user.

  FIG. 10A is an illustration of an agreement type (A type) keyword prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] in FIG.

  FIG. 10B is an exemplary diagram of non-consent type (B type) keywords prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] of FIG.

  FIG. 10C is an exemplary diagram of inverted (C type) keywords prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] of FIG.

  FIG. 10D is an illustration of a text-based (D-type) keyword prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] in FIG.

  FIG. 10E shows an example of a text-independent (E-type) keyword prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] in FIG.

  FIG. 10F is an exemplary diagram of a neglect type (G type) keyword prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] of FIG.

  In FIGS. 10A to 10F, the symbol # means that the keyword to which it is attached is applied only when it exists at the head of the mail text. The symbol $ means that the keyword to which it is attached is applied only when it exists at the end of the mail text.

  Now, assume that the user operates the various keys 11a to 23m and inputs an e-mail message "Yeong sang" to the start e-mail message A [1] in FIG. Then, the keyword detecting unit 44 first determines whether or not the ignore type (G type) keyword of FIG. 10F exists in this mail sentence, and if there is, the ignored type (G type). The keyword is detected from a character string starting from the last character of the keyword (see FIG. 6). On the other hand, the keyword detection means 44 performs the following process if the ignored (G-type) keyword shown in FIG.

  The keyword detecting unit 44 performs keyword detection processing from the start mail sentence A [1] in FIG. 9 with reference to the keyword group in FIGS. 10 (a) to 10 (e). The keyword detection unit 44 detects keywords in the order of “Yun-sama”, “Yumita”, “Yunmi”, “Yun”. Then, the keyword detecting means 44 detects the consent type (A) keyword (see FIG. 10A) of “Yes”. Accordingly, in this detection stage, the keyword detection unit 44 sets “1” for both the reply control variables A and R.

  Next, the keyword detection means 44 detects the keywords in the order of “nimami”, “nimita”, “nimi”. In this detection stage, there are no keywords. Accordingly, the reply control variables A and R are not updated.

  Next, the keyword detecting means 44 detects the keywords in the order of “I want to see” and “Mita”. Then, the keyword detection means 44 detects the text-based (D) keyword (see FIG. 10D) “I want to see”. Accordingly, in this detection stage, the keyword detection unit 44 sets “1” in the reply control variable A.

  As a result, the values of both the reply control variable A and the reply control variable R are finally “1”. Then, the reply mail text control means 46 classifies the mail text from the user “Yes” as a positive text (see FIG. 7). Therefore, the reply mail text control means 46 displays the reply mail text A [2] Y in FIG.

  FIG. 11 is a view showing an example of the contents of the reply mail sentence A [2] Y shown in FIG. Suppose that the reply mail text control means 46 displays the reply mail text A [2] Y of FIG.

  FIG. 12A is an illustration of an agreement type (A type) keyword prepared for the reply mail text A [2] Y of FIG.

  FIG. 12B is an exemplary diagram of non-consent type (B type) keywords prepared for the reply mail sentence A [2] Y in FIG.

  FIG. 12C is an exemplary diagram of inverted (C type) keywords prepared for the reply mail sentence A [2] Y of FIG.

  FIG. 12D is an exemplary diagram of a text-based (D-type) keyword prepared for the reply mail text A [2] Y in FIG.

  FIG. 12E is an exemplary view of a text-independent type (E type) keyword prepared for the reply mail text A [2] Y in FIG.

  FIG. 12F is an exemplary diagram of a text-specific (F-type) keyword prepared for the reply mail text A [2] Y in FIG.

  FIG. 12G is an exemplary diagram of a neglect type (G type) keyword prepared for the mail message A [2] Y in FIG.

  In FIGS. 12A to 12G, the symbol # means that the keyword to which it is attached is applied only when it exists at the head of the mail text. The symbol $ means that the keyword to which it is attached is applied only when it exists at the end of the mail text.

  Now, let us say that the user operates the various keys 11a to 23m and inputs the mail text "Uon Baka" to the reply mail text A [2] Y in FIG. Then, the keyword detection means 44 first determines whether or not the ignore type (G type) keyword of FIG. In this mail sentence, there is an "ignorance" keyword that is an ignoring type (G type) keyword. Accordingly, the keyword detecting means 44 refers to the keyword group shown in FIGS. 12A to 12F, and begins with the last one character of the negligence type (G type) keyword “mm”. The keywords are detected in the order of “Namba” and “Namba”. Since there is no keyword in these character strings, the keyword detecting unit 44 refers to the keyword group in FIG. 12A to FIG. 12F to determine whether the character string “idiot” is a keyword. To do.

  The character string “idiot” is a keyword, but exists in both the text-independent type (E type) and the text-specific type (F type) (see FIGS. 12E and 12F). Therefore, the keyword detecting means 44 classifies the keyword into any category according to the priority rule of FIG. Since the priority of the text-independent type (E type) is “5” and the priority of the text-specific type (F type) is “2”, the keyword detecting unit 44 assigns the keyword “idiot” to the text The storage position information of the mail sentence A [3] YE prepared for the keyword “fool” of the sentence unique type (F type) is registered by classifying into the unique type (F type). Further, the keyword detecting means 44 substitutes “1” for the reply control variable R (see FIG. 5).

  The reply mail text control means 46 stores the storage position information of the mail text A [3] YE prepared for the text-specific (F type) keyword, and stores it at the position indicated by the storage position information. The mail text A [3] YE being displayed is displayed on the display unit 9.

  FIG. 13 is a view showing an example of the contents of the reply mail sentence A [3] YE shown in FIG. In the above case, the reply mail text control means 46 displays, for example, the reply mail text A [3] YE having the contents shown in FIG.

  On the other hand, it is assumed that the user operates the various keys 11a to 23m and inputs a mail sentence “Yeah, but not” to the start mail sentence A [1] in FIG. Then, the keyword detecting unit 44 first determines whether or not the ignore type (G type) keyword of FIG. 10F exists in this mail sentence, and if there is, the ignored type (G type). The keyword is detected from a character string starting from the last character of the keyword (see FIG. 6). On the other hand, the keyword detection means 44 performs the following process if the ignored (G-type) keyword shown in FIG.

  The keyword detection means 44 refers to the keywords shown in FIGS. 10A to 10E and detects the keywords from this mail sentence. In other words, the keyword detection means 44 is “Yes. But do n’t.”, “Yes. But do n’t.”, “Yes. But do n’t.”, “Yes. But”, “Yes. But”, “Yes.”, “ The keywords are detected in the order of "Yes." Then, the keyword detecting means 44 detects the consent type (A) keyword (see FIG. 10A) of “Yes”. Accordingly, in this detection stage, the keyword detection unit 44 sets “1” for both the reply control variables A and R.

  The keyword detection means 44 advances the search stage sequentially. Then, the keyword detection means 44 detects the reverse type (C type) keyword (see FIG. 10C) which is “not possible” at the final search stage. Therefore, in this detection stage, the keyword detection means 44 multiplies “−1”, which is the value of the reply control variable R, by (−1), and obtains “−1”, which is the multiplication result, of the reply control variable A. Set to value.

  As a result of the above, the value of the reply control variable A is finally “−1”. Then, the reply mail text control means 46 classifies the mail text from the user "Yes, but not" as a negative answer (see FIG. 7). Therefore, the reply mail text control means 46 displays the reply mail text A [2] N in FIG.

  On the other hand, it is assumed that the user operates the various keys 11a to 23m and inputs a mail sentence “I do not want to see” to the start mail sentence A [1] in FIG. Then, the keyword detecting unit 44 first determines whether or not the ignore type (G type) keyword of FIG. 10F exists in this mail sentence, and if there is, the ignored type (G type). The keyword is detected from a character string starting from the last character of the keyword (see FIG. 6). On the other hand, the keyword detection means 44 performs the following process if the ignored (G-type) keyword shown in FIG.

  The keyword detection unit 44 refers to the keywords shown in FIGS. 10A to 10E and confirms whether or not the keywords exist in this mail sentence. The keyword detection means 44 detects keywords in the order of “I don't want to see”, “I don't want to see”, “I want to see”, and “I have seen”. In this detection stage, there are no keywords. Accordingly, the reply control variables A and R are not updated and remain at the initial value “0”.

  Next, the keyword detecting means 44 detects the keywords in the order of “I don't want”, “Takuna”, “Taku”. There are no keywords even in this detection stage. Accordingly, the reply control variables A and R are not updated and remain at the initial value “0”.

  Next, the keyword detection means 44 detects keywords in the order of “not” and “kuna”. Then, the keyword detecting means 44 detects an inverted (C type) keyword (refer to FIG. 10C) “not”. Since the current value of the reply control variable R is “0”, the keyword detecting unit 44 sets “−1”, which is the result of 1 × (−1), as the value of the reply control variable R.

  As a result of the above, the value of the reply control variable A is finally “−1”. Then, the reply mail text control means 46 classifies the mail text from the user “I do not want to see” as a negative answer (see FIG. 7). Therefore, the reply mail text control means 46 displays the reply mail text A [2] N in FIG.

  Further, on the other hand, it is assumed that the user operates the various keys 11a to 23m and inputs the mail sentence “Yes” to the start mail sentence A [1] in FIG. Then, the keyword detecting unit 44 first determines whether or not the ignore type (G type) keyword of FIG. 10F exists in this mail sentence, and if there is, the ignored type (G type). The keyword is detected from a character string starting from the last character of the keyword (see FIG. 6). On the other hand, the keyword detection means 44 performs the following process if the ignored (G-type) keyword shown in FIG.

  The keyword detection unit 44 refers to the keywords shown in FIGS. 10A to 10E and confirms whether or not the keywords exist in this mail sentence. The keyword detection means 44 detects keywords in the order of “Yes” and “Yes”. Then, the keyword detection means 44 detects a non-consensus type (B type) keyword (see FIG. 10B) “Yes”. Accordingly, the keyword detecting unit 44 sets “−1” in both the reply control variable A and the reply control variable R. Note that the character string “Yes” was detected as a keyword because it was at the beginning of the mail text (see symbol #). On the other hand, the character string “Yes” is not detected as a keyword because it is not at the head of the mail text (see symbol #).

  As a result of the above, the value of the reply control variable A is finally “−1”. Then, the reply mail text control means 46 classifies the mail text from the user “Yes” as a negative answer (see FIG. 7). Therefore, the reply mail text control means 46 displays the reply mail text A [2] N in FIG.

  Next, the flow of processing by the pseudo mail apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 will be described using a flowchart.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of processing by the pseudo mail apparatus 1 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 14, in step S1, the control unit 33 in FIG. 4 executes initial setting of the system. In step S <b> 2, the start mail sentence control unit 42 displays a start mail sentence as a mail sentence from a virtual person on the display unit 9. In step S <b> 3, the input processing unit 48 determines whether or not a mail text is input from the user. The input processing means 48 proceeds to the same step S3 when there is no mail text input from the user, and proceeds to step S4 when there is an input. In step S4, the input processing means 48 displays a mail text on the display unit 9 according to the operation information of the various keys 11a to 23m by the user.

  In step 5, the keyword detection means 44 extracts a keyword from the mail text input by the user, and executes calculation of the reply control variables A and R and registration of the storage position information of the reply mail text. In step S6, the reply mail text control means 46 displays a reply mail text to the user on the display unit 9 according to the result of step S5.

  In step S <b> 7, the control unit 33 determines whether or not the exchange starting from the current start mail sentence has ended. The control unit 33 proceeds to step S3 if the exchange has not been completed, and proceeds to step 8 if it has been completed. In step S8, the control unit 33 determines whether there is a start mail text to be displayed next. The control unit 33 proceeds to step S2 if it exists, and ends the process if it does not exist.

  FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing an example of the keyword detection process in step S5 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 15, in step S <b> 21, the keyword detection unit 44 extracts keywords from the mail text from the user.

  In step S22, the keyword detection unit 44 refers to the priority rule and selects the keyword with the highest priority among the extracted keywords. In step S23, the keyword detecting means 44 performs calculation of reply control variables A and R (see FIG. 5) and registration of reply mail text storage location information in accordance with the selected keyword.

  In step S24, the keyword detection unit 44 determines whether or not the keyword extraction process has been completed in all detection stages for the mail text from the user. If not completed, the keyword detecting unit 44 proceeds to step S21. If completed, the keyword detecting unit 44 returns to the main routine of FIG.

  FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing an example of the flow of the virtual person reply mail text display process in step S6 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 16, in step S31, the reply mail text control means 46 checks the final value of the reply control variable A. If the reply control variable A is “−1”, the process goes to step S32. If the reply control variable A is a value other than “−1”, the process proceeds to step S33. Further, in step S33, the reply mail text control means 46 checks the final value of the reply control variable R. If the reply control variable R is “−1”, the process proceeds to step S32. In step S32, the reply mail text control means 46 has classified the mail text from the user as a negative text because the reply control variable A is “−1” or the reply control variable R is “−1”. The mail text prepared in this case is displayed on the display unit 9 (see FIG. 7).

  If the reply control variable R is “1” as a result of checking the reply control variable R in step S33, the reply mail text control unit 46 proceeds to step S34. In step S34, the reply mail text control means 46 checks whether the storage position information of the mail text prepared for the text-specific (F-type) keyword is registered. The reply mail text control means 46 proceeds to step S35 if the storage location information is registered, and proceeds to step S36 if it is not registered.

  In step S35, the reply mail text control means 46 displays the mail text (the mail text prepared for the text-specific (F-type) keyword) stored at the position indicated by the registered storage position information. Displayed in part 9. On the other hand, in step S36, the reply mail text control means 46 displays the mail text prepared when the mail text from the user is classified as a positive text on the display unit 9 (see FIG. 7).

  If the reply control variable R is “0” as a result of checking the reply control variable R in step S33, the reply mail text control unit 46 proceeds to step S37. In step S37, the reply mail text control means 46 proceeds to step S34 if the reply control variable A is “1”, and proceeds to step S38 if it is not “1”.

  In step S38, if the reply control variable A is “0”, the reply mail text control means 46 proceeds to step S39. In step S39, the reply mail text control means 46 checks whether or not the mail text storage location information for the text-independent (E type) keyword is registered. The reply mail text control means 46 proceeds to step S40 if the storage location information is registered, and proceeds to step S41 if it is not registered.

  In step S40, the reply mail text control means 46 displays the mail text stored in the position indicated by the registered storage position information (the mail text for the text independent (E type) keyword) on the display unit 9. (See FIG. 7). On the other hand, in step S41, the reply mail text control means 46 displays the mail text (unaffiliated text mail text) prepared when the mail text from the user does not correspond to any of the above on the display unit 9. (See FIG. 7).

  Next, a modification of the present embodiment will be described. In the above, the pseudo mail apparatus 1 is prepared as a dedicated apparatus for realizing the exchange of the pseudo mail between the virtual person and the user. However, it is not always necessary to prepare such a dedicated device in order to realize pseudo mail. For example, the pseudo mail program 41, the mail data 43, the music data 45, and the display data 47 of FIG. 3 are stored in the ROM built in the memory cartridge of the microphone-integrated karaoke device (home karaoke device), Pseudo-mail can also be realized. This point will be described in detail.

  FIG. 17 is an external view showing an example of a microphone-integrated karaoke apparatus (home karaoke apparatus) in which a memory cartridge in which karaoke data is written is mounted. As shown in FIG. 17A, the microphone-integrated karaoke apparatus 150 includes a housing (main body) 161 having an oval upper portion and a cylindrical lower portion, and the microphone 151 is attached to the upper end of the oval portion of the housing 161. It is attached. A power switch 155 and a reset switch 154 are provided on the upper portion of the housing 161, that is, the egg-shaped portion. The power switch 155 is a switch for turning on / off the power, and the reset switch 154 is for resetting everything including the selected music number.

  Further, the egg-shaped portion of the casing 161 is provided with a display 152 made up of two-digit 7-segment LEDs, and tempo control keys 165 and 164 are vertically aligned on the left side across the display 152, and the right side. BGM volume control keys 153 and 156 are provided in vertical alignment. The display 152 is used to display the song number selected by the user. Tempo control keys 165 and 164 are keys for increasing or decreasing the playback speed (tempo) of karaoke, that is, BGM. BGM volume control keys 153 and 156 are keys for increasing or decreasing the playback volume (volume) of karaoke, that is, BGM.

  Music selection / pitch control keys 158 and 159 are provided in the middle and lower part of the egg-shaped portion of the casing 161. The song selection / pitch control keys 158 and 159 are used for incrementing or decrementing the song number, and for raising and lowering the pitch frequency of the karaoke, that is, the pitch, for example, one by one according to the user's pitch. Is done.

  An echo mode selection key 162 is provided on the egg-shaped portion of the casing 161 on the left side of the music selection / pitch control keys 158 and 159 and below the tempo control keys 165 and 164. The echo mode selection key 162 is used for selectively setting an echo time (delay time) in the echo mode. In this embodiment, the echo mode 1, the echo mode 2 and the echo mode 3 can be set, and the echo times are set as “small”, “medium” and “large”, respectively.

  A voice effect mode selection key 157 is provided on the egg-shaped portion of the casing 161 on the right side of the music selection / pitch control keys 158 and 159 and below the BGM volume control keys 153 and 156. In this embodiment, the voice effect mode selection key 157 can set the voice effect mode 1, the voice effect mode 2, and the voice effect mode 3. The voice effect mode 1 is a mode for processing the sound so that the frequency of the output sound is higher than the frequency of the input sound, and the voice effect mode 2 is such that the frequency of the output sound is lower than the frequency of the input sound. This is a mode for processing audio. Furthermore, the voice effect mode 3 is a mode in which the sound is processed so that the frequency of the output sound changes (sweep) continuously and repeatedly up and down.

  A cancel key 163 is provided between the display 152 and the music selection / pitch control keys 158 and 159. The cancel key 163 includes a tempo set by the tempo control keys 165 and 164, a BGM volume set by the volume control keys 153 and 156, a song number and pitch set by the song selection / pitch control keys 158 and 159, and an echo mode selection key. This is a key for canceling the echo mode set by 162 or the voice effect mode set by the voice effect mode selection key 157. The cancel key 163 is also used for interrupting a song being played.

  Below the song selection / pitch control keys 158 and 159, an enter key 160 is provided. This determination key 160 is a tempo set by tempo control keys 165 and 164, a BGM volume set by volume control keys 153 and 156, a song number and pitch set by song selection / pitch control keys 158 and 159, or a voice effect mode. This is a key for determining and activating the voice effect mode set by the selection key 157.

  An AV code 167 is output from the lower portion of the casing 161, that is, the lower end of the cylindrical portion, and the AV code 167 includes two audio output terminals 169L and 169R and one image output terminal 168. Audio output terminals 169L and 169R and image output terminal 168 are connected to an AV terminal of a television monitor (not shown). Therefore, the image and sound of the microphone-integrated karaoke apparatus 150 are output on the television monitor.

  As shown in FIG. 17B, a cartridge connector 170 is provided on the back surface of the housing 161, and a memory cartridge 180 is detachably attached to the cartridge connector 170. The ROM 181 built in the memory cartridge 180 stores a karaoke program, karaoke image data, and karaoke music data, as well as a game program, game image data, game music data, and the mail shown in FIG. Data 43 is stored. This game program includes the pseudo mail program 41 of FIG. This game image data includes display data 47. The music data for games includes music data 45.

  The microphone-integrated karaoke apparatus 150 is battery-driven, and for this purpose, a battery box 171 is installed in the lower cylindrical portion of the casing 161 as shown in FIG.

  Now, the microphone-integrated karaoke apparatus 150 includes a processor and a ROM (not shown) housed in the housing 161. The main body built-in ROM stores karaoke image data and karaoke music data that are used in common regardless of the contents stored in the memory cartridge 180. Note that it is not always necessary to store all game data in the memory cartridge 180, and karaoke data can be used for karaoke data that can also be used for games (for example, font data). .

  The processor built in the main body corresponds to the control unit 33 and the display control unit 31 in FIG. 2 and includes a RAM corresponding to the RAM 39. The various keys of the microphone-integrated karaoke apparatus 150 correspond to the key input unit 35 in FIG. The television monitor corresponds to the display unit 9 in FIG. The ROM 181 of the memory cartridge 180 corresponds to the ROM 37 of FIG.

  When the user selects the karaoke mode, the processor built in the main body executes the karaoke program stored in the memory cartridge 180. On the other hand, when the user selects the game mode, the processor built in the main body executes the game program stored in the memory cartridge 180. While the game by the game program is in progress, the television monitor is displayed to notify that a virtual person has received an email. In this case, when the user performs a predetermined operation, a mail text input screen is displayed on the television monitor.

  FIG. 18 is a view showing an example of a mail text input screen by the microphone-integrated karaoke apparatus 150 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 18, the mail text input screen displayed on the screen 182 of the television monitor includes a character selection unit 191, a hiragana input button 192, a katakana input button 193, an alphabet input button 194, an end button 195, and an input. A character display unit 196.

  When the user selects any one of the hiragana input button 192, the katakana input button 193, and the alphabet input button 194 using the keys 162 and 157 and presses the key 160, the character selection unit 191 corresponding to the pressed key is selected. Is displayed. The example of FIG. 18 shows an example in which the hiragana input button 192 is selected and determined. Then, the user operates the keys 162, 157, 158, and 159 to move the cursor 197 left and right and up and down to select a character to be input and press the key 160 to confirm the input of the character. In this way, characters are input one after another. When the key 163 is pressed, the characters disappear one by one. The input characters are displayed on the input character display unit 196. Then, when the user selects the end button 195 and presses the key 160, the mail text to be transmitted input by the user is displayed on the screen 182 of the television monitor (not shown). When the user presses the key 160, a mail is transmitted. As described in the present embodiment, the mail transmission in this case is a pseudo mail transmission.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment and the modification thereof, the mail text from the virtual person is displayed on the display unit 9 (or the television monitor) prior to the user. An arbitrary mail text is input as a reply to the displayed mail text. As described above, if the virtual person displays the mail text before the user, the mail text input by the user can be predicted to some extent. Accordingly, the mail text input by the user can be controlled to some extent according to the content of the mail text displayed in advance (the reply from the user can be controlled to some extent). That is, the designer of the pseudo mail apparatus 1 can control the exchange of mail between the user and the virtual person. In other words, the designer can assemble the story.

  In addition, when interpreting semantics such as morphological analysis on mail text entered by the user and creating a mail text for reply according to the content of the mail text, a complicated analysis program and a large dictionary However, according to the present embodiment and the modification thereof, meaning interpretation by morphological analysis or the like is not performed, so that the pseudo mail apparatus 1 that is simple and can suppress the data capacity as much as possible can be realized. Therefore, even in an environment where resources (processing speed, storage capacity, etc.) are severely limited, the pseudo mail apparatus 1 can be easily realized.

  Further, in the present embodiment and its modifications, it is a virtual person who sends a mail at the end of the story for one start mail sentence. In other words, the user input does not end the story. Therefore, the designer of the pseudo mail apparatus 1 can determine a phrase for mail exchange between the virtual person and the user, so that a better story can be constructed.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment and its modifications, the keyword group includes a consent-type keyword and a non-agreement keyword. For this reason, an email message that can be replied to by a user with an expression belonging to the category of the character string expressing consent such as “yes” or an expression belonging to the category of the character string expressing non-consensus such as “no” is virtually Can be prepared in advance as an e-mail message from a person.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment and its modifications, the keyword group includes text-specific keywords. For this reason, a mail text having an arbitrary content can be prepared in advance as a mail text from a virtual person.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment and its modifications, the keyword group includes text-based keywords. For this reason, even when the user inputs a mail text having an arbitrary content along the text, the accuracy of selecting a reply mail text can be improved.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment and its modifications, the keyword group includes inverted keywords. For this reason, even when the user enters a mail text that includes a negative expression string instead of a character string belonging to the category of the character string expressing non-agreement such as “No”, the reply mail text is selected. The accuracy of the can be improved.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment and its modifications, the keyword group includes text-independent keywords. For this reason, even if the user makes a reply that does not depend on the text, it is possible to cope with it.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment and its modifications, the keyword group includes ignoring keywords. That is, a character string that the designer does not want to handle as a keyword, such as a character string that causes inconvenient results when handled as a keyword, can be arbitrarily set as the keyword. For this reason, the freedom degree at the time of creating the start mail sentence and reply mail sentence which a virtual person puts out becomes large. In other words, by ignoring character strings that cause inconvenient results, including such character strings in the start mail text and reply mail text does not affect processing, so the degree of freedom in creating them is improved, and data Convenient in design. Further, by ignoring a character string that causes an inconvenient result, it is possible to improve the accuracy of selecting a reply mail text issued by a virtual person without performing complicated processing. In other words, in order to increase the accuracy of selecting a reply e-mail message issued by a virtual person, a character string that requires complicated processing is set as the keyword and ignored.

  Furthermore, in the present embodiment and its modifications, the keyword detection unit 44 executes keyword detection processing while excluding one character at a time from the beginning of the mail text input by the user. However, when the keyword detection unit 44 detects a keyword from the mail text input by the user, the keyword detection unit 44 executes a keyword detection process by excluding a predetermined number of characters from the mail text. For this reason, even when the keywords are adjacent to each other, it is possible to improve the accuracy of selecting the reply mail text issued by the virtual person. In the above example, when the keyword detection unit 44 detects a keyword from the mail text input by the user, the keyword detection unit 44 further executes a keyword detection process from a character string starting from the last character of the keyword.

  For example, suppose an e-mail message “not bad” including double negation. Here, “Kaku”, “Kaku” and “Not” are assumed to be keywords. If the above processing is not performed, only two keywords “Kana” and “I do n’t” can be detected from the sentence “I can't go wrong”. Arise. Then, the sentence “I can't go wrong” is classified as a positive sentence. Actually, the sentences “kaku”, “kaku” and “not” represent negation, so the sentence “kaku” is a negative sentence. As described above, if the above processing is not performed, the classification of the mail text from the user may become inappropriate. In this case, the reason why the keyword is set to 3 characters instead of 2 characters is as follows.

  When the character string input by the user is only hiragana or only katakana, the keyword is preferably a character string consisting of at least three characters. In this way, it is possible to improve the accuracy of selecting a reply mail text issued by a virtual person. When the character string input by the user is only hiragana or only katakana, if one or two characters are used as keywords, a part of a certain word may overlap with that, and a virtual person will appear. There may be a case where an inappropriate mail text is selected as a reply mail text.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment and its modification, when the detected keyword belongs to a plurality of categories, the keyword detection unit 44 determines the category to which the keyword belongs in accordance with the priority rule of FIG. As a result, since the keyword data can be held hierarchically, it is possible to create keyword data that can be used in common for a plurality of mail sentences displayed by the virtual person toward the user. Therefore, even when the storage capacity is largely limited, the mounting becomes easy.

  For example, 10 mail sentences are assumed. It is assumed that the same keyword is used for each of the nine ways, and the keyword is not used for the other one. In this case, there are two possible ways of holding data. One is a case where the same keyword is prepared for each of the nine patterns and the keyword is not prepared for the other pattern. In this case, since a keyword is individually prepared for each mail sentence, a priority rule is unnecessary in the first place. The other one prepares one keyword in common with 10 types, and for one that does not use the keyword, prepare the keyword as an ignoring type (G type) keyword with higher priority. By doing so, the result is the same, but it is clear that the latter requires less data.

  Further, in the present embodiment and its modifications, a plurality of keywords are classified into seven categories, and two reply control variables (predetermined elements) A and R are prepared. Then, the keyword detecting means 44 calculates the reply control variables A and R according to the category to which the detected keyword belongs, and the reply mail sentence control means 46 refers to the values of the reply control variables A and R and displays them. Extract the mail text that should be done. Thus, since a plurality of keywords are classified into a plurality of categories and a plurality of reply control variables A and R are prepared, when extracting a mail sentence as a reply to a mail sentence input by the user, An unambiguous and alternative extraction process can be avoided. For this reason, it is possible to improve the accuracy of selecting a reply mail text issued by a virtual person.

  For example, it is assumed that a plurality of keywords are classified into two categories and one reply control variable that contains only a true / false value is prepared. In this case, the keywords included in the mail text from the user are classified into one of the two categories, and the one reply control variable is calculated accordingly (alternatively). Moreover, since there is only one reply control variable, the contents of the reply control variable are updated each time a keyword is detected, and the mail text from the user is classified based on the contents of the one reply control variable only (unique) ) In this way, when the process of classifying the mail text from the user becomes rough, when selecting the reply mail text for the mail text from the user, an inappropriate reply mail text is selected Can occur. On the other hand, when a plurality of keywords are classified into a plurality of categories and a plurality of reply control variables are prepared, the mail text from the user can be classified by combining the contents of the plurality of reply control variables. In other words, classification based on detailed judgment is possible, and an appropriate reply mail text can be selected for the mail text from the user.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the display unit 9 is incorporated in the pseudo mail apparatus 1. For this reason, if the user owns only the pseudo mail apparatus 1, the user can exchange the pseudo mail. Moreover, it becomes portable and can exchange pseudo-mail without selecting a place.

  Further, in the modification of the present embodiment, the mail text is displayed on a television monitor separate from the microphone-integrated karaoke apparatus 150 functioning as a pseudo mail apparatus. For this reason, since it is not necessary to provide a display unit in the pseudo mail apparatus itself, the cost of the pseudo mail apparatus itself can be reduced. Further, since the television monitor serves as the display unit, the visibility of the mail text can be improved for the user. Furthermore, the restriction on the display image is reduced, for example, a fine image can be displayed.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment and its modifications, and can be implemented in various modes without departing from the gist thereof. For example, the following modifications are possible. It is.

  (1) In the above description, the user's partner is a virtual person, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the designer can arbitrarily set the user's partner, such as a virtual animal, a virtual plant, or a virtual object.

  (2) In the above, keywords are classified into seven categories (see FIG. 12), but the number and types of categories are not limited to these. It can be set arbitrarily by the designer.

  (3) Although the reply control variables A and R are prepared in the above, the number of reply control variables is not limited to this, and the designer can prepare an arbitrary number of reply control variables. This includes the case where one reply control variable is prepared and used in a multi-factory manner.

  (4) In the above description, the display unit 9 is incorporated in the pseudo mail apparatus 1, but a separate television monitor can be used as the display unit as in the above modification without incorporating the display unit. .

  (5) In the above description, the microphone-integrated karaoke apparatus 150 is made to function as a pseudo-mail apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and by incorporating the program and data of FIG. Can function as a pseudo mail apparatus.

  (6) The pseudo mail partner of the user such as a virtual person is not limited to one (one), and a plurality of partners can be set.

The figure which shows the whole structure of the pseudo mail apparatus in embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the electric constitution of the pseudo mail apparatus of FIG. The conceptual diagram of the program and data which were stored in ROM of FIG. Operation | movement explanatory drawing of the control part of FIG. Explanatory drawing of the calculation of the reply control variables A and R by the keyword detection means of FIG. FIG. 5 is a view showing an example of a priority rule referred to by the keyword detecting unit in FIG. Explanatory drawing of the mail text classification | category process by the reply mail text control means of FIG. Explanatory drawing of the mail message for the start mail sentence stored in ROM of FIG. 2, and the reply to a user. FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of the content of the start mail sentence A [1] shown in FIG. 8. (A) Illustrative diagram of consent type (A type) keywords prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] of FIG. FIG. 10B is an exemplary diagram of non-consent type (B type) keywords prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] in FIG. (C) Illustrative diagram of inverted (C type) keywords prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] of FIG. FIG. 10D is an exemplary view of a text-based (D-type) keyword prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] in FIG. (E) An illustration of a text-independent (E-type) keyword prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] in FIG. (F) Illustrative view of a negligence type (G type) keyword prepared for the start mail sentence A [1] of FIG. FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of the contents of reply mail text A [2] Y shown in FIG. (A) Illustrated figure of the consent type (A type) keyword prepared with respect to reply mail text A [2] Y of FIG. (B) Non-agreement type (B type) keyword prepared for the reply mail text A [2] Y in FIG. (C) An example of an inverted (C type) keyword prepared for the reply mail sentence A [2] Y of FIG. FIG. 12D is an exemplary diagram of a text-based (D type) keyword prepared for the reply mail text A [2] Y in FIG. (E) An example of text-independent (E-type) keywords prepared for the reply mail text A [2] Y in FIG. FIG. 12F is an exemplary diagram of a sentence-specific (F-type) keyword prepared for the reply mail sentence A [2] Y in FIG. 11. (G) FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of an ignorable (G-type) keyword prepared for the reply mail text A [2] Y. FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of the contents of reply mail text A [3] YE shown in FIG. The flowchart which shows an example of the flow of a process by the pseudo mail apparatus of FIG. The flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the keyword detection process of step S5 of FIG. The flowchart which shows an example of the flow of the virtual person reply mail message display process of step S6 of FIG. (A) The surface view of the microphone integrated karaoke apparatus by the modification of this Embodiment. (B) The back view of the microphone integrated karaoke apparatus by the modification of this Embodiment. FIG. 18 is an exemplary diagram of a mail text input screen by the microphone-integrated karaoke apparatus of FIG. 17.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Pseudo-mail apparatus, 3 ... Upper housing, 5 ... Lower housing, 7 ... Hinge, 9 ... Display part, 11a-11d ... Direction key, 13 ... Clear key, 15 ... Input mode switching key, 17 ... On-hook key, 19 ...... Decision key, 21 ... Off-hook key, 23a-23m ... Character input key, 31 ... Display control unit, 33 ... Control unit, 35 ... Key input unit, 37 ... ROM, 39 ... RAM, 41 ... Pseudo mail program, 42 ... Start mail sentence control means, 43 ... mail data, 44 ... keyword detection means, 45 ... music data, 46 ... reply mail sentence control means, 47 ... display data, 48 ... input processing means, 150 ... microphone integrated karaoke apparatus, 151 ... Microphone, 152 ... Display, 153,156 ... BGM volume control key, 154 ... Reset switch, 155 ... Power switch, 157 ... Chair effect mode selection key, 158, 159 ... Song selection / pitch control key, 160 ... Enter key, 161 ... Housing, 162 ... Echo mode selection key, 163 ... Cancel key, 164, 165 ... Tempo control key, 167 ... AV Code: 168 ... Image output terminal, 169 ... Audio output terminal, 170 ... Cartridge connector, 171 ... Battery box, 180 ... Memory cartridge, 181 ... ROM, 182 ... Screen.

Claims (18)

A first display step for displaying a predetermined character string;
An input receiving step for receiving an input of an arbitrary character string from the user after the predetermined character string is displayed;
A detection step of performing a keyword detection process on the arbitrary character string from the user with reference to a predetermined keyword group;
An extraction step of extracting a character string from a predetermined character string group based on the detected keyword;
And a second display step of displaying the extracted character string. A first display step for displaying a predetermined character string;
A first input receiving step for receiving an input of an arbitrary character string from a user after the predetermined character string is displayed;
A first detection step of performing a keyword detection process on the arbitrary character string from the user with reference to a predetermined keyword group;
A second display step of displaying a predetermined character string corresponding to the detected keyword;
A second input receiving step for receiving an input of an arbitrary character string from the user;
A second detection step of referring to the predetermined keyword group and executing a keyword detection process on the arbitrary character string received in the second input reception step;
A third display step for displaying a predetermined character string corresponding to the keyword detected in the second detection step;
A pseudo-mail method comprising: repeatedly executing the second input reception step, the second detection step, and the third display step. Storage means for storing a predetermined character string, a predetermined character string group corresponding to the predetermined character string, and a predetermined keyword group;
First display character string control means for reading out the predetermined character string stored in the storage means;
Referring to the predetermined keyword group, keyword detection means for executing keyword detection processing on a character string input by the user;
Second display character string control means for extracting a character string from the predetermined character string group stored in the storage means based on the detected keyword;
Display control means for displaying the predetermined character string read by the first display character string control means and the character string extracted by the second display character string control means on a display unit;
A pseudo mail apparatus, comprising: an input processing unit that receives an input of the character string from the user after the predetermined character string is displayed on the display unit. The second display character string control means stores the predetermined character string group stored in the storage means for character strings that do not require the user to input a reply based on the detected keyword. The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3, which is extracted from 5. The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined keyword group includes a keyword classified into a character string expressing consent and a keyword classified into a character string expressing disagreement. 6. 6. The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined keyword group includes a keyword classified as unique to a sentence. The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined keyword group includes keywords classified into character strings along a sentence. The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined keyword group includes a keyword classified as a character string that reverses the meaning of the immediately preceding word. 9. The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the predetermined keyword group includes keywords classified into character strings that do not depend on a text. The predetermined keyword group includes keywords classified into character strings that do not affect the extraction process of the character string from the predetermined character string group by the second display character string control unit, The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3. The keyword detection means executes keyword detection processing while excluding one character at a time from the beginning of the character string input by the user,
The keyword detection unit, when detecting the keyword from the character string input by the user, executes a keyword detection process by excluding a predetermined number of characters from the character string input by the user. The pseudo mail apparatus according to 3 to 10. The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the keyword is a character string including at least three characters. 13. The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the keyword detecting unit determines a category to which the keyword belongs according to a predetermined priority rule when the detected keyword belongs to a plurality of categories. The plurality of keywords constituting the predetermined keyword group are classified into a plurality of categories,
A plurality of predetermined elements are prepared,
The keyword detecting means calculates the predetermined element according to the category to which the detected keyword belongs,
The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the second display character string control means extracts a character string from the predetermined character string group based on the predetermined element. The display unit for displaying the predetermined character string read by the first display character string control unit and the character string extracted by the second display character string control unit is provided integrally. The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3. The display unit for displaying the predetermined character string read by the first display character string control means and the character string extracted by the second display character string control means is provided as a separate body. 15. The pseudo mail apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the display unit is a television monitor. A first display step for displaying a predetermined character string;
An input receiving step for receiving an input of an arbitrary character string from the user after the predetermined character string is displayed;
A detection step of performing a keyword detection process on the arbitrary character string from the user with reference to a predetermined keyword group;
An extraction step of extracting a character string from a predetermined character string group based on the detected keyword;
A pseudo mail program for causing a computer to execute a second display step of displaying the extracted character string. A first display step for displaying a predetermined character string;
A first input receiving step for receiving an input of an arbitrary character string from a user after the predetermined character string is displayed;
A first detection step of performing a keyword detection process on the arbitrary character string from the user with reference to a predetermined keyword group;
A second display step of displaying a predetermined character string corresponding to the detected keyword;
A second input receiving step for receiving an input of an arbitrary character string from the user;
A second detection step of referring to the predetermined keyword group and performing a keyword detection process on the arbitrary character string received in the second input reception step;
A third display step for displaying a predetermined character string corresponding to the keyword detected in the second detection step;
A pseudo-mail program for causing a computer to execute the second input receiving step, the second detection step, and the third display step repeatedly.

Images