JP2007299206A - Three-dimensional space information processor and three-dimensional space information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide information management technology and information display technology for easily confirming association of information with another piece of information at the same period and temporal continuity of the information. <P>SOLUTION: This three-dimensional space information processor for displaying information allocated on a display screen in a three-dimensional space having a time axis in the depth direction is provided with a means acquiring the information and time corresponding to it from an information accumulation device accumulating information allocated in the three-dimensional space in association with time, a means grouping the information according to a determined rule, a means for allocating the information to the position on the time axis corresponding to the time associated with the information, and a drawing instruction generation output means generating and outputting a drawing instruction for displaying the allocated information on the display screen of the three-dimensional space. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for managing information along a time axis.

  Conventionally, as information management means for recording and managing information such as when, where, with whom, what to do, there is a scheduler that operates on a PC. In addition, a function related to transmission / reception mail management in the mailer is also a kind of information management means.

  In the conventional information management means, the recorded information can be arranged along the time axis, and information at a specific time can be taken out.

However, it is only possible to extract information at a specific time, and it is easy to grasp the relationship between other information at that time and the relationship between the specific time information and other information related to that information. Can not do it. That is, it is difficult to confirm the relevance with other information at the same time and the temporal continuity of the information. As a technique related to information management along the time axis, there is a technique described in Patent Document 1, for example.
JP 2001-209658 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points. Information management and information display that makes it possible to easily confirm the relevance of other information at the same time and the temporal continuity of the information. The purpose is to provide technology.

  The above-described problem is a three-dimensional space information processing apparatus for displaying information arranged in a three-dimensional space on a three-dimensional space display screen having a time axis in the depth direction. Means for accessing an information storage device that stores information arranged in correspondence with time, means for obtaining the information and the corresponding time from the information storage device, and grouping the information according to a predetermined rule Grouping means, placement means for performing processing for placing the information at a position on the time axis corresponding to the time associated with the information for each group, and information placed by the placement means A three-dimensional space information processing unit, comprising: a drawing command generating / outputting unit for generating and outputting a drawing command for display on a display screen in a three-dimensional space having the time axis in the direction. It can be solved by the device.

  The three-dimensional spatial information processing apparatus may be configured to generate and output a drawing command for displaying only information corresponding to the specified time on a plane when a specific time is specified. Good.

  Further, the grouping means further groups the information in each group, and the three-dimensional spatial information processing apparatus generates and outputs the drawing command for each of the groups further grouped by the grouping means. You may make it do.

  According to the present invention, information for each group associated with a predetermined rule is displayed on a display screen in a three-dimensional space having a time axis in the depth direction, and when a specific time is specified. Since only the information corresponding to the designated time is displayed on the plane, it is possible to easily confirm the relevance with other information at the same time and the temporal continuity of the information.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

(System configuration)
FIG. 1 shows a system configuration of the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the system according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which a user terminal 100 and an information management display device 200 are connected via a communication network such as the Internet. The information management display device 200 transmits to the user terminal 100 information that can be displayed in a three-dimensional space with the time axis as the depth of the screen. In addition, the user terminal 100 includes a 3D space browser for displaying information received from the information management display device 200 in a 3D space, and the 3D space browser displays 3D space information to the user.

(Example of screen display)
First, an example of a screen displayed on the user terminal 100 by the function of this system will be described. FIG. 2 shows a screen display example in a state where no date is specified.

  In this example, a file created by performing a certain operation is displayed along a time axis and for each predetermined group. A time axis is set in the depth direction on the screen, and a file created at a time close to the present is displayed larger in front than a file created earlier in time. In addition, the time range of the file to be displayed can be set, for example, the past to the present before the specified time is displayed, the future from the present to the future after the specified time, the past from the specified time before the specified time It is possible to specify that the future is displayed. The direction of the time axis can also be set. For example, the direction in which the time advances may be set in the depth direction.

  In the screen example of FIG. 2, the A area, the B area, and the C area are divided, and the A area corresponds to the file when the user registers the file without designating a specific group. This is an area where an image to be displayed is displayed. In this example, the files are grouped for each file type (file extension) and displayed so that the groups do not overlap each other in the horizontal direction of the screen. In addition to each file type, grouping may be performed depending on whether or not the same predetermined character string is included in the file name. Further, while maintaining the arrangement for each file type, the files specified by the user may be displayed from the top to the bottom in the vertical direction in descending order of importance. For the A area, the user can set which file attribute is arranged in the screen depth direction, horizontal direction, and vertical direction on the basis of an axis setting screen (not shown), and the information management display device 200 is based on the setting. The arrangement method of the image in the A area is determined.

  The area B is an area where the group is displayed when the group to which the file belongs is specified when the file is registered. For example, when a file belonging to the A project is designated, the files are grouped and displayed as the A project. Further, files belonging to the same group are displayed including those of other users in addition to those of the user of the user terminal 100. However, when a file is registered, those that are refused to be published are not displayed.

  It is also possible to stratify information for each group. For example, if the group A project, the group X business, Y business, Z business, and file B, C, and ToDo D belong, if you click on the display part of the A project, The files B and C are in the area, the group of X work, Y work, and Z work is in the redisplayed B area, and D that is ToDo is in the redisplayed C area along the time axis of each area Displayed.

  The area C is an area in which information such as the contents of ToDo (things to be done), time limit, importance, and group, which are input from a ToDo input screen (not shown) by the user, is displayed. In the area C, the position in the depth direction on the screen is determined and displayed based on the time designated as the time limit.

  Further, in the C area, for example, it is possible to display a motion such as causing ToDo whose deadline is approaching the next day to vibrate horizontally in the C area.

  As shown in FIG. 2, a calendar is displayed on the screen. When, for example, April 13 is designated on the calendar, the screen shown in FIG. 3 is displayed. As shown in FIG. 3, only files corresponding to April 13 are displayed. The B project displayed in FIG. 2 is not displayed in FIG. 3 because it has been completed before April 13th. In FIG. 3, the time axis is set from top to bottom in the area A, and the file created earlier in April 13 is higher than the file created later. Is displayed. By clicking the file on this screen, it is possible to actually open the file.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of registering a file. When registering a file, a screen for the current day is displayed by inputting an instruction to register the file. Then, the created file (for example, PPT file) is dragged and dropped into the three-dimensional space area. Thereby, a pop-up menu is displayed on the screen, and the input of the group name, the designated date of ToDo, the necessity of disclosure, etc. can be input.

  In addition, the file can be registered by e-mail from the user terminal 100, registered by e-mail from the mobile phone, or registered from the scheduler of the user terminal 100. The file type may be any type such as a schedule, text, or photo.

(Function block)
FIG. 5 shows a functional block diagram of the information management display device 200 and the user terminal 100. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the information management display device 200 includes a space display command generation unit 210, a command transmission unit 240, an event reception unit 250, an input / output control unit 230, a filter unit 220, and an information storage unit 260. The information management display device 200 can communicate with an external device 300 (for example, an external information server, a mail server, a schedule server, etc.), and can use the external device 300 instead of the information storage unit 260 or The information stored in 260 can be acquired from the external device 300. The user terminal 100 has a 3D space browser 110.

  The information storage unit 260 of the information management display device 200 includes a user table for managing user information, an access group table for managing access group information, an access group / user correspondence management table for managing which access group a user belongs to, A group table for managing the group information to which the file belongs, a file management table for managing the accumulated file information, a file / group correspondence management table for managing the correspondence between the accumulated file and the group to which the file belongs, and ToDo information. A ToDo management table to be managed is provided.

  FIG. 6 shows an example of the user table. In the user table, information such as a user name and a login password is managed in association with a user ID for uniquely identifying the user.

  FIG. 7 shows an example of the access group table. The access group is for designating a user who can access a file belonging to the group when the user registers a group to which the file belongs. In order to restrict access to a group to be registered by an access group, a user first needs to create a new access group and designate a user belonging to the access group. Each time a user creates an access group, information such as an access group name is stored in the access group table in association with an access group ID for uniquely identifying the access group. Further, in the access group / user correspondence management table shown in FIG. 8, an access group ID and an accessible user ID are associated and registered by the user who created the access group.

  A group is registered by a user in order to associate related files. FIG. 9 shows an example of the group table. In the group table, information such as a group name, a user ID of a group manager, and an ID of an access group that can access the group is registered in association with a group ID for uniquely identifying the group. A group can be created hierarchically as a child group belonging to a designated parent group by designating an existing group as a parent group. In addition, it is possible to specify the start date and time and the end date and time for the group. For example, in the case of a group for associating a file related to a certain continuous business, the scheduled start date and end date and time of the business are set. be able to.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of the file management table. In the file management table, information such as the user ID of the user who registered the file, the file storage location in the information management display device 200, the file registration date / time, the update date / time, the update count, and the file type uniquely identifies the file. It is managed in association with the file ID.

  FIG. 11 shows an example of a file / group correspondence management table. In the file / group correspondence management table, information specified by the user when registering the file, such as the ID of the group to which the file belongs, availability of access to the access group, and importance, is managed in association with the file ID. Yes.

  In addition, in the ToDo management table shown in FIG. 12, in addition to the user ID of the user who registered ToDo, information specified by the user during registration, such as the ID of the group to which ToDo belongs, the contents of ToDo, the time limit, and the importance, Information such as registration date and update date and time is managed in association with an ID for uniquely identifying ToDo information.

  The input / output control unit 230 has a function of acquiring recording information to be displayed in the space from the information storage unit 260 and a function of receiving information transmitted from the user terminal 100 and recording the information in the information storage unit 260. is doing.

  The input / output control unit 230 includes an event control unit 231, an output control unit 232, and an input control unit 234, and the event control unit 231 receives an operation event from the user terminal 100 acquired by the event reception unit 250. To analyze. As a result of the event analysis, the input control unit 234 is controlled when information is acquired from the information storage unit 260, and the output control unit 232 is controlled when information is added / changed / deleted to / from the information storage unit 260. The output control unit 232 performs a process of recording information in the information storage unit 260 based on the control from the event control unit 231. The input control unit 234 acquires information from the information storage unit 260 based on the control from the event control unit 231.

  The filter unit 220 includes a group control unit 221 and a disclosure control unit 222. The group control unit 221 performs processing for collecting information acquired from the input / output control unit 230 for each display area, and for information displayed in the A area for each file attribute set by the user on the axis setting screen. For the information displayed in the B area, processing for grouping and grouping is performed. The publishing control unit 222 determines whether to publish based on the publishing permission information of the files belonging to the group among the information acquired from the input / output control unit 230 and passes only the publishing possible information to the space display command generating unit 210. Do.

  The space display command generation unit 210 generates space arrangement information and operation information of the screen display image from information acquired from the filter unit 220 (including registration date / time, update date / time, file type, importance level, etc.) It has a function of transmitting to the command transmitter 240 as a space display command.

  The space display command generation unit 210 includes a space arrangement control unit 211, a motion control unit 212, a time control unit 213, and a display control unit 214. The time control unit 213 performs the display designated by the user terminal 100. And the time information such as registration date / time, update date / time, and time limit acquired from the filter unit are notified to the space arrangement control unit 211 and the motion control unit 212. The display control unit 214 notifies the spatial arrangement control unit 211 and the motion control unit 212 of information related to the image for displaying the file type, group, ToDo, calendar, and the like.

  Of the information acquired from the filter unit 220, the spatial layout control unit 211 has a file attribute (file type, registration) for the information displayed in the area A, with the screen display image corresponding to the information specified as the axis. The process for arranging at the position on each axis corresponding to the value of the date, the importance, etc.) is performed. For the group to be displayed in the area B, the processing for arranging the screen display image corresponding to the group at the position on the time axis corresponding to the time associated with the group is performed in the plane perpendicular to the time axis. This is done for each group so that they do not overlap. For ToDo to be displayed in the C area, the processing for arranging the screen display image corresponding to ToDo at the position on the time axis corresponding to the deadline does not overlap with each other on the time axis and the vertical plane. Do as follows. Then, a space display command for displaying the screen display image arranged at the position in the virtual three-dimensional space in this way on the screen having an axis also in the depth direction is generated. In addition, for each piece of information acquired from the filter unit 220, the motion control unit 212 has a current time, a time associated with the information (such as a ToDo deadline), and a preset time (how long before the deadline). Then, the object to be moved is extracted and a space display command indicating the movement is generated.

  The information management display device 200 can be realized by executing a program for realizing each of the above functional units on a general computer having a CPU, a storage device such as a memory and a hard disk, a network communication device, and the like. The user terminal 100 can be realized by installing a browser capable of displaying 3D content on a computer such as a PC or a portable terminal.

(System operation)
Next, the operation of the system will be described with reference to the sequence chart shown in FIG. In the sequence shown in FIG. 13, steps 1 to 4 show the process for registering information as shown in FIG. 4, and after step 5, the display as shown in FIG. 2 is performed. The processing is shown. Further, as a premise of the process illustrated in FIG. 13, user information including user identification information needs to be registered in advance in the user table provided in the information storage unit 260 of the information management display device 200. Further, it is assumed that the user transmits user identification information (ID, etc.) from the user terminal 100 to the information management display device 200 and logs in, and the following processing is performed corresponding to the user based on the user identification information. Shall be. In addition to the ID input by the user, the address of the user terminal 100 can be used as user identification information for identifying the user.

  First, it is assumed that the user performs the operation shown in FIG. 4 to drag and drop a file and register the file in the information management display device 200. At this time, it is assumed that the group to which the file belongs is selected from the groups registered in advance, and whether disclosure is possible, importance, etc. are designated (step 1). Here, when a user registers a file, there is no appropriate pre-registered group, and when creating a new group, the group name of the new group, the administrator, and an access group that can access the group Is entered from a group creation screen (not shown) and registered in the group table of the information storage unit 260. Note that groups can be created hierarchically, and by designating an already existing group as a parent group, a child group of the group can also be created. For a group for which a parent group is designated, the parent group ID is registered in a field called parent group ID in the group table. When a new access group needs to be created, the access group creator inputs the access group name and the user name to be included in the access group from an access group creation screen (not shown), and the information storage unit 260 In the access group table and the access group / user correspondence management table. The user terminal 100 transmits information regarding the file and user identification information, the group designated by the user, the disclosure possibility, and the importance to the information management display device 200 together with the file registration request (step 2). In the information management display device 200, the event receiving unit 250 receives the information, and the event receiving unit 250 passes the information to the input / output control unit 230 (step 3).

  The input / output control unit 230 determines to register the file based on the file registration request, and the information passed from the event receiving unit 250 in step 3 is stored in the file management table and the file / group correspondence management table of the information storage unit 260. The file ID is stored in association with the file ID (step 4). The date and time when the file was registered is recorded in the registration date and time field of the file management table. In the update date / time field, the most recent date / time when the file was updated is recorded, and in the update count field, the update count of the file is recorded.

  When registering ToDo, the user inputs information such as the content, group, time limit, and importance of ToDo from a ToDo input screen (not shown), and transmits the information together with the user identification information to the information display management apparatus 200. . The information display management device 200 stores the received information in the ToDo management table of the information storage unit 260 in association with an ID for uniquely identifying ToDo.

  Next, when the screen shown in FIG. 2 is displayed based on the instruction from the user terminal 100, the input / output control unit 230 that has received the instruction receives the file ID and file of the file corresponding to the user identification information of the user. Information such as storage location, registration date / time, update date / time, update count, and file type is acquired from the file management table of the information storage unit 260. If the acquired file ID exists in the file / group correspondence management table, information on the group ID, disclosure permission, and importance set for the file is acquired. If a parent group is set in the group table for the acquired group ID, parent group ID information is also acquired. Thereby, the information regarding the file created and registered by the user can be acquired.

  Further, the ID of the access group to which the user belongs is acquired from the access group / user correspondence management table, and the group ID permitted to be accessed from the access group corresponding to the acquired access group ID is acquired from the group table. Then, the file ID of the file belonging to the group corresponding to the group ID is obtained from the file / group correspondence management table, and the user ID corresponding to each obtained file ID is obtained from the file management table. For a file whose acquired user ID is not the user's ID, information such as file storage location, registration date / time, update date / time, update count, and file type is acquired and set for the file from the file / group management table. Information about group IDs, availability, and importance. As a result, for a group to which the user belongs, information regarding a file created and registered by a user other than the user belonging to the group can be acquired.

  When ToDo information corresponding to the user identification information is registered in the ToDo management table, information such as the group ID, contents, time limit, importance, registration date / time, and update date / time corresponding to the ToDo information is obtained from the ToDo management table. Obtain (step 5). Then, the input / output control unit 230 passes the acquired information to the filter unit 220 (step 6).

  The filter unit 220 divides the acquired information into groups. If the information is displayed in the A area (information in which no group is specified), for example, the file information is collected for each file type and importance, and if the information is displayed in the B area, the file information is collected for each group. If it is information to be displayed in the C area, ToDo information is collected. Further, if the hierarchies are in the group, they are grouped for each hierarchy by the parent group information (step 7).

  Then, regarding information to be displayed as a group in the area B (file in which a group is designated), based on the disclosure possibility information passed from the input / output control unit 230 in step 6, the file that cannot be released is filtered from the filter unit 220. Delete (step 8). The filter unit 220 passes the information thus classified to the space display command generation unit 210 (step 9).

  For the information displayed in the area A, the space display command generation unit 210 sets the screen display image corresponding to the information to the value of the file attribute (file type, registration date, importance, etc.) designated by the user as an axis. A process for arranging at the corresponding position on each axis is performed. For the group to be displayed in the area B, the processing for arranging the screen display image corresponding to the group at the position on the time axis corresponding to the time associated with the group is performed in the plane perpendicular to the time axis. This is done for each group so that they do not overlap. For ToDo to be displayed in the C area, the processing for arranging the screen display image corresponding to ToDo at the position on the time axis corresponding to the deadline does not overlap with each other on the time axis and the vertical plane. In this manner, a drawing command for performing arrangement in the space as shown in FIG. 2 is generated (step 10). At the time of arrangement, the time width set for display is used, and only files within the time width are arranged.

  For ToDo, reference is made to the time limit information of each ToDo information, and for example, a command for giving a motion to a file recording ToDo whose time limit is approaching the next day is generated (step 11).

  The space display command generation unit 210 passes the generated command to the command transmission unit 240 (step 12), and the command transmission unit 240 transmits the command to the user terminal 100 as a drawing command (step 13). Thereby, a screen as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the user terminal 100.

  Thereafter, when the user designates a specific date on the calendar, the designation information is sent to the information management display device 200, and the space display command generation unit 210 is designated among the file information acquired in step 9. Only the file information corresponding to the date is extracted, and a drawing command for placement on the plane as shown in FIG. 3 is created for the file information and transmitted to the user terminal 100 via the command transmission unit 240. . The user terminal 100 displays the screen shown in FIG.

  In addition, when group A, group X, Y, and Z, file B, C, and ToDo D, for example, belong to group A in area B shown in FIG. A file belonging to the group, a group having the A group as a parent, and an instruction to display information on ToDo belonging to the A group are sent to the information management display device 200, and the space display command generation unit 210 performs a file belonging to the A group based on the instruction It is determined that the information of D, which is ToDo belonging to the groups X, Y, Z, and A groups having the B, C, and A groups as parents, is displayed, and a drawing command is generated and transmitted for the information.

  In the above example, the file is registered from the user terminal 100, but the file of the external device 300 (mail server, scheduler server, database, etc.) can be registered in the information management display device 200 according to an instruction from the user terminal 100. . Further, the external device 300 may be used instead of the information storage unit 260 of the information management display device 200. Further, instead of adopting a configuration in which the user terminal 100 and the information management display device 200 are connected via a network, the user terminal 100 includes the function of the information management display device 200, so that the information management and display function can be performed only by the user terminal 100. Can also be realized.

(About the effect of this system)
With this system, information that is managed in association from the viewpoints of common tasks, diary contents, created file types, etc. is viewed on a three-dimensional space, with the depth of the space as the time axis, and along the time axis. Each associated group can be arranged as an object.

  Conventional schedulers and reminders can only record and play back information at each point in time. However, according to this system, information related to time continuity and information related to certain information can be expressed visually. It is possible to instantly determine when this has been going on, and can be expected to quickly rejuvenate events and created items that occurred at the same time from surrounding information. In other words, it can be expected to restore human memory more realistically, and can be expected as a next-generation information management display system.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications can be made within the scope of the claims.

It is a system configuration figure in an embodiment of the invention. It is a screen example (1) displayed on a user terminal. It is a screen example (2) displayed on a user terminal. It is an example of a screen (3) displayed on a user terminal. It is a functional block diagram of an information management display device and a user terminal. It is a figure which shows the example of a user table. It is a figure which shows the example of an access group table. It is a figure which shows the example of an access group and user corresponding | compatible management table. It is a figure which shows the example of a group table. It is a figure which shows the example of a file management table. It is a figure which shows the example of a file group correspondence management table. It is a figure which shows the example of a ToDo management table. It is a sequence chart which shows operation | movement of the system in embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

100 User terminal 110 3D space browser 200 Information management display device 210 Space display command generation unit 220 Filter unit 230 Input / output control unit 240 Command transmission unit 250 Event reception unit 260 Information storage unit 300 External device

Claims (4)

A three-dimensional space information processing apparatus for displaying information arranged in a three-dimensional space on a display screen of the three-dimensional space taking a time axis in the depth direction,
Means for accessing an information storage device that stores information arranged in the three-dimensional space in association with time;
Means for obtaining the information and the corresponding time from the information storage device;
Grouping means for grouping the information according to a predetermined rule;
Arrangement means for performing, for each group, a process of arranging the information at a position on the time axis corresponding to the time associated with the information;
A drawing command generating / outputting unit for generating and outputting a drawing command for displaying the information arranged by the arranging unit on a display screen in a three-dimensional space taking the time axis in the depth direction. A three-dimensional spatial information processing apparatus.   The said three-dimensional space information processing apparatus produces | generates and outputs the drawing command which displays only the information corresponding to the said designated time on a plane, when a specific time is designated. Three-dimensional spatial information processing device.   The grouping means further groups the information in each group, and the three-dimensional spatial information processing device generates and outputs the drawing command for each of the groups further grouped by the grouping means. Item 3. The three-dimensional spatial information processing apparatus according to item 1. A three-dimensional spatial information processing method executed by a three-dimensional spatial information processing apparatus for displaying information arranged in the three-dimensional space on a display screen of the three-dimensional space taking a time axis in the depth direction,
Obtaining the information and the corresponding time from an information storage device that stores the information to be arranged in the three-dimensional space in association with the time;
A grouping step for grouping the information according to a predetermined rule;
An arrangement step of performing, for each group, a process of arranging the information at a position on the time axis corresponding to the time associated with the information;
A drawing command generating / outputting step for generating and outputting a drawing command for displaying the information arranged in the arranging step on a display screen in a three-dimensional space taking the time axis in the depth direction. A three-dimensional spatial information processing method.

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