JP2008021216A - Information retrieval system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To change a data selection method, according to the way of a user's response input operation to the operation of an interactive information retrieval system. <P>SOLUTION: The interactive information retrieval system comprises an interactive control means (50) for determining the next information to be received from an input information processing means, determining data to be presented to a user, in response to the information received from the input information processing means and determining the output information that should be supplied to an output information processing means, on the basis of attributes of the data; a retrieval condition determining means for determining the retrieval conditions; a data-retrieving means (30) for retrieving a database in accordance with the retrieval conditions; a data selecting means (72) for selecting data to be presented to the user, from the extracted data; a feature extracting means (60) for extracting the features of input information received by an input information processing means, with respect to presented output information; and a change attribute determining means (74) for determining which attribute values of the output information are to be changed, according to the extracted features. The retrieval condition determining means determines the retrieval conditions, on the basis of the changed attribute value. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an interactive information retrieval system that selects data by interaction between a user and an information processing system, and in particular, processing of user input for selecting and presenting user-desired data from a database. The present invention relates to an interactive information search system that realizes the above and an electronic apparatus having such an information search system.

  In order for a user to find desired data from a database including a large amount of data, the user usually performs a search by inputting a search condition into a search system. The search system compares the attribute assigned to the data with the search condition, and presents data that matches the search condition to the user as a search result. When a large number of data are presented as search results, the user inputs additional search conditions and narrows down the data, or changes the search conditions and searches again.

  To assist the search, a technique is known in which the search system presents relevant keywords for additional search conditions to the user, or the search system automatically supplements the search conditions. In addition, in order to find desired data from a database containing a large amount of data, the search system does not input search conditions by itself, but the search system retrieves data that is likely to meet the user's wishes based on the user's operation history. The method of recommending is also known.

  In the information processing system, it is possible not only to provide information to the user, but also to process the input voice signal from the user and provide the information to the user in an interactive manner. Accordingly, the user can use various information providing services such as music playback with few key operations. For this purpose, the service to be provided is usually switched through the service menu hierarchy.

  In an ordinary interactive information processing system, various services are provided to a user by processing a service scenario in which an operation of the system for providing a user's desired service is described. An interactive information processing system interactively exchanges information with a user according to a service scenario. At this time, a virtual personality that interacts with the user by instructing and guiding the user to input the next information according to the input information of the user is called a service agent. In general, a service scenario is expressed by a state transition model, and output information of a service agent is assigned to each state, and a candidate of user input information is assigned to each transition. The interactive information processing system outputs the contents of the output information of the service agent assigned to the current state in the state transition model, and moves to the next state according to the input information of the user input in response thereto. And the dialogue proceeds by repeating this.

  The service scenario is described in a language such as the interaction description language VoiceXML. Candidates for user input information items are described in a grammar description language such as SRGS (Speech Recognition Grammar Specification). The interactive system performs various tasks such as information provision and device operation according to information input by the user.

  Voice recognition technology is used to accept user voice input. In the speech recognition technology, a speech recognition module (ASR, Automatic Speech Recognition) converts user input speech input in a predetermined input section into text information. The speech recognition module refers to the designated input item candidate, and when it is estimated that the user input matches any of the input candidates, the speech recognition module regards it as a recognition result. In addition, a voice synthesis technique is used to output a voice to the user from the system. In the speech synthesis technology, text information is automatically converted into output speech and output in a predetermined output period by a speech synthesis module (TTS, Text To Speech). The user uses not only input devices and output devices directly coupled to the interactive system, but also mobile communication devices such as fixed phones, mobile phones, PDAs, and information processing devices such as car navigation devices, An information processing service can be used by connecting to an interactive system via a communication network.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-280976 (Patent Document 1) describes a screen providing system according to the terminal side. In the screen providing system, the server includes an authentication function unit, a presentation function unit, a router function unit, a personalization function unit, a screen display function unit, an event processing function unit, and a display pattern processing function unit. In addition, a page (service screen) or service item corresponding to the size of the user's terminal and the user's past usage pattern is provided in a form that is most easily used by the user. At this time, a screen based on past history and skip conditions is provided. As a result, a screen in a form required by the user can be provided at low cost without constructing a new system.
JP 2003-280976 A

  In order for a user to find desired data from a vast amount of data, the user must know a keyword to be input as a search condition. However, the user often does not know the appropriate keyword. Also, electronic devices such as a car navigation system and a mobile phone, which are provided with only a limited number of keys, are not provided with a complete keyboard, and available input means are limited. However, the burden of the user's key operation for inputting the search condition is large. In particular, in the case of a car navigation system, inputting search conditions while driving is troublesome in operation and is very dangerous for traffic safety.

  In the method in which the search system recommends data that is likely to meet the user's request, the user does not need to input search conditions, so there is no problem as described above. However, in order to recommend data, a process for accumulating the user's operation history and learning the user's preference with respect to the data to be searched is necessary, which is expensive. In addition, since the data that matches the user's request changes depending on various situations, the recommendation system based on the user's operation history cannot sufficiently cope with the change of the situation.

  The inventors are configured to determine a search method of data to be selected in the search system in accordance with the timing of the user's response input operation with respect to the data presentation operation of the search system or the response input sound volume. Recognized that the operability of the data retrieval system would be improved.

  An object of the present invention is to change the way of selecting data in accordance with how a user inputs a response to the operation of the interactive information search system.

  According to the features of the present invention, an interactive information search system includes a database storing a plurality of data each having a plurality of attributes, input information processing means for processing input information from a user, and output information from the system. Output information processing means for processing the information, and information to be received next from the input information processing means, and in response to the information received from the input information processing means, data to be presented to the user is determined. Dialog control means for determining output information to be supplied to the output information processing means based on the attributes possessed, and search condition determination for determining a search condition for searching the database under the control of the dialog control means The database is searched according to the means and the determined search condition, and data satisfying the determined search condition is searched from the database. Data retrieval means for retrieving data, data selection means for selecting data to be presented to the user from the retrieved data, and input information for the output information presented to the user by the output information processing means The feature extraction means for extracting the feature of the input information of the user received by the processing means, and the value of any of the plurality of attributes of the data presented to the user is changed according to the extracted feature Change attribute determining means for determining whether or not. The search condition determining means determines a changed search condition for searching the database based on the changed attribute value. The data search means searches the database according to the changed search condition, and retrieves data that satisfies the changed search condition from the database.

  The present invention also relates to an electronic apparatus having a function of the above-described interactive information search system.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to change the way of selecting data in accordance with how the user inputs a response to the operation of the interactive information search system.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, similar components are given the same reference numerals.

  FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of an interactive information retrieval system 100 according to the principle of the present invention. The information retrieval system 100 includes a processor 10 and a memory 12. Further, the information retrieval system 100 retrieves data satisfying the retrieval condition from the database 40 by retrieving the database 40 according to the retrieval condition and the database 40 storing a plurality of data each having a plurality of attributes. The data search unit 30 determines information to be received next, determines data to be presented to the user in response to the information received from the input information processing means, and determines the data to be output to the output information processing unit based on the attributes of the data Dialog control unit 50 for determining output information to be supplied, rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 60 for extracting features of user input information received by the input information processing unit, and search conditions for generating a search condition for searching the database 30 The generation unit 70 selects data to be presented to the user from the retrieved data A data selection unit 72, a change attribute determination unit 74 that determines which attribute value among a plurality of attributes of data to be presented is changed according to the extracted features, and an output that processes output information from the system A processing unit 80, a display 82, a speaker 84, an input processing unit 90 that processes input information from a user, a plurality of keys 92, and a microphone 94 are provided. The data search unit 30 is connected to the database 40. The dialogue control unit 50 is connected to the data search unit 30, the rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 60, the search condition generation unit 70, the data selection unit 72, the change attribute determination unit 74, the output processing unit 80, and the input processing unit 90. The output processing unit 80 is connected to the display 82 and the speaker 84. The key 92 and the microphone 94 are connected to the input processing unit 90. The functions of the components 30, 50, 60, 70 to 74, 80, and 90 may be implemented on the processor 10 according to a program stored in the memory 12.

  The database 40 stores data to be searched such as music songs. The dialogue control unit 50 controls the data search unit 30, the rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 60, the search condition generation unit 70, the data selection unit 72, the change attribute determination unit 74, the output processing unit 80, and the input processing unit 90. The dialogue control unit 50 determines output information to be presented to the user, and determines user input information to be received. The search condition generation unit 70 generates a search condition for searching the database 40 based on user input information. The data search unit 30 searches the database 40 according to the search conditions generated by the search condition generation unit 70. The data selection unit 72 determines data to be presented to the user from the plurality of data extracted by the data search unit 30. The output processing unit 80 outputs output information to be presented to the user from the information search system 100 and supplies the output information to the display 82 or the speaker 84. Rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 60 extracts response input operation characteristics that the user rejects for the data presented by information search system 100. The change attribute determination unit 74 determines any attribute value (item content, name, identifier) of a plurality of attributes of certain data presented to the user according to the characteristics extracted by the rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 60. Decide whether to change and create the search expression. The input processing unit 90 receives and processes input information input by a user operation via the key 92 and the microphone 94.

  Based on the characteristics of the operation input when the user rejects certain data presented to the user in response to the certain data presented to the user, the change attribute determination unit 74 determines between the presented data and the data to be presented next. Determine the difference, similarity or correlation of attribute values. As a result, the user can efficiently search for desired data with a simple operation. As a characteristic of the operation input when the user rejects the presentation data, the reaction time T from when the output processing unit 80 presents the output data to when the user inputs the rejection operation, or the voice input for rejection. In this case, the sound pressure level P (dB) may be used. The reaction time T of the user's rejection operation may be the reaction time of the user's rejection voice.

  Hereinafter, in the embodiment of the information search system 100, the database 40 is a music database, and specific music data is searched from a large number of music data stored in the database, and the audio data stream is extracted. A case will be described in which playback is performed and the sound of the corresponding music is generated from the speaker 84.

  FIG. 2 shows the configuration of an interactive information search system 102 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information search system 102 includes a data search unit 30, a database 40, a dialog control unit 50, a rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 60, a search condition generation unit 70, a data selection unit 72, a change attribute determination unit 74, an output processing unit 80, and a display 82. , A speaker 84, an input processing unit 90, and a plurality of keys 92. Rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 60 includes a rejection operation reaction time measurement unit 62. The rejection operation response time measurement unit 62 displays the data (for example, the audio data stream or the attribute value) by the display 82 or the speaker 84 and then presses the rejection key in the key 92 by the user. Measure the reaction time until operation input. The functions and connection relationships of the components 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 to 74, 80, 82, 84, 90, and 92 are the same as those in FIG.

  FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of information search executed by the information search system 102 of FIG. The user operates the key 92 of the information search system 102 to activate the information search system 102, thereby executing the flowchart of FIG.

  In step 302, the input processing unit 90 determines whether or not music search is requested by the user's operation of the key 92. Step 302 is repeated until a music search is requested. If the music search is requested, the procedure proceeds to step 304.

  In step 304, if the memory number of the last played song is stored in the memory of the output processing unit 80, the output processing unit 80 sets the last played song corresponding to the song number to the song database 40. And playback is started, and sound is generated from the speaker 84. On the other hand, when the user uses the information search system 102 for the first time, the search condition generation unit 70 generates a search condition (search formula) for acquiring an arbitrary song at random, and the data search unit 30 selects the search condition. Based on the music database 40, the output processing unit 80 reproduces the music obtained by the search. The search condition may be, for example, a condition such as tempo, release year, genre, artist, author, production company and / or release source, or a condition in which a music number is randomly selected by a random number.

  In step 320, the input processing unit 90 determines whether or not a rejection operation has been performed by the user. The user can reject the currently played song by pressing the reject key in the key 92. When it is determined that the rejection operation has not been performed by the user, in step 322, the input processing unit 90 determines whether or not the user has requested termination. The user can end the operation of the information search system 102 by pressing the end key in the key 92. If it is determined that there is no termination request, the procedure returns to step 320. Steps 320 and 322 are repeated until a rejection operation or termination request is made by the user.

  If it is determined in step 320 that the rejection operation has been performed by the user, in step 337, the rejection operation response time measurement unit 62 performs a response from the start of music reproduction in step 304 to the time when the rejection operation is performed by the user. Time T is calculated. In step 338, the change attribute determination unit 74 changes the value (item content) of any attribute among a plurality of attributes assigned to the song being played according to the length of the measured reaction time T. Decide what to do. In step 340, the search condition generation unit 70 generates a search condition based on the attribute to be changed. In step 342, the data search unit 30 searches the music database 40 for a song that satisfies the condition based on the search condition. In step 344, the data search unit 30 determines a song obtained as a search result as a song to be reproduced. When a plurality of songs are obtained as a search result, the data selection unit 72 randomly selects one of the songs and determines it as a song to be played. Preferably, the data selection unit 72 may preferentially select data that has not been selected for the longest time among a plurality of data after the start of the current activation of the information search system 102. As an alternative configuration, the data selection unit 72 may sequentially select data related to songs that have been reproduced more frequently historically until the previous time of the information search system 102 among a plurality of data. Thereafter, the procedure returns to step 304. In step 304, the output processing unit 80 holds the determined music piece in the memory and starts reproduction.

  FIG. 4A shows a method of determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the reaction time T of the user's rejection operation in steps 337 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 4B shows an example of determining the attribute value after the change with respect to the attribute value before the change in steps 340 to 344 in FIG. 3.

  Referring to FIG. 4A, the rejection operation reaction time measurement unit 62 measures an elapsed time T from the start of music reproduction until the occurrence of a rejection operation by the user. The rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 60 determines whether the timing T of the rejection operation by the user, that is, the reaction time T of the rejection of the user does not exceed a time threshold Tth1 (for example, 1 second) from the start of music reproduction (T ≦ Tth1). ), Whether the time threshold Tth2 exceeding the time threshold Tth1 and longer than the time threshold Tth1 (for example, 2 seconds) is not exceeded (Tth1 <T ≦ Tth2), or whether the time threshold Tth2 is exceeded (T> Tth2) is determined. The time thresholds Tth1 and Tth2 can be adjusted by operating the key 92 by the user.

  When the reaction time T of the user's rejection does not exceed the time threshold Tth1 (T ≦ Tth1), the change attribute determination unit 74 determines to change the values of three attributes among the plurality of attributes of the currently playing song To do. When the user's rejection reaction time T exceeds the time threshold Tth1 and does not exceed the time threshold Tth2 (Tth1 <T ≦ Tth2), the change attribute determination unit 74 sets two attributes among the plurality of attributes of the currently playing song. Decide to change the value. When the user's rejection reaction time T exceeds the time threshold value Tth2 (T> Tth2), the change attribute determination unit 74 determines to change the value of one attribute among a plurality of attributes of the currently playing song. To do. By using a plurality of threshold values in this way, the user can reach a desired song earlier with a small number of operations.

  Referring to FIG. 4B, it is assumed that the attributes given to the currently reproduced song A are, for example, “tempo”, “release year”, and “genre”. When changing the values of the three attributes, the change attribute determination unit 74 determines to change the “tempo” value, the “release year” value, and the “genre” value (genre name). To do. When changing the values of the two attributes, the change attribute determination unit 74 determines to change the “tempo” value and the release year value. When changing the value of one attribute, the change attribute determination unit 74 determines to change the “tempo” value. Next, the change attribute determination unit 74 updates the values of the three attributes, “tempo”, “release year”, and “genre” of the currently playing song A based on the changed value. The search condition generation unit 70 generates a search condition based on the updated three attribute values. As a result, the song B is searched as a result of changing the value of one attribute “tempo” (BPM: 920 to 100). As a result of changing the values of the two attributes “tempo” and “release year” (BPM: 920 to 100, release year: 2000), the song C is searched. As a result of changing the values of the three attributes “tempo”, “release year”, and “tempo” (BPM: 920 to 100, release year: 2000, genre: rock), the song D is searched.

  FIG. 5 shows the configuration of an interactive information retrieval system 104 according to another embodiment of the present invention. The information search system 104 includes a data search unit 30, a database 40, a dialogue control unit 50, a rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 60, a search condition generation unit 70, a data selection unit 72, a change attribute determination unit 74, a notification attribute determination unit 76, and an output. A processing unit 80, a display 82, a speaker 84, an input processing unit 90, and a plurality of keys 92 are provided. The notification attribute determination unit 76 is connected to the dialogue control unit 50 and determines which attribute value among a plurality of attribute values assigned to the music being played back is notified to the user. In this case, the plurality of attributes have a hierarchical relationship. The functions and connection relationships of the components 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 to 74, 80, 82, 84, 90, and 92 are the same as those in FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows another flowchart of information search executed by the information search system 104 of FIG. The user operates the key 92 of the information search system 104 to activate the information search system 104, thereby executing the flowchart of FIG.

  Steps 302 to 304 in FIG. 6 are the same as those in FIG.

  In step 306, the notification attribute determination unit 76 determines which attribute value among a plurality of attribute values assigned to the song currently being played or about to be played back to the user. In step 308, the output processing unit 80 notifies the determined attribute value to be notified by voice through the speaker 84. For this purpose, the output processing unit 80 includes a speech synthesis function, and converts character information (for example, Beatles) of attribute values into speech. Thereafter, the procedure proceeds to step 320. Steps 320 and 322 are the same as in FIG.

  If it is determined in step 320 that the rejection operation has not been performed, the procedure proceeds to step 322. If it is determined in step 322 that there is no termination request, the procedure proceeds to step 324. In step 324, the output processing unit 80 determines whether there is an attribute value to be notified in addition to the previously notified attribute value. If it is determined that there are other attribute values to be notified, the procedure returns to step 308 to notify the determined value of another attribute to be notified via the speaker 84 by voice.

  Steps 337 to 344 in FIG. 6 are the same as those in FIG. In step 337, the rejection operation reaction time measuring unit 62 calculates a reaction time T from the attribute notification start time in step 308 to the time when the rejection operation by the user is performed. In step 338, the change attribute determination unit 74 determines the value of any one of a plurality of attributes assigned to the song being played or to be played (in accordance with the measured length of the reaction time T ( It is determined whether to change the item contents), that is, whether to change the value of the notified attribute or to change the value of the higher attribute. In step 340, the search condition generation unit 70 generates a search condition based on the attribute to be changed.

  FIG. 7A shows a method of determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the reaction time T of the user's rejection operation in steps 337 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 7B shows an example of determining the attribute value after the change with respect to the attribute value before the change in steps 340 to 344 in FIG. 6. In this case, one time threshold value Tth is used, but a plurality of time threshold values may be used as an alternative configuration.

  Referring to FIG. 7A, the rejection operation response time measurement unit 62 determines an elapsed time T from the start of notification of a certain attribute value of a song that is currently being reproduced or about to be reproduced to the occurrence of a rejection operation by the user. Measure. The rejection operation extraction unit 60 determines whether the timing of occurrence of the rejection operation by the user, that is, the reaction time T of the rejection of the user does not exceed the time threshold Tth1 (for example, 1 second) from the start of notification of a certain attribute (T ≦ Tth), whether the time threshold Tth has been exceeded (T> Tth) is determined. The time threshold value Tth can be adjusted by operating the key 92 by the user.

  If the user's rejection reaction time T does not exceed the time threshold Tth (T ≦ Tth), the change attribute determination unit 74 changes the value of the attribute higher than the notified attribute regarding the song currently being played or about to be played. Decide what to do. When the user's rejection reaction time T exceeds the time threshold Tth (T> Tth), the change attribute determination unit 74 determines to change the value of the notified attribute.

  Referring to FIG. 7B, it is assumed that the attributes given to the song A that is currently being played or to be played are, for example, “genre”, “artist”, and “song”. These attributes have a hierarchical relationship. In this case, in step 306, the notification attribute determination unit 76 determines that two attributes “artist” and “music” are values of the three attributes given to the song being played or about to be played. Decide to notify the user of the name and song name. In step 308, the output processing unit 80 sequentially notifies the determined two attribute values to be notified one by one through the speaker 84 by voice. When changing the value of the attribute higher than the notified artist's attribute, the change attribute determination unit 74 changes the value of the attribute “genre” higher than the song (for example, the value “non-rock”). And the values of the lower attributes “artist” and “song” are arbitrary. When changing the value of the notified attribute, the change attribute determination unit 74 determines to change the value of the attribute “artist” (for example, the value “not Beatles”), and the lower attribute “song”. Make the value arbitrary. The search condition generation unit 70 generates a search condition based on the updated attribute value or condition.

  Therefore, for example, when the user presses the reject key after the value “Beatles” of the attribute “Artist” is notified, and the operation reaction time T is longer than the time threshold Tth, the attribute “Genre” Keep the value, change the value of the artist that is the notified attribute (for example, change it to the value “Non-Beatles”), and decide to select another song next. On the other hand, when the reaction time T of the rejection operation is shorter than the time threshold value Tth, the value of “genre” that is an attribute of a higher hierarchy than the notified attribute is changed (for example, changed to the value “non-locked”). ), Decide to select another song next. After the notification of the attribute value “artist”, if there is no rejection operation for the attribute value of the song being played or being played by the user, the value of the attribute “artist”, that is, the artist name is And the value of the subordinate attribute “Song”, that is, the name of the song, is notified as another value of the attribute (for example, the value “Yesterday”). Hereinafter, the same processing is performed.

  Further, for example, when the user presses the reject key after the attribute “song” value “yesday” is notified, if the operation reaction time T is longer than the time threshold value Tth, the attribute higher than that is displayed. Keep the value of "Artist", change the value (song name) of the notified attribute "Song" (for example, change it to the value "Non yesterday"), and then select another song decide. On the other hand, when the reaction time T of the operation is shorter than the time threshold value Tth, the value of “artist”, which is an attribute at a higher level than the notified attribute, is changed (for example, the value is changed to the value “not Beatles”). Then, decide to select another song next. After the notification of the attribute value “Beatles”, if the user does not reject the song being played or is about to be played, it is determined that the artist name of the song meets the user's request. .

  In this way, depending on the reaction time of the user after notifying the value of each attribute of the song, if the reaction time is short, the higher attribute value is changed, and if the reaction time is long, the notified attribute The method of deciding to change the value of the user is that the shorter the user's reaction time, the greater the degree of rejection of the user, and the similarity or relevance between the notified attribute value and the attribute value requested by the user Tend to be small, and conversely, the longer the user's reaction time, the smaller the degree of rejection of the user, and the greater the similarity or relevance between the notified attribute value and the attribute value requested by the user This is based on the analysis of the inventors.

  FIG. 8A shows another method of determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the reaction time T of the user's rejection operation in steps 337 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 8B shows another example of song determination based on the attribute value condition after the change in steps 340 to 344 in FIG. 6.

  Referring to FIG. 8A, the rejection operation response time measurement unit 62 determines an elapsed time T from the start of notification of a certain attribute value of a song that is currently being reproduced or about to be reproduced to the occurrence of a rejection operation by the user. Measure. The rejection operation extraction unit 60 determines whether the timing of occurrence of the rejection operation by the user, that is, the reaction time T of the rejection of the user does not exceed the time threshold Tth1 (for example, 1 second) from the start of notification of a certain attribute (T ≦ Tth1), whether it exceeds the time threshold Tth1 and does not exceed the time threshold Tth2 (for example, 2 seconds) longer than the time threshold Tth1 (Tth1 <T ≦ Tth2), or whether the time threshold Tth2 is exceeded (T> Tth2) . The time thresholds Tth1 and Tth2 can be adjusted by operating the key 92 by the user.

  When the reaction time T of the rejection of the user does not exceed the time threshold Tth1 (T ≦ Tth1), the change attribute determination unit 74 has an attribute value that is two higher than the notified attribute regarding the song that is currently being played or is about to be played. Decide to change. When the user's rejection reaction time T exceeds the time threshold Tth1 and does not exceed the time threshold Tth2 (Tth1 <T ≦ Tth2), the change attribute determination unit 74 changes the value of the attribute one level higher than the notified attribute Decide that. When the user's rejection reaction time T exceeds the time threshold value Tth1 (T> Tth2), the change attribute determination unit 74 determines to change the value of the notified attribute.

  Referring to FIG. 8B, it is assumed that the attributes given to the song A that is currently being played or to be played are, for example, “genre”, “artist”, and “song”. These attributes have a hierarchical relationship. In this case, in step 306, the notification attribute determination unit 76 determines to notify the user of the value of one of the three attributes assigned to the song being played or to be played, and the song name. To do. In step 308, the output processing unit 80 notifies the determined value of one attribute to be notified by voice through the speaker 84. When changing the value of the attribute that is two levels higher than the attribute of the notified song, the change attribute determination unit 74 changes the value of the attribute “genre” that is two levels higher than “song” (for example, the value “ And change the values of the lower attributes “artist” and “song” to be arbitrary. When changing the value of the attribute one level higher than the notified song attribute, the change attribute determination unit 74 changes the value of the attribute “artist” (for example, changes the value to “not Beatles”) ), And the value of the lower attribute “song” is made arbitrary. When changing the notified attribute value, the change attribute determination unit 74 determines to change the value (song name) of the attribute “song” (for example, to change to the value “not yesterday”). The search condition generation unit 70 generates a new search condition based on the updated attribute condition or value.

  Therefore, if the user presses the reject key after the music is notified, and the operation reaction time T is longer than the time threshold Tth2, the values of the attributes “genre” and “artist” are maintained, The value (song name) of the notified attribute “Song” is changed and another song is selected to be selected next. On the other hand, if the reaction time T of the operation is longer than Tth1 and shorter than the time threshold value Tth2, the value of “genre” that is one higher than the notified attribute is changed and another song is selected to be selected next. When the reaction time T of the operation is shorter than Tth1, the value of the notified attribute “Song” is changed and another song is selected to be selected next. If the user does not reject the song being played after the song name is notified, it is determined that the value of the attribute “song” (song name) meets the user's request, and the lower attribute “song” Is notified as a separate attribute. Hereinafter, the same processing is performed.

  FIG. 9 shows the configuration of an interactive information retrieval system 106 according to yet another embodiment of the present invention. The information search system 106 includes a data search unit 30, a database 40, a dialog control unit 50, a rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 61, a search condition generation unit 70, a data selection unit 72, a change attribute determination unit 74, a notification attribute determination unit 76, an attribute. A similarity determination unit 78, an output processing unit 80, a display 82, a speaker 84, an input processing unit 90, and a microphone 94 are provided. In this case, a rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 61 is provided instead of the rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 60 of FIG. The functions and connection relationships of the components 30, 40, 50, 70 to 76, 80, 82, 84, 90 and 94 are the same as those in FIGS.

  Rejection operation characteristic extraction unit 61 is connected to input processing unit 84 and includes an audio level measurement unit 64. Rejection operation reaction time measurement unit 61 may further include a rejection operation reaction time measurement unit 62. The attribute similarity determination unit 78 is connected to the search condition generation unit 70, and the similarity between the pre-change value and the post-change value related to the attribute value notified according to the volume of voice rejected by the user, for example, Determine high, medium or low.

  FIG. 10 shows still another flowchart of information search executed by the information search system 106 of FIG.

  Steps 302 to 324 are the same as in FIG. However, in step 320, the input processing unit 90 determines whether or not a voice representing rejection is emitted by the user. The user utters a voice representing rejection through the microphone 94, which is recognized by the voice recognition unit in the input processing unit 90 and can reject the currently reproduced song. The voice indicating the rejection may be, for example, “No”, “No”, “Reject” or “Reject”.

  If it is determined in step 320 that the user has performed a rejection operation, in step 334, the sound level measurement unit 64 calculates the volume of sound representing rejection. In step 336, the attribute similarity determination unit 78 determines the similarity between the attribute value notified in step 308 and the changed value requested by the user according to the sound level.

  In step 338, the data selection unit 72 determines the similarity between values in the same attribute as the notified attribute value according to the determined similarity to the notified attribute value (for example, FIG. 12). ) To select the modified value for that attribute. The change attribute determination unit 74 changes the value of the corresponding attribute among a plurality of attributes assigned to the currently playing or about to be played back to the selected value, and arbitrarily selects a lower attribute. To. Steps 340 to 344 are the same as those in FIG. If the notified attribute is the lowest “song” and the value is the song name, the procedure may skip steps 338 to 342 and proceed to step 344. In this case, in step 344, the data selection unit 72 may randomly select another song having a high similarity or a low similarity from songs previously searched according to the previous search condition.

  FIG. 11A shows a method of determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the level P of the user's rejected voice in steps 336 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 11B shows an example of music determination based on the attribute value condition after the change in steps 340 to 344 of FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 11A, the sound level measurement unit 64 measures a sound level P representing a rejection by the user after notifying the attribute value. The rejection operation extraction unit 61 determines whether the level P of the voice rejected by the user does not exceed the voice level threshold Pth (for example, 60 dB) (P ≦ Pth) or exceeds the voice level threshold Pth (P> Pth). judge. The sound level threshold value Pth can be adjusted by operating the key 92 by the user.

  If the audio level P of the rejected audio does not exceed the audio level threshold Pth (P ≦ Pth), the attribute similarity determination unit 78 has a high similarity with respect to the value of the notified attribute related to the song currently being reproduced or about to be reproduced. To decide. When the voice level P of the rejected voice exceeds the voice level threshold value Pth (P> Pth), the attribute similarity determination unit 78 determines a low similarity for the notified attribute value.

  FIG. 12 shows an example of a table of similarity (0 to 100) between each value of one attribute “artist”, that is, each artist name, held in the data selection unit 72, for example.

  Referring to FIG. 11B, the data selection unit 72 and the change attribute determination unit 74 determine the similarity between values as shown in FIG. 12 according to the determined similarity of the notified attribute. On the basis of the table representing the above, the values of the corresponding attributes of the plurality of attributes assigned to the song being played or about to be played are changed, and the values of the lower attributes are made arbitrary. Search conditions are determined based on the conditions, and the database 40 is searched based on the search conditions. When a high similarity is determined for the notified artist name, for example, “Beatles”, “Stones” with a similarity of 90 is selected from the table of FIG. When a low similarity is determined for the notified artist name, for example, “Beatles”, “Yamada Hanako” having a similarity of 20 is selected from the table of FIG.

  Therefore, when a rejection voice is issued by the user after the artist name is notified, if the voice level P does not exceed the voice level threshold Pth (P ≦ Pth), the value of the attribute “genre” (genre name) ), And change the value (artist name) of the notified attribute “artist” to one with a high degree of similarity, and select a song by arbitrarily setting the value (song name) of the lower attribute “song” . On the other hand, when the sound level P exceeds the sound level threshold value Pth (P> Pth), the value of the attribute “genre” is maintained and the value of the notified attribute “artist” is changed to a value with low similarity. Then, a song is selected by arbitrarily setting a value of the attribute “song” below it. In this way, each value from the notified higher attribute “genre” to the lower attribute “song” is sequentially processed in the same manner.

  In this way, as the search system 106 sequentially presents the value of the higher attribute to the value of the lower attribute in the synthesized voice, the user can easily make a final response by simply issuing a rejection voice for each value. Thus, a desired song can be reached and played back.

  FIG. 13A shows another method of determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the level of voice rejected by the user in steps 336 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 13B shows another example of the attribute change method in steps 340 to 344 in FIG. 10 and the method for determining the attribute value after the change.

  Referring to FIG. 13A, the sound level measurement unit 64 measures a sound level P that represents a rejection by the user after notifying the attribute. The rejection operation extraction unit 61 determines whether the level P of the voice rejected by the user does not exceed the sound pressure level threshold Pth1 (for example, 55 dB) (P ≦ Pth1), exceeds the sound pressure level threshold Pth2, and the sound pressure level threshold Pth2 (For example, 75 dB) is not exceeded (Pth1 <P ≦ Pth2) or the sound pressure level threshold value Pth2 is exceeded (P> Pth2). The sound pressure level threshold values Pth1 and Pth2 can be adjusted by operating the key 92 by the user.

  When the sound pressure level P of the rejected voice does not exceed the sound pressure level threshold value Pth1 (P ≦ Pth1), the attribute similarity determination unit 78 determines the value of the attribute notified about the music currently being played or about to be played. Determine a high degree of similarity. When the sound pressure level P of the rejected voice exceeds the sound pressure level threshold value Pth1 and does not exceed the sound pressure level threshold value Pth2 (Pth1 <P ≦ Pth2), the attribute similarity determination unit 78 determines the value of the notified attribute. Low similarity. When the sound pressure level P of the rejected sound exceeds the sound pressure level threshold value Pth2 (P> Pth2), the attribute similarity determination unit 78 determines to change the value of the attribute higher than the notified attribute. By using a plurality of threshold values in this way, the user can reach a desired song earlier with a small number of operations or voice input.

  The data selection unit 72 and the change attribute determination unit 74 perform the same processing as in the case of FIG. 11 according to the determined similarity of the notified attribute. When it is determined to change the value of the higher attribute than the notified attribute, the change attribute determination unit 74 performs the same process as in the case of changing the value of the higher attribute in FIG. The search condition generation unit 70 generates a search condition based on the attribute to be updated.

  Referring to FIG. 13B, after the artist name is notified as the attribute value and the user makes a rejected sound, if the sound pressure level P of the sound is equal to or lower than the sound pressure level threshold Pth1, The value of the attribute “genre” is maintained, the value of the notified attribute “artist” is changed, and the database 40 is searched to determine that the music of another artist having a high similarity is to be reproduced next. On the other hand, when the sound pressure level P of the sound is higher than the sound pressure level threshold Pth1 and lower than or equal to Pth2, the value of the attribute “genre” is maintained and the value of the notified attribute “artist” is changed. 40 is searched and it is determined that the music of another artist having a low similarity is reproduced next. When the sound pressure level P of the sound is higher than the sound pressure level threshold value Pth2, the value of the attribute “genre” is changed and the database 40 is searched to determine to play the music of another genre next. The same processing is performed when the notified attribute value is the value of “genre” or “song”.

  In this way, depending on the volume of the user's reaction voice after notifying the attribute value of the song, if the voice is loud, the value of the higher attribute is changed or the notified attribute value is similar When the voice is low, the method of deciding to change the value of the notified attribute to one with a high similarity is such that the higher the response voice, the greater the degree of rejection. The similarity or relevance between the value and the attribute value requested by the user tends to be small, and conversely, the smaller the response voice, the smaller the degree of rejection, and the attribute value notified and the attribute requested by the user Based on the inventors' analysis that the degree of similarity or relevance between the values of

  FIG. 14 is a modification of the flowchart of FIG. 10 and shows yet another flowchart of information search executed by the information search system 106 of FIG. In this case, step 332 similar to step 337 in FIG. 6 is added between steps 320 and 334. In step 332, the rejection operation response time measuring unit 62 calculates a reaction time from the start of notification of the attribute value of the song currently being played or about to be played until the user performs a rejection operation. In this case, the rejection operation is generation of a rejection voice by the user. In this case, the similarity is determined in consideration of the characteristics of both the reaction time T and the sound pressure level P of the rejected voice.

  The similarity is represented by S = αT + β / P. Here, T represents the elapsed time until the generation of the rejected voice, P represents the sound pressure level of the rejected voice, and α and β are weighting factors.

  FIG. 15A shows another method for determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the response time T and the sound pressure level P of the user's rejected voice in steps 336 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 15B shows another example of song determination based on the changed attribute value in steps 332 to 344 of FIG.

  Referring to FIG. 15A, the rejection operation reaction time measurement unit 62 measures the time T from the notification of the attribute value to the generation of the rejection voice by the user, and the voice level measurement unit 64 notifies the attribute value. After that, the sound pressure level P of the voice representing the rejection by the user is measured. Rejection operation extraction unit 61 determines whether similarity S (αT + β / P) is less than similarity threshold Sth (S <Sth) or less than Sth (S ≧ Sth). When the similarity S is less than Sth (S <Sth), the attribute similarity determination unit 78 determines a low similarity for the attribute value notified of the currently playing or about to be played music. When the similarity S is equal to or greater than Sth (S ≧ Sth), the attribute similarity determination unit 78 determines a high similarity for the attribute value notified of the currently playing or about to be played music. The similarity threshold Sth can be adjusted by the operation of the key 92 by the user.

  Referring to FIG. 15B, as in the case of FIG. 11B, the value (artist name) of the attribute “artist” is changed according to the similarity S, and the database 40 is searched for reproduction. The song to be decided is decided.

  The user will learn the timing of the rejection operation and the generation of the rejection voice and the size of the rejection voice necessary for changing the desired attribute value by becoming accustomed to the use of the information search systems 100 to 106 described above. . Alternatively, the user can adjust the threshold values Tth, Tth1, Tth2, Pth, Pth1, Pth2, and Sth that can be adjusted to change the desired attribute value by becoming familiar with the use of the information search systems 100 to 106 described above. It will be possible to adjust according to the characteristics of the operation performed by the user himself and the characteristics of the sound emitted by the user himself.

  The embodiments described above are merely given as typical examples, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art to combine the components of each embodiment, and variations and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Obviously, various modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the scope.

Regarding the embodiment including the above examples, the following additional notes are further disclosed.
(Supplementary Note 1) A database that stores a plurality of data each having a plurality of attributes;
Input information processing means for processing input information from the user;
Output information processing means for processing output information from the system;
The information to be received next from the input information processing means is determined, the data to be presented to the user is determined in response to the information received from the input information processing means, and the output information is based on the attribute of the data Dialog control means for determining output information to be supplied to the processing means;
Search condition determining means for determining a search condition for searching the database under the control of the dialog control means;
Data search means for searching the database according to the determined search condition and retrieving data satisfying the determined search condition from the database;
Data selection means for selecting data to be presented to the user from the retrieved data;
Feature extraction means for extracting features of the input information of the user received by the input information processing means for the output information presented to the user by the output information processing means;
Change attribute determining means for determining which attribute value of a plurality of attributes of data to be presented to the user is to be changed according to the extracted features;
With
The search condition determining means determines a changed search condition for searching the database based on the changed attribute value,
The interactive data search system, wherein the data search means searches the database according to the changed search condition, and retrieves the data satisfying the changed search condition from the database.
(Additional remark 2) The said output information processing means reproduces | regenerates the said data, and produces | generates the said output information, The interactive information search system of Additional remark 1 characterized by the above-mentioned.
(Additional remark 3) Furthermore, the notification attribute determination means which selects the attribute included in output information from the some attribute which the data selected by the said data selection means has is provided,
The interactive information search system according to claim 1, wherein the output information processing means notifies the user of the value of the selected attribute by voice.
(Supplementary Note 4) Whether the reception timing of the input information indicating the rejection of the user received by the input information processing means exceeds a predetermined time threshold with respect to the output information presented to the user, The interactive information search system according to appendix 1, wherein the feature is determined based on whether or not.
(Appendix 5) The user input information is user voice input information,
The feature extraction unit is configured such that, for the output information presented to the user by the output information processing unit, the reception timing or the volume of the voice input information indicating the rejection of the user received by the input information processing unit is The interactive information search system according to appendix 1, wherein the feature is determined based on whether or not a predetermined threshold is exceeded.
(Additional remark 6) Furthermore, the similarity determination means which determines the similarity between the data shown to the said user by the said output information processing means based on the said characteristic, and the data shown to the said user next Prepared,
The interactive information search system according to appendix 1, wherein the data selection means selects data corresponding to the determined similarity from the extracted data.
(Supplementary note 7) The interactive information search system according to Supplementary note 1, wherein the input information processing means receives information indicating rejection of the user from a single operation key.
(Additional remark 8) The said input information processing means receives the information showing the said user's rejection as an audio | voice signal, recognizes the said audio | voice signal by audio | voice recognition, and determines the sound pressure level of the said audio | voice signal, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. The interactive information search system according to appendix 1.
(Supplementary note 9) a database storing a plurality of data each having a plurality of attributes;
Input information processing means for processing input information from the user;
Output information processing means for processing output information from the system;
The information to be received next from the input information processing means is determined, the data to be presented to the user is determined in response to the information received from the input information processing means, and the output information is based on the attribute of the data Dialog control means for determining output information to be supplied to the processing means;
Search condition determining means for determining a search condition for searching the database under the control of the dialog control means;
Data search means for searching the database according to the determined search condition and retrieving data satisfying the determined search condition from the database;
Data selection means for selecting data to be presented to the user from the retrieved data;
Feature extraction means for extracting features of the input information of the user received by the input information processing means for the output information presented to the user by the output information processing means;
Change attribute determining means for determining which attribute value of a plurality of attributes of data to be presented to the user is to be changed according to the extracted features;
With
The search condition determining means determines a search condition for searching the database based on the changed attribute value,
The interactive data search function is characterized in that the data search means searches the database according to the changed search condition, and retrieves data satisfying the changed search condition from the database. Electronic equipment that has.

FIG. 1 shows a basic configuration of an interactive information retrieval system according to the principle of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a configuration of an interactive information search system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a flowchart of information retrieval executed by the information retrieval system of FIG. FIG. 4A shows a method of determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the reaction time of the user's rejection operation in steps 337 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 4B shows an example of determining the attribute value after the change with respect to the attribute value before the change in steps 340 to 344 in FIG. 3. FIG. 5 shows the configuration of an interactive information search system according to another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 shows another flowchart of information retrieval executed by the information retrieval system of FIG. FIG. 7A shows a method of determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the reaction time of the user's rejection operation in steps 337 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 7B shows an example of determining the attribute value after the change with respect to the attribute value before the change in steps 340 to 344 in FIG. 6. FIG. 8A shows another method of determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the reaction time T of the user's rejection operation in steps 337 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 8B shows another example of song determination based on the attribute value condition after the change in steps 340 to 344 in FIG. 6. FIG. 9 shows a configuration of an interactive information search system according to still another embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 shows still another flowchart of information search executed by the information search system of FIG. FIG. 11A shows a method of determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the level of the power P of the user's rejected voice in steps 336 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 11B shows an example of music determination based on the attribute value condition after the change in steps 340 to 344 of FIG. FIG. 12 shows an example of a similarity table between values of one attribute held in the data selection unit. FIG. 13A shows another method of determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the level of the sound pressure level of the user's rejected voice in steps 336 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 13B shows another example of song determination based on the changed attribute values in steps 340 to 344 in FIG. FIG. 14 is a modification of the flowchart of FIG. 10 and shows yet another flowchart of information search executed by the information search system of FIG. FIG. 15A shows another method of determining the value of the attribute to be changed according to the response time and sound pressure level of the user's rejected voice in steps 336 and 338 of FIG. FIG. 15B shows another example of song determination based on the changed attribute value in steps 332 to 344 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Information retrieval system 30 Data retrieval part 40 Database 50 Dialog control part 60 Rejection operation characteristic extraction part 70 Search condition production | generation part 72 Data selection part 74 Change attribute determination part 80 Output information processing part 82 Display 84 Speaker 90 Input information processing part 92 Key 94 microphone

Claims (5)

A database storing a plurality of data each having a plurality of attributes;
Input information processing means for processing input information from the user;
Output information processing means for processing output information from the system;
The information to be received next from the input information processing means is determined, the data to be presented to the user is determined in response to the information received from the input information processing means, and the output information is based on the attribute of the data Dialog control means for determining output information to be supplied to the processing means;
Search condition determining means for determining a search condition for searching the database under the control of the dialog control means;
Data search means for searching the database according to the determined search condition and retrieving data satisfying the determined search condition from the database;
Data selection means for selecting data to be presented to the user from the retrieved data;
Feature extraction means for extracting features of the input information of the user received by the input information processing means for the output information presented to the user by the output information processing means;
Change attribute determination means for determining which attribute value among a plurality of attributes of data to be presented to the user is to be changed according to the extracted features;
With
The search condition determining means determines a search condition for searching the database based on the changed attribute value,
The interactive data search system, wherein the data search means searches the database according to the changed search condition, and retrieves the data satisfying the changed search condition from the database. Furthermore, it comprises notification attribute determining means for selecting an attribute to be included in the output information from a plurality of attributes of the data selected by the data selecting means,
The interactive information search system according to claim 1, wherein the output information processing means notifies the user of the value of the selected attribute by voice.   The feature extraction means is based on whether the reception timing of the input information indicating the rejection of the user received by the input information processing means exceeds a predetermined time threshold with respect to the output information presented to the user. The interactive information retrieval system according to claim 1, wherein the characteristic is determined. The user input information is user voice input information;
The feature extraction unit is configured such that, for the output information presented to the user by the output information processing unit, the reception timing or the volume of the voice input information indicating the rejection of the user received by the input information processing unit is The interactive information search system according to claim 1, wherein the feature is determined based on whether or not a predetermined threshold value is exceeded. Furthermore, it comprises similarity determining means for determining the similarity between the data presented to the user and rejected by the output information processing means based on the features and the data presented to the user next.
2. The interactive information search system according to claim 1, wherein the data selection means selects data corresponding to the determined similarity from the extracted data.

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