JP2008234226A - Retrieval device and retrieval method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To effectively retrieve an object specified by a shape and behavior. <P>SOLUTION: A retrieval device retrieves an object specified by the shape and the behavior stored in a storage device based on the shape and the behavior acquired as a retrieval key, and extracts the object specified by the shape and behavior matched with the retrieval key. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for searching using a shape and behavior as a search key.

  Conventionally, when searching for a document, there has been a system for searching for a word contained in the document as a search key. In addition, as an image search, there has been a system for searching for a similar image by determining a template, a color, a ratio occupied by the color, and the like.

  Furthermore, a technique capable of extracting and searching for text in an image is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1).

Note that a technique for zooming content in accordance with a zooming operation is disclosed (see, for example, Patent Document 2).
JP 2000-331146 A JP 2007-34960 A

  However, in order to improve the visual effect, it may be expressed by the behavior of the shape. For example, it is applied to documents such as Microsoft's PowerPoint (registered trademark).

  In this case, the search by the prior art is not effective because it does not deal with the concept of behavior. Further, since the number of search objects increases, there is a problem that the processing time becomes long.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to effectively search for an object defined by a shape and a behavior.

  The invention described in claim 1 searches for an object defined by the shape and behavior stored in the storage device based on the shape and behavior acquired as the search key, and is defined by the shape and behavior matching the search key. A search apparatus characterized by extracting an object.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the search device according to the first aspect, a keyword is further acquired as a search key, the extracted object is searched using the keyword, and a text that matches the keyword is attached. It is characterized by extracting objects defined by shape and behavior.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the search device according to claim 1 or 2, even if different media are included even if different media are included based on the difference between the frames when the object defined by the shape and behavior is reproduced. It is characterized by extracting and searching for feature information for a unified search.

  In the invention according to claim 4, the search device searches for an object defined by the shape and behavior stored in the storage device based on the shape and behavior acquired as the search key, and the shape and behavior matching the search key. The search method is characterized by extracting an object defined by the above.

  The invention according to claim 5 is the search method according to claim 4, wherein the search device further acquires a keyword as a search key, searches the extracted object using the keyword, and matches the keyword. An object defined by the shape and behavior to which is attached is extracted.

  The invention according to claim 6 is the search method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein each of the search devices includes a different medium from the difference between the frames when the object defined by the shape and behavior is reproduced. Characteristic information for performing a uniform search for a medium is extracted and searched.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to effectively search for an object defined by shape and behavior.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a device configuration of a search device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The index creation unit has a function of extracting features of an object defined by the shape and behavior from a document including the object defined by the shape and behavior, and creating information for search. It consists of a part that extracts an object specified by shape and behavior from a document, a part that extracts features from the object specified by the extracted shape and behavior, and a part that creates a search index from the extracted information .

  The search / browsing unit uses the information created by the index creation unit, and uses a keyword describing the characteristics of the object defined by the shape and behavior, etc., on the network, etc. It has a function of searching for an object defined by the shape and behavior stored in the storage unit 1 and browsing / displaying a document containing the object defined by the extracted shape and behavior. It consists of a part for extracting a keyword from a search query, a part for searching from a keyword by an index, and a part for displaying a search result.

  The shape is taken in via a scanner or a network line.

   FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the search device 1. CPU (Central Processing Unit) 2, ROM (Read Only Memory) 3, RAM (Random Access Memory) 4, HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 5, network interface 6, input unit such as keyboard 7 and mouse 8 And the display 9, and the bus controller arbitrates the data communication between them.

  The HDD 5 stores information about shapes and behaviors that can be search keys in a predetermined table. For example, “dissolve” indicating behavior, “fade in”, “square” indicating shape, “arrow”, and the like. Thus, for example, a document or the like can be searched by a query such as “red square box fades”. The storage location of the predetermined table is not limited to the HDD 5 and may be on a network or the like.

  Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 3, first, the search device 1 extracts a query (S31). At that time, for example, a screen as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed on the display 9 to accept a query specification from the user. It may be possible to specify one or both of the shape and behavior by handwriting.

  Next, the search device 1 determines whether or not the extracted query matches the information about the shape and behavior that can be a search key stored in a predetermined table of the HDD 5 (S32).

  If they match (S32 / Yes), a search for a document or the like is executed based on the shape and behavior as a search key (S33, 34). That is, based on the shape and behavior as a search key, search for an object defined by the shape and behavior stored in an arbitrary storage device on the network or the storage unit of the search device 1 that is the device itself, Extract objects defined by the shape and behavior that match the search key. Note that the storage device and storage unit in which objects defined by shape and behavior are stored are not limited to the above example, and include all storage means. As an example, FIG. 5 shows a case where the search key is “box, left, slide-in”. In this case, an object defined by the shape and behavior as shown in FIG. 5 is extracted as a search result.

  As another example, FIG. 6 shows a case where the search query is handwritten for both shape and behavior. First, data indicating behavior is acquired, and shape data is acquired using a difference. It is assumed that a data table indicating behavior is stored in advance. Here, the behavior is interpreted as “left, slide-in” and the shape is “box”, and an object defined by the shape and behavior as shown in FIG. 6 is extracted as a search result.

  Then, the search device 1 displays the search result (S35). For example, a screen as shown in FIG. Further, for example, a screen in a form in which the shape and behavior as shown in FIG.

  When displaying the search result, a known zooming technique may be applied, and for example, the search result may be displayed as shown in FIG.

  According to the above-described embodiment, when searching a large number of documents including objects defined by the shape and behavior, not only the text portion in the document but also the movement of the object defined by the shape and behavior. Also as a search keyword, it is possible to increase convenience for the user through provision of a new search means for a document including an object defined by shape and behavior, and to improve the accuracy of the search result.

  Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the basic apparatus configuration and processing operation are the same as those in the first embodiment, a duplicate description is omitted.

  This embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that text included in an object defined by behavior is also used as a search keyword.

  The operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 10, first, the search device 1 extracts a query (S101). At that time, the user also receives an input of a keyword desired to be searched.

  Next, the search device 1 determines whether or not the extracted query matches information on the shape and behavior that can be a search key stored in a predetermined table of the HDD 5 (S102).

  If they match (S102 / Yes), a document or the like is searched based on the shape and behavior as a search key (S103, 104). Then, an object defined by the shape and behavior is extracted as in the first embodiment. As an example, FIG. 11 shows a case where the search key is “Hello, Up, Slide”. In this case, an object defined by the shape and behavior including the keyword “Hello” as shown in FIG. 11 is extracted as a search result.

  Next, the search device 1 acquires the text in the object defined by the shape and behavior extracted in steps S102 and 103 as data by OCR processing or the like, and searches for the keyword received in step S101. Execute (S105, 106).

  Then, the search device 1 displays the search result (S107). A display mode similar to that of the first embodiment can be applied.

  According to the above-described embodiment, when searching a large number of documents including objects defined by the shape and behavior, not only the text portion in the document but also the movement of the object defined by the shape and behavior. By using text included in objects defined by shape and behavior as search keywords, the convenience of users can be increased by providing a new search means for documents containing objects defined by shape and behavior. The accuracy of search results can be improved.

  Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the basic apparatus configuration and processing operation are the same as those in the first and second embodiments described above, redundant description will be omitted.

  The present embodiment is different from the first and second embodiments in that feature information for performing a unified search for each medium is extracted and searched even when different media are included.

  First, the associating unit of the search device 1 includes an integrated indexing unit that generates an integrated index of different media and stores it in a database (integrated index DB).

  The integrated indexing unit uses an existing natural language processing technology (for example, morphological analysis) to extract the shape and behavior from both different media, and based on the shape and behavior extracted by the extraction unit, And an index generation unit that generates an integrated index of different media using a search technique (for example, a vector space model). The extraction unit can use a manual method or a semi-automatic method in addition to an automatic method (natural language processing technology) when extracting the shape and behavior. The index generation unit uses the extracted shape and behavior to convert both different media into the same format and calculate the relative similarity between them. The integrated similarity calculation unit uses a query handled by the integrated index or a representation format of different media (for example, a query vector or a document vector), and uses the similarity (0 And a value between 100%). The calculation formula may be a standard calculation formula or the like that is handled by the “vector space model” in the existing text search technology.

  According to the above-described embodiment, feature information for uniform search is extracted even for a page or the like in which a plurality of different methods / mediums (PowerPoint (registered trademark), video, Flash, etc.) are embedded. be able to.

  Each of the above-described embodiments is a preferred embodiment of the present invention, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. For example, you may perform the process which implement | achieves the function of each apparatus by making each apparatus run the program for implement | achieving the function of a search device and an index creation apparatus. Further, the program is transmitted to another computer system by a transmission wave via a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or a magneto-optical disk, or via a transmission medium such as the Internet or a telephone line. Also good.

  Each of the above-described embodiments has described the configuration in which the index creation unit and the search / browsing unit are realized as one computer device. However, the embodiments can be applied to a system configuration in which a plurality of devices are added for each function. is there.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a device configuration of a search device 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the search device of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen which receives designation | designated of the query from the user of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the search key and search result as an example of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the search key and search result as an example of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen which displays the search result of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen which displays the search result of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen which displays the search result of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the search key and search result as an example of the 2nd Embodiment of this invention.

Claims (6)

  Searching for an object defined by the shape and behavior stored in the storage device based on the shape and behavior acquired as a search key, and extracting an object defined by the shape and behavior matching the search key Search device.   Further, a keyword is acquired as a search key, the extracted object is searched using the keyword, and an object defined by a shape and behavior with a text that matches the keyword is extracted. Item 4. The search device according to Item 1.   Feature information is extracted from the difference between each frame when an object defined by shape and behavior is played, and feature information for performing a uniform search for each medium is extracted even if different media are included. The search device according to claim 1 or 2.   The search device searches for an object defined by the shape and behavior stored in the storage device based on the shape and behavior acquired as the search key, and extracts an object defined by the shape and behavior that matches the search key. A search method characterized by:   The search device further acquires a keyword as a search key, searches the extracted object using the keyword, and extracts an object defined by a shape and behavior with a text that matches the keyword. The search method according to claim 4.   From the difference between each frame when the search device reproduces the object defined by the shape and behavior, it extracts feature information for performing a uniform search for each medium even when different media are included, The search method according to claim 4 or 5, wherein a search is performed.

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