JP2008257414A - Information selection support system, terminal device, information selection support device, information selection support method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information selection support system or the like presenting selection reason allowing a user to easily select a retrieval result, varied in the retrieval result and the selection reason. <P>SOLUTION: In this information selection support system, a control part 11 of a terminal device 3 retrieves retrieval target information by use of an input retrieval keyword, and randomly determines one piece of retrieval result information. Next, an attribute of the retrieval result information is extracted, and is decomposed into an attribute keyword, and a list of a reason case comprising a reason keyword and the reason is created in reference to reason case basic information. The selection reason is determined from a reason case group wherein the attribute keyword and the reason keyword accord, and is presented together with the retrieval result information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information search technique, and more particularly, to an information selection support system, a terminal device, an information selection support device, an information selection support method, and a program that assist a user to easily select search result information.

In general, an information search system performs a search using a search keyword input by a user and presents a search result. When a plurality of search results are presented, the user selects an appropriate one from the search results. However, when the conditions as many as the user can conceive are input as search keywords, the presented search results are not significantly different and cannot be easily selected.
As a mechanism for solving such a problem, there is Patent Document 1.
In Patent Document 1, an item is determined based on the user's preference from among a plurality of items, and is presented to the user together with an explanatory text composed of words or the like included in preference information representing the user's preference. To do.
JP 2006-309751 A

  However, when a search is performed using the mechanism of Patent Document 1, the search result is determined depending on the strength of the user's preference, and thus the tendency of the determined search result may be biased. For example, when the preference that ramen is liked is extracted from the search history of the user, the restaurant is always determined as the search result in the search for restaurants, and the user gets bored. In addition, since the user's preference is automatically acquired, the necessary accuracy cannot be ensured unless the number of uses is increased. Furthermore, since the search result is determined based on the user's preference, the search result cannot be narrowed down to one when there are a plurality of search results that have the same user preference level.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its purpose is to present a selection reason that allows a user to easily select a search result, and the search result and the selection reason are always rich in information selection support. It is to provide a system.

In order to achieve the above-described object, a first invention is a system in which a terminal device and at least one server are connected via a network, the terminal device using the input search keyword, An information search means for searching for search target information held by a server or the terminal device; an information determination means for randomly determining search result information from a search target information group searched by the information search means; A selection reason providing means for providing a selection reason to search result information.
Furthermore, it is desirable to provide information presenting means for presenting the search result information and the reason for selection.

  In the first invention, the selection reason giving means includes attribute extraction means for extracting attributes of the search result information determined by the information determination means, and reason case basic information held by the server or the terminal device. The reason example generating means for generating a list of reason examples consisting of the reason keyword and the reason, the thesaurus dictionary database holding the word group and the relationship between the words, the attribute keyword obtained by decomposing the attribute, and the Reason case extraction means for extracting the reason case that matches the reason keyword based on the relationship between words, and a selection reason to be given to the search result information from the group of reason cases extracted by the reason case extraction means And a selection reason determining means for determining.

  In the first aspect of the invention, the selection reason giving means includes an attribute extraction means for extracting attributes from the search result information determined by the information determination means, and a thesaurus dictionary database that holds relations between word groups and words. The attribute expansion means for generating the attribute expansion list in which the attribute keyword obtained by decomposing the attribute is expanded based on the relationship between words, and the server or the terminal using the word included in the attribute expansion list Search the reason case basic information held by the device, generate a reason case consisting of a reason keyword and a reason, and the search result information from the reason case group generated by the reason case generating means And a selection reason determining means for determining a selection reason to be provided.

  A second invention is a terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, information search means for searching for search target information using the input search keyword and search result information are randomly determined from the search target information group searched by the information search means. An information selection support device comprising: information determination means; and selection reason giving means for giving a selection reason to the search result information.
Furthermore, it is desirable to provide information presenting means for presenting the search result information and the reason for selection.

  In addition, in the third invention, the selection reason giving means includes an attribute extraction means for extracting an attribute of the search result information determined by the information determination means, a reason example basic information, and a reason keyword and a reason. Reference is made to a thesaurus dictionary database that stores reason case generation means for generating a list of reason cases and a relationship between the word group and the word, and the attribute keyword obtained by decomposing the attribute and the reason keyword are based on the relationship between words. A reason case extracting means for extracting the reason cases that match, and a selection reason determining means for determining a selection reason to be given to the search result information from the reason case group extracted by the reason case extracting means. It may be provided.

  In addition, in the third invention, the selection reason giving means includes an attribute extraction means for extracting an attribute from the search result information determined by the information determination means, and a thesaurus dictionary database that holds a word group and a relationship between words. The attribute expansion means for generating an attribute expansion list in which the attribute keyword obtained by decomposing the attribute is expanded based on the relationship between words, and the basic information of the reason case is searched using the words included in the attribute expansion list Reason reason generation means for generating a reason case consisting of a reason keyword and a reason, and selection reason determination for determining a selection reason to be given to the search result information from the reason case group generated by the reason case generation means And means.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, search result information is randomly selected from the search target information group searched by the step of searching for search target information using the input search keyword and the step of searching for the search target information. An information selection support method comprising: a determining step; and a step of giving a selection reason to the search result information.
Furthermore, it is desirable to include the step of presenting the search result information and the reason for selection.

  In addition, in the fourth invention, the step of assigning the selection reason refers to the step of extracting attributes from the search result information determined by the step of determining the search result information, the reason case basic information, and the reason keyword And a thesaurus dictionary database that holds a list of reason cases consisting of reasons and the relationship between the word group and the word, and the attribute keyword obtained by decomposing the attribute and the reason keyword are related to the relationship between the words. Extracting the reason cases that match based on, and determining a selection reason to be given to the search result information from the group of reason cases extracted by the step of extracting the reason cases. There may be.

  In the fourth invention, the step of giving the selection reason holds the step of extracting attributes from the search result information determined by the step of determining the search result information, and the relationship between the word group and the word Generating the attribute expansion list in which the attribute keywords obtained by decomposing the attribute are expanded based on the relationship between the words with reference to the thesaurus dictionary database to be used, and the reason case basic information using the words included in the attribute expansion list And generating a reason case composed of a reason keyword and a reason; and determining a selection reason to be given to the search result information from the reason case group generated by the step of generating the reason case , May be included.

  A fifth invention is a program for causing a terminal device to function as the terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

  A sixth invention is a program that causes a computer to function as the information selection support device according to any one of claims 6 to 9.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information selection support system or the like that presents a selection reason that allows a user to easily select a search result, and the search result and the selection reason are always varied.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

The first embodiment will be described in detail.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information selection support system 1 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the information selection support system 1 is configured by connecting a terminal device 3 and at least one server 5 or the like via a network 7.
The network 7 is the Internet, a LAN (Local Area Network), a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System), or the like.

  The terminal device 3 is a device that can be used while moving, such as a car navigation system, a notebook PC, or a mobile phone terminal. However, in the processing described later in the description of FIGS. 7 and 10, when the current location information is not used, it is not necessary to be able to use it while moving.

  The server 5 is a server installed in the LAN, such as a Web server accessible via the Internet or a server installed in the VICS center. However, the server 5 is not required when the information held by the server 5 is not used in the processing described later in the description of FIGS. 7 and 10.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the terminal device 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the terminal device 3.
The terminal device 3 includes a control unit 11, an input unit 13, an output unit 15, a storage unit 17, a media input / output unit 19, a position detection unit 21, an environment sensor unit 23, a communication control unit 25, and the like.

The control unit 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like.
The CPU calls a program stored in the storage unit 17, ROM, recording medium or the like to the work memory area on the RAM, executes it, controls the drive of each device, and performs the later-described processing performed by the terminal device 3 (FIG. 7, FIG. 7). 10).
The ROM is a non-volatile memory and permanently holds various programs, data, and the like of the terminal device 3.
The RAM is a volatile memory, and temporarily stores a program, data, and the like loaded from the storage unit 17, ROM, recording medium, and the like, and includes a work area used by the control unit 11 to perform various processes.

The input unit 13 inputs data. For example, when the terminal device 3 is a car navigation system, the terminal device 3 includes input devices such as various buttons and a touch panel, a remote control device, and the like. For example, when the terminal device 3 is a notebook PC, the terminal device 3 includes input devices such as a keyboard and a mouse. Furthermore, you may have audio | voice input apparatuses, such as a microphone.
Operation support, operation instructions, data input, and the like can be performed on the terminal device 3 via the input unit 13.

  The output unit 15 outputs data. For example, when displaying characters and graphics, a display device such as a liquid crystal panel and a logic circuit (video adapter or the like) for realizing the video function of the terminal device 3 in cooperation with the display device are provided. In addition, when outputting sound, an audio output device such as a speaker may be included.

  The storage unit 17 holds data. For example, it is a hard disk drive (HDD), and stores a program executed by the control unit 11, data necessary for executing the program, and the like.

  The media input / output unit 19 inputs and outputs data. For example, media input / output devices such as a CD drive (-ROM, -R, RW, etc.) and a DVD drive (-ROM, -R, -RW, etc.) are included.

  The position detection unit 21 outputs information on the current position to the control unit 11. For example, in the case of car navigation, it has sensors such as a gyroscope, a vehicle speed sensor, and a GPS receiver, and outputs information for specifying the current position based on the properties of each of these sensors. However, in the processing described later in the description of FIGS. 7 and 10, the terminal device 3 does not need to include the position detection unit 21 when the current location information is not used.

  The environment sensor unit 23 outputs information such as date information and weather information to the control unit 11. For example, when outputting date and time information, it has a clock with a calendar function. For example, when outputting weather information, it has a thermometer, a hygrometer, a barometer, etc. However, in the processing described later in the description of FIGS. 7 and 10, the terminal device 3 does not need to include the environment sensor unit 23 when information such as date information and weather information is not used.

  The communication control unit 25 controls communication with the server 5 and other devices. For example, in the case of car navigation, it is a VICS receiver or the like, and in the case of a notebook PC, it has a wireless communication module or the like.

  Next, the hardware configuration of the server 5 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the server 5.
In the server 5, a control unit 31, a storage unit 33, a media input / output unit 35, a communication control unit 37, an input unit 39, a display unit 41, and a peripheral device I / F (interface) unit 43 are connected via a bus 45. Configured.

The control unit 31 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like.
The CPU calls a program stored in the storage unit 33, ROM, storage medium, or the like to the work memory area of the RAM, executes it, drives and controls each device connected via the bus 45, and performs various processes performed by the server 5. Is realized.
The ROM is a non-volatile memory and permanently holds a computer boot program, a program such as BIOS, data, and the like.
The RAM is a volatile memory, and temporarily stores a program, data, and the like loaded from the storage unit 33, ROM, recording medium, and the like, and includes a work area used by the control unit 31 for performing various processes.

The storage unit 33 is an HDD (hard disk drive), and stores a program executed by the control unit 31, data necessary for program execution, an OS (operating system), and the like. As for the program, a control program corresponding to an OS (operating system) and an application program corresponding to processing described later are stored.
Each of these program codes is read by the control unit 31 as necessary, transferred to the RAM, read by the CPU, and executed as various means.

  The media input / output unit 35 (drive device) inputs / outputs data, for example, a floppy (registered trademark) disk drive, a PD drive, a CD drive (-ROM, -R, RW, etc.), a DVD drive (-ROM, -R, -RW, etc.) and a media input / output device such as an MO drive.

  The communication control unit 37 includes a communication control device, a communication port, and the like, and is a communication interface that mediates communication between the server 5 and the network 7. Communication control between the server 5 and other computers is performed via the network 7. I do.

The input unit 39 inputs data and includes, for example, a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, and an input device such as a numeric keypad.
An operation instruction, operation instruction, data input, and the like can be performed on the server 5 via the input unit 39.

  The display unit 41 includes a display device such as a CRT monitor and a liquid crystal panel, and a logic circuit (such as a video adapter) for realizing a video function of the computer in cooperation with the display device.

  The peripheral device I / F (interface) unit 43 is a port for connecting a peripheral device to the computer, and the computer transmits / receives data to / from the peripheral device via the peripheral device I / F unit 43. The peripheral device I / F unit 43 is configured by USB, IEEE 1394, RS-232C, or the like, and usually includes a plurality of peripheral devices I / F. The connection form with the peripheral device may be wired or wireless.

  The bus 45 is a path that mediates transmission / reception of control signals, data signals, and the like between the devices.

Next, the configuration of the terminal device 3 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the terminal device 3.

  The terminal device 3 includes search condition input means 51, search keyword extraction means 52, information search means 53, information determination means 54, selection reason assignment means 55, information presentation means 56, search target information 57 holding means, and the like.

  Search condition input means 51 inputs a search condition. The search condition includes at least one search keyword. Then, the data is input as text data through the input unit 13. The search condition may be a list in which search keywords are separated by white space or a sentence in natural language.

  The search keyword extraction unit 52 extracts a search keyword from the text data of the search condition. For example, when the search condition is a list in which search keywords are separated by blanks, the search conditions are decomposed into individual search keywords. For example, when the search condition is a sentence in a natural language, a search keyword is extracted by a technique such as morphological analysis. Morphological analysis is an operation to divide a sentence written in a natural language into columns of morphemes (the smallest language unit having meaning) to identify parts of speech.

  The information search means 53 searches the search target information 57 held by the server 5 or the terminal device 3 using the input search keyword. The search uses a known mechanism according to the device that holds the search target information 57. The search target information 57 may be anything as long as it is searchable information. In FIG. 4, the terminal device 3 is illustrated to hold the search target information 57, but the server 5 may hold the terminal device 3, or both the terminal device 3 and the server 5. It may be held by.

The information determination unit 54 randomly determines the search result information from the search target information group searched by the information search unit 53. Here, the search target information group means a plurality of information searched by the information search means 57. On the other hand, the search result information means information on a search result finally presented to the user. Randomly determined is, for example, randomly determined using a known random number generation algorithm, or some order information such as an objective index (for example, a ranking given by a search site on the Internet) This means a determination mechanism that is not related to the user's preference or the like, such as determining based on current location information or current time information.
It should be noted that it is desirable to decide that the search result information is one and present a plurality of pieces of information that are not significantly different for the user.

  The selection reason giving means 55 gives a selection reason to the search result information. The reason for selection to be given can be acquired by various means. Moreover, when the selection reason to give cannot be acquired, it is good also as a selection reason not having a reason, for example. For example, if the search target is a facility, it may be a reason for selection, such as “How about a store called △△?

  The information presenting means 56 presents the search result information and the selection reason, and confirms whether or not the user is satisfied with the presented reason for selection. If the user is not satisfied with the reason for selection, other search result information and the reason for selection may be presented. Alternatively, the user may be able to input additional conditions and start over.

Next, the details of the selection reason giving means 55 will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the detailed function of the selection reason giving means 55.

  The selection reason giving means 55 includes an attribute extraction means 61, a reason case generation means 62, a reason case extraction means 63, a selection reason determination means 64, a reason case basic information 65 holding means, a thesaurus dictionary database 66, and the like.

  The attribute extraction unit 61 extracts the attribute of the search result information determined by the information determination unit 54. For example, when the search target is a facility, the extracted attribute corresponds to a facility name, a business type, an address, a telephone number, facility guide information, and the like. The extracted attributes are decomposed into more detailed attribute keywords by a morphological analysis technique or the like.

The reason case generation unit 62 refers to the reason case basic information 65 held by the server 5 or the terminal device 3, and generates a list of reason cases including reason keywords and reasons. The reason example basic information 65 is, for example, the current location information acquired by the position detection unit 21, date / time information acquired by the environment sensor unit 23, weather information, etc. User information, etc. Moreover, the reason example basic information 65 may include information that is easy to accept as a final selection reason, such as anniversary information, fortune-telling information, trivia information, statistical information, current affairs information, gourmet information, sightseeing guide information, landmark information, etc. desirable. Furthermore, preference information such as “favorite food” extracted from the search history search keyword may be included as user information. The reason keyword is, for example, “rain” in the case of weather information, and the reason for pairing is, for example, “Today's weather is rain”.
The reason example basic information 65 may be held by the server 5 without being held by the terminal device 3, or may be held by both the terminal device 3 and the server 5.

The reason case extraction unit 63 refers to the thesaurus dictionary database 66 that holds a word group and the relationship between words, and extracts a reason case in which the attribute keyword obtained by decomposing the attribute matches the reason keyword based on the relationship between words. To do. In general, a thesaurus dictionary is a dictionary in which words are classified and organized according to the upper / lower relationship, partial / whole relationship, synonym relationship, synonym relationship and the like of words. However, here, the thesaurus dictionary database 66 refers to a database including various words and relationships (synonyms, similarities, synonyms, associations) between the words. Whether or not the reason keyword matches the attribute keyword is collated based on whether or not there is a relationship (identical, synonymous, similar, similar, association) between words held in the thesaurus dictionary database 66.
The thesaurus dictionary database 66 may be held by the server 5 without being held by the terminal device 3, or may be held by both the terminal device 3 and the server 5. Further, the thesaurus dictionary database 66 may be stored in a medium such as a CD-ROM and referred to via the media input / output unit 19.

  The selection reason determination unit 64 determines a selection reason to be added to the search result information from the reason case group extracted by the reason case extraction unit 63. When there are a plurality of extracted reason cases, for example, the reason example extracted first may be determined as the selection reason. Further, for example, it may be determined at random using a known random number generation algorithm or the like. Further, for example, the reason case having the highest degree of matching between the reason keyword and the attribute keyword checked by the reason case extracting unit 63 may be determined as the selection reason. Here, the degree of match is calculated, for example, by scoring in the descending order of the relationship between words, such as the same: 5, synonymous: 4, similar: 3, synonymous: 2, association 1: Can do. Further, the edit distance (or Levenstein distance) between the reason keyword and the attribute keyword may be calculated, and the reciprocal of the edit distance may be used as the degree of match. The edit distance is a numerical value that indicates how different two character strings are. Specifically, one character string is transformed into another character string by inserting, deleting, or replacing characters. Is given as the minimum number of steps required.

Next, details of the operation of the terminal device 3 will be described with reference to FIGS. 6 and 7.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure from search condition input processing to search result information determination processing.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when a search condition is input via the input unit 13 (step 101), the control unit 11 extracts a search keyword from the search condition (step 102). Here, when there are a plurality of search keywords, information indicating whether an AND condition or an OR condition is input, and the control unit 11 extracts the information together with the search keyword. The extracted search keyword is preferably stored in the storage unit 17 as a search history.

  Next, the control unit 11 searches the search target information using the search keyword (step 103). Information corresponding to the search is held in a work memory area on the RAM as a search target information group. Further, the number of search target information groups is held in the work memory area on the RAM as the search number.

Next, the control part 11 confirms whether the number of searches is 0 (step 104).
If the number of searches is 0, repeat from step 101.
If the number of searches is one or more, the process proceeds to step 105.

  Next, the control unit 11 randomly determines search result information from the search target information group (step 105). The mechanism for determining at random is as described above with reference to FIG. The control unit 11 may use any mechanism, and may allow a user to specify and input via the input unit 13.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a procedure from selection reason assignment processing to search result information and selection reason presentation processing.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the control unit 11 extracts attributes of search result information (step 201). Further, the extracted attribute is decomposed into more detailed attribute keywords by a morphological analysis method or the like, and held in a work memory area on the RAM.

  Next, the control unit 11 refers to the reason case basic information 65 and creates a list of reason cases (step 202). The reason example basic information 65 is as described above with reference to FIG. The control unit 11 may refer to any information as the reason example basic information 65 regardless of the attribute keyword.

  Next, the control part 11 determines the attribute keyword to collate (step 203). For example, the attribute keyword is assigned an identification number uniquely determined at the time of disassembly in step 201, and is determined in the order of the identification number.

  Next, the control part 11 determines the reason keyword to collate (step 204). For example, the reason keyword is assigned an identification number uniquely determined when the list is created in step 202, and is determined in the order of the identification number.

Next, the control unit 11 refers to the thesaurus dictionary database 66 and confirms whether the attribute keyword matches the reason keyword (step 205). As described above with reference to FIG. 5, whether or not they are matched is checked based on whether or not the reason keyword and the attribute keyword have some relationship (identical, synonymous, similar, similar, or associative). If they match, the control unit 11 extracts a matching reason case (step 206), and proceeds to step 207. It should be noted that when extracting the reason examples, it is desirable to store in the work memory on the RAM, together with which relationship (identical, synonymous, similar, synonymous, associative) is matched.
If not, the control unit 11 proceeds to step 207.

Next, the control unit 11 confirms whether the processing has been completed for all the reason keywords (step 207).
If the process has not ended, the process is repeated from step 204.
If the process has been completed, the process proceeds to step 208.

Next, the control unit 11 confirms whether the processing has been completed for all attribute keywords (step 208).
If the process has not been completed, the process is repeated from step 203.
If the process has been completed, the process proceeds to step 209.

  Next, the control unit 11 determines a selection reason from the extracted reason case group (step 209). The mechanism for determining the selection reason is as described above with reference to FIG. The control unit 11 may use any mechanism.

  Next, the control unit 11 presents search result information and a selection reason (step 210). Then, the user confirms the presented search result information and the selection reason. If the reason for selection is not satisfactory, other search result information and the reason for selection may be presented, or an additional search keyword may be input, and the search for information may be performed again.

Next, a specific example when the first embodiment is applied to a facility search system will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 8 shows an example of the reason example list 81.

In the facility search system, suppose that 30 users are found as a result of searching for a coffee shop in a certain area. Assume that the name of one facility randomly determined by the system is “Lemon Cafe”.
The control unit 11 extracts the facility name “lemon cafe” as one of the attributes, and decomposes the attributes into attribute keywords “lemon” and “cafe”. Next, as illustrated in FIG. 8, the control unit 11 generates a list 81 of reason cases in which the reason keyword 83 and the reason 85 are paired. Next, the control unit 11 collates the attribute keyword “lemon” with the “yellow” associative word “lemon”, which is the reason keyword 83 included in the reason example list 81, and confirms that they match. Next, the control unit 11 determines “today's lucky color” which is the reason 85 of the matched reason case as the reason for selection. And the control part 11 presents "How about a lemon cafe because your lucky color today is yellow?"

  As described above in detail, according to the first embodiment, the control unit 11 searches the search target information using the input search keyword, and randomly selects one search result information. decide. Next, the attribute of the search result information is extracted, and the reason case basic information 65 is referenced to create a list of reason cases. Then, a reason for selection is determined from a group of reason cases in which the attribute keyword matches the reason keyword, and is presented together with the search result information.

  According to the first embodiment, it is possible to present the user with a satisfactory reason for selection together with the search result information, and the user can easily select the information. In addition, it is possible to always present search result information and selection reasons that are rich in change, and prompt the user to make a new discovery. In particular, it can be said that the response speed is faster because the search process of the reason case basic information 65 is less than in the second embodiment described later.

Next, the second embodiment will be described in detail.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information selection support system 1a according to the present embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of the terminal device 3a.
FIG. 3 is a hardware configuration diagram of the server 5.
FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the terminal device 3a.
The schematic configuration of the information selection support system 1a, the hardware configuration of the terminal device 3a and the server 5, and the functions of the terminal device 3a excluding the selection reason giving means 55a are the same as those described in the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted. To do.

Next, the details of the selection reason giving means 55a will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the detailed function of the selection reason giving means 55a.
Note that elements having the same functions as those shown in FIG. 5 are given the same reference numerals to avoid redundant description.

  The selection reason giving means 55a includes an attribute extraction means 61, an attribute expansion means 67, a reason case generation means 62, a selection reason determination means 64, reason case basic information 65, a thesaurus dictionary database 66, and the like.

  The attribute expansion means 67 refers to a thesaurus dictionary database 66 that holds word groups and relationships between words, and generates an attribute expansion list in which attribute keywords obtained by decomposing attributes are expanded based on the relationship between words. The attribute expansion list is a list generated by acquiring, from the thesaurus dictionary database 66, synonyms, similar words, synonyms, and associative words of attribute keywords obtained by disassembling attributes in detail. Further, the attribute keyword is included in the list as the same word. Hereinafter, when referring to all of the same words, synonyms, similar words, synonyms, and associative words included in the attribute expansion list, they are simply referred to as words.

The reason case generation unit 62a searches the reason case basic information held by the server 5 or the terminal device 3a using the words included in the attribute expansion list, and generates a reason case including the reason keyword and the reason. That is, the reason case basic information 65 is searched using words included in the attribute expansion list as search keywords, and a reason case is generated from the search result. When searching the reason example basic information 65, it is possible to search using not only one word but also a combination of a plurality of words.
The reason example basic information 65 may be held by the server 5 without being held by the terminal device 3 a, or may be held by both the terminal device 3 a and the server 5.

Next, details of the operation of the terminal device 3a will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a procedure from search condition input processing to search result information determination processing.
Since the procedure from the search condition input process to the search result information determination process is the same as that in the first embodiment, the description is omitted.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure from selection reason assignment processing to search result information and selection reason presentation processing.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the control unit 11 extracts attributes of search result information (step 301). Further, the extracted attribute is decomposed into more detailed attribute keywords by a morphological analysis method or the like, and held in a work memory area on the RAM.

  Next, the control unit 11 refers to the thesaurus dictionary database 66 based on the attribute keyword and generates an attribute expansion list (step 302). The attribute expansion list is as described above with reference to FIG.

  Next, the control part 11 determines the word used for the production | generation of a reason example from an attribute expansion list (step 303). For example, identification numbers uniquely determined when the list is created in step 302 are assigned to the words, and the words are determined in the order of the identification numbers.

  Next, the control part 11 searches the reason example basic information 65 using the determined word (step 304). That is, the reason example basic information 65 is searched using the determined word as a search keyword. The reason example basic information 65 can be searched by combining a plurality of words.

  Next, the control part 11 produces | generates a reason example from the searched result (step 305). That is, a reason example is generated using the word used for the search as a reason keyword and the searched information as a reason. In addition, when a plurality of information can be searched from one word, a plurality of reason examples may be generated.

Next, the control unit 11 confirms whether processing has been completed for all words included in the attribute expansion list (step 306).
If the process has not ended, the process is repeated from step 303.
If the process has been completed, the process proceeds to step 307.

  Next, the control unit 11 determines the reason for selection from the generated reason case group (step 307). The mechanism for determining the selection reason is as described above with reference to FIG. The control unit 11 may use any mechanism.

  Next, the control unit 11 presents search result information and a selection reason (step 308). Then, the user confirms the presented search result information and the selection reason. If the user is not satisfied with the reason for selection, other search result information and the reason for selection may be presented, or an additional search keyword may be input and the process may be started again.

Next, a specific example when the second embodiment is applied to a facility search system will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 11 is an example of the attribute expansion list 87.

Assume that in the facility search system, 15 users are found as a result of searching for a coffee shop in an area where a user is located. Assume that the name of one facility randomly determined by the system is “Café Tallow”.
The control unit 11 extracts the facility name “coffee tea tallow” as one of the attributes, and decomposes the attributes into attribute keywords “coffee” and “tallow”. Next, as shown in FIG. 11, the control unit 11 generates an attribute expansion list 87 that is a list of words 89 in which the attribute keywords are expanded. Next, the control unit 11 searches the reason example basic information 65 based on the attribute expansion list 87 and acquires the statistical information “name of dogs with the most in Japan” by the search keyword “Taro”. Next, the control unit 11 determines the acquired statistical information “names of dogs with the most in Japan” as the reason for selection. Then, the control unit 11 presents “How about a coffee taro after the name of the most dog in Japan?”.

  As described above in detail, according to the second embodiment, the control unit 11 searches the search target information using the input search keyword, and randomly selects one search result information. decide. Next, attributes of the search result information are extracted to generate an attribute expansion list. Then, the reason case basic information 65 is searched using the words included in the attribute expansion list, the reason for selection is determined from the reason case group generated based on the search result, and presented together with the search result information.

  According to the second embodiment, it becomes possible to present the user with a satisfactory selection reason together with the search result information, and the user can easily select the information. In addition, it is possible to always present search result information and selection reasons that are rich in change, and prompt the user to make a new discovery. In particular, compared to the first embodiment described above, since the reason example basic information 65 is searched using many words, the reason for selection can be determined from many reason examples. It can be said that the reason for selection can be presented.

  Note that the first embodiment and the second embodiment may be configured individually or in combination. Further, which configuration gives priority to selection reason may be determined in advance, or may be determined randomly when the selection reason is given.

  The preferred embodiments of the information selection support system and the like according to the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited to such examples. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be conceived within the scope of the technical idea disclosed in the present application, and these naturally belong to the technical scope of the present invention. Understood.

The figure which shows schematic structure of the information selection assistance system 1 (1a) which concerns on this Embodiment. Hardware configuration diagram of the terminal device 3 (3a) Hardware configuration diagram of server 5 Block diagram showing functions of terminal device 3 (3a) The block diagram which shows the detailed function of the selection reason provision means 55 A flowchart showing a procedure from search condition input processing to search result information determination processing Flow chart showing the procedure from selection reason assignment processing to search result information and selection reason presentation processing An example of the list of reasons 81 The block diagram which shows the detailed function of the selection reason provision means 55a Flow chart showing the procedure from selection reason assignment processing to search result information and selection reason presentation processing Example of attribute expansion list 87

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ......... Information selection support system 3 ......... Terminal device 5 ......... Server 7 ......... Network 11 ......... Control part 13 ......... Input part 15 ......... Output part 17 ......... Storage part 19 ... …… Media input / output unit 21 ………… Position detection unit 23 ………… Environmental sensor unit 25 ………… Communication control unit 57 ………… Search target information 65 ………… Reason case basic information 66 ………… Thesaurus dictionary database 81 ……… List of reason examples 83 ……… Reason keyword 85 ……… Reason 87 ……… Attribute expansion list 89 ……… Word

Claims (15)

A system in which a terminal device and at least one server are connected via a network,
The terminal device
Information search means for searching for search target information held by the server or the terminal device using an input search keyword;
Information determination means for randomly determining search result information from the search target information group searched by the information search means;
A selection reason giving means for giving a selection reason to the search result information;
An information selection support system comprising:   The information selection support system according to claim 1, further comprising information presenting means for presenting the search result information and the reason for selection. The selection reason giving means is:
Attribute extraction means for extracting attributes of search result information determined by the information determination means;
Reason case generation means for generating a list of reason cases including reason keywords and reasons with reference to the reason case basic information held by the server or the terminal device;
Reason case extraction means for referring to a thesaurus dictionary database holding word groups and relationships between words, and extracting the reason cases where the attribute keywords obtained by decomposing the attributes and the reason keywords match based on the relationship between words When,
Selection reason determination means for determining a selection reason to be given to the search result information from the reason case group extracted by the reason case extraction means;
The information selection support system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: The selection reason giving means is:
Attribute extraction means for extracting attributes from the search result information determined by the information determination means;
Attribute expansion means for generating an attribute expansion list in which attribute keywords obtained by decomposing the attribute are expanded based on the relationship between words with reference to a thesaurus dictionary database holding word groups and relationships between words;
Using the words included in the attribute expansion list, search the reason case basic information held by the server or the terminal device, and generate a reason case that includes a reason keyword and a reason;
Selection reason determination means for determining a selection reason to be given to the search result information from the reason case group generated by the reason case generation means;
The information selection support system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising:   The terminal device in any one of Claims 1-4. Information search means for searching for information to be searched using the input search keyword;
Information determination means for randomly determining search result information from the search target information group searched by the information search means;
A selection reason giving means for giving a selection reason to the search result information;
An information selection support device comprising:   The information selection support apparatus according to claim 6, further comprising information presenting means for presenting the search result information and the reason for selection. The selection reason giving means is:
Attribute extraction means for extracting attributes of search result information determined by the information determination means;
Reason case generation means for referring to reason case basic information and generating a list of reason cases including reason keywords and reasons;
Reason case extraction means for referring to a thesaurus dictionary database holding word groups and relationships between words, and extracting the reason cases where the attribute keywords obtained by decomposing the attributes and the reason keywords match based on the relationship between words When,
Selection reason determination means for determining a selection reason to be given to the search result information from the reason case group extracted by the reason case extraction means;
The information selection support apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising: The selection reason giving means is:
Attribute extraction means for extracting attributes from the search result information determined by the information determination means;
Attribute expansion means for generating an attribute expansion list in which attribute keywords obtained by decomposing the attribute are expanded based on the relationship between words with reference to a thesaurus dictionary database holding word groups and relationships between words;
Reason word generation means for searching reason case basic information using the words included in the attribute expansion list and generating a reason case consisting of a reason keyword and a reason;
Selection reason determination means for determining a selection reason to be given to the search result information from the reason case group generated by the reason case generation means;
The information selection support apparatus according to claim 6 or 7, further comprising: Searching the search target information using the input search keyword;
Randomly determining search result information from the search target information group searched by the step of searching the search target information;
Giving a reason for selection to the search result information;
An information selection support method comprising:   The information selection support method according to claim 10, further comprising a step of presenting the search result information and the reason for selection. The step of giving the reason for selection includes
Extracting attributes from the search result information determined by the step of determining the search result information;
Referencing the reason case basic information, generating a list of reason cases consisting of reason keywords and reasons,
Referring to a thesaurus dictionary database that holds word groups and relationships between words, and extracting the reason examples that match the attribute keyword and the reason keyword based on the relationship between words; and
Determining a reason for selection to be given to the search result information from the reason case group extracted by the step of extracting the reason case;
The information selection support method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized by comprising: The step of giving the reason for selection includes
Extracting attributes from the search result information determined by the step of determining the search result information;
Referring to a thesaurus dictionary database holding word groups and relationships between words, generating an attribute expansion list in which attribute keywords obtained by decomposing the attributes are expanded based on the relationship between words;
Searching for reason case basic information using words included in the attribute expansion list, and generating a reason case consisting of a reason keyword and a reason;
Determining a selection reason to be given to the search result information from the reason case group generated by the step of generating the reason case;
The information selection support method according to claim 10 or 11, characterized by comprising:   The program which makes a terminal device function as a terminal device in any one of Claims 1-4.   A program that causes a computer to function as the information selection support device according to any one of claims 6 to 9.

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