JP2009271735A - Document browsing system and method of displaying additional information associated with document - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a document browsing system capable of automatically displaying additional information depending on the browsing status of a browsing person without requiring any special operation, if there is additional information added to a document, and a method of displaying additional information associated with a document. <P>SOLUTION: The document browsing system includes: a document server 3 which retains document data and additional information data added to the document data afterwards, in such a way that both data can be separated; a display unit 22 for displaying a document based on the document data; a browsing position detection unit 13 for detecting the browsing position of a browsing person who browses the document displayed on the display unit 22; a browsing position change detection unit 14 for detecting the amount of change in the browsing position; and a display control unit 16 for displaying the additional information based on the additional information data by superposing the information on the document displayed on the display unit 22. The display control unit 16 controls the display of the additional information on the display unit 22 according to the results of detection by the browsing position detection unit 13 and the browsing position change detection unit 14. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a document browsing system and a method for displaying additional information associated with a document.

  Conventionally, when an electronic document that is an electronic document is browsed, a document (original document) to be browsed is displayed on the display unit of the document browsing apparatus, and an important portion of the original document is marked appropriately. There is known a technique capable of performing processing for adding additional information, such as applying or writing a comment.

  In addition, a technique for allowing a plurality of viewers to share the same information is also known. For example, the technology includes a terminal device and a server that can transmit and receive presentation information to and from each other via a network. This information is transmitted to the server via the network and stored in the storage unit, and other users can connect to the network at any time to obtain presentation information from the server and reproduce it in time series. Has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In addition, conference application documents (video, audio, board writing, personal notes, etc.) generated by the conference application group that records context information attached to the conference proceedings can be managed in association with each conference unit, and can be referred to and utilized. Thus, a system that supports the conference in total is also proposed (for example, see Patent Document 2). According to the technique described in Patent Document 2, the memo information is linked to the video information corresponding to the generation time, and the moving image can be reproduced by clicking the link.
JP 2003-23423 A JP 2006-146415 A

However, according to the technique described in Patent Document 1, the timing of reproducing presentation information is controlled based on manual input of control data, and such input is complicated for the user.
Further, according to the technique described in Patent Document 2, memo information and the like are displayed as they are on a document at the time of reproduction. However, in the case of a shared document viewed by a plurality of viewers, it is desired to browse only the original document. There are various requests depending on the viewer, such as a request for displaying only important comments. For this reason, it is not preferable to always display all the additional information added to the original document because it may disturb the browsing. Further, when all the additional information is displayed on the document, it becomes difficult to distinguish the original document from the additional information added later, which is troublesome.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and when there is additional information added to the document, it is automatically performed according to the browsing status of the viewer without performing any special operation. It is an object of the present invention to provide a document browsing system capable of displaying additional information and a method for displaying additional information associated with a document.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 1 is a document browsing system.
Information storage means for holding document data and additional information data added later to the document data in a separable manner;
Document display means for displaying a document based on the document data;
Browsing location detection means for detecting a browsing location of a viewer who browses the document displayed on the document display means;
A browsing location change detecting means for detecting a change amount of the browsing location;
Additional information display control means for displaying additional information based on the additional information data superimposed on the document displayed on the document display means,
The additional information display control means controls display of the additional information on the document display means based on detection results of the browsing location detection means and the browsing location change detection means.

The invention according to claim 2 is the document browsing system according to claim 1,
The additional information display control means controls the display of the additional information so as to display the additional information added to a position within a predetermined range from the browsing location of the viewer. .

The invention according to claim 3 is the document browsing system according to claim 2,
The amount of change in the browsing location detected by the browsing location change detecting means is the speed or acceleration of the change in the browsing location of the viewer,
The additional information display control means determines the predetermined range based on the speed or acceleration.

The invention according to claim 4 is the document browsing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The amount of change in the browsing location detected by the browsing location change detecting means is the speed or acceleration of the change in the browsing location of the viewer,
The additional information display control means determines an information amount of the additional information to be displayed on the document display means based on the speed or acceleration.

The invention according to claim 5 is the document browsing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
Comprising additional information display rule setting means for setting a display rule when displaying the additional information;
The additional information display control means controls display of the additional information on the document display means in accordance with the display rules set by the additional information display rule setting means.

The invention according to claim 6 is the document browsing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
Page change detection means for detecting a page change of the document displayed on the document display means,
The additional information display control means controls display of the additional information on the document display means based on a detection result by the page change detection means.

The invention according to claim 7 is the document browsing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The browsing location detecting means detects the browsing location of the viewer by detecting the viewing position of the viewer.

The invention according to claim 8 is the document browsing system according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The browsing location change detecting means detects the amount of change in the browsing location by detecting a scroll operation of a document by a viewer.

The invention according to claim 9 is:
A method for browsing a document based on document data held in the information storage means so as to be separable and additional information based on additional information data added later to the document data,
A document display step of displaying a document based on the document data on a document display means;
A browsing location detection step of detecting a browsing location of a viewer who browses the document displayed on the document display means in the document display step;
A browsing location change detection step for detecting a change in the browsing location;
An additional information display step of displaying the additional information superimposed on the document displayed on the document display means,
In the additional information display step, the additional information is displayed on the document display unit in accordance with detection results in the browsing location detection step and the browsing location change detection step.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the method for displaying additional information associated with the document according to the ninth aspect,
The additional information display step is characterized in that the additional information added at a position within a predetermined range from the browsing location of the viewer is displayed on the document display means.

The invention according to claim 11 is a method of displaying additional information associated with a document according to claim 10,
The amount of change in the browsing location detected by the browsing location change detection step is the speed or acceleration of the change in the browsing location of the viewer,
The additional information display step is characterized in that the predetermined range is determined based on the speed or acceleration.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the method for displaying additional information associated with the document according to any one of the ninth to eleventh aspects,
The amount of change in the browsing location detected by the browsing location change detection step is the speed or acceleration of the change in the browsing location of the viewer,
In the additional information display step, an information amount of the additional information to be displayed on the document display means is determined based on the speed or acceleration.

The invention described in claim 13 is a method for displaying additional information associated with a document according to any one of claims 9 to 12,
An additional information display rule setting step for setting a display rule when displaying the additional information;
In the additional information display step, the additional information is displayed on the document display means in accordance with the display rule set in the additional information display rule setting step.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the method for displaying additional information associated with a document according to any one of the ninth to thirteenth aspects,
A page change detection step of detecting a page change of the document displayed on the document display means;
In the additional information display step, the additional information is displayed on the document display unit based on a detection result in the page change detection step.

According to a fifteenth aspect of the present invention, in the method for displaying additional information associated with the document according to any one of the ninth to fourteenth aspects,
The browsing location detection step is characterized in that the browsing location of the viewer is detected by detecting the viewing position of the viewer.

The invention according to claim 16 is a method for displaying additional information associated with a document according to any one of claims 9 to 15,
The browsing location change detection step is characterized in that the amount of change in the browsing location is detected by detecting a scroll operation of the document by the viewer.

  According to the first and ninth aspects of the present invention, display control is performed by separating the original document and additional information added later, and for the additional information, a browsing location detecting means and a browsing location change detection are performed. The display is automatically controlled based on the detection result of the means. Thereby, even if a viewer does not perform special operation, there exists an effect that additional information can be appropriately displayed according to the browsing condition of a viewer.

  According to the second and tenth aspects of the present invention, it is possible to display only the additional information associated with the vicinity of the portion being browsed by the viewer, and the original document is difficult to read due to unnecessary additional information. This is effective in that the viewer is more easily attracted to the display of the additional information.

  According to the invention described in claim 3 and claim 11, since the existence range of the additional information to be displayed is determined according to the speed or acceleration of the change of the browsing location of the viewer, the additional information of the portion necessary for browsing Only the viewer can be provided with the effect.

  According to the invention of claim 4 and claim 12, since the information amount of the additional information to be displayed is determined according to the speed or acceleration of the change of the browsing location of the viewer, the amount of the information corresponding to the browsing pace The additional information can be provided to the viewer.

  According to the invention described in claims 5 and 13, since the display rule can be set, there is an effect that the additional information can be displayed according to the viewer's preference and browsing situation. .

  According to the invention described in claim 6 and claim 14, for example, when the page change of the document is frequent, by controlling such that the additional information is not automatically displayed, the location of the portion to be read carefully is determined. If additional information is displayed when it is troublesome, such as during a search, the display can be prevented from being performed.

  According to the invention described in claims 7 and 15, since the browsing location of the viewer is detected by detecting the viewing position of the browsing site, the browsing location can be easily specified without performing any special input or the like. There is an effect that can be performed.

  According to the invention described in claim 8 and claim 16, since the change amount of the browsing part is detected by detecting the scroll operation of the document by the viewer, the browsing part can be easily performed without performing a special input or the like. It is possible to detect the amount of change.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments and illustrated examples.

An embodiment of a document browsing system will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the document browsing system 100 according to this embodiment, a viewer of a certain document inputs / stores additional information (marking, annotation, comment, etc.), and then a plurality of viewers browse the same document. This is a system that is assumed when a viewer shares the same document.
As shown in FIG. 1, the document browsing system 100 includes a plurality of document browsing apparatuses 1a, 1b, 1c, and a document server 3, which are connected to a local area network (LAN) via a switching hub (not shown), for example. They are connected by a communication network (hereinafter simply referred to as “network”) 5 such as an area network (WAN) or a wide area network (WAN).
In the present embodiment, a case where three document browsing devices 1a, 1b, and 1c are provided is illustrated, but the number of document browsing devices is not particularly limited. For example, more document browsing devices may be connected to the network 5, or a single document browsing device may be used by a plurality of viewers.
Further, each document browsing device 1 a, 1 b, 1 c may not always be connected to the network 5. For example, after the document browsing devices 1a, 1b, and 1c are connected to the network 5 to acquire document data and the like from the document server 3, the connection with the network 5 is canceled and the document browsing is performed in an offline state. Also good.

The document server 3 is a data server that stores document data in various digital formats. The document server 3 is an information storage unit that holds document data (original document data) and additional information data added to the document data in a separable manner. The additional information data is associated with the document data. Is remembered.
As described above, the document data and the additional information data only need to be separable and associated with each other, and the storage format is the same as the additional data in the same file as the document data of the original document. Data may be stored, or both may be stored as different files.

  In the present embodiment, the document data refers to, for example, data on business documents (including Web documents) such as distribution materials at conferences, conference related materials such as conference creation (sharing) materials, reports, manuals, and the like. In addition, it includes data of various electronic documents such as electronic textbooks and electronic books.

  Further, the additional information data is data of additional information such as annotations, comments, markings, memos and the like added later to the document data. As will be described later, these are input by the input unit 21 as additional information input means. In addition, although not particularly shown in FIG. 1, information collected by using external information collection means such as the Internet (for example, more detailed information on the meaning of words, reading kana, words and sentences, and link information thereof), etc. It can be included in this additional information.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of document data and additional information data stored in the document server 3. In FIG. 2, data of “Report A”, “Report B”, “Report C”, “Meeting Related Materials”, “Manual A”, and “Manual B” are stored as document data. The case where two additional information data are stored in association with “Report A” and one additional information data is stored in association with “Conference-related material” is illustrated.

As shown in FIG. 2, the additional information data includes the contents of the additional information (including the imaged contents), the file name of the original document data to which the additional information is added, the writer information of the additional information, and the input ( Added time information, data relating to position specifying information for specifying the position of the additional information on the document data, and the like are stored as one set. In addition, in the case of input by handwriting, information on a locus coordinate point (not shown) indicating a locus (handwriting) in handwriting as coordinates is also stored as additional information data. The contents of the additional information data are not limited to those exemplified here.
The position specifying information includes, for example, the page number of the page where the additional information is located, coordinate information, data related to the character string associated with the additional information, and the position of the sentence. Note that the position specifying information is not limited to the information given here, and may include information other than those exemplified here. Further, the position specifying information only needs to be able to specify the position of the additional information by combining one or a plurality of pieces of information. Therefore, the position specifying information may include only a part of those listed here.

  The document browsing devices 1a, 1b, and 1c are computers that can browse documents and the like based on document data stored in the document server 3. As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 10, ROM (Read Only Memory) ) 17, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 18, a parameter storage unit 19, an input unit 21, a display unit 22, a communication unit 23, etc., and each unit is connected via a bus 25.

The input unit 21 includes, for example, a keyboard provided with cursor keys, numeric input keys, various function keys, a pointing device such as a mouse, a tablet for handwriting input, a stylus pen, and the like (all not shown). An instruction signal input by a key operation on the keyboard, a mouse operation, an operation with a stylus pen, or the like is output to the control unit 10.
In the present embodiment, the input unit 21 functions as additional information input means for a document viewer to input additional information to be added to document data. The input of additional information may be performed by inputting a character string or a code by a keyboard operation or a mouse operation, or may be performed by handwriting input of a character string or a mark by a stylus pen or the like.

The display unit 22 is configured by a known monitor such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a cathode ray tube (CRT), an organic EL panel, a plasma display, a (video) projector, and the like. Various information, input screens, and the like are displayed in accordance with instructions of display signals to be displayed.
In the present embodiment, the display unit 22 functions as a document display unit that displays a document based on document data. When displaying additional information based on additional information data attached to the document data, the display unit 22 The additional information can be displayed superimposed on the corresponding position.

  A pressure-sensitive (resistance film pressure type) touch panel (not shown) in which transparent electrodes are arranged in a grid pattern is formed on the display screen of the display unit 22, and the screen displayed on the display unit 22 and the input unit 21 are formed. May be made to function as additional information input means. The display unit 22 may be a tablet panel. In this case, the touch panel or the tablet panel is configured to detect the XY coordinates of the force point pressed by a finger or a stylus pen as a voltage value and output the detected position signal to the control unit 10 as an operation signal. Is done. The configuration of the touch panel is not limited to the pressure-sensitive type, and may be based on other methods such as an electromagnetic induction method.

  The communication unit 23 includes a LAN adapter, a modem, a TA (Terminal Adapter), and the like, and transmits and receives data to and from each device connected to the network 5 such as a LAN (Local Area Network). Note that the communication unit 23 is not limited to one that can transmit and receive various data with other devices, and is connected to each device via the network 5 as described above.

  The ROM 17 is configured by, for example, a semiconductor nonvolatile memory, and stores various programs such as a system program corresponding to the document browsing apparatus 1 and a control processing program executable on the system program. In the present embodiment, the ROM 17 stores a document display program for performing a display process for causing the display unit 22 to display a later-described document and additional information incidental thereto. Various programs are stored in the ROM 17 in the form of computer-readable program codes, and the control unit 10 sequentially executes operations according to the program codes.

  The RAM 18 temporarily stores various programs read from the ROM 17, input or output data, parameters stored in a parameter storage unit 19, which will be described later, and the like in various processes controlled by the control unit 10. It has a storage area and a work area for expanding them.

The parameter storage unit 19 stores data such as various parameters necessary for the execution of the program.
In the present embodiment, the parameter storage unit 19 defines, for example, a parameter that defines the association between the browsing speed and the amount of additional information to be displayed, and the association between the browsing speed and the existence range of the additional information to be displayed. Parameters etc. are stored.

As a parameter that defines the association between the browsing speed and the information amount of the additional information to be displayed, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the information amount of the additional information to be displayed increases as the browsing speed (the speed of change of the browsing portion) increases. Information associated with each other so as to decrease is prepared, and additional information having an appropriate amount of information is provided in accordance with the browsing speed of the viewer.
In addition, as a parameter defining the association between the browsing speed and the existence range of additional information to be displayed, for example, as shown in FIG. 5, the presence of additional information to be displayed as the browsing speed (the speed of change of the browsing location) increases. Those associated with each other so as to widen the range are prepared, and additional information is provided at an appropriate timing according to the browsing speed of the viewer.
The correspondence relationships shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 are examples, and the relationship between the browsing speed and the amount of additional information to be displayed and the relationship between the browsing speed and the existence range of the additional information to be displayed are other correspondence relationships. You may have.

  The control unit 10 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) and the like, and includes a main body control unit 11, a page change detection unit 12, a browsing location detection unit 13, a browsing location change detection unit 14, and additional information. A display rule setting unit 15 and a display control unit 16 are included. The control unit 10 reads out various programs stored in the ROM 17 and the like described later, expands them in the work area of the RAM 18, executes a control process described later in accordance with the expanded programs, and documents and additional information attached thereto. Is appropriately displayed on the display unit 22.

  The main body control unit 11 is a functional unit that controls the operation of each component and each functional unit constituting the document browsing apparatus 1. The main body control unit 11 controls, for example, transmission / reception of various data by the communication unit 23 and input / output of various control signals.

The page change detection unit 12 acquires the page number information of the document displayed on the display unit 22 in time series, and in addition to the page number information of the currently browsed page, the page change (page turning by the viewer). ) For detecting page change.
Here, the information regarding the page change is, for example, the speed and acceleration of the page change. Note that the page number information of the document displayed on the display unit 22 can be extracted and acquired from the document data of the document.

The browsing location detection unit 13 is a browsing location detection unit that detects the browsing location of the browser when the browser is browsing the document displayed on the display unit 22. The browsing location detection unit 13 is, for example, a visible light camera (including two or more eyes) using a CCD (Charge Coupled Devices), a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), or the like in accordance with the browsing location extraction method described below. It is comprised by the device etc. which detect the operation condition by the input parts 21, such as a video imaging device and a keyboard, a mouse | mouth, a tablet, a touch panel.
As a method for extracting / specifying the browsing location, for example, there are the following methods.

  As a first method, there is a method of specifying a browsing location by detecting information of a viewer's line-of-sight position (view range, see FIG. 6). In this case, for example, the browsing location detection unit 13 includes a camera system with two or more eyes, and the viewing direction of the viewer is detected by the camera system. Then, from this line-of-sight direction, the part of the document displayed on the display unit 22 by the viewer is viewed, that is, the position (field-of-view range) of the viewer's line of sight is detected.

In addition, a well-known thing can be used as a method of detecting a viewer's gaze direction with a camera system.
For example, first, the viewer's eyes are irradiated with infrared light and photographed with a CCD camera or the like, and the pupil portion is detected from the photographed image. Then, after correcting the pupil to approximate an ellipse, the rotation center coordinates of the eyeball and the rotation radius of the eyeball are obtained. Further, a line-of-sight direction vector for the camera is obtained from the rotation center coordinates of the eyeball, the rotation radius, and the center coordinates of the ellipse, and converted to a line-of-sight direction vector in the object coordinate system. In this case, the viewer is allowed to gaze at the display unit 22 that sequentially displays the gazing points at a plurality of positions, and the gaze direction vector data for the camera when each gazing point is gazed is acquired in advance. The correspondence relationship between the viewing direction vector for the viewer and the viewing direction vector in the object coordinate system is acquired. Based on this correspondence, a conversion matrix from the line-of-sight direction vector for the camera to the line-of-sight vector in the object coordinate system is obtained and stored in the parameter storage unit 19 or the like, and the line-of-sight direction for the camera is stored using this conversion matrix. Conversion from a vector to a line-of-sight direction vector in the object coordinate system is performed.

As a second method, there is a method of specifying a browsing location by detecting fingertips of the viewer's fingers and stylus pen tip information (see FIG. 7) on the display screen of the display unit 22. This method is effective when the viewer is browsing the document while following the character string of the document with the fingertip or stylus pen. In this case, for example, the position is specified by detecting, as a voltage value, the XY coordinates of the force point at which the touch panel or the tablet panel is pressed with a finger or a stylus pen.
Note that the method of measuring the position of the fingertip and the position of the pen tip is not limited to this, and for example, the browsing location detection unit 13 includes a two or more camera system. The position of may be measured three-dimensionally. In addition, for example, a sensor device using ultrasonic waves, infrared rays, or the like is provided as the browsing location detection unit 13, and the position of the fingertip or the pen tip on the tablet is measured by this sensor device to detect the browsing location. Good.

  As a third method, there is a method of specifying a browsing location by detecting position information (see FIG. 8) of a pointer or a cursor on the display screen of the display unit 22. This technique is effective when the viewer browses the document while following the character string of the document with a pointer or the like. In this case, the browsing location detection unit 13 periodically detects the position of the pointer or cursor, and acquires time information and position information at the time of detection.

  As a fourth method, there is a method of estimating the change in the browsing location at the present time by acquiring the time change of the scroll information. Compared with the third method from the first method, the fourth method has a lower detection resolution for specifying a browsing location and a change in the browsing location, but is displayed on the display unit 22 in response to, for example, scrolling. This is effective when using a system that changes the highlight position of a document.

  In addition, you may be made to perform extraction and specification of a browsing location by combining all or one part of each information extracted (acquired) by said 4th method from the said 1st method. In addition, when combining each method, for example, it is conceivable to use a method such as averaging the detection results obtained by each method or ranking them in descending order of accuracy. Thus, by specifying a browsing location by combining a plurality of information, it is possible to specify with high accuracy even when an error derived from a viewer's habit or the like appears in a certain technique.

The browsing location change detection unit 14 is a browsing location change detection unit that detects information related to a change in the browsing location from the time-series browsing location information detected by the browsing location detection unit 13.
Here, the information related to the change in the browsing location is, for example, the speed or acceleration of the change in the browsing location. The browsing location change detection unit 14 calculates the temporal change (speed) and acceleration of the browsing location from the browsing elapsed time and the browsing location change amount (change amount indicating how much the browsing location has moved). These pieces of information are preferably stored together with the information of the viewer after viewing the document, and used as the initial value when the same viewer browses the document next time.
In the present embodiment, a case where the browsing location change detection unit 14 detects the speed of change in the browsing location as information related to the change in the browsing location will be described as an example.

The additional information display rule setting unit 15 is an additional information display rule setting unit that sets a display rule when the additional information is superimposed on a document and displayed on the display unit 22.
The way of displaying additional information desired by the viewer differs depending on the type of document, the situation at the time of browsing, the browser's preferences, and the like. Therefore, for example, it is preferable to display the type of display rule on the display unit 22 when browsing a document so that the viewer can select a desired display rule in the Q & A format by operating the input unit 21 or the like. When an input operation for selecting a display rule is performed by the viewer, the input signal is sent to the additional information display rule setting unit 15, and the display rule selected by the viewer by the additional information display rule setting unit 15 Set as a display rule when displaying a document.
It is also possible to set a display rule to be applied when browsing the document by default. Further, for example, the parameter storage unit 19 or the like stores the association between the type of each document and the display rule to be applied, and when the document data is opened, the display rule is automatically selected according to the association. You may make it apply and process.

In this embodiment, the display rules set by the additional information display rule setting unit 15 are: 1) Do not display additional information (first display rule), 2) Superimpose all additional information associated with document data. (Second display rule), and 3) display speed (change speed of browsing location) and the amount of additional information to be displayed in correspondence (third display rule), 4) browsing speed There is a (fourth display rule) in which (the speed of change of the browsing location) and the existence range of the additional information to be displayed are displayed in association with each other.
In addition, the display rule mentioned here is an example, and a display rule is not limited to this. Display rules other than these may be settable, or only a part of these display rules may be selected and set. The third display rule and the fourth display rule may be set to be applied in combination.

The display control unit 16 controls the display of the display unit 22 and displays a document on the display unit 22 based on the document data or displays an image based on the image data. Further, when there is additional information data added to the document data, the display control unit 16 displays additional information based on the additional information data so as to be superimposed on the document displayed on the display unit 22. It functions as a control means.
In the present embodiment, the display control unit 16 controls the display of the additional information on the display unit 22 based on the detection results of the browsing location detection unit 13 and the browsing location change detection unit 14. The display method set in accordance with the additional information display rule setting unit 15 is used for the display method.

For example, when the first display rule is applied (set) by the additional information display rule setting unit 15, only the original document that does not include the additional information is displayed on the display unit 22.
In addition, when the second display rule is applied (set), all additional information added to the document is included in the document regardless of the browsing speed of the viewer (the speed of change of the browsing location). Overlay and display.

  Further, when the third display rule is applied (set), the display control unit 16 refers to the parameter (see FIG. 4) stored in the parameter storage unit 19 and, for example, when the browsing speed is slow. Although a large amount of additional information is displayed, the amount of additional information to be displayed is adjusted according to the browsing speed of the viewer so that only a small amount of additional information is displayed when the browsing speed is high.

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, additional information α such as marking attached to a character string “AB” as additional information associated with a document, and additional information β such as marking attached to a character string “CDE”. , Γ, and when the speed of movement of the viewer's visual field range in the arrow X direction is high, only the additional information β is displayed even if the visual field range moves to the vicinity of the character string “CDE”. The amount of additional information to be displayed is adjusted so that γ is not displayed. The same applies to the case where the browsing location is specified by the position of the user's finger (see FIG. 7) and the case where the browsing location is specified by the position of the pointer (see FIG. 8).
In addition, when a plurality of additional information β and γ are attached to the same position on the document (character string “CDE” in FIG. 6), which information is preferentially displayed is, for example, additional information added. Before the time (priority is displayed with the latest information), additional information size (data amount) (small information is displayed with priority), priority of the writer who added the additional information (added by the key person) And the like are displayed according to a certain rule (priority order) stored in the parameter storage unit 19 or the like. This rule may be set as a default in advance, or may be arbitrarily set by the user.
When the browsing speed is slow, when a plurality of additional information β and γ are added at the same position on the document, the additional information β and γ are displayed in order from the highest priority. In this case, when all of the additional information is displayed, it is preferable to display the next additional information, and a plurality of additional information may be displayed in an overlapping manner (for example, the additional information is displayed in a translucent manner, The additional information previously displayed may be seen through). Alternatively, the additional information may be overwritten one after another.

  Further, the display control unit 16 controls the display of the additional information so as to display the additional information added at a position within a predetermined range from the location viewed by the viewer. When the display rule of 4 is applied (set), the display control unit 16 refers to the parameter (see FIG. 5) stored in the parameter storage unit 19 and determines how much the “predetermined range” is. Decide what to do. Specifically, for example, when the browsing speed is slow, only the additional information existing in a range close to the current browsing location is displayed, but when the browsing speed is fast, a wider range (range far from the current browsing location) The additional information existing range to be displayed is adjusted according to the browsing speed of the viewer, and the additional information existing range is changed to “predetermined range” as the browsing location is moved. The additional information is displayed when it falls within “”.

  For example, as shown in FIG. 6, there are additional information α attached to a character string “AB” and additional information β, γ attached to a character string “CDE” as additional information associated with a document. When the viewer's visual field range moves slowly in the direction of the arrow X, only the additional information α added to the character string “AB” in the vicinity of the visual field range is displayed, and the visual field range is the character string “ When it moves to the vicinity of “CDE”, the additional information β and γ are displayed. On the other hand, when the viewer's visual field range moves at a high speed in the arrow X direction, not only the additional information α but also a position farther from the visual field range is added even when the visual field range exists at the position shown in FIG. The additional information β and γ are also displayed together. The same applies to the case where the browsing location is specified by the position of the user's finger (see FIG. 7) and the case where the browsing location is specified by the position of the pointer (see FIG. 8).

  Further, the display control unit 16 controls the display of additional information on the display unit 22 based on the detection result by the page change detection unit 11. Specifically, for example, the page change speed (page turning speed by the viewer) in the case of a standard browsing speed is stored in the parameter storage unit 19 or the like, and the page change detected by the page change detection unit 12 is stored. When the speed exceeds the page change speed in the case of this standard browsing speed, display control such as preventing additional information from being displayed is performed.

In other words, when browsing a document, there are a case where the first page is read carefully (pattern 1) and a case where only the portion to be read is picked up and read (pattern 2). ing.
First, in the case of pattern 1, desired document data is read from the document server 3, the first page is displayed on the display unit 22, and browsing is started in order from the first page. In this case, when the additional information data is associated with the document data, the display control unit 16 displays the additional information according to the set display rule.
On the other hand, in the case of the pattern 2, the desired document data is read from the document server 3 and the first page is first displayed on the display unit 22; Done frequently. When a location to be read carefully is found on a certain page, the page is displayed and browsing (reading) of the corresponding portion is started. In addition, when there are other portions to be read carefully, page feed and page return are repeated again. As described above, when searching for a portion to be read carefully in the pattern 2 (hereinafter referred to as “when searching”), it is not always necessary to display additional information. Therefore, the display control unit 16 determines whether browsing by the viewer has been started or during search based on the detection result by the page change detection unit 12 or the browse location change detection unit 14. The display of the display unit 22 is controlled so that the additional information is not displayed.

Note that there are the following methods for automatically determining whether browsing by a viewer is started or when searching. However, the discrimination method is not limited to that exemplified here.
For example, from the detection result of the page change detection unit 12, browsing is performed in ascending order of page numbers, the display time for each page is relatively long, and the variation in the display time of each page is small. From the detection result by the unit 14, when the movement of the line of sight, the movement of the fingers, etc. are along the character string of the document, or when the speed of change of the browsed portion is equal to the speed at the time of normal document browsing, etc. There is a high possibility that the person is reading the document from the first page, and the display control unit 16 determines that it is the browsing pattern 1.
On the other hand, if the browsing does not follow the ascending order of the page numbers (when there is a page return or page skip) from the detection result by the page change detection unit 12, or if the display time for each page is relatively short, the viewer carefully reads There is a high possibility that it is at the time of searching for a place to be searched, and the display control unit 16 determines that it is the browsing pattern 2. Also, even when the display time variation of each page is large, it is highly possible that a portion to be read carefully and a portion to be skipped are mixed, so it is determined that a search is being performed. Also, from the detection result by the browsing location change detection unit 14, when the movement of the line of sight, the movement of the fingers, etc. are not along the character string of the document, the speed of the change of the browsing location is faster than the speed at the time of normal document browsing In addition, since there is a high possibility that the search is being performed, the display control unit 16 determines that it is the browsing pattern 2.

  Note that, for example, a predetermined threshold value is stored in advance in the parameter storage unit 19 or the like as to whether the display time of the page is long or short, and whether or not the speed of change of the browsing location is equal to the speed at the time of normal document browsing. Judgment is made using this threshold value. The initial value of the threshold is a) a value input / set by the viewer, b) data of display time and speed of the other person who viewed the same document data, c) display time and speed of the viewer in the past browsing Can be used.

The browsing speed at the time of fine reading varies depending on the viewer and document contents. For this reason, for example, the time taken to read one page may be measured, and the threshold value may be appropriately updated using the measured time. By repeating such updating of the threshold value, it is possible to improve the accuracy and reliability of the determination in response to a change in the document content (for example, a change in the difficulty level of the document).
In addition, the search method and habit when searching for a location to be read differ depending on the viewer. For this reason, in order to reflect the viewer's behavior in the parameters, page number transition history data, browsing location change history data, etc. are acquired, and the transition patterns and change patterns are stored in the parameter storage unit 19 and the like. It is preferable to keep it. By updating the current transition pattern and change pattern in consideration of the past transition pattern and change pattern, it is possible to make a more appropriate determination in accordance with the viewer's habit and the like.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the additional information display at the time of search can be set separately. In addition, as a method of displaying additional information at the time of search, for example, the following can be considered.
That is, as a first display method, the additional information is not displayed during the search, and a portion to be read carefully is found. When the reading is started, the additional information is displayed according to the display rule according to the browsing situation. There is. As a second display method, all the additional information is displayed during the search, and when the portion to be read is found and the page to be read is determined (for example, when the display time of the same page becomes long), the additional information is temporarily displayed. There is a method in which all information is erased and additional information is displayed according to the display rule according to the browsing situation after starting the detailed reading. The second display method is effective, for example, when it is desired to specify a precise reading location using additional information as a clue (when there is important information for specifying the precise reading location in the additional information). In addition, what can be set as a method of displaying additional information at the time of search is not limited to the example illustrated here. It is preferable that it can be set as appropriate according to the viewer's preference and application.

  Next, a method for displaying additional information associated with a document in this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11. Note that the processing in the method for displaying the additional information associated with the document is realized by the cooperation of the control unit 10 and the document display program stored in the ROM 17.

As shown in FIG. 9, first, when a viewer inputs a document to be browsed from the input unit 21, the main body control unit 11 acquires the document data of the document from the document server 3 via the communication unit 23 (step S1). Then, the acquired document data file is opened (step S2), and a document based on the document data is displayed on the display unit 22 (step S3).
At this time, the display control unit 16 determines whether there is additional information associated with the document (step S4). If the additional information is not associated (step S4: NO), only the document is displayed. (Step S5). If the additional information is associated (step S4: YES), it is determined whether to display the additional information (step S6). If the additional information is not displayed (step S6: NO, the first display rule is set). If so, only the document is displayed (step S7). When displaying the additional information (step S6: YES), the display control unit 16 further determines whether to display the additional information corresponding to the browsing operation (step S8), and does not correspond to the browsing operation (step S8). In step S8: NO, when the second display rule is set), all the additional information is displayed superimposed on the corresponding portion in the document (step S9).

  When making it respond | correspond to browsing operation | movement (step S8: YES), the display control part 16 judges further whether a browsing speed and the presence range of additional information are matched, and is displayed (step S10). When the additional information existence range is not associated (step S10: NO), only the browsing speed and the information amount of the additional information are displayed in association with each other (step S11, when the third display rule is set) ). When the browsing speed is associated with the existence range of the additional information (step S10: YES), the display control unit 16 determines whether to display the browsing speed and the information amount of the additional information in correspondence (step S12). ) When the browsing speed and the information amount of the additional information are not associated (step S12: NO), only the browsing speed and the existence range of the additional information are displayed in association with each other (step S13, the fourth display rule is If set). When the browsing speed is associated with the information amount of the additional information (step S12: YES), the display control unit 16 associates the browsing speed with the existence range of the additional information, and the browsing speed with the information amount of the additional information. (Step S14, when the third display rule and the fourth display rule are set).

Here, the process (step S11 in FIG. 9) when the third display rule is set will be described with reference to FIG.
When the third display rule is set, the browsing location detection unit 13 detects the browsing location of the viewer (step S21), and the browsing location change detection unit 14 detects the change amount of the browsing location (change speed). Is detected (step S22). And the display control part 16 determines the information content of the additional information displayed based on the detection result by the browsing location change detection part 14 (step S23).

  The display control unit 16 determines whether there is additional information associated with a predetermined range in the vicinity of the viewing location (step S24), and adds information associated with the predetermined range in the vicinity of the viewing location. If there is no information (step S24: NO), only the document is displayed without displaying the additional information. On the other hand, when there is associated additional information (step S24: YES), the determined amount of additional information is displayed superimposed on the document (step S25). The display control unit 16 determines whether the browsing is finished (step S26). If the browsing is not finished, the process from step S21 to step S25 is repeated, and if the browsing is finished, the process is finished.

Next, a process (step S13 in FIG. 9) when the fourth display rule is set will be described with reference to FIG.
When the fourth display rule is set, the browsing location detection unit 13 detects the browsing location of the viewer (step S31), and the browsing location change detection unit 14 detects the amount of change (the speed of change). Is detected (step S32). And the display control part 16 determines the presence range of the additional information displayed based on the detection result by the browsing location change detection part 14 (step S33).

  The display control unit 16 determines whether there is additional information that is in the vicinity of the viewing location and is associated with the determined range (step S34), and is associated with the determined range. If there is no information (step S34: NO), only the document is displayed without displaying the additional information. On the other hand, if there is associated additional information (step S34: YES), the corresponding additional information is displayed superimposed on the document (step S35). The display control unit 16 determines whether the browsing is finished (step S36). If the browsing is not finished, the process from step S31 to step S35 is repeated, and if the browsing is finished, the process is finished.

  When both the third display rule and the fourth display rule are set (step S14 in FIG. 9), the display control unit 16 adds the information according to the viewing speed (the amount of change in the viewing location). The information amount of the information and the existence range of the additional information are determined, and the additional information associated with the determined range is displayed according to the determined information amount.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, display control is performed by separating the original document and additional information added to the document later, and detection by the browsing location detection unit 13 and the browsing location change detection unit 14 is performed. The display of the additional information can be automatically controlled based on the result.
As a result, it is possible to provide only additional information associated with the vicinity of the portion being browsed by the viewer without performing a special input operation, and it is difficult to read the original document due to unnecessary additional information. While preventing, it becomes easy to attract a viewer's interest to the display of additional information.

  Further, since the existence range of the additional information to be displayed is determined according to the browsing speed of the viewer, only the additional information of the portion necessary for browsing can be provided to the viewer.

  Moreover, since the information amount of the additional information to be displayed is determined according to the browsing speed of the viewer, the additional information corresponding to the browsing pace can be provided to the viewer.

  In addition, since the viewer can select the display method of the additional information from the first display rule to the fourth display rule, the additional information can be displayed according to the viewer's preference, browsing status, and the like. It can be carried out.

  Further, since it is possible to prevent the additional information from being automatically displayed during a search for a portion to be read carefully, the display of the original document can be performed by eliminating the display of the additional information that is not necessarily required.

When rereading a page that has already been displayed, the display method of the additional information on the page may be set so that a display rule different from that when browsing for the first time is applied.
Further, for example, when browsing for the first time, as shown in FIG. 9, the presence / absence of additional information and the display rules to be applied are determined one by one. The display process may be performed.

Further, when additional information is input by handwriting from the input unit 21 such as a tablet, the display method may be set separately by operating the input unit 21 or the like.
As a method of displaying the additional information by handwriting, for example, the following can be considered. That is, (a) the entire incidental information is displayed at once. (B) It displays in order for every handwritten stroke. (C) A handwritten locus is displayed in time series.
The method (b) is, for example, a case where handwritten characters are sequentially displayed one by one. Further, the method (c) is, for example, a case where a part is sequentially displayed according to a locus input by handwriting. In addition, when performing display by the method (b) and the method (c), it is necessary to store information on a locus coordinate point indicating a handwritten locus as additional information data and store it in the document server 3. is there.

In the present embodiment, the document browsing system 100 has been described as an example in which the document browsing system 100 includes a plurality of document browsing apparatuses 1a, 1b, and 1c and the document server 3. However, the document server is included in a certain document browsing apparatus. In preparation, the document browsing system may be configured by one document browsing device. In this case, a document browsing device connected via a network that does not have a built-in document server accesses a document browsing device having a document server and acquires necessary document data from the document server.
In the present embodiment, the document browsing apparatuses 1a, 1b, and 1c are configured to include the input unit 21 and the display unit 22 as the document information display unit, but the input unit and the display unit (document information display unit). However, it is good also as a structure provided separately from the document browsing apparatus 1a, 1b, 1c.

  In addition, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment and can be modified as appropriate.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the document browsing system in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the data stored in the document server shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the document management apparatus shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the parameter which matched the speed of the change of a browsing location, and the information content of the additional information to display. It is a figure which shows an example of the parameter which matched the speed of the change of a browsing location, and the presence range of the additional information to display. It is explanatory drawing explaining the method of specifying a browsing location with a visual field range. It is explanatory drawing explaining the method of specifying a browsing location with the position of a finger. It is explanatory drawing explaining the method of pinpointing a browsing location with the position of a pointer. It is a flowchart which shows the display process of the additional information linked | related with the document in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows a process when the 3rd display rule shown in FIG. 9 is applied. It is a flowchart which shows a process when the 4th display rule shown in FIG. 9 is applied.

Explanation of symbols

1a, 1b, 1c Document browsing device 3 Document server (information storage means)
5 Network 10 Control unit 11 Main body control unit 12 Page change detection unit (page change detection means)
13 Browsing location detection unit (browsing location detection means)
14 Browsing location change detection unit (browsing location change detection means)
15 Additional information display rule setting unit (additional information display rule setting means)
16 Display controller 17 ROM
18 RAM
19 Parameter storage unit 21 Input unit 22 Display unit (document display means)
23 Communication unit 100 Document browsing system

Claims (16)

Information storage means for holding document data and additional information data added later to the document data in a separable manner;
Document display means for displaying a document based on the document data;
Browsing location detection means for detecting a browsing location of a viewer who browses the document displayed on the document display means;
A browsing location change detecting means for detecting a change amount of the browsing location;
Additional information display control means for displaying additional information based on the additional information data superimposed on the document displayed on the document display means,
The additional information display control means controls the display of the additional information on the document display means based on the detection results of the browsing location detection means and the browsing location change detection means. Browsing system.   The additional information display control means controls the display of the additional information so as to display the additional information added at a position within a predetermined range from the browsing location of the viewer. The document browsing system according to claim 1. The amount of change in the browsing location detected by the browsing location change detecting means is the speed or acceleration of the change in the browsing location of the viewer,
The document browsing system according to claim 2, wherein the additional information display control unit determines the predetermined range based on the speed or acceleration. The amount of change in the browsing location detected by the browsing location change detecting means is the speed or acceleration of the change in the browsing location of the viewer,
The said additional information display control means determines the information amount of the said additional information displayed on the said document display means based on this speed or acceleration, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. Document browsing system described in 1. Comprising additional information display rule setting means for setting a display rule when displaying the additional information;
2. The additional information display control unit controls display of the additional information on the document display unit in accordance with the display rule set by the additional information display rule setting unit. The document browsing system according to claim 4. Page change detection means for detecting a page change of the document displayed on the document display means,
The said additional information display control means controls the display of the said additional information on the said document display means based on the detection result by the said page change detection means, The Claims 1-5 characterized by the above-mentioned. The document browsing system according to any one of the above.   The document browsing according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the browsing location detection means detects a browsing location of the viewer by detecting a viewing position of the viewer. system.   The said browsing location change detection means detects the variation | change_quantity of the said browsing location by detecting the scroll operation of the document by a viewer, The any one of Claims 1-7 characterized by the above-mentioned. Document browsing system described. A method for browsing a document based on document data held in the information storage means so as to be separable and additional information based on additional information data added later to the document data,
A document display step of displaying a document based on the document data on a document display means;
A browsing location detection step of detecting a browsing location of a viewer who browses the document displayed on the document display means in the document display step;
A browsing location change detection step for detecting a change in the browsing location;
An additional information display step of displaying the additional information superimposed on the document displayed on the document display means,
The additional information display step displays the additional information on the document display unit in accordance with detection results in the browsing location detection step and the browsing location change detection step. How to display.   10. The additional information display step displays the additional information added at a position within a predetermined range from the browsing location of the viewer on the document display means. To display additional information associated with other documents. The amount of change in the browsing location detected by the browsing location change detection step is the speed or acceleration of the change in the browsing location of the viewer,
11. The method for displaying additional information associated with a document according to claim 10, wherein the additional information display step determines the predetermined range based on the speed or acceleration. The amount of change in the browsing location detected by the browsing location change detection step is the speed or acceleration of the change in the browsing location of the viewer,
The said additional information display process determines the information content of the said additional information displayed on the said document display means based on this speed or acceleration, The Claim 1 characterized by the above-mentioned. A method for displaying additional information associated with the described document. An additional information display rule setting step for setting a display rule when displaying the additional information;
13. The additional information display step displays the additional information on the document display unit in accordance with the display rule set in the additional information display rule setting step. The display method of the additional information linked | related with the document as described in any one of these. A page change detection step of detecting a page change of the document displayed on the document display means;
The additional information display step displays the additional information on the document display means based on a detection result in the page change detection step. A method of displaying additional information associated with the document described in the item.   The document according to any one of claims 9 to 14, wherein the browsing location detecting step detects a browsing location of the viewer by detecting a viewing position of the viewer. How to display associated additional information.   The said browsing location change detection process detects the variation | change_quantity of the said browsing location by detecting scroll operation of the document by a viewer, The any one of Claims 9-15 characterized by the above-mentioned. A method for displaying additional information associated with the described document.

Images