JP2010211249A - Server device, tournament providing method and server program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a user to post on and participate in a tournament without disadvantages or without limitation in time for voting objects, even after starting the tournament, and to perform appropriate evaluation even when the number of voting objects are large. <P>SOLUTION: A hierarchized block operation panel 32 is composed of 0-2 level areas 320-322, wherein a rectangular cell (icon) within each area corresponds to one block, one image is selected as a high-order block based on the points of eight images within each block, and this selected image belongs to both upper and lower blocks. The number of images posted to each block is determined by the image of the icon. A user clicks the icon of the block to which the eight images belong, whereby sub-tournament of this block is performed. The eight images before competition are aligned in row so that all competition results of the sub-tournament can be confirmed, and the image of a winner is disposed on the upper side of two competitive images. The overall ranks of all images of the tournament are determined based on the total sum of level-based valid points of each image. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a server device for allowing a user to select an image itself or information included in an image for every block composed of a predetermined number of images and evaluating the result, and a tournament providing method using this server device And a server program for implementing this method.

  With the spread of digital cameras and mobile phones with digital cameras, there are increasing opportunities for general users to exhibit and enjoy images taken by themselves in contests and to improve shooting technology.

In Patent Document 1 below, an image taken with a digital camera is transmitted to a server with a mobile phone, applied for a digital image contest, and released for a predetermined period, for example, one month, to a digital image that the user likes. It is disclosed that a vote is performed, the number of votes is counted for each digital image, and a digital image with a large number of votes is announced as an excellent work.
According to this system, it is possible to have other people evaluate their digital images.

  However, when there are a large number of evaluation targets, proper evaluation is not easy.

  On the other hand, the following Patent Document 2 discloses performing a music contest by audition and tournament. In this audition, music is randomly selected from paid registration music that has been applied for and distributed to the audition members, and the ranking is determined by electronic voting. This tournament is held for a certain period of time for the registered music that won the top in the audition, 2 songs are delivered to the trial members in a battle format, and the auditioned music is voted electronically, for example, with a score of 10 out of 10 and ranked by overall score Is determined.

  According to this system, since voting is performed for every two songs, more appropriate evaluation can be performed.

  However, in a conventional tournament, a tournament can be performed only after it has been narrowed down to a small number by audition.

In addition, since none of the above inventions can participate in the contest during the contest, it is not easy to collect a large number of contest applicants, and as a result, it is not easy to collect a large number of voters.
JP 2003-208385 A JP 2002-041826 A

  When performing image tournaments on the Internet using the conventional method, if you try to configure the tournament to the highest level, you can start the first level of the tournament at a certain time and limit the application period. Later, the higher level will be selected to stop the first level vote, start the second level of the tournament, and repeat the same. For this reason, application to the tournament is limited in terms of time, and those who participated in the vote later are limited in voting.

In other words, although voting in a tournament has the advantage that a proper evaluation can be performed in a short time, the restrictions are large even on the Internet where restrictions are loose, resulting in a small number of contributors and voters. There is a problem of lack of excitement.

  Further, when the number of tournament target images increases, the whole cannot be easily grasped, so it is not possible to easily confirm how other people have evaluated their own evaluation results, and the user's willingness to participate in voting decreases.

  On the other hand, if the user can select the product, design, mark, etc. on the Internet in a tournament format that can easily check the progress of the comparison result, the selection of the product etc. will be easy, appropriate and quick, Sales of products and provision of services can be promoted.

  In view of the above problems, the first object of the present invention is to contribute to the tournament without being disadvantaged even after the tournament starts, and the voting object is not limited in time, and the number of voting objects is not limited. The object is to provide a server device that can perform an appropriate evaluation at most, a tournament providing method using this device, and a server program for executing this method.

  A second object of the present invention is to provide a server device that makes it possible to easily grasp the whole and part of the tournament vote even when the number of tournament votes is large, and to select and vote the part easily. The object is to provide a tournament providing method using this apparatus and a server program for carrying out this method.

  A third object of the present invention is to provide a server device that allows a user to select products, services, designs, etc. on the Internet easily and appropriately and can easily check the progress of evaluation. The object is to provide a tournament providing method using an apparatus and a server program for implementing the method.

In the first aspect of the server device according to the present invention, storage means for storing image information including identification information and total score of each of a plurality of images, and a client-side Web program;
A program / image information transmitting means for transmitting a part or all of the image information to the request source in response to a request from a client;
The client-side Web program causes the client to display each block of the hierarchized block composed of three or more blocks, and to select a block in which a predetermined number of images determined by the hierarchical level belong to the block. In response to the user's selection, two battle images are selected from a plurality of images belonging to the selected block, and a winner is determined in response to the user selecting one of the selected two images. And the sub-tournament is performed by repeating the selection and the determination process.
Based on the result of the sub-tournament, the total score of each winner's image is updated, and the image with the maximum total score is selected from among the images belonging to the block, and the hierarchical level belongs to the higher block. The image further includes selection means for belonging to the block before selection, and the predetermined number is the number of images selected from the lower level to the upper one block except for the block having the lowest hierarchical level. The battle image is a battle target image or an image related to the battle target. The battle target is a battle image itself (including character strings such as haiku and tanka), a product (including a financial product), a service, a moving image, a voice, and the like related to the battle image.

  According to this configuration, since the sub tournament is not started unless the predetermined number is reached for each block, there is no particular disadvantage even if it participates in the tournament after the tournament starts, and it is possible to post anytime.

  In addition, since the selected image belonging to the upper block belongs to the block before being selected, the user can vote at any time for the predetermined number of blocks.

  Furthermore, since the sub tournament is performed in units of blocks, there is an effect that the evaluation can be easily and appropriately performed even if the number of tournament battle targets is large.

  In addition, since the image with the highest total score among the images belonging to the block is selected and the hierarchical level belongs to the upper block, even if the image belonging to the block of the lowest level is fixed, it is assigned to the upper block. There is an effect that an image to which the user belongs is not fixed, and it is possible to appropriately select a higher evaluation target.

  In the second aspect of the server device according to the present invention, in the first aspect, the client-side Web program causes the client to display each block of the hierarchical block as an icon and responds to the user selecting the icon. Then, all the images belonging to the block corresponding to this icon are displayed, and the size of the battle image is made larger than the size of these images.

  According to this configuration, even if the number of tournament posted images is large, it is possible to easily grasp the entire tournament posted image and each block, and it is possible to easily select a block and perform a sub tournament.

  In the third aspect of the server device according to the present invention, in the first or second aspect, the client-side Web program arranges all the images in a row for the client, and the winner is placed on one side of the two images of the battle. Are arranged so that the user can confirm the result of all the matches of the sub tournament.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to easily check the progress of the evaluation by voting, and in particular, when the battle image is the battle target itself, it contributes to improvement of the voting technique of the voter.

  In the fourth aspect of the server device according to the present invention, in the second or third aspect, the client-side Web program causes the client to arrange the icons in a line for each level of the hierarchy, and a predetermined number of lower levels. Are arranged in association with icons corresponding to higher-level blocks configured by selecting from the blocks corresponding to the predetermined number of icons, and the length is proportional to the number of images belonging to the block corresponding to each icon. This icon has an image that indicates the height.

  According to this configuration, even if the number of tournament posts is large, it is possible to more easily grasp the entire battle target and each block, and it is possible to more easily select a block and perform a sub-tournament.

  In a fifth aspect of the server device according to the present invention, in the third or fourth aspect, the client-side Web program causes the client to determine the two battle images based on a random number and arranges the arrangement of all the images. Let me decide.

  According to this structure, even if the battle | competition object in a block is fixed, there exists an effect that more suitable evaluation (total score) can be obtained by performing a sub tournament in multiple times.

In a sixth aspect of the server device according to the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the image information includes user identification information for each image,
The client-side Web program makes the client determine whether one of the two images of the battle is of the logged-in sub-tournament execution user based on the image information, and if an affirmative determination is made, The winner is determined based on the effective score of both.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to obtain a more fair evaluation result, and there is an effect that it is preferable particularly when a prize is provided.

  In a seventh aspect of the server device according to the present invention, in any one of the first to sixth aspects, an average value of the number of sub-tournament executions of each block is obtained for each hierarchical level, and each image is obtained with the average value for each hierarchical level. In order to obtain an effective score by correcting the total score, determine the ranking of all images based on the effective score, and display a predetermined number of images in the order of the determined order on the client browser in response to a request from the client Ranking web page generation means for generating the ranking web page and transmitting it to the request source.

  According to this configuration, even when the number of executions of the sub tournament is different between blocks, there is an effect that the ranks of all blocks in the same hierarchy can be determined more fairly.

  In an eighth aspect of the server apparatus according to the present invention, in the seventh aspect, the ranking Web page generation means obtains the effective score of each image at the i-th level based on the formula Mi · MTi / Ti, Mi, MTi, and Ti are the total score of the image, the average value of the sub tournament execution times of all the blocks of the i-th level, and the sub tournament execution times of the block to which the image belongs, respectively.

  In a ninth aspect of the server device according to the present invention, in the eighth aspect, the ranking Web page generation means weights the sum of the effective scores for each hierarchical level or the effective scores for each hierarchical level for each image. The sum is determined as the effective score for this image.

  According to this configuration, even if the number of sub-tournament executions is different between blocks, there is an effect that the ranks of all blocks in all layers can be determined more fairly.

In a tenth aspect of the server device according to the present invention, in any one of the seventh to ninth aspects, the ranking Web page further includes a lower block selection icon corresponding to each image displayed on the rank display section. ,
The ranking Web page generation means further includes an image corresponding to the lower block selection icon based on the image information stored in the storage means in response to a request based on the operation of the lower block selection icon by the user. A block that is one level lower than the block is determined, a ranking Web page is generated by regarding that the determined block is selected and responded to the request source.

  According to this configuration, there is an effect that it is possible to easily confirm how an arbitrary image belonging to the upper block is evaluated in the lower block.

In an eleventh aspect of the server device according to the present invention, storage means for storing image information including identification information of each of a plurality of images and a client-side Web program;
A program / image information transmitting means for transmitting all or a part of the client-side Web program and the image information to a request source in response to a request from a client;
The client-side Web program arranges a plurality of images corresponding to all or part of the image information in a row for the client, and selects two battle images from the plurality of images. The winner is determined in response to the user selecting one of the two selected images, and a sub-tournament is performed by repeating the selection and the determination process. The image of the winner is arranged so that the user can confirm the result of all the battles of the sub tournament, and the battle image is a battle target image or an image related to the battle target.

  According to this configuration, it is possible to easily, appropriately and quickly select a product, a design, a mark, and the like based on an image on the Internet by the user, and also allow the user to easily check the progress of evaluation. And contribute to the promotion of product sales and service provision.

  Other objects, configurations and effects of the present invention will become apparent from the following description.

  First, the design concept of the image contest system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the Web browser display screen of the client.

  It is not easy for a user to give a score to each of a large number of photographic images arranged on a Web page. On the other hand, it is relatively easy for the user to determine which image is liked by arranging two images, and it can be determined in a short time.

The number of images needs to be ²ⁿ in order to eliminate a win in the tournament. If it is easy to see the tournament target images on one line in one page and more are arranged, the image size is too small when n = 4, and the number of images is too small when n = 2. Therefore, n = 3, that is, 8 images is considered most preferable.

  In comparison, it is preferable to increase the size and arrange the battle pairs in comparison.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 13, 8 images are arranged in a line on the Web page, and during the battle, 2 images are taken out from these 8 images and made large and juxtaposed as shown in FIG. When the user moves the icon of the pointing device onto the image he likes and clicks, the user adds 1 point to the total score of the image. In an 8-image tournament, 4 images are first selected and 1 point is added to each, 2 images are selected from them, 1 point is added to each, and then one of the 2 images is selected. One more point is added to this.

  If eight images are randomly exchanged before each match for each user, the average value of evaluations by a large number of users is considered to be appropriate. Moreover, voting motivation can be promoted by giving game nature.

  Therefore, after eight images are shuffled like moving images on the Web page of FIG. 13 and rearranged as shown in FIG. 14, the images are operated as described above with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 17, the voting result including the voting process of 8 images is displayed. This includes the score of each image before voting (total score, the same applies hereinafter) and the score of the voting process.

  By displaying in this way, it is possible to confirm what kind of image the user tends to prefer and to easily grasp the difference from the evaluation of others. When this tournament is used for merchandise selection, it is possible to reconfirm the result of voting and consider the evaluation of others, so that it is possible to purchase merchandise with more certainty.

  Here, for example, an integer starting from 0 is used on the program as a variable value indicating the level of the tournament hierarchical structure, and a value obtained by adding 1 to this value is used on the display screen. This is explained using integers on the program.

  At the 0th level of the tournament hierarchy (the first level on the display screen), a large number of such 8-image blocks are created, and a block is created at the first level that collects 8 images with the highest score in each block. However, by performing the same processing, the above advantages can be maintained and a tournament can be performed for a large number of images. Hereinafter, the tournament for each block is referred to as a sub tournament.

  In the sub-tournament, if the post is abandoned without selecting the last one image, voting is invalidated. As a result, the number of sub-tournaments executed for each image in an arbitrary block at the 0th level is the same. Therefore, the highest scorer of each block can be raised to the first level more fairly.

  In Internet contests, it is preferable to be able to participate in voting anytime without any time limit. In this way, the image with the highest score in each block changes with time, and the combination of the images of the first level blocks varies. In addition, the winning image exists in both the blocks before and after winning, and a sub tournament can be executed in each block. You can vote from any level block. In these respects, the tournament of the present invention is different from the conventional one.

  Under such a rule, except for the highest level of one block, the number of sub-tournament executions differs between blocks, so that the ranks of all blocks of the same level cannot be determined fairly. Therefore, the effective score is introduced to solve this problem.

  Before describing this effective score, the outline of the tournament will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  If the number of images is so large that the user cannot grasp the overall outline, it will cause a decrease in willingness to vote.

  Therefore, by creating a screen 31 (browser window screen, hereinafter the same) 31 as shown in FIG. 7, the overall outline can be easily grasped.

  The upper side of the screen 31 is a tournament result display unit, the left side thereof is a tournament target image classification unit, and the lower side is a hierarchical block operation panel 32 corresponding to the tournament hierarchical structure.

  The hierarchized block operation panel 32 includes a 0th level area 320, a first level area 320, and a second level area 322, and each of the internal rectangular cells (block icons) corresponds to one block. The 0th level consists of 64 blocks (B00-063 in order from the left), and the highest score image of each block is selected to form the first level of 8 blocks (B10 to B17 in order from the left). The image of the highest effective score of each block is selected to form the second level of one block (B20). Since the image selected as the upper block also belongs to the block before being selected, the selection does not prevent the lower block from becoming less than 8 images and the sub tournament cannot be executed.

In the cell corresponding to the block in which the posted image exists, a columnar image having a height proportional to the number of images is inserted, and which block has eight images and which sub-tournament can be executed. It is possible to easily grasp the outline of the tournament participation status such as whether or not it will soon become 8 images and can be executed.

  Next, the above-mentioned effective score will be described.

  For each level of the tournament hierarchy, the average value of the number of sub tournaments is determined. On the left side of the hierarchized block operation panel 32, an average value (hereinafter, abbreviated as “average ST number”) 323 of sub-tournament execution times (hereinafter abbreviated as “ST number”) of each level is displayed. Therefore, it is possible to easily grasp the sub tournament execution status outline.

  For each image, if the ST count is smaller than the average ST count, the effective score is higher than the actual score, and if the ST count is greater than the average ST count, the effective score is corrected to be lower than the actual score. The ranking is determined based on.

  For example, when the average ST count is 80, an image with an actual score of 100 at the ST count of 160 is an effective score of 100 * (80/160) = 50, and an image of the actual score vote page 60 with an ST score of 80 is an effective score of 60. * (80/80) = 60, and an image with an actual score of 10 at an ST count of 8 has an effective score of 10 * (80/8) = 80.

  If the number of STs is small, the variation of the effective score is generally large. However, if the number of STs increases, such a problem disappears, and this problem disappears automatically as the tournament progresses. Further, for each image, an effective score is calculated at each level, and the sum of these is set as the total effective score, and the rank is determined based on the total effective score. In this way, when the number of STs at the 0th level and the 1st level is relatively small, even if the effective score is high due to the relationship with the opponent at the 0th level and the level goes up to the 1st level, If the evaluation at level 1 is not good, the overall effective score will not increase, and the evaluation will be more appropriate.

  A total effective score may be obtained by adding weights to the effective scores of each level and adding them, but setting each weight to 1 is simpler and easier for the user to understand. If a weight is added, it is possible to prevent excessive evaluation in a state where the evaluation is not stable by making the weight smaller than 1 when the number of STs is small.

  If the orientations of the images are different, there is a possibility that appropriate evaluation cannot be performed even when two images are compared. In addition, the appearance of the display is not good. As a matter of course, it is preferable to perform a tournament for each genre in order to perform an appropriate evaluation. Therefore, an image orientation list 331 and a genre list 332 for selecting these are displayed on the left side of the screen 31.

  A class is specified by selection information of the image orientation list 331 and the genre list 332, and the selection information is referred to as class specifying information. A block is specified by selecting a class and selecting a cell (block icon) in the hierarchical block operation panel 32, and this selection information is referred to as block specifying information.

  An overall ranking button 34 is arranged in the second level area 322. When a class is selected and the overall ranking button 34 is clicked, as shown in the drawing, overall effective scores are ranked from 0th to 7th (from 1st to 8th on the display screen) for all images in the class. Images 350 to 357 are displayed. The reason why the arrangement is similar to the result of the sub tournament in FIG. 17 is to unify the design to give a simpler feeling and to more easily grasp the ranking. On the right side of these images, a numerical value of the effective score and a belt-like image having a height proportional to the numerical value are displayed.

  When the mouse cursor is moved over an arbitrary image, the detailed information table 36 regarding the vote of the image is displayed on the right side of the image 350 for the image by processing for the mouse over event. L0, L1 and L2 each mean level 0 to 2, e-score means effective score (total e-score is total effective score), score means actual score, MT / T is (average ST count) ) / (ST number), and the coefficient means the value of this MT / T. However, for the “comprehensive” line, (coefficient) = (e score) / (total sum of actual scores of L1 to L3) and MT = (coefficient) * T for easy understanding.

  In the second level area 322, an in-block ranking button 37, a voting button 38, and a posting button 39 are further arranged. When the block identification information is selected and the in-block ranking button 37 or the voting button 38 is clicked, the voting page of the selected block is displayed or the ranking by the total effective score up to that level in this block is the same as above. Is displayed. “Total” in a block means a total up to the level of the block selected by the user even if the image belongs to a higher level.

  For the images in the 0th level block, since the number of STs is the same, an actual score may be used. However, in order to facilitate evaluation comparison with images in other blocks, an effective score is displayed. The actual scores and the like are displayed in the detailed information table 36 by moving the mouse over the image in the block ranking as in the case of the overall ranking.

  Here, if the result of the sub-tournament execution of a certain block is reflected in the score, the ST count of this block and the average ST count of the level to which this block belongs change, affecting the overall effective score. For this reason, there is no point in updating the effective score of the block every time the sub tournament is executed.

  Therefore, this is calculated only when an effective score is necessary, and the effective score is not entered in the database 166.

  On the other hand, the influence range of the image selection change to the upper block by the execution of the sub tournament is relatively narrow, and the processing time can be shortened as a whole by performing the level update every execution of the sub tournament. Therefore, this level is updated every time the sub tournament is executed.

  On the right side of the image 350, a check box 358 for 100 points is placed. After checking the check box 358, if the general ranking button 34 or the voting button 38 is clicked, the total effective score (block) next to the image of each ranking is displayed. In the case of, the total effective score up to that level) is displayed on a 100-point scale. Note that the band-like image has a height of a maximum of 100 points regardless of the presence or absence of this check.

Here, for example, there is a case where it is desired to know which image in a block at the second level is selected by competing with what image in which block in the lower first level. In this case, it is complicated to find the block by clicking the cell. Therefore, the lower block order buttons 3A0 to 3A7 are arranged on the right side of each of the images 350 to 357. For example, when the lower block order button 3A2 is clicked, the identification code (image information described later) of the corresponding image 352 is clicked on the server side. The same processing as when the imgID in the table 61) is selected by which block of the first level one level lower is selected, the block is selected on the hierarchical block operation panel 32, and the intra-block order button 37 is clicked. I do. The same applies to the first level intra-block ranking. In the case of the overall order display screen, a block corresponding to the level of this imgID (a column level in the image information table 61 described later) is selected on the hierarchical block operation panel 32 and the intra-block order button 37 is pressed. The same process is performed. After the block ranking is displayed, a similar operation can be further performed to trace to the 0th level block.

  When the post button 39 is clicked, the post page is displayed if logged in, otherwise the login screen is displayed, and the post page is displayed after login.

  Next, an embodiment based on the design concept as described above will be described below.

  FIG. 20 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the image contest system.

  The image contest server 10 is coupled to the client 12 via the Internet 11. In FIG. 20, a large number of clients 12 are represented by a single client 12.

  In the image contest server 10, a CPU 13 as a calculation control unit is coupled to a memory 15, an auxiliary storage device 16, an interactive input / output device 17, and a network interface 18 via an interface 14. The memory 15 and the auxiliary storage device 16 constitute storage means. The interface 14 collectively shows an interface between the CPU 13 and each of the components 15 to 17 and includes a chip set.

  The auxiliary storage device 16 corresponds to a general-purpose operating system 161, a Web server 162, a runtime 163, and a DBMS (database management system) 164, a Web application 165 and a database 166 specific to the present embodiment, and data in the database 166. The attached image file group 167 is stored. For example, the operating system 161 is a Microsoft (registered trademark) Windows (registered trademark) server OS, and the runtime 163 is an ASP. NET® runtime. In this case, the web application 165 is executed via the runtime 163 resident in the memory 15, and each dynamic page included in the web application 165 is instantiated on the memory 15 in response to a request. When the response process ends, the response is deleted from the memory 15. Session management between pages is performed by the runtime 163, and session information is stored in a member variable (Session variable) of an object of the session. By using the Session variable, even if the instance is deleted, data can be exchanged between the instances, and this is used in this embodiment.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a software configuration of the image contest server 10.

  The web application 165 includes a ranking page 30, an upload page 40, an authentication page group 50, and a voting page 60. The database 166 is accessed from each page of the web application 165 via the DBMS 164. The Web server 162 mediates between the operating system 161 and the runtime 163. The Web server 162 monitors a request from the client, and if there is a request, the information included in the header of the request message is distributed to a predetermined variable and stored. If the extension of the file included in the request URL indicates a dynamic page (aspx), the server-side Web program described in the corresponding Web page in the Web application 165 is started via the runtime 163.

  2A and 2B and FIGS. 3A and 3B are explanatory diagrams of relational tables included in the database 166 in FIG.

  The database 166 includes an image information table 61 and a genre table 62 shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, and a summary table 63 and a user table 64 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B. .

  The image information table 61 includes column names imgID, genreID, and orientation of an image identification code, a genre identification code, and an image orientation identification code, which constitute a main key and in the image file group 167. Row data that uniquely corresponds to the path of the image file and includes these column name values is added when the image is uploaded (posted). imgID assigns imgID = 8 * j + k to the k-th image of the j-th block in order to simplify data processing in the program. Here, j and k are integers of 0 or more. The image information table 61 also includes image title and user ID column names title and userID, and these values are also included in the row added at the time of uploading. The image information table 61 further includes the tournament hierarchy level, the actual scores at levels 0 to 3 used in calculating the effective score, and the column names level, marks 0 to marks 3, and times 0 to times 2 of the ST count at levels 0 to 3. These default values are entered as initial values when images are uploaded.

  Here, the j-th block at the i-th level of the tournament is represented as a block Bij. When an image of imgID = 8 * j + k is selected in the block B0j, this image also belongs to the first-level [j / 8] block B1 [j / 8]. Here, [] is an operator that rounds off the decimal point of the value of the inner expression to make it an integer. If this image is further selected in the [j / 8] block of the first level, this image also belongs to the 0th block B20 of the second level. Therefore, it is determined to which block this image belongs by the value of imgID = 8 * j + k and level in the image information table 61. For this reason, it is not necessary to separately provide imgID data with levels 1 and 2 in the table.

  Since the level value is relatively determined by the effective score, the level column is determined after data is read from the image information table 61 without extracting the level column in the image information table 61, and data of a predetermined level is extracted. However, by providing the level in the image information table 61, the processing speed can be increased.

  The genre table 62 shown in FIG. 2B includes genre identification codes and genre name column names genreID and genre, and the genre names are displayed in the genre list 332 of FIG. By adding a pair of genreID and genre to the genre table 62, these are added to the genre list 332 by the program. genreID is a primary key in the genre table 62.

  The summary table 63 shown in FIG. 3A includes column names genreID and orientation constituting the primary key, and column names m_times0 to m_times2 of average ST counts at levels 0 to 2 corresponding to the ST count 323 in FIG. ST number of blocks Bij and column names timesBij, nosBij (j = 0 to 63 when i = 0, j = 0 to 7 when i = 1, j = 0 when i = 2), all images The number column name nosBSum is included.

  Since the same value as the data in the summary table 63 can be obtained by processing the data in the image information table 61, the summary table 63 is not essential, but the overlap processing of the Web application 165 for a plurality of users accessing the image contest server 10 Is used to shorten the processing time as a whole. For example, the times B00 in the summary table 63 is obtained by calculating (total of marks of imgID = 0 to 7 in 61) / 7 when all the eight images of the block B00 are level = 0.

  The user table 64 shown in FIG. 3B includes a user identification code and password column names userID and password, where userID is a primary key.

  The genreID and useID of the image information table 61 are external keys for the genreID of the genre table 62 and the useID of the user table 64, respectively. The genreID in the summary table 63 is an external key for the genreID in the genre table 62. These foreign keys constitute the relationship between the tables.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a request and response sequence between the image contest server 10 and the client 12. In FIG. 4, Rank, Upload, and Vote indicate the instances of the ranking page 30, the upload page 40, and the voting page 60 in FIG. 1 for the image contest server 10 side, and corresponding to the client 12 side. 3 shows an HTML page generated by. S indicates a server side, C indicates a client side, and a numerical value indicates an identification number of an instance or an HTML page corresponding to the instance. Hereinafter, processing by the ranking page 30, the upload page 40, and the voting page 60 will be described according to this sequence.

  5, FIG. 8 and FIG. 17 are flowcharts showing processing procedures by the server-side Web program described in the ranking page 30, the voting page 60 and the upload page 40 in FIG. In the following, the step identification codes in the figure are shown in parentheses.

  In FIG. 4, first, a request including the URL of the ranking page 30 is transmitted from the client 12 to the image contest server 10 (C0). Thereby, the instance RankS0 of the ranking page 30 is generated, and the process shown in FIG. 5 is started.

  Here, the runtime 163 includes a variable for storing the previous request URL for each user. For each user, the value of this variable is compared with the current request URL. If they match, PostBack = true. PostBack = false and the current request URL is substituted for this variable.

  If it is not (R0) postback (PostBack = false), that is, if the URL requested by the POST method of the HTTP protocol is not the same as the URL of the current page, the process proceeds to step R1; otherwise, the process proceeds to step R5. For message M0 in FIG. 4, control proceeds to step R1.

  (R1) If the block specifying information is not set in the Session variable, the process proceeds to Step R2, and if not, the process proceeds to Step R10. Since this setting is performed in step R5, the process proceeds to step R2 in Rank S0 in FIG.

  (R2) The initial value of the block specifying information is set in the Session variable. For example, Session (“GenreID”) = “0001” (person), Session (“Orientation”) = “1” (portrait), Session (“Block”) = “B00” (0th level 0th block) Corresponding to the leftmost cell of the 0th level region 320). These initial values may be obtained by extracting the block specifying information previously selected by the user from the cookie.

  (R3) All rows are selected from the genre table 62 in FIG. 2B (select statement in SQL language is executed). Based on this data, the genre list 332 of FIG. 7 can be created.

In addition, from the summary table 63 in FIG. 3A, genreID and orientati
Select rows whose on values match the values of Session ("GenreID") and Session ("Orientation"), respectively. The hierarchical block operation panel 32 and the ST count 323 of FIG. 7 can be created based on all nosBij and the values of m_times0 to m_times2 included in this row.

  Further, from the image information table 61 of FIG. 2, the rows where the value of “genreID” and “orientation” respectively match the value of “Session (“ GenreID ”)” and “Session (“ Orientation ”)” and the value of “marks0” is not 0 are selected. The total effective score is calculated as described later, and image information with the total effective score from the 0th place to the 7th place is extracted. For this calculation, the ST number of the block Bij and the average ST number of levels 0 to 2 selected from the summary table 63 are also used. With these data, the images 350 to 357 and the detailed information table 36 of FIG. 7 can be created.

  FIG. 6 is a detailed flowchart of step R3.

  (R30) As described above, from the image information table 61, the genre table 62, and the summary table 63, a data set (row set) that satisfies the above conditions is selected.

  (R31) For the selected data set, the following steps R32 to R39 are repeated for each row r (0 ≦ r <rm) in which the marks0 is not 0 in the image information table 61.

  (R32) The following steps R33 to R37 are repeated for each of the hierarchy level identification variables i = 0 to 2.

  Here, the values of times 0 to times 2 in the row r are written as times (r, 0) to times (r, 2), respectively, and the values of marks 0 to marks 2 in the row r are markeds (r, 0) to marks (r, respectively). , 2).

  (R33) If times (r, i) is 0, the process proceeds to step R35, and if not, the process proceeds to step R34.

(R34) The coefficient ec (r, i) of the i-th level for row r is
ec (r, i) = m_times (r, i) / times (r, i)
And proceed to Step R36.

  (R35) 0 is substituted into ec (r, i).

(R36) The effective score emarks (r, i) of the i-th level for row r is
emarks (r, i) = ec (r, i) * marks (r)
Calculate as

  (R37) emarks (r, i) is added to the total effective score emarks (r, 3). The initial value of emarks (r, i) is 0.

  (R39) The value of imgID in row r is substituted into array element imgNo (r).

(R3B) The obtained (emarks (r, 3), imgNo (r)), r = 0 to rm-1 are sorted in descending order with respect to emarks (r, 3), and the emarks from the 0th place to the 7th place (R, 3), imgNo (r) corresponding thereto, imgNo (r), data to be displayed in the detailed information table 36 in FIG. 7 and corresponding titles in the image information table 61, and hierarchical block operations The data read in step R30 for displaying the panel 32 and the contents of the genre table 62 for displaying the genre list 332 are selected. Next, the process proceeds to step R4 in FIG.

  (R4) Based on the values of Session (“GenreID”) and Session (“Orientation”) that define the selection state of the image orientation list 331 and the genre list 332, the data selected in step R3 or R10, and the calculated data, A web page for displaying a screen 31 as shown in FIG. 7 is generated.

  This Web page includes data and title for displaying the detailed information table 36 of each image as concealment information (Input element whose type attribute value is hidden), and also includes a client-side Web application such as JavaScript. As a program, a program that displays the detailed information table 36 in response to the occurrence of a mouse-over event, and a selection state is displayed when a cell in the image orientation list 331, the genre list 332, and the hierarchical block operation panel 32 is selected. A selection program for storing selection information in concealment information is also included. This selection program makes it possible to select only the cells corresponding to the block containing 8 images among the cells in the hierarchical block operation panel 32.

  The title of each image is popped up with a tooltip in response to a mouse over the image. In the case of a logged-in user, the image of this user is included from the imgID and level values in the row where the userID value matches the value of Session (“UserID”) in the data set selected from the image information table 61. The block Bij is determined, and the cell frame in the hierarchical block operation panel 32 corresponding to these blocks Bij is set to a color different from the others.

  The web page generated in step R4 is supplied to the web server 162 via the runtime 163 in FIG. 1, and an HTTP response header is added thereto, and the response message is sent via the operating system (including the communication driver) 161. It is transmitted to the client 12 as M1 in FIG. As a result, a ranking page as shown in FIG. 7 is displayed on the Web browser of the client 12.

  In FIG. 7, when the user clicks the posting button 39, the message M2 in FIG. 4 is posted back, and the processing in FIG. 5 is started.

  (R0) Postback is determined (PostBack = true), and the process proceeds to Step R5.

  (R5) The selection information of the image orientation list 331 and the genre list 332 included in the request message and the selection information of the cells of the hierarchical block operation panel 32 (the above-mentioned concealment information) are respectively Session (“Orientation”) and Session ( Substitute into "GenreID") and Session ("Block").

  (R6) The destination is determined according to the button click information included in the request message. If the intra-block ranking button 37 or the overall ranking button 34 has been clicked, the process proceeds to step R10 or R3, respectively, and if any of the lower block ranking buttons 3A0 to 3A7 has been clicked, the process proceeds to step R7. If the voting button 38 or the posting button 39 has been clicked, the process proceeds to step R8 or R9, respectively.

  (R7) The lower block is determined as described above, and the process proceeds to Step R10.

  (R8) An instance of the voting page 60 is generated internally via the runtime 163, and the current process is terminated. By this termination, the instance of this page disappears from the memory (the same applies hereinafter).

  As for the value of PostBack, the internal transition is set in the same manner as the external transition. Instead of direct page transition internally, page transition may be performed by specifying the URL of the transition destination page, or by direct URL transition by specifying the URL with a link without posting back from the client 12. The same applies to the following internal transitions.

  (R9) An instance of the upload page 40 is generated internally via the runtime 163, and the current process is terminated.

  Here, a case where an instance of the upload page 40 is generated will be described. In this case, the process shown in FIG. 17 is started.

  (U0) If the upload end flag UE (g, o) whose parameters are g = Session (“GenreID”) and o = Session (“Orientation”) is set, the process proceeds to Step U16; otherwise, the process proceeds to Step U1. Proceed to This flag is a global variable common to each page instance. The initial value of UE (g, o) is zero.

  (U1) If the user is logged in, that is, if Session (“UserID”) is not Null, the process proceeds to Step U2, and if not, the process proceeds to Step U15.

  (U2) If it is a post pack, the process proceeds to step U5, and if not, the process proceeds to step U3. In the example of FIG. 4, the process proceeds to step U3.

  (U3) As data for generating the screen 41A as shown in FIG. 18, first, all rows are selected from the genre table 62 of FIG. Based on this data, the genre list 332 of FIG. 18 can be created. Next, from the summary table 63 in FIG. 3A, rows whose genreID and orientation values match the values of Session (“GenreID”) and Session (“Orientation”) are selected. Based on all nosBij and m_times0 to m_times2 included in this row, the hierarchical block operation panel 32 and the ST count 323 in FIG. 18 can be created.

  The hierarchical block operation panel 32, the image orientation list 331, and the genre list 332 in FIG. 18 are on different pages from those in FIG. 7, but the contents are the same as those in FIG. is doing.

  (U4) An initial selection state is determined based on the values of Session (“Orientation”) and Session (“GenreID”). Based on this data and the data selected in step U3, a screen 41A as shown in FIG. A posting Web page for displaying “” is created, and control is transferred to the runtime 163. As a result, a response message including this page is transmitted to the client 12 as M3 in FIG.

This posted Web page includes the values of the 0th level image numbers nosB00 to nosB063 as concealment information, and further includes a client-side Web application. This client-side Web application can select only the cells corresponding to the 0th level block whose number of images is less than 8 among the cells of the hierarchical block operation panel 32, and the image orientation list 331, the genre list 332, and the hierarchy Program for displaying the selection state of the cell in the control block operation panel 32, storing the selection information in the concealment information, and displaying the following posting state according to the number of images of the selected block nosB0j It is.

  If the number of images nosB0j of the block corresponding to the selected cell is 1, for example, “Registered” is entered in the cell 450 in FIG. 18 and “Empty” is entered in the remaining 451 to 457. Filled in. Similarly, if the image number nosB0j of the block corresponding to the selected cell is 3, “Registered” is entered in the cells 450 to 452 in FIG. 18, and “Empty” is entered in the remaining 453 to 457. Filled in. Since eight images are shuffled at the time of posting, the positions within 450 to 452 are irrelevant to the opponent, and the posted images are arranged in the block in order from the left side of FIG. In other words, imgID is given to the posted images in this order.

  Note that the client web application includes a program that includes the imgID of the image having the user ID of the user as concealment information in the posted web page and prohibits the same user from uploading multiple images to the same block. You may not.

  The user can also change the selection state of the image orientation list 331 and the genre list 332 on the screen 41A of FIG. The user clicks the reference button 43 to display a file selection dialog (not shown) and selects an image file to be posted. As a result, the path name of the file is displayed in the text box text input box 44. The user enters the title of the image of this file in the text input box 45 and clicks the send button 46.

  As a result, a request message including the request URL of the upload page 40, the information selected in the image orientation list 331, the genre list 332, and the hierarchical block operation panel 32 and the information entered in the text input boxes 44 and 45 is generated. Then, it is transmitted to the image contest server 10 as M4 in FIG.

  Thereby, the process shown in FIG. 17 is started, and the process proceeds to step U5 through steps U0 to U2.

  (U5) It is determined whether or not the condition displayed on the screen 41A of FIG. 18 is satisfied, that is, whether or not the file extension is a predetermined value and the file size is equal to or smaller than a predetermined value. Also, it is determined whether or not the condition that there is an empty block (NosBsum <512) is satisfied. If these conditions are satisfied, the process proceeds to step U6, and if not, the process proceeds to step U14.

  (U6) If the height of the image is not a predetermined value, for example, 600 px, the image is reduced or enlarged so that it becomes 600 px. The file format may be changed so that the file extensions are the same. Next, the process proceeds to step U7.

  (U7) If the block selected on the hierarchical block operation panel 32 is B0j, the imgID value corresponding to the first null among the imgIDs 8j to 8j + 7 is uploaded from the image information table 61 of FIG. Determined as the imgID of the image. If an image of another user is registered before uploading and there is no vacancy, a vacant block is searched and registered.

  By registering uploaded images in order of availability without allowing block selection, the value of imgID is kept immediately before sending the message M3, and the keep is released when the value is not used within a predetermined time. It may be a configuration.

  (U8) Line data including the imgID, the information selected in the image orientation list 331 and the genre list 332, the title entered in the text input box 45, and the value of Session ("UserID") is created, and the image It is added to the information table 61. Default values are assigned to the other data in this row.

  (U9) Based on this imgID and the information selected in the image orientation list 331 and the genre list 332, the file path of the uploaded data is determined, and this data is stored in the auxiliary storage device 16 as a file. As a result, this file is associated with the data in the database 166 and added to the image file group 167.

  (U10) From the summary table 63 of FIG. 3 (A), select rows where the values of genreID and orientation match the values of Session (“GenreID”) and Session (“Orientation”), respectively, and the total number of images nosSum and imgID The value of the image number nosB0j of the block B0j corresponding to the value is incremented by 1, and this row is updated.

  (U11) If the value of the total number of images nosBSum is 512, the process proceeds to step U12. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step U13.

  (U12) The upload end flag UE (g, o) is set.

  (U13) The URL of the file in step U9 is added to the page to be created in step U4, and the process proceeds to step U3. When the processing of steps U3 and U4 is completed, a response message is transmitted to the client 12 as M5 in FIG.

  As a result, a confirmation image screen 41B as shown in FIG. 19 is displayed on the Web browser of the client 12. Users can also upload more image files on this page.

  (U14) The information indicating the upload failure is substituted for the variable to be entered in the message display part of the screen 41A in FIG. 18, and the process proceeds to Step U3.

  (U15) An instance of a login page included in the authentication page group 50 is generated via the runtime 163, and the current process is terminated. When the login of the user is successful in the generated instance, the user ID is set in Session (“UserID”), the instance of the upload page 40 is generated internally, and the processing of FIG. 17 is started. As a result, an affirmative determination is made in step U1 and the process proceeds to step U2.

  (U16) Information indicating the end of upload is substituted into a variable to be entered in the message display section of the screen 31 in FIG.

  (U17) Generate an instance of the ranking page 30 and end the current process.

18 or 19, when the user clicks on the “return” link 47, a request message including the URL of the ranking page 30 is transmitted to the image contest server 10 as M6 in FIG. As a result, an instance of the ranking page 30 is generated, and FIG.
The process is started. In this case, the process proceeds from step R0 to R1, an affirmative determination is made, and the process proceeds to step R10.

  (R10) All rows are selected from the genre table 62 in FIG. Based on this data, the genre list 332 of FIG. 7 can be created.

  Also, from the summary table 63 in FIG. 3A, rows whose genreID and orientation values match the values of Session (“GenreID”) and Session (“Orientation”) are selected. Based on all nosBij and m_times0 to m_times2 included in this row, the hierarchical block operation panel 32 and the ST count 323 in FIG. 7 can be created.

Further, from the image information table 61 in FIG. 2A, the values of genreID, orientation, and level are included in the values of Session (“GenreID”) and Session (“Orientation”) and Session (“Block”), respectively. The data in the row that matches the value of i and the value of imgID is 8 ^{i + 1} * j to 8 ^{i + 1} * (j + 1) −1 is selected as the data of the block Bij, and the image in this block is selected. Are calculated in the same manner as the processing in step R3. However, in step R32, the processing in steps R33 to R37 is repeated for each of the values of the hierarchy level identification variable from 0 to i. That is, the sum of the effective points up to the i-th level is obtained as the total effective points at the i-th level. Next, the related data is sorted in descending order of the total effective score, and the process proceeds to Step R4.

  In step R4, a Web page for displaying the same image as the screen 31 shown in FIG. 7 is generated for this block Bij. Next, a response message is transmitted to the client 12 as M7 in FIG.

  As a result, an image similar to the screen 31 shown in FIG. 7 is displayed for the block Bij on the Web browser of the client 12.

  Next, when the user clicks the voting button 38 after selecting a cell in the image orientation list 331, the genre list 332, and the hierarchical block operation panel 32 on the screen 31 of FIG. 7, the URL of the voting page 60 and the selection thereof. Is sent to the image contest server 10 as M8 in FIG. As a result, an instance of the ranking page 30 is generated and the processing of FIG. 5 is started. Through steps R0 and R5, it is determined in step R6 that the voting button 38 has been clicked, and the process proceeds to step R8. Thus, an instance of the voting page 60 is generated, the current process is terminated, and the process of FIG. 8 is started.

  (V0) If the voting end flag VE (g, o) having parameters of g = Session (“GenreID”) and o = Session (“Orientation”) is set, the process proceeds to Step V18; Proceed to This flag is a global variable common to each page instance. The initial value of VE (g, o) is zero.

  (V1) If it is postback, the process proceeds to step V5, and if not, the process proceeds to step V2. In the example of FIG. 4, the process proceeds to step V2.

  (V2) A shuffle array r as shown in FIG. 10A is created by shuffling integers 0 to 7 based on random numbers. In this example, r = {5, 3, 7, 0, 6, 1, 4, 2}.

(V3) All rows are selected from the genre table 62 in FIG. Based on this data, the genre list 332 of FIG. 13 can be created.

  Also, from the summary table 63 in FIG. 3A, rows whose genreID and orientation values match the values of Session (“GenreID”) and Session (“Orientation”) are selected. Based on all nosBij included in this row, the hierarchical block operation panel 32 of FIG. 13 can be created.

Further, from the image information table 61 in FIG. 2A, the values of genreID, orientation, and level are the values of Session (“GenreID”), Session (“Orientation”), and Bij included in Session (“Block”), respectively. Data in a row that matches the value of i and has an imgID value of 8 ^{i + 1} * j to 8 ^{i + 1} * (j + 1) −1 is selected as data of the block Bij. When an image matching the user ID of the current user is included in this block, the total effective score at the i-th level of each image in this block is calculated in the same manner as the processing in step R10.

  (V4) A web page for displaying the screen 65A as shown in FIG. 13 on the web browser is generated, and the current process is terminated. As a result, the response message is transmitted to the client 12 as M9 in FIG. 4, and this screen is displayed on the Web browser of the client 12.

  Images 650 to 657 in the screen 65A are images of files identified by the imgID value included in the data of the block Bij and the corresponding genreID and orientation values.

  The web page that displays the screen 65A includes a client-side web application and data that perform the following operations.

  That is, from the state as shown in FIG. 13, based on the shuffle arrangement r, the images 650 to 657 are replaced with each other as indicated by the dotted line, and are dynamically displayed. As a result, a screen 65B as shown in FIG. 14 is obtained.

  Here, the shuffle of the images 650 to 657 will be described with reference to FIG. Assume that the array a of imgID is, for example, a = {8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15} shown in FIG. Using the shuffled array r, the elements of the array a are represented by a (r (0)) = 13, a (r (1)) = 11, a (r (2)) = 15, a (r (3)) = 8, a (r (4)) = 14, a (r (5)) = 9, a (r (6)) = 12, a (r (7)) = The images are taken out in the order of 10, and the images are shuffled so that the imgID is in this order.

  After this shuffle, two images are taken out from the left end and enlarged and arranged at the center of the screen as shown in FIG. FIG. 15 shows the third battle state. When the user clicks one image with a pointing device in this state, the opacity of the other loser is decreased while being moved outward, and disappears from the screen.

  Immediately after this disappearance, the next two images are brought into the state shown in FIG. 15 and the same processing is repeated so that the user can quickly execute the sub-tournament. After the completion of the sub tournament, it is possible to easily grasp the battle result as shown in FIG.

If such an evaluation is performed without being caught by other people's evaluation and can be compared with the other's evaluation after the evaluation, the interest increases. Therefore, before the battle, the score so far of each image is not shown to the user, and the score is displayed below each image at the stage of FIG. 16 where the battle result is displayed. This score is obtained by adding one point each time the stage goes up to the actual score before voting so that the voting result of this user can be understood.

  The data for the client-side Web application includes the shuffle array r, the array a of imgID values included in the block Bij, the array m of scores at the i-th level, and the total effective score at the i-th level. Array em, zero incremented score increment array δ, and array my indicating whether or not each image belongs to this user, and these are embedded in this page as concealment information. Array elements with the same index relate to the same image. The array my is my (k) = 1 if the image of a (k) belongs to this user, and my (k) = 0 otherwise.

  FIG. 11 shows a flowchart of processing by a program (event handler) that starts execution upon clicking. The values of the variables in FIG. 11 used in this program are saved even if the program exits. Hereinafter, the hierarchical level in the sub tournament is referred to as a stage, its variable is set to STAGE, and its initial value is set to 0. The battle counter k has an initial value of 0 and a maximum value of 7.

  As pre-processing for initialization, the process of step VC3 described later is performed in advance with k = -1, and then k = 0 is set.

  If (VCE) STAGE = 3, this event handler is terminated. Otherwise, the process proceeds to VC0.

  (VC0) The reference of the click target object is substituted into the variable S.

  (VC1) With reference to the array my, it is determined whether or not the image of this user is one of the battle pairs as shown in FIG. That is, if my (r (k)) + my (r (k + 1)) = 1, an affirmative determination is made, otherwise a negative determination is made. If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step VC2, and if not, the process proceeds to step VC3. The initial value of k is 0.

  (VC2) The total effective scores of the battle pairs included in the concealment information are compared, the higher one is regarded as the winner, and the reference of the image object is substituted into the variable S. That is, if em (r (k))> em (r (k + 1)), the image of a (r (k)) (left image imgL) is regarded as the winner, and em (r (k)) < If em (r (k + 1)), the image of a (r (k + 1)) (right image imgR) is regarded as the winner. If em (r (k)) = em (r (k + 1)), the opponent is the winner, that is, if my (r (k)) = 1, a (r (k + 1)) The image is regarded as a winner. If my (r (k + 1)) = 1, the image of a (r (k)) is regarded as a winner. Substitute the variable S for the winner's image object reference.

  Such processing can prevent an act of arbitrarily giving a high score to the self image. This is particularly effective when a contest such as a logo mark or advertisement image is performed with a sweepstakes and only the logged-in user is allowed to vote. In addition, since the total effective score at the current level to which the block belongs is used in the score comparison, even if there is a difference in the number of STs, it is possible to determine a more appropriate winner. Furthermore, by adopting such a rule, it is possible to participate in voting casually even if a self image is included, and the happening enhances game characteristics.

  When my (r (k)) + my (r (k + 1)) = 2, that is, when both are own images, the process proceeds from step VC1 to step VC3, and thus the actual determination is followed.

  (VC3) If the object indicated by the variable S is the image imgL on the left side of the battle pair, the process proceeds to step VC4, and if the object is the right image imgR, the process proceeds to step VC8.

  (VC4) The actual score increment δ (r (k)) of the left image imgL is incremented by 1.

  (VC5) The value of r (k) corresponding to the winner is substituted into the shuffled array element r ([k / 2]) used in the next stage in the sub-tournament.

  (VC6) While moving the image imgR on the right side of the battle pair to the right side as described above with reference to FIG. 15, the opacity is reduced. After this image moves from the web browser window until it disappears, the process proceeds to step VC7.

  (VC7) In order to advance the battle while constructing the battle result of FIG. 16, the reduced image imgL on the left side is placed in the corresponding portion of FIG. 16, and the current actual score m (k) is placed below the image. Enter + δ (r (k)). Set these visibility attributes to hidden so that they are not visible during the match. Next, the process proceeds to step VC12.

  (VC8) The actual score increment δ (r (k + 1)) of the right image imgR is incremented by 1.

  (VC9) The value of r (k + 1) corresponding to the winner is substituted for the shuffled array element r ([k / 2]) used in the next stage in the sub-tournament.

  (VC10) The image imgL on the left side of the battle pair is reduced in opacity while moving to the left side. After this image moves from the web browser window until it disappears, the process proceeds to step VC11.

  (VC11) A reduced version of the image imgR on the right side is placed in the corresponding part of FIG. 16, and the current actual score m (k + 1) + δ (r (k + 1)) is entered below the image. To do. Set these visibility attributes to hidden so that they are not visible during the match.

  (VC12) For the current stage STAGE, if there is a next battle pair, the process proceeds to step VC13; otherwise, the process proceeds to step VC14.

  (VC13) The value of k is incremented by 1, the URL of the image object identified by the array element a (r (k)) is substituted for imgL, the value of k is incremented by 1, and the array element a ( The URL of the image object identified by r (k)) is substituted for imgR, and the processing of this event handler is terminated.

  (VC14) The stage variable STAGE is incremented by 1, and k = -1.

  (VC15) If the next stage exists, that is, if STAGE <3, the process proceeds to step VC15; otherwise, the process proceeds to step VC16.

  (VC16) The image objects imgR and imgL are deleted, and the values of the actual scores m (0) to m (7) before the battle are entered below each of the images 650 to 657 in FIG. 14 (the visibility attribute is set to hidden) And may be made visible at this stage.) The visibility attribute hidden in steps VC7 and VC11 is made visible, and an image of the competition result and the actual score m + δ as shown in FIG. 16 are obtained. Display and exit the event handler.

FIG. 12A is a diagram for explaining the change in the contents of the shuffled array r at steps VC5 and VC9 in FIG. 11, and FIGS. 12B to 12D are incremental arrays δ at the end of STAGE 0 to 2, respectively.
It is a figure which shows the value of.

  When the user clicks the next vote button 66 on the screen 65D of FIG. 16, a request message including the request URL of the vote page 60 is transmitted to the image contest server 10 as M10 of FIG. The message includes selection information of the block Bij of the image orientation list 331, the genre lists 332 and 32, the imgID array a, and the actual score increment array δ as concealment information.

  Next, an instance of the voting page 60 is generated, whereby the processing of FIG. 8 is started.

  In this case, since it is a postback, the process proceeds from step V1 to step V5.

  (V5) If the sum δ (0) + δ (1) +... + Δ (7) is 7, the sub-tournament is considered complete and the process proceeds to Step V6. Proceed to step V16.

(V6) From the image information table 61 of FIG. 2A, the values of genreID, orientation, and level are included in the values of Session (“GenreID”), Session (“Orientation”), and Session (“Block”), respectively. The data of the row that matches the value of i and whose imgID value is 8 ^{i + 1} * j to 8 ^{i + 1} * (j + 1) −1 is selected as the data of the block Bij, and the score of the i-th level Is added to the increase δ of the match result.

  (V7) From the summary table 63 in FIG. 3A, select a row where the values of genreID and orientation match the values of Session (“GenreID”) and Session (“Orientation”), respectively, and set the ST count of block Bij. Increment by 1 and update the average ST number of the i-th level. The average ST count is a value obtained by dividing the sum of the ST counts at the i-th level by the number of blocks at the i-th level where the ST count is not 0. The ST count before the update and the ST before and after the update It is also possible to calculate using the number of blocks whose number of times is not zero.

  (V8) The level value corresponding to the selected image in the block affected by the data updated in step V7 is updated.

  FIG. 9 is a detailed flowchart of step V8 in FIG.

  (V80) In the case of this embodiment, when i = 2, there is no upper block, so the processing in FIG. 9 is terminated and the process proceeds to Step V11 in FIG. When i = 0 and 1, the process proceeds to steps V81 and V84, respectively.

  (V81) For the data set that has been selected and updated in step V6, if the level value of the row where marks0 is the maximum value is 0, the change is required and the process proceeds to step V82. Otherwise, the processing of FIG. And the process proceeds to step V11 in FIG.

  (V82) The level value of this row is changed to 1, and the value of level> 0 in other rows in the same block is changed to 0, thereby updating the image selection to the upper block.

(V83) Move to the upper block in the image information table 61. That is, when the current block is B0j, the genreID, ori is read from the image information table 61 in FIG.
The values of entation and level coincide with the values of Session (“GenreID”), Session (“Orientation”) and value 1, respectively, and the value of imgID is 8 ² * j to 8 ² * (j + 1) −1. The row data is selected as the data in block B1j.

  (V84) For the data in this block, the total effective score at the first level of each of the eight images is calculated in the same manner as in step R10 in FIG. 5, and the level of the row corresponding to the highest point is calculated. If the value is 1, the change is required and the process proceeds to step V85. Otherwise, the process in FIG. 9 is terminated and the process proceeds to step V11 in FIG.

  (V85) The value of this level is changed to 2, and the value of the level where level = 2 in other rows in the same block is changed to 1, thereby updating the image selection to the upper block. Next, the process proceeds to step V11 in FIG.

  Even if the level is changed by such processing, the total effective score in step R3 in FIG. 5 is calculated using the score, the ST count, and the average ST count at each level regardless of the current level value. As a result, the results are evaluated, and sudden changes in the total effective score are prevented, and appropriate evaluation is maintained. In other words, the rank within the block at each level changes dynamically according to the voting result, so it is easy to feel the influence of local voting, while the overall overall ranking changes more slowly. Evaluation is performed.

  (V9) When i = 2, if times20 does not exceed the set value t_max, the process proceeds to Step V11.

  (V11) If the next vote button 66 is clicked on the screen 65D of FIG. 16, the process proceeds to step V12. If the vote button 68 is clicked, the process proceeds to step V15, and the in-block ranking button 67 is reached. If is clicked, the process proceeds to step V16.

  (V12) The next block is determined based on the values of Session (“GenreID”), Session (“Orientation”), and Session (“Block”), and the contents of the summary table 63 in FIG. That is, every time j of the block Bij is incremented by 1, it is determined whether or not it is a block of 8 images. If an affirmative determination is made, that block is determined as the next block, and a negative determination is made with the maximum value of j. In this case, i is incremented by 1 to set j = 0, and the same processing is repeated. This will be explained with reference to FIG. 16. For example, when the current level is 1, the first block on the right side of the block whose score has been updated is found, and this block cannot be found. In this case, the block having the number of images of 8 is found in order from the left side with respect to the block in the upper image orientation list 331.

  (V13) If the next block can be determined in step V12, the process proceeds to step V14; otherwise, the process proceeds to step V16.

  (V14) The value of the determined block Bij is substituted into Session (“Block”), and the process proceeds to step V2. When the processing of steps V2 to V4 is completed, a response message is transmitted to the client 12 as M11 in FIG. 4, and the screen in FIG. 13 is displayed on the Web browser of the client 12 for the next block.

  (V15) The selection information of the image orientation list 331 and the genre list 332 included in the request message and the selection information of the cell on the hierarchical block operation panel 32 (the above-described concealment information) are respectively Session (“Orientation”) and Session ( Substitute into “GenreID”) and Session (“Block”) and go to Step V2.

 (V16) An instance of the ranking page 30 is generated via the runtime 163, and the current process is terminated. Thereby, the process of FIG. 5 is started.

   When the user clicks the in-block ranking button 67 on the screen 65D in FIG. 16, a request message including the request URL of the voting page 60 is transmitted to the image contest server 10 as M12 in FIG. This message includes selection information of the image orientation list 331 and genre list 332, cell selection information of the hierarchical block operation panel 32, an imgID array a, and an actual score increment array δ as concealment information. Yes.

  Next, an instance of the voting page 60 is generated, whereby the processing of FIG. 8 is started, the above-described steps V0, V1, V5 to V11, and V16 are performed, and the current processing is terminated. Thereby, the process of FIG. 5 is started, the processes of steps R0, R1, R10, and R4 described above are performed, and the current process ends. As a result, the response message is transmitted to the client 12 as M13 in FIG. 4, and the order of the blocks selected by the user is displayed as in FIG.

  When an affirmative determination is made in step V9 with respect to the message M12 in FIG. 4, the process proceeds to the next step V17.

  (V17) The tournament end flag VE (g, o) is set.

  (V18) Information indicating that the tournament has ended with respect to the genre and the orientation of the image is substituted into the variable Message displayed on the screen 31 of FIG. Next, the process proceeds to Step V16.

  When the tournament end flag VE (g, o) is set, only the ranking page 30 is valid for a predetermined period, and for example, up to the 3rd overall effective ranking is placed on an excellent work page (not shown) and can be viewed.

  In the case of the first embodiment, the level fluctuation of an image with a small number of STs is relatively large.

  Therefore, in the second embodiment, in order to reduce this fluctuation and stabilize it, in step V8 in FIG. 8, when selecting the image with the highest score from the eight images in the block Bij and raising the level, Regardless of the level, similar to the calculation in step R3 of FIG. 5, the one having the highest total effective score at all levels is selected. The other points are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In addition, you may make it select based on the total effective score in the level one level above.

  In the third embodiment, in step V8 of FIG. 8, selection of the image with the highest score in the block is performed every time the ST count of the block increases by a predetermined value or every predetermined period, without being performed for each sub tournament. As a result, the level fluctuation of the image is suppressed. The other points are the same as those in the first embodiment.

In the former case (every time the ST count increases by a predetermined value), this method may be used only when the ST count is equal to or less than the second predetermined value. In the latter case, it may be performed in response to the occurrence of a timer event on a global page independent of the pages 30 to 60 of the Web application 165.

  In the first embodiment, for example, two excellent images belong to the block Bij, and when one level is raised at some time and the other level is raised at the other time, the effective score of the one higher block is calculated as 8 images. These common two images are disadvantageous because a common ST count is used.

  Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, the image information table 61A includes columns of the first and second level ST times times1 and times2 as shown in FIG. 21A, and a summary table as shown in FIG. 63A does not have a column of the ST number of each block of the first and second levels. In step V6 of FIG. 8, when i> 0, for each imgID in the block Bij, if i = 1, 1 is set to time1. If i = 2, then times2 is incremented by one. Step V7 increments the ST number only when i = 0. In the calculation of the effective score in step V8 in FIG. 8 and steps R3 and R10 in FIG. 5, the ST number for each block is used for i = 0 (however, since the ST number is equal in the block in step V8, ST The number of STs for each imgID is used for i> 0.

  In this way, the above disadvantages are eliminated.

  The other points are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In the above embodiment, the image is shuffled only within the block. However, in order to increase the number of combinations of battle pairs, the image may be shuffled within the same level without restriction of the block. For example, the images may be shuffled within each group by dividing the number of STs into groups within a predetermined range. In this case, as shown in FIG. 22A, the image information table 61B includes columns of ST times times0, times1, and times2 of the 0th to 2nd levels. As shown in FIG. In the step V6 in FIG. 8, for each imgID in the block Bij, for each imgID in the block Bij, for each imgID, the time 0 is incremented by 1, and if i = 1, Times1 is incremented by 1, and if i = 2, times2 is incremented by 1. In step V7, the ST count is not incremented. The number of STs for each imgID is used to calculate the effective score at step V8 in FIG. 8 and steps R3 and R10 in FIG.

  If the shuffle method according to the first embodiment is used for this shuffle, it is not necessary to shuffle in the image information table 61B, so that the processing becomes simple. In this case, in order to use a common shuffle result for a plurality of users, the shuffle array r may be a global variable.

  In addition, the intra-block shuffle according to the first embodiment may be performed for each user and the block without shuffling may be performed every time the 0th level ST total count increases by a predetermined value or every predetermined period.

  For shuffle without block restriction, as shown in FIG. 22A, the image information table 61B has a column of mapping serial number No, and as shown in FIG. 23, imgID is randomly mapped to No, and image information When selecting rows from the table 61B, the numbers are sorted in ascending order, and the processing can be simplified by using No instead of imgID except for step U7 in FIG. 17 in the processing described in the first embodiment.

  The methods of the first to fourth embodiments and the method of the fifth embodiment have different preferences depending on the user.

  Therefore, in the sixth embodiment, both users who prefer shuffle (first mode) only within a block and users who prefer shuffle beyond a block (second mode) vote in the tournament of the same image group. Both modes are provided so that the user can select the mode.

  The database 166 is the same as that in the fifth embodiment, and the calculation and selection of points, effective scores, and total effective scores are the same as in any one of the first to fourth embodiments. In other words, the score addition and calculation are used in common in both modes, and the image selection to the upper level is the same as in the first mode only. In this way, the first mode is apparently the same as that of the first to fourth embodiments for the user.

  The other points are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention includes various other modifications, and those using other configurations that realize the functions of the respective constituent elements are those skilled in the art. Other configurations that would come from these configurations or functions are also included in the present invention. For example, the present invention includes the following modifications.

  (1) A tournament similar to the above may be provided in which only excellent works of tournament results are eligible for participation. In this case, since the maximum number of images is 512 × 512 = 262,144, a multi-stage tournament configuration such as 512 × 64 = 32,768, 64 × 64 = 4,096, 64 × 64 × 8 = 32,768 is conceivable.

  (2) The tournament target image may be a digital image displayed on the display device, and may be an image such as a picture, a design, or a haiku as described in the genre list 332 of FIG. . The design includes graphic design, graphic art, web page design, avatar image, and the like. Since the character string on the computer is displayed in a bitmap format, haiku and the like are included in the image. The image of the present invention is preferably a still image, but may be a moving image, a short animation, or the like.

  (3) As described in the first embodiment, the present invention can be used for a user to select a product.

In this case, the number of images is relatively small, the evaluation of the product through the images, and it is not necessarily 2 ⁿ , there is a win-win, there is no tournament end determination, and only one direction of the image is required There are many differences from the above-described embodiment.

  However, according to the present invention, it is effective because it is possible to appropriately evaluate other people and to appropriately confirm the result of own evaluation. The display of FIGS. 13 to 16 is suitable for product selection, and is also shown in FIG. 7 when selling or promoting products on the Internet with a large number of products from a number of manufacturers or various products only for one's own company. By displaying popular products as shown, it is easy for the user to select products and contributes greatly to sales promotion. In this case, using the effective score of the present invention, it is possible to appropriately display the commodity popularity regardless of the number of STs.

  In the case of a product image, character string information such as the specification, price, manufacturer name, and model of the product is described in the image, or the information is displayed in the detailed information column according to image selection.

  Further, a value proportional to (total number of purchases) * (average ST number) / (ST number) may be added to the total effective score. The ratio of these two terms in the total effective score can be used for the seller to determine that it is better to change the price because the number of clicks is high but it does not lead to purchase. Can be changed dynamically to promote sales.

  Further, in order to facilitate the user's product selection, a search engine is provided instead of or together with the genre list 332 of FIGS. 13 to 16, and the display of the block operation panel 32 is only related to the product image of the hit in the search. It may be.

  (4) Instead of using the image file group 167 in the auxiliary storage device 16, the image file group 167 can be used in one or more other servers.

  (5) The ranking page 30 and the vote page may be integrated into one, and the upload page 40 may be integrated into this.

  (6) As mentioned in paragraph 92, the summary table 63 in FIG. 3 does not include the fields (columns) of the sub-tournament times timesBij and the average sub-tournament times m_times in the level i in the block Bij. May be configured to calculate. This is because, when the number of users who vote in the same time zone increases, for example, immediately after updating the image information table 61 based on the voting result of a certain user, this update is performed in response to a request for the voting page 60 by another user. This is to avoid generating and returning a vote page based on the contents of the image information table 61 and the contents of the summary table 63 before the update.

  When the number of images in one block is 8, the total number of subs in one subtournament is 7, so for each block, the value obtained by adding up the total number of marks in each of the 8 images is divided by 7. The number of times timesBij is determined. After determining timesBij of each block for level i, the average number of sub-tournaments m_times for level i can be determined.

  Similarly, the summary table 63 may not have a field for the number of images nosBij included in the block Bij, and may calculate nosBij by counting imgID of the image information table 61. That is, a configuration without the summary table 63 may be used.

  The configuration shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 may be used as long as the data of the set of the voting page 60 and the summary table 63 is updated and then the request for the voting page 60 is satisfied. This can be done by accessing the database 166 with a shared instance and storing and checking the number of updates for each table, or checking whether both tables have been updated using an update flag. .

  These points are the same in other embodiments and modifications.

  (7) In Example 1, when the contents of the database 166 are updated every time the sub-tournament is executed, if a large number of users vote in the same time zone, the information regarding the scores changes rapidly, and the reflection of the own voting results can be understood. It becomes difficult. Even when the user simply browses without voting, the image belonging to the upper block changes due to the level fluctuation, which gives the user a sense of complexity. Furthermore, the performance of the server 10 must be improved in order to concentrate access to the database 166 and delay or avoid responses.

Therefore, while voting on the same theme for each user, the total score (increase score) of the voting result is stored in a memory (real memory or virtual memory), and this increase score is obtained when moving to another page. The database 166 may be updated at this point. That is, step V6 in FIG. 6 is updated in the memory, and the increased score is stored in the memory.

  This also applies to the other embodiments and modifications.

  (8) In Example 1, the structure which does not use an effective score may be sufficient. In this case, only the intra-block ranking is obtained in the ranking, and the scores of the inter-block images at the same level are not compared. In step V84 of FIG. 9, the score only within that block of the first level can be used. If the effective score is not used, the configuration becomes simple and the user can easily understand the meaning of the score. For each block of each level, the sub-tournament cannot be executed unless 8 images are prepared. For example, the second-level block has 8 images in each of the 8 blocks of the first level. Since the sub-tournament cannot be executed unless it is executed at least once, there is no problem with the fairness of the evaluation even if the effective score is not used. Since the highest level is 1 block, even if an excellent work is automatically selected from the highest level without using the effective score, there is no advantage / disadvantage at the time of posting.

  (9) In the above embodiment, the case where the server 10 dynamically generates the voting page 60 and sends it back to the client 12 every time the user selects a block has been described. However, the processing sharing between the server 10 and the client 12 is described. In other words, any configuration that achieves the same function as the system may be used. For example, a plug-in such as Silverlight (registered trademark), Flash (registered trademark), or Java (registered trademark) is provided in the browser of the client 12 as an interface of the client-side web application, and this client-side web application and corresponding to this A server-side web application is provided in the server 10, and in response to a request from the client 12, the server 10 transmits the client-side web application of the voting page (image data may not be included) to the client 12, and after the completion, As shown in FIG. 24, all the images related to the selected genre or a part thereof and their IDs, points, and other information are asynchronously and proactively requested to the server 10 in units of one image, and the user clicks on the images. If it is voted, the processing is performed, and this is processed according to the data reception completion event for one image from the server 10, and when the block is selected, the image data of this block and the data related thereto are already sent to the client side. If stored, the client 12 updates the part of the voting page using these data, and responds to the user clicking the button requesting the voting ranking page 30 from the client 12 to the server 10. The increase score of each image by the user may be transmitted to the server 10 together with the image ID and this request, and the database 166 may be updated by the server 10 based on the increase score.

  The same applies to pages other than the voting page 60.

  (10) The hierarchized block operation panel 32 makes it easy to grasp a large number of images and makes it possible to select an arbitrary block, so that the operability is good, and this effect shows how to arrange eight images. It can also be obtained by changing the one described. In order to enlarge the image size as much as possible, this operation panel is made vertical as shown in FIG. 25, and in order to shorten the length, 8 blocks of level 0 are changed to 8 blocks around a 3 × 3 matrix, and hatching is performed. The center block thus formed may be level 1 and the level 2 block may be narrow and vertically long. There are various types of similar modifications. For example, instead of a 3X3 matrix, a double circle is used, and the outer circle is equally divided into 8 blocks at level 0, and the inner circle is changed to a block at level 1. Good.

(11) Since the tournament method of the present invention can be posted at any time, the user may be able to set the genre so that posting can be made even if the desired genre is not set. In this case, the genre may be divided into a plurality of preset genres and themes that can be included in each genre, and the user may set themes. The genre and themes dependent on the selected genre can be selected in a drop-down list or an accordion method, respectively.

  For each theme, the sponsor may register and participate on the web page. In this case, depending on the type of theme, the theme that is popular with users is more effective in advertising, so sponsors can participate even after the tournament starts, and the posting / voting period is automatically extended for a predetermined period. Also good.

  Within the tournament period, the same theme is automatically created for each group of 512 images, and an identification code is added thereto. For example, when there are 10 groups (including one group of images less than 512) at the end of the tournament period, The top three points of each group may be automatically selected as excellent works regardless of the prizes, and the sponsor may select an image for the prize from the 30 excellent works. If it is about 30 points, sponsors can be selected easily.

  Alternatively, the number of the highest block in one tournament may be plural, and the sponsor may select a prize target image from a plurality of images belonging to the highest block.

  (12) The number of images in one block (the number of images that can start a sub tournament) may be determined for each level. For example, the number is 8 for the 0th level and 4 for the 1st level (for every 4 blocks of the 0th level). 1 block of the first level may be configured), and 2 may be used in the second level.

  (13) When purchasing a product, when the user selects one of a plurality of products, the user's willingness to purchase and selection satisfaction increases, and the probability of purchasing the product increases. On the other hand, when searching for a product on a search site, in general, a large number of products that are not desired to be selected are listed, and selection takes time. In addition, the recommendation of products by affiliates on blogs is generally one point, and there is no room for selection.

  However, unlike search engines, individual affiliators can present the user with an appropriate number of, for example, 4 or 8 items, not too many, in their own sense.

Therefore, for example, an affiliate service provider (ASP) has a product selection page such as the voting page described in the above embodiment,
[1] In response to the user clicking, for example, a banner on the Web page (A), the user jumps to this ASP,
[2] Access the product information database in ASP,
[3] A tournament-type product selection page (B) is dynamically generated using the result (override the product specification and price in the product image), and returned.
[4] The user executes a tournament, selects a product, and jumps to the advertiser's server based on the link embedded in the last selected product image,
[5] Access the product information database on the advertiser server,
[6] An explanation page or purchase page (C) of the corresponding product may be generated using the result, and returned.

In this case, the banner on the Web page A includes an ID for identifying information of each of a plurality of products, an affiliator identification code, the URL of the page on which the banner is arranged, and the like in the URL that is the value of the href attribute of the anchor tag. To be included in the query string. An ID for identifying a set of information for each of a plurality of products, instead of an ID for identifying each information for a plurality of products.
, And a database in which the ID is associated with a set of IDs for identifying individual information may be registered in advance in the ASP database, and this correspondence may be detected on the ASP side. Instead of using an anchor tag, it may be configured to post back as form data. In addition, a link to the advertiser's product description page is attached to each image of the product selection page B, and the product description page is displayed in a separate window in response to an image click before or during the tournament. Also good.

  (14) In addition, a plurality of text boxes are arranged on the Web page, each of which allows the user to enter a trademark character string, allows the user to specify the font type and size of the font, and obtains a trademark image obtained based on these text images. As shown in the bottom row of the product selection page (B), it is arranged in a line, and the sub-tournament result in response to the user operation is displayed as in the product selection page (B), thereby facilitating the selection of a trademark. Thus, the present invention can also be applied to improve services. The same applies to the selection of design and material colors.

  (15) Of course, an XML file may be used instead of the database as the data source. In addition, the voting button 68 may not be provided, and it may be configured to post back in response to the click of an arbitrary block icon and detect which block icon is clicked by the server side event handler. .

  (16) In the above embodiment, the client is a personal computer, but it may be a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone. 27 and 28 show a case where the client is a mobile terminal, and correspond to FIGS. 15 and 16, respectively. In this case, since the display screen is small, four images are one block, and the number of images in one tournament is 4 images × 16 = 64 images. The block icon may be selected by touching the touch panel, but may be selected by using a hardware key direction key and an entry key. 27 and 28, it is shown that a hatched block icon is selected, and the hardware key indicates an outline. The other points are the same as in the first embodiment.

  (17) As described above, the battle target is not limited to the battle image itself, but may be anything related to the battle image. 29 to 31 show a case where the battle target is voice. In this case, the battle image is an icon 71 to 74 in which the nickname of the poster is described, the nickname is the one used when registering as a member, and the posting target is voice.

  There is no need to enlarge the icon, and it is only necessary to know which icon the audio file being played is related to. Therefore, an icon corresponding to the audio file being played is displayed in a different color from other icons or blinked. Except this point, the second embodiment is the same as the first embodiment.

  That is, in the first stage, first, an audio file corresponding to the icon 71 is automatically reproduced, and then an audio file corresponding to the icon 72 is automatically reproduced, and a stop state is entered. For example, when the user touches the icon 72, the same 75 as the icon 72 is arranged above the middle part of the icons 71 and 72 as a winner as shown in FIG. Next, the audio file corresponding to the icon 73 is automatically reproduced, and then the audio file corresponding to the icon 74 is automatically reproduced, and a stop state is entered. For example, when the user touches the icon 73, the same 76 as the icon 73 is arranged above the middle part of the icons 73 and 74 as a winner as shown in FIG. Next, in the second stage, the audio file corresponding to the icon 75 is automatically reproduced, and then the audio file corresponding to the icon 76 is automatically reproduced, and a stop state is entered. When the user touches the icon 76, for example, as shown in FIG. 30C, the same 77 as the icon 76 is arranged as a winner above the middle part between the icons 75 and 76, and the state shown in FIG. 31 is obtained.

  In the 2nd stage, when what is heard in the 1st stage is memorized and it is not necessary to reproduce it, the reproduction can be stopped, and the audio reproduced in the 1st stage or the 2nd stage can be heard again. In addition, as shown in FIGS. 29 and 31, a stop button 78 and a play button 79 are displayed at the top of the screen, and these can be used. The play button 79 also serves as a pause button as usual, and both functions are switched for each touch. The audio file to be controlled by the button 78 or 79 is the audio file when it is being played back or paused, and when it is stopped, it is the file that was played last or selected with the key.

  Other points are the same as (16) above.

  As a specific example, for example, a sponsor contest with the theme of advertising their products within 10 seconds by voice will be promoted by posting and voting by the user itself. It can also be used for actual commercials, and the user can improve the speech expression regardless of the advertisement. Since audio is relatively easy to post, you can expect excitement.

  The sound may be a natural sound such as a wild bird or a wave, music, or the like. Moving images can be handled in the same way as with audio.

  (18) When the battle target is a human voice, it is more difficult to compare a male voice and a female voice than a homosexual voice. On the other hand, a bisexual audio tournament is more preferable than a homosexual audio tournament because of its diversity. Therefore, a group of blocks according to sex is assigned in the posting so that the same level of audio sub-tournament is performed at the 0th level and the first level of the tournament, and the bilateral audio sub-tournament is performed at the second level. This allows the poster to be identified by the color of the block icon. On the voting screen, whether the voice is male or female is identified by the color of the block icon.

  In the voting screen of FIG. 32, the hatched block icon indicates that the male audio file belongs to the block, and the solid block icon indicates that the female audio file belongs to the block. Yes. Cross hatching indicates a block icon selected by a voter. Two male audio files and two female audio files belong to the second level block.

  This method can also be applied to types other than sex, and the battle target is a still image or a moving image, and the category is not limited to two categories. For example, even if the theme is the same, by assigning block groups in the same manner as described above according to the type of age, etc., it becomes possible to perform a tournament with a rich variety and a more appropriate evaluation.

  Also, in FIG. 32, the battle two images 80 and 81 with the reproduction control button are arranged at the top, and the reproduction control is easier than in the case of FIG. The same can be done for moving images.

  The other points are the same as in the case of (17).

It is a schematic block diagram which shows the software structure of the image contest server which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. (A) And (B) is explanatory drawing of the image information table and genre table which are respectively contained in the database in FIG. (A) And (B) is explanatory drawing of the summary table and user table which are respectively contained in the database in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a sequence of the request and response between an image contest server and a client. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence by the server side Web program described in the ranking page in FIG. It is a detailed flowchart of step R3 in FIG. It is a figure which shows the display screen by the web browser of the web page produced by step R4 of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence by the server side Web program described in the voting page in FIG. It is a detailed flowchart of step V8 in FIG. (A) is an explanatory diagram of shuffle arrangement, (B) is an explanatory drawing of 8 image ID arrangement, and (C) is an explanatory drawing of shuffle arrangement in which the shuffle arrangement is applied to the 8 image ID arrangement. It is a figure which shows the flowchart of the process by the image click event handler contained in the client side Web program described in the voting page in FIG. (A) is a figure explaining the content change of the shuffle arrangement | sequence in step VC5 and VC9 of FIG. 11, (B)-(D) is the incremental arrangement | sequence at the end of the stage 0-2 by the process of FIG. 11, respectively. It is a figure which shows the value of (delta). It is a figure which shows the initial display screen by the web browser of the web page produced by step V16 of FIG. It is a figure which shows the screen displayed on a web browser following FIG. 13 by a client side web program. It is a figure which shows the screen displayed on a web browser following FIG. 14 by a client side web program. It is a figure which shows the screen displayed on a web browser, after the sub tournament of FIG. 14 is performed by a client side web program and a user's operation. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence by the server side Web program described in the upload page in FIG. It is a figure which shows the display screen by the web browser of the web page produced by step U4 of FIG. FIG. 19 is a diagram showing a display screen by a Web browser of the Web page created in step U4 of FIG. 17 after an image is uploaded on the screen of FIG. It is a schematic block diagram which shows the hardware constitutions of an image contest system. (A) and (B) are explanatory diagrams of an image information table and a summary table according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention, respectively. (A) and (B) are explanatory views of an image information table and a summary table according to Embodiment 5 of the present invention, respectively. It is explanatory drawing of the mapping to the mapping serial number of the image serial number used for the image shuffle in Example 5 of this invention. The figure which shows the example of a sequence between a client server which shows the case where a client requests ahead of image data etc. by asynchronous communication with a server by increasing processing in a client side Web program using a browser plug-in. is there. It is a figure which shows the modification of a hierarchical block operation panel in a contribution page. It is explanatory drawing of the example which applied tournament system goods selection to the affiliate system. FIG. 16 is a front view of a mobile terminal in which a client is a mobile terminal and a voting page corresponding to FIG. 15 is displayed on a browser. FIG. 17 is a front view of a mobile terminal in which a client is a mobile terminal and a voting page corresponding to FIG. 16 is displayed on a browser. FIG. 28 is a front view of a mobile terminal in which a client is a mobile terminal and a battle target is voice, and a voting page corresponding to FIG. 27 is displayed on a browser. (A)-(C) is explanatory drawing which shows the change of the battle | competition image display accompanying the progress of a sub tournament. FIG. 29 is a front view of a mobile terminal in which a client is a mobile terminal and a battle target is voice, and a voting page corresponding to FIG. 28 is displayed on a browser. It is a mobile terminal front view which shows the modification of FIG.

10 server 11 internet 12 client 13 CPU
14 Interface 15 Memory 16 Auxiliary Storage 17 Interactive Input / Output Device 18 Network Interface 161 Operating System 162 Web Server 163 Runtime 164 DBMS
165 Web application 166 Database 30 Ranking page 31, 41A, 41B, 65A to 65D Screen 32 Hierarchical block operation panel 320 0th level 321 1st level 322 2nd level 323 ST count 331 Image orientation list 332 Genre list 34 Overall ranking Buttons 350 to 357, 650 to 657 Image 358 100 points full mark check box 36 Detailed information table 37, 67 Block ranking button 38, 68 Vote button 39 Post button 3A0 to 3A7 Lower block ranking button 40 Upload page 43 Reference button 44 , 45 Text input box 46 Send button 47 Back link 50 Authentication page group 60 Vote page 61 Image information table 62 Genre table 63 Summary table 64 user table 66 primary vote button

Claims (12)

Storage means for storing identification information of each of a plurality of images and image information including a total score, and a client-side Web program;
A program / image information transmitting means for transmitting a part or all of the image information to the request source in response to a request from a client;
The client-side Web program causes the client to display each block of the hierarchized block composed of three or more blocks, and to select a block in which a predetermined number of images determined by the hierarchical level belong to the block. In response to the user's selection, two battle images are selected from a plurality of images belonging to the selected block, and a winner is determined in response to the user selecting one of the selected two images. And the sub-tournament is performed by repeating the selection and the determination process.
Based on the result of the sub-tournament, the total score of each winner's image is updated, and the image with the maximum total score is selected from among the images belonging to the block, and the hierarchical level belongs to the higher block. Selection means to make the image belong to the block before selection,
The predetermined number is a maximum value of the number of images selected from the lower level to the upper one block except the block having the lowest hierarchical level, and the battle image is a battle target image or a battle A server device characterized by being an image related to an object. The client-side Web program causes the client to display each block of the hierarchical block as an icon, and in response to the user selecting the icon, displays all images belonging to the block corresponding to the icon. , Make the size of the battle image larger than the size of these images,
The server apparatus according to claim 1. The client-side Web program allows the user to check the results of all the matches in the sub-tournament by arranging all the images in one row for the client and arranging the winner's image on one side of the two images of the match. To
The server apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein The client-side Web program is configured such that the client arranges the icons in a row for each level of the hierarchy, and a predetermined number of lower-level icons are selected from blocks corresponding to the predetermined number of icons. The icon corresponding to the upper level block to be placed is arranged in correspondence with this icon, and this icon has an image indicating a length proportional to the number of images belonging to the block corresponding to each icon.
The server device according to claim 2 or 3, wherein The server apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the client-side Web program causes the client to determine the two images of the battle based on a random number and to determine the arrangement of all the images. The image information includes user identification information for each image,
The client-side Web program makes the client determine whether one of the two images of the battle is of the logged-in sub-tournament execution user based on the image information, and if an affirmative determination is made, Let the winners be determined based on their effective scores,
The server device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein The average value of the number of sub tournaments for each block is calculated for each hierarchical level, and the total score of each image is corrected by the average value for each hierarchical level to determine the effective score, and the ranking of all images is determined based on the effective score. And a ranking Web page generating means for generating a ranking Web page for displaying a predetermined number of images in a determined order on the browser of the client in response to a request from the client, and transmitting the ranking Web page to the request source.
The server device according to claim 1, further comprising: The ranking web page generation means obtains the effective score of each image at the i-th level based on the formula Mi · MTi / Ti, where Mi, MTi, and Ti are the total score of the image, i th The average value of the sub tournament execution times of all blocks of the level and the sub tournament execution times of the block to which this image belongs.
The server device according to claim 7, wherein: The ranking Web page generation means obtains the sum of the effective scores for each hierarchical level of each image or the sum of weights of the effective scores for each hierarchical level as the effective score of the image.
The server device according to claim 8, wherein: The ranking web page further includes a lower block selection icon corresponding to each image displayed in the ranking display section.
The ranking Web page generation means further includes an image corresponding to the lower block selection icon based on the image information stored in the storage means in response to a request based on the operation of the lower block selection icon by the user. Deciding on a block one block lower than the block, assuming that the decided block has been selected, generating a ranking web page and responding to the requester,
The server device according to claim 7, wherein the server device is a device.   A tournament providing method, wherein a tournament is executed using the server device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.   The server program for tournament execution stored in the server apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1 thru | or 10.