JP2010257169A - Method and apparatus for displaying search result and search result display program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To determine how contents matching search conditions are distributed in the order of all the contents to be searched for. <P>SOLUTION: A keyword input to a blank 45 is read to an image search unit. The image search unit searches for images using search conditions based on the keyword. A result image creation unit creates a search result display image 42 based on the keyword and search results. The search result display image 42 is displayed in a monitor by a display control unit. A distribution display area 46 includes the same number of small areas as the number of images to be searched for, arranged side by side in a line in a predetermined order, and shows an image created by arranging all the images to be searched for in a straight line. Marks are shown at small areas corresponding to images where the same word as the keyword input is tagged. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a search result display method and apparatus for displaying content search results, and a search result display program.

  Recently, information terminal devices such as personal computers and mobile phones have become widespread. According to the information terminal device, various contents such as video, images, music, and games can be easily managed in large quantities. When searching for managed content, keyword search is widely used.

  In keyword search, a keyword input by a user is used as a search condition, and content is searched for based on a tag previously attached to the content. When content is found, items such as characters and images are displayed in a list as search results. Since the display form of the search result greatly affects the user, various proposals have been made regarding the display form of the search result. For example, in the search / display method described in Patent Document 1, an image is searched based on a word related to an input keyword, and a list of images is displayed together with the word.

JP 2008-217117 A

  According to the search / display method described in Patent Document 1, the user can easily visually grasp what conditions the listed contents are searched for. On the other hand, if each content to be searched is managed in a predetermined order (for example, the order of creation date and time of content), the content that matches the search condition in the order of the entire content to be searched It is not possible to grasp how is distributed.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and when each content to be searched is managed in a predetermined order, the search condition is matched in the order of the entire content to be searched. It is an object of the present invention to provide a search result display method and apparatus for ascertaining how content is distributed, and a search result display program.

  In order to achieve the above object, the search result display device of the present invention searches a content from a plurality of search target content tagged with one or more words under a search condition based on an accepted keyword. Corresponding to the search target content tagged with the same word as the keyword, and a distribution display region in which a plurality of small regions corresponding to each search target content one-to-one are connected in a predetermined order An image creating unit that creates a search result display image showing a predetermined mark in the small area and a display control unit that displays the search result display image on a monitor are provided.

  It is preferable that the image creation unit creates the search result display image in which a line segment having a predetermined width having the same length as the distribution display area is arranged in parallel with the distribution display area.

  In addition, an operation unit for inputting an operation signal is provided, and the display control unit expands the search result display image displayed on the monitor in response to the operation signal input from the operation unit, It is preferable that the content corresponding to the small area is displayed in the small area indicated by the predetermined mark.

  The content search unit accepts a plurality of keywords to search for content, and the image creation unit arranges the plurality of distribution display areas corresponding to each keyword on a one-to-one basis in parallel with a gap therebetween. Preferably, the search result display image shown in the gap is created so that a band connecting the small areas of the distribution display areas corresponding to the searched content is orthogonal to the distribution display areas.

  Further, it is preferable that the image creation unit creates the search result display image in which a line segment having a predetermined width having the same length as the distribution display area is arranged in parallel with the distribution display area.

  In addition, the image creation unit arranges the line segments that are connected in a row in the predetermined order with a plurality of rectangles corresponding to each search target content in a one-to-one manner, and the rectangle corresponding to the searched content is It is preferable to create the search result display image shown in a different form from the other rectangles.

  In addition, an operation unit for inputting an operation signal is provided, and the display control unit expands the search result display image displayed on the monitor in response to the operation signal input from the operation unit, It is preferable that content corresponding to the rectangle is displayed on the rectangle corresponding to the content searched by the content search unit.

  In addition, it is preferable that a condition designating unit for designating a search condition is provided. The content search unit selects either one of an AND condition for searching a search target content tagged with a specified number or more among the same words as a plurality of received keywords and a word that is the same as a plurality of received keywords. OR condition to search for search target content tagged with one or more, OFF condition to exclude specified keyword from search condition among received keywords, same word as specified keyword among received keywords It is preferable to search for content under a NOT condition that excludes tagged search target content from search targets.

  The search result display method of the present invention includes a content search step for searching for content from a plurality of search target contents tagged with one or more words under a search condition based on an accepted keyword, and for each search target content A distribution display area in which a plurality of small areas corresponding one-to-one are connected in a predetermined order is arranged in a line, and a predetermined mark is placed on the small area corresponding to the search target content tagged with the same word as the keyword. The computer executes an image creation step of creating a search result display image showing the above and a display step of displaying the search image display image on a monitor.

  The search result display program of the present invention includes a content search step for searching for content from a plurality of search target contents tagged with one or more words under a search condition based on an accepted keyword, and for each search target content A distribution display area in which a plurality of small areas corresponding one-to-one are connected in a predetermined order is arranged in a line, and a predetermined mark is placed on the small area corresponding to the search target content tagged with the same word as the keyword. An image creating step for creating a search result display image showing the above and a display step for displaying the search result display image on a monitor are executed by a computer.

  According to the search result display method and apparatus and the search result display program of the present invention, a plurality of search result display images that display the search result based on the search condition based on the accepted keyword, one to one corresponding to each search target content. A distribution display area is arranged in which the small areas are connected to each other in a predetermined order, and a predetermined mark is displayed in the small area corresponding to the content tagged with the same word as the received keyword. It is possible to grasp how the content that matches the search condition is distributed in the order of the entire content.

It is the schematic which shows the structure of a personal computer. It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of a personal computer. It is a block diagram explaining the data etc. which were stored in HDD. It is a figure which shows the structure of an image list table. It is a figure which shows the structure of a tag list table. It is a figure which shows the structure of an imaging | photography date list table. It is a block diagram explaining the function of CPU. It is a Venn diagram explaining search conditions, (A) is a complete AND condition, (B) is an incomplete AND condition, (C) is a complete AND condition in which some keywords are OFF conditions, (D) is a part of (E) is an OR condition, (F) is an OR condition using some keywords as an OFF condition, and (G) is an OR condition using some keywords as a NOT condition. It is a Venn diagram. It is a figure which shows a search result display image. It is a figure which shows the search result display image which displayed the result searched by AND condition using five keywords. It is a figure which shows the search result display image which displayed the result searched by AND conditions using arbitrary three of five keywords. It is a figure which shows the search result display image which displayed the result searched by AND condition using the designated two of five keywords as OFF conditions, and remaining three. It is a figure which shows the search result display image which displayed the result searched by the AND conditions using the two designated among 5 keywords as NOT condition, and remaining three. It is a figure which shows the search result display image which displayed the result searched by OR condition using two keywords. It is a flowchart explaining the process sequence of a search result display apparatus. It is a figure which shows the search result display image which displayed the result of the search using one keyword. It is a figure which shows the case where the search result display image shown in FIG. 16 is expanded and the searched image is displayed as a list. It is a figure which shows the case where the search result display image shown in FIG. 17 is expanded further, and the searched image is displayed one by one.

  The search result display device shown in FIG. 1 is configured by installing a search result display program 34 (see FIG. 3) in the client terminal 11. The search result display device displays the results of image search under various conditions on the monitor 12.

  The client terminal 11 is, for example, a personal computer or a workstation, and includes a monitor 12 that displays various windows and the like, and an operation unit 15 that includes a mouse 13 and a keyboard 14 for inputting operation signals. The user operates the operation unit 15 to input a keyword and perform an image search.

  The client terminal 11 is sent with an image captured by the digital camera 16 or an image recorded on a recording medium 17 such as a memory card or CD-R, or the image is downloaded via the Internet 18. Is done.

  The digital camera 16 is connected to the client terminal 11 by a communication cable compliant with, for example, IEEE 1394, USB (Universal Serial Bus), a wireless LAN, or the like, and data communication with the client terminal 11 is possible. Similarly, the recording medium 17 can exchange data with the client terminal 11 via a dedicated driver.

  As illustrated in FIG. 2, the client terminal 11 includes a CPU 21, and the CPU 21 controls the entire client terminal 11 in accordance with an operation signal input from the operation unit 15. In addition to the operation unit 15, the CPU 21 includes a RAM 23, a hard disk drive (hereinafter abbreviated as HDD) 24, a communication interface (hereinafter abbreviated as communication I / F) 25, and a monitor 12 via a data bus 22. Is connected.

  The RAM 23 is a work memory used for the CPU 21 to execute processing. The HDD 24 stores various programs and data for operating the client terminal 11. The CPU 21 reads out the program from the HDD 24, develops it in the RAM 23, and sequentially executes the read program.

  The communication I / F 25 is a modem or a router, for example, and controls a communication protocol suitable for the Internet 18 and exchanges data via the Internet 18. The communication I / F 25 also performs data communication with external devices such as the digital camera 16 and the recording medium 17.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the HDD 24 stores an image list table 31, a tag list table 32, a shooting date / time list table 33, and a search result display program 34 along with a plurality of image data.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the image list table 31 stores the name of an image with the ID (serial number assigned in the order of acquisition) automatically given when the image data is taken in as a heading. The images stored in the HDD 24 are ID-managed by the image list table 31.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the tag list table 32 stores words tagged with images using IDs as headings. The words tagged to the image include those originally attached to the image and those obtained from an external database such as a file system when the image is captured (image title, genre, image, etc.). IDs of words tagged to images stored in the HDD 24 are managed by the tag list table 32.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, the shooting date / time list table 33 stores the date and time when an image was shot with an ID as a heading. The date and time when the image was taken is the date and time when the image data was created, and the image has additional information. The date and time when the image stored in the HDD 24 is taken is managed by the tag list table 32. The image list table 31, the tag list table 32, and the shooting date / time list table 34 may be integrated into one data table.

  When the search result display program 34 is executed, an image search unit 35, a result image creation unit 36, and a display control unit 37 are constructed in the CPU 21, as shown in FIG. By constructing these 35 and 36, the client terminal 11 functions as a search result display device.

  The image search unit 35 searches the plurality of images stored in the HDD 24 for an image that matches the search condition based on the keyword input from the operation unit 15. At this time, the image search unit 35 identifies the image and the tagged word by the ID.

  Search conditions include (a) an AND condition (hereinafter referred to as a complete AND condition) for searching for an image in which all of the same words as the input keywords are tagged, and (b) the input plural AND condition (hereinafter referred to as an incomplete AND condition) for searching for an image tagged with a specified number or more of the same words as the keyword of the word, (c) the same as a plurality of input keywords Search for the specified keyword among the input keywords in each of the OR condition for searching for an image tagged with one or more of the words, (d) the complete AND condition, the incomplete AND condition, and the OR condition. In each of the OFF condition to be excluded from the condition, (e) the complete AND condition, the incomplete AND condition, and the OR condition, the same word as the specified keyword among the input keywords is a tag. This morning the image there are excluded NOT condition from the search of the target.

  Here, each search condition will be schematically described with reference to a Venn diagram, taking as an example the case where three keywords “Father”, “Taro”, and “Hanako” are input as keywords. In FIG. 8 (A) to FIG. 8 (G), the region enclosed by the circle Venn1 is tagged with the word “Father”, and the region enclosed by the circle Venn2 is tagged with the word “Taro”. In the area surrounded by the circle Venn3, an image tagged with the word “Hanako” is used as an element. In addition, the hatched area has an element that matches the search condition (an image that hits the search).

  As shown in FIG. 8A, in the complete AND condition, an image in which all of the words “Father”, “Taro”, and “Hanako” are tagged matches the search condition. That is, the elements of the region (hatched region) where the circle Venn1 corresponding to “Father”, the circle Venn2 corresponding to “Taro”, and the circle Venn3 corresponding to “Hanako” overlap all match the search condition.

  As shown in FIG. 8B, in the incomplete AND condition where the designated word count is “2”, an image in which two or more of the words “father”, “Taro”, and “Hanako” are tagged is searched. It meets the conditions. That is, the elements of a region where two or more of the circle Venn1 corresponding to “Father”, the circle Venn2 corresponding to “Taro”, and the circle Venn3 corresponding to “Hanako” overlap (hatched region) match the search condition. To do.

  As shown in FIG. 8C, in the complete AND condition using the keyword “Hanako” as an OFF condition, images tagged with all of the words “Father” and “Taro” match the search condition. That is, the elements of the area (hatched area) where the circle Venn1 corresponding to “Father” and Venn2 corresponding to “Taro” overlap each other match the search condition.

  As shown in FIG. 8D, in the complete AND condition using the keyword “Hanako” as a NOT condition, all of the words “Father” and “Taro” are tagged and the word “Hanako” is tagged. No image matches the search criteria. That is, an element of a region (hatched region) where the circle Venn1 corresponding to “Father” and the circle Venn2 corresponding to “Taro” overlap and the circle Venn3 corresponding to “Hanako” does not overlap is used as the search condition. Match.

  As shown in FIG. 8E, in the OR condition, an image tagged with one or more of the words “father”, “Taro”, and “Hanako” matches the search condition. That is, an element of a region (hatched region) surrounded by any one of a circle Venn1 corresponding to “Father”, a circle Venn2 corresponding to “Taro”, and a circle Venn3 corresponding to “Hanako” is used as a search condition. Match.

  As shown in FIG. 8F, in the OR condition using the keyword “Hanako” as an OFF condition, an image tagged with one or more of the words “Father” and “Taro” matches the search condition. That is, an element in a region (hatched region) surrounded by either the circle Venn1 corresponding to “Father” or the circle Venn2 corresponding to “Taro” matches the search condition.

  As shown in FIG. 8G, in the OR condition using the keyword “Hanako” as a NOT condition, at least one of the words “Father” and “Taro” is tagged, and the word “Hanako” is tagged. Unattached images meet the search criteria. That is, an element of a region (hatched region) surrounded by either the circle Venn1 corresponding to “Father” or the circle Venn2 corresponding to “Taro” and not overlapping the circle Venn3 corresponding to “Hanako” Matches the search criteria.

  Returning to FIG. 7, the result image creation unit 36 creates a search result display image 42 (see FIG. 9) to be displayed on the monitor 12 based on the keyword, the search condition, and the search result by the image search unit 35. The display control unit 37 displays the search result display image 42 on the monitor 12, enlarges / reduces the search result display image 42 displayed on the monitor 12, displays the image searched by the image search unit 35 on the monitor 12, and the like.

  When searching for an image, the user operates the operation unit 15 to start the search result display program 34. When the search result display program 34 is activated, the display control unit 37 starts up the search window 41 shown in FIG. 9 on the monitor 12 and displays the search result display image 42. On the search window 41, a pointer 43 used for the selection operation is displayed. The pointer 43 moves on the search window 41 when the mouse 13 is operated.

  The search result display image 42 includes a bar-shaped line segment 44 indicating the number of images stored in the HDD 24, a plurality of blanks 45 for inputting search keywords, and a plurality of bar-shaped distribution displays corresponding to the blanks 45. An area 46, an AND condition button 47 for executing a search with an AND condition, an OR condition button 48 for executing a search with an OR condition, a plurality of OFF condition buttons 49 corresponding to each blank 45, and corresponding to each blank 45 A plurality of NOT condition buttons 50, a pop-up menu 51 for designating the number of words, and a rearrangement button 52 for rearranging the keywords input to the blank 45 are arranged.

  The line segment 44 is formed by connecting the same number of rectangles as the number of images stored in the HDD 24 in a predetermined order in one column, and each rectangle corresponds to the image stored in the HDD 24 on a one-to-one basis. That is, the line segment 44 is an image in which all the images stored in the HDD 24 are arranged on a straight line. Each rectangle constituting the line segment 44 is an internal rule and is not displayed on the monitor 12. In this embodiment, the order of the shooting date and time stored in the shooting date and time list table 33 is a predetermined order, but is not limited to this, and the order of the ID, the order of the file size of the image, and the 50 sounds of the file name The order may be a predetermined order.

  In the line segment 44, a rectangle corresponding to the searched image is shown wider than other rectangles (see FIG. 10 and the like). Note that the rectangle corresponding to the searched image may be shown in a different form from the other rectangles, and is not limited to being shown wide. For example, you may make it show with a different color.

  A keyword can be input by placing the pointer 43 on the blank 45 and clicking with the mouse 13 and typing a character string with the keyboard 14. In each blank 45, one keyword can be input. When a keyword is input, the input keyword is displayed in the blank 45, and an image is searched with a search condition based on the input keyword. The default is a complete AND condition. When only one keyword is input, an image tagged with a word that matches the keyword is searched.

  Each distribution display area 46 is formed by concatenating the same number of small areas as the number of images stored in the HDD 24 into one column in a predetermined order (the same order as the rectangular order constituting the line segment 44). They are arranged in parallel with a gap between them. Each small area corresponds to the image stored in the HDD 24 on a one-to-one basis. That is, each distribution display area 46 is an image in which all the images stored in the HDD 24 are arranged in a straight line. In this embodiment, the order of the shooting date and time stored in the shooting date and time list table 33 is set as a predetermined order. However, if the order is the same as the order of the rectangles constituting the line segment 44, the order of the shooting date and time is used. The order of IDs, the order of file sizes of images, the order of 50 sounds of file names, and the like may be used as the predetermined order.

  In the distribution display area 46 corresponding to the blank 45 in which the keyword is input, a mark 56 (see FIG. 10 or the like) is shown in a small area corresponding to an image tagged with the same word as the input keyword. The mark 56 means the distribution of images tagged with the keyword input to the blank 45.

  When the pointer 43 is placed on the AND condition button 47 and the mouse 13 is clicked, an image is retrieved under the AND condition using the character string typed in the blank 45 as a keyword. When the pointer 43 is placed on the OR condition button 48 and the mouse 13 is clicked, an image is retrieved under the OR condition using the character string typed in the blank 45 as a keyword. If the AND condition button 47 is clicked when the AND condition is searched, or if the OR condition button 48 is clicked when the OR condition is searched, the result of the search is already set. Identical results are obtained. Therefore, in these cases, the processing may be invalidated and the search may not be performed.

  When the pointer 43 is placed on the OFF condition button 49 and the mouse 13 is clicked, the mark 56 (see FIG. 10 or the like) shown in the distribution display area 46 corresponding to the clicked OFF condition button 49 is hidden. In addition, an image is searched under an AND condition or an OR condition with the keyword input from the blank 43 corresponding to the clicked OFF condition button 49 as an OFF condition. If an image has been searched under the AND condition immediately before the OFF condition button 49 is clicked, the image is searched under the AND condition. On the other hand, if an image has been searched under the OR condition immediately before the OFF condition button 49 is clicked, the image is searched under the OR condition. If the OFF condition button 49 is clicked when the OFF condition has already been established, the image is searched under the AND condition or the OR condition after the OFF condition for the corresponding keyword is canceled.

  When the pointer 43 is placed on the NOT condition button 50 and the mouse 13 is clicked, the mark 56 (see FIG. 10 or the like) shown in the distribution display area 46 corresponding to the clicked NOT condition button 50 is hidden. In addition, an image is searched under an AND condition or an OR condition using a keyword input from the blank 43 corresponding to the clicked NOT condition button 50 as a NOT condition. If an image has been searched under the AND condition immediately before the NOT condition button 50 is clicked, the image is searched under the AND condition. On the other hand, if an image has been searched under the OR condition immediately before the NOT condition button 50 is clicked, the image is searched under the OR condition. If the NOT condition button 50 is clicked when the NOT condition has already been reached, the image is searched under the AND condition or the OR condition after the NOT condition for the corresponding keyword is canceled.

  When the pointer 43 is placed on the pop-up menu 51 and clicked with the mouse 13, a list of the number of words (1 to MAX (number of input keywords)) under the complete AND condition is displayed. The number is selected by placing the pointer 43 on any number from the displayed list and clicking with the mouse 13. Depending on the number selected, the image is retrieved with a complete AND condition or an incomplete AND condition. As described above, the mouse 13 functions as a condition designating unit for designating a search condition.

  When the pointer 43 is placed on the rearrangement button 52 and the mouse 13 is clicked, the keywords input to the blanks 45 are rearranged. The keywords input to each blank 45 are rearranged in descending order of the number of images tagged with the same word as the corresponding keyword. If the search is performed under the complete AND condition, all the keywords that have been input are tagged in each searched image, so even if the sort button 52 is clicked, the keywords are not sorted. There is no replacement.

  In the gap between the distribution display areas 46, a band 57 (see FIG. 10 and the like) that connects the small areas corresponding to the searched image to each other is shown. Each distribution display area 46 is orthogonal to the band 57. A band 57 means a distribution of searched images.

  FIG. 10 shows a search result display image 42 in which five keywords “summer”, “sea”, “father”, “Taro”, and “Hanako” are input and the result of searching the image under the complete AND condition is displayed. . In this case, an image in which all of the same words as the five input keywords are tagged is searched, and the result is displayed. A band 57 connecting the small areas indicated by the marks 56 in all the distribution display areas 46 is shown.

  FIG. 11 shows the result of searching an image using an incomplete AND condition in which five keywords “summer”, “sea”, “father”, “Taro”, “Hanako” are input and the number “3” is specified. The displayed search result display screen 42 is shown. In this case, an image in which three or more words identical to the five input keywords are tagged is searched, and the result is displayed. A band 57 that connects the small areas indicated by the marks 56 in three or more distribution display areas 46 is shown.

  FIG. 12 shows a complete AND condition in which five keywords “summer”, “sea”, “father”, “Taro”, and “Hanako” are input, and the keywords “father” and “Hanako” are specified as OFF conditions. The search result display image 42 which displayed the result by which the image was searched is shown. In this case, the keywords “Father” and “Hanako” are excluded from the search conditions, and an image in which all of the same words as the keywords “Summer”, “Sea”, and “Taro” are tagged is searched, and the result is Is displayed. A band 57 connecting the small areas indicated by the marks 56 in the three distribution display areas 46 corresponding to the keywords “summer”, “sea”, and “Taro” is shown.

  FIG. 13 shows a complete AND condition in which five keywords “summer”, “sea”, “father”, “Taro”, and “Hanako” are input, and the keywords “father” and “Hanako” are designated as NOT conditions. The search result display image 42 which displayed the result by which the image was searched is shown. In this case, images tagged with the same word as the keyword “Father” or “Hanako” are excluded from the search conditions, and all the same words as the keywords “Summer”, “Umi”, and “Taro” are tagged. The retrieved image is searched and the result is displayed. A small area other than the small area where the mark 56 is not displayed in any one or more of the distribution display areas 46 corresponding to the keywords “Father” or “Hanako”, and the keywords “Summer”, “Sea ”, A band 57 connecting the small areas indicated by the marks 56 in the three distribution display areas 46 corresponding to“ Taro ”.

  FIG. 14 shows a search result display image 42 in which two keywords “summer” and “sea” are input and the result of the image search under the OR condition is displayed. In this case, an image tagged with one or more of the same words as the two input keywords is searched, and the result is displayed. A band 57 connecting the small areas indicated by the marks 56 in any of the distribution display areas 46 is shown.

  Next, a processing procedure for displaying a search result when the client terminal 11 functions as a search result display device will be described with reference to a flowchart of FIG. When the operation unit 15 is operated and the search result display program 34 is executed, a search window 41 (see FIG. 9) is started on the monitor 12, a search result display image 42 is displayed, and the image search unit 35, A result image creation unit 36 and a display control unit 37 are constructed. Thereby, the client terminal 11 functions as a search result display device (step (hereinafter abbreviated as S) 11).

  When the operation unit 15 is operated and a keyword is input to the blank 45 (S12), the input keyword is stored in the RAM 23.

  The keyword input in the blank 45 is read from the RAM 23 to the image search unit 35 together with the search condition (by default, the complete AND condition). In the image search unit 35, an image is searched from the HDD 24 under a search condition based on the read keyword (S13). The searched image (search result) is read from the HDD 24 and stored in the RAM 23.

  The keyword input to the blank 45, the search condition, and the search result by the image search unit 35 are read from the RAM 23 to the result image creation unit 36. The result image creation unit 36 creates a search result display image 42 based on the read keywords, search conditions, and search results (S14). The created search result display image 42 is stored in the RAM 23.

  The search result display image 42 created by the result image creation unit 36 is read from the RAM 23 to the display control unit 37. The display control unit 37 displays the read search result display image 42 on the monitor 12 (S15).

  When the operation unit 15 is operated and a keyword is input to the blank 45 (YES in S16), the same steps as S13 to S15 are repeated.

  If NO in S16, the operation unit 15 is operated, and either the AND condition button 47, the OR condition button 48, the OFF condition button 49 corresponding to the blank 45 in which the keyword is input, or the blank 45 in which the keyword is input. When one of the NOT condition buttons 50 corresponding to the above or the pop-up menu 51 is clicked (YES in S17), the search conditions corresponding to the clicked buttons 47 to 50 or the pop-up menu 51 are stored in the RAM 23, and The same steps as S13 to S15 are repeated.

  As described above, in the search result display image 42 that displays the search result based on the search condition based on the input keyword, a plurality of small areas that correspond one-to-one with the image stored in the HDD 24 are displayed in a predetermined order. Since a distribution display area 46 connected to the column is arranged and a mark 56 is shown in a small area corresponding to an image tagged with the same word as the input keyword, it is included in the order of the entire image to be searched. It is possible to grasp how images matching the search condition are distributed.

  In addition, distribution display areas 46 corresponding to a plurality of blanks 45 to which keywords are input are arranged in the search result display image 42 with a gap between them, and the searched images are displayed in the gaps between the distribution display areas 46. Since the bands 57 connecting the corresponding small regions are shown, it is possible to grasp how the searched images are distributed in the order of the entire images to be searched.

  Note that the case of searching for an image has been described as an example, but the present invention can also be applied to the case of searching for other contents such as video, music, and games.

  Further, although the case where the client terminal 11 functions as a search result display device has been described as an example, the present invention can also be applied to other electronic devices that handle content such as a photo storage, a digital camera, and a mobile phone.

  When only one keyword is input and an image is searched, if the mark 56 shown in the distribution display area 46 is selected by the operation unit 15, the search result display image 42 is enlarged and the mark 56 is displayed. An image corresponding to the small area may be displayed in the small area shown.

  FIG. 16 shows a search result display image 42 in which one keyword “summer” is input, and a result of searching for an image tagged with the same word “summer” as the input keyword is displayed. When the pointer 43 is placed on the mark 56 arranged on the search result display image 42 and the mouse 13 is clicked, the search result display image 42 is enlarged around the clicked portion as shown in FIG.

  In the small area where the mark 56 is shown, an image 61 corresponding to each small area is displayed. In addition, a navigation image 62 showing the same content as the search result display image 42 (see FIG. 16) before being enlarged is displayed at the lower left of the search window 41. The navigation image 62 shows a navigation mark 63 representing the current position displayed in an enlarged manner. Since the navigation image 62 showing the navigation mark 63 is displayed, it is possible to make the user recognize which part of the search result display image 42 is enlarged and displayed.

  When the pointer 43 is placed on the image 61 and dragged with the mouse 13, the search result display image 42 is scrolled. When the image 61 is not displayed in the adjacent small area, the image 61 is displayed after jumping to the small area where the image 61 is displayed. By scrolling the search result display image 42, the image 61 that has not been displayed can be displayed. When the pointer 43 is placed on the navigation image 62 and dragged with the mouse 13, the navigation image 62 moves. When the pointer 43 is placed on the navigation mark 63 and dragged with the mouse 13, the navigation mark 63 moves and the search result display image 42 is scrolled in conjunction with the movement of the navigation mark 63.

  When the pointer 43 is placed on the image 61 displayed on the search result display image 42 shown in FIG. 17 and the mouse 13 is clicked, the search result display image 42 is further enlarged around the clicked image 61 as shown in FIG. The The operation of the search result display image 42 shown in FIG. 18 using the mouse 13 is the same as the operation of the search result display image 42 shown in FIG. 17 using the mouse 13, and the description thereof is omitted.

  Note that the present invention is not limited to the case where the mark 56 shown in the distribution display area 46 is selected, and the search result display image 42 is enlarged even when a wide rectangle constituting the line segment 44 is selected, You may make it display the image corresponding to the rectangle on the rectangle shown wide.

  Further, when a plurality of keywords are input and an image is searched, only one keyword is input and the search result display image 42 may be enlarged as in the case where an image is searched. .

11 Client Terminal 12 Monitor 13 Mouse 14 Keyboard 15 Operation Unit 21 CPU
24 Hard disk drive (HDD)
31 Image List Table 32 Tag List Table 33 Shooting Date / Time List Table 34 Search Result Display Program 35 Image Search Unit 36 Result Image Creation Unit 37 Display Control Unit 41 Search Window 42 Search Result Display Image 44 Line Segment 46 Distribution Display Area 47 AND Condition Button 48 OR condition button 49 OFF condition button 50 NOT condition button 51 Pop-up menu 56 Mark 57 Band 61 Image

Claims (14)

A content search unit for searching for content from a plurality of search target content tagged with one or more words under a search condition based on an accepted keyword;
The small display corresponding to the search target content in which a plurality of small regions corresponding to each search target content are arranged in a row in a predetermined order and arranged in a single column and the same word as the keyword is tagged. An image creation unit for creating a search result display image showing a predetermined mark in the area;
A search result display device comprising: a display control unit for displaying the search result display image on a monitor.   The image creation unit creates the search result display image in which a line segment of a predetermined width having the same length as the distribution display area is arranged in parallel with the distribution display area. The search result display device described in 1. An operation unit for inputting operation signals is provided.
In response to the operation signal input from the operation unit, the display control unit enlarges the search result display image displayed on the monitor, and displays the predetermined mark on the small region. 3. The search result display device according to claim 1, wherein content corresponding to the small area is displayed. The content search unit accepts a plurality of keywords to search for content,
The image creation unit arranges a plurality of the distribution display areas corresponding to each keyword on a one-to-one basis in parallel with a gap between each other, and the small areas of the distribution display areas corresponding to the searched contents are mutually connected. The search result display device according to claim 1, wherein the search result display image is created in which the band to be connected is shown in the gap so as to be orthogonal to each distribution display area.   5. The image creation unit creates the search result display image in which a line segment having a predetermined width having the same length as the distribution display area is arranged in parallel with the distribution display area. The search result display device described in 1.   The image creation unit arranges the line segments in which a plurality of rectangles corresponding to each search target content on a one-to-one basis are connected in a row in the predetermined order, and the rectangle corresponding to the searched content is assigned to the other rectangles. The search result display device according to claim 5, wherein the search result display image shown in a different form from the rectangle is created. An operation unit for inputting operation signals is provided.
In response to the operation signal input from the operation unit, the display control unit enlarges the search result display image displayed on the monitor and corresponds to the content searched by the content search unit. The search result display device according to claim 6, wherein content corresponding to the rectangle is displayed on the rectangle.   The search result display device according to any one of claims 4 to 7, further comprising a condition specifying unit for specifying a search condition.   9. The content search unit according to claim 8, wherein the content search unit searches for content using an AND condition for searching for search target content tagged with a specified number or more of the same words as the received plurality of keywords. The described search result display device.   10. The content search unit according to claim 8, wherein the content search unit searches for content under an OR condition for searching for search target content tagged with any one or more of the same words as the received plurality of keywords. The described search result display device.   The search result display device according to any one of claims 8 to 10, wherein the content search unit searches for content under an OFF condition that excludes a specified keyword from the search conditions among the received keywords.   9. The content search unit according to claim 8, wherein the content search unit searches for content under a NOT condition that excludes the search target content tagged with the same word as the specified keyword from the received keywords. The search result display apparatus in any one of -11. A content search step of searching for content from a plurality of search target content tagged with one or more words under a search condition based on an accepted keyword;
The small display corresponding to the search target content in which a plurality of small regions corresponding to each search target content are arranged in a row in a predetermined order and arranged in a single column and the same word as the keyword is tagged. An image creation step for creating a search result display image showing a predetermined mark in the area;
A search result display method, wherein a computer executes a display step of displaying the search image display image on a monitor. A content search step of searching for content from a plurality of search target content tagged with one or more words under a search condition based on an accepted keyword;
The small display corresponding to the search target content in which a plurality of small regions corresponding to each search target content are arranged in a row in a predetermined order and arranged in a single column and the same word as the keyword is tagged. An image creation step for creating a search result display image showing a predetermined mark in the area;
A search result display program causing a computer to execute a display step of displaying the search result display image on a monitor.

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