JP2011248472A - Item presentation device, item presentation method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a preferable item presentation device capable of allowing a user to select a desired item easily.SOLUTION: A presentation unit 301 presents to a user an item of interest that is currently interested in among plural items of which cyclic sequence is defined. A reception unit 302 receives a switching operation and a decision operation from the user. A switching section 303 switches the item of interest in accordance with the cyclic sequence according to passage of time while the switching operation is continuing. A decision unit 304 decides the item of interest as a selected result when the decision operation is accepted. The switching unit 303 maintains the item of interest after the item of interest is switched to a predetermined recommendation item among the plural items even if the switching operation is continuing.

Description

  The present invention relates to an item presentation device, an item presentation method, and a program for realizing these by a computer, which are suitable for allowing a user to easily select a desired item.

  There is known a user interface that allows a user to select a desired item from a plurality of items prepared in advance by operating an input device such as a mouse or a controller. For example, in a jukebox for selecting a song to be played from a plurality of songs or a game for selecting a character to be a hero from a plurality of characters, an item for presenting a song list or character list that can be selected by the user The menu is displayed on the monitor. On the other hand, for example, the user presses the switching button to place a desired item such as a desired music piece or character in a temporarily selected state, and then presses the enter button to select the desired item.

  In such jukeboxes and games, some items have been devised in the item menu so that the user can easily select a desired item. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an information output device that makes it easy for a user to grasp which level menu is currently displayed in an item menu having a hierarchical structure.

  In addition, when the user selects a desired item from a plurality of items in which a cyclic order is determined, the device in which the item in the temporary selection state is automatically switched over time while the switching button is in the pressed state. There is.

JP 2008-178486 A

  Here, it is rare that items are selected randomly, and items are generally selected according to some criteria. That is, the probability of selection is generally different for each item. In such a case, it is desirable to make it easier for the user to select items that are more likely to be selected.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides an item presentation device, an item presentation method, and a program for realizing these by a computer, which are suitable for allowing a user to easily select a desired item. The purpose is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, an item presentation device according to a first aspect of the present invention includes a presentation unit, a reception unit, a switching unit, and a determination unit, and is configured as follows.

  First, the presenting unit presents to the user an attention item that is currently focused on among a plurality of items in which a cyclic order is determined. The cyclic order is an order in which when there are N items (where N is an integer of 3 or more), the first item follows the Nth item, in other words, The order before the first item is the Nth item.

  Here, the attention item presented to the user is presented to the user by, for example, a still image, a moving image, a preview image, or a thumbnail image representing the attention item. Items other than the item of interest may not be presented to the user or may be presented to the user. That is, only the attention item may be presented to the user, all selectable items including the attention item may be presented to the user, or the attention item and a predetermined number of items may be presented to the user. Good.

  When an item other than the item of interest is presented to the user, it is necessary to indicate which item is the item of interest among the plurality of items presented to the user. For example, the attention item may be indicated by a cursor image, or an image representing the attention item may be highlighted. Note that the highlighting method includes, for example, change of brightness / saturation / hue, enlargement / reduction, rotation, deformation, blinking, and the like of the image representing the target item.

  The accepting unit accepts a switching operation and a determining operation from the user. For example, an operation of pushing down a lever arranged on the controller, a pressing operation of a direction button arranged on the controller, a pressing operation of a direction key arranged on the keyboard, and the like are accepted as switching operations from the user. Further, for example, a pressing operation of a determination button arranged on the controller, a pressing operation of a return key arranged on the keyboard, and the like are accepted as a determination operation from the user.

  Further, the switching unit switches the attention item according to a cyclic order as time elapses while the switching operation is continued. Typically, the switching unit switches the attention item to the previous item or the next item each time a predetermined time elapses while the switching operation continues. Hereinafter, a case where N items having a cyclic order of 1 to N exist in each item will be described as an example. Here, each of the N items is referred to as the 1st to Nth items according to the cyclic order.

  If the current item of interest is the nth item (n = 1, 2,..., N), the item of interest is the (n + 1)% Nth item and (n + 2)% Nth item over time. , (N + 3)% Nth item,. Note that '%' is a remainder operator. The 0th item is synonymous with the Nth item.

  Here, when the determination operation is accepted, the determination unit determines the attention item as a selection result. That is, the user may perform a determination operation when he / she wants to determine an item presented as an item of interest as a selection result. Therefore, the item of interest can be considered as an item in the temporarily selected state.

  Then, after the attention item is switched to a predetermined recommended item among the plurality of items, the switching unit maintains the current attention item even if the switching operation is continued. In other words, after the attention item reaches the recommended item, continuous switching of the attention item stops. On the other hand, when the switching operation is interrupted and the switching operation is performed again, continuous switching of the attention item is resumed.

  The recommended item is an item recommended to be selected. The recommended item can be, for example, an item considered to have a relatively high probability of being selected by the user from among a plurality of selectable items. The number of recommended items may be one or two or more. When the number of recommended items is two or more, continuous switching of the target item is stopped when the target item is switched to one of the recommended items after the continuous switching operation is started.

  In addition, when the user has one recommended item and determines the recommended item as a selection result, the user performs the determining operation after switching the attention item to the recommended item by the continuous switching operation. Further, when there are two or more recommended items and any one of the two or more recommended items is selected as a selection result, the continuous switching operation is repeated until the desired recommended item becomes the attention item.

  According to such a configuration, when an item desired by the user is a recommended item, the user can select the recommended item by a relatively simple operation.

  As described above, according to the item presentation device of the present invention, the user can easily select a desired item.

  In the item presentation device of the present invention, the recommended items can be a predetermined number of items extracted in order from the one with a larger number of times determined as the selection result among the plurality of items. That is, the recommended items are preferentially set from items having a large number of times determined in the past as selection results. The reason why the recommended items are set in this manner is that there are many cases where the probability of selection by the user is higher as the number of times the selection result has been determined in the past is larger. For example, it is considered that a popular item has a large number of times determined as a selection result in the past and has a high probability of being selected next. On the other hand, an item that is not popular is considered to have a low number of times determined as a selection result in the past and a low probability of being selected next.

  The number of times determined as the selection result is stored in a storage device or the like. The number of times determined as the selection result may be stored in the storage device for each of various conditions. The conditions are, for example, the user determined as the selection result, the time zone determined as the selection result, and the like. Then, the number of conditions that matches the condition for causing the user to select an item is adopted. Thereby, even when the probability that each item is determined as the selection result differs for each user and for each time period, an appropriate item is set as a recommended item. The time zone is the time of day (morning, noon, evening), day of the week, day of the month, month, or season. The number of times may be the number of times determined as a selection result in a recent predetermined period (for example, the most recent month).

  Further, the number set for the recommended item may be adjusted as appropriate. When the ratio of the number set to the recommended item with respect to the number of selectable items is small, the number of times of repeating the selection operation continued because the recommended item does not match the desired item can be reduced. On the other hand, when the ratio is large, it is possible to reduce the risk that a desired item leaks from the recommended item.

  According to the item presentation device of the present invention, since an appropriate item is set as a recommended item, the user can easily select a desired item.

  In the item presentation device of the present invention, the recommended item may be an item in which the ratio of the number of times determined as the selection result to the total number of determinations in the past exceeds a predetermined ratio among the plurality of items. The recommended items are set in this way because an item in which the ratio of the number of determinations made in the past to the total number of determinations in the past exceeds a predetermined ratio has a high probability of being selected by the user. Because. For example, for a popular item, the ratio of the number of times the item has been determined to the total number of determinations exceeds the predetermined ratio, and the probability of being selected next is high. On the other hand, for an unpopular item, the ratio of the number of times the item is determined to the total number of determinations does not exceed the predetermined ratio, and the probability of being selected next is low.

  The ratio of the number of times each item is determined as a selection result to the total number of past determinations is calculated based on the number of conditions that match the condition for allowing the user to select an item, for example. In this case, the number of times each item is determined as the selection result is stored in a storage device or the like for each of the various conditions. Thereby, an appropriate item is set as a recommended item according to the various conditions. The number of times may be the number of times determined as a selection result in a recent predetermined period (for example, the most recent month).

  Further, the predetermined ratio may be adjusted as appropriate. When the predetermined ratio is large, an item set as a recommended item is carefully selected. Thereby, since the recommended item does not match the desired item, it is possible to reduce the number of times that the selection operation continued is repeated. On the other hand, when the predetermined ratio is small, many items are set as recommended items. Thereby, the risk that a desired item leaks from a recommended item can be reduced.

  For any item, when the ratio of the number of times does not exceed the predetermined ratio, the predetermined ratio may be appropriately reduced so that at least one item is set as a recommended item. However, in such a case, since it is considered that there is no idea which item is selected, the recommended item may not be set.

  According to the item presentation device of the present invention, since an appropriate item is set as a recommended item, the user can easily select a desired item.

  In the item presentation device of the present invention, each of the plurality of items can be made different from each other. In this case, the item presentation device further includes a storage unit and an estimation unit. Here, the recommended items are characters estimated by the estimation unit.

  Characters different from each other are, for example, characters such as Japanese syllabary (Hiragana, Katakana), alphabet (upper case, lower case), kanji, numbers, symbols, and the like. Note that different characters are presented to the user in this way, for example, when the item presentation device accepts an input of a word such as a user name from the user.

  A memory | storage part memorize | stores the character determined by the selection result in order. For example, when the item presentation device receives a user name from a user, 3 to 10 characters are stored in the storage unit in association with the order determined in the selection result. Typically, the storage unit stores a character string configured by sequentially arranging characters determined in the selection result.

  The estimation unit estimates a character that will be selected by the user next, based on a character string configured by sequentially arranging characters stored in the storage unit. Here, for example, when the user name is accepted, the selected character string configured by sequentially arranging the characters stored in the storage unit is from the beginning to the middle of the character string representing the user name that the user intends to input. Think of it as a string. Therefore, the estimation unit estimates a character that will be added to the end of the selected character string, that is, a character that will be selected next, based on the selected character string. And the estimated character is taken as a recommended item.

  According to the item presentation device of the present invention, since an appropriate item is set as a recommended item, the user can easily select a desired item.

  The item presentation device of the present invention can further include a dictionary unit and a generation unit.

  First, the dictionary unit stores, for each character string composed of a predetermined number of characters, the number of characters that can be extracted from a character string composed of characters determined in the past in order. For example, when a user name is accepted, the predetermined number is set to a number equal to or less than the number of characters constituting the user name. A case will be described below in which the predetermined number is three and the character string formed by sequentially arranging the characters determined in the past in the past is the character string “ABCABCABCA”.

As will be described below, the dictionary unit increments the number of extractable characters by one for any character string consisting of three characters each time a selection result is determined.
When the first character 'A' is determined as the selection result, since the number of characters determined in the selection result in the past is less than 3, no processing is performed.
When the second character 'B' is determined as the selection result, the number of characters determined in the selection result in the past is less than the above three, so no processing is performed.
When the third character 'C' is determined as the selection result, 1 is stored in association with the character string “ABC”.
When the fourth character 'A' is determined as the selection result, 1 is stored in association with the character string “BCA”.
When the fifth character 'B' is determined as the selection result, 1 is stored in association with the character string “CAB”.
When the sixth character “C” is determined as the selection result, 2 is stored in association with the character string “ABC”.
When the seventh character 'A' is determined as the selection result, 2 is stored in association with the character string “BCA”.
When the eighth character 'B' is determined as the selection result, 2 is stored in association with the character string “CAB”.
When the ninth character “C” is determined as the selection result, 3 is stored in association with the character string “ABC”.
When the tenth character “A” is determined as the selection result, 3 is stored in association with the character string “BCA”.
After all, when 10 characters are determined as the selection result, the number stored in the dictionary unit is as follows.
The number of characters that can be extracted for the character string “ABC” is three.
The number of characters that can be extracted for the character string “BCA” is three.
The number of characters that can be extracted for the character string “CAB” is two.
For all other character strings consisting of three characters, the number that can be extracted is zero.
In this way, the dictionary unit stores a character string composed of a predetermined number of characters and the number that can be extracted in association with each other.

  Then, the generation unit generates a character string in which the character is added to the end of the character string configured by sequentially arranging the characters stored in the storage unit for each different character. As described above, the selected character string configured by sequentially arranging the characters stored in the storage unit can be considered as a character string from the beginning to the middle of the character string representing the user name that the user intends to input. . The generation unit adds a character to the end of the selected character string and generates a character string that is one character longer than the selected character string. Run for everything. Hereinafter, the selectable characters are uppercase letters (A to Z) of the alphabet, the selected character string is the character string “CA”, and the character string configured by sequentially arranging the characters determined in the past in the past is a character. A case where the column is “ABCABCABCA” will be described.

  For the character ‘A’, the generation unit adds the character ‘A’ to the end of the character string “CA” to generate the character string “CAA”. Similarly, the generation unit generates a character string “CAB” for the character “B”, generates a character string “CAC” for the character “C”, generates a character string “CAD” for the character “D”, and ... A character string “CAZ” is generated for the character “Z”.

  Here, the estimated characters are a predetermined number of characters extracted in order from the largest number of characters stored in the dictionary unit among the different character strings generated by the generation unit.

  In the above example, the number stored in the dictionary unit for the character string “ABC” is 3, the number stored in the dictionary unit for the character string “BCA” is 3, and the dictionary unit for the character string “CAB”. The number stored in 2 is 2, and the number stored in the dictionary unit for all other character strings made up of 3 characters is 0. Accordingly, when the predetermined number is two, the characters to be estimated are the character 'A' and the character 'C', and when the predetermined number is three, the character 'A' and the character 'B' The letter 'C'. If there are characters with the same number stored in the dictionary part and only a predetermined number of characters cannot be extracted, the number of characters set in the estimated character exceeds the predetermined number. Alternatively, the predetermined number may not be satisfied. For example, when the predetermined number is one, the character ‘A’ and the character ‘C’ may be set as the estimated characters, or one character may not be set as the estimated characters.

  In general, each of a plurality of characters constituting a character string representing a word or the like is often sequentially determined as a selection result. Therefore, a character string representing a frequently input word (or a part of the character string) is extracted from a character string extracted from a character string that is formed by arranging characters determined in the past in order. Many are considered to be included. For this reason, according to the above configuration, when added to the end of the selected character string, the characters (recommended items) are set in order from the characters that generate frequently input character strings. The

  According to the item presentation device of the present invention, since an appropriate item is set as a recommended item, the user can easily select a desired item.

  In order to achieve the above object, an item presentation method according to another aspect of the present invention is an item presentation method executed by an item presentation device including a presentation unit, a reception unit, a switching unit, and a determination unit, and includes a presentation step, A reception process, a switching process, and a determination process are provided and configured as follows.

  First, in the presentation step, the presentation unit presents to the user an attention item that is currently focused on among a plurality of items in which a cyclic order is determined. The cyclic order is an order in which when there are N items (where N is an integer of 3 or more), the first item follows the Nth item, in other words, The order before the first item is the Nth item.

  Here, the attention item presented to the user is presented to the user by, for example, a still image, a moving image, a preview image, or a thumbnail image representing the attention item. Items other than the item of interest may not be presented to the user or may be presented to the user. That is, only the attention item may be presented to the user, all selectable items including the attention item may be presented to the user, or the attention item and a predetermined number of items may be presented to the user. Good.

  When an item other than the item of interest is presented to the user, it is necessary to indicate which item is the item of interest among the plurality of items presented to the user. For example, the attention item may be indicated by a cursor image, or an image representing the attention item may be highlighted. Note that the highlighting method includes, for example, change of brightness / saturation / hue, enlargement / reduction, rotation, deformation, blinking, and the like of the image representing the target item.

  And in a reception process, a reception part receives switching operation and determination operation from a user. For example, an operation of pushing down a lever arranged on the controller, a pressing operation of a direction button arranged on the controller, a pressing operation of a direction key arranged on the keyboard, and the like are accepted as switching operations from the user. Further, for example, a pressing operation of a determination button arranged on the controller, a pressing operation of a return key arranged on the keyboard, and the like are accepted as a determination operation from the user.

  In the switching step, the switching unit switches the attention item according to a cyclic order according to the passage of time while the switching operation is continued. Typically, the switching unit switches the attention item to the previous item or the next item each time a predetermined time elapses while the switching operation continues.

  Here, in the determination step, when the determination operation is accepted, the determination unit determines the item of interest as the selection result. That is, the user may perform a determination operation when he / she wants to determine an item presented as an item of interest as a selection result.

  In the switching step, the switching unit maintains the current attention item even after the switching operation is continued after the attention item is switched to a predetermined recommended item among the plurality of items. In other words, after the item of interest reaches the recommended item, switching of the item of interest stops. On the other hand, when the switching operation is interrupted and the switching operation is performed again, the process of switching the attention item is resumed.

  According to such a configuration, when an item desired by the user is a recommended item, the user can select the recommended item by a relatively simple operation.

  As described above, according to the item presentation method of the present invention, the user can easily select a desired item.

A program according to another aspect of the present invention is configured to cause a computer to function as each unit of the item presentation device or to cause the computer to execute each step of the item presentation method.
The program of the present invention can be recorded on a computer-readable information recording medium such as a compact disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magneto-optical disk, digital video disk, magnetic tape, and semiconductor memory. The above program can be distributed and sold via a computer communication network independently of the computer on which the program is executed. The information recording medium can be distributed and sold independently of the computer.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the item presentation apparatus suitable for making a user select a desired item easily, the item presentation method, and the program for implement | achieving these with a computer can be provided.

It is a schematic diagram which shows schematic structure of the typical information processing apparatus with which the item presentation apparatus which concerns on 1st, 2nd embodiment of this invention is implement | achieved. It is a schematic diagram which shows the general | schematic structure of the mat type | mold controller connectable to an item presentation apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the item presentation apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows a music selection screen. It is a figure for demonstrating the cyclic order matched with the music. It is a figure which shows a mode that the past determination frequency is matched with the music number. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the pressing time of the direction button which instruct | indicates the switch to the positive direction of attention music, and attention music. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the pressing time of the direction button which instruct | indicates the switch to the negative direction of attention music, and attention music. It is a figure which shows the music selection screen immediately after the switch to the positive direction of an attention music is stopped. It is a figure which shows the music selection screen immediately after the switch to the negative direction of an attention music is stopped. It is a flowchart which shows the music selection control process which the item presentation apparatus which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention performs. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the item presentation apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows a mode that an attention character switches, when a right button is continuously pressed. It is a figure which shows a mode that an attention character switches, when the left button is pressed continuously. It is a figure which shows a mode that an attention character switches, when a lower button is continuously pressed. It is a figure which shows a mode that an attention character switches, when an upper button is continuously pressed. It is a flowchart which shows the user name input control process which the item presentation apparatus which concerns on the 2nd Embodiment of this invention performs. It is a figure which shows a mode that the character string which consists of 1 character is extracted from a history character string. It is a figure which shows a mode that the character string which consists of two characters is extracted from a log | history character string. It is a figure which shows a mode that the character string which consists of 3 characters is extracted from a history character string. It is a figure which shows a mode that the character string which consists of 4 characters is extracted from a history character string. It is a figure which shows the extraction number of the character string which consists of 1 character. It is a figure which shows the extraction number of the character string which consists of two characters. It is a figure which shows the extraction number of the character string which consists of 3 characters. It is a figure which shows the extraction number of the character string which consists of 4 characters.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. Hereinafter, in order to facilitate understanding, an embodiment in which the present invention is applied to an information processing apparatus dedicated to a game will be described. However, the present invention can be similarly applied to information processing apparatuses such as various computers, PDA (Personal Data Assistants), and mobile phones. That is, the embodiment described below is for explanation, and does not limit the scope of the present invention. Here, those skilled in the art can adopt an embodiment in which each or all of these elements are replaced with equivalent ones. Therefore, these embodiments are also included in the scope of the present invention.

(First embodiment)
(Description of information processing device)
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a schematic configuration of a typical information processing apparatus 100 in which the item presentation apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention is realized.

  The information processing apparatus 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 102, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103, an interface 104, a mat type controller 105, an external memory 106, and image processing. Unit 107, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) -ROM drive 108, NIC (Network Interface Card) 109, audio processing unit 110, RTC (Real Time Clock) 111, and monitor 112.

  When the information processing apparatus 100 is turned on while the DVD-ROM storing the game control program and data is loaded in the DVD-ROM drive 108, the game control program is executed. Thereby, the item presentation device according to the present embodiment is realized. Note that the item presentation device according to the present embodiment is a game device that controls a dance game in which various items are presented to the user as appropriate at the start of the game or at the end of the game. In other words, the game control program executed by the item presentation device according to the present embodiment includes the item presentation control program.

  The CPU 101 controls the overall operation of the information processing apparatus 100. The CPU 101 is connected to each component and exchanges control signals and data. The CPU 101 acquires various data from each component. The CPU 101 processes the various data by various operations, and gives the result to each component as data or a control signal. The CPU 101 includes a cache and a register inside. Various data are temporarily stored in a cache. Thereafter, the various types of data are extracted into a register and subjected to various operations.

  The ROM 102 records an IPL (Initial Program Loader) that is executed immediately after the power is turned on. By executing the IPL, the program recorded on the DVD-ROM is read to the RAM 103, and the CPU 101 starts executing the program. The ROM 102 stores operating system programs and data necessary for operation control of the entire information processing apparatus 100.

  The RAM 103 is for temporarily storing data and programs, and holds programs and data read from the DVD-ROM. In addition, the RAM 103 temporarily stores information transmitted to the external device and information transmitted from the external device.

  The mat type controller 105 is connected to the information processing apparatus 100 via the interface 104. The mat type controller 105 receives various operation inputs from the user. FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the appearance of the mat type controller 105. Hereinafter, the mat type controller 105 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the mat type controller 105 when the mat type controller 105 installed on the floor is viewed from directly above. In a predetermined area of the mat-type controller 105, a direction button 201L for receiving an input for instructing “left” from the user, a direction button 201D for receiving an input for instructing “down” from the user, and an input for instructing “up” from the user Direction button 201U for accepting, Direction button 201R for accepting an input for instructing “right” from the user, Decision button 202 for accepting an input for instructing “decision” from the user, Cancel button 203 for accepting an input instructing “cancel” from the user, Are arranged respectively. The user can press the direction buttons 201L, 201D, 201U, and 201R (hereinafter collectively referred to as the direction button 201 as needed), the determination button 202, and the cancel button 203 at arbitrary timing. The CPU 101 determines whether each of the direction button 201, the determination button 202, and the cancel button 203 is in a pressed state.

  In the present embodiment, the mat type controller 105 will be described as including six buttons. However, the number of buttons is not limited to 6, and may be 5 or less or 7 or more. Further, the mat type controller 105 is not limited to the shape arranged on the floor surface. That is, the mat-type controller 105 may have a shape of a so-called touch pad that is held and operated by a hand or a shape that is held by a hand.

  The external memory 106 is detachably connected to the information processing apparatus 100 via the interface 104. In the external memory 106, data indicating the progress of the game is stored in a rewritable manner. The user can appropriately record these data in the external memory 106 by inputting an instruction via the mat type controller 105, for example.

  The DVD-ROM drive 108 performs a reading process on the DVD-ROM attached thereto under the control of the CPU 101. The program and data read by the reading process are temporarily stored in the RAM 103 or the like. A DVD-ROM loaded in the DVD-ROM drive 108 stores a program for realizing the game and data (image data, audio data, etc.) associated with the game.

  The image processing unit 107 processes data read from the DVD-ROM. The image processing unit 107 includes an image arithmetic processor (not shown) and a frame memory (not shown). The processing is executed by an image arithmetic processor. The processed data (image information) is recorded in a frame memory (not shown). The image information recorded in the frame memory is converted into a video signal at a predetermined synchronization timing. The image information converted into the video signal is output to the monitor 112 connected to the image processing unit 107. Thereby, various image displays are possible.

  The image calculation processor executes a two-dimensional image overlay calculation, a transmission calculation such as α blending, and various saturation calculations at high speed. In addition, the image arithmetic processor can also execute a calculation for obtaining a rendered image at high speed. A rendering image is an image representing a state where a polygon placed in a virtual three-dimensional space is viewed from a predetermined viewpoint position. The rendered image is generated by rendering polygon information by the Z buffer method. The polygon information is information representing a polygon that is arranged in a virtual three-dimensional space and to which various textures are added. The image arithmetic processor has a function of calculating the degree to which a polygon is illuminated by a typical (positive) light source such as a point light source, a parallel light source, or a cone light source. These functions are made into a library or hardware. Thereby, speeding up of these calculations is realized.

  Further, the image arithmetic processor draws the character string as a two-dimensional image on the frame memory or draws it on the surface of each polygon in accordance with the font information defining the character shape. The image arithmetic processor may use general font information recorded in the ROM 102 or may use dedicated font information recorded in the DVD-ROM. Note that the image arithmetic processor appropriately performs the various processes described above in cooperation with the CPU 101.

  The NIC 109 is for connecting the information processing apparatus 100 to a computer communication network (not shown) such as the Internet. The NIC 109 is configured by, for example, an interface (not shown) that conforms to the 10BASE-T / 100BASE-T standard used when configuring a LAN (Local Area Network). Alternatively, the NIC 109 uses an analog modem to connect to the Internet using a telephone line, an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network) modem, an ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Modem) modem, or a cable television line to connect to the Internet. For example, and an interface (not shown) that mediates between the CPU 101 and the like.

  The audio processing unit 110 converts audio data read from the DVD-ROM into an analog audio signal. The audio processing unit 110 supplies an analog audio signal to a speaker (not shown) connected thereto, and causes the speaker to output audio based on the analog audio signal. In addition, the sound processing unit 110 generates sound effects and music data to be generated during the progress of the game under the control of the CPU 101, and outputs sound corresponding to the sound effects from the speaker. The sound processing unit 110 processes, for example, the sound of music reproduced as BGM or karaoke, or the sound effect reproduced in accordance with the user's button operation.

  The RTC 111 is a time measuring device including a crystal resonator and an oscillation circuit. The RTC 111 is supplied with power from the built-in battery and continues to operate even when the information processing apparatus 100 is powered off.

  The monitor 112 displays an image according to the video signal supplied from the image processing unit 107. The monitor 112 is configured by, for example, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, a CRT, or the like.

  In addition, the information processing apparatus 100 uses a large-capacity external storage device such as a hard disk so as to perform the same function as the ROM 102, the RAM 103, the external memory 106, the DVD-ROM mounted on the DVD-ROM drive 108, and the like. You may comprise. The information processing apparatus 100 can also be used as a general-purpose personal computer. In this case, a keyboard (not shown), a mouse (not shown), etc. are used as an input device.

(Description of item presentation device)
Next, functions of the item presentation device 300 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. First, with reference to FIG. 3, the structure of the item presentation apparatus 300 which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. The item presentation device 300 according to the present embodiment includes the information processing device 100 and a DVD-ROM in which a game control program including an item presentation control program is stored. That is, when the information processing apparatus 100 is turned on while the DVD-ROM is mounted in the DVD-ROM drive 108, the item presentation apparatus 300 according to the present embodiment is configured.

  As illustrated in FIG. 3, the item presentation device 300 includes a presentation unit 301, a reception unit 302, a switching unit 303, and a determination unit 304.

  The presenting unit 301 presents the attention item that is currently focused on among the plurality of items in which the cyclic order is determined to the user. The presentation unit 301 includes, for example, an image processing unit 107 and a monitor 112.

  The accepting unit 302 accepts a switching operation and a determining operation from the user. The receiving unit 302 is configured by, for example, the mat type controller 105.

  While the switching operation continues, the switching unit 303 switches the attention item according to a cyclic order according to the passage of time. The switching unit 303 includes, for example, a CPU 101 and an RTC 111.

  When the determination operation is accepted, the determination unit 304 determines the item of interest as a selection result. The determination unit 304 includes, for example, a CPU 101 and an RTC 111.

  Here, after the item of interest is switched to a predetermined recommended item among a plurality of items, the switching unit 303 maintains the item of interest even if the switching operation is continued.

  Next, the music selection screen 400 displayed by the item presentation device 300 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the present embodiment, the user selects a desired song from a plurality of song candidates presented by the item presentation device 300. That is, the item in this embodiment is a music piece.

  For example, the item presentation device 300 displays a music selection screen 400 shown in FIG. 4 before starting the game, and prompts the user to select a desired music. When the music is selected, the game is started.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the music selection screen 400 includes a candidate music image 401 (candidate music images 401-1, 401-2, 401-3, 401-(N−1), 401 -N), a target music image. 402, etc. are displayed.

  The candidate song image 401 is an image that can specify one song from among N (N is an arbitrary natural number) songs that can be selected by the user. The candidate music image 401 is an image including a character string representing a music name, for example. In this embodiment, candidate music image 401-1 representing music 1, candidate music image 401-2 representing music 2, candidate music image 401-3 representing music 3,..., Candidate representing music N The music image 401 -N is collectively referred to as a candidate music image 401. A cyclic order is determined in advance for N pieces of music that can be selected by the user. Hereinafter, the cyclic order will be described with reference to FIG. 5A.

  As shown in FIG. 5A, one music number is associated with one music number. In the example shown in FIG. 5A, music 1 is associated with 1 as a music number, music 2 is associated with 2 as a music number, music 3 is associated with 3 as a music number, and music 4 is associated with music 4. 4 is associated with the music number, 5 is associated with the music number 5, 6 is associated with the music number 6,... 1 is associated with music N and N is associated with the music number. Here, the music numbers are considered to be cyclically continuous. That is, the music number next to N is 1. In this embodiment, it is assumed that the cyclic order of music is determined by the music number. Further, data representing the contents of music and music numbers are stored in advance in a DVD-ROM mounted on the DVD-ROM drive 108 and read out to the RAM 103 as appropriate.

  Here, the music that the user is trying to select and that is considered to be noticed by the user (hereinafter referred to as “note music”) is switched by the user's operation of the mat-type controller 105. Specifically, when the direction button 201D disposed on the mat-type controller 105 is pressed, basically, the music of interest is one greater than the current music of interest from the current music of interest. Switch to music. However, when the direction button 201D is pressed when the music number of the current attention music is N (when the current attention music is the music N), the attention music is the music with the music number 1 (music 1). ). When the direction button 201U arranged on the mat-type controller 105 is pressed, basically, the music of interest switches from the current music of interest to a music whose music number is one smaller than the current music of interest. . However, if the direction button 201U is pressed when the current music number of the music of interest is 1 (when the current music of interest is music 1), the music of interest has a music number N (music N). ).

  In this way, when switching to a direction in which the music number is incremented by 1 (hereinafter referred to as “positive direction” as appropriate), N is set to 1 and the direction in which the music number is decreased by 1 (hereinafter referred to as “negative” as appropriate). In the case of switching to “direction”), if the next one is treated as N, the music numbers form a continuous loop. Here, since the music number is associated with the music, it can be considered that a cyclic order is determined for the music.

  Returning to the description of FIG. When there are many selection candidate songs, candidate song images 401 (candidate song images 401-1, 401-2, 401-3,..., 401-N) representing all selection candidate songs are displayed on the song selection screen 400. Are difficult to display at the same time. Accordingly, an appropriate number of candidate song images 401 are simultaneously displayed on the song selection screen 400. Although the number of candidate music images 401 displayed simultaneously on the music selection screen 400 is arbitrary, in the example shown in FIG. 4, a candidate music image 401-1 representing the music 1 and a candidate music image 401-2 representing the music 2. There are five candidate song images 401, a candidate song image 401-3 representing the song 3, a candidate song image 401- (N-1) representing the song N-1, and a candidate song image 401-N representing the song N. It is displayed. That is, FIG. 4 shows five songs out of N songs. Here, in the present embodiment, candidate song images 401 corresponding to five songs in which the cyclic order continues are arranged and displayed in order from the top of the song selection screen 400 according to the cyclic order. Specifically, two songs displayed adjacent to each other in the upper and lower sides are (a) when the difference between the song numbers is 1, the song with the smaller song number is displayed on the upper side, and (b) If the difference is not 1, five songs are displayed on the song selection screen 400 so that the song with the larger song number is displayed on the upper side.

  Here, among the candidate music images 401 displayed on the music selection screen 400, the candidate music image 401 representing the target music is displayed with higher emphasis than the other candidate music images 401. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the music 1 is the music of interest, and the candidate music image 401-1 representing the music 1 is emphasized by displaying the outer frame thickly. The method of emphasis is arbitrary, but there are, for example, change of brightness, saturation, and hue, enlargement / reduction, rotation, deformation, blinking, and the like. Alternatively, the candidate music image 401 may be emphasized by being prominently displayed near the center of the music selection screen 400.

  The notable music image 402 is an image indicating various information related to the notable music. For example, the attention music image 402 indicates the music name, difficulty level, tempo speed, etc. of the attention music by a character string or a figure. By observing the attention music image 402, the user can quickly grasp which music is the current attention music and can know various information related to the current attention music. The user can determine whether or not to select the music of interest with reference to the information indicated by the music of attention image 402. Note that when the determination button 202 arranged on the mat-type controller 105 is pressed, the attention music indicated by the attention music image 402 is determined as the music of the dance game.

  Here, with reference to FIG. 5B, FIG. 6A, FIG. 6B, FIG. 7A, and FIG.

  When the direction button 201D or the direction button 201U is pressed for a relatively short time (for example, less than 1 sec), the item presentation device 300 switches the music of interest according to the cyclic order shown in FIG. . Specifically, for example, every time the direction button 201D is pressed, the attention music is: →→ Music 1 → Music 2 → Music 3 → ... → Music N−1 → Music N → Music 1 → Music 2 → Music 3 → ... one by one in the order, and each time the direction button 201U is pressed ... → Music 1 → Music N → Music N-1 ... → Music 3 → Music 2 → Music 1 → Music N → Music N−1...

  On the other hand, when the direction button 201D or the direction button 201U is continuously pressed for a relatively long time (for example, 1 sec or longer), the item presentation device 300 presses the attention music until the attention music becomes a recommended music. Accordingly, the switching is performed according to the cyclic order shown in FIG. 5A.

  Note that the recommended music is a music recommended by the item presentation device 300 to be selected by the user. The recommended music is, for example, a predetermined number of music extracted in order from the largest number of music pieces that can be selected as a selection result in the past (hereinafter referred to as “number of times of determination”). There may be one recommended music piece or a plurality of recommended music pieces. When there is one recommended music, the continuous switching of the music of interest is stopped when the music of interest switches to the one recommended music. When there are a plurality of recommended songs, the continuous switching of the focused music is stopped when the focused music is switched to any recommended music.

  Here, the number of determinations is stored in the external memory 106 in association with, for example, a music number, as schematically shown in FIG. 5B. In the present embodiment, an example is shown in which two music pieces, the music piece 5 having the largest number of determinations 12 and the music piece 3 having the second number of determinations 10 and the second largest number, are set as recommended music pieces.

  Hereinafter, with reference to FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B, a state in which the target music is switched will be described.

  For example, when the direction button 201D is started in the state where the target music is the music 1 as shown in FIG. 4, the target music is switched as shown in FIG. 6A. Specifically, every time the pressing time t exceeds the predetermined time tc, the attention music is switched from music 1 → music 2 → music 3 but when the music 3 is the recommended music, it is not switched.

  FIG. 7A shows a music selection screen 400 immediately after the music of interest is switched from music 2 to music 3. At this time, the music selection screen 400 includes five candidate music images 401 (candidate music images 401-1, 401-2, 401-3, 401) representing the music 1, music 2, music 3, music 4, and music 5. -4, 401-5), the candidate music image 401-3 representing the music 3 is highlighted, and the attention music image 402 represented by the information related to the music 3 is displayed.

  On the other hand, for example, when the tune button 201U is pressed in the state where the tune 1 is the tune 1 as shown in FIG. 4, the tune of interest is switched as shown in FIG. 6B. Specifically, every time the pressing time t exceeds the predetermined time tc, the attention music is switched from music 1 → music N → music N−1 → ... → music 6 → music 5 but is a recommended music. When 5 is reached, it cannot be switched.

  FIG. 7B shows a music selection screen 400 immediately after the music of interest is switched from music 6 to music 5. At this time, the music selection screen 400 includes five candidate music images 401 (candidate music images 401-3, 401-4, 401-5, 401) representing the music 3, the music 4, the music 5, the music 6, and the music 7. −6, 401-7) is displayed, the candidate music image 401-5 representing the music 5 is highlighted, and the attention music image 402 represented by the information related to the music 5 is displayed.

  Next, operation | movement of the item presentation apparatus 300 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing music selection control processing executed by the item presentation device 300 according to the present embodiment. Note that the music selection control process shown in FIG. 8 is executed immediately after the item presentation device 300 is turned on, for example.

  First, the CPU 101 executes recommended music determination processing (step S101). The recommended song determination process is a process in which the CPU 101 determines a recommended song based on the number of past determinations of each song stored in the external memory 106. The past number of determinations is assumed to be associated with the music number as shown in FIG. 5B. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that two music pieces, music piece 5 and music piece 3, extracted in order from the one with the largest number of determinations among music pieces 1 to N, are determined as recommended music pieces. The music number of the recommended music is stored in the RAM 103, for example.

  When the CPU 101 completes the process of step S101, the music selection screen 400 is displayed (step S102). Specifically, the CPU 101 reads various pieces of information relating to the music (hereinafter referred to as “music general information”) from the DVD-ROM to the RAM 103, and based on the music general information, the music as shown in FIG. A selection screen 400 is displayed on the monitor 112. Here, the music general information includes information representing the music name, the music number, the music content, the music number of the music to be the default attention music, and the like of each music. FIG. 4 shows an example in which the music number of the music set as the default music of interest is 1. Also, the music number of the music that is the default music of interest is stored in the RAM 103 as the music number of the current music of interest.

  CPU101 will discriminate | determine whether the determination button 202 will be in the press state, if the process of step S102 is completed (step S103). When the CPU 101 determines that the determination button 202 has been pressed (step S103: YES), the CPU 101 determines the current attention song as a selection result (step S104). Specifically, for example, the CPU 101 stores, in the RAM 103, the music number of the current music of interest determined as the selection result.

  When completing the process in step S104, the CPU 101 updates the number of determinations (step S105). Specifically, the CPU 101 increases the number of determinations stored in the external memory 106 by one in association with the music number of the music determined in the selection result in step S104. When the CPU 101 completes the process of step S105, the music selection control process ends.

  On the other hand, when the CPU 101 determines that the determination button 202 is not in the pressed state (step S103: NO), the CPU 101 determines whether any of the direction buttons 201D and 201U has been pressed. (Step S106).

  When the CPU 101 determines that none of the direction buttons 201 is in the pressed state (step S106: NO), the CPU 101 returns the process to step S103.

  On the other hand, when the CPU 101 determines that any one of the direction buttons 201 has been pressed (step S106: YES), the CPU 101 starts a counter (step S107). When this counter is activated, the counter value is reset to 0, and thereafter the counter value increases with time. In the present embodiment, the counter value is incremented by 1 every 10 msec. The counter value is stored in the RAM 103, for example. The time during which the direction button 201 is continuously pressed is represented by the value of this counter. In addition, in step S <b> 106, information representing the direction button 201 determined to have been pressed (hereinafter referred to as “press button information”) is stored in the RAM 103.

  When completing the process of step S107, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the direction button 201 determined to have been pressed in step S106 has been pressed (step S108). Specifically, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the direction button 201 specified by the press button information stored in the RAM 103 is no longer pressed.

  When the CPU 101 determines that the direction button 201 is in a non-pressed state (step S108: YES), it returns the process to step S103. That is, when the direction button 201 is pressed once and then released, the switching of the music of interest is stopped, the determination process of whether or not the decision button 202 is in the pressed state (step S103) and the direction button 201 is in the pressed state. Whether or not (step S106) is executed again.

  On the other hand, when determining that the direction button 201 is not in the non-pressed state (step S108: NO), the CPU 101 determines whether or not the counter value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (step S109). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the predetermined value is 100. That is, in step S109, it is determined whether or not 10 msec × 100 = 1 sec has elapsed since the counter was activated by the processing in step S107.

  If the CPU 101 determines that the counter value is not equal to or greater than the predetermined value (step S109: NO), the CPU 101 returns the process to step S108. On the other hand, when the CPU 101 determines that the counter value has become equal to or greater than the predetermined value (step S109: YES), the CPU 101 switches the musical piece of interest according to the type of the direction button 201 that has been pressed (step S110).

Specifically, as shown in the following (1) to (4), the music of interest is switched.
(1) When the direction button 201 in the pressed state is the direction button 201D and the music number of the current attention music is not N, the music with the music number obtained by adding 1 to the music number of the current attention music is new. It will be a remarkable music.
(2) When the direction button 201 in the pressed state is the direction button 201D and the music number of the current attention music is N, the music with the music number 1 becomes a new attention music.
(3) When the direction button 201 in the pressed state is the direction button 201U and the music number of the current attention music is not 1, the music with the music number obtained by subtracting 1 from the music number of the current attention music is new. It will be a remarkable music.
(4) When the direction button 201 in the pressed state is the direction button 201U and the music number of the current attention music is 1, the music whose music number is N becomes the new attention music.
Then, the CPU 101 updates the music number of the current attention music stored in the RAM 103 and displays a music selection screen 400 that presents the current attention music on the monitor 112.

  CPU101 will discriminate | determine whether the now attention music is a recommendation music, if the process of step S110 is completed (step S111). Specifically, the CPU 101 matches one of the music numbers of the recommended music stored in the RAM 103 in step S101 with the music number of the current attention music stored in the RAM 103 in step S110. It is determined whether or not.

  If the CPU 101 determines that the current target music is not a recommended music (step S111: NO), the CPU 101 returns the process to step S107. On the other hand, when the CPU 101 determines that the current music of interest is a recommended music (step S111: YES), the CPU 101 waits until the direction button 201 is in a non-pressed state (step S112). Specifically, the CPU 101 waits until the direction button 201 specified by the press button information stored in the RAM 103 is not in the pressed state. When the CPU 101 completes the process of step S112, the process returns to step S103.

  According to the item presentation device 300 according to the present embodiment, when the button pressed to switch the attention item is continuously pressed and the attention item matches any of the recommended items, the attention item is switched. Stopped. Here, the recommended items are items that have a relatively large number of times determined in the past as selection results, and are items that are considered to have a high probability of being selected next by the user. For this reason, the user can select a desired item by focusing on the recommended items. Thereby, shortening of the time required for item selection and reduction of the burden on the user for item selection are expected.

(Second Embodiment)
In the first embodiment, an example in which the item is music is shown. However, any item may be used in the present invention. Hereinafter, a case where the item is a character will be described.

(Description of item presentation device)
First, the function of the item presentation device 310 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. First, with reference to FIG. 9, the structure of the item presentation apparatus 310 which concerns on embodiment of this invention is demonstrated. Note that the item presentation device 310 according to the present embodiment includes the information processing device 100 and a DVD-ROM that stores a game control program including a program for item presentation control. That is, when the information processing apparatus 100 is turned on while the DVD-ROM is mounted in the DVD-ROM drive 108, the item presentation apparatus 310 according to the present embodiment is configured.

  As illustrated in FIG. 9, the item presentation device 310 includes a presentation unit 301, a reception unit 302, a switching unit 303, a determination unit 304, a storage unit 305, an estimation unit 306, a dictionary unit 307, and a generation unit. 308.

  The presenting unit 301 presents the attention item that is currently focused on among the plurality of items in which the cyclic order is determined to the user. The presentation unit 301 includes, for example, an image processing unit 107 and a monitor 112.

  The accepting unit 302 accepts a switching operation and a determining operation from the user. The receiving unit 302 is configured by, for example, the mat type controller 105.

  While the switching operation continues, the switching unit 303 switches the attention item according to a cyclic order according to the passage of time. The switching unit 303 includes, for example, a CPU 101 and an RTC 111.

  When the determination operation is accepted, the determination unit 304 determines the item of interest as a selection result. The determination unit 304 includes, for example, a CPU 101 and an RTC 111.

  Here, after the item of interest is switched to a predetermined recommended item among a plurality of items, the switching unit 303 maintains the item of interest even if the switching operation is continued.

  Each of the plurality of items is a different character.

  The storage unit 305 sequentially stores the characters determined as the selection result. The storage unit 305 is configured by the external memory 106, for example.

  The estimation unit 306 is based on a character string (hereinafter referred to as “selected character string” as appropriate) configured by sequentially arranging characters (hereinafter referred to as “selected character” as appropriate) stored in the storage unit 305. Next, a character that will be selected by the user (hereinafter referred to as “recommended character” as appropriate) is estimated. The estimation unit 306 is configured by the CPU 101, for example.

  Here, the recommended item is an estimated character (recommended character).

  The dictionary unit 307 includes a character string (hereinafter referred to as “history character” as appropriate) arranged in order in the past for each of character strings including a predetermined number of characters. The number that can be extracted from “history character string”) is stored as appropriate. The dictionary unit 307 is configured by the external memory 106, for example.

  The generation unit 308 adds the character (hereinafter referred to as “candidate character” as appropriate) to the end of the character string configured by sequentially arranging the characters stored in the storage unit 305 for each different character. A character string (hereinafter referred to as “candidate character string” as appropriate) is generated. The generation unit 308 is configured by the CPU 101, for example.

  Here, the estimated characters are a predetermined number of characters extracted from the different characters from the ones stored in the dictionary unit 307 in descending order of the character strings generated by the generation unit 308. .

  Next, the user name input screen 1000 displayed by the item presentation device 310 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 10A, 10B, 11A, and 11B. In this embodiment, the user selects a desired character from a plurality of character candidates presented by the item presentation device 310 and inputs a character string representing the user name. That is, in this embodiment, the item is a character.

  For example, before the game starts, the item presentation device 310 displays a user name input screen 1000 shown in FIGS. 10A, 10B, 11A, and 11B, and prompts the user to input a user name. When the user name is input, the game is started.

  As shown in FIGS. 10A, 10B, 11A, and 11B, the user name input screen 1000 includes a user name display area 1001, a candidate character display area 1003, and the like. On the user name input screen 1000, cursors 1002, 1004, etc. are displayed.

  In the user name display area 1001, a selected character string composed of selected characters constituting a character string representing the user name is displayed. Note that the selected character is one of a plurality of candidate characters displayed in the candidate character display area 1003. The selected character string is stored in the RAM 103 or the like.

  A cursor 1002 indicates a position on the user name display area 1001 where a candidate character is added next.

  The candidate character display area 1003 displays a plurality of candidate characters that are candidates for characters constituting the character string representing the user name. In this embodiment, the candidate characters are uppercase letters “A” to “Z”, “SP” (space), “·” (colon), “,” (comma), and “BS”. (Backspace) and 30 characters. As shown in the figure, 30 candidate characters are displayed two-dimensionally in the candidate character display area 1003.

  A cursor 1004 represents a candidate character (hereinafter referred to as “attention character”) that is considered to be noticed by the user among a plurality of candidate characters displayed in the candidate character display area 1003. In the example shown in FIGS. 10A, 10B, 11A, and 11B, the character of interest is 'C' surrounded by the cursor 1004.

  Here, when the enter button 202 is pressed, the attention character designated by the cursor 1004 is determined as a selection result, and the end of the selected character string displayed in the user name display area 1001 (that is, the cursor 1002). Is added to the position indicated by. When “BS” is determined as the selection result, the last character of the selected character string is deleted. When the number of characters (including 'SP') constituting the selected character string reaches a predetermined number (for example, 10), the input of the user name is completed. Therefore, when the number of characters constituting the selected character string is less than the predetermined number, the user adds 'SP' to the end of the selected character string and completes the input of the user name.

  In addition, two cyclic orders are determined in advance for the 30 candidate characters. One cyclic order (hereinafter referred to as “horizontal order in the left-right direction”) defines the order in which the target character is switched when the direction button 201L or the direction button 201R, which is the left-right direction button, is pressed. To do. The other cyclic order (hereinafter referred to as “vertical cyclic order”) is the order in which the target character is switched when the direction button 201D or the direction button 201U, which is a vertical direction button, is pressed. Is defined.

  FIG. 10A and FIG. 10B show the cyclic order in the left-right direction by broken arrows. Specifically, each time the direction button 201R is pressed for a relatively short time (for example, less than 1 sec), the attention character is designated by a broken arrow extending from the attention character among the broken arrows shown in FIG. 10A. Switch to a candidate character. When the direction button 201R is continuously pressed for a relatively long time (for example, 1 sec or longer), every time a predetermined time (for example, 1 sec) elapses until the character of interest is switched to the recommended character. In addition, the character of interest is switched to a candidate character designated by the dashed arrow extending from the character of interest among the dashed arrows shown in FIG. 10A. Each time the direction button 201L is pressed for a relatively short time (for example, less than 1 second), the candidate character is designated by a dashed arrow extending from the noticed character among the dashed arrows shown in FIG. 10B. Switch to When the direction button 201L is continuously pressed for a relatively long time (for example, 1 sec or longer), every time a predetermined time (for example, 1 sec) elapses until the character of interest is switched to the recommended character. In addition, the target character is switched to the candidate character specified by the dashed arrow extending from the target character among the dashed arrows shown in FIG. 10B. The dashed arrows are for explaining the cyclic order in the horizontal direction and are not displayed on the user name input screen 1000.

  In FIG. 11A and FIG. 11B, a cyclic order in the vertical direction is indicated by broken-line arrows. Specifically, each time the direction button 201D is pressed for a relatively short time (for example, less than 1 sec), the attention character is designated by the broken arrow extending from the attention character among the broken arrows shown in FIG. 11A. Switch to a candidate character. When the direction button 201D is continuously pressed for a relatively long time (for example, 1 sec or longer), every time a predetermined time (for example, 1 sec) elapses until the character of interest is switched to the recommended character. In addition, the target character is switched to the candidate character specified by the dashed arrow extending from the target character among the dashed arrows shown in FIG. 11A. Each time the direction button 201U is pressed for a relatively short time (for example, less than 1 second), the candidate character is designated by a broken arrow extending from the noticed character among the broken arrows shown in FIG. 11B. Switch to When the direction button 201U is continuously pressed for a relatively long time (for example, 1 sec or longer), every time a predetermined time (for example, 1 sec) elapses until the character of interest is switched to the recommended character. In addition, the target character is switched to the candidate character specified by the broken arrow extending from the target character among the broken arrows shown in FIG. 11B. The broken arrows are for explaining the cyclic order in the vertical direction and are not displayed on the user name input screen 1000.

  Next, operation | movement of the item presentation apparatus 310 which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated with reference to FIG. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing user name input control processing executed by the item presentation device 310 according to the present embodiment. The user name input control process shown in FIG. 12 is executed after the item presentation device 310 is turned on, for example.

  First, the CPU 101 executes recommended character determination processing (step S201). The recommended character determination process executed in step S201 is a process in which a recommended character is determined as the first character of the character string indicating the user name. The recommended character determination process executed in step S201 will be described later together with the recommended character determination process executed in step S206.

  When completing the process in step S201, the CPU 101 displays a user name input screen 1000 (step S202). Specifically, the CPU 101 has information indicating 30 candidate characters, a default attention character, a cyclic order in the horizontal direction, and a cyclic order in the vertical direction (hereinafter referred to as “character comprehensive information”). .) Is read from the DVD-ROM to the RAM 103, and a user name input screen 1000 as shown in FIG. 10A, FIG. 10B, FIG. 11A, and FIG. The default attention character is stored in the RAM 103 as the current attention character.

  CPU101 will discriminate | determine whether the determination button 202 will be in the press state, if the process of step S202 is completed (step S203).

  When the CPU 101 determines that the determination button 202 has been pressed (step S203: YES), the CPU 101 determines the current attention character as a selection result (step S204). Specifically, the CPU 101 adds the determined character to the selection result at the end of the selected character string stored in the RAM 103. As a result, the user name displayed in the user name display area 1001 is updated, and the display position of the cursor 1002 is shifted to the right by one character. Further, the CPU 101 adds the determined character to the selection result at the end of the history character string stored in the external memory 106. The history character string is a character string that is updated in step S204 of the user name input control process last executed by the item presentation device 310. In the present embodiment, in order to facilitate understanding, the history character string is described as not including special characters ('SP', '·', ',' and 'BS').

  When completing the process of step S204, the CPU 101 updates the number of extractions stored in the external memory 106 (step S205). Hereinafter, a description will be given with reference to FIGS. 13A to 13D and FIGS. 14A to 14D.

  13A to 13D are diagrams showing a state in which a character string composed of a predetermined number of characters (hereinafter referred to as “search character string” as appropriate) is extracted from a history character string. The number of the predetermined number can be adjusted as appropriate. In the present embodiment, the predetermined number is the number (1 to 10) of characters constituting the selected character string.

  FIG. 13A is a diagram illustrating a state in which a search character string (that is, a search character) composed of one character is extracted from a history character string. The CPU 101 obtains the number that can be extracted from the history character string (hereinafter referred to as “extraction number” as appropriate) for each search character. The extracted number is stored in the external memory 106 in association with each search character. FIG. 14A shows a state in which the number of extractions is associated with each of the characters ‘A’ to ‘Z’. The portion surrounded by a bold line is a portion that is referred to when determining a recommended character when the number of selected characters is zero.

  FIG. 13B is a diagram illustrating a state in which a search character string including two characters is extracted from a history character string. The CPU 101 obtains the number of extractions for each search character string. The extracted number is stored in the external memory 106 in association with each search character string. FIG. 14B shows a state in which the number of extractions is associated with each of the character strings “AA” to “ZZ”. The portion surrounded by a thick line is a portion that is referred to when a recommended character is determined when the selected character is “E”.

  FIG. 13C is a diagram illustrating a state in which a search character string including three characters is extracted from a history character string. FIG. 14C shows a state in which the number of extractions is associated with each of the character strings “AAA” to “ZZZ”. The portion surrounded by a thick line is a portion that is referred to when determining a recommended character when the selected character string is “ER”.

  FIG. 13D is a diagram illustrating a state in which a search character string including four characters is extracted from a history character string. FIG. 14D shows a state in which the number of extractions is associated with each of the character strings “AAAA” to “ZZZ”. The part surrounded by a thick line is a part that is referred to when a recommended character is determined when the selected character string is “ERI”.

  The CPU 101 obtains the number of extractions in the case where the search character string is composed of 5 to 10 characters by the same method. The obtained number of extractions is stored in the external memory 106 in association with each search character string.

  Note that the CPU 101 can update only the number of extractions that change due to a new character added to the end of the history character string. A case where the history character string is “MICHALJAMES... SER” and the character “I” is newly added to the end of the history character string will be described as an example. Here, in the case where the history character string is “MICHALJAMES... SER”, it is assumed that the number of extractions is obtained in advance for all search character strings composed of 1 to 10 characters.

  The number of extraction increases by one for a search character string composed of the same number of characters only for one search character string. For example, in a search character string (search character) composed of one character, only the number of extractions of “I” increases by one. Further, in the search character string composed of two characters, only the number of extracted “RI” is increased by one. In the search character string composed of three characters, only the extracted number of “ERI” is increased by one. Further, in the search character string composed of four characters, only the number of “SERI” extracted increases by one. The CPU 101 updates the number of extractions in the case where the search character string is composed of 5 to 10 characters by the same method.

  When the CPU 101 completes the process of step S205, it executes a recommended character determination process (step S206). Specifically, first, for each of the characters “A” to “Z”, the CPU 101 generates 26 candidate character strings in which the character is added to the end of the selected character string. Then, the CPU 101 compares the extracted numbers stored in the RAM 103 in association with the search character strings that match the 26 candidate character strings. Then, the CPU 101 determines, as a recommended character, the last character of the search character string extracted from the predetermined number in order from the largest number of extractions. The predetermined number may be one or two or more. In the present embodiment, the predetermined number will be described as one.

  For example, when the number of selected characters is 0 (that is, in the recommended character determination process in step S201), “A” having the largest number of extracted characters is selected from the characters “A” to “Z”. 'A' is determined as a candidate character. Further, for example, when the selected character is “E”, “EB” having the largest number of extracted characters is selected from the character strings “EA” to “EZ”, and “B” is determined as a candidate character. For example, when the selected character string is “ER”, “ERA” having the largest number of extracted characters is selected from the character strings “ERA” to “ERZ”, and “A” is determined as a candidate character. . Further, for example, when the selected character string is “ERI”, “ERIC” having the largest number of extracted characters is selected from the character strings “ERIA” to “ERIZ”, and “C” is determined as a candidate character. . The CPU 101 stores the determined candidate character in the RAM 103.

  When the CPU 101 completes the process of step S206, it determines whether or not the number of selection results has reached a predetermined number (step S207). Specifically, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the number of characters constituting the selected character string stored in the RAM 103 has reached a predetermined number (for example, 10).

  When the CPU 101 determines that the number of selection results has reached a predetermined number (step S207: YES), the user name input control process ends. On the other hand, when the CPU 101 determines that the selection result has not reached the predetermined number (step S207: NO), the CPU 101 returns the process to step S203.

  On the other hand, when the CPU 101 determines that the determination button 202 is not in the pressed state (step S203: NO), has any of the direction buttons 201L, 201R, 201D, and 201U been pressed? It is determined whether or not (step S208).

  When the CPU 101 determines that none of the direction buttons 201 is in the pressed state (step S208: NO), the CPU 101 returns the process to step S203.

  On the other hand, when the CPU 101 determines that any one of the direction buttons 201 has been pressed (step S208: YES), the CPU 101 starts a counter (step S209). When this counter is activated, the counter value is reset to 0, and thereafter the counter value increases with time. In this embodiment, the counter value is incremented by 1 every 10 msec. The counter value is stored in the RAM 103, for example. The time during which the direction button 201 is continuously pressed is represented by the value of this counter. The CPU 101 stores information indicating the direction button 201 in the pressed state (hereinafter referred to as “press button information”) in the RAM 103.

  When the CPU 101 completes the process of step S209, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the direction button 201 determined to have been pressed in step S208 has been pressed (step S210). Specifically, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the direction button 201 specified by the press button information stored in the RAM 103 in step S209 is no longer pressed.

  When the CPU 101 determines that the direction button 201 is in a non-pressed state (step S210: YES), it returns the process to step S203.

  On the other hand, when determining that the direction button 201 is not in the non-pressed state (step S210: NO), the CPU 101 determines whether or not the counter value is equal to or greater than a predetermined value (step S211). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the predetermined value is 100. That is, in step S211, it is determined whether or not 10 msec × 100 = 1 sec or more has elapsed since the counter was activated by the processing in step S209.

  When the CPU 101 determines that the value of the counter is not equal to or greater than the predetermined value (step S211: NO), the CPU 101 returns the process to step S210. On the other hand, when the CPU 101 determines that the counter value has become equal to or greater than the predetermined value (step S211: YES), the CPU 101 switches the character of interest according to the type of the direction button 201 that has been pressed (step S212).

Specifically, as shown in the following (1) to (4), the attention character is switched.
(1) When the directional button 201 in the pressed state is the directional button 201R, the character of interest is switched according to the cyclic order indicated by the dashed arrows in FIG. 10A.
(2) When the direction button 201 in the pressed state is the direction button 201L, the character of interest is switched according to the cyclic order indicated by the broken-line arrows in FIG. 10B.
(3) When the direction button 201 in the pressed state is the direction button 201D, the character of interest is switched according to the cyclic order indicated by the dashed arrows in FIG. 11A.
(4) When the direction button 201 in the pressed state is the direction button 201U, the character of interest is switched according to the cyclic order indicated by the broken-line arrow in FIG. 11A.
Then, the CPU 101 updates the current attention character stored in the RAM 103 and displays a user name input screen 1000 that displays the current attention character by the cursor 1004 on the monitor 112.

  When the CPU 101 completes the process of step S212, it determines whether or not the current attention character is a recommended character (step S213). Specifically, the CPU 101 determines whether or not the recommended character stored in the RAM 103 in step S201 or step S206 matches the current attention character stored in the RAM 103 in step S212.

  When the CPU 101 determines that the current character of interest is not a recommended character (step S213: NO), the CPU 101 returns the process to step S209. On the other hand, when the CPU 101 determines that the current attention character is a recommended character (step S213: YES), the CPU 101 waits until the direction button 201 is not pressed (step S214). Specifically, the CPU 101 waits until the direction button 201 specified by the press button information stored in the RAM 103 in step S209 is no longer pressed. When the CPU 101 completes the process of step S214, the process returns to step S203.

According to the item presenting apparatus 310 according to the present embodiment, when the button pressed to switch the attention character is continuously pressed and the attention character matches the recommended character, the switching of the attention character is stopped. The Here, the recommended character is a character that is relatively frequently adopted as a character to be added to the end of the selected character string, and is a character that is considered to have a high probability of being selected next by the user. For this reason, the user can select a desired character by focusing on the recommended characters. Thereby, shortening of the time required for character selection and reduction of the burden on the user for character selection are expected. Further, in the item presentation device 310 according to the present embodiment, a plurality of cyclic orders for switching the attention character are prepared in association with the type of the pressed direction button. For this reason, the user can make a desired character a notice character quickly.
(Modification)
The present invention is not limited to the first and second embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible.

  In the first embodiment, an example is shown in which the recommended items are a predetermined number of items extracted sequentially from the plurality of items determined in descending order of the selection result. However, the recommended item may be an item in which the ratio of the number of times determined in the selection result to the total number of determinations in the past exceeds a predetermined ratio among the plurality of items. According to this configuration, it is possible to adjust the severity of determining whether or not to adopt the recommended item by appropriately adjusting the predetermined ratio. Thereby, an appropriate item is adopted as a recommended item.

  Similar modifications are possible for the second embodiment. That is, the recommended character may be a character in which the ratio of the number of times determined in the past as a character to be added to the selected character string to the number of all determined times exceeds a predetermined ratio among the plurality of characters. .

  In the second embodiment, an example in which a recommended character as a character following the selected character string is set as a recommended character, that is, an example in which the length of the search character string is longer by one character than the selected character string is shown. It was. However, the length of the search character string can be adjusted as appropriate. For example, the length of the search character string can be set to an arbitrary length equal to or less than the length of the selected character string. In this case, a recommended character is set as a recommended character following the character string of an arbitrary length extracted from the tail side of the selected character string.

  In the first and second embodiments, an example is shown in which the number of determinations and the number of extractions are not prepared for each condition at the time of determining the selection result. However, the number of determinations and the number of extractions may be prepared for each condition. In this case, the recommended item is set based on the number of determinations and the number of extractions associated with the condition that matches the condition at the time of setting the recommended item. The condition is, for example, a time zone or a user.

  The number of determinations in the first embodiment and the history character string in the second embodiment can be reset as appropriate. As a result, it is possible to eliminate the influence of an inappropriate determination operation made before resetting.

  In the first embodiment, an example in which only a predetermined number of items among a plurality of selectable items is presented on the screen has been described. However, all of the selectable items may be presented on the screen.

  In the first embodiment, an example is shown in which a plurality of items are displayed side by side in the vertical direction according to a cyclic order. However, a plurality of items may be displayed in a horizontal direction, an oblique direction, or a ring according to a cyclic order.

  In the first and second embodiments, an example is shown in which, when a continuous switching operation is performed, the attention item is switched every time a certain time elapses. However, the period at which the item of interest is switched may not be constant. For example, after the continuous switching operation is started, it is possible to shorten the period during which the attention item is switched while the switching operation is continuously performed after the time until the attention item is first switched. it can. Alternatively, the period in which the item of interest is switched while the switching operation is continuously performed may be shortened or lengthened with time.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an item presentation device, an item presentation method, and a program for realizing these by a computer, which are suitable for allowing a user to easily select a desired item. it can.

100 Information processing apparatus 101 CPU
102 ROM
103 RAM
104 Interface 105 Mat-type controller 106 External memory 107 Image processing unit 108 DVD-ROM drive 109 NIC
110 Audio processing unit 111 RTC
112 Monitor 201, 201L, 201D, 201U, 201R Direction button 202 Determination button 203 Cancel button 300, 310 Item presentation device 301 Presentation unit 302 Reception unit 303 Switching unit 304 Determination unit 305 Storage unit 306 Estimation unit 307 Dictionary unit 308 Generation unit 400 Music selection screen 401 Candidate music image 402 Attention music image 1000 User name input screen 1001 User name display area 1002, 1004 Cursor 1003 Candidate character display area

Claims (7)

A presentation unit that presents to the user an attention item that is currently focused on among a plurality of items in which a cyclic order is determined;
A receiving unit that receives a switching operation and a determining operation from the user;
While the switching operation continues, a switching unit that switches the attention item according to the cyclic order according to the passage of time,
When the determining operation is accepted, the determining unit determines the item of interest as a selection result,
The switching unit maintains the attention item even if the switching operation is continued after the attention item is switched to a predetermined recommended item of the plurality of items. Presentation device. The item presentation device according to claim 1,
The recommended item is a predetermined number of items extracted sequentially from the plurality of items in descending order of the number of times determined as a selection result. The item presentation device according to claim 1,
The recommended item is an item in which the ratio of the number of times determined as a selection result to the total number of determinations in the past exceeds a predetermined ratio among the plurality of items. The item presentation device according to claim 1,
Each of the plurality of items is a different character from each other,
A storage unit for sequentially storing the characters determined in the selection result;
Based on a character string configured by sequentially arranging the characters stored in the storage unit, further comprising a guess unit that estimates a character that will be selected by the user next,
The recommended item is the estimated character. An item presentation device. The item presentation device according to claim 4,
A dictionary unit that stores a number that can be extracted from a character string that is formed by sequentially arranging characters determined in the past as a result of selection for each character string that includes a predetermined number of characters.
For each of the different characters, a generation unit that generates a character string in which the character is added to the end of a character string configured by sequentially arranging the characters stored in the storage unit,
The inferred characters are a predetermined number of characters extracted in order from the largest number stored in the dictionary portion of the character strings generated by the generation portion among the different characters. Item presentation device characterized by this. An item presentation method executed by an item presentation device including a presentation unit, a reception unit, a switching unit, and a determination unit,
A presenting step in which the presenting unit presents a noticed item that is currently noted among a plurality of items in which a cyclic order is determined;
A receiving step in which the receiving unit receives a switching operation and a determining operation from the user;
A switching step in which the switching unit switches the attention item according to the cyclic order according to the passage of time while the switching operation continues.
The determination unit includes a determination step of determining the attention item as a selection result when the determination operation is accepted,
In the switching step, the switching unit maintains the attention item even if the switching operation is continued after the attention item is switched to a predetermined recommended item of the plurality of items. Item presentation method characterized by Computer
A presentation unit that presents to the user an attention item that is currently focused on among a plurality of items in which a cyclic order is determined;
A receiving unit that receives a switching operation and a determining operation from the user;
While the switching operation continues, a switching unit that switches the attention item according to the cyclic order according to the passage of time,
When the determination operation is accepted, a program that functions as a determination unit that determines the item of interest as a selection result,
The switching unit maintains the attention item even if the switching operation continues after the attention item is switched to a predetermined recommended item of the plurality of items. .

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