JP2014010737A - User input support device and user input support method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To facilitate designation of time zone suitable for a schedule when a user registers the schedule.SOLUTION: A user input support device comprises: a receiving part for receiving input of a word set showing a title of a schedule which a user intends to register; a storage part for storing the title and time specified in the schedule that has been registered in the past by the user, as history information; and a time candidate determination part for extracting one or more pieces of history information including a title identical or similar to the word set from the storage part, determining a time candidate to be presented to the user from the extracted history information, and with respect to the schedule which the user intends to register, notifying an information output part of the time candidate so as to present the time candidate to the user.

Description

  The disclosed invention relates to a user input support device, a user input support method, and the like.

  In recent years, portable information terminals can not only perform communication via a network but also execute various applications. For example, it is possible to manage schedules, memos, address books, media (for example, still images, moving images, multimedia), etc., or use them as a calculator, game machine, dictionary, or the like. It is particularly useful to be able to manage a user's schedule with a portable information terminal capable of communication.

  Conventionally, when managing a schedule in a portable information terminal, the user can designate various information items such as title, year, month, day, time, place, person, content, and group for the schedule. A conventional schedule management method is described in Patent Document 1 and the like.

Special table 2012-502362 gazette

  However, even if it is functionally possible to input such a large number of information items, it is not always easy for all users to input all of them. For this reason, it is registered as an all-day schedule without specifying the schedule time zone in detail, or the default time that is completely unrelated to the actual time zone is registered, and the time zone that does not match the actual situation is scheduled There are many cases that have been registered.

  An object of the disclosed invention is to make it easy for a user to specify a time zone suitable for a schedule when the schedule is registered.

A user input support device according to the disclosed invention is:
A receiving unit that receives an input of a word set representing a title of a schedule that a certain user intends to register;
A storage unit that stores, as history information, a title and time designated in a schedule registered by the user in the past;
One or more pieces of history information including the same or similar title as the word set are extracted from the storage unit, a candidate of time to be presented to the certain user is determined from the extracted history information, and the certain user Is a user input support apparatus having a time candidate determination unit that notifies the information output unit of the time candidate so that the time candidate is presented to the certain user.

  According to the disclosed invention, it is possible to easily specify a time zone suitable for a schedule when the user registers the schedule.

The functional block diagram of the portable information terminal used by embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the user's schedule preserve | saved at a memory | storage part. The figure which shows an example of the log | history information preserve | saved at a memory | storage part. The figure which shows an example of the screen displayed when a user registers a schedule. The figure which shows the operation example performed when a user registers a schedule. The figure which shows the schedule of a day with a time-axis. The functional block diagram of the portable information terminal and server which are used in a modification. The figure which shows the operation example performed when a user registers a schedule in a modification.

  Embodiments will be described from the following viewpoints with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the figures, similar elements are given the same reference numbers or reference signs.

1． Portable information terminal
2． Basic operation example
3． Schedule-linked media search
Four. Modifications related to the server / client type The classification of these items is not essential to the present invention, and the items described in two or more items may be used in combination as necessary. May be applied to matters described in other items (unless they contradict).

<1. Mobile information terminal>
FIG. 1 shows a functional block diagram of a portable information terminal 10 used in the embodiment. FIG. 1 exemplarily shows various processing units or functional units included in the portable information terminal 10 that are particularly relevant to the embodiment. The portable information terminal 10 is typically a mobile phone, but may be another device. The portable information terminal 10 is, for example, a user device, an information terminal, a high-performance mobile phone, a smartphone, a tablet computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a portable personal computer, a palmtop computer, a laptop computer, etc. It is not limited to. The portable information terminal 10 includes at least a control unit 101, a storage unit 102, an input unit 103, an output unit 104, a time candidate determination unit 105, and a communication unit 106.

  The control unit 101 controls operations of various processing units or functional units included in the portable information terminal 10.

  The storage unit 102 stores a schedule registered by the user. In the schedule according to the embodiment, various information items such as title, year, month, day, time, place, person, content, and group can be designated as in the conventional schedule. However, the embodiment is greatly different from the conventional technique in that when a user designates a schedule time, a time candidate suitable for the user is output to the output unit 104 which is a display unit, for example.

  FIG. 2 shows an example of a user schedule stored in the storage unit 102 and output by the output unit 104. In the illustrated example, the schedule for one month is shown, but the range of the schedule to be presented is arbitrary. For example, a schedule for one year, one week, or one day may be output or displayed.

  In addition to storing the user's schedule, the storage unit 102 stores, as history information, the title and time designated in the schedule registered by the user in the past.

  Further, the storage unit 102 may store the plausible schedule title and the corresponding time as history information in advance.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of such history information. In the example shown in the figure, the “title”, “start time”, “duration”, “day of the week”, “location”, “person”, “content”, etc. specified for the schedule, together with the identifier “ID” of the history information Are associated with each other. The “start time” and “duration” are merely examples showing the time for designating the time zone of the schedule, and the time zone may be designated in other formats. For example, “end time” may be designated instead of “duration”. Individual information items associated with each other are not limited to the illustrated example, and other information items may be associated with each other. The “title”, “location”, “day of the week”, “people”, and “content” are expressed by one or more word sets directly designated by the user or a word set selected from word set candidates. The “start time”, “duration time”, and “end time” are expressed by numbers directly selected by the user or numbers selected from time candidates. The “word set” in the present application indicates a character, a figure, a symbol, or a combination thereof.

  An input unit 103 shown in FIG. 1 is a user interface that allows a user to input information to the portable information terminal 10. The output unit 104 is a user interface that outputs information to the user. The input unit 103 and the output unit 104 function as any visual, auditory, or mechanical user interface. For example, the input unit 103 may typically include a selectable button or may include an arbitrary mechanical operation unit such as a keyboard, a mouse, a trackball, and the like. Further, the input unit 103 may include a voice input unit such as a microphone so that an operation requested by the user can be executed. The output unit 104 may include an audio output unit such as a speaker that provides some information to the user by voice. Furthermore, the output unit 104 may include a visual display unit that visually outputs information. Examples of such a display unit include, but are not limited to, a display, a control panel including a keypad, a cathode ray tube (CRT), a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic EL panel, and a touch screen. In the embodiment, the display unit included in the output unit 104 is covered with a touch-sensitive transparent panel, and can detect the movement of the user's finger for controlling the operation of the portable information terminal.

  FIG. 4 shows an example of a screen that is displayed on the output unit 104 and functions as the input unit 103 when the user registers a schedule. Before reaching this screen, a calendar as shown in FIG. 2 is displayed on the output unit 104, and when the user designates “June 9” (specifically, by touching or clicking), the figure is displayed. The schedule registration screen or input screen shown in 4 is displayed. As described above, the “title”, “location”, “day of the week”, “people”, and “content” are selected by the user from one or more word sets or word set candidates directly input by the user. Expressed in word set. The time zone by “start time”, “duration time”, and “end time” is expressed by a number directly selected by the user or a number selected from time candidates. Time candidates are determined by the time candidate determination unit 105. In the illustrated example, “all day” can be selected instead of specifying the time zone.

  The time candidate determination unit 105 in FIG. 1 extracts, from the storage unit 102, one or more pieces of history information including a title that is the same as or similar to a word set (for example, a character string) that represents the title of the schedule that the user intends to register. Then, a candidate for time to be presented to the user is determined from the extracted history information. Furthermore, the time candidate determination unit 105 notifies the output unit 104 of the time candidate so that the determined time candidate is presented to the user for the schedule that the user intends to register. The time candidate determination unit 105 may determine a time candidate to be presented to the user according to the frequency of appearance in the extracted history information. For example, a frequency distribution of “time” indicated by one or more pieces of history information extracted from the storage unit 102 may be measured, and “time” having a high appearance frequency may be determined as a time candidate.

  The communication unit 106 performs signal processing for the portable information terminal 10 to communicate through the network.

<2. Basic operation example>
FIG. 5 shows an example of operations performed when the user registers a schedule in the portable information terminal 10 shown in FIG. First, in order to register a schedule, the user of the portable information terminal 10 displays a calendar as shown in FIG. 2 and selects a day for registering the schedule. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that June 9 is selected and an input screen as shown in FIG. 4 is displayed.

  In step 501, the user inputs a word set (eg, one or more character strings) indicating a title. The input is performed under the control of the control unit 101, and in step 502, the control unit 101 notifies the time candidate determination unit 105 of the input title.

  In step 503, the time candidate determination unit 105 extracts from the storage unit 102 history information having a title that is the same as or similar to the received word set of titles. For convenience of explanation, it is assumed that one or more such history information is found. For example, it is assumed that the user inputs the title “drinking party” to the input unit 103 and the history information as shown in FIG. The IDs of the history information having the title “Drinking party” are 1, 2, 3, and 4. These four history information is extracted. In this example, the history information is extracted by collating the title entered by the user with the title of the history information, but the number of history information to be extracted is further narrowed down using information elements other than the title. May be. For example, it is assumed that the user inputs “Yokohama” as the “place” along with the title. In this case, history information whose “location” is not Yokohama may be excluded, and three history information (ID = 1, 2, 3) whose “location” is Yokohama may be finally extracted. Similarly, when the user inputs another information element together with the title, the history information to be extracted may be narrowed down using the information element (for example, day of the week, person, contents, etc.).

  In step 504, the time candidate determination unit 105 determines a time candidate to be presented to the user based on the extracted history information. When there is only one piece of extracted history information, the time indicated by the history information is determined as a time candidate. Even when the plurality of extracted history information all indicate the same time, the time is determined as a time candidate. When the extracted plurality of history information indicates a plurality of times, candidates for times to be presented to the user are determined according to some method.

  For example, a frequency distribution of “time” indicated by a plurality of history information extracted from the storage unit 102 may be calculated, and “time” having a high appearance frequency may be determined as a time candidate. For example, it is assumed that the history information with ID = 1, 2, 3, 4 is extracted in step 503 from the history information shown in FIG. In this case, there are three pieces of history information indicating that the start time is “19:00”, and there is one piece of history information indicating that the start time is “20:00”. In addition, since there is one history information indicating the duration “3 hours” and three history information indicating the duration “2 hours”, “2 hours” or “2 “Start time = 19: 00 and end time = 21: 00” may be determined as a candidate for time.

  Further, time candidates may be determined in consideration of not only the appearance frequency but also information elements such as day of the week and place. For example, the time of history information with the same day of the schedule to be registered by the user may be determined as a time candidate. For example, it is assumed that the history information with ID = 1, 2, 3, 4 is extracted in step 503 from the history information shown in FIG. Since the day of the schedule that the user intends to register is Saturday, “2 hours from 20:00” indicated by the history information (ID = 4) on Saturday may be determined as a time candidate.

  Furthermore, time candidates may be determined in consideration of both information elements such as days of the week and places and appearance frequencies. For example, it is assumed that the date on which the user intends to register is June 10, and the history information with ID = 5, 6, 7, 8 is extracted in step 503 from the history information shown in FIG. Since the day of the schedule to be registered by the user is Sunday, these are first narrowed down to Sunday history information (ID = 5, 6, 7). In the case of these three pieces of history information, there are two pieces of history information indicating the start time “15:00” and one piece of history information indicating the start time “18:00”. In addition, since the duration is only history information indicating “1 hour”, “1 hour” or “1 hour” or “start time = 15: 00 and end time = 16: 00” having the highest appearance frequency is a candidate for time. It may be determined.

  Furthermore, in the example described above, the appearance frequency of the start time and the duration is used separately, but the appearance frequency may be managed by a set of the start time and the duration.

  In step 505, the time candidate determination unit 105 notifies the control unit 101 of the determined time candidate.

  In step 506, the control unit 101 notifies the output unit 104 of the notified time candidate.

  In step 507, the output unit 104 presents the notified time candidate to the user regarding the schedule that the user intends to register. Specifically, in the example shown in FIG. 4, time candidates are displayed as the start time and the end time. It may be displayed as the start time and duration.

  In step 508, the user reviews the proposed time candidates and determines the schedule time zone without or with correction. The user inputs other information elements such as location, person, content, etc. as necessary, and presses the completion button. In response to this, the control unit 101 notifies the storage unit 102 of the schedule, and in step 510, the storage unit 102 stores the schedule.

  Note that the output unit 507 may have one or more time candidates to be presented to the user.

  As described above, according to an embodiment of the disclosed invention, a time zone suitable for a schedule can be easily specified when a schedule is registered by presenting time candidates suitable for the user based on the history information of the user. Become.

<3. Schedule-linked media search>
Incidentally, the storage unit 102 shown in FIG. 1 may store not only the schedule but also other information. In particular, media with a time stamp may be stored in the storage unit 102. Specifically, the media are still images and moving images, and may be taken using the camera function of the portable information terminal 10, or may be obtained by downloading through a network. The media is accompanied by a time stamp indicating the time when the media was shot as metadata. The metadata may include information other than the time stamp. For example, information such as a title, an image file format (for example, JPEG), a storage location, and the like may be included as metadata.

  In that case, according to the embodiment, the time specified in the schedule registered by the user is set more correctly than in the past. Therefore, the control unit 101 shown in FIG. 1 can also function as a search unit that searches or collects only media related to a specific schedule by collating the time zone of the specific schedule with the time stamp of the media. it can.

  FIG. 6 shows a daily schedule (eg, June 9 in FIG. 2) with a time axis. In the illustrated example, the first schedule S1 and the second schedule S2 are registered for this day. The first schedule S1 is registered with the title “athletic meet” for the time zone from 10:00 to 15:00. The second schedule S1 is registered with the title “Drinking party” for the time zone from 19:00 to 22:00. P1 to P7 shown on the time axis in FIG. 6 indicate the time when the user took a picture or video using the camera function of the portable information terminal (that is, the time stamp of the media).

  Assume that the user intends to collect media related to “athletic meet”. In the portable information terminal, when the user designates the title “athletic meet”, first, the portable information terminal (in particular, the control unit 101) examines or specifies the time of the schedule associated with the title. In the case of the present example, since the time zone of the schedule of “athletic meet” is from 10:00 to 15:00, this time zone is specified. Next, the portable information terminal (in particular, the control unit 101) searches for a medium that includes the time of the time stamp within the range of the specified time zone. In the case of the current example, three media P2, P3, P4 are found within this time range. Then, the found three media (P2-P4) are presented to the user by the output unit of the portable information terminal. If the time zone specified for the first schedule S1 is inaccurate, for example, a schedule titled “Athletic meet” is registered as “all day”. In this case, even if the user tries to collect media related to "athletic events", all media (P1-P7) within the range of all day (0: 00-24: 00) will be the search results and organize the media appropriately I can't. As described above, according to the embodiment, media search linked to a schedule can be appropriately performed.

<4. Modifications related to server client type>
In the embodiment described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 5 and the like, schedule management is performed in the user's portable information terminal, but the disclosed invention is not limited to such a form. Schedule management may be performed by a server that communicates with the portable information terminal through a network.

  FIG. 7 shows the portable information terminal 10 and the server 70 used in the modification. As in the case of FIG. 1, among the various processing units or functional units provided in the portable information terminal 10 and the server 70, those particularly related to the embodiment are exemplarily shown. Elements already described in FIG. 1 are denoted by the same reference numerals and will not be described repeatedly. In general, among the elements shown in FIG. 1, the storage unit 102 and the time candidate determination unit 103 are provided in the server 70. The server 70 includes a control unit 701, a storage unit 102, a time candidate determination unit 103, and a communication unit 702. The control unit 701 controls operations of various processing units or functional units provided in the server 70. The communication unit 702 performs signal processing for communicating with the portable information terminal 10 through the network.

  FIG. 8 shows an operation example performed in the modification. Although generally the same as the operation example shown in FIG. 5, the difference is that the portable information terminal 10 and the server 70 communicate via a network. However, in FIG. 8, the communication units 106 and 702 are not drawn for simplicity of illustration. Since the individual procedures shown in FIG. 8 are the same as those shown in FIG. 5, they will not be described redundantly.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment which makes it easy to specify an appropriate time zone when a user registers a schedule has been described, the present invention is not limited to such embodiment, and those skilled in the art will recognize various modifications, You will understand modifications, alternatives, replacements, etc. Although specific numerical examples have been described in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, these numerical values are merely examples and any appropriate values may be used unless otherwise specified. The classification of items in the above description is not essential to the present invention, and the items described in two or more items may be used in combination as necessary, or the items described in one item may be used in different items. It may be applied to the matters described in (if not inconsistent). The boundaries between functional units or processing units in the functional block diagram do not necessarily correspond to physical component boundaries. The operations of a plurality of functional units may be physically performed by one component, or the operations of one functional unit may be physically performed by a plurality of components. For convenience of explanation, the communication terminal and the information processing apparatus have been described using functional block diagrams. However, such an apparatus may be realized by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. Software operating in accordance with the present invention includes random access memory (RAM), flash memory, read only memory (ROM), EPROM, EEPROM, registers, hard disk (HDD), removable disk, CD-ROM, database, server and other suitable It may be stored in any storage medium. The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications, modifications, alternatives, substitutions, and the like are included in the present invention without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

10 Personal digital assistant
101 Control unit
102 Memory unit
103 Input section
104 Output section
105 Presentation time decision section
106 Communication Department
70 servers
701 Controller
702 Communication unit

Claims (6)

A receiving unit that receives an input of a word set representing a title of a schedule that a certain user intends to register;
A storage unit that stores, as history information, a title and time designated in a schedule registered by the user in the past;
One or more pieces of history information including the same or similar title as the word set are extracted from the storage unit, a candidate of time to be presented to the certain user is determined from the extracted history information, and the certain user A time candidate determination unit for notifying the information output unit of the time candidate so that the time candidate is presented to the certain user with respect to the schedule to be registered by the user.   2. The user input support device according to claim 1, wherein the time candidate determination unit determines a time candidate to be presented to the certain user according to a frequency of appearance in the extracted history information. The storage unit further stores media with a time stamp;
The user input support device determines a schedule time associated with a title designated by a certain user, searches for a media including a time stamp within a range indicated by the time, and performs a search. 3. The user input support device according to claim 1, further comprising a search unit that provides a result to the information output unit.   4. The user input support device according to claim 1, wherein the user input support device is provided in a portable information terminal.   4. The user input support apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the user input support apparatus is provided in a server that communicates with the mobile information terminal of the certain user via a network. Receiving a word set input representing a title of a schedule that a user intends to register;
One or more pieces of history information including titles that are the same as or similar to the word set are extracted from the storage unit that stores the title and time specified in the schedule registered by the certain user in the past as history information. The candidate for time to be presented to the certain user is determined from the extracted history information, and the candidate for time is presented to the certain user for the schedule that the certain user intends to register. And a step of notifying the information output unit of the time candidate.

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