JP2846374B2 - Information guidance and provision method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial Application Field] The present invention accumulates the contents of an ever-changing information database (hereinafter referred to as DB) such as road congestion status, weather, stock market conditions, etc. Analyze the user's request conditions input from the means, search the information DB for information that meets the conditions, accumulate the contents as they are, and convert them to Japanese sentences that appropriately express the contents, The present invention relates to a real-time multimedia information providing method for performing conversion according to output means of a user terminal to guide and provide information.

(Prior art)

Conventionally, based on information that changes every moment, such as road congestion, weather, stock market conditions, etc., information guides are manually created,
After temporarily storing the created information guide text as the provided information DB, provide the information in response to a search request from the user, or convert it to voice by hand or a text reading device, and then provide it in a provision form such as telephone service Information was provided.

In addition, the contents of the searched information DB are displayed on the display device in a list of data, a table format, a diagram format, or the like, or the data is provided in a list by voice or the like.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the conventional information providing method, there is a time between the time when the information sentence is created and recorded and the time when the user obtains the information, so that the content of the information may already be changed. For this reason, there was a problem that appropriate information corresponding to the information of the use time cannot be provided to the user.

In addition, since information is provided in a versatile and public relations, it is not possible for users to obtain all the information they need individually or because it contains information other than what is needed. In addition, there was a problem that sufficient information could not be obtained.

In addition, the user has to understand the content by himself or herself from the information provided in a fragmentary manner or obtain information such as a method of reading necessary information by himself / herself from the display screen. For this reason, there has been a problem that information cannot be provided to a driver who needs to keep his / her eyes off the display screen or a user who has only an information obtaining means without a display screen such as a telephone.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems.

An object of the present invention is to immediately search only necessary information for a user at the time of a user's request based on the content of an information DB that changes from time to time, and to provide the content as it is, while using appropriate Japanese expressions. It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of converting a form into a form that is easy for a user to understand, and providing the converted form to a user in a Japanese sentence format (character string) or voice.

The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention are as follows.
It will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings.

[Means for solving the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention accumulates time-dependent information, which is input in real time, such as road congestion, weather, stock market conditions, etc., in a table format in an information database, and analyzes input information. The device analyzes the user's requirement input from the user terminal, and the information database access control unit searches the information database for information that meets the user's requirement, and outputs the information. To accumulate the searched information,
Using a sentence example dictionary in which a plurality of basic sentence patterns are stored, a plurality of basic sentence examples expressing the contents of the searched information are created, and then the same expression part is omitted or the noun phrases are arranged in parallel. Create two basic sentence examples, precede and follow the basic sentence example, add a trailer, and convert the searched information into a Japanese sentence that appropriately expresses the content,
Further, the most main feature is that the Japanese sentence is converted into voice according to the output means of the user terminal, and the user terminal displays the Japanese sentence on a display screen such as a display or outputs the voice in voice. I do.

[Action]

According to the means, time-dependent information that is input in real time, such as road congestion, weather, stock market conditions, etc., is stored in an information database in a tabular form. Analyze the user's request conditions input from the, the information database access control unit, from the information database, check the information that matches the user's request conditions, the output information generation device, the retrieved information Using a sentence example dictionary in which a plurality of basic sentence patterns are accumulated while storing information, a plurality of basic sentence examples expressing the contents of the searched information are created, and then a basic sentence example expressing the contents of the searched information , Then create a basic sentence example by omitting the parts of the same expression or arranging the noun phrases in parallel, precede and follow the basic sentence example, and write a postscript. In addition, the searched information is converted into a Japanese sentence that appropriately expresses the content thereof, and further, the Japanese sentence is converted into voice according to an output unit of the user terminal. The word sentence is displayed on a display screen such as a display or output by voice, so only the information necessary for the user at the time of the user's request from the contents of the information DB that changes every moment, in appropriate Japanese It can be provided to the user in a form (character string) or voice of a Japanese sentence in a form that is easy for the user to understand by expression.

In this way, users can always obtain the latest information in the form of appropriate Japanese sentences in addition to the conventional information provision means, so that they can understand the current information content accurately and make appropriate decisions. can do.

In addition, the use of the audio output can provide convenience to a user who cannot keep his / her eyes out of the field of view such as a driver.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of an apparatus for implementing the information guiding / providing method of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a user terminal device, which inputs a user request and outputs result information corresponding to the request. The user terminal device 1 may be any device capable of inputting user requirements, such as a telephone (including a car telephone), a fax terminal device, a personal computer (PC), and a captain terminal device.

Reference numeral 2 denotes a user interface unit (including a voice recognition unit and a character recognition unit), which converts the expression content requested by the user into a character string.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a user requirement analysis unit that analyzes the content of the user's request.

Reference numeral 4 denotes a DB search condition output unit, which outputs a search formula for searching the information DB based on the requirements of the user.

Reference numeral 5 denotes a DB access control unit that controls input / retrieval to the information DB, and 6 denotes a real-time information DB (database) that accumulates information that changes every moment in a table format.

Reference numeral 7 denotes an input device for inputting information that changes every moment, and reference numeral 8 denotes a search data storage unit that stores information searched from the information DB.

Reference numeral 9 denotes an information guide Japanese sentence generation unit that generates an appropriate information guide sentence from the search data based on a user request.

Reference numeral 10 denotes a sentence-to-speech conversion unit, which converts the output data value or the generated Japanese sentence into speech.

Reference numeral 11 denotes an input information analysis device that analyzes user input information.

Reference numeral 12 denotes an output information generation device that creates output information to a user and outputs the information in accordance with a device that outputs the information.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the contents of a real-time road information DB according to an embodiment of the real-time information DB. FIGS. 3A and 3B are diagrams showing an example of analysis of a user's request, FIGS. FIG. 4B is a diagram showing an example of an information DB retrieved based on a user request. FIGS. 5A and 5B are diagrams showing an example of a basic sentence of an information guide sentence generated from the information DB. FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an example of an information guide sentence edited so that the user can easily understand it. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining the operation procedure of this embodiment.

Fig. 1, Fig. 2, 3A
Figure, Figure 3B, Figure 4A, Figure 4B, Figure 5A, Figure 5B, Figure 6A
The information guidance / providing method according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 6, FIG. 6B, and FIG.

First, a real-time information DB that stores information necessary for the information guidance / providing method of the present embodiment will be described.

In the registration / update work of the real-time information DB, the information input person who collects and holds the real-time information inputs using the real-time information input device 7. The input information is sent to the DB access control unit 5 and the real-time information DB
6 and stored after being registered and updated.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the contents of the real-time information DB 6 using road information as an example.

Next, the means of the information guidance / providing method of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

The user inputs required items through the user terminal device 1 (step 101).

A voice signal is sent to the user interface unit 2 when inputting by voice, a scanning signal when inputting by fax, and a character code when character input is possible from a PC terminal or the like.

Here, it is assumed that an input of “I want to know the congestion status of the Tomei Expressway” is made by one of the methods.

The user interface unit 2 converts the input signal into a character string by using a recognition device (a voice recognition device for voice and a character recognition device for fax) according to these input signals.
In the case of the speech recognition device, a sentence mixed with kanji or kana is output from the result of the speech recognition of "I want to learn something".

Here, the input requirement is converted into a character string “I want to know the congestion status of the Tomei Expressway”. This character string is sent to the user requirement analysis unit 3.

The user requirement analysis unit 3 analyzes user requirements (step 102). In this case, an analysis result that the user wants to know the “congestion information” of the “Tomei Expressway” is output. An example of this analysis result is shown in FIG. 3A.

This result is sent to the DB search condition output unit 4. The DB search condition output unit 4 creates a DB search formula according to the user requirements (step 103). In this search expression, necessary information sent to the real-time information DB 6 via the DB access control unit 5 is searched (step 104).

In this case, data matching the user request is obtained from the real-time information DB shown in FIG. 2 in a format as shown in FIG. 4A.

The search result is sent to the search data storage unit 8 of the output information generation device 12.

Then, the output information generation device 12 detects whether the extracted information is in sentence format (step 105). If the information is in sentence format (YES), then the output information is It is detected whether output is possible (step 106).

If the result of the detection is no (NO), that is, if the extracted information cannot be output as voice, the result is output to the user terminal device 1 through the information guide Japanese sentence generation unit 9 (step 107).

If the detection result in step 106 is yes (YES), that is, if the extracted information can be output as speech, the sentence-to-speech conversion unit 10 creates information in which sentence information in sentence format is converted into speech (step 108). Is output to the user terminal device 1 (step 109).

If the detection result in step 105 is not sentence information (NO), it is detected whether or not the extracted information can be output as voice (step 110).

If the result of the detection is no (NO), that is, if the extracted information cannot be output as speech, the result is output to the user terminal device 1 through the information guide Japanese sentence generation unit 9 (step 111).

If the detection result in step 110 is YES (YES), that is, if the extracted information can be output as speech, the information guide Japanese sentence generation unit 9 and the sentence-to-speech conversion unit 10 create a sentence that conveys the contents of the output information. It is compounded (step 112) and output to the user terminal device 1 (step 113).

That is, in the present embodiment, the result searched from the real-time information DB 6 as data matching the user's request is sent to the search data storage unit 8 of the output information generation device 12, and is temporarily stored. When the stored data is requested to be output as it is, it is provided as an output to the user terminal device 1 through the information guide Japanese sentence generation unit 9 in the form of a table.

In addition, if the data is obtained in the form of a sentence, in the case of a fax terminal, the data is output as it is, but in the case of a telephone or the like that needs to be output in voice, the sentence-to-speech conversion unit 10
Is converted to voice and output to the user terminal device 1.

When the data is obtained as tabular data as shown in Fig.4A, if it is requested to display the data on the display in the tabular form, the data is output in the tabular form, but due to restrictions of the user terminal, etc. If it is necessary to convey information to the user in Japanese sentences or by voice, it is necessary to convert this content into an appropriate Japanese sentence. In this case, the information is sent to the information guide Japanese sentence generation unit 9. The information guide Japanese sentence generation unit 9 has a function of generating a sentence from data.

For example, "<road name><lane><IC (interchange) name><congestiondistance> km congested",
"<Road name><Lane><ICname> for <Reason>
Congestion distance> km There is congestion. Is prepared in a sentence example dictionary, and an appropriate example sentence is searched according to given data (road name, lane name, IC name, congestion distance) to generate a basic sentence example. (Japanese Patent Application No. 1-272560) An example of a Japanese sentence obtained in this way is shown in FIG. 5A. If there are multiple pieces of information that can be obtained as a result of the search, multiple basic sentences can be obtained, so multiple sentences generated from the same basic sentence pattern using the sentence composition function are arranged in parallel with noun phrases. Or, it is converted to Japanese that is easy to read (easy to hear), such as omitting parts of the same expression. Add the necessary preamble, postscript, etc. to this and edit it as the final information provision sentence.

This example is shown in FIG. 6A. This sentence is output to the user terminal device 1 as character information on a display screen such as a display, or, when provided in the form of voice, sent to the sentence-to-speech conversion unit 10 and converted into voice, and then converted to voice. Output to the terminal device 1.

Further, if necessary, the data obtained as a result of the search on the user terminal can be displayed as a table.

If the user's request is “I want to know the traffic information of Atsugi Interchange on Tomei Expressway”,
As shown in FIGS. 4B, 5B, and 6B, analysis, search, sentence generation, and sentence editing are performed, and an edited Japanese sentence is generated and provided. As described above, since the search results corresponding to different expressions from the user are different, the generated basic sentence and the edited sentence expression are different, but it is not necessary to prepare a sentence in advance.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a search result obtained immediately according to a user's request in a form of a Japanese sentence which is easy for the user to understand (read and hear). Becomes possible.

In this way, users can always obtain the latest information in the form of appropriate Japanese sentences in addition to the conventional information provision means, so that they can understand the current information content accurately and make appropriate decisions. can do.

In addition, the use of audio output can provide convenience to a driver or the like who cannot keep his / her eyes out of sight.

In the embodiment, road traffic information, traffic congestion information,
Although an example in which the present invention is applied to road traffic information such as traffic rule information has been described, the present invention is also applicable to sports information such as weather, weather information, sports score cards, result (performance) information, and seat information. Terminals used by the user to edit only information in accordance with the user's request for information such as theater / entertainment information such as vacancy status, ticket sales status, stock price information, securities transaction information such as merchandise transactions, etc. into Japanese sentences, and The present invention can be applied to a service provided in an output form corresponding to the above.

As mentioned above, although the present invention was explained concretely based on an example, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned example.
It goes without saying that various changes can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the user:
In addition to the conventional information providing means, the latest information can always be obtained in the form of appropriate Japanese sentences, so that the current information content can be accurately understood and appropriate judgment can be made.

In addition, the use of audio output can provide convenience to a driver or the like who cannot keep his / her eyes out of sight.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of an apparatus for implementing the information guidance / providing method of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the contents of a real-time information DB. Fig. 3B is a diagram showing an example of analysis of a user's request, Figs. 4A and 4B are diagrams showing an example of an information DB retrieved based on a user's request, and Figs. 5A and 5B are FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B are diagrams showing an example of an information guide sentence generated from the information DB, and FIGS. 6A and 6B are diagrams showing an example of an information guide sentence edited so that a user can easily understand it. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining the operation procedure of the present embodiment. In the figure, 1 ... user terminal device, 2 ... user interface unit, 3 ... user requirement analysis unit, 4 ... DB search condition output unit, 5 ... DB access control unit, 6 ... real time information DB, 7 ... input device, 8 ... search data storage unit, 9 ... information guide Japanese sentence generation unit, 10 ... sentence voice conversion unit, 11 ... input information analysis device, 12 ... output information generation device.

────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Eiji Ohara 1-1-6 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Katsumi Shimazaki 1-16-1 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Japan (56) References JP-A-57-168380 (JP, A) JP-A-63-68973 (JP, A) JP-A-57-174769 (JP, A) JP-A-63-70664 (JP JP, A) JP-A-55-156486 (JP, A) JP-A-52-2205 (JP, A) Ryosuke Hotaka, Computer Series "Introduction to Databases" pp. 73-78, Ohmsha, December 25, 1978 Hiroyuki Kinukawa, "A Natural Language Interface Processing Method Based on a Table Hierarchy Model", Transactions of the Information Processing Society of Japan, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 499-509 (May 15, 1986) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G06F 17/30

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. Time-dependent information, which changes every moment, such as road congestion, weather, stock market conditions, etc., input in real time, is stored in a table format in an information database. Analyzing the input requirements of the user, the information database access control unit searches the information database for information that meets the requirements of the user, and the output information generation device outputs the retrieved information. And, using a sentence example dictionary in which a plurality of basic sentence patterns are stored, create a plurality of basic sentence examples that express the contents of the searched information, and then omit portions of the same expression or parallel each phrase. To create one basic sentence, put before and after the basic sentence, add a postscript,
The searched information is converted into a Japanese sentence that appropriately expresses the content thereof, and further, the Japanese sentence is converted into a voice according to an output unit of the user terminal. A method for providing information and guidance, which is displayed on a display screen or output by voice.