JP3031256B2 - World wide web browser with remote control - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a hypertext document processing system, and more particularly to a pointing device such as a mouse, which can easily follow a hypertext link instead of using a remote control as an alternative to a mouse. The present invention relates to a WWW browser with a remote control operation function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, this type of W with a remote control operation function has been used.
The WW (World Wide Web) browser can be operated from a remote location by simply operating a remote control device (referred to as a “remote controller”). A system that can follow links has been developed. For example, a document (Takayuki Tsurumi, Nikkei Electronics, No. 656, pp. 20, February 26, 1996)
On Sunday, a joystick-like switch was built into the remote control, and by operating the switch, the mouse cursor on the screen was moved, the hypertext link was followed, and a system that made it possible to browse WWW on a television receiver was reported. Have been.

In this conventional system, a light receiving section of a remote control is configured to convert a signal transmitted from a remote control transmitter into a moving direction and a moving distance of a mouse, and the signal transmitted from the remote control is transmitted to a WWW browser itself. No means for judging the signal is included.

[0004]

The prior art described above is
It has the following problems.

(1) The first problem is that it is difficult for an operator who does not understand how to operate the mouse to handle it.

The reason is that the remote control is merely used as a substitute for the mouse.

(2) The second problem is that from a remote place,
It is difficult to follow the hypertext link displayed on the screen.

The reason is that the WWW browser itself does not differ in function from the WWW browser used in a personal computer, and that operation from a remote place by a remote control is not considered specially. .

Therefore, an object of the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and a purpose of the present invention is to provide a remote control that is easy to handle even for an operator who does not fully understand how to operate a mouse. It is to provide a WWW browser with an operation function. Another object of the present invention is to provide a WWW browser with a remote control operation function that facilitates an operation of following a hypertext link even from a remote place.

[0010]

To achieve the above object, a WWW browser with a remote control operation function according to the present invention comprises:
Means for reading an HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) document and extracting a linked portion as a notification destination to the user, a storage device for storing the data extracted as the notification destination, and a remote control transmitted from the remote controller Means for updating the stored notification destination data or jumping to the URL (uniform resource locator) of the notification destination data according to the type of signal.

The outline of the present invention will be described below. In the present invention, a signal is transmitted from a remote control transmitter (1 in FIG. 1) provided with a button-shaped switch instead of a joystick-shaped switch, thereby enabling operation from a remote place. More specifically, means for determining the type of the input signal (3 in FIG. 1) and means for updating the link destination to be notified (FIG. 1)
5) and means for jumping to the notified link destination (FIG. 1)
4).

Further, according to the present invention, when a user notifies a link destination in order to facilitate an operation from a remote place,
Means for generating sounds using synthesized voices (9 in FIG. 1) and means for making the display of the link destination easy to see from a remote place (FIG. 1)
10).

The storage device stores an HTML document, link destination data extracted therefrom, and further notification destination data to the user extracted therefrom. The notification destination data is stored in accordance with the user's remote control operation. Be updated.

The link destination is notified to the user based on the extracted or updated notification destination data.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of the present invention includes a remote control transmitter 1 for transmitting a remote control signal, a remote control light receiving unit 2, and a speaker 11 as an output device for notifying a user of a link destination. , A display 12, a data processing device 16 operated by program control, and a storage device 17 for storing data.

The data stored in the data storage device 17 includes an HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) document 13, link destination data 14, and user notification destination data 15.

The link destination data 14 is the HTML document 1
3, of which a link is provided, that is, a URL
(Uniform Resource Locator; World Wide Web
W server address) and data extracted only in the format (text and graphics) displayed on the display.

The notification destination data 15 is the link destination data 1
4 is data of a portion having only one link, and is changed according to a user's remote control operation.

The data processing device 16 includes an input signal determining unit 3, a link destination jumping unit 4, and a notification destination updating unit 5.
HTML document reading means 6, HTML document analysis means 7, notification destination determination means 8, link destination notification means 9,
TML document display means 10.

The input signal judging means 3 includes the remote control light receiving section 2
Analyzes the type of the received signal, and in accordance with the type, instructs either the link destination jumping means 4 or the notification destination updating means 5 to perform processing.

The link destination jump unit 4 jumps to the server of the URL indicated in the notification destination data 15 determined by the notification destination determination unit 8.

The notification destination updating means 5 instructs the notification destination determining means 8 to update the notification destination data 15.

The HTML document reading means 6 reads the entire HTML document 13 stored in a server connected to the network and around the world or stored locally.

The HTML document analysis means 7 analyzes the read document and extracts only the link destination data 14.

The notification destination determining means 8 analyzes the extracted link destination data 14, extracts a portion having only one link among the contents thereof, and notifies the user of the notification destination data for notifying the user. 15 is determined.

When a command is issued by the notification destination updating means 5, the destination data 15 is updated by changing only one portion extracted from the link destination data 14. The determined or updated notification destination data 15 is supplied to the link destination notification means 9.

The link destination notifying means 9 extracts a part displayed on the screen from the supplied data, and
At the same time as supplying to the document display means 10, a synthetic voice or a warning sound for notifying the user is created and supplied to the speaker 11.

The HTML document display means 10 encloses the data of the supplied portion with a cursor or the like, enlarges the size, and displays the entire HTML document 13 on the display 1.
2 is displayed above.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining the processing flow of the first embodiment of the present invention. Next, the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The HTML document reading means 6 reads the HTML document 13 and supplies it to the HTML document analyzing means 7 (step S1).

The HTML document analysis means 7 analyzes the contents of the supplied document and extracts a linked portion,
It is stored as the link destination data 14 and supplied to the notification destination determining means 8 (step S2).

The notification destination determining means 8 extracts the linked portion at the top of the contents of the supplied data as a notification destination to the user, saves it as notification destination data 15, and stores the link destination notification. (Step S)
3).

The link destination notifying means 9 extracts a portion to be displayed on the display screen from the supplied data, and if the data is text, creates a voice for reading the text by automatic voice synthesis. To the speaker 11 to notify the user. If it is not text,
For example, a warning sound such as "Pe" is created and supplied to the speaker 11 to notify the user. At the same time, the extracted data is also supplied to the HTML document display means 10.

The HTML document display means 10 displays the HTML document 13 on the display 12 after enclosing the supplied data with a cursor or the like and enlarging the size (step S4).

An operation instruction signal sent from the remote control transmitter 1 is received by the remote control light receiving unit 2 and input signal determination means 3
Supplied to Unless any operation instruction signal is supplied, the input signal judging means 3 is in a waiting state and does not perform the next processing (step S5).

When there is a remote control input and the supplied signal is
If it is determined to be "jump to link destination", it instructs link destination jump means 4 to perform processing, and if it is determined that the signal is "update of notification destination", update of notification destination is performed. It instructs the means 5 to perform the processing (step S6).

When the link destination jump means 4 receives the instruction to perform the processing, it instructs the notification destination determination means 8 to supply the stored notification destination data 15. Subsequently, a part indicating a URL is extracted from the supplied data,
Jump to the server at that address (step S
7). When the jump is completed, an instruction is issued to the HTML document reading means 6 to execute the processing (step S1).

When receiving the instruction to perform the processing, the notification destination updating means 5 instructs the notification destination determining means 8 to update the notification destination data 15. Upon receiving the instruction, the notification destination determining means 8 extracts a portion having a link destination different from the notification destination data 15 stored up to that point from the link destination data 14 as new notification destination data 15 and stores it. (Step S8).

When the notification destination determining means 8 updates the notification destination data 15, it always supplies the data to the link destination notification means 9. Then, the link destination notifying means 9 and the HT
The ML document display means 10 updates the notification destination data 15
Is used to update the notification to the user (step S
4).

[0041]

Next, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to examples showing specific examples.

Referring to FIG. 3, the HTML document 13 read by the HTML document reading means 6 is
The linked portion is extracted by the L document analysis means 7. For example, a part starting with the tag <UL> and ending with the tag </ UL> is extracted as the link destination data 14 (step S2).

The link destination data 14 is transmitted to the notification destination determining means 8.
And the link at the top of the data content, ie, “<L1><A href =“ http: // www.
Wonder. com / "> surprise page </a>" is extracted as a notification destination to the user and stored as notification destination data 15 (step S3).

The notification destination data 15 is stored in the link destination notification unit 9.
, And a portion displayed on the screen, that is, a “surprise page” portion is extracted. Since this is a text, the link destination notifying means 9 creates a synthesized voice to be read, that is, "surprise page" by automatically synthesizing the voice, supplies it to the speaker 11, and notifies the user.

At the same time, the link destination notifying means 9 also supplies the extracted data to the HTML document displaying means 10.

The HTML document display means 10 displays the HTML document 13 on the display 12 after enclosing the supplied data of the part, that is, "surprise page" with the cursor and enlarging the size (step S).
4).

Referring to FIG. 4, the "surprise page" is already
When an operation instruction signal is sent from the remote control transmitter 1 when the user is notified, the remote control light receiving unit 2 receives the operation instruction signal and supplies it to the input signal determination unit 3.

For example, when the "jump" button on the remote controller is pressed, it is determined that the operation is "jump to link destination", and the link destination jump means 4 is instructed to perform processing. If you press the “down arrow” button,
It is determined that the notification destination is "update of notification destination", and the notification destination update means 5 is instructed to perform processing (step S6).

Upon receiving the instruction to perform the processing, the link destination jump means 4 instructs the notification destination determination means 8 to store the notification destination data 15, ie, “<L1><A href =“ http /// www.
Wonder. com / "> surprise page </a>".

Subsequently, UR is selected from the supplied data.
L, that is, “http: //www.w
onder. com / "is extracted, and a jump is made to the server at that address (step S7). When the jump is completed, an instruction is issued to the HTML document reading means 6 to perform processing.

When receiving the instruction to perform the processing, the notification destination updating means 5 sends the notification destination data 15 and
That is, “<L1><A href =“ http: // www.
Wonder. com / "> Amazing page </a>".

Upon receiving the instruction, the notification destination determining means 8 converts the link destination data 14 into the notification destination data 1 stored so far.
The part where the link destination is located at the lower position next to 5,
That is, “<L1><A href =“ http: // www.
surfin. co. uk / surfin. html ”
> Surfing corner </a> ”is extracted and stored as new notification destination data 15 (step S8).

Subsequently, the data is supplied to the link destination notifying means 9. Then, the link destination notifying means 9 and the HTML
The document display means 10 updates the notification to the user using the updated notification destination data 15, and the “surfing corner” is surrounded by the cursor on the display 12, and the size is displayed in an enlarged size. You. Also, the speaker 11
, A synthesized voice "Safunkonana" is uttered (step S4).

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 5, the second embodiment of the present invention is the same as the first embodiment shown in FIG.
The relationship between the means and the function of some means are different.

The input signal judging means 3 includes the remote control light receiving section 2
The first point is that the type of the received signal is analyzed and, depending on the type, one of the link destination jump means 4, the notification destination update means 5, and the link destination notification means 9 is instructed to perform processing. This is different from the embodiment described above.

The link destination notifying means 9 differs from the first embodiment in that there is no command from the input signal judging means 3 or unless the notification destination data 15 is updated.
Do not create synthesized speech or warning sounds to notify the user.

The HTML document display means 10 encloses the supplied data with a cursor or the like and enlarges the size unless the link destination notifying means 9 creates a synthesized voice or a warning sound for notifying the user. do not do.

Next, the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

In FIG. 6, steps S1 to S3, S
5, the operations in the second embodiment indicated by S7 and S8 are the same as the operations in the first embodiment.
Description is omitted.

The link destination notifying means 9 extracts a portion of the supplied notification destination data 15 which is displayed on the screen. However, unlike the first embodiment, the link destination notifying means 9 generates a synthesized voice or a warning sound. Notification to the user is suspended.
HTML document display means 1 supplied with the extracted data
Also, the HTML document 13 is operated on the display 12 by enclosing it with a cursor or the like and enlarging the size of the HTML document 13 (step S9).

The signal supplied to the input signal determining means 3 is
If it is determined to be "notification of link destination", the input signal determination means 3 instructs the link destination notification means 9 to perform processing (step S10). Link destination notification means 9
When receiving an instruction to perform processing, the notification destination data 1
Then, a synthesized voice or a warning sound of the portion extracted from the section 5 is created and notified to the user. At the same time, the HTML document display means 10 displays the HTML document 13 by enclosing the portion with a cursor or the like and expanding the size (step S11).

[0063]

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to a specific example.

Referring to FIG. 7, as long as no signal is transmitted from remote control transmitter 1, H is not enclosed by the cursor nor enlarged in size on the display.
Only the TML document is displayed (step S9).
For example, when the "notification" button is pressed from the remote control transmitter 1, the link destination notifying means 9 and the HTML
The document display means 10 notifies the user (step S
10 and S11).

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 8, the third embodiment of the present invention does not have the link destination notifying means 9 and the speaker 11, and does not perform the notification of the link destination by the synthesized voice or the warning sound. This is different from the first and second embodiments.

The notification destination data 15 is supplied directly from the notification destination determining means 8 to the HTML document display means 10. H
The TML document display means 10
Then, a portion for which the size is to be enlarged is extracted. The configuration of this embodiment is also effective when the operator operates the terminal.

[0068]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects are obtained.

(1) The first effect is that, even if the user does not remember the operation of the mouse, the user can operate a button provided on the remote controller and follow hypertext links to obtain various information from all over the world. It is possible.

The reason for this is that what the input signal from the remote controller is is analyzed, and the data of the notification destination to the linked user, which is stored in advance, is updated in accordance with the analysis. This is because it is possible to jump to the URL.

(2) The second effect is that it is easy to operate even at a place away from the display on which the HTML document is displayed.

The reason is that the portion displayed on the screen is extracted from the data of the notification destination to the user, enclosed by a cursor or the like, the size is enlarged, and a synthesized voice or a warning sound is created to give the user a This is because it can be notified.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration and an operation environment according to a first embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a specific example of an upper part of the operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of a lower part of the operation of the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration and an operation environment according to a second embodiment of this invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a specific example of a lower part of the operation of the second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration and an operating environment according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 remote control transmitter 2 light receiving part for input signal from remote control 3 means for determining input signal from remote control 4 means for jumping to URL of link destination 5 means for updating data of notification destination to user 6 reading document in HTML format Means 7 Means for analyzing HTML document and extracting link destination data 8 Means for determining notification destination to user 9 Means for notifying user of link destination 10 Means for displaying HTML document on display 11 Synthesized voice or warning Speaker 12 that emits sound 12 Display on which HTML document is displayed 13 HTML document as data 14 Link destination data extracted from HTML document 15 Notification destination data extracted from link destination data 16 Data processing device such as CPU 17 Memory, etc. Data storage device

Claims (5)

(57) [Claims] A means for reading an HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) document and extracting a linked portion as a notification destination to a user; a storage unit for storing the data extracted as the notification destination; Means for updating the data of the notification destination stored in the storage unit or jumping to the URL (uniform resource locator) of the notification destination data according to the type of the signal transmitted from the control device. WWW browser with remote control operation function. 2. HTML (Hyper Text Markup)
(Language) means for reading a document and extracting a linked portion in the HTML document as a notification destination to the user, a storage unit for storing the data extracted as the notification destination, and a signal transmitted from the remote controller. Means for notifying the data of the notification destination stored in the storage unit from a display on a display screen or by voice so that a user operating from a remote place can understand the data. And a WWW browser with a remote control operation function. 3. An HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) document is read and a link in the HTML document is set.
Means for extracting the extracted part as a notification destination to the user, and a storage unit for storing the data extracted as the notification destination
When provided with, when the jump button provided in the remote control apparatus body for controlling the execution of the jump of the HTML document to the link destination in the remote is pressed, stored in the storage unit
Has been that the notification destination data of the URL (uniform resource
A WWW browser with a remote control operation function, which jumps to a source locator . 4. The WWW browser with a remote control operation function according to claim 3, wherein a button for controlling update of the notification destination data is provided on the remote control device main body. 5. When a notification button provided on a remote control device main body for remotely controlling permission / non-permission of data notification of a notification destination to a user is pressed, the content of the notification destination data is changed to 4. The WWW browser with a remote control operation function according to claim 3, wherein the WWW browser is notified to a user.