JP3201386B2 - Information providing system and information providing method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing system and method for selecting a desired content from a plurality of contents, and more particularly to a desired content from contents whose sources are diversified by the Internet or the like. And an information providing system that can easily select the information.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, WWW is available via the Internet.
By accessing the (WEB) server, contents relating to various places are registered in the WWW server from users at various places at any time, and the contents can be viewed by other users.

[0003]

Therefore, in recent years, W
A large amount of content is supplied from a WW server or the like via the Internet, and the content changes every day or every moment. For this reason, it is necessary that the user himself / herself can select a desired content accurately and in a short time from contents whose registered contents are constantly changing as well as a large amount of registered contents. Is required.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information providing system and a method for easily selecting desired contents from a large amount of contents. In particular, information suitable for selecting and outputting desired content from content that changes every day between users connected by a computer network such as the Internet, where the source of the content is not limited to the user itself. It is an object to provide a providing system and a method thereof.

[0005]

Therefore, in the information providing system and the information providing method according to the present invention, in addition to identification information such as a title of a content and a creator, the information related to a content such as a longitude and a latitude of a source of the content. Each content is stored together with the location information to be displayed, and a display based on the location information of the content is output on a map as one of displays for selecting the content.
On the other hand, while being able to display a list of conventionally used identification information such as titles, it is possible to perform an optimal selection display according to the user's environment and the like ,
Provide a display that switches to the display output on the map,
The display can be shifted to the display on the map just by clicking . That is, in the information providing system of the present invention, in order to output a desired content from a plurality of contents each of which is stored together with the identification information and the related position information, a plurality of identification information is output in a list to output the desired content. A first selection display that allows the user to select the content and a second selection display that allows the user to select the desired content by outputting a display based on the location information on the map can be output. The display will show the second
Comprising a display switching to the selection display, further, the second channel selection
Selection display is a display that switches to the first selection display when selected
It is characterized in that it comprises a. Further, the information providing method of the present invention outputs a plurality of pieces of identification information in a list to output a desired content from among a plurality of contents each stored together with the identification information and the related position information. A first selection display step including a first selection display step of enabling selection of content and a second selection display step of outputting a display based on position information on a map to enable selection of desired content In the process, a display for shifting to the second selection display process when selected is output , and the display is clicked.
Click to move to the second selection display.
In the second selection display step, when the selection is made, the display is switched to the first selection display.
Click the display by outputting the alternative display
By simply doing so, it is possible to return to the first selection display.

In the present invention, the display is switched to the second selection display only by clicking on the predetermined display output in the first selection display, and the output is performed in the second selection display .
Just click on the default display and always switch to the first selection display
Can be replaced. Therefore, by the second selection display, it is possible to identify and select each of the contents that can be provided, which increases or decreases or changes every moment, by indicating the corresponding position on the map. Therefore, the user who receives the provision of the content can visually grasp the selection information regarding the content, and can select and output the content in accordance with the selection information. That is, the user a plurality of contents, the specific information that the position associated with it, further, Ri knowledge the existence of a content by visually recognizable way, can you to select.

In the second selection display, a map is displayed.
Although it is easy to understand visually, since it is image information,
There is a large amount of information, display speed is slow, and network traffic
May cause an increase in
is there. Content with always relevant location information
Is not always registered. Because of this, location information display
Is not limited to the second selection display on the map,
Providing a first selection display for listing other identification information;
Furthermore, when this first selection display is selected, a second selection
By providing a display that switches to a display,
The second selection display can be switched at any time,
Information display system that complements the selection display function and is easier to use.
It is a system.

[0008] The location information is the user who transmitted the content.
Or the location of the content feature
Or the destination of the content. I
Exists on computer networks such as the Internet
Content to access the network is basically
Users who can
Can be accessed without recognition. Therefore, the content
The positions associated with the ties are meaningless. this
In contrast, in the present invention, access to content
Reverses location information, which is unnecessary information,
Used as information for identification, multiple contents
Guideline for selecting the desired content from them.
Therefore, in addition to conventional information such as titles and user names,
In addition, content selection from a new perspective called location information
Is possible, and it is a map that is visually easy to understand
Is given in the display.

[0009] This information providing system enables contents to be identified by position display on a map, so that it is effective even in a closed system such as a personal computer alone. Further, in a system such as the Internet in which a plurality of computers are connected via a network, as described above, a plurality of content providers are provided, and the locations of the respective content providers are different. Therefore, a plurality of contents can be easily identified by the position information. In addition, since the transmission sources of the contents are dispersed, the position information itself has a useful meaning. For this reason, the present invention is particularly useful in a system for providing contents via a computer network.

In a system for distributing data from a server system having means for storing a plurality of contents together with identification information and position information to a terminal system via a computer network such as the Internet,
The server system creates data for performing the first selection display and data for performing the second selection display, and transmits the data to the terminal system. This allows the terminal system to execute the selection display in which the latest information of the registered content is automatically updated. At the same time, the load on the terminal system and the load on the network can be reduced.

In order to suppress an increase in network traffic and to display content in a shorter time, it is desirable to display a list, that is, to give priority to the first selection display over the second selection display. For this reason, it is effective to send data for performing the first selection display from the server system to the terminal system unless otherwise specified.

In the second selection display for displaying the position related to the content on the map, it is necessary to set which area of the map is to be displayed. When the terminal system acquires its own position by radio wave positioning, the terminal system can send its own position to the server and receive data of the map of the surrounding area and the position display data of the content included therein. Also, a table for switching to the second selection display, including a position display indicating presence or absence of position information for each content in the first selection display.
By functioning as an indication, it is also possible to transmit data for performing the second selection display centering on the position of the content whose position display is selected. In this case, it is not necessary for the terminal system to initially have default information for determining the area for displaying the map.

The information providing system and the information providing method of the present invention can easily identify a large amount of contents,
Further, it is easy to identify contents such as from distributed sources. Therefore, it is useful for selecting content registered by the user himself, but is very effective for identifying and selecting content including others. However, to display and select content including others, it is desirable to group users so that the amount of information can be narrowed down to some extent. For this reason, it is desirable to transmit, as the first and second selection display data, data for performing display capable of selecting the content of the user of the terminal system and the content of another person of the group to which the user belongs.

The content providing method and system described above can be provided as software that can be executed by a single computer, or can be provided as software executable on a server of a provider or a portable terminal owned by a user. It is possible to Therefore, a program having an instruction capable of executing each of the above-described processes can be recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM, provided, installed on a recording medium of the information processing apparatus, and used. It is also possible to provide via a computer network such as the Internet.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example in which a provider having a WWW server connected to the Internet provides a bulletin board service 8 having a function as an information providing system according to the present invention. The WWW server 1, which is the center of the bulletin board service 8, includes a bulletin board client gateway interface (CGI) 10 for providing a bulletin board service, in addition to the mail server 2 for sending and receiving mails via the Internet 6. Content server 1 via Internet 6
The user selects a desired content from the text, image, or voice stored in the storage device 1, or a combination of these, and outputs the content to a handy terminal or PDA at hand, or a desktop personal computer. be able to.

Registration of content in the content server 11 can be performed by e-mail using the content registration system 12. For this reason, the mail server 2 of the WWW server 1 is an electronic mail capable of integrally handling image information and character information called multimedia mail (MM mail) in addition to electronic mail of a format standardized as Internet electronic mail. It also supports email.

The MM mail has been developed as a mail format for a handy type information processing terminal (PDA) 3 and includes photographic data obtained from a digital camera or the like.
In addition to character data input by the user, position information (GPS information or map information) measured by radio waves from the satellite 4, and voice or other voice information captured by a microphone can be handled together. ing. In this MM mail, it is possible to transmit / receive a content in which an image and a character are superimposed and displayed as the body of the e-mail. It is also possible to convert the map information into an icon and paste it into the body of the e-mail. Then, the content transmitted by the MM mail is stored as an MM memo in a format capable of displaying the same content as the MM mail.

The bulletin board service 8 of the WWW server 1 of this embodiment
Is configured so that three functions can be broadly realized on a web browser running on a user's portable information terminal (hereinafter, a portable terminal or a PDA) 3 and a desktop personal computer 5. . Therefore, the bulletin board library 20 accessible from the Internet 6 by the bulletin board CGI 10
Is designed to support the functions of my own 21, my friends 22 and my friends 23,
It also supports user assistance functions 24 such as user settings and help.

The user function 21 is a function that allows the user to upload contents (M
M memo). In this service, MM memory uploaded by yourself,
You can write a comment in text or display a map of the location information of the MM memo. The uploaded MM memo can be viewed only by the uploader.

The Friendz function 22 is a closed service that a user can freely create and use with other users. Therefore, the content uploaded by designating a specific group in the mode 22 without any permission can be viewed by members of the group, and members not belonging to the group cannot be viewed. Further, there is also provided a service capable of outputting a map of the profile and position information of each member of the group to which the user belongs. The ability to write a comment in text on the uploaded MM memo or to display a map of the MM memo's location information is the same as the function of the self-service 22.

The everyone function 23 is an open grouping service created in advance by a provider that operates the WWW server 1, and in this example, a capacity of about 50 persons is set. If the number is within the limit, the user can join and unjoin at his own will. As a grouping service, the same service as that of Hizuchizu 22 is provided, and contents registered by users belonging to a predetermined group of Minazuchi 23 are disclosed only to users belonging to that group. .
Then, a comment can be written in text with respect to the uploaded MM memo, or a map of the position information of the MM memo can be displayed. In addition, member's profile and location information (limited to members who have made public setting)
Can be referred to.

In order to support such a bulletin board function, the WWW server 1 further includes a member management server 31 for managing member information, a grouping API 32 for providing grouping information based thereon, Content API33 to be provided
In addition, a function group such as a grouping content API 34 for managing content published in the group is prepared.

The library 20 has a content distribution function 25 for distributing each content via the Internet in order to realize the bulletin board service of the personal 21, the friend 22 and the everyone 23. Furthermore, since a plurality of contents can be published to one user, a list of those contents can be distributed to the user, and a desired one can be selected from contents disclosed to oneself. And a selection display distribution function 26 for distributing the selection display.

In the WWW server 1 of the present embodiment, in addition to the first selective display distribution function 27 for distributing display data for displaying a list of selectable contents,
Since the content can be stored in the content server 11 with location information called MM memo,
A second selective display distribution function 28 is provided for distributing data for displaying some kind of display indicating content on a map. For this reason, the user can select content published to him from the list displayed on the user terminal, and can also select from the display on the map of the user terminal. In addition, WWW
In the bulletin board library 20 of the server 1, the display indicating the content is displayed on the map based on the position information stored together with the content in the content server 11, so that the constantly updated information is displayed in the same manner as the list display. Appears on the map.

Hereinafter, a more detailed description will be given with reference to a screen displayed on the monitor of the user terminal when connected to the bulletin board service 8 of this embodiment.

First, when a connection with the WWW server is established via the Internet and the bulletin board service 8 is selected, the input of the user identification number and the password is requested, and then the main menu shown in FIG. 2 or 3 is displayed. . FIG. 2 is a display example of a monitor of the portable terminal 3 such as a PDA, and FIG. 3 is a display example of the desktop computer 5 and the like. In both cases, the display data is WW data such as HTML that can be displayed by the browser running on the terminal.
It is distributed from the W server 1 to the terminal. The display data for a portable terminal with a small display area and the display data for a stationary computer with a large display area (including a notebook type) have basically the same configuration. It will be described based on.

On the main menu (memo menu) screen 51 shown in FIG. 2, a button 51a for selecting the above-mentioned function 21, a button 51b for selecting the friend function 22, and the user function 23 are selected. Button 5
1c is arranged. Furthermore, user support function 2
A user setting button 51d and a button 51e for explaining usage are also arranged.

When the user selects the menu item 51a in the menu 51, all the memo lists 52 shown in FIG. 4 are displayed by default. In the memo list 52, the titles 52a of a plurality of contents registered by the user himself are displayed vertically arranged in order of date. Then, when a desired title 52a is clicked, the content registered under the title is displayed. The memo list 52 displays, along with the title 52a, the date and time 52b at which the content was registered, the presence or absence of map information 52c, and a deletion instruction 52d. At the bottom of the list, a write button 52e is provided so that a memo of only text can be written and registered. As described above, the content of the MM memo including the position information or the image information is registered via the mail server 2.

At the top of the memo list, there is provided a button 52f for changing the display mode of the memo list to thread display. When you click this button 52f,
As shown in FIG. 5, the parent memo list 53 including only the parent is displayed. The display of the individual contents of the parent memo list 53 is the same as that of the chronological memo list 52, and the title 53a and the date and time 5 which are general identification information of the contents are displayed.
3b is output in a vertical list. Parent Memrist 53
In, the presence or absence of a comment is also displayed. In this example, a comment is attached to the content of the third title from the top, "cold ...", and its display 53g appears. When this display 53g is clicked, a comment list display 53r shown in FIG. 6 appears, and comments are displayed in a list.

The lists 52, 53 and 53r are displayed by the terminal 3 receiving display data (HTML file) supplied for display distributed from the WWW server 1 and developing it by a browser running there. Do it.
In the WWW server 1, the contents of the content server 11 and the member information server 31 and the like are referred to by the selective display distribution function 26 of the bulletin board library 20 each time, and updated display data is created. The data for list display is generated by the first selective display distribution function 27, and the terminal 3 of the user is always provided with the latest information on the registered content.

Returning to FIG. 4, when a map information button (position display button) 52c appears alongside the title 52a indicating each content, by clicking on it, as shown in FIG. A map is displayed 54 on the monitor of the terminal 3, and a display (a double circle in this example) 54a indicating the presence or absence of the content is output thereon. In this example,
The map is displayed such that the position information of the clicked content is located at the center of the monitor. Further, when a position related to other contents is included in the range of the displayed map, a display indicating that such contents are present is also output. In this example, a map is displayed centering on a display 54a indicating that there is content related to Matsumoto Station. On the map, there is a display 54b indicating that there is content related to Matsumoto City Hall, and a content related to Matsumoto Castle. Is displayed. Therefore,
Users can visually recognize that there is content registered for these locations or locations,
Desired content can be selected and output.

The display of the presence / absence of such contents on a map to enable selection (second selection display) is also available on the WWW.
This is performed by display data distributed from the server 1.
This display data is generated by the second selection display distribution function 28 of the bulletin board library 20. Like the memo list display (first selection display), the latest display data is automatically generated based on information of the content server and the like. Is generated and distributed. Therefore, for the content including the position information, the user can select the content while referring to the map, search for the desired content in a short time, and output it. However, contents that do not include location information are not displayed on the map.

Switching from the memo list display to the map display is performed at any time. That is, memo list display 5 in date order
If there is any content including map information in the list displayed from the parent memo list display 53 or the comment display 53r, the display can be shifted to the map display 54 by selecting the content.

The display indicating the content may be a thumbnail of an image included in the MM memo. Also,
When a plurality of contents including the same position information are registered, clicking the display indicating the position displays a memo list indicating the plurality of contents on the monitor, and the user can select a desired puppet from them. .

The range of the map displayed on the terminal 3 can be freely adjusted. When an appropriate point on the map is clicked, a range centered on the point is displayed. Clicking a button provided outside the map display switches the displayed range and the like. For example, if the user clicks the "here" button 54x at the right end, the current position of the terminal 3 is positioned by radio using the GPS function of the terminal 3, and the display is switched to a display centered on the position. Clicking the scale button 54y next to it switches the scale of the map. When the icon selection button 54z is clicked, the display can be switched to a desired icon display. A button 54v for shifting to memo list display is also provided.
Click to return to the memo list display immediately before switching to the map display.

FIG. 8 shows a state in which the content (MM memo) selected from the list display or the map display is displayed. In the display 55 of the present example, an area 55b for inputting a transfer destination address is prepared in addition to an area 55a for displaying the contents in which the image and the text are integrated, so that the display can be performed by the user or another user. Of users.

Button 5 for commenting on this memo
5c is prepared, and when the button 55c is clicked, the display is switched to a display 56 for adding a comment shown in FIG. In this display, the title 56a is obtained by adding “Re” to the title of the parent, and the area 56
Enter the text in b. Then, when the write button 56c is clicked, it is registered as a text memo.

When the writing of the comment is completed, the display returns to the display 55 in FIG. 8, and when the memo list button 55d is clicked, the display is switched to the list display. Since it is necessary to transmit an image having a large data amount in the map display, the map display is not displayed unless an operation such as clicking on position information is performed. In a normal operation, the list display is preferentially performed.

FIG. 10 shows a display when the everyone button 51c is clicked on the menu 51 shown in FIG. Since the Minazuchi function 23 is a group bulletin board function, first, a list of groups to which the user belongs is displayed as a top page 57. As the information of each group, a group title 57a, a simple group introduction 57b, and a display 57c indicating whether or not the user belongs to the group are output.
Further, a button 57d for referring to the information of the members of the group, a button 57e for unsubscribing to a group that has joined, and a button 57f for joining a group that has not joined are displayed. Since the number of unregistered groups is limited, 57 g of the remaining number is displayed.

When one of the subscribed groups is clicked, first, a memo list in chronological order is displayed, and further, a thread display, and further, a content having location information can be displayed on a map. Is similar to the function 21 described above. In FIG.
Parent memo list 5 of contents of group "test1"
8 is shown. First, a group name 58w is displayed on the head, and in addition to a title 58a and registration date and time 58b as information for identifying the content, a name 58c of the user who uploaded the content is displayed. The user's name can be set in the user settings, and a nickname can be used. Since the display in FIG. 11 is a thread display, a display 58d indicating the presence or absence of a comment is output for the content with a comment.
Further, a map display 58p is output for contents having related position information.

When this map display 58p is clicked, the display is switched to the map display 59 centering on the position information 59a of the content as shown in FIG. If a position related to another content is included in the displayed range, it is displayed in an appropriate expression (59b to 59g). The first and second selection displays are performed in the same manner as the display of the function 21 described above. Then, in this example, a position linked to the content uploaded by a plurality of users is displayed instead of the content of the user alone. Therefore, contents from a plurality of users are dispersedly displayed on the map. Then, the user or the outline of the content can be once known using the thumbnail or the like. For this reason, a desired content can be selected from contents disclosed to the user by using new identification information such as a position in addition to conventionally used identification information such as a title and a user name. In addition, by displaying the continuous positions of the contents in a state that is visually easy to grasp on a map instead of being shown by a numerical value, the contents can be easily recognized and can be sufficiently used as an element for selecting the contents. .

FIG. 13 shows the top page 5 shown in FIG.
7 shows a member list 60 displayed when the member button 57d is clicked. In this list, in addition to a member name (nickname) 60a and a display 60b indicating that the member is a leader, a display 60c indicating whether or not the user's own position can be displayed on a map is provided.

When the map display button 60c shown in the member list 60 is clicked, the newest position information (location) sent from the member is displayed together with the map as shown in FIG. A map around the location of the clicked member is displayed, and a face photo icon 61a of the member is output at the center. further,
If the location of the other members belonging to the group exists in the range of the displayed map, the face photograph icons 61b and 61c are displayed at the corresponding positions. The map display 61 indicating the location of the member is updated every moment in the WWW server 1 like the second selection display for displaying the position related to the content described above, and the latest information is always displayed. Therefore, it is possible to easily grasp the location, travel destination, or business trip destination of the member. Further, when the displayed face photo icon is clicked, a more detailed profile for each member is displayed.

FIG. 15 shows a display (top page) 62 when the user clicks the Friend button 51b in the Friend menu 51 shown in FIG. As in the case of the everyone's top page 57 described above, the group to which the user belongs is displayed because the user has the group bulletin board function. Further, since the user 22 is free to create a group in the function 22 without a mess, a button 62a for creating a group is provided on the top page.

FIG. 16 shows a display when a button 62a for creating a group is clicked (creating and changing display) 6
3 is shown. Area 63a for setting group name
And an area 63b for setting the duration of the group
And an area 63c for entering a brief introduction of the group,
Area 6 for setting e-mail addresses of group members
3d is prepared. The group created by the function 22 is a permission type group in which the group leader permits participation. Therefore, while the group of the everyone function 23 is a free-participation type function, the user can set and operate a group for a different use. In this system, the maximum number of members who can participate is limited to 50 members.

Referring back to FIG. 15, when viewing the contents of a group, one of the groups in which oneself participates displayed below the item to be viewed is selected. The function 22 displays only the group in which the user participates. In order to identify each group, a group title 62c and a display 62b indicating whether or not the group is a leader (creator) are output. And
If the user is the leader of the group, a button 62e for changing the setting of the group and a button 62f for deleting the group are further displayed. When updating the member organization or the duration of the group, the display 63 shown in FIG. 16 can be displayed by clicking the setting button 62e. On the other hand, if the user is not the leader, a withdrawal button 62h is output as shown in the bottom group. Also, a button 62d for displaying a member list of each group is output.

When a desired group is selected on the top page 62, a display for selecting contents published in the group is output. The friends function 21 is the same as the personal functions 21 and the everyone function 23. First, identification information such as the title of the content is displayed in a list. Then, if there is a content having location information in them, by selecting the content, a display indicating a related location is output together with the map. Since each display is common to the above-mentioned example, it is omitted below.

FIG. 17 shows the display when the user setting button 51d is clicked on the menu 51 of FIG.
It is shown in This page 64 is the WWW server 1 of this example.
Nicknames and self-introductions used in the bulletin board system (Memoziz) provided by are set up.
First, there is provided a button 64a for selecting whether or not to publish the profile of the user. If the profile is not disclosed, no member profile is disclosed. Next, an area 64b for inputting a nickname is prepared, so that whether or not the nickname is made public and a nickname to be made public can be set. When the setting is made public, the information is output in a list of members of the quiz function 22 or the quiz function 23 described above.

Next, an area 64c for inputting the user's e-mail address is prepared, and an area for inputting whether or not the address is made public and inputting the address itself is prepared. Following this, an area 64d for setting whether or not to disclose the position information is provided. This position information is the position information indicating the latest location of the user as described above in the description of the member list. Therefore, if the position information is made public, the latest position information obtained from the user is provided to other users (users in the group) in a state of being plotted on the map.

Further, an area 64e for inputting a self-introduction
This area is also provided with an area for inputting a self-introduction sentence as to whether or not to disclose a self-introduction.

The outline of the bulletin board service 8 of this example has been described with reference to the contents displayed at each stage. The outline of the screen transition is as shown in FIG. For example, when the everyone function 23 is selected, a group list is displayed as the top page 57 as shown in FIG. When one of the groups is selected, first, all the memo lists are displayed. When the thread display is selected, the parent memo list 58 is displayed as shown in FIG. further,
If a comment is attached, a comment list is displayed by selecting the comment.

The transition of the screen has been described above with reference to the function 21. When the thread display is selected from all the memo lists 52 shown in FIG. 4, the parent memo list 53 shown in FIG. 5 is displayed. Is displayed, and a comment list 53r is displayed. These lists are provided with a button 52c for deleting a memo and a button 52e for writing a memo. When the respective buttons are clicked, the corresponding memo deletion screen 53s and memo upload screen 5s are displayed.
3t is displayed. The screens 53s and 53t are not shown. When a desired MM memo (content) is selected, an image and a text are displayed on the memo display screen 55. When adding a comment to the MM memo, a comment input screen 56 is displayed. Also,
The memo can be downloaded on the memo display screen 55.

As described above, in the bulletin board service 8 of the present example, selection is easily performed by sequentially operating the processes from the display 52 of all memo lists to the MM memo display 55 as individual contents in accordance with the screen displayed. be able to. Further, in the bulletin board service 8 of this example, the MM list 52 or other list
A screen 54 for displaying the position information of the memo on the map is prepared. Therefore, the MM memo can be selected not only from the list display but also from the display on the map.
It can be connected to the M memo display screen 55. The second selection display data that indicates the position of the content on the map and enables selection is W data provided with the content server 11.
It is generated by the WW server 1 and distributed via the Internet. Therefore, the content of the second selection display indicating the linked position of the content on the map is always automatically updated similarly to the content of the first selection display indicating that the content can be selected in the list display. The index is sufficient for the service 8.

The display on the map is easier to grasp visually than the list output, so that it can serve as a graphic interface for content selection. For this reason, not only in the case of managing or posting personal contents, but also in a group bulletin board service in which more various contents are easily uploaded, in this example, the contents of the everyone function 23 or the function of the friend 22 are selected. It is even more effective as a display for

In addition, the portable terminal 3 of the present embodiment has a GP
Radio positioning can be performed using the S satellite 4, and positional information can be freely obtained. Therefore, it is possible to give important meaning as part of the information to its own location information, which has little meaning when connected to the Internet using only a fixed terminal. In, the position display can be used as one of content selection criteria. The method of obtaining position information is not limited to using GPS satellites. For example, it is possible to obtain the self-position from the relationship with the PHS base station. Then, the portable terminal 3 is connected to the Internet 6 by a PHS or a mobile phone, and the bulletin board service 8 can be used.

The screen transition diagram shown in FIG. 18 further includes
A group setting screen 63 of the function 22 and a dedicated screen for joining, leaving, and deleting a group are provided, so that the user can easily perform each operation without fail. As a part of the group bulletin board service, a member list display screen 6
0 is also prepared, and this list display can also be displayed by switching the current position of the member to a screen 61 showing a map. For this reason, the confirmation or selection of the member who is the content provider can be determined by the display on the map.

Data for performing these displays on the terminal 3 or 5 are all prepared in the WWW server 1. FIG.
2 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing in the WWW server 1 until a memo is displayed. First, when the bulletin board service 8 is selected, in step 81, the menu 5
1 to display the data, for example, an HTML file, to the user's terminal 3 or 5, and the function 21 or the function 22 or the function 2
3 can be selected. Except when the function 21 is selected in the step 82, the function 22 and the everyone function 23 are group bulletin board services, so that the group to which the user belongs or to which the user can belong is displayed in the step 83. To deliver the data. Information such as which group the user belongs to can be obtained from the member management server 31 of the WWW server 1. Grouping content A based on the information
The latest information of the group is acquired from the PI 34 or the like, and is transmitted to the terminal 3 or 5 in a state where it can be displayed in a list.

If a group is selected in step 84,
Alternatively, when the function 21 is selected,
At step 85, data for displaying a list of open contents (MM memos) for the user is transmitted (first selection display step). As shown in FIG. 20, a content number 91,
Group ID 92, user ID 93, creation date 94,
The update date 95, title 96, location information 97, parent content number 98, etc. are the content itself 99 of each MM memo.
Stored with Therefore, by extracting the title 95, the creation date and time 94, and the user ID 93 from the data having the corresponding group ID 92 of the content server 11, the first selection display in which the MM memo as the desired content can be selected from the list display Data can be created for performing In step 85, the file such as HTML generated in this way is transmitted.

On the other hand, when a map is selected from the list display in step 86, the position information 97 recorded in the content server 11 is read out together with the content in step 87, and the map display for the map including the corresponding position is read out. Image data is prepared, data for displaying a thumbnail of a content or other icons is added to the image data, and the data is distributed to the terminal 3 or 5 (second selective display step). As a result, the terminal 3 or 5 can display the position related to the content on the map, from which the content (MM memo) uploaded by the user himself or another user of the group to which the user belongs can be displayed. You can choose.

As described above, by filing the position information together with the content, the second selective display / delivery function 28 of the WWW server 1 can create image data in which the position related to the content is reflected on the map. . Therefore, the content having no position information is not displayed in the selection display using the map (the second selection display). Also,
Unlike the case where information is pasted on a map when creating a home page, in this example, position information is stored in the content server 11 together with the content, and the position is selected within a range of a user or a group to which the user belongs, and automatic It is reflected on the map and displayed. For this reason,
The display on the map can be given a meaning as a function of selectively displaying flowing content.

At this time, in step 85, a display (position display) capable of selecting a map display is provided for each content, and the display position of the map is set so that the position of the selected content becomes the center of the display. It is desirable that the image data is determined, created, and transmitted. Thereby, the position of the selected content is automatically set at the center of the monitor. In addition, in order to display a map, a display range must be determined. In this method, a portion to be displayed on the map is automatically determined.

Such a WWW server system can be provided as a program or an aggregate of programs having instructions capable of executing the processing in the above steps, and can be provided with an appropriate recording medium such as a magnetic or optical medium. Alternatively, it can be provided via a network.

As a display for selecting a content,
The map on which the display related to the content is output may be displayed first. However, since the data distributed from the WWW server 1 via the Internet to display the map is image data, the data amount increases. Therefore, it takes time from when it is received to when it is displayed on the terminal 3. In addition, the influence on the traffic of the computer net is large, and the communication cost is high when communication is performed by PHS or the like. For this reason, in the bulletin board service 8 of this example, list display is selected by default, and data for that is automatically distributed. Then, only when the user selects the map display, the map and the image data for displaying the position of the content superimposed on the map are generated and distributed.

When the content can be selected in this manner, the content is selected in step 88, and the WWW server 1 transmits the selected MM memo display data from the content server 11 in step 89 in step 89. The MM memo is transmitted to the terminal 3 or 5 so that the MM memo can be viewed on the browser of the terminal.

As described above, in the bulletin board service 8 of this example, the MM memo, which is a content in which the image and the text can be displayed integrally, can be selected from both the list display and the map display. Therefore, the user can use any selection display as a means for selecting a desired one from a plurality of contents according to the purpose or preference. Therefore, the bulletin board service 8 of this example
In, the range of choices can be expanded, and a service that can reach the target content more simply, reliably, and in a short time can be provided.

In recent years, P with built-in positioning function such as GPS
DAs or other portable terminals are being considered, and position information is being generally obtained. Accordingly, an environment for use as content identification information is being prepared. Therefore, not only the bulletin board service using the Internet of this example, but also the position information is useful as the identification information of the content in the personal computer of the individual. By making the display possible, a search or the like according to the purpose can be performed.

On the other hand, in the bulletin board service on the media such as the Internet, which is not limited, as in the present example, in particular, in a group bulletin board service in which a plurality of users participate, a content source and a content target are used. The position information related to the content is dispersed and is information that can be more easily corresponded to the content on a one-to-one basis as compared with the personal information. It is also interesting as information that suggests the content. Therefore, the location information is very useful as a new index of the content.

Although the MM memo has been described as an example of the content, it is needless to say that the content may be in another format. Although the Internet is described above as an example, the same service can be provided on another computer network such as a closed LAN.

[0069]

As described above, according to the information providing system and the information providing method of the present invention, in addition to a conventional list display of identification information such as a title, a content that can be selected, the content can be selected. Along with the recorded location information on a map to provide content selectable information ,
Switching between the selection function using the map and the selection function using the map display at any time
Making it possible. Therefore, it is possible to identify the content from a different angle than before, and it is possible to visually grasp some characteristics of the content by displaying the location information registered with the content on the map. Becomes Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information providing system and method including means effective for quickly and accurately selecting a content desired by a user from various and large amounts of content.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a system for providing a bulletin board service according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a menu page of a bulletin board service, showing a page configuration for a mobile terminal.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a menu page of a bulletin board service, showing a page configuration for a desktop computer.

FIG. 4 is a display example of a memo list in date order.

FIG. 5 is a thread display example of a memo list;

FIG. 6 is a display example of a memo list comment list;

FIG. 7 is a display example of a map display.

FIG. 8 is a display example of a memo;

FIG. 9 is a display example of writing a comment for a memo;

FIG. 10 is a display example of a group list for everyone.

FIG. 11 is a display example of a memo list of a group.

FIG. 12 is a display example of a map relating to a memo of a group.

FIG. 13 is a display example of a member list.

FIG. 14 is a display example showing the location of a member.

FIG. 15 is a display example of a group list of friends;

FIG. 16 is an example of a group setting display.

FIG. 17 is a display example of a user registration screen.

FIG. 18 is a screen transition diagram of the bulletin board service.

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing of a WWW server of a bulletin board service.

FIG. 20 is a configuration example of data stored in a content server.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 WWW server 2 Mail server 3, 5 Information processing terminal 4 GPS satellite 6 Internet 8 Bulletin board service 10 Bulletin board CGI 11 Content server 12 Content registration server 20 Bulletin board library 21 Personal function 22 Friend function 23 Everybody function 24 User support Function 25 Content distribution function 26 Selection display distribution function 27 First selection display distribution function 28 Second selection display distribution function 31 Member management server 32 Grouping API 33 Content API 34 Grouping content API

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (56) References JP-A-9-330336 (JP, A) JP-A-9-330329 (JP, A) JP-A-9-62993 (JP, A) JP-A-11- 108676 (JP, A) JP-A-10-254907 (JP, A) JP-A-10-63182 (JP, A) JP-A-9-153125 (JP, A) JP-A 8-145703 (JP, A) JP-A-9-311931 (JP, A) JP-A-4-123088 (JP, A) JP-A-8-36550 (JP, A) JP-A-62-9500 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/30 110 G06F 17/30 170 G06F 17/30 320 JICST file (JOIS)

Claims (15)

(57) [Claims] 1. A plurality of pieces of identification information are output in a list to select a desired content in order to output a desired content from a plurality of contents each stored together with identification information and related position information. And a second selection display that outputs a display based on the position information on a map to select a desired content, and further outputs the first selection display. Is
A display that switches to the second selection display when selected, wherein the second selection display includes the first selection display when selected.
An information providing system comprising a display that switches to a display . 2. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the content is distributed via a computer network. 3. The server system according to claim 1, further comprising means for storing the plurality of contents together with the identification information and the position information, wherein the server system is capable of delivering the contents to a terminal system via a computer network. The information further comprising: selection display distribution means for creating data for performing the first selection display and data for performing the second selection display and transmitting the data to the terminal system. Delivery system. 4. The information providing system according to claim 3 , wherein said selection display distribution means sends data for performing said first selection display unless specified by said terminal system. 5. The display according to claim 4 , wherein the first selection display includes a position display indicating presence / absence of the position information for each content and functioning as a display for switching to the second selection display. The information providing system, wherein the selection display distribution unit transmits data for performing the second selection display centering on a position related to the content whose position display is selected. 6. The terminal device according to claim 3 , wherein said selective display / distribution means transmits to said terminal system the contents of a user of said terminal system and contents of another person of a group to which said user belongs. An information providing system capable of transmitting data for performing the selection display and data for performing the second selection display. 7. In order to output a desired content from a plurality of contents each stored together with identification information and related position information, a plurality of the identification information can be output in a list and a desired content can be selected. A first selection and display step, and a second selection and display step of outputting a display based on the position information on a map to enable selection of a desired content, and wherein the first selection and display step , A display for shifting to the second selection display step is output , and the second selection
In the display step, when the selection is made, the process proceeds to the first selection display step.
Information providing method display of rows and wherein Rukoto output. 8. The method according to claim 7 , wherein
In the information display method, the selection display is output to a terminal system that receives data from the server system via the computer network. 9. The method according to claim 7 , wherein
In the selecting and displaying step, data for selective display is distributed from a server system having means for storing the plurality of contents together with the identification information and the position information. 10. An information providing method according to claim 7 , wherein said first selective display step is performed prior to said second selective display step. 11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein in the first selection display step, the presence / absence of the position information is indicated for each content, and a position display functioning as a display for shifting to the second selection display step is displayed. An information providing method, wherein in the second selection display step, a map centering on a position related to the content whose position display is selected is transmitted. 12. The method according to claim 7 , wherein in the first or second selection display step, data for performing selectable display including the content of the user and the content of another person of the group to which the user belongs is provided. An information providing method characterized by being output. 13. A plurality of said identification information can be output in a list to select a desired content in order to output a desired content from a plurality of contents each stored together with identification information and related position information. The first
And a second selection display process for outputting a display based on the position information on a map to enable selection of a desired content. Further, in the first selection display process, , When selected, outputs a display that shifts to the second selection display processing
Further, in the second selection display processing,
A recording medium on which a content providing program having an instruction to output a display for shifting to the first selection display processing is recorded. 14. The data according to claim 13 , wherein in the first and second selective display processing, data for selective display is provided from a server system having means for storing the plurality of contents together with the identification information and position information. Is recorded on a recording medium, wherein the content providing program is recorded on a terminal system. 15. The method according to claim 13 , wherein in the first or second selective display processing, a selectable display including a content of a user and a content of another person of a group to which the user belongs is performed. A recording medium on which a content providing program characterized by outputting data is recorded.