JP3256614B2 - Information presentation device - 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 presenting apparatus which evaluates information units, and generates and displays an image in which image components representing each information unit are arranged based on the evaluation.
The present invention relates to an information presentation device that searches for an information unit that meets a condition and changes the display of a corresponding image component.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional techniques of an information presenting apparatus mainly include a technique for visualizing numerical data, a technique for expressing knowledge in artificial intelligence, and a browser technique for hypertext. First, the numerical data visualization technology will be described. The most common type of this technology is a graph creation function in spreadsheet software or the like. For example, in Microsoft * (registered trademark), Microsoft Excel * (registered trademark), numerical data can be input as a table and expressed as a graph such as a scatter diagram (Reference [1]). This visualization technology is also used for visualizing scientific data. For example, in “Numerical data visualization method and apparatus” (reference [2]), numerical data is converted into an image represented as a hierarchical data structure. Then, the image can be rapidly expressed as a three-dimensional figure or a two-dimensional figure.

As a technique for expressing knowledge in artificial intelligence, there is SemNet (reference [3]). SemN
In et et, knowledge is arranged in a three-dimensional space and presented to the user in order to present the state of a knowledge base holding a large amount of knowledge to the user. There are three types of placement methods in the three-dimensional space: placement based on the attribute of each knowledge, placement based on the relationship between knowledge, and placement specified by the user. In particular, in the arrangement method based on the attribute of each knowledge, ordered data can be received from the knowledge base, mapped to a three-dimensional space, and nodes can be displayed.

[0004] As a hypertext browser technology, there is NoteCards (reference [4]) and the like.
NoteCards has a browser function for arranging icons representing information described in card units on a two-dimensional plane. Then, the inclusion relation, reference relation, and the like between the cards are automatically expressed by a straight line. Further, when an icon is designated, a corresponding card is displayed, and the contents of information included in the card can be known.

Reference [1] Akiyasu Kaji, Yasuhiko Shimadzu.
"Introduction to Excel 2.2", B.N.N., 1981. pp. 278-280. Document [2] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 4-229380 A numerical data visualization method and apparatus (International Business Machines Corporation) Reference [3] Fairchild, Kim M. ,
Polrock, Steven E. et al. , Furna
s, George W.S. , "SemNet: Th
free-Dimensional Graphic R
epresentatios of Large Kn
Owlage Bases ", In Cognit
live Science and Its Appli
sessions for Human-Compute
r Interaction, Lawrence Er
Ibaum Associates, Inc. Hi
llsDale: New Jersey, 1988,
pp. 201-233. Literature [4] Halasz, Frank G. , ”
Reflection NoteCards:
Seven Issues for the Next
Generation of Hypermedia
Systems ”, Communications
of the ACM, Vol. 31, No.
7, 1988 July, pp. 7-28. 833-85
2.

[0006]

The technique of visualizing numerical data is a technique for pre-assigning numerical data and visualizing the numerical data. For this reason, data that cannot be treated as numerical values as it is, for example, data based on linguistic information or the like cannot be read and visually expressed. Further, even if an image component expressing each data is specified, the content cannot be directly known.

Next, in the knowledge expression technology in SemNet, linguistically expressed data is arranged in space. However, in order to automatically arrange in the space, it is necessary to input in advance a mechanism for ordering and data for ordering individual data in a knowledge base system other than SemNet. For this reason, SemNet itself could not read data that could not be treated as a numerical value and represent it three-dimensionally. Further, even if an image component expressing each data is specified, the content cannot be directly known.

[0008] In hypertext browser technology such as NoteCards, the relationship between information is automatically represented. However, the icons are not arranged according to the properties of each information. For this reason, it was not possible to arrange the icons in the space based on each data property and grasp the entire meaning.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art,
The present inventors read information units that cannot be treated as numerical data as they are, and present an image in which image components indicating the presence of information are arranged based on the properties of each information unit and external conditions. Patent application for the presentation device. The user can grasp the information while having the feeling of arranging the information unit itself directly on the image. By changing the arrangement method and external conditions in various ways, it is possible to discover new viewpoints and come up with ideas. It is an object of the present invention to further develop the above and add a function that allows the user to easily understand the content such as the position in the whole that meets the conditions. Another object of the present invention is to make it easy to search for items that meet the conditions.

[0010]

An information presenting method according to the present invention (claim 1) is an information presenting method performed by an information presenting apparatus. The information presenting method reads a plurality of information units and replaces each information unit with its own information. Evaluation based on properties and external conditions,
Determining the arrangement of image components representing each information unit based on the evaluation, displaying each image component on display means according to the determined arrangement, inputting a search condition, and inputting the search condition Expanding the information unit in multiple stages based on an expansion rule; searching for an information unit based on the expanded search condition for each stage; and, as a result of the search, an image component displayed on the display unit. Among them, the display of the image component corresponding to the information unit conforming to the search condition developed in the multi-stage is changed differently for each of the stages.

[0011] The information presentation method of the present invention (Claim 2), in addition to the configuration of claim 1, comprising the steps of: accepting an instruction to the components of the image displayed on the display means, the designated image configuration The method includes a step of searching for an information unit corresponding to an element and a step of presenting the contents of the searched information unit.

An information presentation device according to the present invention is characterized in that an information unit holding means 4 for holding a plurality of information units, and a property of information itself or an external property for the information units held by the information unit holding means. Information unit evaluation means 1 for evaluating based on conditions, display processing means 2 for generating and displaying an image in which image components representing each information unit are arranged based on the evaluation by the information unit evaluation means, and inputting search conditions Search condition input means 3e, expansion rule storage means 3b for storing rules for expanding search conditions in multiple stages, and expansion rules stored in the expansion rule storage means for inputting the search conditions input by the search condition input means. Search condition expanding means 3d which expands in multiple stages based on the information, and which is held in the information unit holding means based on the search conditions for each stage developed by the search condition expanding means. An information unit search unit 3c for searching for an information unit that has been searched, and an image component corresponding to an information unit that matches the search condition expanded in multiple stages as a result of the search by the information unit search unit. A search result changing means 3a for changing the display of the display processing means differently for each stage is provided.

[0013] In addition to the configuration described in claim 3, the information presenting apparatus according to the present invention further comprises a component instructing means 5a for receiving an instruction for a component of an image displayed by the display processing means, One having a corresponding information searching means 5b for searching for an information unit corresponding to an image component specified by the component specifying means, and a content presenting means 5c for presenting the contents of the information unit searched by the corresponding information searching means. It is.

[0014]

The information unit evaluation unit 1 reads information stored in the information unit storage unit (information unit storage unit 4a), evaluates the properties of the information, and, in some cases, evaluates the evaluation value against external conditions. Is calculated. This value is sent to the display processing unit 2 (position calculation means 2b) and converted into position data. Then, based on the position data, an image component expressing the existence of information is arranged to generate and display a display image. This makes it possible to present an image in which the image constituent units are arranged based on the value obtained by evaluating the information unit.

Next, a description will be given of a case in which an image component is changed for an information unit conforming to a search condition. First, the search condition input means 3e receives a search condition from the user. Then, based on the search condition, the information unit search unit 3c searches for a suitable one from the information units stored in the information unit holding unit 4a. Based on the search result, the search result changing unit 3a issues an instruction to the display processing unit 2 to generate and display an image in which an image component corresponding to the searched information unit is changed. This makes it possible to change only the image components displayed by the display processing unit 2 that meet the conditions.

A description will be given of a case in which a search condition input by a user is expanded, and an information unit conforming to the expanded search condition is changed in an image component. First, the search condition input means 3e receives a search condition from the user. The search condition is expanded by the search condition expanding unit 3d based on the rules stored in the expansion rule holding unit 3b.
Then, based on the expanded search conditions, the information unit search unit 3c searches for a suitable information unit from the information units stored in the information unit holding unit 4a. Based on the search result, the search result changing unit 3a issues an instruction to the display processing unit 2 to generate and display an image in which an image component corresponding to the searched information unit is changed. As a result, of the image components displayed by the display processing unit 2,
It is possible to change only those that meet the developed conditions.

A case will be described in which a search condition input by a user is expanded in multiple stages, and an information unit conforming to the expanded search condition is changed in image components in multiple stages. First,
The search condition input means 3e receives search conditions from the user. The search condition is expanded in multiple stages by the search condition expanding unit 3d based on the rules stored in the expansion rule holding unit 3b. Then, the information unit search means 3c
Is stored based on the expanded search condition.
The matching unit is searched from the information units stored in a. Based on the search result and its stage, the search result changing means 3a issues an instruction to the display processing unit 2 to generate and display an image in which image components corresponding to the searched information unit are changed in multiple stages. This makes it possible to change the image components displayed by the display processing unit 2 that match the expanded conditions in multiple stages.

A case will be described in which a corresponding information unit is presented by designating an image component. In this case, the instruction for the image component from the user is received by the component instruction unit 5a and sent to the correspondence information search unit 5b. Correspondence information search means 5b
Searches the correspondence holding unit 4b, extracts the information unit stored in the information unit holding unit 4a based on the search result, and presents it to the content presentation unit 5c. This allows
It is possible to receive a user's instruction for an image component and present a corresponding information unit.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The features of the present invention will be specifically described below based on embodiments with reference to the drawings.

(Overall Configuration) FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of an information presenting apparatus for implementing the present invention. The present information presenting apparatus includes an information unit evaluation unit 1 that evaluates information units based on their properties and external conditions, and a display process that generates and displays an image in which image components representing each information unit are arranged based on the evaluation. A unit 2 for retrieving an information unit based on a search condition and changing an image component corresponding to the information unit that satisfies the condition; a condition-matching information unit search unit 3; an information unit and a correspondence relationship between the information unit and the image component And a content retrieval / presentation unit 5 for retrieving an information unit corresponding to the designated image component and presenting its content.

The information holding section 4 has an information unit holding means 4a for holding a plurality of information units and a correspondence holding means 4b for holding the correspondence between the information units and the image components of the displayed image. The information unit evaluation unit 1 has an evaluation value calculation unit 1a that reads an information unit stored in the information unit holding unit 4a and calculates a value evaluated based on the property of each piece of information itself and external conditions. The display processing unit 2 includes a display range holding unit 2a that stores information regarding a display range of the image component, a position calculation unit 2b that determines the arrangement of the image component based on the evaluation value, and stores the image component at the determined position. It has an image generating means 2c for generating the arranged image and a display means 2d for displaying the generated image. The condition matching information unit search unit 3 includes a search condition input unit 3e for inputting a search condition, an information unit search unit 3c for searching for an information unit stored in an information unit holding unit based on the search condition, and an information unit of the search result. Search result changing means 3a for changing the image component corresponding to the above, expansion rule holding means 3b for storing search condition expansion rules, and search condition expansion means 3d for expanding input search conditions based on the expansion rules, And The content search / presentation unit 5 includes a component specifying unit 5a that receives an instruction for a component of an image displayed on the display unit 2d, a corresponding information searching unit 5b that searches for an information unit corresponding to the specified image component,
And a content presenting means 5c for presenting the content of the retrieved information unit. FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of a display screen of the information presenting apparatus of the present invention. The display screen of the display means 2d in the display processing unit 2 is shown on the left, the display screen of the search condition input means 3e is shown on the upper right, and the main part on the right is shown. The display screen of the content presentation means 5c of the content search presentation section 5 is arranged.

The operation of the embodiment constructed as described above will be described. (Display on Two-Dimensional Plane) First, an example in which information units are sequentially read and an image is displayed on a two-dimensional plane will be described. A plurality of information units are stored in the information unit holding unit 4a.
For example, it is assumed that the data is stored in a form as shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing this processing. First, the information unit stored in the information unit holding means 4a is read (step S4a). Then, the read information is evaluated by the evaluation value calculating means (Step S).
4b). The evaluation is performed by extracting, converting, or calculating specific information. For example: ● Extract numerical values, characters, words, phrases, sentences, etc. contained in the content part. ● Calculate the number and composition of character types such as English characters, Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. ● Extract title content, contained words, phrases, etc. ● Morphological analysis of the text body to extract words, etc., and to estimate the particles used and other tendencies. ● Extract and calculate the number, type, length, tendency, etc. of assigned keywords. ● Calculate styles and expressions of included sentences, average length of sentences, etc. ● Calculate the composition ratio between each component such as title, text body, and keyword. ● Using language processing technology, abstracts are extracted, the field of the written content is estimated, and the importance of the content when analyzed from a certain viewpoint is calculated. The calculated value is sent to the position calculating unit 2b, and position data on the display plane is calculated based on the maximum value and the minimum value of the display range of each axis stored in the display range holding unit 2a ( Step S4d). Then, the image generating means 2c
Generates an image in which image components representing information units are arranged at calculated positions (step S4d). The correspondence between the information unit and the position of the image component is stored in a form as shown in FIG. 5 (step S4e). An intermediate image obtained by adding a new image component to the previous image is displayed on the display unit 2d (step S4f). This process is repeated until reading of the necessary information unit is completed (step S4g). Then, when the reading is completed, the final image is displayed on the display means and the processing is terminated (step S).
4h).

(Condition Search: No Expansion) Next, a description will be given of a process of changing the displayed image component in order to indicate the position of the information unit that meets the condition. FIG.
Is a flowchart showing this processing. First, the user inputs search conditions from the search condition input means 3e (step S6a). The information unit search unit 3c that has received the search condition searches the information unit holding unit 4a and extracts the ID of the information unit that meets the condition. Then, the correspondence relation holding unit 4b is searched to obtain the position of the image component corresponding to the ID (step S6b). Upon receiving the result, the search result changing unit 3a instructs the image generating unit to generate an image in which the corresponding image component has been changed (step S6c). The image generation unit 2c displays an image in which the image component corresponding to the finally searched information unit is changed on the display unit 2d, and ends the processing (step S6d). FIG. 7 is an example of a screen of the information presenting apparatus when an image component corresponding to an information unit meeting a condition is changed. The image component corresponding to the information unit meeting the condition has changed from a white square to a black square.

(Condition search: simple expansion is performed) Next, the input search condition is expanded according to the expansion rule, and the displayed image component is displayed in order to indicate the position of the information unit conforming to the expanded condition. Will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing this processing. First, the user inputs search conditions from the search condition input means 3e (step S8a). The entered search condition is
Based on the expansion rule stored in the expansion rule holding unit 3b in the form of a table in which the original search condition and the expanded search condition as shown in FIG. For example, if the user
Is entered, the search condition expanding means 3
d, "information or information or
"information" (step S8b). The information unit search unit 3c that has received the expanded search condition searches the information unit holding unit 4a and extracts the ID of the information unit that meets the condition. Then, the correspondence relation holding unit 4b is searched to obtain the position of the image component corresponding to the ID (step S8c). Upon receiving the result, the search result changing unit 3a instructs the image generating unit to generate an image in which the corresponding image component has been changed (step S8d). Image generation means 2c
Displays the image in which the image component corresponding to the finally retrieved information unit is changed on the display unit 2d, and ends the processing (step S8e). FIG. 10 is an example of a screen of the information presenting apparatus when an image component corresponding to an information unit that meets the developed condition is changed. The image component corresponding to the information unit meeting the condition has changed from a white square to a black square.

(Condition search-multi-stage expansion)
A process of expanding the input search condition in multiple stages according to the expansion rule and changing the displayed image component in order to indicate the position of each stage of the information unit conforming to the expanded condition will be described. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing this processing. First, the user inputs search conditions from the search condition input unit 3e (step S11).
a). The input search condition is stored in the expansion rule holding unit 3b.
Based on an expansion rule stored in the form of a table in which original search conditions as shown in FIG. 12 and expanded search conditions having three ranks are associated, the search conditions are expanded in multiple stages by the search condition expanding means 3d. . For example, when the user inputs a search condition of “information”, the search condition expanding means 3d ranks 1 = “information” and rank 2
= "Information or information
n ”, rank 3 =“ information equipment or computer or
OA or information processing or information processing society "(step S11b). The information unit search unit 3c that has received the expanded search condition searches the information unit holding unit 4a and extracts the ID of the information unit that meets the condition. Then, the correspondence relationship holding unit 4b is searched to obtain the position of the image component corresponding to the ID. The relationship between the retrieved ID and the rank is, for example, as shown in FIG. (Step S11c). Upon receiving the result, the search result changing unit 3a instructs the image generating unit to generate an image in which the corresponding image component is changed to a form corresponding to the rank (step S11d). The image generation unit 2c displays an image in which an image component corresponding to the finally searched information unit is changed on the display unit 2d,
The process ends (step S11e). FIG. 14 is an example of a screen of the information presenting apparatus when an image component corresponding to an information unit that meets a condition is changed according to a rank at the time of condition development. The image component corresponding to the information unit meeting the condition has changed. Moreover, the color changes from gray to black depending on which rank condition is met.

(Content presentation) Next, a process of presenting the content of the information unit in accordance with the instruction of the image component will be described. FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing this processing. The component designating unit 5a receives an instruction for an image component from the user and sends it to the correspondence information search unit 5b (step S15a). The correspondence information searching means 5b searches the information stored in the correspondence holding means 4b in the form shown in FIG. 5, for example, based on the user's instruction, determines which information unit the user has designated, and determines the ID. Is obtained (step S15b). The corresponding information search unit 4c searches the information unit holding unit 4a based on the ID and extracts a corresponding information unit (step S15c). Then, the content of the information unit is displayed on the content presentation means 5c (step S15).
d). FIG. 16 is an example in which the information unit corresponding to the image component designated by the user is presented on the display screen of the content presentation unit 5c.

[0027]

According to the information presentation apparatus of the present invention, a stored information unit is read, an evaluation value is calculated for each information unit, and an image in which image components representing the information unit are arranged is formed. Was made possible. At the same time, the corresponding information unit can be accessed by directly indicating the arranged image component. As a result, an information unit that cannot be arranged as it is can be grasped and analyzed while having a feeling of arranging the information unit itself directly on the image. In addition, by changing the arrangement method and external conditions in various ways, it is possible to interpret the meaning of the information unit as a whole, to find a new perspective, It has become possible to discover ideas. This is very effective when analyzing a large amount of information, when planning the direction of information collection in the future, or when devising ideas.

Further, by combining the arrangement of the image components and the search by designating the search condition, it is possible to easily read the contents such as which part of the whole satisfies the condition. it can. Further, by expanding the search conditions, a wide range search can be performed by an easy operation. In addition, by performing multi-stage expansion and displaying the results in multi-stages, for example, “one that completely matches the search condition”
It is possible to display at once the distribution of information units that meet conditions such as "what substantially matches the search condition" and "what has another name relationship with the search condition".

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment for realizing an information grasping device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration example of a display screen of the information grasping device according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in an information unit holding unit.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process for displaying an image.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of information stored in a correspondence holding unit;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing processing when a search is performed without expanding search conditions.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on which results of a search performed without expanding search conditions are presented.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing processing when a search is performed by simply expanding a search condition.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a simple expansion rule stored in an expansion rule holding unit.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on which search results are presented by simply expanding search conditions.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing processing when a search is performed by expanding search conditions in multiple stages.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a multi-stage expansion rule stored in an expansion rule holding unit.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a result searched by a search condition expanded based on a multi-stage expansion rule.

FIG. 14 is a view showing an example of a screen on which results of a search performed by expanding search conditions in multiple stages are presented.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing processing for presenting the content of an information unit.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example in which the contents of an information unit are presented.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information unit evaluation part, 1a ... Evaluation value calculation means, 2 ... Display processing part, 2a ... Display range holding means, 2b ... Position calculation means, 2c ... Image generation means, 2d ... Display means, 3 ... Condition conforming information unit Search unit, 3a: search result change unit, 3b: expansion rule holding unit, 3c: information unit search unit, 3d: search condition expansion unit, 3e: search condition input unit, 4: information holding unit, 4a: information unit holding unit , 4b ... Correspondence holding means 5 ... Content search / presentation section 5a ... Component designating means, 5b ...
Corresponding information search means, 5c ... Content presentation means

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Yoshifumi Matsunaga 134, Kobe-cho, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa Prefecture Yokohama Business Park East Tower Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-4-348474 (JP, A JP-A-5-35737 (JP, A) JP-A-5-81322 (JP, A) JP-A-63-78228 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 17/30 G06F 3/00

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] (1)By an information presentation device having a display means
The information presentation method to be performed,  Multiple information unitsRead eachFor information unitsInformation itself
Based on the nature and external conditions of theSaidBased on rating
Of the image component representing each information unitDetermine placement and decide
Display each image component on the display means according to the arrangement
StepsWhen,Inputting search conditions; EnteredSaidMulti-step search conditions based on expansion rules
Expand toSteps to The information unit is based on the expanded search conditions for each stage.
Search for rankSteps to As a result of the search, the image configuration element displayed on the display
Out of the elements, the search conditions expanded in the multi-step
 The display of the image component corresponding to the information unit is performed in each of the above steps.
Make different changes separatelyHaving stepsFeatures
Information presentation method. 2. A step of the accepting an instruction to the components of the image displayed on the display means, the information unit corresponding to the designated image components Search
Yusuke the method comprising the steps of, and presenting the contents of the retrieved information unit
Information presentation method according to claim 1, wherein the that. 3. An information unit holding unit for holding a plurality of information units, an information unit evaluation unit for evaluating the information unit held by the information unit holding unit based on properties of information itself and external conditions, A display processing unit that generates and displays an image in which image components representing each information unit are arranged based on the evaluation by the information unit evaluation unit; a search condition input unit that inputs a search condition; and expand rule holding means for holding a rule that a search condition development means for developing the multi-step based on the input search conditions by said retrieval condition input means expansion rule held in the expansion rule holding means, said search and information unit retrieving means for retrieving information units stored in the information unit holding unit based on the search conditions for each step that has been expanded by the condition developing means, wherein As a result of the search by the information unit search means,
An information presenting apparatus comprising: a search result changing unit that changes a display of the display processing unit differently for each stage with respect to an image component corresponding to an information unit that meets an expanded search condition. . Correspondence information retrieval for searching 4. A component instruction means for accepting an instruction to the components of the image displayed by said display processing means, the information unit corresponding to the image components designated by the component instructing means 4. The information presenting apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: means for displaying the contents of the information unit searched by the corresponding information searching means .