JP3669283B2 - Information acquisition method - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a personal community generation method and server for obtaining information that matches a user's hobbies and preferences.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Currently, there are various methods for a user to obtain information about his / her hobbies and preferences, such as searching with an Internet search engine or purchasing a magazine. Among such information acquisition methods, the method of joining a community that exists on a community providing server such as a mailing list or bulletin board related to the user's hobbies and preferences has a clear attribute and purpose of the community, and It is a convenient way to obtain information because the user can easily participate. However, there are many items that users should do before joining these communities. An example of how to join the community is shown in FIG.
In FIG. 8, reference numeral 500 denotes a community access device such as a PC or a portable information terminal. Reference numeral 510 denotes a search engine that exists in a server or the like, and is a means for searching for a community. Reference numeral 520 denotes a community providing server that provides a community. In joining the community, first, the user searches the search engine 510 using the community access device 500. Next, a community desired to participate is searched from a plurality of communities introduced in the search engine 510 using the user's hobbies and preferences as keywords. When the desired community is searched, the user accesses the community providing server 520 using the community access device 500, confirms whether the characteristics and attributes of the community match the user's hobbies, and writes or makes an application. , Indicate willingness to participate.
As described above, the procedure until the user joins the community existing on the community providing server such as the mailing list or the bulletin board is complicated.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the circumstances as described above, and can automatically generate a personal community that matches the user's hobbies and preferences and obtain information desired by the user by accessing the personal community. An object is to provide an acquisition method and a server.
[0004]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention is connected to a communication network, and a server storing personal information, content, and information related to the content of a user receives information from other information devices connected to the communication network. In the information acquisition method to be acquired, a first process of creating public information and search information from the personal information and information related to the content, and storing the public information and the search information in a storage unit; and the other information device A second process for transmitting a search request for content public information that matches the characteristics indicated by the search information, and content public information transmitted from the other information device in response to the second process. And a third process to be stored in the storage means.
[0005]
In the information acquisition method, the server periodically transmits the search request.
[0006]
In the information acquisition method, the other information device connected to the communication network is one or more unspecified information devices, and the server transmits the search request to the other information device. , When public information is received from the other information device, further comprising a fourth process for storing the location of the other information device, and when the search request is transmitted again, in the second process, The search request is transmitted to the information device at the stored location.
[0007]
The present invention also provides first means for storing the user's personal information, content, and information relating to the content in a storage means, creating public information and search information from the personal information and information relating to the content, and the public information. And second means for storing the search information in the storage means, and third means for transmitting a search request for public information matching the characteristics indicated by the search information to another information device existing on the network. And fourth means for receiving the public information transmitted from the other information device, and fifth means for storing the public information received by the transmission means in the storage means. It is an information acquisition server.
[0008]
In addition, the present invention is for an information acquisition server that is connected to a communication network and that stores a user's personal information, content, and information related to the content, and acquires information from other information devices connected to the communication network. A first step of causing the computer to create public information and search information from the personal information and information related to the content, and to store the public information and the search information in the storage means; and the search Transmitting a search request for public information of content that matches the characteristics indicated by the information to another information device existing on the network; receiving the public information transmitted from the other information device; and the transmission A program for causing the stored information to be stored in the storage means.
[0009]
In addition, the present invention is for an information acquisition server that is connected to a communication network and that stores a user's personal information, content, and information related to the content, and acquires information from other information devices connected to the communication network. A first step of causing the computer to create public information and search information from the personal information and information related to the content, and to store the public information and the search information in the storage means; and the search Transmitting a search request for public information of content that matches the characteristics indicated by the information to another information device existing on the network; receiving the public information transmitted from the other information device; and the transmission A program that records a program for causing the stored information to be stored in the storage means. Over data is readable recording medium.
[0010]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
First, the outline of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 9, the user's home network 51 includes a PC (personal computer), audio equipment, and the like, and these are connected to the home server 10. The home server 10 is connected to a data storage 11 such as a hard disk for recording data, and is connected to the Internet 50 via a provider server or the like (not shown). In addition, the user has a digital camera, a car navigation system, a portable information terminal, and the like having a function of accessing the Internet 50, and these are connected to the home server 10 via the Internet 50.
The internet here refers to a communication network.
[0011]
The user inputs personal information such as the user's name, age, and hobbies to the server 10 in advance. The server 10 converts the input personal information into meta information and records it. Now, for example, a user photographs a sightseeing spot using a digital camera and transmits the image to the home server 10 via the Internet. The home server 10 stores the received image in the data storage 11, and further records meta information related to the content such as shooting date / time and location input by the user. As described above, the home server 10 records contents such as music, images, videos, and text collected by the user according to hobbies in the data storage 11, and further meta information regarding the contents such as music, images, videos, and texts. Record.
The home server 10 creates public information (meta information) of content and search information (meta information) indicating the characteristics and attributes of the content from the personal information input by the user and the meta information related to the content. The user can access content such as music and images described in the public information by accessing the home server 10 using a PC, a portable information terminal, or the like.
[0012]
As shown in FIG. 10, on the Internet 50, in addition to the home server 10, a server 35 that records contents such as music, images, videos, and texts collected by other users as a hobby and their public information. , A server 36 and a server 37 exist. The server 10 accesses the server 35, the server 36, and the server 36 using the search information as a search key, and searches for the feature and attribute of the content. Each server searches itself, and when the public information of the content whose search information, characteristics, and attributes match is found, the public information is returned to the home server 10, and the home server 10 records the returned public information by itself. It is integrated and memorized by appending to public information. The user accesses the server 10 using a PC, a portable information terminal, etc., so that the public information returned from other servers in addition to the content such as music and images recorded in the public information recorded by the user himself / herself. You can see the contents described in
Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an embodiment. Reference numeral 1 denotes Mr. A's digital camera, which has a function of accessing the Internet 50. 2 is Mr. A's personal digital assistant (PDA). Reference numeral 10 denotes Mr. A's home server, which stores public information for publicizing Mr. A's hobbies and preferences to Mr. B. A data storage 11 such as a hard disk is connected to the server 10 and stores contents such as video, images, music, and text. Reference numeral 12 denotes Mr. B's home server, which stores contents such as videos, images and texts that Mr. B has collected as his hobbies, and further stores the public information in a hard disk or the like. The digital camera 1, the portable information terminal 2, the server 10, and the server 12 are each connected to the Internet 50 via a provider server or the like (not shown).
[0014]
In FIG. 2, Mr. A inputs personal information shown as an example below by activating software on the portable information terminal 2.
・ Name (attribute = private)
・ Age (30s)
・ Age (attribute = private)
・ Hobbies (travel)
The portable information terminal 2 converts the input personal information into meta information 100a (text data) using XML (Extensible Markup Language). At that time, the personal information that you do not want to disclose, such as name and age, is made private with the tag. Next, the portable information terminal 2 transmits the transmission data 100 including the meta information 100 a to the home server 10 via the Internet 50.
The server 10 that has received the transmission data 100 records the meta information 100 a on a hard disk or the like inside the server 10.
[0015]
The data storage 11 stores contents such as videos, images, and text collected by Mr. A as a hobby. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, Mr. A uses a digital camera 1 to photograph a landscape in Rome as a travel destination, connects an external interface to the digital camera 1, etc. The attribute (here, “travel”) of the content composed of the shooting data is input. The digital camera 1 creates the meta information 101a of the image data shown below by using XML from the data input by Mr. A and the date and time at the time of shooting.
・ Attribute (travel)
・ A.D. (1999)
・ Monday (August 15)
・ Region (Europe)
・ City (Rome)
・ File name (rome-tour.jpg)
The file name is a file name of captured image data, and is assigned by Mr. A or the digital camera 1. Next, the digital camera 1 transmits the meta information 101 a and the captured image data 101 b as transmission data 101 to the server 10 via the Internet 50.
[0016]
The server 10 that has received the transmission data 101 stores the image data 101 b in the data storage 11. In addition, the file name “rome-tour.jpg” of the meta information 101a is rewritten to “http // yamada / rome-tour.jpg” with a URI (Universal Resource Identifier). This rewritten meta information is assumed to be 102a. The server 10 stores the meta information 102a in a hard disk or the like inside the server.
As described above, the server 10 records contents such as images, videos, music, and texts collected by Mr. A as a hobby from a car navigation system, the Internet, a digital camera, and the like in the data storage 11 and includes a meta data including attributes of the contents. Information is stored in a hard disk or the like inside the server 10.
Note that the above-described photographed image may be stored in the data storage 11 directly via the server 10 instead of being transmitted to the server 10, and the process of converting personal information and meta information of the photographed data may be performed by the digital camera 1 or the mobile phone. Instead of using the information terminal 2, it may be performed by the server 10.
[0017]
The server 10 creates public information and search information from the meta information of personal information and the content meta information stored in the server. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, public information 110a (text data) having an attribute of hobby (travel) and search information 120a (text data) are created from the meta information 100a and the meta information 102a. The public information 110a is meta information for publishing content collected by Mr. A's hobbies and preferences to other people (here, Mr. B) who use the Internet. Here, the public information 110a is disclosed with the following contents.
・ Age (30s)
・ Hobbies (travel)
・ A.D. (1999)
・ Monday (August 15)
・ Region (Europe)
・ City (Rome)
・ File name (http // yamada / rome-tour.jpg)
The search information 120a is meta information serving as a key for searching other public information whose characteristics and attributes match those of the public information 110a. In the present embodiment, the search information 120a searches for public information that matches the following conditions.
・ Age (30s)
・ Hobbies (travel)
・ A.D. (1999)
・ Location (Europe)
Note that the public information 110a and the search information 120a do not include data (such as the name and age of Mr. A) that has been set to a non-public attribute by a tag.
Mr. A can view the information described in the public information 110a such as the image of Rome taken by the digital camera 1, the shooting location, and the shooting time on the portable information terminal 2 accessing the server 10.
[0018]
The operation in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. The server 10 connects to the Internet 50 via a provider server or the like at regular intervals, and transmits a search request message 120 to the server 12 ((1) in FIG. 5). The search message includes search information 120a. Receiving the search request message 120, the server 12 searches the public information of Mr. B recorded in the hard disk or the like inside the server 12 using the search information 120a as a key ((2) in FIG. 5). As a result, Mr. B's public information 150a (text data) that matches the conditions of the search information 120a such as age (30s), hobby (travel), date (1999), and place (Europe) is detected. The public information 150a includes the file name (http) of the image data taken by Mr. B, in addition to the data matching the search information 120a such as age (30's), hobby (travel), year (1999), place (Europe). //suzuki/neples-tour.jpg) and information about the city (Naples) where the photo was taken.
[0019]
Next, the server 13 generates response information 125a (text data) from the public information 150a and the search information 120a, and transmits it to the server 10 by including it in the search response message 125 ((3) in FIG. 5). The response information 125a is described in the public information 150a in addition to the information of the age (30s), hobby (travel), year (1999), and place (Europe) described in the search information 120a. , City (Naples), file name (http // ~ suzuki / naples-tour.jpg). Upon receiving the response message 125, the server 10 stores the response information 125a in the server.
The server 10 adds the response information 125a to the public information 110a stored in the server to generate new public information 130a (meta information) ((4) in FIG. 6). The public information 130a includes the age (30's), hobby (travel), year (1999), month (August 15), region (Europe), city (Rome), In addition to the meta information file name (http // yamada / rome-tour.jpg), the city (Naples) described in the response information 125a, the file name (http // ~ suzuki / neples-tour.jpg) Meta information has been added. Mr. A uses the mobile information terminal 2 to access the server 10, so that in addition to the video of Rome captured by the digital camera 1, the location and time of the video, the video of Naples captured by Mr. B, You can see the shooting location, shooting time, etc. of the video.
[0020]
In the above-described embodiment, the server 12 that searches for public information in response to a search request needs to search and determine servers on which the server 10 is scattered on the Internet. An embodiment for specifying a server to be searched will be described below.
An embodiment for specifying a server to search for public information will be described with reference to FIG.
The server 10 is a server managed by Mr. A. The server 10 records Mr. A's public information 110a. If there is a request from another server, the server 10 discloses the public information 110a. The server 15, the server 16, the server 17, the server 18, the server 19, and the server 20 are servers scattered on the Internet, and each of them is managed by a provider or an individual. Public information is recorded, and public information is disclosed if requested by another server.
The server 10 searches public information for one or a plurality of servers at regular time intervals. Here, the public information is searched every hour, and the number of servers searched at that time is two.
[0021]
Next, the operation in the embodiment will be described. Now, for example, it is assumed that the server 10 is connected to the server 15, the server 16, and the server 18 via a provider server or the like. The server 10 transmits a search request message 120 including the search information 120a to the server 15 selected at random. The server 15 searches the public information using the search information 120a as a key ((1) in FIG. 7). Further, since the number of servers searched by one search is two, the server 10 transmits a search request message 120 to the server 16 connected to the server 15 to search for public information (in FIG. 7). (2)). As a result, since the public information that matches the search information 120 a is detected in the server 16, the server 16 creates response information by adding the public information detected in the search information 120 a and transmits the response information to the server 10. The server 10 stores the location of the server 16 and changes the connection from the server 10 to the server 15 to the connection from the server 10 to the server 16.
When one hour, which is the content search interval, elapses, the server 10 executes the next search. First, a search request message 120 is transmitted to the server 16 that stores the location as a result of the previous search to search for public information that matches the search information 120a ((3) in FIG. 7). Next, a search request message 120 is also transmitted to the server 17 connected to the server 16 to search for public information ((4) in FIG. 7).
[0022]
Note that the server 10 is a server managed by a service provider, and the process of generating public information, searching for other public information, and integrating public information may be one of provider services. The configuration of this embodiment is shown in FIG. Content obtained from a digital camera, the Internet, and a car navigation system and meta information related to the content are recorded in a server or a data storage managed by the service provider. Then, the server managed by the service provider performs generation of public information, search for other public information, and integration of public information as described above.
[0023]
1 is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read and executed by a computer system. May be realized. Here, the “computer system” includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.
Further, the “computer system” includes a homepage providing environment (or display environment) if a WWW system is used.
The “computer-readable recording medium” refers to a portable medium such as a floppy disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, or a CD-ROM, and a storage device such as a hard disk built in the computer system. Furthermore, the “computer-readable recording medium” dynamically holds a program for a short time, like a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line. In this case, a volatile memory in a computer system serving as a server or a client in that case, and a program that holds a program for a certain period of time are also included. The program may be a program for realizing a part of the functions described above, and may be a program capable of realizing the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in a computer system.
The embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes design changes and the like within a scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.
[0024]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, there is provided an information acquisition method for acquiring information between a plurality of servers connected to a network and holding content, and the content meta data is stored in the server holding the content. A public information holding step for holding information as public information, a search information creation step for creating search information consisting of features and attributes of the content to be searched, and the search information creation step for other servers connected to the network A search request step for sending a search request including the search information created by the search request, and receiving the search request from another server, the search for the public information held by the server itself Applying the search information included in the request to generate a response message that contains the public information of the matching content A response message replying step for replying to the server that sent the search request; and a content display step for receiving and displaying the response message and acquiring and displaying the content based on the public information of the content included in the response message. because, information close to the information aggregate formed by making the individual, by searching from the other information aggregate which can be connected to a network, captures other information aggregate detected in the personal information collection It is possible to automatically grow an individual information aggregate as an individual-only community and to realize an information community formed only by information required by the individual. The user can obtain information by accessing a personal community formed on the server .
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration in an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram in which Mr. A records personal information on the server 10 in the embodiment.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for recording an image captured by Mr. A and its captured data in the server 10 in the embodiment.
FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram for integrating meta information 102a and meta information 100a.
FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of an operation for generating a community.
FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram of an operation for generating a community.
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a configuration and an operation for specifying a server for searching for public information in the embodiment.
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional technique.
FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an outline of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an outline of an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating another embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
1: Digital camera 2: Portable information terminal 10, 12: Server 11: Hard disk 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 35, 36, 37: Server 30: Information device 31: Communication device 50: Internet 51: Home Network 100: Transmission data 100a: Meta information 101: Transmission data 101a: Meta information 101b: Image data 102a: Meta information 110a: Public information 120a: Search information 125: Search response message 125a: Response information 130a: Public information 150a: Public information 500: Community access device 510: Search engine 520: Community search server

Claims (3)

An information acquisition method for acquiring information between a plurality of servers connected to a network and holding content,
A public information holding step for holding meta information of the content as public information in a server holding the content;
A search information creation step for creating search information consisting of features and attributes of the content to be searched;
A search request step for transmitting a search request including the search information created by the search information creation step to another server connected to the network and performing a search request;
When the search request is received from another server, a response message including public information of matching content is generated by applying the search information included in the search request to the public information held by the server. And a response message reply step for replying to the server that sent the search request;
A content display step of receiving the response message and acquiring and displaying the content based on public information of the content included in the response message;
An information acquisition method comprising: The information acquisition method according to claim 1, wherein the public information is generated from information extracted from attribute information of content held in a server and personal information. The information acquisition method according to claim 1, wherein the search information is generated from information extracted from content attribute information held in a server.

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