JP3842563B2 - Message exchange method and message exchange apparatus - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the present invention, each user of a plurality of terminal devices connected to a network registers a message in a community as a user group for exchanging information via the network, and by browsing the registered message, The present invention relates to a message exchange method for exchanging messages between a plurality of users and a message exchange apparatus using the message exchange method.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, multiple users, such as NIFTY-Server (trademark) of Nifty Corporation and CompuServe (trademark) of the United States, connect their personal computers to the host computer of the center via a modem and a public telephone line network. In the field of so-called personal computer communication service, which communicates based on a predetermined communication protocol, a communication service using an online electronic bulletin board system (hereinafter referred to as BBS) is known.
[0003]
Also, for each member who makes up the community on the Internet's WWW (World Wide Web), his / her opinions (information) are posted (registered) from the terminal to the community and published to the community, and from other members who make up the community There is also known a communication service using a Web bulletin board system, which is a service that enables browsing in an open format by publishing the contents of the opinions of the above.
[0004]
In addition, in these communication services, responses can be posted to opinions posted by other members, and as a result, the flow of a certain topic is made into a thread structure that is a reply-related structure and other members participating in the community. Can also be presented.
[0005]
In addition to this, there is a mailing list service in the conventional email system. This is a service in which e-mail addresses of users who become members are registered in advance in a mail server, and information (topics) held by one person is distributed to other members all at once. By receiving mail and storing it at the terminal, it is possible to exchange information on topics that are common to other members without always connecting to the network.
[0006]
Recently, a service is also known in which an electronic mail posted by a mailing list service is disclosed to a member using a WWW BBS.
[0007]
Also known are chats that allow text messages to be exchanged online in real time and voice chats that can exchange voice messages.
[0008]
On the other hand, in recent years, as a software program for a personal computer, a breeding simulation game for raising tropical fish and a breeding simulation game for raising virtual life having artificial intelligence living in a virtual world are known. Bandai Co., Ltd.'s “Tamagotchi” (trademark) is also known as a portable electronic device incorporating this kind of breeding simulation game program. In addition, there are many known examples that use a person's attachment to an adorable pet to simulate a virtual pet and make the device and software program more familiar.
[0009]
E-mail that is friendly by displaying as if the e-pet belonging to the individual delivers the e-mail when sending and receiving e-mail between people who have the same e-mail software program as an e-pet using the network・ There is “Postpet” (trademark) of Sony Communication Network Corporation as a software program. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-192384 discloses a technique that allows a character grown in his / her electronic device to freely participate in various events in a virtual space on the Internet.
[0010]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-333542 discloses a technique for displaying an electronic pet in a three-dimensional representation that can be shared and shared by a plurality of users in a shared virtual space of the three-dimensional representation. Is disclosed.
[0011]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the communication system described above, communication troubles may occur due to miscommunication, etc., and the state can only be grasped by reading a message that is a community activity, and the activity status of the community can be intuitively understood. There was no means to grasp.
[0012]
In addition, in the conventional communication system, since there is no means for activating communication, there are many cases in which community activity declines due to a small number of message postings although a community is created.
[0013]
The breeding simulation game program described above is a program for an individual to enjoy breeding simulation alone, and the breeding cannot be performed by a plurality of persons.
[0014]
In addition, electronic pets using the above-mentioned network are their owners' electronic devices, have a one-to-one relationship with the owners of the software program, and remote users other than the owners temporarily work on them. Although it is possible, users at remote locations other than the owner cannot be bred when they want, or the growth process cannot be observed, and multiple users share a single electronic pet It was not possible.
[0015]
Although the electronic pet described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-333542 discloses a technique of data delivery method in a server and a client system so that it can be raised by a plurality of people via a network, The growth parameters are changed on a one-to-one basis according to the actions of each user, and the communication behavior in the shared virtual space is not linked. Moreover, the communication relationship between a plurality of users was not reflected in the electronic pet.
[0016]
Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention registers a message in a community as a user group in which each user of a plurality of terminal devices connected to a network communicates by exchanging information via the network, By browsing this registered message, when exchanging messages among multiple users, the user terminal displays a virtual life whose behavior and display form changes reflecting the community activity status of each community member By using the message exchange method, the user can intuitively understand the activity status of the community, can communicate with each other in a friendly manner, and can promote smooth or friendly communication and community activation through the behavior of virtual life. Message exchange and And to provide a program and a recording medium.
[0017]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In the present invention, each user of a plurality of terminal devices connected to a network registers a message in a community as a user group for exchanging information via the network, and by browsing the registered message, While exchanging messages among multiple users, various statistics about the registration status of messages to the community and the browsing status of registered messages, the reply relationship between registered messages, and analysis results of registered message contents The state of the community determined based on the behavior is expressed by a plurality of types of indicators (community state parameters), and the behavior and display of the community-compatible virtual life displayed on the screen of the terminal device based on the plurality of types of indicators It is characterized by controlling the form.
[0018]
According to the present invention, reflecting the community behavior status of each community member on the user terminal and displaying the virtual life whose behavior and display form change, the user can You can intuitively understand the activity status of the community, communicate with each other with friendliness, and facilitate the smooth and friendly communication and revitalize the community through the behavior of virtual life.
[0019]
By displaying the activity status of the community indirectly with virtual life, it becomes easy to understand intuitively, and the members are influenced by the behavior of the virtual life, so that the community activity becomes normal and active.
[0020]
Preferably, as a message from the virtual life, a plurality of messages corresponding to the state of the community are stored in advance, and a message corresponding to the state of the community represented by the indicator is selected from the stored messages. The selected message is registered in the community as an action of the virtual life corresponding to the community.
[0021]
Preferably, feature information of the message content in the community is created from a keyword that characterizes the content of each message extracted from each message registered in the community, the number of appearances of the keyword, and the like. When a community in which activity such as registration is stagnant is detected, external information (for example, information on the web) is searched based on the feature information of the community, and the searched external information is stored in the community. In order to provide, a message including the external information and / or identification information (for example, URL) indicating the location of the external information is registered in the community as an action of the virtual life corresponding to the community (the activity is sluggish) To the community that
[0022]
Preferably, the weight value of the feature information used when searching for the external information is changed based on the presence or absence of a message including the external information and / or identification information representing the location of the external information. For example, when a reply is made to a message posted to virtual life to provide a topic, it is assumed that the provided external information is of a topic that attracts the member's interest. The weight of the feature information used in is increased. Later, when searching for external information again, by using this high-weight feature information preferentially, it is possible to provide only topics that are likely to attract members' interests. It can be used for activation.
[0023]
Preferably, based on the index, the growth level of the virtual life reflecting the record of registration / browsing activities by members of the community is selected, and the display form of the virtual life is changed to correspond to the selected growth level. To do. The user can intuitively understand the activity status of the community by the display form of virtual life.
[0024]
In addition, preferably, an index (for example, a specific person) representing a relationship between a user who is a contributor and a viewer of the message group extracted from a series of message groups connected by a reply relationship registered in the community. Based on the community-based virtual life of the community-based virtual life based on, for example, the central activity, some of the central activity, and the unspecified number of people The behavior is controlled (for example, a caress is given to the specific person).
[0025]
Preferably, the virtual life corresponding to the community is based on an index representing the degree of disagreement of opinions of the message group extracted based on the contents of a series of message groups connected by the reply relationship registered in the community. (E.g., arbitrate between users with conflicting opinions). The behavior of virtual life can facilitate smooth and friendly communication and revitalize the community.
[0026]
Preferably, the index indicating the degree of disagreement of the opinions of the message group extracted based on the contents of a series of message groups connected by the reply relationship registered in the community, and registration by members of the community -Control the behavior of the virtual life corresponding to the community based on the index showing the results of browsing activity (for example, in the case of a community with little message posting / browsing activity even if there are conflicting opinions, To behave in a way that confronts virtual life).
[0027]
Preferably, a new community composed of the plurality of users from the community based on an index representing the prominence of message registration / browsing activity by only a plurality of users among the members of the community. When it is determined that it is time to divide, a new virtual life corresponding to the new community is generated. In this way, by additionally displaying the separate virtual life, the user can intuitively understand that it is a community division time.
[0028]
Preferably, a plurality of the communities exist, the virtual life is associated with each of the plurality of communities, and the contents of each message extracted from each message registered in each of the plurality of communities are characterized. For each community, the feature information of the message content in that community is created from the keyword and the number of occurrences of the keyword, etc., and similar communities are determined based on this feature information. A message notifying the existence of the self-community is registered in the similar community, or the virtual life corresponding to the similar community of the community is displayed on the screen corresponding to the community. Introducing communities with similar topics can be easily done through the action of virtual life, reducing the anxiety when users try to join a new community. The number of participating members increases and community activities can be activated.
[0029]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
[0030]
FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of a message exchange system according to the present embodiment. A plurality of personal computers and portable terminals connected to a communication network 12 such as the Internet or an intranet (here, for example, 3 Each of the user terminals 11 communicates with the server device 13 connected to the communication network 12, thereby communicating between the users of the user terminals 11 by exchanging messages via the server device 13. ing.
[0031]
Here, the mobile terminal may be a mobile phone that can be connected to a network capable of exchanging messages such as the Internet.
[0032]
This message exchange system may be, for example, an electronic bulletin board system (BBS). That is, the server device 13 receives a request from the user terminal 11 and provides, for example, a screen data for inputting a message or browsing the message to the WWW browser of the requesting user terminal 11. 11. When a message is sent from 11, the message is stored, and the stored message is centrally managed, and when there is a request from another user, the request source can be viewed so that the stored message can be viewed. This is realized by a CGI program that transmits data to the user terminal 11. In this case, data is exchanged between each user terminal 11 and the server device 13 by a communication protocol called HTTP.
[0033]
The transmission data from the server device 13 to each user terminal 11 is, for example, data in HTML (HyperText Markup Language) format, and a virtual life image data file that is the gist of the present invention is attached to the transmission data. ing. This image data may be, for example, an animation image in GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) format or an animation image in other image formats. It may be described by a Java program.
[0034]
A user group that exchanges messages using such a message exchange system is called a community, and a plurality of communities may exist in the message exchange system of FIG. 1, or one user is a member of a plurality of communities. There may be. In addition, in order to be called a member of a certain community, it is only necessary to register a message in the community or browse the registered message and access the community, and there are no other restrictions. To do.
[0035]
FIG. 2 shows a configuration example of a main part of the user terminal 11.
[0036]
When the user terminal 11 receives the data transmitted from the server device 13, it performs predetermined processing by the arithmetic processing unit 26 and then displays it on the display 28 via the WWW browser 27. For example, an operation for designating coordinates or inputting characters on a screen displayed on the display 28 via the WWW browser 27 using a mouse or a keyboard is performed, and an input signal input to the input unit 29 is input to the arithmetic processing unit 26. Then, the data is transmitted to the server device 13 via the network 12.
[0037]
FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of a main part of the server device 13 as a message exchange device according to the present invention.
[0038]
The server device 13 includes an input / output unit 21, a processing unit 25, an information database (hereinafter simply referred to as an information DB) 23, and an HTML drawing data output unit 22.
[0039]
The processing unit 25 mainly performs processing for BBS such as message registration and browsing, and processing related to virtual life which is also the gist of the present invention. Here, the processing of the processing unit 25 is realized by causing a computer including a CPU and other peripheral circuits to execute a CGI program (CGI application) describing each processing procedure.
[0040]
Data transmitted from the user terminal 11 to the server device 13 is passed to the processing unit 25 via the input / output unit 21. If the data is of a content requesting execution of the CGI program, the processing unit 25 calls a predetermined CGI program stored in the processing unit 25 and executes the processing.
[0041]
Drawing data that is the display data of virtual life that is the execution result of the CGI program (for example, animation image data created using a plurality of still images in the GIF (Graphic Interchange Format) format) is output as HTML drawing data. In the unit 22, the data is processed into HTML format transmission data, returned from the data output unit 22 to the user terminal 11 through the network 12, and displayed on the display 28 through the WWW browser 27 of the user terminal 11.
[0042]
When the server device 13 receives a message browsing request transmitted from the user terminal 11, the processing unit 25 acquires the requested message from the information DB 23, and the data output unit 22 converts it to HTML format transmission data. Processed and returned to the user terminal 11 via the network 12. When this transmission data is received by the user terminal 11, it is displayed on the display 28 via the WWW browser 27. Further, when the server device 13 receives a message browsing request, the server device 13 writes the history in the information DB 23.
[0043]
When the server device 13 receives a message registration (post) request transmitted from the user terminal 11, the processing unit 25 returns the message content, message ID, and a reply message to the existing message with the message. Stores information such as the message ID of the reply destination message, the posting date and time, and the poster in the information DB 23. Then, after registering the information as described above in the information DB 23, a response to the effect that the posted message is accepted is sent back as transmission data to the user terminal 11 that has made the registration request.
[0044]
For example, information as shown in FIGS. 4 to 7 is stored in the information DB 23.
[0045]
FIG. 4 shows an example of storing user information in the information DB 23. In the information DB 23, the name and affiliation of each user used by the message exchange system in FIG. 1, a table of user identification information (user ID), etc. I remember it in the form.
[0046]
FIG. 5 shows an example of storage of community information in the information DB 23. In the information DB 23, community names and founding dates of a plurality of communities existing on the message exchange system of FIG. : CID) in a table format.
[0047]
Furthermore, one virtual life as the gist of the present invention is associated with each community, and the identification information (virtual life ID: PETID) of the virtual life associated with each community is included in the community information in FIG. ) Is also registered.
[0048]
The community information shown in FIG. 5 is transmitted from the server device 13 to the user terminal 11. For example, the user inputs predetermined items on the community creation screen as shown in FIG. 8 and sends it back to the server device 13. Thus, it is generated by registering the contents input on this screen, the community ID and virtual life ID automatically issued on the system side, on the table shown in FIG.
[0049]
FIG. 6 shows an example of storing message information in the information DB 23. In the information DB 23, each message transmitted for posting from the user terminal 11 is identified with its identification information (message ID: MID), A community ID (CID) of a message posting destination, a message title and body, a user ID (UID) as identification information of a user who is a poster, a posting date, and the like are stored in a table format. The message ID (MID) is automatically issued from the processing unit 25. Each message stores a browsing count indicating whether or not the message has been browsed by another user, that is, whether the message is unread or read.
[0050]
Further, in each message, the MID of another message as a reply destination is recorded as PID (Parental (parent) message ID). Of course, some messages do not have a PID. The number of PIDs is not limited to one and may be plural.
[0051]
In the example of FIG. 6, there are reply messages with MID = “28102” to “28106” with respect to the message with MID = “28101”. That is, since the value of PID associated with the messages with MID = “28102” to “28106” is “28101”, these messages are reply messages to the message with MID = “28101”.
[0052]
Further, the message with MID = “28107” is a reply message to MID = “28106”.
[0053]
A connection structure (see FIG. 9) of a series of message groups connected in such a reply relationship is called a thread. FIG. 9 shows the structure of threads existing in a message group registered in a certain community.
[0054]
FIG. 7 shows a storage example of the message access history in the information DB 23. In the information DB 23, when a message browsing request is received from the user terminal 11, the message of the browsing request is based on the request content. The message ID, the community ID of the posting destination of the message, the date and time when the browsing request is received, the user ID of the requester, and the like are stored in a table format.
[0055]
FIG. 10 shows a functional configuration example of the processing unit 25 of FIG. In the following description, only one community will be described unless otherwise specified.
[0056]
As described above, the input / output unit 21 receives a message posting request and a browsing request from the user terminal 11 and also receives an input of a direct action to virtual life.
[0057]
The direct action to virtual life is, for example, by button input that is set in advance on a display screen displayed on the user terminal 11 such as “raise food” or “stroking head”.
[0058]
The processing unit 25 mainly includes a message processing unit 100, a message information parameter acquisition unit 101, a community state management unit 102, a virtual life state management unit 103, and a virtual life action determination unit 104.
[0059]
The message processing unit 100 registers a message in the information DB 23 or searches for a requested message from the information DB 23 based on a message posting request or a browsing request from the user terminal 11.
[0060]
The message information parameter acquisition unit 101 calculates, for each community, various statistics relating to the registration status of messages to the community and the browsing status of registered messages from each type of information stored in the information DB 23. The message structure is extracted as a message information parameter of the community by extracting the thread structure from the reply relationship between the messages and analyzing the contents of the registered message based on the extracted thread structure. Store in the parameter database (DB) 105.
[0061]
The community state management unit 102 performs processing for determining the community state using the message information parameter group as input data, calculates the community state parameter group, stores it in the community state parameter DB 106, and manages it.
[0062]
The virtual life state management unit 103 determines the internal state of the virtual life using the community state parameter group from the community state management unit 102 or the direct stimulus input that is a direct action to the virtual life from the input / output unit 21 as an input. The virtual life parameter group is calculated and stored in the virtual life state parameter DB 107.
[0063]
The virtual life behavior determination unit 104 performs a process of selecting a behavior pattern of virtual life using the virtual life state parameter group from the virtual life state management unit 103 as an input, and a behavior pattern from the virtual life behavior DB 108 according to the selected behavior pattern. The display data is acquired and the display data is passed to the HTML drawing data output unit 22.
[0064]
Next, the processing operation of the server apparatus shown in FIGS. 3 and 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0065]
When the user selects a community using the mouse or the like from the community list screen as shown in FIG. 15 provided from the server device 13 to the user terminal 11, for example, the server device 13 A top screen as shown in FIG. 16 is provided for the user to participate in the selected community.
[0066]
The screen shown in FIG. 16 mainly includes an area 68 for displaying a list of messages already registered in the community selected by the user, and one message selected from the list displayed in this area 68. It is comprised from the area | region 69 which displays. In addition, the virtual life 70 of the community is displayed.
[0067]
Along with the display of the virtual life 70, the profile of the virtual life 70 may also be displayed (area 71).
[0068]
When “new” button 63 or “reply” button 64 is clicked with a mouse or the like, a message posting screen as shown in FIG. 17 is displayed. The message posting screen mainly includes a message input area 71, a “send” button 72 that is an instruction button for registering a message input in the area 71 in the community, and a “cancel” button for canceling the posting. 73.
[0069]
In order to directly input a stimulus to the virtual life 70, any one of the buttons 61 such as “comment”, “prefer”, and “play” at the upper left of the screen shown in FIG. By performing such an operation, the generated event message is input from the user terminal 11 to the community state management unit 102 via the input / output unit 21 of the server device 13 (step S1). In the case of an event message generated by direct stimulus input, the process proceeds to step S2, and the virtual life state management unit 103 performs a process of updating the virtual life parameter via the community state management unit 102 (step S2). Based on the updated virtual life parameter, the virtual life behavior determination unit 104 executes an output process for displaying the behavior of the virtual life corresponding to the updated virtual life parameter (step S3).
[0070]
When one message is selected from the message list display area 68 of the screen shown in FIG. 16 and a request for browsing the message is input from the user terminal 11 to the input / output unit 21 of the server device 13 (step S1, The process proceeds to step S4) and step S5, and a message browsing process is executed.
[0071]
After inputting the message in the message input area 71 of the screen shown in FIG. 17, the “send” button 72 or the “cancel” button 73 is clicked with a mouse or the like, and a message posting request is input from the user terminal 11 to the server device 13. When input is made to the output unit 21 (step S1, step S6), the process proceeds to step S7, and message posting processing is executed.
[0072]
When the request from the user terminal 11 is other than the direct stimulus input to the virtual life, the message browsing request, and the message posting request, the process proceeds to step S8 and processes other than the above are performed.
[0073]
Next, the message browsing process in step S5 in FIG. 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0074]
When the message processing unit 100 accepts a message browsing request, first, the browsing count of the message requested to be browsed is updated among the message information stored in the information DB 23 (step S21). For example, the browsing count is incremented by “1” every time there is a browsing request for the message. In the unread state, the browsing count is “0”.
[0075]
In response to the update of the browsing count, the message information parameter, the community state parameter, and the virtual life state parameter are sequentially updated (step S22), and the virtual life behavior determination unit 104 responds to the updated virtual life state parameter. The drawing data of the animation of the behavior of the virtual life is output to the HTML drawing data output unit 22 (step S23). In parallel with this, the message processing unit 100 reads the message requested to be browsed from the message DB 23 (step S24). Also, a message access history (see FIG. 7) for the message browsing request is recorded.
[0076]
In the input / output unit 21, the message read by the message processing unit 100 and the HTML document including the virtual life drawing data output from the HTML drawing data output unit 22 are combined and sent to the requesting user terminal 11. Transmit (step S25).
[0077]
Next, the message posting process of FIG. 11 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0078]
When the message processing unit 100 accepts the message posting request, first, the message posting request is generated by selecting the “Send” button 72 on the screen shown in FIG. 17 or the “Cancel” button 73 is selected. It is determined by checking the description of the header part of the posting request message whether it has occurred (step S31).
[0079]
When the posting request is generated by operating the “Send” button 72, the process proceeds to step S32 to execute message reception processing. In the case of a posting request generated by operating the “cancel” button 73, the process proceeds to step S33, and the virtual life behavior determining unit 104 performs an animation output process of a predetermined virtual life behavior when the posting is abandoned. Execute.
[0080]
The input / output unit 21 transmits the HTML document including the virtual life drawing data output from the HTML drawing data output unit 22 to the requesting user terminal 11.
[0081]
Next, the message reception process of FIG. 13 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.
[0082]
When the message processing unit 100 accepts a message posting request generated by selecting the “Send” button 72 on the screen shown in FIG. 17, the posted message attached to the message posting request is specified in the posting request. (Step S44). That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a message ID (MID) is issued, this message ID, the community ID (CID) of the posting destination of the message, the title and body of the message, and the identification of the user who is the poster The information is stored in the information DB 23 as message information together with the user ID (UID) as information and the posting date. The browsing count is recorded as “0”. Also, an existing message (reception message) indicating that the posted message has been received is read from the information DB.
[0083]
When the message information is updated in this way, the message information parameter acquisition unit 101 and the community state management unit 102 receive the update and sequentially execute the process of updating the message information parameter and the community state parameter, respectively. (Step S41). In response to this, the virtual life state management unit 103 executes a process of updating the virtual life state parameter (step S42), and the virtual life behavior determination unit 104 further renders the drawing data of the behavioral animation corresponding to the HTML drawing. The data is output to the data output unit 22 (step S43).
[0084]
The input / output unit 21 synthesizes the receipt message read by the message processing unit 100 and the HTML document including the virtual life drawing data output from the HTML drawing data output unit 22 to obtain the requesting user terminal 11. (Step S45).
[0085]
In addition, although the message posting process and the browsing process described the process by the operation on the web browser, the message posting and reception browsing process by e-mail can be considered separately.
[0086]
The message browsing processing result and the message posting processing result returned from the server device 13 to the user terminal 11 are displayed on a screen as shown in FIG. 16 or FIG. For example, the message selected by the user as the message browsing process result is displayed in the display area 69 and the animation of the virtual life 70 is displayed. Also, a receipt message as a result of the message browsing process is displayed on the screen as shown in FIG. 17, and at the same time, an animation of virtual life is also displayed.
[0087]
Incidentally, the screens of FIGS. 16 to 17 are displayed here by the processing of the input / output unit 21 of the server device, but this is not restrictive. As the display process, when the display process is performed by the web browser on the user terminal 11, CGI, Java servlet, or the like may be used. Further, the display may be transmitted by e-mail.
[0088]
FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining the behavior of virtual life based on community state parameters that are environment information of virtual life and direct stimulus input. FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation related to virtual life in the processing unit 25 of FIG. Hereinafter, description will be made based on the flowchart shown in FIG. 19 with reference to FIG.
[0089]
The message information parameter acquiring unit 101 generates / updates message information parameters for each community, for each thread, and for each user from “message information or the like” stored in the information DB 23 (step S51).
[0090]
As message information parameters generated / updated by the message information parameter acquisition unit 101, as shown in FIG. 18, for each community, the number of users who viewed a message group posted (registered) in the community (“viewers” Number ”), number of users who posted messages to the community (“ posters ”), number of messages posted to the community (“ messages ”), and frequency of messages posted to the community (“ posts ” Frequency ") and" thread structure ".
[0091]
For each thread, distribution of contributors per thread (“distribution of thread contributors”), distribution of message viewers per thread (“distribution of thread viewers”), and messages posted to the community For example, the ratio of quoted text amount of other messages (“quoted text volume ratio”), “judgment value by rule dictionary”, and the like.
[0092]
In addition, for each member (each user) of each community, the number of users who have posted a reply message to each message posted by the member for each thread based on the above thread structure ("reply to posted message for each member" The number of users ") or the number of users who viewed each message posted by the member (" the number of posted messages per member ") may be totaled and used as a message information parameter.
[0093]
The “number of viewers” can be obtained from the value of the browsing count in the message information as shown in FIG. 6 stored in the information DB 23, for example. It can also be obtained by counting access histories for each community from message access histories as shown in FIG.
[0094]
“Number of contributors” is, for example, a user (UID) who posted a message registered in the community (corresponding to the CID of the community) from the message information as shown in FIG. Can be obtained by counting the number of.
[0095]
The “number of messages” is obtained, for example, by counting the number of messages registered in the community (corresponding to the CID of the community) for each community from the message information as shown in FIG. be able to.
[0096]
The “posting frequency” is, for example, from the message information as shown in FIG. 6 for each community, from the number of messages registered in the community and the posting date (may be the posting date and time), for example, 1 It can be obtained as a statistical value of how many messages are posted per day. Note that a parameter “post frequency” may be calculated for each community, for each thread, and for each user.
[0097]
For example, the structure of each thread existing in each community as shown in FIG. 9 can be used as the message information parameter.
[0098]
"Thread Poster Distribution" is information that indicates the degree of distribution (distribution) of message posting status based on which messages the message contributors make up for each thread. It is. For example, how many thread structures composed of messages posted by only a few members of the community exist, and a certain number of members posted in part of one thread structure This is information for determining how many partial thread structures are formed.
[0099]
“Thread viewer distribution” determines, for each thread, which message is often viewed by which user while referring to the message access history shown in FIG. 7 among the message group constituting the thread. It is information for.
[0100]
A rule dictionary in which words that serve as clues for determining a conflict relationship between messages in a reply relationship, a synchronization relationship, and the like from keywords registered in each community as keywords are stored in advance. It is also possible to extract the above-mentioned keywords from each message using a rule dictionary and use them as message information parameters (determination values based on the rule dictionary) for each message.
[0101]
As described above, the message information parameter acquisition unit 101 uses the message information stored in the information DB 23 as shown in FIG. 6, the message access history as shown in FIG. 7, the thread as shown in FIG. In addition, all useful information for expressing the activity state of the community (by message posting, browsing, etc.) is extracted as a message information parameter.
[0102]
The community state management unit 102 generates and updates a community state parameter representing the current state of the community based on the message information parameter group (step S52). As the community state parameter, “scale”, “activity”, “member relation”, “message confrontation”, “member interest distribution”, “community maturity”, etc. can be considered.
[0103]
The “scale” includes, for example, several levels of values such as “number of viewers”, “number of contributors”, “number of messages”, and “posting frequency” as message information parameters. When the value of reaches the value corresponding to each level, the “scale” of the community is set as the value of the level.
[0104]
For example, the “activity” includes several levels of values such as “post frequency” as a message information parameter, and when the “post frequency” reaches a value corresponding to each level, “Activity” is the value of the level.
[0105]
The “degree of relationship between members” is, for example, a member who is a contributor / viewer of a message constituting the thread for each thread based on “thread structure” as a message information parameter and other message information parameters. Relationship patterns (for example, “a certain person is active at the center”, “some of some people are active at the center”, “ This is the result of determining "
[0106]
The “message conflict level” is determined based on, for example, “thread structure” as a message information parameter and other message information parameters, and the relationship (conflict relationship, neutral relationship, tuning relationship) between messages for each thread. It is a result.
[0107]
“Member interest variance” is, for example, a determination result of a state in which a plurality of topics are mixed in one community.
[0108]
“Community maturity” has several levels of values such as “number of viewers”, “number of contributors”, and “number of messages” as message information parameters of each community, and the value of each message information parameter is When the value corresponding to each level is reached, the “community maturity” of the community is set as the value of the level.
[0109]
Further, as a direct stimulus input from the user to the virtual life, as shown in FIG. 18, “praise”, “pick”, “play”, “message posting”, “message viewing”, and “cancel” of message posting. And so on.
[0110]
Based on each community state parameter that is environment information surrounding virtual life and a direct stimulus input, the virtual life state management unit 103 updates each virtual life state parameter for controlling the behavior and display form of the virtual life ( Step S53).
[0111]
As shown in FIG. 18, the virtual life state parameters include “community activation desire” that wants to actively exchange messages, “communication sound desire” that wants to adjust the balance of message exchange, and caress to the community. "Erotic desire" that wants to shake, "Community approval desire" that community viewers want to be recognized, "Community division desire" that wants to differentiate a topical community by topic, and similar `` Community integration desire '' that wants to integrate the community, `` feeling feeling of joy '' that wants to do joy, `` feeling feeling of anger '' that wants to act anger, `` sadness that wants to act grief "Emotional degree", "Emotional degree of pleasure" that wants to behave happily, "Age degree" that represents the number of years of survival, "Health degree" that represents the state of health.
[0112]
Although what kind of parameter is provided is not particularly limited here, a wide variety of virtual life state parameters can be considered depending on how the community state parameter is reflected in the behavior of virtual life.
[0113]
The virtual life behavior determination unit 104 performs processing for determining the behavior and display form of virtual life based on the virtual life state parameter (step S54). As a method for determining the virtual life behavior pattern, for example, the virtual life state parameter is used as input data, the points of the behavior pattern of each virtual life are calculated by the neural network, and the behavior pattern having the largest point is determined as the behavior. To do. A method for determining the display form of virtual life, that is, the shape that is the appearance of virtual life, for example, whether it is a virtual life image of a child or a virtual life image of an adult Is the same as the method of determining the behavior pattern
As the virtual life behavior pattern, as shown in FIG. 18, a message is posted and a topic is provided (“topic offer”), a message is “conflicted”, a message is “arbited”, and “awareness is sung” ”Birth of virtual life,“ proliferate ”,“ go to play ”to promote the community to a similar community, express joy, express what is happening, express sad, play There are expressions that are being received, expressions that are sleeping, expressions that dance, and just hanging around.
[0114]
In addition, various forms can be considered as a method of reflecting the community state parameter and the direct stimulus input in the virtual life state parameter, and further determining the virtual life action pattern from the virtual life state parameter, an example of which will be described later. .
[0115]
The virtual life behavior determining unit 104 directly controls the state of the community (community state parameter) and the virtual life reflecting the user's activity status such as reading and posting messages of a plurality of users who are members of each community. The virtual life behavior data determined based on the virtual life state parameters updated by the operation, browsing operation, and cancel operation) and the virtual life drawing data corresponding to the display form are read from the virtual life behavior DB 108 and The virtual drawing is output to the user terminal 11 through the HTML drawing data output unit 22 and the virtual life is animated on the user terminal 11 (step S55).
[0116]
(Second Embodiment)
Next, referring to FIG. 21, some examples will be given with respect to a method of reflecting the community state parameter and the direct stimulus input in the virtual life state parameter and further determining the virtual life action pattern from the virtual life state parameter. explain.
[0117]
20 illustrates a more detailed configuration example of the virtual life behavior determining unit 104 of the processing unit 25 of the server device 13 illustrated in FIG. 10 and other functional units mainly used for processing in the virtual life behavior determining unit 104. Is shown.
[0118]
In FIG. 20, the community profile management unit 114 uses the message information stored in the information DB 23 to extract, as a keyword, a word that frequently appears in the content of each message posted to the community. The keyword group is collected and profile information representing the interest content of the community is created.
[0119]
The profile information of each community is periodically updated and managed by the community profile management unit 114 and stored in a profile database (hereinafter simply referred to as profile DB) 115.
[0120]
FIG. 22 shows an example of storing profile information for each community. For example, (baseball, 21, 1) is used as profile information representing the interest content of the community in association with the community ID (CID) of each community. ) (Sport, 10, 1) (Watching 5, 1, 1) is described in the form of (keyword, number of appearances, weight).
[0121]
Here, for example, the weight is set to a higher value as the number of messages in which the keyword appears is larger, and the weight is higher as the keyword is more important in the community.
[0122]
The virtual life behavior determination unit 104 includes a behavior pattern selection unit 111, a behavior output unit 112, a posted message generation unit 113, and a similar information search unit 116.
[0123]
The behavior pattern selection unit 111 selects a behavior pattern of virtual life corresponding to the virtual life state parameter group.
[0124]
The posted message generation unit 113 generates a message to be posted to the virtual life (reading a regulation message stored in advance in the virtual life behavior storage unit 108) and the like.
[0125]
The behavior output unit 112 performs output processing according to the behavior pattern selected by the behavior pattern selection unit 112.
[0126]
Based on the profile information for each community, the similar information search unit 116 accesses the Internet to search for information on the web, and passes the result to the posted message generation unit 113.
[0127]
(1)
When the posting frequency of the community message information parameter is decreasing (for example, when the rate of decrease in the posting frequency value of the community message information parameter is equal to or greater than a predetermined value), the community status management unit 102 Is updated to a lowered state (steps S101 to S102).
[0128]
Then, the virtual life state management unit 103 increases the community activation desire level of the virtual life state parameter (step S103), and the action providing unit 111 of the virtual life action determining unit 104 performs the topic providing action as the virtual life action pattern. Is selected (step S104).
[0129]
When the topic providing action is selected, the posted message generating unit 113 sends an optimum specified message corresponding to the value of the posting frequency, which is the message information parameter of the community, the rate of decrease in the value, and the like from the virtual life action DB 108. Selected and read out and passed to the action output unit 112.
[0130]
For example, a message such as “No one has posted recently” is selected as a message from virtual life.
[0131]
The behavior output unit 112 performs a process of posting the message selected by the posted message generation unit 113 to the community to which the virtual life belongs as if the virtual life posted.
[0132]
That is, the selected message is received by the message processing unit 100 from the behavior output unit 112 via the HTML drawing data output unit 22 and the input / output unit 21, and is registered in the community to which the virtual life belongs. Is done. The identification information of the virtual life is recorded as the UID representing the poster of this message.
[0133]
When the top screen (see FIG. 16) of the community to which the virtual life belongs is displayed on a certain user terminal 11, the selected column in the display field of the poster of the selected message in the display area 68 of the message list The virtual life mark 67 is displayed because the displayed message clearly indicates that the virtual life 70 on the top screen has spoken.
[0134]
(1 ')
Another processing operation of the virtual life action determining unit 104 when the topic providing action is selected will be described.
[0135]
When the topic providing action is selected as the virtual life action pattern in step S104, the posted message generation unit 113 inquires the similar information search unit 116.
[0136]
Upon receiving the inquiry, the similar information search unit 116 inquires of the community profile management unit 114 about profile information representing the interest content of the community, and obtains the profile information from the profile DB 115.
[0137]
The similar information search unit 116 uses profile information representing the content of interest of the community as a search expression (for example, one by one in descending order of the weight value of the keyword as profile information, or a combination of two or more. , Search information), search for external information such as information on the web, and link information such as external information appropriate for the topic of the community or URL (Uniform Resource Locators) of the external information And one of them is passed to the posted message generator 113.
[0138]
The posted message generation unit 113 reads out a regulation message such as “There was such information” from the virtual life behavior storage DB 108, combines it with the received external information and link information such as a URL, and the action output unit Return to 112.
[0139]
The behavior output unit 112 performs a process of posting a message obtained by synthesis to a community to which the virtual life belongs as if the virtual life posted.
[0140]
That is, this composite message is received by the message processing unit 100 from the behavior output unit 112 via the HTML drawing data output unit 22 and the input / output unit 21, and is registered in the community to which the virtual life belongs. . The identification information of the virtual life is recorded as the UID representing the poster of this message.
[0141]
When the top screen (see FIG. 16) of the community to which the virtual life belongs is displayed on a certain user terminal 11, the composite message is displayed in the display column of the poster of the composite message in the message list display area 68. A virtual life mark 67 is displayed to clearly indicate that the virtual life 70 on the top screen has spoken.
[0142]
In this way, when a reply message is actually posted from a community member in response to a message posted to provide a topic by virtual life, it is determined that the topic has been provided successfully. Increase the keyword weight value as profile information used when the provided external information is searched. Conversely, if the reply is not posted even after a predetermined time has elapsed, it is determined that the topic has not been successfully provided, and the keyword weight value as profile information used when searching the provided external information is reduced. To do.
[0143]
The profile information may also be updated by “praise” or “prefer” that is a direct operation to virtual life.
[0144]
(2)
The community state management unit 102 determines the maturity of the community state parameter from numerical values representing the results of posting / browsing activities by members of the community, such as “number of viewers”, “number of contributors”, and “number of messages” of the message information parameter. The degree is calculated (step S105 to step S106). For example, several levels are set for values such as “number of viewers”, “number of contributors”, and “number of messages”, and at least one of these message information parameters has reached a value corresponding to each level. Sometimes, the maturity level of the community is the value of the level.
[0145]
The virtual life state management unit 103 checks the maturity value of the community state parameter and converts it into the age of the virtual life state parameter (step S107). Several levels are provided for the age value, and as the age value reaches a value corresponding to each level, the display form of the virtual life is gradually switched from the child state to the adult state (step) S108).
[0146]
Image data corresponding to several stages of growth levels between the child state and adult state of the virtual life is stored in the virtual life behavior DB 108.
[0147]
The age of the virtual life state parameter is sent to the behavior pattern selection unit 111 of the virtual life behavior determination unit 104.
[0148]
When the behavior pattern selection unit 111 selects a behavior pattern from the virtual life state parameter group other than the age, first, the parameter called age is checked, and the behavior pattern of the display form image according to the age of the virtual life The drawing data is selected and output to the behavior output unit 112.
[0149]
In addition, a prescription message for word usage in the child state and a prescription message for word use in the adult state are stored in advance in the virtual life behavior DB 108, and when posting a message to the virtual life, a parameter called age is used. Is selected, and a wording regulation message corresponding to the age of virtual life is selected and output to the action output unit 112.
[0150]
Thus, when the display mode of virtual life is switched, when the top screen (see FIG. 16) of the community to which the virtual life belongs is displayed thereafter, for example, the graphic of the virtual life 70 that has grown from before is displayed. Will be displayed.
[0151]
(3)
The community state management unit 102 includes a thread structure as a message information parameter that is a structure of a reply relationship between messages, the number of respondents to a posted message for each member as a message information parameter, and a reply to a posted message for each member. Analyzing the number, for example, who is viewing the posted message, who is responding well, and for each thread, the message's contributor / viewer A relationship pattern between certain members is extracted (step S111, step S112).
[0152]
The relationship patterns between members to be extracted include, for example, 1) a certain specific person is active, 2) some certain persons are active, and 3) an unspecified number of persons Is active in a confused state.
[0153]
When any of these is detected, the community state management unit 102 sets, for example, a flag corresponding to any one of the above patterns to “1” as the community state parameter.
[0154]
As a determination method of the relationship pattern, for example, a message group of a specific person receives a reply from 10% of the number of contributors of each message constituting the thread, and the message constitutes each thread. When the number of people who are viewed by 70% of the number of message viewers is one, it is determined that “a specific person is active in the center”. Further, when there are several specific persons, it is determined that “a certain number of persons are actively working”. When there is no specific person, it is determined that “an unspecified number of people are active in a disordered state”.
[0155]
The virtual life state management unit 102 determines that the virtual life state parameter is “1” when the flag corresponding to “a specific person is active in the center” is “1” in the degree of relationship between members of the community state parameter. As a result, in the virtual life behavior determination unit 104, as a behavior of virtual life to the specific person, caress is given to the specific person. The behavior pattern of the virtual life to be sprinkled is selected (step S114).
[0156]
When the user accesses the server device 13 via the user terminal 11, the user's UID is sent, so that the specific person can be identified based on the UID. For example, when the specific person has accessed the community (for example, when a top screen as shown in FIG. 16 is displayed on the user terminal 11), an animation in which the virtual life 70 acts as a caress is displayed.
[0157]
(4)
The community state management unit 102 extracts a relation pattern such as a conflict relation, a neutral relation, and a synchronization relation from each thread as a relation between messages from a thread structure as a message information parameter that is a reply relation structure between messages.
[0158]
As a method for determining the relationship pattern between these messages, the number of messages constituting each thread is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and the thread structure is updated by adding a new reply message to the thread structure. However, when the update frequency (the number of times of update within a predetermined time) is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, it is determined that the relationship is a conflict relationship or a tuning relationship. Next, for each message of the thread determined as described above, a determination value by the rule dictionary as a message information parameter is referred to.
[0159]
In the message information acquisition unit 101, words indicating consent such as “Yes,” “Sympathy”, “Same opinion”, “Agree”, “I agree”, “I do not agree”, “I do not think so” ”Stores a rule dictionary that describes a list of words that indicate dissatisfaction, such as“ I disagree ”, and a list of words that are intended to abuse the opponent, such as“ stupid ”and“ low brain ”. The words (keywords) having the consent, the dissatisfaction, and the insult from the body of each message and the appearance frequency thereof are set as the “determination value by the rule dictionary” of the message.
[0160]
The community state management unit 102 has an affirmative or abusive intention about each message constituting a thread that is determined to be in an opposing relationship or a synchronized relationship based on the message information parameter “determination value based on the rule dictionary”. It is determined that the threads having the predetermined number or more of the messages in which the keyword appears (frequently) are in an opposing relationship, and the value of the “message conflicting degree” of the community state parameter is increased to a value indicating “the opposing relationship” (step S113). ). In addition, it is determined that the threads having a predetermined number or more of messages in which the keyword having the consent is (frequently) appears to have the same relationship, and the value of the “message conflict” of the community state parameter is set to “tuning relationship”. The value is lowered to the indicated value (step S114).
[0161]
In the virtual life state management unit 103, when the value of the “message confrontation level” of the community state parameter is increased and a conflict relation close to the quarrel state is detected, the virtual life state management unit 103 sets the virtual life state parameter according to the value of the “message confrontation level”. The value of “community sound desire level” is increased (step S115).
[0162]
When the “community sound desire level” exceeds a certain threshold, the behavior pattern selecting unit 111 of the virtual life behavior determining unit 104 selects an action to mediate the conflict as a virtual life action (step S117).
[0163]
When the action pattern selection unit 111 selects the action of “arbitration of confrontation”, the virtual life action DB 108 reads, for example, drawing data of action animations such as “crying” and “taunting”, and an action output unit To 112.
[0164]
In addition, the posted message generation unit 113 reads a defined message such as “Well, Well” from the virtual life behavior DB 108 and outputs it to the behavior output unit 112.
[0165]
For example, the drawing data is displayed on the user terminal 11 when a reply message input operation is performed on any of the messages constituting the thread. Moreover, the process which posts the said regulation message to the community to which the said virtual life belongs is performed as if the virtual life posted.
[0166]
On the other hand, in the virtual life state management unit 103, when the value of the “message confrontation level” of the community state parameter becomes low and the synchronization relationship is detected, the virtual life state parameter “ The value of “community approval desire” is increased (step S116).
[0167]
If the “community approval desire” of the virtual life state parameter exceeds a certain threshold, the virtual life behavior determining unit 104 selects “joy” or “dancing” as the virtual life behavior pattern (step S118), For example, drawing data of animations of actions such as “joy” and “dancing” are read from the virtual life action DB 108 and output to the action output unit 112.
[0168]
Note that a method other than the above may be used as a method for determining the relationship pattern between messages. For example, there is newly provided means for a member who has read a message to input an intention to approve or dislike the message as a score, and the score is aggregated for each message and used as a message information parameter. Then, the community state management unit 102 may determine, for each thread, the message conflict, neutrality, and synchronization relationship based on the score.
[0169]
Also, when the above conflict is detected, the community status parameter “activity” has a low value, and the message information parameters “number of viewers”, “number of contributors”, “number of messages”, etc. are small. When the “community maturity” is updated to be low, the virtual life state management unit 103 updates the virtual life state parameter so that the “virtual life action determination unit 104” selects “behavior”. You may do it.
[0170]
(5)
The message information parameter management unit 101, for example, posts a thread as a message information parameter that represents the existence state of a thread that is viewed and posted by only a specific plurality of members for each thread and for a part of the thread. User distribution and thread viewer distribution are generated and updated (step S121).
[0171]
When the value of thread contributor distribution and thread viewer distribution increases, it means that posting / viewing activities among some members rather than all members of the community have become more prominent. .
[0172]
When the value of the poster distribution of the thread of the message information parameter is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, or when the value of the thread distribution of the thread is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the community status management unit 102 sets the “member interest” as the community status parameter. The value of “dispersity” is increased (step S122).
[0173]
When the value of the “member interest distribution” is equal to or greater than the predetermined value, the virtual life state management unit 103 updates the “community division desire degree” high (step S123). When the value of the “community division desire level” is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, the virtual life behavior determining unit 104 selects the “proliferate” behavior as the virtual life behavior pattern (step S124).
[0174]
As the action of “proliferating”, for example, one separate virtual life is added, so that the division time of the community is naturally notified.
[0175]
For example, when a top screen (see FIG. 16) of a community to which the virtual life belongs is displayed on a certain user terminal 11, two virtual lives 70 are displayed.
[0176]
In addition, as described above, the value of “member interest variance” is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, and the presence of a partial thread that is viewed and posted only by a specific member is detected as a part of a thread. When the “Department Desire” is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, an action in which the virtual life proliferates is selected and one additional virtual life is generated. If the above partial thread is separated from the current community, a new one is created. When an operation for generating a new community is performed, the newly added virtual life may be handled as a virtual life belonging to the new community. At that time, the new community is recorded on the registration table of the community as shown in FIG. 5, and at that time, it is recorded in association with the newly added virtual life identification information (PETID). .
[0177]
(Third embodiment)
I have described one community so far.
[0178]
Next, the case where the message exchange system of FIG. 1 manages a plurality of communities will be described with respect to differences from the first and second embodiments.
[0179]
In a state where there are a plurality of communities, profile information representing the interest contents of each community is stored in the profile DB 115 of FIG. 20 as shown in FIG. 22, and is managed by the community profile management unit 114 of FIG. ing.
[0180]
The community profile management unit 114 further calculates the similarity between the profile information of each community and determines the similar community.
[0181]
As a method for determining a similar community, for example, when the same keyword exists in the profile information of each of the two communities using information (keyword, number of appearances, weight) described in the profile information, The sum of values obtained by multiplying the number of appearances of the keyword by the weight value is set as the similarity between the profile information of the two communities. When the similarity value is greater than or equal to a predetermined value, it is determined that the two communities are similar.
[0182]
For example, assume that communities A and B are similar communities. As a natural method for notifying each member of the similar community, for example, a virtual life belonging to the community A posts a message to the similar community B as if it were posting a message to the similar community B.
[0183]
As in this case, the message that the virtual message to post, for example, "This is Taro-kun of the (community A). Everyone of (community B) Hello. (Community A) was the story of (keyword ka) and (keyword kb) The posted message generation unit 113 generates a message such as “There are many people who love and I love the story of (keyword kc)”. For example, the specified message is read from the virtual life behavior DB 108, (Community A) in the message is the community name to which the virtual life belongs, (Community B) is a similar community name, (Keyword ka) (Keyword kb) (Keyword kc) ) Is embedded with a keyword having a high appearance frequency in the message of the community obtained from the profile information, thereby generating a post message of virtual life.
[0184]
Further, as another method for naturally recognizing a similar community, for example, a virtual life belonging to community A displays an animation “visit to play” on the top screen as shown in FIG. It can be considered. For example, when an access to a community B occurs from a certain user terminal 11, the HTML drawing data output unit 22 draws a virtual life corresponding to the community A on the display data of the top screen as shown in FIG. After synthesizing the data, the data is transmitted to the requesting user terminal 11.
[0185]
As described above, according to the third embodiment, it is possible to easily introduce a community with similar topics through the action of virtual life, and when a user wants to newly join a new community. Anxiety can also be alleviated, so the number of new members participating in the community increases and community activities can be activated.
[0186]
The method of the present invention described in the first to third embodiments is a program that can be executed by a computer, such as a magnetic disk (floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), an optical disk (CD-ROM, DVD, etc.), and a semiconductor memory. It can also be stored in a recording medium and distributed.
[0187]
In addition, this invention is not limited to the said 1st-3rd embodiment, In the implementation stage, it can change variously in the range which does not deviate from the summary. Further, the above embodiments include inventions at various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriate combinations of a plurality of disclosed constituent requirements. For example, even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the embodiment, the problem (at least one of them) described in the column of the problem to be solved by the invention can be solved, and the column of the effect of the invention If at least one of the effects described in (1) is obtained, a configuration from which this configuration requirement is deleted can be extracted as an invention.
[0188]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the user can intuitively understand the activity status of the community by the behavior and display form of virtual life, can perform communication activities with friendliness, and smooth by the behavior of virtual life, Friendly communication and community activation.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a message exchange system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a user terminal that constitutes the message exchange system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a server device as a message exchange device that constitutes the message exchange system of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a storage example of user information stored in an information database of a server device.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a storage example of community information stored in an information database of a server device.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a storage example of message information stored in an information database of a server device.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a storage example of a message access history stored in an information database of a server device.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a display example of a community creation screen.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a thread structure existing in a message group registered in a certain community.
10 is a diagram showing a functional configuration example of a processing unit in FIG. 3;
FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining the outline of the processing operation of the server apparatus.
FIG. 12 is a flowchart for explaining a message browsing process operation;
FIG. 13 is a flowchart for explaining a message posting processing operation;
FIG. 14 is a flowchart for explaining a message reception processing operation;
FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a display example of a community list screen displayed on the user terminal.
FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a display example of a screen corresponding to the community first displayed on the user terminal when the user selects a community;
FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a display example of a message posting screen.
FIG. 18 is a diagram for explaining a method of determining the behavior of virtual life based on community state parameters that are environment information of virtual life and direct stimulus input.
FIG. 19 is a flowchart for explaining a processing operation related to virtual life in the processing unit of FIG. 10;
20 is a diagram illustrating a more detailed configuration example of the virtual life behavior determining unit of the processing unit of the server apparatus illustrated in FIG. 10 and other functional units mainly used for processing in the virtual life behavior determining unit. .
FIG. 21 is a flowchart for explaining a specific example of a method of reflecting a community state parameter in a virtual life state parameter and determining a virtual life action pattern from the virtual life state parameter.
FIG. 22 is a diagram showing an example of storing community profile information.
[Explanation of symbols]
11. User terminal
12. Communication network
13: Server device
21 ... Input / output section
22 ... HTML drawing data output section
23 ... Information database (Information DB)
25. Processing unit
100: Message processing unit
101 ... Message information parameter acquisition unit
102 ... Community state management department
103 ... Virtual life state management department
104 ... Virtual life behavior decision part
105 ... Message information parameter database
106 ... Community state parameter database
107 ... Virtual life state parameter database
108… Virtual life behavior database
111 ... Action pattern selection section
112 ... Action output part
113 ... Posted message generator
114 ... Community Profile Management Department
115 ... Profile database
116: Similar information search unit

Claims (8)

Each user of a plurality of terminal devices connected to a network registers a message in a community as a user group for exchanging information via the network, and by browsing the registered message, the plurality of users In the message exchange method of exchanging messages with
Information on members of the community, posting date and poster of each message registered in the community, the number of browsing times and viewers of the registered message, storing the reply relationship between the registered messages in the storage means,
Extracted based on the analysis result of the information stored in the storage means, the community representing the relationship between users who are contributors / viewers of a series of messages connected by the reply relationship registered in the community A message exchange method, comprising: controlling a behavior of the virtual life corresponding to the community displayed on a screen of the terminal device based on a first state index.   The degree of disagreement of the opinions of the message group extracted based on the analysis result of the content of each message of a series of message groups connected by the reply relationship registered in the community stored in the storage means The message exchange method according to claim 1, further comprising: controlling a behavior of the virtual life corresponding to the community based on a second state index of the community.   The degree of disagreement of the opinions of the message group extracted based on the analysis result of the content of each message of a series of message groups connected by the reply relationship registered in the community stored in the storage means Registration by members of the community extracted based on the second state index of the community and various statistics stored in the storage means regarding the registration status of messages by the members of the community and the browsing status of registered messages The message exchange method according to claim 1, wherein the behavior of the virtual life corresponding to the community is controlled based on the third state index of the community that represents the result of the browsing activity.   Messages by only a plurality of users among the members of the community extracted based on various statistics about the registration status of messages by the members of the community and the browsing status of registered messages stored in the storage means When it is determined that it is time to divide the new community composed of the plurality of users from the community based on the fourth state index of the community representing the prominence of the registration / browsing activity of the The message exchange method according to claim 1, wherein a new virtual life corresponding to a new community is generated. Each user of a plurality of terminal devices connected to a network registers a message in a community as a user group for exchanging information via the network, and by browsing the registered message, the plurality of users In the message exchange method of exchanging messages with
Storage means for storing information about members of the community, posting date and time and posting person of each message registered in the community, number of browsing and viewers of the registered message, reply relationship between the registered messages;
Based on the analysis result of the information stored in the storage means, the first of the community representing the relationship between users who are contributors / viewers of a series of message groups connected by the reply relationship registered in the community. Means for extracting a state index;
Means for controlling the behavior of the virtual life corresponding to the community displayed on the screen of the terminal device based on the first state index;
A message exchange apparatus comprising: The community representing the degree of disagreement of the message group based on the analysis result of the contents of each message of a series of message groups connected by the reply relationship registered in the community stored in the storage means Means for extracting a second state index of:
Means for controlling the behavior of the virtual life corresponding to the community based on the second state index;
The message exchange device according to claim 5, further comprising: The community representing the degree of disagreement of the message group based on the analysis result of the contents of each message of a series of message groups connected by the reply relationship registered in the community stored in the storage means Means for extracting a second state index of:
Based on various statistics related to the registration status of messages by the members of the community and the browsing status of registered messages stored in the storage means, the number of the community representing the performance of registration and browsing activities by the members of the community is shown. Means for extracting three state indicators;
Means for controlling the behavior of the virtual life corresponding to the community based on the second and third state indicators;
The message exchange device according to claim 5, further comprising: Registration of messages by only a plurality of users among the members of the community based on various statistics regarding the registration status of messages by the community members and the browsing status of registered messages stored in the storage means Means for extracting a fourth state indicator of the community representing the prominence of browsing activity;
When it is determined that it is time to divide a new community composed of the plurality of some users from the community based on the fourth state index, a new virtual life corresponding to the new community is generated. Means,
6. The message exchange apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising:

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