JPH0229817A - Guidance output control system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To allow the title system to flexibly correspond to a change in guidance output processing by clearly separating a guidance offering means from other service offering means. CONSTITUTION:The feature of an operation flow estimated as user's bewilderment is stored in an operation pattern rule storing means 12 as a rule consisting of a condition part and an execution part. The condition part of the rule is compared with the storage contents of an input history storing means 10 and a work storing means 11 by a collating means 13, the execution part of an appropriate rule is executed and guidance output based upon a display processing means 5 or data storage, correction and erasing in the means 11 e.g. are executed. When data are stored in the means in accordance with necessity, an operation pattern can be stored for a long time independently of the storage capacity of the means 10. Thus, a rule corresponding to proposed user's bewilderment can be stored in an operation pattern rule storing means 12.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding a guidance output control method for guiding the user's next input operation, the present invention can output guidance corresponding to the user's confusion based on the characteristics of the user's series of operations. The aim is to provide a guidance output control method that can flexibly respond to changes in guidance output processing by clearly separating guidance provision means from other service provision means, and an input section for users to input requests. an input analysis means for analyzing the user input content; a control means for executing a service based on the analysis result; a display processing means for returning an output to the user under the control of the control means; In an interactive terminal equipped with a service providing means constituted by a display section for displaying information, a guidance output control means is provided which is separate from the service providing means and is capable of changing the guidance output to the user; The guidance output control means includes a time measurement means for measuring input time by the user, and an input for storing information in which the user input time is added to the user input analysis result by the input analysis means in accordance with the input order of the user. a history storage means, a work storage means for storing input work contents of the user, an operation pattern rule storage means for storing a rule for outputting guidance corresponding to the input operation pattern of the user, and the rule and the input operation pattern. and collation means for collating the memory contents of the history storage means and the working memory means and displaying appropriate guidance to the user on the display section via the display processing means according to rules that match the memory contents. Configure.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to a terminal with a processing device that performs various processes according to input contents from a user and outputs processing results as necessary, and more specifically relates to guidance output control that guides the user's next input operation. Regarding the method.

In recent years, as interactive terminals have become more sophisticated, there are expectations for easy-to-use terminals. To this end, it is desirable for the terminal to output detailed guidance in response to the user's operations.

[Conventional technology]

In terminals such as various data processing devices and communication devices, CRT
By displaying pictorial commands (commonly known as ``icons'') on display units such as ray tube display devices, EL (electroluminescence) display devices, liquid crystal display devices, and plasma display panels, the following input can be performed. Measures are taken to facilitate operation. If the user is unable to understand what the icon means, the user often performs a trial operation and tries to understand the meaning of the icon based on the reaction of the terminal at that time.

FIG. 11 shows a block diagram of a conventional example of a dialogue system that employs icon display, etc., and FIG. 12 shows an example of state transition in such a system. In the system shown in FIG. 11, the input analysis means 2 analyzes the contents input by the user through the input section 1, and the control means 3 executes necessary processing according to the state transition table 4. Then, the processing results and the like are displayed on the display section 6 by the display processing means 5.

In addition, in FIG. 12, depending on the state ai', processing A and processing B are
. . . is executed, and although displaying a guidance sentence to the user is also an exception process, it is executed as one process according to the state transition table. In other words, in conventional interactive systems, the control means 3 that controls the movement of the entire terminal uses software created based on the state transition table 4, etc. to control the flow of interaction with the user, including the display of guidance sentences, and the execution of various processes. is under control.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

As mentioned above, for example, when a user performs a series of trial-and-error operations in a system that uses an icon display method,
Each of these operations is faithfully interpreted and executed one by one by the system, and guidance may be output for incorrect operations. However, there is a problem in that it is not possible to detect the user's confusion from the characteristics of the overall flow of the user's series of operations and output guidance.

Furthermore, in conventional systems, as shown in Figures 11 and 12, the processing means that provide various services to the user and the means that provide guidance are not clearly distinguished. When the guidance sentence to be output is changed or added, it is necessary to change the state transition table 4, etc., and there is also the problem that it is not easy to change the guidance output process.

The present invention is capable of outputting guidance corresponding to the user's confusion based on the characteristics of the user's series of operations, and by clearly separating the guidance providing means from other service providing means, it is possible to change the guidance output processing. The purpose is to provide a flexible guidance output control method.

[Means to solve the problem]

A block diagram of the principle of the present invention is shown in FIG. In the figure, an input unit 1 is, for example, a keyboard, an icon on a display screen, etc., for a user to input a request.

The input analysis means 2 analyzes the content input from the input section 1. The control means 3 executes a service for the user using an internal state transition table etc. according to the analyzed input content.The display processing means 5 outputs to the user under the control of the control means 3 as necessary. Perform processing to return.

The display unit 6 performs display according to the processing results of the display processing means 5. All of the above means, that is, those within the dashed line in FIG. 1 constitute means 7 for providing information to the user.

All the following means constitute a guidance output control means 8 (within the dashed line in FIG. 1) which is clearly separated from the service provision means 7. The time measuring means 9 measures the user's input time. The human power history storage means 10 stores information obtained by adding the input time information obtained by the time measurement means 9 to the analysis result by the input analysis means 2 in accordance with the user's input order. The work storage means 11 stores the contents, timing, etc. of the user's operation work for a long period of time. The operation pattern rule storage means 12 stores rules for outputting necessary guidance sentences corresponding to the user's operation pattern. Verification means 1
3 compares the stored contents of the input history storage means 10 and the working storage means 11 with the rules in the operation pattern rule storage means 12, and displays an appropriate guidance sentence in accordance with the result via the display processing means 5. 6.

Here, the service providing means 7 and the guidance output control means 8
The reason for clearly separating them is to facilitate the sophistication of guidance output by changing or adding rules in the operation pattern rule storage means 12.

[For production]

A series of user operations input through the input unit 1 are interpreted by the input analysis means 2 as commands.

The command is processed as an actual service under the control of the control means 3, and is stored in the input history storage means 10 in a format to which the command occurrence time output from the time measurement means 9 is added. The capacity of the input history storage means 10 is limited, and the contents are erased in order from the oldest data.

On the other hand, the operation pattern rule storage means 12 stores the characteristics of the flow of operations that are presumed to be confusing as rules consisting of a condition part and an execution part.

The condition part of the rule is compared with the stored contents of the input history storage means 10 and the working storage means 11 by the matching means 13, and the execution part of the matching rule is executed, and the display processing means 5
guidance output by, or for example, working memory means 1
Data storage, modification, erasure, etc. in 1 are performed. By storing data in the working storage means 11 as needed, it is also possible to store operation patterns for a long time, regardless of the storage capacity of the input history storage means 10.

As described above, according to the present invention, rules corresponding to anticipated user confusion can be stored in the operation pattern rule storage means 12 that is clearly separated from the service providing means 7.

〔Example〕

In the present invention, trial-and-error user operation patterns performed using icons and the like are stored in the input history storage means 10. FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the input history storage process. When an input event occurs in the diagram, step 1
Input information is obtained from the input analysis means 2 in step 4, and time information from the time measurement means 9 is added to this in step 15.

The storage capacity of the input history storage means 10 is limited, and it is determined in step 16 whether there is any free space left. If there is no empty area, the oldest input information is deleted in step 17, and if there is still empty area, step 17 is performed.
The current input information is stored in the input history storage means 10 in step 18 without performing the above process.

Next, in the present invention, the user's confusion is estimated from the user's operation pattern and guidance is output according to the result, but a production system is used to estimate the confusion. Figure 3 shows the configuration of the production system, and Figure 4 shows the configuration of the production system.
The figure shows the execution cycle of the production system.

In FIG. 3, the work memory 19 stores record data such as information regarding the user's work such as touching an icon, and the date and time of the final editing work performed using the terminal. In addition, the production memory 20 stores knowledge in the format of IF (condition part) to THEN (execution part) as rules, the contents of the condition part correspond to the user's operation pattern, and the contents of the execution part correspond to the operation pattern. These include displaying guidance and updating the contents of the working memory 19.

In step 21 of FIGS. 3 and 4, the production system compares the condition parts of these rules with the contents of the working memory 19 for all rules in the production memory 20, and determines which rules satisfy the conditions. A competitive set 25 is created as a set of .

After that, the rule with the highest priority in the conflict set 25 “
i'' is selected in step 22, and in step 23 the processing of the execution unit of that rule is executed.

If this process is, for example, a guidance display for the user, steps 21 to 23 are repeated for the next operation performed by the user in response to the guidance display.

A flowchart of the rule matching process is shown in FIG. In the figure, when an input event occurs, one rule is retrieved from the production memory 20 corresponding to the operation pattern rule storage means 12 in step 26, and the condition part of the rule and the input history storage means 10 are extracted in step 27.
and the stored contents of the working memory 19 corresponding to the working memory means 11, and if they match, the rule is added to the competition set 25 in step 28.

After steps 26-28 have been performed for all rules in production storage 20, it is determined in step 29 whether conflict set 25 is empty. If it is empty, there is no rule that matches the user's operation pattern, so the matching process ends.

If the conflict set 25 is not empty, in step 30, for example, one rule with the strictest conditions is selected from the conflict set 25, and in step 31, as the execution part of that rule, guidance is output, the contents of the working memory 19 are updated, etc. executed.

FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of a graphical image communication terminal as an embodiment of a terminal using the guidance output control method of the present invention.

This graphic image communication terminal is compatible with the I5DN communication network, and sends audio on one B channel and multimedia document information including graphics, text, etc. and drawing commands on the other B channel. This is a form of visual communication (telewriting) in which comments and the like are added to the document information displayed on the display while continuing the conversation with voice.

In FIG. 6, 32 is a processor, 33 is a main memory, 3
4 is a display control unit, 35 is an image memory, 36 is a display unit such as a display, 37 is a tablet control unit, 38 is a transparent tablet left, 39 is an electronic pen, 40 is a keyboard interface, 41 is a keyboard, 42 is a file interface, 43 is a file device such as a floppy disk, 44 is a line control interface, 45 is a Dch interface, 46 is an 82CH interface, and 47 is a Bl
C0DEC148 for audio signal of ch is handset, 4
9 is a footer switch.

The display section 36 is composed of a liquid crystal display panel, an EL display panel, a plasma display panel, etc., and displays the contents of the image memory 35. A transparent tablet 38 is installed on the display surface of the display section 36, and the display section 36 displays the contents of the image memory 35. The contents can be viewed visually through the transparent tablet 38. By bringing the electronic pen 39 into contact with the transparent tablet 38, input can be made in correspondence with the displayed content. Further, the input drawing information is sent to the other party's terminal by the line control interface section 44 via the B2ch interface 46, and similarly displayed on the display section of the other party's terminal.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the screen of the terminal in the embodiment, and shows the situation when a user using the terminal for the first time is trying to create a document through trial and error. Displayed on the screen are a terminal icon, a telephone icon, a bookshelf icon, a mailbox icon, a memo paper icon, a pad icon, a pencil case icon, a file mask icon, a dustbin icon, and a document icon. Briefly explain the meaning of the icons.

When the terminal icon is tapped, it functions as a data terminal, and input can be made from the keyboard 41.

When the telephone icon is tapped, a multi-functional telephone board such as a telephone dial key, transfer button, hold button, etc. is displayed, and by pointing the displayed buttons with the electronic pen 39, it is possible to input a dial number, etc. This is a telephone function that allows you to make calls using the hand cent 48.

When you touch the bookshelf icon, you move to the phase where you access databases such as phone books and schedule books.

When you touch the file mask icon, the drawer opens and the document inside is displayed, and when you touch another document in the drawer, you grab that document. Also, if you touch the inside of the drawer after grabbing a document, that document will be saved to a file.

When you tap the memo paper icon, you grab a blank document.

When the mailbox icon is touched after viewing a document, it moves to a phase where the document is forwarded by e-mail. If you touch the document without grasping it, a list of incoming emails will be displayed and the process will proceed to a phase where emails will continue to be sent.

If you touch the underlay icon while holding a document, the document will be displayed on top of the underlay, and the document you are holding will be placed on top of the underlay.

When you touch the pencil case shape, you will be taken to a screen where you can edit the document displayed above the underlay icon. Also, if you touch a document displayed on the underlay, it means that you have grabbed that document, and the document will be displayed as a dotted line.

If you touch the dustbin icon after grabbing a document, that document will be deleted.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to FIGS. 7 to 10. Figure 7(a) shows the situation when a user using this terminal for the first time tries to create a document by touching the memo paper icon, grabbing the memo paper, touching the underlay icon, and placing the memo paper on the underlay. This is what is shown. The operations up to this point can be done by analogy with the picture on the screen, but by touching the pencil case icon next to the document,
The procedure for transitioning to the document>x collection phase is difficult to infer from the picture on the screen, so the user tries to touch the document on the underlay. FIG. 7(b) shows the state at this time. When you touch a document on the base, the system interprets it as grabbing that document, and the document is displayed as a dotted line.

At this time, the system did not shift to the state desired by the user, ie, the state for editing the document, so the user touches the document on the underlying icon again to return to the original state.

It is generally known that when a system does not operate as the user expected, the user repeats the same operation again. The reason for repeating the operation is to re-recognize the first attempt. Regarding this operation, it has been confirmed that the second transition operation is often faster than the previous operation. The reason why the second transition operation is faster is considered to be because the user becomes accustomed to the operation itself. Conversely, when the user has a certain level of confidence in that one attempt,
It is also conceivable that the second shift operation may be rather slow. This is because the second and subsequent operations are performed to ensure that the failed operation is performed, rather than to confirm the first attempt. In this way, when a user is confused and performs trial and error operations on the system, it may be possible to extract features that correspond to the way the user is confused, and these features can be used as rules for the operation pattern rule storage means. 12 (This makes it possible to output appropriate guidance in response to the user's confusion.

To confirm the first attempt, the user returns to Figure 7 (
Repeat operations a) and (b). Each operation by the user is sequentially stored with time information added thereto, as shown in the example of the contents of the input history storage means 10 in FIG. At this time, the system has a rule that says, ``The user repeatedly performs Bentouch operations on the underlying document, and the second operation is faster than the first, and the user who has never edited the document before. For this, display the following guidance message: ``If you want to edit the document, please touch the pencil case icon.'' Also, even if you have edited the document before, if it was more than 10 months ago,
Display the guidance text” (see Figure 10(b))
When this rule matches the user's operation pattern, a guidance sentence is displayed as shown in FIG. 7(C). Also, if the second operation is slower than the first, the user is likely to be stubborn, so if you display a guidance message with a commanding tone, ``Unfortunately, such an operation will not allow you to edit the document.''"The pencil case icon will not move to the "pen-touch" phase (see Figure 10 (C)).

FIG. 9 shows an example of the contents of the working storage means 11. In this example, the date and time of the last editing operation performed by touching the pencil case icon in Figure 7 is "10:30, May 15, 1985."
It shows that the time is 5 minutes and 5 seconds.

Next, an example of rules stored in the operation pattern rule storage means 12 is shown in FIG. First, to briefly explain the syntax of a rule, a rule is a tree-structured list that is treated as LISP data, and is expressed as a three-expression using parentheses.One rule consists of a rule name, a condition part, and an execution part. Become. The rule name is written behind RULE, and the first
In the case of figure 0, touroku-experienc
e-of-ediL help-editl, help
It is p-ediL2. IF indicates that what is in parentheses following it is a conditional part, and THEN indicates that it is an execution part. The collation means 13 evaluates the condition part of all the rules in the operation pattern rule storage means 12, and if TRUE is returned, it adds the rule to the competition set 25 and selects the rule based on a certain strategy from the competition set 25. select one rule and execute it (see Figures 3 and 4).

Hereinafter, the condition part of the rule will be explained. T in the condition part
A predicate is written that returns RUE and FALSE. A predicate is composed of one or more predicates and a function. Predicates and functions are expressed in uppercase letters; other characters are constants, variables, and wildcards. Variables have 1 added in front of the string,
The value is assigned by the matching operation described later. Wildcards include "?°" and "*"; the former matches a single list or atom (the smallest unit of data handled by LISP and an element without parentheses), and the latter matches zero or more lists or atoms. Verify.

Predicates are broadly divided into those that perform pattern matching and those that do not. 5tJ as a predicate for pattern matching of the former
There are CCEED and EXIST. 5UCCEED performs a verification operation with the input history storage means 10. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 7, the contents of the input history storage means 10 are expressed by three LISP expressions as shown in FIG. 8, and one input is described as one list. Time information is written in the first atom of the list as shown in the figure. Predicate 5UCC
As the EEDO argument, the arrangement of lists is described in the same way as the contents of the input history storage means 10. These lists are compared with the contents of the input history storage means 10, and if the comparison operation is successful, TRUE is returned. Otherwise FALS
E is returned. A wild card and a variable can be written in the predicate 5UCCEED, and a corresponding list or atom in the input history storage means 10 is bound to the variable. The value of the variable is held until the execution of the THEN portion is completed. In the case of the predicate EX I ST, the stored contents of the working storage means 11 are checked. EX I
The STO argument is a list, and only when a list matching this list exists in the working storage means 11 is T
RUE is returned. Variables and wildcards are handled in the same way as the predicate 5UCCEED.

The latter predicates that do not perform pattern matching include AND,
Those that perform logical operations such as OR, NOT, GREAT, L
There are those that perform size comparisons such as ES3.

As a function, 5BTS is used in the example of FIG. 1O. This is a calculation for the time at the beginning of the list in the memory contents of the input history storage means 10, and is continued (continued).
It calculates the difference in time between two arguments in seconds. Similarly, SBTM calculates the time difference on a monthly basis.

Next, the rule execution section will be explained. The execution part is 1
It consists of three or more procedures, which include:
There are those related to the operation of the working storage means 11 and those that request the display processing means 5 to perform display processing. Procedure names are represented by uppercase letters. Regarding the former operation of the working memory means 11, there are MAKE, MOD I FY,
There are REMOVE, which are respectively writing, modifying, and deleting from working memory. The latter includes PROMPT, which requests the display processing means 5 to display a guidance sentence.

From the above explanation, the meaning of the rule in FIG. 10 is as follows: (a) Store the date and time when the pencil case icon was touched last.

(b) Repeat the operations (a) and (b) in Figure 7 twice, and the second operation is faster than the first, and you have no experience of editing operations - or If you have some experience, but more than 10 months have passed, a guidance message will be displayed that says, ``If you want to edit the document, touch the pencil case icon.''

(c) Same as in (b), if the second operation is better avoided than the first, the guidance sentence is ``Unfortunately, it is not possible to move to the editing phase with such an operation. "Please touch the pencil case icon." is displayed.

becomes.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to estimate the user's confusion based on the characteristics of the overall flow of the user's series of operations and output an appropriate guidance sentence. Furthermore, by clearly separating the means for providing services and the means for outputting guidance, it is possible to easily change the guidance output in accordance with changes or additions to rules.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a block diagram of the principle of the present invention, Figure 2 is a flowchart of the input history storage process, Figure 3 is a configuration diagram of the production system, Figure 4 is a diagram showing the execution cycle of the production system, and Figure 5 is collation. Flowchart of the process, FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the image communication terminal, FIG. 7 (al to C) is a diagram showing an example of the terminal screen in the embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the input history storage means. , FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of the working memory means, and FIGS. 10(a) to (C
1 is a diagram showing an example of an operation pattern rule, FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a conventional dialogue system, and FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of state transition in a conventional dialogue system. 2... Input analysis means, 5... Display processing means, 10... Input history storage means, 11... Working storage means, 12... Operation pattern rule storage means, 13... Collation means, 36...Display (display part), 39...Electronic pen, 41...Keyboard. Enter 'p history supply ao'6 also ^ Flow cattle yard Figure 2 Arota "7 Shitan system -fjA Terusa arrow person 0fu σ-kade -F Figure Step 21 Everything about product 7gn memory in Edict 7 For the rule, compare the condition part (IF part) of the rule with the ring contents of the working memory, and create a set of rules (conflict set) in which the condition has been raised. Step 22: Conflict resolution From among the conflict set. , select one rule with the highest priority. Step 23 Execute the execution part (THEN part) of the selected rule. Step 24 - Return to step 1. Execution cycle of production system Negative V Goiyama) Snoring! (Sonzu Condolences-/lPro,) National Policy Map ((1987-08-25-12:34:56 (1987-08-25-12:34:56)
7-08-25-12:35:01 (1987-08-
25-12:35:04 (1987-08-25-12
:35 :02touch document) touch desktop) touch document) touch desktop)) Example of contents of input history storage means Fig. 8 ((experience edit 1985-05)
-15-10:30:05)) Example of contents of working memory means Figure 9 (RULE help-edit2 (IP (AND (SIICCEED) (!t
iIlel touch docu+5ent)(!t
ime2 touch desktop) (!timq
3 touch document) (!time4
touch desktop) (GREAT
(SBTS !time4 !time3)
(SBTS !time2 1tt+well)))(
OR(AND(EXIST)
Edit! axtims)))(GREAT (S
BTM! Time! extime) 10) (N
OT (EXIST)
T? )) ding HEN (PROMPT (T's)
afraid you cant go
to the editing phase
hile you are continuing
5uch operations. Please touch the 1con wh
ch figureis 51m1lar to a
pen case, ) Rule for outputting guidance based on operation pattern Figure 10 Operation pattern rule example (RULil tour-experience
-of-edit(IP (SUCC!+1!D (
timel touch pencass))(TH
EN (MODIFW (experience ed
It? )(exparisnce edit !ti
me)) (RULE help-editl (IP (AND (SUCCEED)
mel touch document
2 touch desktop) (itime3
touch document) (+time4 t
ouch desktop) (GREAT (S
BTS! time2 Itissl) (SB
TS Ittime4! time3)))(OR(
AND (EXIST
it texttime)))(GREAT (SRT
M Itissl Iextime) 10) (
No↑(EXIST
T? )) (a) Rule for registering the date and time of the last edit (THEN
(PROMPT (If you want
to edit the docus+ent
. Please touch the 1con wh
ch figureis 5filar to a p
en case, ) (b) Rule to output guidance based on operation pattern Example of operation pattern rule

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] An input section (1) for a user to input a request, an input analysis means (2) for analyzing the user input contents, and a control means (3) for executing a service based on the analysis result. and a service providing means (7) comprising a display processing means (5) that performs a process of returning output to the user under the control of the control means (3), and a display section (6) that displays the display processing result. The interactive terminal equipped with a guidance output control means (8) is provided which is separate from the service providing means (7) and makes it possible to change the guidance output to the user. ) includes a time measuring means (9) for measuring input time by the user; and storing information in which the user input time is added to the user input analysis result by the input analysis means (2) according to the input order of the user. input history storage means (10) for storing input work contents of the user; and work storage means (10) for storing input work contents of the user.
1); operation pattern rule storage means (12) for storing rules for outputting guidance corresponding to the user's input operation pattern; and operation pattern rule storage means (12) for storing the rules, the input history storage means (10), and working storage means (11). ), and provides appropriate guidance to the user via the display processing means (5) according to a rule that matches the stored content.
1. A guidance output control system characterized by comprising: a verification means (13) for displaying a message on the screen.