JPH07225795A - Knowledge accumulating and sharing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a knowledge accumulating and sharing device by which all the members of a community can easily view multimedia information in which knowledge is accumulated, regarding a knowledge accumulating and sharing device in a regional community for which the information media by computer network is utilized. CONSTITUTION:This device is a knowledge accumulating and sharing device composed of a host station 1 performing the knowledge accumulation and control in a regional community, etc., and presenting the program 8 composed by the hypertext structure based on multimedia information or the information composing the part and a viewing device 5 viewing the program 8, etc., by downloading the program from this host station 1. In the viewing device 5, an interface agent 9 provided with the display function of a moving image assisting the retrieval action of the learning of the individual characteristic of a member and knowledge to be known and a sound interactive function assisting an operation is provided.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for collecting and sharing knowledge in a regional community using an information medium by a computer network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, by utilizing communication between computers,
Local communities (communities) such as companies or non-profit organizations
As means for accumulating and managing knowledge in, there are methods such as centralized management of information using a database, a shared directory service of hierarchical information related to groupware, or provision of shared business information based on electronic mail. Was used.

[0003]

Since each communication service described above is designed for the purpose of carrying out a certain task, it has a drawback that it cannot respond to a request that deviates from the design purpose. It was Particularly in Japan, companies and local communities have a strong color as social groups with a common cultural background, such as families and villages, and are not organizations organized for a certain business purpose. For this reason, in many cases, it is not possible to meet the needs with a method of gathering or sharing information designed mainly for business such as a central management type database or groupware.

Further, a medium using a computer network, such as a conference between members using personal computer communication or a news group for exchanging news between members, under the proper management, collects and shares miscellaneous information in the community. Alternatively, it is effective for handing down, but there is a large difference in adaptability to the media, and there is a gap between those who can easily adapt and those who can not adapt and do not actively participate in the media. It needs to be resolved.

Further, in the conventional database, the information is generally registered by an expert, and the search is generally performed by an expert searcher who is familiar with the database storage structure. Therefore, it is not easy for an unspecified non-specialist to extract appropriate information from the accumulated information without limiting the purpose, and when the accumulated information is not limited to a certain purpose, Furthermore, there is a problem that it is difficult to extract the information that one needs from such a database.

The invention of the present application has been made in view of the above problems, and the accumulation and sharing of knowledge in which all members of the community can easily view the multimedia information in which the knowledge of the local community is accumulated. The purpose is to provide a device.

[0007]

In order to solve the above technical problems, the knowledge gathering and sharing apparatus according to the present invention accumulates and manages knowledge in a regional community as shown in FIG. , A host station 1 for providing information forming a program 8 or a part thereof formed by a hypertext structure based on multimedia information such as voice and text, and a host connected to the host station 1 via a communication network 4 and a host. The host station 1 is a knowledge gathering and sharing device that downloads and views programs 8 and the like from the station 1, and the host station 1 stores the multimedia information as an information object 6 of a predetermined information unit. Database 2 and a series of causal information objects 6 are edited based on the time axis to form program 8,
The viewing device 5 has a hypertext 3 in which these information objects 6 are associated with each other by using a hyperlink 7, and the viewing device 5 displays and operates a moving image to assist the learning of the personal characteristics of the members and the search for knowledge to be known. Interface agent 9 with voice dialogue function to assist
It is a structure having.

In addition to this, the viewing device 5 has a registration instructing section 11 for instructing to upload the edited program 8 and register it in the host station 1. Is a configuration having a registration unit 12 for registering in the database 2.

In addition to this, for the program 8 included in the hypertext 3 of the host station 1, the comment 10 uploaded by the member is added to the desired information object 6 of the program 8 by the hyperlink 7. This is a configuration including a link unit 13 that

Further, the viewing device 5 recognizes the identifier 16 corresponding to the program 8 from the received electronic mail 15 and requests the host station 1 for the program 8 corresponding to the identifier 16 and downloads it. It is a structure having.

[0011]

According to the above-mentioned means, the host station 1 provides the program 8 constituted by the hypertext structure based on the multimedia information accumulating the knowledge in the regional community or the information constituting the part thereof, while Members of the local community operate the viewing device 5 to receive the program 8 from the host station 1.
Etc. are downloaded and viewed.

When receiving a program from the host station 1, the member and the host station 1 are operated by a predetermined operation of the member.
The interface agent 9 that assists the interface with is operated. Then, the interface agent 9 displays, for example, a moving image of an anthropomorphic guide and uses voice to guide the member to assist the member's search action. The member performs a dialogue or a necessary operation according to the facial expression or voice guide of the moving image to search for the program 8 managed by the host station 1, and if a desired program can be searched eventually, then the member is downloaded and viewed.

Further, each member can make the interface agent 9 learn an operation means peculiar to each individual, and using this learning function, for example, a simplified operation for a specific operation procedure frequently performed by the member concerned is simplified. If it is learned that the procedure is substituted, the interface agent 9 performs the necessary processing according to the regular operation procedure for this simplified procedure only by operating the simplified procedure thereafter.

The program 8 produced and edited by the member is used by the host station 1
In the case of registering to the host station 1, if the necessary operation is performed, the registration instructing section 11 uploads the edited program 8 and gives an instruction to register it in the host station 1. Database 12 for program 8 in section 12
Register with.

When a comment 10 produced by a member is added to the program 8 included in the hypertext 3 of the host station 1, the comment 10 is uploaded together with necessary information from the viewing device 5 by a predetermined operation and the link of the host station 1 is made. The section 13 adds the comment to the information object 6 desired by the program 8 by using the hyperlink 7.

When the program request section 17 of the viewing device 5 receives the electronic mail 15, the viewing device 5 recognizes the identifier 16 described in the electronic mail 15 and recognizes the identifier 16.
The program 8 corresponding to is checked and requested to the host station 1 to be downloaded.

[0017]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a knowledge accumulation and sharing device according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. 2 and 3
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a shared device according to the above embodiment. This device is provided with a host station 1 that provides a program 8 having a hypertext (Hypertext) 3 structure composed of multimedia information, and many viewing devices 5 that watch the program 8 provided by the host station 1. Bidirectional communication is possible between the host station 1 and the viewing device 5,
The host station 1 and the viewing device 5 are connected by a computer communication network 4 (for example, an insert network) as a communication medium.

The host station 1 is a CP that controls the entire apparatus.
Via a control unit 21 mainly composed of U (central processing unit), a memory unit 22 for storing programs and other data, a file unit 23 for storing information related to the database 2 and hypertext 3, and a communication network 4. It has a communication unit 24 for performing communication. In addition, the control unit 2
1 is connected to an editing device 30 for editing a program through a predetermined line or the like, and this editing device 30 is a video converter 3 for digitizing a video image of a video camera 31.
2, a voice converter 34 for digitizing voice from the microphone 33, a keyboard 35 and the like.

The control unit 21 has various functions as the host station 1, and further, a comment 1 from the viewing device 5.
It has a registration unit 28 that registers a registration request such as 0 in the database 2 and a link unit 27 that adds a comment 10 or the like to the program 8 included in the hypertext 3 using the hyperlink 7.

The database 2 of the host station 1
Is an object-oriented database 2 storing multimedia data, and the multimedia data in this database 2 is managed as an independent information object 6 for each information unit useful for members.
The various information objects 6 managed by the database 2 are arranged as a group of a series of causal information objects 6 on the basis of the time axis, and are modeled by associating them in a tree shape using the hyperlinks 7. Is a hypertext 3, and its individual collection constitutes a program 8.

The host station 1 and the viewing device 5 are connected via the communication network 4 so as to be capable of bidirectional communication.
The programs etc. provided by are downloaded via this communication network 4, while comments from members 10
Information such as is uploaded via the communication network 4 and sent to the host station 1.

On the other hand, the viewing device 5 is owned by a member of the community who receives the program 8, and a personal computer or the like is usually used. The viewing device 5 is mainly configured by a control unit 41 having a CPU, and the control unit 4
1 includes a memory unit 42 and a communication unit 4 that communicates with the host station 1.
3. Bitmap display 44 for displaying an anthropomorphic dialogue with members regarding interface agent 9
A mouse 45, a video converter 52 for digitizing a video image of a video camera 51 used for editing a comment, a voice recognition device 54 for recognizing voice from a microphone 53, and a voice for synthesizing voice output to a speaker 55. The synthesizer 56 and the like are connected.

Further, the control unit 41 uses an interface agent 9, a video camera 51, a microphone 53, etc., which has a voice interactive function and has an anthropomorphic guide function for interacting with the member and assisting the member's search and the like. A program editing unit 73 that creates and edits a program by a program, a registration instruction unit 72 that issues an instruction to upload the program 8 or the like to the host station 1 and register it, and a program 8 that corresponds to the identifier 16 described in the electronic mail 15 Is provided to the host station 1 for downloading.

The interface agent 9 is
A facial expression by a moving image that assists in the search for the knowledge to be known is displayed on the display 44, and while recognizing the voice input through the microphone 53, the structure of the hypertext, the description of the information registration method, etc. are interactively performed. In order to make the function and operability of the voice interaction unit 75 to be processed by the member and the assisting operation more suitable for each member, a specific operation mode instructed by the member is learned based on the characteristics of each member. The learning unit 76 is provided. The members of the community can have a dialogue consisting of a predetermined vocabulary by using the voice dialogue function and the learning function.

In the above embodiment, the host station 1 that provides multimedia information using the communication network 4
, A download type program providing system is used in which the viewing device 5 including a personal computer or the like connected to the communication network 4 is used to download the program 8 and display it on the display 44 for viewing.

On the other hand, the use of media such as the viewing device 5 for uploading comments and general information from the members who are viewers constitutes a community communication site where anyone can participate. By using this place as a place for gathering and passing on the knowledge of the community and providing a means for gathering and sharing the knowledge of various communities without limiting to a specific purpose, knowledge dependent on the work or purpose is provided. Will be integrated and shared.

The program to be supplied is constructed as a set of small-scale independent information units made up of multimedia data, and the object-oriented database 2 in which these small-scale independent information items are used as information objects 6 is used.
As a model of the database 2, a hypertext 3 is associated with these pieces of information.

The hypertext 3 is structured so that the host station 1 can edit it. Some of the structuring is based on the time when the information is registered, and some is based on the causal relationship between the information.
As an example of this structuring, when a story of a program is constituted by a chain of information objects 6 of several information units, the hyperlink 7 of the time axis and the causal relationship 7
Are provided as a continuous set by automatically downloading or following the request of the viewer and intermittently downloading in the background.

Further, this hypertext 3 is provided with another kind of hyperlink 7 (particularly referred to as a comment link) regarding the comment 10, and when a member of the community uploads the comment 10 for the program, or with respect to the comment 10. When uploaded to add further comments 10, these are connected to the hyperlink 7 and are related to each other.

On the other hand, the viewing device 5 owned by the member on the viewer side is provided with an interface agent 9 for assisting the interface with the viewer. As described above, the interface agent 9 has a function of displaying facial expressions by moving images and a function of simple voice dialogue,
Further, it is provided with a description of the structure of the hypertext 3, a description of information registration method, and the like, and a learning ability for making the operability more suitable for individual members as an auxiliary function of the operation.

Now, the operation of downloading a program will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Since the sharing device according to the above embodiment has the bidirectional communication function, the member can search for a program registered in the host station 1 and select it. Then, when a member of the community wants to view a desired program, the member uses the voice interaction function of the viewing device 5 to request the interface agent 9 to configure the program while interacting with the anthropomorphic image displayed on the display 44 ( Step 11). Then, the voice interaction unit 73 requests the host station 1 for the program configuration, and displays the program configuration downloaded from the host station 1 on the display 44 (step 12).

Here, the member selects whether or not to automatically download based on the program structure (step 1).
3). If automatic download is selected,
The host station 1 searches for a program for each information object 6 as an information unit along the hyperlink 7 and sequentially downloads it (step 15). Further, when the member wants to specify the information, if the necessary information is specified (step 14), the specified information objects 6 are sequentially downloaded, and the program can be viewed (step 15).

A member can interrupt the viewing of the program while viewing the program, and in this case, whether or not to interrupt the viewing of the program is selected by a predetermined operation input with the mouse 45 or the like (step 16). When the program is interrupted, the program is interrupted in units of information objects (step 1
7) If the interruption is not selected, the program can be watched to the end (step 18).

Next, the operation of uploading a comment by a member will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the member wants to add the comment 10 to the program 8 while watching the program 8 (step 21), the member uses the interactive function of the viewing device 5 to ask the interface agent 9 for the relevant information of the program. Then,
The voice dialogue unit 75 requests the host station 1 via the communication network 4 to that effect. On the other hand, the host station 1 refers to the hyperlink 7 structure from the hypertext 3 to download the list of the related information objects 6, and this is displayed on the display 44 on the viewer side (step 22).

Then, the member selects whether or not to refer to the related information (step 23), and if the member wants to refer to the related information, he or she specifies the related information and the host station 1 is notified to that effect and the related information is downloaded. (Step 24). In this case, for example, if another member or the like has added a comment 10 to the information being viewed, it is also displayed (step 25). Then, the process returns to step 23 again.

On the other hand, if the reference of the related information is completed and the reference is not desired (step 23), the process proceeds to the registration of the comment. When a member wants to register a comment in the host station 1, in the program editing unit 73, a voice input from the microphone 73, text (by input from a keyboard or the like not shown), or a video image using the video camera 71 is displayed. The comment 10 is edited and created (or the comment 10 created and edited in advance) is registered. At the time of this registration, the member requests the interface agent 9 to link the comment 10 to the desired information object 6 of the program managed by the host station 1 by using the voice dialogue function (step 26).

Then, the program registration instruction section 11 uploads instruction information for registration of the comment 10 to the host station 1 via the communication network 4 based on the contents of the request.
In the host station 1, the registration unit 28 registers the comment 10 in the database 2. Furthermore, the comment 10 registered in the database 2 is
The hypertext 3 is connected to the designated information object 6 via the hyperlink 7 (step 2).
7).

If a similar method is used, the above comment 10
In addition to this, another comment 10 can be uploaded and these comments 10 can be linked to each other using the hyperlink 7. Further, the series of comments 10 is uploaded as the object 6 of the program 8 and connected by the hyperlink 7 to form the program 8.

Further, the required program can be downloaded from the host station 1 by using the means of the electronic mail 15 connected to the viewing device 5. In this, the identifier 16 corresponding to the program 8 provided from the host station 1 is described in the electronic mail 15, and the viewing device 5 that has received the electronic mail 15 uses the identifier 1 in the program request unit 17.
6 is recognized and the program 8 corresponding to this is checked using a correspondence table or the like, and the corresponding program is requested from the host station 1 and downloaded. According to this, even if there is program information that the sender of the electronic mail 15 wants to notify the other party, only the notification of the identifier 16 is sufficient.

As described above, according to the knowledge gathering and sharing apparatus according to the above embodiment, the program 8 composed of the hypertext structure based on the multimedia information is used.
Since the viewing device 5 that downloads and views the program 8 and the like from the host station 1 that provides information such as information has a configuration including an interface agent 9 having a learning function and a voice interaction function that assists the operation, The operation of the device 5 is simplified and the operability is improved.

The members use the two-way communication function of the apparatus to search for the program 8 registered in the host station 1, select the desired program, and specify and download it. Therefore, the utility value is higher than that of the broadcasting system in which the program 8 is unilaterally provided from the host station 1.

Further, the members of the community can register the program etc. produced and edited by themselves in the host station 1, and the accumulation of knowledge in the host station 1 is increased and the utilization of multimedia information is promoted. Further, for example, if there is information to be added to this program 8 with respect to the viewed program 8, the member can create and edit this as a comment 10 and add it to the program 8 of the host station 1. Use is promoted.

Also, anyone who is not an expert can participate as a member of the above-mentioned community, and by using this place as a place for gathering and handing down the knowledge of the community, the knowledge of various communities without being limited to a specific purpose. By accumulating information, it is possible to view multimedia information such as knowledge depending on the business and purpose, and promote the use of multimedia information in local communities.

[0044]

As described above, according to the knowledge gathering and sharing apparatus according to the present invention, the host station that provides the information which constitutes the program 8 or its portion constituted by the hypertext structure based on the multimedia information. 1 and the viewing device 5 for downloading and viewing the program 8 and the like from the host station 1, and the viewing device 5 has an interface agent 9 having a voice dialogue function. Can be operated easily,
All members can easily view the multimedia information accumulated in the host station 1, and there is an effect that the use of the multimedia information in the regional community is promoted.

Since the program 8 produced and edited by the member can be registered in the host station 1, and the comment 10 produced by the member can be added to the program 8 of the host station 1, the knowledge in the host station 1 can be added. This has the effect of increasing the accumulation of information and promoting the use of multimedia information. Further, since the identifier 16 described in the electronic mail 15 is recognized, the sender of the electronic mail 15 is convenient because the notification of the electronic mail 15 is sufficient even if there is program information to be notified to the other party.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a principle configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a knowledge accumulation and sharing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an overall functional configuration diagram of a knowledge accumulation and sharing device according to an embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of downloading a program according to an embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing uploading of a comment according to an embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Host Station 2 Database 3 Hypertext 4 Communication Network 5 Viewing Device 6 Information Object 7 Hyperlink 8 Program 9 Interface Agent 10 Comment 11 Registration Instruction Section 12 Registration Section 13 Link Section 15 E-mail 16 Identifier 17 Program Request Section

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A program (8) constituted by a hypertext structure based on multimedia information such as video, audio and text, or information forming a part thereof is provided while accumulating and managing knowledge in a regional community. From the host station (1) that is connected to the host station (1) and the viewing device (5) that is connected to the host station (1) via the communication network (4) and downloads and views the program (8) and the like from the host station (1). A device (1) for accumulating and sharing knowledge, wherein the host station (1) stores a database (2) in which the multimedia information is accumulated as an information object (6) of a predetermined information unit, and a series of causal information. Object (6) is edited based on the time axis to form program (8), and these information objects (6) are related to each other using hyperlink (7). The viewing device (5) has a digitized hypertext (3), and is provided with a moving image display function for assisting the members' learning of personal characteristics and a search for desired knowledge, and a voice interaction function for assisting operations. Knowledge accumulation and sharing device characterized by having an interface agent (9). 2. The viewing device (5) has a registration instruction section (11) for giving an instruction to upload the edited program (8) and register it in the host station (1), while the host station (1) 2.) The knowledge collecting and sharing device according to claim 1, wherein the device has a registration unit (12) for registering the program (8) in the database (2). 3. A comment (10) uploaded from a member to a program (8) included in the hypertext (3) of the host station (1) and an information object () desired by the program (8). The knowledge gathering and sharing device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a link unit (13) added to 6) by a hyperlink (7). 4. The viewing device (5) uses the identifier (1) corresponding to the program (8) from the received electronic mail (15).
Program (8) that recognizes 6) and corresponds to this identifier (16)
2. The knowledge gathering and sharing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a program requesting unit (17) for requesting and downloading the program from the host station (1).