JPH09146974A - Method and device for transition between pieces of multimedia information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to move multilaterally between data in a multimedia data base by generating >=1 candidates for information at a movement destination and moving to one reconstituted piece of information among the candidates. SOLUTION: A display format determination part 6 sequences information obtained from a component information storage part 13 along an axis which is included in neither retrieval nor display among axes of attribute, time, and place. Further, a display data generation part 7 sequentially retrieves the information classified and sequenced by the display format determination part 6 from the component information storage part 13 according to identifiers given to the respective pieces of information to acquire object information to be displayed. The acquired information is reconstituted according to the classification and order of a display method and the coordinate positions of the identifiers of the respective pieces of information and the respective classifications on an information display part 14 are stored in an information list corresponding to the classification of the display method. Lastly, the information which is reconstituted by a display data generation part 7 is displayed on an information display part 14 and the user can peruse it.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to multimedia information according to a user's request when transitioning from one information to another in a multimedia system capable of searching and utilizing information such as characters, still images, and videos. The present invention relates to a multimedia information transition method and device capable of changing the way information is presented, such as information that changes the display of the time axis along the time axis or information that is arranged in space.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional multimedia system, in particular, a system called hypermedia, an identifier for transitioning from one information called another to another information called a link is given to a still image or video data. A method has been adopted in which information is sequentially browsed by transitioning from the provided link to other predetermined information such as still images and videos.

For example, in the case of a hypermedia that stores news information, there are various related information depending on the time, place and contents of the news, so that the user wants to obtain information that is continuous in time. It is necessary to be able to provide different information depending on the user's point of view, such as whether to obtain information related to the content.

[0004]

As in the conventional method, in which a certain area in the displayed information is fixedly provided with an identifier for transition to another information, the predetermined information is used. It is difficult to provide different information by changing the user's viewpoint and changing the information that changes depending on the situation, because it is possible to change only to the.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above,
The purpose is to create transition relations of information corresponding to changes in viewpoints, select some candidates from multiple candidates and display them in a list, and An object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for transitioning multimedia information between which a user can make multifaceted transitions.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention according to claim 1 is a multimedia database for handling information including at least one kind of character, still image and video, Means for accepting a request for making a transition of information, means for retrieving and displaying information according to the request, means for inputting user's viewpoint information, and means for selecting a display method predetermined by the viewpoint information A means for associating predetermined viewpoint information with an attribute value included in the information in the database, a means for rearranging the information retrieved by the attribute value converted from the viewpoint information, and one or more rearranged multimedia A means for configuring information as one piece of information for presenting to a user, and being able to make a transition between the information by adapting to the viewpoint of the user. The gist.

In the present invention according to claim 1, a request from the user for making a transition of information is accepted, information is searched and displayed in accordance with the request, and the viewpoint information input by the user is used in advance. Selecting a predetermined display method, associating predetermined viewpoint information with the attribute value of the information in the database, rearranging the information retrieved by the converted attribute value of the viewpoint information, and rearranging the multimedia. The information can be configured as one piece of information to be presented to the user, and the transition between the information can be performed in conformity with the viewpoint of the user.

[0008] The present invention according to claim 2 is based on claim 1.
In the invention described above, means for accumulating history information of conditions when a user performs a search associated with transitions and conditions when presenting information, and information having upper and lower concepts for condition information at the time of each search and display In order to change the information content to be presented, the display condition is replaced with the search condition by means of storing a thesaurus which is the order relation information of the and the history information value and the viewpoint value input by the user. Means, a means for acquiring a condition different from the current search and display condition from the thesaurus and using it as a new search condition, and a viewpoint value given by the user to change the display condition. Even if the user has an upper limit or a lower limit on the thesaurus and abstractly sets the conditions for searching and displaying, the multimedia Retrieves the information from the database, and summarized in that it is possible to perform a transition between information to adapt to a user's perspective.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, search conditions and condition history information are accumulated, and a thesaurus, which is order relationship information with condition information having upper and lower concepts, is stored. When changing the information content to be presented based on the value and viewpoint value, the display condition is replaced with the search condition by a predetermined procedure, and a condition different from the current search and display condition is acquired from the thesaurus to obtain a new search condition. In order to change the display condition, the upper or lower condition on the thesaurus of the current display condition is acquired according to the viewpoint value given by the user, and the condition for the user to search and display is set abstractly. Even then, it is possible to retrieve information from the multimedia database and make transitions between the information according to the user's viewpoint.

Further, according to the present invention, the search condition and the display condition from the user are stored, and in response to the information transition request made by the user, the attribute possessed by the transition requested information is acquired. For a transition request based on the elapsed time for which the information is being viewed and the coordinate position when the user made a transition request The specified information is identified, information regarding the attribute, time, and location of the specified information is searched, the searched information is classified according to the display axis, and the axes not included in the search and display axes. The information is arranged on the plane according to the axis of the display, the coordinate position and the identifier of the information of each classification are stored in the information list corresponding to the axis of the expression, and reconfigured in the information display unit. One or more information And it is required to display.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, search display conditions are stored, a search is performed to acquire the attribute of the information requested by the user for transition, and the currently displayed information is displayed. By referring to the list of formats, the information for which a transition request is made is specified based on the elapsed time of information browsing and the coordinate position, information regarding the attribute, time, and location of the information is searched, and the searched information is searched. According to the axes of the display, order by the axes not included in the search and display axes,
The information is arranged on the plane according to the axis of the display, the coordinate position and the identifier of the information of each classification are stored in the information list corresponding to the axis of the expression, and the reconstructed information is displayed on the information display unit.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the invention according to the third aspect, the display condition and the search condition at the time of transition to the current state are received from the search history after the information for which the transition request is made is specified. , Storing as a condition for determining the search display axis, determining whether or not the stored value is 0,
The gist is to determine the display condition after the transition using the thesaurus based on the result.

According to the present invention, the display condition and the search condition at the time of the transition to the current state are received from the search history after the information for which the transition request is made is specified, and the search display axis is determined. It is stored as a condition, it is determined whether the stored value is 0, and the display condition after the transition is determined using the thesaurus based on the result.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a multimedia information transition apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The multimedia information transition device shown in the figure has a search axis input unit 1 for inputting a user's viewpoint and a user browsing information in a multimedia database.
An action input unit 2 for notifying the system of transition to other information, an information storage unit 3 for storing multimedia information, and attribute information of the information being viewed when an action is input. Information from the information storage unit 3, a control data search unit 4 and information from the viewpoint of the user given from the search axis input unit 1 and the control data search unit 4, and when a transition request is given. Using the attribute information of
Search the information storage unit 3 to obtain the information that meets the conditions,
Obtained from the transition candidate search unit 5 for rearranging according to the user's viewpoint, the display format determining unit 6 for selecting the display method when displaying the transition candidates from the user's viewpoint, and the display format determining unit 6. Based on the displayed display method and transition candidates, the display data generation unit 7 that searches the information storage unit 3 for information to be displayed and edits the information in the order of presentation, and the information that changes with time such as moving images and voices. On the other hand, in order to specify the data to be searched by the control data search unit 4, a time counter 8 for storing the time from the start of browsing the information.
For time-varying information such as moving images and audio, a time information list 9 that stores the order of information of materials included in the information being viewed, and a map such as a map. When information is arranged in a space, a position information list 10 that stores the relationship between a certain place in the space and the information corresponding to that place, and a multimedia such as a keyword that is given without regard to time and space For the attribute information, the key information list 11 that stores the relationship between the attribute information and the information corresponding to the attribute information, and when the information is browsed, the information is obtained using any of the characteristics of time, space, and attributes. From the mode storage unit 12 that stores whether the information is presented, the component information storage unit 13 that stores the information itself viewed by the user, and the information display unit 14 that presents the information edited by the device to the user. Composed.

Before explaining the processing steps of the multimedia information transition apparatus of the present embodiment, the operation of the apparatus as seen from the user will be explained. As shown in FIG. 2, the device in the embodiment of FIG. 1 is connected to an information display unit 14 for presenting information to a user and a search axis input unit 1 in FIG. A viewpoint input device 15 for setting a condition, a transition request device 16 connected to the action input unit 2 and requesting a transition between information items by a user, and FIG.
1 to 13 for transition between multimedia information 1
7 is comprised. A mark called a cursor, which indicates a coordinate position, is displayed on the information display unit 14, and the transition request device 1
By moving 6, the amount of movement is sent from the action input unit 2 to the information display unit 14, and the mark moves back and forth and left and right on the information display unit 14.

The viewpoint input device 15 uses, for example, a display condition and a search condition, the time, space, and
It is a device that has three buttons for attributes.

The operation of the system as seen from the user in one embodiment is that when the multimedia information stored in the component information storage unit 13 is video information,
For example, as shown in FIG. 3A, assuming that the value of the viewpoint input device 15 is set to the space for display and the attribute for search, in the state where the video sequence of at least one or more materials is being reproduced. When an information transition request is made from the input means of the transition request device 16, the following operation is performed. Since the search condition is an attribute, the attribute information of the currently displayed video information is used to search for multimedia data having the same attribute information as the attribute information that is the same or converted according to a predetermined rule. Next, since the display is spatial, the data is classified according to the spatial information attached to the retrieved multimedia data,
By arranging the data collected for each point on the screen, for example, a display as shown in FIG. 3B is performed.

Next, as described above, with respect to the displayed video information, the viewpoint input device 15 sets the display to the attribute and the search to the time, and the input means of the transition request device 16 sets the video information 2 to 2. When one of 4 is selected and an information transition request is made, the following operation is performed. Since the search condition is time, information that occurs at the same time using the time that the information has when the information transition request is made, or multimedia that is considered to be within the same time according to a predetermined rule Search for data. Next, since the display is an attribute, the retrieved data is classified according to the attribute, and the data classified according to each attribute is arranged on the screen, so that the display as shown in FIG. To do.

As described above, the user uses the viewpoint input device 16
By changing the value of, it is possible to acquire information as a combination of different information and a representation method for the data in one multimedia database.

Next, the operation of changing the information provided to the user in accordance with the input of the viewpoint from the user in the above embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. As shown in FIG. 4, in the process of the operation in the present embodiment, the search and display conditions input by the user are stored in the search axis input unit 1 as step S31, and the user browsing the information is When a request for information transition is issued, the request for state transition is stored in the action input unit 2 as step S32. At this time, in order to determine which information on the information display unit 14 the transition request has been made, the coordinate position of the information being browsed when the transition request is made on the information display unit 14 is determined. It is stored in the action input unit 2.

When the information transition request is received, in step S33, the control data retrieval unit obtains the information on the time, place, and attribute of the information browsed when the information transition request is given from the information storage unit 3. 4, the identifier attached to the information being browsed is sent to the information storage unit 3 for retrieval.

In step S34, the information storage unit 3
The value of the display mode of the currently browsed information stored in the mode storage unit 12 is referred to and the corresponding information list is selected. For example, if the display format during browsing is location, the location information list 10 is referenced. Next, in step S35, the action time is stored in the action storage unit 2 from the elapsed time from the start of providing the information currently provided from the time counter 8 to the present and the information list obtained in step S34. The information is specified by using the coordinate position of the information for which the transition is requested, and the attribute of the information from the component information storage unit 13 or the identifier of the specified information,
The time and place information is acquired and returned to the control data search unit 4.

At step S36, the transition candidate search unit 5
At, the component information storage unit 13 is searched from the attribute, time, and location information of the transition source information obtained from the control data search unit 4 and the value of the search condition stored in the search axis input unit 1. Information to be used for the search is determined from the attribute of the transition source information, the time, and the location information, and the component information storage unit 13
To obtain information and an identifier indicating the attribute, time, and location of the relevant information. Next, in step S37, the display format determination unit 6 orders the information obtained from the component information storage unit 13 by the axes not included in the search and display among the axes of attribute, time, and location. For example, search is an attribute,
If the display is a space, when the data is presented to the user, the data of the space is used for classification, so that the retrieved information is ordered by the time information. As a result, the information having the same attribute for the user can be browsed according to the temporal transition relation for each point.

Further, in step S38, the display data generator 7 sequentially searches the parts information storage 13 for the information sorted and classified by the display format determiner 6 by the identifiers given to the respective information, and displays the information. Get the target information. The acquired information is reconstructed according to the display method classification and the order, and the identifier of each information and the coordinate position on the information display unit 14 of each classification are stored in the information list corresponding to the display method classification. It For example, if the display is a space, information is stored in the position information list 10. Further, the fact that the information is written in the position information list is stored in the mode storage unit 12, the time counter 8 is reset to 0, and the values are sequentially updated.

Finally, the information reconstructed by the display data generation unit 7 is displayed on the information display unit 14 in step S39 and can be viewed by the user.

As the data structure of the time information list 9, the position information list 10, and the attribute information list 11 in one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the time information list 9 contains at least the times that the classified information has. A field to be stored, a space presented to at least one or more uses, or a list of identifiers according to the order of attributes, and a vertical region where the information is displayed on the information display unit 14,
It is composed of coordinate position information indicated by width, width, and height. Similarly, in the position information list 10, at least when classified information is displayed on the information display unit 14, a space, which is, for example, map information, for allowing the user to recognize the space in which the information is generated. Expression data, a time when presented to at least one or more users for each classified coordinate position, or a list of identifiers in the order of attributes, and when the information is displayed on the information display unit 14. The area is composed of coordinate position information indicating vertical, horizontal, width, and height. The attribute information list 11 includes at least a field for storing attributes of classified information, a list of identifiers according to time, space, or attribute order presented to at least one or more users, and the information. Is composed of information of coordinate positions indicating the area when is displayed on the information display unit 14 by vertical, horizontal, width, and height.

As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, there are six cases of information classification and display patterns composed of three axes in one embodiment of the present invention, and each pattern is determined in advance in a display format. It is stored in the section 6. As an example of the pattern, on the information display unit 14, for example, a map format that represents spatial information in a list, a tabular format that represents attribute information in a tabular format, and a time table that represents time information in a tabular format, for example. Expressed. Since there are two combinations of search conditions and order conditions for each expression format, information is presented in six patterns.

As shown in FIG. 8, the presentation transition between patterns can be freely changed from each expression pattern to another pattern by setting the value of the search axis. Since it is possible to transition to the pattern, the transition between information is not interrupted against the user's will during browsing. The number of patterns is determined by the way the axes are made, and therefore need not be six.

In the present embodiment, the information of the material to be provided to the user has been described by using the video information. However, data using a plurality of still images in the form of a picture-story show or individual independent still images are the material information. May be used as.

As shown in FIG. 9, the data structure of the material data in the component information storage unit 13 in one embodiment is at least an identifier for identifying each material information, a space,
It is composed of a value corresponding to each time and attribute, and actual data for providing information such as video to the user. Further, when the space is set as the display condition, the spatial information is stored as shown in FIG. 9 in order to allow the user to recognize that the space is arranged, for example, to store image data such as a map.
It is composed of spatial expression data having at least a space name and actual image data.

In the above-described embodiment, in a database that handles at least one or more characters and multimedia data such as still images and videos, when one presented information is changed to another information in the database. ,
Multimedia that presents the information displayed when transitioning, such as information along the time axis and information spread in space, according to the information input from the user such as the time, space, and attributes of the multimedia database In order to display information that is adapted to the viewpoint of information, the multimedia database accepts the request from the user for the transition of information, and when the request is received, it is input to create multiple transition candidates. A user who searches information according to the request, creates a plurality of transition destination candidates, displays the candidates in a list, and particularly selects one or several transition destinations from the plurality of candidates. Accepting the input of the data of the viewpoint, selecting the display method that is predetermined by the input data of the viewpoint, Even if a transition request is made in the same information by selecting a transition destination candidate by associating it with the attribute value of the data in the base, a different transition destination can be selected depending on the viewpoint value. The retrieved information is simply presented by rearranging the retrieved information by the converted attribute value of the data and configuring the sorted one or more multimedia information as one piece of information for presenting to the user. Not only the information can be displayed in a list, but the information can be reconfigured so that the information can be transitioned according to the viewpoint of the user.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. The search axis in the present embodiment does not have one time-related axis and one space-related axis as in the first embodiment, and for example, time has several viewpoints such as day, week, month, and year. Similarly, with respect to the space, some viewpoints such as municipalities, prefectures, regions, and the whole country may be given. Under such a circumstance, the viewpoint input device 15 in the first embodiment is lined with a large number of elements, and it becomes difficult for the user to accurately select a condition from which to make the next transition. .

As shown in FIG. 10, the apparatus of this embodiment is connected to the search axis input unit 1 and the transition candidate search unit 5, and stores the process of information transition by the user. From the history storage unit 41, the history information, the viewpoint information input by the user, and the value of the information obtained from the control data search unit 4 when the user makes a transition request, the search axis for the transition is selected. In addition to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, a search display axis determination unit 42 for determining conditions and a thesaurus knowledge unit 43 for referring to a hierarchical relationship of concepts such as days, weeks, months, and years when transitioning information are added. Have. The search axis input unit 1 stores parameters for instructing whether to widen or narrow the range of search and display conditions. The other functions are the same as those in the first embodiment, and can be easily analogized, so the description thereof will be omitted.

In the apparatus of this embodiment, only the viewpoint input device 15 differs from FIG. 2 in that the display can be inspected in detail or in a large size in at least three steps, for example, a slider and search conditions. , Which can be instructed not to be so different in at least two steps, and is composed of, for example, a slider. As one embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11, the display has three stages, "-1" for detailed observation, "0" for the current state, and "1" for large observation. 1 ”, the current state is 0
Will be described as two stages. The search condition and the display condition do not necessarily have to be in two steps or three steps. It is also possible to give instructions in five steps such as two steps. However, if the number of steps is too large, the difference in the information presented becomes small due to the user being confused or the difference in the steps instructed, and it becomes difficult for the user to understand. Three levels are recommended for display.

As an example of the operation of the system seen from the user, as shown in FIG. 12A, for example, when the user is provided with image information of several regions on a map of Japan, More detailed information from the input device
As for the history that has been transitioned up to the present, the instruction to keep the provided information as it is is input, and the display condition is gradually narrowed in space in the history list, and the search condition is 1.
If the user makes a transition request on one piece of video information when the information is the date information, the appearance is in a detailed direction as shown in FIG. Is the condition as it is, so the display is performed in the prefecture space, for example, the search condition is the information of one day, and the image information reconstructed for each region when viewed in prefecture units does not change. Is presented to the user.

Next, in the state of FIG. 12 (b), an instruction that more detailed information is provided as the appearance and information to be provided is significantly different is input from the viewpoint input device, and the user can enter one image information. If a transition request is made above, as shown in FIG. 12 (c), the appearance is in a detailed direction, and the content of the information to be presented wants to transit to a different content. The display condition is the attribute that presents the menu so that the content of the information presented can be greatly changed, and the search condition is the detailed direction for the information requested for transition. In order not to expand the range of, the information is reconstructed for each attribute as shown in FIG.

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the present embodiment, steps S31 to S in FIG.
The process up to the specification of the data for which the user has made the transition request up to 35 is the same and can be easily analogized, and therefore the description thereof is omitted. As shown in FIG. 13, in the search display axis determination unit 42, the display and search conditions at the time of transition from the search history unit 41 to the current state are acquired in step S61, and the condition storage in the search display axis determination unit 42 is acquired. Store in the department. Next, in step S62, it is checked whether or not the content value is 0 from the user's viewpoint obtained from the search axis input unit 1. In one embodiment, when the content value is 0, it is determined that information similar to the currently provided information is requested, and the process proceeds to step S66. If the content value is 1,
In step S63, it is checked whether the apparent value is 0 from the viewpoint of the user. In one embodiment, 0
If it is not, it is determined that more detailed information or a wider range of information than the currently displayed stage is to be browsed by a display method different from the current display method, and the display condition in the condition storage unit in step S64 is set. By shifting to the search condition, it is possible to change the display method provided to the user while maintaining the display condition when the information requested for transition is presented. As the display conditions, the conditions in the list in the thesaurus knowledge unit 43 are set as the display conditions for the viewpoints not currently included in the display conditions and the search conditions provided to the user. Figure 1
In the process of transition from 2 (b) to FIG. 12 (c),
The process proceeds with a display condition space as a search condition and a list of attributes not included in the time of the search condition as a new display condition.

On the other hand, if the appearance value is 0 in step S63, it is not necessary to change the appearance in step S65 even if the contents of the presented information are changed. Change to the list of conditions not included in the search conditions and display conditions of.

Next, in step S66, it is determined whether or not the apparent value of the viewpoint input by the user is zero. Value is 0
In other cases, if the value of the visual point of view of the condition setting section is negative (-1), the information selected by the user when the transition request is made in the thesaurus knowledge section. The lower condition of the branch including the attribute of is the display condition. For example, in the case of the transition from FIG. 12A to FIG. 12B, since the apparent value is −1, the display condition changes from Japan in the space to the prefecture level in the space.

On the other hand, when the appearance condition is 0 in step S66, no particular change element is specified for the display of the presented information and the content, but it is said to change by the transition request. Since the user has only instructed that, the value of the condition regarding the display of the information for which the transition has been requested is received from the control data search unit 4 without changing the content in particular, and another value is set at the same display condition level. Is retrieved from the component information storage unit 13 and replaced. For example, in FIG. 12B, if the appearance and content conditions are both current and a transition request is given, the current display condition space (prefecture) is not changed and the transition condition is given. At the same time, another prefecture level value is retrieved from the component information storage unit 13 and used as the value of the display condition of the control data retrieval unit 4. As a result, it is possible to change to new information each time the user makes a transition request, even if the appearance and contents remain unchanged.

By the processing up to this point, all the search conditions and the values of the information when the transition request is made are fixed, so the subsequent processing is from step S36 to step S in FIG.
Since it is the same as the processing up to 39 and can be easily analogized, it is omitted.

As an example of the data structure of the thesaurus knowledge section 43 described above, as shown in FIG. 14, the information stored in the information storage section 13 is determined for each space, time, and attribute corresponding to at least the viewpoint. The relationships from the upper to lower levels of the created concept are described.

As the data structure of the material data stored in the parts information storage unit 13, as shown in FIG.
For each data, in addition to the actual condition of the data such as at least the identifier and the video information, the values corresponding to each information of space, time and attribute are stored corresponding to each stage of the thesaurus knowledge section.

In the above-described embodiment, when there are one or more values for each of the viewpoint types such as attributes, time, and space input by the user, when the user transits information. Achieving transition to other information of the data in the multimedia database by giving an abstract point of view such as transition to information that is significantly different from the information currently being browsed or transition to similar information In order to do so, in particular, the conditions under which the user has made transitions to the search, the progress of reaching the current state by accumulating history data of the conditions for displaying information, and By storing a thesaurus, which is the data of the order relation with the data that has the concept of upper and lower, regarding the condition data, many existing conditions are organized and abstracted. When the contents of the information to be presented are changed from the value of history data and the value of the point of view input by the user as data to be associated with the point of view of the user, the user can see it by a predetermined procedure. In order to make a big transition about the content by listing by the condition that does not exist, replace the display condition with the search condition, acquire a condition different from the current search or display condition from the thesaurus, and set it as a new search condition. Depending on the value of the viewpoint given by the user to change the display condition, the user can search or display the condition by obtaining the upper or lower condition on the thesaurus of the current display condition. Even if the conditions are set abstractly, it is possible to retrieve information from the multimedia database and make a transition between the information while adapting to the viewpoint of the user.

[0046]

As described above, according to the present invention,
When a transition is made from one information to another, such as a link in hypermedia, one or more candidates for the transition destination information are generated from some attributes of the information that the user is browsing. , And 1 out of the one or more candidates
By transitioning to one reconstructed information, the information is sequentially traced to information selected from multiple candidates depending on the situation by making a request to transition between information in the same way as following a link. be able to. As a result, the user has the following problems when browsing the information in the multimedia database:
By setting the information search condition and the list display condition for the information you want to transition as a viewpoint, you can freely change the transition destination when changing from the same information to other information by changing the viewpoint information. While you can browse the information one by one.

Further, according to the present invention, in the case where the user sets an abstract condition for the change of the viewpoint by the information obtained by classifying the viewpoint information, or when the viewpoint information is not particularly set. Also, the information in the multimedia database can be sequentially browsed only by requesting a transition between the information.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a multimedia information transition device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration for more specifically realizing the multimedia information transition device of FIG.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation example of the multimedia information transition device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of the multimedia information transition device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of data in each information list of the multimedia information transition device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a transition pattern of search display corresponding to a value of the viewpoint of the multimedia information transition device of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a transition pattern of search display corresponding to a viewpoint value of the multimedia information transition device of FIG. 1;

8 is a diagram showing a transition relationship between patterns in a search / display transition pattern corresponding to a viewpoint value of the multimedia information transition device of FIG. 1;

9 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure in a component information storage unit of the multimedia information transition device of FIG.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a second exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a diagram showing an example of a panel of the viewpoint input device in the embodiment of FIG.

12 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an operation example of the embodiment of FIG.

13 is a flowchart showing the operation of the embodiment of FIG.

14 is a diagram showing an example of data in a thesaurus knowledge section in the embodiment of FIG.

15 is a diagram showing an example of a data structure of video information in a component information storage unit in the embodiment of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Search Axis Input Section 2 Action Input Section 3 Information Storage Section 4 Control Data Search Section 5 Transition Candidate Search Section 6 Display Format Determining Section 7 Display Data Generation Section 8 Time Counter 9 Time Information List 10 Position Information List 11 Key Information List 12 Modes Storage unit 13 Component information storage unit 14 Information display unit 15 Point-of-view input device 16 Transition request device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroshi Hamada 3-19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. At least one type of character, still image,
In a multimedia database that handles information including video, a means for accepting a request from a user to make a transition of information, a means for searching and displaying information according to the request, and a means for inputting viewpoint information of the user. , Means for selecting a predetermined display method according to the viewpoint information, means for associating the predetermined viewpoint information with an attribute value included in the information in the database, and information retrieved by the attribute value obtained by converting the viewpoint information And means for configuring one or more types of sorted multimedia information as one piece of information for presenting to the user, and perform transition between the information in accordance with the viewpoint of the user. A multimedia information transition device characterized by being capable of performing. 2. A means for accumulating history information of a condition when a user performs a search associated with a transition and a condition when presenting information, and information having upper and lower concepts of condition information at the time of each search and display. In order to change the information content to be presented, the display condition is replaced with the search condition by means of storing a thesaurus which is the order relation information of the and the history information value and the viewpoint value input by the user. Means, a means for acquiring a condition different from the current search and display condition from the thesaurus and using it as a new search condition, and a viewpoint value given by the user to change the display condition. It also has means for acquiring upper or lower conditions in the thesaurus, and even if the user sets abstract conditions for searching and displaying, the multimedia database The multimedia information transition apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information can be retrieved from the source and the transition between the information can be performed according to the viewpoint of the user. 3. A search condition and a display condition from a user are stored, a search for acquiring the attribute of the information requested by the transition is performed in response to the request for the information transition performed by the user, and the currently displayed information is displayed. Refer to the list of the display format of one or more information, and specify the information requested for transition based on the elapsed time for which the information is viewed and the coordinate position when the user requests transition, The information about the attribute, time and place of the specified information is searched, the searched information is classified according to the axis of the display, the axes not included in the axes of the search and the display are ordered, and the axis of the display is displayed. According to the above, the information is arranged on the plane, the coordinate position and the identifier of the information of each classification are stored in the information list corresponding to the axis of expression, and the reconstructed information or information is displayed on the information display unit. Characterized by Transition method between multimedia information. 4. The display condition and the search condition at the time of transition to the current state after the information for which the transition request is made are specified are received from the search history and stored as the condition for determining the search display axis, and the storage Determines whether the value given is 0,
4. The method for transition between multimedia information according to claim 3, wherein the display condition after transition is determined using the thesaurus based on the result.