JP2005141340A - Web site retrieval system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a Web site retrieval system for easily narrowing down a retrieval range. <P>SOLUTION: In this Web site retrieval system 10 including a screen 12, the screen is irradiated with an infrared light from the front side of the screen by an infrared light source 18, and when a person manually touches the screen in that condition, a computer 26 detects the touch position of the hand based on a video signal from a camera 22. When a keyword is set, a mother icon showing the retrieval keyword is displayed on a screen, and the thumb nail image of a Web site retrieved with the keyword by a search engine integrated into the computer is successively displayed in the surrounding of the mother icon as a slave icon. When the user manually touches the screen to drag the two mother icons displayed on the screen to make them approach each other, the computer sets the keyword obtained by performing the AND of the keywords of the two mother icons in the search engine. Thus, it is possible to update the keyword only by making the two mother icons approach each other. Therefore, it is possible to more easily execute the update of the keyword than at the time of executing it by a keyboard. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a website search system, and more particularly, for example, an Internet website is created using a large screen touch panel that allows a human to acquire coordinates on a large screen by standing in front of the large screen and touching with a human hand. The present invention relates to a search system for searching.

  Conventionally, a number of search engines have been put into practical use for searching Internet websites.

  In a conventional search engine, a search cannot be performed unless a keyword is input. Therefore, when a search range is narrowed down after searching with one keyword, it is necessary to re-input two or more keywords that are logically connected.

  Therefore, it is necessary to repeat the input of keywords until the desired search result is obtained, which is troublesome.

  Therefore, a main object of the present invention is to provide a website search system capable of easily narrowing a search range.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, by inputting a keyword, a mother icon representing the keyword is displayed on the screen, and a thumbnail image of a website searched with the keyword using a search engine is displayed around the mother icon as a child icon. Is a website search system that sequentially displays as an access determination means for determining whether or not two mother icons displayed on the screen have approached, and when the approach determination means determines the approach of the two mother icons A website search system including keyword update means for setting a keyword obtained by combining keywords of each mother icon by logical product in a search engine.

  The invention of claim 1 is a website search system using, for example, a large screen touch panel. In this large screen touch panel, when a person stands in front of the screen and the person directly touches the screen with a hand, a light shielding area is formed by the hand or the human body, and the center coordinates of the light shielding area by the hand are, for example, It is detected as the touch position of the upper hand.

  By inputting a keyword, a mother icon representing the keyword is displayed on the screen, and thumbnail images of websites searched by the keyword using a search engine are sequentially displayed as child icons around the mother icon. When two mother icons are brought close to each other on the screen, for example, a keyword updating unit configured by a computer updates the keyword by, for example, a logical product A * B of the keyword A and the keyword B. Therefore, the search engine newly searches the website with the keyword A * B.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the website search system according to claim 1, wherein the approach determining means determines the approach of the two mother icons when the distance between the two mother icons becomes smaller than a predetermined value.

  In the invention of claim 2, for example, the approach judging means constituted by a computer judges that the two mother icons are approached when the two mother icons are approached by a certain distance or more.

  The invention of claim 3 is directed to a specific configuration of a large screen touch panel, the screen is a screen of a large screen touch panel, the large screen touch panel is a screen made of a material capable of transmitting infrared light, and the front of the screen. An infrared light source that irradiates the front surface of the screen with infrared light, an infrared camera that is provided behind the screen and captures the back surface of the screen, and a computer that receives video signals from the infrared camera. The website search system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the position of the hand touching the screen is detected based on the signal, and the mother icon is dragged by moving the hand while touching the mother icon with the hand. It is.

  In the invention of claim 3, since the icon is operated by hand on the large screen, when the search result is shown to a large number of people at an event venue, for example, the keyword can be set only by hand. It is very easy for humans to find keywords.

  According to the present invention, the search is performed by the logical product of the two keywords simply by bringing the two mother icons displayed on the screen close to each other. Therefore, when the search target is narrowed down as in the conventional general search engine. There is no need to re-enter keywords, and the website can be searched more efficiently.

  The above object, other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of embodiments with reference to the drawings.

  A website search system 10 of this embodiment shown in FIG. 1 includes a plastic screen 12 having a size of, for example, about 250 × 180 cm, constituting a large screen touch panel. However, this size is merely an example and can be arbitrarily changed according to the application. The plastic screen 12 is made of a material that can transmit infrared light, for example, plastic such as polycarbonate, and is generally milky white, for example. However, the plastic screen 12 is not completely transparent. This is because the plastic screen 12 needs to function as a projection screen for projecting an image from the projector 30 described later. The plastic screen 12 has a relatively large rigidity. This is because, in this large screen touch panel system 10, as shown in FIG. 1, a person 14 in front of the plastic screen 12 directly touches the plastic screen 12 with his / her hand 16, thereby This is because a point or a region is designated. That is, the plastic screen 12 needs to have a rigidity that does not easily deform even when a human hand touches it.

  However, in the example, the screen 12 was formed of plastic. However, glass or other infrared light transmissive materials may be used.

  An infrared light source 18 for projecting infrared light onto the entire front surface 12 a of the screen 12 is provided above the plastic screen 12. As the infrared light source 18, a halogen lamp or black light can be used. The position where the infrared light source 18 is provided is basically determined depending on the size of the plastic screen 12. If the plastic screen 12 of the embodiment is the above size, for example, the infrared light source 18 may be a plastic screen. The twelve front surfaces 12a are arranged at a height of 200-300 cm, which is 200-400 cm apart. These numbers are merely illustrative. Infrared light projected from the infrared light source 18 enters from the front surface 12a of the plastic screen 12, passes through the screen 12, and reaches the back surface 12b.

  A mirror 20 is provided behind the plastic screen 12. The mirror 20 is sized so as to be able to project the entire back surface 12b of the plastic screen 12, and is disposed at that position. In the embodiment, if the plastic screen 12 is, for example, 250 × 180 cm, the mirror 20 has a size of, for example, about 150 × 110 cm, and is disposed, for example, 200 cm behind the back surface 12b of the plastic screen 12. These numbers are also merely examples.

  Behind the plastic screen 12, a monochrome camera 22 focused on the surface of the mirror 20 is provided. An infrared filter 24 is attached to the monochrome camera 22. Therefore, the camera 22 functions as an infrared camera as a whole. Therefore, the monochrome camera 22 and the infrared filter 24 may be replaced with an infrared camera. The camera 22 photographs the entire back surface of the plastic screen 12 through the mirror 20.

  The video signal from the camera 22 is converted into video signal data by the A / D converter 28 and input to the computer 26, as can be seen from FIG.

  In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a projector 30 is provided behind the plastic screen 12. The projector 30 is for projecting an image on the entire back surface 12b of the plastic screen 12 as described above. In the embodiment, the projector 30 can project onto the entire surface of the back surface 12 b through the mirror 20. The image (optical image) projected from the projector 30 is reflected by the mirror 20 and projected onto the back surface 12 b of the plastic screen 12. Therefore, the projected image can be seen from the front surface 12a of the plastic screen 12.

  The reason for using the mirror 20 is to make the space behind the plastic screen 12 as small as possible. Therefore, as a matter of course, the mirror 20 can be omitted. In this case, the above-described camera 22 directly captures the entire area of the back surface 12b of the plastic screen 12, and an image is directly projected from the projector 30 onto the back surface 12b of the projector screen 12.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an internal memory 32 such as a semiconductor memory or a hard disk is built in the computer 26, and an external memory 36, which is a semiconductor memory, is connected via a memory interface 34 as necessary. . The internal memory 32 is used as a program memory for previously storing a program as shown in a flowchart described later, and further as a working memory or a register for image processing. When the projector 30 is used, the internal memory 32 is further used as a video memory (VRAM) for the projector 30.

  In addition to the semiconductor memory, a magnetic recording medium, an optical recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or the like can be used as the external memory 36, but the term “memory” is used here for convenience. Therefore, the term “memory” should be understood to refer to any type of storage medium or recording medium.

  The computer 26 further controls the lamp driver 38 to control on / off of the infrared light source 18 and adjusts the luminance of the infrared light source 18 when necessary.

  In the large-screen touch panel system 10 of FIG. 1 embodiment, as outlined above, the human 14 in front of the plastic screen 12 directly touches the plastic screen 12 with the hand 16 so that the coordinate position on the plastic screen 12 is reached. Instruct. The method of detecting the touch position is specifically described in detail in Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-116122, which is currently pending, and the description thereof will be incorporated by reference. However, the principle will be briefly described here.

  A human stands in front of the plastic screen 12 and presses (touches) an arbitrary place on the front surface 12a of the plastic screen 12 with its hand 16 as shown in FIG. The pixel data of the video as shown in FIG. Then, the computer 26 processes the pixel data to leave only the data of the appropriate size black area shown in FIG. 4, for example, and uses the remaining center coordinates of the appropriate black area as touch point (or area) data. To detect.

  However, even if there are two or more hands touching the screen 12 at the same time, the computer 26 can individually identify the touch position of each hand.

  The computer 26 can be connected to the Internet 40 via an interface 38 including a modem. A multi-engine search program 42 is preinstalled in the internal memory 32 of the computer 26. By using the multi-engine search program 42, the computer 26 can search a website by simultaneously starting a number of Internet search engines.

  When searching for a website using the system 10 shown in FIG. 1, the user touches one of the keywords “A”, “B”,... Registered in the keyword area 44 on the screen 12 with one hand. Select a search keyword with. When a keyword is designated, an image registered with the keyword in the keyword area 44 is displayed in the image display area of the screen 12 as a keyword icon or a mother icon MI. Then, the computer 26 searches using the multi-engine search program 42 according to the designated keyword. Therefore, the thumbnail image is taken into the computer 26 from the website searched in relation to the keyword. Thumbnail images of websites related to each keyword are sequentially displayed around the mother icon MI as child icons CI in the image display area 46. FIG. 5 shows a state in which two mother icons A and B are displayed in the image display area 46, and child icons A1, A2,... And B1, B2,. Yes.

  Further, the bookmark area 48 shown in FIG. 5 is an area for registering the URL of the website, similarly to the bookmark (favorite) used in general Internet search software.

  In order to register in the bookmark area 48, as shown as “bookmark registration” in FIG. 6, the child icon CIa displayed in the image display area 46 is touched with one hand for a certain time, for example, 2 seconds or more. Then, the computer 26 determines that the child icon continues to be touched for 2 seconds or more, and moves the child icon CIa to the bookmark VII in the bookmark area 48 in the example of FIG. 6, and the internal memory 32 (FIG. 2). Store the bookmark registration in.

  FIG. 6 illustrates two zoom-ups, “zoom-up 1” and “zoom-up 2”. “Zoom-up 1” is a case where a thumbnail image of a child icon is enlarged and displayed. In the example of FIG. 6, the child icon CIb is enlarged. In order to enlarge and display a child icon by “zoom up 1”, specifically, in this embodiment, the corresponding child icon CIb may be touched simultaneously with both hands. It should be noted that the “both hands” here include not only both hands of one person but also two hands of different persons. However, in order to determine whether the computer 26 is “both hands” or “one hand”, the size of the black region described above may be determined. That is, it is only necessary to determine that the black area has an area larger than a predetermined area, “two hands”, and if the black area is smaller than that, “one hand”.

  “Zoom-up 2” is a method used when accessing a URL registered in the bookmark area 48 described above. In order to call the URL registered with “Zoom-up 2”, specifically, in this embodiment, the corresponding bookmark in the bookmark area 48, or the bookmark II in the example of FIG. 6 may be touched with one hand.

  Further, in the image display area 46, the thumbnail image or icon can be moved using the “drag” technique. In the case of a mother icon, the hand may be moved while the icon is touched on the image display area 46 with one hand. In the case of a child icon, both hands may be moved while simultaneously touching the icon with both hands on the image display area 46.

  The search operation of the website search system 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

  In the first step S1 of FIG. 8, the computer 26 determines whether or not a keyword is input. Specifically, the computer 26 determines whether or not the user's hand has touched any of the keywords registered in advance in the keyword area 44 shown in FIG. When any keyword in the keyword area 44 is touched, the computer 26 creates a mother icon MI of the keyword and displays it in the image display area 46 (FIG. 5) in step S3. However, since the thumbnail image of the mother icon MI is prepared in advance, in step S3, the computer 26 actually stores the image data of the thumbnail image stored in advance in the internal memory 32 or the external memory 36 (FIG. 2). Need only be read out and transferred into the display memory (VRAM).

  However, when the keyword can be inputted by voice, the microphone 50 shown in FIG. 2 is used. The sound from the microphone 50 is converted into sound data by the A / D converter 52 and input to the computer 26. Although the computer 26 has a voice recognition function (application) set in the internal memory 32 (not shown), the computer 26 recognizes the voice input from the microphone 50, thereby calling a keyword from the keyword area 44, and It can be displayed in the display area 46.

  When a keyword input is detected in step S1, a mother icon of the keyword is displayed in the image display area 46 in step S3. At the same time, the computer 26 starts a multi-engine detection program and sends it to a number of search engines. Give keywords. Accordingly, a number of search engines search the website with the keyword at the same time, and thumbnail images of the website searched with the keyword are sequentially displayed as child icons around the mother icon MI as shown in FIG. The

  Specifically, it is detected in another routine whether or not a keyword has been input, and when a keyword input event occurs in the other routine, “YES” is determined in this step S1.

  In step S5, the computer 26 determines whether or not the user's hand has touched the screen 26 (FIGS. 1 and 5). However, as in step S1, whether or not the hand has touched is detected by another routine, and when a hand detection event occurs, “YES” is determined in step S5. Then, as in step S1, if “NO” is determined in step S5, the process returns to step S1.

  In step S7, the touch position of the hand touching the screen 12 is read as coordinate data to determine whether the hand touches any icon. However, the “icon” here includes not only the icon displayed in the image display area 46 but also the icon registered and set in the bookmark area 48. That is, in this step S7, when the hand is touching the icon of the image display area 46 or the icon of the bookmark area 48, “YES” is determined. If “NO” is determined, the process returns to step S5.

  In the next step S <b> 9, the computer 26 determines whether the icon touched by the hand is a child icon of the image display area 46. Specifically, in this step S9, it is determined whether or not the touch position is the position of the child icon by determining whether or not the coordinates of the touch position of the hand are included in the area of each icon.

  When the touched icon is a child icon, “YES” is determined in this step S9, and in the next step S11, it is determined whether or not it is “both hands” that touches the child icon. When the child icon is touched with both hands, the child icon is enlarged and displayed as shown by “Zoom-up 1” in FIG. 6 in step S13.

  If “NO” is determined in the step S11, the computer 26 determines whether or not a predetermined time has passed since the child icon was touched with one hand in a next step S15. This step S15 determines “YES” when an event that a predetermined time has elapsed is input from a timer (not shown).

  When the computer 26 is released before the predetermined time is reached, the computer 26 determines “NO” in step S15, and sweeps the child icon from the image display area 46 in the next step S17. As described above, when a keyword is input, thumbnail images of websites searched with the keyword are sequentially displayed as child icons around the keyword (mother icon) in the image display area 46. In the embodiment, the sweep-out operation is set as one aspect of positively displaying intention to not see (not access) the website indicated by the child icon.

  If “YES” is determined in the step S15, the computer 26 subsequently registers the URL of the website represented by the child icon as a “favorite” in the bookmark area 48 in a step S19.

  On the other hand, if “NO” is determined in the previous step S9, the icon touched by hand is a mother icon or a bookmark icon.

  In step S21, it is determined whether or not the touch is the mother icon. However, in FIG. 8, for convenience of explanation, in step S21, it is determined whether or not the mother icon is, for example, “mother icon A” shown in FIG. In step S21, “NO” is determined when the touched icon is not the mother icon (not when the touched icon is not the mother icon A).

  When “YES” is determined in step S21, that is, when the touched icon is the mother icon A, the computer 26 determines that the mother icon A is another mother icon, for example, the mother icon shown in FIG. It is determined whether or not B is approached. If, as shown in FIG. 9, the mother icon A and the mother icon B are dragged to bring them closer together, when the distance D between the two mother icons is less than or equal to a predetermined value, “YES” in this step S23. "Can be judged. However, in order to bring the mother icon A closer to the mother icon B, not only the method of moving both mother icons by dragging them as shown in FIG. There is a way to move only one mother icon by dragging. In any case, when “YES” is determined in step S23 constituting the approach determination means, two mother icons, for example, the mother icon A and the mother icon B shown in FIG. In this case, the computer 26 sets the keyword “A * B” obtained by ANDing the keyword A and the keyword B in a number of search engines in the next step S25. Therefore, this step S25 constitutes a keyword updating means, and when the keyword is updated with “A * B”, both the keyword A and the keyword B are no longer search targets. That is, at this stage, the computer 26 resets the keyword obtained by ANDing the two keywords and operates the search engine. Therefore, thereafter, each search engine searches the website by the keyword “A * B”. Therefore, the thumbnail image of the website searched by the keyword “A * B” is stored in the image display area 46. It will be displayed one after another as an icon.

  In this way, the keyword set in the search engine can be changed to a keyword obtained by ANDing two keywords just by bringing the two mother icons close to each other on the image display area 46. There is no need to operate the keyboard or re-input voice to reset the correct keyword. Therefore, the keyword can be easily changed.

  If “NO” is determined in the previous step S21, that is, if the touched icon is neither a child icon nor a mother icon, the icon is registered in the bookmark area 48 in step S27. Determine if it is an icon. If “NO”, the process directly returns to step S5. If “YES”, the icon registered in the bookmark area 48 is zoomed up in step S29 as in “Zoom-up 2” of FIG. That is, the URL of the website represented by the icon is accessed.

  In the above embodiment, the infrared light source 18 irradiates the screen with infrared light from the front of the plastic screen 12, while the computer 26 is a region where the infrared light is shielded behind the video signal screen 12 of the camera 22. Was detected. However, since the human hand itself emits infrared light, the infrared light transmitted through the screen 12 may be detected. In this case, the computer 26 may analyze the video signal from the camera 22 and detect an area where infrared light exists (infrared light area).

  Further, in the above-described embodiment, a website is searched for with the same keyword simultaneously using many search engines. However, the present invention can be applied even when only one search engine is used.

  Furthermore, in the embodiment, the website search system is incorporated into a large screen touch panel that points the position on the screen by touching the screen with a hand. However, the system uses a normal computer and a display and drags an icon with a mouse. Even if it exists, this invention is applicable.

FIG. 1 is an illustrative view showing a website search system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 3 shows an actual image when a person in front of the plastic screen touches the screen with a hand in the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 4 is an illustrative view showing an example of a black region created by a hand touching the screen. FIG. 5 is an illustrative view showing three display areas formed on the screen in the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 6 is an illustrative view showing a zoom-up operation and a bookmark registration operation on the screen. FIG. 7 is an illustrative view showing a drag operation on the screen. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the website search operation in the embodiment of FIG. FIG. 9 is an illustrative view illustrating a state in which two mother icons are brought close to each other.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Website search system 12 ... Screen 16 ... Hand 26 ... Computer 30 ... Projector 32 ... Internal memory 38 ... Internet interface 40 ... Internet 42 ... Multi-engine search program 44 ... Keyword area 46 ... Image display area 48 ... Bookmark area 50 …Microphone

Claims (3)

A mother icon representing the keyword is displayed on the screen by inputting the keyword, and thumbnail images of websites searched by the keyword using a search engine are sequentially displayed around the mother icon as child icons. A site search system,
An approach judging means for judging whether or not two mother icons displayed on the screen are approached, and when the approach judging means judges the approach of the two mother icons, the keywords of the respective mother icons are combined by a logical product. A website search system comprising keyword update means for setting a keyword in the search engine.   2. The website search system according to claim 1, wherein when the distance between the two mother icons becomes smaller than a predetermined value, the approach determining unit determines the approach of the two mother icons. The screen is a screen of a large screen touch panel,
The large screen touch panel is a screen made of a material capable of transmitting infrared light,
An infrared light source that irradiates the front surface of the screen with infrared light from the front of the screen;
An infrared camera that is provided behind the screen and captures a back surface of the screen; and a computer that receives a video signal from the infrared camera,
The computer detects a position of a hand touching the screen based on the video signal, and drags the mother icon by moving the hand while touching the mother icon with the hand. Item 3. A website search system according to item 1 or 2.

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