JP5821295B2 - Electronic book browsing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic book browsing apparatus, and more particularly to an apparatus that displays an electronic book on a screen and browses it based on book data.

  For the past several years, the number of users of electronic books has increased rapidly due to the widespread use of various electronic devices such as notebook computers, tablet electronic terminals, and smartphones. E-books are overwhelmingly superior in space-saving compared to regular books on paper media, making it possible to store information on a large number of books that have been lined up on the bookshelf in a single small electronic device. Become. In addition, since it is easy to obtain new book data via the Internet, the convenience of purchasing a new publication is also excellent.

  An electronic book browsing apparatus necessary for browsing electronic books can be realized by incorporating dedicated application programs into various electronic devices. For this reason, in the future, it is expected that many electronic devices will have a function as an electronic book browsing device. Moreover, it is easy to add a new function by updating a program to be incorporated in an electronic device, and various additional functions have been conventionally proposed.

  For example, the following Patent Document 1 discloses an additional function that records a browsing operation of a viewer as a history and allows the browsing history to be confirmed later. Further, Patent Document 2 discloses an additional function for changing the display order of each page so that frequently viewed pages come to the top of the book using such browsing history. Furthermore, in Patent Document 3, an automatic page turning function is added to a device having a function of displaying character information received as FM signals in units of pages, and the page turning speed is set to the type of character to be displayed. A technique is disclosed that makes it easy for a viewer to read by changing it accordingly.

JP 2003-99314 A JP 2006-260065 A JP-A-9-74390

  The electronic book browsing device can be called a device that displays the page of the electronic book on the display screen and simulates the browsing state of the book on the paper medium, and various devices are used to simulate the actual browsing state. It has been subjected. For example, in the case of an apparatus using an electronic device that employs a touch panel for a display screen such as a tablet-type electronic terminal, when a viewer performs a page turning operation with a finger on the screen, the page is turned on the screen in synchronization with this. User interface is adopted. In addition, a function of adding bookmark information, memo information, highlight information, etc. to a specific location is also used.

  As described above, various functions have been proposed in the past in order to simulate a browsing state similar to a paper book. However, since there has never been an idea of simulating even a physical structural change in a paper-based book, in a conventional electronic book browsing device, “the part that was noted in the past browsing becomes easy to see” This phenomenon cannot be reproduced, and there is a problem that it is difficult to find a specific part of attention when a page turning operation is performed.

  For example, in the case of a paper-based book, if a certain page is read many times repeatedly, the time during which the page is opened becomes longer, a physical change occurs in the bookbinding state of the book, and the page is opened. It becomes easy. Further, when a corner of a specific page is folded into a triangle, a bookmark is inserted, or writing is performed, the page is easily opened. This is because a physical change occurs in the paper constituting the page and its binding.

  As described above, in a paper-based book, a physical structural change occurs in the paper medium itself due to a physical browsing operation. By doing this, the pages that were noted at the time of browsing in the past are easy to open and easily visible. Specifically, if the reader performs the operation of sending all the pages of the book in order while flipping pages, even if each page is played evenly, the page at the position of the page noted in the past The feeding operation is temporarily interrupted, and the probability that the past noticed part is touched by the viewer is increased.

  This is a physical property inherently provided in a paper-based book, and is a very convenient property for a viewer when searching for a point of interest in the past. When the viewer wants to refer again to a point to be noted when browsing in the past, the viewer usually performs an operation of searching for the corresponding portion while playing the pages of the book. At this time, if the page turning operation is temporarily interrupted at a past notice location, the work efficiency of finding the location is remarkably improved.

  However, since the conventional electronic book browsing device does not have a function to simulate such a physical structural change, when performing a page turning operation, it is difficult to find an attention part at the time of past browsing. There is a problem. Of course, if the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, it is possible to list frequently viewed pages and marked pages and directly display a desired page from the list. However, a search operation using such a list is far from a general search operation performed while sequentially sending pages of a book, and is not a search operation that is familiar to general viewers. In addition, if the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 2 is used, a page that is frequently viewed comes to the top of the book, so that it is easy to find a notice page, but the order of pages is Since it is changed, it cannot be denied that a great sense of discomfort is caused to the viewer.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an electronic book browsing apparatus that can display an image being paged in a form that makes it easy to find a specific part of interest.

(1) According to a first aspect of the present invention, in an electronic book browsing apparatus that displays an electronic book on a screen in a page unit for browsing,
A book data storage unit that stores book data indicating the contents of the electronic book as an aggregate of blocks that are constituent units of the electronic book ;
A browsing operation input unit for inputting a browsing operation from a viewer;
A display image creation unit that creates a display image in units of pages based on data of a specific block in the book data so that a screen display according to the browsing operation is made;
A display unit for displaying a display image on the screen;
A browsing history collection unit that collects browsing history for each individual block based on browsing operations and display images,
Based on the browsing history, a resistance function generating unit that generates a resistance function that defines the resistance value when sending a page on the screen for each page;
A resistance function storage for storing the resistance function;
Provided,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting a page turning operation for sequentially feeding pages on the screen,
The resistance function generation unit generates a resistance function for each page based on the browsing history of the blocks included in the page,
When a page turning operation is given, the display image creating unit performs a page turning process for updating the display image so that the page having a larger resistance value defined by the resistance function has a longer staying time on the screen. It is what I did.

(2) According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first aspect described above,
The browsing history collection unit collects browsing histories as one block of a group of character strings constituting a headline, a group of character strings constituting a paragraph, a group of character strings constituting a caption, an image, or a table. It is a thing.

(3) According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first or second aspect described above,
The browsing history collection unit collects the accumulated display time as browsing history for each block,
The resistance function generation unit is configured to generate a resistance function such that a larger resistance value is defined for each page as the cumulative display time for the blocks included in the page is longer.

(4) According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the third aspect described above,
The resistance function generation unit obtains a display time point T (B) indicating an amount corresponding to the accumulated display time for the block of the block number B, and displays the individual pages for the blocks included in the page. A resistance function in which a resistance value is defined based on the sum of time points T (B) is generated.

(5) According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first or second aspect described above,
The browsing history collection unit collects additional information added by browsing operations for each block as browsing history,
The resistance function generation unit is configured to generate a resistance function such that a larger resistance value is defined for each page as the additional information added to the block included in the page increases.

(6) According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the fifth aspect described above,
The resistance function generation unit obtains an additional information point A (B) indicating the amount of additional information added to the block for the block with the block number B, and for each page, additional information about the block included in the page. A resistance function is defined so that the resistance value is defined based on the sum of the points A (B).

(7) According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first or second aspect described above,
The browsing history collection unit collects the accumulated display time and additional information added by browsing operation as browsing history for each block,
The resistance function generator defines a larger resistance value for each page as the accumulated display time for the block included in the page is longer and the additional information added to the block included in the page is larger. The resistance function is generated.

(8) An eighth aspect of the present invention is the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the seventh aspect described above,
The resistance function generation unit obtains a display time point T (B) indicating the amount corresponding to the cumulative display time for the block of the block number B, and adds the amount of additional information added for the block The information point A (B) is obtained, and the resistance value is defined for each page based on the sum of the display time point T (B) and the additional information point A (B) for the blocks included in the page. A resistance function is generated.

(9) A ninth aspect of the present invention is the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the fourth or eighth aspect described above,
A normalization time obtained by the resistance function generation unit normalizing the accumulated display time t of each of a plurality of m blocks included in one electronic book by applying a predetermined normalization function N (t). By quantizing N according to a predetermined rule, a display time point T (B) having a plurality of values is obtained.

(10) According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the sixth or eighth aspect described above,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of adding bookmark information, memo information, or highlight information as additional information to a specific part of the book,
The browsing history collection unit collects additional information added to the location corresponding to each block as a browsing history for each block,
The resistance function generation unit obtains the additional information point A (B) based on a preset point value for each of bookmark information, memo information, or highlight information.

(11) An eleventh aspect of the present invention is the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first to tenth aspects described above,
When the browsing operation input unit performs an operation of sliding the displayed page or turning the displayed page by moving a finger on the display screen, the browsing operation is performed as a page turning operation. Has the function to input as
The display image creation unit performs page turning processing to update the image so that the page is sent following the operation of moving the finger, and the page having a larger resistance value delays the tracking operation. Is.

(12) In a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the eleventh aspect described above,
The browsing operation input unit detects the movement speed Vswipe of the viewer's finger,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
When the display image creation unit sets the page feed speed when the P-th page is displayed on the screen as Vpage, the value of Vpage monotonously decreases from the value of Vswipe as R (P) increases. It is set to be a value.

(13) In a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the eleventh aspect described above,
The browsing operation input unit detects the movement speed Vswipe of the viewer's finger,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
When the display image creation unit sets the page feed speed when the Pbegin page to the Pend page are displayed on the screen to Vpage, the value of _Vpage increases from Σ _{P = Pbegin to Pend} R (P). Accordingly, the value is set so as to be a monotonically decreasing value from the value of Vswipe.

(14) According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first to tenth aspects described above,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting a viewer's tap operation for a page turning button or a page turning area as a page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
When the display image creation unit receives a tap operation while the Pth page is displayed, the display image creation unit delays by a delay time of Delay = k · R (P) (where k is a predetermined proportional constant). Thus, the updating of the display image is started.

(15) The fifteenth aspect of the present invention is the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first to tenth aspects described above,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting a viewer's tap operation for a page turning button or a page turning area as a page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
When the display image creating unit receives a tap operation in a state where the Pbegin to Pend pages are displayed on the screen, a delay time of Delay = k · Σ _{P = Pbegin to Pend} R (P) ( However, k is a predetermined proportionality constant), and updating of the display image is started.

(16) According to a sixteenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first to tenth aspects described above,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting the pressing operation of the viewer with respect to the page turning button or the page turning area as the page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
When the display image creation unit performs continuous page turning processing on the screen while the pressing operation continues, and the page turning speed when the Pth page is displayed on the screen is Vscroll, The value of Vscroll is set to be a value that monotonously decreases from the value of the standard speed Vstandard as R (P) increases.

(17) According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first to tenth aspects described above,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting the pressing operation of the viewer with respect to the page turning button or the page turning area as the page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
The display image creation unit performs continuous page turning processing on the screen while the pressing operation continues, and the page turning speed when the Pbegin to Pend pages are displayed on the screen is Vscroll. In some cases, the value of Vscroll is set to be a value that monotonously decreases from the value of the standard speed Vstandard as Σ _{P = Pbegin to Pend} R (P) increases.

(18) According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first to tenth aspects described above,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting the pressing operation of the viewer with respect to the page turning button or the page turning area as the page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
While the pressing operation continues, the display image creation unit performs intermittent page turning processing on the screen, and waits until the next page update when the Pth page is displayed on the screen. When Twait, Twait = Tstandard + k · R (P) (where Tstandard is the standard waiting time and k is a predetermined proportional constant).

(19) According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first to tenth aspects described above,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting the pressing operation of the viewer with respect to the page turning button or the page turning area as the page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
While the pressing operation continues, the display image creation unit performs intermittent page turning processing on the screen, and until the next page update when the Pbegin page to the Pend page are displayed on the screen. When the waiting time is Twait, Twait = Tstandard + k · ΣP = Pbegin to _Pend R (P) (where Tstandard is the standard waiting time and k is a predetermined proportional constant).

(20) In a twentieth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first to tenth aspects described above,
In the resistance function storage section, information indicating whether each page is “no resistance” or “with resistance” is stored as a resistance function.
The display image creation unit has a standard stay time on the screen for the “no resistance” page and a long stay time on the screen for the “with resistance” page, which is longer than the standard stay time. In this way, page feed processing for updating the display image is performed.

(21) In a twenty-first aspect of the present invention, the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the first to twentieth aspects described above is configured by incorporating a program into a computer.

(22) According to a twenty-second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an electronic book browsing device for displaying and browsing an electronic book on a screen in units of pages, and a function of exchanging information with the electronic book browsing device via a network. In an electronic book browsing system comprising a server device with
In the electronic book browsing device,
A book data storage unit that stores book data indicating the contents of the electronic book as an aggregate of blocks that are constituent units of the electronic book;
A browsing operation input unit for inputting a browsing operation from a viewer;
A display image creation unit that creates a display image in units of pages based on data of a specific block in the book data so that a screen display according to the browsing operation is made;
A display unit for displaying the display image on the screen;
A resistance function storage unit that stores resistance values defined for individual pages as resistance values when sending pages on the screen;
Provided,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting a page turning operation for sequentially feeding pages on the screen,
When a page turning operation is given, the display image creating unit performs a page turning process for updating the display image so that the page having a larger resistance value defined by the resistance function has a longer staying time on the screen. And
The server device
Based on the browsing operation and display image of the electronic book browsing device, a browsing history collection unit that collects browsing history for each individual block via a network, and a resistance that generates a resistance function based on the collected browsing history A function generator, and
The resistance function generation unit generates a resistance function for each page based on the browsing history of the blocks included in the page,
The electronic book browsing apparatus has a function of storing the resistance function generated by the resistance function generation unit in the resistance function storage unit via the network.

(23) According to a twenty-third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic book browsing system according to the twenty-second aspect described above,
A plurality of electronic book browsing devices are provided,
A browsing history collection unit collects browsing histories from the n electronic book browsing devices,
The resistance function generation unit generates a resistance function based on the browsing history collected from the n electronic book browsing devices.

  According to the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the present invention, when a resistance function that defines a resistance value when sending a page on the screen for each page constituting the electronic book is set and a page turning operation is given, A page turning process for updating the display image is performed so that the page having a larger resistance value has a longer staying time on the screen. Therefore, if a resistance function with a large resistance value is defined for a page on which a specific part of attention is posted, the page stays on the screen when the page turning operation is performed. A display form in which a specific attention part can be easily found becomes possible.

  Further, in the case of an embodiment provided with a browsing history collection unit, it is possible to collect a browsing history of the viewer and generate a resistance function based on the browsing history, so that the attention part is automatically recognized, and the resistance function Can be automatically generated.

It is a block diagram which shows an example of the basic composition of a general electronic book browsing apparatus. It is a top view which shows an example of the display screen by the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the state which is performing page turning operation with respect to the display screen shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a state in which the page turning operation shown in FIG. 3 is completed. It is a figure which shows an example of the book data corresponding to the display content shown in FIGS. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the electronic book browsing apparatus which concerns on fundamental embodiment of this invention. It is a graph which shows an example of the accumulation display time for every block collected by the browsing history collection part 50 in the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a graph which shows an example of the normalization function used in order to normalize with respect to accumulation display time. 8 is a graph showing a state in which normalization is performed by applying the normalization function N (t) shown in FIG. 8 to each accumulated display time t shown in the graph of FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the rule for quantizing the normalized time and obtaining display time point T (B). 11 is a graph showing a display time point T (B) obtained by quantizing the normalized time shown in FIG. 9 based on the rules shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the rule which defines the additional information point A (B) based on the additional information for every block collected by the browsing history collection part 50 in the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows the state which added the additional information to the specific page by the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a graph which shows an example of the additional information point A (B) obtained based on the additional information for every block collected by the browsing history collection part 50 in the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. 15 is a graph showing a summed point S (B) obtained by adding the display time point T (B) shown in FIG. 11 and the additional information point A (B) shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the type | formula which calculates | requires resistance value R (P) for every page based on the summation point S (B) shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the basic principle which follows the page turning operation with a finger | toe, and performs a page turning process on a screen. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state in which page turning processing is performed on a screen by performing an operation of sliding a page with a finger in an electronic book browsing apparatus adopting a display form of one page and two pages. FIG. 11 is a plan view showing a state in which page turning processing is performed on a screen by performing an operation of turning a page with a finger in an electronic book browsing apparatus adopting a display form of one page and two pages. It is a top view which shows the example which performs a page feed process on a screen by performing operation which slides a finger | toe on a page feed bar. It is a top view which shows the example which performs a page feed process on a screen by operating the page feed button displayed on the screen with a finger | toe. It is a figure which shows the type | formula which calculates delay time Delay at the update start time of a display image with respect to tap operation with respect to a page feed button. It is a figure which shows the type | formula which calculates the page feed speed Vscroll in the case of performing a continuous page feed process at the time of pressing operation with respect to a page feed button. It is a figure which shows the type | formula which calculates waiting time Twait in the case of performing an intermittent page turning process at the time of pressing operation with respect to a page turning button. It is a block diagram which shows the basic composition of the electronic book browsing system which concerns on this invention.

<<< §1. Basic configuration of a general electronic book browsing device >>>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a basic configuration of a general electronic book browsing apparatus. This apparatus has a function of displaying and browsing an electronic book on a screen in units of pages. As shown in the drawing, the display unit 10 displays an image constituting the page of the electronic book on the screen, and the contents of the electronic book. Display based on book data so that a screen display corresponding to the browsing operation is made, and a book data storage unit 20 that stores book data indicating the browsing data, a browsing operation input unit 30 that inputs a browsing operation from the viewer And a display image creation unit 40 for creating an image.

  The book data storage unit 20 can store data of a plurality of electronic books. First, the viewer inputs an instruction for designating which electronic book is opened from the browsing operation input unit 30 and further inputs an instruction for designating which page is to be displayed. Based on these instructions, the display image creation unit 40 generates a display image corresponding to a predetermined page of a predetermined book and performs a process of displaying it on the display unit 10. The browsing operation input unit 30 also has a function of inputting instructions for adding various additional information to the currently displayed page. The additional information added by the viewer is stored in book data. Stored in the unit 20 together with the book data.

  FIG. 2 is a plan view showing an example of a display screen by the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, and FIGS. 3 and 4 are plan views showing the display screen in a state where a page turning operation is performed in this apparatus. is there. In this example, when the 86th page of the electronic book related to the dam is displayed (FIG. 2), when the viewer performs a page turning operation to slide the index finger on the screen (FIG. 3), the page is displayed on the screen. The state where the image slides to the left and is switched to the state in which page 87 is displayed (FIG. 4) is shown.

  This example is an example in which a dedicated application program is incorporated into a tablet electronic terminal and used as an electronic book browsing device. The device itself has a form in which a display device with a touch panel is fitted on the upper surface of a thin flat plate-like housing. Eggplant. Accordingly, the display unit 10 and the browsing operation input unit 30 shown as a block diagram in FIG. 1 are configured by the display device with a touch panel and its interface program, and the book data storage unit 20 is incorporated in the device casing. The display image creating unit 40 is constituted by a CPU and a program incorporated in the device casing.

  As shown in FIG. 3, when the viewer touches the touch panel with a finger and slides the finger as indicated by an arrow, the movement of the finger is performed as a page turning operation to the next page by the browsing operation input unit 30. Entered. When receiving the input of such page turning operation, the display image creation unit 40 creates a display image for displaying a page turning animation from the currently displayed page 86 to the next page 87. Specifically, a page turning process for sequentially updating the display image is performed.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of book data corresponding to the display contents shown in FIGS. Normally, book data indicating the contents of one electronic book is stored in the book data storage unit 20 as one file. The book data shown in FIG. 5 exemplifies a part of the data (the 86th page and the 87th page) included in such one file. This example shows an example of book data described in the EPUB standard, which is one of data formats for electronic books. In the EPUB standard, one book data is composed of a collection of blocks, not a collection of pages. The illustrated book data is composed of blocks B1011 to B1017, and the display screen of page 86 shown in FIG. 2 is created based on the data of blocks B1011 to B1014. The display screen is created based on the data of blocks B1015 to B1017.

  The main part of the data of each block is sandwiched between a pair of tags surrounded by angle brackets. For example, the block B1011 is composed of data in which a character string “Chapter 6 Dam and Natural Environment” is sandwiched between a tag <h1 id = "1011"> and a tag </ h1>. , “Chapter 6 Dam and Natural Environment” is displayed as a heading 1 (header 1). The symbol “h1” indicates the heading 1, and id = “1011” indicates that the identification code of the block is “1011”. Similarly, block B 1012 is a block for heading 2.

  The block B1013 is composed of a group of character strings sandwiched between tags <p id = "1013"> and tags </ p>, and these character strings are displayed as paragraphs. Is shown. On the other hand, the block B 1014 shows a paragraph composed of an image and a caption sandwiched between a tag <p id = "1014"> and a tag </ p>. In this paragraph, tags for images and captions are arranged in a nested manner. That is, the tag <img id = "abcd" src = "FILE001.png" /> indicates that an image with the file name "FILE001.png" is displayed, and <caption id = "efgh" A group of character strings sandwiched between a tag> and a tag </ caption> indicates that these character strings are displayed as captions.

  Similarly, the block B 1017 is composed of symbols (contents omitted) between a tag <table id = "1017"> and a tag </ table>, and displays a predetermined table (table). It shows that Therefore, actually, in addition to the book data file, the book data storage unit 20 stores an image file and a table file.

  As described above, in the EPUB standard, the structural unit of an electronic book is handled as a block instead of a page, but this has various display sizes and resolutions of electronic devices used as electronic book browsing devices. This is because even when the same electronic device is used, there are variations in the size of the display font, and the content of the electronic book actually displayed on each page is not uniquely determined. That is, the example shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 is an example in which an electronic book browsing device is configured using a tablet electronic terminal having a specific size and resolution, and display is performed using a font of a specific size. In the case of this example, as shown in FIG. 5, the block B1011 to B1014 is displayed as the 86th page, and the block B1015 to B1017 is displayed as the 87th page. Each page structure is different.

  Of course, in the data format such as pdf, the structural unit of the document data is a page, and even if it is displayed using any electronic book browsing device, the same page structure is displayed. In the embodiment, as in the example shown in FIG. 5, a case where book data with a block as a structural unit is handled will be described as an example.

<<< §2. Basic embodiment of the present invention >>
Here, the configuration of the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the basic embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. The electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is an apparatus that displays and browses electronic books on a screen in units of pages. In the configuration shown in the drawing, the display unit 10, the book data storage unit 20, and the browsing operation input unit 30 are These are the same components as those in the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. That is, the display unit 10 has a function of displaying an image constituting a page of the electronic book on the screen, and the book data storage unit 20 has a function of storing book data indicating the contents of the electronic book. The operation input unit 30 has a function of inputting a browsing operation from a viewer.

  On the other hand, the display image creation unit 45 basically displays a screen according to the browsing operation input by the browsing operation input unit 30 as in the display image creation unit 40 in the conventional apparatus shown in FIG. Furthermore, it fulfills the function of creating a display image based on the book data in the book data storage unit 20. However, as will be described later, when a page turning operation is given from the browsing operation input unit 30, a special page turning process unique to the present invention is performed.

  A major feature of the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. 6 is that a browsing history collection unit 50, a resistance function generation unit 60, and a resistance function storage unit 70 are provided as new components.

  The browsing history collection unit 50 collects the browsing history of the viewer based on the browsing operation input by the browsing operation input unit 30 and the display image created by the display image creation unit 45, and serves to store the browsing history. It is. The browsing history collected in this way is used to generate a resistance function. In the case of the embodiment described later in §3, the cumulative display time indicating which part of the electronic book the viewer has been browsing for how long, and what information the viewer has in which part of the electronic book And additional information indicating whether or not is added as browsing history.

  As described above, the display image creation unit 45 has a function of creating a display image for displaying a specific page designated by the viewer based on the browsing operation input by the browsing operation input unit 30. Therefore, if the browsing operation and the display image are monitored, the browsing history collection unit 50 collects information on the accumulated display time indicating which part of the electronic book has been displayed for how long, and this is collected. Can be accumulated. In addition, the viewer can give the browsing operation input unit 30 an instruction to add additional information such as bookmark information, memo information, and highlight information at a specific location being browsed. Stored in the storage unit 20 in association with the specific location of the book data. The display image creation unit 45 creates a display image including the additional information when displaying the portion to which such additional information is added. Therefore, if the browsing operation for adding additional information is monitored, the browsing history collecting unit 50 collects information indicating what kind of additional information has been added to which part of the electronic book and stores this information. Can be kept.

  The resistance function generation unit 60 functions to generate a resistance function based on the browsing history thus collected, and the resistance function storage unit 70 functions to store the resistance function thus generated. Here, the resistance function is a function that defines a resistance value for sending a page on the screen for each page. The display image creation unit 45 performs a process of creating a display image for a specific page based on the book data stored in the book data storage unit 20. The resistance value for each page created by the display image creating unit 45 is stored as a resistance function. Specifically, as will be described later, the resistance function storage 70 stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page (P is the page number from the first page to the last page of the book). Is stored.

  As described in §1, the browsing operation input unit 30 has a function of inputting a page turning operation for sequentially feeding pages on the screen. For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 3, when the viewer performs a page turning operation of sliding the index finger on the screen, the display image creating unit 45 displays an animation in which the page slides leftward. In addition, the display image is sequentially updated. As described above, the display image creating unit 45 performs a page turning process for updating the display image when a page turning operation is given from the browsing operation input unit 30. At this time, the resistance function storage unit 70 is updated. The display image is updated so that the page having a larger resistance value defined by this resistance function has a longer residence time on the screen. The specific method will be described in detail in §4.

  As illustrated in FIG. 5, in the embodiment described here, since the constituent unit of the electronic book is a block, the browsing history collection unit 50 has a function of collecting a browsing history for each individual block. ing. More specifically, the browsing history collection unit 50 includes a group of character strings constituting a headline, a group of character strings constituting a paragraph, a group of character strings constituting a caption, an image, or a table as one block, respectively. Browsing history will be collected. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, if page 86 is displayed for 30 seconds, the display time of 30 seconds is accumulated for all of blocks B1011 to B1015 included in page 86.

  On the other hand, the resistance function generation unit 60 generates a resistance function for each page based on the browsing history for the blocks included in the page. For example, the resistance value for page 86 as shown in FIG. 2 is determined with reference to the browsing history for all of the blocks B1011 to B1015 included therein.

  The resistance function in the present invention is a function that defines a resistance value for sending a page on the screen for each page, and is defined only for each page. Nevertheless, the browsing history collection unit 50 collects the browsing history not in units of pages but in units of blocks so that the display content of each page changes depending on the display mode during browsing. Because. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 2, the contents of Chapter 6 are displayed on page 86, but in another display mode in which the font size is changed, the contents of another block will be displayed. . Even when the page configuration at the time of browsing changes as described above, if the browsing history is collected in units of blocks, the resistance value of the page is defined based on the browsing history for the blocks included in the display page. It is possible to respond without any trouble.

  The browsing history for each individual block collected and accumulated by the browsing history collecting unit 50 is a parameter indicating the degree of attention (interest, degree of interest, degree of attention) of the viewer with respect to the block. For example, in the past browsing history, a block with a long accumulated display time is a portion that is estimated to be read by the viewer for such a long time, and is considered to be a portion with a high degree of attention. Also, in the past browsing history, it is estimated that the part where the bookmark is sandwiched, the part where the memo is added, and the part where the highlight (marker) is added are judged as the important part by the viewer. It is a part that is considered, and is also considered to be a part with a high degree of attention.

  As already mentioned, in the case of paper-based books, pages that have been open for such a long time, pages that have bookmarks, or pages that have been written, have a physical change in the binding of the paper. As a result, when the page is flipped around, the page turning operation is temporarily suspended and the probability of touching the eyes increases. The electronic book browsing apparatus according to the present invention has a function of artificially expressing such a phenomenon using a parameter called a resistance value defined for each page.

  As described in detail in §3, the resistance function generation unit 60 generates a resistance function such that a larger resistance value is defined for each page as the cumulative display time for the blocks included in the page is longer. A resistance function is generated such that the larger the additional information added to the block included in the page, the larger the resistance value is defined. In other words, a higher resistance value is defined for a page including a block that is determined to have a high degree of attention by the viewer based on the past browsing history.

  On the other hand, when a page turning operation is given from the browsing operation input unit 30, the display image creation unit 45 increases the stay time on the screen as the resistance value defined by the resistance function increases. Then, a page turning process for updating the display image is performed. After all, on the screen of the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the present invention, when the viewer performs a page turning operation so as to perform a preview, a page including a portion that is determined to have a high degree of attention based on past browsing history Is longer on the screen than other pages, making it easier for viewers to find. Thus, it is possible to display the image being paged in a form that makes it easy to find a specific attention portion.

  Note that the electronic book browsing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 6 is actually realized by incorporating a dedicated application program into an electronic device including a computer, such as a personal computer, a tablet electronic terminal, or a smartphone. Therefore, the display unit 10 is configured by a display device provided in such an electronic device, and the book data storage unit 20 and the resistance function storage unit 70 are storage devices (for example, semiconductors) provided in such an electronic device. The browsing operation input unit 30 is configured by an input device (for example, a touch panel and its interface program) provided in such an electronic device. The display image creation unit 45, the browsing history collection unit 50, and the resistance function generation unit 60 are configured by a CPU and a dedicated program provided in such an electronic device. The browsing history collection unit 50 may be configured to include a storage device for accumulating the collected browsing history as necessary.

<<< §3. Generation of resistance function >>>
Next, specific processing functions of the resistance function generation unit 60 in the electronic book browsing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 6 will be described based on some embodiments. As described above, the resistance function generation unit 60 performs a process of generating a resistance function based on the browsing history collected by the browsing history collection unit 50, and the generated resistance function is stored in the resistance function storage unit 70. .

  Since the resistance function is a function generated based on the past browsing history, naturally, an independent resistance function is generated for each individual book. For example, when book data for three books A, B, and A is stored in the book data storage unit 20, a resistance function for the book A, a resistance function for the book B, and a resistance function for the book A Are generated separately and stored in the resistance function storage unit 70. Of course, the resistance function for the book A is generated based on the browsing history for the book A. In addition, when performing the page turning process for the book A, the display image creating unit 45 updates the display image with reference to the resistance function for the book A.

  The basic matter when the resistance function generation unit 60 generates the resistance function is based on the past browsing history, and the degree of attention (interest, degree of interest, degree of attention) of the viewer with respect to each part (each block) of the book. It is determined that a higher resistance value is defined for a part (block) having a higher degree of attention. The resistance function may be generated by any method as long as it conforms to such basic matters, but here, there are two methods, a generation method based on cumulative display time and a generation method based on additional information. The generation method of will be described.

<3.1 Generation method based on cumulative display time>
The most suitable material for determining the attention level of the viewer is the accumulated display time. The display image creating unit 45 creates a display image based on the browsing operation (that is, an instruction by the viewer) input by the browsing operation input unit 30, and the created image is displayed on the screen by the display unit 10. Therefore, the display content on the screen is based on the instruction of the viewer himself, and what part of the electronic book is displayed from when to when is determined based on the intention of the viewer.

  In view of such a point, the longer the cumulative display time displayed on the screen, the higher the possibility that the viewer has been paying attention. In other words, viewers will take time to read the parts they should be aware of, or read them over and over again, so it is inevitably necessary to accumulate the parts that the viewers have noted. The display time is estimated to be longer. Therefore, the approach of generating the resistance function based on the policy that the longer the cumulative display time is, the larger resistance value is defined.

  When such an approach is taken, the browsing history collection unit 50 collects the accumulated display time as a browsing history for each individual block, and the resistance function generation unit 60 adds each page to the relevant page. It is only necessary to generate a resistance function such that a larger resistance value is defined as the accumulated display time for the included block is longer.

  However, since the cumulative display time is a physical quantity acquired in units of hours, minutes and seconds, it is inconvenient to handle such a physical quantity as a resistance value, and scaling on the time axis is used as it is. Adopting as axial scaling is not suitable from a practical point of view. Therefore, in the embodiment described here, the cumulative display time is once converted into an abstract point value called a display time point, and a resistance value is defined based on this display time point. That is, the resistance function generation unit 60 obtains the display time point T (B) indicating the amount corresponding to the accumulated display time for the block of the block number B, and for each page, the block included in the page A resistance function is generated such that the resistance value is defined based on the sum of the display time points T (B) for. Hereinafter, specific processing by such a resistance function generation method will be described with examples.

  Here, let us consider a case where the browsing history collection unit 50 collects the results shown in the graph of FIG. 7 as the accumulated display time for each block. Here, the horizontal axis of the graph indicates the block number B, and the vertical axis indicates the accumulated display time t during which the content of the block specified by each block number has been displayed on the screen by the display unit 10. Yes. Each bar graph shown in the graph indicates the accumulated display time of each block, and the line graph indicates the transition of the vertex position of each bar graph. Information indicating which block contents have been displayed for how long is easily collected by monitoring the browsing operation input by the browsing operation input unit 30 and the display image created by the display image creation unit 45. be able to.

  Subsequently, a normalization function N (t) as shown in the graph of FIG. 8 is prepared. This function N (t) is a function for converting the accumulated display time t into the normalized time N. The horizontal axis of the graph shows the accumulated display time t in the section from 0 to Tmax, and the vertical axis shows the time N normalized to the range of 0-1. Tmax is the maximum value of the cumulative display time t, which is the maximum value of the bar graph shown in FIG. When the normalization function N (t) shown in FIG. 8 is applied to the cumulative display time t shown in the graph of FIG. 7, the cumulative display time t has a normalized time N having a value in the range of 0 to 1. Is converted to As the normalization function N (t), a linear function may be used, but in the embodiment shown here, a nonlinear function as shown in FIG. 8 is used so that a large value of the accumulated display time t is more emphasized. Used.

  FIG. 9 is a graph showing a state in which normalization is performed by applying the normalization function N (t) shown in FIG. 8 to each accumulated display time t shown in the graph of FIG. The reason for performing such normalization is that there are individual differences in the reading speed and the number of times of reading, and the time required for reading varies depending on the contents of the book. In the present invention, the purpose of collecting the accumulated display time t as a browsing history is to estimate a specific portion noted by the viewer in one book. Therefore, obtaining the absolute value of the accumulated display time t for each block is not very meaningful, and compared to other blocks among a plurality of m blocks included in one electronic book. It is important to identify blocks with a relatively long cumulative display time. From such a point, it is very useful to normalize the accumulated display time t of each block for one electronic book, and in practice, it is preferable to normalize the accumulated display time.

  In the case of the embodiment shown here, as indicated by a broken line in the graph of FIG. 9, a portion (block) having a normalized time N = 0.5 as a threshold and a normalized time N equal to or greater than this threshold Is determined to be a part (block) that the viewer has noted, and one or more display time points T (B) are given to the part (block). The display time point T (B) is set to zero. Therefore, in the case of the graph of FIG. 9, one or more display time points T (B) are given to five blocks Ba to Be, and the display time points T (B) of other blocks are zero.

  Further, in the case of the embodiment shown here, for a portion (block) having a normalized time N equal to or greater than a threshold value, four-stage quantization is performed, and any one of display times 1, 2, 3, and 4 is performed. Points T (B) are given. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a rule for quantizing the normalized time N to obtain the display time point T (B). According to this rule, if the normalized time N is 0.9 or more, point 4 is given, if it is less than 0.9 and 0.8 or more, point 3 is given, and if it is less than 0.8 and 0.7 or more, point 2 is given. If it is less than 0.7 and 0.5 or more, point 1 is given, and if it is less than 0.5, point 0 is given.

  FIG. 11 is a graph showing display time points T (B) obtained by quantizing the normalized time N shown in FIG. 9 based on the rules shown in FIG. For the five blocks Ba to Be, one or more display time points T (B) are given, and the display time points T (B) of the other blocks are zero. By performing such processing, the cumulative display time t shown in the graph of FIG. 7 is converted into a display time point T (B) as shown in FIG. That is, the accumulated display time t having a real time unit of hour, minute, and second is subjected to normalization and quantization, and the display time point T (B having five levels of 0, 1, 2, 3, 4 is obtained. ).

  In short, in the embodiment shown here, the resistance function generator 60 applies a predetermined normalization function N (t) to each accumulated display time t of a plurality of m blocks included in one electronic book. Then, normalization is performed, and the obtained normalization time N is quantized according to a predetermined rule, thereby performing processing for obtaining a display time point T (B) having a plurality of values. The resistance value of each page can be defined as the sum of the display time points T (B) for the blocks included in the page.

  For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the sum of the display time points T (B) obtained for the blocks B1011 to B1014 becomes the resistance value for the 86th page, and the display time points T ( The sum of B) is the resistance value for page 87. In addition, when calculating the resistance value of each page, when the content of one block is displayed across a plurality of pages, the display time point T (B) for the block is one of the representatives. Only one page may be counted, or all pages may be counted. Or you may make it count about each page the point distributed according to the ratio over a page.

  As described above, the resistance value defined for each page is referred to when the display image creating unit 45 performs the page turning process, and the longer the resistance value, the longer the staying time on the screen. Page feed is performed. If the display time point T (B) having a plurality of stages of values is obtained by quantization as in the above example, the resistance value is also defined as a plurality of stages of values. As a result, when page turning is performed, a stepwise difference occurs in the time spent on the screen for each page, so that the viewer can easily grasp the stepwise difference and page turning. It becomes easy to notice a page that takes time (i.e., a page with a high degree of attention at the time of browsing in the past).

  For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 11, when a viewer performs a page-turning operation that flips through the pages and browses the entire book, the page including the blocks Bb and Bc is markedly different from the other pages. Since it takes time to turn the page (the staying time on the screen becomes longer), it becomes easier for the viewer to notice. Thus, it is possible to display a page-turned image in a form that makes it easy to find a specific part of interest.

<3.2 Generation method based on additional information>
Another material for determining the degree of attention of the viewer is additional information (so-called annotation information) added to a specific location during browsing. As already described, the viewer can perform an operation input to the browsing operation input unit 30 to add desired additional information to the specific location currently being browsed. The additional information added by the viewer is stored in the book data storage unit 20 together with the book data, and is incorporated into the display image created by the display image creation unit 45 and displayed by the display unit 10 as necessary. .

  Such additional information is added according to the viewer's own intention, and the portion to which the additional information is added is highly likely to be a portion where the viewer has some interest. Therefore, the approach of generating a resistance function based on a policy that a larger resistance value is defined in a portion having more additional information makes sense.

  When such an approach is taken, the browsing history collection unit 50 collects additional information added by the browsing operation for each individual block as a browsing history, and the resistance function generation unit 60 selects each page. For the above, it is sufficient to generate a resistance function such that the larger the additional information added to the block included in the page, the larger the resistance value is defined.

  In the embodiment described here, an abstract point value called an additional information point is defined so that various additional information can be quantitatively handled on a predetermined scale, and a resistance value is determined based on the additional information point. The method of defining is taken. That is, the resistance function generation unit 60 indicates the amount of additional information added to the block of the block number B (not necessarily a physical data amount but an amount as an abstract concept considering information contents). The additional information point A (B) is obtained, and for each page, a resistance function is generated such that the resistance value is defined based on the sum of the additional information points A (B) for the blocks included in the page. Hereinafter, specific processing by such a resistance function generation method will be described with examples.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a rule that defines the additional information point A (B) based on the additional information for each block collected by the browsing history collection unit 50. The example shown here is based on the premise that the browsing operation input unit 30 has a function of adding bookmark information, memo information, or highlight information as additional information at a specific location of a book.

  The bookmark information is information added to a specific page. In the case of the rules shown here, when bookmark information is added, the representative block included in the addition target page (for example, the top of the addition target page). +1 point is added to (block). Of course, you may make it add +1 point to all the blocks contained in an addition object page. On the other hand, the memo information is information consisting of a character string added to a specific location, and in the case of the rules shown here, +2 points are added to the target block including the location where the memo information is added regardless of the length of the character string. Is added. The highlight information is information added for a specific character string. In the case of the rule shown here, +1 is added to the target block including the character string to be added to the highlight information regardless of the length of the character string. Points are added.

  FIG. 13 is a plan view showing a state where additional information is added to a specific page by the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. Specifically, a state in which additional information A1, A2, and A3 are added to page 87 shown in FIG. The additional information A1 is bookmark information, and the 87th page is added as an addition target page. A page to which bookmark information is added can be opened immediately by performing a predetermined operation for opening the bookmark page. The additional information A2 is highlight information, and in the example shown in the figure, the character string “global warming” is added as an addition target. The character string to which the highlight information is added is highlighted as shown in the figure. The additional information A3 is memo information, and in the illustrated example, a table is added as an addition target. The entity of the memo information is a character string, and the viewer can input an arbitrary character string as the memo information by a predetermined method. The contents of the memo information can be displayed by, for example, performing a click operation on the location where the memo information is added. In the figure, a state in which the contents of the memo information are displayed in the form of a balloon by clicking the table portion is shown.

  The bookmark information, memo information, and highlight information exemplified here are additional information that has already been adopted in many electronic book browsing devices. Therefore, specific addition operations, data structures, display methods, and the like for these additional information are well-known techniques, and detailed description thereof is omitted here.

  The browsing history collection unit 50 collects, as a browsing history, additional information added to a location corresponding to each block for each block. Then, the resistance function generation unit 60 refers to each of the bookmark information, the memo information, or the highlight information, and adds the additional information about each block based on the point value set in advance according to the rule illustrated in FIG. Point A (B) is obtained. For example, when the additional information A1, A2, A3 as shown in FIG. 13 is added, among the blocks shown in FIG. 5, the point +1 for the additional information A1 (bookmark information) is the block B1015 (the head of page 87) Point +1 for additional information A2 (highlight information) is added to block B1016 (a block including a character string “global warming”), and point +2 for additional information A3 (memo information) is added Points are added to the block B1017 (block including the table to be added). After all, in the example shown in the figure, the sum of the additional information points A (B) added to all the blocks included in the 87th page is 4 points, and the resistance value for the 87th page can be defined as 4 =. it can.

  FIG. 14 is a graph illustrating an example of the additional information point A (B) obtained based on the additional information for each block collected by the browsing history collection unit 50. If the additional information point A (B) is defined according to the rules illustrated in FIG. 12, and the additional information point A (B) for each block is obtained as a total value of points added to the block, The obtained additional information point A (B) is an integer value such as 0, 1, 2, 3,..., And is a quantized value similarly to the display time point T (B) described above.

  Of course, the rule shown in FIG. 12 shows a very simple example for convenience of explanation, and a finer point addition rule may be set. For example, for memo information and highlight information, a rule may be adopted in which points increase according to the number of characters to be added. Further, usually, the additional information can be deleted by giving a deletion instruction to the browsing operation input unit 30 when it is determined that the viewer is no longer necessary. As described above, when the additional information is deleted, the deletion process (deduction process) may be performed on the additional information point A (B) that has been added due to the additional information.

<3.3 Practical resistance value generation method>
As described above, the generation method based on the accumulated display time and the generation method based on the additional information have been described as the method by which the resistance function generation unit 60 generates the resistance function. However, in practice, these two generation methods are used in combination. It is preferable to adopt. Then, it becomes possible to generate a resistance function that more reflects the degree of attention of the viewer.

  That is, the browsing history collection unit 50 collects the cumulative display time and additional information added by the browsing operation for each block as the browsing history, and the resistance function generation unit 60 performs the relevant page for each page. As the cumulative display time for the block included in the page is longer and as the additional information added to the block included in the page is larger, a resistance function in which a larger resistance value is defined is generated.

  More specifically, the resistance function generation unit 60 obtains a display time point T (B) indicating an amount corresponding to the accumulated display time for the block of the block number B, and is added to the block. Additional information point A (B) indicating the amount of additional information is obtained, and resistance is determined for each page based on the sum of display time point T (B) and additional information point A (B) for the blocks included in the page. A resistance function whose value is defined may be generated.

  FIG. 15 is a graph showing the summed point S (B) obtained by adding the display time point T (B) shown in FIG. 11 and the additional information point A (B) shown in FIG. That is, the summation point S (B) is a parameter indicating the degree of attention obtained by considering S (B) = T (B) + A (B) and considering both the accumulated display time and the additional information. it can. Note that the summation point S (B) may be defined by an expression such as S (B) = k1 · T (B) + k2 · A (B) using predetermined coefficients k1 and k2 at the time of summation.

Since the summation point S (B) shown in FIG. 15 indicates the degree of attention for each block, the resistance value of each page is the summation point S (B) for the block included in the page. Can be defined as the sum of FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an equation for obtaining the resistance value R (P) for each page based on the summed point S (B) shown in FIG. That is, the resistance value R (P) for the page P can be calculated by the following formula: R (P) = Σ _{B = Bbegin to Bend} S (B). _Here , for the sake of convenience, the sum of the values of the function F (X) when the variable X is changed from the initial value X1 to the _final value X2 is expressed as Σ _{X =} X1 to X2 F (X). Here, Bbegin is the block number of the first block included in the Pth page, and Bend is the block number of the last block included in the Pth page.

  If the resistance value R (P) is defined for each page by such a method, a page including a block with a long accumulated display time or a block with a lot of additional information, that is, a high degree of viewer's attention due to a past browsing history. A larger resistance value will be defined for the estimated page. Therefore, when these pages are page-turned, the staying time on the screen becomes longer and it is easy for the viewer to find them.

  In the case of the embodiment described here, the browsing history is collected in units of individual blocks, whereas the resistance function is a function indicating the resistance value defined for each page, and is therefore displayed on the display unit 10. As the page structure changes, the resistance function also changes. For example, the display image creation unit 45 creates a display image using a font having the size shown in FIGS. 2 to 4 and a display mode M2 creates a display image using a font having a smaller size. , And provided with a function capable of switching the display modes M1 / M2 by the mode switching operation given to the browsing operation input unit 30, even if the same book is actually displayed depending on the display mode. The structure of the page displayed on the screen will be different.

  In such a case, the resistance function generation unit 60 may generate a different resistance function for each display mode and store each in the resistance function storage unit 70. That is, in the case of the above example, for the same book A, the resistance function when displaying in the display mode M1 and the resistance function when displaying in the display mode M2 are generated separately and independently, and the resistance function storage unit 70 Will be stored. Further, the display image creating unit 45 performs page turning processing with reference to a resistance function corresponding to the switched display mode.

  When handling an electronic book with a fixed page structure, such as a pdf file, the browsing history collection unit 50 collects browsing history for each page with one page as one block, and generates a resistance function. The unit 60 may generate a resistance function for each page based on the browsing history collected as one block for the page. In other words, an electronic book with a fixed page structure can be handled by replacing the “block” described in the above description with a “page”. In this case, the horizontal axis of the graphs shown in FIGS. 7, 9, 11, 14, and 15 is not the block number B but the page number P. For example, the summation point S (B) shown in FIG. Can function as a resistance function R (P) as it is.

  By the way, in the description so far, the timing at which the resistance function generation unit 60 generates the resistance function has not been particularly mentioned, but in practice, the generation timing of the resistance function is determined in advance and the timing has arrived. At this time, it is preferable to perform a process of generating the latest resistance function based on the browsing history collected by the browsing history collection unit 50 and storing it in the resistance function storage unit 70. Since a new browsing history is collected every time the browsing operation is performed by the viewer, the resistance function generated by the resistance function generation unit 60 always changes according to the generation timing. Therefore, if the resistance function storage unit 70 always stores only the latest resistance function, the display image creation unit 45 can perform the page turning process with reference to the latest resistance function. it can.

  As the generation timing of the resistance function, for example, when the electronic book browsing apparatus is activated (when an application program functioning as the electronic book browsing apparatus is activated) can be set. In such a setting, each time the electronic book browsing apparatus is activated, each electronic book stored in the book data storage unit 20 is stored in the past browsing history stored in the browsing history collection unit 50 at that time. Based on this, a new resistance function is generated and stored in the resistance function storage unit 70. Of course, it is possible to set the end time of the electronic book browsing apparatus as the resistance function generation timing, and it is also possible to set any other time point as the resistance function generation timing. Of course, it is possible to operate such that a new resistance function is generated every 5 minutes while the electronic book browsing apparatus is activated.

<<< §4. Page feed processing >>>
As described above, the display image creation unit 45 in the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. 6 displays a screen with a larger resistance value defined by the resistance function when a page turning operation is given from the browsing operation input unit 30. A page turning process for updating the display image is executed so that the staying time above becomes longer. In general, various forms are used for the page turning operation in the electronic book browsing apparatus and the page turning process performed according to the operation. Therefore, here, the details of the page turning process will be described based on some embodiments.

<4.1 Page turning processing following finger movement>
In electronic book browsing devices that use electronic devices that use a touch panel on the display screen, such as tablet-type electronic terminals and smartphones, finger movement operations on the touch panel are detected as page turning operations. A form in which page turning is performed following this is widely used. For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 3, when the viewer slides the left finger as shown by the arrow with the index finger in contact with the display screen, the page slides to the left following the movement of the finger. The animation to be displayed is displayed. When the finger is released after the page has been fed to some extent, an animation is adopted in which the page continues to move due to inertia, and the movement of the page stops with the next page displayed as shown in FIG. There are many examples.

  In an apparatus that employs such a user interface, a viewer can perform a page turning operation as if the user is performing an operation of sliding an actual page with a finger. When searching for a specific location in the electronic book, the viewer may repeatedly execute the finger movement operation shown in FIG. As described above, the method of searching for a specific place by flowing the entire book while sequentially feeding pages is a method that has been popular for a long time in paper-based books, and is also frequently used in electronic books. This is because the human brain has the ability to visually grasp the layout pattern of characters and diagrams without having to read through the contents of the book, and the electronic book browsing device will be equipped with various search functions in the future. Even so, the primitive method of searching for a specific part while browsing the entire book while feeding pages in order will be used by many viewers as a simple and intuitive method.

  However, as described above, in a paper-based book, a physical structural change occurs in the paper medium itself due to a physical browsing operation. Therefore, when the operation of sequentially sending all pages of the book is performed, attention is paid to the past. The position of the page is easy to open, the page turning operation is temporarily interrupted at that position, and the probability that the past noticed part will be touched by the viewer increases. For example, pages that have been carefully read over a long period of time, drawn lines using markers, or written memos can be easily opened by physically binding the paper, so you can flip through the pages. When the operation is performed, the continuous page turning operation is easily interrupted, and the viewer can easily touch the eyes.

  On the other hand, in the conventional electronic book browsing apparatus, when an operation of feeding the entire book while feeding pages in order is performed, no physical change occurs in the binding of the paper. Are equal on every page. On the other hand, the page turning operation by moving the finger as illustrated in FIG. 3 is a very monotonous operation, and the same operation is easily repeated unconsciously. For this reason, it is easy to cause a situation in which a specific part that is being searched for is overlooked or visually recognized, but the finger has unintentionally repeatedly performed, and thus has passed.

  The main point of the present invention is to eliminate such an adverse effect in the electronic book browsing apparatus. As described above, in the electronic book browsing apparatus according to the present invention, a large resistance value is defined for the page that the viewer has noted based on the past browsing history, and the browser performs the page turning operation. When performing the above, page turning processing for updating the display image is executed such that the longer the defined resistance value is, the longer the stay time on the screen becomes. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, in the case of a device that employs a user interface that sends a page by sliding a finger, even if the viewer repeatedly slides the finger at exactly the same tempo, The page on which the resistance value is defined has a slower slide speed on the screen and a longer staying time on the screen. Therefore, it is easy to find a page that has been noted in the past (that is, a page with a long accumulated display time or a page with additional information added).

  FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the basic principle of performing page turning processing on the screen following the page turning operation with a finger. The figure shows a state in which pages 83 to 89 are arranged from left to right. This is a concept for explaining a state in which consecutive pages are sequentially sent on the screen. It is shown. A display frame F indicated by a bold line in the figure corresponds to the display screen of the display unit 10, and actually, only the information in the display frame F among the information on pages 83 to 89 is on the screen. Will be displayed.

  In this example, when the viewer makes a finger contact with the screen (on the touch panel) and slides leftward, the page slides leftward by one page. Therefore, if the viewer repeatedly executes such a slide operation, the pages are slid in the forward direction (ascending order of the page numbers) one page at a time. When adopting such a user interface for displaying a slide animation, it is common to match the page feed speed Vpage with the finger movement speed Vswipe. That is, the faster the viewer moves his / her finger, the faster the page movement speed.

  As described above, when Vpage = Vswipe is set, the viewer can have a natural feeling close to the operation of turning the page of the book on the paper medium. This is because the page moves following the movement of the finger, so that it feels as if the actual page is being moved with the finger. On the other hand, in the embodiment described here, the setting of Vpage <Vswipe is daringly adopted for a page having a large resistance value. That is, in FIG. 17, when the finger is slid to the left at a speed of Vswipe, the page in the display frame F also slides to the left, but the speed Vpage depends on the resistance value of the page. Make settings so that they are smaller.

  Specifically, when the Pth page is displayed on the screen, the page is slid to the left and the (P + 1) th page, or the page is slid to the right and the (P-1) th page. In order to display the page, when the viewer performs a page turning operation to move the finger to the left or right at the speed Vswipe, as shown in FIG. 17, using the resistance function R (P), It is only necessary to display an animation such that a page in the display frame F is sent at a page feed speed Vpage obtained by the equation Vpage = Vswipe−k · R (P). Here, k is a predetermined proportional constant, and is set to a value such that Vpage is always positive (that is, k · Rmax <Vswipe, where Rmax is the maximum value of R (P)). The value k may be set).

  If the browsing operation input unit 30 has a function of detecting the finger movement speed Vswipe, the display image creation unit 45 uses the resistance function R (P) stored in the resistance function storage unit 70. Thus, the page feed speed Vpage can be determined by performing the calculation according to the above formula, so that an animation for performing page feed at the speed Vpage can be displayed. When a page having a resistance value defined by the resistance function R (P) of 0 is sent, the page should be sent completely following the finger movement operation, as is generally done in conventional devices. However, when feeding a page in which a resistance value exceeding 0 is defined, the page feed speed Vpage is smaller than the finger movement speed Vswipe, so that a delay occurs in the page feed tracking operation. That is, the viewer feels that the page is sent while slipping slightly, and feels that the resistance corresponding to the resistance value acts when the page is turned.

  Eventually, page turning processing for updating the display image is performed so that the longer the defined resistance value is, the longer the staying time on the screen is, and as the page has a higher resistance value (that is, past browsing) Pages that are judged to have a high degree of attention based on the history) are page-turned in a form that is easy for the viewer to touch.

Note that the display form by the display unit 10 is not necessarily a form of one page per screen, but may be a form of displaying a plurality of pages on one screen. In such a case, the page feed speed Vpage may be determined by comprehensively referring to the resistance values of a plurality of displayed pages. For example, the formula shown in parentheses at the bottom of FIG. 17 is a formula for determining the page feed speed Vpage based on the sum of the resistance values of a plurality of displayed pages. That is, in this example, the page feed speed Vpage is determined based on the equation Vpage = Vswipe-k · ΣP = Pbegin to _Pend R (P). Here, Pbegin is the number of the display start page displayed on the screen when performing page feed processing, Pend is the number of the display end page, and k is set so that Vpage is always positive. It is a predetermined proportionality constant.

  FIG. 18 is a plan view showing a state in which page turning processing is performed on a screen by performing an operation of sliding the page with a finger in an electronic book browsing apparatus adopting a display form of one page and two pages. Specifically, in a state where the 86th page and the 87th page are displayed side by side on the screen, the viewer performs a page turning operation to slide his / her finger, thereby causing the 88th page and the 89th page. An animation that changes to a state in which is displayed in parallel will be displayed.

Also in this case, the page slides following the movement of the finger. However, since the display start page Pbegin = 86 and the display end page Pend = 87, the page feed speed Vpage is Vpage = Vswipe−k · Σ. _{P = 86 to 87} It is determined based on the formula R (P). In other words, the value obtained by multiplying the sum of the resistance values (R (86) + R (87)) of the currently displayed pages 86 and 87 by the proportional constant k is subtracted from the finger movement speed Vswipe, thereby turning the page. A speed Vpage is calculated. Therefore, a page that is determined to have a high degree of attention based on the past browsing history also has a longer staying time on the screen and is easier for the viewer to find.

  In general, a display form of 1 page per page or 1 page of 2 pages is often adopted. Of course, when a display form of 1 screen 4 pages, 1 screen 6 pages is adopted, The page feed speed Vpage may be determined based on the sum of the resistance values of a plurality of displayed pages.

  Further, as the page turning operation performed by the viewer, not only the operation of sliding the page as shown in FIG. 18 but also the operation of turning the page as shown in FIG. 19 may be adopted. The processing according to the form can correspond to any operation. The physical operation actually performed on the touch panel, both the operation of sliding the page and the operation of turning the page, is an operation of moving the finger in a predetermined direction with the finger in contact with the touch panel. Therefore, the difference between the two is not the physical operation itself by the viewer, but the difference in the form of animation that shows the page being sent. Eventually, if the display image creation unit 45 determines the page turning speed Vpage based on the equation shown in FIG. 17 and displays an animation in which the page is turned at the speed Vpage, an operation of turning the page as shown in FIG. 19 is performed. The processing according to this embodiment can also be applied to the employed apparatus.

  Furthermore, the processing according to this embodiment is also applied to an apparatus that employs a user interface that performs page turning processing on the screen by performing an operation of sliding a finger on the page turning bar I as illustrated in FIG. Is possible. The figure shows a state in which a page turning operation is performed using a page turning bar I for an electronic book composed of all 100 pages. In this example, the page feed bar I can be displayed over the display page at the upper and lower ends of the display screen when necessary, and the page position cursor C indicated by a triangle in the figure is moved to the left and right. Thus, a desired page can be displayed. The page position cursor C can be moved left and right along the page feed bar I, and the page at the position indicated by the page position cursor C is always displayed on the screen (in the case of the illustrated example, the screen Is displayed around page 58).

  The page position cursor C moves following the left / right movement of the finger f. That is, when the finger f is moved to the right as shown, the page position cursor C also moves to the right following the movement of the finger. However, if the page indicated by the page position cursor C (that is, the currently displayed page) is the Pth page and the finger moving speed is Vswipe, the page feed is based on the formula shown in FIG. The speed Vpage is determined. Therefore, basically, if the finger f is moved quickly, the page position cursor C also moves quickly following this, and the page feed is performed quickly, but the page feed speed Vpage is defined for each page. Since it is decreased according to the resistance value, a delay occurs in the tracking operation of the page position cursor C.

  As described above, various forms can be adopted for the user interface. The essential features of the embodiment described here are as follows. First, the browsing operation input unit 30 is an operation of sliding a displayed page (for example, an operation shown in FIG. 18) or an operation of turning a displayed page when the viewer moves his / her finger on the display screen. When (for example, the operation shown in FIG. 19) is performed, the operation is input as a page turning operation. Specifically, the browsing operation input unit 30 has a function of detecting the moving speed Vswipe together with the moving direction of the viewer's finger. Then, the display image creating unit 45 performs page turning processing (page turning animation display processing) for updating the image so that the page is fed following the operation of moving the finger, and a page having a large resistance value. As a result, processing that causes a delay in the follow-up operation is performed.

As a specific method for causing a delay in the page feed tracking operation, the resistance function R (P) stored in the resistance function storage unit 70 is used to display the Pth page. When the page feed speed of Vpage is Vpage, the page feed is based on the equation Vpage = Vswipe−k · R (P) (where k is a predetermined proportional constant set so that Vpage is always positive). The speed Vpage is determined, and the page turning animation for the Pth page may be displayed at the speed. Further, in the case of adopting a form in which a plurality of pages are displayed on one screen, Vpage = Vswipe−k · Σ _P when the page feed speed when the Pbegin to Pend pages are displayed on the screen is Vpage. _The page feed speed Vpage may be determined based on an arithmetic expression of _{= Pbegin to Pend} R (P) (where k is a predetermined proportional constant set so that Vpage is always positive).

Of course, the above arithmetic expression shows an example, and the arithmetic expression for determining the page feed speed Vpage is not limited to the above arithmetic expression. In short, when adopting a form in which one page is displayed on one screen, the value of Vpage may be set to be a value that monotonously decreases from the value of Vswipe as R (P) increases. Also, in the case of adopting a form in which a plurality of pages are displayed on one screen, the value of Vpage is set to be a value that monotonously decreases from the value of Vswipe as Σ _{P = Pbegin to Pend} R (P) increases. That's fine.

<4.2 Page turning process by page turning button>
Some electronic book browsing apparatuses employ a user interface that allows a viewer to operate a page turning button to execute page turning processing. Here, a specific method of page feed processing suitable for such an apparatus will be described.

  FIG. 21 is a plan view showing an example in which a page turning process is performed on the screen by operating the page turning button displayed on the screen with a finger. That is, in this example, the page feed button S1 is displayed at the lower left of the screen, the page feed button S2 is displayed at the lower right of the screen, and the viewer taps the button S1 with a finger while the Pth page is displayed. The animation that slides to the previous page is displayed and the display switches to the display of the (P-1) th page. When the viewer taps the button S2 with a finger, the animation that slides to the next page is displayed and the (P + 1) th page. The display switches to the eye display.

  Thus, in an apparatus that employs a user interface that performs page turning based on a viewer's tap operation, the page turning process is usually performed immediately when a tap operation is input. For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 21, when the viewer taps the page feed button S1 in the state where page 87 is displayed, the page feed process to page 86 is started immediately, and the page is displayed on the screen. A display image update process for displaying a sliding animation is performed. The figure shows a state in the middle of such a slide animation.

  In general, from the viewpoint of providing a good user interface to the viewer, it is preferable to execute the page turning process immediately after the input of the tap operation. Since the viewer can immediately confirm the page turning animation as a response to the operation after performing the tap operation, the viewer can experience good operability. On the other hand, the embodiment described here adopts a method of darely setting a delay time according to the resistance value until the page turning animation starts, so that a page having a larger defined resistance value is displayed on the screen. A page turning process for updating the display image is performed so that the staying time above becomes longer.

Specifically, the browsing operation input unit 30 has a function of inputting a viewer's tap operation on the page turning buttons S1 and S2 as a page turning operation, and the display image creating unit 45 displays the Pth page. When a tap operation is input in a state in which the display is being performed, update of the display image is started with a delay of Delay = k · R (P) (where k is a predetermined proportional constant). That's fine. FIG. 22 shows an equation for calculating the delay time Delay by such a method. The expression in parentheses is an expression in the case of adopting a form in which a plurality of pages are displayed on one screen, and when a tap operation is input in a state where the Pbegin page to the Pend page are displayed on the screen, the Delay = K · Σ _{P = Pbegin to Pend} R (P) delay time (where k is a predetermined proportionality constant), and updating of the display image is started.

  For example, as in the example shown in FIG. 21, let us consider a case where a viewer taps the page feed button S1 while the 87th page is being displayed in an apparatus that takes a display form of one page per screen. In this case, if the delay time of Delay = 0.5 seconds is calculated for the 87th page, the page turning process is executed with a delay of 0.5 seconds from the tap operation. When viewed from the viewer, the page turning animation is started as a response to the tap operation with a delay of 0.5 seconds after the page turning button is tapped.

  In this way, when focusing only on the response to the tap operation, the delay time Delay becomes a factor that hinders the responsiveness to the viewer's operation, but the viewer watches the entire book while sequentially feeding the pages. When an operation for searching for a specific location is performed, a specific effect that makes it easy to find the specific location is achieved. In other words, the viewer continues the operation of repeatedly tapping the page turning button S1 or S2 when viewing the entire book. Such repeated tapping is a very monotonous operation and is unconscious. It is easy to repeat the same operation. For this reason, it is easy to cause a situation in which the specific portion that was being searched for is overlooked or visually recognized, but the finger is unknowingly repeated the tap operation, so that it passes by.

  In the case of the embodiment described here, the delay time Delay increases as the defined resistance value increases. Therefore, when pages are continuously sent by continuous tap operation, the page with the large resistance value stays on the screen. The time will be longer and it will be easier for viewers to touch. Also, a page canceling operation is performed by performing a predetermined canceling operation (for example, an operation of tapping any display screen other than the page turning button) between the time when the page turning button is tapped and the delay time Delay elapses. If the specific location you are looking for is displayed, even if your finger unintentionally repeats the tap operation, you can cancel it within the delay time delay. It becomes possible to display a specific part.

  On the other hand, some devices that employ a user interface using a page feed button are premised on input by continuous pressing operation instead of tap operation. For example, if the page feed button S1 or S2 shown in FIG. 21 is continuously pressed with a finger, the page is continuously fed while the button is held down, and the page feed is stopped when the finger is released. In an apparatus that employs a user interface, the browsing operation input unit 30 has a function of inputting a browser pressing operation on the page turning button as a page turning operation.

In order to apply the present invention to such an apparatus, the display image creation unit 45 performs continuous page turning processing on the screen while the pressing operation continues, and the P-th page The page feed speed Vscroll displayed on the screen may be calculated by an arithmetic expression Vscroll = Vstandard−k · R (P) as shown in FIG. Here, R (P) is a resistance function stored in the resistance function storage unit 70, Vstandard is a standard speed, and k is a predetermined proportional constant set so that Vscroll is always positive (R (P The value k may be set such that k · Rmax <Vstandard, where the maximum value of R) is Rmax). Note that the expression in parentheses shown in FIG. 23 is an expression in the case of adopting a form in which a plurality of pages are displayed on one screen. When the Pbegin page to the Pend page are displayed on the screen, Vscroll = It is only necessary to determine the page feed speed Vscroll using an arithmetic expression of Vstndard−k · Σ _{P = Pbegin to Pend} R (P) (here, k is a predetermined proportional constant set so that Vscroll is always positive) ).

Of course, the above arithmetic expression shows one embodiment, and the arithmetic expression for determining the page feed speed Vscroll is not limited to the above arithmetic expression. In short, when adopting a form in which one page is displayed on one screen, the value of Vscroll may be set so as to monotonously decrease from the value of the standard speed Vstandard as R (P) increases. Further, in the case of adopting a form in which a plurality of pages are displayed on one screen, the value of Vscroll is a value that monotonously decreases from the value of the standard speed Vstandard as Σ _{P = Pbegin to Pend} R (P) increases. You only have to set it.

  If the page turning process described above is employed, if the viewer continues to press the page turning button S1 or S2 with a finger, the page on the display screen is automatically sent, but the page turning speed Vscroll is: The speed is reduced according to the resistance value defined for each page. In other words, pages with a large resistance value defined (that is, pages that are determined to have a high degree of attention based on past browsing history) are sent slowly, and pagination is not easy for the viewer to touch. Will come to be.

  Further, even in a device having a function of inputting a user's pressing operation on the page turning button as a page turning operation, the page turning animation displayed on the screen is not continuous page turning animation but intermittent. There is also a device that performs page turning animation. For example, if the page feed button S1 or S2 shown in FIG. 21 is kept pressed with a finger, the page is intermittently sent while the button is kept pressed, and the page feed stops when the finger is released. Some devices employ a user interface.

  In such an apparatus, a predetermined waiting time Twait is set in advance, and when a predetermined page is displayed in a stationary state for the waiting time Twait, an operation for updating the page is performed, and the updated page is again displayed for the waiting time Twait. Once displayed, the process of performing the next page update operation is repeated while the pressing operation for the page feed button is being performed. For example, if the waiting time Twait = 0.8 seconds and the page update time (animation display time for switching to a new page display) is 0.2 seconds, the viewer can keep pressing the page feed button. It is possible to view how the display page is updated at a cycle of 1 second.

In order to apply the present invention to such an apparatus, the display image creating unit 45 performs intermittent page turning processing on the screen while the pressing operation continues, and the P-th page As shown in FIG. 24, the waiting time Twait until the next page update when displayed on the screen may be calculated by an arithmetic expression of Twait = Tstandard + k · R (P). Here, R (P) is a resistance function stored in the resistance function storage unit 70, Tstandard is a standard waiting time, and k is a predetermined proportional constant. The expression in parentheses shown in FIG. 24 is an expression in the case of adopting a form in which a plurality of pages are displayed on one screen. When the Pbegin page to the Pend page are displayed on the screen, Twait = The waiting time Twait may be determined using an arithmetic expression Tstandard + k · ΣP _{= Pbegin to Pend} R (P) (k here is a predetermined proportional constant).

  If the page turning process described above is adopted, if the viewer continues to press the page turning button S1 or S2 with a finger, the page on the display screen is intermittently sent, but the page update operation is performed. The waiting time Twait is increased according to the resistance value defined for each page. That is, a page with a large resistance value defined (that is, a page with a higher degree of attention based on past browsing history) is displayed for a longer time, and is displayed in a form that is easy for the viewer to touch. The feed will be made.

  Note that the animation for switching to a new page display when executing the page turning process by the page turning button described here may be an animation of sliding the page on the screen, or an animation in which the page is turned in three dimensions. However, it can be a simple animation that changes pages momentarily.

  The example shown in FIG. 21 is an example in which buttons displayed on the display screen by software are used as the page feed buttons S1 and S2. Of course, buttons that operate as hardware are provided outside the display screen. In the case of such a device, this hardware button may be used as a page feed button.

  Furthermore, an object that receives a tap operation or a pressing operation from a viewer does not necessarily have to be in the form of a “button”, and may be an “area” defined on the display screen. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 21, instead of providing the page turning buttons S1 and S2, the left half area of the display screen is used as a page turning area as a substitute for the page turning button S1, and the right half area of the display screen is used. The page feed area can be used as a substitute for the page feed button S2. In this case, when a tap operation or a press operation is performed on the left half page feed area, it is handled as if the same operation on the page feed button S1 in the embodiments described above is performed, and the right half page feed is performed. When a tap operation or a press operation is performed on an area, it may be handled that the same operation is performed on the page feed button S2 in the embodiments described so far.

  The resistance function stored in the resistance function storage unit 70 does not necessarily have to be a function that associates any specific numerical value as a resistance value for all pages. For example, information indicating whether each page is “no resistance” or “with resistance” may be defined as a resistance function and stored in the resistance function storage unit 70. Specifically, the resistance value R (P) obtained in the various embodiments described so far is compared with a predetermined threshold value. If the value is less than the value, a resistance function consisting of binary information “no resistance” may be defined.

  As described above, when the information indicating whether each page is “no resistance” or “with resistance” is used as the resistance function, the resistance function storage unit 70 stores information indicating whether or not there is resistance for each page. Since it is sufficient to store the value information, it is not necessary to store a specific resistance value. For example, information that enumerates the nobles on the page “with resistance” can be stored as a resistance function. On the other hand, the display image creation unit 45 sets the stay time on the screen for the “no resistance” page to the standard stay time (for example, 0.5 seconds), and the stay time on the screen for the “with resistance” page. What is necessary is just to perform the page turning process which updates a display image so that it may become long-term residence time (for example, 1.0 second) longer than the said standard residence time.

<<< §5. Electronic book browsing system according to the present invention >>
As above, the configuration and operation of each unit in the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. 6 have been described in detail. As described above, this electronic book browsing apparatus is actually an apparatus realized by incorporating a dedicated application program into an electronic device including a computer such as a personal computer, a tablet electronic terminal, and a smartphone. Moreover, the browsing history collection unit 50 and the resistance function generation unit 60 are built in, and have a function of analyzing a user's browsing history by themselves and generating a resistance function.

  However, in implementing the present invention, the browsing history collection unit 50 and the resistance function generation unit 60 are not necessarily provided inside the electronic book browsing device used by the user (viewer), but are provided in an external server device. It doesn't matter if you do. In this case, the present invention includes an electronic book browsing device used by a user (browser) and a server device having a function of exchanging information with the electronic book browsing device via a network. It will be embodied in the form of an electronic book browsing system.

  FIG. 25 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of such an electronic book browsing system. The illustrated system includes a plurality of electronic book browsing devices 100A, 100B, 100C,... And a server device 300 connected thereto via the Internet 200.

  Each of the electronic book browsing devices 100A, 100B, 100C,... (Hereinafter simply referred to as the electronic book browsing device 100) is a browsing history collection unit 50 and a resistance function generation unit 60 from the electronic book browsing device shown in FIG. It has the structure which omitted. These electronic book browsing apparatuses have the same function as the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. 6 in that the electronic book has a function of displaying and browsing an electronic book on a screen unit. As shown in the figure, the basic components are a display unit 10 for displaying a display image on a screen, a book data storage unit 20 for storing book data indicating the contents of an electronic book, and a browsing operation from a viewer. The browsing operation input unit 30 to be input, the display image creation unit 45 that creates a display image based on book data so that screen display according to the browsing operation is performed, and the resistance value when sending a page on the screen, The resistance function storage unit 70 stores the resistance function defined for the page.

  Here, the browsing operation input unit 30 has a function of inputting a page turning operation for sequentially feeding pages on the screen. When the display image creating unit 45 is given this page turning operation, the resistance function Also shown in FIG. 6 is a page turning process for updating the display image so that the page having a larger resistance value defined by the resistance function stored in the storage unit 70 has a longer staying time on the screen. It is exactly the same as the device. However, since the browsing history collection unit 50 and the resistance function generation unit 60 are omitted, the electronic book browsing apparatus 100 does not have a function of analyzing the browsing history of the user and generating a resistance function. Therefore, it is necessary to store an externally created resistance function in the resistance function storage unit 70.

  The server device 300 plays the role of creating this resistance function. Based on the browsing operation and display image of the electronic book browsing device 100, the server device 300 collects a browsing history via the network (in the illustrated example, the Internet 200), and the collected browsing history. And a resistance function generation unit 65 that generates a resistance function based on the resistance function. The basic functions of the browsing history collection unit 55 are the same as the basic functions of the browsing history collection unit 50 shown in FIG. The only difference is that browsing history is collected via the Internet 200. The basic function of the resistance function generation unit 65 is the same as the basic function of the resistance function generation unit 60 shown in FIG. However, the generated resistance function is transmitted to the electronic book browsing apparatus 100 via the Internet 200. The electronic book browsing apparatus 100 has a function of storing the resistance function generated by the resistance function generation unit 65 in the resistance function storage unit 70 via the Internet 200.

  In the end, in the electronic book browsing system shown in FIG. 25, the electronic book browsing apparatus 100 entrusts the external server apparatus 300 to the resistance function creation process. Since the resistance function creating process is a relatively heavy process, if the server apparatus 300 is entrusted, the processing load on the electronic book browsing apparatus 100 side can be reduced. When the electronic book browsing apparatus 100 and the server apparatus 300 are not in an always-connected environment, a storage place for temporarily storing a browsing history is provided in the electronic book browsing apparatus 100, and the server apparatus 300 is provided. The browsing history that has been temporarily stored at the time of connection with the browsing history may be collected by the browsing history collection unit 55.

  The basic operation mode of the server device 300 is that a resistance function created based on the browsing history collected from the electronic book browsing device 100A is returned to the electronic book browsing device 100A, and the resistance function storage unit 70 in the electronic book browsing device 100A is returned. The resistance function created based on the browsing history collected from the electronic book browsing apparatus 100B is returned to the electronic book browsing apparatus 100B and stored in the resistance function storage unit 70 in the electronic book browsing apparatus 100B. So ... and so on. As long as such a basic operation mode is adopted, the basic operation of each electronic book browsing apparatus 100 is not different from the basic operation of the electronic book browsing apparatus shown in FIG. That is, the resistance function stored in the electronic book browsing apparatus 100A is a function created based on the browsing history of the electronic book browsing apparatus 100A itself, and the resistance function stored in the electronic book browsing apparatus 100B is electronic The function is created based on the browsing history of the book browsing apparatus 100B itself.

  However, depending on the electronic book, a resistance function is generated by comprehensively referring to browsing histories collected from a plurality of electronic book browsing devices, and this resistance function is shared by a plurality of electronic book browsing devices as a common resistance function. In some cases, this is preferable. For example, if it is a reference book for an examination, if you collect browsing history from many electronic book browsing devices used by many students and refer to them comprehensively to generate a common resistance function, A large resistance value is defined for a page that many students consider important. Therefore, if this common resistance function is stored and used in each electronic book browsing device, it is easy to find a page that many students consider important, when a page turning operation is performed.

  Thus, in order to generate a common resistance function based on browsing histories collected from a plurality of electronic book browsing devices, a plurality of n electronic book browsing devices 100 are prepared, and browsing history collection in the server device 300 is performed. The unit 55 collects browsing histories from the n electronic book browsing devices 100, and the resistance function generation unit 65 generates resistance functions based on the browsing histories collected from the n electronic book browsing devices 100. do it. Specifically, for example, when a total point S (B) as shown in FIG. 15 is obtained based on a browsing history collected from one electronic book browsing device, the total point S (B) is set to n. What is necessary is just to produce | generate a common total point by adding together and add a unit, and generate | occur | produce a resistance function based on this common total point.

10: Display unit 20: Book data storage unit 30: Browsing operation input unit 40: Display image creation unit 45: Display image creation unit 50: Browsing history collection unit 55: Browsing history collection unit 60: Resistance function generation unit 65: Resistance function Generation unit 70: Resistance function storage units 100A, 100B, 100C: Electronic book browsing device 200: Internet 300: Server device A1: Additional information (bookmark information)
A2: Additional information (highlight information)
A3: Additional information (memo information)
A (B): additional information point B: block numbers Ba to Be: block numbers B1011 to B1017: block serving as a constituent unit of the electronic book C: page position cursor
Delay: Delay time F: Display frame f: Reader's finger I: Page feed bar k: Proportional constant N: Normalization time N (t): Normalization function P: Page number Pbegin: Display start page Pend: Display end page R (P): Resistance function / P-page resistance value S (B): Total point S1, S2: Page feed button t: Cumulative display time Tmax: Maximum value of cumulative display time t Twait: Start of next page feed operation Waiting time T (B): display time point Vpage: page feed speed Vscroll: page feed speed Vstandard: standard speed Vswipe: finger movement speed

Claims (23)

An electronic book browsing device that displays and browses electronic books on a screen in page units,
A book data storage unit that stores book data indicating the contents of the electronic book as an aggregate of blocks that are constituent units of the electronic book ;
A browsing operation input unit for inputting a browsing operation from a viewer;
A display image creation unit that creates a display image in page units based on data of a specific block in the book data so that a screen display according to the browsing operation is made;
A display unit for displaying the display image on a screen;
Based on the browsing operation and the display image, a browsing history collection unit that collects a browsing history for each individual block ;
Based on the browsing history, a resistance function generating unit that generates a resistance function that defines the resistance value when sending a page on the screen for each page;
A resistance function storage for storing the resistance function;
With
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting a page turning operation for sequentially feeding pages on the screen,
The resistance function generation unit generates a resistance function for each page based on a browsing history of blocks included in the page,
When the page turning operation is given, the display image creation unit updates the display image so that the page having a larger resistance value defined by the resistance function has a longer staying time on the screen. An electronic book browsing apparatus characterized by performing processing. The electronic book browsing apparatus according to claim 1 ,
The browsing history collection unit collects browsing history with a group of character strings constituting a headline, a group of character strings constituting a paragraph, a group of character strings constituting a caption, an image, or a table as one block. A featured electronic book browsing device. The electronic book browsing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The browsing history collection unit collects the accumulated display time as browsing history for each block,
An electronic book browsing device, wherein a resistance function generation unit generates a resistance function such that a larger resistance value is defined as an accumulated display time for a block included in the page is longer for each page. The electronic book browsing apparatus according to claim 3 ,
The resistance function generation unit obtains a display time point T (B) indicating an amount corresponding to the accumulated display time for the block of the block number B, and displays the individual pages for the blocks included in the page. An electronic book browsing device, wherein a resistance function is defined such that a resistance value is defined based on a sum of time points T (B). The electronic book browsing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The browsing history collection unit collects additional information added by browsing operations for each block as browsing history,
An electronic book browsing device characterized in that a resistance function generation unit generates a resistance function such that a larger resistance value is defined for each page as the additional information added to a block included in the page increases. . The electronic book browsing apparatus according to claim 5 ,
The resistance function generation unit obtains an additional information point A (B) indicating the amount of additional information added to the block for the block with the block number B, and for each page, additional information about the block included in the page. An electronic book browsing device that generates a resistance function in which a resistance value is defined based on a sum of points A (B). The electronic book browsing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 ,
The browsing history collection unit collects the accumulated display time and additional information added by browsing operation as browsing history for each block,
The resistance function generator defines a larger resistance value for each page as the cumulative display time for the block included in the page is longer and the additional information added to the block included in the page is larger. An electronic book browsing device that generates a resistance function as described above. The electronic book browsing apparatus according to claim 7 ,
The resistance function generation unit obtains a display time point T (B) indicating the amount corresponding to the cumulative display time for the block of the block number B, and adds the amount of additional information added for the block The information point A (B) is obtained, and the resistance value is defined for each page based on the sum of the display time point T (B) and the additional information point A (B) for the blocks included in the page. An electronic book browsing device characterized by generating a resistance function. The electronic book browsing apparatus according to claim 4 or 8 ,
A normalization time obtained by the resistance function generation unit normalizing the accumulated display time t of each of a plurality of m blocks included in one electronic book by applying a predetermined normalization function N (t). An electronic book browsing apparatus characterized by obtaining a display time point T (B) having a plurality of values by quantizing N according to a predetermined rule. The electronic book browsing apparatus according to claim 6 or 8 ,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of adding bookmark information, memo information, or highlight information as additional information to a specific part of the book,
The browsing history collection unit collects additional information added to the location corresponding to each block as a browsing history for each block,
An electronic book browsing apparatus, wherein the resistance function generation unit obtains an additional information point A (B) based on a preset point value for each of bookmark information, memo information, or highlight information. In the electronic book browsing apparatus in any one of Claims 1-10 ,
When the browsing operation input unit performs an operation of sliding the displayed page or turning the displayed page by moving a finger on the display screen, the browsing operation is performed as a page turning operation. Has the function to input as
The display image creation unit performs a page turning process for updating the image so that the page is fed following the operation of moving the finger, and a page having a larger resistance value causes a delay in the tracking operation. An electronic book browsing apparatus characterized by: The electronic book browsing apparatus according to claim 11 ,
The browsing operation input unit detects the movement speed Vswipe of the viewer's finger,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
When the display image creation unit sets the page feed speed when the P-th page is displayed on the screen as Vpage, the value of Vpage monotonously decreases from the value of Vswipe as R (P) increases. An electronic book browsing device, wherein the electronic book browsing device is set to be a value. The electronic book browsing apparatus according to claim 11 ,
The browsing operation input unit detects the movement speed Vswipe of the viewer's finger,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
When the display image creation unit sets the page feed speed when the Pbegin page to the Pend page are displayed on the screen to Vpage, the value of _Vpage increases from Σ _{P = Pbegin to Pend} R (P). Accordingly, the electronic book browsing device is set so that the value monotonously decreases from the value of Vswipe. In the electronic book browsing apparatus in any one of Claims 1-10 ,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting a viewer's tap operation for a page turning button or a page turning area as a page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
When the display image creation unit receives the tap operation while the P-th page is displayed, only a delay time of Delay = k · R (P) (where k is a predetermined proportional constant) An electronic book browsing apparatus, characterized by starting updating a display image with a delay. In the electronic book browsing apparatus in any one of Claims 1-10 ,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting a viewer's tap operation for a page turning button or a page turning area as a page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
When the display image creation unit inputs the tap operation in a state where the Pbegin page to the Pend page are displayed on the screen, a delay time of Delay = k · Σ _{P = Pbegin to Pend} R (P) An electronic book browsing apparatus, wherein updating of a display image is started with a delay by k (where k is a predetermined proportional constant). In the electronic book browsing apparatus in any one of Claims 1-10 ,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting the pressing operation of the viewer with respect to the page turning button or the page turning area as the page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
When the display image creation unit performs continuous page turning processing on the screen while the pressing operation is continued, and the page turning speed when the Pth page is displayed on the screen is Vscroll A Vscroll value is set so as to monotonously decrease from the value of the standard speed Vstandard as R (P) increases. In the electronic book browsing apparatus in any one of Claims 1-10 ,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting the pressing operation of the viewer with respect to the page turning button or the page turning area as the page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
While the pressing operation is continued, the display image creation unit performs continuous page turning processing on the screen, and the page turning speed when the Pbegin to Pend pages are displayed on the screen is Vscroll. The electronic book browsing apparatus is characterized in that the value of Vscroll is set to a value that monotonously decreases from the value of the standard speed Vstandard as Σ _{P = Pbegin to Pend} R (P) increases. In the electronic book browsing apparatus in any one of Claims 1-10 ,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting the pressing operation of the viewer with respect to the page turning button or the page turning area as the page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
While the pressing operation continues, the display image creation unit performs intermittent page turning processing on the screen, and wait time until the next page update when the Pth page is displayed on the screen Is an e-book reader, wherein Twait = Tstandard + k · R (P) (where Tstandard is a standard waiting time and k is a predetermined proportional constant). In the electronic book browsing apparatus in any one of Claims 1-10 ,
The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting the pressing operation of the viewer with respect to the page turning button or the page turning area as the page turning operation,
The resistance function storage unit stores a resistance function R (P) indicating the resistance value of the Pth page,
While the pressing operation continues, the display image creation unit performs intermittent page turning processing on the screen, and until the next page update when the Pbegin page to the Pend page are displayed on the screen. An electronic book characterized in that Twait = Tstandard + k · ΣP = Pbegin to _Pend R (P) where Tstandard is the waiting time (where Tstandard is the standard waiting time and k is a predetermined proportional constant). Browsing device. In the electronic book browsing apparatus in any one of Claims 1-10 ,
In the resistance function storage section, information indicating whether each page is “no resistance” or “with resistance” is stored as a resistance function.
The display image creation unit sets the stay time on the screen as the standard stay time for the “no resistance” page, and the long stay time as the stay time on the screen for the “with resistance” page is longer than the standard stay time. As described above, an electronic book browsing apparatus that performs page turning processing for updating a display image. A program that causes a computer to function as the electronic book browsing device according to claim 1 . An electronic book comprising: an electronic book browsing device that displays and browses an electronic book on a screen in units of pages; and a server device having a function of exchanging information with the electronic book browsing device via a network A browsing system,
  The electronic book browsing device includes:
  A book data storage unit that stores book data indicating the contents of the electronic book as an aggregate of blocks that are constituent units of the electronic book;
  A browsing operation input unit for inputting a browsing operation from a viewer;
  A display image creation unit that creates a display image in page units based on data of a specific block in the book data so that a screen display according to the browsing operation is made;
  A display unit for displaying the display image on a screen;
  A resistance function storage unit that stores resistance values defined for individual pages as resistance values when sending pages on the screen;
  With
  The browsing operation input unit has a function of inputting a page turning operation for sequentially feeding pages on the screen,
  When the page turning operation is given, the display image creation unit updates the display image so that the page having a larger resistance value defined by the resistance function has a longer staying time on the screen. Process,
  The server device
  Based on the browsing operation and display image of the electronic book browsing device, a browsing history collection unit that collects browsing history for each individual block via the network, and a resistance function based on the collected browsing history A resistance function generation unit to generate,
  The resistance function generation unit generates a resistance function for each page based on a browsing history of blocks included in the page,
  The electronic book browsing system has a function of storing the resistance function generated by the resistance function generation unit in the resistance function storage unit via the network. The electronic book browsing system according to claim 22 ,
A plurality of electronic book browsing devices,
A browsing history collection unit collects browsing histories from the n electronic book browsing devices,
An electronic book browsing system, wherein a resistance function generation unit generates a resistance function based on a browsing history collected from the n electronic book browsing devices.

Images