U.S. patent application number 13/738663 was filed with the patent office on 2013-05-16 for data display server, data display method and program thereof.
This patent application is currently assigned to Sony Corporation. The applicant listed for this patent is Sony Corporation. Invention is credited to Naoya Kamachi, Taketo Naito.
Application Number | 20130124516 13/738663 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 34817409 |
Filed Date | 2013-05-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130124516 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Naito; Taketo ; et
al. |
May 16, 2013 |
DATA DISPLAY SERVER, DATA DISPLAY METHOD AND PROGRAM THEREOF
Abstract
The present invention relates to recommendation of items to a
user for providing items more satisfying a user's request on the
basis of new association. The present invention provides a data
display server connected to a user terminal, which includes a
posting database for storing posting data posted through the user
terminal, a reference data base for storing reference data,
relational metadata generating means which generates relational
metadata making association between two pieces of reference data,
and a relational database for storing the relational metadata.
According to the arrangement, tight linking between reference data
is made possible so that items more suitable for a user's
preference can be recommended.
Inventors: |
Naito; Taketo; (Tokyo,
JP) ; Kamachi; Naoya; (Tokyo, JP) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Sony Corporation; |
Tokyo |
|
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
Sony Corporation
Tokyo
JP
|
Family ID: |
34817409 |
Appl. No.: |
13/738663 |
Filed: |
January 10, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
12785996 |
May 24, 2010 |
8370378 |
|
|
13738663 |
|
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|
11028584 |
Jan 5, 2005 |
7734650 |
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12785996 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
707/731 ;
707/722 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/9038 20190101;
G06F 16/38 20190101; G06Q 50/01 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/731 ;
707/722 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30 |
Foreign Application Data
Date |
Code |
Application Number |
Jan 7, 2004 |
JP |
2004-002072 |
Claims
1. An information processing apparatus comprising: a post
information analyzing unit configured to analyze post information
corresponding to item information, the post information being
included in content posted by a user in social media; a related
information generating unit configured to generate related
information based on reference information associated with the
content and the post information; and a recommendation information
displaying unit configured to display recommendation information
based on the related information and to display a recommendation
reason.
2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
further comprising: a user database configured to store user data,
including at least one category of interest of the user; and a
reference database configured to store the item information and
category information, each piece of item information corresponding
to at least one piece of category information.
3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2,
wherein the recommendation information includes one or more pieces
of item information related to the item information corresponding
to the post information, and the one or more pieces of the
recommendation information are displayed in order of relevancy to
the at least one category of interest of the user stored in the
user database.
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1,
wherein the displayed recommendation reason describes a
relationship between the item information corresponding to the post
information and one or more pieces of item information included in
the recommendation information.
5. An information processing method comprising: analyzing post
information corresponding to item information, the post information
being included in content posted by a user in social media;
generating related information based on reference information
associated with the content and the post information; and
displaying recommendation information based on the related
information and to display a recommendation reason.
6. The information processing method according to claim 5, further
comprising: storing user data, including at least one category of
interest of the user; and storing the item information and category
information, each piece of item information corresponding to at
least one piece of category information.
7. The information processing method according to claim 6, wherein
the recommendation information includes one or more pieces of item
information related to the item information corresponding to the
post information, and the one or more pieces of the recommendation
information are displayed in order of relevancy to the at least one
category of interest of the user stored in the user database.
8. The information processing method according to claim 5, wherein
the displayed recommendation reason describes a relationship
between the item information corresponding to the post information
and one or more pieces of item information included in the
recommendation information.
9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing
computer-readable instructions thereon, which, when executed by a
computer, cause the computer to perform an information processing
method comprising: analyzing post information corresponding to item
information, the post information being included in content posted
by a user in social media; generating related information based on
reference information associated with the content and the post
information; and displaying recommendation information based on the
related information and to display a recommendation reason.
10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according
to claim 9, further comprising: storing user data, including at
least one category of interest of the user; and storing the item
information and category information, each piece of item
information corresponding to at least one piece of category
information.
11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according
to claim 10, wherein the recommendation information includes one or
more pieces of item information related to the item information
corresponding to the post information, and the one or more pieces
of the recommendation information are displayed in order of
relevancy to the at least one category of interest of the user
stored in the user database.
12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium according
to claim 9, wherein the displayed recommendation reason describes a
relationship between the item information corresponding to the post
information and one or more pieces of item information included in
the recommendation information.
Description
CROSS REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser.
No. 12/785,996, filed on May 24, 2010, which is a continuation of
U.S. application Ser. No. 11/028,584, filed Jan. 5, 2005, now U.S.
Pat. No. 7,734,650, issued on Jun. 8, 2010. This application is
based upon and claims the benefit of Japanese Priority Document JP
2004-002072, filed in the Japanese Patent Office on Jan. 7, 2004,
the entire contents of each of which are being incorporated herein
by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] 1. Field of the Invention
[0003] The present invention relates to a data display server that
performs a display of prescribed data by taking advantage of an
inter-data relevancy, and also a data display method and a program
thereof.
[0004] 2. Description of Related Art
[0005] In nowadays, an information providing system available over
an Internet has provided a service of a content base filtering etc.
that associates similar content with each other depending on a
substance of content to recommend, for a user, contents included in
the associated similar content and not purchased by the user
yet.
[0006] The above service requires detailed information about the
content itself, and besides, a high-degree knowledge processing
system capable of inferring an inter-category relevancy is
separately required for a recommendation given across categories,
resulting in a need to limit a range of the categories.
[0007] To avoid problems like the above, there is provided a
service of a cooperative filtering etc. that associates content
having been co-purchased in the past with each other based on
purchase information of other users having a similar taste to
recommend content not purchased by the user yet (See a non-patent
document 1, for instance).
[0008] However, even a system like the above applies, to a key,
merely information representing an occurrence of a co-purchase case
in the past, so that there is no special relationship between the
contents, resulting in a problem of a non-persuasive
recommendation, that is, recommendation of little interest.
NON-PATENT DOCUMENT 1
[0009] "Information Recommend", [online], [Retrieved on Dec. 19,
2003],
Internet<http://www-toralab.ics.nitech.ac.jp/research/past/2002/papits-
/InformationRecommend-e.html>
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0010] The present invention has been undertaken in view of the
above problems with the conventional information providing
services, and is intended to provide a novel and improved data
display server that is capable of creating a new association
(relational metadata) by inferring an inter-reference data
relationship from reference data about content and posting data
sent to a bulletin board etc. that the user visits, and also a data
display method and a program thereof.
[0011] Further, the present invention is also intended to provide a
data display server that is capable of recommending an item more
meeting a user's requirement by displaying reference data and
relational data associated with the reference data, together with a
reason for the relationship to the reference data, and also a data
display method and a program thereof.
[0012] To solve the above problems, according to a first aspect of
the present invention, there is provided a data display server
connected to a user terminal to display prescribed data in response
to a request through the user terminal, wherein the data display
server comprises a posting database that holds posting data having
been posted through the user terminal; a reference database that
holds reference data specified by a reference data ID contained in
the posting data; relational metadata generating means of
extracting the reference data ID one by one from each posting data
according to a relationship between two posting data to generate
relational metadata with two extracted reference data IDs
contained; a relational database that holds the generated
relational metadata; and relational data juxtaposing means of
juxtaposing and displaying, on a display of the user terminal in
response to a reference data browsing request from the user, the
reference data and relational data associated with the reference
data by the relational metadata.
[0013] Hereupon, the user terminal and the data display server
include a personal computer, a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a
mobile phone and a teleconference system, and the keyword is given,
on an object to be searched with a retrieval function, in words and
phrases that are indicative of features of the object. Further, the
reference data is allowable to contain the reference data ID, a
reference data name, an alias reference data name, a model number,
a manufacturer name, a category, a descriptive text, an image URL,
a price and a release date.
[0014] The above data display server is mainly intended to
associate the reference data with each other, that is, generate the
relational metadata. When responsive posting data is generated in
the form of a reply to the posting data in a bulletin board etc.
that the user visits, for instance, a strong relationship based on
an equal or extremely close-related subject is supposed to be
created between these posting data, in which case, data (the
reference data in this place) having been referred to in the above
posting data each other may be also considered to bear the strong
relationship with each other likewise the above posting data. A
generation of the relational metadata is performed by extracting
the reference data ID specified as an ID of the above reference
data from each posting data one by one, and by associating the two
extracted reference data IDs with each other.
[0015] The relational metadata is stored after being generated
through an inter-user information interchange of the posting data
having been posted by the user and the responsive posting data etc.
generated in response to the posting data. The above relational
metadata may provide a prescribed association for each
independently referred-to reference data, and a centralized
management of the above association may be performed with the
relational database independent of the reference database. As
described above, the inter-user information interchange causes the
inter-reference data association to be performed automatically, and
ensures that a stronger association having been not available
heretofore is defined.
[0016] The above relational data juxtaposing means enables the
reference data that the user desires and the relational data
associated with the reference data to be referred to at a time.
Further, it may well be that the relational data matches
information useful to the user, leading to a larger extent of
information that the user can refer.
[0017] Further, the above relational data juxtaposing means is
capable of being used at the time when, with reference to all the
displays adapted to the display of the reference data at a
retrieval time etc., an attempt is made to confirm product
information of the displayed reference data, leading to a
recommendation of different relational data every presentation of
the information of the reference data.
[0018] The relational metadata is also allowable to be generated
depending on relations in a way to use the reference data, a
function, an effect, a combination, a similarity and a purchase
history etc.
[0019] Just as almost questions are settled with FAQ on a web
server, there are some cases where the user may solve the problem
merely by viewing the relational data, provided that the above
relational data is generated from a relationship of answers to user
questions (the above relationship in the combination), for
instance. Further, if the relationship in the similarity is
available, a larger choice is also supposed to be obtainable by
referring to items similar to a certain item being under
examination of purchasing or not.
[0020] The relational metadata has a parameter on a degree of
relevancy, and ensures that the degree of relevancy may be set high
depending on the number of relational metadata containing the two
reference data IDs equal to each other.
[0021] An approach to a definition of the above degree of relevancy
makes it possible to provide information highly serviceable to the
user. Hence, when the relational metadata equal in association to
each other exists, the degree of relevancy of the above relational
metadata is incremented, while no generation of duplicate
relational metadata is caused. That is, the relational metadata is
summarized.
[0022] The data display server is also allowable to further have
relation counting means of counting the relational metadata
containing two reference data IDs equal to each other.
[0023] The above relation counting means derives the degree of
relevancy by counting the relational metadata every occurrence of
the reference to the degree of relevancy. Hence, even when the
equal relational metadata exists, no summarization of the
relational metadata is required to leave all the relational
metadata as they are. A configuration like the above enables a
direct confirmation of a generation history of the relational
metadata.
[0024] The relational data juxtaposing means may be also set to
display the above relational data preferentially in descending
order of the degree of relevancy representing how strong the
relational data bears the relationship with the reference data.
Alternatively, when no definition of the degree of relevancy is
given, the relational data is also allowable to be displayed
preferentially depending on the number of identical relational
metadata.
[0025] The approach to the definition of the above degree of
relevancy makes it possible to set a priority suited to usefulness
to the user, leading to an arrangement of the relational data at a
position easily available for the user according to the
priority.
[0026] The data display server is also allowable to further have a
user database containing user data specified as personal
information of the user, wherein a display order of the above
relational data is changed by making use of the user data.
[0027] The above user data contains a user ID, a user name, a
password, a mail address, a category of interest, a retrieval
history, a browse history, a posting history and a purchase
history, and is further allowable to contain personal information
about user attributes such as sex, age and occupation. The
utilization of the above user data makes it possible to provide
information suited to the user attributes. Further, the utilization
of the user data in cooperation with the above relational database
is also allowable to provide information more useful to the user.
In addition, the information of the above posting data may be also
reflected in the user data as the personal information of a user
who posted the posting data. The information of the reference data
attached to the posting data posted by the user is effective in
characterizing the user attributes contained in the user data.
[0028] The relational data juxtaposing means may be also set to
display the above relational data in an order suited to a type of
relationship to the above reference data, and the type of
relationship to the above reference data is allowable to include
the relations in the way to use the reference data, the function,
the effect, the combination, the similarity and the purchase
history.
[0029] The above type of relationship permits the user to define
how the reference data bear the relationship with each other,
leading to a construction of the association in which a user's
intention is reflected still more. Further, in a case of the
display of the relational data by the relational data juxtaposing
means, the displayed relational data permits the user to easily
grasp how the relational data bears the relationship with the
reference data.
[0030] The reference database may be also set to hold category data
representing a category of the above reference data.
[0031] In a system making use of the posting data, the items and
the services are supposed to be normally available as the reference
data, and a frequency of use for the items and the services is also
assumed to be high. In this system, the category data is also held
to put the items and the services in order according to the
category defined as a high-order concept of the items and the
services. Thus, the items or the services that belong to the same
or similar category may be judged to have the high degree of
relevancy, and an addition of a certain degree of relevancy is also
applicable to the items or the services that belong to the same
category.
[0032] To solve the above problems, according to a second aspect of
the present invention, there is also provided a data display server
connected to a user terminal to display prescribed data in response
to a request through the user terminal, wherein the data display
server comprises a reference database that holds reference data
capable of being referred to by a user; message creating means of
permitting the user to create, through the user terminal, a message
to be posted; keyword input means of permitting the user to input,
through the user terminal, a keyword of reference data about
contents of the message; reference data retrieving means of
retrieving the reference data from the reference database by the
keyword; reference data juxtaposing means of juxtaposing and
displaying, on a display of the user terminal, one or more pieces
of reference data resulting from the retrieval; reference data
selecting means of permitting the user to select, through the user
terminal, the reference data attached to posting data from the
displayed reference data; posting means of permitting the user to
post, through the user terminal, the posting data containing a
reference data ID (Identification) of the reference data selected
by the reference data selecting means; a posting database that
holds the posting data having been posted through the user
terminal; and posting browsing means of displaying, on the display
of the user terminal in response to a posting data browsing request
from the user, the posting data and the reference data specified by
the reference data ID contained in the posting data.
[0033] Unlike the related art in which the item referred to in the
posting contents is displayed in the form of a text or a URL
(Uniform Resource Locator), a configuration like the above enables
a direct attachment of the reference data of the referred-to item
in a case of the information interchange through the bulletin board
etc., so that posting authors may interchange accurate information
with each other. That is, a different user who finishes reading the
posted message may specify the reference data shown in the message
and narrow down information to be replied. Further, the attempt of
the above different user to send the reply causes a reply-sending
user (which will be hereinafter also referred to as a reply user)
to attach the reference data to a responsive message, and besides,
a further different user who finishes reading the posted responsive
message to easily understand the contents of the above responsive
message. In this manner, a mutual understanding between the users
may be surely promoted.
[0034] The data display server is also allowable to further have
reference data display means of displaying, on a part of a posting
display of the user terminal, the reference data selected by the
reference data selecting means.
[0035] A configuration like the above enables the confirmation of
the reference data attached to the posting data, before the posting
data is posted. Further, a retouching of the message to be posted
is also permitted with reference to the detailed information of the
reference data.
[0036] The data display server is also allowable to have a function
of the bulletin board available for a plurality of users to carry
out the information interchange over a communication network.
[0037] The bulletin board is given as a typical instance in which
the information interchange is carried on with the posting data.
Further, an application to a chat, a mailing list, a diary-WEB LOG
Track Back, an instant message and an electronic mail etc. that are
equal in function with the bulletin board is also acceptable.
Furthermore, a format in which impressions, evaluations and
word-to-mouth communication information are added to the reference
data is also capable of being used for the present invention,
provided that the reference data is specified.
[0038] The reference data attached to the responsive posting
carried out in response to the above posting may also be
recommended reference data for the user who posted the posting
data.
[0039] Further, the reference data and the relational data may also
be data of an item or service, or otherwise, metadata representing
attribute information and relational information representing the
relationship with different objects is also available.
[0040] There is provided not only a program that functions as the
data display server through a computer, but also a data display
method of displaying prescribed data in response to the request
through the user terminal by making use of the data display server
and the user terminal.
[0041] The user terminal and the data display server as described
above may be configured in the form of a single apparatus, in which
case, the user terminal may be set to perform functions of the data
display server independently. Further, each database in the data
display server may be also configured in the form of a respectively
independent unit.
[0042] According to the present invention described above, the
inter-reference data relationship is inferred from the posting data
posted to the bulletin board etc. that the user visits and the
reference data with regard to the content, leading to generation of
the new association. Further, the relational data associated in
this manner is displayed together with the reason for the
relationship of the relational data to ensure that the item more
meeting the user's requirement is recommended.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0043] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a data
display system in a first embodiment of the present invention;
[0044] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a structure of a data
display server;
[0045] FIG. 3 is a structural view showing a structure of posting
data;
[0046] FIG. 4 is a structural view showing a structure of a
database in the data display server;
[0047] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a process from message
creation to posting data display;
[0048] FIG. 6 is a view showing a bulletin board posting display
for inputting a posting message;
[0049] FIG. 7 is a view showing an item retrieval display for
retrieving item data;
[0050] FIG. 8 is a view showing a retrieval result display;
[0051] FIG. 9 is a view showing a bulletin board posting display on
which the item data is displayed;
[0052] FIG. 10 is a view showing a display of posting data in the
bulletin board;
[0053] FIG. 11 is a bulletin board posting display for replying to
the posting data;
[0054] FIG. 12 is a view showing the bulletin board;
[0055] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of a relational
metadata generation process;
[0056] FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a flow of a relational data
juxtaposing process;
[0057] FIG. 15 is a view showing a product information display;
[0058] FIG. 16 is a view showing a bulletin board posting display
on which a section of selecting a type of relationship is
added;
[0059] FIG. 17 is a view showing a product information display;
[0060] FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing a structure of a data
display server according to a modified example 2;
[0061] FIG. 19 is a structural view showing a structure of a
database in the data display server of the modified example 2;
[0062] FIG. 20 is a view showing a personal information inputting
display;
[0063] FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a flow of a relational data
juxtaposing process according to the modified example 2; and
[0064] FIG. 22 is a view showing a product information display.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0065] A preferred embodiment of the present invention is
hereinafter described in detail with reference to the accompanying
drawings. It is noted that, in the present specification and the
drawings, components having the substantially same functional
configuration are given like reference numerals to omit a duplicate
description.
First Embodiment
Data Display System
[0066] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of a data
display system in a first embodiment of the present invention. The
above data display system is composed of a communication network
110, a user terminal 112 and a data display server 114. This
section describes a system that creates posting data through the
user terminal 112, and associates reference data with each other
based on an interchange of the above posting data, that is,
generates relational metadata to display prescribed data by making
use of the relational metadata.
[0067] The communication network 110 includes a network of the
Internet available as a public line network, for instance, and is
connected to a server and each terminal through a telephone line
etc.
[0068] The user terminal 112 creates the posting data posted to a
bulletin board managed with the data display server 114, and sends
the posting data to the data display server 114. Further, a
browsing of relational data associated with the reference data may
be performed through the data display server 114. That is, a
recommendation service with the relational data is made
possible.
[0069] The data display server 114 generates the relational
metadata based on the posting data received through the user
terminal 112, and recommends more persuasive relational data, as
compared with earlier one, based on the relational metadata.
Further, this data display server is also operated as the bulletin
board to hold the posting data received through the user terminal
112 and to display the posting data therein in response to a
browsing request supplied through the user terminal 112 or a
different user terminal 116. The display of the data relevant to
the above is given in time series to ensure that addition to the
bulletin board is performed in a posting order.
[0070] With a configuration like the above, a user firstly creates
the posting data through the user terminal 112. Then, an item is
retrieved by giving a keyword of the item, for instance, relating
to a subject being referred to in the posting data. A selection of
item data available as the relevant reference data from a result of
retrieval causes the selected item data to be attached to the
posting data, leading to a display of the item data such as an item
image together with articles of the posting data on the bulletin
board. Further, when the different user terminal 116 performs the
browsing of the above posting data, creates responsive posting data
to the above posting data, and then sends a reply with the suitable
item data attached, a prescribed relationship is created between
the item data in the posting data and that in the responsive
posting data.
[0071] An attachment of the item data like the above makes it
possible to establish an association by placing a focus on fellow
item data. The items associated with each other by a plurality of
posting data are used to narrow down information or give a
recommendation of the item.
[0072] The above recommendation may include one resulting from the
association depending on attributes of the item, in which case,
however, attribute information is required for the association, and
a definition once given to a prescribed attribute causes a judgment
only on the relationship of a defined attribute to be made in the
following processing. Further, there is also heretofore provided a
cooperative filtering that defines the users having a similar
purchase history as similar users to recommend the item having been
purchased in the past by the similar users, in which case, however,
an occurrence of a hit item enjoying a large number of purchasers
requires a vast number of similar users described the above,
resulting in a difficulty in giving the recommendation meeting an
intention of the present invention.
[0073] Alternatively, there is also provided a method in which the
user freely assigns a keyword to an item of interest to associate
with a different item, in which case, however, for a reason that
the keyword is not specified, different keywords are attached to
the same item, resulting in no adaptability to an automation of the
inter-item association.
[0074] The data display system of the first embodiment of the
present invention is not to permit the user to create the
relational metadata directly, but to provide the relationship for
the data display server through the selection of the item. Thus,
the relational metadata is created regularly and automatically in
the data display server and is used for various services such as
the recommendation of the item for the user.
Second Embodiment
Data Display Server 114
[0075] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the
data display server 114 in the data display system. The above data
display server 114 is intended to associate the reference data with
each other, that is, generate the relational metadata, wherein the
association is performed based on a concept in which the posting
data adapted to the information interchange among the users would
bear a strong relationship with each other.
[0076] The data display server 114 is composed of a data display
control unit 130, a reference database 132, message creating means
134, keyword input means 136, reference data retrieving means 138,
reference data juxtaposing means 140, reference data selecting
means 142, reference data display means 144, posting means 146, a
posting database 148, relational metadata generating means 150, a
relational database 152, posting browsing means 154 and relational
data juxtaposing means 156.
[0077] The data display control unit 130 manages and controls the
data display server 114 through a control unit including a central
processing unit (CPU).
[0078] The reference database 132 holds the reference data that the
user can refer to. The reference data like the above is not only
held in the data display server 114 of the present invention, but
also linked to an external database that provides the reference
data. When the item data is given as the reference data, for
instance, a link to a database of a manufacturer specified as a
creator of the item data may be established for a reference to
details about the item data. As to the item data described the
above, the above manufacturer is possessed of accurate and detailed
data, while it is difficult to register and update all the above
items with the data display server 114. On the contrary, when no
reference data exists in the reference database 132, the user is
also permitted to post the reference data to the reference database
132. However, the creation of the reference data, if being allowed
for the user at will, results in a hindrance to a generation of
typical and accurate reference data, so that a posting of the
reference data is restricted in some degree.
[0079] The message creating means 134 permits the user to create,
through the user terminal 112, a message to be posted.
[0080] The keyword input means 136 permits the user to input,
through the user terminal 112, the keyword of the reference data
about the contents of the above message, that is, the item data
referred to in the message to specify the above referred-to item
data, for instance. It is preferable that the reference data
matches the item or service data.
[0081] The reference data retrieving means 138 retrieves the
reference data from the reference database 132 using the above
keyword. The retrieval from the reference database 132 in this
manner may provide a unified retrieval result.
[0082] The reference data juxtaposing means 140 juxtaposes and
displays one or more pieces of reference data resulting from the
above retrieval on the display of the user terminal 112. The use of
only the keyword given by the user often provides plural pieces of
reference data serving as an object. Thus, the resultant plural
pieces of reference data are placed in juxtaposition on the display
of the user terminal 112 to cause the user to specify the reference
data that fulfills the user's intention.
[0083] The reference data selecting means 142 permits the user to
select the reference data to be attached to the posting data from
the reference data or the relational data displayed by the
reference data juxtaposing means or the relational data juxtaposing
means 156. In this manner, the user is permitted to specify the
reference data referred to in the message to be posted. A selection
of plural pieces of reference data is also allowable.
[0084] The reference data display means 144 displays, on a part of
a posting display, the reference data selected by the reference
data selecting means 142. The above reference data contains a
reference data ID, a reference data name, an alias reference data
name, a model number, a manufacturer name, a category, a
descriptive text, an image URL, a price and a release date. The
user may confirm the reference data to be attached to the posting
data before bringing the posting into execution.
[0085] The posting means 146 posts, to the data display server 114,
the posting data containing the reference data ID of the reference
data selected by the reference data selecting means 142. The
posting data matches data written on the bulletin board available
for a plurality of users to carry out the information interchange
over the communication network.
[0086] The posting database 148 holds the posting data containing a
posting message text and the reference data ID.
[0087] The relational metadata generating means 150 generates the
relational metadata. The relational metadata matches metadata
generated in the form of a parallel entry of a plurality of
reference data IDs of the reference data referred to in the posting
data by, when it is judged that there is a relationship among
plural pieces of posting data to each other, associating the above
referred-to reference data with each other depending on the
inter-posting data relationship. Normally, the posting data to be
associated is two in number, and an extraction of the reference
data ID one by one from each posting data is performed, leading to
the generation of the relational metadata containing the two
extracted reference data IDs.
[0088] Further, the relational metadata contains a relational
metadata ID, a creation date/time, an updating date/time and a
degree of relevancy, in addition to the above reference data IDs.
The degree of relevancy stated herein indicates how close the above
relationship is, and may be given in terms of the total number of
identical relational metadata. When the relational metadata given
by the identical reference data ID exists, for instance, new
relational metadata is not generated, while a numerical value of
the degree of relevancy of the existing relational metadata is
incremented.
[0089] The relational database 152 holds the above relational
metadata. When the identical relational metadata exists in the
relational database 152, the degree of relevancy of the relational
metadata is incremented by one, while the other relational metadata
is deleted from the relational database 152.
[0090] The posting browsing means 154 displays the above posting
data and the reference data specified by the reference data ID
contained in the posting data in response to the browsing request
from the user. The user requesting browsing, that is, the user who
finishes making the reference to the posting data on the bulletin
board etc. may confirm also the reference data about the posting
contents, together with the posting contents, leading to a more
secure understanding of the posting contents.
[0091] The relational data juxtaposing means 156 juxtaposes and
displays the reference data and the relational data associated with
the above reference data by the relational metadata on the display
of the user terminal 112 in response to the reference data browsing
request from the user. The display of not only the reference data
that fulfills the user's intention but also the relational data
supposed to be serviceable to the user provides a larger choice for
the user. Further, the relational data juxtaposing means is capable
of being used at the time when, with reference to all the displays
adapted to the display of the reference data at the retrieval time
etc., the attempt is made to confirm the product information of the
reference data, leading to the recommendation of different
relational data as well every presentation of the information of
the reference data. For the above reason, the relational data are
arranged at a position easily available for the user in descending
order of the degree of relevancy, that is, in a certain order
suited to the serviceability for the user. Alternatively, the
relational data is also allowable to be displayed for each type of
relationship described above depending on the user's taste.
[0092] The type of relationship stated herein includes the
function, the effect, the combination, the similarity and the
purchase history etc. When the inter-item data relationship is
defined as the reference data, for instance, items equal or similar
in the function, items equal or similar in the effect, combination
items having means of solving the problems of the item or meeting
the intention thereof, items similar in a shape or an available
purpose, or items etc. associated with each other by inferring the
user's taste from the purchase history are available. It is
possible for the user to define the above type of relationship in a
prescribed range. The display of the above type of relationship
permits the user to grasp how the relational data bears the
relationship with the reference data.
[0093] Further, there is also provided a computer program that is
set to function as the data display server 114 through a
computer.
[0094] As described above, the inter-reference data relationship is
inferred from the reference data in the posting data posted to the
bulletin board etc. that the user visits to perform a management of
two associated reference data by the relational metadata. The use
of the relational metadata enables the relational data associated
with the reference data to be displayed together with the reason
for the relationship to the reference data, leading to the
recommendation of the item more meeting the user's requirement.
[0095] FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a posting data
configuration. Posting data 170 is composed of a posting ID 180, a
parent posting ID 182, a user name 184, a posting date/time 184, a
title 188, a text 190 and a reference data ID 192.
[0096] The posting ID 180 is an ID that indicates the posting data,
and the parent posting ID 182 is an ID that indicates "parent"
posting data obtained when, provided that present posting data is
assumed to be a reply to different posting data, the different
posting data and the present posting data are respectively
specified as "parent" and "child". The user name 184 indicates a
name or a title of the user who posted the posting, the posting
date/time 186 indicates a sending date/time of the posting data,
the title 188 is a title attached to the present posting data, the
text 190 is a message text created by the message creating means
134, and the reference data ID 192 is an ID of the reference data
selected by the reference data selecting means 142 as the features
of the second embodiment of the present invention. In this case,
the selection of a plurality of reference data IDs is
allowable.
Third Embodiment
Database Structure of the Data Display Server 114
[0097] FIG. 4 is a view showing a structure of the database in the
data display server 114. As described above, the database of the
data display server 114 is composed of the posting database 148,
the reference database 132 and the relational database 152, and
these databases hold the posting data, the reference data and the
relational metadata, respectively. This section gives the item data
as the reference data. The relationship among data respectively
held in the databases is described in the following.
[0098] The posting data 170 refers to item data 172, and posting
data 240 refers to item data 242.
[0099] The item data 172 is composed of an item data ID 246, an
item name 248, an alias item name 250, a model number 252, a
manufacturer name 254, a category 256, a descriptive text 258, an
image URL 260, a price 262 and a release date 264. The item data ID
246 is an ID of the item data, and the item name 248 indicates an
official name of the item. The alias item name 250 indicates a
variation of names such as abbreviations and bynames available for
the retrieval of the present item, the model number 252 indicates a
manufacturer model number of the item, the manufacturer name 254
indicates a name of a manufacturer and the category 256 indicates a
category to which the present item belongs. The descriptive text
258 is a text containing a detailed description of the item, and
the image URL 260 is a link address available for the reference to
the image data. The price 262 and the release date 264 are
respectively a price and a release date of the item.
[0100] The posting data 240 is an answer to a question of the
posting data 170, and is thus assumed to bear the combination
relationship with the posting data 170. Thus, the data display
server 114 judges the posting data 170 and the posting data 240 to
bear the prescribed relationship with each other, and associates
the item data 172 referred to in the posting data 170 with the item
data 242 referred to in the posting data 240.
[0101] The above association is established by means of separately
managing the item data ID 246 of the item data 172 and the item
data ID 266 of the item data 242 by different independent data. The
independent data is the relational metadata 268. The relational
metadata 268 contains a relational metadata ID 280, a creation
date/time 282, an updating date/time 284, a degree of relevancy
286, and a type of relationship 288, in addition to the two item
data IDs 246 and 266. The relational metadata ID 280 is an ID of
the relational metadata, the creation date/time 282 is a first
creation date/time of the present relational metadata 268, the
updating date/time 284 indicates a date/time updated by a change
etc. of the degree of relevancy 286, the degree of relevancy 286 is
given in terms of a numerical value to indicate how close the
relationship is, and the type of relationship 288 indicates the
relationship in the way to use the reference data, the function,
the effect, the combination, the similarity and the purchase
history etc. The numerical value of the degree of relevancy 286 is
incremented by one at the time when the generation of the
relational data containing the item data IDs 246 and 266 equal to
each other is attempted.
[0102] The relationship between the posting data 170 and the
posting data 240 described above is supposed to be equivalent to a
relationship of "parent" to "child", and the association
established by a user's intervention like the above also provides
the inter-item data association, leading to the generation of the
relational metadata 268. The relational metadata is stored at any
time through an establishment of the association described
above.
Fourth Embodiment
Data Display Method
[0103] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a posting data generating
process prior to a stage of the generation of the relational
metadata, as a process contained in the data display method. The
data display method according to a fourth embodiment of the present
invention is described mainly with reference to the flowchart of
FIG. 5. The attachment of the reference data shown in the fourth
embodiment of the present invention to the inter-user posting data
makes it possible to replace the relationship between the posting
data by the relationship between the reference data attached to the
posting data. A process of attaching the reference data to the
posting data as described later promotes the generation of the
relational metadata. This section gives the item data as the
reference data.
[0104] First of all, a message creation step S310 is performed to
permit the user to create, through the user terminal 112, a message
to be posted.
[0105] FIG. 6 is a view showing a bulletin board posting display
350 available for an entry of the posting message. The bulletin
board posting display 350 is provided from the data display server
114 through the user terminal 112. In the bulletin board posting
display 350, it is assumed that the user who posted the posting
makes entries of the user name "Taro" into a user name field 352
and a title into a title field 354 and then creates a message on a
text field 356.
[0106] The user makes a choice as to whether or not the attachment
of the item data being referred to in the above message to the
posting data having been created in this manner is required (S312).
In a case where the user requires no attachment of the item data,
the posting data is formed only with the above message, leading to
the posting of the posting data by a posting step S328. In the
bulletin board posting display 350 of FIG. 6, a "Post" button 358
is touched when the posting is brought into execution, or a
"Cancel" button 360 is touched in a case where the posting is to be
canceled.
[0107] The user, in a case desiring the attachment of the item
data, touches an "Add" button 362 on the bulletin board posting
display 350 to retrieve the item data that fulfills the user's
intention.
[0108] FIG. 7 is a view showing an item retrieval display 370
available for the retrieval of the item data. The data display
server 114 performs a keyword input step S314 to permit the user to
input, through the user terminal 112, the keyword of the reference
data about the contents of the above message. In the item retrieval
display 370 of FIG. 7, it is assumed that the attempt is made to
specify the item data, provided that "AV apparatus" is selected
from a category field 376 after the entries of the item name
"Gocoon" into an item name field 372 and the manufacturer name
"SOMY" into a manufacturer field 374. This retrieval with the
keyword may leave out any uncertain keyword (a model number field
378, for instance), and the entry of more than one keyword into a
single field is also allowable. Then, a "Retrieve" button 380 on
the item retrieval display 370 is touched in a case where the
retrieval is brought into execution, or a "Cancel" button 382 is
touched in a case where the retrieval is canceled.
[0109] A touch of the "Retrieve" button 380 causes the item data to
be retrieved from the reference database 132 of the data display
server 114 based on the supplied keyword by a reference data
retrieval step S316.
[0110] The item data having been retrieved by the reference data
retrieval step S316 are juxtaposed and displayed on a retrieval
result display by a reference data juxtaposing step S318.
[0111] FIG. 8 is a view showing a retrieval result display 390. In
a case where, provided that the item data inferred as the relevant
data from the supplied keyword are placed in juxtaposition, the
item data that fulfills the user's intention is contained in the
above item data (S320), a reference data selection step S322 is
performed to permit the user to select the item data to be attached
to the posting data from the displayed item data. In a case where
no reference data is contained, a retry of the process from the
keyword input step S314 is required.
[0112] In the retrieval result display 390 of FIG. 8, there are
displayed four items by the reference data juxtaposing process
S318. The item data that fulfills the user's intention among the
above four items is assumed to be the second item data from the
top, leading to the selection of this item data with the touch of a
"Select" button 392. The retrieval display 390 is closed
automatically following a selecting operation as described above or
with the touch of a "Close" button 394.
[0113] Then, a reference data display step S324 contained in the
flowchart of FIG. 5 is performed to display the selected item data
on a part of the posting display.
[0114] FIG. 9 is a view showing the bulletin board posting display
350 that appears with the item data displayed by the reference data
display step S324. Item data 410 (exactly, the item data ID that
specifies the item data 410) is supposed to be attached to the
relevant posting data. In this place, a "Delete" button 412 is
touched in a case where the attachment of the item data 410 is
canceled.
[0115] The user makes a choice as to whether or not an addition of
any other item data to the above item data 410 is required (S326),
and, when no addition of any other item data is required, brings
the posting into execution with the touch of the "Post" button 358
on the bulletin board posting display 350 of FIG. 9 (S328).
[0116] Then, the data display server 114 stores the above posting
data in the posting database 148. When the browsing request from
the user is caused by a posting browsing step S330, the display of
the posting-finished posting data and the item data 410 specified
by the item data ID of the posting data are performed in response
to the above request.
[0117] FIG. 10 is a view showing the display of the posting data
with a bulletin board 440. In the display of the above bulletin
board, there is posted up a posting message 442 together with item
data 444 of the item being referred to in the message. The
different user is permitted to send a reply to this posting message
by touching a "Reply" button 446.
Fifth Embodiment
Relational Metadata Generating Process
[0118] Sending the reply to the posting data by the different user
carries out the inter-user information interchange. Further, in a
case where the interchanged posting data contains the attached
reference data, the reference data in the respective posting data
are associated with each other, resulting in the creation of the
relational metadata. In a fifth embodiment of the present
invention, how to associate the reference data (the item data in
the fifth embodiment of the present invention) with each other and
a relational metadata generating process are described in
detail.
[0119] FIG. 11 is a view showing a bulletin board posting display
450 available for sending a reply to the posting data. It is
assumed that the reply user makes the entries of the user name
"Hanako" into a user name field 452 and the title into a title
field 454 on the bulletin board posting display 450 and then
creates a message on a reply text field 456. Further, when the
attempt is made to attach the item data also to the responsive
posting data, the attachment of item data 460 to the responsive
posting data is performed through the retrieval of the item data as
described in the fourth embodiment. In this place, in response to a
question of the earlier user who posted the posting user, the item
suited to the above question is being recommended. After the
confirmation of the message and the item data 460, the reply user
brings the responsive posting to a completion with the touch of a
"Post" button 462.
[0120] FIG. 12 is a view showing the bulletin board 440 that
appears including the responsive posting data having been replied
as described above. There are displayed the first posting data
attached to an upper side of the display, and the responsive
posting data attached to a lower side of the display so as to be
placed in a "child" position located when the above first posting
data is specified as "parent". On the bulletin board 440, there are
also displayed the item data 444 attached to the parent posting
data and item data 470 attached to the child posting data. In a
case where a re-reply to the responsive posting is further
required, a "Reply" button 472 is touched to call the bulletin
board posting display 450.
[0121] As described above, the item data of the posting data having
a "parent-to-child" relationship are judged to be those satisfying
the prescribed relationship with each other, and the association of
the item data with each other is performed by the relational
metadata. The relational metadata generating process is described
in detail in the following.
[0122] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a flow of the relational
metadata generating process. Upon a reception of the posting data,
the data display server 114 firstly ascertains whether or not the
received posting data matches "child", more specifically, is in the
form of the responsive posting (S510). In this process, the
generation of the relational metadata is caused on the assumption
that the two posting data bear the certain relationship with each
other in a case where the posting data satisfy the relationship of
"child" to "parent".
[0123] Then, one item data ID out of one or more item data IDs
contained in original posting data specified as the parent posting
data and one item data ID out of the item data IDs contained in the
responsive posting data specified as the child posting data are
acquired (Steps S512 and S514). The retrieval of the already
existing relational metadata generated by associating the above two
item data IDs with each other is performed (S516). In a case where
the above relational metadata exists (S518), the numerical value of
the degree of relevancy of the relational metadata is incremented
by one (S520). In this process, the degree of relevancy is
expressed in terms of an integer, and an initial value thereof is
one. On the other hand, in a case where no relational metadata
exists (S518), the creation of the relational metadata is newly
performed (S522). A format of the relational metadata is the same
as one having been already described in the third embodiment, and
hence, the description thereof is omitted.
[0124] Then, it is ascertained whether or not a processing of all
the item data IDs of the responsive posting data is finished
(S524), and a set of the steps from S514 is repeated until
non-processed item data IDs of the responsive posting data to one
item data ID of the original posting data run out. Next, it is
ascertained that the processing of all the item data IDs of the
original posting data is finished (S526), and a set of the steps
from S512 is repeated until the item data IDs of the original
posting data run out. In this manner, the creation of the
relational metadata is repeated by times as many as a product of
the number of item data IDs contained in the original posting data
and the number of item data IDs contained in the responsive posting
data, that is, all conceivable combinations, resulting in the
creation of omission-less relational metadata.
[0125] While the relational metadata generating process of the
fifth embodiment of the present invention has described the
creation of the relational metadata with the use of the
"parent-to-child" relationship, it is also allowable to associate,
with each other, twin-related posting data in a thread that is a
smaller module capable of being activated from a single task. The
degree of relevancy in this case is defined depending on an
inter-posting data distance or how close the inter-posting data
relationship is.
[0126] The relational metadata is not limited merely to the above
"parent-to-child" and "twin-related" relationships, and a
calculation of the degree of relevancy may be also performed with a
degree of similarity of the independent posting data to each other.
For instance, it is also allowable to apply a method of calculating
an inter-document distance depending on a rate of the occurrence of
words from the article contained in the posting data by means of a
natural language processing etc. According to the natural language
processing, the degree of relevancy may be calculated high from
phrases expressive of the relationship, such as "excellent" and
"optimum" contained in the article.
[0127] Furthermore, it is also allowable to perform the calculation
of the degree of relevancy in consideration of reliability and
influences of the user who posted the posting data. Even when the
contents of the responsive posting data are the same, a prominent
critic of the present item and an unspecified individual user are
supposed to be different from each other in the reliability of the
attached item data. Thus, the reliability of the degree of
relevancy itself may be also increased by relatively adding the
reliability and the influences of the user as described above to
the degree of relevancy. The configuration like the above makes it
possible to put restrictions on an increase of the degree of
relevancy, even when the attempt to strategically establish the
association with a specific item is made by a specific user.
[0128] An accumulation of the degree of relevancy, if performed
simply as described above, causes an item of long standing to be
expressed by a higher degree of relevancy, resulting in a failure
to properly compare the degrees of relevancy with each other.
However, this may be solved by an introduction of the concept of a
time into the above degree of relevancy. That is, the use of a
configuration of reducing or resetting the degree of relevancy with
a lapse of a prescribed time causes the degree of relevancy to be
updated properly
Sixth Embodiment
Relational Data Juxtaposing Process
[0129] The creation of the relational metadata as described above
makes it possible to provide the relational data associated with
the reference data by making use of the created relational
metadata. The relational data provided as described above leads to
a promotion of the recommendation of the item etc. for the user,
thereby permitting the user not only to confirm the product
information of the reference data but also to browse the items
closely related to the reference data. The above relational data is
referred to at the time when, with reference to all the displays
adapted to the display of the reference data at the retrieval time
etc., the attempt is made to confirm the product information of the
displayed reference data.
[0130] FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a flow of the relational data
juxtaposing process. The user makes a choice of the item data
(S530) with a click of the item data 444 on the bulletin board 440
shown in FIG. 10, for instance, for the detailed browsing of the
item data attached to the posting data. In response to the above
choice, the data display server 114 acquires the item data 444 from
the reference database 132 (S532). The details of the item data 444
having been acquired in this manner are displayed at an upper side
of the product information display (S534).
[0131] Then, the data display server 114 attempts to acquire the
relational metadata containing the item data ID of the item data
444 from the relational database 152 (S536), and in a case where
plural pieces of relational metadata exist (S538), rearranges the
relational data depending on the degree of relevancy of the
relational metadata (S540), and the rearranged relational data are
displayed at a lower side of the item data 444, that is, a lower
side of the product information display (S542).
[0132] FIG. 15 is a view showing a product information display 544
that appears by the relational data juxtaposing process. On this
display, there is displayed product information including detailed
information 546 of the item data 444 attached to the posting data
and relational data 548 associated with the item data 444. The
reference to the product information permits the user to obtain not
only the item data 444, but also the associated item data having
the strong relationship given by making use of the relational
metadata and also being more persuasive to the user.
[0133] [Modification 1: Type of Relationship]
[0134] While the relational data juxtaposing means 156 employs the
relational data display order determined depending on only the
degree of relevancy of the relational metadata, the display order
is further allowable to be defined with reference to a type of
relationship.
[0135] The user is permitted to select the type of relationship
among prescribed relationships. The above relationships are
supposed to include a way to use the reference data, a function, an
effect, a combination, similarity, a purchase history and other
various relations.
[0136] FIG. 16 shows a bulletin board posting display 550 further
available for the selection of the type of relationship. In this
case, it is assumed that the user who posted the posting gives a
question about the combination on the attached item. Thus, after
the selection of "Combination" as a rough item from a relation type
field 552, "Question" is further being selected from a detailed
relation field 554.
[0137] The above type of relationship is used for a rearrangement
of the relational data individually or in cooperation with the
above degree of relevancy. The user may set at will depending on
the user's taste whether the relational data should be arranged on
the product information display in the descending order of the
degree of relevancy or according to the type of relationship at the
time of the browsing of the posting data.
[0138] FIG. 17 is a view showing a product information display 540
that appears in a case of the parallel entry of the relational data
depending on the type of relationship. In this display, there are
displayed item data 562 and 564. The item data 562 is the
relational data having a relationship in a combination with the
item data 444, and the item data 564 is the relational data having
a relationship in similarity to the item data 444.
[0139] (Modification 2: Data Display Server 114)
[0140] FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the
data display server 114 in a modification of the present invention.
The above data display server 114 is composed of the data display
control unit 130, the reference database 132, the message creating
means 134, the keyword input means 136, the reference data
retrieving means 138, the reference data juxtaposing means 140, the
reference data selecting means 142, the reference data display
means 144, the posting means 146, the posting database 148, the
relational metadata generating means 150, the relational database
152, the posting browsing means 154, the relational data
juxtaposing means 156, a user database 600 and a relation counting
means 602.
[0141] The duplicate description of the components having the
substantially same function as those having already been described
with reference to the data display server 114 in the second
embodiment is omitted, and this section mainly describes the
reference database 132 having a different configuration, the user
database 600 and the relation counting means 602.
[0142] The reference database 132 holds category data of the
reference data, together with the reference data. This is for the
purpose of facilitating the data management by classifying each
reference data, in particular, the item data and the service data
for each category and further by layering the category itself.
[0143] The user database 600 holds the user data specified as
personal information of the user. The user database 600 is
effective in providing more useful information for the user in
cooperation with the relational database 152. Further, the
information of the posting data may be reflected in the user
data.
[0144] The relation counting means 602 counts the relational
metadata containing the two reference data IDs equal to each other.
In a case where the identical relational metadata exists, the above
relational metadata generating process increments the degree of
relevancy of the identical relational metadata, and generates no
further identical relational metadata. In the modification of the
present invention, even if the identical relational metadata
exists, new relational metadata is created. Then, whenever the
relational data juxtaposing process is carried into execution, a
counting of the relational metadata is performed with the relation
counting means 602, and a count value is treated as the degree of
relevancy. A configuration requiring no deletion of the relational
metadata as described above makes it possible to individually
examine the reason for the relationship with reference to the
reference data.
[0145] FIG. 19 is a view showing a database structure in the data
display server 114 of the modification of the present invention. In
this section, the duplicate description on the configuration having
been described in the second embodiment is also omitted.
[0146] The reference database 132 is newly provided with category
data 610. The category data 610 contains a category ID 612, a
category name 614 and a parent category ID 616. The category ID 612
is an ID of a present category, and the category name 614 is a name
of the category. The parent category ID 616 is an ID of a parent
category equivalent to a higher-order concept of the present
category. The parent category ID 616 causes the category to be
layered. The category data 610 described the above makes it
possible to facilitate the management of the item data.
[0147] The data display server 114 may also have the user database
600. The user database 600 is supposed to hold user data 620
containing the personal information of the user. The user data 620
is composed of a user ID 622, a user name 624, a password 626, a
mail address 628, a category of interest 630, a retrieval history
632, a browse history 634, a posting history 636 and a purchase
history 638. The user ID 622 is an ID of a registered user, and the
user name 624 is a name of the registered user. The password 626 is
a password required together with the user ID 622 for the user to
log in, and the mail address 628 is used to give information etc.
to the user. The category of interest 630 is directly used to
extract the relational data, and each of the retrieval history 632,
the browse history 634, the posting history 636 and the purchase
history 638 is used to narrow down the relational data.
[0148] FIG. 20 is a view showing a personal information entry
display 650 available for the creation of the above user data. The
user makes the entries of the user name "Taro" into a user name
field 652, a personal password of the user into a password field
654 and an e-mail address into a mail address field 656 and sets a
category of interest up to three at maximum in a category field
658. After the confirmation of the set contents, a user's
registration is performed by touching a "Determine" button 660. It
is also allowable to cancel the registration by touching a "Cancel"
button 662.
[0149] A process of rearranging the relational data by making use
of the above user data 620 is now described.
[0150] FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing a flow of the relational data
juxtaposing process according to the modification of the present
invention. In this section, the duplicate description on the
processes having been described in the sixth embodiment is
omitted.
[0151] In a case where the relational metadata exists (S538), the
rearrangement of the relational data depending on the degree of
relevancy of the relational metadata is once performed (S540).
Then, the rearrangement of the relational data in the certain order
suited to the user's taste is further performed according to the
user data 620 of the user who finishes making the reference to the
posting (S680). The relational data are displayed in the rearranged
order as described above (S542). The priority order, that is, the
arrangement order of the relational data is changed by the user who
is browsing the posting as described above.
[0152] FIG. 22 is a view showing a product information display 544
that appears in a case of the display of the relational data with
the user data 620 reflected. It is assumed that "Taro" who finishes
the user registration in FIG. 20 is selecting "AV apparatus",
"Music" and "Outdoor" as the categories of interest. Thus, as
compared with the product information display 544 of FIG. 17 in
which the priority order of the relational data is determined only
depending on the degree of relevancy, item data 690 is newly added
as "Recommendable item for Mr. Taro" to ensure that the service
more suited to the taste of the user "Taro" is provided.
[0153] While the preferred embodiments of the present invention
have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it
is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to
the above embodiments. It is also to be understood that various
modifications or changes will be apparent to those skilled in the
art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in
claims, and that these modifications or changes fall within
technical bounds of the present invention as a matter of
course.
[0154] While the above embodiments have described the data display
system and the data display method by giving the user terminal and
the data display server, for instance, the present invention is not
limited to the above form, and it is also supposed that there are
provided in the form of an application in one terminal.
[0155] Further, while the confirmation of the product information
of the reference data attached to the posting data is given as the
instance in which the relational data is displayed, the present
invention is not limited to the posting data, and it is also
allowable to, when the user performed the retrieval of a specific
item by making use of a retrieval site on the Internet, display
related items specified as the relational data derived by the
relational metadata together with the retrieved specific item. The
relational metadata or the relational data is supposed to be
available in various methods.
[0156] Furthermore, while in the above description of the
embodiments, the number of the reference data IDs contained in the
relational metadata is limited to two, it is also allowable to give
the definition of the relational metadata containing three or more
reference data IDs depending on the purpose of providing the
service. In addition to the above item data or service data,
various data which can be referred to data including those about
general estate such as land or marine and intangible assets such as
music may be also applied to the reference data described the
above.
[0157] The present invention is capable of being applied to the
data display server that performs the display of the prescribed
data by making use of the inter-data relationship, and also to the
data display method and the program thereof.
* * * * *
References