Communication support device, communication support method and communication support program

Abstract

To realize communication between users having common topics.SOLUTION: A content distribution device 10 comprises: a group creating unit 111 to create, on the basis of a user instruction, a group for performing communication between multiple users; a selection unit 114 to select, as selection users from among the multiple users belonging to the group, multiple users viewing the same one of multiple viewable content items; and a communication control unit 115 to control communication between multiple terminals 20 corresponding to the multiple selection users selected by the selection unit 114 while they are viewing the same content item.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication support device, a communication support method, and a communication support program. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Group chat is known, in which messages such as text are sent and received within a group including a plurality of users (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-101999 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When there are many users in a group, multiple topics are mixed and communication between users may not be carried out appropriately. In response to this, it is required to realize communication limited to users who have a common topic.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to realize communication between users who have a common topic. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A communication support device according to one embodiment of the present invention has a group creation unit that creates a group for communication among multiple users based on instructions from the users, a selection unit that selects multiple users who are viewing the same content from multiple viewable contents as selected users from among the multiple users belonging to the group, and a communication control unit that controls communication between multiple terminals corresponding to the multiple selected users selected by the selection unit while the multiple selected users are viewing the same content. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to realize communication between users who have a common topic. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of a content delivery system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a map page displayed on a terminal. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a content screen displayed on a terminal. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of a content distribution device. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional block configuration of a processor. [Figure 6] 13 is a flowchart showing a process flow in which the content distribution device controls communication between selected users. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] <System configuration> Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of a content delivery system 1 according to the present embodiment. The content delivery system 1 shown in Fig. 1 includes a content delivery device 10 as a communication support device, and one or more terminals 20. The content delivery device 10 and the terminals 20 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a communication network N such as the Internet, a wireless LAN, or a mobile communication network.

[0010] The content distribution device 10 is configured, for example, from one or more physical servers. The content distribution device 10 may be configured using a virtual server that operates on a hypervisor, or may be configured using a cloud server.

[0011] The content distribution device 10 stores a plurality of contents and distributes these contents to the terminal 20. The contents are, for example, video content such as live games and sports, shows, movies, live broadcast programs, and news. In addition, the content distribution device 10 displays a map page on the terminal 20 as portal content for selecting one of these contents, which is different from the contents. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a map page displayed on the terminal 20. In the example shown in FIG. 2, it can be seen that an icon IC corresponding to each of the plurality of contents is displayed.

[0012] When the icon IC is selected by the terminal 20, the content distribution device 10 distributes the content corresponding to the selected icon IC to the terminal 20. When the terminal 20 receives the content, it displays the received content on a content screen for displaying content. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a content screen displayed on the terminal 20. In the example shown in Fig. 3, it can be seen that the content C is displayed, and also an icon IE for communicating one's own feelings to others.

[0013] Furthermore, the content distribution device 10 creates a group for communication based on a user's instruction to support communication among a plurality of users who use the plurality of terminals 20 that view the content. In the examples shown in Figures 2 and 3, it can be seen that user icons IU representing a plurality of users who belong to the created group are displayed.

[0014] The terminal 20 is a terminal used by a user who wants to view content, and is, for example, an information processing terminal such as a mobile phone (including a smartphone), a tablet terminal, or a personal computer. The terminal 20 stores application software for viewing a plurality of pieces of content distributed by the content distribution device 10, and can display the content distributed from the content distribution device 10 by executing the application software.

[0015] In response to a user's operation, the terminal 20 displays the content distributed from the content distribution device 10, as shown in Fig. 3. When the terminal 20 receives voice information as a message from the user, it transmits the message to the content distribution device 10.

[0016] The content distribution device 10 controls communication among a plurality of terminals 20 by transmitting a message received from a terminal 20 to a plurality of terminals 20 that belong to a group corresponding to the terminal 20. The group corresponding to a terminal 20 is a group with which a user of the terminal 20 can send and receive messages.

[0017] When there are many users in a group, multiple topics are mixed, and communication between the users may not be performed appropriately. In response to this, the content distribution device 10 selects multiple users who are watching the same content as selected users from multiple users belonging to the group. While the multiple selected users are watching the same content, the content distribution device 10 controls communication between the multiple terminals 20 by transmitting and receiving messages between the multiple selected users and the multiple terminals 20 corresponding to the multiple selected users. In this way, the content distribution device 10 enables communication between users who have a common topic. The configuration and operation of the content distribution device 10 will now be described in detail.

[0018] <Hardware configuration> 4 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the content distribution device 10. The content distribution device 10 includes a processor 11, a storage unit 12, a communication IF (Interface) 13, an input device 14, and an output device 15.

[0019] The processor 11 is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphical processing unit (GPU), or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and realizes various functions by executing programs stored in the storage unit 12. As an example, the ASIC includes a tensor processing unit (TPU) and an edge TPU.

[0020] The storage unit 12 includes a storage medium such as a memory, a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), etc. The storage unit 12 stores a program executed by the processor 11. The storage unit 12 also stores a plurality of contents to be distributed to the terminal 20.

[0021] The communication IF 13 has a communication controller for performing wired communication or wireless communication with the terminal 20 via the communication network N. The communication IF 13 outputs a message related to communication between users received from the terminal 20 to the processor 11. The communication IF 13 also transmits the message input from the processor 11 and addressed to the multiple terminals 20 to the multiple terminals 20.

[0022] The input device 14 receives an input operation from, for example, an operator of the content distribution device 10. The input device 14 is, for example, a keyboard, a touch panel, a mouse, or a microphone. The output device 15 outputs information to, for example, an administrator of the content distribution device 10. The output device 15 is, for example, a display, a speaker, or the like.

[0023] <Function block configuration> 5 is a diagram showing an example of a functional block configuration of the processor 11. The processor 11 has a group creation unit 111, a content delivery unit 112, a state reception unit 113, a selection unit 114, a communication control unit 115, a guidance instruction reception unit 116, and a display control unit 117. The processor 11 executes a program stored in the storage unit 12 to function as the group creation unit 111, the content delivery unit 112, the state reception unit 113, the selection unit 114, the communication control unit 115, the guidance instruction reception unit 116, and the display control unit 117.

[0024] The group creation unit 111 creates a group for communication between multiple users who use the terminal 20, based on an instruction from the user. For example, the group creation unit 111 creates a group in response to a menu button M shown in Fig. 2 being pressed and a group creation operation being performed on the terminal 20. After a group is created, the users who belong to the group can invite friends to the group via SNS and notify other users of their participation in the group.

[0025] In this embodiment, the group creation unit 111 allows one user to belong to multiple groups, but one user can only communicate with users in one of the groups selected from among the multiple groups.

[0026] The group creation unit 111 associates group identification information for identifying the group, the name of the group, and a user ID, which is user identification information for identifying a user who belongs to the group and has selected the group, and stores the association in the memory unit 12 as group information.

[0027] The content delivery unit 112 delivers content to the terminal 20. First, the content delivery unit 112 displays the map page shown in Fig. 2 on the terminal 20, and accepts selection of an icon IC corresponding to content on the map page. When any icon IC is selected from among a plurality of icon ICs, the terminal 20 switches the screen displayed on the terminal 20 to a content screen shown in Fig. 3. In addition, the terminal 20 transmits a content delivery request including a content ID for identifying the content corresponding to the selected icon IC and a user ID to the content delivery device 10.

[0028] When the content distribution unit 112 receives a content distribution request from the terminal 20, it distributes content corresponding to the content ID included in the content distribution request to the terminal 20. When the terminal 20 receives the content from the content distribution device 10, it displays the content on the content screen as shown in FIG.

[0029] Furthermore, the content delivery unit 112 associates the user ID and the content ID included in the content delivery request with each other, and stores them in the storage unit 12 as viewing status information. When the content delivery request is received, if viewing status information corresponding to the user ID included in the delivery request is already stored in the storage unit 12, the content delivery unit 112 changes the content ID associated with the user ID to the content ID included in the received delivery request. Note that the content delivery unit 112 also treats the map screen shown in FIG. 2 as a type of content, and when the terminal 20 displays the map screen, associates the content ID indicating the map screen with the user ID of the user of the terminal 20, and stores them in the storage unit 12 as viewing status information.

[0030] Furthermore, the content distribution unit 112 may display a quiz and a plurality of options corresponding to the quiz on the terminal 20 while distributing the content, and may accept answers from the terminal 20. The quiz is, for example, a quiz related to the content. In this case, the content distribution unit 112 may display, on the terminal 20, answers received from the terminals 20 of a plurality of users who belong to the same group and are viewing the same content, before closing the answering period from the terminal 20. In this manner, the user of the terminal 20 can answer the question while referring to the answers of the users in the group. Furthermore, the content distribution unit 112 may grant a privilege to a user who answers the quiz correctly.

[0031] The status receiving unit 113 receives information indicating the user's own status from the user via the terminal 20. For example, the terminal 20 displays "Status Change" on the screen shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, and when a status change button for accepting a status change is pressed, the terminal 20 displays a status change image for accepting a status change from among a plurality of statuses and accepts a status selection from the user. When the terminal 20 accepts the selection of a status, it transmits status information indicating the selected status to the content distribution device 10 in association with the user ID.

[0032] The status receiving unit 113 associates the status information received from the terminal 20 with the user ID and stores the associated information as user status information in the storage unit 12. When the user ID and the status information are stored in the storage unit 12 in association with each other, the status receiving unit 113 changes the status information associated with the user ID to the received status information.

[0033] Note that the status receiving unit 113 receives information indicating the user's status from the user via the terminal 20, but is not limited thereto. The status receiving unit 113 may specify the viewing status of the user's content and select a status based on the specified viewing status. For example, the status receiving unit 113 may determine that the user is viewing based on the number, amount, and frequency of messages and stamps that are likely to indicate that the user is viewing, and the volume of the voice uttered by the user. The status receiving unit 113 may also determine that the user is not viewing based on the number, amount, and frequency of messages and stamps that are likely to indicate that the user is not viewing, and the volume of the voice uttered by the user.

[0034] The selection unit 114 selects, as selected users, from among multiple users who belong to a group selected by the user who performed an operation to communicate, multiple users who are viewing the same content among multiple viewable contents. First, when the user belongs to multiple groups, the selection unit 114 accepts a group selection from the user. When the user belongs to one group, the selection unit 114 determines that the user has selected that group.

[0035] 2 or 3 is displayed on the terminal 20, the selection unit 114 selects selected users from among multiple users belonging to a group selected by the user in response to pressing a chat icon IB for communicating with other users by voice chat. For example, the selection unit 114 refers to the group information and viewing status information stored in the storage unit 12, and selects, as selected users, multiple users who are viewing the same content as the content being viewed by the user of the terminal 20 from among multiple users who belong to a group selected by the user out of the groups to which the user of the terminal 20 whose chat icon IB was pressed belongs.

[0036] The selection unit 114 may select, as selected users, from among a plurality of users belonging to a group selected by the user, a plurality of users who are viewing the same content as the content being viewed by the user among a plurality of contents and whose status accepted by the status accepting unit 113 is a predetermined status. For example, the selection unit 114 may refer to the user status information stored in the storage unit 12 and select, as selected users, a plurality of users whose status accepted by the status accepting unit 113 is a status indicating that they are not performing any work, such as "too bored." In this manner, the content distribution device 10 can select selected users limited to users who can communicate.

[0037] Furthermore, when the user changes the content being viewed by any of the multiple users belonging to the group selected by the user, the selection unit 114 reselects multiple users who are viewing the same content from among the multiple contents. For example, the selection unit 114 refers to the group information and viewing situation information stored in the storage unit 12 at predetermined time intervals (e.g., one second), and when it detects that the content being viewed by any of the multiple users belonging to the group to which the user of the terminal 20 belongs and which the user selected has changed, the selection unit 114 reselects the selected user. In this manner, the content distribution device 10 can select a user according to the latest content viewing situation. Note that the selection unit 114 selects the selected user in response to the chat icon IB being pressed, but this is not limited thereto. The selection unit 114 may select the selected user in response to the map page shown in FIG. 2 or the content screen shown in FIG. 3 being displayed on the terminal 20.

[0038] While a user of the terminal 20 is viewing the same content, the communication control unit 115 controls communication with the multiple terminals 20 corresponding to the multiple selected users selected by the selection unit 114. The communication control unit 115 receives a message for communication input to the terminal 20 by the selected user from the multiple terminals 20 corresponding to the multiple selected users selected by the selection unit 114, and transmits the message to at least one of the multiple terminals 20.

[0039] Specifically, first, the terminal 20 accepts voice input from the user in response to pressing of a chat icon IB included in the screen shown in Fig. 2 or 3. The terminal 20 transmits voice information indicating the input voice to the content distribution device 10 as a message for user communication. Upon receiving the message from the terminal 20, the communication control unit 115 transmits the message to multiple terminals 20 corresponding to multiple selected users selected by the selection unit 114 corresponding to the user of the terminal 20.

[0040] The guidance instruction receiving unit 116 receives a guidance instruction from one of the multiple selected users selected by the selection unit 114 to display guidance information on the terminal 20 of a user other than the selected user. The guidance information is information that prompts a user who is not viewing the content to be guided to the content that the selected user is viewing, and is, for example, a phrase such as "The XX stage is exciting." The guidance instruction receiving unit 116 may receive the content of the phrase from the user of the terminal 20, or may receive any one of a plurality of phrases.

[0041] The terminal 20 displays a guide button on the content screen to guide a user who is not viewing the content. For example, as shown in Fig. 3, the terminal 20 displays a guide button B indicating "Come on." When the guide button is pressed, the terminal 20 transmits guide instruction information instructing guidance to the content distribution device 10. The guide instruction receiving unit 116 receives the guide instruction information from the terminal 20 to receive a finger guide instruction.

[0042] The display control unit 117 displays the guidance information on the terminal 20 of a user other than the selected user among the multiple users belonging to the group selected by the user. When the guidance instruction receiving unit 116 receives a guidance instruction, the display control unit 117 displays the guidance information on the terminal 20 of the user other than the selected user. In this manner, the content distribution device 10 can prompt other users, among the multiple users in the group, who are not viewing the content being viewed by the selected user, to be guided to the content.

[0043] The display control unit 117 may display the guidance information only on the terminals of users who are in a predetermined state among users other than the selected user. For example, the display control unit 117 refers to the user status information stored in the storage unit 12, and selects multiple users whose states accepted by the state accepting unit 113 indicate that they are not performing any work, such as "too bored." Then, the display control unit 117 displays the guidance information on the terminals 20 of the selected users. In this manner, the content distribution device 10 can promote guidance only to users who are likely to view the content.

[0044] Furthermore, the display control unit 117 may display the guidance information only on the terminal 20 that is displaying the map information (map page). In this way, the content distribution device 10 can provide guidance only to users who are likely to be troubled about which content to view in the map information.

[0045] Furthermore, when a predetermined event occurs in the content being viewed by the selected user, the display control unit 117 may display guidance information including occurrence information of the predetermined event. The predetermined event is, for example, an event planned to liven up communication between users viewing the content, such as a special offer event or a quiz event. For example, the storage unit 12 stores schedule information indicating schedules of predetermined events in each of a plurality of contents. The display control unit 117 refers to the schedule information, and when it detects that a predetermined event has occurred in the content being viewed by the selected user, displays guidance information including occurrence information of the predetermined event. In this way, the content distribution device 10 can effectively guide the user by urging the user to be guided at a timing when communication is likely to be lively.

[0046] Furthermore, when the display control unit 117 determines that the viewing situation of the selected users is active, the display control unit 117 may display guidance information. For example, when the number of selected users is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, or when the number of selected users relative to the number of users in a group is equal to or greater than a predetermined ratio, the display control unit 117 determines that the viewing situation of the selected users is active.

[0047] Furthermore, the display control unit 117 may determine that the viewing status of the selected user is active based on messages between the selected users. The display control unit 117 may determine that the viewing status of the selected user is active when the amount of messages transmitted and received per unit time is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount, when the message includes a specific message or stamp indicating that the viewing status is active, such as "interesting" or "fun," or when the sound indicating the message includes a sound exceeding a predetermined volume. In this way, a user who starts viewing the communication due to the guidance information can also enjoy the communication.

[0048] Furthermore, the display control unit 117 may display information indicating the selected user who issued the guidance instruction to display the guidance information on the terminal 20 of a user other than the selected user. In this manner, the content distribution device 10 can increase the possibility that a user who is close to the selected user who is being guided to the content will start viewing the content, and communication between the selected users will become lively.

[0049] Furthermore, the display control unit 117 may display information indicating the content being viewed by the selected user on the terminal 20 of a user other than the selected user. Here, the information indicating the content is, for example, information indicating the name of the content or information explaining the outline of the content. In this manner, the content distribution device 10 allows other users to know which content the user who is guiding them to the content is viewing.

[0050] Furthermore, the display control unit 117 may display information indicating each of the multiple selected users on the terminal 20 of a user other than the selected user. For example, the display control unit 117 may display icons of each of the multiple selected users on the terminal 20 of a user other than the selected user. In this manner, the content distribution device 10 allows other users to know which user belonging to the group selected by the user is viewing the content corresponding to the guidance information. In this manner, when a user who is on good terms with other users is included among the users viewing the content, the possibility that the other users will view the content can be increased.

[0051] Furthermore, the display control unit 117 may display information indicating users who have started viewing the content that the selected user is viewing, among the users other than the selected user, on the terminals 20 of users other than the selected user in the group selected by the user. In this way, users who have not started viewing the content corresponding to the guidance information can be further encouraged to view the content.

[0052] <Processing flow of the content distribution device 10> Next, a description will be given of the flow of processing performed by the content distribution device 10. Fig. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing performed by the content distribution device 10 to control communication between selected users.

[0053] First, the selection unit 114 judges whether or not a chat icon IB for conducting a voice chat has been pressed when the screen shown in Fig. 2 or Fig. 3 is displayed on the terminal 20 (S11). If the selection unit 114 judges that the chat icon IB has been pressed, it shifts the process to S12, and if it judges that the chat icon IB has not been pressed, it re-executes the process in S11.

[0054] In S12, the selection unit 114 refers to the group information and viewing status information stored in the memory unit 12, and selects, as selected users, from among multiple users who belong to the group to which the user of the terminal 20 on which the chat icon IB was pressed belongs and who are viewing the same content as the content being viewed by the user of the terminal 20.

[0055] Next, the selection unit 114 refers to the group information and viewing status information stored in the storage unit 12, and determines whether any of the multiple users who belong to the group to which the user of the terminal 20 belongs and that the user selected has changed the content being viewed, thereby determining whether the viewing status of the content has changed (S13). If the selection unit 114 determines that the viewing status of the content has changed, it proceeds to S12 and reselects the selected user. If the selection unit 114 determines that the viewing status of the content has not changed, it proceeds to S14.

[0056] Next, the communication control unit 115 accepts a message from the user of the terminal 20 (S14). The communication control unit 115 transmits the accepted message to the terminal 20 of the selected user (S15).

[0057] Next, the communication control unit 115 determines whether or not the user of the terminal 20 has finished viewing the content (S16). If the communication control unit 115 determines that the user of the terminal 20 has finished viewing the content, it ends the process related to this flowchart, and if it determines that the user of the terminal 20 has not finished viewing the content, it proceeds to S13.

[0058] <Effects of Content Distribution System 1> As described above, the selection unit 114 selects, from among the multiple users belonging to the group, multiple users who are viewing the same content among the multiple viewable contents as selected users. The communication control unit 115 controls communication between the multiple terminals 20 corresponding to the multiple selected users selected by the selection unit 114 while the selected users are viewing the same content. In this way, the content distribution device 10 realizes communication between users who are viewing the same content and have a common topic. It is possible.

[0059] Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments, and various modifications and changes are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention. For example, in the above embodiment, the content distribution device 10 receives voice information as a message from the selected user, but this is not limiting. The content distribution device 10 may receive text information as a message from the selected user.

[0060] In addition, all or part of the device can be configured in a functionally or physically distributed or integrated manner in any unit. Also, new embodiments resulting from any combination of multiple embodiments are included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effect of the new embodiment resulting from the combination also has the effect of the original embodiment.

[0061] In addition to the above embodiment, the following is further noted. (Appendix 1) a group creation unit that creates a group for communication among a plurality of users based on an instruction from the users; a selection unit that selects, from among a plurality of users belonging to the group, a plurality of users who are viewing the same content among a plurality of viewable contents as selected users; a communication control unit that controls communication between the plurality of terminals corresponding to the plurality of selected users selected by the selection unit while the same content is being viewed; A communication support device having the above configuration. By configuring the communication support device in this way, it is possible to limit communication to users who have a common topic. (Appendix 2) when a content being viewed by any of the plurality of users belonging to the group is changed, the selection unit reselects the plurality of users who are viewing the same content from among the plurality of contents. 2. A communication support device as described in claim 1. By configuring the communication support device in this way, it is possible to select a user according to the latest content viewing situation. (Appendix 3) a status receiving unit for receiving information indicating the user's status from the user, the selection unit selects, from among the plurality of users belonging to the group, a plurality of users who are viewing the same content among a plurality of contents and whose state accepted by the state acceptance unit is a predetermined state, as the selected users; 3. A communication support device according to claim 1 or 2. By configuring the communication device in this way, it is possible to select a selected user by limiting the users with whom communication is possible. (Appendix 4) A display control unit is further configured to display, on a terminal of a user other than the selected user among the plurality of users belonging to the group, guidance information for encouraging guidance to the content being viewed by the selected user. 4. A communication support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. By configuring the communication support device in this manner, it is possible to encourage other users who are not viewing the content being viewed by the selected user to view the content. (Appendix 5) the display control unit, when a predetermined event occurs in the content being viewed by the selected user, displays the guidance information including occurrence information of the predetermined event. 5. A communication support device as described in appendix 4. The communication support device configured in this manner can effectively guide the user by urging the user to communicate at a timing when communication is likely to become lively. (Appendix 6) When determining that the viewing situation of the selected user is active, the display control unit displays the guidance information. 6. A communication support device according to claim 4 or 5. With the communication support device configured in this way, a user who starts viewing a communication in response to guidance information can also enjoy the communication. (Appendix 7) a status receiving unit for receiving information indicating the user's status from the user, the display control unit causes the guidance information to be displayed on a terminal of a user who is in a predetermined state among users other than the selected user; 7. A communication support device according to claim 5 or 6. By configuring the communication support device in this way, it is possible to guide the content only to users who are highly likely to be able to view the content. (Appendix 8) a guidance instruction receiving unit that receives an instruction from any one of the selected users to display the guidance information on a terminal of a user other than the selected user; When the guidance instruction receiving unit receives the instruction, the display control unit causes the guidance information to be displayed on a terminal of a user other than the selected user. 8. A communication support device according to any one of claims 5 to 7. With the communication support device configured in this way, it is possible to encourage other users to view content in response to a user's request. (Appendix 9) The display control unit causes a terminal of a user other than the selected user to display information indicating the selected user who has issued an instruction to display the guidance information. 9. A communication support device as described in claim 8. By configuring the communication support device in this way, it is possible to increase the possibility that a user who is close to the guiding user will start viewing the content, thereby stimulating communication. (Appendix 10) The display control unit causes a terminal of a user other than the selected user to display information indicating content being viewed by the selected user. 10. A communication support device according to any one of claims 6 to 9. By configuring the communication support device in this way, it is possible to allow other users to know which content the guiding user is viewing. (Appendix 11) The display control unit causes information indicating each of the plurality of selected users to be displayed on a terminal of a user other than the selected user. 11. A communication support device according to any one of claims 6 to 10. By configuring the communication support device in this way, it is possible to allow other users to know who is viewing the content to which they are being guided. (Appendix 12) The display control unit causes a terminal of a user other than the selected user to display information indicating a user who has started viewing the content that the selected user is viewing, among the users other than the selected user. 12. A communication support device according to any one of claims 6 to 11. By configuring the communication support device in this manner, it is possible to notify a user who has moved in response to guidance to a user who has not moved, and to further encourage the guidance. (Appendix 13) The computer executes A group for communication among a plurality of users is created based on the instructions of the users. and creating the selecting, as selected users, a plurality of users who are viewing the same content among a plurality of viewable contents from among a plurality of users belonging to the group; controlling communication between a plurality of terminals corresponding to a plurality of selected users while viewing the same content; A communication support method comprising the steps of: By implementing such a communication support method, communication can be limited to users who have a common topic. (Appendix 14) Computer, a group creation unit that creates a group for communication among a plurality of users based on an instruction from the users; a selection unit that selects, from among a plurality of users belonging to the group, a plurality of users who are viewing the same content among a plurality of viewable contents as selected users; and a communication control unit that controls communication between the plurality of terminals corresponding to the plurality of selected users selected by the selection unit while the same content is being viewed; A communication support program that functions as a By executing such a communication support program, communication can be limited to users who have a common topic. [Explanation of symbols]

[0062] 1 Content distribution system 10 Content distribution device 11 Processors 12 Storage section 13 Communication Interface 14 Input Devices 15 Output Devices 20 Terminals 111 Group Creation Department 112 Content Distribution Department 113 Status reception section 114 Selection section 115 Communication Control Section 116 Guidance Instructions Reception Section 117 Display control section

Claims

[Claim 1] a group creation unit that creates a group for communication among a plurality of users based on instructions from the users; a selection unit that selects, from among a plurality of users belonging to the group, a plurality of users who are viewing the same content among a plurality of viewable contents as selected users; a communication control unit that controls communication between the plurality of terminals corresponding to the plurality of selected users selected by the selection unit while the same content is being viewed; A communication support device having:

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