Information processing device and information processing method

Abstract

To specify and display position information from a word included in text.SOLUTION: An information processing device 100 acquires information from an SNS (Social Networking Service), and has a control part 110 for executing acquisition of at least one submission sentence from the SNS, extraction of the name of at least one facility from the submission sentence, selection of one or more points at which an evaluation value determined by prescribed reference is a first threshold or more among one or more points corresponding to the extracted name of the facility as a candidate point, and display of information showing the position of the candidate point selected by a user on a map.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an apparatus that displays location information based on information obtained from text. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a technique for extracting or collecting information including location information from a predetermined server device. In this regard, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a location information search server including a location information extraction unit that extracts location information associated with a registered keyword that matches a search keyword. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-339101 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The present disclosure aims to identify and display location information from words contained in text. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] One aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure is An information processing device that acquires information from a social networking service (SNS) has a control unit that performs the following operations: acquires at least one posted message from the SNS; extracts the name of at least one facility from the posted message; selects, as candidate locations, one or more locations corresponding to the extracted facility names, whose evaluation value determined by a predetermined criterion is equal to or greater than a first threshold value; and displays information indicating the locations of the candidate locations selected by the user on a map.

[0006] Another aspect of the present disclosure is An information processing method for acquiring information from a social networking service (SNS), comprising the steps of acquiring at least one posted message from the SNS, extracting the name of at least one facility from the posted message, selecting, as candidate locations, one or more locations corresponding to the extracted facility names, the one or more locations having an evaluation value determined by a predetermined criterion that is equal to or greater than a first threshold value, and displaying information indicating the location of the candidate location selected by the user on a map.

[0007] Other aspects include a method executed by the above-described device, a program for causing a computer to execute the method, or a computer-readable storage medium non-transitoryly storing the program. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present disclosure, location information can be identified and displayed from words contained in text. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a process executed by a server device according to the embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating components of a server device according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] 6 is a flowchart of a process executed by a control unit of a server device according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart of a process for selecting a candidate point based on a current location, which is executed by a control unit of a server device according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] (overview) A technique is sometimes used in which a predetermined keyword is used to acquire location information corresponding to the keyword that has been registered in advance.

[0011] However, in conventional technologies, it has been difficult to acquire location information when the information to be analyzed does not contain words identical to predetermined keywords. Thus, conventional technologies are designed to acquire location information from pre-organized data, making it difficult to acquire location information from unstructured data that has not been organized according to certain standards. For example, if a user wants to know the location of a facility mentioned in an article posted on a social networking site, the user must separately search for the location of the facility mentioned in the article using a search engine. Therefore, it is desirable for an information processing device to acquire location information contained in the content of an article on a social networking site and display a location corresponding to the location information without requiring the user to perform a search.

[0012] An information processing device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes: An information processing device that acquires information from an SNS has a control unit that performs the following operations: acquires at least one posted message from the SNS; extracts the name of at least one facility from the posted message; selects, as candidate locations, one or more locations corresponding to the extracted facility name that have an evaluation value determined by a predetermined criterion that is equal to or greater than a first threshold; and displays information indicating the location of the candidate location selected by the user on a map.

[0013] A post is text data that can be obtained on a web service such as a social networking site. Typically, a post contains, in the form of text data, the names of one or more specified facilities or one or more place names.

[0014] The location corresponding to the name of the facility is a location linked to the name of the facility in information on the Internet or the like or information stored in a predetermined server device or the like.

[0015] The evaluation value is a value indicating the evaluation score obtained by evaluating each point corresponding to the facility name according to a predetermined standard. For example, the evaluation value may be set higher as the degree of match between the text data of a web page obtained as a result of searching the extracted facility name using an external web page search engine and the text data of the acquired SNS post increases.

[0016] The control unit extracts the name of the facility from the message posted on the SNS, identifies a candidate location corresponding to the facility name, and displays the location of the candidate location selected by the user from among the multiple candidate locations on a map.

[0017] For example, the control unit analyzes an article about a specific store posted on an SNS, extracts the name of the specific store, obtains information indicating a location corresponding to the store name from another internet service, and then displays the location of the location on a map.

[0018] As a result, the information processing device according to the present disclosure can identify and display location information from words included in the text. In other words, the information processing device according to the present disclosure can improve convenience for users who collect information using various text data.

[0019] In addition, the evaluation value is composed of a first evaluation point indicating the degree of match between the text data obtained from a web search result for the target location to be evaluated and the text data of the posted message, and a second evaluation point indicating the proximity of the target location to the user, and the control unit may obtain the user's current location and set the second evaluation point of a location that is within a predetermined distance from the current location, among one or more locations corresponding to the extracted facility name, to a predetermined value.

[0020] As a result, the information processing device according to the present disclosure can provide information on locations that are more likely to be desired by the user by increasing the evaluation value of locations close to the user's current location and making them candidate locations.

[0021] The control unit may further extract at least one place name from the posted message, and select, from among one or more locations corresponding to the extracted facility names, one or more locations that correspond to the extracted place name and whose evaluation value determined by the specified criteria is equal to or greater than a specified value, as the candidate locations.

[0022] As a result, the information processing device according to the present disclosure can identify location information by using not only the facility name but also the place name included in the text.

[0023] The control unit may also receive, on a screen, a selection from the user as to whether or not to acquire the current location.

[0024] This allows the information processing device according to the present disclosure to allow the user to select whether or not to evaluate a location using the current location.

[0025] In addition, the information processing method according to the present disclosure is an information processing method for acquiring information from a social networking site, and includes the steps of acquiring at least one posted message from the social networking site, extracting the name of at least one facility from the posted message, selecting one or more locations corresponding to the extracted facility names as candidate locations, the one or more locations having an evaluation value determined by a predetermined criterion that is equal to or greater than a first threshold value, and displaying information indicating the positions of the candidate locations selected by the user on a map.

[0026] As a result, the information processing method according to the present disclosure can achieve the same effects as the information processing device.

[0027] Specific embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Unless otherwise specified, the hardware configuration, module configuration, functional configuration, etc. described in each embodiment are not intended to limit the technical scope of the disclosure to those configurations.

[0028] (Embodiment) <Outline of server device processing> An overview of processing performed by a server device according to an embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of processing performed by a server device 100 according to an embodiment. Here, the server device 100 is an example of an information processing device according to the present disclosure. The server device 100 acquires text data of a message posted from an SNS, and displays information indicating a location corresponding to a facility name or place name included in the message on a map. The server device 100 is typically realized as a server device for providing a web application service. The server device 100 may be realized by a plurality of server devices, a cloud server, or the like.

[0029] First, the server device 100 acquires a posted message from an article on the SNS. may acquire text data of an article that a user is viewing. For example, as shown in Figure 1, text data such as "Hello! This is Cafe △△ in Toyota City. We have a new pancake menu item. It has been well received by everyone." is acquired from an article on an SNS.

[0030] Next, the server device 100 extracts candidate place names and facility names from the posted message. The server device 100 extracts words that are considered to be place names and facility names from the text data of the posted message, and sets these as candidate place names and facility names. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the server device 100 extracts the word "Toyota City" and the word "Cafe △△" from the text data of the posted message as candidate place names and facility names, respectively.

[0031] Next, the server device 100 selects a corresponding location from among multiple locations based on the place name and facility name extracted as candidates. Multiple locations may be selected that correspond to the extracted place name and facility name. The server device 100 then displays the selected locations in a list format on the screen. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the server device 100 displays two search results, "Cafe △△" and "Coffee Shop △△O," that correspond to the words "Toyota City" and "Cafe △△." The search results may be obtained using an external search engine.

[0032] Next, the server device 100 accepts from the user a selection of one or more locations from among the locations selected by the server device 100. That is, the server device 100 allows the user to select any location from one or more locations displayed in list format. Then, the server device 100 displays the location of the location selected by the user on a map.

[0033] As described above, in this embodiment, the server device 100 is configured to acquire text data of a posted message from the SNS, select a location corresponding to a facility name or place name included in the posted message, and display the location selected by the user on a map. Note that multiple facility names or place names included in the posted message may be extracted, and multiple locations corresponding to these may also be selected. With this configuration, the server device 100 can identify and display location information from words included in the text.

[0034] <Server device configuration> 2 is a diagram illustrating components of the server device 100 according to the embodiment. In FIG. 2, the server device 100 may be realized by one or more computers.

[0035] The server device 100 according to this embodiment includes a control unit 110, a storage unit 120, and a communication unit 130. The server device 100 executes an application service that provides a user with a map showing the location of a predetermined facility. The server device 100 may be realized as a cloud server.

[0036] The control unit 110 is realized by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and a memory. The control unit 110 includes, as functional modules, an acquisition unit 111, an extraction unit 112, a selection unit 113, a list display unit 114, and a map display unit 115. These functional modules may be realized by the control unit 110 executing a program.

[0037] The acquisition unit 111 acquires at least one posted message from the website of the SNS. The acquisition unit 111 communicates with an external server device that provides the SNS via the communication unit 130 to acquire text data of the posted message.

[0038] The extraction unit 112 extracts the name of at least one facility from the posted message acquired by the acquisition unit 111. The extraction unit 112 analyzes text data of the posted message to identify the name of at least one facility. For example, the extraction unit 112 may extract the name of a facility registered in advance using a text analysis technique such as text mining, or may extract the name of a facility using a generation AI or the like.

[0039] The selection unit 113 selects, as candidate locations, one or more locations corresponding to the names of the facilities extracted by the extraction unit 112. The selection unit 113 sets, as candidate locations, locations whose evaluation values determined by predetermined criteria are equal to or greater than a predetermined value. Here, the candidate locations are locations that indicate candidates that are facilities indicated in the acquired posted messages.

[0040] The list display section 114 displays on the screen one or more candidate locations selected by the selection section 113. The list display section 114 displays the candidate locations in a list format.

[0041] The map display unit 115 displays the position of one candidate point selected by the user on the screen by superimposing it on the map. The map display unit 115 may also display the position of a candidate point selected by the user from the list of candidate points displayed by the list display unit 114 by superimposing it on the map using a pin, icon, or the like.

[0042] The storage unit 120 is a main storage device such as RAM or ROM, an EPROM, a hard disk drive, or an auxiliary storage device such as removable media. The auxiliary storage device stores an operating system (OS), various programs, various tables, etc., and by executing the programs stored therein, it is possible to realize functions that match the predetermined purpose of each unit of the control unit 110. However, some or all of the functions may be realized by hardware circuits such as ASICs or FPGAs.

[0043] The storage unit 120 stores data and the like used or generated in the processing performed by the control unit 110. The storage unit 120 may also store map data and the like.

[0044] The communication unit 130 is configured with a communication circuit that performs wireless communication. The communication unit 130 may be, for example, a communication circuit that performs wireless communication using 4G (4th Generation) or a communication circuit that performs wireless communication using 5G (5th Generation). The communication unit 130 may also be a communication circuit that performs wireless communication using LTE (Long Term Evolution) or a communication circuit that performs wireless communication using LPWA (Low Power Wide Area). The communication unit 130 may be a communication circuit that performs communication using the Wi-Fi (registered trademark) standard.

[0045] <Operation of the server device> Next, a description will be given of specific contents of the processing performed by the server device 100. Fig. 3 is a flowchart of the processing executed by the control unit of the server device according to the embodiment.

[0046] The server device 100 starts the process of step S10 when a specific operation is performed by the user while browsing a web page of an SNS. For example, if the user is browsing an SNS via a predetermined application, the specific operation may be pressing a specific button in the application. Alternatively, if the user is browsing an SNS via the server device 100, the process of step S10 may start automatically after a predetermined time has elapsed since the user started browsing the web page of the SNS. When the user performs a specific operation (e.g., pressing a share button) on the SNS application while browsing an SNS on a terminal associated with the user, the terminal associated with the user transmits information (e.g., URL information) for identifying the SNS page being viewed to the server device 100. The data is transmitted to the device 100.

[0047] First, in step S10, the acquisition unit 111 acquires a posted message based on URL (Uniform Resource Locator) information transmitted to the server device 100 by a terminal associated with the user. The acquisition unit 111 acquires text data of the posted message from an address indicated by the URL information of a page on the SNS that the user is viewing or that the user has specified. Note that the web page from which the acquisition unit 111 acquires the posted message is not limited to an SNS. The acquisition unit 111 may acquire text data from any web service.

[0048] Next, in step S11, the extraction unit 112 extracts location information linked to a predetermined parameter. Here, the location information may be a predetermined facility name, place name, or the like included in the text data. The predetermined parameter may also be a tag indicating that the linked text data indicates a facility name, place name, location information, or the like. For example, depending on the SNS service, such tags may be assigned to words corresponding to place names or facility names. For example, the extraction unit 112 extracts text data (typically, words) linked to a predetermined tag. The extraction unit 112 may extract only facility names as location information, or may extract place names together with facility names. The extraction unit 112 may use, for example, an existing function such as Amazon Comprehend.

[0049] Next, in step S12, the selection unit 113 determines whether or not location information is included in the text data of the acquired posted message. If the selection unit 113 determines that location information is included in the text data of the acquired posted message, the determination in this step is affirmative.

[0050] If the determination in this step is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S13.

[0051] If the determination in this step is negative, the process proceeds to step S14.

[0052] When the process proceeds to step S13, the selection unit 113 selects a predetermined number of words estimated to be location information from the top that have the highest predetermined score. Here, the predetermined score may be a value indicating the degree to which the word estimated to be location information matches a pre-registered word (for example, a place name).

[0053] Next, in step S15, the selection unit 113 selects an appropriate candidate location from the locations indicated by the location information. The selection unit 113 selects, as a candidate location, a location from among one or more locations corresponding to the names of facilities extracted by the extraction unit 112, whose evaluation value determined by a predetermined criterion is equal to or greater than a first threshold value.

[0054] For example, the selection unit 113 searches for the extracted facility name using an external webpage search engine and analyzes the text data of the webpage displayed as the search result. Then, the selection unit 113 analyzes the degree of match between the analysis result of the text data of the searched webpage and the analysis result of the text data of the posted message. Here, the degree of match may or may not simply mean that words or sentences match. The degree of match may represent the likelihood that the facility derived from the text data of the searched webpage and the facility derived from the text data of the posted message are the same facility.

[0055] The selection unit 113 then evaluates each of the locations indicated by the searched web pages, etc., using an evaluation value determined according to a predetermined standard. The evaluation value may be, for example, a value indicating the degree of match. Furthermore, for example, when there is a plurality of pieces of information indicating locations corresponding to the facility name, the evaluation value may be set so that the location that has the most results displayed among the search results for locations corresponding to the facility name has the highest evaluation result. When there are a plurality of candidate locations, the selection unit 113 In this case, the candidate locations may be ranked based on the evaluation value of each candidate location.

[0056] Next, in step S16, the selection unit 113 acquires information about the address or latitude and longitude corresponding to the candidate location from an external map application. The selection unit 113 inputs words that are presumed to be location information about the candidate location into the external map application, and acquires information about the corresponding address or latitude and longitude. For example, the selection unit 113 may use an existing function such as Google Maps Platform. Alternatively, the selection unit 113 may store map data itself and identify information about the address or latitude and longitude corresponding to the candidate location itself.

[0057] When the process proceeds to step S14, the selection unit 113 identifies candidate locations based on location information that is not linked to a predetermined parameter. For example, the selection unit 113 extracts words (phrases) that are not linked to a predetermined parameter but are estimated to be location information from the text data of the acquired posted message. Then, the selection unit 113 selects a predetermined number of pieces of extracted location information that have high predetermined scores from the top. Next, the selection unit 113 determines, as candidate locations, locations that have an evaluation value determined by a predetermined criterion that is equal to or greater than a predetermined value from among one or more locations corresponding to the location information selected by the selection unit 113. Then, the selection unit 113 evaluates the candidate locations in the same manner as in step S15, and acquires information on addresses or latitude and longitude corresponding to the candidate locations from an external map application in the same manner as in step S16.

[0058] Next, after step S14 or step S16, in step S17, list display unit 114 displays a list of candidate locations selected by selection unit 113. List display unit 114 displays one candidate location or a list of multiple candidate locations on the screen. List display unit 114 may display the list of candidate locations based on the ranking of the multiple candidate locations determined based on the evaluation values of the candidate locations.

[0059] Next, in step S18, the list display unit 114 receives from the user a selection of a location to be displayed on the map from among the candidate locations. For example, the list display unit 114 receives a candidate location that the user taps or clicks on a screen displaying a list of candidate locations.

[0060] Next, in step S19, the map display unit 115 displays the candidate points selected by the user on the map. The map display unit 115 displays the positions of the selected candidate points on the map. In addition to the positions of the selected candidate points, the map display unit 115 may also display information such as the facility name, address, telephone number, or menu of the restaurant at the candidate point.

[0061] As a result, in this embodiment, the server device 100 can display on a map the location corresponding to the place name or facility name included in the posted text acquired from the SNS or the like. In other words, the server device 100 can identify and display location information from words included in the text. Therefore, the server device 100 can reduce the effort required for the user to separately search for the place name or facility name posted to the SNS or the like.

[0062] <In-vehicle terminal> The processes from step S10 to step S19 may be executed by an in-vehicle terminal instead of the server device 100. The in-vehicle terminal may acquire text data of a posted message from an SNS or the like that a user of a vehicle equipped with the in-vehicle terminal has viewed on the in-vehicle terminal or a terminal associated with the user. The in-vehicle terminal may then display on a map on a screen of the in-vehicle terminal a location corresponding to a place name or facility name included in the posted message.

[0063] (Modification of the first embodiment) <Display of candidate locations based on current location> In the first embodiment, the server device 100 identifies a corresponding location from a place name or facility name included in a posted message acquired from an SNS or the like and displays the corresponding location on a map. However, if a location identified from a place name or facility name included in a posted message is too far from the user's current location, it may not be considered to provide useful information to the user. For example, for a user currently in Tokyo, it may be more effective to display candidate locations near Tokyo than candidate locations in Kyushu that correspond to place names or facility names included in a posted message. Therefore, in a variation of the first embodiment, the server device 100 sets an evaluation value so that locations within a predetermined distance from the user's current location are more likely to be selected as candidate locations.

[0064] 4 is a flowchart of a process for selecting a candidate location based on a current location, which is executed by the control unit 110 of the server device 100 according to the embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 4 is executed after the process of step S14 and before the process of step S15. In a variation of the first embodiment, the evaluation value is composed of a first evaluation point indicating the degree of match between the text data obtained from the search results for the target location, which is the location to be evaluated, and the text data of the acquired posted message, and a second evaluation point indicating the proximity of the target location, which is the location to be evaluated, from the current location.

[0065] First, in step S30, the selection unit 113 determines whether or not the current location of the user has been acquired. For example, the selection unit 113 may determine whether or not the current location of a terminal that the user is using to browse an SNS or the like has been acquired. Furthermore, the selection unit 113 may accept, on the screen, a user's selection as to whether or not the selection unit 113 should acquire the user's current location. For example, the selection unit 113 may display, on the screen, a button for selecting whether or not the user's current location should be used in the processing executed by the control unit 110, and accept the user's selection. If the selection unit 113 determines that the user's current location has been acquired, this step is determined as positive.

[0066] If the determination in this step is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S31.

[0067] If the determination in this step is negative, the process ends.

[0068] When the process transitions to step S31, the selection unit 113 sets the second evaluation points of points within a predetermined distance from the user's current location to a predetermined value or more. For example, the selection unit 113 may uniformly set the second evaluation points of points within a predetermined distance from the user's current location to a reference value or more. Furthermore, for example, the selection unit 113 may set a value inversely proportional to the distance from the user's current location as the second evaluation point. The selection unit 113 then sums a separately set first evaluation point and the second evaluation point set in step S31 to determine the evaluation value of the candidate location. Note that when a separately set first evaluation point is set, the first evaluation point may be set higher the higher the degree of match between text data obtained from the search results for the target location, which is the location to be evaluated, and the text data of the acquired posted message.

[0069] The processes from step S30 to step S31 may also be executed by the in-vehicle terminal that executes steps S10 to S19.

[0070] As a result, in the modification of the first embodiment, the server device 100 can preferentially present to the user points that are within a predetermined distance from the user's current location among points that correspond to place names or facility names included in a message posted on the SNS. Thus, the server device 100 can further improve user convenience.

[0071] (Other variations) The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and the present disclosure can be modified and implemented as appropriate within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the disclosure.

[0072] The present disclosure can also be realized by providing a computer program implementing the functions described in the above embodiments to a computer, and having one or more processors in the computer read and execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer via a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium connectable to the computer's system bus or via a network. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media include, for example, any type of disk, such as a magnetic disk (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), an optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a Blu-ray disk), a read-only memory (ROM), a random-access memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flash memory, an optical card, or any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions. [Explanation of symbols]

[0073] 100 Server device 110 Control unit 111...Acquisition part 112...Extraction part 113...Selection section 114 List display section 115···Map display section 120...Storage section 130 Communications Department

Claims

1. An information processing device that acquires information from a social networking service (SNS), Acquiring at least one post from an SNS; extracting the name of at least one facility from the posted text; selecting, as candidate locations, one or more locations corresponding to the extracted facility names, the one or more locations having an evaluation value determined by a predetermined criterion that is equal to or greater than a first threshold value; displaying information indicating the positions of the candidate points selected by the user on a map; a control unit that executes the following: Information processing device.

2. the evaluation value is composed of a first evaluation point indicating a degree of match between text data obtained as a result of a web search for the target location to be evaluated and text data of the posted message, and a second evaluation point indicating a proximity of the target location to the user; The control unit Obtaining the user's current location; setting the second evaluation score of a point that is within a predetermined distance from the current location among one or more points corresponding to the extracted facility names to a predetermined value; The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The control unit Further, extracting at least one place name from the posted text; selecting, as the candidate locations, one or more locations that correspond to the extracted place names and for which the evaluation value determined by the predetermined criteria is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, from among the one or more locations that correspond to the extracted facility names; 3. The information processing device according to claim 1.

4. The control unit accepting, on a screen, the user's selection as to whether or not to acquire the current location; The information processing device according to claim 2 .

5. An information processing method for acquiring information from a social networking service (SNS), comprising: acquiring at least one post from an SNS; extracting the name of at least one facility from the posted text; selecting, as candidate locations, one or more locations corresponding to the extracted facility names, the one or more locations having an evaluation value determined by a predetermined criterion that is equal to or greater than a first threshold value; displaying information indicating the positions of the candidate points selected by the user on a map; Including, Information processing methods.

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