Information processing device, information processing system, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To allow a user to continue a puzzle while enjoying it.SOLUTION: An information processing device has: a selection section 120 for selecting an object news article that satisfies a predetermined condition from among multiple news articles that are disclosed on-line; a word extraction section 130 for extracting a word from an object news article selected by the selection section 120; and a question creation section 140 for creating a puzzle question in which positions of multiple characters composing a word are rearranged on the basis of a predetermined rule by using the word extracted by the word extraction section 130.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] When a crossword puzzle in which participants fill in designated squares with letters is presented over the Internet, a technique has been disclosed in which addresses of sponsors' homepages containing hidden hints for solving the crossword puzzle are distributed in multiple installments via e-mail (see, for example, Patent Document 1). By having the solver access each of the addresses distributed in multiple installments to obtain the hints, the solver can browse the sponsors' homepages in turn, and the sponsor can advertise to the solver. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-306932 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the above-mentioned technology, a user solving a crossword puzzle must browse the sponsor's homepage, which is distributed in multiple installments, to obtain clues. This requires the user to visit the sponsor's homepage multiple times, which can bore the user and lead to the user stopping accessing the sponsor's homepage. As a result, there is a problem that the user will not continue solving the puzzle.

[0005] An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device, an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program that allow a user to continue playing puzzles while enjoying them. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The information processing device of the present invention comprises: a selection unit that selects target news articles that satisfy predetermined conditions from a plurality of news articles published online; a word extraction unit that extracts words from the target news articles selected by the selection unit; The system further comprises a question creation unit that uses the words extracted by the word extraction unit to create puzzle questions by rearranging the positions of a plurality of characters that make up the words based on a predetermined rule.

[0007] Further, the information processing system of the present invention comprises: The system includes a user terminal, an information processing device, a puzzle database, and a puzzle server, The information processing device includes: a selection unit that selects target news articles that satisfy predetermined conditions from a plurality of news articles published online; a word extraction unit that extracts words from the target news articles selected by the selection unit; a question creation unit that uses the word extracted by the word extraction unit to create a puzzle question by rearranging the positions of a plurality of characters that make up the word based on a predetermined rule, The puzzle database is storing the puzzle created by the information processing device and access information indicating an online location where the target news article is published; The puzzle server a screen creation unit that creates puzzle screen data including the puzzle problem stored in the puzzle database and the access information; a communication unit that transmits puzzle screen data created by the screen creation unit to the user terminal; The user terminal has an output unit that outputs puzzle screen data transmitted from the puzzle server.

[0008] Further, the information processing method of the present invention comprises: A process of selecting target news articles that satisfy predetermined conditions from a plurality of news articles published online; extracting words from the selected target news articles; A process of creating a puzzle problem by rearranging the positions of a plurality of characters constituting the extracted word based on a predetermined rule using the extracted word; a process of creating puzzle screen data including the created puzzle question and access information indicating the online location where the target news article is published; The created puzzle screen data is transmitted to the user terminal.

[0009] The program of the present invention also includes: A program to be executed by a computer, On the computer, A procedure for selecting target news articles that meet predetermined conditions from multiple news articles published online; extracting words from the selected target news articles; The extracted words are used to create puzzle questions by rearranging the positions of the letters that make up the words based on a predetermined rule. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] In the present invention, the user can continue to enjoy the puzzle. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an information processing system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in a content database shown in FIG. [Figure 3] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of components included in the information processing device illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in a puzzle database shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of components included in the puzzle server shown in FIG. 1. [Figure 6] 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of components included in the user terminal illustrated in FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 7] 6 is a diagram showing an example of puzzle screen data displayed by the output unit shown in FIG. 5. FIG. [Figure 8] 7 is a diagram showing an example of an answer to the puzzle screen data displayed by the output unit shown in FIG. 6. FIG. [Figure 9] 1. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process for creating and transmitting puzzle screen data in the information processing system shown in FIG. [Figure 10] 1. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of processing from inputting an answer to puzzle screen data to transmitting a result of determining whether the answer is correct in the information processing system shown in FIG. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 illustrates an information processing system according to a second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. (First embodiment)

[0013] Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an information processing system according to a first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the information processing system according to this embodiment includes an information processing device 100, user terminals 200-1 to 200-n (n is a natural number), a content provider device 300, a content acquisition device 400, a Web server 500, a content database 600, a puzzle database 610, and a news page generation device 700. The Web server 500 is provided with a news server 510 and a puzzle server 520. The user terminals 200-1 to 200-n, the content provider device 300, the content acquisition device 400, the news server 510, and the puzzle server 520 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via the Internet 900, which is a communication network. Furthermore, the information processing device 100, content acquisition device 400, news server 510, puzzle server 520, content database 600, puzzle database 610, and news page generation device 700 are communicably connected to one another via an intranet 910 that is limited to a specific range. The configuration shown in FIG. 1 is a configuration in which the company that owns the information processing device 100 is the company that operates the news site of the news server 510. In this embodiment, a case in which the type of content is a news article will be described as an example. Note that the type of content may be other than a news article as long as the information is updated daily.

[0014] The content provider device 300 is a device that provides news to contracted companies. The content provider device 300 is a device owned by a content provider such as a news distribution company, a newspaper company, a television station news department, or an entertainment magazine company. The content provider device 300 may be, for example, a personal computer, a server, a virtual machine on the cloud, a tablet computer, or a smartphone.

[0015] The content acquiring device 400 acquires data of news articles (hereinafter, the titles, main texts, etc. that make up each news item will be collectively referred to as news articles) from the content provider device 300. The content acquiring device 400 registers the acquired data of the news articles in the content database 600. The content acquiring device 400 is, for example, a personal computer, a server, a virtual machine on the cloud, a tablet computer, a smartphone, etc.

[0016] The content database 600 is a database that stores data on news articles registered by the content acquisition device 400. The content database 600 may be, for example, a personal computer or a server, a storage device built into or external to the device, or a virtual machine and cloud storage on the cloud. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of data stored in the content database 600 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the content database 600 shown in FIG. 1 stores the title, text, image file, content provider information, publication date, access information, and number of accesses of a news article in association with each other. The content database 600 shown in FIG. 1 may also store data other than the data shown in FIG. 2.

[0017] The title is a title given to a news article, and may be any information that allows the content of the news article to be understood. The title is preferably information that is composed of a concise expression (text). The title may be, for example, a news headline that appears in a newspaper or on television.

[0018] The main text is the text of the news article. The main text does not have to be the entire text of the news article acquired by the content acquiring device 400, and may be only a portion of the text. The main text may also be a summary of the news article acquired by the content acquiring device 400.

[0019] An image file is image data related to the news article. Depending on the content of the news article, two or more image files may be included in the news article data acquired by the content acquiring device 400. Also, the news article data may not include an image file. The image file may not be the image file itself, but may be information indicating a source from which the image file can be acquired. The image in the image file may be, for example, a photograph, illustration, chart, or the like that supplements the news article.

[0020] The content provider information is identification information that identifies the content provider that provides the news article. The content provider information may be, for example, the company name or organization name of the content provider, or the name of the copyright holder. The content provider information may be an identifier using a unique number or characters that is generated to identify the content provider device 300. The content provider information is preferably information that can be used to access the content provider device 300.

[0021] The publication date is the date (which may include time information) when the news article was published. The publication date may be included in the news article data by the content provider, or may be the date and time provided by the content provider device 300 (stored in the content database 600), or the date and time when the news article was published on the news site on the news server 510.

[0022] The access information is information that indicates the location of the news article published online within a news site on the news server 510. Specifically, the access information is, for example, the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the news article page on the news site.

[0023] The number of accesses is information based on the number of accesses from user terminals 200-1 to 200-n to a news article page posted on a news site on news server 510. For example, the number of accesses is information that indicates the number of accesses to the news article page in a predetermined period such as one day or one week, or the cumulative total number of accesses since publication. The number of accesses is updated by news server 510.

[0024] 2 may be stored in a distributed manner in databases other than the content database 600. In this case, information (e.g., identification information, management number, etc.) that allows the correspondence between each piece of data to be identified is assigned to each piece of data.

[0025] The news server 510 distributes news screen data created by the news page generation device 700 based on news article data stored in the content database 600 to user terminals 200-1 to 200-n via the Internet 900. The news server 510 is, for example, a web server implemented by a personal computer, a server, or a virtual machine on the cloud. The news server 510 publishes a news site online and distributes news screen data to user terminals 200-1 to 200-n that access the news site via the Internet 900. The news server 510 stores the news screen data to be distributed in a storage unit. Alternatively, the news page generation device 700 may generate news screen data when a news site or a news article on the news site is accessed from a user terminal 200-1 to 200-n. The news screen data distributed by the news server 510 includes a title list page that displays the titles of multiple news articles, which is the top page of the news site, and a news article page that displays each news article linked to the title. When a news site is accessed from user terminals 200-1 to 200-n, news server 510 delivers a title list page, and when a news article title on the title list page is selected by user terminal 200-1 to 200-n, news server 510 delivers the selected news article. This title list page may include a puzzle banner that links to the puzzle site of puzzle server 520. This puzzle banner displays a "puzzle question" created by information processing device 100, which will be described later. Furthermore, the URL of the news article page linked from the title list page is access information stored in content database 600. When a news article page is accessed from user terminal 200-1 to 200-n, news server 510 counts up and updates the number of accesses corresponding to the news article URL in content database 600.

[0026] The news page generation device 700 uses each piece of news article data registered in the content database 600 to create news screen data to be distributed by the news server 510, and transmits the data to the news server 510. The news page generation device 700 may be, for example, a personal computer, a server, a virtual machine on the cloud, a tablet computer, or a smartphone. For example, the news page generation device 700 extracts recent news articles (e.g., news articles registered in the content database 600 after the last extraction date and time) from the data of each news article registered in the content database 600, and creates an HTML file as a news article page that displays the text, image files, content provider information, and publication date of the extracted news article. The news page generation device 700 also creates an HTML file as a title list page that displays a list of the titles of the extracted news articles and links each title to the URL of the created news article page. The news page generation device 700 then transmits the created news screen data to the news server 510. In addition, when creating an HTML file that is a title list page, the news page generation device 700 may display the puzzle banner created by the information processing device 100 between or around the titles of the news articles, and may add a link that takes you to the URL of the puzzle site on the puzzle server when the puzzle banner is selected.

[0027] The information processing device 100 creates "puzzle data" using data stored in the content database 600. The information processing device 100 is, for example, a personal computer, a server, a virtual machine on the cloud, a tablet computer, a smartphone, etc. The information processing device 100 stores the created "puzzle data" in the puzzle database 610.

[0028] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of components included in the information processing device 100 illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the information processing device 100 illustrated in FIG. 1 includes a communication unit 110, a selection unit 120, a word extraction unit 130, and a question creation unit 140. The information processing device 100 may be, for example, a personal computer, a server, a virtual machine on the cloud, a tablet computer, or a smartphone. The selection unit 120, the word extraction unit 130, and the question creation unit 140 are implemented by a central processing unit (CPU) executing various software programs, such as an operating system (OS) and application software, stored in a storage device, such as a random access memory (RAM) or a hard disk drive (HDD), provided in the information processing device 100. Note that FIG. 3 illustrates only the main components related to this embodiment among the components included in the information processing device 100 illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0029] The communication unit 110 has a function of communicating with other devices via the intranet 910. The communication unit 110 may be equipped with a wired communication function or a wireless communication function. The communication unit 110 is realized, for example, by a network controller, an antenna if wireless, or a network connector if wired. The communication method used by the communication unit 110 is, for example, 5G (5th Generation), LTE (Long Term Evolution), wireless LAN (Local Area Network), etc. if wireless, or Ethernet (registered trademark), etc. if wired, but is not particularly specified as long as it enables communication.

[0030] The selection unit 120 selects news articles (target news articles) that satisfy predetermined conditions from multiple news articles published online by the news server 510 at preset intervals, such as daily or weekly intervals. Specifically, the selection unit 120 extracts news articles published within a predetermined period from the content database 600, which stores data constituting news articles distributed by the news server 510, calculates the priority of each of the extracted news articles, and selects the news article with the highest priority. The predetermined period used here may be, for example, the publication date associated with each piece of news article data stored in the content database 600. For example, the selection unit 120 extracts news articles published within a predetermined period (e.g., within 24 hours, within one week, etc.). For example, the number of accesses is used as the priority. For example, the selection unit 120 selects the news article associated with the highest number of accesses from among the extracted news articles. Note that it is also possible to select only news articles with a number of accesses higher than a predetermined value.

[0031] As described above, by using an algorithm that assigns a higher priority to a news article with a higher number of accesses, the selection unit 120 can prioritize the selection of news articles that are of interest to more users. Priorities may also be set by adding together values calculated using multiple algorithms that calculate priorities based on values other than the number of accesses. When adding together, a predetermined weighting may be assigned to each value.

[0032] Other algorithms for calculating the priority include, for example, a calculation algorithm in which the more recent the publication date of the news article (the shorter the period between the publication date and the present), the higher the priority value. By calculating the priority in this way, the selection unit 120 can select news articles with higher freshness as a priority.

[0033] Furthermore, a calculation algorithm may be used such that the higher the priority of a news article, the more frequently a word that is searched for in a given period (for example, within 24 hours, within one week, etc.) is included in the title or text of the news server 510, a web search service, a social networking service (SNS), etc. Calculating the priority in this way allows the selection unit 120 to give priority to selecting news articles that are of interest to a greater number of users.

[0034] Furthermore, a calculation algorithm may be used such that the higher the number of words used in tags on SNS etc. within a predetermined period (for example, within 24 hours, within one week, etc.), the higher the priority of the news article. By calculating the priority in this way, the more talked-about the news article is, the more the selection unit 120 can select it.

[0035] Alternatively, a calculation algorithm may be used in which the lower the percentage of predetermined negative words contained in the title or text of a news article, the higher the priority value. Conversely, a calculation algorithm may be used in which the lower the percentage of predetermined negative words contained in the title or text of a news article, the lower the priority value. By calculating the priority in this manner, the selection unit 120 can select more positive news articles with higher priority.

[0036] Alternatively, a calculation algorithm may be used such that a news article that has a large number of accesses in a predetermined first period (e.g., within 24 hours, within one week, etc.) but has an equal or greater number of accesses in a predetermined second period prior to the first period (e.g., from 48 hours to 24 hours ago, or from two weeks to one week ago) than in the first period is assigned a lower priority. By calculating the priority in this manner, news articles that have already been a hot topic in the past can be excluded from the options selected by the selection unit 120.

[0037] The selection unit 120 may also select news articles using a learning model that has previously learned the above-mentioned predetermined conditions and priorities.

[0038] The priority may be calculated when the selection unit 120 selects a news article, or may be updated periodically at preset times, such as once a day or once a week, and stored in the content database 600. In this case, when the selection unit 120 selects a news article, it does not calculate the priority, but reads the priority of each news article from the content database 600 and selects the news article.

[0039] The selection unit 120 outputs the selected news article (target news article) to the word extraction unit 130. Note that the selection unit 120 may select a predetermined number of multiple news articles in descending order of priority, starting with the highest priority, and output them to the word extraction unit 130 together with their respective priorities.

[0040] The word extraction unit 130 extracts words, such as single words and phrases, from the news articles (target news articles) output from the selection unit 120. The word extraction unit 130 may extract multiple words from a single news article. The word extraction unit 130 extracts words from the news articles output from the selection unit 120 based on preset conditions. For example, the word extraction unit 130 may perform morphological element analysis on the text stored in the content database 600 corresponding to the news articles output from the selection unit 120 and extract the most frequently occurring words from the text. The word extraction unit 130 may also extract words that have been frequently searched for within a predetermined period on the news server 510, web search services, SNS, etc. from the text corresponding to the news articles output from the selection unit 120. In this case, the word extraction unit 130 may extract a predetermined number of words in descending order of the number of searches, or may extract words whose number of searches is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. Furthermore, the word extraction unit 130 may extract words that have been used as tags on social media or the like within a predetermined period of time from among the words contained in the text corresponding to the news article output from the selection unit 120. In this case, the word extraction unit 130 may extract words that are ranked higher than a predetermined rank. Furthermore, the word extraction unit 130 may extract any words that appear early from among the words contained in the text corresponding to the news article output from the selection unit 120. Furthermore, the word extraction unit 130 may input the text corresponding to the news article output from the selection unit 120 into an AI (artificial intelligence) engine and extract words that are most suitable as keywords representing the news article from among the words contained in the news article. Furthermore, the word extraction unit 130 may extract words that satisfy a character limit (e.g., 4 to 10 characters) from among the words contained in the news article output from the selection unit 120. In addition, the word extraction unit 130 may extract words from the news articles output from the selection unit 120 that are composed of characters other than those that are difficult to convert into a predetermined character format, such as English letters, numbers, and symbols.The word extraction unit 130 may extract words by combining the conditions exemplified above. If the news article output from the selection unit 120 does not contain a word that satisfies the condition, the word extraction unit 130 may extract words from the news article with the next highest number of hits to the news article output from the selection unit 120. The word extraction unit 130 outputs the extracted words to the question creation unit 140. The word extraction unit 130 may output multiple words to the question creation unit 140.

[0041] The question creation unit 140 creates a "puzzle question" using the word output from the word extraction unit 130. The "puzzle question" created by the question creation unit 140 is a word obtained by rearranging the positions of multiple characters constituting the word extracted by the word extraction unit 130. The puzzle of this embodiment is solved by rearranging the characters of the "puzzle question," which is the rearranged word, back to the order of the characters of the word extracted by the word extraction unit 130. Here, if the word output from the word extraction unit 130 is in a character format other than a predetermined character format (e.g., hiragana) (e.g., kanji or katakana), the question creation unit 140 converts the word into a predetermined character format. Specifically, the question creation unit 140 breaks down the characters constituting the word output from the word extraction unit 130 or the word converted into a predetermined character format, and rearranges the order of the broken down characters using a predetermined rule. In this embodiment, the order of the characters constituting a character string that constitutes a word is rearranged to create a different character string, but instead of rearranging them in a single horizontal row as in the "puzzle problem" exemplified in Fig. 7, they may be rearranged vertically and horizontally like building blocks (for example, in the case of the "puzzle problem" of question 1 in Fig. 7, the first row is "mo" and "ku", the second row is "yo", "u", and "bi", and the third row is "te" and "ki"). Alternatively, the characters may be rearranged in a way that the characters are written on cards on a two-dimensional plane and scattered in random orientations, etc.

[0042] Here, multiple predetermined rules for rearranging characters are prepared corresponding to the level of difficulty. When creating a "puzzle question," the question creation unit 140 rearranges the characters of a word using a rearrangement rule corresponding to the level of difficulty previously set by the question creator. For example, the question creation unit 140 may use a rule for setting a character limit for the word extraction unit 130 so that the lower the set difficulty level, the fewer characters that constitute the word to be extracted (e.g., a rule for setting a character limit of four characters to extract the word "baseball" when the difficulty level is low, and a rule for setting a character limit of eight characters to extract the word "baseball watching" when the difficulty level is high). Furthermore, the question creation unit 140 may use a rule for rearranging characters so that the number of characters to be rearranged relative to the total number of characters in a word is reduced (e.g., a rule for rearranging two characters to create "kakyuyansen" when the difficulty level is low, and a rule for rearranging four characters to create "sekyuun yakan" when the difficulty level is high). Furthermore, when the word to be decomposed is a word composed of multiple character groups that have meaning even when they are independent, and the difficulty level is set low, the question creation unit 140 may use a rule for rearranging only the character groups (for example, if the word to be decomposed is "baseball watching," which is composed of the character group "baseball" and the character group "watching," a rule for rearranging "yakyukansen" to "kansen-yakyu" in character group units. However, when the difficulty level is set high, a rule for rearranging each character, ignoring the character groups). Furthermore, when the difficulty level is set low, the question creation unit 140 may use a rule for not changing the order of characters in the character group for at least one character group that constitutes the word to be decomposed even after rearranging (for example, if the word to be decomposed is "baseball watching," which includes the character group "baseball," a rule for rearranging "yakyukansen" to "kan-yakyusen" without changing the order of the characters in the character group "yakyu"; however, when the difficulty level is set high, a rule for rearranging each character, ignoring the character groups).Furthermore, when the difficulty level is set low, the question creation unit 140 may use a rule for rearranging the characters of the words output from the word extraction unit 130 without changing the position of the first character that constitutes the word to be decomposed (for example, when the word to be decomposed is the word "baseball watching," a rule for rearranging "yakyukansen" to "yakaukyuunsen" without changing the first character "ya" may be used. However, when the difficulty level is set high, a rule for rearranging the first character as well may be used). Furthermore, when the set difficulty level is low, the question creation unit 140 may use a rule that increases the number of character groups that make up a word and do not rearrange (for example, if the word to be decomposed is the word "baseball watching" which is made up of two character groups, "baseball" and "watching," the rule is to rearrange "yakyu kansen" to "kansen yakyu" without rearranging the characters within the two character groups. However, when the set difficulty level is higher, the rule is to rearrange "yakyu kansen" to "sen yakyukan" without rearranging the characters within one character group, and when the set difficulty level is even higher, the rule is to ignore the character groups and rearrange each character individually).

[0043] Furthermore, the question creation unit 140 may create "puzzle questions" of multiple predetermined difficulty levels for each word output from the word extraction unit 130, and transmit the "puzzle questions" to the user terminals 200-1 to 200-n according to the difficulty level specified by the user terminals 200-1 to 200-n or the number of correct answers. The difficulty levels and rearrangement rules described above may be combined. Furthermore, the creation of "puzzle questions" by the question creation unit 140 may be performed by inputting words or words converted into a predetermined character format into an AI using a learning model that has previously learned the difficulty levels and rearrangement rules described above, and outputting the "puzzle questions." By setting such difficulty levels when creating "puzzle questions" created by the question creation unit 140, the points awarded to users (described later) can be set according to the difficulty levels.

[0044] In this way, the character arrangement after the character rearrangement by the question creation unit 140 becomes a "puzzle question" to be presented as a puzzle question. The question creation unit 140 associates the created "puzzle question," the words used to create the "puzzle question," the "answer" which is a word in a predetermined character format before the "puzzle question" is rearranged, the difficulty level, and access information which is the URL of the news article from which the word was extracted with identification information created to identify each puzzle, and stores these as puzzle data in the puzzle database 610 via the communication unit 110. Note that the access information is stored in the content database 600 in association with the text of the news article from which the word was extracted. Furthermore, the storage of each data in the puzzle database 610 may be, for example, such that the selection unit 120 stores the access information of the selected news article, the word extraction unit 130 stores the extracted word, and the question creation unit 140 stores the "puzzle question," the "answer," and the difficulty level. In addition, when points are awarded when a "puzzle problem" is answered correctly, the problem creation unit 140 may set points based on the difficulty of the "puzzle problem," associate the set points with the "puzzle problem," and store the points as puzzle data in the puzzle database 610 via the communication unit 110.

[0045] The question creation unit 140 may also create a puzzle banner to display the created "puzzle question." The question creation unit 140 outputs the created puzzle banner to the news page generation device 700. At this time, the question creation unit 140 may also output the URL of a puzzle site that links to the puzzle banner. The puzzle banner to display this "puzzle question" is displayed by the news page generation device 700 together with a list of titles of each news article, and when selected, a link is provided to transition to the puzzle site of the puzzle server 520, and a title list page is created.

[0046] The puzzle database 610 is a database that stores data constituting puzzle data, including "puzzle questions" created by the question creation unit 140. The puzzle database 610 may be, for example, a personal computer or a server, a storage device built into or external to the device, or a virtual machine and cloud storage on the cloud. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of puzzle data stored in the puzzle database 610 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 4, the puzzle database 610 shown in FIG. 1 stores identification information, words, "answers," puzzle questions, and access information, which is the URL of a news article, in association with each other. In addition to this association, an explanation of the word and points awarded to the user when the answer is correct may also be stored in association with each other.

[0047] The identification information is identification information that is assigned to each puzzle data by the word extraction unit 130 or the question creation unit 140 of the information processing device 100. The words are words extracted by the word extraction unit 130.

[0048] The "answer" is a word converted into a predetermined character format by the question creation unit 140. In other words, it is the word of the "puzzle question" created by the question creation unit 140 before rearrangement.

[0049] The "puzzle question" is a "question" created by the question creation unit 140 to be presented as a puzzle.

[0050] The difficulty level is the difficulty level used when creating the "puzzle problem" created by the problem creation unit 140. If the difficulty level differs for each puzzle problem, the puzzle database 610 stores the difficulty level in association with each puzzle problem. However, if all the puzzle problems are of the same difficulty level, the difficulty level does not need to be stored as puzzle data in the puzzle database 610 as long as it is stored in a storage unit of the information processing device 100 or the like.

[0051] The access information indicates the URL, which is the online location of the news article page from which the word extraction unit 130 extracted the words. This access information is a hint for solving the "puzzle problem."

[0052] In addition to this access information, the puzzle database 610 may store a sentence explaining the meaning of a word as an "explanation" to serve as a hint for deriving the word. The "explanation" may be a sentence prepared in advance, or a sentence generated by using AI to input various words and their meanings, such as character information published online or offline dictionary data, into a learning model, and outputting the meaning of the word extracted by the word extraction unit 130.

[0053] Points are set based on the difficulty level used to create the "puzzle problem" created by the problem creation unit 140. When a "puzzle problem" is correctly solved, the user is awarded the points. For example, the higher the difficulty level of the "puzzle problem," the higher (more) points the problem creation unit 140 sets for the "puzzle problem." The numerical value of the points is not particularly specified, but for example, "10" may be the highest point (difficulty level: high) and "1" may be the lowest point (difficulty level: low).

[0054] The puzzle server 520 creates puzzle screen data, including puzzle questions created by the information processing device 100 based on puzzle data stored in the puzzle database 610 and access information, and publishes the puzzle site online, distributing the data to user terminals 200-1 to 200-n via the Internet 900. The puzzle server 520 is, for example, a web server implemented by a personal computer, a server, or a virtual machine on the cloud. FIG. 5 illustrates an example of components included in the puzzle server 520 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 5, the puzzle server 520 shown in FIG. 1 includes communication units 521a and 521b, a screen creation unit 522, a storage unit 523, a providing unit 524, and a correct answer determination unit 525. If points are awarded to users who correctly answer the puzzle questions, the puzzle server 520 may also include a point presentation unit 526. Note that FIG. 5 illustrates only the main components related to this embodiment among the components included in the puzzle server 520 shown in FIG. 1.

[0055] The communication units 521a and 521b have a function of communicating with other devices via the intranet 910 or the Internet 900. The communication unit 521 may have a wired communication function or a wireless communication function. While FIG. 5 illustrates an example in which the communication unit 521a connects to the Internet 900 and the communication unit 521b connects to the intranet 910, one, three, or more communication units may be provided depending on the network environment. For simplicity's sake, the communication units 521a and 521b will be referred to as the communication unit 521 without distinction. The communication unit 521 may be implemented, for example, by a network controller, an antenna for wireless communication, or a network connector for wired communication. The communication method used by the communication unit 521 may be, for example, 5G, LTE, or wireless LAN for wireless communication, or Ethernet (registered trademark) for wired communication, but any method capable of communication is acceptable and is not particularly specified.

[0056] Screen creation unit 522 uses the identification information and the "puzzle question" stored in puzzle database 610 to create puzzle screen data for displaying the "puzzle question" on user terminal 200-1 to 200-n and allowing the user to solve it. The puzzle screen data is created using the access information stored in puzzle database 610 to include a link for allowing user terminal 200-1 to 200-n to access the URL of the news article (target news article) from which the word was extracted. The puzzle screen data may also include an "explanatory text" for guessing the word. The puzzle screen data also includes commands and data necessary for displaying and solving the puzzle, such as an answer field for entering the answer and a button for instructing the user to submit the answer. The puzzle screen data is screen data that is transmitted to and displayed on user terminal 200-1 to 200-n when user terminal 200-1 to 200-n accesses a puzzle site. The puzzle screen data is, for example, an HTML file, and is assigned a URL indicating the online location of the puzzle screen data. The puzzle screen data created by screen creation unit 522 may include multiple "puzzle problems." In this case, screen creation unit 522 may create puzzle screen data in which the "puzzle problems" are displayed in the order of the above-mentioned difficulty levels (for example, a low, medium, and high level of difficulty, in order from lowest to highest). Screen creation unit 522 then associates the created puzzle screen data with the assigned URL and stores it in storage unit 523. Alternatively, screen creation unit 522 may create puzzle screen data when a puzzle site is accessed by user terminals 200-1 to 200-n. Instead of puzzle server 520, information processing device 100 may include screen creation unit 522.

[0057] The storage unit 523 stores data constituting the puzzle screen data created by the screen creation unit 522.

[0058] When user terminals 200-1 to 200-n access the puzzle site, providing unit 524 reads out the puzzle screen data stored in storage unit 523. Providing unit 524 transmits the read puzzle screen data to user terminals 200-1 to 200-n via communication unit 521. Furthermore, providing unit 524 updates the puzzle screen data by adding the result of determination made by answer determining unit 525, and transmits the puzzle screen data with the determination result added (puzzle screen data with determination result) to user terminals 200-1 to 200-n that have transmitted the answer via communication unit 521. Furthermore, if points are set for the "puzzle question," when points are output from point presenting unit 526, providing unit 524 includes the points in the puzzle screen data with determination result and transmits the puzzle screen data with determination result to user terminals 200-1 to 200-n that have transmitted the answer via communication unit 521.

[0059] After puzzle screen data is transmitted from providing unit 524 to user terminals 200-1 to 200-n via communication unit 521, correct answer determination unit 525 receives an answer to a "puzzle question" in the puzzle screen data together with identification information from user terminals 200-1 to 200-n via communication unit 521, and determines whether the received answer is correct. Correct answer determination unit 525 compares, via communication unit 521, the character string of the received answer with the character string of an "answer" that is associated with the same identification information as the identification information transmitted with the answer and stored in puzzle database 610, and determines whether the character string of the answer matches the character string of the "answer," including the order of each character. Correct answer determination unit 525 outputs the determination result to providing unit 524. The determination result output by the correct answer determination unit 525 is not limited to information indicating whether the answer is correct or incorrect, but may also include the transmitted answer. If the answer is incorrect, it may also include at least one of the "answer" and the word stored in the puzzle database 610 in association with the same identification number as the received identification number, or the number of characters that match between the character string of the answer and the character string of the "answer." If the puzzle screen data is created by representing each character constituting the "puzzle question" as a character image, an identification code for identifying each character image may be assigned to each character image in advance, and the assignment (association) may be stored in the storage unit 523. For example, if the answer received from the user terminals 200-1 to 200-n via the communication unit 521 is obtained by rearranging the order of the character images transmitted as the puzzle screen data, the correct answer determination unit 525 may convert the character image of the answer into characters based on the association stored in the storage unit 523, recognize the order of the characters, and determine the answered character string. The puzzle screen data including the result determined by answer determining section 525 is transmitted by providing section 524 to user terminals 200-1 to 200-n that have transmitted the answer from communication section 521, as described above.

[0060] In this way, puzzles created using news articles that change daily are sent to the user's device along with access information for the news articles, and the results of whether the answer is correct or incorrect are returned.By doing so, the user of the device can read news articles that have been talked about recently while solving the puzzle, learn keywords, and gain knowledge and knowledge about trends in the world, such as industries, regions, politics, and economics.Furthermore, because the news articles used to create the puzzles change at predetermined intervals, it is expected that users will not get bored and will use the service repeatedly.

[0061] Furthermore, if points are assigned to the "puzzle question," when the correct answer determination unit 525 determines that the answer is correct, the point presentation unit 526 reads, via the communication unit 521, points stored in association with the correct "answer" stored in the puzzle database 610 along with the determination result, and outputs the read points to the provision unit 524. The point presentation unit 526 also assigns points to the data of the user of the user terminal that sent the answer in a separately provided user database (not shown) that manages user information. If the point presentation unit 526 determines that the answer is incorrect, it may calculate points according to the number of characters that match between the answer string and the "answer" string. For example, if the ratio of the number of characters that match between the answer string and the "answer" string to the total number of characters constituting the "puzzle question" is "0.2," and the points assigned to the "puzzle question" are "5," the point presentation unit 526 may calculate 5 x 0.2 = 1 point. In this case, the point presentation unit 526 outputs the calculated points to the provision unit 524, instead of the read points. The points are given to the user and accumulated for each user. The accumulated points can be used when purchasing products or services, just like points given to general point cards, etc. In this way, by giving points to each user according to usage, repeated use by users can be expected.

[0062] User terminals 200-1 to 200-n are communication devices carried and operated by users. User terminals 200-1 to 200-n are, for example, portable terminals (e.g., smartphones, tablet computers, etc.) or personal computers (PCs). Access to the puzzle site of puzzle server 520 from user terminals 200-1 to 200-n will be specifically described below. For example, by accessing the news site of news server 510 from user terminal 200-1 to 200-n, a puzzle banner included in the delivered news screen page may be selected, allowing user terminal 200-1 to 200-n to access the puzzle site of puzzle server 520 via a link added to the puzzle banner. Furthermore, for example, puzzle server 520 may periodically send emails or messages containing a URL to the puzzle site to user terminals 200-1 to 200-n that have signed a contract to use this system, and selecting the URL may allow user terminal 200-1 to access the news site of news server 510. Alternatively, user terminals 200-1 to 200-n may read a two-dimensional code containing the URL of puzzle server 520's puzzle site displayed on a printed document or on the homepage of another site, thereby allowing user terminals 200-1 to 200-n to access news server 510's news site.

[0063] Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of components included in user terminal 200-1 shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 6, user terminal 200-1 shown in Fig. 1 has input unit 210, communication unit 220, and output unit 230. Note that Fig. 6 shows only the main components related to this embodiment among the components included in user terminal 200-1 shown in Fig. 1. User terminals 200-2 to 200-n shown in Fig. 1 also include the components shown in Fig. 6.

[0064] The input unit 210 receives an operation from the outside and inputs information to the user terminal 200-1 based on the received operation. The input unit 210 may be a touch panel, a keyboard, or a mouse.

[0065] The communication unit 220 transmits information input by the input unit 210 and data processed by the user terminal 200-1 to an external communication device. The communication unit 220 also receives data transmitted from an external communication device. The communication unit 220 outputs the received data to a component required for processing. The communication unit 220 is realized, for example, by a network controller, an antenna if wireless, or a network connector if wired. The communication method used by the communication unit 220 is, for example, 5G, LTE, wireless LAN, etc. if wireless, or Ethernet (registered trademark), etc. if wired, but is not particularly limited as long as it can communicate with other communication devices.

[0066] The output unit 230 outputs data received by the communication unit 220 and data processed by components included in the user terminal 200-1. The data output form of the output unit 230 may be display of data using a display and an image processor, audio output using speakers or earphones and an audio signal processor, or printing of data using a printer. In this embodiment, the output unit 230 will be described as a component that displays data.

[0067] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of puzzle screen data displayed by output unit 230 shown in FIG. 6. As shown in FIG. 7, output unit 230 of user terminal 200-1 displays puzzle screen data including a "puzzle question" that is a puzzle, an answer input field 231, a judgment button 232, and a link display 233 that is access information. Output unit 230 also displays an "explanation" for guessing the word explained using FIG. 5. FIG. 7 shows an example of puzzle screen data displaying multiple "puzzle questions" (three questions, from Question 1 to Question 3, are shown as examples, but the number is not limited). Answer input field 231 is a field into which a user operating user terminal 200-1 can input an answer to the "puzzle question." The answer input field 231 may be a field for entering the answer as text, or a field for selecting characters in the character format of the "puzzle question" equal to the number of characters constituting the "puzzle question." (In the example of Question 1 in FIG. 7, the puzzle question is composed of a seven-character string, and the character format is hiragana, so the user selects each of the seven characters one by one from hiragana and symbols.) Alternatively, each character constituting the displayed "puzzle question" is represented as a single image, and the user may enter the answer by dragging each character image and rearranging it to the correct position. (In this case, the "puzzle question" and the answer input field 231 may be a single entity, or they may be separate entities.) The decision button 232, when selected after an answer is entered in the answer input field 231, transmits the answer entered in the answer input field 231 together with identification information corresponding to the "puzzle question" to the puzzle server 520 via the communication unit 220. The link display 233, when selected, displays a display for accessing an online site identified by the browser based on the URL corresponding to the access information. When the link display 233 is selected, the browser accesses the specified online site, and the news article page of that site is displayed on the output unit 230. In other words, the displayed web page displays news articles that include the words used to create the "puzzle problem," and therefore contains information for finding the correct answer to the "puzzle problem."Therefore, the user of the user terminal 200-1 can read the latest hot topics in the news articles while solving the puzzles, learn the keywords, and acquire knowledge about world events and culture. Furthermore, since the news articles that create the puzzle questions change at predetermined intervals, the user can be expected to use the service repeatedly without getting bored.

[0068] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of puzzle screen data including a determination result after an answer has been transmitted, displayed by output unit 230 shown in Fig. 6. As shown in Fig. 8, output unit 230 of user terminal 200-1 displays, as the determination result, information indicating whether the transmitted answer is correct or incorrect, and information indicating the "answer," in addition to the information shown in Fig. 7. In addition to the "answer" associated with the identification information of the "puzzle question" shown in Fig. 4, a "word" (for example, a kanji display before character format conversion) is also displayed.

[0069] The following describes an information processing method in the information processing system shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of the process of creating and transmitting puzzle screen data in the information processing system shown in Fig. 1. In the following description, an example is given in which the destination of the puzzle screen data is user terminal 200-1.

[0070] First, at a preset timing, the selection unit 120 of the information processing device 100 extracts news articles from the content database 600 within a predetermined period (step S1). The selection unit 120 calculates the priority of each of the extracted news articles and selects from the extracted news articles those with a high priority for creating puzzle questions (step S2). Next, the word extraction unit 130 extracts words from the news articles selected by the selection unit 120 based on preset conditions for creating puzzle questions (step S3). The question creation unit 140 converts the words extracted by the word extraction unit 130 into a predetermined character format and creates a "puzzle question" by rearranging the positions of multiple characters that make up the string of characters using a predetermined rule (step S4).

[0071] Here, the question creation unit 140 may create a puzzle banner, which is a banner image including the created "puzzle question." Character images for each character in a predetermined character format are pre-stored in the storage unit. The question creation unit 140 extracts character images corresponding to each character constituting the "puzzle question" from the storage unit. Explanation images containing content explaining the banner, such as "Try this word puzzle using yesterday's news!", are also stored in the storage unit. The question creation unit 140 arranges the extracted character images in the order of the string of characters in the "puzzle question" (if the same character is used, a character image of one character is used multiple times), and creates a puzzle banner with explanation images placed around the arranged multiple character images. The puzzle banner may be a combination of multiple character images and explanation images into a single image, or may consist of multiple files, such as HTML, displaying multiple character images and explanation images. The question creation unit 140 outputs the created puzzle banner to the news page generation device 700. When outputting the puzzle banner, the question creation unit 140 may also send the URL of the puzzle site of the puzzle server 520 that displays the "puzzle question."

[0072] Then, the puzzle database 610 stores, as puzzle data, the words extracted by the word extraction unit 130, the "puzzle questions" created by the question creation unit 140, the "answers" which are the character strings of the "puzzle questions" before they are rearranged, and access information which is the URL of the news article from which the word extraction unit 130 extracted the words, in association with identification information for identifying each puzzle question (step S5). At this time, the puzzle database 610 may also store, as puzzle data, the difficulty level at which the "puzzle questions" were created by the question creation unit 140, the explanatory text explaining the words, and the points to be awarded to the user when the answer is correct, which are set in association with the identification information.

[0073] The screen creation unit 522 of the puzzle server 520 reads the "puzzle problem" created by the information processing device 100 and the access information from the puzzle database 610 (step S6). The screen creation unit 522 uses the read "puzzle problem" to create puzzle screen data for displaying the "puzzle problem" on the user terminal 200-1 and allowing the user to solve it (step S7). The screen creation unit 522 also uses the access information to create puzzle screen data such that the puzzle screen data includes a link for allowing the user terminal 200-1 to access the URL of the news article from which the word was extracted. The created puzzle screen data is stored in the memory unit 523 of the puzzle server 520. When the puzzle site of the puzzle server 520 is accessed from the user terminal 200-1, the providing unit 524 of the puzzle server 520 transmits the puzzle screen data stored in the memory unit 523 to the user terminal 200-1 (step S8).

[0074] Then, the output unit 230 of the user terminal 200-1 displays the puzzle screen data transmitted from the puzzle server 520 (step S9).

[0075] Fig. 10 is a sequence diagram for explaining an example of the process from inputting an answer to puzzle screen data to transmitting a result of determining whether the answer is correct in the information processing system shown in Fig. 1. In the following explanation, an example will be given in which the destination of the puzzle screen data is user terminal 200-1.

[0076] When the user terminal 200-1 receives the puzzle screen data, enters an answer in the answer input field 231 shown in FIG. 7, and selects the judgment button 232 (step S11), the answer is transmitted from the communication unit 220 to the puzzle server 520 (step S12). The correct answer determination unit 525 of the puzzle server 520 determines whether the answer transmitted from the user terminal 200-1 is correct or incorrect (step S13). The providing unit 524 transmits the result of the determination by the correct answer determination unit 525 to the user terminal 200-1 via the communication unit 521 (step S14). At this time, the point presentation unit 526 may output the points stored in the puzzle database 610 in association with the correct answer to the providing unit 524, and the providing unit 524 may present the points along with the determination result to the user terminal 200-1. The output unit 230 of the user terminal 200-1 displays the determination result transmitted from the puzzle server 520 (step S15). The display format on the output unit 230 is, for example, as shown in FIG.

[0077] An administrator terminal connected to the information processing device 100 via the intranet 910 may be provided for administrator use, and the information processing device 100 may be controlled from the administrator terminal. For example, the administrator terminal may transmit a request signal to the information processing device 100 to request the creation of a puzzle problem, or may change the priority and difficulty settings and criteria. Specifically, for example, the administrator terminal may display multiple words extracted by the word extraction unit 130 as candidates for puzzle problem creation (a predetermined number of target news articles, plus a few more than the top-ranked word). The displayed word candidates include the titles of the news articles from which the word extraction unit 130 extracted the words, the URLs (access information) where the news article pages are posted, the words, "answer," "puzzle problem," and descriptions. The correspondence between news articles and word candidates may be one-to-one or one-to-multiple. A means for determining (selecting) target news articles and words for creating "puzzle problems" from the word candidates displayed on the administrator terminal may also be provided.

[0078] In this manner, in this embodiment, a puzzle is created by rearranging the letters that make up words contained in news articles stored in a content database, and puzzle screen data that includes the created puzzle and access information to a news article page that serves as a hint for solving the puzzle is provided to a user terminal. As a result, while the user enjoys the puzzle displayed on the user terminal, a news article containing the words used to create the puzzle is displayed on the web page that the user accesses to solve the puzzle. Therefore, while solving the puzzle, the user reads news articles that are currently trending and learns keywords, thereby gaining knowledge and knowledge about trends in industries, regions, politics, economics, and other areas. Furthermore, because the news articles used to create the puzzle change daily, repeated use of the service is expected to keep users from getting bored. (Second embodiment)

[0079] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an information processing system according to a second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, the information processing system according to this embodiment includes an information processing device 100, user terminals 200-1 to 200-n (n is a natural number), a content acquisition device 400, web servers 501 and 502, a content database 600, and a puzzle database 610. Web server 501 is provided with a news server 510. Web server 502 is provided with a puzzle server 520. User terminals 200-1 to 200-n, content acquisition device 400, news server 510, and puzzle server 520 are communicably connected to one another via a communications network, the Internet 900. Furthermore, information processing device 100, content acquisition device 400, puzzle server 520, content database 600, and puzzle database 610 are communicably connected to one another via an intranet 910 limited to a specific range. A description of the same aspects as in the first embodiment will be omitted, and the following description will focus on the differences from the first embodiment.

[0080] 11 is a form in which the company that owns the information processing device 100 does not operate a news site on the news server 510. Therefore, the information processing device 100 creates a "puzzle question" based on news screen data of a news article page on the news server 510. Note that the information processing device 100 may also create a "puzzle question" based on an article about a product or service posted on an EC (Electronic Commerce) site.

[0081] In the first embodiment, content acquisition device 400 acquires news articles from content provider device 300 and stores them in content database 600. However, in this embodiment, content acquisition device 400 acquires news articles from a news site published by news server 510 and stores them in content database 600. If it is difficult to store data such as the text and images of news articles in content database 600 due to licensing between the company that owns information processing device 100 and the company that operates news server 510, only the URL of the page on which the news article is posted is stored in content database 600 as access information. In this case, information processing device 100 accesses the news site of news server 510 via Internet 900, and selection unit 120 extracts news articles based on predetermined conditions and calculates the priority of each extracted news article. Selection unit 120 selects a predetermined number of high-priority news articles. Word extraction unit 130 extracts words from the selected news articles (target news articles). Question creation unit 140 creates "puzzle questions" from the extracted words. Other processes are the same as those in the first embodiment.

[0082] In this way, in this embodiment, a puzzle is created by rearranging the letters that make up words contained in news articles obtained from a news server, and puzzle screen data that includes the created puzzle and access information to a news article page that serves as a hint for solving the puzzle is provided to the user's terminal. As a result, while the user enjoys the puzzle displayed on the user's terminal, a news article containing the words used to create the puzzle is displayed on the web page that the user accesses to solve the puzzle. Therefore, while solving the puzzle, the user reads news articles that are currently trending and learns keywords, thereby gaining knowledge and knowledge about trends in industries, regions, politics, economics, and other areas. Furthermore, because the news articles used to create the puzzle change daily, repeated use of the system is expected to keep users from getting bored.

[0083] Although the above description has been given with each component assigned to a respective function (process), this assignment is not limited to the above. Furthermore, the configuration of the components is also merely an example and is not limited to this. Multiple components may be combined into a single component, a single component may be divided into multiple components, or the function (process) of one component may be performed by another component. Furthermore, each embodiment may be combined.

[0084] The processing performed by each of the above-described components may be performed by logic circuits individually tailored to the purpose. Alternatively, a computer program (hereinafter referred to as the program) describing the processing procedures may be recorded on a recording medium readable by each of the information processing device 100 and the puzzle server 520, and the program recorded on the recording medium may be read and executed by each of the information processing device 100 and the puzzle server 520. Recording media readable by each of the information processing device 100 and the puzzle server 520 include removable recording media such as floppy disks, magneto-optical disks, digital versatile discs (DVDs), compact discs (CDs), Blu-ray discs, universal serial bus (USB) memory, and SD cards, as well as internal memory such as read-only memory (ROM), RAM, and hard disk drives (HDDs) built into each of the information processing device 100 and the puzzle server 520. The program recorded on the recording medium is read by a CPU provided in each of the information processing device 100 and the puzzle server 520, and the same processing as described above is performed under the control of the CPU. Here, the CPU operates as a computer that executes a program read from a recording medium on which the program is recorded. [Explanation of symbols]

[0085] 100 Information processing device 110,220,521a,521b Communication Department 120 Selection Department 130 Word Extraction 140 Question Creation Department 200-1~200-n User terminals 210 Input section 230 Output section 231 Answer input field 232 Judgment button 233 Link Display 300 Content provider equipment 400 Content Acquisition Device 500~502 Web Server 510 News Server 520 Puzzle Server 522 Screen Creation Department 523 Storage section 524 Providing Department 525 Correct answer determination section 526 Point Presentation Section 600 content databases 610 Puzzle Database 700 News Page Generator 900 Internet 910 Intranet

Claims

1. a selection unit that selects target news articles that satisfy predetermined conditions from a plurality of news articles published online; a word extraction unit that extracts words from the target news articles selected by the selection unit; and a question creation unit that uses the word extracted by the word extraction unit to create a puzzle question by rearranging the positions of multiple characters that make up the word based on a predetermined rule.

2. 2. The information processing device according to claim 1, The information processing device wherein the selection unit selects a news article with a higher priority the shorter the period between the time the news article was published online and the present time.

3. 3. The information processing device according to claim 1, The information processing device wherein the selection unit selects a news article with a higher priority as the number of online accesses to the news article increases.

4. 4. The information processing device according to claim 3, The question creation unit is an information processing device that sets a difficulty level for the created question depending on how the positions of the plurality of characters are rearranged based on the predetermined rule.

5. 3. The information processing device according to claim 1, An information processing device having a screen creation unit that creates puzzle screen data including the puzzle question created by the question creation unit and access information indicating the online location where the target news article is published.

6. The system includes a user terminal, an information processing device, a puzzle database, and a puzzle server, The information processing device includes: a selection unit that selects target news articles that satisfy predetermined conditions from a plurality of news articles published online; a word extraction unit that extracts words from the target news articles selected by the selection unit; a question creation unit that uses the word extracted by the word extraction unit to create a puzzle question by rearranging the positions of a plurality of characters that make up the word based on a predetermined rule, The puzzle database is storing the puzzle created by the information processing device and access information indicating an online location where the target news article is published; The puzzle server a screen creation unit that creates puzzle screen data including the puzzle problem stored in the puzzle database and the access information; a communication unit that transmits puzzle screen data created by the screen creation unit to the user terminal; The user terminal is an information processing system having an output unit that outputs puzzle screen data transmitted from the puzzle server.

7. 7. The information processing system according to claim 6, The puzzle server An information processing system having a correct answer determination unit that, after the communication unit transmits the puzzle screen data to the user terminal, receives an answer to the puzzle screen data from the user terminal, determines whether the received answer is correct, and transmits the result of the determination to the user terminal.

8. 8. The information processing system according to claim 7, the problem creation unit sets points according to the difficulty level of the created puzzle problem, The puzzle server and a point presentation unit that presents points set for the puzzle problem with the correctly answered answer when the correct answer determination unit determines that the answer is correct.

9. A process of selecting target news articles that satisfy predetermined conditions from a plurality of news articles published online; extracting words from the selected target news articles; A process of creating a puzzle problem by rearranging the positions of a plurality of characters constituting the extracted word based on a predetermined rule using the extracted word; a process of creating puzzle screen data including the created puzzle question and access information indicating the online location where the target news article is published; and transmitting the created puzzle screen data to a user terminal.

10. On the computer, A procedure for selecting target news articles that meet predetermined conditions from multiple news articles published online; extracting words from the selected target news articles; and a program for executing a procedure for creating a puzzle problem by rearranging the positions of the multiple characters that make up the extracted word based on a predetermined rule using the extracted word.

Images