Picture book providing system and picture book providing program

Abstract

To provide a picture book providing technique in which information indicating whether a user likes a provided picture book is fed back and considered in determining a recommended picture book to the user.SOLUTION: The picture book providing system includes the picture book providing section 35 that provides the user with the user-matched picture book that matches the user, the user response acquiring section 41 that acquires the response information indicating the response of the user to the picture book, the user response evaluating section 42a that evaluates the picture book preference of the user from the response information, the recommended picture book determining section 43 that determines the recommended picture book for the user based on the picture book preference of the user, and the recommended picture book presenting section 45 that presents the recommended picture book to the user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a picture book providing system and a picture book providing program that recommends picture books that are to the user's taste to a user. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a picture book creation system that creates a picture book based on information input by a user. The user-input information includes multiple photographs and text. This picture book creation system includes a trained machine learning model that creates a story based on the input text, an illustration generating means that generates multiple illustrations using the multiple input photographs, and an integration means that integrates the generated story and illustrations to create picture book data. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 7462991 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the system disclosed in Patent Document 1, in order to have a picture book of a user's choice provided, the user must prepare information such as photographs and text to be used in the picture book and send it to the system. For young children or children, it is difficult for them to prepare such information themselves, and even for their parents, preparing such information is a tedious task. Furthermore, information on how much the user likes a picture book provided based on the user's information is not fed back and is not taken into consideration when providing the next picture book.

[0005] To provide a picture book providing technique in which information indicating whether a provided picture book is actually liked by a user such as an infant or a child who reads the book is fed back to a system side without imposing a burden on the user side and is taken into consideration when deciding which picture book to recommend to the user. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The picture book providing system according to the present invention comprises a picture book providing unit that provides a user with a user-adapted picture book that suits the user based on picture book generation conditions provided by the user; a user reaction acquisition unit that acquires reaction information indicating the user's reaction to the user-adapted picture book; a user reaction evaluation unit that evaluates the user's picture book preferences from the reaction information; a recommended picture book determination unit that determines a recommended picture book for the user based on the user's picture book preferences; and a recommended picture book presentation unit that presents the recommended picture book to the user.

[0007] According to this configuration, the system acquires user reaction information indicating the user's reaction when reading a picture book (user-matched picture book) generated based on conditions provided by the user. The system evaluates (extracts) the user's preferences for picture books from the acquired user reaction information, and presents picture books that match the preferences to the user as recommended picture books. The recommended picture books presented are likely to match the user's preferences, and therefore the user is likely to be satisfied with the recommended picture books. It should be noted that the picture book in the present invention should be construed as a picture book in a broad sense, and includes not only general picture books but also illustrated fairy tales and novels, pamphlets with pictograms, picture books, and the like.

[0008] If the user's reaction information includes a negative reaction, it means that the user-suited picture book provided by the system to the user contains parts that are not suitable for the user. This means that the system did not accurately understand the picture book generation conditions provided by the user. For this reason, it is necessary to verify whether there are any problems that need to be corrected in the algorithm (rule table, decision tree structure, etc.) that determines the user-suited picture book based on the picture book generation conditions, that is, to verify the differences between the picture book preferred by the user and the picture book suited to the user. If such verification results are taken into consideration in determining the next user-suited picture book or the recommended picture book determined by the recommended picture book determination unit, the reliability of this picture book providing system will be improved. For this reason, the present invention proposes providing a provided picture book evaluation unit that evaluates the degree of difference between the user-suited picture book and the picture book preferred by the user based on the reaction information, and the recommended picture book determination unit determines the recommended picture book taking the degree of difference into consideration.

[0009] Picture book components include images (image data) such as photographs, illustrations, and cartoons that give the picture book a visual impact, memorable words (including onomatopoeia, baby talk, sentences, etc.) contained in the picture book, and sounds (sound data) such as background music, sound effects, and explanatory voices by different voice actors that give the picture book an auditory impact. When at least one of these images, words, and sounds is extracted from the reaction information as a reaction component to which the user responded positively, such a reaction component can be effectively used to determine the user's preference for the picture book. For this reason, in the present invention, the user reaction acquisition unit is provided with at least one of the following reaction component extraction units: a user reaction image extraction unit that extracts images to which the user responded positively in the user-tailored picture book as reaction components from the reaction information; a user reaction word extraction unit that extracts words to which the user responded positively in the user-tailored picture book as reaction components from the reaction information; and a user reaction sound extraction unit that extracts sounds to which the user responded positively in the user-tailored picture book as reaction components from the reaction information; and it is proposed that the user reaction acquisition unit provides the reaction components extracted by the reaction component extraction unit to the user reaction evaluation unit.

[0010] In particular, young children who cannot read or who have difficulty understanding the content of long sentences respond easily to words that they hear (including readings, narration, sound effects, background sounds, etc.) For this reason, the present invention proposes that the reaction component extraction unit is provided with at least the user reaction word extraction unit, and that the user reaction word extraction unit extracts reading sound types as the user's positive reaction sounds and provides them to the user reaction evaluation unit.

[0011] It can be cumbersome for a user who wants to read a picture book to input picture book generation conditions into the system and request the system to provide a picture book each time. To avoid this, it is preferable for the system to select picture books to recommend from a group of commercially available picture books based on the user's picture book preferences and provide them to the user. For this reason, the present invention proposes that the recommended picture book determination unit generates search conditions for extracting specific picture books from a picture book database based on the user's picture book preferences, and determines the recommended picture books that match the user's picture book preferences.

[0012] When the user is an infant or a child, it is important to report to the user's guardian the picture book components that the user has selected and found interesting, information about the picture book the user is reading, the user's operation behavior while reading, etc. For this reason, the present invention proposes that the user is an infant or a child and that a guardian information generation unit is provided that generates guardian information for the user's guardian based on reading information about the user's picture book reading.

[0013] In one specific embodiment of the present invention, the information for parents includes the number of times the same picture book suited to the user has been read, the number, titles, and contents of the picture books suited to the user, and the user's favorite words. This configuration allows the parents of the user, who is an infant or child, to understand from the information for parents what kind of picture books the user is interested in reading and what words the user responds to most strongly. This is important information for planning the future development of infants and children.

[0014] Many modern infants and children have access to Internet communication terminals, such as tablet computers, that can display e-books. Such communication terminals are not only capable of displaying e-books but also of interactively manipulating multimedia picture books. For this reason, the present invention proposes that an Internet server be built that communicates bidirectionally with a user terminal capable of displaying picture books via an Internet connection, and that the picture books be e-books (digital picture books) that include interactive picture books. This makes it possible to easily obtain picture books that offer a wider range of enjoyment and greater learning benefits than traditional paper picture books.

[0015] The present invention also encompasses a picture book providing program for implementing the above-described picture book providing system on a computer. Such a picture book providing program causes a computer to execute the following steps: a picture book providing step of providing a user with a user-tailored picture book that suits the user based on picture book generation conditions provided by the user; a user response acquisition step of acquiring response information indicating the user's response to the user-tailored picture book; a user response evaluation step of evaluating the user's picture book preferences from the response information; a recommended picture book determination step of determining a picture book recommended to the user based on the user's picture book preferences; and a recommended picture book presentation step of presenting the recommended picture book to the user. Such a picture book providing program can also have the configurations and effects described in the various embodiments of the above-described picture book providing system.

[0016] Other features, operations, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention using the accompanying drawings. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a general configuration of a picture book providing system. [Figure 2] 1 is a functional block diagram showing the functional units of a compatible picture book providing subsystem included in the picture book providing system and the main data flowing through each functional unit. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a picture book component selection screen. [Figure 4] 1 is a functional block diagram showing the functional units of a suitable picture book recommendation subsystem included in a picture book providing system and the main data flowing through each functional unit. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a processing sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure of the picture book providing system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0018] A picture book providing system according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The picture book providing system of this embodiment transmits digital picture books (electronic books) containing content that users, primarily infants and children, want to read to a communication terminal (user terminal) such as a tablet computer that can be used by infants and children. At this time, children who can read can enjoy reading the picture books, while infants who cannot read can enjoy listening to the books being read aloud (talking).

[0019] The general configuration of this picture book provision system is shown in Figure 1. The picture book provision system is built on a picture book server PBS, which is an Internet server that can be connected to user terminals UT via a data communication network DCN such as the Internet or public lines.

[0020] The picture book providing system of this embodiment includes a matched picture book providing subsystem SS1 and a matched picture book recommendation subsystem SS2. The matched picture book providing subsystem SS1 is primarily intended to provide picture books that are suitable for the user (that the user will enjoy) through dialogue with the user, while the matched picture book recommendation subsystem SS2 is primarily intended to recommend picture books that are suitable for the user based on the evaluation results by analyzing and evaluating the user's reactions as they read or listen to picture books provided by the system while operating a terminal. If the matched picture book providing subsystem SS1 and the matched picture book recommendation subsystem SS2 are integrated and configured to work together, a synergistic effect is achieved, resulting in a more suitable picture book providing system. Furthermore, since the matched picture book providing subsystem SS1 and the matched picture book recommendation subsystem SS2 each have their own functional units, integrating them also has structural advantages.

[0021] An application is installed on the user terminal UT to facilitate data exchange with the picture book server PBS.

[0022] In FIG. 1, the suitable picture book providing subsystem SS1 enclosed by a dashed line comprises a user management unit 31, a selection screen providing unit 32, a selected element acquisition unit 33, a picture book generation unit , and a picture book providing unit .

[0023] The user management unit 31 manages users registered in this picture book providing system, assigning each user a user ID and managing the user's age, gender, address, birthday, etc. The selection screen providing unit 32 provides the user with a picture book component selection screen based on the user information of the accessing user. The picture book component selection screen is a screen displayed on the user terminal UT to carry out a question and answer session to guess the user's favorite picture book, that is, to allow the user to select their favorite picture book component from a variety of picture book components.

[0024] As shown in FIG. 1, the selection screen providing unit 32 includes a scenario management unit 32a, an image management unit 32b, a word management unit 32c, and a sound management unit 32d as picture book element management units. The scenario management unit 32a manages multiple scenario data as picture book elements. The scenario data includes the characters of the characters, the places where the characters play, and the games the characters play. The image management unit 32b manages multiple image data as picture book elements. The image data includes photos or illustrations of the characters, photos or illustrations of the places where the characters play, and toys. The word management unit 32c manages multiple word data as picture book elements. The word data includes onomatopoeia, baby talk, normal vocalizations, names of living things, names of plants, names of imaginary animals, and the like. The sound management unit 32d manages multiple sound data as picture book elements. The sound data includes reading pieces by different voice actors or artificial voices, sounds such as onomatopoeia, baby talk, and standard Japanese spoken with various intonations, sound effects, background sounds, etc. At least one of these picture book element management units may be provided. The selection screen providing unit 32 extracts picture book element data suitable for the user from one of the picture book element management units based on the user information, generates a picture book element selection screen including the picture book element data, transmits it to the user terminal UT, and displays it on the screen of the user terminal UT.

[0025] Although young children have difficulty understanding scenario data, they have a high ability to hear sounds. For this reason, when the user is a young child, it is important to add the sound data managed by the sound management unit 32d to the picture book component selection screen. Since the sound management unit 32d manages multiple reading voice data as sound data, the selection screen providing unit 32 provides the user with a reading voice selection screen, as one of the picture book component selection screens, on which the user can select a reading voice for reading a picture book that suits the user.

[0026] The selected element acquisition unit 33 acquires the picture book elements selected by the user through the picture book element selection screen displayed on the user terminal UT, and generates a picture book creation request for the picture book creation unit 34 based on the acquired picture book elements. The picture book creation request is converted into vector data consisting of picture book elements for defining the user's favorite picture book, and becomes input data for the picture book creation unit 34. Such vector data is, for example, (penguin, mom, cute, swing, penguin image data, mom image data, ...), where the words in parentheses are represented by numbers.

[0027] The picture book generation unit 34 is constructed using a generation AI, and outputs picture book data that constitutes a picture book suited to the user based on input data that is a picture book generation request. The picture book generation unit 34 may be constructed not within this picture book server PBS but on a computer of another service provider, and may be configured to transmit the input data and the generated picture book data to the picture book server PBS via data communication.

[0028] The picture book providing unit 35 transmits the picture book data (digital picture book or interactive picture book) generated by the picture book generating unit 34 to the user terminal UT. The user can enjoy the picture book displayed on the screen based on the transmitted picture book data.

[0029] Next, we will explain the functional parts of the matching picture book recommendation subsystem SS2, which are enclosed by a two-dot chain line in Figure 1. The matching picture book recommendation subsystem SS2 includes a user response acquisition unit 41, an evaluation unit 42, a recommended picture book determination unit 43, a picture book database 44, and a recommended picture book presentation unit 45.

[0030] The user reaction acquisition unit 41 acquires reaction information indicating the user's reaction to the picture book provided by the picture book providing unit 35 (a user-suitable picture book that meets the picture book generation conditions given by the user) through the operation log of the user terminal UT and a questionnaire conducted on the user.

[0031] In one specific example of the user reaction acquisition unit 41, the user reaction acquisition unit 41 includes a user reaction image extraction unit 41a, a user reaction word extraction unit 41b, and a user reaction sound extraction unit 41c as reaction component extraction units that extract picture book components that the user is interested in from the reaction information. The user reaction image extraction unit 41a extracts images to which the user responded positively from the reaction information, the user reaction word extraction unit 41b extracts words to which the user responded positively from the reaction information, and the user reaction sound extraction unit 41c extracts sounds to which the user responded positively from the reaction information. In particular, if the user is a young child, the user reaction sound extraction unit 41c may extract a type of reading sound, such as a call sound, onomatopoeia with a special intonation, or a word sound, as a reaction sound to which the user responded positively (positive reaction sound), and extract these sounds as preferred sounds. Since a young child's positive reaction can be determined solely by laughter, a configuration in which this sound is picked up by the microphone of the user terminal UT is preferable.

[0032] The evaluation unit 42 includes a user response evaluation unit 42a and a provided picture book evaluation unit 42b. The user response evaluation unit 42a analyzes the picture book components in which the user has shown interest, acquired by the user response acquisition unit 41, and evaluates the user's picture book preferences based on the analysis results. Here, the picture book preferences are treated as pictures (illustrations, cartoons, etc.), sounds (sound effects, calls, etc.), and words (onomatopoeia, words, sentences, etc.) that the user has shown particular interest in from among the above-mentioned picture book components. Furthermore, the user's preferred writing style and plot, which are inferred from the group of picture book components in which the user has shown interest, can also be considered as the user's picture book preferences.

[0033] The provided picture book evaluation unit 42b evaluates the degree of difference between the picture book provided to the user (user-suitable picture book) and the picture book preferences evaluated by the user response evaluation unit 42a, based on the picture book components extracted by the user response acquisition unit 41 and the picture book components acquired by the selected component acquisition unit 33. In other words, the provided picture book evaluation unit 42b evaluates the degree of difference between the picture book provided to the user by this system and a picture book that matches the user's picture book preferences. This difference is taken into consideration when converting the picture book components selected by the user into a picture book generation request (picture book generation input data to be provided to the picture book generation unit 34).

[0034] The recommended picture book determination unit 43 generates search criteria for a picture book database 44, which manages available picture books, including commercially available picture books, taking into account the user's picture book preferences determined by the user response evaluation unit 42a and the degree of difference determined by the provided picture book evaluation unit 42b, and determines picture books (specific picture books) extracted using these search criteria as recommended picture books. Furthermore, the recommended picture book determination unit 43 can also calculate the user's picture book selection tendency from the user's picture book provision history and determine picture books to recommend from a group of commercially available picture books based on this picture book selection tendency. The recommended picture book presentation unit 45 notifies the user or the user's guardian of the list of recommended picture books determined by the recommended picture book determination unit 43. The list of recommended picture books includes the author, picture book title, publisher, ICBN number, target age, recommendation priority, etc. Of course, instead of a list of recommended picture books, digital picture books may be directly sent to the user terminal UT as recommended picture books.

[0035] This picture book providing system is equipped with a parent / guardian information generation unit 21. The user is an infant or child, and the parent / guardian information generation unit 21 generates parent / guardian information for the user's parent / guardian based on reading information about the user's picture book reading, and notifies the parent / guardian. The parent / guardian information includes the number of times the same picture book suited to the user has been read, the number, titles, and contents of the picture book suited to the user, and words preferred by the user.

[0036] Since the functional units of the picture book providing system described above are linked to one another, a recommended picture book management unit 22 is provided to control these links.

[0037] Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the data flowing through the main functional parts of the adapted picture book providing subsystem SS1 built in the picture book server PBS will be described.

[0038] When the picture book provision system application installed on the user terminal UT is launched, the user terminal UT sends a user ID to the picture book server PBS. Based on the user information extracted from the user ID, the selection screen provider 32 sends scenario selection data, image selection data, word selection data, voice selection data, music selection data, and other data to the user terminal UT to generate a picture book component selection screen. The user terminal UT generates a picture book component selection screen from the received data and displays it on the touch panel 11.

[0039] FIG. 3 shows an example of a picture book element selection screen. In the example of FIG. 3, an image selection screen 61 is first displayed, listing illustrations or photos of penguins, ants, and salmon as selectable picture elements. Clicking the arrow buttons displays other picture elements, allowing the user to select a picture they like. Clicking the OK button then displays a word selection screen 62. In the example of FIG. 3, selectable words include princess, giraffe, monster, mom, and dad. If the user is a young child, the flashing words are pronounced from the speaker 12, and clicking the flashing words allows the user to select a word they like. Furthermore, clicking the OK button then displays a sound selection screen 63. In the example of FIG. 3, the selectable sounds are sound icons representing narration, readings, sound effects, background music, and other music. The sound icons flash in order, and the corresponding sounds are played from the speaker 12. In this embodiment, a short press of the OK button transitions to the next selection screen, and a long press of the OK button completes the picture book element selection process. In selecting picture book components using this picture book component selection screen, the number of picture book components that can be selected on each selection screen (image selection screen 61, word selection screen 62, sound selection screen 63, etc.) is arbitrary, and the user can select multiple picture book components on each selection screen. It is also possible to select zero picture book components. In other words, it is also possible to choose not to select any picture book components on each selection screen. For example, if the user is a young child, the picture book component selection operation may involve selecting only their favorite pictures via the image selection screen 61.

[0040] The operation log for this picture book component selection process is managed by the operation management unit 13 of the user terminal UT, and is sent to the selected component acquisition unit 33 of the picture book server PBS as an operation log showing the selected components selected by the user. The user's operation log includes, for example, the options selected (including click operations and drag operations), the picture book read, the number of times the picture book was read, the time spent reading the picture book, the frequency and time of pages read, etc.

[0041] The selected element acquisition unit 33 generates a picture book generation request based on the selected elements read from the operation log, and sends the request to the picture book generation unit 34. The picture book generation unit 34 receives picture book generation input data in which the picture book elements included in the picture book generation request are converted into vector data, and outputs generated picture book data.

[0042] The generated picture book data output from the picture book generation unit 34 is sent to the user terminal UT. The generated picture book data as the user-adapted picture book is converted into a digital picture book by the media processing unit 14 of the user terminal UT and displayed on the touch panel 11, and the accompanying voices and sound effects are played from the speaker 12.

[0043] Furthermore, the recommended picture book determining unit 43 determines similar picture books as recommended picture books based on the picture book components constituting the user-matched picture book, and presents them to the user via the recommended picture book presenting unit 45.

[0044] Next, we will explain the data flowing through the main functional parts of the suitable picture book recommendation subsystem SS2 built in the picture book server PBS using Figure 4. Note that the explanation of data that has already been explained in the data flow of the suitable picture book provision subsystem SS1 mentioned above will be omitted or summarized.

[0045] 4, the selection screen providing unit 32 makes an inquiry to the user based on the user information of the accessing user to find out which picture books the user likes, and the user's response is provided to the selected element obtaining unit 33. The selected element obtaining unit 33 reads the picture book elements contained in the user's favorite picture book from the user's response, generates a picture book generation request, and provides it to the picture book generation unit 34. The generated picture book data generated by the picture book generation unit 34 is sent to the user terminal UT.

[0046] In addition, the selection screen providing unit 32 and the selection component acquiring unit 33 may omit the question and answer session with the user regarding the picture book of their choice, and the selection component acquiring unit 33 may generate a picture book generation request based on picture book generation conditions created directly from user information and provide it to the picture book generating unit 34.

[0047] The actual function of the suitable picture book recommendation subsystem SS2 begins when a digital picture book generated based on the user's picture book generation conditions is displayed on the touch panel 11 of the user terminal UT, and reaction information showing the user's reaction as they enjoy the picture book is sent to the user reaction acquisition unit 41 as an operation log from the operation management unit 13 of the user terminal UT.

[0048] The user response acquisition unit 41 extracts user responses regarding images, words, and sounds from the operation log as response information, and provides them to the user response evaluation unit 42a and the provided picture book evaluation unit 42b of the evaluation unit 42. The picture book components included in the picture book data provided to the user are also input to the provided picture book evaluation unit 42b. The user's picture book preferences from the user response evaluation unit 42a and the degree of difference from the provided picture book evaluation unit 42b (the degree of difference between the provided picture book and the user's preferences) are provided to the recommended picture book determination unit 43 as the evaluation of the evaluation unit 42. The degree of difference from the provided picture book evaluation unit 42b is also fed back to the selected component acquisition unit 33.

[0049] The recommended picture book determination unit 43 uses the evaluations provided by the evaluation unit 42 as search conditions to extract picture books that are preferred by the user from the picture book database 44, and provides the extraction results as recommended picture books to the recommended picture book presentation unit 45. The recommended picture book presentation unit 45 sends the recommended picture books as a recommended picture book list or picture book data of the recommended picture books to the user terminal UT.

[0050] A more suitable picture book providing system can be realized by integrating the suitable picture book providing subsystem SS1 described using Fig. 2 and the suitable picture book recommendation subsystem SS2 described using Fig. 4. An example of the processing steps (processing sequence) in such a picture book providing system will be described below using Fig. 5.

[0051] When the picture book app (user terminal application provided by the picture book provision system) is launched on the user side (user terminal UT side) (#01), the user ID is sent to the system side (picture book server PBS side) (#02). When the system side receives the user ID (#03), it generates picture book component selection screen data appropriate for that user (#04) and sends it to the user side (#05).

[0052] The user side displays the picture book component selection screen based on the received picture book component selection screen data (#06). The picture book component selection operation is performed through the picture book component selection screen (#07). The operation log data generated by the picture book component selection operation is sent to the system side (#08).

[0053] The system extracts the selected picture book components from the received operation log data (#09) and creates picture book generation conditions from the extracted selected picture book components (#10). The created picture book generation conditions are given to the generation AI. The generation AI may be the picture book generation unit 34 provided in the picture book server PBS, or it may be a generation AI computer provided in a service provider connected to the picture book server PBS so that data can be exchanged. The generation AI outputs generated picture book data based on the input data generated from the picture book generation conditions (#11). The output generated picture book data is sent to the user (#12).

[0054] On the user side, a digital picture book is generated based on the generated picture book data sent, and the user reads this digital picture book (#20). The user's reactions while reading this digital picture book are generated as reading log data and sent to the system (#21). This reading log data, which is the user's reactions to the picture book, mainly consists of operations on the user terminal UT and the results of a user survey. However, the user's voice obtained through a microphone and gestures obtained through a camera may also be incorporated into the reading log data as user reactions.

[0055] From the reading log data sent to the user, reaction components that indicate what the user is reacting to are extracted (#22). A user reading reaction value is calculated from the reaction components (#23), and the suitability (difference) of the submitted picture book is calculated from the reaction components and the selected picture book components (#24).

[0056] Based on the user's reading response value and the suitability of the submitted picture book, search criteria for recommended picture books are created (#25), and the picture book database 44 is accessed using these search criteria to obtain a group of recommended picture books (#26). The picture book database 44 may be a picture book database 44 provided in the picture book server PBS, or a picture book database 44 such as Google Books provided in a service provider connected to the picture book server PBS so that data can be exchanged. From the obtained group of recommended picture books, the search criteria are further narrowed down based on user information to determine recommended picture books (#27) and send them to the user (#28). The user then looks at the recommended picture books that have been sent (presented) and decides whether or not to subscribe to the recommended picture books (#29).

[0057] At least a portion of the information obtained by the user through the above processing sequence is written down as information for parents (#40) and sent to the user (#41). On the user's side, if the user is an infant or child, the parent can use the information for parents to understand the user's reading habits and the picture books they should purchase for the user (#42). Of course, if the user is a student or adult, the information for parents is treated as information for the user.

[0058] [Another embodiment] (1) In the above-described embodiment, the picture book providing system is substantially built in the picture book server PBS, and the user accesses the picture book server PBS through the user terminal UT to enjoy the functions of the picture book providing system. Instead of this configuration, the picture book providing system may be built in the user terminal UT. In this case, since the picture book generation unit 34 and the picture book database 44 require a large storage capacity, it is preferable that they be built in an external service provider's computer and accessed from the user terminal UT to enjoy their functions.

[0059] (2) In the above-described embodiment, the user terminal UT is a personal computer such as a tablet computer. However, instead of this, a network television or the like may be used as the user terminal UT.

[0060] (3) The functional units shown in the functional block diagrams of Figures 1, 2, and 4 are for illustrative purposes only, and these functional units may be integrated or divided as desired.

[0061] (4) Many types of generation AI that make up the picture book generation unit 34 are currently available. Known examples include those that generate novels by inputting scenario keywords, those that generate reviews by inputting theme keywords, and those that generate illustrations by inputting image keywords. The picture book generation unit 34 of the present invention may be configured as a single picture book generation module that generates a picture book that a user likes by inputting their favorite words, pictures, and sounds. Alternatively, the picture book generation unit 34 may be configured as a separate picture book generation module: a reading material generation module that generates reading material from words; an illustration generation module that generates picture book-style illustrations from words and pictures; a sound generation module that generates sound (audio, sound effects, and background sounds) from words and pictures; and a picture book module that combines the generated reading material, picture book-style illustrations, and sound. Narration and reading audio may be generated by an audio generation module that converts text into audio data, separate from the picture book generation unit 34.

[0062] The configurations disclosed in the above embodiments (including other embodiments, the same applies below) can be applied in combination with configurations disclosed in other embodiments, as long as no contradiction arises. Furthermore, the embodiments disclosed in this specification are examples, and the embodiments of the present invention are not limited to these, and can be modified as appropriate within the scope that does not deviate from the purpose of the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0063] The present invention can be applied to a picture book providing technique that provides picture books that suit the user's preferences with a simple operation. [Explanation of symbols]

[0064] 13: Operation management department 14: Media processing section 21: Information generation section 22: Recommended Picture Book Management Department 31: User Management Section 32: Selection screen provider 32a: Scenario Management Department 32b: Image management department 32c: Language Management Department 32d: Sound management department 33: Selection component acquisition unit 34: Picture book generation section 35: Picture Book Department 41: User response acquisition section 41a: User reaction image extraction unit 41b: User reaction word extraction section 41c: User response sound extraction unit 42: Evaluation section 42a: User response evaluation section 42b: Provided Picture Book Evaluation Section 43: Recommended Picture Book Decision Department 44: Picture Book Database 45: Recommended picture book presentation section 61: Image selection screen 62: Word selection screen 63: Sound selection screen PBS: Picture Book Server SS1: Compatible picture book provision subsystem SS2: Picture book recommendation subsystem UT: User terminal

Claims

1. A picture book providing system, a picture book providing unit that provides a user with a user-adapted picture book that is adapted to the user based on picture book generation conditions given by the user; a user reaction acquisition unit that acquires reaction information indicating the user's reaction to the user-adapted picture book; a user reaction evaluation unit that evaluates the user's picture book preference based on the reaction information; a recommended picture book determination unit that determines a recommended picture book for the user based on the picture book preference of the user; a recommended picture book presentation unit that presents the recommended picture books to the user; A picture book providing system comprising:

2. A picture book provision system as described in claim 1, which is provided with a provided picture book evaluation unit that evaluates the degree of difference between the user-suitable picture book and the picture book preferred by the user based on the reaction information, and the recommended picture book determination unit determines the recommended picture book taking into account the degree of difference.

3. The user reaction acquisition unit includes at least one of a user reaction image extraction unit that extracts, as reaction components, from the reaction information, images to which the user responded positively in the user-adapted picture book; a user reaction word extraction unit that extracts, as reaction components, from the reaction information, words to which the user responded positively in the user-adapted picture book; and a user reaction sound extraction unit that extracts, as reaction components, from the reaction information, sounds to which the user responded positively in the user-adapted picture book; The picture book providing system according to claim 1 , wherein the user reaction acquisition unit provides the reaction components extracted by the reaction component extraction unit to the user reaction evaluation unit.

4. The picture book provision system of claim 3, wherein the reaction component extraction unit is provided with at least the user reaction word extraction unit, and the user reaction word extraction unit extracts a reading voice type as the user's positive reaction sound and provides it to the user reaction evaluation unit.

5. The picture book provision system described in claim 1, wherein the recommended picture book determination unit generates search conditions for extracting specific picture books from a picture book database based on the user's picture book preferences, and determines the recommended picture books that match the user's picture book preferences.

6. The picture book providing system according to claim 1, wherein the user is an infant or a child, and the system is provided with a parental information generating unit that generates parental information for the user's parent based on reading information regarding the user's picture book reading.

7. The picture book provision system of claim 6, wherein the information for parents includes the number of times the same picture book suited to the user has been read, the number, title and content of the picture book suited to the user, and words preferred by the user.

8. 8. A picture book providing system according to claim 1, which is constructed on an Internet server that communicates bidirectionally with a user terminal capable of displaying picture books using an Internet line, and the picture books are electronic books including interactive picture books.

9. a picture book providing step of providing a user-adapted picture book to the user based on picture book generation conditions given by the user; a user reaction acquisition step of acquiring reaction information indicating the user's reaction to the user-adapted picture book; a user reaction evaluation step of evaluating the user's picture book preference based on the reaction information; a recommended picture book determination step of determining a recommended picture book for the user based on the picture book preference of the user; a recommended picture book presenting step of presenting the recommended picture book to the user; A picture book provision program for causing a computer to execute the above.

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