Communication support device, communication support method, and communication support program

Abstract

It enables communication between users who have common topics. [Solution] The content distribution device 10 has a group creation unit 111 that creates a group for communication among multiple users based on user instructions, a selection unit 114 that selects multiple users who are viewing the same content from multiple viewable contents as selected users from among multiple users belonging to the group, and a communication control unit 115 that controls communication between multiple terminals 20 corresponding to the multiple selected users selected by the selection unit 114 while they are viewing the same content.

Description

[Technical Field]

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

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

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-101999 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] When there are many users in a group, multiple topics are mixed and communication between users may not be carried out properly. To address this issue, it is necessary to realize communication limited to users who have common topics.

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

[0006] A communication support device according to one aspect of the present invention includes a group creation unit that creates a group for communication among multiple users based on instructions from the users, a selection unit that selects, from among multiple users belonging to the group, multiple users who are viewing the same content from multiple content that can be viewed, as selected users, and a communication control unit that controls communication between multiple terminals corresponding to the multiple selected users selected by the selection unit while the same content is being viewed. [Effects of the Invention]

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

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a system configuration of a content distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a map page displayed on a terminal. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a content screen displayed on a terminal. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a hardware configuration of a content distribution device. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional block configuration of a processor. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a process flow in which the content distribution device controls communication between selected users. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0027] The content distribution unit 112 distributes content to the terminal 20. First, the content distribution unit 112 displays the map page shown in Fig. 2 on the terminal 20 and accepts selection of an icon IC corresponding to content on the map page. When any icon IC is selected from among multiple icon ICs, the terminal 20 switches the screen displayed on the terminal 20 to the content screen shown in Fig. 3. Furthermore, the terminal 20 transmits a content distribution request to the content distribution device 10, the content request including a content ID that identifies the content corresponding to the selected icon IC and a user ID.

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

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

[0030] Furthermore, the content distribution unit 112 may, while distributing content, cause the terminal 20 to display a quiz and a plurality of options corresponding to the quiz and accept answers from the terminal 20. The quiz may be, for example, a quiz related to the content. In this case, before closing the terminal 20 to accept answers, the content distribution unit 112 may cause the terminal 20 to display answers accepted from the terminals 20 of multiple users who belong to the same group and are viewing the same content. In this way, the user of the terminal 20 can answer the question while referring to the answers of other users in the group. Furthermore, the content distribution unit 112 may grant a reward to a user who answers the quiz correctly.

[0031] The status receiving unit 113 receives information indicating the user's status from the user via the terminal 20. For example, the terminal 20 displays "Status Change" on the screen shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. When a status change button for receiving a status change is pressed, the terminal 20 displays a status change image for receiving a status change from among multiple statuses and receives a status selection from the user. Upon receiving the status selection, the terminal 20 associates the status information indicating the selected status with the user ID and transmits the associated information to the content distribution device 10.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0045] Furthermore, when a predetermined event occurs in the content being viewed by the selected user, the display control unit 117 may display guidance information including information about the occurrence of the predetermined event. The predetermined event may be, for example, a special event, a quiz event, or another event planned to enhance communication among users viewing the content. For example, the storage unit 12 may store schedule information indicating schedules of predetermined events for each of a plurality of pieces of content. The display control unit 117 references the schedule information and, when it detects that a predetermined event has occurred in the content being viewed by the selected user, displays guidance information including information about the occurrence of the predetermined event. In this way, the content distribution device 10 can effectively guide the user by prompting the user to engage in communication at a time when communication is likely to be enhanced.

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

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

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

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

[0050] Furthermore, the display control unit 117 may cause the terminal 20 of a user other than the selected user to display information indicating each of the multiple selected users. For example, the display control unit 117 may cause the terminal 20 of a user other than the selected user to display an icon of each of the multiple selected users. In this manner, the content distribution device 10 allows other users to know which users belonging to the group selected by the user are viewing the content corresponding to the guidance information. This increases the likelihood that the other users will view the content if the users viewing the content are on good terms with other users.

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

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

[0053] 2 or 3 is displayed on the terminal 20, the selection unit 114 determines whether or not the chat icon IB for conducting a voice chat has been pressed (S11). If the selection unit 114 determines that the chat icon IB has been pressed, it proceeds to S12, and if it determines that the chat icon IB has not been pressed, it re-executes the process at S11.

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

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

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

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

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

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

[0060] Furthermore, all or part of the device can be configured in any unit, functionally or physically, distributed or integrated. Furthermore, new embodiments resulting from any combination of multiple embodiments are also included in the embodiments of the present invention. The effects of the new embodiments resulting from the combination also have the effects of the original embodiments.

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

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

Claims

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

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