Display control device, display control system, display control method, and program

Abstract

To understand how other users are adding markers to their ebooks. [Solution] When multiple users' terminals 20 have placed a marker M on the same string of text in the same ebook, the server 10 aggregates the percentage of users who have placed a marker M on the common marker (common marker rate) for each aggregation target group (overall / school / grade / class / region, etc.) grouped based on user attributes, using the number of users belonging to the group as the base. The server 10 targets the aggregation target group arbitrarily selected and set by the user, and based on the threshold and identification color of the common marker rate set by the user, if the common marker rate of the common marker in the ebook to be displayed on the user terminal 20 is above the threshold, it adds a horizontal line L of the identification color to the string of text in the common marker and displays it in a specific display manner.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] Embodiments of the present invention relate to a display control device, a display control system, a display control method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] In a conventional information display control device, there is known a technique of attaching a marker to a character string designated by a user in teaching material text displayed on a display unit (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] However, in a conventional information display control device, it is impossible to grasp a situation where another user other than oneself attaches a marker to teaching material text displayed on a display unit.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to provide a display control device, a display control system, a display control method, and a program that enable grasping an addition state of a marker to an e-book of another user.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The first display control device according to the present invention includes a control unit that performs the following processes: displaying a screen containing a string of characters included in an ebook on a display unit; acquiring information on first marker locations designated as marker locations by each of a plurality of users for the string of characters included in the ebook; and displaying common marker locations, which are locations designated as marker locations by a predetermined threshold or more of the plurality of users, in a specific display manner.

[0007] The second display control device according to the present invention includes a control unit that causes a screen containing a string of characters included in an ebook to be displayed on a display unit, and controls the execution of processing in either a first mode or a second mode selected by user operation, wherein in the first mode, the control unit acquires information on a first marker location that each of a plurality of users has designated as a marker location for the ebook, and displays a common marker location that is a second marker location that the user has designated as a marker location for the ebook displayed on the display unit, and which is a first marker location that has been designated as a marker location by a predetermined threshold number of users among the plurality of users, in a specific display manner, and in the second mode, displays a marker on the second marker location that the user has designated as a marker location for the ebook displayed on the display unit. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to understand the status of markers added to ebooks by other users. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This block diagram shows an example of the configuration of a server (display control device) 10 included in a display control system 1 according to an embodiment of the display control device, display control system, display control method, and program of the present invention. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of the contents of marker registration data (12d) stored on server 10 for each user. [Figure 3]This figure shows an example of the contents of the common marker location aggregation data (12e) stored on server 10, categorized by book and user group. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of the contents of the aggregated group setting data (12f) stored for each user on server 10. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of the contents of the common marker location identification setting data (12h) stored on server 10 for each user. [Figure 6] This is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a user terminal (display device) 20 provided in the display control system 1. [Figure 7] This figure shows the display state of an e-book on user terminal 20A of user A, in accordance with the display control processing of server 10, and includes a marker M corresponding to user A's marker location (second marker location) and a specific display mode L for a common marker location designated as a marker location (first marker location) by a number of users greater than a predetermined threshold. [Figure 8] This flowchart shows an example of display control processing performed by server 10. [Figure 9] This flowchart shows an example of the ebook display process included in the display control process of server 10. [Figure 10] This is a flowchart showing an example of the marker information aggregation process included in the display control process of server 10. [Figure 11] This diagram shows the display operation of the user terminal 20 in accordance with the display control processing of the server 10. Figure (A) shows the display operation of the ebook and marker MA on user terminal 20A of user A, and Figure (B) shows the display operation of the ebook and marker MB on user terminal 20B of user B. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the display control device, display control system, display control method, and program of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in Figure 1, the display control system 1 is configured to include a server (display control device) 10 for learning support, for example, which is provided on a communication network such as the Internet, and a user terminal (display device) 20 on which an application program that uses the server 10 (here, a server-using app) is installed. The user terminal 20 can be configured as a PC (personal computer), smartphone, tablet terminal, wearable terminal, electronic dictionary, mobile phone, e-book, portable game console, etc., which have a communication function with the server 10.

[0011] As shown in Figure 1, the server 10 comprises a control unit (CPU: central processing unit) 11, which is a computer; a storage unit 12; a recording medium reading unit 14; a communication unit 15; an input unit 16; and a display unit 17. The control unit 11 controls the operation of each circuit part according to the server control program 12a stored in the storage unit 12, in response to input signals corresponding to user operations from the input unit 16, or to signals received by the communication unit 15 from a user terminal 20 on the communication network N. The server control program 12a may be pre-stored in the storage unit 12, or it may be read into the storage unit 12 from an external recording medium 13 such as a CD-ROM via the recording medium reading unit 14 and stored there, or it may be downloaded from a Web server (in this case, a program server) on the communication network N and read into the storage unit 12 and stored there. The server control program 12a includes at least a program for executing an example of various functions described later.

[0012] The memory unit 12 is allocated a memory area for the server control program 12a, as well as a memory area for the e-book database 12b, a user management data memory area 12c, a marker registration data memory area 12d, a common marker location aggregation data memory area 12e, an aggregation target group setting data memory area 12f, a display mode setting data memory area 12g, a common marker location identification setting data memory area 12h, and a work data memory area 12i. The e-book database memory area 12b stores data for e-books used by the user, for example, for learning (Japanese literature, English literature, dictionaries, textbooks, reference books, paperback novels, etc.). The user management data memory area 12c stores user attributes (for example, school, grade, class, desired school, address, etc.) associated with a user ID (user identification information: in this case, application ID) for each user on the user terminal 20 that has the server application installed. The user attributes are updated periodically by the user, for example, at the time of the annual update.

[0013] In the marker registration data storage area 12d, for example as shown in Figure 2, each user (user A, user B, ...) managed in the user management data (12c) is associated with the book title (or identification code) of the ebook to which the user has placed a marker M, and the marker location (or location information to which the marker M was placed) which is the string to which the user has placed the marker M. Here, the marker location corresponding to each user managed in the user management data (12c) is defined as the "first marker location," and the marker location corresponding to the user of the user terminal 20 that is currently connected to the server 10 and is subject to display control is defined as the "second marker location." In the common marker location aggregation data storage area 12e, as shown in Figure 3, for example, common marker locations (which may also be location information) where multiple users within a group have placed a marker M on the same string are stored for each ebook stored in the ebook database (12b) and for each group based on user attributes (school / grade / class / desired school / region / ...), and the percentage of users (common marker rate) obtained by subtracting the number of markers M from the common marker locations, with the number of users in the group as the base number, are stored in association with each common marker location.

[0014] In the aggregation target group setting data storage area 12f, for example as shown in Figure 4, the group name (or identification code) of the group that the user wants to keep track of (to be included in the aggregation) as a common marker location is arbitrarily selected and set (stored) by the user for each user managed in the user management data (12c). The aggregation target group setting data (12f) can be set at any time by the user operating the user terminal 20. For example, the user may operate an icon or other control displayed on the user terminal 20 while the ebook is being displayed to switch and set the group that the user wants to keep track of (to be included in the aggregation). In the display mode setting data storage area 12g, for each user managed in the user management data (12c), the user arbitrarily selects and sets (stores) whether to display the ebook on the user terminal 20 in a normal display mode (second mode) without identifying the common marker locations in a specific display manner, or in a common marker location display mode (first mode) with identifying the common marker locations in a specific display manner. The display mode setting data (12g) can be set by the user at any time by operating the user terminal 20. For example, the user may switch between the normal display mode (second mode) and the common marker location display mode (first mode) while displaying an ebook.

[0015] In the common marker location identification setting data storage area 12h, as shown in, for example, Fig. 5, different specific display modes (here, identification colors (red / orange / yellow / green / blue / light blue / light purple)) are preset (stored) in association with the stepwise common marker rate thresholds (60% or more / 50 - 59% / 40 - 49% / 30 - 39% / 20 - 29% / 10 - 19% / 9% or less) of the common marker locations. For each user managed in the user management data (12c), whether to perform the identification display of the common marker locations based on any of the thresholds or not is arbitrarily selected and set (stored) by the user. The common marker location identification setting data (12h) may also be set by the user operating the user terminal 20 at an arbitrary timing, for example, by switching and setting the stepwise thresholds for performing the identification display during the display of an e-book. In the work data storage area 12i, various types of data generated or acquired according to the control of the operations of each part by the control unit 11 are temporarily stored as necessary.

[0016] The server 10 configured as described above, the control unit 11 controls the operations of each part of the circuit according to the instructions described in the server control program 12a, and the software and hardware cooperate to operate, thereby realizing various functions as described in the following operation description.

[0017] As shown in FIG. 6, the user terminal 20 includes a control unit (CPU) 22 which is a computer, a storage unit 23, a recording medium reading unit 25, a communication unit (Wi-Fi (registered trademark) communication / mobile communication) 26, and a touch panel display unit 21. The control unit 22 controls the operations of each circuit unit according to an input signal corresponding to a user operation from the touch panel display unit 21 or a reception signal by the communication unit 26 from a Web server (including the server 10) on the communication network N, in accordance with the user terminal control program 23a and the server utilization application program (server utilization app) 23b stored in the storage unit 23. The user terminal control program 23a and the server utilization app 23b may be stored in the storage unit 23 in advance, or may be read from an external recording medium 24 such as a memory card via the recording medium reading unit 25 and stored in the storage unit 23, or may be downloaded from a Web server (in this case, a program server) on the communication network N and read and stored in the storage unit 23. The server utilization app 23b includes a program for executing a function of performing input of various data associated with a user operation and display of various data received from the server 10 in cooperation with at least various functions of the server 10 described later in the user terminal 20.

[0018] In the storage unit 23, in addition to the storage areas for the user terminal control program 23a and the server utilization app 23b, a work data storage area 23f and the like are secured. Note that the aggregated target group setting data (12f), display mode setting data (12g), and common marker location identification setting data (12h) for each user stored in the server 10 may be individually stored in the aggregated target group setting data storage area 23c, display mode setting data storage area 23d, and common marker location identification setting data storage area 23e of each user's user terminal 20 (20A, 20B,...). In the work data storage area 23f, various data generated or acquired according to the control of the operations of each unit by the control unit 22 is temporarily stored as needed.

[0019] In this configuration, the user terminal 20 has a control unit 22 that controls the operation of each part of the circuit according to the instructions written in the user terminal control program 23a and the server usage application 23b. Through the cooperation of the software and hardware, the various functions described in the operation description below are realized.

[0020] Next, the operation of the display control system 1 of the embodiment will be described. For example, when a user uses the server 10 to view an ebook, the user operates the user terminal 20 to launch the server usage application 23b and logs in to the server 10 (requests a connection). When the server 10 receives a connection request from the user terminal 20 of a user managed by the user management data (12c) (step S1 (Yes) in Figure 8), the control unit 11 establishes a communication connection with the user terminal 20 that requested the connection (step S2). For example, when the user selects an ebook of their choice on the user terminal 20 according to the ebook menu displayed on the user terminal 20 by the server 10 (step S3 (Yes)), the control unit 11 of the server 10 executes the ebook display process (step S4) and displays the ebook selected by the user on the touch panel display unit 21 of the user terminal 20. Details of the ebook display process (Figure 9) will be described later.

[0021] When the user terminal 20's touch panel display unit 21 is displaying the selected ebook, if a user-specified string in the displayed ebook is designated by the user, for example, as a string of high importance to the user, using a stylus or finger (including pointing devices, etc.), and a marker is drawn (step S5 (Yes)), the control unit 11 of the server 10 will, for example as shown in Figure 11, place a marker M (MA or MB in Figure 11) on the designated string in the displayed ebook and display it (step S6). The control unit 11 will, for example as shown in Figure 2, store and register in the marker registration data storage area 12d the book title of the displayed ebook and the marker location corresponding to the string with the marker M, in association with the user of the user terminal 20 that placed the marker M (step S7). The control unit 11 will then proceed to the marker information aggregation process (step S8).

[0022] When the book title and marker location of an ebook associated with a user are registered in the marker registration data storage area 12d (step S81(Yes)), the control unit 11 determines whether the book title and marker location registered this time are common marker locations that have already been registered and associated with other users (step S82). If it is determined that the marker location registered this time is a common marker location (step S82(Yes)), the control unit 11 calculates the percentage of users (common marker rate) for each group of users who have the same book title and marker location registered, by subtracting the marker M from the common marker location, using the number of people in that group as the base. The control unit 11 stores the calculated common marker rate for each group, as shown in Figure 3, for example, by associating it with the common marker locations of the target book titles in the common marker location aggregation data storage area 12e, and updates the common marker location aggregation data (12e) (step S83).

[0023] In this case, if the user who placed the marker M, which is a common marker location, is a specific user, for example, if the user management data (12c) includes information that the user's occupation is [teacher] as a user attribute managed by the user management data, and it is estimated that the learning importance of the string corresponding to the common marker location is higher, the control unit 11 may calculate weights so that the common marker rate increases by a predetermined percentage, such as counting the user who placed the marker M as a predetermined multiplier of the number of people, and update the common marker location aggregate data (12e) (step S83). If the control unit 11 does not receive a disconnection request (logout) from the user terminal 20 that is connected to the communication (step S9(No) in Figure 8), it executes the ebook display process and continues to display the ebook selected by the user on the user terminal 20 (step S4).

[0024] In the e-book display processing (step S4), the control unit 11 obtains the display mode set by the user (normal display mode (second mode) or common marker location display mode (first mode)) from the display mode setting data storage area 12g (or the display mode setting data storage area 23d of the user terminal 20) (step S41), and determines which display mode has been set (step S42). If the display mode is set to normal display mode (second mode) (step S42(No)), the control unit 11 displays the selected e-book on the touch panel display unit 21 of the user terminals 20A and 20B, for example, as shown in Figures 11(A) and (B) (step S411). If the control unit 11 is associated with the user of the user terminal 20 displaying the ebook and the book title and marker locations (second marker locations) of the displayed ebook are registered in the marker registration data storage area 12d (step S412 (Yes)), then, for example as shown in Figures 11(A) and (B), it displays the registered marker locations of the ebook displayed on user terminals 20A and 20B with markers MA and MB (step S413). The user can easily confirm, for example, highly important strings that the user has marked with markers MA and MB for the ebook displayed on the user terminal 20.

[0025] On the other hand, if the display mode is set to the common marker location display mode (first mode) (step S42 (Yes)), the control unit 11 retrieves the aggregation target group set by the user from the aggregation target group setting data storage area 12f (or from the aggregation target group setting data storage area 23c of the user terminal 20) (step S43). The control unit 11 targets the e-book selected by the user and determines whether or not there are common marker locations in the common marker location aggregation data storage area 12e that are associated with the aggregation target group set by the user (step S44). If there are no common marker locations associated with the aggregation target group set by the user (step S44 (No)), the control unit 11 displays the selected e-book on the user terminal 20, and displays the marker locations drawn by the user with markers MA and MB (steps S411 to S413), similar to the processing in the normal display mode (second mode) described above.

[0026] If there are common marker locations in the common marker location aggregation data storage area 12e that are associated with the aggregation target group set by the user (step S44 (Yes)), the control unit 11 obtains the common marker rate of the common marker locations (step S45), and displays the ebook selected by the user (here, "Japanese Literature XX") on the user terminal 20, for example, as shown in Figure 7 (step S46). If the book title and marker locations (second marker locations) of the displayed ebook are registered in the marker registration data storage area 12d, associated with the user on the user terminal 20 (step S47 (Yes)), the control unit 11 displays the registered marker locations of the ebook displayed on the user terminal 20 with marker M (step S48). The control unit 11 obtains the threshold of the common marker rate and a specific display mode (here, identification color) for identifying and displaying the common marker locations set by the user from the common marker location identification setting data storage area 12h (step S49). Here, we assume that the top two threshold levels and identification colors (60% or higher [red] / 50-59% [orange]) of the common marker rate, which User A has set to [Display], have been retrieved from the common marker location identification setting data storage area 12h.

[0027] As shown in Figure 7, for example, the control unit 11 targets the e-book displayed on user A's user terminal 20A and, based on the common marker rate of one or more common marker locations acquired in step S45 and the threshold and identification color (60% or more [red] / 50-59% [orange]) of the common marker rate set by user A to [Display] acquired in step S49, identifies and displays the strings of common marker locations with a common marker rate of 60% or more (first common marker locations) with a red horizontal line L (red) added (first display mode), and identifies and displays the strings of common marker locations with a common marker rate of 50-59% (second common marker locations) with an orange horizontal line L (orange) added (second display mode) (step S410). Furthermore, the identification display performed by Server 10 on strings at common marker locations, depending on the common marker rate, is not limited to the display display of adding a horizontal line L of a different color (which becomes an underline if the ebook is written horizontally), but may also be a display display such as adding a marker M of a different color or changing the text color. Users can see strings that they themselves have marked with marker M, for example, strings of high importance, in the displayed ebook, and by looking at the identification display added to the strings of the ebook in a specific display display, they can easily grasp that the strings with the identification display are strings of high importance among users in the group (e.g., [Class]) that the user has set as the target of aggregation, and the degree of that importance, which can be effectively used for subsequent learning.

[0028] Furthermore, in the processing of steps S47 to S410 in the common marker location display mode (first mode) described above, the control unit 11 is configured to identify and display the common marker locations included in the displayed e-book in a specific display manner, regardless of whether the marker locations (second marker locations) added by the user are registered in the marker registration data storage area 12d associated with the user of the user terminal 20 (step S47 (Yes)) or not (step S47 (No)). However, the control unit 11 may also be configured to identify and display the common marker locations included in the displayed e-book in a specific display manner within the marker locations (second marker locations) added by the user of the user terminal 20, i.e., within the range where marker M is displayed, when the marker locations (second marker locations) added by the user of the user terminal 20 are registered (step S47 (Yes)). The user can easily understand that within the string to which they have placed marker M, there are common marker locations to which multiple users have placed marker M, exceeding the threshold of the common marker rate set by the user.

[0029] Subsequently, when the server 10 receives a disconnection request (logout) from the user terminal 20 that is currently connected to it (step S9 (Yes) in Figure 8), the control unit 11 disconnects the communication connection with the user terminal 20 that requested the disconnection and terminates the series of display control processes (step S10).

[0030] According to the display control system 1 of the embodiment, the server 10 displays the selected ebook on the touch panel display unit 21 of the user terminal 20 in response to user operations on the user terminal 20, and displays the ebook with a marker M placed on the string of characters (second marker location) specified in response to user operations. If there are common marker locations where multiple users have placed a marker M on the same string of characters in the same ebook, the server 10 calculates the percentage of users who have placed a marker M on the common marker location (common marker rate) for each aggregate target group (overall / school / grade / class / region, etc.) grouped based on user attributes, using the number of users belonging to the group as the base. Server 10 targets aggregation groups arbitrarily selected and set by the user, and based on a threshold for the common marker rate and a specific display mode (in this case, an identification color) selected and set by the user, if the common marker rate of the common marker locations in the ebook to be displayed on the user terminal 20 is above the threshold, it adds a horizontal line L of the identification color to the string of the common marker location and displays it in the specific display mode. The user can easily grasp, for example, strings that are highly noticeable or important among users of the group to which they belong (e.g., [Class]). Therefore, it becomes possible to grasp the status of markers added to ebooks by other users. In other words, according to the display control system 1 of the present invention, the user-machine interaction process can reliably support the user in performing a technical task (understanding the status of markers added to ebooks by other users).

[0031] Furthermore, according to the display control system 1 of the embodiment, when the display mode set by the user is the normal display mode (second mode), the server 10 displays the string of text (second marker location) of the currently displayed e-book specified by the user operation on the user terminal 20 with a marker M, and does not perform identification display for the string of text at common marker locations. When the display mode is the common marker location display mode (first mode), the server 10 displays the string of text (second marker location) of the currently displayed e-book specified by the user operation with a marker M, and also performs identification display in a specific display manner for the string of text at common marker locations among the strings of text (first marker locations) of e-books that each of the multiple users has marked with a marker M. For example, a user can, after marking strings of an e-book they consider to be of high importance with a marker M in the normal display mode (second mode), switch to the common marker location display mode (first mode) and have the string of text at common marker locations of the currently displayed e-book identified and displayed in a specific display manner, thereby easily comparing and understanding whether the strings considered to be of high importance match those of other users.

[0032] Furthermore, according to the display control system 1 of the embodiment, the server 10, based on a plurality of stepped common marker rate thresholds selected and set by the user and a different specific display mode, identifies and displays strings of common marker locations (first common marker locations) with a common marker rate higher than the highest threshold using the most conspicuous display mode (first display mode) in the identification color (red), and strings of common marker locations (second common marker locations) with a common marker rate below the highest threshold but with the next highest common marker rate using the next conspicuous display mode (second display mode) in the identification color (orange). For example, a user can easily grasp the degree of importance that other users consider to be high for strings that are common marker locations among users within a group that the user has set.

[0033] Furthermore, according to the display control system 1 of the embodiment, the server 10 identifies and displays common marker locations in ebooks displayed on the user terminal 20 in a specific display manner corresponding to the common marker rate, targeting aggregation target groups (overall / school / grade / class / region, etc.) that can be switched and set by the user. The user can easily compare and understand, for example, the degree of common marker locations and common marker rates for the ebooks they are viewing, for each group to which they belong.

[0034] Furthermore, according to the display control system 1 of the embodiment, if the user who has placed a marker M, which is a common marker location, on the e-book displayed on the user terminal 20 is a specific user (e.g., [Teacher]), the server 10 considers the number of users who have placed the marker M to be a predetermined multiplier and calculates weights so that the common marker rate of the common marker location increases by a predetermined percentage. The user can then understand the strings of common marker locations that are identified and displayed in a specific manner in the e-book being viewed, for example, as strings that are of high learning importance and may appear on exams.

[0035] The methods for each process performed by the display control system 1 described in the above embodiments, namely the display control process shown in the flowchart of Figure 8, the e-book display process shown in the flowchart of Figure 9, and the marker information aggregation process shown in the flowchart of Figure 10, all of which are executed by the server 10, can be distributed as programs that can be executed by a computer by storing them on a medium (recording medium 13 or recording medium 24) of an external recording device such as a memory card (ROM card, RAM card, etc.), magnetic disk (floppy disk, hard disk, etc.), optical disk (CD-ROM, DVD, etc.), or semiconductor memory. The control unit (CPU) of the information processing device (electronic device) reads the program recorded on the medium of this external recording device into the storage device, and its operation is controlled by the read program, thereby realizing the various functions described in the embodiments and executing the same processes as described above.

[0036] Furthermore, the program data for implementing each method can be transmitted over a communication network (N) in the form of program code. The program data can then be taken from a computer device (program server) connected to this communication network (N) into an information processing device (electronic device), stored in a memory device, and the various functions described above can be implemented.

[0037] Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments, and can be modified in various ways during implementation without departing from its essence. The embodiments may also be combined as appropriate, and in that case, combined effects can be obtained. Moreover, the embodiments include various inventions, and various inventions can be extracted by selecting combinations from the multiple disclosed constituent elements. For example, if the problem can be solved and effects obtained even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the embodiments, then the configuration with these deleted constituent elements can be extracted as an invention. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0038] 1...Display control system, 10...Server (display control device), 11...Control unit (CPU), 12a...Server control program, 20...User terminal (display device), 21...Touch panel display unit, M...Marker, L (red), L (orange)...Identification display according to the common marker rate of common marker locations (specific display mode).

Claims

1. The screen containing the text from the ebook is displayed on the display unit. The system retrieves information on the first marker location that each of multiple users has designated as a marker location within the text string contained in the ebook. Among the first marker locations, common marker locations that have been designated as marker locations by a predetermined threshold or more of the users are displayed in a specific display manner. A display control device equipped with a control unit that performs processing.

2. The screen containing the text from the ebook is displayed on the display unit. The system includes a control unit that controls the execution of processing in either the first mode or the second mode, which is selected by user operation. The control unit, In the first mode, Information on the first marker location, which each of multiple users has designated as a marker location in the aforementioned e-book, is obtained. A second marker location designated by the user as a marker location in the e-book displayed on the display unit, which is a common marker location among the first marker locations that has been designated as a marker location by a predetermined threshold or more of the users, is displayed in a specific display manner. In the second mode, A marker is displayed on the e-book displayed on the display unit at the second marker location designated by the user as a marker location. Display control device.

3. There are multiple thresholds, The control unit, Of the aforementioned common marker locations, the first common marker locations designated as marker locations by a number of users equal to or greater than a first threshold among the multiple users are displayed in the first display mode as the specific display mode. The second common marker locations, designated as marker locations by a number of users less than the first threshold but greater than or equal to the second threshold, are displayed in the second display mode as the specific display mode. A display control device according to claim 1 or claim 2 that performs processing.

4. The aforementioned users are users belonging to a predetermined group, and there are multiple such groups. The control unit, Switch between multiple groups in response to user actions. With respect to the e-book displayed on the display unit, the common marker locations designated as marker locations by a predetermined threshold or more of the multiple users belonging to the switched group are displayed in the specific display mode. A display control device according to claim 1 or claim 2 that performs processing.

5. The control unit, If the user who designated the aforementioned common marker location as a marker location is a specific user, then the specific user is treated as a number of people equal to a predetermined multiplier and weighted accordingly. A display control device according to claim 1 or claim 2 that performs processing.

6. The control unit further, A marker is displayed on the e-book displayed on the display unit at a second marker location designated by the user as a marker location. A display control device according to claim 1, which performs processing.

7. The aforementioned specific display methods include adding horizontal lines, adding underlines, adding markers of different colors, or changing the color of the text. The display control device according to claim 1 or claim 2.

8. A display control device according to claim 1 or 2, A display device having a communication function with the aforementioned display control device and equipped with the aforementioned display unit, A display control system equipped with the following features.

9. In the control unit of the display control device, The screen containing the text from the ebook is displayed on the display unit. The system retrieves information on the first marker location that each of multiple users has designated as a marker location within the text string contained in the ebook. Among the first marker locations, common marker locations that have been designated as marker locations by a predetermined threshold or more of the users are displayed in a specific display manner. A display control method for executing a process.

10. In the control unit of the display control device, The screen containing the text from the ebook is displayed on the display unit. The process is executed in either the first mode or the second mode, which is selected by the user. In the first mode, Information on the first marker location, which each of multiple users has designated as a marker location in the aforementioned e-book, is obtained. A second marker location designated by the user as a marker location in the e-book displayed on the display unit, which is a common marker location among the first marker locations that has been designated as a marker location by a predetermined threshold or more of the users, is displayed in a specific display manner. In the second mode, A marker is displayed on the e-book displayed on the display unit at the second marker location designated by the user as a marker location. Display control method.

11. The control unit of the display control device, The screen containing the text from the ebook is displayed on the display unit. The system retrieves information on the first marker location that each of multiple users has designated as a marker location within the text string contained in the ebook. Among the first marker locations, common marker locations that have been designated as marker locations by a predetermined threshold or more of the users are displayed in a specific display manner. A program that makes something work and executes a process.

12. The control unit of the display control device, The screen containing the text from the ebook is displayed on the display unit. The process is executed in either the first mode or the second mode, which is selected by the user. In the first mode, Information on the first marker location, which each of multiple users has designated as a marker location in the aforementioned e-book, is obtained. A second marker location designated by the user as a marker location in the e-book displayed on the display unit, which is a common marker location among the first marker locations that has been designated as a marker location by a predetermined threshold or more of the users, is displayed in a specific display manner. In the second mode, A marker is displayed on the e-book displayed on the display unit at the second marker location designated by the user as a marker location. A program that makes it work in that way.

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