Information display system, information display device, and information display method

Abstract

This technology provides a way for family members to compare and view records of events that they might experience similarly in their individual lives. [Solution] The information display system comprises a user terminal and a server. The user terminal includes a receiving unit that accepts search conditions including the specification of events that each member of the family may have in common and the specification of two or more family members to be used for comparison, a receiving unit that receives screen information generated by the server based on the search conditions, and a display control unit that displays a comparison viewing screen indicated by the screen information. The server includes a search unit that searches for information showing photographs of events included in the search conditions for each member included in the search conditions, a screen generation unit that generates screen information showing a comparison viewing screen in which the photographs indicated by the searched information are arranged in a predetermined direction, and a transmission unit that transmits the screen information to the user terminal.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information display system, an information display device, and an information display method.

Background Art

[0002] For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a life recording system capable of creating an album on a network. This life recording system has an echocardiogram device and acquires and accumulates personal information (member registration information) about the user and the user's family from the stage when the user is a fetus. Also, in this life recording system, records of events in the user's subsequent life are accumulated as the user grows, and it is also possible to pass on the record of the user's life to the next generation of the user.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] By the way, among the events in life, there are events that each member constituting a family (for example, father, mother, and their children, etc.) can similarly experience in their respective lives. Events that each member constituting a family can similarly experience in their respective lives are, for example, an entrance ceremony, a graduation ceremony, or a birthday. Therefore, if the records of such events can be browsed while being compared among the members constituting the family (hereinafter, also simply referred to as "family members"), it is expected that family conversations will become lively and the bond of the family will deepen. However, in the life recording system disclosed in Patent Document 1 above, comparison browsing of the records of such events among family members is not assumed.

[0005] This disclosure was made to address the aforementioned issues and aims to provide a technology that allows family members to compare and view records of events they may similarly experience in their lives. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The information display system relating to this disclosure comprises a user terminal and a server. The user terminal includes a receiving unit that receives search conditions for searching for information showing photographs of the user and other family members, the conditions including at least the specification of an event that each family member may have experienced in common and the specification of two or more family members to be used for comparison; a transmitting unit that transmits the search conditions received by the receiving unit to the server; a receiving unit that receives comparative viewing screen information generated by the server based on the search conditions from the server; and a display control unit that causes the display unit to display the comparative viewing screen shown by the comparative viewing screen information received by the receiving unit. The server includes a receiving unit that receives search conditions transmitted by the transmitting unit of the user terminal; a search unit that searches for information showing photographs of events included in the search conditions for each of the two or more family members included in the search conditions received by the receiving unit; a screen generation unit that generates comparative viewing screen information showing a comparative viewing screen, which is a screen in which the photographs shown by the information are arranged in a predetermined direction, based on the information retrieved by the search unit; and a transmitting unit that transmits the comparative viewing screen information generated by the screen generation unit to the user terminal. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to this disclosure, the structure described above makes it possible for family members to compare and view records of events that they may similarly experience in their respective lives. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0008] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example configuration of the information display system according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 2] This is a block diagram showing an example of the user terminal configuration in Embodiment 1. [Figure 3] This is a block diagram showing an example of the server configuration in Embodiment 1. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of the top screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of user information stored in the storage unit in Embodiment 1. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of the My History addition screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 7] This figure shows an example of the save execution screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of photographic information stored in the storage unit in Embodiment 1. [Figure 9] This figure shows an example of the top screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 10] This figure shows an example of the year and month selection screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 11] This figure shows an example of the My History addition screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 12] This figure shows an example of a photo display screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 13] This figure shows an example of a lifetime history display screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 14] This figure shows an example of a comparison browsing screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 15] This figure shows an example of a comparison browsing screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 16] This flowchart shows an example of the operation of the user terminal and server when displaying the comparison browsing screen in Embodiment 1. [Figure 17] This figure shows an example of displaying the content of the update information in Embodiment 1 as a pop-up on the display unit. [Figure 18] This is a block diagram showing an example of the server configuration in Embodiment 2. [Figure 19]It is a diagram showing an example of the My History addition screen in Embodiment 2. [Figure 20] It is a diagram showing an example of the resume content display screen in Embodiment 2. [Figure 21] It is a diagram showing an example of the resume registration screen in Embodiment 2.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0009] Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the information display system 1 includes five user terminals 10 and a server 20. Each user terminal 10 and the server 20 are connected to be communicable with each other via a network NW such as the Internet. In FIG. 1, an example where five user terminals 10 are connected to the server 20 via the network NW is shown, but the number of user terminals 10 is not limited to this, and may be one or more.

[0010] The user terminal 10 is a terminal used by a user and is composed of, for example, a PC (Personal Computer), a smartphone, a tablet, etc. The user who uses the user terminal 10 is, for example, a member (such as a father, a mother, and their child, etc.) who constitutes a certain family. The user installs a predetermined application program (hereinafter simply referred to as "application") in the user terminal 10 in advance, and after starting this application, executes various operations described later.

[0011] For example, the user uploads (saves) information indicating a photo (hereinafter referred to as "photo information") to the server 20 by operating the user terminal 10. Here, the photo is a photo taken of an arbitrary object (such as a person, a building, a scenery, an event, etc.) related to an event. Also, the user gives an instruction to search for the photo information stored in the server 20 by operating the user terminal 10.

[0012] Server 20 is configured, for example, as a PC. Server 20 is equipped with a storage unit 206 (see Figure 3) capable of storing photo information uploaded from the user terminal 10. When Server 20 receives photo information uploaded from the user terminal 10, it stores the received photo information in the storage unit 206.

[0013] Furthermore, when the server 20 receives search criteria for photo information from the user terminal 10, it searches for photo information stored in the storage unit 206 based on the received search criteria. The server 20 also generates information indicating a comparison viewing screen, which is a screen displaying the photos indicated by the searched photo information arranged in a predetermined direction. The server 20 then transmits the generated information to the user terminal 10.

[0014] The user terminal 10 receives information transmitted from the server 20 and displays the comparison viewing screen indicated by the received information on the display unit 104 (see Figure 2).

[0015] Next, an example of the configuration of the user terminal 10 and server 20 in Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3.

[0016] <User terminal 10> As shown in Figure 2, the user terminal 10 is configured to include a reception unit 101, a transmission unit 102, a receiving unit 103, a display unit 104, a display control unit 105, a save instruction unit 106, and a public access range setting unit 107.

[0017] The reception unit 101 accepts various operations from the user. For example, the reception unit 101 accepts search conditions for searching for information showing photographs of the user and other members of the user's family, which include at least the specification of an event that each member of the family may have experienced in common, and the specification of two or more members of the family to be used for comparison.

[0018] The transmitting unit 102 transmits various information to the server 20. For example, the transmitting unit 102 transmits the search conditions received by the receiving unit 101 to the server 20.

[0019] The receiving unit 103 receives various information from the server 20. For example, the receiving unit 103 receives information from the server 20 that shows a comparison browsing screen generated by the server 20 based on the above search conditions (hereinafter referred to as "comparison browsing screen information").

[0020] The display unit 104 displays various screens. For example, the display unit 104 displays the comparison browsing screen indicated by the comparison browsing screen information received by the receiving unit 103. The display unit 104 is composed of, for example, a touch panel. If the display unit 104 is composed of a touch panel, it also functions as an input unit that the user can use when inputting search conditions, etc.

[0021] The display control unit 105 controls the display of various screens on the display unit 104. For example, the display control unit 105 causes the display unit 104 to display the comparison browsing screen indicated by the comparison browsing screen information received by the receiving unit 103.

[0022] The save instruction unit 106 instructs the server 20 to save information indicating photographs of family members to the server 20's save unit 206. When the save instruction unit 106 saves information indicating photographs of family members to the server 20's save unit 206, it also instructs the server 20's search unit 203 (see Figure 3) to save information indicating keywords used for searching, along with the information indicating the photographs. Furthermore, when the save instruction unit 106 saves information indicating photographs of family members to the server 20's save unit 206, it also instructs the server 20 to save information indicating the public access range set by the public access range setting unit 107, along with the information indicating the photographs.

[0023] The sharing range setting unit 107 sets the sharing range, which indicates which members of the family will see the photo containing the family member, based on user operations.

[0024] The functions of the reception unit 101, transmission unit 102, receiving unit 103, display control unit 105, save instruction unit 106, and public access range setting unit 107 are realized, for example, by the execution of the above-mentioned application, which is loaded into memory (not shown), by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) provided in the user terminal 10. In the above example, an example in which the display unit 104 is provided inside the user terminal 10 has been described, but if the user terminal 10 is configured as a PC, for example, the display unit 104 may be provided outside the user terminal 10.

[0025] <Server 20> As shown in Figure 3, the server 20 is configured to include a receiving unit 201, a storage control unit 202, a search unit 203, a screen generation unit 204, a transmission unit 205, and a storage unit 206.

[0026] The receiving unit 201 receives various information from the user terminal 10. For example, the receiving unit 201 receives search conditions transmitted by the transmitting unit 102 of the user terminal 10. The receiving unit 201 also receives instructions to save photo information from the save instruction unit 106 of the user terminal 10. The receiving unit 201 also receives user information from the user terminal 10, which will be described later.

[0027] The storage control unit 202 stores information indicating photographs of family members (photo information) in the storage unit 206 based on instructions from the storage instruction unit 106 of the user terminal 10. The storage control unit 202 also stores user information received by the receiving unit 201 in the storage unit 206.

[0028] The search unit 203 searches for information indicating a photograph of an event included in the search conditions for each of the two or more members included in the search conditions received by the receiving unit 201. The search unit 203 also searches for information indicating a photograph that matches the above search conditions from the information stored in the storage unit 206.

[0029] The screen generation unit 204 generates information indicating various screens. For example, based on the information retrieved by the search unit 203, the screen generation unit 204 generates comparative browsing screen information, which is a screen displaying a comparative browsing screen in which the photos indicated by the information are arranged in a predetermined direction.

[0030] Furthermore, when generating comparative viewing screen information, the screen generation unit 204 determines whether the user who entered the search conditions is outside the public access range of the photos indicated by the information searched by the search unit 203. This public access range is set by the public access range setting unit 107 described above. If the user who entered the search conditions is not outside the public access range, the screen generation unit 204 generates comparative viewing screen information that includes the photos. On the other hand, if the user who entered the search conditions is outside the public access range, the screen generation unit 204 generates comparative viewing screen information that excludes the photos.

[0031] The transmission unit 205 transmits various information to the user terminal 10. For example, the transmission unit 205 transmits the comparison viewing screen information generated by the screen generation unit 204 to the user terminal 10.

[0032] The storage unit 206 is configured to store multiple pieces of information (photo information) that show photographs of family members. The storage unit 206 is also configured to store user information for each family member. The storage unit 206 is composed of, for example, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive). Although Figure 3 shows the storage unit 206 located inside the server 20, the storage unit 206 may be located outside the server 20.

[0033] The functions of the receiving unit 201, the storage control unit 202, the search unit 203, the screen generation unit 204, and the transmission unit 205 are realized, for example, by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) (not shown) of the server 20 executing a predetermined program loaded into memory (not shown).

[0034] Next, an operation example of the user terminal 10 and the server 20 in Embodiment 1 will be described while referring to FIGS. 4 to 17.

[0035] In the following description, for the sake of specificity, an arbitrary family, "Family A", will be cited as an example for explanation. It is assumed that the members constituting Family A are five people: mother, father, son (Hiroshi), grandfather, and grandmother, and it is assumed that the user who mainly operates the user terminal 10 is the mother. Also, in this example, the mother may be referred to as the "user" or "main user", and the members other than the mother may be referred to as "other users". Also, it is assumed that the user has completed user registration for the information display system 1 by operating the user terminal 10 in advance to start the above application and performing a predetermined operation.

[0036] <A. Top Screen> First, the user operates the user terminal 10 to start the above application and performs an operation to call the top screen. The reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the operation to call the top screen. Thereafter, the display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 causes the display unit 104 to display the top screen.

[0037] FIG. 4 shows an example of the top screen. As shown in FIG. 4, on the top screen, a year designation button 401, a My History addition button 402, and a family setting button 403 are displayed. Also, the top screen is configured to include a My History display area 404 and a photo display area 405.

[0038] The year designation button 401 is a button for transitioning to a year / month designation screen described later.

[0039] The My History addition button 402 is a button for transitioning to a My History addition screen described later.

[0040] The Family Settings button 403 is a button that transitions to a Family Settings screen (not shown). The Family Settings screen is a screen for setting whether to approve or reject an application from another user to join the Information Display System 1.

[0041] For example, another user, such as the father of family A, can use their own user terminal 10 to submit a participation request to the main user (mother of family A), who has completed user registration for the information display system 1, indicating their desire to participate in the information display system 1. This participation request may be made, for example, by launching an application installed on the other user's user terminal 10 and performing a prescribed participation request process, or by using a social networking service (SNS) such as LINE® or Facebook®. Alternatively, the other user may submit a participation request by sending a short message from their own user terminal 10 to the main user's user terminal 10.

[0042] When the main user presses the family settings button 403 on the top screen, the reception unit 101 accepts the operation, and the display control unit 105 displays a family settings screen (not shown) on the display unit 104. The main user then sets whether to approve or reject the participation request of other users on the family settings screen. If the participation request is rejected, the other user cannot participate in the information display system 1. On the other hand, if the participation request is approved, the other user's user terminal 10 is granted access rights to the server 20 from the main user's user terminal 10. As a result, the other user can access the server 20 using their own user terminal 10. Subsequently, the other user sends their user information (username, password, etc.) to the server 20 using their own user terminal 10.

[0043] On server 20, when the receiving unit 201 receives the transmitted user information, the storage control unit 202 stores the user information received by the receiving unit 201 in the storage unit 206. This completes the user registration of other users to the information display system 1.

[0044] An example of user information stored in the storage unit 206 is shown in Figure 5. As shown in Figure 5, user information consists of, for example, a user identifier, username, and password to identify the user. In the example in Figure 5, the user information of the main user, Mama, and the user information of other users, Dad, son (Hiroshi), and Grandpa, are stored. Although the example in Figure 5 describes an example in which user information of members of family A is registered, the user information to be registered is not limited to members of family A; for example, user information of members of family B may also be registered. Furthermore, when registering user information of different families, for example, the storage control unit 202 may assign a user identifier in which the first digit of the user identifier is a unique character for each family, and then register it.

[0045] Returning to Figure 4, the My History display area 404 is an area for displaying events in the user's life (My History).

[0046] The photo display area 405 is an area for displaying photographs of any object related to an event in the user's life. Initially, nothing is displayed in the My History display area 404 and the photo display area 405.

[0047] At this point, the user presses the Add My History button 402. When the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the press operation of the Add My History button 402, it generates information indicating that the Add My History button 402 has been pressed. The transmission unit 102 of the user terminal 10 sends the information generated by the reception unit 101 to the server 20 via the network NW.

[0048] The receiving unit 201 of the server 20 receives the information transmitted from the user terminal 10. The screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 generates information indicating the My History addition screen based on the received information. The transmitting unit 205 of the server 20 transmits the generated information to the user terminal 10.

[0049] The receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives the information transmitted from the transmitting unit 205 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 causes the display unit 104 to display the My History addition screen based on the received information.

[0050] <B.My History Addition Screen> FIG. 6 shows an example of the My History addition screen. As shown in FIG. 6, on the My History addition screen, a TOP button 601, an addition button 602, a year / month designation button 603, a lifetime history display button 604, a photo display button 605, a details display button 606, a history comparison button 607, a My History addition button 610, and a family settings button 611 are displayed. Also, on the My History addition screen, a user display area 612 and a My History display area 613 are displayed.

[0051] The user display area 612 is an area for displaying the information of the users of Family A who are participating in the information display system 1. Among these, the information indicating the user himself / herself (the person) is, for example, displayed in color.

[0052] The My History display area 613 is an area for displaying the events (My History) in the user's life. In the My History display area 613, nothing is displayed in the initial state.

[0053] The TOP button 601 is a button for returning to the top screen. When the user presses the TOP button 601, the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the operation, and then the display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 causes the display unit 104 to display the top screen.

[0054] The year and month selection button 603 is a button that allows the user to specify the year and month in which an event occurred that they want to display in the My History display area 613. In other words, by pressing the year and month selection button 603, the user can narrow down the events displayed in the My History display area 613.

[0055] The lifetime history display button 604 is a button that transitions to the lifetime history display screen, which will be described later.

[0056] The photo display button 605 is a button used to transition to the photo display screen, which will be described later.

[0057] The details display button 606 is a button used to display detailed comments and other information about the events shown in the My History display area 613.

[0058] The history comparison button 607 is a button that transitions to the comparison viewing screen, which will be described later.

[0059] The Add My History button 610 and the Family Settings button 611 are the same as the Add My History button 402 and the Family Settings button 403 described above.

[0060] The add button 602 is a button that the user presses when saving photo information to the server 20, and it is a button that transitions to the save execution screen, which will be described later.

[0061] For example, the user presses the add button 602. When the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the press operation of the add button 602, it generates information indicating that the add button 602 has been pressed. The transmission unit 102 of the user terminal 10 sends the information generated by the reception unit 101 to the server 20 via the network NW.

[0062] The receiving unit 201 of the server 20 receives the information transmitted from the user terminal 10. The screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 generates information indicating a save execution screen based on the received information. The transmitting unit 205 of the server 20 transmits the generated information to the user terminal 10.

[0063] The receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives the information transmitted from the transmitting unit 205 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 causes the display unit 104 to display a save execution screen based on the received information.

[0064] <C. Save Execution Screen> FIG. 7 shows an example of a save execution screen. As shown in FIG. 7, on the save execution screen, a TOP button 701, an add button 702, a register button 703, a My History add button 704, and a family settings button 705 are displayed. Further, the save execution screen includes a date setting area 706, a title setting area 707, a search keyword setting area 708, a detailed comment setting area 709, a photo upload setting area 710, and a public range setting area 711.

[0065] The TOP button 701, the add button 702, the My History add button 704, and the family settings button 705 are the same as the above-described TOP button 601, add button 602, My History add button 610, and family settings button 611.

[0066] The date setting area 706 is an area for setting the date to save (upload) the photo information to the server 20. The user taps the date setting area 706 and sets the date to save the photo information, for example, by manual input or date selection from a calendar. In the example of FIG. 7, "May 15, 2024" is set as the date to save the photo information.

[0067] The title setting area 707 is for setting the title of the photo indicated by the photo information to be saved. The user taps the title setting area 707 and sets the title of the photo indicated by the photo information to be saved, for example, by manual input. In the example in Figure 7, the title "Dad's Birthday" is set.

[0068] The search keyword setting area 708 is an area for setting keywords to be used in the photo search described later. The user taps the search keyword setting area 708 and sets the keywords to be used in the photo search, for example, by manual input. The keywords used in the search must include at least a term that can identify a family member (for example, "Dad"). In the example in Figure 7, the keywords "Dad, birthday, 45 years old" are set. Note that setting keywords in the search keyword setting area 708 is not limited to manual input by the user. For example, the user may be able to set keywords by selecting from a pre-prepared list of keyword candidates.

[0069] The detailed comment setting area 709 is an area for setting comments about the photo indicated by the photo information to be saved. The user taps the detailed comment setting area 709 and sets comments about the photo indicated by the photo information to be saved, for example, by manually entering the information. The user can freely set comments such as those shown in Figure 7.

[0070] The photo upload settings area 710 is an area for configuring how to obtain photo information to be saved. For example, if the user taps "Select from mobile phone," a screen for selecting photo information stored on the user terminal 10 is displayed. The user can select the photo information to save from this selection screen. Alternatively, if the user taps "Take photo," the camera on the user terminal 10 is activated. The user can take a photo using the camera, and the photo information representing the taken photo can be saved to the server 20.

[0071] The access range setting area 711 is an area for setting the access range of the photos indicated by the photo information to be saved. The access range setting field displays terms that identify members who have been approved to participate in the information display system 1 in advance, that is, members whose user information is stored in the storage unit 206 of the server 20. In the example in Figure 7, the terms "Hiroshi," "Dad," "Grandpa," and "Grandma" are displayed as terms that identify members who have been approved to participate in the information display system 1.

[0072] The checkboxes to the right of each term are used to determine whether or not to make photos public. When a user checks the box, the photos will be made public to that member. Conversely, when a user unchecks the box, the photos will not be made public to that member.

[0073] Based on the user's on / off operation of this checkbox, the access range setting unit 107 of the user terminal 10 performs processing. Specifically, based on the user's on / off operation of the checkbox, the access range setting unit 107 sets that the photos will be made public to members whose checkboxes are checked. On the other hand, based on the user's on / off operation of the checkbox, the access range setting unit 107 sets that the photos will not be made public to members whose checkboxes are unchecked.

[0074] The access range setting unit 107 generates information indicating the access range set as described above (hereinafter referred to as "access range information"). In other words, the access range setting unit 107 sets an access range that indicates to which members of the family a photograph containing family members will be made public, and generates information indicating the set access range.

[0075] After completing the settings for each of the above setting areas, the user presses the registration button 703. The reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 then receives the press operation of the registration button 703. The save instruction unit 106 of the user terminal 10 then adds the information indicating the date, title, search keywords, and detailed comments mentioned above to the photo information, and further adds the publication range information generated by the publication range setting unit 107 to the photo information. The save instruction unit 106 then sends the photo information with the above information added to it to the server 20 via the network NW. As a result, the save instruction unit 106 instructs the server 20 to save the photo information to the server 20's storage unit 206.

[0076] The receiving unit 201 of the server 20 receives photo information from the save instruction unit 106 as a save instruction transmitted from the save instruction unit 106. Then, the save control unit 202 of the server 20 saves the photo information to the save unit 206 of the server 20 based on the instruction received by the receiving unit 201.

[0077] Figure 8 shows an example of photo information stored in the storage unit 206. As shown in Figure 8, the photo information consists of, for example, a photo identifier, storage date, saver, title, search keywords, detailed comments, and publication scope. The photo identifier is, for example, the file name assigned to the photo information (in Figure 8, "P001.jgp").

[0078] Next, the user presses the TOP button 701 on the save execution screen to return to the top screen. When the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the operation of pressing the TOP button 701, it generates information indicating that the TOP button 701 has been pressed. The transmission unit 102 of the user terminal 10 sends the information generated by the reception unit 101 to the server 20 via the network NW.

[0079] The receiving unit 201 of the server 20 receives information transmitted from the user terminal 10. The screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 generates information indicating the top screen based on the received information. At this time, the screen generation unit 204 refers to the storage unit 206 and generates information indicating the top screen based on the photo information stored in the storage unit 206. The transmitting unit 205 of the server 20 transmits the generated information to the user terminal 10.

[0080] The receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives information transmitted from the transmitting unit 205 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 displays the top screen on the display unit 104 based on the received information.

[0081] Figure 9 shows an example of the top screen. Unlike the top screen shown in Figure 4, the My History display area 404 in Figure 9 displays the save date and title of the photo information saved by the user from the photo information stored in the storage unit 206 of the server 20. The example in Figure 9 shows a case where the user has saved 7 photo information items in the storage unit 206 of the server 20 between May 15, 1996 and April 7, 1999.

[0082] Furthermore, the photo display area 405 randomly displays photos from the photo information stored in the storage unit 206 of the server 20, specifically those indicated by the identifier of a photo included in the photo information saved by the user. If, as described above, the user has saved multiple photo items (seven in this case), the display control unit 105 performs control to switch the photos at regular intervals.

[0083] Next, the user presses the year designation button 401 to designate "year". When the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the pressing operation of the year designation button 401, the display control unit 105 causes the display unit 104 to pop up and display a screen on which a month designation button (not shown) is displayed. Next, the user presses the month designation button that has popped up on the display unit 104 to designate "month". The reception unit 101 receives the pressing operation of the month designation button and generates information indicating the year and month designated by the user.

[0084] The transmission unit 102 of the user terminal 10 transmits the information generated by the reception unit 101 to the server 20 via the network NW. The reception unit 201 of the server 20 receives the information transmitted from the user terminal 10. The search unit 203 of the server 20 searches for the photographed information stored in the storage unit 206 based on the year and month indicated by the received information. The screen generation unit 204 of the server20 generates information indicating a year and month designation screen based on the search result by the search unit 203, and transmits the generated information to the user terminal 10 via the transmission unit 205.

[0085] The reception unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives the information transmitted from the transmission unit 205 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 causes the display unit 104 to display a year and month designation screen based on the received information.

[0086] <D. Year and Month Designation Screen> FIG. 10 shows an example of a year and month designation screen. As shown in FIG. 10, on the year and month designation screen, a TOP button 1001, a My History addition button 1002, a family setting button 1003, and a year and month designation button 1004 are displayed. Further, the year and month designation screen is configured to include a user display area 1005, a My History display area 1006, and a photographed image display area 1007.

[0087] Of these, the TOP button 1001, the Add My History button 1002, the Family Settings button 1003, and the Year / Month Selection button 1004 are the same as the TOP button 601, the Add My History button 610, the Family Settings button 611, and the Year / Month Selection button 603 shown in Figure 6. The Year / Month Selection button 1004 is color-coded to allow users to easily identify the year and month they have selected (shown as "1996" and "April" in Figure 10).

[0088] Furthermore, in the My History display area 1006, only events from "April 15, 1996" are displayed. In this case, the photo display area 1007 displays photos related to that event. In this way, the user can narrow down the events and photos they want to display on the year and month selection screen by specifying the year and month.

[0089] The above explanation describes an example where the user specifies a desired year and month, but the user does not necessarily need to specify both the year and month; for example, they may specify only the desired year. In that case, the user can omit pressing the month selection button mentioned above. In that case, the My History display area 1006 will only display events for the year specified by the user, and the photo display area 1007 will randomly display photos related to the events of that year.

[0090] Next, the user performs the same operation as described above to display the "Add My History" screen on the display unit 104 again.

[0091] Figure 11 shows an example of the My History Addition screen that has been redisplayed. In this example, the buttons labeled "1996" and "April" among the year and month selection buttons 603 have been pressed and are highlighted in color. As a result, only events from April 1996 are filtered and displayed in the My History display area 613.

[0092] Next, the user presses the details button among the details display buttons 606. The reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the press operation of the details button. Then, the display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 displays the detailed comments attached to the photo information corresponding to the event in which the details button was pressed as a pop-up on the display unit 104. Also, if the user presses the photo button among the details display buttons 606, the display control unit 105 displays the photo indicated by the photo information corresponding to the event in which the photo button was pressed as a pop-up on the display unit 104.

[0093] Furthermore, when a user presses the Share / Non-Share button among the Details Display buttons 606, the Display Control Unit 105 displays a pop-up screen on the Display Unit 104 allowing the user to select whether to share or not share the event with other users. If the user chooses not to share the event, the Receiving Unit 101 of the User Terminal 10 accepts the selection and generates information indicating that the user has chosen not to share the event. The Transmission Unit 102 of the User Terminal 10 sends the generated information to the Server 20. Upon receiving this information, the Receiving Unit 201 of the Server 20, in turn, deletes the privacy setting attached to the photo information corresponding to the event that the user chose not to share, from the photo information stored in the Storage Unit 206. As a result, the photo corresponding to the event that the user chose not to share will not be made public to any family members.

[0094] Next, the user presses the photo display button 605. When the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the press operation of the photo display button 605, it generates information indicating that the photo display button 605 has been pressed and information indicating that April 1996 has been selected. The transmission unit 102 of the user terminal 10 transmits the information generated by the reception unit 101 to the server 20 via the network NW.

[0095] The receiving unit 201 of the server 20 receives the information transmitted from the user terminal 10. The search unit 203 of the server 20 searches the storage unit 206 for photo information that matches the year and month specified by the user based on the received information. The screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 generates information indicating a photo display screen based on the search result by the search unit 203, and transmits the generated information to the user terminal 10 via the transmission unit 205.

[0096] The receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives the information transmitted from the transmission unit 205 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 causes the display unit 104 to display a photo display screen based on the received information.

[0097] <E. Photo Display Screen> FIG. 12 shows an example of a photo display screen. As shown in FIG. 12, on the photo display screen, a TOP button 1201, an add button 1202, a year / month specification button 1203, a My history add button 1204, and a family setting button 1205 are displayed. Further, the photo display screen includes a user display area 1206, a photo display area 1207, and a detailed comment display area 1208.

[0098] The TOP button 1201, the add button 1202, the year / month specification button 1203, the My history add button 1204, and the family setting button 1205 are the same as the TOP button 601, the add button 602, the year / month specification button 603, the My history add button 610, and the family setting button 611 shown in FIG. 6.

[0099] The photo display area 1207 displays the photo indicated by the photo information saved in the year and month specified by the user. The detailed comment display area 1208 displays the detailed comments attached to the photo information of the photo displayed in the photo display area 1207. If there are multiple photos saved in the year and month specified by the user, the display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 controls the photo displayed in the photo display area 1207, for example, each time the user taps the photo display area 1207. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 also controls the detailed comments displayed in the detailed comment display area 1208 in accordance with the photo switching. In this way, the user can view photos related to an event and detailed comments about those photos by displaying the photo display screen.

[0100] Next, the user performs the same operation as above to display the My History Addition screen on the display unit 104 again (see Figure 11). Then, the user presses the Life History Display button 604.

[0101] When the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives a press operation for the lifetime history display button 604, it generates information indicating that the lifetime history display button 604 has been pressed. The transmission unit 102 of the user terminal 10 transmits the information generated by the reception unit 101 to the server 20 via the network NW.

[0102] The receiving unit 201 of the server 20 receives information transmitted from the user terminal 10. The search unit 203 of the server 20 searches the photo information stored in the storage unit 206 for photo information where the saver is the user. The screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 generates information indicating a lifetime history display screen based on the search results from the search unit 203, and transmits the generated information to the user terminal 10 via the transmission unit 205.

[0103] The receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives information transmitted from the transmitting unit 205 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 displays the lifetime history display screen on the display unit 104 based on the received information.

[0104] <F. Life History Display Screen> FIG. 13 shows an example of the life history display screen. As shown in FIG. 13, on the life history display screen, a TOP button 1301, an add button 1302, a life history display button 1303, a My History add button 1304, a family settings button 1305, a details button 1306, and a photo button 1307 are displayed. Further, the life history display screen is configured to include a user display area 1308 and a life history display area 1309.

[0105] Among these, the TOP button 1301, the add button 1302, the life history display button 1303, the My History add button 1304, and the family settings button 1305 are the same as the TOP button 601, the add button 602, the life history display button 604, the My History add button 610, and the family settings button 611 shown in FIG. 6.

[0106] In the life history display area 1309, events that occurred from the user's birth to the present are displayed in chronological order. The dates such as "May 15, 1970" and "May 29, 1970" displayed in the life history display area 1309 are the storage dates of the photos included in the photo information stored in the storage unit 206. Also, the events such as "Birth" and "Laughed for the first time" displayed in the life history display area 1309 are the titles of the photos added to the photo information stored in the storage unit 206.

[0107] As shown in FIG. 13, on the life history display screen, a set of detailed buttons 1306 and photo buttons 1307 are displayed in association with one event. When the user presses the detailed button 1306, the display control unit 105 causes the display unit 104 to pop up and display the detailed comment added to the photo information corresponding to the event. Also, when the user presses the photo button 1307, the display control unit 105 causes the display unit 104 to pop up and display the photo shown by the photo information corresponding to the event. In this way, the user can confirm the events that occurred in his / her life as a life history by displaying the life history display screen. Also, the user can look back more detailedly on the events that occurred in his / her life by displaying the detailed comment or photo as needed.

[0108] Next, the user performs the same operation as above to display the My History addition screen on the display unit 104 again (see FIG. 11). Then, the user presses the history comparison button 607.

[0109] When the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the pressing operation of the history comparison button 607, it generates information indicating that the history comparison button 607 has been pressed. The transmission unit 102 of the user terminal 10 transmits the information generated by the reception unit 101 to the server 20 via the network NW.

[0110] The reception unit 201 of the server 20 receives the information transmitted from the user terminal 10. The screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 generates information indicating a comparison browsing screen based on the received information, and transmits the generated information to the user terminal 10 via the transmission unit 205.

[0111] The reception unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives the information transmitted from the transmission unit 205 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 causes the display unit 104 to display the comparison browsing screen based on the received information.

[0112] <G. Comparison Browsing Screen> Figure 14 shows an example of a comparison browsing screen. As shown in Figure 14, the comparison browsing screen displays a TOP button 1401, an add button 1402, a comparison target selection button 1403, a confirmation button 1404, a My History add button 1405, and a family settings button 1406. The comparison browsing screen also includes a search keyword input area 1407 and a photo display area 1408. Initially, nothing is displayed in the photo display area 1408.

[0113] The TOP button 1401, the Add button 1402, the Add My History button 1405, and the Family Settings button 1406 are the same as the TOP button 601, the Add button 602, the Add My History button 610, and the Family Settings button 611 shown in Figure 6.

[0114] On the comparison viewing screen, the user selects whose photos from among the family members they want to compare and display, and then presses the comparison target selection button 1403. For example, if the user wants to compare and display photos of herself, her son (Hiroshi), her dad, and her grandfather, as shown in Figure 14, the user presses the buttons labeled "Herself (Mom)", "Son (Hiroshi)", "Dad", and "Grandpa" as comparison targets.

[0115] Next, the user taps the search keyword input area 1407 and enters keywords to search for an event. For example, if the user wants to compare and display photos of a kindergarten entrance ceremony, as shown in Figure 14, the user enters "kindergarten entrance ceremony" in the search keyword input area 1407. Note that the event here is an event that each member of the family may experience in their lives. Note that keyword input in the search keyword input area 1407 is not limited to manual input by the user. For example, the user may be able to input keywords by selecting from pre-prepared keyword candidates.

[0116] Next, the user presses the confirmation button 1404. The receiving unit 101 of the user terminal 10 then receives the search conditions, which include at least information indicating the comparison target selected by the user and information indicating the search keywords specifying the event, and generates information indicating the received search conditions. The transmitting unit 102 then sends the generated information to the server 20 via the network NW. As a result, the transmitting unit 102 instructs the server 20 to search for photo information.

[0117] The receiving unit 201 of the server 20 receives information indicating the above search conditions. The search unit 203 of the server 20 searches for photo information stored in the storage unit 206 based on the search conditions indicated by the information received by the receiving unit 201. For example, the search unit 203 searches for photo information stored in the storage unit 206 that contains both the comparison target selected by the user and the search keyword entered by the user in the "search keyword" (see Figure 8) within the storage unit 206.

[0118] For example, the search unit 203 searches for photo information in the storage unit 206 that contains the keywords "Mom" and "Entrance Ceremony," photo information in the storage unit 206 that contains the keywords "Son (Hiroshi)" and "Entrance Ceremony," photo information in the storage unit 206 that contains the keywords "Dad" and "Entrance Ceremony," and photo information in the storage unit 206 that contains the keywords "Grandpa" and "Entrance Ceremony." In this case, let's assume that a total of 4 photo results were found through this search.

[0119] The screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 generates comparative viewing screen information, which is a screen displaying the photos indicated by the searched photo information arranged in a predetermined direction, based on the search results from the search unit 203. The transmission unit 205 of the server 20 then transmits the comparative viewing screen information generated by the screen generation unit 204 to the user terminal 10 via the network NW.

[0120] The receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives comparison browsing screen information transmitted from the transmitting unit 205 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 displays the screen indicated by the comparison browsing screen information received by the receiving unit 103 on the display unit 104. In other words, it updates the comparison browsing screen shown in Figure 14.

[0121] Figure 15 shows an example of the updated comparison viewing screen. As shown in Figure 15, the updated comparison viewing screen displays four photos corresponding to the four photo information items found by the search unit 203, arranged horizontally from left to right when viewed from the front of the screen. When the user presses the details button 1409 displayed below each photo, the display control unit 105 displays the detailed comments attached to each photo information as a pop-up on the display unit 104.

[0122] Here, we have described a case where the screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 generates comparative viewing screen information in which four photos are arranged horizontally on the screen, but this is merely one example. For example, the screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 may generate comparative viewing screen information in which four photos are arranged vertically on the screen. Alternatively, the screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 may make the direction in which the photos are arranged variable according to the number of photo information (number of photos) retrieved by the search unit 203. Furthermore, the screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 may generate comparative viewing screen information that combines a layout arranged horizontally and a layout arranged vertically. This improves the flexibility of the arrangement of photos on the comparative viewing screen.

[0123] Furthermore, while the above example described a case where the user included themselves as the comparison group, the user does not necessarily have to include themselves as the comparison group. For example, the user may select only other users as the comparison group. Also, while the above example described a case where the user selected four people as the comparison group, the number of people to be compared is not limited to this; any two or more people will suffice.

[0124] Furthermore, the above example described a case where four photo results were found as a result of a search by the search unit 203 of the server 20. However, it is also conceivable that a large number of photo results may be found as a result of a search by the search unit 203. In such a case, the search unit 203 may generate information indicating, for example, that the number of found photo results exceeds a predetermined number and that further refinement by adding search keywords is requested. The transmission unit 205 of the server 20 may then transmit this generated information to the user terminal 10. When the receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives this information, the display control unit 105 displays the content indicated by the information on the display unit 104. This allows the user terminal 10 to prompt the user to further refine the results by adding search keywords.

[0125] Furthermore, when generating comparative viewing screen information, the screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 may determine whether the user who entered the search conditions is outside the public access range of the photo indicated by the photo information searched by the search unit 203. If the user is not outside the public access range, it may generate comparative viewing screen information including the photo; if the user is outside the public access range, it may generate comparative viewing screen information excluding the photo. The screen generation unit 204 can perform this determination by referring to the public access range (see Figure 8) attached to the photo information stored in the storage unit 206.

[0126] For example, in the above example, if the user (mother) who entered the search criteria is outside the public sharing range for the photos taken at the father's kindergarten entrance ceremony, the screen generation unit 204 may generate a comparison viewing screen information that displays the three photos excluding the photo taken at the father's kindergarten entrance ceremony. This allows the information display system 1 to present the user with a comparison viewing screen that appropriately reflects the settings of the public sharing range.

[0127] Next, an example of the operation of the user terminal 10 and the server 20 when displaying a comparison browsing screen on the display unit 104 of the user terminal 10 will be explained with reference to the flowchart shown in Figure 16.

[0128] First, the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives search conditions from the user (step ST01). The search conditions are for searching for information showing photographs of the user or other members of the user's family, and include at least the specification of the event to be searched and the specification of two or more members of the family to be used for comparison.

[0129] The transmission unit 102 of the user terminal 10 transmits the search conditions received by the reception unit 101 to the server 20 via the network NW (step ST02).

[0130] The receiving unit 201 of the server 20 receives the search conditions transmitted by the transmitting unit 102 of the user terminal 10 (step ST03).

[0131] The search unit 203 of the server 20 retrieves information from the storage unit 206 that shows a photograph of an event included in the search conditions for each of the two or more members included in the search conditions received by the receiving unit 201 (step ST04).

[0132] The screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 generates comparative browsing screen information, which is a screen displaying the photos indicated by the search unit 203 arranged in a predetermined direction, based on the information retrieved by the search unit 203 (step ST05).

[0133] The transmission unit 205 of the server 20 transmits the comparison viewing screen information generated by the screen generation unit 204 to the user terminal 10 via the network NW (step ST06).

[0134] The receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives comparison browsing screen information generated by the server 20 based on the search conditions from the server 20 (step ST07).

[0135] The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 displays the comparison viewing screen indicated by the comparison viewing screen information received by the receiving unit 103 on the display unit 104 (step ST08).

[0136] <Generating update information> As described above, in the information display system 1, the storage control unit 202 of the server 20 saves the photo information to the storage unit 206 of the server 20 based on instructions from the storage instruction unit 106 of the user terminal 10. At this time, the storage control unit 202 may generate information indicating that the photo information has been updated (hereinafter referred to as "update information") in order to notify members other than the person who performed the save operation that the photo information has been updated.

[0137] For example, if the user is the one performing the save operation, the save control unit 202 generates update information indicating that the user has updated the photo information when the user saves the photo information, as a notification to other users (such as Dad) who are members other than the user. The server 20's transmission unit 205 transmits the update information generated by the save control unit 202 to the user terminal 10 used by other users other than the user via the network NW.

[0138] On another user's terminal 10, when the receiving unit 103 receives the update information, the display control unit 105 displays the content of the received update information as a pop-up on the display unit 104, for example, as shown by reference numeral 1701 in Figure 17. In this case, the content of the update information is not particularly limited. For example, the update information may be "Mom has added 1 photo," or it may simply be the number of photos added, such as "5."

[0139] Furthermore, while the above example explained the case where new photo information is saved (added), update information could also be generated in other cases, such as when the detailed comments attached to the photo information are changed. This would allow other users to easily understand that the photo information has been updated by the user.

[0140] Furthermore, the transmission unit 205 of the server 20 may transmit the update information generated by the storage control unit 202 not only to user terminals 10 used by other users other than the user, but also to the user terminal 10 used by the user. In this case, the receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 used by the user receives the update information, and the display control unit 105 displays the content indicated by the received update information as a pop-up on the display unit 104. In this case, the user can easily confirm that the photo information has been updated by their own operation.

[0141] Furthermore, the above example described an information display system 1 comprising a user terminal 10 and a server 20. However, this disclosure also describes a user terminal 10 that may include each of the functional units included in the server 20. In that case, the user terminal 10 functions as an information display device according to Embodiment 1. Conversely, the server 20 may also include each of the functional units included in the user terminal 10. In that case, the server 20 functions as an information display device according to Embodiment 1.

[0142] Furthermore, the above-mentioned functions implemented by server 20 may be provided, for example, in the form of SaaS (Software as a Service). In this case, server 20 is owned or managed by the service provider of the server 20.

[0143] <Effects of Information Display System 1> Next, the effects of the information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1 will be described. With the configuration described above, the information display system 1 makes it possible for family members to compare and view records of events that they may similarly experience in their lives. Furthermore, with the information display system 1, since family members can view and compare records of such events, it is expected that family conversations will become more lively as they reflect on the events and talk with each other, thereby deepening family bonds.

[0144] Furthermore, according to the information display system 1, as described above, it becomes possible to compare and view life events among family members, so it is expected that users, regardless of age, will be motivated to input records of their own events as quickly and continuously as possible. In other words, the information display system 1 is expected to maintain users' motivation to continue recording life events. In addition, according to the information display system 1, photo information once stored on the server 20 will be passed on to the next generation even if the user passes away, thus preventing the loss of the user's memories.

[0145] Furthermore, according to the information display system 1, as described above, it is possible to associate and save a photograph with each individual life event, allowing users to look back on the history of their life while viewing the photographs. In addition, according to the information display system 1, as described above, it is possible to record and compare life events on a family basis, allowing users to compare life events between, for example, parents and children, or between themselves and their ancestors.

[0146] Furthermore, according to the information display system 1, for example, when a user, as an adult, retrospectively inputs and saves childhood memories into the system, parents and children who did not communicate much can enjoy reminiscing about those memories. Moreover, according to the information display system 1, elderly users can use the system to reminisce about their childhood memories and recall their own history, which can also serve as a mental exercise.

[0147] As described above, according to Embodiment 1, the information display system 1 is configured to include a user terminal 10 and a server 20. The user terminal 10 includes a reception unit 101 that receives search conditions for searching for information showing photographs of the user and other members of the user's family, which include at least the specification of an event that each member of the family may have experienced in common and the specification of two or more members of the family to be used for comparison. A transmission unit 102 that transmits the search conditions received by the reception unit 101 to the server 20. A reception unit 103 that receives comparison viewing screen information generated by the server 20 based on the search conditions from the server 20. A display control unit 105 that displays the comparison viewing screen shown by the comparison viewing screen information received by the reception unit 103 on the display unit 104. The server 20 includes a receiving unit 201 that receives search conditions transmitted by the transmitting unit 102 of the user terminal 10, a search unit 203 that searches for information showing photographs of events included in the search conditions for each of the two or more members included in the search conditions received by the receiving unit 201, a screen generation unit 204 that generates comparative viewing screen information, which is a screen that displays the photographs shown in the information arranged in a predetermined direction, based on the information retrieved by the search unit 203, and a transmitting unit 205 that transmits the comparative viewing screen information generated by the screen generation unit 204 to the user terminal 10. As a result, the information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1 makes it possible for members of a family to compare and view records of events that they may similarly experience in their respective lives.

[0148] Furthermore, the screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 adjusts its orientation according to the number of information items retrieved by the search unit 203. As a result, the information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1 has improved flexibility in arranging photographs on the comparison viewing screen.

[0149] Furthermore, the server 20 is equipped with a storage unit 206 capable of storing multiple pieces of information showing photographs of family members, and the search unit 203 searches the information stored in the storage unit 206 for information showing photographs that match the search criteria. As a result, the information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1 can appropriately search for information showing photographs that match the search criteria.

[0150] Furthermore, the user terminal 10 is equipped with a storage instruction unit 106 that issues an instruction to save information indicating photographs of family members to the storage unit 206 of the server 20, and the server 20 is equipped with a storage control unit 202 that saves information indicating photographs of family members to the storage unit 206 based on the instruction from the storage instruction unit 106 of the user terminal 10. As a result, the information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1 can appropriately save information indicating photographs of family members to the storage unit 206.

[0151] Furthermore, when the user terminal 10's save instruction unit 106 instructs the server 20's save unit 206 to save information indicating a photograph of a family member, it adds information indicating keywords used for searching by the server 20's search unit 203 to the information indicating the photograph before saving it. As a result, the information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1 enables information retrieval using keywords by the server 20's search unit 203.

[0152] Furthermore, the user terminal 10 is equipped with a privacy setting unit 107 that sets the privacy range for which family members a photograph of a family member will be made public. When the user terminal 10's save instruction unit 106 instructs the server 20's save unit 206 to save information indicating a photograph of a family member, it adds the privacy range information set by the privacy setting unit 107 to the information indicating the photograph before saving it. As a result, the information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1 can appropriately set the privacy range for information indicating a photograph and save it to the save unit 206.

[0153] Furthermore, when generating comparative viewing screen information, the screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 determines whether the user who entered the search conditions is outside the public access range of the photos indicated by the information searched by the search unit 203. If the user is not outside the public access range, it generates comparative viewing screen information including the photos; if the user is outside the public access range, it generates comparative viewing screen information excluding the photos. As a result, the information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1 can present the user with a comparative viewing screen that appropriately reflects the settings of the public access range.

[0154] Furthermore, when the storage control unit 202 of the server 20 saves information indicating a photograph of a family member to the storage unit 206, it generates update information indicating that the information stored in the storage unit 206 has been updated. The transmission unit 205 of the server 20 transmits the update information generated by the storage control unit 202 to the user terminal 10. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 displays on the display unit 104 that the information stored in the storage unit 206 has been updated based on the update information generated by the storage control unit 202. As a result, the information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1 can notify the user that the photograph information has been updated. In addition, the user can easily understand that the photograph information has been updated.

[0155] Furthermore, according to Embodiment 1, the information display device includes: a reception unit 101 that receives search conditions for searching for information showing photographs of family members of the user, including the user, which include at least the specification of an event to be searched and the specification of two or more family members to be compared; a search unit 203 that searches for information showing photographs of events included in the search conditions for each of the two or more family members included in the search conditions received by the reception unit 101; a screen generation unit 204 that generates comparative viewing screen information, which is a screen showing a comparative viewing screen in which the photographs shown by the information are arranged in a predetermined direction, based on the information retrieved by the search unit 203; and a display control unit 105 that displays the comparative viewing screen shown by the comparative viewing screen information generated by the screen generation unit 204 on the display unit 104. As a result, the information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1 makes it possible for family members to compare and view records of events that they may similarly experience in their respective lives.

[0156] Embodiment 2. Embodiment 1 described an information display system 1 that allows family members to compare and view records of events that they may similarly experience in their lives. Embodiment 2 describes an information display system 1 that further includes a resume registration function.

[0157] Figure 18 shows an example of the configuration of server 20 in Embodiment 2. Server 20 in Embodiment 2 has a resume generation unit 207 added to server 20 in Embodiment 1.

[0158] The user performs the same operation as described above to display the "Add My History" screen on the display unit 104.

[0159] An example of the My History addition screen in Embodiment 2 is shown in FIG. 19. The My History addition screen in Embodiment 2 has a resume button 608 and an introduction button 609 added compared to the My History addition screen in Embodiment 1. Other configurations are the same as those of the My History addition screen in Embodiment 1. That is, in Embodiment 2, the screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 generates information indicating the My History addition screen on which the resume button 608 and the introduction button 609 are displayed, and the display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 causes the display unit 104 to display the My History addition screen indicated by the generated information.

[0160] The user presses the resume button 608. When the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the pressing operation of the resume button 608, it generates information indicating that the resume button 608 has been pressed. The transmission unit 102 of the user terminal 10 transmits the information generated by the reception unit 101 to the server 20 via the network NW.

[0161] The reception unit 201 of the server 20 receives the information transmitted from the user terminal 10. The screen generation unit 204 of the server 20 generates information indicating the resume content display screen based on the received information, and transmits the generated information to the user terminal 10 via the transmission unit 205.

[0162] The reception unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives the information transmitted from the transmission unit 2 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 causes the display unit 104 to display the resume content display screen based on the received information.

[0163] <H. Resume Content Display Screen> FIG. 20 shows an example of a resume content display screen. As shown in FIG. 20, on the resume content display screen, there are displayed a TOP button 2001, an add button 2002, a details button 2003, a photo button 2004, a resume registration button 2005, a self-introduction registration button 2006, a My History add button 2007, and a family settings button 2008. Further, the resume content display screen is composed of a user display area 2009 and a resume item display area 2010.

[0164] The TOP button 2001, the add button 2002, the My History add button 2007, and the family settings button 2008 are the same as the TOP button 601, the add button 602, the My History add button 610, and the family settings button 611 shown in FIG. 6. Also, the details button 2003 and the photo button 2004 are the same as the details button 1306 and the photo button 1307 shown in FIG. 13.

[0165] Also, the resume item display area 2010 is generally the same as the life history display area 1309 shown in FIG. 13. That is, in the resume item display area 2010, events that occurred from the user's birth to the present are displayed in chronological order. Note that the date of year, month, and day displayed in the resume item display area 2010 is the date of storage of the photo information, and the event displayed in the resume item display area 2010 is the title of the photo indicated by the photo information.

[0166] Next, when the user presses the resume registration button 2005, the display control unit 105 causes the display unit 104 to display the resume registration screen shown in FIG. 21.

[0167] <I. Resume Registration Screen> Figure 21 shows an example of a resume registration screen. As shown in Figure 21, the resume registration screen displays a TOP button 2101, an add button 2102, a year and month selection button 2103, a lifetime history display button 2104, a details button 2105, a photo button 2106, a reflect / fail button 2107, a resume confirmation button 2108, a self-introduction confirmation button 2109, a My History Add button 2110, and a family settings button 2111. The resume registration screen also includes a user display area 2112 and a history information display area 2113.

[0168] The TOP button 2101, add button 2102, year / month selection button 2103, lifetime history display button 2104, My History add button 2110, and family settings button 2111 are the same as the TOP button 601, add button 602, year / month selection button 603, lifetime history display button 604, My History add button 610, and family settings button 611 shown in Figure 6. Also, the details button 2105 and photo button 2106 are the same as the details button 1306 and photo button 1307 shown in Figure 13. Furthermore, the history item display area 2113 is the same as the history item display area 1910 shown in Figure 19.

[0169] The Reflect / Not Reflect button 2107 is displayed in response to events shown in the history information display area 2113. The Reflect / Not Reflect button 2107 is a button for the user to set whether or not to reflect events shown in the history information display area 2113 into the history information on the resume. The user presses the button marked "○" for events shown in the history information display area 2113 that should be reflected into the history information on the resume, and presses the button marked "×" for events that should not be reflected into the history information on the resume.

[0170] The resume confirmation button 2108 is a button for generating a resume and confirming the contents of the generated resume. When a user presses the resume confirmation button 2108, the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the press operation of the resume confirmation button 2108 and generates information indicating that the resume confirmation button 2108 has been pressed, as well as information indicating the status of the press of the submit / review button 2107. The transmission unit 102 of the user terminal 10 transmits the information generated by the reception unit 101 to the server 20 via the network NW.

[0171] The receiving unit 201 of the server 20 receives information transmitted from the user terminal 10. The resume generation unit 207 of the server 20 generates information representing a resume based on the received information and transmits the generated information to the user terminal 10 via the transmitting unit 205. At this time, the storage control unit 202 of the server 20 may store the generated resume information in the storage unit 206.

[0172] The receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives information transmitted from the transmitting unit 205 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 displays the resume on the display unit 104 based on the received information. This allows the user to generate a resume from the photo information stored in the storage unit 206 of the server 20 and to confirm the contents of the generated resume.

[0173] Although a detailed explanation is omitted here, when a user presses the self-introduction button 609 shown in Figure 19 and the self-introduction registration button 2006 shown in Figure 20, a self-introduction registration screen (not shown) with a layout similar to the resume registration screen shown in Figure 21 is displayed on the display unit 104. The self-introduction registration screen is for users to generate a self-introduction document that is simpler in format than a resume. On this self-introduction registration screen, as on the resume registration screen, users can appropriately select events to be reflected in the self-introduction document by pressing the reflect / reflect button. Furthermore, by pressing the self-introduction confirmation button 2109, the user can display the self-introduction document on the display unit 104 and confirm its contents.

[0174] For example, when a user presses the self-introduction confirmation button 2109, the reception unit 101 of the user terminal 10 receives the press operation of the self-introduction confirmation button 2109 and generates information indicating that the self-introduction confirmation button 2109 has been pressed, as well as information indicating the status of the press of the reflect / fail button 2107. The transmission unit 102 of the user terminal 10 sends the information generated by the reception unit 101 to the server 20 via the network NW.

[0175] The receiving unit 201 of the server 20 receives information transmitted from the user terminal 10. The resume generation unit 207 of the server 20 generates information indicating a self-introduction document based on the received information and transmits the generated information to the user terminal 10 via the transmitting unit 205. At this time, the storage control unit 202 of the server 20 may store the generated information indicating a self-introduction document in the storage unit 206.

[0176] The receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives information transmitted from the transmitting unit 205 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 displays a self-introduction document on the display unit 104 based on the received information. This allows the user to generate a self-introduction document from the photo information stored in the storage unit 206 of the server 20, and to confirm the contents of the generated document.

[0177] Thus, the resume generation unit 207 of the server 20 can generate information showing the user's resume and information showing the user's self-introduction document. At this time, the resume generation unit 207 does not necessarily need to generate both of the above information, and only needs to generate at least one of the information showing the user's resume and the information showing the user's self-introduction document, depending on whether the user presses the resume confirmation button 2108, the self-introduction confirmation button 2109, or both in sequence.

[0178] As described above, according to Embodiment 2, the server 20 includes a resume generation unit 207 that generates at least one of information showing the user's resume and information showing a self-introduction document for the user based on information selected by the user from the information stored in the storage unit 206. The transmission unit 205 of the server 20 transmits the information generated by the resume generation unit 207 to the user terminal 10. The receiving unit 103 of the user terminal 10 receives the information transmitted by the transmission unit 205 of the server 20. The display control unit 105 of the user terminal 10 displays at least one of the resume and self-introduction document shown by the information received by the receiving unit 103 on the display unit 104. As a result, the information display system 1 according to Embodiment 1 can generate at least one of the resume and self-introduction document from photo information stored in the storage unit 206 of the server 20, in addition to the effects of Embodiment 1. Furthermore, the user can generate at least one of the resume and self-introduction document from photo information stored in the storage unit 206 of the server 20, and can also confirm the contents of the generated document.

[0179] Within the scope of this disclosure, it is possible to freely combine each embodiment, modify any component of each embodiment, or omit any component in each embodiment. [Explanation of symbols]

[0180] 1. Information display system 10 User terminals 20 servers 101 Reception Department 102 Transmitter 103 Receiving Unit 104 Display section 105 Display Control Unit 106 Storage instruction section 107 Access Scope Settings Section 201 Receiving Unit 202 Storage Control Unit 203 Search Section 204 Screen generation section 205 Transmitter 206 Preservation Department 207 Resume Generation Department

Claims

1. It consists of a user terminal and a server, The aforementioned user terminal is A reception unit that accepts search conditions for searching for information showing photographs of members of the user's family, including the user, the search conditions which include at least the specification of an event that each of the family members may have experienced in common, and the specification of two or more family members to be used for comparison. A transmission unit that transmits the search conditions received by the reception unit to the server, A receiving unit that receives comparative viewing screen information generated by the server based on the aforementioned search conditions from the server, The system includes a display control unit that causes the display unit to display the comparative viewing screen indicated by the comparative viewing screen information received by the receiving unit, The aforementioned server, A receiving unit that receives the search conditions transmitted by the transmitting unit of the user terminal, A search unit searches for information indicating a photograph of an event included in the search conditions for each of the two or more members included in the search conditions received by the receiving unit, A screen generation unit generates comparative viewing screen information, which is a screen displaying the photographs indicated by the search unit arranged in a predetermined direction, based on the information retrieved by the search unit. A transmission unit that transmits the comparison viewing screen information generated by the screen generation unit to the user terminal, An information display system characterized by having the following features.

2. The screen generation unit of the aforementioned server, The information display system according to claim 1, characterized in that the predetermined direction is made variable according to the number of pieces of information retrieved by the search unit.

3. The aforementioned server, It is equipped with a storage unit capable of storing multiple pieces of information showing photographs of the members of the aforementioned family, The search unit searches the information stored in the storage unit for information indicating photographs that match the search criteria. The information display system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that it is the same as described in claim 1.

4. The aforementioned user terminal is The system includes a storage instruction unit that issues instructions to save information indicating a photograph of the member of the family to the storage unit of the server, The aforementioned server, The storage control unit includes a storage control unit that, based on instructions from the storage instruction unit of the user terminal, stores information indicating a photograph of a member of the family in the storage unit. The information display system according to claim 3, characterized in that it is as described above.

5. The save instruction unit of the user terminal is: When storing information indicating a photograph of the family members in the storage unit of the server, the server's search unit adds information indicating keywords used for searching to the information indicating the photograph before storing it. The information display system according to claim 4, characterized in that it is the same as described in claim 4.

6. The aforementioned user terminal is The system includes a privacy setting unit that sets the privacy settings for which members of the family a photograph of a family member will be made public. The save instruction unit of the user terminal is: When saving information indicating a photograph of the family members to the storage unit of the server, the information indicating the public access range set by the public access range setting unit is added to the information indicating the photograph before saving. The information display system according to claim 5, characterized in that it is the same as described in claim 5.

7. The screen generation unit of the aforementioned server, When generating the comparison viewing screen information, the search unit determines whether the user who entered the search conditions is outside the publicly accessible range of the photos indicated by the search results. If the user is not outside the scope of the public access, the comparison viewing screen information including the photo will be generated. If the user is outside the scope of the public sharing, the comparison viewing screen information will be generated excluding the photo in question. The information display system according to claim 6, characterized in that it is the same as described in claim 6.

8. The storage control unit of the aforementioned server is: When information showing a photograph of a member of the family is stored in the storage unit, update information is generated indicating that the information stored in the storage unit has been updated. The transmission unit of the aforementioned server is: The update information generated by the storage control unit is transmitted to the user terminal. The display control unit of the user terminal causes the display unit to display a message indicating that the information stored in the storage unit has been updated, based on the update information generated by the storage control unit. The information display system according to claim 4, characterized in that it is the same as described in claim 4.

9. The aforementioned server, The system includes a resume generation unit that generates at least one of the following based on information selected by the user from the information stored in the storage unit: information showing the user's resume and information showing a self-introduction document for the user. The transmission unit of the server transmits the information generated by the resume generation unit to the user terminal. The receiving unit of the user terminal receives the information transmitted by the transmitting unit of the server, The display control unit of the user terminal causes the display unit to display at least one of the resume and the self-introduction document indicated by the information received by the receiving unit. The information display system according to claim 3, characterized in that it is as described above.

10. A reception unit that accepts search conditions for searching for information showing photographs of the user and other members of the user's family, the search conditions including at least the specification of the event to be searched and the specification of two or more members of the family to be used for comparison, A search unit searches for information showing a photograph of an event included in the search conditions for each of the two or more members included in the search conditions received by the reception unit. A screen generation unit generates comparative viewing screen information, which is a screen displaying the photos indicated by the search unit arranged in a predetermined direction, based on the information retrieved by the search unit. A display control unit that displays the comparative viewing screen indicated by the comparative viewing screen information generated by the screen generation unit on the display unit, An information display device characterized by having the following features.

11. An information display method using an information display system comprising a user terminal and a server, The reception unit of the user terminal, A search condition for searching for information showing photographs of the user and other members of the user's family, comprising the step of accepting a search condition that includes at least the specification of an event to be searched and the specification of two or more members of the family to be used for comparison, The transmission unit of the user terminal, The steps include: transmitting the search conditions received by the reception unit to the server; The receiving unit of the aforementioned server, The steps include receiving the search conditions transmitted by the transmission unit of the user terminal, The search unit of the aforementioned server The receiving unit receives a step of searching for information indicating a photograph of an event included in the search conditions for each of the two or more members included in the search conditions. The screen generation unit of the aforementioned server, The steps include generating comparative viewing screen information, which is a screen displaying the photos indicated by the search unit arranged in a predetermined direction, based on the information retrieved by the search unit, The transmission unit of the aforementioned server, The steps include: transmitting the comparison viewing screen information generated by the screen generation unit to the user terminal; The receiving unit of the user terminal, The steps include receiving the comparison viewing screen information transmitted by the server's transmission unit, The display control unit of the user terminal, The steps include: displaying the comparative viewing screen indicated by the comparative viewing screen information received by the receiving unit on the display unit; An information display method characterized by having the following features.

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