Notification Device, Notification Method, and Program

Abstract

The present invention provides a notification device (10) comprising: an activity area estimation unit (11) that generates location information indicating the areas of activity of users of accounts on the basis of public information that is associated with the accounts and is available on the Internet; and a notification unit (12) that transmits notification information to a user of an account for which the location information satisfies a first notification condition.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a notification device, a notification method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Technologies related to the present invention are disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 6 and Non-Patent Documents 1 to 6.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for detecting the occurrence of a disaster from messages etc. posted on social media such as SNS (Social Networking Service).

[0004] Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for generating a hazard map based on messages etc. posted on social media when a disaster occurs.

[0005] Patent Document 3 and Non-Patent Documents 1 to 4 disclose a technique for estimating the activity range of a user having an account on social media based on friendship relationships.

[0006] Patent Documents 4 to 6 and Non-Patent Documents 5 and 6 disclose a technique for identifying social media accounts owned by the same person.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0007]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Patent Document 3

Patent Document 4

Patent Document 5

[0008] [Non-Patent Document 1] Keisuke Ikeda, Kazuki Kojima, and Masahiro Tani, "Examination of a Residential Area Estimation Method Focusing on the Geographical Proximity of Friends," Institute of Electronics, Information and Communication Engineers, IEICE Technical Reports, Vol. 119, No. 317, pp. 37-42, AI2019-36, November 2019 [Non-Patent Document 2] Dan Xu, Peng Cui, Wenwu Zhu, and Shiqiang Yang, "Graph-based residence location inference for social media users," IEEE Computer Society, IEEE Multimedia, Volume 21, Issue 4, pp 76-83, October 2014 [Non-Patent Document 3] Backstrom Lars, Eric Sun, and Cameron Marlow, "Find me if you can: Improving geographical prediction with social and spatial proximity," Proceedings of the 19th international conference on World Wide Web, 2010, pp.61-70 [Non-Patent Document 4] Zhi Liu and Yan Huang, "Closeness and structure of friends help to estimate user locations," International Conference on Database Systems for Advanced Applications, Springer, pp. 33-48 [Non-Patent Document 5] Y. Li, Y. Peng, W. Ji, Z. Zhang, and Q. Xu, "User Identification Based on Display Names Across Online Social Networks", IEEE Access, vol. 5, pp. 17342-17353, August 25, 2017

Non-Patent Document 6

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0009] By notifying appropriate information to appropriate users, it is possible to suppress the inconvenience of the user being involved in troubles such as disasters, accidents, incidents, traffic jams, etc. If all information is notified to all users, the processing load on the computer that executes the information notification process will increase. In addition, users will be notified not only of relevant information but also of irrelevant information. As a result, the user's attention to the notified information will decrease, and inconveniences such as overlooking important information may occur. None of Patent Documents 1 to 6 and Non-Patent Documents 1 to 6 disclose this problem.

[0010] An object of the present invention is to notify appropriate information to appropriate users.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0011] According to the present invention, activity range estimation means for generating location information indicating the activity range of the user of the account based on public information published on the Internet linked to the account, Notification means for sending notification information to the user of the account when the location information satisfies a first notification condition A notification device having the same is provided.

[0012] Also, according to the present invention, a computer performs a range-of-activity estimation step of generating location information indicating the range of activity of the user of the account based on public information publicly available on the Internet and associated with the account, a notification step of sending notification information to the user of the account when the location information satisfies a first notification condition, and a notification method for executing the same is provided.

[0013] Also, according to the present invention, a computer is caused to function as range-of-activity estimation means for generating location information indicating the range of activity of the user of the account based on public information publicly available on the Internet and associated with the account, notification means for sending notification information to the user of the account when the location information satisfies a first notification condition, and a program for causing the computer to function as such is provided.

Advantages of the Invention

[0014] According to the present invention, appropriate information can be notified to an appropriate user.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0015]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Figure 8

Figure 9

Figure 10

Mode for Carrying Out the Invention

[0016] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings, the same reference numerals are given to the same components, and the description will be omitted as appropriate.

[0017] <First Embodiment> 「Overview」 First, the overview of the notification device according to the present embodiment will be described. The notification device generates location information indicating the real-world activity range of the user of the account based on public information publicly available on the Internet linked to an account on social media such as SNS. Then, the notification device transmits notification information to the user of the account whose location information satisfies the first notification condition. In this way, the notification device according to the present embodiment transmits notification information to the user of the account whose activity range estimated based on the public information publicly available on social media satisfies a predetermined condition. With such a configuration, it becomes possible to notify appropriate information to appropriate users.

[0018] 「Hardware Configuration」 Next, an example of the hardware configuration of the notification device will be described. Each functional unit of the notification device is realized by an arbitrary combination of hardware and software centered around the CPU (Central Processing Unit), memory, program loaded into the memory, storage unit such as a hard disk storing the program (it can store programs downloaded from storage media such as CDs or servers on the Internet in addition to programs stored in advance at the stage of shipping the device), and network connection interface. And it is understood by those skilled in the art that there are various modifications to the realization method and device.

[0019] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the notification device. As shown in FIG. 1, the notification device includes a processor 1A, a memory 2A, an input / output interface 3A, a peripheral circuit 4A, and a bus 5A. The peripheral circuit 4A includes various modules. The notification device may not have the peripheral circuit 4A. Note that the notification device may be composed of a plurality of physically and / or logically separated devices. In this case, each of the plurality of devices can have the above hardware configuration.

[0020] Bus 5A is a data transmission path for the processor 1A, memory 2A, peripheral circuit 4A, and input / output interface 3A to transmit and receive data from each other. The processor 1A is an arithmetic processing device such as a CPU or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). The memory 2A is a memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory). The input / output interface 3A includes an interface for acquiring information from an input device, an external device, an external server, an external sensor, a camera, etc., and an interface for outputting information to an output device, an external device, an external server, etc. The input device is, for example, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a physical button, a touch panel, etc. The output device is, for example, a display, a speaker, a printer, a mailer, etc. The processor 1A can issue commands to each module and perform operations based on their operation results.

[0021] "Functional Configuration" Next, the functional configuration of the notification device will be described. FIG. 2 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the notification device 10. As shown in the figure, the notification device 10 includes an activity range estimation unit 11 and a notification unit 12.

[0022] The activity range estimation unit 11 generates location information indicating the activity range of the user of the account based on the public information publicly available on the Internet associated with the social media account.

[0023] "Public information" can include all information publicly associated with each user on social media. For example, the public information includes the profile of each user, the posts made by each user, relationship information indicating the relationship with other users on social media, the profiles of other users having a predetermined relationship with each user on social media, and at least one of the posts made by the other users.

[0024] The items included in the "profile" may vary for each social media. For example, they may include username, nickname, gender, date of birth, nationality, age (or age group), place of origin, current place of residence, affiliation, alma mater, etc.

[0025] "Posts" are messages, still images, moving images, voices, etc.

[0026] "Relationship information" is information indicating the connection with other users on social media. For example, the relationship information may indicate at least one of other users who are in a mutual following relationship with each user, other users whom each user is following, other users who are following each user, and other users with whom each user has an exchange history of messages.

[0027] "Other users having a predetermined relationship with each user" are, for example, at least one of other users who are in a mutual following relationship with each user, other users whom each user is following, other users who are following each user, and other users with whom each user has an exchange history of messages.

[0028] "Range of activities" is the geographical range within which a user is active in the real world, and is indicated by a city, town, or village, a wider range, or a narrower range.

[0029] The activity range estimation unit 11 acquires the above public information from a server that provides social media services. Then, based on the acquired public information, the activity range estimation unit 11 generates location information indicating the activity range of the users of each account. The method for calculating the activity range of the users of each account is not particularly limited, and for example, any technology such as the technologies disclosed in Patent Document 3 and Non-Patent Documents 1 to 4 can be adopted.

[0030] Note that the activity range estimation unit 11 may identify a plurality of accounts owned by the same user. Then, in calculating the activity range of the user of a certain account, not only the public information publicly associated with that account but also the public information publicly associated with other accounts of that user may be further used. By using more public information, the estimation accuracy of the activity range can be improved. The method of identifying a plurality of accounts owned by the same user is not particularly limited, and for example, any technology such as the technologies disclosed in Patent Documents 4 to 6, Non-Patent Documents 5 and 6 can be adopted.

[0031] The notification unit 12 transmits notification information to the user of the account whose location information generated by the activity range estimation unit 11 satisfies the first notification condition.

[0032] The "notification information" is information that alerts to avoid being involved in troubles such as disasters, accidents, incidents, fires, traffic jams, etc. The notification information is composed of text data, still image data, moving image data, voice data, etc.

[0033] The "first notification condition" is that the activity range indicated by the location information has a predetermined relationship with the notification target area. For example, "at least a part of the activity range indicated by the location information is included in the notification target area" or "all of the activity range indicated by the location information is included in the notification target area", etc.

[0034] The "notification target area" is the area to be notified. The notification target area may be determined based on predetermined information obtained by the notification device 10 from an external server or the like, or an operator of the notification device 10 may input information indicating the notification target area to the notification device 10.

[0035] Here, examples of the notification information and the notification target area will be described.

[0036] - Example 1 - In this example, the notification information is information that raises awareness in response to the occurrence of an earthquake. Examples of the notification information in this case include "An earthquake occurred at 9:15. The epicenter is [location], and the seismic intensity in [city] is 4. Be cautious of aftershocks." etc. The notification target area in this case is the area affected by the earthquake, and for example, it may be an area where the seismic intensity is equal to or higher than the reference value.

[0037] In this example, the notification unit 12 may obtain information indicating the seismic intensity of each region from an external server (a server that provides earthquake information), and based on that information, determine the notification target area. Alternatively, an operator of the notification device 10 may input information indicating the notification target area into the notification device 10.

[0038] - Example 2 - In this example, the notification information is information that raises awareness in response to the occurrence of work on the road such as traffic accidents, road construction, and road cleaning. Examples of the notification information in this case include "A traffic accident occurred at [intersection] at 10:03. Traffic congestion is expected in the vicinity for some time.", "Road construction will be carried out at [intersection] from 10:00 to 15:00. Traffic congestion is expected in the vicinity during that time.", "Road cleaning will be carried out at [intersection] from 10:00 to 11:00. Traffic congestion is expected in the vicinity during that time." etc. The notification target area in this case is the surrounding area of the location where the work occurred.

[0039] In this example, the notification unit 12 may obtain information regarding traffic accidents, road construction, road cleaning, etc. (information indicating the occurrence location, schedule, etc.) from an external server (a server that provides traffic accident information, a server that provides the schedule of road construction and road cleaning), and based on that information, determine the notification target area. Alternatively, an operator of the notification device 10 may input information indicating the notification target area into the notification device 10.

[0040] - Example 3 - In this example, the notification information is information that raises awareness in response to the occurrence of incidents such as robbery, burglary, break-in, abduction, etc. Examples of the notification information in this case include "A robbery occurred in XX Town at 10:18. Please be careful." etc. The notification target area in this case is the area around the location where the incident occurred.

[0041] In this example, the notification unit 12 may obtain information related to the incident (such as information indicating the occurrence location) from an external server (a server that provides incident information), and determine the notification target area based on that information. Alternatively, an operator of the notification device 10 may input information indicating the notification target area into the notification device 10.

[0042] - Example 4 - In this example, the notification information is information that raises awareness in response to the occurrence of a fire. Examples of the notification information in this case include "A fire occurred in XX Town at 10:21. It is dangerous, so please be careful. Also, traffic jams are predicted in the vicinity." etc. The notification target area in this case is the area around the location where the fire occurred.

[0043] In this example, the notification unit 12 may obtain information related to the fire (such as information indicating the occurrence location) from an external server (a server that provides fire information), and determine the notification target area based on that information. Alternatively, an operator of the notification device 10 may input information indicating the notification target area into the notification device 10.

[0044] - Example 5 - In this example, the notification information is information that alerts users to avoid being involved in activities such as black work or money transfer fraud. The notification information may be sent periodically (once a week or once a day), or it may be sent at the timing when the operator of the notification device 10 inputs a transmission instruction. Examples of the notification information in this case include "Recently, the number of incidents related to black work has been increasing. Please be careful not to get involved." and "Recently, the number of money transfer frauds has been increasing. Please be careful not to get involved." The notification target area in this case is, for example, the jurisdiction of the organization that issues the alert using the notification information.

[0045] In this example, the operator of the notification device 10 may input information indicating the notification target area into the notification device 10.

[0046] The transmission of the notification information to a predetermined user may be realized by using a social media service. That is, a social media account may be prepared in advance for sending the notification information. Then, the notification unit 12 may use the account to send the notification information to the account of a predetermined user. Additionally, when other contact information (such as an email address, a phone number, user identification information of other applications, etc.) of the users of each account is obtainable (for example, included in publicly available information published on the Internet associated with the account and pre-registered in the notification device 10), the notification unit 12 may notify the predetermined user of the notification information by means such as sending an email, making a phone call, or sending a notification using other applications (push notification, etc.).

[0047] Next, an example of the processing flow of the notification device 10 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 3.

[0048] In response to the occurrence of a predetermined event, the following processing is started. The predetermined event is the occurrence of a disaster, an accident, an incident, a fire, a trouble such as a traffic jam, the start of road construction or road cleaning, the arrival at a point a predetermined time before the start of road construction or road cleaning (such as 30 minutes before the start), the input of a processing start instruction by an operator, the arrival of a predetermined timing, etc.

[0049] When the processing is started, the notification device 10 generates location information indicating the activity range of the user of the account based on the public information publicly available on the Internet associated with the account (S10). Then, the notification device 10 extracts the accounts whose location information satisfies the first notification condition (S11). Next, the notification device 10 transmits notification information to the users of the extracted accounts (S12).

[0050] Here, although the processing of S10 is executed in response to the occurrence of a predetermined event, as a modification, the processing of S10 may be executed before the occurrence of a predetermined event to generate location information indicating the activity range of each user of a plurality of accounts. Then, in response to the occurrence of a predetermined event, the processing of S11 and S12 may be executed based on the location information generated in advance.

[0051] "Function and effect" According to the notification device 10 of the present embodiment, location information indicating the activity range of the user of the account can be generated based on the public information publicly available on the Internet associated with the account, and notification information can be transmitted to the users of the accounts whose location information satisfies the first notification condition. According to such a notification device 10, appropriate information can be notified only to appropriate users. As a result, the processing load on the computer can be reduced compared to the case of notifying all information to all users. In addition, the information to be transmitted to the user can be narrowed down to only the information that is truly necessary fulfill Therefore, it is possible to suppress the inconvenience that the user's attention to the notified information decreases, and it is possible to suppress the inconvenience that the user overlooks the notified information.

[0052] In addition, when determining whether the activity range of a user estimated based on public information published on the Internet, rather than the position information of the user obtained using GPS (Global Positioning System), satisfies a predetermined condition, an effect of improving the accuracy of narrowing down the user to be notified can be obtained.

[0053] <Second Embodiment> The notification device 10 of this embodiment satisfies the conditions of the activity range described in the first embodiment and also satisfies a predetermined condition fulfill and transmits notification information to the user of the account that has made a post. That is, the user who transmits the notification information is further narrowed down. According to such a notification device 10, it is possible to notify only more appropriate users with appropriate information.

[0054] FIG. 4 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the notification device 10. As shown in the figure, the notification device 10 includes an activity range estimation unit 11, a notification unit 12, and a post analysis unit 13.

[0055] The post analysis unit 13 extracts an account that has made a post satisfying the second notification condition based on posts published on the Internet associated with the account. The posts include messages, still images, moving images, voices, and the like.

[0056] "A post satisfying the second notification condition" includes at least one of a post of text data including a predetermined keyword, a post of text data of a predetermined content, a post of voice data including a predetermined keyword, a post of voice data of a predetermined content, a post of still image data indicating a predetermined situation, and a post of moving image data indicating a predetermined situation.

[0057] The "predetermined keyword" is a keyword related to disasters, accidents, incidents, fires, traffic jams, etc., and examples include "earthquake", "fire", "typhoon", "heavy rain", "traffic accident", "〇〇 town", "〇〇 intersection", "robbery", "burglary", "abduction", "part-time job in the dark", "transfer fraud", etc., but are not limited thereto.

[0058] "Predetermined content" refers to content indicating disasters, accidents, incidents, fires, traffic jams, etc. Using all natural language processing technologies, the content of messages contained in text data and voice data can be identified.

[0059] "Predetermined situation" refers to disasters, accidents, incidents, fires, traffic jams, etc. Using all image analysis technologies (such as machine learning, deep learning, feature matching, etc.), it is possible to identify whether still image data and moving image data indicate these situations.

[0060] In addition, posts that meet the second notification condition may, in addition to the above conditions, also meet a time condition. The time condition is, for example, "posted within a recent predetermined period".

[0061] The "predetermined period" is set in advance considering the period during which posts related to the occurred trouble are made, the time during which the influence of the occurred trouble continues, etc. The predetermined period may be set for each notification information. For example, the predetermined period corresponding to the notification information transmitted in response to the occurrence of an earthquake, the predetermined period corresponding to the notification information transmitted in response to the occurrence of each of various incidents such as robbery, burglary, break-in, abduction, etc., and the predetermined period corresponding to the notification information transmitted in response to the detection of each of various keywords such as part-time job at night and transfer fraud. The predetermined period may be set for each notification information.

[0062] For example, a post that meets the second notification condition may include at least one of a post of text data containing a predetermined keyword within a recent predetermined period and a post of voice data containing a predetermined keyword within a recent predetermined period. And the predetermined period may be different for each predetermined keyword. FIG. 5 schematically shows an example of information defining a predetermined period for each of various keywords. The post analysis unit 13 can identify the predetermined period based on information such as that shown in FIG. 5, for example.

[0063] In addition, a post that satisfies the second notification condition may include at least one of a text data post of a predetermined content within a recent predetermined period and an audio data post of a predetermined content within a recent predetermined period. And the predetermined period may vary for each predetermined content.

[0064] In addition, a post that satisfies the second notification condition may include at least one of a still image data post indicating a predetermined situation within a recent predetermined period and a moving image data post indicating a predetermined situation within a recent predetermined period. And the predetermined period may vary for each predetermined situation.

[0065] The notification unit 12 transmits notification information to the user of the account that has made a post where the location information satisfies the first notification condition and also satisfies the second notification condition.

[0066] Next, an example of the processing flow of the notification device 10 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 6.

[0067] In response to the occurrence of a predetermined event, the following processing is started. The predetermined event is the occurrence of a disaster, accident, incident, fire, trouble such as traffic congestion, the start of road construction or road cleaning, the arrival at a point a predetermined time before the start of road construction or road cleaning (such as 30 minutes before the start), the input of a processing start instruction by an operator, the arrival of a predetermined timing, etc.

[0068] When the processing is started, the notification device 10 extracts an account that has made a post that satisfies the second notification condition based on the posts publicly available on the Internet associated with the account (S20).

[0069] Next, the notification device 10 generates location information indicating the activity range of the user of the account extracted in S20 based on the public information published on the Internet associated with the account extracted in S20 (S21). Then, the notification device 10 extracts an account whose location information satisfies the first notification condition from the accounts extracted in S20 (S22). Next, the notification device 10 transmits notification information to the user of the extracted account (S23).

[0070] Here, the process of S21 is executed in response to the occurrence of a predetermined event. As a modification, the process of S21 may be executed before the occurrence of the predetermined event to generate location information indicating the activity range of each user of a plurality of accounts. Then, in response to the occurrence of the predetermined event, the processes of S20, S22, and S23 may be executed in this order based on the location information generated in advance.

[0071] Other configurations of the notification device 10 in this embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment.

[0072] According to the notification device 10 of this embodiment, the same operational effects as those of the notification device 10 in the first embodiment are achieved. Further, according to the notification device 10 of this embodiment, it is possible to transmit notification information to the user of an account that satisfies the condition of the activity range and whose attribute information specified based on the public information satisfies a predetermined condition. fulfill As a result, it is possible to notify only more appropriate users with appropriate information.

[0073] <The Third Embodiment> The notification device 10 of this embodiment transmits notification information to the user of an account that satisfies the condition of the activity range described in the first embodiment and whose attribute information specified based on the public information satisfies a predetermined condition. That is, the users to whom the notification information is transmitted are further narrowed down. According to such a notification device 10, it is possible to notify only more appropriate users with appropriate information.

[0074] Fig. 7 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the notification device 10. As shown in the figure, the notification device 10 includes an activity range estimation unit 11, a notification unit 12, and an attribute identification unit 14.

[0075] The attribute identification unit 14 identifies the attribute information of the user of the account based on the public information publicly available on the Internet associated with the account. The public information is as described in the first embodiment.

[0076] The "attribute information" includes gender, date of birth, nationality, age (or age group), place of origin, current place of residence, affiliation, school attended, etc. Affiliation indicates the category to which the user belongs, such as student, working person, etc.

[0077] The notification unit 12 sends notification information to the user of the account whose location information satisfies the first notification condition and whose attribute information satisfies the third notification condition.

[0078] The "third notification condition" is determined based on the items included in the attribute information. Examples of the third notification condition include, but are not limited to, "minor", "student", "minor female", "student female", "minor male", "student male", etc.

[0079] Note that the third notification condition may be set for each piece of notification information. For example, the third notification condition corresponding to the notification information sent in response to the occurrence of an earthquake, the third notification condition corresponding to the notification information sent in response to the occurrence of each of various events such as robbery, burglary, break-in, abduction, etc., the third notification condition corresponding to the notification information sent in response to the detection of each of various keywords such as part-time job and remittance fraud, etc. The third notification condition may be set for each piece of notification information.

[0080] Next, an example of the processing flow of the notification device 10 will be described using the flowchart of Fig. 8.

[0081] In response to the occurrence of a predetermined event, the following processing is started. The predetermined event is the occurrence of a disaster, accident, incident, fire, trouble such as traffic congestion, the start of road construction, road cleaning, etc., the arrival at a point a predetermined time before the start of road construction, road cleaning, etc. (such as 30 minutes before the start), the input of a processing start instruction by an operator, the arrival of a predetermined timing, etc.

[0082] When the processing is started, the notification device 10 generates location information indicating the activity range of the user of the account based on the public information publicly available on the Internet associated with the account, and identifies the attribute information of the user (S30). Then, the notification device 10 extracts the accounts whose location information satisfies the first notification condition and whose attribute information satisfies the third notification condition (S31). Next, the notification device 10 transmits notification information to the users of the extracted accounts (S32).

[0083] Here, the processing of S30 is executed in response to the occurrence of a predetermined event. As a modification, the processing of S30 may be executed before the occurrence of a predetermined event to generate location information indicating the activity range of each user of a plurality of accounts. Then, in response to the occurrence of a predetermined event, the processing of S31 and S32 may be executed based on the location information generated in advance.

[0084] Other configurations of the notification device 10 in this embodiment are the same as those in the first and second embodiments.

[0085] According to the notification device 10 of this embodiment, the same operational effects as those of the notification devices 10 in the first and second embodiments are realized. Also, according to the notification device 10 of this embodiment, it is possible to transmit notification information to the users of the accounts that satisfy the condition of the activity range and the condition of the attribute information. fulfill As a result, it is possible to notify only the more appropriate users with appropriate information.

[0086] <Fourth Embodiment> The notification device 10 of the present embodiment transmits notification information to a user of an account that satisfies the conditions of the activity range described in the first embodiment, the conditions of the post described in the second embodiment, and the conditions of the attribute information described in the third embodiment. That is, the user who transmits the notification information is further narrowed down. According to such a notification device 10, it is possible to notify only appropriate users with appropriate information.

[0087] FIG. 9 shows an example of a functional block diagram of the notification device 10. As shown in the figure, the notification device 10 includes an activity range estimation unit 11, a notification unit 12, a post analysis unit 13, and an attribute identification unit 14.

[0088] Next, an example of the processing flow of the notification device 10 will be described using the flowchart of FIG. 10.

[0089] In response to the occurrence of a predetermined event, the following processing is started. The predetermined event is the occurrence of a disaster, accident, incident, fire, trouble such as traffic congestion, the start of road construction or road cleaning, the arrival at a point a predetermined time before the start of road construction or road cleaning (30 minutes before the start, etc.), the input of a processing start instruction by an operator, the arrival of a predetermined timing, etc.

[0090] When the processing is started, the notification device 10 extracts an account that has made a post satisfying the second notification condition based on the posts publicly available on the Internet associated with the account (S40).

[0091] Next, the notification device 10 generates location information indicating the activity range of the user of the account extracted in S40 and identifies the attribute information of the user based on the public information publicly available on the Internet associated with the account extracted in S40 (S41). Then, the notification device 10 extracts an account from the accounts extracted in S40 whose location information satisfies the first notification condition and whose attribute information satisfies the third notification condition (S42). Next, the notification device 10 transmits notification information to the users of the extracted accounts (S43).

[0092] Here, the process of S41 is executed in response to the occurrence of a predetermined event. As a modification, the process of S41 may be executed before the occurrence of the predetermined event to generate location information indicating the activity range of each user of a plurality of accounts. Then, in response to the occurrence of the predetermined event, the processes of S40, S42, and S43 may be executed in this order based on the location information generated in advance.

[0093] Other configurations of the notification device 10 of the present embodiment are the same as those of the first to third embodiments.

[0094] According to the notification device 10 of the present embodiment, the same operational effects as those of the notification device 10 of the first to third embodiments are achieved. Further, according to the notification device 10 of the present embodiment, it is possible to transmit notification information to a user of an account that satisfies the conditions of the activity range, satisfies the conditions of the post, and fulfill satisfies the conditions of the attribute information. As a result, it is possible to notify only more appropriate users with appropriate information.

[0095] <Fifth Embodiment> The notification device 10 of the present embodiment is different from the first to fourth embodiments in that, in addition to the users of the accounts specified by the methods described in the first to fourth embodiments, notification information is also transmitted to users who satisfy a predetermined relationship with the users.

[0096] The notification unit 12 transmits notification information to "users of accounts whose location information satisfies the first notification condition", "users of accounts who have made a post whose location information satisfies the first notification condition and also satisfies the second notification condition", "users of accounts whose location information satisfies the first notification condition and whose attribute information satisfies the third notification condition", or "users of accounts whose location information satisfies the first notification condition, whose attribute information satisfies the third notification condition, and who have made a post that satisfies the second notification condition", as described in the first to fourth embodiments.

[0097] Then, in addition to the users of the above accounts, the notification unit 12 also transmits notification information to users who have a predetermined relationship with the users.

[0098] "The user having a predetermined relationship with the user" may be at least one of a user in a mutual follow relationship with the user, a user followed by the user, a user following the user, and a user having a message exchange history with the user.

[0099] Other configurations of the notification device 10 in the present embodiment are the same as those in the first to fourth embodiments.

[0100] According to the notification device 10 of the present embodiment, the same operational effects as those of the notification device 10 in the first to fourth embodiments are realized. Further, according to the notification device 10 of the present embodiment, in addition to the user of the account satisfying the conditions such as the activity range, notification information can also be transmitted to the user having a predetermined relationship with the user. As a result, it becomes possible to notify only the more appropriate users with the appropriate information.

[0101] <Application Example> Hereinafter, an example in which the notification device 10 of the first to fifth embodiments is applied will be described. Note that this is merely an example and is not limited to this example.

[0102] - Application Example 1 - In this example, the notification device 10 posts text data, voice data including keywords such as "earthquake", "typhoon", and "heavy rain", or still images or moving images indicating such situations, and the activity range is "tsunami", "river flooding", "flooding", "landslide", etc. It is configured to transmit notification information to the user of the account included in the area where the risk is above a predetermined level. The notification device 10 can, for example, acquire information provided by a predetermined server and identify, based on the information, an area where the risk of "tsunami", "river flooding", "flooding", "landslide", etc. is above a predetermined level. The information provided by the predetermined server is, for example, information indicating an area where the above risks are above a predetermined level.

[0103] - Application Example 2 - In this example, the notification device 10 performs a notification process based on a request from an insurance company that issues a warning using notification information. The notification device 10 posts text data, voice data, or still images or moving images indicating such situations that include keywords such as "earthquake", "typhoon", and "heavy rain", and the activity range is included in an area where risks such as "tsunami", "river flooding", "flooding", and "landslide" are at a predetermined level or higher, and the attribute information is configured to send notification information to a user of an account that satisfies "insurance policyholder". The notification device 10 can acquire information provided by a predetermined server, for example, and identify an area where risks such as "tsunami", "river flooding", "flooding", and "landslide" are at a predetermined level or higher based on that information. The information provided by the predetermined server is, for example, information indicating an area where the above risks are at a predetermined level or higher. Detection of a user of an account whose attribute information satisfies an insurance policyholder is realized using, for example, a database of insurance policyholders prepared in advance. Account information, email addresses, etc. of insurance policyholders are registered in the database. The notification device 10 can determine whether a user of each account is an insurance policyholder by determining whether it is registered in this database.

[0104] - Application Example 3 - In this example, the notification device 10 posts text data that includes keywords such as "part-time job in the dark", "transfer fraud", and "drugs", and the activity range is within the jurisdiction of an organization that issues a warning using notification information, and the attribute information is configured to send notification information to a user of an account that satisfies at least one of "student" and "minor".

[0105] As described above, the embodiments of the present invention have been described with reference to the drawings, but these are examples of the present invention, and various configurations other than the above can also be adopted. The configurations of the above-described embodiments may be combined with each other, or some configurations may be replaced with other configurations. Also, the configurations of the above-described embodiments may be variously modified within a range not departing from the gist. Also, the configurations and processes disclosed in the above-described embodiments and modification examples may be combined with each other.

[0106] In addition, in this specification, "acquisition" means, based on user input or based on program instructions, "the self-device goes to retrieve data stored in other devices or storage media (active acquisition)", for example, sending a request or inquiry to other devices and receiving the response, accessing other devices or storage media to read the data, etc., and, based on user input or based on program instructions, "the self-device inputs data output from other devices (passive acquisition)", for example, receiving data distributed (or transmitted, push-notified, etc.), and also selecting and acquiring from the received data or information, and at least including any one of "generating new data by editing data (textualizing, rearranging data, extracting some data, changing file format, etc.) and acquiring the new data".

[0107] Some or all of the above embodiments can also be described as follows, but are not limited thereto. 1. A range-of-activity estimation means for generating location information indicating the range of activity of the user of the account based on public information published on the Internet associated with the account, A notification means for sending notification information to the user of the account when the location information satisfies a first notification condition, A notification device having the above. 2. Further having a post analysis means for extracting the account that makes a post satisfying a second notification condition based on the posts published on the Internet associated with the account, The notification means is the notification device according to 1 above, which sends the notification information to the user of the account when the location information satisfies the first notification condition and the account makes a post satisfying the second notification condition. 3. Further having an attribute identification means for identifying the attribute information of the user of the account based on the public information, The notification means is the notification device according to 1, which transmits the notification information to the user of the account whose location information satisfies the first notification condition and whose attribute information satisfies the third notification condition. 4. The notification device further includes a post analysis means for extracting the account that has made a post satisfying the second notification condition based on a post publicly available on the Internet associated with the account. The notification means is the notification device according to 3, which transmits the notification information to the user of the account whose location information satisfies the first notification condition, whose attribute information satisfies the third notification condition, and which has made a post satisfying the second notification condition. 5. The post satisfying the second notification condition includes at least one of a post of text data including a predetermined keyword, a post of text data of a predetermined content, a post of voice data including the predetermined keyword, a post of voice data of the predetermined content, a post of still image data indicating the predetermined situation, and a post of moving image data indicating the predetermined situation, as described in 2 or 4. 6. The post satisfying the second notification condition includes at least one of a post of text data including the predetermined keyword and a post of voice data including the predetermined keyword within a recent predetermined period. The predetermined period is different for each predetermined keyword, as described in 5. 7. The post satisfying the second notification condition includes at least one of a post of text data of the predetermined content and a post of voice data of the predetermined content within a recent predetermined period. The predetermined period is different for each predetermined content, as described in 5. 8. The post satisfying the second notification condition includes at least one of a post of still image data indicating the predetermined situation and a post of moving image data indicating the predetermined situation within a recent predetermined period. The predetermined period is different for each predetermined situation, as described in 5. 9. The notification means according to any one of 1 to 8 above, transmits the notification information not only to the user of the account for which the location information satisfies the first notification condition, but also to a user who satisfies a predetermined relationship with the user of the account for which the location information satisfies the first notification condition. 10. A computer performs a range-of-activity estimation step of generating location information indicating the range of activity of the user of the account based on public information associated with the account and publicly available on the Internet, and a notification step of transmitting notification information to the user of the account for which the location information satisfies the first notification condition. A notification method for executing the above. 11. A computer is caused to function as a range-of-activity estimation means for generating location information indicating the range of activity of the user of the account based on public information associated with the account and publicly available on the Internet, and a notification means for transmitting notification information to the user of the account for which the location information satisfies the first notification condition. A program for causing the above to function.

Explanation of Signs

[0108] 10 Notification device 11 Range-of-activity estimation unit 12 Notification unit 13 Post analysis unit 14 Attribute identification unit 1A Processor 2A Memory 3A Input / output I / F 4A Peripheral circuit 5A Bus

Claims

1. Means for acquiring trouble information indicating the location where trouble has occurred from an external server, means for determining a notification target area based on the location where the trouble has occurred, activity range estimation means for generating location information indicating the activity range of the user of the account based on public information publicly available on the Internet and associated with the account, notification means for transmitting notification information to the user of the account whose positional relationship between the activity range of the user and the notification target area satisfies a first notification condition, A notification device having the above.

2. Further comprising post analysis means for extracting the account that has made a post satisfying a second notification condition based on posts publicly available on the Internet and associated with the account, The notification means transmits the notification information to the user of the account whose location information satisfies the first notification condition and who has made a post satisfying the second notification condition. The notification device according to claim 1.

3. Attribute identification means for identifying the attribute information of the user of the account based on the public information, post analysis means for extracting the account that has made a post satisfying a second notification condition based on posts publicly available on the Internet and associated with the account, Further comprising, The notification means transmits the notification information to the user of the account whose location information satisfies the first notification condition, whose attribute information satisfies a third notification condition, and who has made a post satisfying the second notification condition. The notification device according to claim 1.

4. The post satisfying the second notification condition includes at least one of a post of text data including a predetermined keyword, a post of text data of a predetermined content, a post of voice data including the predetermined keyword, a post of voice data of the predetermined content, a post of still image data indicating a predetermined situation, and a post of moving image data indicating the predetermined situation. The notification device according to claim 2 or 3.

5. The post satisfying the second notification condition includes at least one of a post of text data including the predetermined keyword and a post of voice data including the predetermined keyword within a recent predetermined period, The predetermined period varies for each of the predetermined keywords. The notification device according to claim 4.

6. Posts that meet the second notification condition include at least one of a post of text data of the predetermined content and a post of voice data of the predetermined content within a recent predetermined period. The notification device according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined period varies for each of the predetermined contents. **Claim 7** Posts that meet the second notification condition include at least one of a post of still image data indicating the predetermined situation and a post of moving image data indicating the predetermined situation within a recent predetermined period. The notification device according to claim 4, wherein the predetermined period varies for each of the predetermined situations. **Claim 8** The notification device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the notification means transmits the notification information not only to the user of the account for which the location information satisfies the first notification condition, but also to a user who satisfies a predetermined relationship with the user of the account for which the location information satisfies the first notification condition. **Claim 9** A computer acquires trouble information indicating the location of trouble from an external server; determines a notification target area based on the location of the trouble; performs an activity range estimation process of generating location information indicating the activity range of the user of the account based on public information publicly available on the Internet and associated with the account; and performs a notification process of transmitting notification information to the user of the account for which the positional relationship between the activity range of the user and the notification target area satisfies the first notification condition. A notification method for executing the above. **Claim 10** A computer is caused to function as means for acquiring trouble information indicating the location of trouble from an external server; means for determining a notification target area based on the location of the trouble; activity range estimation means for generating location information indicating the activity range of the user of the account based on public information publicly available on the Internet and associated with the account; notification means for transmitting notification information to the user of the account for which the positional relationship between the activity range of the user and the notification target area satisfies the first notification condition; A program for causing the computer to function as such.

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