Text comprehension support device, text comprehension support method, and computer program

Abstract

In order to assist a user to understand a sentence, this sentence understanding assistance device (10) includes a reception unit (41), a searching unit (43), and a transmission unit (44). The reception unit (41) receives, from a terminal device (20), a keyword extracted from a target sentence for which understanding is to be assisted and user identification information for identifying a user. The searching unit (43) searches a storage device (12) for assistance information corresponding to searching conditions including the keyword from the terminal device (20) and an attribute of the user that has been identified using the user identification information. The assistance information is information related to the keyword and for assisting understanding of the target sentence. The transmission unit (44) sends back the searched assistance information to the terminal device (20).

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for supporting understanding of text. [Background technology]

[0002] When registering as a user and receiving a service, the user is often presented with a privacy policy and terms of use. The user must review the privacy policy and terms of use and agree to them in order to receive the service. However, privacy policies and terms of use often contain many details and often include terms not used in everyday life. For this reason, users find it troublesome to read the privacy policy and terms of use, and may end up agreeing to them without carefully reading them.

[0003] Patent Document 1 (JP 2018-147318 A) discloses a technology that displays the agreement rate when displaying a privacy policy on a terminal device in order to reduce the burden on users when they check the privacy policy. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-147318 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 can determine the consent rate, which is the percentage of people who consent to the privacy policy, but does not help users understand or confirm the privacy policy. For this reason, even if the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is used, it is difficult to improve the situation where users consent to the privacy policy without understanding it.

[0006] In addition, even if you read a text, you may not be able to understand it due to reasons such as not understanding the meaning of terms, not limited to privacy policies and terms of use.

[0007] The present invention has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problems. That is, a main object of the present invention is to provide a technique for assisting users in understanding text. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present invention is a text comprehension assistance device, a receiving unit that receives keywords extracted from a target sentence for which comprehension is to be supported and user identification information that identifies a user from a terminal device; a search unit that searches a storage device in which keywords included in the target sentence and support information related to the keywords and supporting understanding of the target sentence are stored in an associated state, for support information that matches search conditions including the keywords from the terminal device and the attributes of the user identified using the user identification information; a transmitting unit that returns the searched support information to the terminal device; Equipped with.

[0009] In addition, one aspect of the text comprehension support method according to the present invention is to By computer, receiving, from a terminal device, keywords extracted from a target sentence for which comprehension is to be supported and user identification information for identifying a user; Searching for support information that matches search criteria including the keywords from the terminal device and the attributes of the user identified using the user identification information from a storage device that stores keywords included in the target sentence and support information related to the keywords and supporting understanding of the target sentence in an associated state; The searched support information is returned to the terminal device.

[0010] Furthermore, one aspect of the program storage medium according to the present invention is receiving, from a terminal device, keywords extracted from a target sentence for which comprehension is to be supported and user identification information for identifying a user; a process of searching for support information that matches search criteria including the keywords from the terminal device and the attributes of the user identified using the user identification information from a storage device that stores keywords included in the target sentence and support information related to the keywords and that supports understanding of the target sentence in an associated state; a process of returning the searched support information to the terminal device; The computer program for causing a computer to execute the above is stored. [Effects of the Invention]

[0011] According to the present invention, it is possible to support a user in understanding a text. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a text understanding assistance system including a text understanding assistance device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a text comprehension assistance device according to a first embodiment and a terminal device connected to the text comprehension assistance device. [Figure 3] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display mode of support information. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating another example of a display mode of support information. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display mode that prompts a user to input information on whether or not they agree with matters written in a sentence. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of user attributes. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing specific examples of keywords, attributes, and support information. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating a processing flow of a text understanding assistance system including the text understanding assistance device of the first embodiment. [Figure 9] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating functions of a text understanding support system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of a text comprehension assistance device according to another embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the text understanding assistance device in FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0014] First Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a text comprehension assistance system including a text comprehension assistance device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The text comprehension assistance system 1 includes a text comprehension assistance device 10. The text comprehension assistance device 10 is a computer device (server) that can be connected to a terminal device 20 used by a user of the text comprehension assistance system 1 via an information and communication network 3. The terminal device 20 is an information device that has a communication function and a display control function for controlling a display device to display information. The type of the terminal device 20 is not limited as long as it has a communication function and a display control function. Specific examples include a smartphone, a tablet, and a personal computer (PC). Note that if the terminal device 20 is a smartphone or a tablet, the display device is integrated with the terminal device 20, but if the terminal device 20 is a PC, the display device may be external. In the example of FIG. 1, one terminal device 20 is connected to the text comprehension assistance device 10, but the text comprehension assistance device 10 can be connected to multiple different terminal devices 20.

[0015] The terminal device 20 can connect to various information devices (servers) via an information communication network 3 such as the Internet, and can receive services from the information devices, such as acquiring applications (hereinafter also referred to as apps) and receiving information. When receiving such services, the terminal device 20 may receive text from the information device providing the service, such as terms of use or privacy policy, which contains information that the user must confirm and agree to. In this case, the terminal device 20 displays the received terms of use or privacy policy text on the screen of the display device 21. Here, the information device that outputs the text to the terminal device 20 is also referred to as text output device 30.

[0016] The text comprehension support system 1 is a system that supports the user in understanding a text, such as a terms of use or privacy policy, when the user checks the text that has been output from a text output device 30 to a terminal device 20. In the following description, the text for which the user's understanding is supported is also referred to as a target text.

[0017] In the text comprehension support system 1, an application (hereinafter also referred to as a support app) for using the text comprehension support system 1 is installed on a terminal device 20 used by a user of the text comprehension support system 1. There are no particular limitations on the method by which the terminal device 20 acquires the support app. For example, the terminal device 20 may acquire the support app from the text comprehension support device 10 via the information and communication network 3. Another method for acquiring the support app is for the terminal device 20 to acquire the support app by using a dedicated app providing website that provides applications. Note that a user may own multiple terminal devices 20. In this case, the user is allowed to install the support app on multiple terminal devices 20 and use the text comprehension support system 1 on any of the terminal devices 20.

[0018] Next, an overview of the processing of the text comprehension assistance system 1 will be described. For example, when the terminal device 20 receives a target text from the text output device 30 and the user launches an assistance app, the terminal device 20 extracts target keywords from the target text using the assistance app. The terminal device 20 then transmits the extracted keywords to the text comprehension assistance device 10 in a manner associated with user identification information that identifies the user. Upon receiving the keywords, the text comprehension assistance device 10 searches a storage device for support information that matches search criteria including the keywords and the user's attributes, and returns the support information to the terminal device 20. Here, keywords are terms or phrases that are considered important for understanding the target text, and information on the target keywords to be extracted from the target text is predetermined and provided to the terminal device 20. The support information is information that supports understanding the target text, and includes, for example, sentences, figures, and photographs that explain the keywords, and information introducing articles related to the keywords. Articles related to the keywords include, for example, news articles that have become topics related to the keywords. Examples of information introducing the article include the text data of the article itself and a uniform resource locator (URL) that identifies the site on the Internet where the article is published.

[0019] The terminal device 20 that has received the support information displays the support information on the screen of the display device 21 in a predetermined display format. The displayed support information is useful for resolving the user's unclear points and concerns about the target text, allowing the user to, for example, agree to the matters described in the target text after understanding and consenting to the target text. In other words, the text understanding support system 1 can eliminate the situation in which the user agrees to terms of use, privacy policy, or other target text without understanding it.

[0020] The following describes the configuration of the text understanding assistance system 1 in the first embodiment. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the simplified configuration of the text understanding assistance device 10 and the terminal device 20.

[0021] The terminal device 20 includes an arithmetic unit 22 and a storage device 23. The storage device 23 includes a storage medium for storing data and a computer program (hereinafter also referred to as a program) 56. There are multiple types of storage devices, such as magnetic disk devices and semiconductor memory devices, and there are multiple types of semiconductor memory devices, such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory). The type of storage device 23 included in the terminal device 20 is not limited to one. Computer devices are often equipped with multiple types of storage devices. Here, the type and number of storage devices 23 included in the terminal device 20 are not limited, and a description thereof will be omitted. Furthermore, when the terminal device 20 is equipped with multiple types of storage devices, they will be collectively referred to as storage devices 23.

[0022] The terminal device 20 here is a device in which the above-mentioned assistance application is installed. That is, the storage device 23 stores the assistance application as one of the programs 56.

[0023] The arithmetic unit 22 is configured by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The arithmetic device 22 can have a function based on the program 56 by reading and executing the program 56 stored in the storage device 23. Here, the arithmetic device 22 has an extraction unit 51, a transmission unit 52, a reception unit 53, and a presentation unit 54 as functional units based on the assistance app when the assistance app is started. The assistance app may be started manually by a user, or may be started when the terminal device 20 detects that text data received while the app is on standby contains a predetermined term that triggers the start of the app. There are several possible methods for manually starting the assistance app, such as using a sharing function that links multiple applications held by the terminal device 20, and these methods are not limited here, so their description will be omitted. An example of a term that triggers the start of the assistance app is the keyword to be extracted, as described above.

[0024] The extraction unit 51 of the arithmetic device 22 extracts keywords to be extracted from the text data of the target sentence received by the terminal device 20 from the sentence output device 30, for example, by text mining. As described above, the keywords to be extracted are terms and phrases that are considered important for understanding the target sentence. Information on the keywords to be extracted is stored in the storage device 23. Note that, taking into account changes in the target sentence, the information on the keywords to be extracted stored in the storage device 23 may be updated by the text comprehension assistance device 10 at an appropriate timing. In other words, the text comprehension assistance device 10 may have a function of updating the information on the keywords to be extracted stored in the storage device 23 of the terminal device 20.

[0025] The transmission unit 52 transmits the keywords extracted from the target sentence by the extraction unit 51 to the text comprehension assistance device 10. The keywords transmitted to the text comprehension assistance device 10 are associated with user identification information that identifies the user and text identification information that identifies the target sentence. The text identification information may include, for example, information for identifying the company that submitted the target sentence.

[0026] Furthermore, there are cases where the target text is a consent document that requires consent to matters described in the target text. In this case, when the user inputs information indicating whether or not he or she has consented to the consent document using, for example, icons 27 and 28 as shown in Fig. 5, the transmission unit 52 transmits the input information as user intention information to the text comprehension assistance device 10. When this intention information is transmitted, the intention information is associated with user identification information and text identification information.

[0027] Furthermore, the transmission unit 52 transmits user registration information entered by the user when starting to use the assistance app to the text comprehension assistance device 10. That is, here, when the user uses the assistance app for the first time, a user registration input form is displayed on the display device 21. The user registration input form is a template including input fields for registering information about the user (such as a registered name (which may be a nickname, for example), and contact information such as an email address) in the text comprehension assistance system 1.

[0028] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the user registration input form includes a questionnaire (hereinafter also referred to as a registration questionnaire) that investigates matters of interest to the user. This registration questionnaire is provided, for example, from the text comprehension assistance device 10. The registration questionnaire lists matters related to the target text, such as hot topic news articles, and includes multiple questions about whether the user is interested in the news articles. The number of questions may be set appropriately taking into consideration the burden of answering the questions on the user. Furthermore, the answer to the question about whether or not the user is interested may be a binary answer format such as yes or no, or may be multiple options for indicating the degree of interest. The answer format may be one in which the degree of difficulty is selected from among the plurality of degrees, and is not limited to this.

[0029] When a command to transmit information entered into the user registration input form, including such a registration questionnaire, to the text comprehension assistance device 10 is input by the user to the terminal device 20, the transmission unit 52 transmits the input information to the text comprehension assistance device 10. In other words, the transmission unit 52 transmits information for user registration, including the responses to the registration questionnaire, to the text comprehension assistance device 10.

[0030] The receiving unit 53 receives the support information transmitted from the text comprehension support device 10. As described above, the support information is information that supports understanding of the target text, and includes, for example, text, figures, and photographs that explain the keywords extracted by the extraction unit 51, and information that introduces articles related to the keywords.

[0031] The receiving unit 53 also receives an update questionnaire transmitted from the text comprehension assistance device 10, for example, by push notification. The update questionnaire is a questionnaire that investigates matters of interest to the user at predetermined intervals (for example, once a month). For example, the update questionnaire occurs during the period between the time when the update questionnaire is transmitted and the previous time, and includes a question as to whether the user is interested in topics related to the content of the target text. The number of questions in the update questionnaire may be one or more.

[0032] The presentation unit 54 displays the support information received by the receiving unit 53 from the text comprehension support device 10 on the display device 21 in a predetermined display format. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display format of support information. In the example of FIG. 3, marks 25 indicating keywords associated with the received support information are displayed in the target sentence displayed on the display device 21. When a mark 25 is pointed to, support information associated with the keyword corresponding to the pointed mark 25 is displayed as a pop-up. Note that in the example of FIG. 3, the terminal device 20 is a smartphone or tablet, and the display device 21 is equipped with a touch panel. Therefore, in the example of FIG. 3, the mark 25 displayed on the display device 21 is pointed to by the user's finger. However, if the terminal device 20 is, for example, a personal computer, the mark 25 is pointed to by a cursor operated by a mouse or the like. As such, the method of pointing the mark 25 is not limited. Furthermore, the method of indicating keywords associated with the received support information is not limited to the method of displaying marks, and may be, for example, an indication method using the color of the characters representing the keywords or the background color of the characters.

[0033] Fig. 4 is a diagram illustrating another example of a display mode of support information. In the example of Fig. 4, a column for displaying support information is provided on the screen of the display device 21, separate from the column in which the target sentence is written, and the support information is displayed in this column. In addition, lines connecting the support information with keywords related to the support information are displayed.

[0034] When the presentation unit 54 displays a URL as support information, the terminal device 20 has a function to connect to the site of the URL when the displayed URL is specified, thereby allowing the user to easily refer to the site of the URL.

[0035] The research unit 55 of the computing device 22 researches what kinds of interests the user has. For example, the research unit 55 determines whether or not predetermined research keywords are included in text data representing articles such as news acquired via the information and communication network 3. If the research unit 55 determines that the research keywords are included, it displays a pop-up message to the user asking, for example, whether or not the viewed article interests the user (Yes or No). Furthermore, when an answer to the question is input, the survey unit 55 associates the answer with all or part of the text data of the article that was the subject of the question corresponding to the answer (for example, the title and heading), the date and time of the answer, and the user identification information, and transmits the result as interest information to the text comprehension assistance device 10. The timing for transmitting the interest information may be at preset intervals, or may be when interest information is accumulated and the accumulated amount reaches a predetermined number.

[0036] Furthermore, when the surveying unit 55 receives the update questionnaire via the receiving unit 53, it displays a notification indicating that the update questionnaire has been received on the display device 21. Then, when the user requests that the update questionnaire be displayed, the surveying unit 55 displays the update questionnaire and accepts responses to the update questionnaire. Furthermore, the surveying unit 55 associates user identification information with information representing the responses to the update questionnaire, and transmits the information on the responses to the update questionnaire to the text comprehension assistance device 10.

[0037] The terminal device 20 is configured as described above. Next, the configuration of the text comprehension assistance device 10 will be described.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 2, the text comprehension assistance device 10 includes a calculation device 11 and a storage device 12. The storage device 12 includes a storage medium for storing data and a computer program (program) 48. There are multiple types of storage devices, such as magnetic disk devices and semiconductor memory devices, and there are multiple types of semiconductor memory devices, such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory). The type of storage device 12 included in the text comprehension assistance device 10 is not limited to one. Computer devices often include multiple types of storage devices. Here, the type and number of storage devices 12 included in the text comprehension assistance device 10 are not limited, and a description thereof will be omitted. Furthermore, when the text comprehension assistance device 10 includes multiple types of storage devices, they will be collectively referred to as the storage device 12.

[0039] One of the programs stored in the storage device 12 is a program for causing the text comprehension assistance device 10 to execute a process for assisting in checking a target text.

[0040] The storage device 12 also stores user information. The user information is information about users who use the text understanding support system 1, and is generated for each user based on information entered into a user registration input form transmitted from the terminal device 20. The user information includes, for example, user identification information, contact information, and attribute information. As described above, the user identification information is information that identifies a user. The contact information is information that indicates a contact point for contacting the user, such as an email address. Note that the contact information may also include information about a means of communication other than email.

[0041] The attribute information is information that indicates the attributes of a user.

[0042] Here, the attributes of the user will be explained. When returning support information, which is information for assisting in the understanding of the target text, to the terminal device 20, the text comprehension assistance device 10 transmits support information tailored to the user. The user attributes are information referenced when determining the support information to be transmitted, and in this case, the attributes are based on the breadth and degree of interest the user has in matters related to the target text. As a specific example, if the target text is a privacy policy text, the attributes may be based on the breadth and degree of interest the user has in personal information. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the user attributes in a table. In the example of FIG. 6, "A" represents "actions and guarantees in the event of a personal information leak." "B" represents "measures against the leak of personal information." "C" represents "other information related to the leak of personal information (e.g., incidents of misuse of leaked personal information)."

[0043] Assume that a user is somewhat interested in "A (measures and guarantees in the event of a personal information leak)" (level of interest: "low"), but has almost no interest in "B" and "C" regarding personal information. In this case, the user's attribute is attribute "1-1" with reference to Figure 6. Also, assume that the user is somewhat interested in "A" and "B" regarding personal information (level of interest: "low"), but has almost no interest in "C". In this case, the user's attribute is attribute "1-2". Furthermore, assume that the user is very interested in all of "A", "B", and "C" regarding personal information (level of interest: "high"). In this case, the user's attribute is attribute "3-3".

[0044] In the example shown in Figure 6, the number of attributes is nine, but the number of attributes is not limited as long as it is plural, and may be set appropriately taking into consideration, for example, the content written in the target text, the type and number of information that can be provided as support information, etc. In addition, the attributes may be set by a person, or may be set by clustering using AI (Artificial Intelligence) using sample data of many users that includes the relationship between the breadth of interest and the degree of that interest. Attributes may be set using encoding techniques.

[0045] The storage device 12 of the text comprehension assistance device 10 also stores user usage histories. The user usage history is historical information that indicates the usage status for each user, and for example, text identification information that indicates the target text for which the system was used and information on the date and time of use are associated with the user identification information. Furthermore, if the target text is a text that includes items that require consent, such as a privacy policy, the user usage history further includes information on whether the user consented to the target text.

[0046] The storage device 12 also stores support information. As described above, the support information is information that is transmitted to the terminal device 20 to support understanding of the target text. As shown in FIG. 7, the support information is stored in the storage device 12 in association with corresponding keywords and attribute information. Note that the support information may be updated as appropriate in response to changes in social conditions and public opinion. It is also considered that the content of the support information required by a user differs depending on the user's attributes (i.e., the breadth and level of the user's interests). Taking this into consideration, the combination of the user's attributes and the content of the support information is determined.

[0047] Furthermore, the storage device 12 stores the above-mentioned registration questionnaire (questionnaire to be completed when registering as a user) to be sent to the terminal device 20. This registration questionnaire may also be updated as appropriate in response to changes in social conditions and public opinion, as described above.

[0048] Furthermore, the storage device 12 also stores the above-mentioned update questionnaire to be sent to the terminal device 20.

[0049] Furthermore, the storage device 12 stores attribute determination data. The attribute determination data is data that is referenced when determining the attributes of a user from responses to a registration questionnaire or an update questionnaire. Note that AI (Artificial Intelligence) technology is used to determine the attributes of a user. In this case, for example, a model generated by machine learning the relationship between information on the breadth and degree of the user's interests and the user's attributes is stored in the storage device 12 as attribute determination data.

[0050] Note that information such as user information and support information may be stored in an external storage device (database) 14 connectable to the text comprehension support device 10, rather than in the storage device 12 provided in the text comprehension support device 10. In this case, the text comprehension support device 10 connects to the storage device 14 as appropriate and reads and writes the user information and support information.

[0051] The arithmetic unit 11 is configured by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The arithmetic device 11 can have various functions based on the program 48 by reading and executing the program 48 stored in the storage device 12. Here, the arithmetic device 11 has a receiving unit 41, a determining unit 42, a searching unit 43, a transmitting unit 44, an updating unit 45, and a counting unit 46 as functional units related to text comprehension support.

[0052] The receiving unit 41 receives information transmitted from the terminal device 20. The information received by the receiving unit 41 from the terminal device 20 includes keywords extracted from the target text and intention information indicating whether the user agrees or disagrees with the matters described in the target text. The received intention information is stored in the storage device 12 in association with user information, for example. Further information received by the receiving unit 41 includes user registration information, responses to an update questionnaire, and interest information.

[0053] The determination unit 42 determines the attributes of a user. For example, when the determination unit 42 receives responses to a registration questionnaire via the receiving unit 41, the determination unit 42 determines the attributes of the user using the responses to the questionnaire and the attribute determination data in the storage device 12. The attribute information of the user determined in this manner is stored in the storage device 12 as one piece of information constituting the user information, as described above.

[0054] In this embodiment, since it is assumed that the breadth and degree of interest of a user changes over time, the text comprehension assistance device 10 has a function for updating attribute information of a user.

[0055] That is, the update unit 45 transmits (outputs) the above-mentioned update questionnaire (a questionnaire that investigates matters of interest to the user) to the terminal device 20 at predetermined intervals (for example, once a month) by, for example, push notification. Note that with regard to the topic used for the questions in the update questionnaire, topic information may be manually input to the text comprehension assistance device 10, or an article such as a news article containing a preset extracted term may be extracted by the text comprehension assistance device 10 and used for the questions in the update questionnaire.

[0056] When the determination unit 42 receives such responses to the update questionnaire via the receiving unit 41, it reads, for example, attribute information of the user who responded to the update questionnaire from the storage device 12. Then, the determination unit 42 re-determines the attributes of the user who responded to the update questionnaire using the attribute information and the questions in the update questionnaire and their answers. Furthermore, the determination unit 42 updates the attribute information of the user information stored in the storage device 12 to the attributes determined by the re-determination.

[0057] Furthermore, when the determination unit 42 receives interest information from the terminal device 20 via the receiving unit 41, it reads out attribute information of the user related to the interest information from the storage device 12 and re-determines the attribute of the user related to the interest information using the attribute information and the interest information. Then, the determination unit 42 updates the attribute information of the user information stored in the storage device 12 to the attribute determined by the re-determination.

[0058] It is anticipated that users may not respond to renewal questionnaires or questions investigating interests because they find them troublesome. To address this, the text comprehension support system 1 may be configured to provide users with an incentive to respond by awarding them points that can be exchanged for prizes or the like each time they respond to renewal questionnaires or questions investigating interests.

[0059] When the search unit 43 receives a keyword extracted from a target sentence from the terminal device 20 via the receiving unit 41, it searches for support information related to the keyword from the storage device 12. Here, the search is not performed using only the keyword, but the support information is searched for using search conditions that combine the keyword with user attribute information identified from the user information in the storage device 12 using the user identification information associated with the keyword. In other words, since it is assumed that the support information needed will differ depending on the user's attributes (i.e., the breadth and degree of the user's interests), a search for support information is performed taking the user's attributes into consideration.

[0060] For example, suppose the keyword is "third party" as shown in Fig. 7 and the user attribute is "2-1." In this case, based on the search conditions of the combination of the keyword and the user attribute, the search unit 43 searches the storage device 12 for support information, such as an explanation of the keyword (term) and a URL specifying a site containing an online article related to the keyword.

[0061] The transmitting unit 44 returns the support information searched by the searching unit 43 to the terminal device 20 that output the keyword.

[0062] The tallying unit 46 tally the agreement status for the target sentence based on the intention information received from the terminal device 20. That is, for each target sentence, the tallying unit 46 calculates the total number of users (terminal devices 20) who received support information for the sentence, the number of people who agreed (number of people who agreed) and the agreement rate, the number of people who did not agree (number of people who disagreed) and the disagreement rate, and the number of people who did not express their intention to agree or not (i.e., people who seemed to have started checking the target sentence but stopped halfway through: number of people who abandoned) and the abandonment rate. The agreement rate is the ratio of the number of people who agreed to the total number of users (terminal devices 20) who received the support information. The disagreement rate is the ratio of the number of people who disagreed to the total number of users (terminal devices 20) who received the support information. The abandonment rate is the ratio of the number of people who abandoned to the total number of users (terminal devices 20) who received the support information. The tallying unit 46 may, for example, calculate at least the agreement rate out of the agreement rate, disagreement rate, and abandonment rate, but may not calculate the disagreement rate or the abandonment rate.

[0063] Furthermore, the aggregation unit 46 may aggregate the agreement state for each target sentence and for each attribute. Furthermore, the information on the aggregation results by the aggregation unit 46 is stored in the storage device 12 in association with information such as the aggregation date and time so that information on time-series changes in the agreement state, which is the aggregation result by the aggregation unit 46, can be obtained from the storage device 12.

[0064] The counting unit 46 performs such a counting process at preset time intervals (for example, starting at 2:00 AM every Monday), and updates the counted results stored in the storage device 12 with newly calculated counted results. The timing for performing the counting process may be set as appropriate. For example, instead of at set time intervals, the number of users of the text comprehension assistance device 10 may be counted for each target sentence, and the counting process may be performed each time the number of users increases by, for example, 100, which is a set value. Furthermore, if the number of users per unit period of the text comprehension assistance device 10 varies greatly depending on the target sentence, the timing for performing the counting process may be set to be different for each target sentence.

[0065] For example, when assistance information is transmitted to the terminal device 20, the transmission unit 44 may also transmit to the terminal device 20 the aggregation result of the agreement status of the target text corresponding to the assistance information, calculated by the aggregation unit 46. In this case, the terminal device 20 also has a function of displaying information on the aggregation result by the aggregation unit 46 using the assistance app. For example, when a consent document, which is the target text, is displayed on the terminal device 20, information on the aggregation result by the aggregation unit 46 is displayed near icons 27 and 28 for inputting information on whether or not to agree, as shown in FIG. 5. Note that, if multiple pieces of information can be displayed as the aggregation result, icons that allow selection of information to be displayed may be displayed on the display device 21 of the terminal device 20. By displaying such aggregation results, the user can refer to the displayed information on the aggregation result (i.e., the intention status of others regarding agreement) when deciding whether or not to agree to the target text (e.g., a privacy policy). Furthermore, information on the aggregation result of the agreement status calculated by the aggregation unit 46 may be transmitted to, for example, a company that has output the target text.

[0066] The text understanding support system 1 is configured as described above. Next, an example of the processing flow related to text understanding support in the text understanding support system 1 will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing flow related to text understanding support in the text understanding support system 1.

[0067] In the description of this processing flow, the user has already completed user registration, and the storage device 12 of the text comprehension assistance device 10 stores user information including attribute information of the user.

[0068] For example, when the terminal device 20 receives a text (target text) containing a privacy policy from the text output device 30 (step S101 in FIG. 8), the extraction unit 51 of the calculation device 22 extracts target keywords from the target text (step S102). Then, the transmission unit 52 associates the extracted keywords with user identification information and text identification information and transmits them to the text comprehension assistance device 10 (step S103).

[0069] In the text comprehension assistance device 10, the receiving unit 41 of the arithmetic device 11 receives the keywords (step S104). Then, the searching unit 43 searches the storage device 12 for support information that matches search conditions including the received keywords and the attributes of the user identified using the user identification information (step S105). Thereafter, the sending unit 44 returns (sends) the searched support information to the terminal device 20 that output the keywords related to the support information (step S106).

[0070] When the receiving unit 53 of the terminal device 20 receives the support information (step S107), the presenting unit 54 displays the support information on the display device 21, that is, presents the support information to the user (step S108).

[0071] Thereafter, when the user inputs information indicating whether or not he / she agrees with the privacy policy of the target text into the terminal device 20, the transmission unit 52 transmits the intention information indicating whether or not he / she agrees with the privacy policy to the text comprehension assistance device 10 (step S109).

[0072] When the receiving unit 41 of the text comprehension assistance device 10 receives the intention information, for example, the intention information is associated with the user information and stored in the storage device 12. Then, after that, the counting unit 46 executes counting processing using the intention information (step S110).

[0073] As described above, the text comprehension assistance system 1 including the text comprehension assistance device 10 of the first embodiment provides assistance information for assisting in understanding the target text to the terminal device 20. In this way, the text comprehension assistance system 1 can assist the user in understanding the target text, and can prevent, for example, a situation in which a user agrees with matters stated in the target text without understanding the target text.

[0074] Furthermore, since the text comprehension support system 1 provides support information according to the attributes of the user, it is possible to reduce user dissatisfaction that the support information is too difficult or too simple for some users. In other words, the text comprehension support system 1 can provide support information that suits the user.

[0075] Second Embodiment A second embodiment of the present invention will be described below. In the description of the second embodiment, components that are the same as those in the text understanding support system of the first embodiment will be assigned the same reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions will be omitted.

[0076] The text comprehension assistance system 1 of the second embodiment has a configuration that expands the support information provision service more than the first embodiment. That is, in the second embodiment, when support information is displayed on the display screen of the terminal device 20, the presentation unit 54 of the terminal device 20 displays, in addition to the display mode of the first embodiment, an icon 29 as shown in Fig. 9 that requests additional information related to the support information, for example, for each keyword. When a request for additional information is made by this icon, the transmission unit 52 transmits the request for additional information to the text comprehension assistance device 10 together with the keyword for which the additional information is requested.

[0077] When the search unit 43 of the text understanding assistance device 10 receives a request for additional information via the receiving unit 41, it uses a keyword associated with the request to extract additional information for the keyword from the storage device 12 or 14. Then, the sending unit 44 returns the extracted additional information to the terminal device 20.

[0078] The presentation unit 54 of the terminal device 20 displays the information received via the reception unit 53 as shown in FIG.

[0079] The configuration of the text understanding support system 1 of the second embodiment other than the above is the same as the configuration of the text understanding support system 1 of the first embodiment.

[0080] When a user requests further support information, the text understanding support system 1 of the second embodiment can respond to the request and can support the user in further understanding of the target text.

[0081] <Other embodiments> The present invention is not limited to the first and second embodiments, and various other embodiments may be employed. For example, in the first and second embodiments, the target text is a text that requires consent to a privacy policy, terms of use, or the like. However, the target text may be a text that does not include any items that require consent, such as a product manual. In such a case, instead of transmitting intention information indicating whether or not the user agrees with the items described in the target text from the terminal device 20 to the text comprehension assistance device 10, the text comprehension assistance system 1 may have the following configuration. That is, the text comprehension assistance system 1 may have a configuration in which information indicating whether or not the assistance information was useful in understanding the target text is transmitted from the terminal device 20 to the text comprehension assistance device 10.

[0082] Even when the text understanding support system 1 is applied to text in which a product manual is written, support information according to the user's attributes is presented to the user, so that support information suited to the user is presented to facilitate understanding of the target text.

[0083] In addition to the configurations of the first and second embodiments, a configuration may be provided in which a plurality of attributes are determined according to the type of target text, such as separately determining user attributes related to the terms of use of a game application and user attributes related to the terms of use or consent document of a service that provides medical information. In this case, user attribute information according to the type of target text is used when searching for support information.

[0084] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the basic configuration of a text comprehension assistance device according to the present invention. This text comprehension assistance device 60 is, for example, a computer device, and includes a receiving unit 61, a searching unit 62, and a transmitting unit 63 as functional units realized by a processor such as a CPU. The receiving unit 61 receives keywords extracted from a target text for which comprehension is to be supported and user identification information identifying the user from a terminal device. The searching unit 62 searches a storage device for support information that meets search criteria including the keywords from the terminal device and the user attributes identified using the user identification information. The support information is information related to the keywords and that supports understanding of the target text. The transmitting unit 63 returns the searched support information to the terminal device.

[0085] 11 is a flowchart showing an example of an operation related to text comprehension assistance in the text comprehension assistance device 60. For example, when the receiving unit 61 of the text comprehension assistance device 60 receives keywords extracted from a target text from a terminal device (step S201 in FIG. 11), the searching unit 62 searches the storage device for support information that matches search conditions including the keywords and user attribute information (step S202). Then, the transmitting unit 63 returns the searched support information to the terminal device (step S203).

[0086] The text comprehension support device 60 shown in FIG. 10 can present support information to the user to support their understanding of the target text, and since the support information is information according to the user's attributes, it can more effectively support the user's understanding of the target text.

[0087] The present invention has been described above using the above-described embodiments as exemplary examples. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments. In other words, the present invention can be applied in various aspects that can be understood by a person skilled in the art within the scope of the present invention.

[0088] This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2021-146194, filed on September 8, 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety. [Explanation of symbols]

[0089] 10,60 Sentence understanding support device 41,61 Receiver 43,62 Search section 44,63 Transmitter

Claims

1. a receiving means for receiving, from a terminal device, keywords extracted from a target sentence for which comprehension is to be supported and user identification information for identifying a user; a search means for searching, from a storage device in which keywords included in the target sentence and support information related to the keywords and supporting understanding of the target sentence are stored in an associated state, for support information that matches search conditions including the keywords from the terminal device and the attributes of the user identified using the user identification information; a transmitting means for returning the searched support information to the terminal device; A text comprehension assistance device comprising: the attribute is based on the breadth and degree of interest of the user, The system further includes a determination unit for determining the attributes of the user using responses to a questionnaire survey that investigates matters of interest to the user. Sentence comprehension support device.

2. The method further comprises: updating means for outputting an update questionnaire for investigating matters of interest to the user at predetermined timings; The determination means determines the attributes of the user using the responses to the update questionnaire, and updates attribute information representing the attributes of the user stored in a storage device. The text comprehension assistance device according to claim 1 .

3. When attribute information representing the attributes of the user is stored in a storage device, and interest information representing that the user is interested in an article that the user has viewed is received from the terminal device, the determination means re-determines the attributes of the user using the attribute information and the interest information, and updates the attribute information of the user stored in the storage device. The text comprehension assistance device according to claim 2.

4. The target text is a text that contains the matters for which the user is asked to agree.

4. The text comprehension assistance device according to claim 2 or 3.

5. a receiving means for receiving, from a terminal device, keywords extracted from a target sentence for which comprehension is to be supported and user identification information for identifying a user; a search means for searching, from a storage device in which keywords included in the target sentence and support information related to the keywords and supporting understanding of the target sentence are stored in an associated state, for support information that matches search conditions including the keywords from the terminal device and the attributes of the user identified using the user identification information; a transmitting means for returning the searched support information to the terminal device; A text comprehension assistance device comprising: The target sentence is a sentence that describes matters for which the user is asked to agree, a counting means for receiving, from the plurality of terminal devices, intention information indicating whether the user agrees with the target sentence containing a matter for requesting the user's consent, and then returning the support information to each of the plurality of terminal devices based on the keyword received from each of the plurality of terminal devices, and executing a counting process based on the intention information; the counting means calculates, as the counting process, at least the agreement rate, which is the ratio of the number of users who agreed to the support information to the total number of terminal devices that output the support information for the same target sentence, and the disagreement rate, which is the ratio of the number of users who did not agree to the support information to the total number of terminal devices that output the support information for the same target sentence; When transmitting the support information, if information on the aggregation result of the aggregation process by the aggregation means for the target sentence related to the support information is stored in a storage device, the transmission means transmits the information on the aggregation result so that the information on the aggregation result is displayed on the terminal device that transmits the support information. Sentence comprehension support device.

6. the attribute is based on the breadth and degree of interest of the user, The system further includes a determination unit for determining the attributes of the user using responses to a questionnaire survey that investigates matters of interest to the user.

6. A text comprehension assistance device according to claim 5.

7. The aggregation means further calculates, as the aggregation process, one or both of the agreement rate and the disagreement rate for each attribute for the same target sentence.

7. A text understanding assistance device according to claim 5 or 6.

8. The support information includes at least one of an explanation of the keyword and information introducing an article related to the keyword.

8. A text understanding assistance device according to claim 1.

9. By computer, receiving, from the terminal device, keywords extracted from the target sentence for which comprehension is to be supported and user identification information for identifying the user; Searching for support information that matches search criteria including the keywords from the terminal device and the attributes of the user identified using the user identification information from a storage device that stores keywords included in the target sentence and support information related to the keywords and supporting understanding of the target sentence in an associated state; The searched support information is returned to the terminal device. A text comprehension assistance method, comprising: the attribute is based on the breadth and degree of interest of the user, and determining the attributes of the user using responses to a questionnaire survey that surveys the user's interests. Text comprehension support method.

10. receiving, from a terminal device, keywords extracted from a target sentence for which comprehension is to be supported and user identification information for identifying a user; a process of searching for support information that matches search criteria including the keywords from the terminal device and the attributes of the user identified using the user identification information from a storage device that stores keywords included in the target sentence and support information related to the keywords and that supports understanding of the target sentence in an associated state; a process of returning the searched support information to the terminal device; A computer program that causes a computer to execute the following: the attribute is based on the breadth and degree of interest of the user, The method further includes a process of determining the attributes of the user using responses to a questionnaire survey that investigates matters that the user is interested in. Computer program.

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