Phrase display control device and phrase display control method

Abstract

This phrase display control device (20) is provided with: a first phrase acquisition unit (22) for acquiring a plurality of first phrases (w1); a position-setting unit (24) for setting the position of each first phrase in a specific virtual space (S1) on the basis of the degree of association between the plurality of first phrases; a boundary-setting unit (25) for dividing the specific virtual space into a plurality of virtual regions and setting a boundary (L1) of each virtual region; a second phrase acquisition unit (23) for acquiring a second phrase (w2) located in a specific virtual region among the plurality of virtual regions and associated with the plurality of first phrases; and a display control unit (27) that causes a display unit (32) to display the plurality of first phrases so as to be positioned in the specific virtual space on the basis of the position of each first phrase set by the position-setting unit, and causes the display unit to display the second phrase so as to be positioned in the specific virtual region.

Description

Phrase display control device and phrase display control method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a phrase display control device and a phrase display control method.

[0002] A search system has been disclosed that extracts multiple keywords contained in multiple document data from the multiple document data, displays them on a two-dimensional plane, and searches for any of the multiple document data based on the extracted keywords (see Patent Document 1). This search system displays the multiple extracted keywords on a two-dimensional plane so that the closer the keywords are to each other, the stronger the relevance between the multiple keywords, allowing the user to visually grasp the relevance of the multiple keywords.

[0003] Special Publication No. 2008-250623

[0004] The search system described in Patent Document 1 has the problem that the number of keywords displayed on a two-dimensional plane (space) increases as the amount of target document data (document information) increases, and depending on the number of keywords to be displayed, the display content becomes cluttered, making it difficult for users to find the keywords (phrases) they are looking for.

[0005] The present disclosure aims to solve the above problem and to provide a word display control device and a word display control method that make it easier than ever to find a desired word from multiple words located in space.

[0006] The phrase display control device according to the present disclosure is characterized by comprising: a first phrase acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of first phrases; a position setting unit that sets the position of each first phrase in a specific virtual space based on the degree of association between the plurality of first phrases; a boundary setting unit that divides the specific virtual space into a plurality of virtual regions and sets the boundaries of each virtual region; a second phrase acquisition unit that acquires second phrases related to a plurality of first phrases that are located in a specific virtual region among the plurality of virtual regions; and a display control unit that displays the plurality of first phrases on a display unit so that they are located in the specific virtual space based on the positions of each first phrase set by the position setting unit, and displays the second phrase on the display unit so that they are located in the specific virtual region.

[0007] According to the present disclosure, a specific space in which multiple first terms contained in multiple document information are located is divided into multiple regions, and the multiple first terms located in the multiple regions and second terms related to the multiple first terms located in a specific region among the multiple regions are displayed on a display unit, thereby allowing a user to infer the content of the multiple first terms located in the specific region from the second terms, making it easier than before to find the desired term from the multiple terms located in the space.

[0008] 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a phrase display control system according to embodiment 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the phrase display control system according to embodiment 1. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the phrase display control system according to embodiment 1. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing processing performed by a phrase display control device according to embodiment 1. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the phrase display control device according to embodiment 1 has arranged a plurality of first phrases in a two-dimensional space. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a state in which the phrase display control device according to embodiment 1 has divided the two-dimensional space into a plurality of virtual regions. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a plurality of first phrases and a plurality of second phrases that the phrase display control device according to embodiment 1 causes to be displayed on a display unit. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a phrase display control system according to embodiment 2. FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing performed by a phrase display control device according to embodiment 2. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a search result based on a plurality of first phrases, a plurality of second phrases, and a first phrase that the phrase display control device according to embodiment 2 causes to be displayed on a display unit. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing processing performed by a phrase display control device according to embodiment 3. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing performed by a phrase display control device according to embodiment 4. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing performed by a phrase display control device according to embodiment 5. FIG. 20 is a diagram showing a plurality of virtual spaces that the phrase display control device according to the sixth embodiment causes to be displayed on the display unit.

[0009] Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. Embodiment 1. First, a schematic configuration of a phrase display control system 100 according to embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the phrase display control system 100 according to embodiment 1. As shown in FIG. 1, the phrase display control system 100 includes a database 10, a phrase display control device 20, and a user terminal 30, which are communicatively connected to each other. The phrase display control system 100 according to embodiment 1 is a system for displaying, on the user terminal 30, information acquired by the phrase display control device 20 based on input signals from the database 10, the user terminal 30, and external devices electrically connected via a network (not shown).

[0010] The database 10 accumulates and stores a plurality of contents as a plurality of document information. For example, the database 10 acquires and stores a plurality of contents including HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) data of a website, research paper data, e-book data, and other information from an external device electrically connected via a network (not shown). Note that in the first embodiment, the contents stored in the database 10 may be information that includes documents at least in part, and may also include still images, moving images, sounds, and other information in addition to documents.

[0011] 1 , the user terminal 30 includes an input unit 31 and a display unit 32. The input unit 31 accepts an input operation by a user and outputs a signal corresponding to the input operation to the phrase display control device 20. For example, the input unit 31 is configured with an input device such as a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, a microphone, or a combination thereof. The display unit 32 displays content corresponding to the input operation accepted by the input unit 31 and content corresponding to a signal input from the phrase display control device 20. For example, the display unit 32 is configured with a liquid crystal panel, an organic or inorganic electroluminescence (EL) panel, or other display device.

[0012] The phrase display control device 20 is a device that controls the content to be displayed on the display unit 32 of the user terminal 30 based on input signals from the database 10 and the user terminal 30. As shown in Fig. 1, the phrase display control device 20 includes a content acquisition unit 21, a first phrase acquisition unit 22, a second phrase acquisition unit 23, a position setting unit 24, a boundary setting unit 25, a display control unit 27, and a memory unit 28.

[0013] The content acquisition unit 21, which serves as a document information acquisition unit, acquires multiple pieces of content. For example, the content acquisition unit 21 acquires multiple pieces of content stored in the database 10 from the database 10. Specifically, the content acquisition unit 21 acquires multiple pieces of content from the database 10 as search results when a user operating the user terminal 30 searches for one or more pieces of content stored in the database 10 in response to an input operation received by the input unit 31. The content acquisition unit 21 may be configured to acquire multiple pieces of content at once, or may be configured to perform a process of acquiring each piece of content multiple times. Furthermore, when acquiring multiple pieces of content, the content acquisition unit 21 may be configured to acquire information related to the time of the content, such as the date and time when the content acquisition unit 21 acquired the content, the date and time when the database 10 acquired the content, and the date and time when the creator of the content created the content. The content acquisition unit 21 stores information about the acquired content, etc., in the storage unit 28.

[0014] The first phrase acquiring unit 22 acquires a plurality of first phrases. For example, the first phrase acquiring unit 22 acquires a plurality of first phrases, which are phrases having meanings related to the plurality of contents acquired by the content acquiring unit 21, from the database 10, the storage unit 28, or the user terminal 30. Furthermore, for example, the first phrase acquiring unit 22 acquires first phrases, which are phrases corresponding to an input operation by the user accepted by the input unit 31, based on an input signal from the user terminal 30. Specifically, the first phrase acquiring unit 22 acquires first phrases, which are search phrases used when a user operating the user terminal 30 searches for one of the plurality of contents stored in the database 10, in accordance with the input operation by the user accepted by the input unit 31. In other words, the first phrase acquiring unit 22 acquires first phrases, which are search phrases corresponding to the input operation accepted by the input unit 31, when the user searches for one of the plurality of contents stored in the database 10 using the user terminal 30.

[0015] When the first phrase acquisition unit 22 is configured in this manner, the multiple contents acquired by the content acquisition unit 21 are search histories when a user searches for content based on the first phrase, and include the first phrase or a similar phrase to the first phrase acquired by the first phrase acquisition unit 22. The first phrase acquisition unit 22 may be configured to acquire the multiple first phrases directly from the user terminal 30, or may be configured to acquire the multiple first phrases as needed from the storage unit 28 that stores the multiple first phrases based on an input signal from the user terminal 30. The first phrase acquired by the first phrase acquisition unit 22 may be a word, a combination of multiple words, a phrase, a combination of multiple phrases, a single sentence, a combination of multiple sentences, or a combination of these words, phrases, and sentences.

[0016] The second phrase acquisition unit 23 acquires second phrases, which are phrases having meanings related to the multiple first phrases acquired by the first phrase acquisition unit 22. For example, when a user searches for one or multiple contents among the multiple contents stored in the database 10 based on one of the first phrases, the second phrase acquisition unit 23 acquires second phrases, which are phrases extracted from the multiple contents acquired by the content acquisition unit 21 as search results. Specifically, the second phrase acquisition unit 23 acquires, as the second phrase, a phrase selected based on usage frequency from the TKD (Title Keyword Description) of the HTML data, which is the multiple contents that are the search results, by text mining such as morphological analysis. When the second phrase acquisition unit 23 is configured in this manner, the multiple contents acquired by the content acquisition unit 21 include the second phrase acquired by the second phrase acquisition unit 23 or a similar phrase to the second phrase. The second phrase acquired by the second phrase acquisition unit 23 may be a word, a combination of multiple words, a phrase, a combination of multiple phrases, a single sentence, a combination of multiple sentences, or a combination of these words, phrases, and sentences. Details of the second phrase acquisition unit 23 and the second phrases will be described later.

[0017] The position setting unit 24 places each first phrase in a specific virtual space based on the degree of association between the multiple first phrases acquired by the first phrase acquisition unit 22. In other words, the position setting unit 24 sets the position of each first phrase in the specific virtual space based on the degree of association between the multiple first phrases acquired by the first phrase acquisition unit 22. For example, the position setting unit 24 sets the position of each first phrase in the specific virtual space in accordance with the degree of association between the multiple first phrases such that the higher the degree of association between the meanings of the first phrases acquired by the first phrase acquisition unit 22, the closer the first phrases are to each other.

[0018] For example, the position setting unit 24 vectorizes each first term acquired by the first term acquisition unit 22 based on the degree of relevance between the first terms and arranges these vectors in a multidimensional space, which is a specific virtual space, to set the position of each first term. Specifically, the position setting unit 24 vectorizes each first term acquired by the first term acquisition unit 22 based on the degree of relevance between the first terms and arranges these two-dimensional vectors in a two-dimensional space, which is a specific virtual space, to set the position of each first term. More specifically, the position setting unit 24 converts multiple first terms into vectors corresponding to the degree of relevance between each first term using an algorithm such as Word2Vec, based on multiple contents corresponding to the first terms. The position setting unit 24 stores the position of each first term in the specific virtual space in the storage unit 28.

[0019] The boundary setting unit 25 divides the specific virtual space in which the position setting unit 24 has arranged the multiple first phrases into multiple virtual regions and sets boundaries for each virtual region. In other words, the boundary setting unit 25 sets which virtual region each first phrase is included in when the specific virtual space is divided into multiple virtual regions based on the position of each first phrase in the specific virtual space set by the position setting unit 24. In other words, the boundary setting unit 25 divides the specific virtual space into multiple virtual regions based on the position of each first phrase in the specific virtual space set by the position setting unit 24, and associates each first phrase with one of the virtual regions. For example, the boundary setting unit 25 divides the specific virtual space based on a predetermined number of divisions. Specifically, the boundary setting unit 25 divides the two-dimensional space, which is the specific virtual space in which the multiple first phrases are arranged, into n×m regions based on the values ​​of n and m, which are predetermined natural numbers. The boundary setting unit 25 stores information about the boundaries of each set virtual region in the storage unit 28.

[0020] The display control unit 27 displays the plurality of first terms acquired by the first term acquisition unit 22 and the second terms acquired by the second term acquisition unit 23 on the display unit 32 of the user terminal 30 so that they are located in a specific virtual space. Details of the content displayed on the display unit 32 by the display control unit 27 will be described later.

[0021] The storage unit 28 stores information such as data, programs, parameters, etc., required for the word and phrase display control device 20 to perform various processes.

[0022] Next, the hardware configuration of the phrase display control device 20 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the phrase display control device 20 according to the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the phrase display control device 20 according to the first embodiment, which is different from that shown in FIG. 2. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the phrase display control device 20 includes a processor 20a, a memory 20b, and an I / O port 20c, and is configured so that the processor 20a reads and executes a program stored in the memory 20b. The memory 20b may be, for example, a non-volatile or volatile semiconductor memory such as a RAM, a ROM, a flash memory, an EPROM, or an EEPROM. The memory 20b may also be a magnetic disk, a flexible disk, an optical disk, a compact disk, a minidisk, a DVD, or the like. The memory 20b may also be an HDD or SSD.

[0023] 3, the phrase display control device 20 includes a processing circuit 20d and an I / O port 20c, which are dedicated hardware. The processing circuit 20d is configured, for example, by a single circuit, a composite circuit, a programmed processor, a parallel programmed processor, a system LSI (Large-Scale Integration), an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or a combination thereof. Each function of the phrase display control device 20 is realized by the processor 20a or the processing circuit 20d, which is dedicated hardware, executing a program that is software, firmware, or a combination of software and firmware.

[0024] Next, with reference to Figures 4 to 7, a process performed by the phrase display control device 20 to display various information on the display unit 32 will be described. Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the process performed by the phrase display control device 20 according to the first embodiment. As shown in Figure 4, when the process starts, the phrase display control device 20 first acquires a plurality of contents (step ST1). In this process, the phrase display control device 20 acquires a plurality of contents using the content acquisition unit 21 and stores them in the storage unit 28.

[0025] After performing the processing of step ST1, the phrase display control device 20 acquires a plurality of first words and phrases (step ST2). In this processing, the phrase display control device 20 acquires a plurality of first words and phrases to be displayed on the display unit 32 using the first word and phrase acquisition unit 22. After performing the processing of step ST2, the phrase display control device 20 sets the position of each first word and phrase in a specific virtual space (step ST3). In this processing, the phrase display control device 20 sets the position of each first word and phrase in the specific virtual space using the position setting unit 24 when displaying the plurality of first words and phrases on the display unit 32. For example, in this processing, the phrase display control device 20 sets the position of each first word and phrase in two-dimensional space using the position setting unit 24 when displaying the plurality of first words and phrases on the display unit 32.

[0026] 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the phrase display control device 20 according to the first embodiment has arranged a plurality of first words and phrases w1 in the virtual space S1. In FIG. 5, the plurality of first words and phrases w1 are arranged in the virtual space S1 based on the positions of the first words and phrases in the virtual space S1, which is a two-dimensional space serving as a specific virtual space and which are set by the position setting unit 24. The display control unit 27 may be configured to display the content shown in FIG. 5 on the display unit 32 in response to a user's input operation or based on a preset trigger, or may not be configured to display the content. After performing the processing of step ST3, the phrase display control device 20 divides the virtual space S1 into a plurality of virtual regions and sets boundaries of each virtual region (step ST6).

[0027] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the phrase display control device 20 according to the first embodiment divides the virtual space S1 into multiple virtual regions A1, A2, A3, and A4. For example, in the processing of step ST6, the phrase display control device 20 divides the rectangular virtual space S1 set by the boundary setting unit 25 into n×m virtual regions A1 to A4, sets a boundary L1 for each virtual region, and determines which virtual region contains each first phrase w1 arranged in the virtual space S1. This allows the phrase display control device 20 to determine which virtual region contains each first phrase w1 arranged in the virtual space S1. The display control unit 27 may be configured to display the boundary L1 on the display unit 32 in response to a user input operation or based on a preset trigger. The boundary setting unit may also be configured to divide the virtual space into multiple regions having shapes other than rectangles, such as hexagons, diamonds, squares, or other shapes.

[0028] After performing the process of step ST6, the phrase display control device 20 acquires second phrases corresponding to each virtual area using the second phrase acquisition unit 23 (step ST7). For example, in this process, the second phrase acquisition unit 23 acquires, for each virtual area, second phrases related to the first phrases located in the virtual area. Specifically, in this process, when a content search is performed based on the first phrases located in the virtual space S1, the second phrase acquisition unit 23 performs a process of extracting, for each virtual area, multiple phrases included in the multiple contents acquired by the content acquisition unit 21 as search results. Furthermore, for each virtual area, the second phrase acquisition unit 23 performs a process of acquiring, as second phrases, a predetermined number of phrases that are most frequently used among the extracted multiple phrases. In this process, the second phrase acquisition unit 23 acquires, as second phrases, a predetermined number of phrases that is less than the number of first phrases displayed in each virtual area. Specifically, the second phrase acquisition unit 23 extracts the top three most frequently used phrases from the extracted multiple phrases for each virtual area, and acquires the extracted three phrases as second phrases.

[0029] After processing step ST7, the phrase display control device 20 displays the first phrase and the second phrase acquired by the first phrase acquisition unit 22 and the second phrase acquisition unit 23 on the display unit 32 of the user terminal 30 (step ST8).

[0030] 7 is a diagram showing a plurality of first words w1 and a plurality of second words w2 that the word display control device 20 according to embodiment 1 causes to be displayed on the display unit 32. For example, in the processing of step ST8, the display control unit 27 causes the display unit 32 to display the plurality of first words w1 so as to be positioned in the virtual space S1 based on the positions of the first words w1 set by the position setting unit 24, and also causes the display unit 32 to display the second words w2 corresponding to each virtual region so as to be positioned in each virtual region. Also, for example, in the processing of step ST8, the display control unit 27 causes the display unit 32 to display the second words w2 corresponding to each virtual region so as to be positioned in the center of each virtual region.

[0031] For example, if the second word acquisition unit 23 acquires three second words w2, namely, "recipe," "world," and "difficult," as words having meanings related to the plurality of first words w1 located in the virtual area A1, the display control unit 27 displays these second words w2 side by side on the display unit 32 so that the second words w2 are located in the center of the virtual area A1. Also, if the second word acquisition unit 23 acquires three second words w2, namely, "design," "UI," and "graphics," as words having meanings related to the plurality of first words w1 located in the virtual area A2, the display control unit 27 displays these second words w2 side by side on the display unit 32 so that the second words w2 are located in the center of the virtual area A2.

[0032] For example, if the second phrase acquisition unit 23 acquires three second phrases w2, namely, "cold," "mask," and "infectious disease," as phrases having meanings related to the plurality of first phrases w1 located in the virtual area A3, the display control unit 27 displays these second phrases w2 side by side on the display unit 32 so that the second phrases w2 are located in the center of the virtual area A3. For example, if the second phrase acquisition unit 23 acquires three second phrases w2, namely, "environment," "CO2," and "ozone layer," as phrases having meanings related to the plurality of first phrases w1 located in the virtual area A4, the display control unit 27 displays these second phrases w2 side by side on the display unit 32 so that the second phrases w2 are located in the center of the virtual area A4. The display control unit 27 displays these second phrases w2 side by side on the display unit 32 so that the second phrases w2 are located in the center of the virtual area A4.

[0033] Furthermore, the phrase display control device 20 may be configured such that the position setting unit 24 sets the position of each first phrase in the specific virtual space according to the degree of association between the plurality of first phrases acquired by the first phrase acquiring unit 22 so that the higher the degree of association between the plurality of first phrases, the closer the positions of the first phrases to each other, and then fine-tunes the positions of the plurality of first phrases and the plurality of second phrases in the virtual space S1, and the display control unit 27 displays the plurality of first phrases and the plurality of second phrases whose positions have been fine-tuned on the display unit 32. For example, when the plurality of first phrases and the plurality of second phrases are arranged in the virtual space S1 and the plurality of first phrases and the plurality of second phrases are positioned so as to overlap each other, the position setting unit 24 may be configured to fine-tune the positions of the plurality of first phrases and the plurality of second phrases so as to reduce the amount of overlap between the plurality of first phrases and the plurality of second phrases.

[0034] The display control unit 27 displays on the display unit 32 a second phrase w2, which is a phrase having a meaning related to the multiple first phrases in each virtual area, so that the second phrase w2 is located within each virtual area. For example, the display control unit 27 displays on the display unit 32 a second phrase w2, which is a characteristic word indicating a characteristic of the multiple first phrases in each virtual area, so that the second phrase w2 is located within each virtual area. Therefore, by reading the second phrase w2 displayed on the display unit 32, the user can understand the general meaning of the multiple first phrases in the virtual area without reading all of the multiple first phrases in the virtual area. Furthermore, the display control unit 27 displays each first phrase w1 on the display unit 32 based on the degree of association between the multiple first phrases w1. Therefore, by reading the second phrase w2 displayed on the display unit 32, the user can infer the content of the first phrase w1 located around the second phrase w2. This allows the user to guess the approximate location in a specific virtual area of ​​the first phrase that the user is looking for among the multiple first phrases displayed on the display unit 32, and the user can easily find the desired phrase from the multiple first phrases located in the virtual space S1.

[0035] 7 , the display control unit 27 displays each first phrase w1 and each second phrase w2 on the display unit 32 in a different manner. For example, the display control unit 27 displays the first phrases w1 and the second phrases w2 on the display unit 32 so that each second phrase w2 is displayed in larger characters than each first phrase w1. For example, the display control unit 27 displays the first phrases w1 and the second phrases w2 on the display unit 32 in different colors. Specifically, the display control unit 27 displays the first phrases w1 and the second phrases w2 on the display unit 32 so that the visual difference in brightness, saturation, hue, etc. between each second phrase w2 and the background is greater than the visual difference between each first phrase w1 and the background.

[0036] Furthermore, for example, the display control unit 27 causes the display unit 32 to display the plurality of first phrases w1 and the plurality of second phrases w2 so that each second phrase w2 is in bold letters compared to each first phrase w1. Furthermore, for example, the display control unit 27 causes the display unit 32 to display the plurality of first phrases w1 and the plurality of second phrases w2 so that the transparency of each second phrase w2 is lower than the transparency of each first phrase w1. Furthermore, for example, the display control unit 27 causes the display unit 32 to display the plurality of first phrases w1 and the plurality of second phrases w2 by adding an underline, border, frame, or the like to each second phrase w2 so that each second phrase w2 is easier to read than each first phrase w1. In addition, the display control unit 27 may be configured to display the first phrase w1 and each second phrase w2 on the display unit 32 in a manner in which any one of the character size, brightness, saturation, hue, thickness, transparency, underline, border, and frame is different from each other, or may be configured to display two or more of these on the display unit 32 in a manner in which they are different from each other.

[0037] In this way, the display control unit 27 causes each first phrase w1 and each second phrase w2 to be displayed in a different manner on the display unit 32, thereby enabling the user to distinguish whether the phrase displayed on the display unit 32 is the first phrase or the second phrase, and to easily find the desired phrase from among the multiple phrases located in the virtual space S1. After performing the processing of step ST8, the phrase display control device 20 ends the processing.

[0038] 7 is not necessarily important information for the user, the display control unit 27 may be configured not to display the boundary L1 on the display unit 32. This configuration allows the user to easily read the first phrase that is positioned at a position that overlaps the boundary L1, and to easily find the desired phrase from among the multiple phrases positioned in the virtual space S1.

[0039] On the other hand, the display control unit 27 may be configured to display the boundary L1 on the display unit 32. With this configuration, even if the second phrase is not displayed in the center of the corresponding virtual region, the user can easily recognize the correspondence between each first phrase and each second phrase by visually recognizing the boundary of the virtual region corresponding to each second phrase. Furthermore, when the display control unit 27 is configured to display the boundary L1 on the display unit 32, the display control unit 27 does not need to display the second phrase in the center of the virtual region. For example, the display control unit 27 can arrange each second phrase at a position where it does not overlap with each first phrase or where it overlaps only slightly with each first phrase, thereby improving the visibility of the first phrase and the second phrase.

[0040] As described above, the phrase display control device 20 according to the first embodiment includes a first phrase acquisition unit 22 that acquires a plurality of first phrases w1, a position setting unit 24 that sets the position of each first phrase w1 in the virtual space S1 based on the degree of association between the plurality of first phrases w1, a boundary setting unit 25 that divides the virtual space S1 into a plurality of virtual areas A1 to A4 and sets the boundary L1 of each virtual area, a second phrase acquisition unit 23 that acquires second phrases w2 that are related to a plurality of first phrases w1 that are located in a specific virtual area among the plurality of virtual areas A1 to A4, and a display control unit 27 that displays the plurality of first phrases w1 on the display unit 32 so as to be located in the virtual space S1 based on the position of each first phrase w1 set by the position setting unit 24, and displays the second phrase w2 on the display unit 32 so as to be located in the specific virtual area.

[0041] With this configuration, the phrase display control device 20 allows the user to infer the content of the multiple first phrases in the virtual area where the second phrase w2 is displayed, based on the second phrase w2 displayed on the display unit 32, making it easier for the user to find a desired first phrase from the multiple first phrases located in the virtual space S1 than before. Furthermore, with this configuration, the phrase display control device 20 allows the user to grasp the trends and characteristics of the multiple first phrases displayed on the display unit 32, based on the second phrase w2 displayed on the display unit 32, thereby providing the user with new knowledge based on the multiple first phrases. For example, if the phrase display control device 20 is configured to acquire multiple first phrases as search terms when searching for any of the multiple contents using the first phrase acquisition unit 22, the phrase display control device 20 allows the user to grasp the trends and characteristics of the multiple first phrases displayed on the display unit 32, based on the second phrase w2 displayed on the display unit 32, thereby enabling the user to become aware of the user's own potential interests and providing the user with new knowledge based on the multiple first phrases.

[0042] Furthermore, the phrase display control device 20 according to the first embodiment includes a content acquisition unit 21 that acquires a plurality of contents each including a plurality of first words and phrases w1, and a second word acquisition unit 23 that acquires the second words and phrases w2 by extracting, from a plurality of contents each including a plurality of first words and phrases w1 located in a specific virtual area, second words and phrases w2 included in the plurality of contents. With this configuration, the phrase display control device 20 can more clearly identify the relationship between the plurality of first words and phrases w1 and the second words and phrases w2 in the virtual area corresponding to the plurality of first words and phrases w1, making it easier than ever to find a desired first word or phrase from the plurality of first words and phrases located in the virtual space S1.

[0043] In the first embodiment, the phrase display control device 20 is configured to acquire multiple contents by the content acquisition unit 21 as search results when searching for any of the multiple contents using the first phrase w1, but is not limited to this. The multiple first phrases may be any phrases having meanings related to the multiple contents. For example, the phrase display control device may be configured to acquire multiple first phrases by having the content acquisition unit acquire multiple contents in advance and then having the first phrase acquisition unit extract multiple first phrases from the multiple contents. In this case, the first phrase acquisition unit can extract the multiple first phrases from the multiple contents in a manner similar to the above-described method in which the second phrase acquisition unit extracts multiple second phrases from the multiple contents.

[0044] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the phrase display control device 20 is configured to acquire, as a search result when searching for any of a plurality of contents using a first phrase w1, the plurality of contents by the content acquisition unit 21, and then acquire a plurality of first phrases w1 related to the search. However, this is not limited to this. The plurality of first phrases may be phrases having meanings related to the plurality of contents. For example, the phrase display control device may be configured such that, each time a user performs an input operation on the input unit 31, the first phrase acquisition unit acquires a first phrase as a search phrase, and then the content acquisition unit acquires a plurality of contents as search results based on the first phrase. Furthermore, the plurality of contents acquired by the content acquisition unit is not limited to search results based on the first phrase, but may also be content viewed by the user among search results obtained when the user searches for content based on the first phrase.

[0045] Furthermore, the multiple first terms acquired by the first term acquisition unit do not have to be terms having meanings related to multiple contents, but may be multiple terms acquired as a data set from a database, a memory unit provided in the term display control device, a user terminal, or other device communicatively connected to the term display control device, or some of these multiple terms may be terms having meanings related to multiple contents.

[0046] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the phrase display control device 20 is configured to extract multiple second phrases w2 from multiple content items using the second phrase acquisition unit 23, but this is not limiting. The second phrases may be any phrases having meanings related to multiple first phrases. For example, the phrase display control device may be configured to acquire, from multiple first phrases located in a specific virtual area, second phrases having meanings related to these multiple first phrases using the second phrase acquisition unit. Specifically, the phrase display control device may be configured to acquire, from the multiple first phrases located in a specific virtual area, phrases selected based on usage frequency as second phrases using the second phrase acquisition unit. In this configuration, the phrase display control device does not need to include a content acquisition unit.

[0047] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the phrase display control device 20 is configured to acquire three second phrases w2 for each virtual area using the second phrase acquisition unit 23 and to display three second phrases w2 for each virtual area using the display control unit 27, but is not limited to this. The number of second phrases displayed on the display unit 32 may be a number other than three, including zero. For example, the number may be different for each virtual area, may be a number set according to the number of first phrases arranged in the virtual area or virtual space, or may be a number set by a user's input operation on the input unit 31. Furthermore, the phrase display control device may be configured to display more second phrases on the display unit 32 in a virtual area having more first phrases to be displayed on the display unit 32, and a virtual area in which the number of first phrases to be displayed on the display unit 32 is less than a predetermined threshold may display zero second phrases on the display unit 32.

[0048] Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the phrase display control device 20 is configured to set the positions of the multiple first phrases w1 in the virtual space S1 by the position setting unit 24 based on the relevance of the meanings of each first phrase w1, but this is not limited to this. The phrase display control device may be configured to set the positions of the multiple first phrases in the virtual space by the position setting unit based on the relevance between the multiple first phrases. For example, the phrase display control device may be configured to set the positions of the multiple first phrases in the virtual space based on the relevance of the date and time at which the first phrase acquisition unit acquired each first phrase, or based on the relevance of the meanings of each first phrase w1 and the relevance of the date and time at which each first phrase was acquired. Specifically, the phrase display control device may be configured to set the positions of the multiple first phrases in the virtual space such that the closer the date and time at which the first phrase acquisition unit acquired each first phrase, the closer the positions of the multiple first phrases in the virtual space will be. In addition, the phrase display control device may be configured to set the positions of the multiple first phrases in the virtual space so that the more recent the date and time at which the first phrase acquisition unit acquires each first phrase, the closer the positions of the multiple first phrases in the virtual space will be to a predetermined position in the virtual space, for example, the center of the virtual space.

[0049] 8 to 10, a phrase display control system 200 according to embodiment 2 will be described. The phrase display control system 200 according to embodiment 2 differs from the phrase display control system 100 according to embodiment 1 in that the phrase display control device includes a search unit 26, but the other configurations are similar, and the same components as those in embodiment 1 will be assigned the same reference numerals and will not be described again.

[0050] 8 , the phrase display control system 200 according to the second embodiment includes a database 10, a phrase display control device 220, and a user terminal 30, which are communicatively connected to one another. The phrase display control device 220 includes a content acquisition unit 21, a first phrase acquisition unit 22, a second phrase acquisition unit 23, a position setting unit 24, a boundary setting unit 25, a search unit 26, a display control unit 27, and a storage unit 28. The hardware configuration of the phrase display control device 220 according to the second embodiment is the same as that of the phrase display control device 20 according to the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described here.

[0051] The search unit 26 searches for one or more of the plurality of contents based on an input signal from the user terminal 30. For example, the search unit 26 searches for one of the plurality of contents acquired by the content acquisition unit 21 in response to a user's input operation on the input unit 31. Specifically, based on an input signal indicating that an input operation to select one of the plurality of first phrases displayed on the display unit 32 has been performed, the search unit 26 searches for one of the plurality of contents acquired by the content acquisition unit 21 using the first phrase as a search phrase. Note that, when searching for content, the search unit 26 may be configured to search for one of the plurality of contents stored in the storage unit 28 when the storage unit 28 stores the plurality of contents, or may be configured to search for one of the contents from the database 10 or another external device based on the reference destinations of the plurality of contents stored in the storage unit 28 when the storage unit 28 stores information regarding the addresses, URLs, etc. of the plurality of contents.

[0052] 9 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the phrase display control device 220 according to embodiment 2. As shown in Fig. 9, the processing performed by the phrase display control device 220 according to embodiment 2 differs from the processing performed by the phrase display control device 20 according to embodiment 1 in that after performing the processing of step ST8, the processing of steps ST11 to ST13 is performed.

[0053] 9 , after performing the processing of step ST8, the phrase display control device 220 determines whether or not there has been an input signal indicating a selection operation for any of the multiple first phrases displayed on the display unit 32 (step ST11). In this processing, the phrase display control device 220 determines whether or not there has been an operation by the user to search for any of the multiple contents using any of the multiple first phrases displayed on the display unit 32 as a search term. In the processing of step ST11, if there has been no input signal indicating a selection operation for any of the first phrases (NO in step ST11), the phrase display control device 220 ends the processing.

[0054] In the process of step ST11, if an input signal indicating a selection operation for any of the first terms is received (YES in step ST11), the phrase display control device 220 causes the search unit 26 to search for any of the multiple contents based on the selected first term (step ST12). In this process, the phrase display control device 220 saves the user the trouble of inputting the search term character by character each time the user searches for content. For example, if the first term displayed on the display unit 32 is a search term that the user has previously input, the user can save the trouble of inputting the same term each time the user searches for content that uses the same search term as in a previous search.

[0055] Note that, in the process of step ST11, when an input signal indicating a selection operation for any one of the first phrases is received, the display control unit 27 may be configured to display the selected first phrase and the other first phrases in different modes on the display unit 32. For example, in the process of step ST11, when an input signal indicating a selection operation for any one of the first phrases is received, the display control unit 27 displays the selected first phrase and the other first phrases w1 in different colors on the display unit 32. Specifically, the display control unit 27 displays the multiple first phrases on the display unit 32 so that the visual difference in brightness, saturation, hue, etc. between the selected first phrase and the background is greater than the visual difference between the other first phrases and the background.

[0056] Furthermore, for example, the display control unit 27 causes the display unit 32 to display the multiple first phrases so that the selected first phrase is displayed in larger letters than the other first phrases. Furthermore, for example, the display control unit 27 causes the display unit 32 to display the multiple first phrases so that the selected first phrase is displayed in bolder letters than the other first phrases. Furthermore, for example, the display control unit 27 causes the display unit 32 to display the multiple first phrases so that the transparency of the selected first phrase is lower than the transparency of the other first phrases.

[0057] Furthermore, in the process of step ST11, when an input signal indicating a selection operation for any one of the first phrases is received, the display control unit 27 may be configured to display on the display unit 32 other first phrases whose relevance to the selected first phrase is higher than a preset threshold value and the selected first phrase in a manner different from that of other first phrases whose relevance to the selected first phrase is lower than the preset threshold value. The difference in these display manners is similar to the difference in the manner in which the display control unit 27 displays the selected first phrase and other first phrases in different manners, as described above, and therefore will not be described again. After performing the process of step ST12, the phrase display control device 220 causes the display control unit 27 to display the content search results on the display unit 32 (step ST13).

[0058] 10 is a diagram showing a plurality of first phrases w1, a plurality of second phrases w2, and a search result r1 based on the first phrase w1 that the phrase display control device 220 according to the second embodiment displays on the display unit 32. For example, in the process of step ST13, the phrase display control device 220 displays a list of content search results r1 based on the selected first phrase w1 on the display unit 32 at a position that does not overlap with the virtual space S1. For example, when an input signal indicating a user's input operation to select one or more search results r1 displayed on the display unit 32 is received, the phrase display control device 220 causes the display control unit 27 to display content corresponding to the selected search result on the display unit 32. Note that in the process of step ST13, the phrase display control device 220 may be configured to display a list of the user's browsing history of content search results based on the selected first phrase w1 on the display unit 32, instead of displaying the list of content search results r1 based on the selected first phrase w1 on the display unit 32. After performing the process of step ST13, the phrase display control device 220 terminates the process.

[0059] As described above, the phrase display control device 220 according to the second embodiment includes the content acquisition unit 21 that acquires a plurality of pieces of content that include a plurality of first phrases w1, and the search unit 26 that searches for any of the plurality of pieces of content that includes the selected first phrase w1, based on an input signal indicating that any of the plurality of first phrases w1 has been selected. Being configured in this manner, the phrase display control device 220 according to the second embodiment can improve operability when searching for content based on the first phrase w1 as the search phrase by making it easier to find the first phrase w1 desired as a search phrase for content from the plurality of first phrases w1 displayed on the display unit 32.

[0060] In the second embodiment, the phrase display control device 220 is configured such that the search unit 26 searches for any one of the plurality of pieces of content acquired by the content acquisition unit 21 in response to a user's input operation on the input unit 31, but is not limited to this. The phrase display control device may be configured to enable the search unit to search for content in response to a user's operation from among the plurality of pieces of content, and for example, the phrase display control device may be configured such that, when an input signal indicating a selection operation for any one of the plurality of first words and phrases displayed on the display unit 32 is received, the search unit searches for new content via a network.

[0061] Embodiment 3 Next, a phrase display control system according to embodiment 3 will be described with reference to Fig. 11. The phrase display control system according to embodiment 3 differs from the phrase display control system 200 according to embodiment 2 in the processing performed by the search unit of the phrase display control device, but other configurations are similar, and the same components as those in embodiment 2 will be assigned the same reference numerals and descriptions thereof will be omitted.

[0062] Fig. 11 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the phrase display control device according to embodiment 3. As shown in Fig. 11, the processing performed by the phrase display control device 420 according to embodiment 3 differs from the processing performed by the phrase display control device 220 according to embodiment 2 in the processing of steps ST14 to ST16 that follow the processing of step ST8.

[0063] 11 , after performing the processing of step ST8, the phrase display control device according to the third embodiment determines whether or not there has been an input signal indicating a selection operation for any of the second phrases among the plurality of second phrases displayed on the display unit 32 (step ST14). In this processing, the phrase display control device according to the third embodiment determines whether or not there has been an operation by the user to search for any of the plurality of contents using any of the second phrases among the plurality of second phrases displayed on the display unit 32 as a search phrase. In the processing of step ST14, if there has not been an input signal indicating a selection operation for any of the second phrases (NO in step ST14), the phrase display control device according to the third embodiment ends the processing.

[0064] In the process of step ST14, if an input signal indicating a selection operation for any of the second phrases is received (YES in step ST14), the phrase display control device according to the third embodiment causes the search unit 26 to search for any of the plurality of contents based on the selected second phrase (step ST15). After the process of step ST15 is performed, the phrase display control device according to the third embodiment causes the display control unit 27 to display the search results of the content on the display unit 32 (step ST16). After the process of step ST13 is performed, the phrase display control device 220 ends the process.

[0065] 1 and 12, a phrase display control system 400 according to embodiment 4 will be described. The phrase display control system 400 according to embodiment 4 differs from the phrase display control system 100 according to embodiment 1 in the boundary setting unit provided in the phrase display control device, but other configurations are similar, and the same components as those in embodiment 1 will be assigned the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

[0066] 1, the phrase display control system 400 according to the fourth embodiment includes a database 10, a phrase display control device 420, and a user terminal 30, which are communicatively connected to one another. The phrase display control device 420 includes a content acquisition unit 21, a first phrase acquisition unit 22, a second phrase acquisition unit 23, a position setting unit 24, a boundary setting unit 425, a display control unit 27, and a storage unit 28. The hardware configuration of the phrase display control device 420 according to the fourth embodiment is similar to that of the phrase display control device 20 according to the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described here.

[0067] The boundary setting unit 425 divides a specific virtual space in which the position setting unit 24 has placed a plurality of first words and phrases into a plurality of virtual areas and sets boundaries of each virtual area. Furthermore, the boundary setting unit 425 changes the boundaries of each virtual area when dividing the virtual space into a plurality of virtual areas, based on a predetermined trigger. In other words, the boundary setting unit 425 moves the boundaries of each virtual area when dividing the virtual space into a plurality of virtual areas from a first position to a second position, based on a predetermined trigger. Furthermore, the boundary setting unit 425 selects either a first boundary or a second boundary as the boundary of each virtual area when dividing the virtual space into a plurality of virtual areas, based on a predetermined trigger.

[0068] For example, the boundary setting unit 425 sets the number of divisions when dividing the virtual space into a plurality of virtual areas based on the number of first words and phrases in the virtual space. In other words, the boundary setting unit 425 sets the boundaries of each virtual area when dividing the virtual space into a plurality of virtual areas based on the number of first words and phrases displayed on the display unit 32. Specifically, when the number of first words and phrases in the virtual space is greater than a predetermined threshold, the boundary setting unit 425 changes the number of divisions when dividing the virtual space into a plurality of virtual areas from a first number, which is the initial value, to a second number greater than the first number.

[0069] Fig. 12 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the phrase display control device 420 according to embodiment 4. As shown in Fig. 12, the processing performed by the phrase display control device 420 according to embodiment 4 differs from the processing performed by the phrase display control device 20 according to embodiment 1 in that after performing the processing of step ST3, the processing of step ST4 and step ST5 is performed before performing the processing of step ST6.

[0070] 12 , after performing the processing of step ST3, the phrase display control device 420 determines whether the number of first words and phrases located in the virtual space is within a preset threshold value (step ST4). In this processing, the phrase display control device 420 compares the number of first words and phrases located in the virtual space with the preset threshold value to determine whether the number of first words and phrases displayed on the display unit 32 is too large to be easily visible. In the processing of step ST4, if the number of first words and phrases located in the virtual space is within the threshold value (YES in step ST4), the phrase display control device 420 performs the processing of step ST6.

[0071] In the processing of step ST4, if the number of first words and phrases located in the virtual space is not within the threshold value (NO in step ST4), the phrase display control device 420 updates the number of divisions used to divide the virtual space. For example, if the number of first words and phrases located in the virtual space is not within the threshold value, the phrase display control device 420 updates one or both of the values ​​m and n, which are the numbers of divisions used to divide the virtual space S1 (see FIG. 6 ). Specifically, if the number of first words and phrases located in the virtual space exceeds the threshold value, the phrase display control device 420 changes the number of divisions used to divide the virtual space so that the number of divisions used to divide the virtual space becomes greater than the number of divisions already set.

[0072] The threshold value referenced in the processing of step ST4 does not have to be a single value, but may, for example, indicate a range of numerical values. When the threshold value is set in this manner and the number of first words and phrases located in the virtual space is smaller than the lower limit of the range indicated by the threshold value, the word and phrase display control device 420 may be configured to change the number of divisions into which the virtual space is divided so that the number of divisions becomes smaller than the number of divisions already set. After performing the processing of step ST5, the word and phrase display control device 420 performs the processing of step ST6.

[0073] As described above, the phrase display control device 420 according to the fourth embodiment is configured such that the boundary setting unit 425 sets the boundary of each virtual area based on the number of multiple first words and phrases displayed on the display unit 32. With this configuration, when the number of first words and phrases displayed on the display unit 32 is greater than a preset threshold, for example, the phrase display control device 220 increases the number of divisions into which the virtual space is divided, thereby making it possible to prevent a desired first word or phrase from becoming difficult to find due to a large number of first words and phrases being displayed on the display unit 32.

[0074] Furthermore, the phrase display control device 420 according to the fourth embodiment is configured to set boundaries of each virtual area based on an input operation by the user via the input unit 31. By being configured in this manner, the phrase display control device 220 can make it easier for the user to find a desired first phrase from among a plurality of first phrases displayed on the display unit 32 by enabling the user to set the number of divisions into which the virtual space is divided, for example, in accordance with the number and density of first phrases displayed on the display unit 32.

[0075] In addition, the boundary setting unit 425 is not limited to being configured to set the boundaries of each virtual area based on the number of first words and phrases in the entire virtual space, but may also be configured to set the boundaries of each virtual area based on the number of first words and phrases located in each virtual area, or, if the word display control device is configured to be able to change the apparent size of the virtual space displayed on the display unit in accordance with the user's input operation on the input unit, may be configured to set the boundaries of each virtual area based on the number of first words and phrases displayed on the display unit out of the first words and phrases in the entire virtual space.

[0076] 1 and 13, a phrase display control system 500 according to embodiment 5 will be described. The phrase display control system 500 according to embodiment 5 is different from the phrase display control system 100 according to embodiment 1 in that the phrase display control device has a display control unit that is different, but the other configurations are the same, and the same components as those in embodiment 1 are assigned the same reference numerals and description thereof will be omitted.

[0077] 1, the phrase display control system 500 according to the fifth embodiment includes a database 10, a phrase display control device 520, and a user terminal 30, which are communicatively connected to one another. The phrase display control device 520 includes a content acquisition unit 21, a first phrase acquisition unit 22, a second phrase acquisition unit 23, a position setting unit 24, a boundary setting unit 25, a display control unit 527, and a storage unit 28. The hardware configuration of the phrase display control device 520 according to the fifth embodiment is similar to that of the phrase display control device 20 according to the first embodiment, and therefore will not be described here.

[0078] The display control unit 527 changes the display modes of the first phrases and the second phrases displayed on the display unit 32, based on an input operation by the user on the input unit 31. For example, the display control unit 527 changes the display modes of the multiple first phrases and the multiple second phrases displayed on the display unit 32, based on an input signal indicating that the user has performed an input operation of a new phrase on the input unit 31. Specifically, based on an input signal indicating that the user has performed an input operation of a new phrase on the input unit 31, the display control unit 527 changes the display modes so that, among the multiple first phrases and the multiple second phrases displayed on the display unit 32, first phrases and second phrases whose relevance to the new phrase is lower than a preset threshold become less prominent than the display modes of first phrases and second phrases whose relevance to the new phrase is higher than the preset threshold. With this configuration, the phrase display control device 520 according to the fifth embodiment can make it easier for the user to find the desired phrase from the multiple first phrases by making other first phrases whose relevance to the desired first phrase is lower than a preset threshold.

[0079] Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the phrase display control device 520 according to embodiment 5. As shown in Fig. 13, the processing performed by the phrase display control device 520 according to embodiment 5 differs from the processing performed by the phrase display control device 20 according to embodiment 1 in that after performing the processing of step ST8, the processing of steps ST9 and ST10 is performed.

[0080] 13 , after the processing of step ST8, the phrase display control device 520 determines whether or not a narrowing-down phrase for narrowing down the first phrase has been input as a new phrase input operation by the user to the input unit 31 (step ST9). If a narrowing-down phrase has been input in the processing of step ST9 (YES in step ST9), the display control unit 527 changes the display mode of the first phrase and the second phrase displayed on the display unit 32 based on the relevance to the narrowing-down phrase (step ST10).

[0081] Sixth Embodiment Next, a phrase display control system according to a sixth embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 14. The phrase display control system according to the sixth embodiment differs from the phrase display control system 100 according to the first embodiment in that a plurality of first phrases and a plurality of second phrases are arranged in a plurality of virtual spaces, but the other configurations are the same.

[0082] As shown in FIG. 14 , the phrase display control system according to the sixth embodiment arranges a plurality of first words and a plurality of second words and phrases in a plurality of virtual spaces, including virtual spaces S1, S2, and S3. For example, the phrase display control system according to the sixth embodiment arranges each first word or phrase in one of the virtual spaces based on the date and time at which the first word or phrase acquisition unit acquired the first word or phrase. Specifically, the phrase display control system according to the sixth embodiment arranges the first word or phrase in virtual space S1 if the date and time at which the first word or phrase acquisition unit acquired the first word or phrase falls within a predetermined first period, and arranges the first word or phrase in virtual space S2 if the date and time at which the first word or phrase acquisition unit acquired the first word or phrase falls within a second period that is an earlier period than the predetermined first period. Note that the phrase display control system may be configured to arrange the first words and phrases in one of the plurality of virtual spaces based on genres that are highly associated with the plurality of first words and phrases. For example, the phrase display control system may be configured to arrange first phrases highly related to sports and first phrases highly related to economics in different virtual spaces. By being configured in this manner, the phrase display control system according to the sixth embodiment can reduce the difficulty in viewing caused by arranging many first phrases in a single virtual space, and can reduce the number of first phrases displayed on the display unit at one time, thereby reducing the processing load on the device.

[0083] In addition, the present disclosure allows for free combination of the respective embodiments, modification of any of the components of the respective embodiments, or omission of any of the components of the respective embodiments.

[0084] The phrase display control device according to the present disclosure can be used to organize information relating to a plurality of phrases, for example, by displaying the acquired plurality of phrases on a display unit.

[0085] 10 Database, 20 Phrase display control device, 21 Content acquisition unit (document information acquisition unit), 22 First phrase acquisition unit, 23 Second phrase acquisition unit, 24 Position setting unit, 25 Boundary setting unit, 26 Search unit, 27 Display control unit, 28 Memory unit, 30 User terminal, 31 Input unit, 32 Display unit, 100 Phrase display control system, 200 Phrase display control system, 220 Phrase display control device, 400 Phrase display control system, 420 Phrase display control device, 425 Boundary setting unit, 500 Phrase display control system, 520 Phrase display control device, 527 Display control unit, A1 Virtual area, A2 Virtual area, A3 Virtual area, A4 Virtual area, L1 Boundary, S1 Virtual space, S2 Virtual space, S3 Virtual space, r1 Search result, w1 First phrase, w2 Second phrase.

Claims

1. a first phrase acquiring unit that acquires a plurality of first phrases; a position setting unit that sets a position of each of the first words in a specific virtual space based on a degree of association between the plurality of first words; a boundary setting unit that divides the specific virtual space into a plurality of virtual regions and sets boundaries of each virtual region in a state in which the positions of the first words and phrases are set in the specific virtual space; a second phrase acquiring unit that acquires, based on a plurality of first phrases located in a specific virtual area among the plurality of virtual areas, second phrases related to the plurality of first phrases located in the specific virtual area in a state in which the specific virtual space is divided into the plurality of virtual areas; a display control unit that causes a display unit to display the first phrases so as to be located in the specific virtual space based on the positions of the first phrases set by the position setting unit, and causes the display unit to display the second phrase so as to be located in the specific virtual area. A phrase display control device comprising:

2. a document information acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of pieces of document information including the plurality of first words and phrases; The second term acquisition unit acquires the second term by extracting the second term included in a plurality of pieces of document information including a plurality of first terms located in the specific area.

2. The phrase display control device according to claim 1,

3. a document information acquisition unit that acquires a plurality of pieces of document information including the plurality of first words and phrases; a search unit that searches for any document information including the selected first phrase from among the plurality of first phrases, based on an input signal indicating that any first phrase has been selected from among the plurality of first phrases.

2. The phrase display control device according to claim 1,

4. The display control unit, based on an input signal indicating that any one of the plurality of first phrases is selected, causes the display unit to display the selected first phrase and the other first phrases in different modes.

4. The phrase display control device according to claim 3.

5. The first term acquisition unit acquires the first terms by extracting the first terms included in the plurality of pieces of document information from the plurality of pieces of document information.

5. The phrase display control device according to claim 1, wherein the phrase display control device is a display device for displaying a phrase.

6. The boundary setting unit sets a boundary of each virtual area based on the number of the first words displayed on the display unit.

5. The phrase display control device according to claim 1, wherein the phrase display control device is a display device for displaying a phrase.

7. The boundary setting unit sets the boundary of each virtual area based on an input operation to an input unit.

5. The phrase display control device according to claim 1, wherein the phrase display control device is a display device for displaying a phrase.

8. The display control unit causes the display unit to display the first phrases and the second phrase in different modes.

5. The phrase display control device according to claim 1, wherein the phrase display control device is a display device for displaying a phrase.

9. A phrase display control method performed by an apparatus including a first phrase acquisition unit, a position setting unit, a boundary setting unit, a second phrase acquisition unit, and a display control unit, comprising: a step of the first phrase acquiring unit acquiring a plurality of first phrases; a step of the position setting unit setting a position of each of the first phrases in a specific virtual space based on a degree of association between the plurality of first phrases; a step of the boundary setting unit dividing the specific virtual space into a plurality of virtual areas and setting boundaries of each virtual area in a state in which positions of the first words and phrases are set in the specific virtual space; a step of the second phrase acquiring unit acquiring, in a state in which the specific virtual space is divided into the multiple virtual regions, second phrases related to the multiple first phrases located in the specific virtual region based on the multiple first phrases located in the specific virtual region among the multiple virtual regions; a step of causing the display control unit to display the first phrases on the display unit so as to be located in the specific virtual space based on the positions of the first phrases set by the position setting unit, and causing the display unit to display the second phrase on the display unit so as to be located in the specific virtual area. A phrase display control method comprising: