JP7126282B1 - INFORMATION PROVIDING DEVICE, INFORMATION PROVIDING METHOD AND PROGRAM - Google Patents

Abstract

An information providing device, an information providing method, and a program capable of making it easier to convey the meaning of words and sentences that are difficult to translate are provided. A process executed by a processing unit 27 in response to a command from a storage unit 26 includes a step of acquiring speech information, a step of acquiring words of a first language system from the speech information as first language information, A step of acquiring words of a second language system translated from one language information as second language information, a step of providing the acquired second language information to the information display device 1, and an information display provided with the second language information. When receiving from the device 1 a provision request requesting provision of explanation information for a word or sentence in the second language information, a word or sentence in the first language information corresponding to the word or sentence in the second language information It includes a step of acquiring from the database 31 the explanatory information for the listener of the second language system associated with the sentence, and a step of providing the acquired explanatory information to the information display device 1 that made the request. [Selection drawing] Fig. 1

Description

The present invention relates to an information providing device, an information providing method, and a program for providing information on translated words.

Systems for automatic translation based on speech are generally known. For example, there are translation systems on the Internet that automatically translate the audio of videos played on video sites, etc., and portable translators that automatically translate sound input with a microphone on the spot. Are known.

Terms and expressions used exclusively in a specific country or region may be difficult to translate into the language of another country or region. On the other hand, with the progress of globalization in recent years, there are increasing opportunities for people with different language systems to collaborate in various fields such as construction and nursing care. Therefore, there are more and more occasions when it is necessary to communicate with foreigners using terms and expressions that have not been used so far with foreigners. Such terms and expressions are often not covered by conventional translation systems and translators, so there is a problem that it is difficult to convey the meaning as expected and smooth communication is difficult.

The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and its object is to provide an information providing device, an information providing method, and a program that can easily convey the meaning of words and sentences that are difficult to translate.

A first aspect of the present invention is an information providing device for providing information to an information display device that displays information related to translated words, comprising a processing unit and instructions executable in the processing unit. and a storage unit, wherein the processing unit is accessible to one or more databases, each database storing words or sentences in one language system and the words or sentences for listeners in other language systems. and one or more explanation information providing explanations directed toward the user are stored in association with each other, and the processing executed by the processing unit in response to the command of the storage unit includes a first step of acquiring voice information; a second step of acquiring, as first language information, words of a first language system from the first language information; a third step of acquiring, as second language information, words of a second language system translated from the first language information; a fourth step of providing the second language information acquired in step 3 to the information display device; a fifth step of obtaining, from the database, the explanatory information associated with the word or sentence of the first language information corresponding to the word or sentence of the second language information when a provision request for providing information is received; and, if the explanation information acquired in the fifth step includes words of the first language system, the words of the first language system are translated into the second language system by a translation server, and the second language a sixth step of acquiring the explanation information translated into the system, and providing the explanation information translated into the second language system acquired in the sixth step to the information display device that requested the provision request. a seventh step , when receiving a registration request for registration of the explanation information from the information display device while the explanation information translated into the second language system is being displayed by the information display device, responding to the registration request; and an eighth step of associating the explanatory information for listeners of the second language system concerned with the words or sentences in the first language information explained by the explanatory information and registering them in the database .

Preferably, the description information includes at least one of text information, image information, moving image information, audio information and address information, and the address information includes the text information, the image information, the moving image information and the audio information. Contains information about the addresses of servers on the network that provide at least one.

Preferably, the processing executed by the processing unit in response to the instruction of the storage unit is performed when a registration request for registration of the explanation information is received from the information display device that provided the second language information. A step of associating the explanation information for the listener of the second language system related to the registration request with the word or sentence in the first language information explained by the explanation information and registering it in the database.

Preferably, the database contains a word or sentence of one language system, one or more of the explanatory information that provides an explanation of the word or sentence for listeners of another language system, and the one or more of the explanatory information One or more evaluation values indicating evaluations for each are stored in association with each other, and the step of acquiring the explanation information stores a plurality of the explanation information associated with the words or sentences in the first language information in the database. When acquiring from, the step of providing the explanation information to the information display device includes acquiring the evaluation value of each of the plurality of the explanation information from the database, and the step of providing the explanation information to the information display device includes the words in the first language information or When providing a plurality of the explanatory information associated with a sentence to the information display device, the information for displaying the plurality of the explanatory information in a priority order according to the evaluation value of each of the explanatory information is provided to the information display device. including providing to the display device.

Preferably, the process executed by the processing unit in response to the instruction of the storage unit is performed when evaluation information indicating a user's evaluation of one piece of explanation information is received from the information display device. updating the rating value stored in the database in association with the information in accordance with the received rating information.

Preferably, the step of obtaining the second language information includes obtaining, as the plurality of second language information, words of a plurality of different second language systems translated from the first language information, and The step of providing bilingual information to the information display device includes providing a plurality of the second language information translated from the first language information to one or more of the information display devices.

A second aspect is an information providing method in which a computer provides information to an information display device that displays information related to translated words, wherein the computer is capable of accessing one or more databases, each of the above The database associates and stores words or sentences of one language system with one or more explanatory information that provide explanations for the words or sentences for listeners of other language systems, and acquires speech information. a first step; a second step of acquiring words in a first language system from the speech information as first language information; and acquiring words in a second language system translated from the first language information as second language information. a fourth step of providing the second language information acquired in the third step to the information display device; and from the information display device that provided the second language information, the second language information When a request for provision of the explanation information is received for the word or sentence in the second language information, the explanation information associated with the word or sentence in the first language information corresponding to the word or sentence in the second language information a fifth step of acquiring from the database; and, if the explanation information acquired in the fifth step includes words of the first language system, translate the words of the first language system into the second language system by a translation server. a sixth step of obtaining the explanation information translated into the second language system by obtaining the explanation information translated into the second language system obtained in the sixth step; and receiving a registration request from the information display device for registration of the description information while the information display device is displaying the description information translated into the second language system. If so, the explanation information for listeners of the second language system related to the registration request and the words or sentences in the first language information explained by the explanation information are associated and registered in the database. and an eighth step .

A third aspect is a program that causes a computer capable of communicating with an information display device that displays information related to translated words to execute processing, the computer being capable of accessing one or more databases, each The database associates and stores words or sentences of one language system with one or more explanatory information that provide explanations of the words or sentences for listeners of other language systems, and according to the program, The computer-executed processing includes a first step of acquiring voice information, a second step of acquiring words in a first language system from the voice information as first language information, and a second A third step of acquiring words of a bilingual system as second language information; a fourth step of providing the second language information acquired in the third step to the information display device; and providing the second language information. the first language information corresponding to the word or sentence in the second language information is received from the information display device that requests the provision of the explanation information for the word or sentence in the second language information a fifth step of acquiring from the database the explanatory information associated with the word or sentence of the first a sixth step of translating words in a language system into a second language system by a translation server and acquiring the explanation information translated into the second language system; and translating into the second language system acquired in the sixth step. a seventh step of providing the explanation information thus obtained to the information display device that requested the provision request; When receiving a registration request for registering the explanation information from and an eighth step of associating words or sentences and registering them in the database .

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information provision apparatus, information provision method, and program which can make it easy to convey the meaning of the word and sentence which are difficult to translate can be provided.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system including an information providing device according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for providing translated content to an information display device. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying content on the information display device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a setting screen displayed on the information display device. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for translating explanatory information and providing it to the information display device. FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for registering explanatory information in a database. FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for updating evaluation values according to evaluation information. FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for providing supplementary information attached to content to an information display device. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying guidance for supplementary information attached to content.

Input devices according to embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system including an information providing device according to this embodiment. The system shown in FIG. 1 has an information display device 1 and an information providing device 2 that can communicate with each other via a communication network 9 such as the Internet.

The information display device 1 is a device operated by a user viewing translated content. For example, the information display device 1 may be an information device such as a smart phone, a mobile phone, a tablet PC, a notebook PC, a desktop PC, or an electronic signage device (digital signage) that can be viewed by a plurality of people. The information providing device 2 performs processing for providing translated content (moving images, still images, audio, text, etc.) to one or more information display devices 1 in response to a request from the information display device 1 . The translation server 4 is a device that provides a translation service on the communication network 9, and performs a process of recognizing words in a specific language system from voice information and translating them into words in another language system.
[Information display device 1]
The information display device 1 includes a communication unit 11, an operation unit 12, a display unit 13, a sound input/output unit 14, an imaging unit 15, a storage unit 16, and a processing unit 17 in the example of FIG.

The communication unit 11 is a device for communicating with other devices (the information display device 1, the translation server 4, etc.) via the communication network 9, and for example, a predetermined communication standard (wireless LAN, Ethernet (registered trademark), etc.). ), including communication equipment (network interface cards, etc.)

The operation unit 12 inputs instructions and other information according to user's operations to the processing unit 17 . For example, the operation unit 12 includes at least one device with an input function such as a touch panel, touch pad, keyboard, mouse, button, and switch.

The display unit 13 is a device that displays an image according to the image signal generated by the processing unit 17, and includes display devices such as a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, and a projector.

The sound input/output unit 14 is a device for inputting and outputting sound, and includes, for example, a microphone, a speaker, an audio amplifier, an audio signal processing circuit, and the like.

The imaging unit 15 is a device for capturing an image, and includes, for example, an imaging device such as a CMOS sensor or a CCD sensor, an optical system, an image signal processing circuit, and the like.

The storage unit 16 stores instructions of the program PG1 executed by the processing unit 17, data temporarily stored during processing by the processing unit 17, data used for processing by the processing unit 17, and processing by the processing unit 17. Store the data obtained as a result of The storage unit 16 may include, for example, a main storage device (ROM, RAM, etc.) and an auxiliary storage device (flash memory, SSD, hard disk, memory card, optical disk, etc.). The storage unit 16 may be composed of one storage device, or may be composed of a plurality of storage devices. Each storage device constituting the storage unit 16 is connected to the processing unit 17 via a computer bus or any other information transmission means.

The program PG1 is input from a reading device (not shown) recorded in a computer-readable recording medium (USB memory, memory card, optical disc, or other non-temporary tangible medium) and stored in the storage unit 16. Alternatively, the information received from another device by the communication unit 11 may be stored in the storage unit 16 .

The processing unit 17 controls the overall operation of the information display device 1 and executes predetermined information processing. The processing unit 17 includes, for example, one or more processors (CPU, MPU, DSP, etc.) that execute processing according to instructions of one or more programs PG1 stored in the storage unit 16 . The processing unit 17 operates as a computer when one or more processors execute instructions of the program PG1 stored in the storage unit 16 .

Processing unit 17 may include one or more specialized hardware (ASIC, FPGA, etc.) configured to implement specific functions. In this case, the processing unit 17 may execute all processing in a computer, or may execute at least part of the processing in dedicated hardware.

[Information providing device 2]
The information providing device 2 has a communication section 21, a storage section 26, a processing section 27, and a database section 3 in the example of FIG.

The communication unit 21 is a device for communicating with other devices (such as the information display device 1) via the communication network 9, and conforms to a predetermined communication standard (wireless LAN, Ethernet (registered trademark), etc.), for example. communication devices (such as network interface cards) that communicate with each other.

The storage unit 26 stores instructions of the program PG2 executed by the processing unit 27, data temporarily stored in the course of processing by the processing unit 27, data used for processing by the processing unit 27, and processing by the processing unit 27. Store the data obtained as a result of The storage unit 26 may include, for example, a main storage device (ROM, RAM, etc.) and an auxiliary storage device (flash memory, SSD, hard disk, memory card, optical disk, etc.). The storage unit 26 may be composed of one storage device, or may be composed of a plurality of storage devices. Each storage device constituting the storage unit 26 is connected to the processing unit 27 via a computer bus or any other information transmission means.

The program PG2 is input from a reading device (not shown) recorded in a computer-readable recording medium (USB memory, memory card, optical disc, or other non-temporary tangible medium) and stored in the storage unit 26. Alternatively, the information received from another device by the communication unit 21 may be stored in the storage unit 26 .

The processing unit 27 controls the overall operation of the information display device 1 and executes predetermined information processing. The processing unit 27 includes, for example, one or more processors (CPU, MPU, DSP, etc.) that execute processing according to instructions of one or more programs PG2 stored in the storage unit 26 . The processing unit 27 operates as a computer when one or more processors execute instructions of the program PG2 stored in the storage unit 26 . The information providing apparatus 2 may include a plurality of such computers, and these computers may cooperate to perform processing by communicating via an arbitrary communication network.

Processing unit 27 may include one or more specialized hardware (ASIC, FPGA, etc.) configured to implement specific functions. In this case, the processing unit 27 may execute all processing in a computer, or may execute at least part of the processing in dedicated hardware.

The database unit 3 has a plurality of databases 31 each accessible by the processing unit 27 . Each database 31 includes, for example, a storage device such as a hard disk, SSD, or optical disk.

One database 31 contains words or sentences in one language system (e.g. Japanese) and one or more descriptive information that provide explanations of the words or sentences for listeners in another language system (e.g. Vietnamese). are stored in association with each other.
The description information includes, for example, at least one of text information, image information, moving image information, audio information, and address information. The address information includes information on the address of a server (such as a web server) on the network that provides at least one of text information, image information, video information and audio information.
For example, when providing Japanese content to listeners of five language systems, the database unit 3 has five databases 31 corresponding to these five language systems.

In addition, the database 31 associates words or sentences of one language system with one or more pieces of explanatory information directed to listeners of other language systems, and stores one or more pieces of information indicating an evaluation of each of the one or more pieces of explanation information. An evaluation value may also be stored. This evaluation value is used, for example, to determine the order of priority of each piece of explanatory information when displaying a plurality of pieces of explanatory information for explaining one word or sentence on the information display device 1 . Also, the evaluation value is updated according to the user's evaluation input on the information display device 1 .

Next, an example of processing in which the information providing device 2 provides the information display device 1 with content translated into words of a predetermined language system will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 selects content in a specific language system (temporarily referred to as the first language system) that can be provided by the information providing device 2, and converts the content to one or more other language systems (temporarily referred to as the first language system). A user's instruction to translate the content into a two-language system (referred to as a two-language system) and reproduce the content is input through the operation unit 12 (ST100). When this instruction is input, the processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 transmits to the information providing device 2 a reproduction request requesting that the content in the first language system be translated into one or more second language systems and reproduced ( ST105). This reproduction request may request that the content in the first language system be translated into a plurality of second language systems and reproduced.

The processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 that has received the reproduction request from the information display device 1 acquires the content related to the reproduction request (ST110). The processing unit 27 may, for example, acquire content stored in the storage unit 26 or may acquire content from other devices (video site, web server, etc.) connected to the communication network 9 . The content acquired by the processing unit 27 includes, for example, at least one of moving images, still images, audio, and text.

The processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 converts the speech information and text information of the first language system included in the content acquired in step ST110 into one or more words of the second language system specified by the reproduction request of step ST105. A translation request for translation is sent to the translation server 4 (ST115). In response to this translation request, the translation server 4 performs voice recognition on the voice information acquired from the information providing device 2, thereby extracting words in the first language system from the voice information contained in the content (hereinafter referred to as "first language information ) is extracted. The translation server 4 also translates the extracted first language information into one or more words of the second language system (hereinafter sometimes referred to as "second language information") (ST120). The translation server 4 transmits the information of the translation result (first language information, one or more second language information) to the information providing device 2 (ST125). If the translation request in step ST115 includes only text information in the first language system, the translation server 4 translates the text information into one or more second language systems. Information is transmitted to the information providing device 2 .

The processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 acquires the first language information and the second language information transmitted as the translation result (ST125) from the translation server 4, and stores them in the storage unit 26 (ST130). When the content includes only text information, the processing section 27 acquires this text information as the first language information. Then, the processing unit 27 transmits the reproduction data of the content related to the reproduction request (ST105) and the first language information and the second language information acquired in step ST130 to the requesting information display device 1 (ST135). .

The processing section 17 of the information display device 1 reproduces the content based on the reproduction data received in step ST135. The processing unit 17 also displays the one or more second language information (words of the second language system translated from the first language information of the content) received together with the content reproduction data on the display unit 13 (ST140). When requesting the information providing device 2 to translate content in the first language system into a plurality of second language systems and reproduce them, the processing unit 17 of the first display device 1 receives the user's input from the operation unit 12. At least one content in the second language system may be selected from a plurality of contents in the second language system obtained as translation results and displayed on the display unit 13 according to the instruction.

If the content to be played back takes a long time, the information display device 1 and the information providing device 2 repeat the processing of steps ST110 to ST135 described above until the playback of the content is completed.

The processing unit 17 of the information display device 1, while displaying the content and the second language information on the display unit 13, requests that a word or sentence in the second language information be specified and its explanation information be displayed. A user's instruction is input through the operation unit 12 (ST145). When the user's instruction is input, the processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 transmits to the information providing device 2 a provision request requesting provision of explanation information for the word or sentence in the second language information specified in the instruction ( ST150). When the processing unit 17 transmits a request for provision of explanatory information to the information providing apparatus 2, the processing unit 17 temporarily stops reproducing the content (ST155).

When the processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 receives a request for provision of explanation information from the information display device 1, the processing unit 27 of the first language information corresponding to the word or sentence in the second language information specified in the request for provision Alternatively, the explanation information associated with the sentence is acquired from the database 31 (ST160). In addition, when acquiring from the database 31 a plurality of explanatory information associated with a word or sentence in the first language information, the processing unit 27 also acquires from the database 31 an evaluation value for each of the plurality of explanatory information. Then, the processing unit 27 transmits the acquired description information and evaluation value to the information display device 1 that requested the provision (ST165). At this time, the processing unit 27 also transmits to the information display device 1 information for displaying each piece of explanatory information in a priority order according to the evaluation value of each piece of explanatory information. For example, the processing unit 27 may transmit the evaluation value of each description information to the information display device 1 as it is, or may send information on the priority order of each description information determined based on the evaluation value of each description information to the information display device. 1 may be sent.

When the processing section 17 of the information display device 1 receives the explanation information corresponding to the provision request from the information providing device 2, it displays the received explanation information (ST170). When the explanatory information is text information, image information, video information, audio information, etc., the processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 outputs the received information through the display of the display unit 13 and the speaker of the audio input/output unit 14. do. When the description information is address information, the processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 accesses the server on the network indicated by the address information, acquires text information, image information, video information, audio information, etc. from the server, It is output through the display of the display unit 13 and the speaker of the audio input/output unit 14 .
When a plurality of pieces of explanatory information are received from the information providing device 2, the processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 prioritizes them according to the priority information (evaluation value of each piece of explanatory information, etc.) provided from the information providing device 2. Explanation information with a higher rank is preferentially displayed on the display unit 13 . For example, the processing unit 17 may sequentially display each piece of explanatory information in the order according to the priority, or may display the pieces of explanatory information side by side on the screen of the display unit 13 in the order according to the priority.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displaying content on the information display device 1. As shown in FIG. On the screen A shown in FIG. 3, the content provided from the information providing device 2 is displayed in an area A5. When the content is a moving image, reproduction of the moving image is controlled by buttons A6 to A9 arranged below the area A5. That is, pressing the button A6 starts playback, pressing the buttons A7 and A8 skips forward or backward in playback time, and pressing the button A9 stops playback.

Of the five areas A3 arranged vertically on the left side of the screen A in FIG. One or more pieces of second language information provided from the information providing device 2 are displayed in the second area A3. An area A1 (an area surrounded by a dotted line frame) adjacent to the uppermost area A3 displays a symbol (national flag, etc.) representing the language system (first language system) before translation of the content. Areas A2 (areas surrounded by solid-line frames) adjacent to the second to fifth areas A3 from the top are the language systems (second language systems) of the second language information displayed in the areas A2 on the right side respectively. symbol (national flag, etc.) is displayed.

Buttons A4 for displaying screens B for setting shown in FIG. 4 are arranged on the right side of the five areas A3. When the button B1 on the screen B is pressed, a screen (not shown) for setting the content reproduction speed is displayed. When the button B2 on the screen B is pressed, the audio output of the content is turned on or off. When the button B3 on the screen B is pressed, a screen (not shown) is displayed for setting the language system (second language system) of the second language information to be displayed in the area A3 on the left side of the button A4. When the area B4 of the screen B is pressed, the display mode of the information display device 1 is switched between smartphone use and digital signage use. When the buttons B5 to B7 on the screen B are pressed, description information registration processing (ST300 to ST320: FIG. 6), which will be described later, is executed.

When the content is displayed in the area A5 of the screen A shown in FIG. , the reproduction of the content in the area A5 is paused, and explanation information (text , moving images, still images, etc.) is displayed in the area A5. If the explanation information includes voice information, the speaker of the sound input/output unit 14 outputs voice explaining the word or sentence in the dotted frame A11.

Below the area A5, a button group A12 is provided for selectively displaying a plurality of explanatory information for the word or sentence in the dotted frame A11 in the area A5. The numerical value of each button in the button group A12 represents the priority of display of each piece of explanatory information, and the smaller the numerical value, the higher the priority. Buttons for explanation information having the highest priority are arranged on the left side, and buttons located on the right side have a lower priority order. This makes it possible to refer to the explanation information in order from the one with the highest priority.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the explanation information for explaining the words or sentences included in the second language information translated from the first language information for listeners of the second language system is provided by the information display device. provided for 1. As a result, since the meaning of words and sentences can be grasped by referring to the explanation information, the meaning of words and sentences that are difficult to translate can be conveyed in an easy-to-understand manner to listeners of the second language system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for translating explanatory information and providing it to the information display device 1. As shown in FIG. Steps ST140 to ST160 in the flow chart of FIG. 5 are the same as the processes with the same reference numerals explained in FIG.

If the explanation information acquired from the database 31 in step ST160 includes words of the first language system, the processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 performs steps ST200 to ST215 similar to steps ST115 to ST125 described above. , obtains from the translation server 4 the explanatory information translated for the listener of the second language system.
That is, the processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 converts the voice information and text information of the first language system included in the explanation information acquired in step ST160 into the words of the second language system specified by the provision request of step ST150. A translation request for translation is sent to the translation server 4 (ST200). In response to this translation request, the translation server 4 recognizes the voice information acquired from the information providing device 2, thereby extracting the first language information from the voice information contained in the content. The translation server 4 also translates the extracted first language information into words of the second language system (second language information) specified in the translation request (ST205). The translation server 4 transmits the information of the translation result (first language information, second language information) to the information providing device 2 (ST210). If the translation request in step ST200 includes only the text information of the first language system, the translation server 4 transmits the second language information obtained by translating this text information into the second language system to the information providing device 2. do. The processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 acquires the first language information and the second language information transmitted as the translation result (ST210) from the translation server 4, and stores them in the storage unit 26 (ST215). When the explanation information includes only the text information of the first language system, the processing section 27 acquires this text information as the first language information. The processing unit 27 of the information providing apparatus 2 converts the data for reproduction of the content related to the provision request (ST150) and the second language information acquired in step ST215 into the second language system as explanation information translated into the second language system. It is transmitted to the display device 1 (ST220).
When the processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 receives the explanation information corresponding to the provision request from the information providing device 2, the processing unit 17 displays the received explanation information on the display unit 13 (ST225).

In this way, even if the explanation information registered in the database 31 is created in the words of the first language system, it is necessary to provide the information display device 1 with the explanation information translated for the listeners of the second language system. Information can be produced in terms of the first language system. Therefore, it becomes easy for those who deal with the first language system (content producers, etc.) to create the explanation information.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for registering explanatory information in the database 31. As shown in FIG. Steps ST100 to ST140 in the flow chart of FIG. 6 are the same as the processes with the same reference numerals explained in FIG.

When the processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 displays the second language information provided from the information providing device 2 (ST140), the processing unit 17 newly updates the explanation information of the words or sentences included in the second language information. A user's instruction requesting registration is input through the operation unit 12 (ST300). This instruction may specify a word or sentence included in the second language information (the second language information displayed in the second to fifth areas A3 from the top of the screen A in FIG. 3), A word or sentence included in the first language information (the first language information displayed in the uppermost area A3 on the screen A in FIG. 3) before translation of the second language information may be specified. The input of the instruction in step ST300 corresponds to, for example, pressing one of the buttons B5 to B7 on the screen B (FIG. 4) while specifying the word or sentence of the first language information or the second language information. do. The processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 inputs the moving image or the photograph specified by the user as explanation information when the button B5 is pressed, and inputs the words specified by the user as explanation information when the button B6 is pressed. Then, when the button B7 is pressed, the sentence specified by the user is input as the explanation information. When the processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 inputs the explanation information according to the user's instruction, it transmits a registration request for registering the explanation information to the information providing device 2 (ST310).

When the processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 receives the registration request (ST310) of the explanation information from the information display device 1, the explanation information (explanation information for listeners in the second language system) related to the registration request and this explanation The words or sentences in the first language information explained by the information are associated with each other and registered in the database 31 (ST315). When the registration of the explanation information in the database 31 is completed, the processing section 27 notifies the information display device 1 that requested the registration that the registration has been completed (ST320).

As described above, since the user of the information display device 1 can register the explanation information by himself/herself, each user enriches the explanation information in the process of operation, thereby more appropriately conveying the meaning of difficult-to-translate words and sentences. becomes possible.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for updating evaluation values according to evaluation information. Step ST170 in the flow chart of FIG. 7 is the same as the processing with the same reference numerals described in FIG.

The processing section 17 of the information display device 1 inputs a user's instruction to give an evaluation for the explanation information through the operation section 12 while the explanation information is being displayed in step ST170 (ST400). For example, when the button A10 on the screen A (FIG. 3) is pressed, the processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 determines that an instruction to give a favorable evaluation to the explanatory information being displayed has been input. When this instruction is input, the processing section 17 of the information display device 1 transmits evaluation information indicating the evaluation given by the user to one item of explanatory information being displayed to the information providing device 2 (ST405). When the processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 receives evaluation information for one piece of explanation information from the information display device 1, the evaluation value stored in the database 31 in association with this piece of explanation information is added to the received evaluation information. It updates accordingly (ST410).
In this way, the evaluation value of the explanation information is updated according to the evaluation of the explanation information given by the user, and the priority order of the explanation information display on the information display device 1 is changed. As a result, it is possible to preferentially display the explanatory information highly evaluated by the user on the information display device 1 . Therefore, it is possible to display more appropriate explanatory information and make it easier to convey the meaning of words or sentences that are difficult to translate.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart for explaining an example of processing for providing the information display device 1 with supplemental information attached to content. Step ST140 in the flow chart of FIG. 7 is the same as the processing with the same reference numerals described in FIG.

The processing section 17 of the information display device 1 notifies the presence of this attached supplementary information on the display section 13 when displaying the content in step ST140 (ST500). FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a screen A displaying guidance for supplementary information attached to content. A dashed-dotted line frame A13 enclosing the word "in this way" indicates that there is supplementary information corresponding to "in this way". When the processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 inputs an instruction (for example, a touch operation on the frame A13) to display the supplementary information in response to this guidance, the processing unit 17 transmits a supplementary information provision request to the information providing device 2. (ST510). Also, the processing section 17 of the information display device 1 temporarily stops the reproduction of the content (ST515). The processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 that has received the supplemental information provision request acquires the supplemental information attached to the content from the storage unit 26 or the like (ST520), and transmits it to the information display device 1 (ST525). The processing unit 17 of the information display device 1 displays the supplementary information received from the information providing device 2 on the screen of the display unit 13 (for example, area A5 of screen A in FIG. 3).

In this way, since the attached information of the content can be displayed as appropriate, it is possible to more easily understand the details of the content.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and includes various variations.

The method of specifying the language system before translation and the language system after translation in the information display device 1 may be a method of specifying by manual operation of the user, or a method of specifying based on the result of recognizing the words spoken by the user. Alternatively, a method of designating based on a result of identifying a user from a face image or the like may be used. For example, the processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 determines the language system of the words uttered by the user based on the information of the user's uttered voice input through the microphone of the sound input/output unit 14 provided in the information display device 1. may Alternatively, the processing unit 27 of the information providing device 2 identifies the imaged user from the image of the user's face imaged by the imaging unit 15 provided in the information display device 1, and associates the identified user with the image in advance. language system may be determined. A method of identifying a user is not limited to a method using a face image, and may be a method using other biometric information (fingerprint, vein, iris, etc.).

In the above description of the embodiment, an example of translating the language of audio information of content that has already been created is given, but the present invention is not limited to this example. In another embodiment of the present invention, voices of conversations between users and texts of chats conducted using a plurality of information display devices 1 may be translated in real time. In this case, on the screen A shown in FIG. 3, the speaker and the listener may be switched by touching the areas A1 and A2.

In addition, a separate website may be provided that provides explanations (description information) of terms used in translation. The user may evaluate and give points to web pages (such as photographs) that post explanations (explanatory information) of terms used in translation.

When translating the words contained in the speaker's voice input from the speaker in real time, the speaker's speaking speed is too fast for the translation process to keep up with, or the speaker's lively language is not good. A function may be provided for making a determination based on the determination and notifying the speaker through a speaker or the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Information display apparatus 11... Communication part 12... Operation part 13... Display part 14... Sound input-output part 15... Imaging part 16... Storage part 17... Processing part 2... Information provision apparatus 21 Communication unit 26 Storage unit 27 Processing unit 3 Database unit 31 Database 4 Translation server 9 Communication network

Claims (7)

An information providing device for providing information to an information display device that displays information related to translated words,
a processing unit;
a storage unit that stores executable instructions in the processing unit;
The processing unit is capable of accessing one or more databases,
Each said database associates and stores a word or sentence of one language system with one or more explanatory information that provides an explanation of the word or sentence for listeners of another language system,
The process executed by the processing unit according to the instruction of the storage unit includes:
a first step of obtaining audio information;
a second step of acquiring words of a first language system from the audio information as first language information;
a third step of acquiring words in a second language system translated from the first language information as second language information;
a fourth step of providing the second language information acquired in the third step to the information display device;
When receiving a provision request for providing the explanation information for the word or sentence in the second language information from the information display device that provided the second language information, the word or sentence in the second language information a fifth step of obtaining from the database the descriptive information associated with the corresponding word or sentence of the first linguistic information;
When the explanation information acquired in the fifth step includes words in the first language system, the words in the first language system are translated into a second language system by a translation server, and the words in the second language system are translated into the second language system. a sixth step of obtaining the translated descriptive information;
a seventh step of providing the explanation information translated into the second language system acquired in the sixth step to the information display device that requested the provision request;
When receiving a registration request for registration of the explanation information from the information display device while the explanation information translated into the second language system is being displayed by the information display device, the second language related to the registration request and an eighth step of associating the explanation information for system listeners with the words or sentences in the first language information explained by the explanation information and registering them in the database . The description information includes at least one of text information, image information, video information, audio information and address information,
The address information includes information on the address of a server on a network that provides at least one of the text information, the image information, the video information, and the audio information.
The information providing device according to claim 1. The database contains a word or sentence of one language system, one or more of the explanatory information that provides an explanation of the word or sentence for listeners of another language system, and an evaluation of each of the one or more of the explanatory information. is stored in association with one or more evaluation values indicating
The fifth step acquires the evaluation value of each of the plurality of explanation information from the database when the plurality of explanation information associated with the word or sentence in the first language information is acquired from the database. including
In the seventh step, when providing the information display device with a plurality of the explanatory information associated with the words or sentences in the first language information, in order of priority according to the evaluation value of each of the explanatory information Providing the information display device with information for displaying the plurality of the explanatory information,
The information providing device according to claim 1. The process executed by the processing unit in response to the command of the storage unit is associated with the one piece of explanation information when evaluation information indicating a user's evaluation of the piece of explanation information is received from the information display device. updating the evaluation value stored in the database according to the received evaluation information,
The information providing device according to claim 3. The third step includes obtaining, as a plurality of second language information, a plurality of different words of the second language system translated from the first language information,
The fourth step includes providing a plurality of the second language information translated from the first language information to one or more of the information display devices,
The information providing device according to claim 1. An information providing method in which a computer provides information to an information display device that displays information related to translated words,
the computer has access to one or more databases;
Each said database associates and stores a word or sentence of one language system with one or more explanatory information that provides an explanation of the word or sentence for listeners of another language system,
a first step of obtaining audio information;
a second step of acquiring words of a first language system from the audio information as first language information;
a third step of acquiring words in a second language system translated from the first language information as second language information;
a fourth step of providing the second language information acquired in the third step to the information display device;
When receiving a provision request for providing the explanation information for the word or sentence in the second language information from the information display device that provided the second language information, the word or sentence in the second language information a fifth step of obtaining from the database the descriptive information associated with the corresponding word or sentence of the first linguistic information;
When the explanation information acquired in the fifth step includes words in the first language system, the words in the first language system are translated into a second language system by a translation server, and the words in the second language system are translated into the second language system. a sixth step of obtaining the translated descriptive information;
a seventh step of providing the explanation information translated into the second language system acquired in the sixth step to the information display device that requested the provision request;
When receiving a registration request for registration of the explanation information from the information display device while the explanation information translated into the second language system is being displayed by the information display device, the second language related to the registration request an information providing method comprising: an eighth step of associating the explanation information for system listeners and the words or sentences in the first language information explained by the explanation information and registering them in the database . A program that causes a computer capable of communicating with an information display device that displays information related to translated words to execute processing,
the computer has access to one or more databases;
Each said database associates and stores a word or sentence of one language system with one or more explanatory information that provides an explanation of the word or sentence for listeners of another language system,
The process executed by the computer according to the program includes:
a first step of obtaining audio information;
a second step of acquiring words of a first language system from the audio information as first language information;
a third step of acquiring words in a second language system translated from the first language information as second language information;
a fourth step of providing the second language information acquired in the third step to the information display device;
When receiving a provision request for providing the explanation information for the word or sentence in the second language information from the information display device that provided the second language information, the word or sentence in the second language information a fifth step of obtaining from the database the descriptive information associated with the corresponding word or sentence of the first linguistic information;
When the explanation information acquired in the fifth step includes words in the first language system, the words in the first language system are translated into a second language system by a translation server, and the words in the second language system are translated into the second language system. a sixth step of obtaining the translated descriptive information;
a seventh step of providing the explanation information translated into the second language system acquired in the sixth step to the information display device that requested the provision request;
When receiving a registration request for registration of the explanation information from the information display device while the explanation information translated into the second language system is being displayed by the information display device, the second language related to the registration request and an eighth step of associating the explanation information for system listeners and the words or sentences in the first language information explained by the explanation information and registering them in the database .

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