INFORMATION SEARCH APPARATUS, INFORMATION SEARCH METHOD, INFORMATION SEARCH PROGRAM, AND GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE

• US 20070179938A1
• Filed: 01/17/2007
• Published: 08/02/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Sony Corporation (Sony Group Corp.)
• Inventors: Ikeda, Takuo, Furue, Nobuki, Tajika, Wataru, Kitao, Takashi, Kikuchi, Yuhei
• Granted Patent: US 7,734,612 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/904 Browsing; Visualisation therefor for navigating the web G06F16/954; browsing optimisation for the web G06F16/957

Abstract

Disclosed herein is an information search apparatus includes: search means configured to search for an associated object associated with a specified search source object; associated object display means configured to display a searched associated object onto a display screen; display count setting object display means configured to display a display count setting object for setting the number of the associated objects to be displayed on the display screen onto the display screen; and associated object display count control means configured to, if a setting of the number of associated objects has been changed by an operation executed on the display count setting object, adjust the number of associated objects displayed on the display screen in accordance with the changed setting and display the resultant number of associated objects.

Claims

1. An information search apparatus comprising:

search means configured to search for an associated object associated with a specified search source object;

associated object display means configured to display a searched associated object onto a display screen;

display count setting object display means configured to display a display count setting object for setting the number of the associated objects to be displayed on said display screen onto said display screen; and

associated object display count control means configured to, if a setting of the number of associated objects has been changed by an operation executed on the display count setting object, adjust the number of associated objects displayed on said display screen in accordance with the changed setting and display the resultant number of associated objects.

2. The information search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein, using the specified associated object as a new search source object, said search means searches for an associated object associated with the search source object and the associated object display means displays the searched object associated with the new search source object.

3. An information search apparatus comprising:

search means configured to search an associated object in accordance with a degree of association with a specified search source object;

display means configured to display the searched associated object and a degree-of-association change object for changing the degree of association onto a display screen;

degree-of-association change means configured to change the degree of association in accordance with an operation executed on the degree of association change object; and

display control means configured to adjust the number of the associated objects in accordance with the change of the degree of association by said degree of association change means.

4. The information search apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, using the specified associated object as a new search source object, said search means searches for an associated object in accordance with a degree of association with the new search source object and said display means displays an associated object searched in accordance with a degree of association with the new search source object and a degree-of-association change object for changing a degree of association of a new search source object onto said display screen.

5. The information search apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said display control means changes a display form of the associated object in accordance with the change of the degree of associated by said degree of association change means.

6. The information search apparatus according to claim 3, wherein, in displaying the associated object onto said display screen, said display control means changes a display form of the associated object in accordance with a degree of association of the search source object.

7. The information search apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said display control means displays, onto a first display layer in said display screen, a candidate object that provides a candidate for said search means to search for an associated object in accordance with a degree of association with the search source object and the searched associated object and the degree-of-association changed object onto a second display layer in said display screen.

8. The information search apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said display control means displays, onto said display screen, an icon configured to specify a playlist creation including the associated object searched by said search means.

9. An information search method comprising the steps of:

searching for an associated object associated with a specified search source object;

displaying a searched associated object onto a display screen;

displaying a display count setting object configured to set the number of the associated objects to be displayed on said display screen onto said display screen; and

adjusting, if a setting of the number of associated objects has been changed by an operation executed on the display count setting object, the number of associated objects displayed on said display screen in accordance with the changed setting and displaying the resultant number of associated objects.

10. An information search program for making an information processing apparatus execute the steps of:

searching for an associated object associated with a specified search source object;

displaying a searched associated object onto a display screen;

displaying a display count setting object configured to set the number of the associated objects to be displayed on said display screen onto said display screen; and

adjusting, if a setting of the number of associated objects has been changed by an operation executed on the display count setting object, the number of associated objects displayed on said display screen in accordance with the changed setting and displaying the resultant number of associated objects.

11. A graphical user interface configured to search an associated object associated with a search source object, comprising the steps of:

searching an associated object associated with a specified search source object;

displaying a searched associated object onto a display screen;

displaying a display count setting object configured to set the number of the associated objects to be displayed on said display screen onto said display screen; and

adjusting, if a setting of the number of associated objects has been changed by an operation executed on the display count setting object, the number of associated objects displayed on said display screen in accordance with the changed setting and displaying the resultant number of associated objects.

12. An information search apparatus comprising:

a search section configured to search an associated object associated with a specified search source object;

an associated object display section configured to display a searched associated object onto a display screen;

a display count setting object display section configured to display a display count setting object for setting the number of the associated objects to be displayed on said display screen onto said display screen; and

an associated object display count control section configured to, if a setting of the number of associated objects has been changed by an operation executed on the display count setting object, adjust the number of associated objects displayed on said display screen in accordance with the changed setting and display the resultant number of associated objects.

13. An information search apparatus comprising:

a search section configured to search an associated object in accordance with a degree of association with a specified search source object;

a display section configured to display the searched associated object and a degree-of-association change object for changing the degree of association onto a display screen;

a degree-of-association change section configured to change the degree of association in accordance with an operation executed on the degree of association change object; and

a display control section configured to adjust the number of the associated objects in accordance with the change of the degree of association by the degree of association change section.