Patent Application
20120287020
The present disclosure relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer program.
There is a technology of allowing a plurality of users to simultaneously view the same content (for example, a Web page on the Internet) by an application for displaying the content (for example, a Web browser) (for example, see JP 2011-70511A). Taking here the relation between a Web page and a Web browser as an example, when a user selects a link on a Web page or scroll the Web page, this technology causes such an action to be reflected in the Web browser of another user. With this technology, a plurality of users can simultaneously view a Web page in the same manner.
A concept of a user who only views the viewing and operation of the same Web page by a plurality of users is provided by applying this technology. This is a technology of sharing viewing of a Web page in real time among a plurality of Web browsers. In this sharing, in addition to displaying the Web page at the same URL, scrolling and a mouse cursor can also be shared. According to this technology, communication such as a chat between a plurality of users about a popular Web page can be realized by only the Web browser.
Feedback is returned as necessary from a user who only views the viewing and operation of the same Web page by a plurality of users. However, if the feedback is randomly displayed on the screen, smooth communication will be hindered.
The present disclosure has been made in view of the above circumstances, and intends to provide an information process apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer program which are novel and improved, and which are capable of realizing smooth communication by feedback from a user who only views the viewing and operation of the same Web page by a plurality of users.
According to the present disclosure, there is provided an information processing apparatus which includes a content display unit for sharing and displaying same content as content that is operated by a player who directly operates content, in real time with the player side, and a display control unit for causing comments transmitted from the information processing apparatus and another information processing apparatus that are used only to view an operation of the player to appear regularly according to a predetermined pattern, in a predetermined area of the content shared and displayed in real time with the player side by the content display unit.
Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, there is provided an information processing method performed by an information processing apparatus, which includes displaying same content as shared content that is operated by a player who directly operates content, in real time with the player side, and causing comments transmitted from the information processing apparatus and another information processing apparatus that are used only to view an operation of the player to appear regularly according to a predetermined pattern, in a predetermined area of the content that is shared and displayed in real time with the player side in the step of displaying.
Furthermore, according to the present disclosure, there is provided a computer program for causing an information processing apparatus to perform displaying same content as shared content that is operated by a player who directly operates content, in real time with the player side, and causing comments transmitted from the information processing apparatus and another information processing apparatus that are used only to view an operation of the player to appear regularly according to a predetermined pattern, in a predetermined area of the content that is shared and displayed in real time with the player side in the step of displaying.
As described above, according to the present disclosure, there can be provided an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a computer program which are novel and improved, and which are capable of realizing smooth communication by feedback from a user who only views the viewing and operation of the same Web page by a plurality of users.
Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the appended drawings. Note that, in this specification and the appended drawings, structural elements that have substantially the same function and configuration are denoted with the same reference numerals, and repeated explanation of these structural elements is omitted.
Additionally, an explanation will be given in the following order.
<1. Embodiment of Present Disclosure>
[1-1. Example of Overall Configuration of Content Sharing System]
[1-2. Overview of Each Device]
[1-3. Operation of Each Device]
[1-4. Example User Interface]
<2. Summary>
[1-1. Example of Overall Configuration of Content Sharing System]
First, an overall configuration of a content sharing system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.
The content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure shown in
The information processing apparatuses 100a, 100b, 200a, 200b, and 200c connected to the network 10 can simultaneously display a Web page on the Web server 30. Information processing apparatuses connected to the network 10 are divided into those enabling simultaneous viewing of one Web page and operation of the Web page, and those used, not to operate the Web page that is displayed, but to view the one Web page that is displayed simultaneously with other users. In the following explanation, a user operating the former information processing apparatus will be referred to as a “player,” and a user operating the latter information processing apparatus as an “audience member.” In the present embodiment, the information processing apparatuses 100a and 100b are information processing apparatuses operated by the “players,” and the information processing apparatuses 200a, 200b, and 200c are information processing apparatuses operated by the “audience members.”
The information processing apparatuses 100a and 100b to be operated by the players are used by players operating a shared Web page. In the information processing apparatuses 100a and 100b, Web browsers provided with a browser extension function are working, and a browser extension application dedicated to the content sharing system 1 is installed in the Web browsers. Players perform normal browsing of a Web page by the Web browsers working in the information processing apparatuses 100a and 100b, and the Web page being viewed is shared in real time by the player side and the audience side. The existing Web page that is shared at this time is directly loaded from the Web server 30 providing existing Web pages. Furthermore, if the players speak to microphones provided in the information processing apparatuses 100a and 100b while browsing a Web page, the content of the speech will be output from information processing apparatuses operated by other players and audience members.
The information processing apparatuses 200a, 200b, and 200c to be operated by audience members are used by audience members who only view, at the same time, a Web page that is being operated by a player. Web browsers work in the information processing apparatuses 200a, 200b, and 200c operated by the audience members. An audience member inputs a specific URL using the Web browser, loads a Web application dedicated to this system on the Web browser, and causes a Web page to be displayed. This dedicated Web application displays in real time at the information processing apparatuses 200a, 200b, and 200c operated by the audience members operation of a Web page, being viewed, by a player. The existing Web page that is shared at this time is directly loaded from the Web server 30 providing existing Web pages.
The system server 20 is a server for sharing, and displaying, one Web page among a plurality of information processing apparatuses connected to the network 10. Although the configuration of the system server 20 will be described later, the system server 20 receives details of operations of players from the information processing apparatuses 100a and 100b operated by the players, and transmits the details of the operations of the players to the information processing apparatuses 200a, 200b, and 200c operated by audience members to have them displayed by the information processing apparatuses 200a, 200b, and 200c. Furthermore, the system server 20 also has a Web application server function for providing a dedicated Web application to the information processing apparatuses 200a, 200b, and 200c operated by the audience members. Additionally, the two functions described above may be provided in one appliance as in the present embodiment, or may be provided in separate appliances.
Additionally,
Additionally, in
In the above, an overall configuration of the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been described using
[1-2. Overview of Each Device]
As shown in
A browser extension application 140 dedicated to the content sharing system 1 is installed in the Web browser 130. The Web browser 130 displays an existing Web page 150 that is directly loaded from the Web server 30 providing existing Web pages.
The browser extension application 140 injects a content script, which is a part thereof, into the existing Web page 150. This content script performs monitoring of an event of a user and acquisition of data that is necessary for sharing, to share one Web page in real time among the information processing apparatuses on the player side and the information processing apparatus on the audience side.
As shown in
The relay server 23 has a function of relaying messages exchanged between the browser extension application 140 operating on the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side and the dedicated Web application 240 operating on the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side.
This relay server 23 has two main functions. The first function is to manage the player and the audience member connected to the relay server 23. A player or an audience member establishes a connection to the relay server 23 using a technology such as Comet relying on HTML5 WebSocket or HTML5 XmlHttpRequest. This is because, to transfer in real time a message received from the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side to another player or the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side, it is important that these connections are managed by a database or the like.
The other function is to transfer information, such as an URL received from the browser extension application 140, a render size, a scroll position, a cursor position and the like, to the dedicated Web application 240 operating on the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side or a browser extension application of an information processing apparatus other than the information processing apparatus which is the transmission source, registered in the database described above for managing the connection.
The dedicated Web application server 24 stores a dedicated Web application that runs on the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side. The dedicated Web application server 24 provides, when requested by the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side, a dedicated Web application stored in the dedicated Web application server 24 to the information processing apparatus 200a. A dedicated Web application is provided from the dedicated Web application server 24 based on an access to a specific URL from a Web browser 230 working on the information processing apparatus 200a.
As shown in
As described above, when a specific URL is accessed through the Web browser 230 working on the information processing apparatus 200a, a dedicated Web application for sharing in real time a Web page that is being viewed and operated by a player is loaded from the dedicated Web application server 24. The Web browser 230 displays, by the dedicated Web application 240 which has been loaded, an existing Web page 150 that is being viewed and operated by a player, and thereby displays in real time operation, by the player, of the Web page that is being viewed.
With each device configuring the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure being configured in this manner, the content of a Web page displayed on the information processing apparatus on the player side is simultaneously displayed on the information processing apparatus on the audience side.
In the foregoing, an overview of each device configuring the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been given using
As described above, the information processing apparatus 100a is configured, including the hardware 110 configured from a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a display and the like, the OS 120 run by the hardware 110, and the Web browser 130 run by the OS 120.
The hardware 110 includes a communication module 111. The communication module 111 carries out the communication between the browser extension application 140 described below and the relay server 23. The OS 120 is software that provides basic functions that are commonly used by a plurality of pieces of application software, including input/output functions, such as keyboard input by a user and screen output, and a management function of a disk or a memory, and that manages the information processing apparatus 100a.
The Web browser 130 is software for displaying a Web page, which is run by the OS 120. The Web browser 130 is configured, including an HTML engine 131, a scripting language processing engine 132, a browser extension application execution engine 133, a drawing processing engine 134, and a protocol stack 135.
The HTML engine 131 analyses, with respect to an existing Web page 150 sent from the Web server 30 and written in HTML language, the HTML language sent from the Web server 30. When the HTML language written in the existing Web page 150 is analysed by the HTML engine 131, the analysis result is output by the drawing processing engine 134 as an image. The existing Web page 150 sent from the Web server 30 includes content 151 of the existing Web page. The content 151 of the existing Web page is configured, including an HTML document 152 describing the details of the content, a style sheet 153 defining the layout of the content, and a script 154 defining the operation of the content.
The scripting language processing engine 132 interprets the scripting language embedded in a Web page sent from the Web server 30 and written in the HTML language, and executes the script. According to the present embodiment, the scripting language processing engine 132 interprets the details of a content script 155 embedded, by the browser extension application 140 that is installed in the Web browser 130, in a Web page sent from the Web server 30, and executes the script.
The browser extension application execution engine 133 runs the browser extension application 140 that is installed in the Web browser 130. According to the present embodiment, the browser extension application execution engine 133 performs exchange of data between the content script 155 and the browser extension application 140. The browser extension application 140 is installed in the information processing apparatus 100a by the Web browser 130 accessing a predetermined URL, for example, and is run together with the Web browser 130 at the time of execution of the Web browser 130.
The drawing processing engine 134 performs a drawing process for outputting an image based on an analysis result by the HTML engine 131 of a Web page written in HTML language. The protocol stack 135 is a group of pieces of software for providing a network function, and the Web browser 130 can, for example, acquire a Web page from the Web server 30 or transmit the status of the Web browser 130 to the relay server 23, by the protocol stack 135.
To share in real time a Web page that a player is viewing at the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side, the viewing status of the Web page by the player has to be monitored at all times, and data necessary for sharing has to be transmitted to the relay server 23 according to the change in the status. Pieces of data necessary for sharing are the following four types.
Many of these pieces of data can be accessed only through an existing Web page that is being viewed using the Web browser 130. Thus, to monitor/acquire these pieces of data, a program dedicated to this system has to be able to access the existing Web page 150. However, normally, a Web browser is provided with a mechanism called “Same Origin Policy” for maintaining security. This mechanism is for preventing access from a Web page in a domain to a Web page in another domain.
Thus, the content sharing system 1 according to the present embodiment uses the extension function of the Web browser 130 to overcome the limitations posed by the security. That is, the browser extension application 140 operating within the framework of the extension function of the Web browser 130 monitors the existing Web page 150, acquires the data necessary for sharing, and transmits the data to the relay server 23. In reality, the browser extension application 140 does not directly monitors the existing Web page 150, but instead, injects the content script 155, which is a part of the browser extension application 140, into the existing Web page 150. Then, this content script 155 monitors the operation of the player, and acquires the data necessary for sharing with another player or audience member.
The browser extension application 140 includes a script management unit 141 and a communication unit 142. Together with injecting into an existing Web page 150 a content script 155 for monitoring an operation, by a player who directly operates existing Web pages 150 displayed by the Web browser 130, on the existing Web page 150 of the player, the script management unit 141 communicates with the content script 155 injected into the existing Web page 150, via the browser extension application execution engine 133. The communication unit 142 receives the details of the operation by the player detected by the content script 155, and transmits the details to the relay server 23 via the communication module 111.
In the foregoing, a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side, configuring the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, has been described using
As shown in
The hardware 21 includes a communication module 25. The communication module 25 carries out the communication between the relay server 23 and the browser extension application 140 run by the information processing apparatus 100a, and the communication between the relay server 23 and the dedicated Web application 240 run by the information processing apparatus 200a.
The relay server 23 that performs exchange of messages exchanged between the browser extension application 140 of the information processing apparatus 100a, which is an appliance on the player side, and the dedicated Web application 240 of the information processing apparatus 200a, which is an appliance on the audience side, includes a connection management unit 28 and a transfer unit 29. The connection management unit 28 manages the player and the audience member connected to the relay server 23 as described above. The transfer unit 29 transfers the URL of an existing Web page being viewed, the render size, the scroll position or the cursor position, as described above, received from the browser extension application 140 to the dedicated Web application 240 registered in the relay server 23 or the browser extension application 140 other than the transmission source.
As described above, the dedicated Web application server 24 stores a dedicated Web application operating on the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side. A dedicated Web application is provided from the dedicated Web application server 24 based on an access to a specific URL from the Web browser 230 working on the information processing apparatus 200a.
In the foregoing, a functional configuration of the system server 20 configuring the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been described using
As shown in
The hardware 210 includes a communication module 211. The communication module 211 carries out the communication between the dedicated Web application 240 described below and the relay server 23. The OS 220 is software that provides basic functions commonly used by a plurality of pieces of application software, including input/output functions, such as a keyboard input by a user and screen output, and a management function of a disk or a memory, and that manages the information processing apparatus 200a.
The Web browser 230 is software for displaying a Web page, which is run by the OS 220. The Web browser 230 is configured, including an HTML engine 231, a scripting language processing engine 232, a drawing processing engine 234, and a protocol stack 235.
The HTML engine 231 analyses, with respect to an existing Web page 150 sent from the Web server 30 and written in HTML language, the HTML language which has been sent. When the HTML language is analysed by the HTML engine 231, the analysis result is output by the drawing processing engine 234 as an image. The existing Web page 150 sent from the Web server 30 includes content 151 of the existing Web page. The content 151 of the existing Web page is configured, including an HTML document 152 describing the details of the content, a style sheet 153 defining the layout of the content, and a script 154 defining the operation of the content.
The scripting language processing engine 232 interprets the scripting language embedded in a Web page sent from the Web server 30 and written in the HTML language, and executes the script. According to the present embodiment, the scripting language processing engine 232 interprets details content of a content script 155 of the existing Web page 150 sent from the Web server 30, and executes the process written in the content script 155.
The drawing processing engine 234 performs a drawing process for outputting an image based on an analysis result by the HTML engine 231 of a Web page written in HTML language. The protocol stack 235 is a group of pieces of software for providing a network function, and the Web browser 230 can, for example, acquire a Web page from the Web server 30 or carry out the communication between the relay server 23 and the dedicated Web application 240, by the protocol stack 235.
To share a Web page in real time between the player side and the audience side, the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side acquires the dedicated Web application 240 operating on the Web browser 230 from the dedicated Web application server 24. The dedicated Web application 240 can display the status of viewing or operation of the existing Web page 150 by a player, but does not accept an operation on the Web page by an audience member.
The dedicated Web application 240 is configured, including a script 260 for displaying in real time, on the information processing apparatus 200a, the status of viewing or operation on the existing Web page 150 by a player. The script 260 carries out the communication with the relay server 23, and shares in real time, on the information processing apparatus 200a, a Web page that a player is viewing on the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side.
The script 260 is included in the dedicated Web application 240, and carries out the communication with the relay server 23 and performs, using the information obtained by the communication, a process of reflecting the condition of rendering and a process of updating the cursor position that are in accordance with the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side. With the script 260 performing the process of reflecting the condition of rendering and the process of updating the cursor position that are in accordance with the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side, the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side is enabled to display, in the same way as on the player side, the image of the existing Web page that the player is operating.
The script 260 includes a content update unit 261 and a communication unit 262. The communication unit 262 receives from the relay server 23 details of an operation, by a player who directly operates existing Web pages 150, on the existing Web page 150 of the player. The content update unit 261 causes the details of the operation by the player received by the communication unit 262 to be reflected in the display of the existing Web page 150 that is the same as the existing Web page 150 displayed on the information processing apparatus on the player side.
In the foregoing, a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side, configuring the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been described. Next, operation of each device configuring the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.
[1-3. Operation of Each Device]
First, an operation of the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side will be described.
The browser extension application 140 monitors, all the time, a change in the window of a Web browser or, in the case the Web browser is a tabbed browser, the URL of the tab that is displayed. Then, when a URL change event is detected (step S124), information on the new URL is transmitted to the relay server 23 (step S126), and also, a content script 155 is injected into the newly loaded existing Web page 150 (step S125). In the case the existing Web page 150 includes child frames, the content script 155 is also injected into the existing Web page loaded on each child frame.
When the loading of content on the existing Web page 150 is complete (step S101) and the browser extension application 140 injects the content script 155 into the existing Web page 150, the content script 155 which has been loaded first establishes a session with the browser extension application 140 (step S102), and starts monitoring the mouse cursor position or starts waiting for an inquiry about the position of the child frame. Monitoring of the mouse cursor position is realized by monitoring a mousemove event of a document object by JavaScript (registered trademark) in the following manner, for example.
If the loading destination of a page is a top level frame, the content script 155 acquires the render size of the entire Web page and the scroll position, and transmits the same to the relay server 23 via the browser extension application 140 (steps S103, S104, S127). Also, the content script 155 starts monitoring of the render size of the entire Web page and the scroll position. Monitoring of the render size of the entire Web page by the content script 155 is realized by a resize event of a window object or a check performed at the timing of a timer event that is regularly executed.
To monitor a change in the render size by a timer, the content script 155 performs timer registration (step S105), waits for a timer event (step S106), and acquires the render size of the entire Web page (step S107). The content script 155 determines whether there is a change in the size (step S108), and in the case there is a change in the size, the content script 155 transmits the render size of the entire Web page to the relay server 23 via the browser extension application 140 (steps S109, S127). Acquisition of the render size of the entire Web page is realized by the following script, for example.
The content script 155 waits for occurrence of a scroll event (step S110), and if a scroll event occurs, acquires the scroll position (step S111). After acquiring the scroll position, the content script 155 determines whether the scroll position has been changed (step S112), and if the scroll position has been changed, transmits the scroll position to the relay server 23 via the browser extension application 140 (steps S113, S127). Monitoring of the scroll position is realized by monitoring the scroll event of a document object by the following script, for example.
Furthermore, the content script 155 waits for occurrence of a mouse event (step S114), and if a mouse event occurs, acquires the cursor position (step S115). After acquiring the cursor position, the content script 155 determines whether the cursor position has been changed (step S116), and if the cursor position has been changed, transmits the cursor position to the relay server 23 via the browser extension application 140 (step S117).
The content script 155 monitors the render size of the entire Web page, the scroll position, and the mouse cursor position. Then, if a change in these pieces of information is detected, the content script 155 acquires each value, and transmits the value acquired to the browser extension application 140.
The browser extension application 140 transmits the render size of the entire Web page and the scroll position received from the content script 155 to the relay server 23 as they are. However, a coordinate transformation process may have to be performed on the mouse cursor position received from the content script 155 before the mouse cursor position is transmitted to the relay server 23. This is because, in the case information on the mouse cursor position is received from the content script 155 that is embedded not in the top level frame, but in the child frame, the mouse cursor position is represented by the coordinates with respect to the upper left corner of the child frame and not by the coordinates with respect to the upper left corner of the top frame level.
The browser extension application 140 determines whether the information on the cursor position transmitted from the content script 155 is from the top level frame (step S122). If it is from the top level frame, the browser extension application 140 transmits the information on the cursor position to the relay server 23 (step S127), but if it is not from the top level frame, the browser extension application 140 transmits the inquiry about the frame position to the content script 155 of another frame (step S123).
The content script 155 waits for an inquiry, from the browser extension application 140, about the position of a child frame (step S118), determines whether the child frame is included (step S119), and if the child frame is included, acquires the offset position of the child frame and transmits the same to the browser extension application 140 (step S120). The browser extension application 140, which has received the information on the offset position of the child frame from the content script 155, adds the offset position of the child frame to the cursor position (step S121).
By repeating the acquisition of the cursor position and the acquisition of the offset position of the child frame until the top level frame is reached, the information on the cursor position acquired by the content script 155 in step S115 described above is transformed into the cursor position of the top level frame.
Additionally, to enable identification of which player's operation an operation is, the browser extension application 140 adds information that allows unique identification of a player (for example, a login ID for the system or the like) to data that is to be transmitted to the relay server 23.
In the foregoing, an operation of the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side has been described. Next, an operation of the relay server 23 will be described.
The relay server 23 plays a role of registering and managing the player and the audience member, and of transmitting information on a URL, a render size, a scroll position, and a cursor position transmitted from the information processing apparatus on the player side to the information processing apparatus other than the transmission source.
When registration in the content sharing system 1 is requested by the browser extension application 140 on the player side, and connection between the browser extension application 140 and the relay server 23 is started (step S201), the relay server 23 registers information on the browser extension application 140 in a management database 31 (step S202). Likewise, when registration in the content sharing system 1 is requested by the dedicated Web application 240 on the audience side, and connection between the dedicated Web application 240 and the relay server 23 is started (step S203), the relay server 23 registers information on the dedicated Web application 240 in the management database 31 (step S204).
On the other hand, when the connection between the browser extension application 140 and the relay server 23 is ended (step S205), the relay server 23 deletes the information on the browser extension application 140 from the management database 31 (step S206). Likewise, when the connection between the dedicated Web application 240 on the audience side and the relay server 23 is ended (step S207), the relay server 23 deletes the information on the dedicated Web application 240 from the management database 31 (step S208).
When information on the URL (step S211), information on the render size (step S212), information on the scroll position (step S213), and information on the cursor position (step S214) are received from the browser extension application 140 on the player side, the relay server 23 acquires from the management database 31 information on the application that is connected (step S215). Then, the relay server 23 transmits to the application whose information has been acquired the information on the URL (step S216), the information on the render size (step S217), the information on the scroll position (step S218), and the information on the cursor position (step S219).
Here, at the time of transmitting the information on the URL, the information on the render size, the information on the scroll position, and the information on the cursor position, the relay server 23 transmits these pieces of information to all the applications that are connected, except for the transmission source. The details of an operation by one player are thereby reflected in real time in all of the information processing apparatuses on the player side and the audience side.
In the foregoing, an operation of the relay server 23 has been described using
The dedicated Web application 240 operating on the Web browser 230 of the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side displays in real time, on the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side, an operation, by a player, of a Web page being viewed by the player. An existing Web page 150 that is shared between the player and the audience member is directly loaded in an iframe within the dedicated Web application 240 from the Web server 30 providing the existing Web page 150. For example, it is assumed, in the present embodiment, that the iframe for an existing Web page is defined as follows.
<iframe id=“sharedpage”></iframe>
In the case URL information (url) is received from the relay server 23 (step S301), the dedicated Web application 240 can display the Web page at the URL in the iframe (step S302) if, for example, a process as below is written in JavaScript.
document.getElementById(‘shared_page’).src=url;
Furthermore, for the mouse cursors of the player and the audience member to point to the same position on the existing Web page 150 on the dedicated Web application 240, the results of rendering of the existing Web page 150 have to be the same. Accordingly, by adjusting the size of the iframe for the existing Web page 150 to the render size of the entire existing Web page 150, same rendering result as on the player side can be achieved.
When the render size (width, height) is received from the relay server 23 (step S303), the dedicated Web application 240 can, for example, by writing a process as below in JavaScript, change the size of iframe displaying the existing Web page 150 (step S304), and cause the rendering result of the existing Web page 150 to match that on the player side.
var node=document.getElementById(‘shared_page’);
node.width=width;
node.height=height;
To cause, on the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side, the display to match the display of the existing Web page 150 on the player side, the existing Web page 150 displayed on the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side has to be scrolled as appropriate in accordance with a scroll operation performed at the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side.
window.scrollTo(left+x_offset, top+y_offset);
The cursor that is manipulated by a player on the information processing apparatus 100a is not drawn within the existing Web page 150, but is drawn above the existing Web page 150. In the case the dedicated Web application 240 received a cursor position (x_in, y_in) from the relay server 23 (step S308), the dedicated Web application 240 adds the position of the iframe displaying the existing Web page 150 to the cursor position (step S309), and updates the position of a DOM (Document Object Model) object expressing the cursor based on the addition result (step S310).
In the foregoing, an operation of the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side has been described. Next, a display process for a case where there are a plurality of players participating in the content sharing system 1 will be described.
In the case there are a plurality of players that participate in the content sharing system 1, the viewing status of an existing Web page is shared also among the information processing apparatuses on the player side.
In the case information on a new URL is received from the relay server 23 (step S401), the browser extension application 140 of the information processing apparatus 100a updates the URL to be displayed in the window or tab of the Web browser 130 and loads the new Web page from the Web server 30 (step S402), and also, loads the content script 155 in the Web page which has been loaded (step S403). The content script 155 performs the operation shown in
In the case a render size is received from the relay server 23 (step S405), the browser extension application 140 of the information processing apparatus 100a changes the size of the window of the Web browser 130 in accordance with the horizontal width of the render size such that the render result of an existing Web page will be the same (step S406).
In the case a scroll position is received from the relay server 23 (step S407), the browser extension application 140 of the information processing apparatus 100a transmits the scroll position to the content script 155 which has been injected into the top level frame (step S408). When information on the scroll position is received from the browser extension application 140, the content script 155, which is in the state of waiting for reception of a scroll position (step S409), updates the scroll position on the existing Web page 150 (step S410). In the case a scroll position (left, top) is received from the browser extension application 140, the content script 155 may write a process as below in JavaScript, for example.
window.scrollTo(left, top);
In the case a cursor position is received from the relay server 23 (step S411), the browser extension application 140 of the information processing apparatus 100a transmits the cursor position to the content script 155, which has been injected into the top level frame (step S412). When the cursor position is received, the content script 155, which is in the state of waiting for reception of a cursor position (step S413), draws a cursor within the existing Web page (step S414). The cursor may be drawn by pasting an image, or may be drawn according to a specification designed to draw a figure on a browser, such as Canvas and the like. Additionally, at the time of drawing the cursor, the content script 155 adjusts the drawing position by z-index or the like in CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) so that the cursor is drawn above the existing Web page 150.
As described, by transmitting the details of an operation at the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side to the relay server 23, and the relay server 23 transferring the details of the operation to the player other than the transmission source and the audience member, display of one Web page can be shared in real time among the information processing apparatuses 100a and 100b on the player side and the information processing apparatuses 200a, 200b, and 200c on the audience side. Then, the details of the operation performed on the existing Web page 150 at the information processing apparatus on the player side are transmitted, via the relay server 23, to the information processing apparatuses on the player side and the audience side, other than the apparatus at which the operation was performed. The details of the operation performed on the existing Web page 150 at the information processing apparatus on the player side are thereby immediately reflected in other information processing apparatuses, and the details of the operation on the existing Web page 150 by a player can be displayed at the information processing apparatuses of other players and audience members.
In the foregoing, the operation of each device configuring the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure has been described. Next, user interfaces of Web browsers displayed on the information processing apparatus 100a on the player side and the information processing apparatus 200a on the audience side that configure the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.
[1-4. Example User Interface]
First, an example user interface of a Web browser that is displayed on the information processing apparatus on the player side will be described.
The user interface 300 of the Web browser 130 is configured, including tabs 301a, 301b, and 301c, a sharing switch button 302, player icons 311a, 311b, and 311c, and an audience information display area 320. Audience icons 321a, 321b, 321c, 321d, and 321e, and feedback information 322 from the audience are displayed in the audience information display area 320. Additionally, in the present technology, the number of tabs is, of course, not limited to three.
The player icons 311a, 311b, and 311c are mouse cursors of respective players. Images for identifying the players and user names (shown as “user name” in
The sharing switch button 302 is a button for switching between on and off of sharing with other players and the audience. When a player operates the sharing switch button 302 and turns off the sharing, operations of the user on the window or the tabs will not be reflected in the information processing apparatuses of other players and the audience.
When there is a reaction from an audience member, through any of the information processing apparatuses 200a to 200c on the audience side, to an operation of a player, this reaction is displayed in the audience information display area 320. A reaction from an audience member may be text information input by the audience member that is displayed together with one of the audience icons 321a to 321e, or may be pressing of a button described below expressing clapping or laughter from the audience member.
By providing in this manner an area for displaying comments or feedback from the audience members separately from an area where the players perform operations on the Web page, each player can operate the Web page while viewing the comments or feedback from the audience members.
Various methods can be conceived as the display method of the audience icons 321a to 321e in the audience information display area 320. A display method of the audience icons 321a to 321e in the audience information display area 320 will be described later in detail.
The user interface 300 shown in
As described, by displaying the comments from the audience in the audience information display area 320 in a chronological order, each player can check out the comment to talk about.
In the foregoing, an example user interface of a Web browser displayed on the information processing apparatus on the player side has been described. Next, an example user interface of a Web browser displayed on the information processing apparatus on the audience side will be described.
The user interface 400 of the Web browser 230 displayed on the information processing apparatus on the audience side is configured, including a tab 401a, player icons 411a, 411b, and 411c, and an audience information display area 420. Audience icons 421a, 421b, 421c, 421d, and 421e, feedback information 422 from the audience, a text box 431, a clap button 432, and a laugh button 433 are displayed in the audience information display area 420.
The player icons 411a, 411b, and 411c are mouse cursors of respective players. As described above, when a player operates the Web browser 130 running on the information processing apparatus on the player side, the details of the operation is reflected in real time in the information processing apparatus on the audience side via the relay server 23. A player operation can thereby be shared with the audience in real time.
When there is a reaction from an audience member, through any of the information processing apparatuses 200a to 200c on the audience side, to an operation of a player, this reaction is displayed in the audience information display area 420. The name (shown as “user1” to “user5” in
The text box 431, the clap button 432, and the laugh button 433 may be integrally displayed on the Web browser 230. The text box 431, the clap button 432, and the laugh button 433 are displayed only on the Web browser 230 that a corresponding audience member operates. The text box 431, the clap button 432, and the laugh button 433 are used by the audience member to return a reaction to a player operation, and if they are displayed at all times on the Web browser 230 even if the audience member is not returning a reaction to player operations, they will obstruct the viewing of the player operations. Thus, it is desirable that display of the text box 431, the clap button 432, and the laugh button 433 on the screen can be removed.
Then, when the audience member manipulates the mouse cursor 440 and moves the mouse cursor 440 to the area where the text box 431, the clap button 432, and the laugh button 433 are to be displayed, the text box 431, the clap button 432, and the laugh button 433 are displayed in the Web browser 230.
As shown in
When an audience member inputs text into the text box 431 and enters the input to return a reaction to a player, the text is displayed in the audience information display area 420 together with the icon of this audience member.
This audience icon 421a that is displayed in the audience information display area 420 is displayed in the Web browsers of other players and audience members by the relay server 23. Accordingly, the reaction of an audience member to a player can be seen and perceived by not only the players, but also the audience members.
Also, it is needless to say that the display method of the audience icon 421a in the audience information display area 420 is not limited to a specific method, but the audience icon 421a may be displayed appearing from the lower part of the screen and moving upward or may be displayed fading in to the Web browser 230.
The text box 431, the clap button 432, and the laugh button 433 may be removed from the Web browser 230 when input of text by an audience member is complete.
The display positions of the text box 431, the clap button 432, and the laugh button 433 can be made to move to arbitrary positions on the Web browser 230 by being dragged with a mouse, for example.
Next, an example of a display method of audience information in the audience information display area 420 will be described.
Display of audience information in this audience information display area 420 may be performed according to certain rules. In the following, display of audience information in the audience information display area 420 will be described, taking one rule as an example.
For example, the audience information display area 420 on the user interface 400 of the Web browser 230 is allowed to have nine audience icons displayed. The display positions are numbered one to nine from the left. Then, audience icons are displayed from the left at the odd-numbered display positions, and when an audience icon is displayed at the ninth position, audience icons are then displayed from the left at the even-numbered display positions. Then, when an audience icon is displayed at the eighth position, audience icons are again displayed from the left at the odd-numbered display positions. By displaying the audience icons in this manner, the visibility of the audience icons can be enhanced, and by causing the comments from the audience members to appear regularly, a larger number of user comments can be simultaneously displayed while securing readable time for the players and the audience members. Also, even if the window sizes differ depending on the respective display environment, the appearance timing or relative position of a comment from an audience member does not have to be changed.
Although a detailed explanation will be given later, when an audience icon is once displayed, the display may gradually fade out. For example, when explaining using
Additionally,
When the audience icon 421a is displayed at the first position in the audience information display area 420 of
Next, an audience icon 421c is displayed at the fifth position in the audience information display area 420.
Next, an audience icon 421d is displayed at the seventh position in the audience information display area 420.
Then, an audience icon 421e is displayed at the ninth position in the audience information display area 420.
By the time the audience icon 421e is displayed at the ninth position in the audience information display area 420, the density of the audience icon 421a that was displayed first is considerably reduced. Then, when an audience icon is displayed at the second position in the audience information display area 420, the audience icon 421a that was displayed first is completely removed from the screen.
Next, an audience icon 421f is displayed at the second position in the audience information display area 420.
Next, an audience icon 421g is displayed at the fourth position in the audience information display area 420.
Then, an audience icon 421h is displayed at the sixth position in the audience information display area 420.
Then, an audience icon 421i is displayed at the eighth position in the audience information display area 420.
When the audience icon 421i is displayed at the eighth position in the audience information display area 420 of
Even if the window size of a Web browser changes, the pattern of display of the audience icons is not changed.
In the following, audience icons 421a to 421i are sequentially displayed in the audience information display area 420 in the order of first position→third position→fifth position→seventh position→ninth position→second position→fourth position→sixth position→eighth position, similarly to the display of the audience icons 421a to 421i in the audience information display area 420 shown in
In the foregoing, an example of a display method of audience information in the audience information display area 420 has been described. It is needless to say that the display method of audience information in the audience information display area 420 is not limited to the example described above. For example, in the explanation above, audience icons were displayed regularly from the left, but the audience icons may also be displayed regularly from the right.
Various other methods can be used to display audience information in the audience information display area 420. For example, comments from the same audience member may be displayed at the same position at all times. Or, for example, audience information of an audience member who submits many comments may be preferentially displayed at a fixed position in the audience information display area 420.
Next, an example of a process for avoiding congestion due to messages flooding in from the audience will be described. When the number of audience members increase, it is conceivable that comments will be submitted at a time from many audience members. If all of the comments from the audience members are displayed, the timeliness of a comment from an audience member may be lost, and by the time the comment is displayed, players may have moved to a new topic. Thus, as a process for avoiding congestion, the relay server 23 provides, at a stage prior to display of comments from audience members, a queue for sending out messages within a certain period of time, and counts the number of comments waiting in the queue. Then, when the counted number of comments waiting exceeds a specified threshold, the relay server 23 may prohibit transmission of comments from audience members, and stop receiving comments from the audience members.
If an audience member inputs a comment in the text box 431 and enters the input comment in this state, since the number of comments waiting stored in the queue in the relay server 23 is at the predetermined threshold q, the relay server 23 prohibits reception of the comment, and causes a message to the effect of congestion in the text box 431 that is displayed in the Web browser that is being operated by the audience member who has input the comment.
Elements of feelings such as clapping and laughter for a remark or an operation on a Web page by a player may be conveyed to participants by pressing down the clap button 432 or the laugh button 433 displayed in the Web browser 230 on the audience side. Also, by expressing the amount of pressing by all the audience members of the clap button 432 and the laugh button 433 within a predetermined time using a feedback display or sound effects, participants can feel the excitement at the event space.
A feedback amount F of the entire audience is calculated based on the pressing of the clap button 432 and the laugh button 433 by the audience members. The feedback amount F is calculated by dividing the number of actions of the entire audience by a predetermined time T. That is, feedback about F is equal to the number of actions/T.
Then, the amount of effects to be displayed in the audience information display area 320 or 420 is changed according to the feedback F calculated in the above manner. For example, when using visual effects as the effects, the frequency of particle appearance is changed as the amount of visual effects, and when using sound effects, the type of SE (sound effect) that is in accordance with amount is changed as the amount of sound effects.
When the number of players increases, it may become difficult to perceive which player is making a remark. Thus, it is desirable to provide a mechanism that enables to easily identify which player is making a remark or which player is manipulating the mouse.
For example, regarding identification as to which player is speaking, the expression of a player icon may be changed based on the volume from the microphones of players to thereby enable identification as to which player is speaking. Also, regarding identification as to which player is performing an operation, the expression of a player icon may be changed with a mouse manipulation (movement, click, drag, or the like) of a player as a trigger to thereby enable identification as to which player is performing an operation.
A Web site presented by a player that is displayed on the Web browser 230 on the audience side may be displayed in a different window or under a different tab by an operation of an audience member. For example, a Web page that is displayed may be displayed in a different window or under a different tab by clicking on an area, on the Web browser 230 on the audience side, other than the area displaying the text box 431, the clap button 432, and the laugh button 433.
Various events using the Internet can be realized by using the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure as described above. In the following, an example of holding a seminar, as an example of the event, on a new product using the Internet will be described.
Additionally, the entrance to the seminar event may be linked to another Web page or another online service. Even if a Web page that is shared changes, it is possible to fix the URL of the online event that uses the Internet.
Various events using a Web page can be provided by using the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. For example, the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure can be used for, besides seminar events on products as described above, introduction by a plurality of players of Web pages to be paid attention to, promotion events for musicians, and the like.
Additionally, in the above explanation, an example has been given taking a Web page on the Internet as the content to be shared, but the content to be shared is not limited to such an example. That is, the content to be shared may be video content, image content, document data, or the like, and the content may be shared between a player and the audience and be displayed, by displaying these pieces of content on the Web browser.
Also, in the above explanation, the clap button 432 and the laugh button 433 are displayed on the Web browser 230 for the audience to return emotional reactions such as laughter and clapping, but the present technology is not limited to such an example. For example, if the information processing apparatus that an audience member operates is a mobile terminal and an accelerometer, a tilt sensor or the like is provided in this terminal, emotional reactions such as laughter and clapping may be returned from the audience member by the information processing apparatus being tilted or moved.
As described above, with the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, communication such as a chat performed among a plurality of people while viewing a popular Web page can be realized using only a Web browser. The audience side does not have to install special applications and can participate in the communication just by opening a specific Web page by the Web browser, and display contents can be correctly shared with other audience members and players without restricting audience members to specific appliances and even if the window sizes of the Web browsers differ from each other.
Also, with the content sharing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, by displaying comments from the audience in a cyclic manner as described above, communication can be performed without reducing the visibility of shared content, such as a document or a video, or the timeliness of a topic, and also a larger number of comments can be simultaneously displayed, and further, even if the window sizes differ depending on the respective display environment, the appearance timing or relative position of a comment from an audience member does not change, and thus smooth communication can be achieved. Furthermore, for the audience to return emotional reactions such as clapping and laughter, user interfaces for returning these emotional reactions are provided, and thus swift communication from the audience is enabled without increasing the number of messages sent from the audience.
Additionally, series of control processes by each device described in the present specification may be realized using any of software, hardware, and a combination thereof. Programs constituting the software are stored in advance in a computer-readable recording medium that is provided within or outside each device, for example. Then, each program is read by a RAM (Random Access Memory) at the time of execution and executed by a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), for example.
It should be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occur depending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they are within the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.
Additionally, the present technology may also be configured as below.
An information processing apparatus including
a content display unit for sharing and displaying same content as content that is operated by a player who directly operates content, in real time with the player side; and
a display control unit for causing comments transmitted from the information processing apparatus and another information processing apparatus that are used only to view an operation of the player to appear regularly according to a predetermined pattern, in a predetermined area of the content shared and displayed in real time with the player side by the content display unit.
The information processing apparatus according to (1) described above, wherein the display control unit causes the comments transmitted from the information processing apparatus and the another information processing apparatus to appear sequentially in a horizontal direction with a space for one message in between.
The information processing apparatus according to (1) or (2) described above, wherein the display control unit does not change the pattern even if a window size for the shared content displayed by the content display unit is changed.
The information processing apparatus according to any of (1) to (3) described above, wherein the display control unit causes to be displayed a feedback input unit for returning feedback to the player, in an overlapping manner with the shared content displayed by the content display unit.
The information processing apparatus according to (4) described above, wherein the display control unit causes an object used for returning, as the feedback, an emotional expression to be displayed at the feedback input unit.
The information processing apparatus according to any of (1) to (5) described above, wherein, in a case a predetermined number or more comments are transmitted from other players, the display control unit displays in the feedback input unit, at a time a comment input in the feedback input unit is entered, that the comment cannot be transmitted.
The information processing apparatus according to any of (1) to (6) described above, wherein the display control unit performs control regarding a frequency of feedback using emotional expressions, including the feedback from the information processing apparatus, based on a display frequency of a mark in the predetermined area.
The information processing apparatus according to (8) described above, wherein the predetermined condition is that the number of transmission times of comments is a predetermined number or more.
An information processing method performed by an information processing apparatus, including:
displaying same content as shared content that is operated by a player who directly operates content, in real time with the player side; and
causing comments transmitted from the information processing apparatus and another information processing apparatus that are used only to view an operation of the player to appear regularly according to a predetermined pattern, in a predetermined area of the content that is shared and displayed in real time with the player side in the step of displaying.
A computer program for causing an information processing apparatus to perform:
displaying same content as shared content that is operated by a player who directly operates content, in real time with the player side; and
causing comments transmitted from the information processing apparatus and another information processing apparatus that are used only to view an operation of the player to appear regularly according to a predetermined pattern, in a predetermined area of the content that is shared and displayed in real time with the player side in the step of displaying.
The present application contains subject matter related to that disclosed in Japanese Priority Patent Application JP 2011-107400 filed in the Japan Patent Office on May 12, 2011, the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011-107400 | May 2011 | JP | national |
