JP7639442B2 - Display terminal, content display system, and content display program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a display terminal capable of displaying content, a content display system, and a program for displaying content on a display terminal.

In recent years, in response to market needs and the miniaturization and high performance of electronic devices, portable content display devices have become widespread, allowing users to read books, magazines, newspapers, and other content without having to carry around paper books by displaying the content on the display of an electronic device. Dedicated e-book readers, smartphones, personal computers, and other devices are used as display devices. Text information and screen information from books and other sources can be downloaded to the memory of the display device as electronic data content, and the content can be displayed on the display or viewed on the web by communicating with an application server.

Some methods of displaying content such as e-books using such portable display devices do not simply display text information on the screen, but also show the action of pages being turned and the next page gradually becoming visible as if the book were actually being opened. This gives the user a sense of realism when reading. Some display devices also take into consideration improving the readability of content in addition to providing a sense of realism when reading.

For example, Patent Document 1 describes an information processing device that assists in storing document contents, and that includes a display unit that, when switching the display from one page of a document such as an electronic book to another page, displays a part of the one page in a different manner from the other parts, and then displays the other page. Specifically, the control unit of the information processing device displays the text of each segment consecutively in a pop-up area that is displayed in the center of the display screen and appears to float on the screen, and grays out the page background related to the display area other than the display area to provide contrast with the other segments.

JP 2018-142228 A

As a reading aid for paper books and the like, there is a device called a reading tracker that has a strip-shaped transparent area and a pair of strip-shaped opaque areas arranged on both ends of the transparent area. The reading tracker is known to be able to provide reading support to people with dyslexia (difficulty reading and writing) by arranging it so that the transparent area overlaps a specific line of text in a book or the like and the opaque area overlaps a line adjacent to the specific line. On the other hand, when reading content such as an electronic book, it is also preferable to improve the readability of the content according to the user's situation. The present disclosure has been made in view of such circumstances, and aims to provide a display terminal, a content display system, and a program for displaying content on a display terminal that can improve the readability of content according to the user's situation.

The display terminal for displaying the content according to the present embodiment displays a plurality of lines of content,
At least one line of the multiple lines of content is highlighted, or the one line is displayed with the adjacent areas on both sides of the one line masked.

In addition, in a display terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention, the multiple lines of content may be content consisting of multiple lines of characters, etc.

In addition, a display terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention may include a display unit, an operation reception unit that receives an operation to change the display of the display unit, and a display control unit that generates control information related to the display of the display unit corresponding to the operation received by the operation reception unit, and when the content is displayed on the display unit, if the operation reception unit receives an operation, the content may be displayed on the display unit in a display mode based on the control information generated by the display control unit.

In addition, in a display terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention, when the content is displayed on the display unit and the operation receiving unit receives a first operation, a highlighting area including a strip-shaped first area and a pair of strip-shaped second areas adjacent to each other on either side of the first area may be superimposed on the content based on the control information generated by the display control unit, and the content superimposed on the first area may be displayed on the display unit in a display mode that allows the content to be viewed.

In addition, in a display terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention, when the operation receiving unit receives a second operation while the highlighting region is displayed on the display unit, the display unit may be capable of displaying the highlighting region on the display unit in a display mode in which the position of the highlighting region is movable along the row arrangement direction of the multiple rows based on the control information generated by the display control unit.

In addition, in a display terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention, when the highlighted display region is displayed on the display unit and the operation reception unit receives a third operation, the display unit may be capable of displaying the first region on the display unit in a display mode in which the width of the first region along the row arrangement direction of the multiple rows is changeable along the row arrangement direction of the multiple rows based on the control information generated by the display control unit.

In addition, in a display terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention, when the highlighted display area is displayed on the display unit and the operation reception unit receives a fourth operation, the display unit may be capable of displaying the first area on the display unit in a display mode in which the color or brightness of the first area can be changed to such an extent that the one line of the superimposed content is visible, based on the control information generated by the display control unit.

In addition, in a display terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention, when the highlighted display region is displayed on the display unit and the operation receiving unit receives a fifth operation, the display unit may be capable of displaying the pair of second regions on the display unit in a display mode in which the color or brightness of the pair of second regions can be changed from a state in which the content of one of the overlapping rows among the multiple rows is visible to a state in which the content is not visible, based on the control information generated by the display control unit.

In addition, a display terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention may further include a row arrangement specification unit that specifies the row arrangement of the content displayed on the display unit, and when the highlighted display area is located at a position where the content of a first row, which is one of the multiple rows, overlaps with the first region, when the operation reception unit receives a sixth operation, the highlighted display area may be displayed on the display unit in a movable display mode based on the control information generated by the display control unit to a position where the content of a second row adjacent to the first row, which is determined from the row arrangement information specified by the row arrangement specification unit, overlaps with the first region.

In addition, a display terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention may further include a reading time calculation unit that calculates a line feed time corresponding to the time required to read the content per line from the time interval between the user's page turning, and when the highlighted display area is located at a position where the content of a third line, which is one of the multiple lines, overlaps with the first area, and when the operation reception unit receives a seventh operation, the highlighted display area may be displayed on the display unit in a display mode in which it is possible to move the highlighted display area to a position where the content of a fourth line adjacent to the third line, which is determined from the information on the line arrangement identified by the line arrangement identification unit, overlaps with the first area as the line feed time calculated by the reading time calculation unit elapses, based on the control information generated by the display control unit.

In addition, a display terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention may further include a viewpoint detection unit that detects the viewpoint position of a user viewing the content, and when the viewpoint position does not overlap with the current first area, the highlighted area may be displayed on the display unit in a movable display mode based on the control information generated by the display control unit so that the first area overlaps with the viewpoint position within the text area.

In addition, a display terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention may be capable of displaying the one line of content on the display unit in a display mode in which the one line of content is enlarged at a predetermined magnification or converted into another font based on the control information generated by the display control unit.

The content display system according to the present embodiment includes a display terminal having a display unit, and a management server capable of communicating with the display terminal, the management server including an operation reception unit that receives an operation to change the display of the display unit, and a display control unit that generates control information related to the display of the display unit corresponding to the operation received by the operation reception unit. When the operation reception unit receives a first operation when the content is displayed on the display unit, the display terminal can display on the display unit in a display mode in which a highlighting region including a strip-shaped first region and a pair of strip-shaped second regions adjacent to each other on either side of the first region is superimposed on the content and the content superimposed on the first region can be visually recognized, based on the control information generated by the display control unit and received by the display terminal from the management server.

The display program for causing a computer to execute a step of displaying content on a display terminal according to this embodiment includes a step of accepting an operation that changes the display of a display unit, and a step of generating control information related to the display of the display unit that corresponds to the accepted operation, and when a first operation is accepted when the content is displayed on the display unit, the program displays a highlighted display area including a strip-shaped first area and a pair of strip-shaped second areas adjacent to each other on either side of the first area based on the control information, superimposing the highlighted display area on the content, and displaying the content superimposed on the first area so that it can be seen.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to provide a display terminal, a content display system, and a program for displaying content on a display terminal that can improve the readability of content according to the user's situation.

3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a screen of a display unit of the display terminal according to the first embodiment. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a screen of a display unit of the display terminal according to the first embodiment. 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a screen of a display unit of the display terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a display terminal according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a screen of a display unit of a display terminal according to a second embodiment. 13A and 13B are diagrams illustrating screens of a display unit of a display terminal according to the third and fourth embodiments. FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a display terminal according to the third and fourth embodiments. FIG. 11 is a flow diagram illustrating a display operation of a display terminal according to a third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a display operation of a display terminal according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a display operation of a display terminal according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a configuration diagram of a display terminal according to a fifth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a flow diagram illustrating a display operation of a display terminal according to a fifth embodiment. FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a screen of a display unit of a display terminal according to a sixth embodiment. FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a screen of a display unit of a display terminal according to a seventh embodiment. FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating a screen of a display unit of a display terminal according to a seventh embodiment. FIG. 23 is a configuration diagram of a content display system according to an eighth embodiment. FIG. 23 is a configuration diagram of a content display system according to an eighth embodiment.

Below, an example of a display terminal of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings, etc. However, the display terminal of the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiment and example described below.

The figures shown below are schematic. Therefore, the size and shape of each part are appropriately exaggerated to make it easier to understand. In addition, hatching showing the cross section of a member is omitted as appropriate in each figure. The numerical values such as dimensions and material names of each member described in this specification are examples of embodiments, and are not limited to these, and may be selected as appropriate for use. In this specification, terms that specify shapes or geometric conditions, such as parallel, orthogonal, and perpendicular, are intended to include substantially the same state in addition to their strict meaning.

1. First embodiment A first embodiment of a display terminal of the present disclosure will be described. The display terminal 1 according to the first embodiment is an electronic device capable of viewing content in which information from books, magazines, newspapers, etc. has been converted into electronic data. As shown in FIG. 4, the display terminal 1 mainly includes a control unit 3 having an operation acceptance unit 32 and a display control unit 31, a communication unit 2, a storage unit 4, a display unit 5, an operation unit 6, and a power supply unit 7. In particular, it is preferable for the display terminal 1 to include the operation acceptance unit 32, the display control unit 31, and the display unit 5.

Display terminal 1 may be a dedicated e-book reader, or may be an information processing device such as a smartphone or a personal computer. Display terminal 1 can connect to a communication network via communication unit 2, and downloads desired content from a pre-contracted application server or the like via this communication network, and stores this in storage unit 4. This allows the user to display the downloaded content on display unit 5 by operating operation unit 6 of display terminal 1, etc., at any place or time, and to view or read it.

The term "content" collectively refers to characters, alphanumeric characters, symbols, marks, codes, patterns, etc. that make up documents and data, as well as information such as text that is a collection of these, and non-textual information such as comics, illustrations, and photographs. Content may be arranged regularly or irregularly in one or more locations on the display unit 5, or it may form one or more vertical or horizontal rows (including columns). Content that forms such rows may be composed of characters such as letters, alphanumeric characters, and symbols, or it may be composed of non-character codes such as barcodes.

The display unit 5 of the display terminal 1 can display content in various display modes according to the user's requests. FIG. 1(a) shows a display screen 101 displayed on the display unit 5, including a screen 201 of text composed of characters, etc.

Figure 1(b) is a diagram showing the changed display screen 102 when a first operation is performed on the display screen 101 in Figure 1(a). An example of the first operation may be, for example, a tap operation in which a finger touches a specific position on the display screen 101 in Figure 1(a) for a short period of time. Note that the operation contents exemplified in this first operation, the second to eighth operations described below, and various other operations are merely examples. These may be replaced by any other operation on a touch panel, such as a push button or a changeover switch, or even acceleration detection or tilt detection using a gesture.

The display screen 102 in FIG. 1(b) has a highlighting region 301 superimposed on the screen 201 of the display screen 101. The highlighting region 301 includes a strip-shaped highlight slit 301a extending in the vertical direction, which is the row direction of the content of the screen 201, and a pair of strip-shaped masking slits 301b and 301c extending in the vertical direction, adjacent to the left and right of the highlight slit 301a so as to sandwich it. The highlight slit 301a is an example of a first region, and the masking slits 301b and 301c are examples of a second region.

The highlight slit 301a has a color that is the same as or different from the background color of the screen 201, and is an area configured so that characters and the like on the screen 201 that overlap with it can be seen. On the other hand, the masking slits 301b and 301c in this embodiment have a color that is different from the background color of the screen 201 and the highlight slit 301a, and are areas configured so that characters and the like on the screen 201 that overlap with it cannot be seen.

This can be likened to highlight slit 301a being a transparent or semi-transparent uncolored or colored film, and masking slits 301b and 301c being opaque colored films. A situation in which characters, etc. on screen 201 that overlap with the highlight slit can be seen through the highlight slit is then displayed on display unit 5 in a pseudo manner. This display in which characters, etc. on the line that overlaps highlight slit 301a are highlighted by coloring or other means to make them easier to see than characters, etc. on other lines is sometimes simply referred to as a highlight display.

In addition, a situation in which characters, etc. on screen 201 that overlap with the masking slits are hidden by the masking slits and cannot be seen is simulated and displayed on display unit 5. In this way, a display in which characters, etc. in the lines that overlap masking slits 301b and 301c are colored or otherwise made invisible or more difficult to see than characters, etc. in other lines is sometimes simply referred to as a masking display.

As shown in FIG. 1(b), in the initial state, that is, when the highlighted display region 301 is first displayed on the display unit 5 by the first operation, the highlighted display region 301 is located approximately near the center in the left-right direction of the display screen 102. Here, assume that the user touches a point A1 near roughly the center of the display screen 102 with his/her finger, and then slides his/her finger in the X1 direction, which is to the right, to reach a point A2. This type of swipe operation is an example of the second operation.

When the second operation is received by the operation receiving unit 32 via the operation unit 6, the following occurs based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31 described below. That is, the highlighting area 301 moves rightward from its position on the display screen 102 along the direction of the second operation. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2(a), the display screen 103 is displayed on the display unit 5 with the highlighting area 301 positioned so that the highlight slit 301a overlaps the rightmost line of the content on a specified page.

In this way, the display terminal 1 of the first embodiment displays content consisting of multiple lines of characters, etc., and highlights at least one of the multiple lines, or displays the area on both sides of that line with a mask. As a result, even when using the display terminal 1 to read content that is electronic information such as an e-book, the same effect as a reading tracker, which is a reading aid for paper books, etc., can be obtained. In other words, the ease of reading the content can be improved according to the user's circumstances, such as the user's preferences, degree of dyslexia, and reading position of the content. The configuration of the display terminal 1 of the first embodiment will be described in detail below.

(a) Configuration of the Display Terminal (i) Communication Unit The communication unit 2 has a communication function for connecting the display terminal 1 to wide area communication networks such as a wireless or wired LAN, the Internet, or a mobile phone network to download contents from various servers and to view contents via web screens provided by various servers. The communication unit 2 is equipped with a communication interface such as an antenna for wireless communication and A/D and D/A converters, and converts data to be transmitted into radio waves of a predetermined AC waveform and outputs the converted data in accordance with an instruction signal transmitted from the control unit 3 via a data bus.

The display terminal 1 also receives radio waves transmitted from an external source and transmits them as digital data to the control unit 3 via a data bus. The output radio waves are relayed to a wide area communication network via a nearby Wi-Fi (registered trademark) access point or an LTE (Long Term Evolution) base station. Note that if the display terminal 1 is configured to be able to download electronic book data by connecting a USB memory or a communication cable, the display terminal 1 does not need to include the communication unit 2.

(ii) Storage Unit The storage unit 4 has a function of storing various data, and is composed of a ROM for storing fixed data, a RAM for temporary storage, and a rewritable non-volatile memory such as a flash memory for storing variable information such as application data and parameters, etc. In the storage unit 4, for example, content 41, a content display application 42, and display attribute data 43 are stored as data related to content.

The content 41 is content data such as electronic books that the display terminal 1 has downloaded from various servers via the wide area communication network or the like. The display terminal 1 can read out the content 41 from the storage unit 4 by operating the operation unit 6, and display it on the display unit 5 page by page or the like. However, if the display terminal 1 employs a method of viewing the content via a web screen provided by various servers, it is not necessary to store the content 41 in the storage unit 4.

The content display application 42 is composed of application programs and various parameters that allow the user to display the downloaded content 41 on the display unit 5 of the display terminal 1 and to read and perform various operations. However, if the display terminal 1 employs a method for viewing content through web screens provided by various servers, the content display application 42 may have a web browser for viewing instead of the content display application 42.

Display attribute data 43 may be included in the content display application 42 in a broad sense, but indicates various information such as attribute information of content and text of e-books, etc., i.e., font information, content size information, content spacing information, line spacing information, content color and background color, background design, etc. Note that display attribute data 43 may also include various content display form specification tables for referencing the display form of content.

(iii) Control Unit The control unit 3 is composed of a CPU (Central Processing Unit), an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), etc., and collects information from each part of the display terminal 1, makes various judgments, and issues operation instructions to each part. The control unit 3 also has an interface for inputting and outputting signals to and from each part of the display terminal 1, and controls the input and output of signals and information to and from the communication unit 2, the display unit 5, the operation unit 6, the storage unit 4, and the power supply unit 7, as well as their operation. The control unit 3 has various control functions as described above, and is particularly equipped with a display control unit 31 and an operation reception unit 32 as units related to the display of content.

The display control unit 31 determines the display mode of the content on the display unit 5 and the display contents according to the user's operation contents accepted by the operation acceptance unit 32. Then, it generates predetermined control information so as to display the content on the display unit in a predetermined display mode and display contents, and transmits this to the display unit 5. The predetermined control information may be data corresponding to a specific display mode or display contents read from the storage unit 4 or the like, and the display control unit 31 may transmit this information directly to the display driver of the display unit 5. Alternatively, the predetermined control information may be composed of specific code information that is linked in advance to a specific display mode or display contents.

In this case, the display driver of the display unit 5 receives the control information from the display control unit 31, decodes the contents, reads out the corresponding specific display mode and display contents from the storage unit 4 etc., and displays them on the display unit 5. In the initial state, the display control unit 31 generates control information instructing the display unit 5 to display a display screen 101 including a screen 201 consisting of vertically written text as page-unit content of the text body, for example as shown in FIG. 1(a). The "13" displayed in the upper left corner of the display screen 101 is the page number 251 of the page in question.

When a first operation such as tapping on the display screen 101 in FIG. 1(a) is performed, the display screen 101 displayed on the display unit 5 transitions to the display screen 102 shown in FIG. 1(b) based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31. As described above, the display screen 102 is a display screen in which a highlighting region 301 is superimposed on the text screen 201 of the display screen 101 displayed on the display unit 5 based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31. Here, the highlighting region 301 displayed on the display unit 5 based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31 and the highlight slit 301a and masking slits 301b and 301c that constitute it will be described in detail.

As described above, highlight slit 301a has a color that is the same as or different from the background color of screen 201, and is an area configured to allow characters, etc. on screen 201 that overlap with it to be visible. The width Wh1 of highlight slit 301a along the left-right direction, which is the arrangement direction of the lines of content, is adjusted to at least allow the characters, etc. on screen 201 that overlap with it to be visible without being cut off. In other words, it is preferable that width Wh1 can be adjusted to be the same as or larger than the width of the characters, etc. on screen 201. This allows one line of characters, etc. of the content that overlaps highlight slit 301a to be clearly visible.

In addition, it is preferable that the width Wh1 of the highlight slit 301a in the initial state is, while satisfying the above conditions, for example, 5% or more and 15% or less of the width W1 in the left-right direction of the display screen of the display unit 5. By setting the width Wh1 of the highlight slit 301a to such a size, the highlighted display area 301 can be displayed on the display unit 5 promptly after the first operation without the need for complex calculations, and it is expected that characters, etc. superimposed on the highlight slit 301a can be clearly read. This is because the standard width of characters, etc. in content displayed on the display unit 5 is considered to be 5% or more and 15% or less of the width of the display screen.

Also, for example, the background color of the screen 201 is white, the color of the characters, etc. is black, and the highlight slit 301a is colored yellow. In this way, by making the color of the highlight slit 301a different from the background color and character color of other content, the characters, etc. of a specific line of the content that overlaps with the highlight slit 301a are emphasized more than the surrounding characters, etc., and may be easier for the user to read. However, the color of the highlight slit 301a that is appropriate for the user varies from person to person depending on the user's preferences, the degree of dyslexia, etc. For example, it may be colored in various colors such as orange, red, blue, light blue, brown, purple, etc. It may also be achromatic, or the same color as the background color of the original content.

Furthermore, the luminance value of each pixel of the display unit 5 constituting the highlight slit 301a may be made higher than the luminance value of each pixel in the background portion of the screen 201. It is preferable that the user can select the color and luminance level of the highlight slit 301a by operating the operation unit 6 of the display terminal 1. This operation is an example of the fourth operation. In other words, when the operation reception unit 32 receives the fourth operation, the color or luminance of the highlight slit 301a, which is the first region to the extent that the content of any of the superimposed rows can be viewed, may be changeable based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31.

On the other hand, in one example, masking slits 301b and 301c have a color different from the background color of screen 201 and highlight slit 301a, and are areas configured to make characters, etc. on screen 201 that overlap with them difficult to see. The width Wm1 of masking slits 301b and 301c along the left-right direction is adjusted so that at least some of the characters, etc. on screen 201 that overlap with them, especially the characters, etc. on the lines adjacent to the line that overlaps with highlight slit 301a, are missing.

In other words, the width Wm1 is fixed to be equal to or larger than the width of the characters, etc. on the screen 201, or it can be adjusted. Masking slits 301b and 301c make it difficult to see the characters, etc. in the lines adjacent to the line that overlaps with highlight slit 301a, so that the user's gaze can be focused on the characters, etc. in the line that overlaps with highlight slit 301a, making the characters, etc. easier to read.

For example, the masking slits 301b and 301c are gray. However, like the highlight slit 301a, the masking slits may be colored in any color, taking into consideration the user's preferences and the degree of dyslexia. However, considering that the function of the masking slit is to focus the user's viewpoint on the characters in the line that overlaps with the highlight slit 301a, it is preferable that the masking slits be colored in an achromatic color that is as inconspicuous as possible. In addition, it is preferable to set the luminance value of each pixel of the display unit 5 that constitutes the masking slit lower than that of the highlight slit 301a and the background part of the screen 201.

In addition, the width Wm1 of the masking slits 301b and 301c in the initial state may be the same as the width Wh1 of the highlight slit 301a, or may be larger than this, while satisfying the above conditions. By setting the width Wm1 of the masking slits 301b and 301c to such a size, the highlighted display area 301 can be displayed on the display unit 5 immediately after the first operation without the need for complex calculations. This is expected to have the effect of focusing the user's gaze on the characters of the line that overlaps with the highlight slit 301a. Note that the widths of the masking slits 301b and 301c do not have to be the same, but may be different sizes.

As shown on the display screen 102 in FIG. 1(b), the highlighting region 301 may be positioned from the top to the bottom of the display screen 102 when the content displays vertically written text. It is preferable that the highlighting region 301 is positioned so that it overlaps at least substantially the entire area of the characters at the top and bottom of the target line. Meanwhile, the horizontal position of the highlighting region 301 immediately after the user's first operation is such that its horizontal center is approximately near the horizontal center of the display screen 102, but it may be positioned elsewhere.

As described above, when the user performs the first operation of touching point A1 on the display screen 102 with a finger and swiping in the X1 direction, the display control unit 31 generates control information instructing the display unit 5 to display the following. That is, the highlighting area 301 on the display screen 102 moves to the right, which is the swipe direction, depending on the degree of the swipe, i.e., the speed and movement amount of the finger. Then, as shown in FIG. 2(a), the display on the display unit 5 changes to the display screen 103 in which the highlighting area 301 is arranged at a position where the highlighting slit 301a overlaps with the rightmost row of the screen 201, which is the content of page 13. At this time, the width Wh1 of the highlighting slit 301a and the width Wm1 of the masking slits 301b and 301c do not change.

In this way, when the highlighting region 301 is displayed on the display unit 5, the user can perform the second operation to arbitrarily move the line position of the content that overlaps with the highlight slit 301a along the line arrangement direction. Therefore, when the user reads the content of a specific page displayed on the display unit 5 line by line from the first line, the position of the highlighting region 301 is sequentially shifted so that the highlight slit 301a overlaps the line to be read, thereby improving the readability of the content according to the user's situation.

When a swipe is performed as the second operation, the highlight slit 301a may move continuously in the swipe direction depending on the finger speed and movement amount, but the highlight slit 301a may also move intermittently in steps of a certain amount. This makes it easier for the user to recognize the movement of the highlight slit 301a than when the highlight slit 301a moves continuously, and may make it easier to align a specific line with the highlight slit 301a.

Suppose also that the user touches two points on the display screen 101 that correspond to points A3 and A5 on the display screen 104 in FIG. 2(b) with two fingers, and simultaneously moves the fingers to the left in the X2 direction to point A4 and to the right in the X3 direction to point A6. This operation is also called pinch out, and is an example of a third operation. When the user performs such a third operation on the display screen 101, the display control unit 31 generates control information that instructs the display unit 5 to display the following. That is, the horizontal width of the highlighted display area 301 on the display screen 101 is expanded.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2(b), highlight slit 301a in highlight region 301 changes to highlight slit 302a, which is expanded from width Wh1 to Wh2 depending on the degree of pinching out. As a result, highlight region 301 changes to highlight region 302, which includes highlight slit 302a and masking slits 301b and 301c, which are arranged on either side of highlight slit 302a and whose width does not change. The display screen 104 is formed by superimposing highlight region 302, whose width has been expanded, on screen 201 of the original text.

In this way, when the highlighting area 301 is displayed on the display unit 5, the user can freely expand the horizontal width of the highlight slit 301a by performing the third operation. This expands the area of the content that overlaps with the expanded highlight slit 302a, and even if the characters of the content are enlarged, they can be viewed within the area of the highlight slit 302a. Furthermore, if the characters are not enlarged, multiple lines of characters can be viewed at once within the area of the highlight slit 302a. This allows the user's gaze to be focused on the characters of the lines that overlap the highlight slit 302a, while the next lines that have not yet been read come into view, improving the user's predictability of the development of the text and improving the reading speed.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 3(a), in the display screen 102 in which the highlighted display area 301 is superimposed on the screen 201 in which the content is text, the user swipes from point A7 on the left edge, which is an area of the display screen 102 other than the highlighted display area 301, to point A8 in the X4 direction, which is the right direction. At this time, when the user's operation to turn the page is detected by the operation unit 6 and accepted by the operation acceptance unit 32, as shown in FIG. 3(b), the content of page 13 that had been displayed on the display unit 5 up until that point is turned three-dimensionally in the same way as turning the pages of a paper-based text.

That is, the right side of page 13 being turned is displayed as the front screen 201p, and the left side is turned to the other side and displayed as the back screen 201q. Furthermore, on the back screen 201q, the characters of the inverted document on page 13 can be seen through the paper medium. Displaying the display screen 105 in this way gives the user a sense of realism as if they were turning the pages of a paper book or the like.

Furthermore, when page 13 has been turned over, only page 14 is displayed on almost the entire display unit 5, as shown in the display screen 106 of FIG. 3(c). At this time, the highlighted display area 301 is positioned at a predetermined position on the display screen 106 for page 14 that corresponds to the position of page 13 on the display screen 102 before the pages were turned. This predetermined position may be the same as the position of page 13 on the display screen 102, or may be a position shifted to the far right of the display screen 106 for page 14.

When using a reading tracker with a paper book or the like, after finishing reading a specific page, the user must remove the reading tracker, turn the page, and then place the reading tracker in the specified position again. However, with the display terminal 1 of this embodiment, even if the page is turned, the highlighting area 301 is automatically placed in the specified position on the subsequent page, which is highly convenient for the user.

On the other hand, the operation acceptance unit 32 accepts operations performed by the user on the operation unit 6 and transmits the accepted operation content to the display control unit 31. The operation acceptance unit 32 may convert the accepted user operation into specific command information for the display control unit 31 and transmit it to the display control unit 31. Alternatively, the operation signal performed on the operation unit 6 may simply be transmitted directly to the display control unit 31. Furthermore, a data table in which the operation content performed on the operation unit 6 is associated with command information for the display control unit 31 may be stored in advance in the storage unit 4 or the like. Then, the operation acceptance unit 32 or the display control unit 31 may identify the command information for the display control unit 31 by referring to the data table.

The command information is information indicating a command or instruction that serves as a condition for the display control unit 31 to generate control information for the display unit 5. For example, if the command information is a command to superimpose the highlighted display area 301 on the display unit 5, the display control unit 31 generates control information for the display unit 5 for that display.

(iv) Display and Operation Unit The display unit 5 is composed of a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, electronic paper, etc., and includes a display driver that controls the voltage drive to the display element. The display unit 5 has a function of displaying content information, such as text information and non-text information, on a screen so that the user can see it, based on an instruction from the control unit 3. The display unit 5 can also display a menu screen for accepting various operations, and the touch panel that constitutes the display unit 5 serves as the operation unit 6, allowing various operation inputs to be performed by touching it with the user's finger.

The touch panel that is the operation unit 6 can be formed by known technologies such as the electrostatic capacitance method, the electromagnetic induction method, the infrared method, the resistive film method, and the surface acoustic wave method. Therefore, when operations are performed through the touch panel, the display unit 5 also functions as the operation unit 6 as a part of itself. However, the display terminal 1 may have an operation unit 6 such as a push button or a changeover switch separately from the touch panel of the display unit 5, or in addition to the touch panel function. Furthermore, the operation unit 6 is not limited to being operated by hand, and may have an operation input that detects acceleration or tilt using gestures, etc.

(v) Power Supply Unit The display terminal 1 further includes a power supply unit 7 for supplying power for driving each unit. The power supply unit 7 is preferably a repeatedly rechargeable battery, such as a lithium ion secondary battery or a secondary solid-state battery.

(b) Display Terminal of First Embodiment As described above, the display terminal 1 that displays the content of the first embodiment displays multiple lines of content, and highlights at least one of the multiple lines, or displays the adjacent areas of the line with both sides masked. This improves the readability of the content according to the user's circumstances, such as the user's preferences, the degree of dyslexia, and the reading position of the content, when reading the content.

In addition, the multiple lines of content in this case may be content consisting of multiple lines of characters, etc. By highlighting or masking the adjacent areas of the target line that is a character, etc., the readability of the content according to the user's situation is further improved.

The display terminal 1 of the first embodiment also includes a display unit 5, an operation reception unit 32 that receives an operation to change the display of the display unit 5, and a display control unit 31 that generates control information related to the display of the display unit 5 corresponding to the operation received by the operation reception unit 32. When content is displayed on the display unit 5, if the operation reception unit 32 receives an operation, the content can be displayed on the display unit 5 in a display mode based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31.

As an example, when content is displayed on the display unit 5, if the operation receiving unit 32 receives a first operation, the display unit 5 displays the content in the following display mode. That is, based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31, a highlighting region 301 is superimposed on the screen 201 of a specific page. Furthermore, the screen of the specific page can be displayed on the display unit 5 in a state where it can be seen through the superimposed first region. The highlighting region 301 includes a highlight slit 301a, which is a strip-shaped first region, and masking slits 301b and 301c, which are a pair of strip-shaped second regions arranged adjacent to each other so as to sandwich the first region.

This allows users to freely switch between a mode in which they can read normal content and a mode in which they can read by highlighting specific lines, i.e., by highlighting the lines or masking the adjacent areas on either side, improving the convenience of reading, etc.

Furthermore, if the operation receiving unit 32 receives a second operation while the highlighting region 301 is displayed on the display unit 5, the following occurs. That is, based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31, the highlighting region 301 can be displayed on the display unit 5 in a display mode in which the position of the highlighting region 301 can be moved along the row arrangement direction so that the content of any row that overlaps with the first region can be viewed. This allows the user to freely select the row position that they want to highlight, further improving convenience for reading, etc.

In addition, when the highlighted display area 301 is displayed on the display unit 5, the operation receiving unit 32 can receive a third operation, and based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31, the first area can be displayed on the display unit 5 in a display mode in which the width along the row arrangement direction of the first area can be changed along the row arrangement direction.

As a result, even if the text of the content is enlarged, the width of the first area is expanded accordingly so that the text can be viewed within the first area, further improving the visibility of the enlarged text. Also, if the text is not enlarged, multiple lines of text can be viewed at once within the first area. This allows the user's gaze to be focused on the text of the lines that overlap the first area, while the next lines that have not yet been read come into view, improving the user's predictability of the development of the text and increasing the speed at which the text progresses.

In addition, when the highlighted display area 301 is displayed on the display unit 5, the operation receiving unit 32 can receive the fourth operation, which makes the following possible. That is, based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31, the first area can be displayed on the display unit 5 in a display mode in which the color or brightness of the first area can be changed to such an extent that the content of any of the overlapping rows can be seen. This makes it possible to adjust the color or brightness of the first area to an optimal level, taking into account individual differences such as the user's preferences and the degree of dyslexia, and to further improve the readability of the content according to the user's situation.

2. Second embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the display terminal of the present disclosure will be described. The display terminal according to the second embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that it has the following additional functions in addition to the functions of the display terminal 1 of the first embodiment. That is, when the highlighted display area 301 is displayed on the display unit 5, the following becomes possible when the operation reception unit 32 receives a fifth operation. When the fifth operation is received, the color or brightness of the masking slits, which are a pair of second areas, can be changed based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31. The degree of change ranges from a degree to which the content of one of the overlapping rows is visible to a degree to which this content is not visible.

For example, the display screen 107 shown in FIG. 5(a) is a diagram showing the change in the screen when the display screen 102 of FIG. 3(a) is displayed on the display unit 5 and the user presses and holds his/her finger for a certain period of time on point A9 that overlaps with the masking slit 301b of the highlighted display area 301. Such a long press operation is an example of the fifth operation. This fifth operation causes the masking slit 301b of the highlighted display area 301 to transition from a state in which the characters and the like of the screen 201 overlapping with it are not visible to a masking slit 303b in which they are only faintly visible, and these form the highlighted display area 303.

On the other hand, the display screen 108 shown in FIG. 5(b) is a diagram showing the change in the screen when the user presses and holds his/her finger for a certain period of time on point A10 that overlaps with the masking slit 301c of the highlighted display area 301 while the display screen 102 of FIG. 3(a) is being displayed on the display unit 5. This operation is also an example of the fifth operation. With this fifth operation, the masking slit 301c of the highlighted display area 301 transitions from a state in which the characters and the like on the screen 201 that overlap with it are not visible to a masking slit 304c in which they are only faintly visible, and these form the highlighted display area 304.

The display screen 109 shown in FIG. 5(c) is displayed as a result of performing the fifth operation on the masking slit 303b and the fifth operation on the masking slit 304c on the display screen 102 described above, either simultaneously or separately. In this case, the two masking slits 303b and 304c on either side of the highlight slit 301a are both such that the characters or the like on the screen 201 that overlap with them are faintly visible, and these constitute the highlighted display area 305.

Furthermore, in the display screen 110 shown in FIG. 5(d), like the display screen 109, the two masking slits 306b and 306c are such that the characters, etc., on the screen 201 that overlap with them are faintly visible, and these constitute the highlighted display area 306. However, the masking slits 306b and 306c are such that the characters, etc., on the screen 201 that overlap with them are more difficult to see than the masking slits 303b and 304c of the display screen 109.

Such adjustment of the color and brightness of the masking slits for the highlighted display areas 305 and 306 may be possible according to, for example, the duration of the fifth operation finger press. In other words, the masking slits may be displayed on the display unit 5 in an adjustable display mode such that the shorter the duration of the press, the lower the visibility of the characters, etc., through the masking slits, and the longer the duration of the press, the higher the visibility of the characters, etc. through the masking slits. By being able to adjust the transparency of the masking slits with such a simple operation, it is possible to further improve the readability of the content according to the user's circumstances, such as the user's preferences, the degree of dyslexia, and the reading position of the content.

The adjustment of the color or brightness of the masking slit by the fifth operation is performed in order to adjust the visibility of the text, etc. of the content that is superimposed on it. However, the fifth operation can also be used to change only the color or brightness of the masking slit, regardless of the adjustment of the visibility of the text, etc.

When the masking slit 303b on the left side of the highlight slit 301a of the pair of masking slits in the highlight display area 303, as in the display screen 107 of FIG. 5(a), is sufficient to allow the characters, etc. on the screen 201 to be visually recognized, the following can be said. That is, the user can concentrate on reading the characters, etc. on the screen 201 that are superimposed on the highlight slit 301a. Furthermore, since the user can faintly see the characters, etc. of a line preceding the line of characters, etc. currently being read, the user's predictability of the development of the text can be improved, and the reading speed can be improved.

Furthermore, as in the display screen 108 of FIG. 5(b), when the masking slit 304c on the right side of the highlight slit 301a, out of the pair of masking slits in the highlighted display area 304, is sufficient to allow the characters, etc. on the screen 201 to be seen, the following can be said. First, the user can concentrate on reading the characters, etc. on the screen 201 that are superimposed on the highlight slit 301a. Furthermore, since the user can see the characters, etc. on the line preceding the line of characters, etc. currently being read, the line that was just finished comes back into view. This review effect enhances the user's understanding of the text, and as a result, the reading speed can be improved.

On the other hand, when the masking slits 306b and 306c of the pair of masking slits in the highlighting area 304 are both masking slits that allow the characters on the screen 201 to be seen, as in the display screen 109 of FIG. 5(c), a combination of the above-mentioned effects can be obtained. Note that if the transparency of the masking slits is too high, that is, if the visibility of the characters through the masking slits is too high, this leads to an improvement in the predictability of the development of the text by the user and an improvement in the comprehension of the text due to the review effect. However, on the other hand, the effect of concentrating the user's gaze on the characters superimposed on the highlight slit is reduced. Therefore, it is effective for the user to be able to freely adjust the transparency of each of the pair of masking slits according to the user's circumstances, such as the user's preferences and the degree of dyslexia.

3. Third embodiment Next, a third embodiment of the display terminal of the present disclosure will be described. As shown in Fig. 7, the display terminal 1a according to the third embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the control unit 3a further includes a row arrangement specification unit 33. Note that in Fig. 7, the control unit 3a further includes a reading time calculation unit 34, which will be described later as a fourth embodiment.

The line arrangement specification unit 33 is a part included in the control unit 3a, and specifies the line arrangement of the text area of a specified page displayed on the display unit 5. The line arrangement of the text area is information indicating the position of the lines of characters, etc. that make up the text area on the display screen of the display unit 5. For example, when the display terminal 1a downloads content from an application server, etc., it can store display attribute data 43, which is attribute information for displaying the content on the display unit 5, in the storage unit 4 separately from the content 41. The display attribute data 43 may specifically include the size of the characters, etc. when the page is displayed, pitch information for each line when arranging the lines, arrangement coordinate information, etc.

In this case, the line arrangement determination unit 33 can determine the position of each line of characters, etc. of the content arranged on a specified page by reading the display attribute data 43 of the storage unit 4. Alternatively, the line arrangement determination unit 33 may directly obtain image information of the display screen and perform image processing such as OCR processing to determine the position of each line of characters, etc. of the content arranged on a specified page.

The operation of the display terminal 1a in this embodiment will be described mainly with reference to Figs. 6 to 8. First, the user performs a first operation on the display terminal 1a, as in the display terminal 1 of the first embodiment, and the operation acceptance unit 32 accepts the first operation (step S401 in Fig. 8). Here, before superimposing the highlighted display area 301 on the screen 201 of the content of page 13, which is a specified page displayed on the display unit 5 as shown in Fig. 6(a), the line arrangement identification unit 33 first identifies the line arrangement of the text area on page 13 (step S402).

Next, the display control unit 31 generates control information as an instruction regarding the content to be displayed on the display unit 5 based on the information on the line arrangement of the text area on page 13 identified by the line arrangement identification unit 33. In this embodiment, in the initial state when the first operation is accepted, the highlighting area 301 is arranged so that the first area is superimposed on the characters in the first line of the displayed page. In response to this control information, the display unit 5 displays the display screen 111 with the highlighting area 301 shifted to the right edge, as shown in FIG. 6(a) (step S403). If a page is turned at this point, the above-mentioned steps S402 and S403 are executed again for the next page, i.e., page 14 (step S404).

Next, if the sixth operation is performed without turning the page, the flow is as follows. The sixth operation can be exemplified as tapping a point A11 at any location of the highlight slit 301a, as shown on the display screen 111 in FIG. 6(a). At this time, the line arrangement specification unit 33 checks whether or not a line preceding the line on which the highlight slit 301a, which is the first region, overlaps, exists in the text region, that is, a line to the left of the first line in this embodiment (step S406). Then, if a line preceding the line on which the first region overlaps exists, the display control unit 31 generates control information based on this information to move the highlight region 301 to a position where the first region overlaps the characters of the preceding line and display it on the display unit 5. As a result, the display unit 5 displays the display screen 112 in a state in which the highlight region 301 has been shifted one line to the left, as shown in FIG. 6(b) (step S409).

After that, process A in FIG. 8 is performed. That is, process A is a repetition of the flow from step S404. On the other hand, if the line arrangement specification unit 33 confirms in step S406 that there is no line preceding the line on which the first region overlaps in the text region, that is, if the line on which the first region overlaps is already the last line, the current display content on the display unit 5 is maintained (step S407). If the line on which the first region overlaps is already the last line as in the display screen 113 of FIG. 6(c), it is not possible to move the highlighting region 301 any further to the preceding line, so in this case, no reaction can be made to the sixth operation. However, the display control unit 31 may generate control information to display on the display unit 5 that the highlighting region 301 cannot be moved, thereby informing the user of the erroneous operation (step S407).

In this state, as shown in FIG. 6(c), if a page-turning operation is performed such as swiping from point A13 on screen 201 of content other than highlighted display area 301 along the X5 direction to the right to point A14 (step S404), the flow from step S402 is repeated. That is, as shown in FIG. 6(d), the page is turned and the next page, page 14, is displayed, and the highlighted display area 301 is moved so that the first area becomes the top line, and the superimposed display screen 114 is displayed on the display unit 5. Note that if an end process is performed, the display is ended (step S408).

In an example of this embodiment, the user can repeatedly perform a sixth operation on the display unit 5, which also serves as the operation unit 6, to step-shift the highlighted display region 301 so that the target line overlapping the first region of the highlighted display region 301 shifts sequentially to the preceding line. However, the line arrangement specification unit 33 specifies line arrangement information within the text region of a specific page displayed on the display unit 5. Therefore, in response to the sixth operation, the highlighted display region 301 can not only be moved stepwise by line spacing toward the last line, but can also be moved step-wise by line spacing toward the first line.

In other words, in this embodiment, when the highlighting region 301 is positioned at a position where the content of the first line, which is one of the lines, can be seen through the overlapping first region, the operation receiving unit 32 can accept the sixth operation to enable the following: Based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31, the highlighting region 301 can be moved to a position where the content of the second line adjacent to the first line identified within the text region by the line placement identifying unit 33 can be seen through the overlapping first region.

For example, suppose that page 13 is composed of a text region from line 1 to line 7, and the first region of highlight region 301 is currently overlapping line 5. At this time, by performing the sixth operation, it is possible to make the first line the fifth line, the second line the sixth line, and further make the first line the sixth line and the second line the seventh line, thereby stepping highlight region 301 toward the last line. Also, by performing a different sixth operation, it is possible to make the first line the fifth line, the second line the fourth line, and further make the first line the fourth line and the second line the third line, thereby stepping highlight region 301 toward the first line.

In this manner, in this embodiment, by performing a predetermined sixth operation on the display screen of the display unit 5 where the highlight region 301 is superimposed on the content, the user can easily step-move the highlight region 301 to an adjacent line. In other words, the user does not need to finely adjust the position of the highlight region 301 so that the first region is superimposed on the line of characters, etc., currently being read in the content. This allows the user to concentrate on reading the content without having to worry about moving the highlight region 301, further improving the ease with which the user can read the content.

As an example of the sixth operation other than the tap operation, for example, on the display screen 111 of FIG. 6(a), a swipe may be made in the direction in which the highlight slit 301a is to be moved, starting from point A11, which is any location on the highlight slit 301a. At this time, the swipe operation is an action in which the finger moves continuously in the left-right direction, but the highlight slit 301a may be able to move stepwise to adjacent rows, one row at a time, depending on the amount or speed of movement of the finger. In this way, the operational burden on the user may be reduced more than with a continuous tap operation.

Next, a fourth embodiment of the display terminal of the present disclosure will be described. The display terminal 1a according to the fourth embodiment differs from the display terminal 1a according to the third embodiment in that the control unit 3a further includes a reading time calculation unit 34.

The reading time calculation unit 34 is a part included in the control unit 3a, and obtains information on the time interval between the user turning pages in a specified content, and calculates the time required to read one line of the content. Furthermore, the reading time calculation unit 34 determines the line feed time corresponding to the time required to read one line of the content. First, the reading time calculation unit 34 collects information on the time interval between the user turning pages from the display terminal 1a, and stores it in the storage unit 4. Such information is possible by collecting log data related to page display, such as information on the time it takes for the page screen displayed on the display unit 5 to change, or time information from the start to the end of display for each page displayed on the display unit 5. It is preferable that the information on the time interval between page turning is related to the content currently being read, but if there is little data, information on another content that has been read in the past may be used.

Next, the reading time calculation unit 34 calculates the time required to read one line of content based on information about the time interval between page turns by the user. For example, if the time interval between page turns of a certain content is 140 seconds on average, and the content is written in a format of 20 lines per page, the time required to read one line of content can be calculated to be 7 seconds. Note that, in this calculation, an accurate time can be calculated by subtracting the time during which the user interrupts reading, etc. for a certain period of time or more due to a break, etc. Furthermore, the reading time calculation unit 34 can determine a line feed time corresponding to the time required to read one line of content. This may be the calculated time required to read one line of content itself, or it may be divided into multiple time ranges and the time corresponding to each time range may be set.

The operation of the display terminal 1a in this embodiment will be described mainly with reference to Figures 7, 9, and 10. The steps from the first operation to the display of the first highlighted display area 301 on the display unit 5 (steps S421 to S423 in Figure 9) are the same as the flow from step S401 to step S403 described in the third embodiment. In addition, the process when a page is turned here is also the same as step S404 described above (step S424).

On the other hand, if the seventh operation is performed without turning the page, the following operation occurs. The seventh operation may be, for example, the same as the sixth operation described above, or may be a different operation. At this time, the line arrangement specification unit 33 checks whether or not a line preceding the line on which the highlight slit 301a, which is the first region, overlaps, exists within the text region, that is, in this embodiment, a line to the left of the top line (step S426). Then, if a line preceding the line on which the first region overlaps exists, the process moves to process B in FIG. 9, i.e., process in FIG. 10.

At this time, the reading time calculation unit 34 first collects information on the time interval between the user's page turning from the display terminal 1a and stores it in the memory unit 4. Next, the reading time calculation unit 34 calculates the time required to read one line of content based on the information on the time interval between the user's page turning. Furthermore, the reading time calculation unit 34 determines the line feed time corresponding to the time required to read one line of content (step S431).

After that, the reading time calculation unit 34 measures the elapsed time since the first seventh operation was performed or the elapsed time since the highlighting region 301 was moved, and when this time reaches the above-mentioned line feed time, the following occurs (step S432). That is, based on the information from the reading time calculation unit 34, the display control unit 31 generates control information to move the highlighting region 301 to a position where the first region overlaps the characters of the preceding line and display it on the display unit 5. As a result, the display unit 5 displays a display screen in which the highlighting region 301 has been shifted one line to the left (step S433).

After that, if the page is turned, the process moves to process C (step S434), and if the page is not turned and the end process is performed, the process moves to process E (step S435). Process C is a process returning to step S422, and process E is an end process. If these processes are not performed, the line arrangement specification unit 33 checks whether there is a line preceding the overlapping line of the first region (step S436). If there is a preceding line, the flow from step S432 onwards, in which the elapsed time since the new display of the highlight display region 301 in the previous step S433 is measured, is repeated. If there is no preceding line, the process moves to process D. Process D is a process returning to step S427. The processes from step S427 onwards are the same as the processes from step S407 onwards described above.

In this embodiment, when the highlighting region 301 is disposed at a position where the content of the first line, which is one of the lines, can be seen through the overlapping first region, the following becomes possible when the operation receiving unit 32 receives the seventh operation. From the time interval between the user's page turning, the reading time calculation unit 34 calculates the line feed time corresponding to the time required to read the content of one line. Then, as this line feed time passes, the highlighting region 301 can be moved to a position where the content of the fourth line, which is adjacent to the third line and identified by the line placement identification unit 33, can be seen through the overlapping first region. The third and fourth lines correspond to the first and second lines described in the third embodiment.

In this way, in this embodiment, by performing a predetermined seventh operation on the display screen of the display unit 5 on which the highlighting region 301 is superimposed on the content, the user can easily step-shift the highlighting region 301 to an adjacent line. In other words, there is no need to finely adjust the position of the highlighting region 301 so that the first region is superimposed on the line of characters, etc., that the user is currently reading in the content. Furthermore, the user does not need to perform an operation to step-shift the highlighting region 301 one by one, and the highlighting region 301 can be automatically step-shifted according to the reading time for each line of characters, etc., estimated from the reading time of the user reading the content. Therefore, the user can concentrate on reading the content without considering the operation to move the highlighting region 301, which further improves the ease of reading the content for the user.

5. Fifth embodiment Next, a fifth embodiment of the display terminal of the present disclosure will be described. As shown in Fig. 11, a display terminal 1b according to the fifth embodiment is different from the first embodiment in that it further includes a viewpoint detection unit 8 and the control unit 3b further includes a reading position identification unit 35. However, the viewpoint detection unit 8 also includes the function of the reading position identification unit 35, so that the control unit 3b may have the same configuration as the control unit 3 of the first embodiment.

The viewpoint detection unit 8 is, for example, a viewpoint detection sensor that detects the position of the user's viewpoint, and one example is one that uses a corneal reflex method. In this case, the viewpoint detection sensor detects the position of the viewpoint by utilizing the difference in reflectance between the black and white of the user's eyeball. A sensor used in the corneal reflex method has a light-emitting element and a light-receiving element, and the light-emitting element irradiates infrared light onto the reader's eyeball, and the light-receiving element receives the reflected light from the eyeball. Here, since the white part of the eyeball has a higher reflectance than the black part, if two light-receiving elements are provided in the left and right directions along the alignment of the user's eyeballs, it is possible to detect the up and down and left and right movement of the eyeball from the difference in the light-receiving reflectance of each light-receiving element.

For example, if the pupil moves towards the right light receiving element, the amount of reflected light received by the right light receiving element will be less than the amount of reflected light received by the left light receiving element. Also, if the eyeball moves up or down, the sum of the amount of reflected light from the two left and right light receiving elements will increase or decrease depending on the difference in height between the light emitting element and the eyeball, and based on the amount of increase or decrease, it can be detected whether the eyeball has moved up or down.

The reading position identification unit 35 is a part included in the control unit 3b, and receives information on the user's viewpoint position detected by the viewpoint detection unit 8, and checks whether the viewpoint position is included in a line of characters or the like that is overlapped by the first area of the already placed highlighting area 301. Furthermore, it checks whether the viewpoint position is within the range of the text area of a specified page displayed on the display unit 5. Then, it transmits the information on the results of these checks to the display control unit 31.

Next, the operation of the display terminal 1b in this embodiment will be described mainly with reference to Figs. 11 and 12. First, the user performs a first operation on the display terminal 1b, as in the display terminal 1 in the first embodiment, and the operation acceptance unit 32 accepts the first operation (step S441 in Fig. 12). Here, the display control unit 31 generates control information as an instruction regarding the content to be displayed on the display unit 5. For example, in this embodiment, in the initial state when the first operation is accepted, the highlighting region 301 may be positioned so that the first region is superimposed on the characters or the like in the first line of the displayed page. In response to this control information, the highlighting region is displayed on the display unit 5 so that the first region is superimposed on a predetermined position, such as the first line (step S442).

Next, the user reads a given page of the content without turning the page. At this time, the viewpoint detection unit 8 of the display terminal 1 detects the viewpoint of the user who is reading, and sequentially transmits information for identifying the viewpoint position to the reading position identification unit 35. The reading position identification unit 35 identifies the viewpoint position at which the user is currently looking based on the information from the viewpoint detection unit 8 (step S444). Here, the reading position identification unit 35 checks whether the viewpoint position is included in the line of characters, etc., on which the first region of the already placed highlight display region 301 is superimposed (step S445). If the viewpoint position is included, the display control unit 31, which has received information to that effect, does not generate control information, the current display is maintained on the display unit 5, and the process returns to step S443 (step S445).

On the other hand, if the reading position identification unit 35 confirms that the viewpoint position is not included in the line of characters or the like on which the first region of the current highlighted display region 301 is overlapped, it checks whether the viewpoint position is included in the text region (step S446). If the viewpoint position is included in the text region, information to that effect is transmitted to the display control unit 31. In response to this, the display control unit 31 generates control information to change the position of the highlighted display region 301 so that the first region is overlapped at the viewpoint position, as an instruction regarding the content to be displayed on the display unit 5. In response to this, the display screen with the changed position of the highlighted display region 301 is displayed on the display unit 5, and then the process returns to step S443 as process F (step S449).

If the viewpoint position is not included in the text area, information to that effect is transmitted to the display control unit 31. Receiving this, the display control unit 31 does not generate control information for the display unit 5, and the current display is maintained (step S447). Note that if an end process has been performed, the display is ended (step S448).

In this manner, in this embodiment, the highlighting region 301 can be automatically moved continuously or in steps on the display screen of the display unit 5, where the highlighting region 301 is superimposed on the content, following the user's viewpoint position based on the information detected by the viewpoint detection unit 8. That is, the position of the highlighting region 301 can be changed and displayed on the display unit 5 so that the first region is superimposed on the user's viewpoint position or on any of the rows closest to the viewpoint position. This means that the user does not need to worry about moving the highlighting region 301, and can concentrate on reading the content. In addition, since the characters and the like highlighted by the first region of the highlighting region 301 can always be read, following the user's viewpoint position, the ease of reading the content for the user can be further improved.

6. Sixth embodiment Next, a sixth embodiment of the display terminal of the present disclosure will be described. The display terminal according to the sixth embodiment is basically configured similarly to the display terminal 1 of the first embodiment. However, it differs in that a function is added in which characters and the like of a line overlapping with the first region of the highlighted display region 301 are enlarged at a predetermined magnification and displayed on the display unit 5 by an eighth operation performed by the user, or a function is added in which characters and the like are converted into a different font and displayed on the display unit 5. This function can be realized by the display control unit 31 of the control unit 3 or any other part of the control unit 3.

For example, FIG. 13(a) shows the display screen 115 in a state where the user performs the eighth operation on the display screen 102 on which the highlighted display area 301 is superimposed as shown in FIG. 3(a), and the characters or the like in a predetermined line of the screen 201 superimposed on the highlight slit 301a of the highlighted display area 301 are enlarged. Such changes to the display screen are made based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31.

The characters or the like in this specific line are enlarged by a specific magnification so as to be stretched in the left-right direction, and the highlight slit 301a is changed to a highlighted display area 307 converted into a wider highlight slit 307a. The eighth operation can be exemplified by, for example, tapping the highlight slit 301a in the highlighted display area 301 once or multiple times, or pinching out or swiping the highlight slit 301a in the left-right direction.

The enlargement of the characters, etc., overlapping with the highlight slit 301a is not limited to the horizontal stretching as described above, but may be enlarged vertically and horizontally at a uniform magnification, or may be enlarged only vertically. Note that if the characters, etc. are stretched horizontally as in this embodiment, it is possible to avoid the characters, etc., protruding from the top and bottom of the display unit 5 in the vertical direction, making it difficult to read the characters, etc., line by line without scrolling vertically. Note that when enlarging the characters, etc., vertically and horizontally at a uniform magnification, it is preferable to change the line break position of the text and display it on the display unit 5 so that the characters, etc. do not protrude from the top and bottom of the display unit 5. Also, the display screen 115 in FIG. 13(a) enlarges and displays only the characters, etc., of the lines overlapping with the highlight slit 301a, but this is not limited thereto, and characters, etc. of other lines not overlapping with the highlight slit 301a may also be enlarged and displayed at the same magnification.

On the other hand, FIG. 13(b) shows the display screen 116 in a state where the user performs the eighth operation on the display screen 102 on which the highlighted display area 301 in FIG. 3(a) is superimposed, and the characters etc. in a predetermined line of the screen 201 superimposed on the highlight slit 301a of the highlighted display area 301 are converted to a different typeface. This change of the display screen is also performed based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31. In this embodiment, the characters etc. displayed in Mincho typeface are converted to cursive typeface.

Generally, there are various fonts for characters that are easy for users to read, and it is preferable that the user can arbitrarily determine which font the characters superimposed on the first area of the highlighted display area 301 should be converted to by selecting and inputting the font to the operation unit 6 of the display terminal. In addition, the display screen 116 in FIG. 13(b) converts the font of only the characters in the lines superimposed on the highlight slit 301a, but this is not limited to this, and characters in other lines that do not superimpose on the highlight slit 301a may also be converted to the same font. In addition, the above-mentioned character enlargement and font conversion functions may be set in advance in the display terminal as to which function is executed when the eighth operation is performed, or the contents of the eighth operation may be distinguished so that either function can be executed depending on the operation method.

In this manner, in this embodiment, when the operation receiving unit 32 receives the eighth operation on the display screen of the display unit 5 on which the highlighting region 301 is superimposed on the content, the following occurs. That is, based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31, the content of the line that overlaps with the first region is enlarged by a predetermined magnification and displayed on the display unit 5. Alternatively, based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31, the font of the characters, etc. of the content of the line that overlaps with the first region is converted to a different font and displayed on the display unit 5. This allows the user to read the characters, etc. superimposed on the first region of the highlighting region 301 in a font size or font that is easier for the user to read, further improving the readability of the content for the user.

7. Seventh embodiment Next, a seventh embodiment of the display terminal of the present disclosure will be described. The display terminal according to the seventh embodiment is basically configured similarly to the display terminal 1 of the first embodiment. However, the display terminal of this embodiment is not limited to content in which the highlighted display area is vertically written text, and can also handle content in which the highlighted display area is horizontally written text. It goes without saying that the first to eighth operations and other operations described above are also applicable to a display terminal that displays content in which the highlighted display area is horizontally written text.

In addition, when the content contains a mixture of text areas consisting of text such as characters, and non-text areas consisting of cartoons, illustrations, photographs, etc., the highlighting areas are positioned so as not to impede the visibility of the non-text areas. This function can be realized by the display control unit 31 of the control unit 3 or any other part of the control unit 3.

For example, FIG. 14(a) is a diagram showing a display screen 117 in which a content screen 203 of horizontally written text is displayed on the display unit 5. In this case, when the user performs a first operation on the display screen 117, the display control unit 31 of the control unit 3 automatically determines the text type (vertical or horizontal) of the content on the display screen, and displays a highlighted display area with an orientation and shape corresponding to this text type superimposed on the original display screen. FIG. 14(b) is a diagram showing a display screen 118 in which a highlighted display area 309 is superimposed on the screen 203, which is displayed on the display unit 5 based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31 after the first operation.

On the other hand, FIG. 15(a) is a diagram showing a display screen 119 in which a text area screen 204, which is a horizontally written text, and a non-text area screen 205, which is composed of characters and illustrations, are mixed and arranged. Here, a highlighting area 310 extending across the entire area in the horizontal direction is superimposed on the upper area in which only characters and the like are arranged in the horizontal direction. Here, the arrangement of the highlighting area 310 is shifted downward in the horizontal direction to the area in which the non-text area screen 205 is arranged by a second operation or the like. In this case, the horizontal width of the highlighting area is reduced so as to avoid the screen 205 and is displayed on the display unit 5. That is, the display screen 119 becomes the display screen 120 in which the highlighting area 311, whose width has been reduced to a range that does not overlap with the screen 205, is changed and displayed. The highlight slit 310a and the masking slits 310b and 310c are changed to the highlight slits 311a and the masking slits 311b and 311c, which are reduced to the same length in the horizontal direction, respectively.

This can be easily achieved, for example, by having the control unit include the line arrangement specification unit 33 described in the third embodiment or a portion equivalent thereto. That is, the line arrangement specification unit 33 can specify the line arrangement of the text area of a specified page displayed on the display unit 5. For this reason, the display control unit 31 can generate control information based on the information on the line arrangement of the text area from the line arrangement specification unit 33 so that the highlighting area 311 is displayed only in areas where lines of the text area exist. By performing display on the display unit 5 based on this control information, it is possible to obtain a display screen 120 in which the highlighting area 311 is superimposed in a location that avoids the non-text area of the screen 205.

In this way, this embodiment confirms that the explanations regarding various operations and display screens related to vertically written text content described in the first to sixth embodiments can also be applied to a display terminal that displays horizontally written text content on the display unit 5. Furthermore, when the display screen displayed on the display unit 5 includes a mixture of text area screens and non-text area screens, the highlighting area is appropriately reduced in length and width so as not to impair the visibility of the non-text area screen. This allows the user to read the text while highlighting the characters in the text area with the highlighting area without impairing the visibility of the non-text area screen, further improving the ease of reading for the user.

8. Eighth embodiment Next, an eighth embodiment of a content display system using a display terminal of the present disclosure will be described. As shown in FIG. 16 and FIG. 17, a content display system 10 according to the eighth embodiment is configured by connecting a plurality of display terminals 1c to a management server 11 via a communication network 20 so as to be able to communicate with the management server 11. This embodiment is different from the first embodiment, for example, in that the display terminal 1c does not include a display control unit 31 or an operation reception unit 32. On the other hand, these functions are replaced by providing a display control unit 31a and an operation reception unit 32a in the control unit 3c of the management server 11. Note that three display terminals are connected in FIG. 16 for illustrative purposes only, and any number of display terminals can be connected to the communication network 20.

(a) Configuration of the Management Server The management server 11 is an information processing device including a control unit 3c, a storage unit 4a, and a communication unit 12, as shown in FIG. 17. The management server 11 includes at least a control unit such as a CPU or MPU, and various memory elements, etc., to realize the functions of the control unit 3c and the storage unit 4a, but can also be configured using, for example, a personal computer or a smartphone. The communication unit 12 is merely a means for connecting the management server 11 to a network, and is not an essential component.

The control unit 3c includes a display control unit 31a and an operation reception unit 32a, and performs the same functions as the display control unit 31 and the operation reception unit 32 of the first embodiment, etc. In addition, content 41a, a content display application 42a, and display attribute data 43a are stored in the storage unit 4a as application programs, databases, and parameters that enable the display control unit 31a and the operation reception unit 32a to instruct the display of appropriate content. This is also similar to the contents provided in the storage unit 4 of the first embodiment, etc.

In addition, the management server 11 may have a function of transmitting content to the display terminal 1c and allowing the content to be viewed from the display terminal 1c via a web browser. In addition, such a function may be provided in an application server separate from the management server 11.

(b) Configuration of the Display Terminal On the other hand, the display terminal 1c mainly includes a control unit 3d, a communication unit 2, a display unit 5, an operation unit 6, and a power supply unit 7. As described above, the display terminal 1c does not include a display control unit or an operation reception unit in the control unit 3d, but may include a storage unit and an operation reception unit.

(c) Method of Changing the Display Mode of Contents A method of changing the display mode of contents when using a content display system 10 including a display terminal 1c according to this embodiment will be described, focusing on the differences from the first embodiment. First, the user sets the display terminal 1c to a state in which the content can be read. At this time, the display terminal 1c transmits an input signal from the operation unit 6 to the management server 11 via the communication unit 2. The management server 11 receives the signal from the display terminal 1c via the communication unit 12, decodes the signal at the operation reception unit 32a, and transmits the operation content to the display control unit 31a.

Here, in response to an instruction from the display control unit 31a, the content 41a, which may be e-book data or the like, is read from the storage unit 4a, and the content 41a and control information regarding its display mode are transmitted to the display terminal 1c. The display terminal 1c that has received this information causes the display unit 5 to display, for example, the display screen 101 shown in FIG. 1(a) using characters in page units of a text body, based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31a.

Next, assume that the user performs a first operation. This operation signal is transmitted from the display terminal 1c to the management server 11, and the operation reception unit 32a of the management server 11 receives this signal, causing the control information generated by the display control unit 31a to be transmitted from the management server 11 to the display terminal 1c. The display terminal 1c receives the control information, and based on this, as shown in FIG. 1(b), a display screen 102 is displayed on the display unit 5, in which the highlighted display area 301 is positioned at a predetermined position, for example, approximately in the center in the left-right direction, superimposed on the original screen 201.

Next, assume that the user performs a second operation. The display terminal 1c transmits this operation signal to the management server 11, and the operation reception unit 32a of the management server 11 receives this signal, causing the control information generated by the display control unit 31a to be transmitted from the management server 11 to the display terminal 1c. The display terminal 1c receives the control information, and based on this, as shown in FIG. 2(a), the display screen 103 is displayed on the display unit 5 with the highlighted display area 301 moved to a predetermined position. When the various operations described in the first embodiment and other embodiments are performed, processing is performed in a similar manner, and is reflected in the display content of the display unit 5.

(d) Content Display System of Eighth Embodiment As described above, the content display system of this embodiment includes the display terminal 1c having the display unit 5, and the management server 11 capable of communicating with the display terminal 1c. The management server 11 includes an operation receiving unit 32a that receives an operation to change the display of the display unit 5, and a display control unit 31a that generates control information related to the display of the display unit 5, corresponding to the operation received by the operation receiving unit 32a.

When a specific page, which is page-by-page information of the virtual text font of the content, is displayed on the display unit 5, if the operation receiving unit 32a receives a first operation, the following occurs. That is, based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31a and received by the display terminal 1c from the management server 11, a highlighted display area 301 including a strip-shaped first area and a pair of adjacent strip-shaped second areas sandwiching the first area can be displayed on the display unit 5. The highlighted display area 301 is superimposed on the specific page, and the content of the specific page superimposed on the first area can be viewed.

When the operation receiving unit 32a receives a second operation while the highlighting region 301 is displayed on the display unit 5, the following occurs. That is, the position of the highlighting region 301 can be moved along the row arrangement direction based on the control information generated by the display control unit 31a and received by the display terminal 1c from the management server 11.

As a result, even when reading content that is electronic information such as e-books, the ease of reading the content can be improved according to the user's circumstances, such as the user's preferences, degree of dyslexia, and the reading position of the content.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the operation reception unit 32a and the display control unit 31a are provided as functions of the management server 11, independent of the display terminal 1c. Therefore, the functions of the display terminal 1c itself can be simplified as much as possible, and one management server 11 can support multiple display terminals 1c, so the device costs of the display terminals, etc. can be reduced. Furthermore, since there is no need to respond to changes in usage such as changes in display mode, each display terminal 1c does not need to be adapted, and maintenance is also easy.

Although this embodiment has been described as realizing the functions of the first embodiment as a content display system 10 including the management server 11, the present invention is not limited to this and may also realize the functions of the second to seventh embodiments. Furthermore, in the implementations of the first to eighth embodiments, new embodiments or variations may be implemented by combining part or all of each embodiment with each other, as long as no contradictions arise in the combination. Naturally, these embodiments and variations are also included in the scope of this disclosure.

In addition, the control processing and other processing of the control unit etc. by an information processing device such as a display terminal or management server according to each embodiment of the present disclosure described above can also be achieved by the information processing device reading and executing program code such as a display program that constitutes software for realizing each function of the embodiment.

Therefore, the program code itself and the storage medium on which the program code is recorded also constitute the present disclosure. Examples of storage media on which the program code is recorded include, but are not limited to, hard disks, USB memory, SD (registered trademark) cards, CD-ROMs, CD-Rs, and IC cards.

Reference Signs List 1, 1a, 1b, 1c Display terminal 2, 12 Communication unit 3, 3a, 3b, 3c, 3d Control unit 4, 4a Memory unit 5 Display unit 6 Operation unit 7 Power supply unit 8 Viewpoint detection unit 10 Content display system 11 Management server 20 Communication network 31, 31a Display control unit 32, 32a Operation reception unit 33 Line arrangement identification unit 34 Reading time calculation unit 35 Reading position identification unit 41, 41a Content 42, 42a Content display application 43, 43a Display attribute data 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120 Display screen 201, 202, 203, 204, 205 Screen 201p Front side screen 201q Back side screen 251 Page numbers 301, 302, 303, 304, 305, 306, 307, 308, 309, 310, 311 Highlight display areas 301a, 302a, 307a, 308a, 309a, 310a, 311a Highlight slits 301b, 301c, 303b, 304c, 306b, 306c, 309b, 309c, 310b, 310c, 311b, 311c Masking slits

Claims (10)

Display content consisting of multiple lines of text, etc.
a display unit that displays at least one line of the content by masking adjacent areas on both sides of the line ;
an operation receiving unit that receives an operation to change a display on the display unit;
a display control unit that generates control information related to a display of the display unit, the control information corresponding to the operation received by the operation receiving unit;
when the operation receiving unit receives a first operation when the content is displayed on the display unit, based on the control information generated by the display control unit, a highlighting region including a strip-shaped first region and a pair of strip-shaped second regions adjacent to each other so as to sandwich the first region is superimposed on the content, and the content superimposed on the first region is displayed on the display unit in a display mode such that the content, which is superimposed on the first region, can be visually recognized;
A display terminal in which, when the operation receiving unit further receives a specific operation different from the first operation, based on the control information generated by the display control unit, the color or brightness of one of the pair of second regions in the highlighted display area, which is located prior to the line of characters or the like in the first region, is displayed on the display unit in a display manner sufficient to make the characters or the like in the one second region visible . A display terminal as described in claim 1, wherein when the operation receiving unit receives a second operation while the highlighting region is displayed on the display unit, the highlighting region is displayed on the display unit in a display mode in which the position of the highlighting region moves along the row arrangement direction of the multiple rows based on the control information generated by the display control unit . When the highlighted display area is displayed on the display unit,
3. The display terminal according to claim 1, wherein when the operation receiving unit receives a third operation, the display unit displays on the display a display mode in which a width along the row arrangement direction of the multiple rows of the first region is changed along the row arrangement direction of the multiple rows based on the control information generated by the display control unit. When the highlighted display area is displayed on the display unit,
A display terminal as described in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein when the operation receiving unit receives a fourth operation, the display unit displays the first area in a display mode in which the color or brightness of the first area is changed to a degree that the one line of the superimposed content is visible, based on the control information generated by the display control unit. a row arrangement specifying unit that specifies a row arrangement of the content displayed on the display unit,
When the highlighting region is disposed at a position where the content of a first row of the plurality of rows overlaps with the first region,
A display terminal as described in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein when the operation receiving unit receives a sixth operation, the display unit displays on the display a display mode in which the highlighted display area is moved to a position where the content of a second row adjacent to the first row determined from the row arrangement information identified by the row arrangement identification unit overlaps with the first area, based on the control information generated by the display control unit. a reading time calculation unit for calculating a line feed time corresponding to a time required to read one line of the content from a time interval between page turns by a user,
In a case where the highlighting region is disposed at a position where the content of a third row, which is one of the plurality of rows, overlaps with the first region,
6. The display terminal of claim 5, wherein when the operation receiving unit receives a seventh operation, based on the control information generated by the display control unit, the display unit displays on the display a display mode in which the highlighted display area moves to a position where the content of a fourth line adjacent to the third line, as determined from the line arrangement information identified by the line arrangement identification unit, overlaps with the first area as the line break time calculated by the reading time calculation unit elapses . A viewpoint detection unit detects a viewpoint position of a user viewing the content,
A display terminal as described in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein when the viewpoint position is not overlapped with the current first area, the display unit displays the highlighted area in a moved display mode so that the first area overlaps with the viewpoint position within the text area based on the control information generated by the display control unit . A display terminal as described in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein when the operation receiving unit receives an eighth operation, the one line of content is enlarged at a predetermined magnification or displayed on the display unit in a display mode in which the one line of content is converted into another font based on the control information generated by the display control unit. A content display system for displaying content, comprising:
Display content consisting of multiple lines of text, etc.
a display terminal including a display unit that displays at least one line of the content by masking areas on both sides of the line;
A management server capable of communicating with the display terminal,
an operation receiving unit that receives an operation to change a display on the display unit;
a display control unit that generates control information related to a display of the display unit, the control information corresponding to the operation received by the operation receiving unit;
when the operation receiving unit receives a first operation when the content is displayed on the display unit, based on the control information received by the display terminal from the management server and generated by the display control unit, a highlighting region including a strip-shaped first region and a pair of strip-shaped second regions adjacent to each other so as to sandwich the first region is superimposed on the content, and the content superimposed on the first region is displayed on the display unit in a display mode such that the content, which is superimposed on the first region, can be visually recognized;
A content display system in which, when the operation receiving unit further receives a specific operation different from the first operation, based on the control information generated by the display control unit, the color or brightness of one of the pair of second areas in the highlighted display area, which is located prior to the lines of text or the like in the first area, is displayed on the display unit in a display manner such that the text or the like in the one second area is visible . A display program that causes a computer to execute a step of displaying content consisting of multiple lines of characters or the like on a display terminal by masking areas on both sides of at least one line of the content, the one line being displayed, the display program comprising:
receiving an operation to change a display on a display unit;
generating control information related to a display on the display unit, the control information corresponding to the received operation;
when a first operation is received when the content is displayed on the display unit, a highlighting region including a strip-shaped first region and a pair of strip-shaped second regions adjacent to each other so as to sandwich the first region is superimposed on the content based on the control information, and displayed on the display unit so that the content superimposed on the first region can be visually recognized;
The content display program further includes a step of, when a specific operation different from the first operation is received, displaying on the display unit, based on the generated control information, the color or brightness of one of the pair of second areas in the highlighted display area, which is located ahead of the line of characters or the like in the first area, in a display manner sufficient to make the characters or the like in the one second area visible .