JP2024035029A - Programs, information processing methods, and information processing terminals - Google Patents

Abstract

An object of the present invention is to stably provide a service using location information while ensuring user convenience. A virtual space processing unit (100) acquires virtual space information transmitted from a server (2) via a communication unit (20). The input operation accepting unit 101 accepts input operations from the user. The beacon signal receiving unit 120 receives a beacon signal transmitted from the beacon device 3 or the like according to various short-range wireless communication standards. The sensor information acquisition unit 121 acquires sensor information from a sensor provided in an information processing terminal. If the sensor information satisfies a predetermined condition, the reception state determining unit 122 permits processing related to the beacon signal, and if the sensor information does not meet the predetermined condition, prohibits processing related to the beacon signal. The location information management unit 103 estimates the location of the user related to the information processing terminal based on the received identification information. [Selection diagram] Figure 3

Description

The present invention relates to a program, an information processing method, and an information processing terminal.

Conventionally, many services have been provided that utilize location information of electronic devices. For estimating the position information of electronic devices, methods using, for example, GPS (Global Positioning System) and beacons are known. As one such method, a technology related to a position estimation system for electronic devices using beacons has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1).
Furthermore, in recent years, a technology has been proposed that constantly grasps the position information of electronic devices and displays the position information of each user in an easy-to-understand manner (see, for example, Non-Patent Document 1).

JP2022-96978A

"Beacapp HERE", [online], [searched on July 19, 2020], Internet (URL: https://jp.beacapp-here.com/)

Here, many of the conventional technologies including the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 are aimed at improving the accuracy of position information of electronic devices. However, including the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, a lot of processing is required to obtain position information with high accuracy, and if this is done all the time, the amount of information to be communicated will increase and the battery of the electronic device will become exhausted. Problems such as large consumption may occur.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to stably provide a service using location information while ensuring user convenience.

In order to achieve the above object, a program according to one embodiment of the present invention includes:
An information processing terminal that communicates with a transmitting device that transmits predetermined information,
an identification information receiving step of receiving identification information transmitted by the transmitting device;
a first position estimation step of estimating the position of the user related to the information processing terminal based on the received identification information;
a sensor information acquisition step of acquiring sensor information from a sensor provided in the information processing terminal;
If the sensor information satisfies a predetermined condition, the process related to the identification information is permitted, and if the sensor information does not meet the predetermined condition, the process related to the identification information is prohibited;
Execute processing including

According to the present invention, it is possible to stably provide services using location information while ensuring user convenience.

1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a user terminal in the information processing system of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the user terminal of FIG. 2, the server of FIG. 1, and the beacon device of FIG. 1. FIG. It is a diagram showing an example of a first service to which the present system is applied. It is an image diagram for explaining the outline of the second service to which this system is applied. It is an image diagram for explaining a case where a second service is applied to a first service to which the present system is applied. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the flow of power-saving position information acquisition processing among the processes of the server having the functional configuration of FIG. 3. FIG. It is an image diagram for explaining an outline of ancillary services that may be provided in a second service to which this service is applied.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Here, prior to describing the embodiment, a first service and a second service to which an information processing system (hereinafter referred to as "this system") according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described.
The first service is, for example, a communication service using virtual space. By using their own avatars existing in the virtual space, the user can communicate with multiple users existing in the virtual space by voice or the like.
Here, the virtual space in the first service can be generated, for example, by imitating an office where a real user exists. Then, the present system obtains, for example, the position information of each user in the real office obtained by a second service, which will be described later, and places an avatar corresponding to each user in the virtual space based on that information. .
Thereby, the user can realize communication in an environment closer to the real world even in the virtual space.

Next, the second service is, for example, a service that uses beacons to estimate the position information of electronic devices in an office. Specifically, beacons are placed in real offices, etc., and the location information of electronic devices that receive radio waves is estimated. The important point here is that in the second service, location information is not always estimated, but only in situations where there is a high probability that the location of the electronic device will change. Specifically, radio waves from the beacon are received only when the values of sensors installed in the target electronic device meet predetermined conditions. Estimate the location information of electronic devices. Thereby, the present system can suppress excessive battery consumption and provide related services in a manner that does not substantially disadvantage the user.
To summarize the above, this system can, for example, automatically reflect location information acquired using the second service in the virtual space of the first service, and display the actual user position as is in the virtual space. Can be done. However, as mentioned above, if location information is constantly estimated in such a service, the battery of the information processing terminal will be significantly consumed, which is not efficient. Therefore, in the second service, while suppressing battery consumption using a method using a sensor or the like, position information is estimated only when estimation of position information is necessary, and the result is displayed in a virtual space or the like.
Note that in the following explanation, when this service is referred to, it refers to either or both of the first service and the second service.

The configuration of this system will be explained with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of this system.

As shown in FIG. 1, this system includes a user terminal 1, a server 2, and a beacon device 3. The user terminal 1 and the server 2 are connected to each other via a network N such as the Internet. Note that the network N is not an essential element, and for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark), Wi-Fi, LAN (Local Area Network), etc. may be used.

The user terminal 1 is an information processing terminal used by a user who receives this service. The user terminal 1 executes various processes including a power saving position information acquisition process which will be described later. Note that the user terminal 1 has
It is assumed that various applications required to provide this service have been installed in advance.

The server 2 is an information processing device managed by an administrator of this service. The server 2 manages the location information of each user terminal 1 transmitted from each user terminal 1 and executes various processes related to the virtual space displayed on the user terminal 1.

The beacon device 3 is managed by the administrator of this service. The beacon device 3 transmits a beacon signal necessary for the user terminal 1 to estimate location information.
Specifically, the beacon device 3 transmits radio waves including beacon identification information (hereinafter referred to as "beacon ID") of each beacon based on standards such as Bluetooth (registered trademark) and BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy), for example. Send at regular time intervals. Note that these standards are just examples, and any standard or communication method such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identifier) may be adopted.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a user terminal in the information processing system shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the user terminal 1 includes a control unit 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, a bus 14, an input/output interface 15, an output unit 16, and an input/output interface 15. It includes a section 17, a storage section 18, a sensor section 19, a communication section 20, and a drive 21.

The control unit 11 is composed of a microcomputer including a CPU, a GPU, and a semiconductor memory, and executes various processes according to a program recorded in the ROM 12 or a program loaded from the storage unit 18 to the RAM 13.
The RAM 13 also appropriately stores data necessary for the control unit 11 to execute various processes.

The control unit 11, ROM 12, and RAM 13 are interconnected via a bus 14. An input/output interface 15 is also connected to this bus 14 . An output section 16 , an input section 17 , a storage section 18 , a sensor section 19 , a communication section 20 , and a drive 21 are connected to the input/output interface 15 .

The output unit 16 is composed of a liquid crystal display, a speaker, etc., and outputs various information as images and sounds.

The input unit 17 is configured with a touch panel or the like, and inputs various information.

The storage unit 18 is composed of a hard disk, a DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory), etc., and stores various data. For example, the storage unit 18 may store the beacon ID and other various information regarding each beacon in association with each other.

The sensor section 19 is composed of, for example, a gyro sensor. That is, by having the configuration of the sensor unit 19, the user terminal 1 can detect a change in the angular velocity of the user terminal 1. Note that the configuration of the sensor section 19 is merely an example, and the sensor section 19 may employ other sensors such as a GPS sensor or an acceleration sensor.

The communication unit 20 communicates with other hardware and the like via a predetermined network N. Note that the network N may include any method, including the Internet, Bluetooth (registered trademark), etc., as long as mutual communication is possible.

The drive 21 is provided as necessary. A removable medium 31 made of a magnetic disk, an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, a semiconductor memory, or the like is appropriately installed in the drive 21 . The program read from the removable medium 31 by the drive 21 is installed in the storage unit 18 as necessary. Further, the removable medium 31 can also store various data stored in the storage section 18 in the same manner as the storage section 18 .

FIG. 3 shows an example of the functional configuration of the user terminal 1, the server 2, and the beacon device 3.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 11 of the user terminal 1 controls the virtual space processing unit 100, the input operation reception unit 101, the beacon management unit 102, and the position information management unit 103 by executing various programs. works.

The virtual space processing unit 100 acquires virtual space information transmitted from the server 2 via the communication unit 20. Further, the virtual space processing unit 100 acquires the position information of each user transmitted from the server 2 via the communication unit 20.
The virtual space processing unit 100 displays the generated image related to the virtual space on the output unit 16 or the like based on the acquired virtual space information and the position information of each user. Note that specific examples of displayed images will be described later with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.

The input operation accepting unit 101 accepts input operations from the user. In addition, the input operation reception unit 101 transmits input operation information regarding the received input operation to the server 2.

The beacon management unit 102 executes various processes related to beacons. The beacon management section 102 is provided with a beacon signal reception section 120, a sensor information acquisition section 121, and a reception state determination section 122.

The beacon signal receiving unit 120 receives a beacon signal transmitted from the beacon device 3 or the like according to various short-range wireless communication standards. Further, the beacon signal receiving unit 120 records the strength of the received beacon signal, the time when the beacon signal was received, etc. in a database or the like provided in the storage unit 18 or the like. Note that the beacon signal receiving unit 120 identifies the source of the received radio wave based on the beacon ID and the like included in the received beacon signal.

The sensor information acquisition unit 121 acquires sensor information from a sensor provided in an information processing terminal. Specifically, the sensor information acquisition unit 121 acquires, for example, information output by a gyro sensor or the like that constitutes the sensor unit 19 as sensor information.

If the sensor information satisfies a predetermined condition, the reception state determination unit 122 permits processing related to the identification information, and if the sensor information does not meet the predetermined condition, prohibits the processing related to the identification information. Specifically, if the sensor information acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit 121 exceeds a predetermined threshold, the reception state determination unit 122 sets the beacon signal reception unit 120 in a state where the beacon signal can be received (reception is permitted). ), if the sensor information acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit 121 does not exceed a predetermined threshold, the beacon signal reception unit 120 is set in a state in which it cannot receive a beacon signal (reception is prohibited).
As a result, this system receives a beacon signal only when the gyro sensor is outputting a value equal to or higher than a predetermined threshold value, so that battery consumption and the like can be greatly suppressed.

The location information management unit 103 estimates the location of the user relative to the user terminal 1 based on the received identification information. Specifically, the location information management section 103 estimates the location information of the user using the user terminal 1 based on the beacon signal received by the beacon signal reception section 120.
Note that if the beacon signal reception unit 120 does not receive a beacon signal, the location information management unit 103 estimates the user's position based on the latest beacon signal among the beacon signals acquired in the past. do.
Additionally, the location information management unit 103 transmits the newly estimated user location information to the server 2.

As shown in FIG. 3, the control unit 210 of the server 2 functions as a virtual space management unit 220 and a position information management unit 221 by executing various programs.
The virtual space management unit 220 generates a virtual space that can be presented to each user based on image information stored in a database (not shown), etc., and generates information regarding the generated virtual space (hereinafter referred to as "virtual space information"). ”) is transmitted to each user terminal 1.

The location information management unit 221 acquires and manages the location information of each user transmitted from each user terminal 1. Further, the location information management unit 221 transmits the location information of each user that it manages to each of the user terminals 1.

As shown in FIG. 3, the beacon device 3 includes a beacon signal transmitter 300.
The beacon signal transmitter 300 transmits a beacon signal based on, for example, a standard such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). Note that the radio field strength of the beacon signal can be indicated by, for example, a value such as RSSI, and the distance from the source can be estimated based on the difference in the radio field strength.
Note that the beacon device 3 may also have functions as a general-purpose information processing terminal, such as a control section and a storage section (not shown), for example.

The first service related to this system will be briefly explained with reference to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the first service to which this system is applied.
In FIG. 4, a virtual space (hereinafter referred to as "office space") imitating a real office is displayed. In the example of FIG. 4, icons A to D corresponding to each user are displayed at predetermined positions in the office space. In the example of FIG. 4, the placement locations of the icons A to D are determined based on the location information of each user in the actual office.
The first service is a communication service that uses such a virtual space. Audio information input via a microphone or the like is output via another user's speaker or the like. This allows each user to easily communicate not only in the real world but also in the virtual space. Here, in the first service, the present system can adjust the volume of the output audio depending on the distance of the icon in the office space, for example.
For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, icons A and B are placed close to each other, whereas icons A and C are placed relatively apart. Icon A and icon D are placed further apart from each other. Therefore, for example, the voice input by the user corresponding to the "A" icon is output in a large size on the user terminal 1 of the user corresponding to the "B" icon, and the voice input by the user corresponding to the "C" icon is output in a large size on the user terminal 1 of the user corresponding to the "C" icon. 1 outputs a small amount. Note that in the examples of FIGS. 4 and 6, the effects displayed around icon A indicate that the user corresponding to icon A is inputting audio (speaking).
Further, for example, the dotted line in FIG. 4 indicates the audible range of the user's voice corresponding to the "A" icon, for example. Therefore, the user terminal 1 of the user corresponding to icon "D" does not output the voice of the user corresponding to icon "A".
Note that for details of the first service, for example, reference can be made to Japanese Patent Application No. 2020-187756 filed by the present applicant. However, whether or not to adopt the method described in the above document is at the discretion of the present system.

Note that, as described above, in the first service, the icon corresponding to the user can be freely moved within the office space by, for example, dragging the icon.
For example, if a user wishes to have a conversation with another user, he or she can place an icon near the user with whom he or she desires to have a conversation. On the other hand, if the user wants to concentrate on work, for example, the icon may be placed far away from other users (outside the audible range) so that other users' voices are not output.
In other words, in the first service mentioned above, in principle, communication is realized as if in the real world using the positional relationship in the virtual space that reflects the location information of the real office, and when necessary, communication can be performed anywhere in the office space. You can easily communicate by moving the icon to this location. Note that this system can provide this first service alone, but by providing it in combination with the second service described below, it can provide users with a more convenient means of communication. .

Next, the second service related to this system will be explained with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.
FIG. 5 is an image diagram for explaining the outline of the second service to which this system is applied. In the example of FIG. The beacon signals are received by user terminals 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D used by users UA, UB, UC, and UD, respectively, and the location information of each user is estimated based on that information.
Then, the position information of each user estimated by the user terminals 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D is transmitted to the server 2, and the server 2 determines the position of the avatar corresponding to each user in the virtual space.
In addition, the number of beacons installed in a predetermined space is arbitrary, including the example of FIG. 5. Any number of beacon devices 3 may be installed depending on the size and structure of the target space.

On the other hand, FIG. 6 is an image diagram for explaining a case where the second service is applied to the first service to which the present system is applied. Specifically, in the example of FIG. 6, the user corresponding to icon A moves from near the round table in the office (the state shown in FIG. 4) to near the counter in the conference room (the state shown in FIG. 6). An example is shown when the image is moved. In the example of FIG. 6, the location of the icon A is changed in the office space to reflect the actual movement of the user within the office.
In this way, in the example shown in Figure 6, by effectively utilizing the location information estimation technology shown in Figure 5, the movement of the user in the actual office can be quickly reflected in changes in the position of the office space. can. As a result, other users who view the layout in the virtual space can easily grasp the positional relationship of each user in the real office, and based on this situation, they can communicate similar to the real world. can be achieved.

Here, when providing such a first service and a second service, it is usually necessary to continuously obtain location information of all users at all times. However, the process of periodically acquiring location information is inefficient not only because the processing at each user terminal 1 increases, but also because the amount of information exchanged between the user terminal 1 and the server 2 increases. It is. In particular, this service does not originally need to constantly acquire location information of users, and it may be possible to provide the service to users without any problems if the location information is updated only when each user moves.
Therefore, as a means of acquiring location information only when necessary, this system uses various sensors to efficiently detect whether or not the user has begun to move, and only when movement is detected, location information is transmitted. We have adopted a specification that allows for updates.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the flow of the power-saving location information acquisition process executed by the user terminal 1 of FIG. 3.

In step S1, the sensor information acquisition unit 121 acquires, for example, information output by a gyro sensor or the like that constitutes the sensor unit 19 as sensor information.

In step S2, the reception state determination unit 122 determines whether the sensor information acquired by the sensor information acquisition unit 121 exceeds a predetermined threshold.
If the sensor value does not exceed the threshold, a negative determination is made in step S2, and the process proceeds to step S3.
On the other hand, if the sensor value exceeds the threshold, YES is determined in step S2, and the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S3, if the sensor information does not exceed the threshold, the reception state determining unit 122 prohibits the beacon signal receiving unit 120 from receiving the beacon signal.

In step S4, if the sensor information exceeds the threshold, the reception state determining unit 122 allows the beacon signal receiving unit 120 to receive the beacon signal.

In step S5, the beacon signal receiving unit 120 receives a beacon signal transmitted from the beacon device 3 or the like according to various short-range wireless communication standards.

In step S6, the location information management section 103 estimates the location information of the user associated with the user terminal 1 based on the beacon signal received by the beacon signal reception section 120.

In step S7, the location information management unit 103 transmits the newly estimated user location information to the server 2. Thereby, the power-saving location information acquisition process executed by the user terminal 1 ends.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and modifications, improvements, etc. within the range that can achieve the purpose of the present invention are included in the present invention. It is.

Here, although the description was omitted in the above-mentioned embodiment, an example of a specific service providing method in the case where the first service and the second service are provided in combination will be introduced.
When the first service and the second service are provided together, the user's actual position in the office basically corresponds to the position in the virtual space.
This is particularly useful, for example, when there is a mix of employees who actually go to the office and employees who work from home and only work in a virtual space (hereinafter also referred to as "remote work"). be. Specifically, from the perspective of employees who actually go to the office, employees who do not actually go to the office but work from home can always work remotely in a virtual space that corresponds to reality. You can work while being aware of the presence of other employees. Conversely, from the perspective of employees working remotely, it is possible to work from home while having the same sense of unity as if you were actually working with other employees in the office.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, although one user terminal 1 has been described as acquiring only position information, the present invention is not limited thereto. That is, the present system may comprehensively consider the location information acquired from the plurality of user terminals 1 and estimate the user's location information. Note that in this case, the plurality of user terminals 1 may be different types of hardware, such as a smartphone and a laptop computer, or may be dedicated hardware for the purpose of acquiring location information, for example. .

Furthermore, in recent years, in some information processing terminals, there are cases in which it is difficult to acquire positional information or the timing of acquiring positional information is restricted. In particular, there are often restrictions on obtaining location information using smartphones. Even in such a case, the present system may be able to improve the situation by using the position information of the plurality of user terminals 1.
For example, in a situation where information is being acquired that the location of A's information processing terminal (e.g., a smartphone) is moving, information is being acquired that the location of B's information processing terminal (e.g., a laptop) is also moving. If so, it is considered that the user is moving around the room while carrying the information processing terminal A (for example, a smartphone) and the information processing terminal B at the same time. In such a situation, this system does not acquire the location information of A's information processing terminal (e.g., smartphone), but acquires the location information of B's information processing terminal (e.g., laptop), and It is conceivable that the position of the information processing terminal (for example, a notebook computer) may be estimated as the user's position.
On the other hand, for example, in a situation where information is being acquired that the location of A's information processing terminal (e.g., a smartphone) is moving, the location of C's information processing terminal (e.g., a stationary computer) is not moving. If so, it is considered that the user is moving around the room carrying only the information processing terminal A (for example, a smartphone). In such a situation, this system can acquire the location information of A's information processing terminal (e.g., smartphone) even if the synchronization timing of A's information processing terminal (e.g., smartphone) is restricted. However, it is conceivable that the position of A's information processing terminal (for example, a smartphone) may be estimated as the user's position.
This system can also efficiently estimate the user's location information by making good use of the characteristics of multiple information processing terminals and the user's situation.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, when the sensor value acquired by the user terminal 1 satisfies a predetermined condition and the position information is estimated, the position information is transmitted to the server 2. However, this is not particularly limited. The user terminal 1 may process the user's location information only by the user terminal 1 without transmitting the estimated location information to the server 2.

For example, although the description was omitted in the above embodiment, communication in this service (particularly the first service) may be a conversation, a chat, an email, or the like. That is, in the above-mentioned main service (particularly the first service), any means of communication may be employed.

Further, for example, although the description was omitted in the above-described embodiment, any object may be installed in the above-mentioned office space. The object is, for example, fixedly placed at an arbitrary position in an office space and used to encourage all users to use common content. In other words, objects can not only be used to realize conversations common to users who have performed instruction operations (such as clicking), but also can be used, for example, to play video images or play various games (such as shogi, Othello, werewolf games, etc.). The object may be an object that can share any kind of content, such as participation in video sharing, video sharing (camera images, PC images, etc.), and reproduction of advertisements.

Furthermore, the use of such objects includes not only the element of using and enjoying oneself, but also the sense of realizing interaction with others. That is, for example, when adopting a game that is intended to be played alone as an object, the main purpose is for the player to enjoy himself. On the other hand, when playing games that are intended to be played with others, sharing screens, etc., the main purpose is to realize interaction with others.
As a result, each of the users receiving the service can realize a variety of communications that are even closer to reality.

Furthermore, objects can include dynamic objects or static objects depending on the content to be set.
That is, the dynamic object may be an object such as a television or a projector whose set content can be changed frequently. On the other hand, a static object may be an object whose set content is rarely changed, such as a large signboard or information board. As a result, each of the users receiving the service can realize a variety of communications that are even closer to reality.

Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the first service and the second service are described as being provided in combination, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The present system may provide the first service or the second service independently to the user.

For example, in this service (particularly the first service), in addition to the icons shown in the above-described embodiment, icons indicating a megaphone, a microphone, a door (entrance/exit), etc. may be placed at any position, although not shown. .
Specifically, for example, a megaphone is an icon used when it is necessary to make audio reach all users other than those who are in the office. Further, the microphone is an icon used to mute or mute the voice emitted by the user. Further, the door is an icon used when exiting the office space and moving to the lobby (not shown).

Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the present system was described as estimating position information using a beacon, but the present system is not limited thereto. For example, this system may estimate the user's location information using GPS, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), or the like.

Further, for example, in the above-described embodiments, the space where the positional information is detected is an office (and office space), but the space is not limited thereto. For example, the present system may employ an event venue, a party room, a restaurant, a matchmaking venue, a station, a commercial facility (supermarket, convenience store, etc.), etc. as the space where location information is to be detected.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the beacon signal receiving unit 120 is described as not receiving the beacon signal itself if the sensor information does not meet the predetermined conditions, but the present invention is not limited thereto. This system may adopt a specification that allows reception of the beacon signal itself, but does not perform processing related to estimating position information based on the beacon signal.

Here, although estimating location information using a beacon has the above-mentioned convenient aspects, it may be difficult to estimate the user's location with high accuracy. For example, when estimating the position of a seat where a user is sitting in an office, if multiple seats are placed close to each other, it may not be possible to accurately identify the seat where the user is sitting. As one solution to this problem, for example, as shown in Non-Patent Document 1 below, a method of constantly managing the status of each seat using a network etc. is combined with position information estimation using beacons. may be done.
[Non-patent Document 1] Hoteling function [searched on October 17, 2022], Internet <https://jp.beacapp-here.com/hotelling/>

However, for example, although the technology described in Non-Patent Document 1 is useful as a technology for managing individual seats, etc., it is necessary to reserve and manage seats using the Internet or the like. Furthermore, in other conventional technologies, for example, a technology has been proposed in which seats can be reserved and managed by touching an NFC tag, but it is expected that many users will not perform touch operations.
Therefore, the present system provides a technology that can guide a user to perform a touch operation by, for example, combining an NFC (Near Field Communication) tag and a charging operation of a smartphone or the like.
Specifically, for example, by incorporating an NFC tag into a wireless or wired charging device (smartphone charger, etc.), this system can automatically reserve and manage seats and provide location information when a user performs a charging operation. Acquisition etc. Since the NFC tag can contain various information such as the management number and location information of the installed seat, this system can easily estimate the seat used by the user and the user's location with high accuracy. be able to.
Such a method works particularly effectively when combined with the estimation of location information using beacons, which is employed in this system. That is, even if the estimation of positional information by a beacon is not necessarily sufficient, the user's positional information, seat usage status, etc. can be easily managed without requiring the user to perform troublesome operations. However, this system may not use this method using a charging device and the above-described method using a beacon together, but may perform estimation of location information and the like using a charging device as an independent service.

Furthermore, for example, regarding the above-described touch operation on the charging device, the present system may grant a predetermined benefit to the user who performed the touch operation. Specifically, the present system may, for example, award points, goods, sweets, coupons, etc. that can be used for shopping to a user who performs a touch operation (charging).

For example, although the description was omitted in the above-described embodiment, there are situations in which it is not necessarily desirable to completely reflect the location of a person in a real office in a virtual space. Specifically, for example, if the information exists in a private space such as a toilet, consideration may be given to not intentionally reflecting that information in the virtual space.
Therefore, in the present system, beacons with different functions may be installed in places where consideration is desired from the viewpoint of privacy, such as toilets in offices and the like. For example, when the location of a person is confirmed by a beacon with a different function, this system may display a message such as excluding the person from the virtual space or entering a rest mode.

For example, although the description was omitted in the above embodiment, the present system can be used, for example, in cases where a real office and a virtual space are linked, that is, for example, information on a camera installed in a real office is It may also be provided with a function to perform distribution (streaming distribution, etc.).
If this system is equipped with such a distribution function, distributing the actual office situation may cause problems such as battery consumption, network bandwidth pressure, data consumption, etc. There is. In this regard, depending on the purpose of use of this system, if there are no people in the actual office, streaming distribution etc. may not be necessary. In such a case, this system will stop streaming distribution etc. if there is no person in the actual office (no person is detected by the beacon), and if there is a person in the actual office (no person is detected by the beacon). Camera information may be distributed in virtual space only when a person is detected.

Here, although the above-mentioned embodiment has been kept to a simple explanation, there is a problem in accuracy in specifying position information using the current general-purpose beacon. Specifically, a general-purpose beacon is set to a uniform threshold value, and identifies whether or not a target exists within a predetermined range based on the attenuation status of radio field strength and the like. Therefore, although identifying location information using beacons is useful for simply determining whether a target exists in a fairly wide area, for example, identifying the seat where a user is sitting in a free address office, There are situations in which it is difficult to apply the method to applications such as specifying detailed user location information.
This system assumes such a situation and improves the accuracy of location information identification (including placing identified location information in virtual space) by setting different thresholds depending on the role of each beacon. You may take measures to make this happen. For example, in the example shown in Figure 8, this system uses a beacon (for example, referred to as an "area beacon") with a low threshold to grasp the situation in a wide area, and a beacon with a high threshold to grasp the situation in a narrow area. An example is shown in which a set beacon (for example, called a "seat beacon") has two types of roles.
In the example of FIG. 8, for example, if the user is at point P1 in FIG. It becomes clear that it exists near the beacon.
On the other hand, for example, if the user is at point P2 in FIG. 8, the user does not exist within the threshold of the seat beacon, so it is clear that the user exists within the area but not near the seat beacon. .
This system can further improve the accuracy of identifying location information (including arranging identified location information in virtual space) by adopting these ideas.

For example, although the description was omitted in the above-mentioned embodiment, the present system may have a specification that can acquire the status of each person's behavior depending on the location where the beacon is placed. For example, when the present system detects a user with a beacon installed in a smoking area, the system may classify the user's behavior status as "unregistered status" and display this information in a virtual space or the like. Similarly, for example, when the present system detects a user with a beacon installed in a car or the like, the system may classify the user's behavior as "on the move" and display this information in a virtual space or the like.

Here, although the description was omitted in the above-mentioned embodiment, the method used when detecting the user's location information using a beacon is not limited to one method. For example, methods for detecting a user's location information using a beacon generally include (1) a method in which the user carries the beacon and identifies the user's location from the beacon's location information via a receiver, etc., (2) installation Possible methods include detecting location information by detecting a beacon displayed on a mobile terminal using a mobile terminal or the like.
Although method (1) allows position information to be detected with relatively high accuracy, it tends to increase costs due to an increase in the number of receivers and the like to be installed. On the other hand, method (2) can keep costs low, but requires that the user whose location information is to be detected has a receiving device such as a mobile terminal. Specifically, using only the method (2), it is difficult to detect location information of, for example, a user who is an office worker but has not been provided with a mobile terminal for company use, or a user who has visited the company as a guest.
In light of this situation, the present system may include a function of detecting the user's location information using a combination of these methods.
Specifically, this system is based on the detection of location information based on installed beacons (2), but also provides mobile terminals for people who do not have a designated mobile terminal (for example, a guest visiting the company for the first time). We ask a guest to carry a beacon with them, and a user with a designated mobile device (for example, an employee with a company mobile device) can use the beacon carried by the guest to detect the location information of the guest. You may be prepared. By having such specifications, this system can easily detect location information even for users who do not have a predetermined mobile terminal or application.

Further, for example, the series of processes described above can be executed by hardware or by software.

Further, for example, the number of various types of hardware constituting this system and the number of users thereof are arbitrary, and the system may be configured to include other hardware and the like. Furthermore, the same computer or the like may be employed as the above-mentioned various hardware.

Further, for example, when a series of processes is executed by software, a program constituting the software is installed on a computer or the like from a network or a recording medium.
The computer may be a computer built into dedicated hardware.
Further, the computer may be a computer that can execute various functions by installing various programs, such as a server, a general-purpose smartphone, or a personal computer.
That is, for example, any computer, any mobile terminal such as a smartphone, etc. may be freely employed as the various hardware in the above-described embodiments. Furthermore, any combination of types and contents of various input sections, various output sections, etc. may be adopted.
Furthermore, the above-mentioned various types of hardware, such as a computer, can be optionally employed and are not particularly limited.

For example, a recording medium containing such a program may not only be a removable medium (not shown) provided separately from the main body of the device in order to provide the program to the user, but also a recording medium that is pre-installed in the main body of the device. It consists of recording media etc. provided to users.

Note that in this specification, the step of writing a program to be recorded on a recording medium is not only a process that is performed chronologically in accordance with the order, but also a process that is not necessarily performed chronologically but in parallel or individually. It includes the processing to be executed.
Furthermore, in this specification, the term system refers to an overall device composed of a plurality of devices, a plurality of means, and the like.
Furthermore, in the flowchart of FIG. 7, communication may be processed separately on the receiving side and the sending side, and all or some of the described processes may be communicated only on the receiving side or the sending side, for example. good.

To summarize the above, the information processing system to which the present invention is applied can take various embodiments having the following configurations.
That is, the program to which the present invention is applied is
An information processing terminal that communicates with a transmitting device that transmits predetermined information,
an identification information receiving step (for example, beacon signal receiving section 120) that receives identification information transmitted by the transmitting device;
a first position estimation step (for example, position information management unit 103) of estimating the position of the user related to the information processing terminal based on the received identification information;
a sensor information acquisition step (for example, sensor information acquisition unit 121) that acquires sensor information from a sensor provided in the information processing terminal;
If the sensor information satisfies a predetermined condition, the processing related to the identification information is permitted; if the sensor information does not meet the predetermined condition, the processing related to the identification information is prohibited. state determination unit 122);
Processing including the following may be executed.

The process determining step allows reception of the identification information when the sensor information satisfies a predetermined condition, and prohibits reception of the identification information when the sensor information does not meet the predetermined condition. Good too.

The program may further execute a process including a placement determining step of determining a placement of the user in a virtual space based on the user's position estimated in the first position estimation step.

The virtual space may be a virtual space that can be used for communication between the users.

The sensor is a gyro sensor,
The processing determining step allows processing regarding the identification information when the value obtained from the sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold, and when the value obtained from the sensor does not exceed the predetermined threshold. , processing related to the identification information may be prohibited.

The program may further execute processing including a second position estimation step of estimating the user's position based on information acquired from a predetermined device with a charging function.

The program may further execute processing including a display prohibiting step of not displaying the position of the user in the virtual space in the virtual space when a predetermined condition is satisfied.

The program may further execute processing including a distribution step of distributing information acquired by a camera installed in the real space in the virtual space.

The first position estimation step sets a different radio field intensity threshold for each of the transmitting devices, takes into account the result of whether the radio field intensity exceeds the radio field intensity threshold, and determines the position of the user related to the information processing terminal. It may be estimated.

The program includes second estimation for estimating the user's location information based on location information based on the transmitting device installed at a predetermined location and location information based on the transmitting device held by the user. Processing including steps may be further executed.

1 User terminal 11 Control unit 100 Virtual space processing unit 101 Input operation reception unit 102 Beacon management unit 120 Beacon signal reception unit 121 Sensor information acquisition unit 122 Reception status determination unit 103 Location information management unit 2 Server 210 Control unit 220 Virtual space management unit 221 Location information management section 3 Beacon device 300 Beacon signal transmission section

Claims (12)

An information processing terminal that communicates with a transmitting device that transmits predetermined information,
an identification information receiving step of receiving identification information transmitted by the transmitting device;
a first position estimation step of estimating the position of the user related to the information processing terminal based on the received identification information;
a sensor information acquisition step of acquiring sensor information from a sensor provided in the information processing terminal;
If the sensor information satisfies a predetermined condition, the process related to the identification information is permitted, and if the sensor information does not meet the predetermined condition, the process related to the identification information is prohibited;
A program that executes processing including. The processing determining step allows reception of the identification information if the sensor information satisfies a predetermined condition, and prohibits reception of the identification information if the sensor information does not meet the predetermined condition.
The program according to claim 1. further executing a process including a placement determining step of determining a placement of the user in a virtual space based on the user's position estimated in the first position estimation step;
The program according to claim 1. The virtual space is a virtual space that can be used for communication by each of the users,
The program according to claim 3. The sensor is a gyro sensor,
The processing determining step allows processing regarding the identification information when the value obtained from the sensor exceeds a predetermined threshold, and when the value obtained from the sensor does not exceed the predetermined threshold. prohibiting processing related to the identification information;
The program according to claim 1. further performing processing including a second position estimation step of estimating the user's position based on information obtained from a predetermined device with a charging function;
The program according to claim 1. further executing processing including a display prohibiting step of not displaying the position of the user in the virtual space in the virtual space when a predetermined condition is satisfied;
The program according to claim 3. further executing processing including a distribution step of distributing information acquired by a camera installed in the real space in the virtual space;
The program according to claim 3. The first position estimation step sets a different radio field intensity threshold for each of the transmitting devices, takes into account the result of whether the radio field intensity exceeds the radio field intensity threshold, and determines the position of the user related to the information processing terminal. presume,
The program according to claim 1 or 3. Processing including a second estimation step of estimating the user's location information based on location information based on the transmitting device installed at a predetermined position and location information based on the transmitting device held by the user. further execute
The program according to claim 1. An information processing method executed by an information processing terminal that communicates with a transmitting device that transmits predetermined information, the method comprising:
an identification information receiving step of receiving identification information transmitted by the transmitting device;
a first position estimation step of estimating the position of the user related to the information processing terminal based on the received identification information;
a sensor information acquisition step of acquiring sensor information from a sensor provided in the information processing terminal;
If the sensor information satisfies a predetermined condition, the process related to the identification information is permitted, and if the sensor information does not meet the predetermined condition, the process related to the identification information is prohibited;
Information processing methods including. An information processing terminal that communicates with a transmitting device that transmits predetermined information,
identification information receiving means for receiving identification information transmitted by the transmitting device;
first position estimating means for estimating the position of the user related to the information processing terminal based on the received identification information;
Sensor information acquisition means for acquiring sensor information from a sensor provided in the information processing terminal;
processing determining means that permits processing related to the identification information when the sensor information satisfies a predetermined condition, and prohibits processing related to the identification information when the sensor information does not satisfy the predetermined condition;
An information processing terminal equipped with.