JPH1125178A - System and method for informing waiting state - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a waiting state informing system and a method enabling each user to easily know the waiting state of each facility to be used in an event hall or the like and to reserve the order of entrance without forming a queue. SOLUTION: When a user inputs a request instruction for the reserved state information of a required theme hall to an information I/O device 11, the device 11 transmits a request signal for the reserved state information of the theme hall to an information management device 15 through a communication repeater 13. The device 15 reads out the theme hall information of the theme hall indicated by the received request signal from a theme park information DB and transmits the read information. The device 11 stores and displays the received theme hall information. When the user inputs an entrance reservation of the required theme hall to the device 11, the device 11 transmits an entrance reservation signal of the theme hall to the device 15 through the repeater 13. The device 15 updates the theme hall information indicated by the received entrance reservation signal and executes reservation processing.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention enables a user to reserve the order of facilities to be used at an event site or the like without making a queue, and allows the user to easily know the reservation status of facilities. A possible waiting status notification system. In addition, the present invention relates to a waiting state notification system and method that can adjust the waiting time for reservation of a use facility at an event venue or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At an event venue such as a theme park, a signboard indicating a waiting time is provided for each facility. A user looks at a signboard of a desired facility, knows the waiting time, and wants to use the facility. Line up in a matrix.

[0003]

In an event venue using such a waiting time display sign, if the user wants to know the waiting time of a desired facility, the user looks at the display sign unless he / she goes to that facility. Can not do. Also, you cannot leave the queue until your turn comes.

[0004] In an event hall or the like having a plurality of use facilities, a system that can adjust the waiting time so that the user can spend a meaningful time is desirable.

The present invention has been made in view of the above situation, and allows a user to easily know the waiting state of each use facility at an event venue or the like, and reserve an order without making a queue. It is an object to provide a possible waiting situation notification system and method. It is another object of the present invention to provide a waiting state notification system and method that can adjust the waiting time of a user.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, a waiting status notification system according to a first aspect of the present invention is provided for a plurality of users distributed to a customer at a venue where a plurality of facilities exist. A waiting state notification system comprising a terminal and a management device that processes data from the plurality of user terminals, wherein the user terminal transmits reservation information indicating a reservation state of any of the use facilities. Means for receiving and displaying from the management device, and a reservation means for transmitting a reservation request signal for reserving any of the utilization facilities, wherein the management device transmits the reservation information of a plurality of the utilization facilities. Reservation information storage means for storing, the reservation information transmitting means for reading the reservation information from the reservation information storage means and transmitting the reservation information to the user terminal, and the reservation request signal from the reservation means of the user terminal. In response to, and a reservation means for updating the reservation information stored in said reservation information storing means.

[0007] According to such a configuration, the management apparatus provides reservation status information or makes a reservation for each use facility. This allows the user to know the reservation status and make a reservation without having to go to the desired use facility.

[0008] The reservation information transmitting means of the management device may further comprise means for transmitting the reservation information in response to a request from the user terminal.

The user terminal includes a reservation count storage unit that stores the number of times the reservation request signal has been transmitted, and a reservation count storage unit that stores the reservation count when the order of reservation comes and the user enters the use facility. Means for subtracting the number of times stored in the means, and the reservation means of the user terminal may include means for transmitting the number of times together with the reservation request signal; The reservation accepting means includes a plurality of accepting means having different numbers of reservations to be accepted per unit time, and the plurality of accepting means receiving the reservation request signal according to the number of times received together with the reservation request signal from the user terminal. Allocating means for allocating any one of them.

According to such a configuration, for example, the first reservation made by each user terminal is allocated to the receiving means which receives the largest number of reservations per unit time, so that the usage opportunities for all users are equalized. Can be Further, it is possible to prevent a situation in which some of a plurality of reservations by the same user terminal can be simultaneously used.

[0011] The reservation information includes, for each use facility, required time information indicating a required time for using the facility;
The user terminal and / or the management device may generate waiting time information based on the required time information, the accommodated person information, and the reservation number information. Means may be provided, and the user terminal may further include means for displaying the waiting time information. This allows the user to know the desired waiting time at the facility.

[0012] The user terminal may include means for inputting time information, and means for transmitting the input time information, and the management device indicates a travel time between the use facilities. Means for storing travel time information, such that time information obtained from a combination of the travel time information, the required time information of each of the use facilities, and the waiting time matches the time information from the user terminal. Generating means for generating a combination of the utilization facilities, and means for transmitting the combination generated by the generating means to the management device that is the transmission source of the time information, the user terminal may further include: Means for displaying the combination transmitted from the management device. Thereby, for example, it is possible to realize a system that presents a user with a course of a use facility that can be visited at a designated time.

[0013] The user terminal may include means for transmitting an admission notice indicating that the user terminal enters the use facility. The management device receives the admission notice from the user terminal, Means may be provided for subtracting the value of the number of reservations of the use facility indicated by the entry notification from the reservation information.

[0014] The reservation means of the user terminal includes means for inputting one or a plurality of persons as the number of reservations in one reservation, means for transmitting the inputted number of reservations included in the reservation request signal, The management device may further include: a determination unit configured to determine whether the number of reservations included in the reservation request signal from the user terminal is equal to or less than the number of people accommodated in the facility indicated by the reservation request signal. And a means for displaying an error message when the determination means determines that the number of reserved persons is larger than the number of persons accommodated in the utilization facility.

[0015] The reservation information may include order information indicating an order of reservation of the user terminal for each of the use facilities, and the management device determines the arrival of the order to the user terminal according to the order information. Notifying means for notifying at the timing of, the user terminal, in response to the notification from the notifying means, a means for displaying a message indicating the arrival of the order to notify the user, At least one of means for notifying the arrival by voice and means for notifying the arrival of the order by vibration may be provided. This allows the user to know the arrival of the order of reservation at a place away from the reserved facility.

[0016] The waiting status notification system may further include a relay device for relaying a signal transmitted and received between the management device and the user terminal.

[0017] Further, a waiting state notification method according to a second aspect of the present invention is directed to a waiting state notification system including a plurality of user terminals distributed to customers at a venue where a plurality of use facilities exist. A storage step of storing the reservation status information of the use facility; a transmission step of transmitting the reservation status information stored by the storage step to the requesting user terminal; and the reservation transmitted by the transmission step A display step of displaying status information, a reservation step of transmitting a reservation request for any of the use facilities, and a reservation accepting step of updating the reservation state information of the use facility indicated by the reservation request according to the reservation from the reservation step. And.

According to such a configuration, reservation information is provided for each use facility, and a reservation is made in response to a reservation request. This makes it possible to realize a waiting status notification system that allows the user to know the reservation status and make a reservation without having to go to the desired use facility.

[0019] The transmitting step may further include a step of transmitting the reservation status information in response to a request from the user terminal.

[0020] The waiting status notification method includes the step of storing the number of transmissions of the reservation request (the number of transmissions) for each of the user terminals, and the step of storing the reservation when the user enters the use facility. Subtracting one from the number of transmissions (the number of transmissions) of the user terminal of the user stored in the number of times storage step, wherein the number of reservations received in a unit time is reduced. Providing a plurality of different reception desks, and transmitting the reservation request transmitted in the reservation step according to the number of transmissions (transmission times) of the user terminal of the reservation source stored in the reservation number storage step And allocating to any one of the plurality of reception desks.

According to such a configuration, for example, by assigning the first reservation made by each user terminal to the receiving means which receives the largest number of reservations per unit time, the usage opportunities for all users can be evenly distributed. Can be Further, it is possible to prevent a situation in which some of a plurality of reservations by the same user terminal can be simultaneously used.

[0022] The reservation status information may include, for each facility, required time information indicating a required time for using the facility, information on the number of persons accommodated, and information on the number of reservations. A step of generating waiting time information from the required time information, the capacity information, and the reservation number information, and a waiting time transmitting step of transmitting the generated waiting time information to the requesting user terminal. The display step may further include a step of displaying the waiting time information from the waiting time transmitting step. This allows the user to know the desired waiting time at the facility.

[0023] The waiting state notifying method includes a step of storing travel time information indicating a travel time between the use facilities;
A transmission step of inputting and transmitting time information, and time information obtained from a combination of the travel time information, the required time information of each of the use facilities, and the waiting time information matches the time information from the transmission step. Generating the combination of the use facilities as described above, transmitting the combination generated by the generation step to the requesting user terminal, and displaying the combination transmitted from the transmission step. And step. Thereby, for example, it is possible to realize a system that presents a user with a course of a use facility that can be visited at a designated time.

[0024] The reservation information may include order information indicating an order of reservation of the user terminal for each use facility, and the waiting status notifying method includes the step of notifying the user terminal of the order according to the order of reservation. A notification step of notifying at a predetermined timing, and a step of notifying the user of the arrival of the order by at least one of sound reproduction, display on a screen, and vibration in response to the notification from the notification step. May be further provided. This allows the user to know the arrival of the order of the reservation at a place away from the reserved facility.

[0025]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A waiting status notification system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, taking a waiting status notification system for managing a theme park venue having a plurality of theme buildings in the venue as an example. I will explain. In addition,
The theme pavilion indicates, for example, a facility where a user can see exhibits and the like in the pavilion. This wait status management system
As shown in FIG. 1, an information input / output device 11 distributed to users of a theme park, a communication relay device 13 arranged in each theme hall, an information management device 15 for managing the entire theme park, Is provided.

The information input / output device (user terminal) 11 is a device distributed to users of the theme park, and the user uses this device to make reservations for entrance to each theme building. As shown in FIG. 2, the information input / output device 11 stores an input unit 21 for the user to input a reservation or the like, a display unit 23 for displaying information on the reservation status of each theme building, and the like, and the received information and the like. Storage unit 25 for performing communication and communication control unit 2 for transmitting and receiving signals
And a control unit 29 for controlling the entire information input / output device 11
And. The storage unit 25 of the information input / output device 11
In advance, an identification code for specifying the information input / output device 11 is stored in advance.

The communication relay device 13 includes the information input / output device 11
This is a device for relaying a signal between the information management device 15 and the information management device 15, and is installed in each theme hall. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the communication relay device 13 includes a communication control unit 31 for transmitting and receiving signals, and a control unit 33 for controlling the entire communication relay device 13.

The information management device 15 is a device for managing the entire theme park. As shown in FIG. 4, a communication control unit 41 for transmitting and receiving signals, a control unit 43, and a theme park information DB ( Database 45). The theme park information DB 45 includes, as shown in FIG.
The theme pavilion information (information about the time required to travel around the theme pavilion (use time), the number of persons accommodated, the number of reservations, reservation data indicating the order of reservation, etc.) is stored.
The reservation data of the theme building information indicates, for example, the order of identification codes of the information input / output device 11 possessed by each user.

The information input / output device 11 is distributed to each user when entering the theme park. Using this information input / output device 11, the user makes a reservation for entering a desired theme hall. FIG. 6 shows an example of a case in which the user D makes a reservation after confirming the reservation status of the theme building using the information input / output device 11D distributed to him / her.
This will be described with reference to FIG.

Prior to the reservation of the theme building A, the user D checks his / her information input / output device 1 to know the reservation status.
An instruction for requesting information on the reservation status of theme building A is input from input unit 21 of 1D. In response to this input, the control unit 29 of the information input / output device 11D generates a request signal for the reservation status information of the theme building A, and sends it to the communication control unit 27. The request signal includes, for example, an identification code (transmission destination ID) of a transmission destination (information management device 15), an identification code (transmission source ID) of a transmission source (information input / output device 11D), a message indicating a request for reservation information, And so on. The communication control unit 27 converts the request signal into a radio signal of a predetermined frequency (for example, an AM signal or an FM signal).
And transmit. The transmitted wireless signal is relayed through the nearest communication relay device 13 and transmitted to the information management device 15 (L1).

The communication control section 41 of the information management device 15 demodulates the received AM / FM signal, reproduces the request signal, determines that the request signal is addressed to itself from the transmission destination ID included in the request signal, and controls the control section. Send to 43. Since the request signal indicates a request for the reservation status information of the theme building A, the control unit 43 reads the theme building information of the theme building A from the theme park information DB 45 and sends it to the communication control unit 41. The communication control unit 41 adds the transmission destination ID and the transmission source ID to the theme building information of the theme building A, modulates the signal into a radio signal of a predetermined frequency, and transmits the signal. The transmitted wireless signal is relayed to the nearest communication relay device 13,
The information is transmitted to the information input / output device 11D (L2).

Communication control unit 27 of information input / output device 11D
Demodulates the received wireless signal, reproduces the theme hall information of theme hall A, and sends it to the control unit 29. The control unit 29 stores the theme building information of the theme building A in the storage unit 25. Next, the control unit 29 multiplies the “use time” and “reserved number” of the stored theme building information, and displays the result of the multiplication by the “capacity number” on the display unit 23 as “waiting time”.
Thus, the user D can know the reservation status of the theme building A without going to the theme building A. In addition,
In addition to the waiting time, other information (use time, number of reserved persons, number of persons accommodated, etc.) may be displayed.

The user D confirms the waiting time in the above procedure, and then makes a reservation for the theme building A. First, the user D inputs a request for an admission reservation for the theme building A from the input unit 21 of his / her information input / output device 11D. In response to this input, the control unit 29 of the information input / output device 11D generates an entrance reservation signal for the theme building A including its own identification code, and instructs the communication control unit 27 to transmit the signal. Communication control unit 27
Modulates the admission reservation signal into a radio signal and transmits it. The transmitted wireless signal is relayed through the nearest communication relay device 13 and transmitted to the information management device 15 (FIG. 6: L3).

The communication control unit 41 of the information management device 15 demodulates the received radio signal, reproduces an entry reservation signal, and sends it to the control unit 43. In response to the received admission reservation signal, the control unit 43 adds the identification code of the information input / output device 11D to the reservation data of the theme pavilion A of the theme pavilion A in the theme park information DB 45, and counts up the number of reserved passengers by one. Update the theme building information of theme building A. Theme park information D
After updating B45, the control unit 43 transmits a reservation completion signal indicating that the reservation of the information input / output device 11D has been completed to the communication control unit 4.
Send to 1. The communication control unit 41 modulates the reservation completion signal into a radio signal of a predetermined frequency and transmits the signal. The transmitted wireless signal is relayed to the nearest communication relay device 13 and transmitted to the information input / output device 11D (L4).

Communication control unit 27 of information input / output device 11D
Demodulates the received radio signal, reproduces the reservation completion signal, and sends it to the control unit 29. In response, the control unit 29
A message indicating that the reservation has been completed is displayed on the display unit 23. Thereby, the user D can make an entrance reservation for the theme building A at a location away from the theme building A.

In the above description, the reservation is made after confirming the reservation status of the desired theme building. However, the reservation may be made immediately without confirming the reservation status. in this case,
The information management device 15 transmits data such as the number of reservations and the usage time to the information input / output device 11D together with the reservation completion signal so that the information input / output device 11D displays the reservation completion message and the calculated waiting time. Is also good.

In the above description, the information input / output device 11
Receives the number of reservations, the time of use, and the number of persons accommodated, and calculates the waiting time using them. The information management device 15 may calculate the waiting time and transmit it to the information input / output device 11. Good.

Further, the user may be able to cancel his / her own reservation by using the information input / output device 11. In this case, the user inputs to the information input / output device 11 a request to delete a reservation including the theme hall whose reservation is to be deleted. In response to this, the information input / output device 11 transmits a reservation deletion request (including an identification code) for the designated theme hall to the information management device 15 as a wireless signal. In response, the information management device 15
Deletes the identification code of the information input / output device 11 of the transmission source from the reservation data of the applicable theme building information, and subtracts 1 from the number of reserved persons.

In the above-mentioned reservation for the theme hall, reservations for several persons may be made at once. in this case,
For example, the control unit 25 of the information input / output device 11 allows the user to input the number of reservations in response to the input reservation request, and includes the number of reservations in the entrance reservation signal. The control unit 43 of the information management device 15 that has received the reservation admission signal counts up the number of reservations of the corresponding theme building information by the number of persons indicated by the received number of entrance reservations.

The reservation status of the other theme halls (theme halls B and C) can be confirmed in the same manner as described above, and the entrance can be reserved.

Next, in the present system, a notification process for notifying the user who has made a reservation that the order is approaching will be described with reference to FIG. The timing at which the notification process is executed is, for example, when the theme park information DB 45 is updated due to the user entering the theme hall and the number of queues being reduced. The update of the theme park information DB 45 upon entry of the user will be described later.

The control unit 43 of the information management device 15 refers to the theme building information of the theme building A, for example, after updating the theme park information DB 45 upon entry of the user. As shown in the figure, since the capacity of the theme building A is one, the control unit 43 reads the identification code of one person (in this case, “1038”) from the reservation data. Next, the control unit 43
Referring to the use time of theme building A, the use time, that is,
A notification signal indicating that entry is possible after 15 minutes is transmitted via the communication control unit 41 to the information input / output device 11E having the identification code “1038”. The transmitted notification signal is
Relays the nearest communication relay device 13 to the information input / output device 1
1E (L11).

The information input / output device 11E includes a communication control unit 27
The notification signal is received via the storage unit 25 and stored in the storage unit 25. "Theme building A can be entered after 15 minutes."
Are displayed on the display unit 23. Also, in order to more reliably notify the user, an alarm may be sounded together with the display of the message. In this case, the information input / output device 11 previously stores audio data such as an alarm in the storage unit 25, and further includes an audio reproducing unit for reproducing the audio data. In addition, a vibration device may be provided in the information input / output device 11, and the notification may be made by vibration. Thereby, the user can know that his or her turn has come at a place away from theme building A.

The notification signal is transmitted according to the number of persons accommodated in each theme building. For example, in the case of a theme pavilion having a capacity of ten, the control unit 43 of the information management device 15 reads the identification codes of ten persons from the reservation data of the theme pavilion information of the theme pavilion, and has those identification codes. A notification signal is transmitted to each information input / output device 11.

In the above description, the notification processing is performed when the number of queues is reduced. However, for example, the time until the next entrance start time is a predetermined time (for example, 10 minutes).
Minutes) and may be arbitrary. When notifying when the time until the next entrance start time has reached the predetermined time,
The control unit 43 of the information management device 15 determines that the theme park information D
A timer is monitored for each theme building information in B45, and the above-described notification processing is performed a predetermined time before the next entrance start time in each theme building.

Each user knows that his / her turn has come by the above notification processing, and enters the reserved theme hall. Regarding the entry processing at the time of entry, for example, an identification code "
An example in which a user having the 5452 ″ information input / output device 11F enters the theme building A will be described with reference to FIG.

Information input / output device 1 with identification code "5452"
The user having the first floor knows that his / her turn has come, for example, by displaying a message (or by an alarm), and goes to theme hall A. After arriving at the theme building A, the user presses an entrance button (not shown), which is a part of the input unit 21 of the information input / output device 11F, for example. In response to the press, the information input / output device 11F transmits an entrance notification indicating that the information input / output device 11F enters the theme hall A. The transmitted entry notice is relayed to the nearest communication relay device 13 and transmitted to the information management device 15 (L21).

The information management device 15 responds to the reception of the admission notice, refers to the theme hall information of the theme hall A in the theme park information DB 45, and changes the identification code indicated by the received admission notification to an information input / output device capable of entering this time. It is determined whether or not the identification code is 11F. As shown in FIG. 8, the identification code of the next user indicated by the reservation data of the theme building information of theme building A is “545”.
2 ", which matches the identification code indicated by the received admission notice, the information management device 15 confirms the validity of the source of the admission notice and transmits a use permission signal. The management device 15 stores the theme park information DB 45
In the theme hall information of the theme hall A, the number of reservations is reduced by one and "5452" is deleted from the reservation data. The transmitted use permission signal is relayed through the communication relay device 13,
The data is transmitted to the information input / output device 11F (L22).

The information input / output device 11F receives the use permission signal, and displays, for example, characters such as “Admission OK for Theme Hall A” on the display unit 23. At this time, the number of persons may also be displayed. The user can present this display to, for example, a staff at the theme hall A, receive permission to enter, and enter. Thus, in the present system, the information input / output device 11 can be used instead of a ticket when entering.

For example, in the case of entry processing in a theme pavilion with a capacity of five, the information management device 15 receives an entry notice from the information input / output device 11 of five users. Next, the information input / output device 11 refers to the theme park information DB 45 to determine whether or not the identification code indicated by each entry notification matches any of the five identification codes that can be entered this time. To confirm the legitimacy of the entry notification sender. After confirming the validity, the information management device 1
5 transmits a use permission signal to each information input / output device 11 and updates the number of reservations and reservation data of the theme building information. Note that, for example, in the above-described entry processing of a theme pavilion with a capacity of five, when the information management device receives an entrance notice only from the information input / output devices 11 of three users (that is, two people are absent) In this case, two of the next reservation persons may be notified that they can enter. In this case, for the reservation of two people who were skipped, for example,
The reservation data may be left in the front row, and the valid time of the reservation may be set in advance, and may be deleted if no entry has been made even at the end of the valid time. At this time, the information management device 15 notifies each of the two subscribers that the reservation has been deleted.

In the reservation status notification system described above, the reservation for admission to each theme building is made by the information management device 1.
5 are received and processed in the order in which the reservation signals from the information input / output devices 11 are received. This may be made so that the order in which admission reservations from users are accepted can be adjusted according to the reservation status of each user. The reservation receiving process in the reservation status system in this case will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in the figure, the information management device 15
It further includes a window processing unit 47 having n processing units (windows) for receiving reservations for each theme hall. Where n
Is the total number of theme halls, for example. For each window, a different processing rate (the number of persons that can be accepted per unit time) is set in advance. Among these windows, for example, the window W1 has the highest processing rate, and is set to accept entry of 100 persons per unit time. In addition, window W2, W3,
..., the number of receptionists per unit time of Wn is, for example,
The number is set to 50, 25,..., 10 respectively.

When transmitting the admission reservation signal, each information input / output device 11 also transmits the number of reservations indicating the number of reservations at the present time. For example, in the information input / output device 11 which has already made an entry reservation for two theme halls, when newly making an entry reservation for another theme hall, the information input / output device 11 uses the admission reservation signal and the number of reservations “3”. "To the information management device 15.

The communication control unit 41 of the information management device 15 receives the reservation signal and the number of reservations, and sends them to the window processing unit 47. The window processing unit 47 allocates the reservation to a window corresponding to the number of reservations. For example, if the reservation is for the theme building A and the number of reservations is “1”, that is, if no reservation has been made by the user at this time in any theme building,
The window processing unit 47 allocates the reservation to the window W1 having the highest processing rate in the theme hall A. In addition, theme building A
If the number of reservations is “2” (when one theme hall is already reserved), the window processing unit 47 sends the reservation to the window W2 with the second highest processing rate in the theme hall A. assign. Similarly, when the number of reservations is “L”, that is, when the reservation is the L-th reservation, the window processing unit 47 assigns the reservation to the window having the L-th highest processing rate in the corresponding theme building.

In this way, the first reservation made by each user is allocated to the window with the shortest waiting time, so that the usage opportunities for all users can be equalized. In addition, the second and subsequent reservations are allocated to a window having a processing rate corresponding to the number of reservations, so that usage opportunities are equalized, and some of a plurality of reservations can be executed simultaneously. Can be prevented. Thus, each user can make a plurality of reservations, and can adjust the waiting time of the plurality of reservations.

Note that numerical values (parameters) such as the number of windows and the processing rate (the number of persons who can enter each time) are not limited to the above, and are arbitrary. You may make it input and set from an input part.

Further, the user may be allowed to input a plurality of desired theme halls, and the user may be presented with the time required to go around all the inputted theme halls. The operation of this system in this case will be described below. In this case,
The theme park information DB 45 stores, as travel time information, the time required for travel between theme pavilions, as shown in FIG.

For example, the user G inputs to the information input / output device 11G an instruction to calculate the time required to go around the theme hall B and the theme hall C. In response to this instruction, the information input / output device 11G transmits a required time calculation request. The transmitted required time calculation request is transmitted to the information management device 15 via the communication relay device 13. In response to receiving the required time calculation request, the information management device 15 first calculates the waiting time in the theme building B and the waiting time in the theme building C. The method of calculating the waiting time of the theme building is arbitrary, and as an example, the information management device 15
The calculation method in the case of having is shown below.

First, in the theme building, the number of reservations made before the user is A1, and the capacity of the theme building is B.
1. If the use time of the theme building is C1, the cancellation rate (including the case where the time does not come within the time) is D1, and the remaining service time of the theme building being serviced at the time of the calculation request is E1, the waiting time is assumed. T is obtained by the following calculation formula (Equation 1).

T = Int [A1 × (1-D1) / B1] × C1 + E1 (Int [x] represents an integer not exceeding x)

The information management device 15 calculates the waiting time in each of the theme buildings B and C by using, for example, the above method. Next, the information management device 15 obtains the travel time between the theme halls B and C and the use time of the theme halls B and C by referring to the theme hall information and the travel time information of the theme park information DB 45, respectively. The information management device 15 determines the waiting time in the acquired theme halls B and C,
Based on the travel time between C and the use time of theme halls B and C, required time information for traveling around theme halls B and C is generated and transmitted to information input / output device 11G. The method of calculating the required time is arbitrary, and an example thereof will be described later. The information input / output device 11G receives the required time information via the communication relay device 13 and displays the information on the display unit 23. Thereby, the user G can know the time required to go around the theme buildings B and C.

It is also possible to allow the user to input an arbitrary time and to present information on how many theme halls can be visited within the input time. In this case, the information management device 15 obtains the waiting time, use time, and travel time between the theme buildings in each theme building, generates a course that can be used within the time specified by the information input / output device 11, and The data is transmitted to the input / output device 11. For example, if a user has 15
An example in which a request to present a course that can be used within 0 minutes is input to the information input / output device 11 will be described below.

The information input / output device 11 transmits the input presentation request to the information management device 15. Information management device 15
Responds to the received presentation request, generates a plurality of courses (combinations of use facilities), and selects a course that requires 150 minutes or less. For example, the theme park information DB 45 stores theme building information and travel time information having the contents shown in FIGS. 5 and 10, respectively. The waiting time in this case is calculated by the above formula (Equation 1).
, The cancellation rate D1 = 0 and the remaining service time E1
= 0.

The information management device 15 includes, as courses, for example, “Theme Hall A and Theme Hall B”, “Theme Hall B and Theme Hall C”, “Theme Hall C and Theme Hall A”, “Theme Hall A”
And the theme building B and the theme building C "are calculated, and the required time of each is calculated. In this calculation, in the case of “theme hall A and theme hall B”, the waiting time of the theme hall A at the present time is 285 minutes (= 19 × 15), and the waiting time of the theme hall B is 140 minutes (≒ 10 × (72 ÷ 5)). Therefore, the overall waiting time is the waiting time 140 for theme building B.
Minutes, travel time 10 minutes, and waiting time for theme building A (28
5 minutes) minus 135 minutes (= 285- (140 + 10)) minus the sum of the waiting time and travel time of theme building B
And 285 minutes. Similarly, the waiting time for “Theme building B and theme building C” is 140 minutes, the waiting time for “Theme building C and theme building A” is 285 minutes, and the waiting time for “Theme building A, Theme building B and Theme building C” is The waiting time is 285 minutes. The information management device 15 selects the course within the time indicated by the presentation request, that is, “theme hall B and theme hall C” that are courses within 150 minutes, and determines the course and the required time as the request source. The information is transmitted to the information input / output device 11.
As a result, the user can know how many theme halls he can go with his own time. The user may use the information input / output device 11 to select a desired course from the displayed courses and make a reservation. In the above description, in the calculation formula (Equation 1), the cancellation rate D1 = 0, the remaining service time E1 = 0,
The waiting time may be calculated by giving appropriate numerical values to D1 and E1.

Further, for example, in the reservation of two theme buildings, it is conceivable that the order of the other comes while using one. To deal with such a case, for example, a theme building D that has two users and a usage time of 10 minutes, a theme building E that has three users and a usage time of 5 minutes, An example will be described with reference to FIG. For example, position G in the queue of theme hall D
If is available, make a reservation there. In this case, since the position G is a position where the next entry is possible, the waiting time is “10”.
Minutes ”. Therefore, considering the waiting time “10 minutes”, the use time “10 minutes”, and the travel time between theme building D and theme building E (for example, 15 minutes), this user is at least 35 minutes. Only afterwards can the next theme hall E be used. Therefore, the reservation of the theme building E can be made available after 35 minutes, which is the total time of the waiting time and the use time of the theme building D, and the traveling time between the theme building D and the theme building E, by the queue position H which becomes available after 35 minutes. You should be able to put in. Thereby, when a plurality of theme halls are reserved, it is possible to prevent the order of the plurality of theme halls from being turned at once, and to make an efficient reservation.

Note that the user may designate a theme building, and the designated theme building may be preferentially taken into the course. Further, a theme building to be preferentially taken in when a course is generated may be set in the information management device 15 in advance, and the setting is made by an administrator inputting from an input unit (not shown) of the information management device 15. It may be settable.

Further, the information management device 15 transmits information such as an event held in the theme park venue to the communication relay device 13.
May be transmitted to each of the information input / output devices 11 via the. Thus, the information input / output device 11 can function as a bulletin board for information such as events in a theme park.

Further, electronic money having a monetary value is stored in the information input / output device 11, and the electronic money is used to
Payment for shopping, eating and drinking, etc. at a store or the like in the theme park venue may be made.

Further, by setting a plurality of information input / output devices 11 as a group, messages may be transmitted and received between the information input / output devices 11 belonging to the same group. For example, the information input / output devices 11A, 11B,
An instruction to set 11C as a group is transmitted from any of these information input / output devices 11 to the information management device 15. When receiving this instruction, the information management device 15 stores the identification codes of the information input / output devices 11A, B, and C as group information. For example, when the information input / output device 11A sends a message to another information input / output device 11 belonging to the same group, the message is transmitted to the information management device 15A.
Sent to. The information management device 15 refers to the group information, and transmits the message to the information input / output devices 11B and C in the same group as the information input / output device 11A.

In the above description, the communication relay device 13 relays signals between the information management device 15 and the information input / output device 11, but the information management device 15 centrally manages the entire system, Communication with the information input device 11 may be performed without using the communication relay device 13.

The information input / output device 11 and the information management device 15 of the present invention can be realized by using a general computer system without using a dedicated system. For example,
A medium (floppy disk, CD-ROM) storing a program for executing the above operation in a computer
By installing the program from
The information input / output device 11 and the information management device 15 that execute the above processing can be configured.

The medium for supplying the program to the computer may be a communication medium (a medium that temporarily and fluidly stores the program, such as a communication line, a communication network, or a communication system). For example, the program may be posted on a bulletin board (BBS) of a communication network and distributed via the network. Then, by starting this program and executing it in the same manner as other application programs under the control of the OS, the above-described processing can be executed.

[0072]

As described above, according to the present invention,
At an event site or the like, a user can easily know the waiting state of each use facility, and can reserve an order without making a queue. In addition, the waiting time can be adjusted so that the user can spend a meaningful time.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a waiting status notification system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information input / output device.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a communication relay device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information management device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a data configuration of data stored in a theme park information DB.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining an entrance reservation process in the waiting status notification system.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a notification process in the waiting status notification system.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an entrance process in the waiting status notification system.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining a reservation receiving process of the waiting status notification system when a window processing unit is provided.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a data configuration of travel time information.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a countermeasure method for preventing the order of the other theme coming while using one in the reservation of two theme museums.

[Description of Signs] 11 Information input / output device 13 Communication relay device 15 Information management device 21 Input unit 23 Display unit 25 Storage unit 27 Communication control unit 29 Control unit 31 Communication control unit 33 Control unit 41 Communication control unit 43 Control unit 45 Theme Park information DB

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A waiting status notification system comprising: a plurality of user terminals distributed to a user at a venue where a plurality of use facilities exist; and a management device for processing data from the plurality of user terminals. Wherein the user terminal receives, from the management device, reservation information indicating a reservation status of any of the facilities, and displays a reservation request signal for reserving any of the facilities. And a reservation means for transmitting. The management device comprises: a reservation information storage means for storing the reservation information of the plurality of use facilities; a readout of the reservation information from the reservation information storage means; and transmission to the user terminal. Reservation information transmitting means, and a reservation receiving means for updating the reservation information stored in the reservation information storage means in response to the reservation request signal from the reservation means of the user terminal. Wait state notification system to obtain, characterized in that. 2. The user terminal according to claim 1, further comprising: a reservation count storage unit for storing the number of times the reservation request signal has been transmitted; and a reservation count when the order of reservation has arrived and the user enters the use facility. Means for subtracting the number of times stored in the number-of-times storage means, further comprising means for transmitting the number of times together with the reservation request signal, wherein the reservation means of the user terminal comprises: Means for receiving any one of the plurality of receiving means having different numbers of reservations to be received per unit time, and the reservation request signal according to the number of times received together with the reservation request signal from the user terminal; The waiting status notification system according to claim 1, further comprising: an assignment unit that assigns the status to the waiting state. 3. The reservation information includes, for each facility, required time information indicating a required time for using the facility;
The user terminal includes capacity information and reservation number information, and the user terminal calculates a waiting time based on the required time information, the capacity information and the reservation number information,
Means for displaying the calculated waiting time,
The waiting status notification system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: 4. The reservation information includes, for each facility, required time information indicating a required time for using the facility;
The management device includes: accommodation number information, reservation number information, and waiting time information, wherein the management device includes means for generating the waiting time information from the required time information, the accommodation number information, and the reservation number information. The waiting status notification system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein: 5. The user terminal comprises: means for inputting time information indicating an arbitrary time; and means for transmitting the input time information. Means for storing travel time information indicating travel time, and the time information obtained from the combination of the travel time information and the required time information and the waiting time information of each of the use facilities is the time information from the user terminal. Generating means for generating a combination of the use facilities that conforms to the above, and means for transmitting the combination generated by the generating means to the user terminal that is a transmission source of the time information. The waiting state notification system according to claim 4, wherein the user terminal further includes a unit that receives and displays the combination transmitted from the management device. 6. The user terminal includes means for transmitting an entry notice indicating that the user terminal enters the use facility, the management device receives the entry notice from the user terminal, The waiting status notification system according to any one of claims 3 to 5, further comprising: means for subtracting the value of the number of reservations of the use facility indicated by the entry notification from the reservation information. 7. The reservation means of the user terminal includes means for inputting one or a plurality of persons as the number of reservations in one reservation, and means for transmitting the inputted number of persons included in the reservation request signal. The management apparatus further comprises: a determination unit configured to determine whether the number of reservations included in the reservation request signal from the user terminal is equal to or less than the number of people accommodated in the facility indicated by the reservation request signal, 7. The apparatus according to claim 3, further comprising: means for displaying an error message when the number of reservations is determined to be larger than the number of persons accommodated in the use facility by the determination means. Waiting status notification system described in. 8. The reservation information includes order information indicating the order of reservation of the user terminal for each of the use facilities, and the management device determines the arrival of the order to the user terminal according to the order information. Notification means for notifying at the timing of, wherein the user terminal responds to the notification from the notification means, displays a message indicating the arrival of the order, and notifies the user of the arrival of the order, and voices the arrival of the order. The waiting status notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising at least one of: a notification unit that notifies the user of the arrival of the order and a notification unit that notifies the arrival of the order by vibration. 9. The waiting status notification system according to claim 1, further comprising a relay device for relaying a signal transmitted and received between the management device and the user terminal. 2. The waiting status notification system according to claim 1. 10. A waiting status notification system including a plurality of user terminals distributed to customers at a venue where a plurality of usage facilities exist, wherein: a storage step of storing reservation status information of the plurality of usage facilities; A transmission step of transmitting the reservation status information stored in the storage step to the user terminal; a display step of receiving and displaying the reservation status information transmitted in the transmission step; A waiting state notification method, comprising: a reservation step of transmitting a reservation request; and a reservation accepting step of updating reservation state information of the use facility indicated by the reservation request in accordance with the reservation from the reservation step.