JP2014089525A - Message management device, message presentation device, message presentation system, control method and program for message management device and message presentation device, and recording medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To present a user with a message whose content is suitable for a state of the user.SOLUTION: An administrative server (3) includes an equipment information acquisition unit (61) that acquires equipment information from domestic equipment (1), a target person identifying unit (62) that identifies a presentation target person on the basis of image data, and a rule determination unit (63) that determines a message corresponding to the equipment information and the presentation target person as the message to be transmitted to an output device (2).

Description

  The present invention relates to a message presentation system that presents a message.

  In recent years, electronic devices that transmit and receive messages between users or between users and electronic devices have been developed. The electronic device is devised to exchange messages smoothly.

  For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a technology that converts text data and voice data to each other and smoothly transmits a message between a watcher and an elderly person.

  Furthermore, in an electronic communication apparatus that exchanges messages between a user and an electronic device, a device is provided so that a more natural and human-friendly message or a more useful message for the user can be transmitted.

  For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique for changing the content of a message to be presented based on a user attribute and an agent attribute.

JP 2005-092540 A (published April 7, 2005) JP 2004-272568 A (published September 30, 2004)

  However, in the conventional technology as described above, it is not always possible to present a message suitable for the situation of the user who is the subject of the message.

  For example, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the message content is changed based on a user attribute set in advance and an agent attribute that is an attribute on the side of presenting the message. It is determined regardless of the current status of the user who is the recipient.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and a purpose of the present invention is to provide a message management device, a message presentation device, a message presentation system, and a message management device that can present a message suitable for the user's situation to the user. And a control method, a control program, and a recording medium for a message presentation device.

  In order to solve the above problem, a message management device according to an aspect of the present invention is a message management device that transmits a message to be presented to a person to be presented to a message presentation device, wherein the message is the presentation Device information acquisition means for acquiring the device information from the electronic device, which is associated with the target person and device information indicating a predetermined situation detected in the electronic device connected to be communicable, and the message Image acquisition means for acquiring image data generated by imaging the presentation target person from a presentation device; target person specifying means for specifying the presentation target person based on the image data acquired by the image acquisition means; The device information acquired by the device information acquisition means, and the presentation target person specified by the target person specifying means The response correlated was the message, it is characterized by comprising a message specifying means for specifying a message to be sent to the message presentation device.

  The message management apparatus control method according to an aspect of the present invention is a message management apparatus control method for transmitting a message for presentation to a presentation target person to the message presentation apparatus, wherein the message is the presentation target. A device information acquisition step for acquiring the device information from the electronic device, the device information acquisition step being associated in advance with the device information indicating a predetermined situation detected by the person and the electronic device connected to be communicable, and the message presentation An image acquisition step for acquiring image data generated by imaging the presentation target person from a device; a target person specifying step for specifying the presentation target person based on the image data acquired in the image acquisition step; The device information acquired in the device information acquisition step and specified in the target person specifying step The message associated with the serial target person, is characterized in that it comprises a message specifying step of specifying a message to be sent to the message presentation device.

  The message presentation device according to an aspect of the present invention is a message presentation device that presents a message to a presentation target person, and the message is a device that indicates a predetermined situation detected by the presentation target person and the electronic device. Information and a control command for designating a place to image the person to be presented are associated in advance, and when a predetermined situation is detected in the electronic device, the information is associated in advance with the device information indicating the situation. The control command acquisition means for acquiring the control command, the movement control means for moving the own device to the location specified by the control command acquired by the control command acquisition means, and after moving by the movement control means, A camera that captures the person to be presented and generates image data, the device information, and a camera that is generated by the camera. A message acquisition means for acquiring a message associated in advance with the presentation target person specified from the image data, and a message output means for presenting the message acquired by the message acquisition means to the presentation target person It is said.

  The message presentation device control method according to one aspect of the present invention is a message presentation device control method for presenting a message to a presentation target person, and the message is detected by the presentation target person and the electronic device. Device information indicating a predetermined situation and a control command for designating a place to image the person to be presented are associated in advance, and when the electronic device detects the predetermined situation, the device indicating the situation A control command acquisition step for acquiring the control command previously associated with information, a movement control step for moving the device to a location specified by the control command acquired in the control command acquisition step, and the movement After moving in the control step, an image data generation step for capturing the target person and generating image data; A message acquisition step for acquiring information and a message associated in advance with the presentation target person specified from the image data generated in the image data generation step; and the message acquired in the message acquisition step And a message output step of presenting to the presentation target person.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, device information indicating a predetermined situation detected in an electronic device and a message set based on image data generated by capturing an image of the user are sent to the message presentation device to the user. Can be presented. Thereby, there exists an effect that the message suitable for a user's condition can be shown.

It is a block diagram which shows the principal part structure of the household appliance which comprises the message presentation system which concerns on embodiment of this invention, an output device, and a management server. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement outline | summary of the said message presentation system. It is a figure which shows the data structure and specific example of a rule table hold | maintained at the management server of the said message presentation system. It is a figure which shows the data structure and specific example of group presentation information which the management server of the said message presentation system uses. It is the figure which showed the flow of the process of the said message presentation system.

Embodiment 1
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

  First, based on FIG. 2, the operation | movement outline | summary of the message presentation system 100 which concerns on this Embodiment is demonstrated.

[Operation overview]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of the operation of the message presentation system 100. As illustrated, the message presentation system 100 includes a home device 1, an output device 2, and a management server 3. In the message presentation system 100, the home device 1 is connected to the management server 3 so as to be communicable, and the state of the own device is managed by the management server 3. The output device 2 and the management server 3 are configured to transmit / receive data to / from each other. Note that the communication mode between the home device 1 and the management server 3 and between the output device 2 and the management server 3 is not particularly limited, but wireless communication is desirable.

  Next, the basic operation of the message presentation system 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

First, the user operates the home device 1. For example, in FIG. 2, the user A turns on the power of the home device 1 (television). When there is a change in the operating status of the household device 1 as described above, the message presentation system 100 performs the operations shown in the following (1) to (8) with the detection of the change in the operating status as a trigger. The numbers (1) to (8) below correspond to the numbers attached to the apparatus and communication flow in FIG.
(1) The home device 1 detects a change in the operating status of its own device, that is, that its own power source is turned on. Hereinafter, the change in the operating status of the own device detected by the home device 1 is simply described as “device information”. The device information will be described in detail in the description of the home device 1.
(2) The home device 1 transmits the device information detected in (1) to the management server 3.
(3) Upon receiving the device information, the management server 3 acquires the time when the device information was received. In FIG. 2, the time is “16:00”.
(4) The management server 3 further determines a control command for controlling the movement of the output device 2 based on the device information and the time, and requests the control command and the image data request signal for specifying the user A. Is transmitted to the output device 2. Details of the control command will be described later.
(5) The output device 2 receives the control command and moves according to the control command. In FIG. 2, the output device 2 moves from the place where it was originally located to the vicinity of the home device 1 (television).
(6) Further, the output device 2 receives the request signal for the image data, generates image data by taking a photograph or a moving image of the user A, and transmits the image data to the management server 3.
(7) The management server 3 specifies the user A based on the received image data. In the case of FIG. 2, the user A is identified as “Taro”. Furthermore, the management server 3 determines a message to be presented to the user A (Taro) based on the device information, who the identified user is, and the time information, creates message data, and outputs the output device 2. Send to.
(8) The output device 2 outputs the message data received from the management server 3. In FIG. 2, the content “Do you do your homework?” Is output as voice.

  By performing the operations shown in the above (1) to (8), the message presentation system 100 can present a message suitable for the user's situation.

  In FIG. 2, the home device 1 detects a change in operating status (power ON) in the home device 1 (television) caused by the operation of the user A. However, the home device 1 detects not a change in the situation caused by a person or an external device, but a change in the situation that occurs spontaneously in the home device 1 and detects the change in the operating status (device information). You may transmit to the management server 3. FIG. For example, the washing machine that is the home device 1 may spontaneously detect that the laundry has been completed, and transmit the detected information (device information) to the management server 3.

  Next, the main configuration of each device included in the message presentation system 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

[Main part configuration]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a main configuration of a home device 1, an output device 2, and a management server 3 that constitute the message presentation system 100. Note that portions not directly related to the present embodiment (for example, a portion that realizes connection with an external device or audio output, etc.) are omitted from the description of the configuration and the block diagram from the viewpoint of ensuring the simplicity of the description. . However, the message presentation system 100 may include the omitted configuration in accordance with the actual situation.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the message presentation system 100 includes a home device 1, an output device 2, and a management server 3.

(Configuration of home device 1)
The home device 1 detects the state of its own device and transmits device information including the contents to the management server 3 via the network. The household device 1 is, for example, a home appliance such as an air conditioner, a lighting device, a television, and a recording device.

  The device information here is information indicating a change in the operating status of the home device 1 such as the power on / off of the home device 1, the setting change, and the number of times of performing a specific operation. . The device information is detected by the home device 1 and transmitted to the management server 3.

  The home device 1 may be a sensor device. In the case where the home device 1 is a sensor device, for example, an open / close sensor as the home device 1 may detect the opening / closing of a door and transmit the device information to the management server 3. In addition, for example, when the temperature sensor as the home device 1 detects the room temperature and the outside temperature, and the temperature difference between the room temperature and the outside temperature is equal to or greater than a predetermined value, a situation in which a temperature difference has occurred. The information may be transmitted to the management server 3 as device information.

(Configuration of output device 2)
The output device 2 includes a camera 10, a control unit 20, a communication unit 30, and an output unit 40.

  As will be described later, the output device 2 is a device that takes a picture of the user, and is a device that presents a message to the user mainly using voice. desirable. Furthermore, the output device 2 may be mounted on a self-propelled cleaner, and naturally, the self-propelled cleaner may also serve as the home device 1.

  The camera 10 takes a picture or a moving picture of the person to be presented and generates image data.

  Here, the “presentation target person” refers to a user who is a target to which the output device 2 presents a message. More specifically, the management target server according to a user who is assumed to have operated the home device 1 (is present in the vicinity of the home device 1) or a change in the operating status of the home device 1 is presented. Reference numeral 3 denotes a user who is a target to present some message via the output device 2.

  The camera 10 has at least a function of photographing the periphery of the output device 2 in order to generate image data that can be used to identify the person to be presented. As long as the image data can be generated, the configuration and function of the camera 10, the detection method for the person to be presented, and the shooting method are not particularly limited. You may further provide the function to detect whether it exists.

  In order to detect the direction in which the person to be presented is present, for example, the camera 10 is configured to be able to search 360 degrees around the output device 2 and presented using a face recognition function provided in a general camera. What is necessary is just to recognize the face of the person estimated to be the target person and to set the direction as the direction in which the presentation target person exists.

  In addition, when the camera 10 does not have a function of detecting the direction in which the person to be presented is present, for example, a control command received from the management server 3 is “moving to the front of the TV and facing the southeast direction”, etc. In addition to the information on the destination of the output device 2, information indicating the direction after the movement may be included. In this case, the camera 10 takes a picture in the direction designated by the control command, and generates image data by extracting a part that is assumed to be a human face included in the picture. Become.

  The control unit 20 controls the output device 2 in an integrated manner. Further, the control unit 20 performs movement control of the output device 2 in accordance with the control command received from the management server 3.

  The control command here is a command for controlling the movement in which the output device 2 moves in order to photograph the person to be presented. The control command only needs to include at least information specifying the destination location to which the output device 2 moves, and the control command indicates the destination of the output device 2 such as “move to the front of the television”, for example. The location may be designated, or the travel route of the output device 2 may be designated, such as “go 3 m south in the corridor and turn right 1 m”.

  Further, the above control command may specify the direction in which the output device 2 first points the camera 10 in order to reliably capture the person to be presented, such as “move to the front of the TV and turn to the southeast direction”. Good.

  The control unit 20 is realized by, for example, a CPU (central processing unit), and the output device 2 is controlled by the CPU as the control unit 20 by reading a program stored in the ROM or the like into the RAM or the like. This is realized.

  More specifically, the control unit 20 includes a detection data acquisition unit 21 and a message acquisition unit 22.

  The detection data acquisition unit 21 acquires image data generated by the camera 10 and transmits it to the management server 3.

  More specifically, the detection data acquisition unit 21 receives an image data request from the management server 3 via the communication unit 30 and transmits an image data generation request to the camera 10. The detection data acquisition unit 21 acquires the image data generated by the camera 10 in response to the generation request for the image data, and transmits the acquired image data to the target person specifying unit 62 of the management server 3.

  The detection data acquisition unit 21 transmits the image data generated by the camera 10 as it is to a target person specifying unit 62 described later, and processes the image data so that the target person specifying unit 62 can easily specify the target person to be presented. In order to make it easy for the target person specifying unit 62 to specify the target person to be presented, the target data specifying unit 62 is appropriately trimmed or the like on the image data received from the camera 10. You may send to.

  The message acquisition unit 22 acquires message data from the management server 3 via the communication unit 30. The message data referred to here is data obtained by converting the message content to be output by the output device 2 into a format that can be output by the output unit 40. The acquired message data is transmitted to the output unit 40.

  The message data may be in a format that can be output by at least the output unit 40, and the format is not particularly limited. For example, the message data may be voice data such as artificial voice. Furthermore, data of a plurality of formats may be included.

  The communication unit 30 exchanges data with the server communication unit 50 of the management server 3. The communication unit 30 receives the image data from the detection data acquisition unit 21 and transmits it to the server communication unit 50. Further, the communication unit 30 receives a control command, a request signal for image data, and message data from the server communication unit 50, the control command and the request signal for image data are sent to the control unit 20, and the message data is sent to the message acquisition unit 22. And send.

  The output unit 40 outputs the message data received from the message acquisition unit 22. Specifically, the output unit 40 is a device that outputs sound such as a speaker.

  However, the manner in which the output unit 40 presents message data is not limited to voice. The output unit 40 may receive message data in various formats such as voice, characters, and illustrations, and may combine them to present to a person to be presented. For example, the output unit 40 includes a display and displays characters and illustrations. A message may be presented by a combination of voice and the above display.

  Moreover, you may change the output style of the output part 40 according to the presentation target person who the below-mentioned target person specific | specification part 62 specifies. For example, for a presentation target person who is hard to hear, the output unit 40 may present a message using only letters or a combination of voice and letters.

(Configuration of management server 3)
The management server 3 includes a server communication unit 50, a server control unit 60, a timer unit 70, and a storage unit 80.

  The server communication unit 50 transmits / receives data to / from the communication unit 30 of the output device 2. The server communication unit 50 receives the image data from the communication unit 30 and transmits the image data to the target person specifying unit 62. In addition, the server communication unit 50 receives a control command from the rule determination unit 63 and message data from the message creation unit 65, and transmits both to the output device 2.

  The time measuring unit 70 receives the time acquisition request from the rule determining unit 63 and supplies the current time. Hereinafter, the time supplied and supplied by the time measuring unit 70 is simply referred to as “time”.

  Specifically, the timer unit 70 receives a time acquisition request from the rule determination unit 63 described later, acquires the time, and transmits the time to the rule determination unit 63.

  As long as the time can be supplied to the rule determining unit 63, the configuration of the time measuring unit 70 is not particularly limited. For example, the time may be acquired via the Internet, or a clock may be built in the management server 3.

  The storage unit 80 stores authentication information 81, a rule table 82, and group presentation information 83.

  Although not shown, the storage unit 80 stores group setting information. Here, the group setting information is information indicating a correspondence between a group name and one or a plurality of presentation target persons associated with the group name. Therefore, if the group name is determined by referring to the group setting information, the presentation target person associated with the group name is uniquely determined. The group setting information may be set in advance in the management server 3 or may be set and changed freely by the user.

  In the group setting information, a plurality of presentation target persons are collectively set and stored as one group, and the group name of the group is displayed in a “presentation target person” column of the rule table 82 to be described later. Can be stored instead of information. For example, in the group setting information, if the person to be presented with the group name “family” is set in advance as “Father, mother, Taro, Hanako”, the person to be presented in the rule table 82 is set as “family”. can do.

  The authentication information 81 is information in which a feature amount indicating a feature that can identify a presentation target person is associated with user identification information.

  Here, the user identification information is, for example, a user ID, a user name, and the like, and any format can be used as long as each user can be uniquely identified. In addition, since the target person specifying unit 62 to be described later specifies the target person to be presented based on the image data, the feature amount includes, for example, the positional relationship between eyes, nose, mouth in the face photograph, the height of the back, etc. This is information indicating the characteristics of each individual on the image.

  The feature amount and user recognition information registered in the authentication information 81 may be set in advance, or may be freely added / changed by the user.

  The rule table 82 is information indicating a rule for determining the content of message data to be transmitted to the output device 2, and is referred to by the rule determination unit 63 and the output necessity determination unit 64. The rules here define what kind of control command is sent when what kind of device information is received, and what kind of message is presented to whom. It is. A detailed data structure of the rule table 82 will be described later.

  The group presentation information 83 is a message set in the rule for each presentation target person when there are a plurality of presentation target persons set in one rule or a group name in the rule table 82. It is information indicating whether or not the contents are presented. The group presentation information 83 is referred to by an output necessity determination unit 64 described later. A detailed data structure of the group presentation information 83 will be described later.

  The server control unit 60 controls the management server 3 in an integrated manner.

  More specifically, the server control unit 60 includes a device information acquisition unit 61, a target person identification unit 62, a rule determination unit 63, an output necessity determination unit 64, and a message creation unit 65.

  The device information acquisition unit 61 receives device information transmitted from the home device 1 via the server communication unit 50.

  The device information received by the device information acquisition unit 61 is transmitted to the rule determination unit 63 and used for rule determination to be described later.

  The target person specifying unit 62 specifies who is the target person to be shown in the image data based on the image data received from the output device 2 via the server communication unit 50.

Specifically, the target person specifying unit 62 specifies the target person to be presented, for example, by performing the processes shown in the following (1) and (2).
(1) The authentication information 81 is referred to, and the feature amount extracted from the image data image data received from the output device 2 and the feature amount of the authentication information 81 are collated.
(2) As a result of collation, when the feature amount of the authentication information 81 and the image data match, the user (user identification information) associated with the feature amount is shown in the image data Identified as a person.

  As a specific example of (1), the feature quantity extracted from the image data is compared and collated with the feature quantity such as the positional relationship between the eyes, nose and mouth, and the height of the face photograph stored in the authentication information 81. That's fine.

  In addition, said (1) and (2) are examples, and if the presentation subject reflected in the said image data can be identified uniquely, the identification method will not be limited.

  The rule determination unit 63 searches the rule table 82 based on the device information received from the device information acquisition unit 61 and the time supplied from the time measuring unit 70, and determines a rule to be applied. A specific rule determination method will be described later.

  Moreover, the rule determination part 63 reads a control command from the determined rule, and transmits it to the output device 2 via the server communication part 50 (a of FIG. 1).

  In addition, when the presentation target person (user identification information) specified by the target person specifying part 62 is included in the presentation target person set in the determined rule, the rule determination part 63 determines the message set in the rule. The contents are transmitted to the message creation unit 65.

  More specifically, the rule determination unit 63 includes an output necessity determination unit 64.

  The output necessity determination unit 64 determines whether the presentation target person set in the rule determined by the rule determination unit 63 is a plurality of persons or a group name, or is set for a specific individual. Furthermore, when the determination result indicates that the message is a message set for a plurality of persons or group names, the output necessity determination unit 64 has transmitted the message to the presentation target person specified by the target person specifying part 62. It is determined whether or not. Specific processing will be described later together with the rule determination method of the rule determination unit 63.

  The message creating unit 65 receives the message content set in the rule determined by the rule determining unit 63 from the rule determining unit 63, and creates message data based on the message content. The message data here is data obtained by converting the message contents stored in a format such as a character string into a format that can be output by the output unit 40 of the output device 2. The created message data is transmitted to the message acquisition unit 22 of the output device 2 via the server communication unit 50.

  The management server 3 uses the message content set in the rule determined by the rule determination unit 63 as the message content stored in the rule table 82, such as text data, without using the message creation unit 65. The message may be transmitted to the message acquisition unit 22.

  In this case, in the output device 2, the message acquisition unit 22 that acquired the text data may convert the text data into a format that the output unit 40 can output, and the message acquisition unit 22 of the output device 2 receives the received text. What is necessary is just to further provide the structure which converts data into formats, such as audio | voice data, for example.

[Configuration of Rule Table 82]
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a data structure and a specific example of the rule table 82.

  In FIG. 3, the rule table 82 is shown as a data structure in a table format, and the data structure of the rule table 82 is not intended to be limited to the table format. Hereinafter, the same applies to other figures for explaining the data structure.

  As illustrated, the rule table 82 includes a “rule No” column, a “valid” column, a “device information” column, a “control command” column, an “output available period” column, and a “provider” column. And a “message content” column, and each row represents one rule.

  If the information in the “device information” column, the information in the “output available period” column, and the information in the “presentation target” column are determined, the rule table 82 stores the rule to be applied (in which row in the rule table 82 The information to be referred to) is uniquely determined.

  The “rule No” column stores an index number assigned to each rule (that is, each row) of the rule table 82.

  The “valid” column stores whether or not each rule of the rule table 82 is a reference target and a search target when the rule table 82 is referred to and searched by the rule determination unit 63.

  In FIG. 3, when the “valid” column is “−”, the rule is always a reference target and a search target. In other words, for the rule that does not switch between valid / invalid of reference and search by the “valid” column, the “valid” column is “−”. On the other hand, a rule whose “valid” column is “◯” is a reference target and a search target, and a rule whose “valid” column is “×” is not a reference target and a search target. In this “valid” column, ◯ / × can be freely switched by the user.

  In addition, the way of holding the data in the “valid” column shown in FIG. 3 is an example. If it is determined whether or not each rule is a search target, the “valid” column may be a character string, a flag, a numerical value, or the like. You may memorize with various types.

  The “device information” column stores device information in a predetermined home device 1.

  The “control command” column stores a control command to be transmitted to the control unit 20 of the output device 2 in each rule.

  The “output available period” column stores information indicating a period during which each rule may be applied. The output possible period may be determined by a period such as a start time to an end time, or may be a specific date and time such as every Tuesday or the 20th of every month.

  The “presentation target person” column stores information on the presentation target person who should present the message content in each rule. The person to be presented may be one user, may list a plurality of people, or may be a group name.

  The “message content” column stores information indicating the content of the message presented by the output device 2 in each rule. The information stored in the “message content” column may be information indicating at least the content of the message presented by the output device 2, and the data type is not limited. For example, the content of the message presented by the output device 2 as a character string may be stored in the “message content” column.

  In addition, a person to be presented and message contents are set in each rule. Therefore, when the presentation target person specified by the target person specifying unit 62 matches the presentation target person (or any one of a plurality of presentation target persons) set in the determined rule, the rule determination part 63 determines the message content set in the rule as the message content to be transmitted to the output device 2.

  The rule table 82 may be predetermined in the management server 3, or may be stored so that it can be rewritten by the user.

[Configuration of group presentation information 83]
As described above, in the rule table 82, the group presentation information 83 is set in the rule for each presentation target person when there are a plurality of presentation target persons or group names set in one rule. It is information indicating whether or not the message content is presented.

  Specifically, the group presentation information 83 has a data structure as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a data structure and a specific example of the group presentation information 83. As shown in the figure, the group presentation information 83 divides the rule presentation target person into one user unit for each rule for which a plurality of persons or group names are set in the “presentation target person” column of the rule table 82. A rule No. is associated with the target person, and a “presentation” column indicating whether or not the message content associated with the rule table 82 is presented to the rule No and the presentation target person is there.

  As shown in the figure, the group presentation information 83 has a “rule No” column, a “presentation target” column, and a “presentation” column.

  The “rule No” column corresponds to the “rule No” column of the rule table 82. In the rule table 82, the rule No is an index number that uniquely determines each rule (that is, each row) in the rule table 82, but the rule No in FIG. 4 is information associated with each person to be presented. Therefore, it is different from FIG. 3 in that it may be overlapped.

  The “target person” column stores user identification information of a target person who presents a message, such as a user ID or a user name. The “presentation target” column of the group presentation information 83 is different from the “presentation target” column of the rule table 82 in that one individual is always designated, not the group name and the user identification information of a plurality of persons.

  In the “presentation” column, the message content associated with the rule No corresponding to the rule No in each row of the group presentation information 83 in the rule table 82 is displayed for each presentation target person in the “presentation target” column. Stores whether it has been presented (“completed”) or not (“not yet”).

  By referring to the group presentation information 83 configured as described above, the output necessity determination unit 64 is based on the rule No of the rule determined by the rule determination unit 63 and the presentation target person determined by the target person specifying unit 62. The group presentation information 83 is searched to determine whether or not the message content associated with the rule No has been presented to the presentation target person. Further, if the message content associated with the rule No has not been presented as a result of the determination, the output necessity determination unit 64 transmits the message content to the message creation unit 65. At the same time, in the group presentation information 83, the information of the “presentation” column associated with the rule No and the person to be presented is recorded as being presented (“done”).

[Processing performed by rule determination unit 63]
As described above, the rule determination unit 63 performs determination of a rule to be applied, acquisition and transmission of a control command, and acquisition and transmission of message contents. The main points of the processing will be described below.

(Rule decision)
First, when receiving the device information from the device information acquisition unit 61, the rule determination unit 63 transmits a time acquisition request to the time measuring unit 70 and receives the time acquired by the time measuring unit 70.

  Next, the rule determining unit 63 searches the rule table 82 and determines that the rule associated with the received device information and the received time is a rule to be applied. In this search, a rule whose “valid” column in the rule table 82 is “x” is excluded from the search.

(Acquisition and transmission of control command)
The rule determination unit 63 reads the control command set in the determined rule from the rule table 82 and transmits it to the control unit 20 of the output device 2. At this time, an image data request signal is transmitted to the detection data acquisition unit 21 of the control unit 20 together with the control command.

(Get and send message contents)
Thereafter, the image data is transmitted from the output device 2 in response to the image data request signal transmitted by the rule determination unit 63. The target person specifying unit 62 receives the image data, and specifies the user identification information of the presentation target person based on the image data. The rule determining unit 63 receives the user identification information of the presentation target person specified by the target person specifying part 62, and the user identification information is a presentation target person (or a plurality of presentation target persons) set in the rule to be applied. It is determined whether or not it matches the user identification information of any one of the above.

  When the user identification information matches, the message content set in the determined rule is determined to be the content of the message to be transmitted to the output device 2, and the message content is transmitted to the message creation unit 65. On the other hand, when the user identification information of the person to be presented does not match, the rule condition is not satisfied and the message transmission to the output device 2 is not executed.

Furthermore, the output necessity determination unit 64 included in the rule determination unit 63 further determines whether or not a plurality of persons or a group name is designated as the determined rule presentation target person. When a plurality of persons or group names are designated for the presentation target person, the output necessity determination unit 64 determines whether or not output is necessary. On the other hand, when a plurality of persons or group names are not designated, the output necessity determination unit 64 does not determine whether output is necessary, and the rule determination unit 63 transmits the message content to the message creation unit 65.
(Determination of output necessity)
The output necessity determination unit 64 sets the value of the “presentation” column corresponding to the rule identification of the determined rule and the user identification information of the presentation target person specified by the target person specifying unit 62 for the group presentation information 83 in the storage unit 80. refer. When the “presentation” column has not been presented (“unpresented”), the output necessity determination unit 64 transmits the message contents of the rule to the message creation unit 65 in the rule table 82 and the person to be presented with the user identification information On the other hand, the presentation of the message is recorded in the group presentation information 83 (the “presentation” column is “done”). On the other hand, when the “presentation” column has been presented (“completed”), the rule determination unit 63 does not transmit the message content to the message creation unit 65.

[Process flow]
Next, a flow of processing for determining and outputting a message transmitted from the message presentation system 100 to the output device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a processing flow of the message presentation system 100.

  First, the device information acquisition unit 61 acquires device information from the home device 1 (S100) and transmits it to the rule determination unit 63. When the rule determination unit 63 receives the device information from the device information acquisition unit 61, the rule determination unit 63 transmits a time acquisition request to the time measurement unit 70. The time measuring unit 70 receives the time acquisition request, acquires the current time, and transmits it to the rule determining unit 63 (S102).

  Next, the rule determination unit 63 uses the device information and the current time as conditions, and searches the rule table 82 for rules that match the conditions (S104). In this search, a rule whose “valid” column in the rule table 82 is “x” (invalid) is excluded from the search.

  When there is a rule that matches the above condition (YES in S106), the rule determination unit 63 determines that the rule is a rule that is applied to determine a message that causes the output device 2 to present the rule. Further, the rule determining unit 63 reads out the control command of the determined rule and transmits it to the control unit 20 of the output device 2 (S108).

  Next, the control unit 20 of the output device 2 receives the control command (S110), and moves its own device according to the control command (S112).

  After transmitting the control command to the output device 2 in S108, the rule determining unit 63 further transmits an image data request signal to the message acquisition unit 22 of the output device 2 (S114).

  When receiving the image data request signal (S116), the message acquisition unit 22 of the output device 2 transmits an image data generation request to the camera 10. In response to the image data generation request, the camera 10 detects and captures the person to be presented, generates image data (S118), and transmits the image data to the detection data acquisition unit 21. The detection data acquisition unit 21 transmits the image data to the management server 3 via the communication unit 30 (S120).

  Next, the target person specifying unit 62 of the management server 3 acquires the image data transmitted by the detection data acquiring unit 21 (S122). Further, the target person specifying unit 62 reads the feature amount of the authentication information 81 and compares it with the feature amount extracted from the image data, thereby specifying the user identification information of the presentation target person (S124).

  The rule determining unit 63 includes the user identification information of the presentation target person received from the target person specifying unit 62 and the user identification of the rule presentation target person (or any one of a plurality of presentation target persons) determined in S106. It is determined whether the information matches (S126). If the user identification information matches (YES in S126), the output necessity determination unit 64 of the rule determination unit 63 indicates that the person to be presented set in the rule is user identification information of a plurality of people, or It is further determined whether or not the name is a group name (S128).

  When the presentation target person set in the rule is one user (NO in S120), the rule determination unit 63 reads the message content of the rule and transmits it to the message creation unit 65.

  On the other hand, when there are a plurality of presentation target persons set in the rule or a group name (YES in S120), the output necessity determination unit 64 further includes the presentation target specified by the target person specifying unit 62. It is determined whether the message content of the rule determined in S104 has been presented to the user (S138).

  When the message content is not presented to the presentation target person (NO in S138), the output necessity determination unit 64 indicates to the group presentation information 83 that the message content is presented to the presentation target person. Record (S140). Further, the rule determining unit 63 transmits the message content set in the rule determined in S104 to the message creating unit 65.

  The message creation unit 65 creates message data based on the message content received from the rule determination unit 63 (S130), and transmits the message data to the message acquisition unit 22 of the output device 2 via the server communication unit 50 (S132).

  The message acquisition unit 22 of the output device 2 receives the message data (S134), and transmits the message data to the output unit 40. The output unit 40 outputs the message data (S136).

  Note that the control signal transmitted to the output device 2 by the rule determining unit 63 in S108 and the image data request signal transmitted in S114 may be transmitted to the output device 2 simultaneously. However, even when the output device 2 receives the control signal and the request signal for the image data at the same time, the output device 2 first moves itself according to the control signal, and then generates the image data of the person to be presented using the camera 10. To do.

[Embodiment 2]
<About the rule table 82>
In the above embodiment, the rule table 82 has a “control command” column and an “output possible period” column, but in the message presentation system 100, the “control command” column and the “output possible period” column are rules. This is not an essential configuration for the table 82.

  If the rule table 82 does not have a “control command” column, the rule determination unit 63 determines only the rule to be applied, and then transmits only the image data request signal to the output device 2. Since the output device 2 does not receive the control command, the image data is generated without performing the movement designated by the management server 3. In a specific process flow, after S106 in FIG. 5, the processes after S114 are performed without performing the processes of S108 to S112.

  When the rule table 82 does not have the “output available period” column, the rule determination unit 63 searches the rule table 82 based on the device information and determines the rule when determining the rule to be applied. In a specific processing flow, time does not become the search condition of the rule table 82 in S104 of FIG. In this case, the configuration of the timing unit 70 is not essential.

<Rule decision>
In the embodiment, the rule is uniquely determined when the device information and the output possible period are determined in the rule table 82. However, in the present invention, the rule table 82 is searched on the condition of the device information and the output possible period. In this case, a plurality of rules may meet the condition.

  In this case, the rule is not uniquely determined. For example, in order from the smallest rule number, the control command set in the rule and the image data request are transmitted, and the presentation target person is specified based on the received image data. If the person to be presented matches, the message content set in the rule is output, and if the person to be presented does not match, the rule with the next smallest rule number is set in advance to perform the same processing. The rules may be applied according to the priority order.

<About communication method>
The output device 2 and the management server 3 may use different communication methods depending on whether data is transmitted from the communication unit 30 to the server communication unit 50 or data is transmitted from the server communication unit 50 to the communication unit 30. . For example, when data is transmitted from the communication unit 30 to the server communication unit 50, image data having a relatively large data size is transmitted. Therefore, a communication method capable of transmitting and receiving a large amount of data quickly is desirable. On the other hand, when data is transmitted from the server communication unit 50 to the communication unit 30 and control commands and message data are transmitted and received in a format such as text data with a small data size, the data is transmitted from the communication unit 30 to the server communication unit 50. Since a transfer capacity is not required as in the case of transmission, a slower communication method can be used.

[Summary]
A message management device (management server 3) according to an aspect of the present invention is a message management device that transmits a message to be presented to a presentation target person to a message presentation device (output device 2). A device that is associated in advance with device information indicating a predetermined situation detected by a person to be presented and an electronic device (home device 1) connected to be communicable, and acquires the device information from the electronic device An information acquisition unit (device information acquisition unit 61), an image acquisition unit (subject identification unit 62) for acquiring image data generated by imaging the target person from the message presentation device, and the image acquisition unit Acquired by the target person specifying means (target person specifying part 62) for specifying the target person to be presented based on the acquired image data and the device information acquiring means. Message specifying means (rule determining unit 63) for specifying the device information and the message associated with the presentation target person specified by the target person specifying means as a message to be transmitted to the message presentation device And.

  The message management apparatus control method according to an aspect of the present invention is a message management apparatus control method for transmitting a message for presentation to a presentation target person to the message presentation apparatus, wherein the message is the presentation target. And device information acquisition step (S100) for acquiring the device information from the electronic device, which is associated in advance with device information indicating a predetermined situation detected by the person and the electronic device connected to be communicable, An image acquisition step (S122) for acquiring image data generated by imaging the presentation target person from the message presentation device, and specifying the presentation target person based on the image data acquired in the image acquisition step The subject information identifying step (S124), the device information obtained in the device information obtaining step, and The message associated with the above target person identified by serial subject specifying step, and a message specifying step (S126) for identifying a message to be sent to the message presentation device.

  According to the above configuration and method, the message management device receives the device information, further acquires the image data generated by the message presentation device by imaging the target person, and identifies the target person from the image data. Then, the message associated in advance with the device information and the identified presentation target person can be identified as a message to be presented to the message presenting apparatus.

  Here, the “predetermined status” detected by the electronic device is a change in the operating status of the electronic device, and it is presumed that the presentation target imaged by the message presentation device has operated the electronic device. It refers to a user (existing in the vicinity of the electronic device) or a user who is presumed to change the situation in which the user is placed according to a change in the operating status of the electronic device.

  That is, the message management device captures a situation in which the presentation target person operates the electronic device or a situation of the presentation target person according to a change in the operating status of the electronic device, and presents the message based on the situation of the presentation target person Can be determined.

  Therefore, the message management apparatus can cause the message presentation apparatus to present an appropriate message corresponding to the situation where the person to be presented is placed.

  Furthermore, in the message management device according to an aspect of the present invention, the message presentation device is a self-propelled device, and the message is associated with the presentation target person and the device information, and the presentation target Is associated with a control command for moving the message presentation device to a place where the person is imaged, and when the device information acquisition means acquires the device information, the device information is associated with the message associated with the device information. It is desirable to further include a control command transmission means (rule determination unit 63) for transmitting the control command being transmitted to the message presentation device.

  According to the above configuration, when the message management device receives the device information, the message management device transmits a control command for moving the message presentation device to a place where the person to be presented is imaged to the message presentation device. can do.

  Thereby, the message presenting device can capture the person to be presented more reliably and generate image data. Therefore, it is possible to more reliably identify the presentation target person in the message management apparatus that has received the image data.

  Furthermore, in the message management device according to one aspect of the present invention, the message is associated with the presentation target person and the device information, and further associated with an output possible period (rule table 82). The device information acquisition unit further includes a time acquisition unit (timer unit 70) that acquires the time when the device information is acquired or substantially the same time, and the message specifying unit is the device acquired by the device information acquisition unit Information and a message associated with the presentation target person specified by the target person specifying means and corresponding to the output possible period including the time acquired by the time acquisition means are displayed as the message. It is desirable to specify the message to be transmitted to the device.

  According to the above configuration, the message management device further includes a message associated with the specified presentation target person and the device information, and the acquired time is included in the output available period associated with the message. The message can be a message to be sent to the message presentation device.

Here, the “substantially the same time” acquired by the time acquisition means is arbitrarily selected as long as it can be substantially regarded as “the time when the electronic device detects a predetermined situation (device information) of its own device”. it can. For example, the following times (1) to (3) can be used.
(1) Time at which the device information acquisition means (device information acquisition unit 61) receives the device information (2) Time at which the device information is transmitted from the electronic device to the message management device (3) The message management device acquires the device information Time of reception When an electronic device detects predetermined device information, it is considered that the device information is immediately transmitted to the message management device. Further, it is considered that the time required for the electronic device to transmit the device information to the message management device is very short. Therefore, the times of (1) to (3) may be regarded as indicating substantially the same time, and the time acquisition unit may acquire the time of any time of (1) to (3).

  Furthermore, in the message management device according to one aspect of the present invention, one piece of the device information and a plurality of presentation target persons are associated with one message, and the message specifying unit is configured to perform the above-described device information acquisition unit. When the device information is acquired, the message associated with the device information is presented at least once to each of the plurality of presentation subjects associated with the message. You may identify a message as a message transmitted to the said message presentation apparatus.

  According to the above configuration, the message management device further performs once for any one of the plurality of presentation subjects in the message presentation device even when a plurality of presentation subjects are associated with one message. However, instead of presenting the message, it is possible to present the message at least once to all the relevant presentation subjects. Therefore, omission of the presentation of the message to each of the plurality of presentation target persons can be prevented.

  A message presentation device (output device 2) according to an aspect of the present invention is a message presentation device that presents a message to a person to be presented, and the message is sent to the person to be presented and the electronic device (home device 1). Device information indicating a predetermined situation to be detected and a control command for designating a place for imaging the person to be presented are associated in advance, and when the predetermined situation is detected in the electronic device, A control command acquisition unit (control unit 20) that acquires the control command previously associated with the device information shown, and moves the device to a location specified by the control command acquired by the control command acquisition unit After moving by a movement control means (control unit 20) and the movement control means, a camera (captured) that captures the person to be presented and generates image data. 10), message acquisition means (message acquisition unit 22) for acquiring in advance a message associated with the presentation target person specified from the device information and the image data generated by the camera, and the message Message output means (output unit 40) for presenting the message acquired by the acquisition means to the presentation target person.

  The message presentation device control method according to one aspect of the present invention is a message presentation device control method for presenting a message to a presentation target person, and the message is detected by the presentation target person and the electronic device. Device information indicating a predetermined situation and a control command for designating a place to image the person to be presented are associated in advance, and when the electronic device detects the predetermined situation, the device indicating the situation A control command acquisition step (S110) for acquiring the control command previously associated with the information, and a movement control step (move the own device to a location specified by the control command acquired in the control command acquisition step ( S112), and after moving in the movement control step, image data for capturing the person to be presented and generating image data. A generation step (S118), a message acquisition step (S134) for acquiring a message associated in advance with the presentation target person specified from the device information and the image data generated in the image data generation step; And a message output step (S136) of presenting the message acquired in the message acquisition step to the presentation target person.

  According to the above configuration and method, the message presenting device generates image data of the presentation target person by photographing the presentation target person, and provides the presentation target person specified based on the device information and the image data. The associated message can be acquired, and the acquired message can be presented to the presentation target person. The message associated with the presentation target person specified based on the device information and the image data may be specified in the message presentation device itself or in an external device such as a message management device. Also good.

  Thereby, the message presentation device can present an appropriate message corresponding to the situation where the person to be presented is placed.

  Furthermore, the message presenting device according to one aspect of the present invention provides a device information acquisition unit (device information acquisition unit 61) that acquires the device information, and the person to be presented based on the image data generated by the camera. Target message specifying means (target person specifying section 62) to be specified, the device information acquired by the device information acquiring means, and the message associated with the presentation target person specified by the target person specifying means Message specifying means (rule determining unit 63) for specifying as a message to be presented to the presentation target person.

  According to the above configuration, the message presentation device can further perform reception of device information, identification of a person to be presented based on image data, and determination of a message to be presented by itself.

  A message presentation system according to an aspect of the present invention includes the message management device and the message presentation device.

  The message management device and the message presentation device may be realized by a computer. In this case, a message that causes the message management device and the message presentation device to be realized by the computer by operating the computer as each of the above means. A control program for the management device and the message presentation device, and a computer-readable recording medium on which the control program is recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope shown in the claims, and the embodiments can be obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in the embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Furthermore, a new technical feature can be formed by combining the technical means disclosed in the embodiments.

[Example of software implementation]
Finally, each block of the output device 2 and the management server 3, particularly the server control unit 60, may be realized in hardware by a logic circuit formed on an integrated circuit (IC chip), or may be a CPU (Central Processing Unit). Unit) may be implemented in software.

  In the latter case, the output device 2 and the management server 3 include a CPU that executes instructions of a program that realizes each function, a ROM (Read Only Memory) that stores the program, a RAM (Random Access Memory) that expands the program, A storage device (recording medium) such as a memory for storing the program and various data is provided. The object of the present invention is to record the program code (execution format program, intermediate code program, source program) of the control program of the output device 2 and the management server 3 which are software for realizing the above-described functions so as to be readable by a computer. This can also be achieved by supplying the recording medium to the output device 2 and the management server 3, and reading and executing the program code recorded on the recording medium by the computer (or CPU or MPU).

  Examples of the recording medium include non-transitory tangible medium, such as magnetic tape and cassette tape, magnetic disk such as floppy (registered trademark) disk / hard disk, and CD-ROM / MO. Discs including optical discs such as / MD / DVD / CD-R, cards such as IC cards (including memory cards) / optical cards, semiconductor memories such as mask ROM / EPROM / EEPROM (registered trademark) / flash ROM Alternatively, logic circuits such as PLD (Programmable Logic Device) and FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) can be used.

  Further, the output device 2 and the management server 3 may be configured to be connectable to a communication network, and the program code may be supplied via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited as long as it can transmit the program code. For example, the Internet, intranet, extranet, LAN, ISDN, VAN, CATV communication network, virtual private network, telephone line network, mobile communication network, satellite communication network, and the like can be used. The transmission medium constituting the communication network may be any medium that can transmit the program code, and is not limited to a specific configuration or type. For example, even with wired lines such as IEEE 1394, USB, power line carrier, cable TV line, telephone line, ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) line, infrared rays such as IrDA and remote control, Bluetooth (registered trademark), IEEE 802.11 wireless, HDR ( It can also be used by radio such as High Data Rate (NFC), Near Field Communication (NFC), Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA), mobile phone network, satellite line, and digital terrestrial network. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a computer data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program code is embodied by electronic transmission.

  The present invention relates to a message presentation system that presents a message having appropriate contents to a user.

1 Domestic equipment (electronic equipment)
2 Output device (message presentation device)
3 Management server (message management device)
10 Camera (Camera)
20 Control unit (control command acquisition means, movement control means)
21 Detection data acquisition unit 22 Message acquisition unit (message acquisition means)
30 communication unit 40 output unit (message output means)
50 server communication unit 60 server control unit 61 device information acquisition unit (device information acquisition means)
62 Target person specifying part (image acquisition means, target person specifying means)
63 Rule decision unit (message specifying means, control command sending means)
64 Output Necessity Determination Unit 65 Message Creation Unit 70 Timekeeping Unit (Time Acquisition Unit)
80 Storage Unit 81 Authentication Information 82 Rule Table 83 Group Presentation Information 100 Message Presentation System

Claims (8)

A message management device that transmits a message to be presented to a presentation target person to a message presentation device,
The message is associated in advance with device information indicating a predetermined situation detected by the presentation target person and the electronic device connected to be communicable,
Device information acquisition means for acquiring the device information from the electronic device;
Image acquisition means for acquiring image data generated by imaging the target person from the message presentation device;
Subject identification means for identifying the presentation subject based on the image data acquired by the image acquisition means;
Message specification that specifies the device information acquired by the device information acquisition means and the message associated with the presentation target person specified by the target person specifying means as a message to be transmitted to the message presentation device A message management device. The message presentation device is a self-propelled device,
The message is associated with the presentation target person and the device information, and further associated with a control command for moving the message presentation device to a place where the presentation target person is imaged,
When the device information acquisition unit acquires the device information, the device information acquisition unit further includes a control command transmission unit that transmits the control command associated with the message associated with the device information to the message presentation device. The message management device according to claim 1, wherein: The message is associated with the presentation target person and the device information, and further associated with an output possible period.
A time acquisition unit that acquires the time when the device information acquisition unit acquires the device information or substantially the same time as the time,
The message specifying unit associates the device information acquired by the device information acquiring unit with the presentation target person specified by the target person specifying unit and the time acquired by the time acquiring unit. The message management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a message associated with the output possible period is specified as a message to be transmitted to the message presentation apparatus. One message is associated with one piece of device information and a plurality of target audiences,
When the device information is acquired by the device information acquisition unit, the message specifying unit displays the message associated with the device information for each of the plurality of presentation target users associated with the message. 4. The message management device according to claim 1, wherein the message is specified as a message to be transmitted to the message presentation device so that the message is presented at least once. A message presentation device for presenting a message to a presentation target person,
The message is associated in advance with the presentation target, device information indicating a predetermined situation detected in the electronic device, and a control command for designating a location for imaging the presentation target,
When a predetermined situation is detected in the electronic device, a control command acquisition unit that acquires the control command associated with the device information indicating the situation in advance;
Movement control means for moving the machine to a location designated by the control command acquired by the control command acquisition means;
A camera that captures the person to be presented and generates image data after moving by the movement control means;
Message acquisition means for acquiring a message associated in advance with the presentation target person specified from the device information and the image data generated by the camera;
A message output device comprising: message output means for presenting the message acquired by the message acquisition means to a presentation target person. Device information acquisition means for acquiring the device information;
Subject identification means for identifying the subject to be presented based on the image data generated by the camera;
Message specification that specifies the device information acquired by the device information acquisition means and the message associated with the presentation target person specified by the target person specifying means as a message to be presented to the presentation target person The message presentation device according to claim 5, further comprising: means. A control method of a message management device that transmits a message to be presented to a presentation target person to a message presentation device,
The message is associated in advance with device information indicating a predetermined situation detected by the presentation target person and the electronic device connected to be communicable,
A device information acquisition step of acquiring the device information from the electronic device;
An image acquisition step of acquiring image data generated by imaging the presentation target person from the message presentation device;
A subject identification step for identifying the subject to be presented based on the image data acquired in the image acquisition step;
The device information acquired in the device information acquisition step and the message associated with the presentation target person specified in the target person specifying step are specified as a message to be transmitted to the message presentation device. And a message specifying step. A method for controlling a message presentation device for presenting a message to a presentation target person,
The message is associated in advance with the presentation target, device information indicating a predetermined situation detected in the electronic device, and a control command for designating a location for imaging the presentation target,
When a predetermined situation is detected in the electronic device, a control command obtaining step for obtaining the control command associated in advance with the device information indicating the situation;
A movement control step for moving the machine to a location designated by the control command acquired in the control command acquisition step;
After moving in the movement control step, an image data generation step for capturing the presentation subject and generating image data;
A message acquisition step of acquiring a message associated in advance with the presentation target person specified from the device information and the image data generated in the image data generation step;
And a message output step of presenting the message acquired in the message acquisition step to a presentation target person.

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