JP2002342354A - System and device for retrieving commodity information, agent interface program, and recording medium with agent interface program recorded thereon - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a commodity information retrieving system, by which a user can speedily find out and purchase a desired commodity in Internet shopping even if the user does not know a site for publishing. SOLUTION: The commodity information retrieving system is composed of a managing server 120 for retrieving an article desired by a user out of commodity information by a search engine 123 while unitarily managing commodity information provided from a plurality of enterprises managing EC sites A130-C150 or the like in a database 121 and a user terminal 100 provided with an agent interface by inputting the request of the user by an interaction with an agent character and transmitting the request through the Internet 110 to the managing server 120. Thus, in this system, the user can speedily find out and purchase the desired commodity only by interacting with the agent character.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a product information search system, a product information search device, an agent interface program, and a recording medium on which the agent interface program is recorded. The present invention relates to a system, a product information search device, an agent interface program, and a recording medium on which the agent interface program is recorded.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the spread of the Internet,
Various services using the Internet are being developed. Internet shopping is one of them.

When a user uses Internet shopping, the user connects to an Internet shopping site and searches for a product to be purchased from the site. At this time, the user performs a search based on the product name, maker, genre, etc. of the product to be purchased.

[0004] For example, when a user sends an MP
In order to purchase music such as 3 (Motion Picture Experts Group Audio Layer-3), the user needs to know in advance the site that distributes music.

[0005] Using an existing search site, it is relatively easy to search for a site that distributes music. However, in order to search for a song to be purchased from a site that distributes music, a song title, This is a very time-consuming operation for the user, since the user has to enter the artist name or the like and follow the target page.

There is an increasing demand for easily and quickly searching for desired products from such a vast amount of information.

[0007] For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-113057 discloses that a file desired by a user is distributed from a server of an information distribution site to a user terminal as desired product information and stored in a local file of the user terminal. Discloses a technique by which a user can easily obtain information on a desired product.

[0008] As a technique related to music distribution, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2000-33090 discloses a music distribution service that searches for a musical composition having an expression, such as atmosphere and tempo, and selects a musical composition that the user wants to download. Possible techniques are disclosed.

[0009]

However, in the technique disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-113057, it is necessary to regularly distribute information from a server of an information distribution site to a user terminal. However, there is a problem that a file must be created for each user.

In addition, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-331090
In the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. H10-209, there is a problem that in a music distribution service, the expression form such as the atmosphere and tempo of the music must be newly registered as additional information for each music. .

[0011] In order to solve these problems, according to the present invention, in Internet shopping (electronic commerce), even if the user does not know where the desired product is located, the user can quickly find out by simply talking with the agent character. Product information search system that can be purchased,
A first object is to provide a product information search device, an agent interface program, and a recording medium on which the agent interface program is recorded.

[0012] Further, a product information search system, a product information search device and a product information search system which allow a user to easily input when searching for a product
A second object is to provide an agent interface program and a recording medium on which the agent interface program is recorded.

[0013] Also, a product information search system, a product information search device, an agent interface program, and an agent interface program which allow a user to search with a simple input without adding additional information on the management server side are recorded. It is a third object to provide a recording medium that has been used.

[0014]

According to one aspect of the present invention, a merchandise information search system for electronically transacting merchandise between terminals connected via an Internet network. A management server for managing product information provided by a company; and a product information management system configured to manage a product information provided by a company. Search means for searching for a product based on the
Transmission means for transmitting the product information searched by the search means to the user terminal via the Internet, the user terminal comprising: an input means for inputting by a user who wants to purchase the goods; and a request input by the input means. And receiving means for receiving the commodity information retrieved by the retrieval means from the management server via the Internet, and output means for outputting the commodity information received by the receiving means, based on the input from the user. An interface for searching for a product by a search unit and providing product information to a user is an agent interface.

Preferably, the above-mentioned agent interface is a personified agent character.

The above-mentioned agent interface is desirably an interactive interface with an agent character.

The output means outputs product information of a product candidate searched by the search means. Further, when the user selects a desired product from the product candidates, the output means selects the product. It is desirable that a purchase page for purchasing a product is output, and that the user can perform a purchase procedure of a target product from the purchase page.

Preferably, the input means inputs at least one of a product name, a product developer name, a product genre, and an expression of features and contents of the product.

Further, the management means described above stores the product information in a database constructed from text information of at least one of a product name, a product developer name, a product genre, and a product characteristic or content expression. It is desirable to manage

According to another aspect of the present invention, a product information search device is a product information search device for electronically transacting products between terminals connected via an Internet network. Management means for managing the provided product information, input means for a user who wishes to purchase a product to input, and product information managed by the management means,
A search unit configured to search for a product based on a user's request input by the input unit; and an output unit configured to output product information of the product searched by the search unit. An interface for performing a product search and providing product information to the user is an agent interface.

It is preferable that the above-mentioned agent interface is a personified agent character.

It is desirable that the above-mentioned agent interface is an interface of an interactive type with an agent character.

The output means outputs product information of a product candidate searched by the search means. Further, when the user selects a target product from the product candidates, the output means selects the product. It is desirable that a purchase page for purchasing a product is output, and that the user can perform a purchase procedure of a target product from the purchase page.

Preferably, the input means inputs at least one of a product name, a product developer name, a product genre, and an expression of a feature or content of the product.

[0025] The management means may be a database constructed from text information of at least one of a product name, a product developer name, a product genre, and a product characteristic or content expression. It is desirable to manage information.

According to another aspect of the present invention, an agent interface program causes a computer to execute a product information search method for electronically performing a product transaction between terminals connected via an Internet network. A program, based on an input step in which a user who wants to purchase a product makes an input, and product information provided by a managing company based on the user's request input in the input step,
A computer executes a product information search method including a search step of searching for a product and an output step of outputting product information of the product searched in the search step, and searches for the product in the search step based on an input from a user And make it function as an agent interface for providing the product information to the user.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a recording medium comprises:
It is a recording medium on which the above-described agent interface program is recorded.

[0028]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The following describes embodiments of a product information search system, a product information search device, an agent interface program, and a recording medium storing an agent interface program in the present invention.
This will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[First Embodiment] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a product information search system according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, the merchandise information search system includes a user terminal 100, a management server 120 for centrally managing the merchandise information, and an EC (Electronic Commerce) of a company that provides information to the management server 120. Commerce)
Site A130, EC site B140, EC site C1
50. They communicate via the Internet 110.

FIG. 2 shows the user terminal 100 shown in FIG.
Is shown. The user terminal 100 is a client terminal, such as a personal computer or a PDA (Personal).
Digital Assistants) and communication terminals such as mobile phones.

Referring to FIG. 2, user terminal 100
PU (Central Processing Unit) 201 and memory 2
02, a hard disk 203, an FD (flexible disk) driving unit 204, a communication unit 205, an optical disk driving unit 206, a sound mixer 207, and a microphone 2
08, a speaker 209, a display unit 210, a keyboard 211, and a mouse / pointing device 212.
, A bus 213, an optical disk 214 such as a CD-ROM as a storage medium, and a flexible disk 215.

The communication unit 205 communicates with the management server 120 via the Internet 110.

FIG. 3 shows the CPU 2 of the user terminal 100.
1 shows a configuration of a functional module of an agent interface realized by the function module No. 01.

Referring to FIG. 3, the functional modules of the agent interface include an agent interface 301 and an action script execution engine 306.
And action script DB (database) 307
And the application program interface 308
And

Further, the agent interface 301
Are the agent display control unit 302 and the audio output unit 30
3, an input unit 304, and a speech recognition unit 305.

The agent display control unit 302 is a module for displaying and operating an anthropomorphized agent character on the display unit 210.

The voice output unit 303 is a module for adding voice to the agent. The added sound is output from the speaker 209 via the sound mixer 207. The voice may be a synthesized voice or a recorded voice.

The input unit 304 is a module for inputting a user request to the agent. The input of the user's request is performed by the microphone 208, the keyboard 211, and the mouse pointing device 212.

When the user's request is input by voice from the microphone 208, the input voice is the sound mixer 20
7, the speech is recognized by the speech recognition unit 305 and converted into text. As described above, when the user inputs a request by voice, the request is converted into text by the user terminal 100,
The information is transmitted from the communication unit 205 to the management server 120 via the Internet 110.

The above-described agent interface 301
Is an interface that mediates between the user using the user terminal 100 and the management server 120.

The application program interface 308 is an interface for controlling an application program, and controls an application program such as an Internet browser.

Action script database 307
Stores an action script. The action script is the agent interface 301
This is a procedure document that describes a procedure for realizing a function by causing the application and the application program interface 308 to cooperate with each other. For example, when a search result is received from the management server 120, a procedure (action script) of a function such as displaying the received search result and asking "Is this OK?" Is described.

Action script execution engine 306
Actually interprets the procedure described in the action script and controls the agent interface 301 and the application program interface 308 to make them cooperatively operate.

Further referring to FIG. 1, management server 120
Is a product information DB (database) 121, an interface unit 122, a search engine 123, and a control unit 12
4 is included.

In the merchandise information retrieval system shown in FIG. 1, merchandise information is provided from the EC site A 130, the EC site B 140, and the EC site C 150 to the management server 120. In the management server 120, a product information database 121 is created from the provided product information.

The product information database 121 stores product names,
It is constructed from data described in text associated with a product such as a product developer name (manufacturer, publisher, artist, author, etc.), product genre, product characteristics and contents. In addition, each time a company that provides information releases a new product and the EC site A130, the EC site B140, and the EC site C150 are updated, the product information database 121 is updated.

The interface unit 122 receives an input made by the user using the user terminal 100.

The search engine 123 searches the product information database 121 based on the information received from the user, and returns a search result to the interface unit 122. Further, the interface unit 122 transmits the search result to the user terminal 100.
Send to

The control unit 124 has a program for executing a function performed by the management server 120, and controls the product information database 121, the interface unit 122, and the search engine 123.

The management server 120 described above stores the user terminal 1
For users who access the Internet via the Internet 110 using 00, download of software for search and version upgrade are also provided.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the merchandise information search system according to this embodiment. An agent character which is an interface for inputting from a user and outputting a result is a user terminal 1
It operates on 00 and allows interactive input.

Referring to FIG. 4, CP of user terminal 100
U201 is a microphone 208 and a keyboard 2 from the user.
11 to monitor whether there is an input by using the mouse / pointing device 212 (S10).
1).

In step S101, when the user inputs a voice using the microphone 208, the voice captured from the microphone 208 is recognized by the voice recognition unit 305 and converted to text.

When the CPU 201 detects an input from the user in step S101 (Yes in S101),
The input information is sent to the communication unit 205 via the bus 213, and is sent to the management server 120 via the Internet 110.
(S102).

In the management server 120, the transmitted information is received by the interface unit 122 (S103).

Information from the user is transmitted to the interface unit 12.
2, the management server 120 receives the search engine 123
To search the product information database 121 (S1).
04).

In step S104, when a search result matching the information input by the user is obtained, the search engine 12
3 returns the search result to the interface unit 122 (S1
05).

Further, the search result is transmitted from the interface unit 122 to the user terminal 100 via the Internet 110 (S106).

In the user terminal 100 receiving the search result by the communication unit 205, the action script execution engine 3
06 receives the search result. Upon receiving the search result, the action script execution engine 306 controls the agent interface 301 to display the first-ranked search result on the display unit 210 (S107). In step S107, audio output may be performed from the speaker 209. Ask the user "Is this okay?"

When the user is satisfied with the search result displayed in step S 107 and inputs “Yes” to the question (Yes in S 108), the action script execution engine 306 transmits the URL received from the management server 120.
(Uniform Resource Locators) to the Internet browser. The Internet browser uses the received UR
From L, a page for performing a purchase procedure in which detailed information of the product displayed in step S107 is displayed (S
109).

When the user is not satisfied with the search result displayed in step S107 and inputs "No" to the question (No in S108), the action script execution engine 306 controls the agent interface 301 and in step S107 The search results of the remaining candidates after the first rank of the displayed search results are displayed in a list on the display unit 210 (S110). Ask the user, "Are you here? Answer me by number."

If the user is satisfied with some of the search results displayed in step S110, and inputs a corresponding number in response to the inquiry (input in S111), the action script execution engine 306 causes the management server 1
The URL received from 20 is passed to the Internet browser. Internet browser, from the received URL,
A page for performing a purchase procedure in which detailed information of the product entered in step S108 is displayed (S10).
9).

In the search results displayed in step S110, there is no one satisfying the user.
If "No" is entered (No in S111), the program returns to the beginning.

The user again inputs a different keyword from the user terminal 100 in order to search for a desired product.

FIG. 5 shows a specific example of an input screen when the user makes an input to the user terminal 100 in step S101 of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 5, agent display control section 302 displays a personified agent character on display section 210 of user terminal 100. In step S101 of FIG. 4, the user inputs “I want something that makes me feel good” by voice to the displayed agent character through the microphone 208. The voice fetched from the microphone 208 is recognized by the voice recognition unit 305 and converted into text. The input converted to text is received by the interface unit 122 of the management server 120 in step S103 of FIG.

FIG. 6 shows a specific example of the product information data included in the product information database 121 of the management server 120.

Referring to FIG. 6, the merchandise information data describes merchandise information provided by a company that sells merchandise. Specifically, the merchandise name and the name of a merchandise developer (artist, etc.) , Product genre, product features, and the like.

In step S104 of FIG. 4, based on the input “I want something that makes you feel good” received from the user terminal 100 and converted into text, the search engine 123 uses FIG. Is searched for the product information data included in the product information database 121 shown in FIG.

FIG. 7 shows a specific example of the search result in step S104 of FIG. Referring to FIG. 4, search engine 123 searches product information database 121 for a product including the keyword “Genki” in the product title and other items. The searched result is returned to the interface unit 122 in step S106 in FIG. 4, and transmitted to the user terminal 100 via the Internet.
When the set number is 10, the search results to be transmitted are transmitted in order from the one with the highest hit ratio to the top ten. Further, in step S106 of FIG. 4, the product information of the search result shown in FIG. 7 and the URL of a page for performing a product purchase procedure (not shown) are stored in the management server 1.
20 to the user terminal 100. Although FIG. 7 shows a specific example in which the number of search results to be transmitted is set to 10, the number of search results can be arbitrarily set from the user terminal 100.

FIG. 8 shows a specific example of the first search result displayed on the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100 in step S107 of FIG. The search result shown in FIG. 8 is displayed on the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100 by the action script execution engine 306 controlling the agent interface 301.

Referring to FIG. 8, step S107 in FIG.
In FIG. 7, only the first search result of the search results shown in FIG. 7 is displayed. Also, the agent character asks the user "Is this okay?" The inquiry about the agent character may be displayed in the form of a balloon beside the agent character, or may be output as a sound from the speaker 209 via the sound mixer 207.

As for the user's response to the agent character, "Yes" may be input by voice from microphone 208, or "Yes" may be selected by input from keyboard 211 and mouse / pointing device 212.

FIG. 9 shows a specific example of a screen for performing a purchase procedure displayed on the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100 in step S109 of FIG. The screen shown in FIG. 9 shows that the action script execution engine 306
The URL received from 0 along with the search result is displayed on the display unit 210 by passing it to the Internet browser. U
The RL is linked to a page for performing a purchase procedure on an EC site in which detailed information of the product is described.
The screen shown in FIG. 9 is displayed by the user in step S10 of FIG.
Satisfaction with the product of the search result displayed in step 7, and step S1
When “Yes” is input in 08, it is displayed on the display unit 210. The user can purchase a product displayed as a search result from the screen shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 shows a specific example of the remaining search result candidates other than the first place displayed on the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100 in step S110 of FIG. The search result shown in FIG. 10 is also similar to the search result shown in FIG.
The action script execution engine 306 controls the agent interface 301 to
Is displayed on the display unit 210. The search result shown in FIG. 10 is displayed when the user does not desire to purchase the product of the first search result shown in FIG. 8 and inputs "No" to the inquiry of the agent character in step S108 in FIG. Is done.

Referring to FIG. 10, when the preset number of transmissions from management server 120 is 10, the products of the second to tenth search results are displayed in a list.
Also, the agent character asks the user, "Are you in this? Please answer by number." The inquiry of the agent character is made in step S1 of FIG.
Similarly to 07, it may be displayed in the form of a balloon next to the agent character, or may be output as audio from the speaker 209. The user refers to the list display shown in FIG. 8 and, when there is a desired product in the list, inputs the number of the list by voice input from microphone 208 or from keyboard 211 and mouse / pointing device 212. .

When a desired product is input, a screen for performing a purchase procedure shown in FIG. 9 is displayed on the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100, and the user can select a desired product from the screen shown in FIG. You can make a purchase.

When the purchase procedure is completed as described above,
A mechanism for paying royalties as a reward for introducing products from the EC site to the company that operates the management server 120 may be adopted. Once the procedure is completed, the royalty will be sent from the management server 120 to the EC site.
You may be charged automatically.

By using the above-mentioned product information search system, a user can quickly find and purchase a desired product only by interacting with an agent character in Internet shopping.

Further, the user can select the EC where the desired product is located.
Even if you don't know if the item is featured on the site,
Since the above-mentioned product information search system automatically searches for product information and also obtains the URL of the EC site, it is possible to easily reach the target product. Further, compared to the case of searching from the top page of the EC site, the time required to reach the target product is shorter, and the burden of communication costs on the user can be reduced.

Further, since the above-mentioned product information search system uses an interactive product information search method, the user only needs to answer "yes", "no" or a list number to obtain a product purchase page of a target product. Can easily be reached.

In the above-described merchandise information retrieval system, since the user can make an input by voice, even a user who is unfamiliar with the handling of the keyboard can easily handle it.

In the merchandise information search system described above, since the agent character serves as a portal, even a user who is unfamiliar with handling a computer can easily and easily handle it.

In the above-mentioned merchandise information retrieval system, the input from the user is converted into text and then sent to the management server via the network. small.

[Second Embodiment] In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which a music distribution song is purchased using a product information search system.

The configuration of the merchandise information search system in the present embodiment is the same as the configuration shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3, and therefore description thereof will not be repeated.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the merchandise information search system according to the present embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 11, C of user terminal 100
The PU 201 includes a microphone 208, a keyboard 211, and a mouse pointing device 212 from a user.
It is monitored whether or not there is an input (S20).
1).

In the present embodiment, a case is considered in which the user inputs “healthy music” by voice using microphone 208 in step S201. The voice captured by the user from the microphone 208 is output to the voice recognition unit 305.
Is recognized and converted to text.

The input in step S201 further includes a song name, an artist name, an album name, a genre name,
It is possible to input a combination of a label name, a feature element of a song, and the like.

When the CPU 201 detects an input from the user in step S201 (Yes in S201),
The input information is sent to the communication unit 205 via the bus 213, and is sent to the management server 120 via the Internet 110.
(S202).

In the management server 120, the transmitted information is received by the interface unit 122 (S203).

Management server 1 that has received information from the user
20, the search engine 123 searches the product information database 121 using the received information as a keyword (S204).

In step S204, a keyword "music" is used from the information input in step S201.
From the product information data stored in the product information database 121, only the music product information data is extracted. With respect to the extracted music product information data, the corresponding product information data is further searched from the information input in step S201 by using “genki” as a keyword.

In step S204, when a search result matching the information from the user is obtained, the search engine 123
Returns the search result to the interface unit 122 (S20).
5).

The processing in the following steps S206 to S211 is the same as that in the first embodiment shown in FIG.
Since the processing is the same as in steps 106 to S111, description thereof will not be repeated here.

FIG. 12 shows a specific example of the input screen when the user makes an input to the user terminal 100 in step S201 of FIG.

Referring to FIG. 12, step S2 in FIG.
01, the user operates the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100.
Is input through the microphone 208 to the "personalized music". In step S204 of FIG. 11, based on the input information, the search engine 123 searches the product information data shown in FIG. 6 of the first embodiment using “music” as a keyword and a product whose product genre is music. Extract information data. Further, using “Genki” as a keyword, the product information data including the word “Genki” is searched from the product information data in which the extracted product genre is music.

Product information database 1 shown in FIG.
The music product information data included in 21 includes texts such as song names, artist names, album names, genre names, label names, elements of song characteristics, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 6, the product name is “High T
The product information data of “ention” includes a description of “this song if you want to be fine.” in the item of the feature of the product. Since the item of the feature of the product in the product information data shown in FIG. 6 includes the word “genki”,
In step S204, the product information data shown in FIG. 6 is searched.

In step S207 of FIG. 11, a screen similar to the screen shown in FIG. 8 of the first embodiment is displayed on display section 210 of user terminal 100. The action script execution engine 306 that has received the search result in step S204 of FIG. 11 controls the agent interface 301 to display the screen shown in FIG. Indicates the name, album name, label name, and genre name. In addition, the agent character asks "Is this okay?"

For the product of the search result shown in FIG.
If the user answers “Yes” to the question of the agent character, a screen for performing the purchase procedure shown in FIG. The user can perform the procedure for purchasing the music shown in FIG. 8 from the screen shown in FIG. 9 as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the operation of step S21 in FIG.
When 0 is displayed on the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100, 1
A specific example of the remaining candidates of the search result other than the rank is shown. FIG.
8, the action script execution engine 306 controls the agent interface 301 and is displayed on the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100, similarly to the search result shown in FIG. The search result shown in FIG. 13 is displayed when the user does not wish to purchase the product of the first search result shown in FIG. 8 and answers “No” to the question of the agent character in S208 of FIG. You.

Referring to FIG. 13, when the number of transmissions from management server 120 set in advance is ten, the products of the second to tenth search results are displayed in a list.
The action script execution engine 306 controls the agent interface 301 so that the titles of the remaining songs in the search result received in step S204 of FIG.
Lists candidate artist names. In addition, the agent character asks the user, "Are you in this? Please answer by number."

As with the product information data shown in FIG. 6, the product information data of other search results shown in FIG. 13 also includes the keyword “Genki” in one of the items.

From the product list shown in FIG. 13,
When the user inputs a desired product, a screen for performing the purchase procedure shown in FIG. 9 is displayed in step S209 in FIG. 11, as in the first embodiment, and the user selects the desired screen from the screen shown in FIG. You can purchase songs to play.

Further, the above-mentioned merchandise information retrieval system is
Similarly, in the purchase of a book, a target book can be searched for and purchased by inputting the author name, the expression of characteristics, and the like.

Hereinafter, as an example, a case where a book is purchased using the above-described product information search system will be described.

When a book is purchased, the operation of the merchandise information search system is the same as the flowchart shown in FIG.

In step S201 of FIG. 11, the user uses the microphone 208 of the user terminal 100 to input a “book that can be well” by voice.

FIG. 14 shows a specific example of the input screen in that case. The user inputs “a book that can be rejuvenated” to the personified agent character shown in FIG. In step S204 of FIG. 11, based on the input information, the search engine 123 uses the product information data shown in FIG.
Product information data whose product genre is a book is extracted using “book” as a keyword. Further, using “Genki” as a keyword, the product information data including the word “Genki” is searched from the product information data in which the extracted product genre is a book.

FIG. 15 shows a specific example of the search result of the first place displayed on the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100 in step S207 of FIG. Action script execution engine 3 receiving the search result in step S204 in FIG.
06 controls the agent interface 301 and, on the screen shown in FIG.
Shows the title, author name, publisher, and genre name of the first-ranked search result book. In addition, the agent character asks "Is this okay?"

FIG. 16 is a specific example of a screen for performing a purchase procedure displayed on the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100 in step S209 of FIG. 11 when a book is purchased. The screen shown in FIG. 16 is displayed when the user answers “Yes” to the agent character as to the product of the search result shown in FIG. The user
From the screen shown in FIG. 16, the procedure for purchasing the book shown in FIG. 15 can be performed as in the first embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the operation of step S21 in FIG.
When 0 is displayed on the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100, 1
A specific example of the remaining candidates of the search result other than the rank is shown. FIG.
7, the action script execution engine 306 controls the agent interface 301 and is displayed on the display unit 210 of the user terminal 100, similarly to the search result shown in FIG. The search result shown in FIG. 17 is displayed when the user does not wish to purchase the product of the first search result shown in FIG. 16 and answers "No" to the agent character in S208 of FIG. You.

Referring to FIG. 17, when the number of transmissions from management server 120 set in advance is 10, the list of the products of the second to tenth search results is displayed.
The action script execution engine 306 controls the agent interface 301, and displays a list of the titles of the remaining books and the candidates for the author name in the search result received in step S204 of FIG. In addition, the agent character asks the user, "Are you in this? Please answer by number."

From the product list shown in FIG. 17,
When the user inputs a desired product, a screen for performing the purchase procedure shown in FIG. 16 in step S209 of FIG. 11 is displayed as in the first embodiment.
A desired book can be purchased from the screen shown in FIG.

When the purchase procedure is completed as described above,
A mechanism for paying royalties as a reward for introducing products from the EC site to the company that operates the management server 120 may be adopted. Once the procedure is completed, the royalty will be sent from the management server 120 to the EC site.
You may be charged automatically.

The above-mentioned merchandise information search system is not limited to the purchase of music distribution music and books, but can also be used for the purchase of all merchandise such as cars, games, goods and the like, which are handled through Internet shopping. In this case, similarly, by inputting the expression of the brand name and the feature in the conversation with the agent character, the user can search for and purchase the desired product.

By using the above-described product information search system, the user can input the product name, the name of a product developer such as a maker, a publisher, an artist, an author, the product genre, and the characteristics and contents of the product. Find the product you want,
Can be purchased.

Further, the above-described product information search system can limit product information data to be searched by inputting a plurality of keywords from a user, and can search for a product more suitable for the purpose faster. .

In the above-mentioned merchandise information search system, a merchandise database for searching is constructed using existing merchandise information provided by a plurality of companies. It is not necessary to newly add additional information such as the atmosphere and tempo of the music on the management server side, and the management of the management server becomes easy. Also, without adding new additional information on the management server side, the user's purpose can be obtained from the product name, product developer name such as maker, publisher, artist, author, product genre, product characteristics and content expression. Can be searched for.

Further, a product information search method performed by the above-described product information search system can be provided as a program. Such a program is a computer-readable program.

It is possible to provide a recording medium storing the program. As a storage medium, the memory 202 itself of the user terminal 100 shown in FIG. 2 may be a storage medium storing a program. When the user terminal 100 includes a program reading unit such as the FD driving unit 204 and the optical disk driving unit 206 as the external storage unit, the flexible disk 215 and the CD-ROM 21 which can be read by being inserted into the program reading unit.
4 and the like.

FIG. 18 shows the structure of a program for a product information search method recorded on this recording medium.

Referring to FIG. 18, a program recorded on a recording medium receives input from a user through microphone 208,
An input program 191 for receiving with the keyboard 211 and the mouse pointing device 212, a voice recognition program 192 for performing voice recognition in the case of input from the microphone 208 and converting it into text, and a management server 120 193, a receiving program 194 for receiving the search result from the management server 120, an output program 195 for outputting the received search result, and an agent for displaying and operating the agent character. And an interface program 196. The program shown in FIG.
Then, the above-described product information search method is realized.

The recording medium on which the above-described program is recorded can be provided separately from the user terminal 100.

The recording medium provided separately from the user terminal 100 is a magnetic disk such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, or a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory).
ory), CD-R (Recordable) and CD-RW (Rewrita
ble), MO (Magnetic Optical disk), MD (Mini D
isk) and DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) -ROM, DVD-RAM (Random Access Memory) and DVD-R
W, etc., card media such as PC card and IC card, mask ROM, EPROM (Erasable and PROM)
rogrammable ROM), EEPROM (Electrically Eras)
A medium that fixedly holds the program, such as a semiconductor memory such as an executable and programmable ROM) and a flash ROM, may be used.

Further, the recording medium on which the above-described program is recorded can be downloaded from a communication network such as the Internet 110 via the communication unit 205,
The program can also be provided as a medium that retains the program in a fluid manner such that the program is stored in the hard disk 203 of the user terminal 100. When the program is downloaded from the communication network as described above, the download program may be stored in advance, or may be installed from another recording medium.

The embodiment disclosed this time is to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and is intended to include any modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a product information search system according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a user terminal 100 shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a functional module of an agent interface realized by a CPU 201 of the user terminal 100;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the product information search system according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a specific example of an input screen when a user makes an input to the user terminal 100 in step S101 of FIG.

FIG. 6 is a product information database 1 of the management server 120.
21 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of product information data included in 21. FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of a search result in step S104 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 8 shows a user terminal 100 in step S107 of FIG.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a specific example of the first-ranked search result displayed on the display unit 210 of FIG.

FIG. 9 shows the user terminal 100 in step S109 of FIG.
7 is a diagram showing a specific example of a screen for performing a purchase procedure displayed on the display unit 210 of FIG.

FIG. 10 shows a user terminal 10 in step S110 of FIG.
11 is a diagram showing a specific example of the remaining candidates of the search result other than the first place displayed on the display unit 210 of 0. FIG.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the product information search system according to the second embodiment.

12 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of an input screen when a user performs an input to the user terminal 100 in step S201 in FIG.

FIG. 13 shows a user terminal 1 in step S210 of FIG.
10 is a diagram showing a specific example of the remaining candidates of the search result other than the first place displayed on the display unit 210 of 00. FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a specific example of an input screen in which the user makes an input to the user terminal 100 in step S201 in FIG. 11 when the user purchases a book using the information search system.

FIG. 15 shows a case where the user purchases a book using the information search system.
FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a specific example of a first-ranked search result displayed on the display unit 210 of No. 0;

FIG. 16 shows a case where the user purchases a book using the information search system, in step S209 of FIG.
7 is a diagram showing a specific example of a screen for performing a purchase procedure displayed on the display unit 210 of FIG.

FIG. 17 shows a case where a user purchases a book using the information search system.
7 is a diagram showing a specific example of the remaining candidates of the search result other than the first place displayed on the display unit 210 of FIG.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing a configuration of a program of a product information search method performed by the product information search system.

[Explanation of symbols]

100 user terminal, 110 Internet, 120
Management server, 121 product information database, 122
Interface unit, 123 search engine, 124 control unit, 130 EC site A, 140 EC site B,
150 EC Site C, 191 Input Program, 19
2 voice recognition program, 193 transmission program, 1
94 receiving program, 195 output program, 19
6. Agent interface program, 201
CPU, 202 memory, 203 hard disk, 2
04 Flexible disk activation unit, 205 communication unit,
206 optical disk drive, 207 sound mixer,
208 microphone, 209 speaker, 210 display unit, 2
11 keyboard, 212 mouse and pointing device, 213 bus, 214 optical disk, 215
Flexible disk, 301 agent interface, 302 agent display control unit, 303 voice output unit, 304 input unit, 305 voice recognition unit, 30
6 action script execution engine, 307 action script database, 308 application program interface.

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) G06F 17/60 318 G06F 17/60 318G 326 326 336 336 336 502 502

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A merchandise information search system comprising a management server for electronically transacting merchandise between terminals connected via an Internet network and a user terminal, wherein the management server is provided by a company. Managing means for managing the obtained product information; searching means for searching for the product based on the user's request from the product information managed by the managing means; and merchandise information searched by the searching means on the Internet. Transmitting means for transmitting to the user terminal via the user terminal, the user terminal comprising: an input means for inputting by the user who wants to purchase the product; and the search means based on the request input by the input means. Receiving means for receiving the product information retrieved by the management server from the management server via the Internet, and the receiving means And output means for outputting the received the item information, perform a search for items in the retrieval means based on an input from the user, interface for providing the product information to the user, an agent interface,
Product information search system. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the agent interface is a personified agent character.
Product information search system described in. 3. The merchandise information retrieval system according to claim 1, wherein the agent interface is an interactive interface with the agent character. 4. The output unit outputs product information of a product candidate searched by the search unit. Further, the output unit selects the target product when the user selects a target product from the product candidates. The product information search system according to claim 1, wherein a purchase page for purchasing the purchased product is output, and the user can perform a purchase procedure of the target product from the purchase page. 5. The product according to claim 1, wherein the input unit inputs at least one of a product name, a product developer name, a product genre, and an expression of a feature or content of the product. Information retrieval system. 6. The product management system according to claim 1, wherein the management unit is a database constructed with text information of at least one of a product name, a product developer name, a product genre, and a product feature or content expression. The product information search system according to claim 1, which manages information. 7. A merchandise information search device for electronically transacting merchandise between terminals connected via an Internet network, a managing means for managing merchandise information provided by a company, said merchandise purchase Input means for inputting by the user who desires, search means for searching for a product based on the user's request input by the input means from the product information managed by the management means, An output unit that outputs product information of the searched product; an interface that performs a product search with the search unit based on an input from the user and provides the product information to the user is an agent interface ,
Product information search device. 8. The agent interface of claim 7, wherein the agent interface is a personified agent character.
A product information search device according to item 1. 9. The merchandise information search device according to claim 7, wherein the agent interface is an interactive interface with the agent character. 10. The output means outputs merchandise information of a merchandise candidate searched by the search means, and further, the output means selects when the user selects a target merchandise from the merchandise candidates. The product information search device according to claim 7, wherein a purchase page for purchasing the purchased product is output, and the user can perform a purchase procedure of the target product from the purchase page. 11. The product according to claim 7, wherein the input unit inputs at least one of a product name, a product developer name, a product genre, and a description of a feature or content of the product. Information retrieval device. 12. The product management system according to claim 1, wherein the management unit is a database constructed from text information of at least one of a product name, a product developer name, a product genre, and a product feature or content expression. The product information search device according to claim 7, which manages information. 13. An agent interface program for causing a computer to execute a product information search method for electronically conducting a product transaction between terminals connected via an Internet network, wherein the user who desires to purchase the product inputs An input step of performing, based on the user's desire input in the input step, based on product information provided by the managing company,
A computer executes a product information search method comprising: a search step of searching for a product; and an output step of outputting product information of the product searched in the search step, wherein the search step is performed based on an input from the user. An agent interface program that searches for a product and functions as an agent interface that provides the product information to the user. 14. A recording medium on which the agent interface program according to claim 13 is recorded.