JP2005123940A - Device, system, method and program for providing information - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To conveniently and freely acquire information even if information for specifying an information acquisition destination such as a URL is not known and to provide information without requiring special management and to one or more unspecified information requesters at point-blank range. <P>SOLUTION: An information provision server device 2 provides information and has an information DB28 in which information to be provided is stored, an infrared receiving part 25 which receives a signal having directivity transmitted by radio from a terminal 1, a transmitting destination information extraction part 27 which extracts, from a signal received by the infrared receiving part 25, a transmitting destination address for specifying a transmitting destination of the information different from a terminal address of a portable information terminal 1 which is a transmitting origin of the signal and a provided information transmitting part 29 which transmits predetermined information read from the information DB28 to the transmitting address extracted by the transmitting destination information extraction part 27. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus that provides information, an information providing method thereof, an information providing program thereof, and an information providing system including the information providing apparatus.

  Conventionally, information is acquired by using a device that receives a broadcast such as radio or television, or a device that directly accesses a specific information source such as a telephone or a fax. In recent years, with the spread of the Internet, digital information such as text, voice, and images can be sent to the world simply by specifying a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of a predetermined website using a PC (personal computer) or the like. Can be obtained from.

In addition, as a method for acquiring information without using such communication media, participation in events such as exhibitions and seminars is common. In these events, information is generally provided as printed materials such as catalogs and materials.
Patent Document 1 proposes a system in which an information portable terminal is provided for each visitor at an event venue, and the visitor acquires information using the information portable terminal.
JP 2000-115845 A

  By the way, when collecting information via a communication network such as the Internet or a telephone network, information for specifying the information acquisition destination such as a URL or a telephone number of a website where the target information is provided. It is necessary to know in advance, and the work to know it is time-consuming.

  On the other hand, in the event, exhibitors and the like have to prepare a large amount of materials in advance considering a large number of visitors, and the economic burden of providing information for free was great. Also, when visitors gathered information, it took a lot of time and effort because visitors were looking for and collecting printed materials from many exhibitors. In addition, in order to save the collected material for filing, the storage space is necessary, and in order to avoid it, the collected material is digitized. It took a lot of work.

Moreover, since the system proposed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 is a system realized by the organizer managing all information portable terminals provided for each visitor, the system is not under the management. Could not use the system.
In view of the above circumstances, the present invention makes it possible for an information requester to easily and freely acquire information without knowing information for specifying an information acquisition destination such as a URL or a telephone number. An information providing apparatus, an information providing system, an information providing method, and an information providing program that do not require management and enable information provision to one or more unspecified information requesters located in a close range The purpose is to provide.

  According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information providing apparatus for providing information, an information database storing information to be provided, and directivity wirelessly transmitted from an apparatus capable of wirelessly transmitting a signal having directivity. First receiving means for receiving a signal having, and extracting means for extracting a transmission destination address for designating a transmission destination of information different from the transmission source address of the signal from the signal received by the first reception means And transmitting means for transmitting the predetermined information read from the information database to the destination address extracted by the extracting means.

  According to the above apparatus, when a directional signal wirelessly transmitted from an apparatus capable of wirelessly transmitting a directional signal is received, the provided information is transmitted to the transmission destination address extracted from the signal. Become so. Thereby, for example, the information requester transmits a signal having directivity including the transmission destination address designated by the information requester so that the directivity direction is the direction of the first receiving means of the information providing apparatus. The information providing apparatus can transmit the provision information to the designated transmission destination address, and the provision information can be acquired by accessing the transmission destination address. Therefore, the information requester can acquire information without knowing information (for example, URL, telephone number, etc.) for specifying the information acquisition destination, and further, the information requester's home via the wide area network such as the Internet. It is possible to send the provision information to a PC or a server device placed in a company. In addition, for this reason, an unspecified one or more information requesters near the information providing apparatus, that is, an unspecified one person within a range where the first receiving means can receive a signal having directivity. Information can be provided to the above information requester.

In the above-mentioned transmission source address, for example, a URL or a telephone number is a kind of transmission source address. In the above-mentioned transmission destination address, for example, an e-mail address, URL, or telephone number is also a kind of transmission destination address.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect described above, an information provision history database in which the transmission destination address is stored when predetermined information is transmitted to the transmission destination address by the transmission unit; Determination means for determining whether or not the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction means is stored in the information provision history database, and the transmission means, according to the determination result by the determination means, The predetermined information read from the information database is transmitted to or not transmitted to the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction means.

  According to this configuration, when the provision information is transmitted, the transmission destination address at that time is stored in the information provision history database. When the provision information is transmitted, the transmission destination address at that time is stored in the information provision history database. Depending on whether or not it is done, transmission of the provided information is prohibited or permitted. Thereby, when the information providing apparatus provides only one type of information, it is possible to prevent the same provided information from being repeatedly transmitted to the same transmission destination.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the second aspect described above, in order to identify the transmission destination address and the predetermined information when the transmission means transmits the predetermined information to the transmission destination address. Is stored in the information provision history database in association with the ID information of the predetermined information, and the determination means includes the destination address extracted by the extraction means and the ID information of the information read from the information database. Is stored in association with the information provision history database, and the transmission means sends the information to the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction means according to the determination result by the determination means. In this configuration, predetermined information read from the database is transmitted or not transmitted.

  According to this configuration, when the provision information is transmitted, the transmission destination address at that time and the ID information of the provision information are associated with each other and stored in the information provision history database, and when the provision information is transmitted, Depending on whether or not the transmission destination address and the ID information of the provision information are associated with each other and stored in the information provision history database, transmission of the provision information is prohibited or permitted. Thereby, when the information providing apparatus provides a plurality of types of information, it is possible to prevent the same provided information from being repeatedly transmitted to the same transmission destination.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects described above, the extraction unit further extracts information related to the type of information from the signal received by the first reception unit. Extracting and transmitting the information read from the information database according to the information relating to the type of information extracted by the extracting means, to the transmission destination address extracted by the extracting means; It is a configuration.

  According to this configuration, when a signal including information related to the information type is received by the first receiving unit, information corresponding to the information related to the information type is transmitted to the destination address. . As a result, the information requester transmits a signal including information related to the specified type of information to transmit information corresponding to the information related to the specified type of information to the specified destination as provided information It becomes possible to make it.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the fourth aspect described above, the information related to the type of information includes at least information capacity, information form, information file format, information content, and information field. It is the structure which is the information which concerns on any one.
According to this configuration, information corresponding to information related to any one of these is transmitted. Here, for example, the information related to the capacity of information includes normal information, summary information, and capacity (data capacity, data size) such as network address information (information such as URL for accessing information). The information is different information, the information relating to the information form is information having different forms such as image information, video information, audio information, text information, etc. The information relating to the information file format is an information file such as JPEG, TEXT, etc. Information in different formats, information related to the contents of the information is information of different contents such as restaurant menu information, timetable information, etc. Information related to the field of information includes technical information, sales information, corporate information, etc. Information in different categories.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects described above, the extraction unit further determines a source address of the signal from the signal received by the first reception unit. The transmission means further transmits transmission result information notifying that the predetermined information has been transmitted to the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction means to the transmission source address extracted by the extraction means. It is a configuration.

According to this configuration, after the provision information is transmitted, transmission result information related to the transmission is transmitted to the transmission source of the signal received by the first receiving means. Thereby, it can be confirmed from the transmission result information that the provision information has been transmitted.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect described above, a transmission destination address that specifies a transmission destination of information that is different from a transmission source address of the signal is included in the signal received by the first reception unit. When not included, the transmission source address extracted by the extraction means is used as the transmission destination address.

  According to this configuration, when the received signal includes the transmission source address but does not include the transmission destination address, the transmission source address is set as the transmission destination address. As a result, the provision information can be transmitted directly to the transmission source of the signal received by the first receiving means.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to seventh aspects described above, the extraction unit further extracts user information from the signal received by the first reception unit, A user information level determining means for determining the level of the user information from the user information extracted by the extracting means, and a user information database in which the user information extracted by the extracting means is stored. Information transmitted to the transmission destination address extracted by the extracting unit by the transmitting unit is read from the information database according to the level of the user information determined by the user information level determining unit. It is the structure which is the information which was done.

  According to this configuration, when a signal including user information is received by the first receiving unit, information corresponding to the level of user information based on the user information is transmitted to the destination address. become. As a result, when the disclosure level of the user information is high (such as when the content is detailed), more detailed provision information can be transmitted.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information providing device for providing information, an information database storing the provided information, and directivity wirelessly transmitted from a device capable of wirelessly transmitting a signal having directivity. A first receiving means for receiving a signal having; an extracting means for extracting a destination address for designating a destination of information from the signal received by the first receiving means; and read from the information database A first transmission unit configured to transmit predetermined information to the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction unit; and an information request signal transmitted to a transmission destination different from the transmission destination of the information transmitted by the first transmission unit. A second transmission means; and a second reception means for receiving reply information for the information request signal transmitted by the second transmission means, and further including the reply information received by the second reception means. First transmission An information providing apparatus for transmitting in stages.

  According to this configuration, when the signal is received by the first receiving unit, the information stored in the information providing apparatus is provided, and the signal requesting additional information not stored in the information providing apparatus is transmitted to the second. The transmission means transmits the additional information request signal, the reply information to the additional information request signal is received by the second reception means, and the additional information can be further transmitted by the first transmission means. With this function, the information providing apparatus does not need to store all the information that can be provided, and can acquire and provide information not stored by itself from another apparatus through communication.

  According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect described above, the extracting means further extracts information relating to a type of information from the signal received by the first receiving means, and the second means When the information according to the information related to the type of information extracted by the extracting means is not stored in the information database, the transmission means sends an information request signal including information related to the information type to the information type When the information according to the information related to the type of information transmitted by the other device is received by the second receiving means, the information according to the information is transmitted to the other device capable of providing the information. The first transmission unit is configured to transmit information corresponding to information related to the type of information to the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction unit.

  According to this configuration, when information according to the information related to the type of information is not stored in the information database, the information is acquired from another device, and the acquired information is transmitted to the destination address. Become so. As a result, it is possible to reliably transmit information corresponding to the information related to the type of the instructed information to the designated transmission destination address.

  According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect described above, the extracting means further extracts device information of a transmission source of the signal from the signal received by the first receiving means, One transmission means, when information according to the device information extracted by the extraction means is stored in the information database, information read from the information database according to the device information, and the information database The predetermined information read from the information is transmitted to the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction unit, or the second transmission unit has information corresponding to the device information extracted by the extraction unit. When not stored in the information database, an information request signal including the device information is transmitted to another device capable of providing information according to the device information and transmitted by the other device. When the information corresponding to the device information received is received by the second receiving means, the first transmitting means receives the information corresponding to the device information and the predetermined information read from the information database. , And transmitting to the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction means.

  According to this configuration, when a signal including device information is received by the first receiving means, if information corresponding to the device information is stored in the information database, the information is read, or the device When information corresponding to the information is not stored in the information database, the information is acquired from another device, and the information corresponding to the device information obtained by any of them and the provided information are transmitted to the destination address. Will come to be. As a result, in addition to the provision information, information corresponding to the device information can be transmitted to the designated transmission destination address. Here, the information corresponding to the device information is, for example, an update program for the device specified by the device information.

  In a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the tenth or eleventh aspect described above, another apparatus that can provide information according to the information related to the type of information, or information according to the device information can be provided. The apparatus further includes a device specifying unit that specifies another device, and the second transmission unit transmits information related to the type of information or the device information to another device specified by the device specifying unit. It is a configuration.

According to this configuration, another device that can provide information related to the type of information or information corresponding to the device information is specified by the device specifying means, and information related to the type of information or device information is addressed to the other device. Sent.
According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in the above eleventh or twelfth aspect, the device information is at least one of a manufacturer name, a model number, a product serial number, and firmware version information of the terminal device. Or it is the structure containing two or more.

According to this configuration, corresponding information is read or acquired based on the device information.
A fourteenth aspect of the present invention is a configuration in which the information transmitted by the transmitting means is processed in any one of the first to thirteenth aspects described above.

According to this configuration, information transmitted to the destination address can be processed as necessary.
A fifteenth aspect of the present invention is the configuration according to the fourteenth aspect described above, wherein the processing is compression of information or encryption of information.

According to this configuration, information transmitted to the transmission destination address is compressed or encrypted. Thereby, the capacity | capacitance of the information transmitted can be decreased or the secrecy of the information to transmit can be hold | maintained.
A sixteenth aspect of the present invention is an information providing system including the information providing apparatus according to any one of the first to fifteenth aspects and an information terminal apparatus, wherein the information terminal apparatus has directivity and is oriented. A transmission unit that wirelessly transmits a signal to be transmitted in a direction, an information addition unit that adds a transmission destination address that specifies at least a transmission destination of provided information to the transmission target signal, and the information terminal device Receiving means for receiving a wirelessly transmitted signal and acquiring information contained in the signal;
It is the structure which has.

  According to the system described above, the directing direction of the transmission unit of the information terminal apparatus is directed to the first reception unit of the information providing apparatus, and the signal to be transmitted including the terminal address and the transmission destination address is transmitted from the information providing apparatus. As a result, the predetermined providing information is transmitted from the information providing apparatus to the destination address. Thereby, for example, the information requester uses this information terminal device to specify the above-mentioned transmission destination address and transmit the signal to be transmitted as described above, thereby transmitting the specified information from the information providing device. It is possible to transmit to the destination address, and the provided information can be acquired by accessing the destination address. Therefore, the information requester can acquire information without knowing information (for example, URL, telephone number, etc.) for specifying the information acquisition destination, and further, the information requester's home via the wide area network such as the Internet. It is possible to send the provision information to a PC or a server device placed in a company. Moreover, in this system, since special management of an information terminal device or an information providing device is not required, a system with no restriction on the application range can be realized.

According to a seventeenth aspect of the present invention, in the sixteenth aspect described above, the information adding means further includes information relating to a type of information, user information of the information terminal device, or device information of the information terminal device. It is a configuration in which any one or a plurality are added.
According to this configuration, one or more of these pieces of information are added to a signal to be transmitted, so that information corresponding to the added information is transmitted from the information providing apparatus.

  According to an eighteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information providing method for an information providing apparatus for providing information, the method comprising: receiving a signal having directivity wirelessly transmitted from an apparatus capable of wirelessly transmitting a signal having directivity; A method of extracting a transmission destination address designating a transmission destination of information different from a transmission source address of the signal from the received signal, and transmitting predetermined information read from the information database to the extracted transmission destination address It is.

According to said method, the same effect | action and effect as having described in the above-mentioned 1st aspect can be acquired.
According to a nineteenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a function of receiving a directional signal wirelessly transmitted from a device capable of wirelessly transmitting a directional signal to a computer of an information providing apparatus that provides information, and the received signal. A function for extracting a transmission destination address for designating a transmission destination of information different from the transmission source address of the signal, and a function for transmitting predetermined information read from the information database to the extracted transmission destination address. It is an information provision program for realizing.

  By causing the computer of the information providing apparatus to execute the above information providing program, the same actions and effects as described in the first aspect can be obtained.

  According to the present invention, the information requester can easily and freely acquire information without knowing information for specifying an information acquisition destination such as a URL or a telephone number. Further, since no special management is required, a system with no limitation on the scope of application can be realized. In addition, it is possible to provide information to one or more unspecified information requesters at a close distance.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows an example of a portable information terminal device with an imaging function (hereinafter simply referred to as a terminal device) and an information providing server device (hereinafter simply referred to as a server device) included in an information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG.

  In FIG. 1, a terminal device 1 is a device that requests desired information, and has an imaging function so that a still image or a moving image can be taken as necessary. On the upper surface of the apparatus, there are provided a display 3 for displaying a photographed image and the like, an information acquisition button 4 for instructing to start an information acquisition operation, an instruction to start an imaging operation, or an instruction to start both operations. . The information acquisition button 4 is also a so-called shutter button (release button) because it is also used to instruct the start of a shooting operation. On the side of the apparatus, there are provided an infrared light emitter 5 and a photographing lens 6 for wirelessly transmitting an information request signal (infrared transmission). In the present apparatus, a signal wirelessly transmitted from the infrared light emitter 5 is configured to have directivity in the direction in which the infrared light emitter 5 is directed, and the infrared light emitter that is in the directivity direction. The signal is wirelessly transmitted in the direction in which 5 is directed. In addition, the direction in which the infrared light emitting element 5 is directed and the direction in which the photographing lens 6 is directed (the optical axis direction of the photographing lens 6, the photographing direction) are also the same direction. Inside the device, there is provided a built-in antenna 7 for receiving information wirelessly transmitted (radio wave transmission) addressed to the terminal device 1 and the like.

In this specification, the term “wireless” is used to mean “wireless” that does not use a transmission line such as a cable or an optical fiber.
On the other hand, the server device 2 is a device that provides corresponding information in response to an information request, stores information that can be provided in advance, and has directivity in the direction of its own wireless transmission (infrared transmission). Infrared light receiver 8 for receiving an information request signal, a communication cable 9 for transmitting information corresponding to the information request to a predetermined transmission destination, and transmission result information relating to transmission of information corresponding to the information request Etc. are provided with an antenna 10 for wireless transmission (radio wave transmission). It should be noted that information according to an information request transmitted via the communication cable 9 described above can be transmitted from the antenna 10 as necessary. The communication cable 9 is connected to various communication networks such as the Internet and an intranet via wired, wireless, or wired and wireless, and the server apparatus 2 is a transmission destination connected to the communication cable 9. The information according to the information request can be transmitted to the device.

In this system, the terminal device 1 is carried by a person who requests information (hereinafter referred to as an information requester), and the server device 2 is provided corresponding to a person who provides information (hereinafter referred to as an information provider). ing.
An information provider is a person who wants to provide information to a wide range of unspecified subjects, such as exhibitors at exhibitions, lecturers at seminars, and organizers thereof. In this case, for example, Exhibitors provide information on exhibits, etc., speakers provide information on lecture contents, etc., and organizers provide information on sponsor contents.

In this system, the basic operation when the information requester requests and acquires desired information from the server device 2 provided corresponding to the information provider using the terminal device 1 is as follows.
First, the information requester starts the information acquisition operation by pressing the information acquisition button 4 toward the infrared light receiver 8 of the server device 2 that provides the desired information to the infrared light emitter 5 of the terminal device 1. Then, an information request signal including the transmission destination address designated (set) by the information requester in advance and the terminal address of the terminal device 1 is wirelessly transmitted from the infrared light emitter 5 of the terminal device 1 to the server device 2. The The transmission destination address is an address that specifies the transmission destination of the provided information.

  On the other hand, in the server device 2, when the information request signal is received by the infrared light receiver 8, provided information corresponding to the information request is read out from information stored in advance, and the provided information is The data is transmitted via the communication cable 9 to the transmission destination address included in the information request signal. Also, transmission result information related to the transmission is wirelessly transmitted from the antenna 10 to the terminal address included in the information request signal.

  In the terminal device 1, when the transmission result information is received by the built-in antenna 7, based on the transmission result information, a notification that the provided information has been transmitted to the transmission destination address is confirmed by an audio alarm (not shown). This is done by playing sound. Thus, the information requester can know that the provided information has been transmitted to the transmission destination address. Then, when the information requester accesses the transmission destination address, the provision information can be acquired.

  For example, when a server device 2 that provides information on exhibits is provided in each exhibitor's exhibition booth at an exhibition, etc., the information requester displays the exhibit at the exhibitor's exhibition booth. When trying to acquire information about the information, the infrared light emitting element 5 of the portable terminal device 1 is directed to the infrared light receiving element 8 of the server device 2 provided beside the exhibit, and the information acquisition button 4 is pressed. The information acquisition operation is performed by pressing the button, and after confirming the notification that the provision information has been transmitted, the provision information can be obtained by accessing the designated transmission destination address.

  For example, when a server device 2 that provides information on lecture contents is provided at a seminar venue or the like, the information requester should acquire information on the lecture contents (eg, OHP data) of the desired speaker. If the information acquisition button 4 is pressed by directing the infrared light emitter 5 of the terminal device 1 to the podium on which the infrared light receiver 8 of the server device 2 is charged, the information acquisition operation is performed. After confirming the notification that the message is transmitted, the provided information can be acquired by accessing the designated transmission destination address.

  As described above, according to the present system, it is possible to provide information to an unspecified number of people in close proximity, and the information requester knows in advance information for specifying an information acquisition destination such as a URL or a telephone number. It is not necessary to keep information, and information can be acquired easily and freely. Moreover, in this system, since special management, such as managing the terminal device 1 and the server device 2 in a lump, is not required, it is possible to realize a system with no limitation on the scope of application.

Next, the configuration and operation of the terminal device 1 and the server device 2 described above will be described in detail.
First, the configuration of the terminal device 1 and the server device 2 as a first configuration example will be described. This configuration example shows a basic configuration of the terminal device 1 and the server device 2 included in this system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a first configuration example thereof.
In the figure, the terminal device 1 is turned on when the information acquisition button 4 which also functions as a shutter button is pressed and is turned on to output a trigger signal to the information acquisition mode SW11. When the trigger signal is input, the terminal device 1 is used. The trigger signal is output to either the command generation unit 13, the imaging unit 14, or both the command generation unit 13 and the imaging unit 14 in accordance with the information acquisition mode instructed and set in advance by the user (information requester) Obtained by the information acquisition mode SW11, the imaging unit 14 that captures an image of the subject through the imaging lens 6 when a trigger signal is input, and acquires image data (image data related to a still image or a moving image), and the imaging unit 14. Based on the memory 15 in which the image data is stored, the set information acquisition mode and the image data obtained by the imaging unit 14. A display unit 16 that displays an image or an image based on image data stored in the memory 15 on the display 3, and an address memory 17 in which the self address of the terminal device 1 (hereinafter referred to as a terminal address) is stored. A destination information memory 18 in which one or a plurality of destination addresses preset by a user are stored, and a terminal address and destination information memory read from the address memory 17 when a trigger signal is input A command generation unit 13 that generates an information request signal including the transmission destination address read from 18, and an infrared transmission unit that wirelessly transmits (infrared transmission) the information request signal generated by the command generation unit 13 from the infrared emitter 5. 19 and a signal wirelessly transmitted to the self address of the terminal device 1 is received by the built-in antenna 7 and included in the signal. A radio wave receiving unit 20 for acquiring information to be transmitted, a transmission result analyzing unit 21 for analyzing transmission result information included in the information acquired by the radio wave receiving unit 20, and a voice according to an analysis result by the transmission result analyzing unit 21 An alarm unit 22 and the like for reproducing a confirmation sound by an alarm (not shown) are provided. The infrared transmitter 19 described above has directivity, and can wirelessly transmit a signal in the direction in which the infrared light emitter 5 that is the directional direction is directed.

Note that the above-described terminal address may be a URL or a telephone number, for example. Further, the above-mentioned transmission destination address can be, for example, an e-mail address, a URL, or a telephone number.
The terminal device 1 includes a controller (CPU) 23 and a program memory 24 in which a control program is stored. The controller 23 executes the control program stored in the program memory 24 so that the terminal device 1 as a whole. The operation of is controlled.

  On the other hand, the server apparatus 2 receives the information request signal transmitted wirelessly (infrared transmission) via the infrared light receiver 8 and analyzes the information request signal received by the infrared receiver 25. A command analysis unit 26 that extracts a terminal address from the information request signal, a transmission destination information extraction unit 27 that extracts a transmission destination address from the information request signal analyzed by the command analysis unit 26, and information to be provided are stored. Information DB (database) 28 and a signal including information read from information DB 28 in response to the information request signal are extracted by transmission destination information extraction unit 27 via communication cable 9 (or antenna 10 as necessary). The provided information transmitting unit 29 that transmits to the transmission destination address and the command analysis of the transmission result information related to signal transmission by the provided information transmitting unit 29 from the antenna 10 And a radio transmission unit 30 or the like for wireless transmission (radio transmission) addressed to the extracted terminal address by 26.

  In addition, the server device 2 includes a controller (CPU) 31 and a program memory 32 in which a control program is stored. The server device 2 as a whole is executed by the controller 31 executing the control program stored in the program memory 32. The operation of is controlled.

In the server device 2 according to this configuration example, the transmission destination information extraction unit 27 is omitted, and the command analysis unit 26 extracts the transmission destination address from the information request signal instead of the transmission destination information extraction unit 27. It is also possible to configure.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the terminal device 1 and the server device 2 which are the first configuration example.

In the figure, the processes of S301 to S310 and S316 indicate the operation of the terminal apparatus 1, and the processes of S311 to S315 indicate the operation of the server apparatus 2.
First, in S301, the photographing lens 6 of the terminal device 1 is pointed at a subject, and pressing of the information acquisition button 4 that also serves as a shutter button is detected. As a result, the shutter switch 12 is turned on and a trigger signal is input to the information acquisition mode SW11. In S302, the information acquisition mode instructed / set by the user (information requester) is determined, and the determination result is “imaging & information acquisition mode” instructing both the image capturing operation and the information acquiring operation. In some cases, a trigger signal is input to each of the imaging unit 14 and the command generation unit 13 by the information acquisition mode SW11, and the process proceeds to S303. In the “information acquisition mode” instructing the information acquisition operation, the trigger signal is input by the information acquisition mode SW11. Is input to the command generation unit 13 and proceeds to S305 and S306. When the “imaging mode” instructing the imaging operation is entered, a trigger signal is input to the imaging unit 14 by the information acquisition mode SW11 and the process proceeds to S309.

  In the “imaging & information acquisition mode”, in S303, the subject is imaged by the imaging unit 14 and an image is captured. However, here, it is assumed that the server apparatus 2 is provided in the direction in which the photographing lens 6 is directed, that is, in the direction in which the infrared light emitter 5 is directed. In subsequent S304, the image data (image) obtained by the imaging in the previous step is stored in the memory 15. However, when the image data is stored, corresponding identification information is added and stored so that the image data can be associated with the information acquired from the image data later. In addition, information regarding imaging conditions (shutter speed, white balance value, etc.) when this image data is obtained by photographing is also added and stored. The subsequent processes in S305 and S306 are performed in parallel. In S305, the transmission destination address preset by the user is read from the transmission destination information address 18, and in S306, the terminal address is read from the address memory 17.

Note that the processing of S305 and S306 can be performed in series.
In subsequent S307, an information request signal including the transmission destination address read in S305 and the terminal address read in S306 is generated. In S308, the information request signal generated in the previous step is wirelessly transmitted (infrared transmission) by the infrared transmission unit 19. Through the processes in S303 to S308, the terminal device 1 completes image acquisition and information request signal transmission.

Alternatively, in the “information acquisition mode”, the subsequent processes in S305 to S308 are as described above. Transmission of the information request signal by the terminal device 1 is completed by the processing of S305 to S308.
Alternatively, in the case of “imaging mode”, in S309, the subject is imaged by the imaging unit 14, and an image is captured. In S <b> 310, image data (image) corresponding to the captured subject is stored in the memory 15. However, at the time of this storage, information regarding the imaging conditions (shutter speed, white balance value, etc.) when this image data is obtained by photographing is added and stored. Acquisition of an image by the terminal device 1 is completed by the processing of S309 to S310.

  Subsequently, when the information request signal wirelessly transmitted from the terminal device 1 is received by the infrared receiving unit 25 of the server device 2, the subsequent processes of S311 and S312 to S314 are performed in parallel. In S311, the information request signal is analyzed, and the terminal address is extracted from the information request signal. In S312, a transmission destination address is extracted from the analyzed information request signal. In S313, information corresponding to the information request signal is read from the information DB. In S314, the provided information transmitting unit 29 transmits a signal including the information read in the previous step to the transmission destination address extracted in S312. Here, when there are a plurality of destination addresses extracted in S312, the addresses are sent to a plurality of destinations.

It should be noted that the above-described processes of S311 and S312 to S314 can be performed in series.
In subsequent S315, the radio wave transmission unit 30 wirelessly transmits a signal including transmission result information related to the signal transmission performed in S314 to the terminal address extracted in S311. The transmission result information at this time is information for notifying that the provision information has been transmitted. Through the processes in S311 to S315, transmission of the signal including the provision information and the signal including the transmission result information by the server apparatus 2 is completed.

  Subsequently, when a signal including transmission result information wirelessly transmitted from the server device 2 is received by the radio wave receiving unit 20 of the terminal device 1 and the transmission result information is acquired, the transmission result information is transmitted in S316. The analysis is performed by the result analysis unit 21, and the alarm unit 22 notifies the user by an audio alarm according to the analysis result. Here, notification that the provision information has been transmitted is performed. Thereby, the user of the terminal device 1 can confirm that the provision information is transmitted to the designated transmission destination address. Acquisition of transmission result information by the terminal device 1 is completed by the processing of S316. The alarm unit 22 may be a visual alarm using an LCD or the like, or may display a message on the display unit 16.

  By the operation according to the above first configuration example, after the user sets the “imaging & information acquisition mode” or the “information acquisition mode”, the infrared light emitter 5 of the terminal device 1 is replaced with the infrared light receiver of the server device 2. When the information acquisition button 4 is pressed toward 8, the provided information is transmitted to the designated transmission destination address. Later, when the user accesses the transmission destination address, Acquisition becomes possible.

  In the operation according to this configuration example, when the transmission destination address is not included in the information request signal, the server device 2 uses the terminal address extracted in S311 as the transmission destination address, and provides the provided information to the terminal address. It can also be configured to transmit a signal including. It is also possible to transmit the provision information directly to the terminal device 1 by including the terminal address in the transmission destination address. In this case, it is also possible to include information related to transmission of provision information in a signal including provision information and transmit the information together.

Then, the structure of the terminal device 1 and the server apparatus 2 used as the 2nd structural example is demonstrated. In this configuration example, the same provision information is prevented from being repeatedly transmitted to the same destination, and the provision information corresponding to the type of information is transmitted.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the second configuration example.

  In the figure, the terminal device 1 includes an information type SW 36 for selecting a corresponding information type identification code (information related to the type of information) according to the information type designated and set in advance by the user (information requester). Unlike the terminal device 1 according to the first configuration example (see FIG. 2), the other configurations are the same as the newly provided points. However, the command generation unit 13 according to the second configuration example is selected by the terminal address read from the address memory 17, the transmission destination address read from the transmission destination information memory 18, and the information type SW 36 when the trigger signal is input. An information request signal including the information type identification code is generated.

  The information type includes, for example, (1) normal information, summary information, and information capacity (data capacity, data size) such as network address information (information such as URL for accessing information). Different types, (2) Types with different forms of information such as image information, video information, audio information, text information, etc., (3) Types with different file formats of information such as JPEG, TEXT, etc., (4) Restaurant menu information, time Types with different contents such as table information, (5) Types with different categories of information such as technical information, sales information, and company information.

  On the other hand, the server apparatus 2 includes an information type extraction unit 37 that extracts an information type identification code from the information request signal analyzed by the command analysis unit 26, and the provision information transmission unit 29 when information is transmitted to the destination address. The server apparatus according to the first configuration example is newly provided with an information providing history DB 38 in which the transmission destination address and ID information of the information for specifying the transmitted information are stored in association with each other. Unlike 2, the other configurations are the same. The information provision history DB 38 stores the information providing history based on the associated transmission destination address and the ID information of the information, the information to be provided, and the transmission destination address. Make a decision. However, in the information DB 28 according to the second configuration example, information corresponding to each information type identification code and ID information of information for specifying the information are stored in advance, and information to be provided from the information DB 28 The read information is information according to the information type identification code extracted by the information type extraction unit 37. Further, the provided information transmission unit 29 receives the ID of the information read from the information DB 28 according to the transmission destination address extracted by the transmission destination information extraction unit 27 and the information type identification code extracted by the information type extraction unit 37. If the information is associated and not stored in the information providing history DB 38, the transmission is permitted and the information is transmitted to the destination address. If the information is stored, the transmission is not performed. It is prohibited and the information is not sent to the destination address.

  In the server device 2 according to the present configuration example, the transmission destination information extraction unit 27 and the information type extraction unit 37 are omitted, and the command analysis unit 26 replaces the transmission destination information extraction unit 27 and the information type extraction unit 37. The transmission destination address and the information type identification code can be extracted from the information request signal.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the terminal device 1 and the server device 2 which are the second configuration example.
In the figure, the processes of S501 through S502 and S511 show the operation of the terminal apparatus 1, and the processes of S503 through S510 show the operation of the server apparatus 2.

In this example, “imaging & information acquisition mode” or “information acquisition mode” is set as the information acquisition mode, and a desired information type is designated and set as the information type, and the information acquisition button 4 is pressed. This is a process to be performed.
First, when the “imaging & information acquisition mode” is set, after the processing of S303 to S306 of FIG. 3 is performed, or when the “information acquisition mode” is set, S305 to S305 of FIG. In step S501, the terminal address read from the address memory 17, the transmission destination address read from the transmission destination information memory 18, and the type of information that has been designated and set are determined. Thus, an information request signal including the information type identification code selected by the information type SW 36 is generated. In S502, the information request signal generated in the previous step is wirelessly transmitted (infrared transmission) by the infrared transmission unit 19. The transmission of the information request signal by the terminal device 1 is completed by the processing of S501 to S502.

  Subsequently, when the information request signal wirelessly transmitted from the terminal device 1 is received by the infrared receiving unit 25 of the server device 2, the processes of S503, S504, and S505 to S506 are performed in parallel. First, in S503, the same process as S311 in FIG. 3 is performed, and the process proceeds to S510. In S504, the same process as S312 in FIG. 3 is performed, and the process proceeds to S507. In S505, an information type identification code is extracted from the analyzed information request signal. In S506, information corresponding to the information type identification code and its ID information are read from the information DB 28 as provided information, and the process proceeds to S507.

Note that the processing of S503, S504, and S505 to S506 can be performed in series.
Subsequently, the process of S507 is performed, in which it is determined whether or not the transmission destination address extracted in S504 and the ID information read in S506 are associated with each other and already stored in the information provision history DB 38. Thus, it is determined whether or not the information corresponding to the information type identification code read in S506 has been transmitted to the transmission destination address read in S504, and the determination result is already transmitted. The process proceeds to S510, and if the determination result is not transmitted (not transmitted), the process proceeds to S508.

  When the determination result in S507 is not transmitted, first, in S508, a signal including information corresponding to the information type identification code read in S506 is transmitted to the transmission destination address extracted in S504. The subsequent processes in S509 and S510 are performed in parallel. In S509, the transmission destination address and the ID information of the transmitted information related to the transmission performed in S508 are associated with each other and stored in the information provision history DB 38. Then, a signal including transmission result information notifying that the provision information has been transmitted is wirelessly transmitted to the terminal address extracted in S503. The server apparatus 2 completes the transmission of the signal including the provision information and the signal including the transmission result information by the processing when the determination result of S507 is not transmitted.

It should be noted that the processing of S509 and S510 described above can be performed in series.
Alternatively, when the determination result of S507 has been transmitted, in S510, a signal including transmission result information notifying that the provision information has not been transmitted is wirelessly transmitted to the terminal address extracted in S503. . Thereby, the transmission of the signal including the transmission result information by the server device 2 is completed.

  Subsequently, when a signal including transmission result information wirelessly transmitted from the server device 2 is received by the radio wave receiving unit 20 of the terminal device 1 and the transmission result information is acquired, the transmission result information is transmitted in S511. The alarm is analyzed by the result analysis unit 21, and the alarm unit 22 makes a notification based on the result of the analysis, that is, according to whether the provision information is transmitted or not. Thereby, the user of the terminal device 1 can confirm whether or not the provision information has been transmitted to the transmission destination address. Also, by confirming that the provision information has not been transmitted, it is possible to confirm that the provision information has already been acquired. Acquisition of the transmission result information by the terminal device 1 is completed by the process of S511.

  Through the operation according to the second configuration example described above, the user sets “imaging & information acquisition mode” or “information acquisition mode” as the information acquisition mode, and sets the desired information type as the type of requested information. Later, when the information acquisition button 4 is pressed by directing the infrared light emitter 5 of the terminal device 1 toward the infrared light receiver 8 of the server device 2, the provided information corresponding to the information type is addressed to the designated transmission destination address. When the user accesses the transmission destination address later, the provision information can be acquired. Therefore, for example, when the type of requested information is clear, it is possible to prevent unnecessary information from being acquired by setting the information type so as to acquire only the target type. Note that the information type to be set is not limited to one type, and a plurality of types can be set. As a result, it is possible to acquire a plurality of pieces of provision information according to the set information types.

  Also, when provision information corresponding to the set information type is transmitted to the destination address, the destination address and the ID information of the provision information are already associated and stored in the information provision history DB 38 Since the transmission is prohibited, it is possible to prevent the same provision information from being repeatedly transmitted to the same destination.

  In the operation according to this configuration example, for example, a capacity of information that can be received by the terminal device 1 is set as an information type in the terminal device 1, and includes an information type identification code and a terminal address corresponding to the information type, and When an information request signal that does not include a transmission destination address is transmitted, the server apparatus 2 uses the terminal address included in the information request signal as the transmission destination address, and sends information corresponding to the information type to the terminal address. It is also possible to transmit. In this case, for example, in the server device 2, the radio wave transmission unit 30 transmits information according to the information type, and in the terminal device 1, the radio wave reception unit 20 receives information according to the transmitted information type and the information is It is stored in the memory 15.

  Further, since the server device 2 according to this configuration example provides corresponding information according to the requested information type, a plurality of types of information to be provided are stored in the information DB 28. When only one type of information is provided, that is, when only one type of information is stored in the information DB 28, the determination as to whether or not the transmission has been completed in the above-described S507 is made based only on the transmission destination address. It is also possible to make a determination. In this case, when the provision information transmission unit 29 transmits the provision information to the transmission destination address, only the transmission destination address is stored in the provision information history DB 38, and the provision information transmission unit 29 receives the transmission destination address. When the provision information is transmitted to the destination, the transmission is prohibited or permitted depending on whether or not the transmission destination address is stored in the provision information history DB 38.

  Further, in the server device 2 according to the present configuration example, for example, when the information corresponding to the information type identification code extracted from the information request signal is not stored in the information DB 28, the information corresponding to the information type identification code is used. It is also possible to acquire the information according to the information type identification code and the ID information as necessary from other devices that can provide information. In this case, the server device 2 includes, for example, a device identification unit for identifying the other device described above, a transmission unit and a reception unit related to the information type, and the transmission unit related to the information type A signal including the information type identification code is transmitted to the other device specified by the device specifying unit, and the receiving unit related to the information type receives information corresponding to the information type identification code from the specified other device and the necessity. In response, the ID information is received. Note that these transmission and reception are performed via the antenna 10 or the communication cable 9.

Then, the structure of the terminal device 1 and the server apparatus 2 used as the 3rd structural example is demonstrated. This configuration example is a configuration in which corresponding provision information is transmitted according to the disclosure level of user information and the like.
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a third configuration example.

  In the figure, the terminal device 1 uses a user information memory 41 in which information of a user (information requester) of the terminal device 1 is stored, and a usage read out from the user information memory 41 in accordance with an instruction from the user. Unlike the terminal device 1 according to the first configuration example (see FIG. 2), other configurations are the same, in that a user information disclosure level SW 42 for setting a disclosure level of person information is newly provided. However, the command generation unit 13 according to the third configuration example, when the trigger signal is input, the terminal address read from the address memory 17, the transmission destination address read from the transmission destination information memory 18, and the user information disclosure An information request signal including user information read from the user information memory 41 according to the user information disclosure level set by the level SW is generated. At this time, the user information included in the information request signal can be encrypted from the viewpoint of confidentiality. This user information includes the user's name, company name, and e-mail address, as well as the membership number of the organization that the user is a member of (for example, a society or friends' association), and the electronic equipment owned by the user. It is the information including the user number etc. On the other hand, the server device 2 stores a user information level analysis unit 43 that analyzes the level of user information based on user information extracted from the information request signal, and user information extracted from the information request signal. Unlike the server device 2 according to the first configuration example, other configurations are the same except that the customer information DB 44 to be provided is newly provided. However, in the server device 2 according to the third configuration example, the information read from the information DB 28 as the information to be provided is information according to the level of the user information analyzed by the user information level analysis unit 43.

  Here, the level of the user information is the disclosure level (disclosure content) of the user information extracted from the information request signal, and how many times the user specified by the user information has requested information in the past. Whether or not the user specified by the user information is registered as a special person (for example, a member of a friend's association) in the customer information DB 44, etc. is there. For example, when the user specified by the user information is not registered in the customer information DB 44, that is, when the information request is made for the first time, the user information level becomes low and is provided. As information to be read, information read from the information DB 28 becomes rough information. Or, when the user specified by the user information is registered as a special person, or when the user has requested information many times in the past, the user information The level becomes high, and information read from the information DB 28 as information to be provided becomes more detailed information. At this time, when the information to be provided is information related to confidentiality, the provided information can be encrypted as necessary.

  Further, the server device 2 according to the present configuration example can communicate with an external server device having the same function as the customer information DB 44 (for example, the external server device 45 in the figure) as necessary. The same operation as that performed on the customer information DB 44 can be performed on the external server device 45. Information transmission / reception between the server apparatus 2 and the external server apparatus 45 is performed via the communication cable 9 or the antenna 10.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the terminal device 1 and the server device 2 which are the third configuration example.
In the figure, the processes of S701 to S711 and S720 show the operation of the terminal apparatus 1, and the processes of S712 to S719 show the operation of the server apparatus 2.

  First, in S701 to S702, the same processing as in S301 to S302 in FIG. 3 is performed. When the information acquisition mode is “imaging & information acquisition mode”, the process proceeds to S703, and when the information acquisition mode is “information acquisition mode”, the process proceeds to S705. If it is “image pickup mode”, the process proceeds to S710.

  In the “imaging & information acquisition mode”, the same processing as S303 to S306 in FIG. 3 is performed in subsequent S703 to S706. In subsequent S707, user information corresponding to the disclosure level of the user information set by the user information disclosure level SW42 is read from the user information memory 41 in accordance with an instruction from the user.

In this example, the processes of S705, S706, and S707 are performed in parallel, but these processes can also be performed in series.
In subsequent S708, an information request signal including the transmission destination address read in S705, the terminal address read in S706, and the user information read in S707 is generated. In S709, the same processing as S308 in FIG. 3 is performed. Through the processes in S703 to S709, the terminal device 1 completes image acquisition and information request signal transmission.

Alternatively, in the case of the “information acquisition mode”, the subsequent processes in S705 to S709 are as described above. Transmission of the information request signal by the terminal device 1 is completed by the processing of S705 to S709.
Alternatively, in the “imaging mode”, in the subsequent S710 to S711, the same processing as the processing of S309 to S310 in FIG. 3 is performed. Acquisition of an image by the terminal device 1 is completed by the processing of S710 to S711.

  Subsequently, when the information request signal wirelessly transmitted from the terminal device 1 is received by the infrared receiving unit 25 of the server device 2, the subsequent processes of S712, S713, and S714 to S717 are performed in parallel. First, in S712, the same processing as 311 in FIG. 3 is performed, and the process proceeds to S719. In S713, the same processing as S312 in FIG. 3 is performed, and the process proceeds to S718. In S <b> 714, user information is extracted from the information request signal by the command analysis unit 26. In S715, the user information is registered in the customer information DB 44 (or the external server device 45). However, if the user information has already been registered, that is, if the user specified by the user information has requested information for the second time or later, the registration is not performed and the user is not registered. The information request of the user specified by the information is recorded as a history. In S716, the user information level analysis unit 43 analyzes the user information, determines the disclosure level of the user information, and determines the level of information to be provided to the user. Information corresponding to the level of information provided to the user is selected from the information stored in the information DB 28. In S717, the information selected in the previous step is read from the information DB 28 as the provided information to be transmitted, and the process proceeds to S718.

Note that these 712, S713, and S714 to S717 can be performed in series.
In subsequent S718, the provided information transmitting unit 29 transmits a signal including the information read in S717 to the transmission destination address extracted in S713. Thereby, transmission of the signal including the provision information by the server device 2 is completed. In subsequent S719, the radio wave transmission unit 30 wirelessly transmits a signal including transmission result information related to the signal transmission performed in S718 to the terminal address extracted in S712. The transmission result information at this time is information for notifying that the provision information has been transmitted. Thereby, the transmission of the signal including the transmission result information by the server device 2 is completed.

  Subsequently, when a signal including transmission result information wirelessly transmitted from the server device 2 is received by the radio wave receiving unit 20 of the terminal device 1 and the transmission result information is acquired, in S720, the same as S316 in FIG. Is performed. Acquisition of the transmission result information by the terminal device 1 is completed by the process of S720.

  By the operation according to the above third configuration example, the user sets “imaging & information acquisition mode” or “information acquisition mode” as the information acquisition mode, and sets a desired disclosure level as the disclosure level of the user information. After that, by pressing the information acquisition button 4 with the infrared light emitting element 5 of the terminal device 1 directed toward the infrared light receiving element 8 of the server device 2, provision information based on user information corresponding to the disclosure level is designated. The transmission information is transmitted to the transmission destination address, and the provision information can be acquired by the user accessing the transmission destination address later.

Then, the structure of the terminal device 1 and the server apparatus 2 used as the 4th structural example is demonstrated. This configuration example is a configuration in which additional information (for example, an update program) related to the terminal device 1 is transmitted together when providing information is transmitted.
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a fourth configuration example thereof.

  In the figure, the terminal device 1 is newly provided with a device information memory 56 in which device information of the terminal device 1 is stored, and the transmission destination information memory 18, the transmission result analyzing unit 21, and the alarm unit 22 are omitted. Unlike the terminal device 1 according to the first configuration example (see FIG. 2), the other configurations are the same. However, the command generation unit 13 according to the fourth configuration example generates an information request signal including the terminal address read from the address memory 17 and the device information read from the device information memory 56. Information received by the radio wave receiving unit 20 is stored in the memory 15. The device information includes at least one or more of the manufacturer name, model number, product serial number, and firmware version information of the terminal device 1.

  On the other hand, the server device 2 analyzes the extracted device information and specifies a device information providing server device that provides additional information related to the device information, and the like, and a device information analysis unit 57 An additional information request for transmitting an additional information request signal including the device information to request additional information related to the device information to the device information providing server device (for example, the server device 60 of FIG. 8) specified by the unit 57. A transmission unit 58 and an additional information reception unit 59 that receives additional information corresponding to the additional information request signal from the device information providing server device are newly provided, and the transmission destination information extraction unit 27 and the radio wave transmission unit 30 are omitted. This is different from the server device 2 according to the first configuration example in the other configuration. However, in the server apparatus 2 according to the fourth configuration example, the command analysis unit 26 further extracts device information from the information request signal. The provided information transmitting unit 29 also transmits the additional information received by the additional information receiving unit 59 together with the provided information to the terminal device 1.

  The server device 60 shown as an example of a device information providing server device that provides additional information related to device information includes a request receiving unit 61 that receives an additional information request signal, and additional information corresponding to various types of device information. Request transmission which transmits the additional information read from apparatus information DB62 according to the apparatus information DB62 memorize | stored from the memorize | stored apparatus information DB62 and the additional information request signal addressed to a request origin (transmission source of an additional information request signal) Part 63 and the like.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an operation example of the terminal device 1 and the server device 2 which are the fourth configuration example.
In the same figure, the processing of S901 to S910 and S917 shows the operation of the terminal device 1, the processing of S911 to S914 and S916 shows the operation of the server device 2, and the processing of S915 is the device information providing server device (in this flow, FIG. 8 server device 60).

  First, in S901 to S902, the same processing as S301 to S302 in FIG. 3 is performed, and when the information acquisition mode is “imaging & information acquisition mode”, the process proceeds to S903, and when the information acquisition mode is “information acquisition mode”, the process proceeds to S905. If it is “imaging mode”, the process proceeds to S909.

In the “imaging & information acquisition mode”, in the subsequent S903 to S905, the same processing as S303 to S304 and S306 in FIG. 3 is performed. In subsequent S906, the device information is read from the device information memory 56.
In this example, the processes of S905 and S906 are performed in parallel, but these processes can also be performed in series.

  In subsequent S907, an information request signal including the terminal address read in S905 and the device information read in S906 is generated. In S908, the same processing as S308 in FIG. 3 is performed. Through the processes in S903 to S908, the terminal device 1 completes image acquisition and information request signal transmission.

Alternatively, in the case of the “information acquisition mode”, the subsequent processing of S905 to S908 is as described above. Transmission of the information request signal by the terminal device 1 is completed by the processing of S905 to S908.
Alternatively, in the “imaging mode”, in the subsequent S909 to S910, the same processing as the processing of S309 to S310 in FIG. 3 is performed. Acquisition of an image by the terminal device 1 is completed by the processing of S909 to S910.

  Subsequently, when the information request signal wirelessly transmitted from the terminal device 1 is received by the infrared receiving unit 25 of the server device 2, the subsequent processes of S911 and S912 to S913 are performed in parallel. First, in S911, the same process as 311 in FIG. 3 is performed, and the process proceeds to S916. In S912, device information is extracted from the information request signal by the command analysis unit 26. In S913, the device information extracted in the previous step is analyzed by the device information analysis unit 57, and the device information providing server device 60 that provides the additional information related to the device information is specified (determined). The server device 60 is, for example, a device provided by the manufacturer of the terminal device 1.

Note that these processes of S911 and S912 to S913 may be performed in series.
Subsequently, the process proceeds to S914, where an additional information request signal including the device information extracted in S912 is transmitted to the device information providing server device 60 determined in S913. Thereby, transmission of the additional information request signal by the server apparatus 2 is completed.

  Subsequently, when the additional information request signal including the device information transmitted from the server device 2 is received by the request receiving unit 61 of the device information providing server device 60, the device information is acquired. In the subsequent S915, the device information is acquired. In response to this, the additional information read from the device information DB 62 is transmitted. By the process of S915, the transmission of the additional information by the device information providing server device 60 is completed.

  Subsequently, when the additional information transmitted from the device information providing server device 60 is received by the additional information receiving unit 59 of the server device 2, the process proceeds to S916, where the information DB 28 is set according to the information request signal. A signal including the information read from the information and the received additional information is wirelessly transmitted by the provision information transmitting unit 29 to the terminal address extracted in S911. Thereby, transmission of the signal including the provision information and the additional information by the server device 2 is completed.

  Subsequently, a signal including provision information and additional information wirelessly transmitted from the server device 2 is received by the radio wave receiver 20 of the terminal device 1, and the provision information and additional information are stored in the memory 15. By the process of S917, the acquisition of the provision information and the additional information by the terminal device 1 is completed.

  With the operation according to the fourth configuration example described above, the user sets “imaging & information acquisition mode” or “information acquisition mode” as the information acquisition mode, and the infrared light emitter 5 of the terminal device 1 is connected to the server device 2. By pressing the information acquisition button 4 toward the infrared photoreceiver 8, the additional information regarding the device information of the terminal device 1 acquired from the device information providing server device is sent to the terminal device 1 together with the provided information. The provision information and the additional information related to the terminal device 1 can be acquired.

For example, when the additional information is an update program for the terminal device 1, the user can update the control program stored in the program memory 24 of the terminal device 1 using the update program. Become.
In the operation according to this configuration example, for example, when information corresponding to the device information is stored in the information DB 28, the information read from the information DB 28 is transmitted by the provision information transmitting unit 29 according to the device information. When the information corresponding to the device information is not stored in the information DB 28, the processing can be performed as shown in FIG. 9 described above.

  As described above, in the first to fourth configuration examples described above, the terminal device 1 transmits an information request signal using infrared rays. However, other than infrared rays, for example, electromagnetic waves including light and ultrasonic waves including ultrasonic waves are used. It is also possible to transmit signals using. In this case, as a means for giving directivity to a signal, there are a lens and a concave mirror in the case of light, and in the case of electromagnetic waves, a phased array antenna, a parabolic antenna, or an electromagnetic horn having a plurality of transmitters. There are antennas and the like, and also in the case of sound waves including ultrasonic waves, there are means by a phased array having a plurality of transmitters.

In the first to fourth configuration examples described above, the terminal device 1 may be configured to omit the imaging function.
In addition, the terminal device included in the information providing system according to the present embodiment includes at least the terminal device 1 according to the first to fourth configuration examples described above and the first to fourth configurations without the imaging function described above. One or more of the terminal devices according to the example, and the server device included in the system is at least one or more of the server devices 2 according to the first to fourth configuration examples described above. is there.

  In addition, in the terminal device 1 according to the first to fourth configuration examples and the terminal device according to the first to fourth configuration examples in which the imaging function is omitted, one of the terminal devices is the other The terminal device may have a function provided by the terminal device or a function provided by another device (for example, a mobile phone or a PDA), or may be provided by a function provided by another terminal device or another device. It may be provided with both functions.

  Further, in the server devices according to the first to fourth configuration examples, one of them has a function provided by another server device or a function provided by another device. It may be, or may be provided with both functions provided by other server devices and functions provided by other devices.

  The information providing apparatus, information providing system, information providing method, and information providing program according to the present invention have been described in detail above. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various types can be used without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Of course, improvements and changes may be made.

It is the figure which showed an example of the terminal device and server apparatus which are contained in the information provision system which concerns on one embodiment of this invention. It is the figure which showed the 1st structural example. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of the terminal device which is a 1st structural example, and a server apparatus. It is the figure which showed the 2nd structural example. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of the terminal device which is a 2nd structural example, and a server apparatus. It is the figure which showed the 3rd structural example. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of the terminal device which is a 3rd structural example, and a server apparatus. It is the figure which showed the 4th structural example. It is the flowchart which showed the operation example of the terminal device which is a 4th structural example, and a server apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Terminal device with imaging | photography function 2 Server apparatus 3 Display 4 Information acquisition button 5 Infrared light emitter 6 Shooting lens 7 Built-in antenna 8 Infrared light receiver 9 Communication cable 10 Antenna 11 Information acquisition mode SW
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 12 Shutter switch 13 Command generation part 14 Imaging part 15 Memory 16 Display part 17 Address memory 18 Transmission destination information memory 19 Infrared transmission part 20 Radio wave reception part 21 Transmission result analysis part 22 Alarm part 23 Controller 24 Program memory 25 Infrared reception part 26 Command Analysis Unit 27 Destination Information Extraction Unit 28 Information DB
29 Provided information transmission unit 30 Radio wave transmission unit 31 Controller 32 Program memory 36 Information type SW
37 Information Type Extraction Unit 38 Information Provision History DB
41 User information memory 42 User information disclosure level SW
43 User information level analysis unit 44 Customer information DB
45 External server device 56 Device information memory 57 Device information analysis unit 58 Additional information request unit 59 Additional information reception unit 60 Device information provision server device 61 Request reception unit 62 Device information DB
63 Request transmitter

Claims (19)

An information providing device for providing information,
An information database in which information to be provided is stored;
First receiving means for receiving a signal having directivity wirelessly transmitted from a device capable of wirelessly transmitting a signal having directivity;
Extraction means for extracting a transmission destination address for designating a transmission destination of information different from the transmission source address of the signal from the signal received by the first reception means;
Transmitting means for transmitting the predetermined information read from the information database to the destination address extracted by the extracting means;
An information providing apparatus comprising: An information provision history database in which the transmission destination address is stored when predetermined information is transmitted to the transmission destination address by the transmission means;
Determining means for determining whether or not the destination address extracted by the extracting means is stored in the information providing history database;
Further comprising
The transmission unit transmits or does not transmit the predetermined information read from the information database to the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction unit according to the determination result by the determination unit.
The information providing apparatus according to claim 1. The information providing history by associating the transmission destination address with the ID information of the predetermined information for specifying the predetermined information when the transmission means transmits the predetermined information to the transmission destination address. Stored in the database,
The determination unit determines whether or not the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction unit and the ID information of the information read from the information database are stored in association with the information provision history database,
The transmission unit transmits or does not transmit the predetermined information read from the information database to the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction unit according to the determination result by the determination unit.
The information providing apparatus according to claim 2. The extracting means further extracts information relating to the type of information from the signal received by the first receiving means,
The transmitting unit transmits information read from the information database to the transmission destination address extracted by the extracting unit according to information related to a type of information extracted by the extracting unit;
The information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the information providing apparatus includes: The information related to the type of information is information related to at least one of information capacity, information form, information file format, information content, and information field.
The information providing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein: The extracting means further extracts a source address of the signal from the signal received by the first receiving means,
The transmission means further transmits transmission result information notifying that the predetermined information is transmitted to the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction means, to the transmission source address extracted by the extraction means.
The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus. When the signal received by the first receiving means does not include a transmission destination address that designates a transmission destination of information different from the transmission source address of the signal, the transmission source address extracted by the extraction means is As the destination address,
The information providing apparatus according to claim 6. The extracting means further extracts user information from the signal received by the first receiving means,
User information level determining means for determining the level of the user information from the user information extracted by the extracting means;
A user information database in which user information extracted by the extraction means is stored;
Further comprising
The information transmitted to the transmission destination address extracted by the extracting unit by the transmitting unit is information read from the information database according to the level of user information determined by the user information level determining unit. Is,
The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus. An information providing device for providing information,
An information database in which information to be provided is stored;
First receiving means for receiving a signal having directivity wirelessly transmitted from a device capable of wirelessly transmitting a signal having directivity;
Extracting means for extracting a destination address for designating a destination of information from the signal received by the first receiving means;
First transmission means for transmitting predetermined information read from the information database to a destination address extracted by the extraction means;
Second transmission means for transmitting an information request signal to a transmission destination different from the transmission destination of information by the first transmission means;
And second receiving means for receiving return information for the information request signal transmitted by the second transmitting means,
The first transmission means further transmits the reply information received by the second reception means;
An information providing apparatus characterized by that. The extracting means further extracts information relating to the type of information from the signal received by the first receiving means,
The second transmission means, when information according to information related to the information type extracted by the extraction means is not stored in the information database, an information request signal including information related to the information type, Information according to the information type is transmitted to another device capable of providing information, and the information according to the information according to the information type transmitted by the other device is received by the second receiving unit. Then, the first transmission means transmits information corresponding to the information relating to the type of information to the transmission destination address extracted by the extraction means.
The information providing device according to claim 9. The extraction unit further extracts device information of a transmission source of the signal from the signal received by the first reception unit,
The first transmission means, when information according to the device information extracted by the extraction means is stored in the information database, information read from the information database according to the device information, The predetermined information read from the information database is transmitted to the destination address extracted by the extraction means,
Or when the information according to the equipment information extracted by the extraction means is not stored in the information database, the second transmission means sends an information request signal including the equipment information according to the equipment information. When the information according to the device information transmitted by the other device is received by the second receiving unit, the first transmitting unit transmits the information to the other device capable of providing the information. Transmitting information according to information and predetermined information read from the information database to the destination address extracted by the extracting means;
The information providing device according to claim 9. A device identifying means for identifying another device capable of providing information according to the information related to the type of information, or another device capable of providing information according to the device information;
Further comprising
The second transmission unit transmits the information related to the type of the information or the device information to another device identified by the device identification unit.
12. The information providing apparatus according to claim 10 or 11, The device information is
Including at least one of a manufacturer name, a model number, a product serial number, or firmware version information of the terminal device,
13. The information providing device according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that: Processing the information transmitted by the first transmission means;
The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information providing apparatus is an information providing apparatus. The processing is information compression or information encryption.
The information providing apparatus according to claim 14. An information providing system comprising the information providing device according to any one of claims 1 to 15 and an information terminal device,
The information terminal device
Transmitting means for wirelessly transmitting a signal to be transmitted in a directivity direction having directivity;
Information adding means for adding at least a transmission destination address for specifying a transmission destination of provided information to the signal to be transmitted;
Receiving means for receiving a signal wirelessly transmitted to the information terminal device and acquiring information included in the signal;
Having
An information providing system characterized by that. The information adding means further includes:
Add one or more of information related to the type of information, user information of the information terminal device, or device information of the information terminal device,
The information providing system according to claim 16. An information providing method for an information providing apparatus that provides information,
Receiving a signal having directivity wirelessly transmitted from a device capable of wirelessly transmitting a signal having directivity;
From the received signal, a transmission destination address specifying a transmission destination of information different from the transmission source address of the signal is extracted,
The predetermined information read from the information database is transmitted to the extracted destination address.
An information providing method characterized by the above. In the computer of the information providing device that provides information,
A function of receiving a signal having directivity wirelessly transmitted from a device capable of wirelessly transmitting a signal having directivity;
A function of extracting a transmission destination address for designating a transmission destination of information different from the transmission source address of the signal from the received signal;
A function of transmitting predetermined information read from the information database to the extracted destination address;
An information provision program for realizing

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