JP2005184624A - Commodity sale/management method, commodity sale/management system, and server - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize the online commodity sale, which is easy for a user to use, with simple equipment and commodity management. <P>SOLUTION: The server 16 on the store 11 side has an image editing means 162, which cuts out a commodity image of a certain commodity from an in-store image with a wide viewing angle corresponding to transmission requests of the commodity image from the user and executes image correction, an image transmitting means 163, which transmits the commodity image cut out and subjected to the image correction with the image editing means 162 to the user, a commodity position detecting means (first/second commodity position detecting means 164, 165), which detects the position of the commodity in the store after receiving commodity selection information from the user, a commodity specifying means 166, which specifies the commodity selected by the user on the basis of the commodity position detected by the commodity position detecting means, a commodity information acquiring means 167 for acquiring the commodity information regarding the specified commodity, and a commodity information transmitting means 168 for transmitting the commodity information to the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a product sales / management method, a product sales / management system, and a server that enable sales and management of products using a communication network.

  Sales and management of products using a communication network have been conventionally performed. For example, the merchandise sales system described in Patent Document 1 is an example.

  The technology of this patent document 1 connects a mobile terminal (hereinafter simply referred to as a robot) equipped with an imaging means to a client terminal such as a personal computer (PC) via a communication network, and connects to the client terminal. Using the operating means such as a mouse, the robot is remotely operated while viewing the real-time image of the imaging means mounted on the robot and the position of the robot appearing on the floor map in the store. Then, if there is a desired product from the real-time image, the user who operates the client terminal selects the product with a mouse or the like.

Accordingly, the store-side server refers to the product catalog database based on the coordinate position data of the product selected by the user, extracts information (product information) related to the product, and transmits it to the client terminal. The customer decides whether or not to purchase the product selected by referring to the transmitted product information.
JP 2003-99629 A

  As described above, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a product sales system using a robot that has an imaging unit and can move around in a store. For this reason, there is a problem that the cost for introducing the robot is large and the running cost is high because continuous maintenance is required to maintain the normal operation of the robot. In addition, in order to enable the robot to move smoothly in the store, it is necessary to secure sufficient space in the store and to improve the infrastructure.

Further, until the user finds a product to be selected, the robot must be moved in the store, and there is a problem that it takes a lot of time to reach the desired product.
In addition, there is a problem of reduced sales efficiency due to the exclusive use of a robot by a single customer. In addition, it is expected that the work burden for registering the product position (coordinate position) necessary for specifying the product is also large. Moreover, in this patent document 1, since the robot recognizes the ID mark attached to the product, it is expected that the efficiency of ID mark recognition is poor.

  Therefore, the present invention does not require a large facility in the store, enables the construction of a system that enables product sales and product management using a communication network, and is displayed in the store from the user side. An object of the present invention is to provide a product sales / management method, a product sales / management system, and a server that can select products efficiently and are easy to use.

  (1) In the merchandise sales / management method of the present invention, a server connected to an imaging unit and a client terminal are connected via a communication network, and an in-store image captured by the imaging unit from the server to the client terminal side. The product sales / management method for selling or managing the product by transmitting the product, when receiving a product image transmission request for a product from the client terminal, the store image from the in-store image captured by the imaging means An image editing step for generating a product image for the product by cutting out an image based on a transmission request, and an image transmission step for transmitting the product image generated in the image editing step to the client terminal. It is said.

  Thus, when the present invention is used as, for example, a merchandise sales system, the user can select a merchandise while looking at a real-time image in the store from his / her terminal (such as a personal computer) and obtain a desired merchandise image. it can. Further, when the present invention is used as a product management system, for example, the product manager can acquire information on individual products from his / her terminal (such as a personal computer) while viewing a real-time image in the store. By this, product management such as inventory management can be performed. In addition, when such product sales / management is performed, large-scale capital investment or the like on the store side becomes unnecessary.

(2) In the merchandise sales / management method according to (1), the imaging unit can output a wide viewing angle image.
Thus, by using a wide viewing angle lens (for example, a fisheye lens), it is possible to image a wide range in the store and output it as an in-store image. Thereby, the user can obtain an image (product image) for a desired product from the in-store image as well as being able to look over the entire store.

  In addition, an image corresponding to a user's request is cut out from a wide viewing angle in-store image obtained by photographing a wide area in the store, and the cut-out image is transmitted to the user. By sequentially cutting out images according to the user's request from images in the store with a wide viewing angle and transmitting them to the user, the user feels as if he / she walks around the store on his / her client terminal and sees each product. be able to.

  In addition, by cutting out an image according to a user's request from such an in-store image with a wide viewing angle and transmitting the cut image to the user, a plurality of users can simultaneously obtain the individual user's request. The product image to be displayed can be displayed on each client terminal.

  (3) In the product sales / management method according to (1) or (2), when product selection information for selecting a product is received from the client terminal as a processing step after the image transmission step, the product A product position detecting step for detecting the position of the selected product in the store, and a product for specifying the product selected by the client terminal based on the position of the selected product detected in the product position detecting step in the store A product information acquisition step for acquiring product information relating to the specified product, and a product information transmission step for transmitting the product information acquired in the product information acquisition step to the client terminal. .

  In this way, when the product selected by the user is specified, product information related to the specified product is acquired and transmitted to the user. It is possible to accurately determine whether or not to purchase the selected item.

(4) In the merchandise sales / management method according to (3), the image editing step includes at least an image correction process for performing distortion correction.
As a result, a product image obtained by correcting distortion or the like of a product image taken with a wide viewing angle lens can be provided to the client terminal. Note that this image correction processing can be performed not only for distortion correction but also for pixel interpolation and the like, so that a higher quality image can be provided to the client terminal.

(5) In the merchandise sales / management method according to any one of (1) to (4), there are a plurality of the imaging units, and each of the plurality of imaging units shoots the inside of the store from different viewpoints. It is desirable to install it where possible.
As a result, it is possible to obtain product images captured from different viewpoints for individual products, and display product images from various viewpoints for the products desired by the user by operating the mouse on the client terminal side. Can be made.

(6) In the product sales / management method according to any one of (1) to (5), an electromagnetic tag is attached to the product, and an electromagnetic for recognizing the electromagnetic tag in the store. An expression tag recognition antenna is provided.
As a result, the position coordinates of each product can be automatically acquired, and it is not necessary for a human to input the coordinate position of each product. This can be said to be extremely effective when there are many products or when the display position image of the products is frequently changed.

(7) In the merchandise sales and management method according to (6), the merchandise position detection step may determine the coordinate position of the merchandise by the electromagnetic tag recognition antenna recognizing the electromagnetic tag attached to the merchandise. A first product position detecting step for detecting; a second product position detecting step for detecting a coordinate position of each product based on image pickup means position information including an installation position of the image pickup means in the store and an image pickup means elevation angle; The product specification performed by the product specification step is performed by associating the respective coordinate positions detected in the first product position detection step and the second product position detection step.
Thereby, the goods selected with the client terminal can be specified with high precision.

(8) In the merchandise sales and management method according to any one of (5) to (7), when an image transmission request from a different viewpoint is received for a certain product from the client terminal, The product image picked up by the image pickup means is transmitted to the client terminal side.
Thereby, on the client terminal side, product images from various viewpoints for the product desired by the user can be displayed by a mouse operation or the like.

(9) In the merchandise sales / management method according to any one of (1) to (8), the merchandise information to be transmitted to the client terminal is set to be provided to a merchandise purchaser when the merchandise is sold. It can be used as detailed information on the product.
This applies the present invention to product sales using a communication network, and in this case, detailed information (product to be purchased) selected by a client terminal (product purchaser side terminal) ( Price, specifications, etc.) to the client terminal. Thereby, the product purchaser on the client terminal side can appropriately determine whether or not to purchase the product based on the transmitted product detailed information.

(10) In the product sales / management method according to any one of (1) to (8), the product information transmitted to the client terminal is product management information set for provision to a product manager. It is also possible.
In this case, the present invention is applied to remote product management using a communication network. In this case, a product selected by a client terminal (product manager side terminal) (a product to be managed such as inventory confirmation). Send detailed information (such as inventory quantity) to the client terminal. Accordingly, the product manager on the client terminal side can appropriately perform various product management such as the sales situation of the product based on the transmitted product management information.

  (11) In the product sales / management system of the present invention, a server connected to an imaging unit and a client terminal are connected via a communication network, and an in-store image captured by the imaging unit from the server to the client terminal side A product sales / management system that sells or manages the product by receiving a transmission request for a product image for a product from the client terminal, from the in-store image captured by the imaging means Image editing means for generating a product image for the product by cutting out an image based on the transmission request, and image transmitting means for transmitting the product image generated by the image editing means to the client terminal. It is a feature.

The same effect as in (1) can be obtained by the commodity sales / management system described in (11).
In the merchandise sales / management system described in (11), the imaging means can output a wide viewing angle image.

Also, in the product sales / management system described in (11), when product selection information for selecting a product is received from the client terminal as means for performing processing after the image transmission means, the store of the product Product position detecting means for detecting the position in the product, and product specifying means for specifying the product selected by the client terminal based on the position of the selected product detected by the product position detecting means in the store And product information acquisition means for acquiring product information relating to the specified product, and product information transmission means for transmitting the product information acquired by the product information acquisition means to the client terminal.
Also in the product sales / management system described in (11), the image editing means includes at least an image correction process for correcting distortion.

Also in the product sales / management system described in (11), there are a plurality of the image pickup means, and the plurality of image pickup means are installed at positions where the inside of the store can be taken from different viewpoints. Is desirable.
Also in the product sales / management system described in (11), an electromagnetic tag is attached to the product, and an electromagnetic tag recognition antenna for recognizing the electromagnetic tag is provided in the store. I have to.
Also, in the product sales / management system according to (11), the product position detecting means recognizes the electromagnetic tag attached to the product by the electromagnetic tag recognition antenna to determine the coordinate position of the product. First product position detecting means for detecting; second product position detecting means for detecting the coordinate position of each product based on image pickup means position information including an installation position of the image pickup means in the store and an image pickup means elevation angle; The product specification performed by the product specification means is performed by associating the respective coordinate positions detected by the first product position detection means and the second product position detection means.

Also, in the product sales / management system described in (11), when an image transmission request from a different viewpoint is received for a certain product from the client terminal, the product imaged by other imaging means for the product The image is transmitted to the client terminal side.
Also in the product sales / management system described in (11), the product information transmitted to the client terminal is the detailed information of the product set to be provided to the product purchaser when the product is sold. In addition, the product information transmitted to the client terminal may be product management information set for provision to the product manager.

  (12) The server of the present invention is a server to which a client terminal is connected via a communication network and to which an imaging means capable of capturing an in-store image is connected, and the product image for a product from the client terminal Upon receipt of the transmission request, the image editing unit generates a product image for the product by cutting out an image based on the transmission request from the in-store image captured by the imaging unit, and the image editing unit And image transmission means for transmitting a product image to the client terminal.

  Thus, the user can select a product while viewing a real-time image in the store from his / her terminal (such as a personal computer), and obtain a desired product image. Further, according to this server, the present invention can be applied as a sales system, and can also be applied to merchandise management such as merchandise inventory management. In addition, when such product sales / management is performed, large-scale capital investment or the like on the store side becomes unnecessary.

  In addition, in the server described in (12), when product selection information for selecting a product is received from the client terminal as a means for performing processing after the image transmission means, the position of the product in the store is detected. Product position detecting means, product specifying means for specifying the product selected by the client terminal based on the position of the selected product detected by the product position detecting means in the store, and the specified Product information acquisition means for acquiring product information related to the product, and product information transmission means for transmitting the product information acquired by the product information acquisition means to the client terminal.

  In the server described in (12), the image editing unit includes an image correction process for performing at least distortion correction. The server described in (12) can connect a plurality of the imaging units. In this case, it is desirable that the plurality of imaging units are installed at positions where the inside of the store can be imaged from different viewpoints.

  Further, in the server described in (12), the product position detection means detects a coordinate position of the product by the electromagnetic tag recognition antenna recognizing an electromagnetic tag attached to the product. Product position detection means, and second product position detection means for detecting the coordinate position of each product based on image pickup means position information including the installation position of the image pickup means in the store and the image pickup means elevation angle, The product specification performed by the product specifying means is performed by associating the respective coordinate positions detected by the first product position detecting means and the second product position detecting means.

In addition, in the server according to (12), when a transmission request for an image from a different viewpoint is received for a certain product from the client terminal, the product image captured by the other imaging unit with respect to the product is transmitted to the client terminal. Send to the side.
Further, in the server described in (12), the product information transmitted to the client terminal can be detailed information of a product set to be provided to a product purchaser when selling the product. The product information transmitted to the client terminal may be product management information set for provision to the product manager.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described. The contents described in this embodiment include descriptions of the product sales / management method and the product sales / management system of the present invention.

Embodiment 1
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a configuration necessary for realizing the present invention. When the system configuration is roughly divided, a product sales / management system 1 and a plurality of users U1, U2, U3,. Client terminal (such as a PC) 2 and a communication network 3 interposed therebetween.

  The merchandise sales / management system 1 includes a network (LAN) 12 in the store 11 configured in a wired or wireless manner, and a product (not shown in FIG. 1) displayed in the store 11 in the store 11 A plurality of (two here) imaging means 13a, 13b connected to the LAN 12 and electromagnetic tags (not shown in FIG. 1) as ID tags attached to a product. ), A product information database 14 in which information about products (product information) is stored, a server 16 including a PC and the like. The electromagnetic tag recognition antenna ANT is connected to the server 16 via the signal line 15. Although FIG. 1 shows an example in which the imaging units 13a and 13b are connected to the server 16 via the LAN 12, the connection with the server 16 is not limited to the LAN.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically showing a three-dimensional configuration of the store 11, and products to be sold (here, two products A and B for simplicity) are displayed on the product display rack 17. These products A and B are each provided with an electromagnetic tag T. The electromagnetic tag T is also called an RF-ID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag or the like, and is generally used as an ID system using radio waves or electromagnetic waves.

  In addition, a large number of electromagnetic tag recognition antennas ANT capable of recognizing the electromagnetic tag T are installed at predetermined positions in the store 11 (the floor of the store 11 in the example of FIG. 2). In FIG. 2, the square portions shown in gray represent individual electromagnetic tag recognition antennas ANT.

  In the present invention, these electromagnetic tags T and a large number of electromagnetic tag recognition antennas ANT for recognizing the electromagnetic tags T have the positions in the store 11 of the respective products (the products A and B in the example of FIG. 2) as coordinate values in the store 11. From the electric field strength difference of each electromagnetic tag T recognized by each electromagnetic tag recognition antenna ANT, the position of each item in the store 11 is set as a position coordinate in the store 11 in the three-dimensional space. Can be sought.

  Further, in this store 11, for example, a plurality of imaging means (in FIG. 2, two imaging means 13a and 13b) are installed on the wall surface 11a and the like. These imaging means 13a and 13b are each equipped with a wide viewing angle lens (for example, a fisheye lens), and can output an in-store image with a wide viewing angle.

  These imaging means 13a and 13b are installed at different positions in the store 11 so that all products displayed in the store 11 can be photographed from different viewpoints. The in-store images with wide viewing angles captured by these image capturing means 13a and 13b are sent to the server 16 via the LAN 12, respectively.

  In FIG. 2, only two image pickup means 13a and 13b are shown, but an appropriate number of image pickup means may be installed depending on the size of the store 11, the number of products, and the display status of the products. In this case as well, each imaging means is installed at a predetermined position in the store 11 so that the inside of the store can be imaged from different viewpoints.

  In addition, the image pickup means 13a, 13b includes, for each of the image pickup means 13a, 13b, “size of store and installation position of image pickup means”, “image pickup means installation height”, “image pickup means elevation angle”, “image pickup means”. Information such as “lens position” is acquired in advance as imaging means position information, and the acquired imaging means position information is registered in the server 16. Based on the image pickup unit position information of each of the image pickup units 13a and 13b, a coordinate value (referred to as a position coordinate) representing the position of each product in the store 11 can be detected from the product image acquired by each of the image pickup units 13a and 13b. it can.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating components necessary for executing various functions performed by the server 16 on the store 11 side.
An image transmission request operation for requesting a product image for a certain product (for example, user U1) on the client terminal 2 (this is a key operation for designating a product image that the user U1 wants to see, which will be described later). The image request receiving means 160 that accepts the image transmission request when the user U1 is performed, the user U1 designates based on the image transmission request (key operation performed by the user U1) of the user U1 received by the image request receiving means 160 Image position recognition means 161 for recognizing the position is included.

  Further, based on the position recognized by the image position recognizing means 161, the image is cut out from the wide viewing angle in-store image picked up by either of the image pickup means 13a, 13b and photographed with a wide viewing angle lens. The image editing unit 162 performs correction of the distorted image (including correction such as pixel interpolation), and transmits the image after the editing process by the image editing unit 162 to the client terminal 2 side (this is referred to as a product image). The image transmission means 163 which performs.

  In addition, the product position detection means (this is the first position detection means for detecting the position coordinates of each product in the store 11 by recognizing the electromagnetic tag T attached to each product by each electromagnetic tag recognition antenna ANT. 164, product position detection means for detecting the position coordinates of the product selected by the user U1 who operates the client terminal 2 based on the image pickup means position information of the image pickup means 13a, 13b (this is the second product) (Referred to as position detection means) 165, by associating the product position coordinates detected by the first product position detection means 164 with the product position coordinates detected by the second product position detection means 165, Product specifying means 166 for specifying the selected product, a product for obtaining information (product information) about the specified product from the product information database 14 An information acquisition unit 167, a product information transmission unit 168 that transmits the acquired product information to the client terminal 2 of the user U1, a product arrangement unit 169 that arranges a corresponding product upon receiving a product determination notification from the user U1, and the like. ing.

Next, a specific operation of the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an operation procedure performed by the user and an operation of the server 16 in response to the operation in the first embodiment.

  First, a certain user (described here as user U1) logs in to the product sales / management system 1 from his client terminal 2. As a result, the server 16 of the merchandise sales / management system 1 transmits, as an initial image, an in-store image with a wide viewing angle that allows the entire store 11 as shown in FIG. 5 to be viewed to the client terminal 2 of the user U1. The

  As this initial image, an in-store image having a wide viewing angle (the image after image correction processing such as distortion) is provided so that the entire inside of the store 11 captured by either of the imaging units 13a and 13b can be seen. When the user logs in, the in-store image is displayed as an initial image in the image display area 21 of the client terminal.

  As can be seen from FIG. 5, the display screen of the client terminal 2 at this time includes an image display area 21 and a product information display area 22 for displaying product information related to the product selected by the user U1. As an operation unit on which U1 operates, a display image capable of controlling the display content of the image display area 21 and the image pickup means selection unit 23 that selects any of the plurality of image pickup means 13a and 13b installed in the store 11 The control operation unit 24 is displayed.

  The display image control operation unit 24 is a store movement operation key K1, K2, K3, K4 that enables acquisition of a product image as if the user viewed the displayed product while walking around the store 11. And a zoom up key ZU for zooming up the displayed product image and a zoom down key ZD for zooming down the displayed product image.

  In this example, the in-store movement operation keys K1, K2, K3, and K4 are keys K1 and K2 that can move in the left and right directions in the store 11, and a key K3 that can move in the front and rear (depth and near) directions in the store 11. , K4, and by operating these keys K1, K2, K3, K4, the product image displayed in the image display area 21 is obtained as if the user walked around the store 11 to see the product. Can be controlled. The in-store movement operation keys K1, K2, K3, K4, the zoom up key ZU, and the zoom down key ZD can be operated with, for example, a mouse.

  When the description returns to FIG. 4 and the user U1 operates the in-store movement operation keys K1, K2, K3, K4, the zoom up key ZU, and the zoom down key ZD on the display screen shown in FIG. Then, an image transmission request corresponding to the operation is transmitted to the server 16 of the store 11 (step S1).

  In response to this image transmission request, the image request receiving means 160 operates in the server 16 of the store 11 to accept the image transmission request from the client terminal 2. Then, the image position recognizing unit 161 recognizes the image position corresponding to the operation of the in-store movement operation keys K1, K2, K3, and K4 of the user U1, and based on the recognition result, the image captured by a certain image capturing unit. The image editing unit 162 cuts out the image from the in-store image at the viewing angle and performs an image correction process to generate a product image corresponding to each product according to the operation of the user U1.

  The product image generated by the image editing unit 162 is transmitted by the image transmission unit 163 to the client terminal 2 of the user U1. Note that the order of image cropping and image correction may be either first. For example, the cropped image may be corrected, or conversely, the image-corrected image may be cropped.

  In this way, in-store search is performed (step S2), and when a product image from a different viewpoint is desired for a certain product, a transmission request for the product image by another imaging means is made possible (step S3). The transmission request for the product image by the other imaging unit can be made by operating the imaging unit selection unit 23.

  That is, the imaging means selection unit 23 can select one of the plurality of imaging means 13a and 13b installed in the store 11. For example, in the example of FIG. When the product image displayed on the screen is an image taken by the imaging means 13a, clicking on the imaging means selection unit 23 with a mouse or the like returns to the image transmission request (step S1) in FIG. An image transmission request is made.

  As a result, on the store 11 side, based on the request of the user U 1, the product image captured by another imaging unit 13 b is subjected to image editing processing by the image editing unit 162 and then transmitted to the user side using the image transmission unit 163. To do.

  Here, assuming that a product desired by the user U1 is found, the user U1 selects a desired product from the products displayed in the image display area 21 (step S4). However, since the decision has not yet been made at this stage, the selection here is a provisional selection. This product can be selected by the user U1 clicking the mouse with the mouse pointer pointing to the desired product from the products displayed in the image display area 21 with a mouse or the like, or by using a separate selection button. It can be done by operating.

  As described above, when a product is selected by the user U1, the server 16 uses the second product position detection unit 165 to detect the position coordinates of the product selected by the user U1. This is because, for example, when the user U1 selects and clicks on a desired product part, the server 16 knows which part the user U1 has clicked. The position coordinates of the selected item in the store 11 can be obtained.

  On the other hand, in the server 16, the first product position detection means 164 performs processing for detecting the coordinate position of each product based on the recognition information of the electromagnetic tag T by each electromagnetic tag recognition antenna ANT.

  Then, the product specifying unit 166 includes position coordinates (position coordinates obtained by the first product position detecting unit 164) obtained by recognizing the electromagnetic tag T attached to each product by the electromagnetic tag recognition antenna. By associating with the position coordinates of the product obtained based on the imaging means position information (position coordinates obtained by the second product position detecting means 165), it is determined which product is selected by the user U1. Identify.

  The specification of the product is a product selected by the user U1 with a product whose position coordinates obtained by the first product position detection unit 164 and the position coordinates obtained by the second product position detection unit 165 coincide. And

In this way, when the product selected by the user U1 is specified, the detailed product information regarding the specified product is acquired from the product information database 14 by the product information acquisition unit 167.
The product information acquired by the product information acquisition unit 167 is transmitted to the client terminal 2 of the user U1 by the product information transmission unit 168.

  Thus, when the detailed product information regarding the product selected by the user U1 is transmitted from the store 11 side to the user U1, the product information is displayed in the product information display area 22 of the client terminal 2 of the user U1. This is confirmed by the user U1 (step S5).

  FIG. 6 shows an example of display on the client terminal at the stage of step S5. In the image display area 21, the product image selected by the user (here, the product image for the product B) is displayed, and in the product information display area 22, FIG. Detailed product information (product number, price, specification, etc.) regarding the product B is displayed.

  The user confirms the display content shown in FIG. 6 and determines whether or not to purchase the product. If the product is to be purchased, the “OK” button 25 displayed on the display screen shown in FIG. 6 is operated (for example, clicked with a mouse or the like).

  Even if the user selects a certain product on the display screen of the client terminal 2, the product selected by the user U1 may not be specified on the server 16 side. For example, depending on how the products are arranged, the products may be displayed on the client terminal 2 on the user U1 side in a state where a plurality of products are overlapped. In such a case, the user U1 selects a product on the display screen. However, the product selected by the user U1 may not be specified on the server 16 side. In order to cope with this, several candidates are set for the product selected by the user U1, and a “next candidate” button 26 is provided as shown in FIG.

  Accordingly, when the product displayed on the display screen is different from the product desired by the user U1, the user U1 operates the “next candidate” button 26 (for example, clicks with a mouse or the like) from the display screen of FIG. The display screen in FIG. 6 is switched as shown in FIG.

  The example of FIG. 6 shows an example in which the product U is displayed even though the user U1 selects the product A. In such a case, when the “next candidate” button 26 is operated, A display screen as shown in FIG.

  That is, for example, a product image of the product A is displayed as the next candidate product in the image display area 21, and detailed product information regarding the product A is displayed in the product information display area 22. On the display screen shown in FIG. 7, a “decision” button 25 for determining the currently displayed product as a product selected by the user and a “return” button 27 for returning to the original screen are displayed. The

  Here, it is assumed that the user decides to purchase the product A and operates the “OK” button 25. As a result, information indicating product determination is transmitted to the server 16 of the store 11, and the server 16 starts the product arrangement by the product arrangement unit 169. Thereafter, processing is performed according to the distribution route of the merchandise sales / management system 1.

  In the above description, the merchandise sales process for one user U1 has been described. However, a plurality of users U1, U2,... Simultaneously use the respective merchandise terminals 2 to use the merchandise sales system of the present invention. Can do.

  This is because the individual imaging means 13a, 13b can output in-store images with a wide viewing angle using a wide viewing angle lens such as a fisheye lens. An image of a necessary part is cut out from the in-store image at the viewing angle, and image correction such as distortion of the cut image may be performed (the image may be cut out after being corrected), and the individual users U1, U2 ,... Can be realized. That is, the imaging means is not occupied by one user. Thereby, a plurality of users U1, U2,... Can use the system of the present invention at the same time.

  FIG. 8 shows products desired by a plurality of users (three users U1, U2, and U3 in FIG. 8) obtained from the product sales / management system 1 and displayed on their client terminals 2. FIG. 8 shows an example in which each user U1, U2, U3 makes a different image transmission request to the in-store image displayed in the image display area 21 of FIG. As shown, display contents in the image display area 21 of the client terminal 2 are different for each user U1, U2, U3.

  In FIG. 8, for example, an image of only the product A is displayed in the image display area 21 of the client terminal 2 of the user U1, and a part of the product A is displayed in the image display area 21 of the client terminal 2 of the user U2. An image in which the entire product B is arranged is displayed, and an image in which the product A and the product B are arranged is displayed in the image display area 21 of the client terminal of the user U3.

  This is to cut out images corresponding to the image transmission request of each user U1, U2, U3 from one wide viewing angle in-store image captured by the image capturing means (for example, image capturing means 13a) on the store 11 side, This can be realized by transmitting the corrected image to each user.

  In the above description, an example in which the image editing unit 162 and the coordinate position detection unit (the first product position detection unit 164 and the second product position detection unit 165) are provided on the server 16 side is shown. However, these may be provided in an information processing unit different from the server 16.

  In the example of FIG. 2, the number of image pickup means is two (image pickup means 13a, 13b). However, the image pickup means obtains images viewed from various viewpoints by installing a larger number of units at various positions. Of course you can.

  Further, the detailed information of the product (information stored in the product information database 14) can be written as additional information in the electromagnetic tag T. As a result, the memory capacity of the product information database 14 can be reduced, and the product information database 14 itself can be omitted depending on the situation.

  Further, the resolution of the product position coordinates can be adjusted by adjusting the number of installed electromagnetic tag recognition antennas ANT. By providing more electromagnetic tag recognition antennas ANT, the position coordinates of each product can be obtained with higher accuracy.

[Embodiment 2]
The present invention can be applied not only to sales of merchandise but also to merchandise management such as merchandise inventory management. Hereinafter, an embodiment relating to the merchandise management will be described as an embodiment 2. As a system configuration for explaining the second embodiment, FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 used in the first embodiment can be used as they are. Also, the configuration on the server 16 side can use the components shown in FIG. 3 as they are, with only a few additional functions required for product management.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an operation procedure for managing a product by the product manager and an operation of the server 16 in response to the operation in the second embodiment.
In FIG. 9, among steps S11 to S15 of the operation procedure performed by the product manager, the processing from step S11 to step S14 is performed from step S1 to step S4 of the operation procedure performed by the user who is the product purchaser described in FIG. Is the same. However, in this second embodiment, the point that the user is replaced with the product manager and the selection of the product in step S14 is not the selection of the product to be purchased, but the selection of the product to be managed such as inventory management. The point to do is different. The product information database 14 stores product management data (product number, inventory quantity, sales history, etc.) necessary for managing individual products.

  Here, a process after the product manager selects a product to be managed by the product manager by performing the operations from step S11 to step S14, that is, step S15 in FIG. 9 will be described.

  When the merchandise manager selects a merchandise to be managed by the merchandise manager in step S14, the server 16 uses the merchandise position detection means (the first merchandise position detection means 164 and the second merchandise position as described in the first embodiment). The product position is detected by the detection means 165).

  As a result, the product specifying unit 166 specifies the product by associating the position coordinates detected by the first product position detecting unit 164 with the position coordinates detected by the second product position detecting unit 165. To do.

Then, the product information acquisition unit 167 acquires information about the specified product (in this case, product management information about the product to be managed) from the product information database 14, and the acquired product management information is stored in the product information transmission unit. In step 168, the information is transmitted to the client terminal 2 on the merchandise manager side.
In the client terminal 2 on the product manager side, the product management information transmitted from the server 16 is displayed in the product information display area 22 as shown in FIG.

  The example of FIG. 10 shows a case where the product manager selects two products. Two products A and B are displayed in the image display area 21, and these items are displayed in the product information display area 22. As an example of product management information regarding each product A and B, for example, product management information such as product number, inventory quantity, and sales history is displayed for product A, and product number for product B. Sales history, shipping history, etc. are displayed.

  Depending on what product management information is stored in the product information database 14, various product management ranges can be set. For example, various types of management information such as the number of stocks, sales history, arrival date, and next arrival date can be set, whereby fine product management can be performed.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. Further, the present invention can create a processing program in which the processing procedure for realizing the present invention described above is described, and the processing program can be recorded on a recording medium such as a floppy disk, an optical disk, a hard disk, The present invention also includes a recording medium on which the processing program is recorded. Further, the processing program may be obtained from a network.

It is a figure explaining the whole structure for demonstrating embodiment (Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2) of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates roughly the three-dimensional structure in the shop 11 shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the function which the server 16 in the shop 11 shown in FIG. 1 has. In Embodiment 1, it is a figure explaining the operation | movement procedure which the user side performs, and the operation | movement of the server 16 with respect to the operation. It is a figure which shows an example of the image in a shop displayed on the client terminal. It is a figure which shows the example of a display on a client terminal when a user selects goods on a client terminal. It is a figure which shows the example of a display for demonstrating the case where the goods which the user selected on the server 16 side cannot be specified when a user selects goods on a client terminal. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of each user's client terminal when a some user uses the system of this invention simultaneously. In Embodiment 2, it is a figure explaining the operation procedure which the user side performs, and operation | movement of the server 16 with respect to the operation. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a client terminal in Embodiment 2. FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  1 commodity sales / management system, 2 client terminal, 3 communication network, 11 store, 12 LAN, 13a, 13b imaging means, 14 commodity information database, 16 server, 21 image display area, 22 commodity information display area, A, B commodity , T electromagnetic tag, ANT electromagnetic tag recognition antenna, 160 image request receiving means, 161, image position recognizing means, 162 image editing means, 163 image transmitting means, 164 first commodity position detecting means, 165 second commodity Position detection means, 166 product identification means, 167 product information acquisition means, 168 product information transmission means, 169 product arrangement means

Claims (12)

The server connected to the image pickup means and the client terminal are connected via a communication network, and the in-store image picked up by the image pickup means is transmitted from the server to the client terminal side, thereby selling or managing the product. There are product sales and management methods
When receiving a product image transmission request for a product from the client terminal, an image editing step of generating a product image for the product by cutting out an image based on the transmission request from an in-store image captured by the imaging unit When,
An image transmission step of transmitting the product image generated in the image editing step to the client terminal;
A product sales and management method characterized by including:   2. The product sales / management method according to claim 1, wherein the imaging unit outputs a wide viewing angle image.   As a processing step after the image transmission step, when receiving product selection information for selecting a product from the client terminal, a product position detecting step for detecting the position of the product in the store, and the product position detecting step A product specifying step for specifying the product selected by the client terminal based on the position of the selected product in the store; a product information acquiring step for acquiring product information relating to the specified product; 3. The product sales / management method according to claim 1, further comprising a product information transmission step of transmitting the product information acquired in the product information acquisition step to the client terminal.   4. The product sales / management method according to claim 1, wherein the image editing step includes at least an image correction process for correcting distortion.   The commodity according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein there are a plurality of the imaging means, and each of the plurality of imaging means is installed at a position where the inside of the store can be photographed from different viewpoints. Sales and management methods.   6. The product sales according to claim 1, wherein an electromagnetic tag is attached to the product, and an electromagnetic tag recognition antenna for recognizing the electromagnetic tag is provided in the store. ·Management method. The product position detection step includes a first product position detection step of detecting a coordinate position of a product by the electromagnetic tag recognition antenna recognizing an electromagnetic tag attached to the product, and an in-store location of the imaging unit. And a second product position detection step for detecting the coordinate position of each product based on the image pickup means position information including the installation position and the image pickup means elevation angle,
The product specified in the product specifying step is performed by associating the respective coordinate positions detected in the first product position detecting step and the second product position detecting step. Product sales and management methods.   6. When a request for transmitting an image from a different viewpoint is received for a certain product from the client terminal, the product image captured by another imaging unit is transmitted to the client terminal side for the product. To 7. The product sales and management method according to any one of 7 to 7.   9. The product according to claim 1, wherein the product information transmitted to the client terminal is detailed information of a product set to be provided to a product purchaser when the product is sold. Sales and management methods.   9. The product sales / management method according to claim 1, wherein the product information transmitted to the client terminal is product management information set for provision to a product manager. The server connected to the image pickup means and the client terminal are connected via a communication network, and the in-store image picked up by the image pickup means is transmitted from the server to the client terminal side, thereby selling or managing the product. A product sales and management system
When receiving a product image transmission request for a product from the client terminal, the image editing unit generates a product image for the product by cutting out an image based on the transmission request from an in-store image captured by the imaging unit When,
Image transmitting means for transmitting the product image generated by the image editing means to the client terminal;
Product sales and management system characterized by including A server to which a client terminal is connected via a communication network and an imaging means capable of capturing an in-store image is connected,
When receiving a product image transmission request for a product from the client terminal, the image editing unit generates a product image for the product by cutting out an image based on the transmission request from an in-store image captured by the imaging unit When,
Image transmitting means for transmitting the product image generated by the image editing means to the client terminal;
A server characterized by including: