JP2006221540A - Furniture selection support system, furniture selection support method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a person desiring to purchase furniture to decide whether the desired furniture can be arranged in a space for placing furniture even when the person desiring to purchase furniture does not know the dimensions of the empty space of a room for placing the furniture, at a furniture store. <P>SOLUTION: A controller 2 preliminarily stores furniture arrangement information related with existing furniture arrangement in a room for placing furniture. Then, the controller 2 transmits the stored furniture arrangement information to a furniture store terminal 30 in response to a request from the furniture store terminal 30. The furniture store terminal 30 displays the existing furniture arrangement in the room for placing the furniture in a drawing at a display based on the furniture arrangement information, and displays graphics corresponding to the inputted size of the desired furniture, at a designated position on a drawing. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention is a fixture selection support system that allows a user to select whether or not to purchase fixtures in consideration of the layout of the home, furniture arrangement, etc. at a store of fixtures such as furniture and electrical appliances, The present invention relates to a fixture selection support method and program.

  Fixture selection to assist users in purchasing furniture, especially when there are already resident residences and new furniture is purchased and installed in the home A support system has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such a furniture purchase support system, for example, a user photographs the inside of a house with a digital still camera to create photographing data, and a user terminal creates a three-dimensional image inside the house based on the photographing data. Then, the user terminal applies the image data of the furniture selected by the user to the data of the 3D image inside the house, and creates a 3D image of the house where the furniture selected by the user is installed. The user can confirm that the selected furniture matches the house or matches existing furniture by looking at the three-dimensional image.

Japanese Patent Application No. 2001-155179 (paragraphs 0017-0018, FIG. 1)

  In a conventional fixture selection support system, a three-dimensional image of a house with furniture is created on a user terminal such as a personal computer at home. Therefore, the information regarding the existing furniture arrangement can be easily input to the user terminal. Such a system is useful when selecting furniture online at home via the Internet.

  However, it is difficult to utilize such a system when the user actually purchases furniture by looking at actual furniture at a furniture store or the like. This is because when a user happens to find a desired piece of furniture at a furniture store or the like, it is necessary to know the size of the empty space in the home in order to determine whether the piece of furniture can be installed in the home. However, in general, information on such dimensions is not always carried around. In addition, when you understand some dimensions, when you purchase furniture based on that understanding, when you actually install furniture etc., it does not match existing furniture (for example, even if you can install it, It may be difficult to use due to the arrangement relationship with existing furniture).

  Therefore, the present invention provides a space where a furniture purchaser wishes to purchase a fixture desired to purchase the fixture even if the buyer wishes to purchase the fixture does not know the size of the empty space where the fixture is scheduled to be placed. A fixture selection support system, fixture selection support method, and program that can determine whether or not a fixture can be placed and can confirm a placement image after placing a fixture desired for purchase are provided. With the goal.

  The appliance selection support system according to the present invention supports a user who wants to purchase an appliance to determine whether or not the appliance can be purchased at an appliance store, and communicates with a communication network (for example, the Internet) from a terminal device at the appliance store. 20), which is accessible through the device, stores in advance equipment arrangement information related to the existing equipment arrangement in the space where the equipment is to be installed (for example, in the house 10), and in response to a request from the terminal device, A control device (for example, the controller 2) that transmits the stored fixture arrangement information to the terminal device is provided.

  The terminal device existing in the furniture store includes a display unit, and based on the furniture arrangement information received from the control device via the communication network, the existing equipment arrangement in the space where the equipment is planned to be installed is purchased. It is preferable to include display control means for displaying information superimposed on the display unit.

  The display control means, for example, displays the existing fixture arrangement in the space where the fixture is scheduled to be installed on the display unit (may be a display using a three-dimensional image), and the size of the input purchase desired fixture (for example, A figure corresponding to the size of the desired purchase fixture) is displayed at the designated position in the drawing.

  The control device is, for example, a controller in a home network system.

  When the terminal device existing in the furniture store is a portable terminal possessed by a person who wants to purchase the furniture, the portable terminal stores a program for realizing the display control means, and stores the apparatus arrangement information according to the program. Based on this, it is configured to display the existing fixture arrangement in the space where the fixture is scheduled to be installed on the display unit and to display a figure corresponding to the size of the input fixture at a designated position in the drawing. According to such a configuration, it is possible to prevent the fixture arrangement information, which is personal information, from leaking to others.

  A fixture selection support method according to the present invention is a method for supporting a purchaser of a fixture to determine whether or not the fixture purchaser may purchase the fixture at a fixture retailer, from a terminal device existing in the fixture dealer to a communication network. Is stored in advance in a control device accessible via the control device, and the control device stores the fixture arrangement information stored in response to a request from the terminal device. Is transmitted to the terminal device.

  Based on the equipment arrangement information received from the control device via the communication network, the terminal equipment existing in the equipment store displays a drawing of the existing equipment arrangement in the space where the equipment is to be installed, and the input of the desired purchase equipment It is preferable to display a figure corresponding to the size at a designated position in the drawing.

  The fixture selection support program according to the present invention is mounted on a computer included in a control device that can be accessed via a communication network from a terminal device existing in a fixture store, and fixture arrangement information relating to an existing fixture arrangement in a space where the fixture is to be installed. And a process of transmitting the stored fixture arrangement information to the terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device.

  According to the present invention, even if a person who wants to purchase a fixture does not accurately know the dimensions of the fixture and the position of the empty space, whether or not the purchase request fixture can be installed and the space after the fixture is installed at the fixture store. Therefore, it is possible to make a decision to purchase a desired furniture without worrying about the problem that there is no space for installing the furniture after purchase or that the image is different from the image that was envisioned.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a fixture selection support system according to the present invention. In the system shown in FIG. 1, a home network system (in-home information communication network system that connects devices in a home so as to be communicable) is constructed in a home 10 that is a user's home. In the home network system, the controller 2 that is a general-purpose server device or a device developed exclusively for the system can be connected to the Internet 20 via the home network 8, the gateway 3, and the communication line 40. Hereinafter, the combination of the controller 2 and the gateway 3 is referred to as a ubiquitous hub 1.

  A personal computer (PC) 4 can also be connected to the Internet 20 via the home network 8, the ubiquitous hub 1, and the communication line 40. The personal computer 4 transmits information to the controller 2 via the home network 8 and receives information from the controller 2. Further, electrical appliances and the like can be connected to the home network 8. In FIG. 1, an air conditioner (air conditioner) 5, a refrigerator 6, and a washing machine 7 are illustrated as electrical appliances. The air conditioner 5, the refrigerator 6, and the washing machine 7 have a communication function and a sensor function, and transmit information to the controller 2 and receive information from the controller 2 via the home network 8.

  The home network 8 is realized by, for example, a wired transmission line using a light line (in-house AC power wiring) or a wireless transmission line.

  In the ubiquitous hub 1, the gateway 3 includes a communication interface circuit connected to a communication line 40 that is an access line such as an optical fiber line or an ADSL line.

  The controller 2 collects at least a CPU (control unit) that executes processing according to a program including a fixture selection support program, information transmitted by the personal computer 4, and sensor functions in the air conditioner 5, the refrigerator 6, and the washing machine 7. And a storage unit for storing the transmitted information. Accordingly, the processing by the controller 2 described below is realized by a control unit that operates according to a program. The controller 2 has a wireless communication function for communicating with a remote controller (remote controller) used by the user, and controls the air conditioner 5, the refrigerator 6, and the washing machine 7 based on information transmitted from the remote controller. . Further, the storage unit of the controller 2 stores fixture arrangement information including information on the floor plan of the house 10 and fixture arrangement.

  In this embodiment, furniture is taken as an example of a fixture. FIG. 1 shows a furniture store terminal 30 installed in a furniture store (furniture store). For example, a personal computer is used as the furniture store terminal 30, and the furniture store terminal 30 can be connected to the Internet 20.

  Next, a method for registering fixture arrangement information in the controller 2 in the ubiquitous hub 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the operations of the personal computer 4 and the controller 2 when registering the furniture arrangement information in the storage unit of the controller 2.

  As shown in FIG. 2, when the furniture arrangement information is input by the user (step S1), the personal computer 4 transmits the furniture arrangement information to the controller 2 via the home network 8 (step S2). When the controller 2 receives the fixture arrangement information from the personal computer 4 (step S3), the controller 2 stores the fixture arrangement information in the storage unit (step S4).

  FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of fixture arrangement information. In this example, information including drawing information is used as the fixture arrangement information. For example, the user creates a floor plan by using drawing software (paint program) installed in the personal computer 4, and adds an existing fixture to the floor plan. Separately, the room size and the fixture size are numerically input as size information. Further, the name of a fixture or the like may be input as text. The personal computer 4 transmits drawing information, size information and the like as fixture arrangement information to the controller 2 via the home network 8. The controller 2 stores such information in the storage unit. In FIG. 3, nothing is arranged in the portion A.

  When a fixture is added or deleted, the user downloads fixture arrangement information from the controller 2 to the personal computer 4 via the home network 8. Then, the personal computer 4 updates the drawing information using drawing software. The updated drawing information is re-uploaded to the controller 2 via the home network 8, and the fixture arrangement information of the storage unit in the controller 2 is updated.

  Here, the case where the user creates the fixture arrangement information with the personal computer 4 has been described, but the method of registering the fixture arrangement information in the ubiquitous hub 1 is not limited to such a method. For example, floor plan information may be input from a scanner attached to the personal computer 4. Further, the controller 2 is configured to be connected to a digital camera. The controller 2 scans the digital camera in accordance with an instruction from a remote controller, for example, inputs an indoor image, combines the input images, and draws the drawing information. You may create.

  Next, processing when a user finds favorite furniture at a furniture store and determines whether or not to purchase the furniture will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the user finds favorite furniture in the furniture store, the user accesses the ubiquitous hub 1 via the Internet 20 from the furniture store terminal 30 installed in the furniture store. Then, fixture arrangement information is requested from the ubiquitous hub 1 (step S21). The controller 2 in the ubiquitous hub 1 transmits the fixture arrangement information stored in the storage unit to the furniture store terminal 30 via the Internet 20 (step S21).

  The furniture store terminal 30 has a display unit. The furniture store terminal 30 includes software for displaying information on the display unit in which the furniture desired to be purchased is superimposed on the existing furniture arrangement in the space where the furniture is to be installed. Installed. For example, when the furniture arrangement information is received, the drawing (room layout and existing furniture) based on the drawing information included in the furniture arrangement information is displayed on the screen by the installed furniture arrangement software (step S23). . The user inputs the size of furniture desired to be purchased from the input unit of the furniture store terminal 30. Then, the furniture store terminal 30 displays the figure of the input size (furniture figure) on the screen outside the drawing. Since the furniture arrangement information includes size information indicating the size of the room and the size of the furniture, the furniture store terminal 30 operating according to the software for furniture arrangement displays the furniture figure at the same scale as the drawing scale. be able to. The CPU installed in the furniture store terminal 30 operates in accordance with the software for furniture arrangement, so that the existing furniture arrangement in the space where the furniture is scheduled to be installed is displayed on the display unit based on the furniture arrangement information. The display control means for displaying the figure corresponding to the input size of the fixture at the designated position in the drawing is realized.

  The user uses a mouse or other input device to display a furniture figure at a designated position in the space displayed as a drawing. Specifically, for example, by drawing a furniture figure to a desired position (designated position) in the drawing, the furniture figure is displayed in addition to the existing furniture arrangement (step S24). Then, the user looks at the display screen of the display unit to check whether the furniture can be arranged with respect to the existing furniture arrangement, and when the furniture desired to be purchased is arranged at home, the arrangement situation suits his / her preference Check if it becomes. That is, it is confirmed whether the fixture is compatible with the existing fixture arrangement. In the example shown in FIG. 3, it is shown that the furniture figure is arranged in the portion A. Here, the furniture figure representing the furniture desired to be purchased is first displayed outside the drawing and then moved to the designated position. However, the furniture is directly displayed at the designated position in the drawing according to the user's operation. A figure may be superimposed.

  When the user confirms that it is compatible, that is, when it is confirmed that the furniture can be arranged and the arrangement is suitable for his / her preference, the operation of the furniture store terminal 30 is terminated (step S25). If it is determined that they do not fit, after changing the selection to the same size of furniture of another size (step S26), the process of step S24 is executed again. Once confirmed, the user purchases furniture. When furniture is delivered to your home, troubles such as furniture not being installed properly do not occur.

  In order to realize a display control means for creating information on which information indicating a desired purchase fixture is superimposed on an existing fixture arrangement in a space where the fixture is to be installed based on the fixture arrangement information and displaying it on the display unit The software installed in the furniture store terminal 30 may be a dedicated furniture arrangement program created to realize the present embodiment, but when the personal computer is used as the furniture store terminal 30 May be realized by browser software and paint software that are standardly installed in a personal computer. For example, when the personal computer 4 registers the fixture arrangement information in the ubiquitous hub 1 (specifically, the storage unit of the controller 2), if it is registered in the form of a Web page including drawing information and size information, furniture can be obtained. The shop terminal 30 can download and display the fixture arrangement information from the ubiquitous hub 1 by a browser program, and the user can view the drawing information. Also, the furniture graphic can be entered at any position (designated position) in the displayed drawing by the paint software.

  Although the drawings and furniture figures are displayed in a two-dimensional image here, they may be displayed in a three-dimensional image. In that case, the furniture arrangement software includes a program for creating a three-dimensional image based on the drawing and furniture graphic data. The program converts the figure of the fixture into a three-dimensional image suitable for the fixture based on the name of the fixture or the like (for example, “tans”) included in the fixture arrangement information. In addition, models of 3D images of various fixtures are stored in the furniture store terminal 30 in advance.

  In addition, here, the controller 2 and the gateway 3 are separate devices, but they may be realized by a single device. In addition, although the ubiquitous hub 1 and the personal computer 4 are separate devices, they may be realized by a single device.

  As described above, in this embodiment, when a user finds favorite furniture in a furniture store, it can be determined whether the furniture is suitable in the furniture store based on the furniture arrangement information. Therefore, it is possible to purchase favorite furniture with peace of mind without preparing in advance size information indicating the size of the room or the size of the fixture.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
In the above embodiment, the furniture store terminal 30 installed in the furniture store receives the fixture arrangement information from the ubiquitous hub 1 via the Internet 20, but the PDA or mobile phone possessed by the user in the furniture store Such a portable terminal may receive the fixture arrangement information from the ubiquitous hub 1 via the Internet 20. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the fixture selection support system when the portable terminal receives fixture arrangement information from the ubiquitous hub 1 via the Internet 20.

  In this case, when the user finds favorite furniture at the furniture store, the user first connects the mobile terminal 50 to be communicable with the furniture store server 60 installed in the furniture store. The furniture store server 60 stores software for arranging furniture. The portable terminal 50 and the furniture store server 60 may be wired or wirelessly connected via a wireless LAN or the like. Then, the user downloads software for furniture arrangement from the furniture store server 60. The software is preferably programmed to automatically delete itself after a certain amount of time since it was downloaded, but if it is difficult to configure the software in that way, for example, leave the furniture store When the furniture store clerk asks the user to uninstall the software. When the mobile terminal 50 is a mobile phone, the furniture store server 60 is provided with a dedicated connector for cable connection with the mobile phone.

  Further, the portable terminal 50 does not download software directly from the furniture store server 60, but downloads software for furniture arrangement from the furniture store server 60 connected to the Internet 20 and operating the site via the Internet 20. You may do it.

  After the software for furniture arrangement is downloaded to the portable terminal 50, the user checks whether the furniture figure is compatible with the existing furniture arrangement in the same manner as in the first embodiment. That is, it is confirmed whether or not furniture can be arranged with respect to the existing furniture arrangement, and whether or not the arrangement is suitable for the user's preference when the furniture desired to be purchased is arranged at home.

  Also in this embodiment, in this embodiment, when the user finds a favorite furniture in the furniture store, it can be determined whether or not the furniture is suitable in the furniture store based on the furniture arrangement information. Therefore, it is possible to purchase furniture with preference without worrying about preparing the size information indicating the size of the room or the size of the fixture in advance.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, since the portable terminal 50 possessed by the user is used, the fixture arrangement information is not downloaded to the furniture store terminal 30 installed in the furniture store. That is, personal information called fixture arrangement information does not leak to a terminal held by someone other than the user.

  In addition, if the user inputs size information indicating the size of the room or the size of the fixture in advance and stores it in the portable terminal 50 before going out, the size problem can be cleared when the purchase of furniture is decided. . That is, by referring to the size information stored in the mobile terminal 50, furniture that cannot be arranged can be prevented from being purchased. However, when I went out, I didn't plan to buy furniture, but I happened to find my favorite furniture. In that case, the size information is not always stored in the portable terminal 50. However, in this embodiment, even if the size information is not stored in the portable terminal 50, the purchase of furniture can be determined without worrying about purchasing furniture that cannot be arranged.

  Even if the size information is stored in the portable terminal 50, if it is not configured as in the present embodiment, whether or not the preferred furniture is arranged according to its own preference when arranged at home. It is difficult to confirm. This is because the user must imagine a specific arrangement situation in his / her head. However, in this embodiment, since the arrangement status can be displayed on the screen, it is possible to easily confirm whether or not the arrangement status matches the user's preference when favorite furniture is arranged at home.

  Here, the portable terminal 50 downloads the software (program) for furniture arrangement from the furniture store server 60 in order to realize the display control means, but this is not essential. For example, when the personal computer 4 registers the fixture arrangement information in the ubiquitous hub 1 (specifically, the storage unit of the controller 2), it is registered in the form of a Web page including drawing information and size information. If the portable terminal 50 incorporates browser software and paint software, the portable terminal 50 can download and display the fixture arrangement information from the ubiquitous hub 1 by the browser at the furniture store, and the user can obtain drawing information. Can be viewed. Moreover, the furniture figure can be written in an arbitrary position (designated position) in the displayed drawing by the paint program.

  In each of the above embodiments, furniture is exemplified as a fixture, but the present invention can also be applied to other types of fixtures such as electrical appliances.

  Moreover, in each said embodiment, although the case of the purchase of the fixture in the residence 10 was illustrated, an object is not restricted to a residence, An office, a factory, a school, and other facilities may be sufficient. For example, when a person in charge of purchasing furniture in the office happens to find a suitable furniture on the go, the floor plan of the office or the size of existing furniture is preliminarily stored in an in-house server accessible from the outside via the Internet 20. If the information about the etc. is registered, by receiving the information about the size etc. from the in-house server, the furniture can be purchased with peace of mind as in the case of the house 10 described above. Therefore, equipment such as desks and racks (a type of fixtures) can be efficiently arranged in the office, and equipment that cannot be arranged is not purchased and is not wasted.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to guarantee that the user can purchase the fixtures with peace of mind, and for the fixtures store, so-called impulse purchase customers can be taken in effectively, so that the fixtures store It is also useful for

  According to the present invention, when purchasing an additional fixture installed in a predetermined room, the user determines whether the fixture desired for purchase matches the predetermined room or the existing fixture at the purchase location where the fixture exists. Since it can be easily determined, the convenience of the user can be improved, and the system according to the present invention can also be used as a sales promotion tool for furniture.

It is a block diagram which shows one structural example of the fixture selection assistance system by this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of a personal computer and a controller at the time of registering fixture arrangement | positioning information in the memory | storage part of a controller. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of fixture arrangement | positioning information. It is a flowchart which shows the process at the time of determining whether a user purchases furniture. It is a block diagram which shows the other structural example of the fixture selection assistance system.

Explanation of symbols

10 Housing 20 Internet 30 Furniture Store Terminal 40 Communication Line 50 Mobile Terminal 60 Furniture Store Server

Claims (8)

In an appliance selection support system that supports a person who wants to purchase an appliance to determine whether or not the appliance can be purchased at an appliance store,
A device that can be accessed via a communication network from a terminal device located in a furniture store, stores in advance equipment arrangement information related to the existing equipment arrangement in the space where the equipment is to be installed, and responds to a request from the terminal apparatus And a fixture selection support system comprising: a control device that transmits the fixture arrangement information stored therein to the terminal device. Terminal devices that exist in furniture stores
Including display,
Display that displays on the display unit information in which information indicating a desired purchase fixture is superimposed on an existing fixture arrangement in a space where the fixture is to be installed based on the fixture arrangement information received from the control device via the communication network The fixture selection support system according to claim 1, further comprising control means. The display control means displays the existing fixture arrangement in the space where the fixture is planned to be installed on the display unit, and displays a figure corresponding to the size of the input purchase desired fixture at a designated position in the drawing. Fixture selection support system. The fixture selection support system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the control device is a controller in a home network system. The terminal device that exists in a furniture store is a portable terminal possessed by a person who wants to purchase furniture,
The portable terminal stores a program for realizing display control means,
According to the program, based on the fixture arrangement information, the existing fixture arrangement in the space where the fixture is scheduled to be installed is displayed on the display unit, and the figure corresponding to the size of the input purchase desired fixture is displayed at the designated position in the drawing. The fixture selection support system according to any one of claims 1 to 4. In a fixture selection support method for supporting a purchaser of fixtures to determine whether or not a fixture can be purchased at a fixture store,
Store in advance equipment arrangement information related to the existing equipment arrangement in the space where the equipment is to be installed in a control device accessible via a communication network from a terminal device existing in the equipment store,
The appliance selection support method, wherein the control device transmits the stored appliance arrangement information to the terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device. A terminal device that exists in a furniture store
Based on the fixture arrangement information received from the control device via the communication network, the existing fixture arrangement in the space where the fixture is to be installed is displayed as a drawing,
The fixture selection support method according to claim 6, wherein a figure corresponding to the size of the inputted purchase fixture is displayed at a specified position in the drawing. To a computer of a control device that can be accessed via a communication network from a terminal device existing in a furniture store,
Processing to store fixture arrangement information about existing fixture arrangement in the space where fixtures are to be installed;
A fixture selection support program for executing a process of transmitting the stored fixture arrangement information to the terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device.

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