JP2008015797A - Web site access system, server, portable terminal, commodity, and web site access method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To access a Web site based on information attached to a commodity, while preventing commodity package design from being damaged by the information, changing a Web site to be accessed as needed, allowing many commodity purchaser to access, and performing unique access for each individual commodity. <P>SOLUTION: The Web site access system including the portable terminal and the server connected to a network comprises a means for storing a correspondence table showing a correspondence between an image attached to a commodity and an address of Web site; a means for photographing the image and unique code attached to the commodity by the portable terminal; a means for specifying the address of Web site corresponding to the taken image attached to the commodity from the correspondence table by the server; a means for forming composite data obtained by combining the specified address of Web site with the taken unique code by the server or the portable terminal; and a means for accessing Web site based on the composite data by the portable terminal. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology for accessing a website based on information attached to a product.

  Conventionally, an address (URL) of a website that conducts a campaign and an ID for participating in this campaign are embedded in a barcode, attached to a product, and the address and ID are read to read the web A technique for accessing a site, inputting this ID, and participating in this campaign is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  By the way, as for the product package, design is emphasized, and it is necessary to display product photos and product information, and the space available for barcodes is very limited. Serial numbers and lot numbers for merchandise management are provided as barcodes for machine reading, but many of them have shapes that are unrelated to the product package design. In addition, if a large amount of information is embedded in the barcode, the size of the barcode increases, which consumes a lot of space.

  Also, the barcode cannot change the information embedded when it is created. For this reason, when the address of the website is embedded, it is always possible to transition only to the same address. On the other hand, there is a recording medium in which information can be rewritten, such as an IC tag, but it is impossible in terms of cost to attach it to all products with a low unit price.

  Further, a barcode reader is required to read a barcode, but mobile terminals equipped with a camera are more popular in the market than portable terminals equipped with a barcode reader.

By the way, Web site access by image reading is possible, but in order to obtain uniqueness for each individual product, it is necessary to register only that much image. However, since the means of registering an image for each individual product is not realistic, in practice, it is impossible to access a unique website for each product by reading an image.
JP 2002-279268 A

  The present invention has been made in view of such background technology, and when accessing a website based on information attached to a product, the information can be changed at any time as the accessed website does not hinder the design of the product package. It is an object of the present invention to achieve that a large number of product purchasers can access and a unique website access is possible for each individual product.

In order to achieve the above object in the present invention, first, in the invention of claim 1, a system including a mobile terminal connected to a network and a server,
Means for storing a correspondence table indicating correspondence between images attached to products and website addresses on a server;
Means for taking a picture of the product and the unique code with a mobile device,
Means for identifying the address of a Web site corresponding to an image attached to a photographed product by a correspondence table on a server;
Means for creating composite data by combining the address of the identified website and the photographed unique code with a server or a mobile terminal;
The website access system is characterized by comprising means for accessing the website with a portable terminal based on the composite data.

  The invention of claim 2 is a server provided in the Web site access system of claim 1.

  The invention of claim 3 is a portable terminal provided in the Web site access system of claim 1.

  The invention of claim 4 is a product with an image and a unique code, and the image and the unique code are photographed by a portable terminal provided in the website access system according to claim 1. It is a product to be used.

The invention of claim 5 is a method performed in a system including a mobile terminal connected to a network and a server,
Storing a correspondence table indicating correspondence between images attached to products and website addresses on a server;
Taking a picture of the product and the unique code with a mobile device,
Identifying the address of the Web site corresponding to the image attached to the photographed product with a correspondence table on the server;
Creating synthesized data obtained by synthesizing the address of the identified website and the photographed unique code on a server or a mobile terminal;
A website access method characterized by including a step of performing website access on a portable terminal based on the synthesized data.

  The present invention has the following effects.

  First, the image attached to the product can be one that does not hinder the design of the product package.

  Next, in the correspondence table stored in the server, the access destination website can be changed at any time by simply changing the address of the website corresponding to the image attached to the product.

  Next, since the portable terminal may be equipped with a camera that is widely available on the market, it can be accessed by many product purchasers.

  Finally, since website access is performed based on the composite data, even if the same image is attached to all products, unique website access is possible for each individual product.

  The best embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a product, a mobile terminal, and a server are involved, and the mobile terminal and the server are connected to the Internet. Instead of the Internet, a network such as a mobile phone network or a dedicated line may be used.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an image and a unique code are attached to the product.

  The image attached to the product may be any image that does not hinder the design of the product package. Examples of the image include a manufacturer logo, a product logo, a product appearance, a landscape, a flyer, a book cover, and a map. The image in FIG. 1 is an example of a manufacturer logo.

  The image actually attached to the product is registered and stored in the server as image data. An image actually attached to a product registered and stored as image data is also referred to as a registered image.

  The server stores a correspondence table indicating the correspondence between registered images and website addresses. An example of this correspondence table is shown in FIG. The correspondence table shown in FIG. 3 has three items, “registered image”, “type”, and “corresponding address”. Here, the item “registered image” is the registered image itself. The item “type” is the type of registered image. The item “corresponding address” is an address of a Web site corresponding to the registered image.

  The unique code attached to the product may be a unique character string for each product. For example, there is a serial number that assigns a character string consisting of alphanumeric characters and other symbols to each product. The unique code in FIG. 2 is an example of a serial number made up of numbers. The unique code may be used for merchandise purchase certification or lot management.

  Data relating to the unique code actually attached to the product is registered and stored in the server.

  In order to attach the image and the unique code to the product, for example, the image and the unique code may be printed on the product package, or the label on which the image and the unique code are printed is attached to the product package. It may be pasted on.

  The portable terminal includes a camera. The mobile terminal also has communication functions such as transmission / reception of e-mails and website access. An example of such a portable terminal is a camera-equipped cellular phone.

  Below, the example of the flow of the process performed with the portable terminal and server in this embodiment is demonstrated according to the flowchart shown in FIG.

S (STEP) 1;
When the purchaser takes a picture of the purchased product together with the unique code with the camera of the mobile device, the mobile device reads the image and the unique code at the same time. Image data (hereinafter also referred to as read data) representing an image in which is taken together.

S (STEP) 2;
The portable terminal transmits the read data to the server.

S (STEP) 3;
The server receives read data from the mobile terminal.

S (STEP) 4;
The server checks whether the registered image is reflected in the image represented by the read data by comparing the read data with the data of the registered image stored in the server,
When the registered image is shown, the server specifies the address of the Web site corresponding to the registered image included in the image represented by the read data by referring to the correspondence table stored in the server, and STEP 5 Go to
If the registered image is not shown, proceed to STEP7.

S (STEP) 5;
Check the server to see if the unique code appears in the image represented by the scanned data.
If you see a unique code, go to STEP 6,
On the other hand, if the unique code is not shown, the process proceeds to STEP8.

S (STEP) 6;
The server extracts the unique code from the read data as a character string, and the unique code extracted as the character string is extracted as a character string by comparing it with data related to the unique code actually attached to the product stored in the server. Check whether the unique code is the unique code that is actually attached to the product,
If it is a unique code that is actually attached to the product, proceed to STEP 8,
On the other hand, if it is not the unique code actually attached to the product, the process proceeds to STEP7.

S (STEP) 7;
The server generates an error message and sends it to the mobile terminal. Then fly to STEP9.

  This error message informs that the image attached to the product is not actually taken when it is confirmed in STEP 4 that the registered image is not shown in the image represented by the read data. When it is confirmed that the unique code extracted as a character string from the read data in STEP 6 is not a unique code that is actually attached to a product, the fact that the unique code attached to the product is not actually photographed is transmitted.

S (STEP) 8;
The server generates data (hereinafter referred to as composite data) by combining the address of the identified Web site and the unique code extracted as a character string, and transmits the data to the mobile terminal. If it is confirmed in STEP 5 that the unique code is not shown in the image represented by the read data, the unique code cannot be extracted from the read data as a character string. is there.

S (STEP) 9;
The mobile terminal receives an error message or composite data from the server,
If an error message is received, display this error message on the screen and go to END.
On the other hand, if the composite data is received, the process proceeds to STEP10.

S (STEP) 10;
The product purchaser accesses the website on the mobile terminal based on the composite data.

  Here, the following (a) to (c) are given as examples of website access based on the composite data.

  (A) When only the image attached to the product is photographed, a transition is made to a website that provides product information. On the other hand, when the image attached to the product and the unique code are photographed together, the product Transition to a website that conducts a campaign.

  (B) When an image attached to a product and a unique code are photographed together, a transition is made to a website that conducts a product campaign, and at the same time, this unique code is automatically displayed as an indication of participation in this product campaign. To enter.

  (C) In a product with a character image and a unique code, when the character image and the unique code are photographed, character information (for example, for example) is created by creating character information having the unique code. Transition to a website that provides a character training game and game additional data distribution. For example, in a card with a dog character image and a serial number as shown in FIG. 5, by shooting these dog character image and serial number, the dog character is displayed in the game content as shown in FIG. Is displayed and the dog responds according to the serial number.

  Finally, as a modification of the present embodiment, a portable terminal may be used instead of the server, except for storing a correspondence table indicating a correspondence relationship between registered images and website addresses. .

  In this case, the server stores the correspondence table indicating the correspondence between the registered image and the website address. In this case, the correspondence table stored in the server corresponds to the image attached to the product. The website of the access destination can be changed at any time by simply changing the address of the website to be accessed. On the other hand, when each portable terminal stores this correspondence table instead of the server, the website of the access destination is changed. In order to be able to change at any time, in the correspondence table stored in each mobile terminal, the address of the website corresponding to the image attached to the product must be changed at any time, which makes the change work difficult. .

The figure which shows the structure of this embodiment. The figure which shows the detail of goods. The figure explaining the example of a correspondence table. The flowchart which shows the example of the flow of the process performed with the portable terminal and server in this embodiment. The figure which shows the example of the card | curd which attached the character image and serial number of a dog. The figure which shows the example of game content.

Claims (5)

A system comprising a mobile terminal and a server connected to a network,
Means for storing a correspondence table indicating correspondence between images attached to products and website addresses on a server;
Means for taking a picture of the product and the unique code with a mobile device,
Means for identifying the address of a Web site corresponding to an image attached to a photographed product by a correspondence table on a server;
Means for creating composite data by combining the address of the identified website and the photographed unique code with a server or a mobile terminal;
A website access system comprising: means for accessing a website on a portable terminal based on the synthesized data.   A server provided in the Web site access system according to claim 1.   A portable terminal provided in the website access system according to claim 1.   A product with an image and a unique code, wherein the image and the unique code are photographed by a portable terminal provided in the website access system according to claim 1. A method performed in a system including a mobile terminal and a server connected to a network,
Storing a correspondence table indicating correspondence between images attached to products and website addresses on a server;
Taking a picture of the product and the unique code with a mobile device,
Identifying the address of the Web site corresponding to the image attached to the photographed product with a correspondence table on the server;
Creating synthesized data obtained by synthesizing the address of the identified website and the photographed unique code on a server or a mobile terminal;
A website access method comprising: performing a website access on a portable terminal based on the synthesized data.