JP2017004497A - Information processing device, control method and program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately introduce a user to a service to utilize an article selling device through a network.SOLUTION: An information processing device, when receiving a drive instruction in response to a payment in consideration of a service, outputs a drive command to drive a drive mechanism related to article discharge operation of an article selling device to discharge the article therefrom. The information processing device performs control to: acquire a first image obtained by shooting the performance of the drive mechanism in accordance with the output drive command and a second image obtained by shooting a holding section of the article selling device which holds the article discharged by driving the drive mechanism; and transmit the first image or the second image to an external machine during the article discharge operation on the basis of the drive instruction.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control method, and a program, and more particularly, to an article sales apparatus that discharges an article by operating a drive mechanism of a predetermined apparatus in response to payment of a price.

  Conventionally, like a so-called crane game or prize game, a game play that allows a user to operate a drive mechanism for holding or dropping a prize according to payment of a price is provided, and the prize is discharged as a result of the game. There is a gift providing device. Patent Document 1 discloses a system that can use such a prize providing apparatus via a network.

  In the prize providing device, a prize is generally displayed in a space where a gripping mechanism to be driven is arranged, and in the game play executed in accordance with payment of the consideration, the prize is given to the discharge port by the gripping mechanism or the like. The prize is discharged by moving it.

  On the other hand, an article vending machine such as a so-called capsule vending machine that always discharges an article such as a toy body or a card with respect to one payment of payment is classified as a vending machine. Such an article sales apparatus is basically configured such that the article to be discharged next is unknown, and provides interest including uncertainty related to the discharge. Specifically, articles are randomly placed in the stocker or storage case of the article sales apparatus by a store clerk or the like, and among these, the article placed closest to the outlet when the price is paid The article sales apparatus basically has a structure to be discharged. In addition, in an article sales apparatus in which an article having a configuration in which a toy body or the like is enclosed in a specific case (capsule) such as a spherical shape is discharged, the article in the storage case is agitated by the rotation of the drive mechanism related to the discharge. Uncertainty can be given to the order of the discharged goods, which increases the interest.

JP 2014-161457 A

  However, when the service providing method via the network similar to the prize providing apparatus of Patent Document 1 is applied to the above-described article selling apparatus, the following problems may occur.

  In the prize providing device of Patent Document 1, it is important to grasp the driving status of a gripping mechanism or the like according to an operation in order to obtain a prize. For this reason, the video output of the camera in which the shooting range is set so that the position of the entire premium display unit and the gripping mechanism can be grasped is stream-distributed to the user terminal. That is, since the user understands which the prize is and performs the game play, it is not necessary to visually present and confirm the discharged prize as long as the discharged fact is confirmed.

  On the other hand, since the article sales apparatus has uncertainties in article discharge as described above, even if the technology described in Patent Document 1 is simply applied to enable service provision via a network. The user's profit may not be secured. That is, since the user cannot confirm the discharged goods, even if the goods discharged as a result of using the service reach the user by delivery or the like, the goods are discharged according to their own purchase operation. May not be recognized by the user (identity is not guaranteed), and the reliability of service use may not be ensured.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and provides an information processing apparatus, a control method, and a program that suitably guide a user for a service that uses an article sales apparatus via a network. Objective.

  In order to achieve the above-described object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus connected to an article sales apparatus that discharges articles in accordance with payment of consideration, and provides a drive instruction in accordance with payment of consideration. A receiving means for receiving and a drive command for driving the drive mechanism for discharging the article of the article selling apparatus until the article is discharged from the article selling apparatus in response to the receiving instruction being received by the receiving means. Output means, first acquisition means for acquiring a first image obtained by imaging the drive mechanism in accordance with the drive command output by the output means, and the drive mechanism being driven. A second acquisition unit that acquires a second image obtained by imaging the holding unit of the article sales apparatus that holds the acquired article, and the first image or the second in the process of discharging the article based on the drive instruction Send image to external device And having a control means for so that control, the.

  With such a configuration, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus, a control method, and a program that suitably guide a user for a service that uses an article sales apparatus via a network.

The figure which showed the system configuration | structure of the goods sales system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed the external appearance of the goods sales apparatus 200 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed the function structure of the control apparatus 100 and the goods sales apparatus 200 which concern on embodiment of this invention. The figure which showed the example of GUI structure of the exclusive page of one goods sales apparatus 200 in utilization of the goods sales system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which illustrated the article | item discharge | emission process performed with the control apparatus 100 which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. The flowchart which illustrated the error process at the time of cutting | disconnection performed with the control apparatus 100 which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention. The flowchart which illustrated article discharge processing performed with control device 100 concerning Embodiment 3 of the present invention. The figure for demonstrating the structure and operation | movement of the discharge mechanism 205 in the goods sales apparatus 200 which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

[Embodiment]
Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. One embodiment described below is connected to an article sales apparatus as an example of an information processing apparatus, and controls a driving operation related to article discharge of the apparatus based on a drive instruction received via a network. An example in which the present invention is applied to a possible control device will be described. However, the present invention is applicable to any device capable of performing drive control of an article sales apparatus based on a drive instruction received via a network and transmission control of an image obtained by imaging the article discharge process of the apparatus. It is.

<< System configuration of goods sales system >>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an article sales system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The article sales system of the present embodiment includes a game server 300 that provides an article sales service using the article sales apparatus 200 to a user terminal 400 connected via a network 500 such as the Internet, and the article sales apparatus 200. And a control device 100 that performs drive control of the article sales device 200 based on an instruction from the game server 300. According to the service provided by the present article sales system, the user performs an operation related to the discharge of the goods accompanied by payment of the price at the user terminal 400 to be used, thereby causing the article sales apparatus 200 to discharge the articles and discharging them. The goods can be obtained through a delivery service such as mail.

  Based on the article purchase request received by the game server 300 from the user terminal 400, the control device 100 receives a drive instruction to discharge the article for purchase from the game server 300 via the network 500. In addition, the control device 100 outputs a control signal, which is a drive command, to the connected article sales apparatus 200 based on the received drive instruction, and executes an operation related to article discharge.

  The article sales apparatus 200 is an apparatus that stores articles therein and discharges any one article by driving a discharge mechanism based on a control signal. The article sales system according to the present embodiment has a handle that is normally installed at a store or the like and can be rotated by inserting a value such as a coin or medal, and an internal discharge mechanism is driven according to the rotation operation of the handle. Thus, the capsule vending machine that discharges the article is used as the article selling apparatus 200. In providing the service via the network 500, the discharge mechanism 205 of the article selling apparatus 200 is provided with a drive system 201 described later so as to be driven without rotating the handle according to a control signal received from the control apparatus 100. . In addition, adopting an apparatus having an article discharge function familiar to the user in this way is because the selection of the article to be finally discharged according to the price is performed by the hardware configuration, not the software, An impression that the elements are excluded can be given to the user, and as a result, the user can be favorably guided to use the service.

  Furthermore, in order to clearly indicate that such an actual device is used for sales via a network, an image obtained by capturing the housing of the actual article selling device 200 is provided to the user terminal 400. Imaging of an image is performed by an imaging device connected to the control device 100 in the article sales system of the present embodiment. At this time, the at least one imaging device is configured so that the user recognizes that the article discharging operation of the article selling apparatus 200 is being performed according to the operation related to the article discharging performed on the user terminal 400. In order to show that the handle rotates in conjunction with driving, an imaging range is set that captures the storage portion 204 in which the handle and the article are stored during the operation.

  Further, the article sales apparatus 200 such as a capsule vending machine has uncertainty about the discharge of the articles, and in order to make it possible for the user to determine which of the discharged articles, at least one imaging apparatus is Then, an imaging range that captures the article holding unit 211 that holds the article after the article is discharged is set so as to present the article that has been discharged as a result of the driving of the discharge mechanism 205. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the article holding unit 211 has a box-like structure that is detachably installed below the end of the guide rail 210 that guides the article discharged by driving the discharge mechanism 205. Good. Therefore, after the article is discharged, the imaging device used for the imaging is provided at a position where the article held by the article holding unit 211 can be imaged from above.

  In the article sales system of the present embodiment, the imaging range is set so that the article holding unit 211 occupies many areas within the imaging angle of view in order to make it possible for the user to discriminate discharged articles. As will be described, the guide rail 210 may be set to be included in the imaging range in order to indicate that the article discharged by driving the discharge mechanism 205 has been moved and held by the article holding unit 211. In addition, the article sales apparatus 200 according to the present embodiment has a detachable article holding unit 211 and a guide rail 210 for guiding the discharged articles in order to facilitate transportation of the discharged article group for one user. However, implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the article holding unit 211 may not be provided, and an article discharged in response to an operation related to continuous article discharge by one user may be stocked on the guide rail 210.

  Further, in the following description, images sequentially (intermittently) related to the article discharge operation are transmitted from the control device 100 to the game server 300 and provided to the user terminal 400 used by the corresponding user via the network 500. However, the image provision route is not limited to this. For example, it may be provided directly from the control device 100 to the user terminal 400 via the network 500, or may be provided to the user terminal 400 via another management server that is not the game server 300. Also good.

  In the article sales system of the present embodiment, the control device 100 and the article sales device 200 include an I / O port (not shown), a D / A converter, an A / D converter, and the like that can exchange electrical signals. However, implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. The control device 100 and the article sales device 200 may be configured to exchange signals using an arbitrary communication connection method. In the present embodiment, the control device 100 and the game server 300 are described as separate components in consideration of the form of service provision, but it goes without saying that they may be configured as a single unit.

<Configuration of Control Device 100 and Article Sales Device 200>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating functional configurations of the control device 100 and the article sales device 200 according to the present embodiment. Note that the functional configuration of each of the control device 100 and the article sales apparatus 200 described with reference to FIG. 3 is for illustrative purposes, and the control apparatus 100 and the article sales apparatus 200 have all the functional configurations. Moreover, it does not limit that a functional structure is provided in any apparatus. Moreover, you may have another functional structure not shown.

  The control unit 101 is an arithmetic device such as a microcomputer, ASIC, or CPU. The control unit 101 controls the operation of each block by, for example, reading the operation program for each block included in the control device 100 recorded on the recording medium 102 and developing the program in the memory 103.

  The recording medium 102 is an electrically rewritable recording device such as a built-in memory, a non-volatile memory, or an HDD. The recording medium 102 stores not only the operation program for each block but also various parameters necessary for the operation of each block. On the other hand, the memory 103 is a storage device such as a volatile memory. The memory 103 is used not only as a development area or work area for the operation program of each block, but also as a storage area for temporarily storing intermediate data output in the operation of each block.

  The drive control unit 104 controls a drive system 201 described later included in the article sales apparatus 200. The drive control unit 104 outputs, to the drive system 201, a drive command for performing driving related to one article discharge based on the drive instruction received by the control device 100. Further, feedback control may be performed as necessary based on information such as a rotation angle returned from the drive system 201.

  The camera control unit 105 controls the operation of the imaging device connected to the control device 100 as described above. The control apparatus 100 of the present embodiment is connected to two imaging devices, a first camera 110 and a second camera 120, and the handle and storage unit 204 and the article holding unit 211 are set in the imaging range, respectively. The camera control unit 105 issues an imaging start command to each imaging apparatus in imaging, and receives images that are sequentially captured and output. Further, in the present embodiment, the camera control unit 105 will be described as being configured to be able to switch whether to receive an image captured by any imaging device.

  The notification unit 106 notifies the article sales apparatus 200 connected to the control apparatus 100 that the purchase of the article by one user has been completed. The notification notifies the operator that the article held in the article holding unit 211 needs to be collected as will be described later.

  The communication unit 107 is a communication interface that the control device 100 has. In the present embodiment, the communication unit 107 is connected to the game server 300 via the network 500, and transmits and receives information using a method according to a predetermined communication standard. The communication unit 107 also serves as a communication interface with the article sales apparatus 200 and has a function of performing predetermined signal conversion.

  The drive system 201 causes the discharge mechanism 205 provided at the bottom of the storage unit 204 of the article sales apparatus 200 (inside the article sales apparatus 200) to perform a drive operation, or rotates a handle that drives the discharge mechanism 205. It is something to make. The drive system 201 includes, for example, a motor driver 202 and a motor 203, and performs supply power control related to driving of the motor 203 based on a drive command received by the motor driver 202 from the control device 100. The drive system 201 may be provided with a rotation angle detection sensor such as a rotary encoder as necessary, and the motor driver 202 may perform power control based on the output of the sensor.

  The storage unit 204 is a case for storing articles to be discharged that the article sales apparatus 200 has. In this embodiment, the article stored in the storage unit 204 may be, for example, an article in which any one of a plurality of types of toy bodies is encapsulated. The plurality of types of toy bodies are basically different for each sales title (sales plan, product), and the storage unit 204 of one article sales apparatus 200 has a toy body defined for one sales title. A plurality of articles are stored, and as a result, the user can acquire any one of the plurality of types of toys.

  The capsule is preferably made of a light-transmitting material such as polystyrene (PS) or polypropylene (PP), and makes it possible to visually recognize the color, shape, etc. of the toy body enclosed inside. However, an article to be sold in the implementation of the present invention does not need to be enclosed in a case formed of such a material, and does not have to be a toy body and a case including the case. For example, the articles to be sold may include cards, card bundles, foods such as confectionery, three-dimensional objects that are not included in the case, and the like.

  More specifically, in the embodiment of the present invention, an article discharged from the article sales apparatus 200 is configured to be identifiable in appearance that it is different from any one of a plurality of kinds of articles that are sold by one article sales apparatus. It is preferred that For example, the storage unit 204 is made of a light-transmitting material, and the user can visually recognize that at least one of a plurality of articles that can be discharged has a color scheme different from the other, thereby being discharged at the time of discharge. It may be possible to identify whether or not the same article is the same (same kind) as the article of the different color scheme. Alternatively, for example, by using a case of a fixed color that is predetermined for each product to be included, it may be possible to identify which product is the appearance of the case. More broadly, by providing a plurality of types of color schemes that form the appearance of the articles to be sold and mixing them, it is possible to recognize the group of articles purchased by the user by combining the color schemes of the plurality of discharged articles. You may comprise as follows.

  At the bottom of the storage unit 204, there are provided a discharge port 208 that discharges articles and a discharge mechanism 205 that guides articles one by one to the discharge port 208 in one article discharge operation. As shown in FIG. 8A, the discharge mechanism 205 includes a turntable 206 having a plurality of through holes 207a to 207e. The turntable 206 is rotated in the direction of the arrow 800 in FIG. 8A based on the power transmitted by the drive system 201. The unit of rotation related to one article discharge operation is determined by the arrangement of the through holes 207, and the through holes 207 arranged in the rotation direction of the turntable 206 are sequentially moved to positions corresponding to the discharge ports 208. One rotation operation is performed. Each through-hole 207 holds one article to be discharged, and when the turntable 206 is rotated and disposed at a position corresponding to the discharge port 208, the article held in the through-hole 207 falls. The product is discharged from the article sales apparatus 200. Any article deposited in the storage unit 204 is newly held in the through hole 207 from which the article has been discharged. In the example of FIG. 8A, the article 801 held in the through hole 207b is moved onto the discharge port 208 and discharged in the next article discharge operation.

  A discharge sensor 209 provided in the article sales apparatus 200 is a sensor that detects that an article has been discharged through the discharge port 208. For example, the discharge sensor 209 detects discharge of an article by detecting that an article dropped from the discharge port 208 has passed on the guide rail 210 or a path reaching the guide rail 210. The detection result of the discharge sensor 209 is transmitted to the control device 100.

<< Outline of operation when using the service >>
In the article sales system according to the present embodiment, in connection with the use of the sales service using the article sales apparatus provided by the game server 300, the user performs use registration related to the service using the user terminal 400 used by the user, Perform service login. Service login is performed, for example, by accessing a predetermined site with a browsing application and transmitting account and password information to the game server 300. At this time, the game server 300 performs user authentication with reference to a predetermined database, reads various information related to the user, and starts providing a service. The information relating to the user includes charge information indicating the number of possessed predetermined currencies (points) that the user pays as a consideration for purchasing the article. The predetermined currency may be given to each user from the service provider side, or a corresponding number of currencies may be given after the settlement based on the user's billing instruction is completed.

  In the article sales system of this embodiment, after the service login, in order for the user to purchase an article from the article sales apparatus 200 that handles a desired sales title, at least an image obtained by imaging the article sales apparatus 200 is included. It is necessary to perform an operation of moving to a dedicated page (receiving and displaying the page) such as 4. The movement to the dedicated page is performed by, for example, selecting a link set for each sales title on a list page displaying a list of sales titles currently being sold, and accordingly, the user terminal 400 links. A display transition to the previous dedicated page occurs.

  In the dedicated page, in order to use the article selling apparatus 200, the user first needs to perform a use reservation (play reservation) operation on the button 401 of the dedicated page in FIG. This is because, for example, in a popular sales title or the like, a plurality of users may desire to use at the same time. Therefore, the user waits for the order in the form of a use reservation, and gives the user the operating authority in the order in which the use reservation is made. The state in which the user is authorized to operate the article sales apparatus 200 indicates a state in which an opportunity to purchase an article from the article sales apparatus 200 is occupied by the user (occupied state). When in the occupied state, only the user in the occupied state (occupied user) can perform an operation related to the discharge of the article to the target article selling apparatus 200 as described later.

  At this time, a user other than the occupying user can view the streaming video related to the images sequentially captured so that the target article sales apparatus 200 is operated via the GUI of the dedicated page on the user terminal 400 to be used. Can do. However, since these other users are not given the operation authority of the target article sales apparatus 200 as described above, they cannot perform the operation related to the article discharge. Other users in the standby state can perform operations related to the discharge of goods for all users who have made reservations before themselves after completing the process of releasing the occupied state set for each user. State (occupied state).

  In the occupied state, the occupied user performs an operation input (mouse click or the like) on the button 402 on the dedicated page in FIG. Ejection can be performed. At this time, the operation related to the discharge of the article requires payment of a predetermined price for the sale of the article. As shown in FIG. 4, the payment of the consideration is executed by a settlement process triggered by an operation input on the button 402 when the current user's point possession number 403 is larger than the predetermined point number 404 as shown in FIG. 4. At this time, the value of the number of points held in the information relating to the user is updated to a value obtained by subtracting the number of points according to the consideration.

  When an operation related to article discharge is performed, the game server 300 outputs a drive instruction to the control device 100, and a drive mechanism (drive system 201) related to discharge of the article of the article sales device 200 according to the drive command from the control device 100. One article that is driven and stored in the storage unit 204 is discharged from the discharge port 208. In the dedicated page of the present embodiment, the image captured by the first camera 110 is displayed on the real machine display unit 405 in FIG. 4 while the motor 203 for article discharge is being driven, and the second camera is in a predetermined period after the drive. The provision of an image to the user terminal 400 that is displaying the dedicated page is controlled so that the image captured by 120 is displayed on the real machine display unit 405. That is, the actual machine display unit 405 sequentially displays images obtained by rotating the handle of the article sales apparatus 200 while the motor 203 is being driven. After the rotation of the handle for one article discharge is completed, the image is discharged. An image obtained by imaging at least the article held in the article holding unit 211 is displayed so that the received article can be confirmed. By doing in this way, the article selling apparatus 200 can be used to simulate the actual flow of purchasing an article with the article selling apparatus 200, that is, the coin insertion, the rotation of the handle, and the visual flow of the discharged article. It can be provided to users existing in 200 remote locations.

  In the present embodiment, the image displayed on the real machine display unit 405 after the rotation of the handle of the article sales apparatus 200 is completed is switched from the image captured by the first camera 110 to the image captured by the second camera 120. As will be described, the implementation of the present invention is not limited to this. For example, after the driving of the motor 203 is started, the discharge sensor 209 detects the discharge of the article, the discharged article has entered a predetermined position within the imaging range of the second camera 120, and the article is held by the article. It may be switched according to the fact that it is detected that it is newly held in the unit 211. Further, for example, an image captured by the first camera 110 is displayed until an operation relating to article discharge is performed. After the operation, an image captured by the first camera 110 and an image captured by the second camera 120 are displayed. May be configured to be switchable according to the operation of the occupying user.

Further, in the article sales system of the present embodiment, the occupation state that is set by the user for one article sales apparatus 200 is not only the case where the release by the intention of the occupation user is made (instruction to end the purchase),
-A predetermined upper limit number of articles was discharged in one occupied state.-A predetermined upper limit number of articles within a predetermined period (one day, one month, etc.) for the same article selling device 200.・ The specified time has passed without any operation related to the discharge of goods (timeout)
An operation for moving to a dedicated page related to another article sales apparatus 200 is performed. An occupation state is set for another article sales apparatus 200. Communication between the user terminal 400 used by the occupied user and the game server 300. It shall be canceled when any of the conditions for detecting disconnection is satisfied. By doing in this way, the state in which the user waiting for use cannot perform an operation relating to the discharge of the article in which purchase of the article sold in one article selling apparatus 200 is monopolized by some users for a predetermined time. It is possible to avoid an unfavorable situation such as continuing as described above and to ensure equal purchase opportunities for service users. Such release of the occupied state is also effective in increasing the sales opportunity of the article from the viewpoint of the article seller.

  When an article is held in the article holding unit 211 when the occupation state is released, the notification unit 106 notifies that fact by a predetermined method. Upon receiving the notification, the operator present at the installation location of the article sales apparatus 200 collects the articles held in the article holding unit 211 and performs a delivery procedure to the delivery destination based on the user information of the occupying user before release. In this way, the articles discharged from the article sales apparatus 200 in the article sales system of the present embodiment are provided to the user who made the purchase.

《Goods discharge processing》
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the article discharging process of one article selling apparatus 200 (target selling apparatus) related to one occupied user performed by the control apparatus 100 in the article selling system of the present embodiment having such a configuration. A specific process will be described by using. The processing corresponding to the flowchart can be realized by the control unit 101 reading, for example, a corresponding processing program stored in the recording medium 102, developing it in the memory 103, and executing it. In this article sale processing, for example, an occupation state is set for a user who is in a use standby state of the target sales device, that is, all occupation states of a user who is in the use standby state of the device before the user are released. In this case, it is assumed that the communication unit 107 starts when information indicating the start of use of the occupied user is received from the game server 300. In addition, when there is no user in the use standby state for the target sales apparatus, and no occupation state is assigned to any user, information indicating the start of the use of the exclusive user is received when the use reservation operation is accepted. This process may be started based on the transmission of the information from the game server 300 to the control device 100 and reception of the information.

  In step S <b> 501, the control unit 101 determines whether an instruction to drive the target sales apparatus based on the payment of the price has been received from the game server 300. As described above in the operation overview, the driving instruction is executed only when the possessed point of the occupying user is consumed, that is, only when payment of the consideration is confirmed in the settlement process for one item discharge. A drive instruction is transmitted from the game server 300 to the control device 100 as a result of the predetermined processing. If it is determined that the drive instruction has been received, the control unit 101 moves the process to S502, and if it determines that the drive instruction has not been received, the control unit 101 moves the process to S504.

  In step S <b> 502, the drive control unit 104 outputs a drive command related to one article discharge to the drive system 201 of the target sales apparatus under the control of the control unit 101. The drive control unit 104 receives information on the rotation angle of the motor 203 and performs drive control as appropriate. When the control unit 101 determines that the driving of the drive system 201 related to one article discharge is completed, the process proceeds to S503.

  In step S <b> 503, the control unit 101 switches an image used for updating the real machine display unit 405 of the dedicated page to an image captured by the second camera 120. At this time, the camera control unit 105 performs control to switch the imaging device that receives input from the first camera 110 to the second camera 120. It should be noted that the image switching for updating the actual machine display unit 405 is configured to be held until the time determined by a predetermined standard elapses so that the occupying user can easily perform an operation related to the next article discharge. Good. The time is, for example, the time required for the article discharged based on the drive to pass through the guide rail 210 and reach the article holding unit 211 after the drive of the drive system 201 is completed, for example. It may be determined based on this.

  In step S <b> 504, the control unit 101 determines whether or not an occupation state release condition is satisfied. If the control unit 101 determines that the occupied state release condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S505. If the control unit 101 determines that the release condition for the occupied state is not satisfied, the article discharge operation is completed via the communication unit 107 after the period for transmitting the image captured by the second camera 120 is completed. Information indicating that this has been done (discharge completion information) is transmitted to the game server 300, and the process returns to S501. Note that the discharge completion information is information for notifying the game server 300 that the drive instruction relating to the next article discharge can be received, and a dedicated page is displayed from the game server 300 upon receipt of the information. Information for control (change to a state in which an operation related to article discharge is accepted) is sent to the user terminal 400 used by the occupying user.

  In step S <b> 505, the notification unit 106 notifies that the release condition of the occupied state is satisfied under the control of the control unit 101. As described above, the notification is made for the purpose of notifying the operator that the article purchase by the occupying user has been completed. In response to this, the operator collects the article held in the article holding unit 211 and occupies it. Stock or package in a separate place for delivery to the delivery destination for the user. In this step, it may be further determined whether or not an article is held in the article holding unit 211, and notification may be performed only when the article is held. In addition, in order to prevent the next article discharging operation from being performed during the collection of the goods and causing the purchase article to be mistaken among the users, the article that is a new holding member or until the collection completion instruction is input by the operator. Until it is detected that the holding unit 211 is installed, the process may be waited in this step. At this time, in order to reduce the amount of calculation in the control device 100 and the amount of communication bandwidth used for image transmission, the imaging of the image by the first camera 110 or the second camera 120 is stopped, and the actual machine display unit 405 of the dedicated page is displayed as a separate image. It is also possible to perform processing such as changing to, and stopping image updating.

  In step S <b> 506, the control unit 101 notifies the game server 300 that the article discharge operation has been completed and instructs to release the occupied state for the occupied user. Specifically, the control unit 101 transmits the discharge completion information and the occupation state release request to the communication unit 107 to be transmitted to the game server 300.

  As described above, according to the present article discharge processing, when the article sales apparatus 200 performs the article discharge operation based on the remote operation, the drive mechanism of the article sales apparatus 200 is driven according to the operation related to the article discharge. And the article discharged in response to the driving can be made visible to the user. Therefore, since the user can confirm at least what kind of appearance the discharged article has, it is possible to favorably guide the user with respect to the service using the article selling apparatus via the network. become.

[Embodiment 2]
In the article discharge process of the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the determination as to whether any release condition of the occupied state is satisfied in S504, but the determination related to the release condition is not limited to this. That is, the release conditions may be determined at different timings and periods. For example, among the release conditions described above,
An operation for moving to a dedicated page related to another article sales apparatus 200 is performed. An occupation state is set for another article sales apparatus 200. Communication between the user terminal 400 used by the occupied user and the game server 300. The condition for detecting the disconnection may be determined periodically while the user is in the occupation state of the target sales device or at the timing when the corresponding information is received from the game server 300. Good.

  By the way, in the article sales system of the present invention, the articles discharged in response to the payment of the price are, for example, articles held in the next through-hole 207 at the stage where the immediately preceding article is discharged due to the structure of the article sales apparatus 200. Has been determined. In other words, since the drive related to the discharge of the article as in the prize providing apparatus as in Patent Document 1 does not change due to the user operation, the elements that the user can be involved in the discharge of the article after the payment of the consideration are made. Absent. In other words, the article to be discharged is determined only by the operation of the drive system 201 related to article discharge in the article selling apparatus 200.

  Therefore, in the article sales system of this embodiment, for example, when the settlement is completed in the settlement process related to the payment of the consideration, the communication connection between the user terminal 400 used by the occupied user and the game server 300 is disconnected thereafter. Even so, the process of sending the driving instruction and the output of the driving instruction based on the payment of the price is surely performed to discharge the article and secure the user's profit.

  On the other hand, even in such a communication disconnection, with the configuration in which the drive system 201 is driven to discharge articles, there is no way for a user who is in an occupied state to check which articles have been discharged. In other words, it may not be possible to visually recognize the article that has been discharged as a result of the rotation of the handle, and the article that has been discharged in response to the payment of the corresponding price and the article that has arrived at the user's hand Cannot be recognized.

  Therefore, in the article sales system of the present embodiment, even when the occupation state is canceled due to communication disconnection, the following error processing at the time of disconnection is performed so that suitable user usage can be provided according to the settlement status. . Note that the configuration of the article sales system of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

<Error handling during disconnection>
Hereinafter, when the user's occupation state is set for one article sales apparatus 200 (target sales apparatus) performed by the control device 100 in the article sales system of the present embodiment, the user (occupied user) 's A specific process of the disconnection error process executed by the control apparatus 100 when the communication with the user terminal 400 to be used is disconnected will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The processing corresponding to the flowchart can be realized by the control unit 101 reading, for example, a corresponding processing program stored in the recording medium 102, developing it in the memory 103, and executing it.

  Note that the error processing at the time of disconnection is assumed to be started when the communication unit 107 receives information indicating that the communication connection with the user terminal 400 used by the occupied user has been disconnected from the user terminal 400, for example. To do. Further, the error processing at the time of cutting may be executed in parallel with the article discharge process of the first embodiment, and the execution start timing does not depend on the execution state of the article discharge process. That is, detection of communication disconnection in the game server 300 is performed independently of the settlement process, and information indicating that the communication connection has been disconnected is performed to transmit a drive instruction after the settlement process is completed. It is assumed that it is transmitted to the control device 100 regardless of the progress status of the processing.

  In step S <b> 601, the control unit 101 has completed the payment processing for the payment for the new item discharge after the previous item discharge operation is completed before the communication with the user terminal 400 used by the occupied user is disconnected. It is determined whether or not. Whether or not the settlement process has been completed may be determined by the control unit 101 making an inquiry to the game server 300, or a drive instruction based on payment of the value in S501 of the article discharge process May be determined based on whether or not has already been received. The control unit 101 moves the process to S602 if it determines that the settlement process relating to the discharge of a new article (undischarged article) has been completed before the communication disconnection, and if it determines that it has not been completed Complete error handling.

  In step S <b> 602, the control unit 101 determines whether an instruction to drive the target sales apparatus related to discharging undischarged articles is received from the game server 300. If it is determined that the drive instruction has been received, the control unit 101 moves the process to S603. If it is determined that the drive instruction has not been received, the control unit 101 repeats the process of this step.

  In step S <b> 603, the control unit 101 starts recording an image for which the camera control unit 105 has received an input. Specifically, the control unit 101 stores an image captured and input by the first camera 110 or the second camera 120 in, for example, the recording medium 102 in association with a user ID that identifies the occupied user. At this time, in order to clearly indicate that the stored image is an image of the state of the target sales apparatus corresponding to the article discharging operation related to the undischarged article, the control unit 101 adds the time stamp of the current time to the stored image. May be synthesized. The recording of the image associated with the occupying user does not need to be executed every time the camera control unit 105 receives an image, but is temporarily buffered in the memory 103 and executed at a predetermined timing. It will be easy to understand.

  In step S <b> 604, the control unit 101 determines whether the article discharge operation related to the undischarged articles is completed. For example, the control unit 101 may perform the determination of this step depending on whether or not S506 of the article discharge process that is executed in parallel is executed. The control unit 101 moves the process to S605 when it is determined that the article discharge operation related to the undischarged article is completed, and repeats the process of this step when it is determined that it is not completed.

  In step S <b> 605, the control unit 101 stops recording an image for which the camera control unit 105 has received an input. Then, when the user of the user terminal 400 in which the communication disconnection is detected performs service login again, the control unit 101 records the user together with an instruction to transmit the recorded image group to the user terminal 400 used by the user. The obtained image group is transmitted to the game server 300. Note that when the communication connection is re-established, an instruction to the game server 300 may be configured so that each of the recorded image groups is sequentially transmitted according to the imaging order.

  According to the error processing at the time of this cutting, for the user who paid the consideration related to the article discharge, the article discharge operation corresponding to the payment is surely executed instead of paying the consideration. That is, for example, even when the user terminal 400 is in an unstable communication environment, the user obtains an article related to a desired sales title if the use standby state is ended and at least the settlement process is completed. be able to. This is particularly useful from the viewpoint of guaranteeing as many purchase opportunities as possible for products that have a limited number of products, such as those handled by the conventional product sales apparatus 200, and that are likely to be in short supply due to the purchase of many users. It is.

  In the present embodiment, it has been described that when the communication disconnection is detected, the camera control unit 105 sequentially records the images for which input is accepted. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this. Since the recorded image is used for the presentation of the appearance of the discharged goods and the appearance of the discharged goods to the user who has become unable to use the service due to communication disconnection, It is not necessary to record all the images for which input is accepted as long as it functions as at least presentation of such information. Therefore, for example, in normal service use, the camera control unit 105 may acquire and record images at an interval longer than the update interval of the image presented on the real machine display unit 405 of the dedicated page. In addition, when the handle is rotated, when the article is ejected, or when the ejected article is held by the article holding unit 211, an image captured in a situation where user presentation is determined to be preferable is recorded in a concentrated manner. May be.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the captured image is recorded only when communication disconnection is detected. However, for example, image recording is performed for all article discharge operations so that the article can be confirmed after the article arrives at the user's hand. May be configured to be performed. In addition, in the article sales system according to the present invention, the captured image is transmitted to the plurality of user terminals 400 viewing the corresponding dedicated page so that it can be seen that the article is discharged due to the payment of the consideration of other users. However, when a captured image is recorded or buffered, it is possible to avoid compression of the communication band by using this. In other words, the captured image is preferentially transmitted to the user terminal 400 used by the occupying user who is required to respond to the operation related to the discharge of the article, but the user terminal 400 used by the viewing user is like this. Since responsiveness is not required, it is possible to avoid compression of the communication band by delaying image transmission and distributing the transmission timing.

[Embodiment 3]
In the first and second embodiments described above, an article is discharged by a drive command that causes the drive system 201 to perform a predetermined operation related to one article discharge that is output in response to one payment of the price. Explained as a thing. On the other hand, as described with reference to FIG. 8A, the turntable 206 is provided with a plurality of through-holes 207a to 207e. In such a case, even if the drive related to one article discharge operation is performed by the drive system 201, the article may not be discharged. That is, as shown in FIG. 8B, in the rotation direction of the turntable 206, the article is held in the through hole 207b disposed next to the through hole 207a located on the discharge port 208 before driving. If not, a single drive command results in the state of FIG. 8C and the article 802 is not discharged (so-called empty). In the example of FIG. 8B, in order to discharge the article 802, it is necessary to cause the drive system 201 to drive according to the drive command four times from the state of FIG. 8B. Since the turntable 206 of the present embodiment shown in FIG. 8 has five through holes, there is a possibility that the article will not be discharged unless a driving command is output four times at the maximum.

  Normally, when the article sales apparatus 200 is installed at a storefront or the like, the purchaser can confirm whether or not the article is discharged by the next drive by looking at the bottom of the storage unit 204 from the side. An article can be acquired by having the arrangement changed. However, in an article sales system such as the present invention, it is not realistic to provide an additional imaging device for such confirmation from the viewpoint of cost and the user cannot visually recognize the bottom of the storage unit 204. On the other hand, manual movement by an operator may be considered. However, an arrangement change due to a human element in a situation where the operator cannot visually recognize may give the user an impression that reliability of service use is not ensured.

  Further, in an operation in which the target article sales apparatus 200 is handled as being out of stock when no article is discharged in one article discharge operation, for example, an article that can be visually recognized is not discharged in a state where a large number of articles are accumulated. The user may be out of stock and may give the user an impression that the reliability of service use is not guaranteed. In such a case, there is a possibility of reducing the profit opportunity of the article provider.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, an article sales system that reliably discharges all articles stored in the storage unit 204 and ensures reliability related to service use will be described.

《Goods discharge processing》
Hereinafter, specific processing of the article discharge processing performed by the control device 100 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In addition, about the step which performs the operation | movement similar to the article | item discharge | emission process of Embodiment 1, the same reference number is attached | subjected and description is abbreviate | omitted, and it keeps only description of the step which performs the characteristic process in the article | item discharge | emission process of this embodiment. .

  If it is determined in S501 that the drive instruction has been received, the drive control unit 104 outputs a drive command related to one article discharge to the drive system 201 of the target sales apparatus in S701. After outputting the drive command, the control unit 101 moves the process to S702.

  In step S <b> 702, the control unit 101 detects the discharge of the article until the driving of the drive system 201 related to one article discharge is completed or during a predetermined period when the article is discharged by the drive. It is determined whether or not. Specifically, the control unit 101 determines this step based on whether or not a signal indicating that the article has been discharged is received from the discharge sensor 209. If the control unit 101 determines that the discharge of the article is detected, the process proceeds to S503. If the control unit 101 determines that the discharge of the article is not detected, the control unit 101 shifts the process to S703.

  In step S <b> 703, the control unit 101 determines whether the number of times that the drive command is output from the drive control unit 104 for the received drive instruction has reached a predetermined number for determining that the product is out of stock. When the control unit 101 determines that the number of times the drive command has been output has reached a predetermined number, the process proceeds to S704, and when it is determined that the drive command has not been reached, the process returns to S701.

  In step S <b> 704, the control unit 101 transmits a notification that the product is out of stock and a refund instruction for the paid consideration to the game server 300 via the communication unit 107. In this embodiment, by notifying that the product is out of stock, the game server 300 excludes the link from the list page to the dedicated page related to the target sales device, and the user terminal 400 that is currently accessing the dedicated page. For example, control to forcibly move to the link page is performed. By doing in this way, it is possible to control the system so that any user terminal 400 cannot accept an operation related to the discharge of articles to the target sales apparatus. However, the processing in the out-of-stock state is not limited to this. The processing in the out-of-stock state is sufficient as long as it avoids the drive in the target sales device, and the control device 100 does not accept the drive instruction or does not output the drive command according to the reception. Such control may be possible.

  Note that in the article discharge process of the present embodiment, the control unit 101 moves the process to S <b> 505 after S <b> 704, assuming that the occupied state is released even when the product is out of stock.

  As described above, according to the article sales system of this embodiment, only when no article exists in the storage unit 204 can be processed as out of stock without using human means, and as a result, the reliability of service use Can be secured to the user, and the profit opportunity of the merchandise seller can be guaranteed.

[Modification]
In order to suitably present the user experience of using the capsule vending machine to the user, for example, in accordance with the operation related to the discharge of the article or the rotation of the handle of the article selling apparatus 200, the sound actually sampled in the use of the article selling apparatus 200 is displayed as an image. In addition, it may be configured to be presented at the user terminal 400. In addition, the drive command given to the drive system 201 is output once, and the drive system 201 is not driven until the next through-hole 207 is positioned on the discharge port 208 in the rotation direction of the turntable 206. Similarly to the article sales apparatus 200, one rotation operation may be completed by outputting a drive command multiple times. At this time, it may be a requirement to receive an operation related to the discharge of the article a plurality of times from the user terminal 400, and the error processing at the time of cutting as in the second embodiment is completed of the settlement process performed in response to the acceptance of the first operation Can be used as a criterion.

  Further, in the article sales system of the above-described embodiment, the image captured by the two imaging devices of the first camera 110 and the second camera 120 has been described as being presented on the real machine display unit 405 of the dedicated page. The invention does not necessarily have to be realized by switching between two imaging devices, and the number of imaging devices may be one. In this case, since the imaging range in which the handle and the storage unit 204 of the article sales apparatus 200 are captured is different from the imaging range in which the article held in the article holding unit 211 is enlarged, the display mode is changed. The camera control unit 105 may change the imaging direction and angle of view of the imaging apparatus.

  In addition, in the drive of the drive system 201 related to one-time article discharge, a plurality of articles may be rarely discharged. For example, appearance characteristics such as the color of an article discharged by image analysis of a captured image May be sequentially displayed on a dedicated page, and it may be clearly shown that the items other than the first item among the plurality of items are not acquired by showing the feature of the appearance. By doing in this way, the fairness of the service utilization between users can be ensured.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The information processing apparatus according to the present invention can also be realized by a program that causes one or more computers to function as the information processing apparatus. The program can be provided / distributed by being recorded on a computer-readable recording medium or through a telecommunication line.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100: Control apparatus, 200: Goods sales apparatus, 110: 1st camera, 120: 2nd camera, 300: Game server, 400: User terminal, 500: Network, 101: Control part, 102: Recording medium, 103: Memory 104: drive control unit 105: camera control unit 106: notification unit 107: communication unit 201: drive system 202: motor driver 203: motor 204: storage unit 205: discharge mechanism 206: turn Table, 207: Through hole, 208: Discharge port, 209: Discharge sensor, 210: Guide rail, 211: Article holding part

Claims (20)

An information processing apparatus connected to an article sales apparatus that discharges an article in response to payment of a price,
Receiving means for receiving a driving instruction according to payment of the consideration;
In response to receiving the drive instruction by the receiving means, an output that outputs a drive command for driving the drive mechanism for discharging the article of the article selling apparatus until the article is discharged from the article selling apparatus. Means,
First acquisition means for acquiring a first image obtained by imaging that the drive mechanism is driven in accordance with the drive command output by the output means;
Second acquisition means for acquiring a second image obtained by imaging the holding unit of the article selling apparatus that holds articles discharged by driving of the drive mechanism;
An information processing apparatus comprising: a control unit configured to control to transmit the first image or the second image to an external device in a process of discharging an article based on the driving instruction.   The control means controls to transmit the first image to the external device during driving of the drive mechanism, and to transmit the second image to the external device for a predetermined period after driving of the drive mechanism. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein: A switching means for receiving an image switching instruction transmitted by the control means;
The control means switches between the first image and the second image as a transmission object in response to the switching instruction being received by the switching means. Or the information processing apparatus according to 2; It further comprises detection means for detecting that the article has been discharged by driving the drive mechanism,
4. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit switches an image to be transmitted to the external device to the second image in response to detection of discharge of an article by the detection unit. The information processing apparatus according to item. Regarding the use of the article sales apparatus, it further comprises setting means for setting an occupation state for one user,
The receiving means receives the driving instruction when a payment based on an occupied user for which the occupation state is set is made while the occupation state is set by the setting means,
The said setting means cancels | releases the setting of the said occupation state to this exclusive user, when the utilization condition of the said article sales apparatus by the said exclusive user satisfy | fills predetermined conditions. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims.   The predetermined condition is that the number of articles discharged from the article selling apparatus according to the occupying user reaches a threshold value, a case where a predetermined time elapses without receiving the driving instruction, and use of the occupying user The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information processing apparatus is one in a case where communication connection with the external device is disconnected.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, further comprising notification means for notifying that the occupied state has been released by the setting means. And further comprising recording means for sequentially recording the first image and the second image on a recording medium,
The control means, when receiving an image transmission command related to the occupied user, controls to transmit the image recorded on the recording medium to the external device used by the occupied user. The information processing apparatus according to any one of 5 to 7. When the settlement processing related to payment of the compensation is completed before the communication connection with the external device used by the occupied user is disconnected, and the corresponding driving command is not yet output by the output means,
The receiving means receives the driving instruction based on the settlement processing;
The output means outputs the corresponding drive command;
The recording means sequentially records the first image and the second image on the recording medium;
The control means controls to transmit an image recorded in the recording medium to the external device when a communication connection with the external device used by the occupied user is established again. Item 9. The information processing apparatus according to Item 8.   10. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein when the image recorded on the recording medium is transmitted, the control unit performs control so that the recorded image is transmitted in accordance with an imaging order thereof.   11. The recording apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the recording unit combines information indicating an imaging timing with the first image and the second image, and records the combined image on the recording medium. The information processing apparatus according to item 1.   The control unit performs control so that the first image and the second image are transmitted to a device other than the external device used by the occupant user than the external device used by the occupant user. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the information processing apparatus is an information processing apparatus.   13. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs control to transmit a reproduction instruction of a predetermined audio signal to the external device along with transmission of the first image to the external device. The information processing apparatus according to item. It further comprises detection means for detecting that the article has been discharged by driving the drive mechanism,
The output means outputs again the driving command for the payment of the one price when the discharge of the article is not detected by the driving of the driving mechanism related to the driving command for the payment of the single payment. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. A decision means for deciding a refund of the consideration related to the drive instruction;
If the discharge of the article is not detected even if the driving command for the payment of the one time is output a predetermined number of times,
The output means stops outputting the drive command;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the determination unit determines a refund of the value related to the driving instruction.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the receiving unit does not receive the driving instruction after the determination unit determines that the compensation for the driving instruction is refunded. The first image and the second image are images captured when the control unit issues an imaging command to the same imaging device,
17. The control unit according to claim 1, wherein when the second image is captured by the imaging device, the control unit issues a control command for changing an imaging direction and changing an angle of view to the imaging device. The information processing apparatus according to item 1.   2. The article according to claim 1, wherein the article is a case made of a light-transmitting material and having a toy body in a case having any of a plurality of colors. The information processing apparatus according to any one of 17. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus connected to an article sales apparatus that discharges articles in response to payment of a price,
A receiving step of receiving a driving instruction according to payment of the consideration;
In response to receiving the drive instruction in the receiving step, an output for outputting a drive command for driving the drive mechanism for discharging the article of the article selling apparatus until the article is discharged from the article selling apparatus. Process,
A first acquisition step of acquiring an image obtained by imaging that the drive mechanism is driven according to the drive command output in the output step;
A second acquisition step of acquiring an image obtained by capturing an image of a holding unit of the article selling apparatus that holds the article discharged by driving the driving mechanism;
And a control step of controlling to transmit the image acquired in the first acquisition step or the second acquisition step to an external device in the process of discharging the article based on the drive instruction. A method for controlling a processing apparatus.   A program that causes a computer connected to an article sales apparatus that discharges articles in accordance with payment of a price to function as each unit of the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 18.

Images