JP2022096788A - Information processing apparatus, information processing method, information processing system, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a technique to efficiently manage information on a business card.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus exchanges business cards on-line, and the information processing apparatus comprises: acquisition means that acquires business card images via a network; and generation means that generates text information from the business card images acquired by the acquisition means. Before generating the text information, the generation means discards the business card images based on an instruction for the business card images acquired by the acquisition means.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, an information processing system, and a program.

In the business card management service, the business card that the service user wants to manage can be registered as text information. The paper-based business card acquired face-to-face by the service user is read as a business card image by the service user by taking a picture or by a scanner or the like and sent to the business card management service. Then, it is general that the business card management service performs a process of creating text information from the transmitted business card image (hereinafter referred to as digitization) and provides it as text information that can be managed by the service user.

By the way, not only business card management service users but also online meetings are generally increasing, and the chances of acquiring paper-based business cards are decreasing. For this reason, in the business card management service, a business card exchange URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is provided to the service user, and the meeting participants send the business card image from the published business card exchange URL to acquire the business card image online. It is provided as a business card exchange system.

In Patent Document 1, a business card exchange mode in which business cards are mutually transmitted and received in a multimedia online system in which various media are communicated via a communication line without having a face-to-face meeting, and business cards accumulated as a result of the exchange. A business card processing method for online business card exchange is described, which includes a step of switching between three types of communication modes, an update mode and an automatic business card reception mode, and a step of accumulating and managing the exchanged business cards in a business card database.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-8962

However, in Patent Document 1, since there is no means for confirming the data received by online business card exchange before using the data, resources related to storage and use may be wasted. In addition, since the business card exchange URL can be accessed from any terminal, for example, images that are not suitable for digitization (images that are too large in size, images other than business cards, and business card images have poor reading and shooting conditions and text information can be read. (Difficult images, etc.) and unexpected amounts of business card images may be sent to the business card management service, wasting resources related to the digitization of the business card management service. That is, the management efficiency is poor.

The present invention has been made in view of such a problem, and provides a technique for efficiently managing information related to business cards.

In order to solve the above problems, the information processing apparatus of the present invention has the following configurations. That is,
An information processing device that exchanges business cards online.
An acquisition method for acquiring business card images via a network,
It is provided with a creation means for creating text information from the business card image acquired by the acquisition means.
The creating means is characterized in that, before creating the text information, the business card image is discarded based on an instruction for the business card image acquired by the acquiring means.

Further, another information processing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
An information processing device that exchanges business cards online.
An acquisition method for acquiring multiple business card images via a network,
A third determination means for determining whether or not a plurality of business card images acquired by the acquisition means have reached a predetermined number of sheets,
Based on the result of the determination by the third determination means, the storage means for storing the business card image and the storage means.
A means for creating text information from a business card image stored by the storage means is provided.

Further, another information processing apparatus of the present invention has the following configuration. That is,
An information processing device that exchanges business cards online.
An acquisition means for acquiring the business card image via a network before creating text information from the business card image, and
It is provided with a display means for displaying the business card image acquired by the acquisition means and an instruction means for giving an instruction to the business card image displayed by the display means.
The instruction is characterized by including an instruction to discard the business card image.

According to the present invention, information regarding business cards can be efficiently managed.

Block diagram showing a configuration example of an information processing system Block diagram showing a hardware configuration example of a computer device Information processing system sequence diagram An example of a screen to create an exchange URL An example of a screen for sending an exchange URL An example of a screen for displaying a business card An example of a screen that displays information about business cards An example of a screen for sending information about a business card Flow chart of processing performed by the business card management service device 100 Diagram showing an example of notification Flowchart of processing performed by business card management service user PC200 Flow chart of processing performed by the business card management service device 100 An example of a screen for checking a business card image An example of a confirmation screen for digitization An example of a confirmation screen for discarding Flow chart of processing performed by the business card management service device 100 An example of a screen for checking a business card image Block diagram showing a configuration example of an information processing system

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It should be noted that the embodiment described below is an example of a case where the present invention is specifically implemented, and is one of the specific embodiments of the configuration described in the claims.

<First Embodiment>
[System configuration]
First, a configuration example of the information processing system according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the block diagram of FIG. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing system according to the present embodiment has a business card management service device 100, a business card management service user PC 200, and a meeting participant PC 300, which are examples of information processing devices, and each device has a business card management service device 100. , Connected to a network such as LAN or the Internet.

The business card management service device 100 is a computer that acquires information on business cards from a plurality of computers (business card management service user PC200, meeting participant PC300), creates a database, and manages the information. The information related to the business card is, for example, a business card image (an image obtained by imaging or the like), text information (company name, department name, personal name, title, fax number, telephone number, e-mail address, URL, etc.).

The business card management service user PC200 and the meeting participant PC300 both have browsers (Web browsers) 210 and 310 such as general PCs (personal computers) and smartphones, and are communication devices capable of executing each process described later. .. The meeting participant PC 300 may be a third party who exchanges information about the business card with the business card management service user, or may be a business card management service user.

The business card management service device 100 has a business card management program 110 and a DB (database) 120. The business card management program 110 acquires information about business cards from a plurality of computers (business card management service user PC200, meeting participant PC300) and stores them in the DB 120.

The business card management service user PC200 and the meeting participant PC300 are operated by the user and have browsers 210 and 310, respectively. The user can acquire information about the business card of another user from the business card management service device 100 via the browsers 210 and 310. In addition, information about its own business card can be transmitted to the business card management service device 100 via the browsers 210 and 310. There are various methods for acquiring information about one's own business card, and the method is not limited to a specific method. For example, information read by an image reading device such as a scanner may be acquired as information related to a business card. Further, a business card may be imaged using an image pickup device such as a camera, and information about the own business card may be acquired from the image obtained by the image pickup. Further, the information (image) stored in the position specified by the user or the like may be acquired as the information related to the business card, or the information received from the external device connected on the network may be acquired as the information related to the business card. May be good.

The configuration shown in FIG. 1 is an example, and the number of information processing devices and the network configuration are not limited to FIG. For example, the business card management service user PC 200 may perform some functions of the business card management program 110. Further, the DB 120 may be provided in a storage device separate from the business card management service device 100 connected on the network 4, or may be provided in the HDD 24 (storage device) described later in the business card management service device 100. good.

[Hardware configuration]
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment. An example of the hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus applicable to the business card management service device 100, the business card management service user PC200, and the meeting participant PC300 according to the present embodiment is shown. Although the information processing device having the same configuration is used here, the business card management service device 100, the business card management service user PC 200, and the meeting participant PC 300 may each have different hardware configurations. Further, the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 2 is an example, and for example, a scanner may be added to this configuration, or an image pickup device may be added.

The information processing device includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 23, an HDD (external storage device) 24, an input device 25, a display device 26, and an interface 27. Consists of.

The parts are communicably connected to each other via the bus 28. The CPU 21 controls the entire information processing apparatus, and realizes various processes as described later by reading and executing a program stored in the HDD 24 or the like. The ROM 22 is a non-volatile storage unit. The RAM 23 is a volatile storage unit and is also used as a work area for executing a program. The HDD 24 is a non-volatile storage unit, and stores an OS (Operating System), a program, and various data. The input device 25 is an interface for receiving an operation from a user, and examples thereof include a mouse and a keyboard. The display device 26 is a part for displaying various information. The interface 27 is for connecting the information processing device to the network, and the information processing device can perform data communication with the device on the network via the interface 27.

[Overview of online business card exchange]
The outline of the online business card exchange according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram of an information processing system. The procedure of FIG. 3 will be described assuming that the business card management service device 100 holds information about the business card of the business card management service user PC 200.

In S301, the business card management service user PC 200 requests the business card management service device 100 to create a replacement URL in order to acquire a URL for disclosing information about its own business card.

FIG. 4 is an example of a screen for creating a replacement URL displayed on the display device 26 of the business card management service user PC200. The screen shown in FIG. 4 is displayed using the browser 210 of the business card management service user PC200. Depending on the security settings of the business card management service device 100, user authentication may be required to display this screen.

The publication deadline 410 is an item for setting a deadline for publishing the replacement URL. The number of sheets setting 420 is an item for setting the number of sheets that can receive information about business cards. The browsing key 430 is an item for setting a key necessary for displaying information related to the business card when the meeting participant PC 300 accesses the exchange URL. The set browsing key is notified by the business card management service user to the meeting participants by telephone or e-mail. By checking the check box 440, the business card management service user, the business card management program 110, or the like can be set to perform digitization after confirming the business card image. In other words, the business card management service user can select whether or not to perform a determination as to whether or not the business card image is an image suitable for digitization. By pressing the URL creation button 450, the business card management service device 100 is requested to create a replacement URL. The setting items shown in FIG. 4 are examples, and for example, the publication deadline and the number of sheets may be set to unlimited, and the browsing key may not be set.

When the business card management service device 100 receives the exchange URL creation request from the business card management service user PC 200, the business card management service device 100 creates the exchange URL in S302. The business card management service device 100 records each setting item (publication deadline 410, number setting 420, browsing key 430, presence / absence of digitization because it is confirmed 440) included in the exchange URL creation request in association with the created URL. ..

In S303, the business card management service device 100 provides a replacement URL to the business card management service user PC 200. In S304, the business card management service user PC200 transmits the exchange URL to the meeting participant PC300. FIG. 5 is an example of a screen for transmitting the exchange URL. The exchange URL may be transmitted by the business card management service device 100 via the browser 210, or the exchange URL may be transmitted by using the mail function provided in the business card management service user PC 200.

At S305, the meeting participant PC300 accesses the exchange URL and starts online business card exchange. The screen shown in FIG. 6 is an example of a screen for displaying a business card displayed by using the browser 310 of the meeting participant PC 300. The text box 610 is an item for inputting a browsing key notified by a business card management service user. Button 620 is a button for displaying a business card.

If the browsing key entered in the text box 610 and the browsing key recorded in the business card management service device 100 match, the business card management service user as shown in FIG. 7 is released on S306. Display information about your business card. FIG. 7 is an example of a screen for displaying information related to a business card. Reference numeral 720 is information on the business card published by the business card management service user PC200. The button 710 is a button for transmitting one's own business card, and by pressing the button 710, the process proceeds to S307.

In S307, the business card image and the like of the meeting participant PC300 are acquired. As shown in FIG. 8, meeting participants can take a picture of their business card on paper or select a business card image they already have in order to exchange information about the business card. FIG. 8 is an example of a screen for transmitting information regarding a business card. By pressing the shooting button 810, a business card can be shot using the image pickup device provided in the meeting participant PC 300, and the image obtained by the shooting can be used as the business card image 820. The text box 830 is an item of a message to be transmitted to the business card management service user PC 200. The text box 840 is used when the business card image sent to the business card management service user PC200 is in error (for example, when the sent business card image cannot be received by the business card management service, or when the transmitted business card image is discarded by the business card management service). This is the contact information to notify (when the business card management service wants the business card image to be resent). The button 850 is a button for transmitting information about a business card including a business card image to the business card management service device 100.

At S308, the meeting participant PC 300 transmits information about the business card including the business card image to the business card management service device 100. In S309, the business card management service device 100 stores information about the business card including the received business card image in a place (DB120) where the business card management service user PC 200 can confirm. After the business card management service device 100 stores information about the business card including the business card image, the business card management service user PC 200 may be notified (email or the like) that the business card image for online business card exchange is stored. ..

The business card management service device 100 may determine whether or not to store information related to the business card including the received business card image based on the information set by the business card management service user PC 200 in association with the exchange URL. .. As an example, FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process in which the business card management service device 100 determines whether or not to store information related to business cards based on the number setting 420 in FIG.

Upon receiving the information regarding the business card including the business card image in S901, the business card management program 110 determines in S902 whether or not the information regarding the business card including the received business card image has reached a predetermined number. The predetermined number of sheets is the number of sheets that can receive information about the business card recorded in association with the exchange URL in S302 of FIG.

When it is determined that the number of sheets has not reached the predetermined number (NO in S902), the business card management program 110 stores information about the business card including the business card image transmitted from the meeting participant PC 300 in the DB 120 in S903.

When it is determined that the predetermined number of cards has been reached (YES in S902), in S904, the business card management program 110 notifies the meeting participant PC 300 as shown in FIG. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of notification.

Whether to store information about business cards including business card images received from the meeting participant PC 300 based on the information set by the business card management service user PC200 in association with the exchange URL (for example, the number setting 420 in FIG. 4). By determining, it is possible to prevent the business card management service device 100 from storing an unexpected amount of information about the business card, and it is possible to avoid wasting resources. In addition, when charging for digitization work, it is possible to control the generation of charges.

[Judgment of business card images suitable for digitization]
Since the exchange URL can be accessed from any terminal, for example, images that are not suitable for digitization (images that are too large in size, images other than business cards, images that are difficult to read even with business card images due to poor reading and shooting conditions, etc.) ) Is also transmitted to the business card management service device 100. Therefore, the determination of the business card image suitable for digitization will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 15. The subsequent processing will be described as the subsequent processing in which the business card image is stored in the DB 120 in S309 of FIG. Further, it is assumed that the determination of the business card image suitable for digitization is started by checking the check box 440 in FIG. 4. Further, the procedure of FIG. 11 will be described assuming that the business card management service device 100 notifies the business card management service user PC 200 of the access destination of the screen for confirming the business card image.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart of processing performed by the business card management service user PC200. In S1101, the CPU 21 of the business card management service user PC 200 accesses a predetermined access destination to confirm the business card image stored in the DB 120 of the business card management service device 100 via the browser 210.

In S1102, the CPU 21 of the business card management service user PC200 displays the stored business card image as shown in FIG. 13 via the browser 210. FIG. 13 is an example of a screen for confirming a business card image. Reference numeral 1310 is a business card image in which the text information is difficult to read due to poor reading and shooting conditions. Reference numeral 1320 is an image other than a business card such as an advertisement image. 1330 is a business card image suitable for digitization. The button 1340 is a button that instructs the business card management service device 100 to digitize the selected business card image. Button 1350 is a button for discarding the selected business card image. The button 1360 is a button for requesting the meeting participant PC 300 that sent the selected business card image to resend the business card image.

The business card management service user determines whether each business card image is suitable for digitization, and selects processing (digitization, destruction, resend request). For example, since the business card image 1310 is an image in which character information is difficult to read and is not suitable for digitization, it is preferable to select the button 1360 for requesting retransmission. Since the business card image 1320 is an advertisement image and is not suitable for digitization, it is preferable to select the button 1360 to discard. Since the business card image 1330 is a business card image suitable for digitization, it is preferable to select the button 1360 to be digitized.

As shown in FIG. 14, after pressing the digitizing button 1340, a confirmation screen may be displayed again. Further, as shown in FIG. 15, a screen for confirming again may be displayed after pressing the discard button 1350.

In S1103, the CPU 21 of the business card management service user PC200 determines whether or not the instruction (digitization, discard, resend request) for processing the selected business card image is selected. If it is determined that the card has been selected (YES in S1103), the selected instruction is transmitted to the business card management service 100 in S1104.

Therefore, the business card management service user determines whether each business card image is an image suitable for digitization or an image inappropriate for digitization, and requests the business card management service device 100 to digitize the image. , The business card management service user can take measures such as discarding the business card image and requesting the meeting participant PC 300 to resend the image.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart of processing performed by the business card management service device 100. In addition, the process of FIG. 12 returns to STRAT when it becomes END and repeats the process. In S1201, the business card management program 110 determines whether or not the instruction received from the business card management service user PC200 is a digitization instruction, and if it is determined to be a digitization instruction (YES in S1201), in S1202, Digitize. That is, text information is created.

In S1203, the business card management program 110 stores information about the digitized business card, that is, text information in the DB 120. At this time, the business card management service user PC 200 may be notified that the text information can be provided.

When it is determined that the instruction is not a digitization instruction (NO in S1201), the business card management program 110 determines in S1204 whether or not the instruction received from the business card management service user PC 200 is an instruction to discard. If it is determined that the instruction is to be discarded (YES in S1204), the business card management program 110 discards the business card image from the DB 120 in S1205.

If it is determined that the instruction is not to be discarded (NO in S1204), the business card management program 110 determines in S1206 whether or not the instruction received from the business card management service user PC 200 is a retransmission request instruction. If it is determined to be a resend request instruction (YES in S1206), in S1207, the business card management program 110 requests the resend contact of the meeting participant PC 300 stored in the DB 120 to resend the business card image. That is, a request for resending the business card image (an example of notification regarding the business card image) is transmitted to the meeting participant PC 300.

If it is determined that the instruction is not a resend request (NO in S1206), the process ends. The order of the processes of S1201, S1204, and S1206 is not limited to this, and any order may be used, or the processes may be executed in parallel.

In the above description, the business card management service user makes a judgment about the business card image, but the business card management service device 100 may make the judgment. The business card management program 110 of the business card management service device 100 performs OCR (optical character recognition) of the received business card image, and determines based on the classification using means such as the format of the OCR result, the size of the image, and machine learning. It may be instructed (digitization, discard, resend request). Further, the business card management program 110 may perform processing (digitization / discarding / resending request) based on the determination result.

Further, as shown in FIG. 17, on the screen for confirming the business card image, the result determined by the business card management program 110 may be displayed in a thick black frame 1720 for the image to be discarded and in a 1710 with a dotted line frame for the image to be resent. good. Further, the determined result may be displayed not only in the border but also in color. For example, the image to be discarded may be displayed in blue and the image to be resent may be displayed in yellow.

[Prepaid fee system]
Since the digitization work is complicated for the business card management service user, the business card management service may charge the digitization work. As a billing method, there are a system of paying later according to the amount of digitization work carried out by the business card management service and a system of paying the digitization work fee in advance. If you have a prepayment system, you will waste money on inappropriate images. In addition, by digitizing an inappropriate image, there may be a situation where the business card image that should be digitized cannot be digitized. Therefore, the determination of the business card image suitable for digitization in the prepaid fee system will be described with reference to FIG. In the procedure of FIG. 16, the business card management service device 100 automatically discards information about the business card management service user PC 200 (prepaid / not prepaid digitization fee, number of prepaid business cards, and business card image). It is assumed that the setting to be set / the setting not to be automatically discarded) is held.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart of processing performed by the business card management service device 100. In S1601, the business card management program 110 determines whether or not the business card management service user PC 200 instructed to digitize has paid the digitization fee in advance. If it is determined that the digitization fee has not been paid in advance (NO in S1601), the process proceeds to S1201 in FIG.

If it is determined that the prepayment has been made (YES in S1601), in S1602, the business card management program 110 determines whether or not the number of cards is within a predetermined number that can be digitized at the prepayment fee. If it is determined that the number is within the predetermined number (YES in S1602), the process proceeds to S1201 in FIG.

If the number of sheets that can be digitized by the prepaid fee is exceeded (NO in S1602), in S1603, whether or not the business card management service user PC200 is set to automatically discard the business card image in the business card management program 110. To judge. When automatic discard is set (YES in S1603), in S1604, the business card management program 110 discards the business card image stored in the DB 120.

If it is determined that the setting has not been made (NO in S1603), the process of S1602 is repeated. The business card management service user may request the meeting participant PC 300 to resend the business card image when the predetermined number of sheets that can be digitized increases by paying an additional fee in advance, that is, within the predetermined number of sheets.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the inappropriate business card image that cannot be digitized obtained by online business card exchange can be discarded, and the business card management service user can be requested to resend the image to the meeting participants. Can use correctly digitized business card information and avoid wasting resources on digitization. In addition, even if an unexpected amount of business card images are acquired by online business card exchange, the business card management service can control the generation of charges for digitization. Therefore, information about business cards can be efficiently managed.

<Other embodiments>
In the above-described embodiment, the business card management service user PC 200 shows an example of using the business card management service device 100 via the browser 210. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and as shown in FIG. 18, a business card management service use program 1810, which is a program for using the business card management service device 100, is provided in the business card management service user PC 200 to provide a business card management service. The business card management service device 100 may be used via the usage program 1810.

The present invention also supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiment to a system or device via a network or storage medium, and one or more processors in the computer of the system or device reads and executes the program. It can also be realized by the processing to be performed. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

Claims (12)

An information processing device that exchanges business cards online.
An acquisition method for acquiring business card images via a network,
It is provided with a creation means for creating text information from the business card image acquired by the acquisition means.
The information processing apparatus is characterized in that, before creating the text information, the creating means discards the business card image based on an instruction for the business card image acquired by the acquiring means. The acquisition means acquires a business card image from another information processing device and obtains the business card image.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the creating means notifies the other information processing apparatus of a notification regarding the business card image based on an instruction for the business card image. moreover,
It is provided with a first determination means for determining whether or not the business card image is suitable for creating text information from the business card image.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the instruction for the business card image is an instruction based on the result of determination by the first determination means. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the instruction to the business card image is an instruction from another information processing apparatus. The acquisition means acquires a plurality of business card images and obtains them.
moreover,
A second determination means for determining whether or not the plurality of business card images acquired by the acquisition means have reached a predetermined number, and
A storage means for storing the business card image based on the result of the determination by the second determination means is provided.
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the creating means creates text information from a business card image stored in the storage means. An information processing device that exchanges business cards online.
An acquisition method for acquiring multiple business card images via a network,
A third determination means for determining whether or not a plurality of business card images acquired by the acquisition means have reached a predetermined number of sheets,
Based on the result of the determination by the third determination means, the storage means for storing the business card image and the storage means.
An information processing apparatus including a creating means for creating text information from a business card image stored in the storage means. An information processing device that exchanges business cards online.
An acquisition means for acquiring the business card image via a network before creating text information from the business card image, and
It is provided with a display means for displaying the business card image acquired by the acquisition means and an instruction means for giving an instruction to the business card image displayed by the display means.
The information processing apparatus includes the instruction for discarding the business card image. It is an information processing method for exchanging business cards online.
The acquisition process to acquire business card images via the network,
It is equipped with a creation process for creating text information from the business card image acquired in the acquisition process.
The information processing method is characterized in that, before creating the text information, the business card image is discarded based on an instruction for the business card image acquired in the acquisition step. It is an information processing method for exchanging business cards online.
The acquisition process to acquire multiple business card images via the network,
A third determination step of determining whether or not the plurality of business card images acquired in the acquisition step has reached a predetermined number of sheets, and
Based on the result of the determination in the third determination step, the storage step of storing the business card image and the storage step.
An information processing method including a creation step of creating text information from a business card image stored in the storage step. It is an information processing method for exchanging business cards online.
Before creating text information from a business card image, the acquisition process of acquiring the business card image via a network and
It is provided with a display step of displaying the business card image acquired in the acquisition step and an instruction step of giving an instruction to the business card image displayed in the display step.
The information processing method includes an instruction to discard the business card image. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
An information processing system characterized by having another information processing device that transmits the business card image to the information processing device via a network. A program for making a computer function as each means of the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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