JP4819546B2 - Information providing apparatus, method, and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information management technique, and more particularly to an information providing technique for providing product information corresponding to each product.

  With the diversification of products, there is an increasing need for individual management of products in various phases such as product production, distribution, and sales. In such product management, the identification information assigned in advance to each product and the product information of the product are managed in a database, and the database is searched based on the identification information of any specified product. An information providing apparatus that provides product information of the product is used. Among these, in the sales phase, when the characteristics of the product are described at the time of sales, the product is described using the product information retrieved from the information providing apparatus.

  On the other hand, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology has attracted attention as a technology for acquiring product identification information (see, for example, Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2). In this RFID technology, RFID tags called wireless tags or electronic tags using wireless IC chips are attached to products, and the information in the RFID tags is read with a tag reader, so that product information of any product can be acquired and managed It is a technology to do. The product information acquisition technique using such identification information as a key is a technique for acquiring based on various identification information such as a barcode, a two-dimensional barcode, an IC card, and an operation input ID in addition to the RFID tag. Although existing in the past, an environment in which identification information can be easily acquired by using RFID technology is provided, so that product information can be efficiently acquired and managed.

http://itpro.nikkeibp.co.jp/free/NBY/RFID/20031202/1/,"RFID technology / RFID in 1 minute ", Nikkei Business Publications http://www.dsri.jp/company/03/rfid.htm,"■RFID ", Distribution System Development Center

However, in such a conventional technology, since product information of each product is individually searched and output, related information corresponding to a combination of a plurality of products that are used at the same time, that is, shared, cannot be provided. There was a point.
With the RFID technology described above, it is possible to easily acquire IDs of a plurality of shared products, and in an environment where product information of these products can be acquired efficiently, in various phases such as product production, distribution, and sales, Further improvement in convenience is expected, such as selection of information provided according to the combination of shared products and provision of information regarding the combination of shared products.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide an information providing apparatus, an information providing method, and a program capable of providing related information according to a combination of a plurality of shared products. .

In order to achieve such an object, an information providing apparatus according to the present invention includes a storage unit that stores in advance various product information related to a product according to identification information of each product, and a terminal connected via a communication line. A communication interface unit that acquires identification information of a plurality of shared products from the apparatus and an information processing unit including a CPU. The information processing unit searches the storage unit for product information corresponding to arbitrary identification information. Among the plurality of identifiers indicating the various classifications of the product included in the identification information acquired by the communication interface unit and the information search means for outputting the information, the company identifier for identifying the manufacturer or sales company of the product, type identifier for identifying the type of the product, and the product individual identifier for identifying the products of the individual, identified by comparing these identifiers with each other among products By analyzing the match / mismatch of each category in response to the child, and a combination analyzing means for determining the proper / improper relates to the combination of products, the storage unit stores the related information corresponding to the combination of each product When the combination analysis means determines that the combination is appropriate , the information search means retrieves and outputs related information according to the analysis result of the analysis from the storage unit, and when the combination analysis means determines that the combination is inappropriate, The error information indicating the combination error is output .

In addition, the storage unit stores determination information indicating suitability / unsuitability regarding the combination of identifiers, and the combination analysis unit refers to the determination information in the storage unit to determine whether the combination of identifiers included in the identification information of each product is appropriate. The suitability / unsuitability for the combination of products may be determined based on the suitability.
In addition, when the product is a product of the same company based on the company identifier , the information search unit may search for related information related to the product of the company corresponding to the combination of each product. .
Alternatively, in the information search means, if the product is a product of a different company by analysis based on the company identifier by the combination analysis means, the related information related to the product of the company corresponding to each product may be searched. Also good .

In addition, the information providing method according to the present invention includes a storage unit that stores in advance various product information related to the product according to the identification information of each product, and a plurality of terminals that are shared via a communication line. An information providing method used in an information providing apparatus including a communication interface unit that acquires product identification information and an information processing unit including a CPU, wherein an information search unit of the information processing unit responds to arbitrary identification information. An information retrieval step for retrieving and outputting product information from the storage unit, and a combination analysis unit of the information processing unit include a plurality of identifiers indicating various classifications of the product included in each identification information acquired by the communication interface unit. Among them, a company identifier for identifying the manufacturing or sales company of the product, a type identifier for identifying the type of the product, and an individual of the product For individual product identifier, by analyzing the match / mismatch of each category in response to these identifiers by comparing these identifiers with each other between the products, a combined analysis determining the proper / improper relates to the combination of products, the storage unit , Storing the relevant information according to the combination of each product, and when the information retrieval means is determined to be suitable by the combination analysis means, the relevant information according to the analysis result of the analysis is retrieved from the storage unit and output. And a step of outputting error information indicating a product combination error when the combination analysis means determines that the combination is inappropriate .

Further, the program according to the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as each unit constituting any one of the information providing apparatuses described above.

According to the present invention, among a plurality of identifiers indicating various classifications of the product included in the identification information of the plurality of products to be shared, a company identifier for identifying the manufacturer or sales company of the product, For the type identifier for identifying the type and the product individual identifier for identifying the individual product, by comparing these identifiers between products and analyzing the match / mismatch for each classification according to these identifiers Since the suitability / unsuitability regarding the combination of products is determined , the relevant information according to these analysis results is retrieved from the storage unit and output, and the error information indicating the combination error is output for the product determined to be unsuitable for combination, It is possible to provide related information according to a combination of a plurality of shared products and error information indicating an inappropriate combination. This makes it possible to select provided information according to the combination of shared products and provide information related to the combination itself. For example, it is possible to easily provide related information useful for generating simulation images and promoting sales.

Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Information provision device]
First, an information providing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an information providing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The information providing apparatus 1 is composed of an information processing apparatus such as a server that performs information processing using a computer, stores various product information related to the product according to the identification information of each product, and transmits the information via the communication network 5. In response to the information request transmitted from the terminal device 2, the product information of the corresponding product is searched based on the identification information included in the information request and notified to the terminal device 2.

  In the present embodiment, identification information of a plurality of products that are used at the same time, that is, shared, is acquired, and a plurality of identifiers indicating various classifications of the product included in the identification information are compared between the identification information. Thus, the combination of each product is analyzed, and related information corresponding to the analysis result is retrieved from the storage unit and output.

Next, a configuration of the information providing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIG.
The information providing apparatus 1 includes a communication interface unit (hereinafter referred to as a communication I / F unit) 11, a provision information database (hereinafter referred to as a provision information DB) 12, and an information processing unit 13 as main functional units. Yes.

The communication I / F unit 11 includes a dedicated communication circuit that performs data communication with the terminal device 2 via the communication network 5, receives an information request from the terminal device 2 via the communication network 5, and receives the information request unit 13. And the function of transmitting provided information from the information processing unit 13 to the terminal device 2 via the communication network 5.
The information providing DB 12 (storage unit) includes a storage device such as a hard disk and a memory, and stores a function of storing product information of the product corresponding to the identification information of each product as a database and related information corresponding to the combination of each product. And a function of storing as a database.

  The information processing unit 13 includes a CPU and its peripheral circuits, and reads and executes a program stored in a storage unit (not shown), thereby causing the hardware and the program to cooperate with each other to perform various functional units. Realize. Main functional means include a combination analysis means 13A and an information search means 13B.

The combination analysis unit 13 </ b> A uses the product identification information (hereinafter referred to as “ID”) notified by the information request from the terminal device 2 received by the communication I / F unit 11 to include various classifications of the product included in these IDs. It has a function of analyzing combinations of products by comparing a plurality of identifiers indicating IDs among the IDs.
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing a configuration of identification information. The ID 41 unique to each product is composed of a plurality of identifiers indicating various classifications of the product. In this example, 9 digits of the first to ninth digits of the ID 41 correspond to the company identifier 41A for identifying the manufacturer / sales company of the product, and the sixth digit of the 10th to 15th digits of the ID 41 corresponds to the company identifier 41A. Corresponding to the product type identifier 41B for identifying the type (product name) of the product, the 9th digit of the 16th to 24th digits of the ID 41 is the product individual identifier 41C for identifying the individual (feature) of the product. It corresponds.

  For example, in the clothing ID, identification information indicating the manufacturer of the clothing is used as the company identifier 41A, and identification information indicating the type of the clothing such as a use such as a T-shirt or a jacket or a product name is a product type identifier. Identification information indicating an individual of the clothing item, such as a color, a pattern, a shape, and a manufacturing date, is used as the product individual identifier 41C.

  Accordingly, product information is registered in the information providing DB 12 for each of these identifiers and combinations thereof. As shown in FIG. 2, “manufacturing company A” is derived from the company identifier 41A as product information. Similarly, the product information “jacket X of manufacturing company A” is obtained from the combination of the company identifier 41A and the product type identifier 41B, and the combination of the company identifier 41A, the product type identifier 41B, and the product individual identifier 41C is “ Product information that the color of the jacket X of the manufacturing company A is red and the manufacturing date is 05/12/01 is obtained.

  The combination analysis unit 13A divides each ID of the shared product into identifiers for each category, for example, a company identifier 41A, a product type identifier 41B, and a product individual identifier 41C, and compares these identifiers to each other, for example, Analyze match / mismatch for manufacturing company, product type, and product individual. Note that identifiers are not limited to these classifications, and identifiers for other classifications may be used.

  The information search unit 13B has a function of searching the provided information DB 12 for product information corresponding to the ID included in the information request from the terminal device 2 received by the communication I / F unit 11, and an analysis result by the combination analysis unit 13A. A function for retrieving provided information corresponding to a combination of shared products from the provided information DB 12 based on the information and a function for notifying the requested information to the requesting terminal device 2 via the communication I / F unit 11. And have.

[Terminal device]
Next, with reference to FIG. 1, the structure of the terminal device concerning one embodiment of this invention is demonstrated in detail.
The terminal device 2 is an information processing terminal such as a personal computer that performs data communication with the information providing device 1 via the communication network 5, and identification information is received from the product 4 (4A, 4B) in response to a user's search request operation. , And information information including these identification information is transmitted to the information providing apparatus 1, whereby product information corresponding to the product 4 is acquired and provided to the user.

The terminal device 2 includes a communication interface unit (hereinafter referred to as a communication I / F unit) 21, an operation input unit 22, a screen display unit 23, and an information processing unit 24 as main functional units.
The communication I / F unit 21 includes a dedicated communication circuit that performs data communication with the information providing device 1 via the communication network 5, and sends an information request from the information processing unit 24 to the information providing device 1 via the communication network 5. And a function of receiving an information request from the information providing apparatus 1 via the communication network 5 and outputting the information request to the information processing unit 24.

The operation input unit 22 includes an operation input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and has a function of detecting various user operations and outputting them to the information processing unit 24.
The screen display unit 23 includes a screen display device such as an LCD or a PDP, and has a function of displaying various types of information on the screen according to instructions from the information processing unit 24.

The information processing unit 24 includes a CPU and its peripheral circuits, and reads and executes a program stored in a storage unit (not shown), thereby causing the hardware and the program to cooperate with each other to perform various functional units. Realize. The main functional means is application processing means 24A.
The application processing means 24A is means for executing desired information processing performed by the user using product information corresponding to the identification information of the product 4, and is attached to the products 4A and 4B by controlling the ID reader 3. A function of acquiring each ID from the RFID tag 40, a function of transmitting an information request including the acquired ID from the communication I / F unit 21 to the information providing apparatus 1 via the communication network 5, and a communication I / F unit 21 And a function for performing desired processing using the provision information from the information provision device 1 received in step S3, and a function for outputting the processing result to the screen display unit 23 and displaying it on the screen.

  When the terminal device 2 is a simulation image generation device, the application processing unit 24A corresponds to an application that performs various processes for generating a simulation image. Specifically, the application processing unit 24A captures a user image with a camera (not shown), and transmits an information request including the IDs of the clothing items 4A and 4B acquired from the ID reader 3 to the information providing apparatus 1. Based on the product information returned in response to this, a simulation image is generated by superimposing the color, pattern, and shape of each clothing item on the image.

  The ID reader 3 is a communication device that is connected to a general-purpose interface (not shown) of the terminal device 2 and performs wireless communication with the RFID tag 40 attached to each product 4A, 4B. In response to an instruction from the unit 24, a function of reading an ID unique to each product 4A, 4B from the RFID tag 40 attached to each product 4A, 4B, and the information processing unit 24 of the terminal device 2 using the read ID. Output function. The ID reader 3 and the RFID tag 40 are based on a known technique, and detailed description thereof is omitted here.

[Operation of information provider]
Next, the operation of the information providing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an information providing operation of the information providing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
In the following, a case will be described as an example in which the terminal device 2 notifies the relevant information according to the combination of the products 4A and 4B from the information providing device 1 in response to an information request including the ID acquired from the products 4A and 4B.

When the user's search request operation is detected by the operation input unit 22 (step 100), the information processing unit 24 of the terminal device 2 transmits an ID acquisition request to the ID reader 3 by the application processing unit 24A ( Step 101).
In response to this, the ID reader 3 wirelessly communicates with the RFID tag 40 attached to each product 4A, 4B to read IDa, IDb unique to each product 4A, 4B (steps 102, 103). ), IDa and IDb are notified to the terminal device 2 (step 104).

The application processing unit 24A receives IDa and IDb notified from the ID reader 3, and transmits an information request including these IDa and IDb from the communication I / F unit 21 to the information providing apparatus 1 (step 105).
When the information request from the terminal device 2 is received by the communication I / F unit 11, the information processing unit 13 of the information providing device 1 configures IDa and IDb included in the information request by the combination analysis unit 13A. The combination of each product is analyzed by comparing each identifier to be performed between these IDs (step 106).

  Next, the information processing unit 13 searches the provided information DB 12 for product information corresponding to IDa and IDb included in the information request from the terminal device 2 by the information search unit 13B, and at the combination analysis unit 13A. Based on the analysis result, the provided information corresponding to the combination of the shared products 4A and 4B is searched from the provided information DB 12 (step 107). Then, after providing the provided information into a predetermined data format such as XML or HTML (step 108), the communication I / F unit 11 notifies the requesting terminal device 2 (step 109).

When the information provided from the information providing device 1 is received by the communication I / F unit 21, the information processing unit 24 of the terminal device 2 uses the application processing unit 24A to use the provided information as it is or using the provided information. The information obtained by the process is output to the screen display unit 23 and displayed on the screen (step 110).
Thereby, not only the product information of the products 4A and 4B but also product information corresponding to the combination of these products 4A and 4B is provided to the user.

[Information acquisition processing]
Next, with reference to FIG. 4, the information acquisition process in the information providing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing information acquisition processing in the information providing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
When the information request from the terminal device 2 is received by the communication I / F unit 11, the information processing unit 13 of the information providing device 1 uses the combination analysis unit 13A and the information search unit 13B to perform the information acquisition process of FIG. Execute. This information acquisition process corresponds to steps 106 and 107 in FIG.

  First, the combination analysis unit 13A determines whether there are a plurality of IDs specified in the information request from the terminal device 2 (step 200). If the specified ID is one (step 200: NO), the information search is performed. The means 13B retrieves product information of the ID from the provision information DB 12 (step 201), notifies the obtained product information to the terminal device 2 as provision information (step 202), and ends a series of information acquisition processing. .

  On the other hand, when there are a plurality of IDs specified in the information request from the terminal device 2 (step 200: YES), the combination analysis unit 13A divides each ID into identifiers (step 203), and compares the obtained identifiers. Then, the match / mismatch for each classification corresponding to each identifier is analyzed (step 204).

Here, when the combination of the products 4A and 4B is inappropriate and it is determined that there is a combination error (step 205: YES), the information search unit 13B searches the provided information DB 12 based on the analysis result of the combination error, and obtains it. The received error information is notified as provision information to the terminal device 2 (step 209), and a series of information acquisition processing is terminated.
It should be noted that any determination criterion may be used for the suitability / non-suitability of the product combination. For example, when a simulation image is generated, clothing such as a jacket is not shared. Therefore, if the product type identifier or product individual identifier is the same among multiple IDs, it is determined that the product is duplicated and the combination is inappropriate. Can be determined.

  In addition, determination information indicating suitability / unsuitability regarding a specific identifier combination may be registered in the provision information DB 12 in advance, and the suitability / unsuitability regarding the identifier combination may be determined with reference to this determination information. For example, in the case where the product is a drug to be administered at the same time, if the determination information indicating appropriate / inappropriate for any combination of drugs is registered in the provision information DB 12 in advance, each ID specified in the information request from the terminal device 2 Appropriate / unsuitable combination of drugs corresponding to

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 205 that the combination of the products 4A and 4B is appropriate and there is no combination error (step 205: NO), the information search means 13B searches for the product information of these IDs from the provided information DB 12. At the same time, the related information corresponding to the combination of the shared products 4A and 4B is retrieved from the provided information DB 12 based on the analysis result of the combination analysis means 13A (step 207). Corresponding related information is notified to the terminal device 2 as provided information (step 208), and a series of information acquisition processing is terminated.

For example, when generating a simulation image, if the analysis result in the combination analysis means 13A indicates “same company identifier” and the target shared clothing is a product of the same company, products related to these shared clothing Any product information of a product having the company identifier may be searched for, and the obtained product information may be provided as related information corresponding to a combination of shared clothing items.
Thus, for example, if a jacket and T-shirt from the same company are designated as shared clothing, the recommended color of the company, such as new products, and the color, pattern, and shape of these shared clothing Product information such as pants is retrieved and provided as related information. Further, for example, when a cold medicine and abdominal pain medicine of the same company are designated as common medicines, product information such as nourishing tonic drinks of the company is searched and provided as related information.

In addition, if the analysis result indicates "Company identifier mismatch" and the target shared clothing is a product of a different company, the product information of the product having each company identifier as a product related to the combination of these clothing And the obtained product information may be provided as related information corresponding to the combination of shared clothing.
Therefore, for example, when jackets and T-shirts from different companies are designated as shared clothing, encouraged clothing such as new products from each company and colors, patterns, and shapes that are optimal for the colors, patterns, and shapes of these shared clothing Product information such as pants is retrieved and provided as related information.

  For storage management of product information and related information in the provided information DB 12, a known database configuration may be used. For example, the identification information of each product and its product information may be stored as a set, and the combination of the identification information of the shared product and the analysis result thereof and related information corresponding thereto may be stored as a set. Moreover, you may memorize | store as a set the analysis result and the relevant information corresponding to these for every identification information.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, identification information of a plurality of shared products is acquired, and a plurality of identifiers indicating various classifications of the product included in the identification information are compared between the identification information. Thus, the combination of each product is analyzed, and the related information according to the analysis result is retrieved from the storage unit and output, so that the related information according to the combination of a plurality of shared products can be provided. As a result, it is possible to select provided information according to the combination of shared products and to provide information related to the combination itself. For example, it is possible to easily provide related information useful for generating simulation images and promoting sales.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information provision apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structure of identification information. It is a sequence diagram which shows the information provision operation | movement of the information provision apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the information acquisition process in the information provision apparatus concerning one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information provision apparatus, 11 ... Communication I / F part, 12 ... Provision information DB, 13 ... Information processing part, 13A ... Combination analysis means, 13B ... Information search means, 2 ... Terminal apparatus, 21 ... Communication I / F part , 22 ... operation input unit, 23 ... screen display unit, 24 ... information processing unit, 24A ... application processing means, 3 ... ID reader, 4, 4A, 4B ... product, 40 ... RFID tag, 41 ... identification information (ID) , 41A ... company identifier, 41B ... product type identifier, 41C ... product individual identifier, 5 ... communication network.

Claims (6)

A storage unit that stores in advance various product information related to the product according to the identification information of each product;
A communication interface unit that acquires identification information of a plurality of shared products from a terminal device connected via a communication line;
An information processing unit comprising a CPU,
The information processing unit
Information retrieval means for retrieving and outputting the product information corresponding to arbitrary identification information from the storage unit;
Among a plurality of identifiers indicating various classifications of the product included in each identification information acquired by the communication interface unit, a company identifier for identifying a manufacturer or a sales company of the product, and a type of the product are identified. By comparing the identifiers between the products and analyzing the match / mismatch for each classification according to these identifiers, for the type identifiers for the product and the product individual identifiers for identifying the product individual , A combination analysis means for judging suitability / unsuitability for product combinations;
The storage unit stores related information according to the combination of the products ,
When the combination analysis unit determines that the combination is appropriate, the information search unit searches and outputs related information according to the analysis result of the analysis from the storage unit, and the combination analysis unit determines that the combination is inappropriate. If it is determined, the information providing apparatus outputs error information indicating a combination error of the products. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1,
The storage unit stores determination information indicating suitability / unsuitability regarding the combination of the identifiers ,
The combination analysis means refers to the determination information in the storage unit to determine suitability / unsuitability regarding the combination of products based on suitability / unsuitability regarding the combination of identifiers included in the identification information of each product. An information providing apparatus characterized by: The information providing apparatus according to claim 1,
When the combination analysis unit analyzes that the product is a product of the same company based on the company identifier, the information search unit searches for related information related to the product of the company according to the combination of the products. An information providing apparatus characterized by: The information providing apparatus according to claim 1,
The information search means, when the product is a product of a different company based on the company identifier by the combination analysis means, searches for related information related to the product of the company corresponding to each of the products. A characteristic information providing apparatus. A storage unit that stores in advance various product information related to the product according to the identification information of each product, and a communication interface unit that acquires identification information of a plurality of products shared from a terminal device connected via a communication line; An information providing method used in an information providing apparatus including an information processing unit including a CPU,
An information search step in which the information search means of the information processing unit searches and outputs the product information corresponding to arbitrary identification information from the storage unit;
Among the plurality of identifiers indicating various classifications of the product indicating the various classifications of the product included in the identification information acquired by the communication interface unit, the combination analysis unit of the information processing unit manufactures the product Or, for the company identifier for identifying the sales company, the type identifier for identifying the type of the product, and the product individual identifier for identifying the individual product , these identifiers are compared between the products. A combination analysis step of determining suitability / unsuitability regarding the combination of the products by analyzing match / mismatch for each classification according to the identifier ;
The storage unit storing related information according to the combination of the products ;
When the information search means determines that the combination is suitable by the combination analysis means, the related information according to the analysis result of the analysis is retrieved from the storage unit and output, and the combination analysis means determines that the combination is inappropriate. And a step of outputting error information indicating a combination error of the products when judged. The program for functioning a computer as each part which comprises the information provision apparatus as described in any one of Claims 1-4 .

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