JP6035941B2 - Search system, program, and search method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a search system , a program, and a search method for searching for materials using images.

  There are already known systems for performing the reservation of books stored in a library through the Internet. For example, Patent Literature 1 specifies the materials that can be rented earliest among materials held in a plurality of libraries according to the designation of the user, and includes information on the library that holds the rented materials and the library that receives the materials. A technique for registering reservation data in a database common to a plurality of libraries is disclosed.

  In addition, a technique for confirming a book using code information affixed to a book cover is already known. For example, Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for recognizing a document ID by reading a book in a library or a bar code attached to a magazine, and checking a collection based on the recognized document ID.

  Here, in a system that performs book reservation via the Internet, for example, a user first accesses a reservation site for book reservation from a terminal device to display a book search screen, Enter search criteria for searching books. At this time, in the conventional system, it is necessary for the user to input search conditions based on text information one by one, which is very troublesome.

  In addition, when searching for books using code information affixed to books, it is not necessary to enter text search conditions, but code information cannot be obtained without the books at hand. There is a problem that is common.

  For example, even if there is a book that you are interested in, such as an advertisement, digital signage, or a book introduction page in a magazine, the user has the book information in hand and searches for the book based on this booked information. This is very time consuming. In addition, when the book name is mistakenly remembered, it becomes difficult to search for the target book.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the present invention is to make it easier to search for books.

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention associates an index for searching an image with facility information indicating a facility where the material is stored, with identification information for identifying the material. From the storage means for storing in advance, a calculation means for calculating the similarity between the target image based on the captured image captured by the user and the image searched by the index stored in the storage means, and the storage means based on the similarity It is specified from the presented facility information, the obtaining means for retrieving the identification information associated with the retrieved index and the facility information, the presenting means for presenting the facility information obtained by the obtaining means, and the facility information obtained by retrieving the index. and toward the facility facility information indicates, transmitting means for transmitting the identification information acquired by the acquisition unit, transmitted from the facility in response to the identification information transmitted by the transmission means, materials identified by the identification information It has a display means for receiving an information display, identification information, characterized in that it is a International Standard Book Number.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to search for books more easily.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an example of a book search system according to the embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an example of the collection DB according to the embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an example of the book information DB according to the embodiment. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram illustrating an example of functions of the server according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary configuration of the terminal device according to the embodiment. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions of an example of a terminal device in which an application according to the embodiment is installed. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process flow according to the embodiment. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a URL list display screen according to the embodiment. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a book information screen according to the embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data storage method for the book information DB according to the embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of a search system and a program will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an example of a book search system according to the embodiment.

(Embodiment)
A server 11 and a terminal device 20 are connected to the network 10. The network 10 is, for example, the Internet, and TCP / IP (Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol) is applied as a communication protocol. The network 10 may be a network cloud that includes a plurality of computers connected to each other via a network and is externally a network group in which only input / output is shown as a black box with the inside hidden.

  A plurality of libraries 30 </ b> A and 30 </ b> B are further connected to the network 10. These libraries 30 </ b> A and 30 </ b> B are actually Web sites operated by each library as an actual facility, and are constructed on a Web server (not shown) connected to the network 10. It is assumed that the libraries 30A and 30B as Web sites are also included in the library facilities of the operation main body as an entity. Hereinafter, unless otherwise specified, a library and a website by the library are collectively referred to as a library as a facility.

  A library is a facility that stores books (literatures), music, videos, and other materials in a prescribed manner, and includes public libraries, private libraries, university libraries, school libraries, and the like. Libraries can lend some or all of the stored materials to users. Identification information is given to each material stored in the library. As the identification information, for example, a billing symbol comprising a classification symbol indicating the subject of the material, a symbol indicating the author name or acceptance order, and a symbol indicating the number of volumes, year, etc. is used. For example, books stored in a library are placed with a label with a billing symbol on the back and arranged in the order of the billing symbol. The user can know the approximate position of the book in the library based on the billing symbol.

  In addition, an international standard book number (ISBN), which is identification information common to the world, is given to materials handled as publications in particular. ISBN is configured by adding a check digit to a group symbol, publisher symbol, and book title symbol. This ISBN can also be used to identify materials stored in the library. In the present embodiment, this ISBN is used as identification information of materials stored in the libraries 30A and 30B. In the following, materials stored in a library are called books unless otherwise specified.

  The libraries 30A and 30B have collection database (DB) 31A and 31B in which information about each book to be stored is stored. FIG. 2 shows an exemplary configuration of the collection DBs 31A and 31B (referred to as the collection DB 31A). In the example of FIG. 2, for each book, with respect to the identification information, the presence / absence of inventory, the location, that is, the placement position, the reservation information indicating the presence / absence of the reservation, the presence / absence of the electronic book that converted the book into data, Associated with the summary. Based on the information stored in the collection DBs 31A and 31B, the libraries 30A and 30B perform searches, rental reservations, request for copying, browsing electronic books, presentation of content summaries, etc. via the network 10 for the books to be stored. Have been able to do.

  The terminal device 20 can communicate with the network 10 by wireless or wired. The terminal device 20 can perform an operation in accordance with a command received via the network 10, and can display an image received via the network 10 on a UI (user interface) including a display device and an input device. Data can be transmitted to the network 10 in accordance with the display or user operation performed on the UI.

  In addition, the terminal device 20 has an imaging function, and can image a subject in response to an imaging instruction operation on the UI. The terminal device 20 can transmit a captured image obtained by imaging toward the network 10.

  The server 11 is connected to a book information database (DB) 12 and can perform a search process according to the embodiment on the book information DB 12 in accordance with a request received via the network 10. FIG. 3 shows an exemplary configuration of the book information DB 12. In the embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3A, the book information DB 12 stores, for each book, identification information for identifying the book, an image (index) associated with the book, and the book. Is stored in association with facility information indicating the facility to be registered.

  The image is actually index data for searching the image. The index data is data indicating feature points of the image data obtained by analyzing the binary of the image data, and is data obtained by converting the image data into a structure for search. In addition to the index data, image data can be directly stored in the book information DB 12. The file name and path of the image data may be stored in the book information DB 12. In the example of FIG. 3, ISBN is used as identification information, and the URL of the facility is used as facility information.

  Further, as illustrated in FIG. 3B, in the embodiment, in the book information DB 12, a plurality of images (indexes) and a plurality of facility information can be associated with one ISBN. Regarding images, for example, the images of the front cover, back cover, and back cover of a book (book) and the index of several images on the content page of the book are associated with the ISBN of the book. As for facility information, when books specified by ISBN are stored in a plurality of libraries, the URLs of the plurality of libraries can be associated with the ISBN.

  In the example of FIG. 3B, the index of the image is shown as binary data, and three binary data of binary data # m1, # m2, and # m3 are associated with ISBN # m. At the same time, a URL list including the four URLs URL # m1, # m2, # m3, and # m4 is associated with the ISBN #m, and each ISBN #m book is shown in the URL list. It is shown that they are stored in 4 libraries accessed by # m1 to # m4.

  Similarly, for ISBN # n, two binary data # n1 and # n2 are associated with ISBN # n, and a URL list including three URLs # n1, # n2 and # n3 is associated with ISBN # n. ing.

  A user DB 13 can be further connected to the server 11. In the user DB 13, for example, identification information (user ID) of a user who uses this book search system and attribute information of the user are stored in association with each other. User attribute information can include user address and library information frequently used by the user.

  FIG. 4 is an exemplary functional block diagram illustrating functions of the server 11. The server 11 includes a reception unit 100, a calculation unit 101, a search unit 103, a presentation unit 104, and a control unit 110. In FIG. 4, the book information DB 12 and the user DB 13 are shown to be included in the server 11 as the database (DB) 102. The control unit 110 controls the overall operation of the server 11.

  The receiving unit 100 receives data transmitted via the network 10. For example, the captured image transmitted from the terminal device 20 is received by the receiving unit 100.

  The calculation unit 101 performs image analysis on the captured image received by the reception unit 100 and detects a feature point from the captured image. For example, the calculation unit 101 performs binarization processing on the captured image, performs edge detection or normalization processing on the binarized captured image, and detects feature points of the captured image.

  When detecting the feature point of the captured image, the calculation unit 101 compares the detected feature point of the captured image with the feature point representing each image searched by each index stored in the book information DB 12. Based on the comparison result, the calculation unit 101 calculates the degree of similarity between the captured image and each image searched by each index stored in the book information DB 12. The similarity can be obtained, for example, by comparing the relationship between each feature point extracted from the image for each image. As an example, a feature amount is calculated by quantifying the relationship between feature points, an absolute value of a difference between feature amounts is obtained between images, and when the obtained absolute value of the difference is smaller, the similarity between the images is Suppose it is expensive.

  Based on the similarity calculated by the calculation unit 101, the search unit 103 searches for an image having a high similarity with the captured image from among the images searched by each index stored in the book information DB 12. The identification information associated with the index by the image is output as a search result. At this time, the search unit 103 selects an index of an image having the highest degree of similarity with the captured image from each image searched by each index stored in the book information DB 12.

  The presenting unit 104 extracts the facility information associated with the identification information of the search output by the search unit 103 from the book information DB 12 and presents it to the terminal device 20. In this example, the facility URL is used as the facility information. When a plurality of facility information is associated with the identification information of the search output, the presentation unit 104 can present all of the plurality of facility information.

  The server 11 may be configured by a general computer device including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a storage device such as a hard disk drive. it can. Further, the server 11 is not limited to one configured by a single computer device, and may be configured to operate in a distributed manner on a plurality of computer devices, for example.

  The reception unit 100, the calculation unit 101, the search unit 103, the presentation unit 104, and the control unit 110 described above are realized by a search program that operates on the CPU. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and some or all of the receiving unit 100, the calculating unit 101, the searching unit 103, the presenting unit 104, and the control unit 110 may be realized using individual hardware that cooperates with each other. The search program for executing the search process according to the embodiment is provided by being recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD or a DVD in an installable or executable format file.

  Furthermore, a search program for executing the search process according to the embodiment may be provided by being stored on a computer connected to a communication network such as the Internet and downloaded via the communication network. Further, a search program for executing the search processing according to the embodiment may be provided or distributed via a communication network such as the Internet.

  The search program for executing the search processing according to the embodiment has a module configuration including, for example, the above-described units (reception unit 100, calculation unit 101, search unit 103, presentation unit 104, and control unit 110). As actual hardware, for example, the CPU reads the search program from the storage device and executes it, so that the above-described units are loaded onto the main storage device (for example, RAM), and the respective units are generated on the main storage device. ing.

  FIG. 5 shows an exemplary configuration of a computer 400 as the terminal device 20. In the computer 400 illustrated in FIG. 5, a CPU 402, a ROM 403, a RAM 404, a display control unit 405, and a GPS unit 411 are connected to the bus 401. In addition, a storage 407, a data I / F 408, an input unit 409, a communication unit 410, and an imaging unit 412 are connected to the bus 401. The storage 407 is a storage medium capable of storing data in a nonvolatile manner, and is a nonvolatile semiconductor memory such as a flash memory, for example. Not limited to this, a hard disk drive may be used as the storage 407.

  The CPU 402 controls the entire computer 400 using the RAM 404 as a work memory in accordance with programs stored in the ROM 403 and the storage 407. The display control unit 405 converts the display control signal generated by the CPU 402 into a signal that can be displayed by the display unit 406 and outputs the converted signal.

  The storage 407 stores programs and various data to be executed by the CPU 402 described above. The data I / F 408 inputs data from the outside. As the data I / F 408, for example, an interface such as USB (Universal Serial Bus) or IEEE 1394 (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers 1394) can be applied.

  The input unit 409 includes an input device that accepts user input. The user can issue an instruction to the terminal device 20 by operating the input device according to the display on the display unit 406, for example. Note that it is preferable that the input device that receives user input is configured integrally with the display unit 406 and configured as a touch panel that outputs a control signal corresponding to the pressed position and transmits the image of the display unit 406.

  The communication unit 410 communicates with the network 10 using a predetermined protocol. The imaging unit 412 includes an optical system, an imaging device, and a control drive circuit for the optical system and the imaging device. The imaging unit 412 performs predetermined processing on a signal output from the imaging device and outputs the image data. The imaging unit 412 executes functions such as imaging and zooming according to an instruction by a user operation on the input unit 409. The captured image obtained by the imaging unit 412 is transmitted to the communication unit 410 via the bus 401, for example, and is transmitted to the server 11 via the network 10 according to a command from the CPU 402.

  The GPS unit 411 receives radio waves from a satellite by GPS (Global Positioning System), performs positioning, and acquires position information of the computer 400 as the terminal device 20. The position information acquired by the GPS unit 411 is passed to the CPU 402, for example.

  The terminal device 20 is installed with an application that performs a series of processes from transmission of a captured image to display of presentation information and selection of the displayed presentation information. FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram illustrating functions of an example of the computer 400 as the terminal device 20 in which the application is installed. The terminal device 20 includes a reception unit 420, a transmission unit 421, an imaging processing unit 422, an input unit 423, a presentation unit 424, and a control unit 430.

  The imaging processing unit 422 controls the imaging operation by the imaging unit 412 and acquires a captured image. The transmission unit 421 has address information on the network 10 of the server 11 in advance, for example, and performs transmission processing to the server 11 via the network 10. The captured image acquired by the imaging processing unit 422 is transmitted to the server 11 by the transmission unit 421. The receiving unit 420 receives information transmitted from the server. For example, information presented from the presentation unit 104 of the server 11 is received by the reception unit 420.

  The input unit 423 processes user input to the input unit 409 as hardware. The presentation unit 424 passes a prepared UI image to the display control unit 405 and causes the display unit 406 to display a screen based on the UI image. In addition, the presentation unit 424 generates a display screen based on the information received by the receiving unit 420, for example, presented from the presentation unit 104 of the server 11, and displays the display screen on the display unit 406 via the display control unit 405. Information presentation by the presentation unit 424 can be performed not only by display but also by voice.

  The control unit 430 controls the overall operation of the computer 400 as the terminal device 20. In addition, the control unit 430 can execute a function embedded in a website accessed according to the URL. For example, when accessing the website according to the URL, the control unit 430 calls a browser application installed in the computer 400 as the terminal device 20 and causes the browser application to execute a function embedded in the website. be able to.

  The reception unit 420, transmission unit 421, imaging processing unit 422, input unit 423, presentation unit 424, and control unit 430 described above are realized by a terminal program that operates on the CPU 402. The terminal program is configured to be stored on a computer connected to the network 10 and provided by being downloaded via the network 10. The terminal program may be configured to be provided or distributed via the network 10. It is also conceivable to provide the terminal program by storing it in the ROM 403 in advance.

  The terminal program is not limited to this, and may be provided by being recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD or a DVD in a file that can be installed or executed. In this case, for example, the terminal program is supplied to the terminal device 20 via an external drive device connected to the data I / F 408.

  The terminal program has, for example, a module configuration including the above-described units (reception unit 420, transmission unit 421, imaging processing unit 422, input unit 423, presentation unit 424, and control unit 430). The CPU 402 reads out the terminal program from the storage 407 and executes it, for example, so that the above-described units are loaded on the main storage device (for example, the RAM 404), and the respective units are generated on the main storage device.

  With reference to FIG. 1, in such a system, for example, the user images the cover of the book 40 with the terminal device 20, and transmits the captured image of the cover obtained by imaging to the server 11 via the network 10. . Note that the terminal device 20 is not limited to capturing the book 40 as an entity, and may further capture a captured image obtained by capturing the book 40, for example. For example, the terminal device 20 may capture an image of the book 40 published in a magazine or a poster.

  When the server 11 receives the captured image transmitted from the terminal device 20, the server 11 analyzes the image data of the received captured image and extracts feature points. Then, the server 11 searches the book information DB 12 based on the extracted feature points, acquires ISBN as identification information corresponding to the image data as a search result, and uses as facility information associated with the ISBN. Get the URL list. The server 11 transmits the ISBN and URL list of the search result to the terminal device 20.

  The user can acquire the URL list of the library storing the book 40 only by imaging the book 40 with the terminal device 20 and transmitting it to the server 11. Then, the user selects a desired URL from the acquired URL list on the terminal device 20 and accesses the URL, so that the library that stores the book 40 makes a rental reservation and a copy request for the book 40. Requests such as browsing electronic books can be made.

  FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of a process flow according to the embodiment. First, the user takes an image of the book 40 that he / she wants to browse in the library using the terminal device 20 (step S10). The terminal device 20 transmits a captured image obtained by imaging the book 40 to the server 11 via the network 10 (SEQ100).

  When the server 11 receives the captured image transmitted from the terminal device 20 in SEQ100, in step S20, the server 11 analyzes the received captured image and extracts feature points. The server 11 searches the book information DB 12 based on the extracted feature points, acquires an ISBN corresponding to the received captured image, and acquires a URL list associated with the acquired ISBN (step S21). The server 11 transmits these ISBN and URL list to the terminal device 20 as a search result of the book information DB 12 (SEQ101).

  Note that, depending on how the book 40 is captured in the captured image transmitted from the terminal device 20, a plurality of ISBNs may be acquired for one captured image in step S20 and step S21 described above. In this case, the server 11 can present a plurality of ISBNs acquired from one captured image to the user and prompt the user to select a desired ISBN, that is, a book. When presenting a plurality of ISBNs to a user, it is more preferable to present an image of the book corresponding to each ISBN and a summary of the contents.

  When the terminal device 20 receives the ISBN and URL list that are the search results of the server 11, the terminal device 20 displays a screen showing the received search results on the display unit 406 (step S11). FIG. 8 shows an example of a URL list display screen 500 that displays a URL list as a search result displayed on the display unit 406. In the example of FIG. 8, four URLs are included in the URL list, and each URL included in the URL list is associated with display areas 510A, 510B, 510C, and 510D corresponding to the number of URLs included in the URL list. , Information corresponding to each URL is displayed.

  In the example of FIG. 8, in each of the display areas 510A to 510D, the title of the website accessed according to each corresponding URL is displayed as information corresponding to each URL. That is, the facility “ABC Library” is displayed in the display area 510A, the facility “Aiue Library” is displayed in the display area 510B, the facility “Kakikue Library” is displayed in the display area 510C, and the network 10 is displayed in the display area 510D. Web sites “defg” for browsing and purchasing books are displayed. It can be seen that the book 40 to which the user has transmitted the captured image can be browsed, rented out, requested for copying, etc. at the library or website displayed in each of the display areas 510A to 510D.

  For example, when receiving a URL list as a search result from the server 11, the terminal device 20 accesses each Web site according to each URL included in the URL list. Then, title information is acquired from each accessed Web site and is displayed in each of the display areas 510A to 510D. The title information corresponding to each URL may be acquired in advance on the server 11 side, and the acquired title information may be associated with each URL and stored in the book information DB 12. In this case, the server 11 transmits to the terminal device 20 further including each title information corresponding to each URL with respect to the search result for the captured image.

  In the example of FIG. 8, information based on the four URLs is displayed on the URL list display screen 500. However, in reality, there may be more libraries that store the books 40. In this case, display areas 510A to 510D that display information based on each URL cannot be displayed in the URL list display screen 500. there is a possibility. As a display method in such a case, for example, it is conceivable that the display areas 510A to 510D can be scrolled in the URL list display screen 500 according to a user operation.

  The user selects a desired library or Web site based on the display contents of the display areas 510A to 510D displayed on the URL list display screen 500. Thereby, the facility information (URL) corresponding to each of the display areas 510A to 510D is designated (step S12). Here, it is assumed that URL # m, which is facility information corresponding to the library 30A, is designated. The terminal device 20 accesses the designated URL #m via the network 10 to communicate with the library 30A, and transmits the ISBN transmitted from the server 11 in the above SEQ101 to the library 30A (SEQ102).

  When the library 30A receives the ISBN transmitted from the terminal device 20, in step S30, the library 30A searches the collection DB 31A according to the received ISBN, and obtains book information associated with the ISBN as a search result. The book information of the search result is in accordance with the structure of the collection DB 31A described with reference to FIG. 2, for example, whether there is inventory, placement position, reservation information, presence / absence of electronic books, and summary of the contents regarding the book identified by ISBN. Etc. can be included. The library 30A transmits the book information acquired according to ISBN to the terminal device 20 (SEQ103).

  Upon receiving the book information transmitted from the library 30A, the terminal device 20 displays a screen based on the received book information on the display unit 406 (step S13). FIG. 9 shows an example of a book information screen 501 displayed on the display unit 406. In the example of FIG. 9, a summary of the contents of the searched book is displayed in the display area 520 on the book information screen 501. In this way, it is possible to display an image as a summary of the contents. For example, in the collection DB 31A, it is conceivable to further store books corresponding to ISBN, images of related items, or image paths as book information.

  In FIG. 9, the display area 521 displays the inventory, the presence / absence of reservation, and the placement position of the retrieved books based on the received book information. In this example, the arrangement position is roughly indicated as “location: main building B”. In addition, the presence / absence of inventory and reservation is indicated as “situation: rentable” indicating that there is inventory and that there is no rental reservation.

  Furthermore, buttons 530 and 531 for accepting a user operation for requesting reservation and copying regarding the searched book are provided for the display area 521. Further, in FIG. 9, a button 532 for receiving a user operation for requesting browsing of an electronic book is provided in the display area 522.

  When there is a request for reservation, copying, browsing of an electronic book, etc. for the retrieved book, the user inputs that fact to the terminal device 20 (step S14). In the example of FIG. 9, the user operates a button corresponding to a desired request among the buttons 530, 531, and 532 displayed on the book information screen 501 displayed on the display unit 406 of the terminal device 20. Thus, a request corresponding to the operated button is transmitted from the terminal device 20 to the library 30A (SEQ104).

  When the library 30A receives the request transmitted from the terminal device 20, the library 30A performs processing according to the received request, and transmits information indicating the result to the terminal device 20 (SEQ105). When receiving the request result information, the terminal device 20 displays the received request result on the display unit 406 (step S15).

  As described above, according to the embodiment, the user obtains a list of URLs of libraries that store the book in the first operation of capturing an image of a desired book using the terminal device 20 and transmitting the image to the server 11. be able to. Further, by the second operation of selecting a URL from the list of URLs, the selected URL can be accessed to acquire the book information of the book. Furthermore, various requests relating to the book can be transmitted by the third operation corresponding to the display of the book information acquired for the library 30A. As described above, according to the embodiment, book reservation, copy request, electronic book browsing, and the like can be realized by an operation of only three steps.

  Here, an example of a data storage method for the book information DB 12 will be described. The book information DB 12 can store each information manually. On the other hand, it is more preferable that each information can be automatically stored in the book information DB 12. Furthermore, it is more preferable that the book information DB 12 can have book information of a book identified by ISBN in association with ISBN because the book search system can be completed on the server 11 side.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of a data storage method for the book information DB 12. For example, the server 11 accesses the collection DB 31A of the library 30A via the network 10, sequentially transfers ISBN and book information associated with ISBN from the collection DB 31A, and stores them in the book information DB 12. This transfer process is preferably performed in a time zone in which communication traffic in the network 10 between the server 11 and the collection DB 31A (library 30A) is small, for example, at night. For example, the server 11 activates ISBN and book information transfer processing from the collection DB 31A at a predetermined time by a timer, and automatically executes this transfer processing by batch processing.

  Similarly, the server 11 accesses the image DB 50 that provides an image corresponding to ISBN at a predetermined time via the network 10 and sequentially transfers the images from the image DB 50. Each transferred image is subjected to image analysis in the server 11, feature points are extracted, and converted into index data. The server 11 stores this index data in the book information DB 12 in association with the ISBN. Similarly to the above, this transfer process is preferably automatically started and executed in a time zone where communication traffic in the network 10 between the server 11 and the image DB 50 is small, for example, at night.

(Modification of the embodiment)
Next, a modification of the embodiment will be described. The display on the URL list display screen 500 according to the above-described embodiment does not depend on the user who uses the terminal device 20. The display on the URL list display screen 500 is not limited to this, and the display can be made different for each user.

  For example, the user registers user information including a user ID in the user DB 13 in advance when using the book search system according to the embodiment. At this time, the user registers, for example, information indicating a library to be preferentially displayed (for example, the URL of the library) and the priority order of the library in the user DB 13 in association with the user ID. As an example of a library to be preferentially displayed, a library at a school to which the user belongs or a library near the place where the user resides can be considered. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a library to be preferentially displayed may be designated based on the subjectivity of the user.

  With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 7 described above, a flow of processing according to a modification of the embodiment will be schematically described. It is assumed that user information including a user ID and a password and information indicating a library that the user with the user ID wants to display preferentially is registered in the user DB 13 in advance.

  Prior to capturing an image of the book 40 in step S10, the user transmits a user ID and a password from the terminal device 20 to the server 11, and logs in to the book search system according to the modification of the embodiment. Thereafter, the user captures an image of the book 40 using the terminal device 20 (step S10), and transmits the captured image together with the user ID to the server 11 (SEQ100).

  The server 11 analyzes the received captured image, searches the book information DB 12 based on the analysis result, and acquires the ISBN and URL list as the search result (step S20). Further, the server 11 searches the user DB 13 based on the user ID transmitted from the terminal device 20, and acquires information on the library that is to be displayed preferentially (step S21). Then, when the URL corresponding to the library information to be preferentially displayed is included in the URL list of the search result, the server 11 adds information indicating the priority order to the URL. The server 11 transmits the URL list to which the priority order of the library is added and the ISBN to the terminal device 20 (SEQ101).

  When the terminal device 20 receives the URL list to which the library priority is added and the ISBN, which are the search results of the server 11, the terminal device 20 displays the search results on the URL list display screen 500 (step S11). At this time, the terminal device 20 displays the information corresponding to each URL included in the URL list, rearranged based on the information indicating the priority order added to each URL. A URL to which information indicating the priority order is not added may be handled as having the lowest priority order. It is also conceivable to display only information corresponding to a URL to which information indicating priority is added. Furthermore, information corresponding to URLs from the top to a predetermined order may be displayed according to the priority order, including URLs to which information indicating the priority order is not added.

  Since the processing after the display of the search result on the URL list display screen 500 (step S12 and after in FIG. 7) is the same as the processing in the above-described embodiment, description thereof is omitted here.

  As described above, in the modification of the embodiment, information corresponding to each URL is displayed on the URL list display screen 500 by rearranging the display order according to the priority order set by the user. Thereby, the user can acquire information of a desired book more easily.

  In the above description, the information corresponding to each URL is rearranged and displayed according to the priority set by the user, but this is not limited to this example. For example, the information corresponding to each URL can be rearranged according to the position of the user. For example, when the user transmits a captured image to the server 11, the terminal device 20 transmits the position information acquired by the GPS unit 411 together with the captured image.

  On the other hand, it is assumed that the server 11 has location information of each library in a database (not shown) in advance. The server 11 compares the position information of each library obtained as a result of searching the book information DB 12 based on the analysis result of the captured image and the position information transmitted from the user, and the position information transmitted from the user indicates Increase the priority of the library closer to the location. The server 11 adds each priority determined based on the position information to each URL in the URL list, and transmits it to the terminal device 20. In the terminal device 20, the information corresponding to the URL is rearranged and displayed according to the priority order based on the position information.

  In this way, by increasing the priority of information indicating a library close to the user's position, the user can more easily execute browsing of a desired book.

10 Network 11 Server 12 Book Information DB
13 User DB
20 Terminal device 30A, 30B Library 31A, 31B Collection DB
100, 420 Reception unit 101 Calculation unit 102 Database 103 Search unit 104 Presentation unit 110, 430 Control unit 421 Transmission unit 422 Imaging unit 423 Input unit 424 Presentation unit 500 URL list display screen 501 Book information screen

JP 2006-011835 A JP 2003-108704 A

Claims (14)

Storage means for preliminarily associating an index for searching for an image with identification information for identifying a material and facility information indicating a facility where the material is stored;
Calculation means for calculating a similarity between a target image obtained by a captured image captured by a user and an image searched by an index stored in the storage means;
An acquisition means for searching the index based on the similarity and acquiring the identification information associated with the searched index and the facility information from the storage means;
Presenting means for presenting the facility information acquired by the acquiring means;
Transmitting means for transmitting the identification information acquired by the acquiring means toward the facility indicated by the facility information designated from the presented facility information ;
Wherein the facility transmitted from, have a <br/> and display means for displaying the received information of the article identified by the identification information in response to the identification information transmitted by the transmission means,
The search system , wherein the identification information is an international standard book number . The storage means includes
The search system according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of pieces of facility information are stored in association with the identification information. The presenting means is
The search system according to claim 2, wherein the plurality of pieces of facility information associated with one piece of identification information acquired based on an image search by the acquisition unit is presented. The search system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the facility information is information for communicating with the facility via a network. The storage means includes
The search system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein a plurality of indexes for searching a plurality of images are stored in association with the identification information. The search system according to claim 1, wherein the target image is an image included in the material. The transmitting means further includes
Wherein toward the facility, and requests the lending reservation of the article, and copy requests request to claim 1, characterized in that transmitting the at least a of the request for viewing an electronic document that digital data to said resource fees The search system according to claim 6. The storage means includes
The search system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the identification information is transferred and registered from a place where the material corresponding to the identification information is stored. A transmission step of transmitting a target image based on a captured image captured by the user to the search device;
Receiving the facility information transmitted from the search device according to the target image transmitted in the transmitting step , and the international standard book number identifying the material;
A presenting step of presenting the facility information received in the receiving step ;
An input step for receiving a user operation for designating the facility information presented in the presenting step;
In accordance with the user operation accepted in the input step, a transmission step of transmitting the identification information received in the reception step toward the facility indicated by the designated facility information ;
A program for causing a computer to execute a display step of receiving and displaying information of a material identified by the international standard book number transmitted from the facility according to the international standard book number transmitted in the transmission step . The presenting step includes
Presenting a plurality of facility information transmitted from the search device according to the target image,
The input step includes
The program according to claim 9, wherein the user operation for selecting and specifying one facility information from the plurality of facility information is received. The program according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the target image is an image of at least one page among pages including each cover of the material. The program according to any one of claims 9 to 11, further comprising an imaging step of imaging a subject and outputting the target image. The transmitting step further comprises:
Toward the facility, and requests the lending reservation of the article, and copy requests request to claim 9, characterized in that transmitting the at least a of the request for viewing an electronic document that digital data to said resource fees The program according to claim 12. Storage means for storing in advance a target image based on a captured image captured by a user and identification information for identifying a material in association with an index for searching for the image and facility information indicating a facility where the material is stored A calculation step of calculating a similarity between the image searched by the stored index;
An acquisition step of searching the index based on the similarity and acquiring the identification information associated with the searched index and the facility information from the storage unit;
A presenting step of presenting the facility information acquired by the acquiring step;
A transmission step of transmitting the identification information acquired by the acquisition step toward the facility indicated by the facility information designated from the presented facility information;
A display step of receiving and displaying information of the material identified by the identification information transmitted from the facility according to the identification information transmitted by the transmission step;
Have
The identification information is an international standard book number.
A search method characterized by that.

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