JP7353122B2 - Information processing systems, home appliances, and programs - Google Patents

Description

Embodiments of the present invention relate to an information processing system, a home appliance, and a program.

Information processing systems are provided that allow home appliances to be remotely controlled from a terminal device via a server device. In order to use such an information processing system, it is necessary to associate and register a terminal device or a user of the terminal device and a home appliance.

As one method for registration operations, there is a method in which a terminal device and a home appliance are connected to the same wireless router (subnetwork) and a predetermined registration operation is performed. However, in such a registration operation, if the terminal device is connected to another network, the connection to the current network is temporarily disconnected, and the terminal device and the home appliance are connected to the same subnetwork. There is a need to. Furthermore, after the registration operation is completed, it is also necessary to reconnect the terminal device to the network to which it is normally connected. Therefore, there was room for improvement in convenience regarding registration.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2016-015544

The problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an information processing system, a home appliance, and a program that can improve convenience.

The information processing system of the embodiment includes a server device, a home appliance, and a terminal device. The home appliance includes a plurality of display lamps that are arranged side by side and correspond to a plurality of items of the operating state or setting state of the home appliance, and the home appliance, the terminal device, the server device, or another device. A display based on the held or generated first information or second information obtained based on the first information is outputted in a lighting pattern based on a combination of lighting states and non-lighting states of the plurality of display lamps . The terminal device acquires third information based on the lighting pattern or an input operation corresponding to the lighting pattern . One of the home appliance, the terminal device, and the server device is configured to combine the first information or the second information with the first information or the second information based on the first information or the second information and the third information. The server device performs a matching process to determine whether or not the three pieces of information correspond to each other, and as a result of the matching process, the server device determines whether the first information or the second information and the third information correspond to each other. If it is determined that there is a relationship, the terminal device or the user of the terminal device and the home appliance are registered in association with each other.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of the overall configuration of an information processing system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a home appliance according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configurations of a home appliance, a terminal device, and a server device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the contents of lighting pattern information according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display based on lighting pattern information according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of screen transitions of the terminal device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow at the time of registration according to the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process when registering a home appliance according to the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process when registering a terminal device according to the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing at the time of registration of the server device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display device according to a modification of the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configurations of a home appliance, a terminal device, and a server device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the configurations of a home appliance, a terminal device, and a server device according to a third embodiment.

Hereinafter, an information processing system, a home appliance, and a program according to an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, components having the same or similar functions are denoted by the same reference numerals. Further, redundant explanations of these configurations may be omitted. As used herein, "based on XX" means "based on at least XX" and includes cases where it is based on another element in addition to XX. Moreover, "based on XX" is not limited to the case where XX is used directly, but also includes the case where it is based on calculations and processing performed on XX. "XX" is an arbitrary element (for example, arbitrary information). Furthermore, in this specification, "memory" and "retention" are used interchangeably.

(First embodiment)
In the first embodiment, information equivalent to identification information held in the home appliance is displayed (notified) externally based on the lighting pattern of the display lamp section of the home appliance, and the lighting pattern of the home appliance is corresponded to by imaging by a terminal device. The verification information acquired by the terminal device through imaging is collated with the identification information of the home appliance (or equivalent information) by the server device, thereby making it possible for the user of the terminal device to communicate with the home appliance. This is an example of registering in association. Note that this embodiment can be implemented in various modifications. These modifications will be described together at the end of the first embodiment. Further, an example in which information equivalent to identification information is output as a sound will be described in a second embodiment, and an example in which a random number is used instead of identification information will be described in a third embodiment.

<1. Overall configuration of information processing system>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of an information processing system 1 according to the first embodiment. The information processing system 1 includes, for example, a home appliance 100, a terminal device 200, and a server device 300. The home appliance 100, the terminal device 200, and the server device 300 can communicate with each other via the network N. The network N is, for example, a network such as the Internet, a WAN (Wide Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), or a cellular network.

<1.1 Home appliances>
The home appliance 100 is, for example, an electronic device used in a house. The home appliance 100 has a communication function that allows connection to the network N. Home appliance 100 is connected to network N via repeater R. The repeater R is, for example, a wireless router installed in the same house as the home appliance 100. Relay R constructs a subnetwork. The subnetwork is a network with a narrower communication area than network N. For example, the subnetwork is a Wi-Fi network. The sub-network may be a network such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), NFC (Near field communication), or infrared communication.

Home appliance 100 is, for example, a refrigerator. However, the home appliance 100 is not limited to a refrigerator, and may be other home appliances such as an air conditioner, a vacuum cleaner, a washing machine, a lighting device, an oven range, a rice cooker, a dishwasher, a television, a radio, etc. In the following, an example in which the home appliance 100 is a refrigerator will be described.

The home appliance 100 has a display/operation unit 110 at an easily visible position on the surface or inside of the home appliance 100 (for example, in front of a door). The display/operation unit 110 is an example of a “notification unit” and a “display unit”. The display/operation unit 110 is, for example, a display unit that does not have a numerical display function. The display/operation unit 110 is not a display unit that has a display screen, and furthermore, it is a display unit that does not have a 7-segment display. In this embodiment, the display/operation section 110 includes a display lamp section 111 and an operation button section (operation section) 112.

The indicator lamp section 111 includes one or more indicator lamps 111a. The display lamp 111a is a display device that displays information that is meaningful to humans by switching between display (for example, on) and non-display (for example, off) (i.e., one-dot display switching). For example, the display lamp unit 111 displays (notifies) the state of the home appliance 100 to the outside by turning on or turning off the display lamp 111a. In the present embodiment, the display lamp section 111 externally displays information (hereinafter referred to as "state information") regarding at least one of the operating state and setting state of the drive section 120 (see FIG. 3) of the home appliance 100. . For example, the display lamp section 111 includes a plurality of display lamps 111a corresponding to a plurality of items of the drive state and/or setting state of the drive section 120. Each indicator lamp 111a includes a light source such as an LED, and printing such as transparent cut-out characters corresponding to the item to be notified.

When the home appliance 100 is a refrigerator, the drive unit 120 is a compressor that circulates refrigerant, a blower that circulates cold air cooled by a cooler in a storage room, or the like. In the present embodiment, the display lamp 111a indicates that the driving state of the drive unit 120 is "all-in-one freezing (specific quick freezing mode)" or "quick fresh chilled (specific chilled mode)". do. Further, the display lamp 111a displays, as the setting state of the drive unit 120, a key lock state in which no operation is accepted, a drive start/stop reservation state, and the like. However, the drive unit 120 is not limited to a specific component as long as it is a component that performs a predetermined function required by the various home appliances 100. Another example of the drive unit 120 is a motor for a rotating tub in a washing machine.

In the present embodiment, the display lamp section 111 has a first display mode in which the display lamp section 111 displays status information (first type information) of the drive section 120 under the control of the control section 180, which will be described later. It is possible to switch between the display mode and the second display mode in which information (second type information) different from the status information of the drive unit 120 is displayed. The second type information is, for example, information different from information regarding the original function of the home appliance 100. An example of the second type information is identification information of the home appliance 100. This function will be described in detail later.

In this embodiment, the display lamp unit 111 includes a mode notification unit 111b that reports whether the display lamp unit 111 is displaying in either the first display mode or the second display mode. The mode notification unit 111b is realized by, for example, one display lamp 111a, and is in a first state (e.g., off state) during the first display mode, and in a second state (e.g., on or blinking state) during the second display mode. )become. A specific example of the mode notification section 111b will be described later.

The operation button section 112 includes one or more operation buttons 112a. The operation button 112a may be a touch panel type soft key or a hard key having a physical mechanism. A user of the home appliance 100 can perform various input operations on the home appliance 100 by operating the operation button 112, for example.

<1.2 Terminal device>
The terminal device 200 is, for example, a portable information processing device such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a notebook computer. The terminal device 200 implements various functional units described below by installing a predetermined application program (hereinafter referred to as "app") for remotely controlling the home appliance 100.

<1.3 Server device>
Server device 300 manages home appliances 100 and terminal devices 200. For example, the server device 300 manages, for each terminal device 200, the identification information of the terminal device 200 (terminal ID), the identification information of the user of the terminal device 200 (user ID), and the user's password in association with each other. Hereinafter, the user ID and password will be collectively referred to as "login information." The server device 300 associates and registers the terminal device 200 or the user of the terminal device 200 and the home appliance 100. The terminal device 200 can remotely control the home appliance 100 registered in association with the terminal device 200 or the user of the terminal device 200 via the server device 300.

<2. Configuration of home appliances, terminal devices, and server devices>
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the home appliance 100. Note that the terminal device 200 and the server device 300 also include the same configuration as the home appliance 100.

The home appliance 100 includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, an input device 14, an output device 15, and a communication I/F (Interface). ) 16. These parts are connected by a bus 17.

The CPU 11 executes programs stored in the ROM 12 or RAM 13 to implement each functional unit described below. Note that each functional unit uses hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a PLD (Programmable Logic Device), or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) instead of a hardware processor such as a CPU executing the program. (including circuitry), or may be realized by collaboration between software and hardware.

The input device 14 is, for example, the operation button unit 112 described above. Note that the input device 14 of the terminal device 200 and the server device 300 may be realized by a keyboard, a pointing device, a touch panel, or the like. The output device 15 is, for example, the display lamp unit 111 described above. Note that the output device 15 of the terminal device 200 and the server device 300 may be realized by a display device including a display screen. Communication I/F 16 is connected to network N via wireless or wire.

<2.1 Configuration of home appliances>
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the home appliance 100, the terminal device 200, and the server device 300. The home appliance 100 includes, for example, a display/operation section 110, a drive section 120, a storage section 130, an information conversion section 140, an information acquisition section 150, an information output section 160, a communication section 170, and a control section 180. The display/operation section 110 and the drive section 120 are as described above.

The storage unit 130 is realized by, for example, a nonvolatile semiconductor memory. The storage unit 130 stores state information I1 of the drive unit 120 of the home appliance 100, and also stores predetermined information in a non-rewritable manner. An example of the predetermined information that is stored in a non-rewritable manner is the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100. "Stored in an unrewritable manner" means, for example, that access for erasing and writing operations to an address where predetermined information is stored is prohibited. The identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 is, for example, unique identification information (for example, the serial number of the home appliance 100) set in advance for the home appliance 100. However, the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 is not limited to specific information as long as it is information that can identify the home appliance 100, and may be information of a certain number of digits with a low probability of coincidence. In this embodiment, the manufacturing number of the home appliance 100 is stored in the storage unit 130 as the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 when the home appliance 100 is shipped. The manufacturing number of the home appliance 100 is, for example, a string of around 10 digits consisting of a combination of numbers and alphabets. In this embodiment, the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 is an example of "first information".

The information conversion unit 140 acquires the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 from the storage unit 130. The information conversion unit 140 generates information (hereinafter referred to as “lighting pattern information”) indicating a lighting pattern of the display lamp unit 111 corresponding to the content of the identification information I2, based on the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100. The lighting pattern information is, for example, information indicating a combination of the lighting state and the non-lighting state of the plurality of display lamps 111a included in the display lamp section 111. For example, when the lighting pattern of the display lamp unit 111 changes over time, the lighting pattern information includes information about which display lamps 111a are in the lighting state at the first timing, which display lamps 111a are in the off state, and which display lamps 111a are in the off state at the second timing. This is information indicating which display lamps 111a are in a lit state and which display lamps 111a are in a non-lighted state. Check data such as a checksum may be added to the lighting pattern information. The lighting pattern is an example of an "output pattern."

The correspondence between each element (for example, each character) included in the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 and the lighting pattern of the display lamp section 111 is determined in advance and stored in the storage section 130 as a correspondence table T1. The information conversion unit 140 generates lighting pattern information based on the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 by referring to the correspondence table T1. The information conversion unit 140 outputs the generated lighting pattern information to the display/operation unit 110 and also to the information output unit 160. The lighting pattern information is an example of "second information". The lighting pattern information is information equivalent to the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100. Note that instead of being stored in the storage unit 130, the correspondence table T1 may be referenced by communicating with the server device 300 or another device.

The information acquisition unit 150 communicates with the server device 300 via the communication unit 170. The information acquisition unit 150 acquires information from the server device 300 as necessary. In this embodiment, the information acquisition unit 150 and the storage unit 130 form an example of an “information management unit”.

Information output unit 160 communicates with server device 300 via communication unit 170. In this embodiment, the information output unit 160 outputs the identification information I2 stored in the storage unit 130 and the lighting pattern information generated by the information conversion unit 140 to the server device 300.

The control unit 180 controls the operation of the home appliance 100. The control unit 180 centrally controls the operations of, for example, the display/operation unit 110, the drive unit 120, the storage unit 130, the information conversion unit 140, the information acquisition unit 150, the information output unit 160, and the communication unit 170. For example, the control unit 180 controls lighting and extinguishing of the plurality of display lamps 111a included in the display lamp unit 111 based on the lighting pattern information generated by the information conversion unit 140. The display lamp section 111 outputs a display based on lighting pattern information to the outside of the home appliance 100 by turning on and off the plurality of display lamps 111a. Note that an example of display based on the lighting pattern information will be described later.

<2.2 Terminal device configuration>
The terminal device 200 includes, for example, an information acquisition section 210, an information output section 220, a communication section 230, and a control section 240.

The information acquisition unit 210 acquires collation information for associating the terminal device 200 (or the user of the terminal device 200) and the home appliance 100 based on the display by the display lamp unit 111 of the home appliance 100. In the present embodiment, the information acquisition unit 210 uses a camera 211 that captures the display by the display lamp unit 111 of the home appliance 100 as a still image (or video), and a camera 211 for comparison based on the image (or video) captured by the camera 211. and an information generation unit 212 that generates information. The verification information is information corresponding to the above-mentioned lighting pattern information, and is information indicating a combination of the lighting state and the non-lighting state of the plurality of display lamps 111a included in the display lamp section 111 of the home appliance 100. The verification information can be obtained by performing image analysis on the content (image or video) captured by the camera 211. The information acquisition unit 210 outputs the acquired verification information to the information output unit 220. The verification information is an example of "third information." Note that the verification information may be the image or video itself captured by the camera 211 instead of the above. In this case, the information generation unit 212 is provided in the server device 300.

The information output unit 220 transmits login information input to the terminal device 200 via the communication unit 230 when the terminal device 200 is connected to the server device 300 (for example, when an application on the terminal device 200 is started). and outputs it to the server device 300. Further, the information output unit 220 outputs the verification information acquired by the information acquisition unit 210 to the server device 300 via the communication unit 230.

The communication unit 230 can communicate directly with the network N without going through the repeater R, for example. In the following, it is assumed that the terminal device 200 communicates with the server device 300 without going through the relay R (that is, without being connected to the subnetwork).

The control unit 240 controls the operation of the terminal device 200. The control unit 240, for example, centrally controls the operations of the information acquisition unit 210, the information output unit 220, and the communication unit 230.

<2.3 Configuration of server device>
The server device 300 includes, for example, a communication section 310, an information acquisition section 320, a collation section 330, a registration section 340, and a control section 350.

The information acquisition unit 320 communicates with the home appliance 100 and the terminal device 200 via the communication unit 310. The information acquisition unit 320 acquires identification information I2 and lighting pattern information from the home appliance 100. The information acquisition unit 320 also acquires login information and verification information from the terminal device 200. The information acquisition unit 320 outputs the identification information I2 acquired from the home appliance 100 and the login information acquired from the terminal device 200 to the registration unit 340. Further, the information acquisition unit 320 outputs the lighting pattern information acquired from the home appliance 100 and the verification information acquired from the terminal device 200 to the verification unit 330.

The matching unit 330 determines whether the lighting pattern information and the matching information have a corresponding relationship with each other, based on the lighting pattern information acquired from the home appliance 100 and the matching information obtained from the terminal device 200. For example, the matching unit 330 determines whether the degree of coincidence (similarity) between the lighting pattern information and the matching information is greater than or equal to a preset threshold. This determination (verification) is an example of "processing related to association between the user of the terminal device and the home appliance."

When the matching unit 330 determines that the lighting pattern information and the matching information have a corresponding relationship with each other (for example, it is determined that the degree of matching between the lighting pattern information and the matching information is greater than or equal to a threshold) In this case, the user of the terminal device 200 and the home appliance 100 are associated and registered in a database (not shown). In the present embodiment, the registration unit 340 associates the user ID of the user of the terminal device 200 (user ID included in the login information) with the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100, and registers them in the database. This registration allows the user of the terminal device 200 to remotely control the home appliance 100 using the terminal device 200. This registration is another example of "processing related to association of a user of a terminal device and a home appliance."

The control unit 350 controls the operation of the server device 300. For example, the operation of the communication section 310, information acquisition section 320, collation section 330, and registration section 340 is controlled in an integrated manner.

<3. Display example based on lighting pattern information>
Next, a display example based on lighting pattern information by the home appliance 100 will be described.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents of lighting pattern information generated by the information converter 140 of the home appliance 100. For example, the lighting pattern information includes a plurality of lighting patterns L1, L2, and L3 that are sequentially switched based on a user's operation (or over time). For example, in each of the lighting patterns L1, L2, and L3, "1" corresponds to lighting of the display lamp 111a, and "0" corresponds to turning off the display lamp 111a.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display based on lighting pattern information by the display lamp unit 111. FIG. 5A is an example in which the home appliance 100 is in the normal mode (first display mode) and the status information of the drive unit 120 is displayed by the display lamp unit 111. 5(B), (C), and (D) are examples in which the home appliance 100 is in the registration mode (second display mode) and lighting patterns L1, L2, and L3 are displayed.

In this embodiment, the display lamp unit 111 includes, for example, 16 display lamps 510a to 510p as the display lamp 111a. In the normal mode, each of the display lamps 510a to 510p outputs status information by turning on and off in accordance with the status information of the drive unit 120, for example.

In FIG. 5A, when the user performs a predetermined operation (for example, presses and holds the home key 521 and the driving mode key 522 at the same time), the home appliance 100 associates the user of the terminal device 200 with the home appliance 100. Shift to registration mode for registration. In the registration mode, each display lamp 510a to 510p corresponds to a 16-digit "1" or "0" included in the lighting pattern information in FIG.

FIG. 5B shows a state in which the first step lighting pattern (lighting pattern L1) in the registration mode is displayed. During the registration mode, a registration lamp 511 blinks to indicate the registration mode. The registration lamp 511 is an example of a "mode notification section" that notifies whether the display lamp section 111 is displaying in the normal mode or the registration mode.

A lighting pattern L1 in FIG. 5(B) is a pattern in which six display lamps 510a, 510b, 510d, 510f, 510i, and 510j are lit. For example, among "1101010011000000" in the lighting pattern L1 in FIG. 4, the first "1" corresponds to lighting of the display lamp 510a, the second "1" corresponds to lighting of the display lamp 510b, and the third "0" corresponds to turning off the display lamp 510c. The same applies to the other display lamps 510d to 510p. In FIG. 5B, for example, among the display lamps 512 indicating the set temperature range, the lower left lamp 512a indicating the first step of the registration mode is lit. Note that the lamp 512 is a lamp that indicates the set temperature range of the refrigerator in the normal mode. The lamp 512a is an example of information that can identify the switching order (order of appearance) of the lighting pattern L1 among the plurality of lighting patterns L1, L2, and L3.

By operating the terminal device 200, the user images the lighting pattern L1 displayed on the display lamp section 111 using the camera 211 of the terminal device 200. Thereafter, the lighting pattern of the display lamp unit 111 is switched to the second step lighting pattern (lighting pattern L2) shown in FIG. 5(C). In the present embodiment, the timing of switching from the lighting pattern L1 to the lighting pattern L2 is determined when a predetermined operation button 112a (for example, the home key 521) of the operation button section 112 of the home appliance 100 is operated by the user. It's the timing. However, the lighting patterns L1, L2, and L3 may be automatically switched over, for example, over time. In this case, the switching timing is the timing at which a predetermined period (for example, 15 seconds) has elapsed after the lighting pattern L1 was lit.

Lighting pattern 2 in FIG. 5C is a pattern in which seven display lamps 510a, 510c, 510d, 510e, 510h, 510j, and 510k are lit. Further, in FIG. 5C, among the display lamps 512, the upper left lamp 512b indicating the second step of the registration mode is lit. The lamp 512b is an example of information that can identify the switching order of the lighting pattern L2 among the plurality of lighting patterns L1, L2, and L3.

By operating the terminal device 200, the user images the lighting pattern L2 with the camera 211 of the terminal device 200. Thereafter, the lighting pattern of the display lamp section 111 is switched to the lighting pattern of the third step (lighting pattern L3) shown in FIG. 5(D). The timing of switching from the lighting pattern L2 to the lighting pattern L3 is the same as the timing of switching from the lighting pattern L1 to the lighting pattern L2.

A lighting pattern L3 in FIG. 5(D) is a pattern in which eleven display lamps 510a, 510b, 510c, 510d, 510e, 510f, 510g, 510h, 510i, 510j, and 510k are lit. Furthermore, in FIG. 5(D), among the display lamps 512, the uppermost lamp 512c indicating the third step of the registration mode is lit. The lamp 512c is an example of information that can identify the switching order of the lighting pattern L3 among the plurality of lighting patterns L1, L2, and L3.

By operating the terminal device 200, the user images the lighting pattern L3 with the camera 211 of the terminal device 200. Thereafter, verification information is generated by the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 based on these imaging results, and the generated verification information is transmitted from the terminal device 200 to the server device 300.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of transition of a screen imaged by the terminal device 200. On the screen D1 of the display device D of the terminal device, the lighting pattern L1 of the display lamp unit 111 of the home appliance 100 that is the imaging target is displayed under the control of the information acquisition unit 210. Further, on the screen D2, the characters "STEP1", which is a guide G11 indicating that the first step is imaging, and the characters "Please take an image", which is a guide G12 urging imaging, are displayed. When the imaging of the lighting pattern L1 is completed on the screen D1, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 transitions the screen of the terminal device 200 to the screen D2.

A guide G21 indicating "Next" is displayed on the screen D2. Further, a guide G22 prompting the user to operate the home key 521 of the home appliance 100 is displayed on the screen D2. When the user operates the home key 521, the display lamp section 111 of the home appliance 100 switches from the lighting pattern L1 to the lighting pattern L2. Then, when the user touches the guide G21 indicating "Next" on the screen D2, the next imaging becomes possible. That is, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 transitions the screen of the terminal device 200 to screen D3.

On the screen D3, similarly to the screen D1, the lighting pattern L2 of the display lamp section 111 of the home appliance 100 that is the imaging target is displayed under the control of the information acquisition section 210. Further, on the screen D1, "STEP2", which is a guide G31 indicating that the second step of imaging is to be taken, and the text "Please take an image", which is a guide G32 urging imaging, are displayed. Then, when the imaging of the lighting pattern L2 is completed, the display lamp unit 111 of the home appliance 100 is similarly switched from the lighting pattern L2 to the lighting pattern L3 by the user's operation on the home appliance 100, and the imaging of the lighting pattern L3 is performed. . Then, when the lighting pattern information and the verification information match in the comparison by the server device 300, the terminal device 200 displays a registration completion notification on the screen of the terminal device 200 (see screen D4) based on the notification from the server device 300. indicate.

<4. Control flow>
FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the flow at the time of registration performed by the information processing system 1. Note that the following description assumes that initial user registration (registration of login information) has already been performed in the server device 300.

First, the home appliance 100 establishes a WPS connection with the repeater R by, for example, operating a WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) button on the repeater R by the user (step S601). When the WPS connection is completed, the home appliance 100 transmits identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 (hereinafter referred to as "home appliance ID" for convenience of explanation) to the server device 300 via the repeater R (step S602).

The server device 300 receives the home appliance ID from the home appliance 100 (step S603). The terminal device 200 starts a predetermined application installed on the terminal device 200 and receives input of login information from the user (step S604). Upon receiving the input of login information, the terminal device 200 transmits the input login information to the server device 300 (step S605). The server device 300 receives login information from the terminal device 200 (step S606). Thereby, the terminal device 200 and the server device 300 are connected.

When the home appliance 100 transmits the home appliance ID in step S602, the home appliance 100 sets the home appliance 100 to registration mode (step S607). Furthermore, the home appliance 100 generates lighting pattern information based on the home appliance ID (step S609). Then, the home appliance 100 transmits the generated lighting pattern information to the server device 300 (step S610).

The server device 300 receives lighting pattern information from the home appliance 100 (step S611). Then, the server device 300 stores the received lighting pattern information (step S612).

Apart from transmitting the lighting pattern information, the home appliance 100 lights up the display lamp section 111 based on the lighting pattern information as described with reference to FIG. 5 (step S613). The terminal device 200 images the lighting patterns L1, L2, and L3 of the display lamp section 111 of the home appliance 100 in response to the user's operation on the terminal device 200 (step S614). Then, the home appliance 100 generates verification information based on the imaging result, and transmits the generated verification information to the server device 300 (step S615). The server device 300 receives the verification information from the terminal device 200 (step S616). The server device 300 stores the received verification information (step S617).

The server device 300 compares the lighting pattern information received from the home appliance 100 and the verification information received from the terminal device 200 (step S619). If the matching degree of the two pieces of information is equal to or greater than the threshold as a result of the comparison, the home appliance ID of the home appliance 100 and the user ID used to log in to the terminal device 200 are registered in association with each other (step S620). The server device 300 transmits a registration completion notification indicating that the registration is completed to the terminal device 200 (step S621), and ends the series of processing.

When the terminal device 200 receives the registration completion notification from the server device 300, it outputs the registration completion notification (step S622), and ends the series of processes. When the home appliance 100 completes displaying the lighting pattern in step S613, it ends the registration mode (step S623) and ends the series of processes.

Hereinafter, detailed processing of each device in the sequence diagram shown in FIG. 7 will be described using FIGS. 8 to 10. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process performed by the home appliance 100 at the time of registration. In FIG. 8, the control unit 180 of the home appliance 100 determines whether there is an operation for WPS connection (step S701). If there is no WPS connection operation (step S701: NO), the information output unit 160 of the home appliance 100 waits until there is a WPS connection operation. When there is an operation for WPS connection (step S701: YES), the information output unit 160 of the home appliance 100 transmits the home appliance ID to the server device 300 via the relay R (step S702).

Next, the control unit 180 of the home appliance 100 determines whether or not there is a predetermined operation (a first predetermined operation, for example, a long-press operation of a specific button) on the home appliance 100 (step S703). If the first predetermined operation is not performed (step S703: NO), the control unit 180 of the home appliance 100 waits until the first predetermined operation is performed. When the first predetermined operation is performed (step S703: YES), the control unit 180 of the home appliance 100 shifts the home appliance 100 to registration mode (step S704).

The information conversion unit 140 of the home appliance 100 generates lighting pattern information based on the home appliance ID (step S706). The information output unit 160 of the home appliance 100 transmits the generated lighting pattern information to the server device 300 (step S707). Furthermore, the display/operation unit 110 of the home appliance 100 outputs a display based on the lighting pattern information to the outside. That is, the display/operation unit 110 of the home appliance 100 is controlled by the control unit 180 and turns on or off the plurality of display lamps 111a according to the lighting patterns L1, L2, and L3 included in the lighting pattern information (step S708). .

The control unit 180 of the home appliance 100 determines whether it is time to switch the lighting pattern (step S709). The switching timing of the lighting pattern is, for example, when a predetermined operation (second predetermined operation) for switching the lighting pattern is received from the user on the home appliance 100.

If it is not the lighting pattern switching timing (step S709: NO), the control unit 180 of the home appliance 100 waits until the lighting pattern switching timing comes. When the lighting pattern switching timing comes (step S709: YES), the control unit 180 of the home appliance 100 switches the lighting pattern of the display lamp unit 111 (step S710). Then, the control unit 180 of the home appliance 100 determines whether to end the lighting according to the lighting pattern (step S711).

If the control unit 180 of the home appliance 100 does not end the lighting according to the lighting pattern (step S711: NO), it waits. When the control unit 180 of the home appliance 100 ends the lighting according to the lighting pattern (step S711: YES), the control unit 180 ends the registration mode (step S712) and ends the series of processes.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process when registering the terminal device 200. Note that the following flow assumes that a predetermined application is activated on the terminal device 200. The control unit 240 of the terminal device 200 determines whether login information has been input (step S801). If no login information is input (step S801: NO), the information output unit 220 of the terminal device 200 waits until login information is input. When the information output unit 220 of the terminal device 200 receives login information (step S801: YES) and, for example, touches a send button displayed on the display device of the terminal device 200, the information output unit 220 of the terminal device 200 transmits the login information to the server device 300. (Step S802). Note that the illustration assumes that the login is successful. If the login is not successful, the terminal device 200 displays an error screen and repeats the process of step S801.

Next, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 determines whether an operation for starting imaging from the user has been received (step S803). If there is no operation to start imaging (step S803: NO), the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 waits until an operation to start imaging is received. When the terminal device 200 receives an operation for starting imaging (step S803: YES), the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 starts imaging the display lamp unit 111 of the home appliance 100 (step S804). Note that when starting to capture an image of the display lamp section 111, the user performs a predetermined operation on the home appliance 100 to set the lighting patterns L1, L2, L3 by turning on or off the display lamp section 111 of the home appliance 100. Display.

Next, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 determines whether imaging has ended (step S805). The end of imaging is, for example, the end of three imaging operations corresponding to the three lighting patterns L1, L2, and L3. If the conditions for terminating the imaging are not satisfied (step S805: NO), the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 continues imaging until the imaging is completed. When the imaging is completed (step S805: YES), the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 generates collation information based on the imaging result. The information output unit 220 of the terminal device 200 transmits the generated verification information to the server device 300 (step S806).

Next, the control unit 240 of the terminal device 200 determines whether an error notification has been received from the server device 300 (step S807). The error notification is sent to the server device when the verification information received by the server device 300 from the terminal device 200 and the lighting pattern information received by the server device 300 from the home appliance 100 do not match (if the degree of matching is below a threshold). 300 to the terminal device 200.

If the control unit 240 of the terminal device 200 does not receive an error notification from the server device 300 (step S807: NO), it determines whether or not a registration completion notification has been received from the server device 300 (step S808). If the control unit 240 of the terminal device 200 does not receive the registration completion notification from the server device 300 (step S808: NO), the process returns to step S807.

When the control unit 240 of the terminal device 200 receives the registration completion notification from the server device 300 (step S808: YES), it outputs the registration completion notification (step S809), and ends the series of processes. In step S807, when the control unit 240 of the terminal device 200 receives an error notification from the server device 300 (step S807: YES), it outputs the error notification (step S810) and ends the series of processing.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of processing when the server device 300 is registered. The information acquisition unit 320 of the server device 300 receives the home appliance ID from the home appliance 100 (step S901). Next, the information acquisition unit 320 of the server device 300 receives lighting pattern information from the home appliance 100 (step S902). For example, the information acquisition unit 320 of the server device 300 associates and stores the home appliance ID received in step S901, the lighting pattern information received in step S902, and the reception time at which the lighting pattern information was received in step S902.

Next, the information acquisition unit 320 of the server device 300 receives login information from the terminal device 200 (step S904). Next, the information acquisition unit 320 of the server device 300 receives verification information from the terminal device 200 (step S905). For example, the information acquisition unit 320 of the server device 300 associates the user ID included in the login information received in step S904, the verification information received in step S905, and the reception time at which the verification information was received in step S905. and stored (step S906).

Next, based on the reception time of the lighting pattern information and the reception time of the verification information, the verification unit 330 of the server device 300 performs a process within a predetermined time range (for example, 15 minutes) before and after the reception time of the lighting pattern information. (From another perspective, whether there is lighting pattern information received within a predetermined time range before and after the reception time of the verification information) is determined ( Step S908). If there is no matching information received within a predetermined time range before and after the reception time of the lighting pattern information (step S908: NO), the server device 300 proceeds to step S912.

On the other hand, if there is verification information received within a predetermined time range before and after the reception time of the lighting pattern information (step S908: YES), the verification unit 330 of the server device 300 compares the lighting pattern information with the verification information. The degree of coincidence between the lighting pattern information and the matching information is calculated. Then, the matching unit 330 of the server device 300 determines whether the degree of matching between the lighting pattern information and the matching information is greater than or equal to a threshold value (step S909).

If the degree of coincidence between the lighting pattern information and the verification information is not equal to or greater than the threshold value (step S909: NO), the server device 300 proceeds to step S912. On the other hand, if the degree of matching between the lighting pattern information and the matching information is equal to or greater than the threshold (step S909: YES), the registration unit 340 of the server device 300 registers the home appliance ID of the home appliance 100 that has transmitted the lighting pattern information, The verification information is registered in association with the user ID of the user of the terminal device 200 that sent the verification information (step S910). Then, the control unit 350 of the server device 300 transmits a registration completion notification to the terminal device 200 (step S911), and ends the series of processing.

On the other hand, in step S908, the control unit 350 of the server device 300 issues an error notification if there is no collation information received within a predetermined time range before and after the reception time of the lighting pattern information (step S908: NO). The information is transmitted to the terminal device 200 (step S912), and the series of processing ends. Further, if the degree of coincidence between the lighting pattern information and the verification information is not equal to or greater than the threshold value (step S909: NO), the control unit 350 of the server device 300 moves to step S912 and ends the series of processing.

<5. Advantages>
As described above, one method for performing registration operations is to connect a terminal device and a home appliance to the same wireless router (subnetwork) and perform a predetermined registration operation. However, in such a registration operation, if the terminal device is connected to another network, the connection to the current network is temporarily disconnected, and the terminal device and the home appliance are connected to the same subnetwork. There is a need to. In order to connect a terminal device and a home appliance to the same subnetwork, it is necessary to find a repeater in the same subnetwork as the home appliance from among the multiple connectable repeaters displayed on the terminal device. . You will also need to enter the password for that repeater. Furthermore, after the registration operation is completed, it is also necessary to reconnect the terminal device to the network to which it is normally connected. These tasks place a heavy burden on the average user, and an even greater burden on users who are not good at operating electronic devices.

Furthermore, as a method for registering a terminal device without connecting it to the same subnetwork as the home appliance, for example, a method of inputting identification information such as the serial number of the home appliance to the terminal device can be considered. Specifically, methods include adding two-dimensional codes that indicate the identification information of home appliances to home appliances, and using the two-dimensional code reading function of the terminal device to input unique information; One possible method is to attach a sticker or nameplate with information on it to the home appliance, and have the user input the information manually into a terminal device.

However, adding two-dimensional barcodes, stickers, nameplates, etc. to home appliances requires managing the corresponding two-dimensional barcodes, stickers, nameplates, etc. for each device during manufacturing, which increases manufacturing man-hours and This may place a burden on the staff and may not be efficient. Furthermore, the visibility of identification information on two-dimensional barcodes, stickers, and nameplates may decrease due to deterioration or dirt, which may make it difficult to input identification information.

On the other hand, in this embodiment, the home appliance 100 outputs a display based on lighting pattern information equivalent to the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 held by the home appliance 100. The terminal device 200 acquires the verification information based on the above display of the home appliance 100. The server device 300 performs processing related to the association between the user of the terminal device 200 and the home appliance 200 based on the lighting pattern information received from the home appliance 100 and the verification information received from the terminal device 200. For example, according to the above configuration, the user of the terminal device 200 and the home appliance can be associated with each other without connecting the terminal device 200 and the home appliance 100 to the same wireless router (subnetwork). Thereby, user convenience can be improved. Further, according to the above configuration, there is no need to write identification information on a two-dimensional barcode, sticker, or nameplate and present it to the user. Therefore, manufacturing efficiency can be improved.

In this embodiment, the home appliance 100 includes a display lamp unit 111 that notifies the status of the home appliance. Then, by lighting the display lamp section 111, a display based on the lighting pattern information is output. According to such a configuration, information equivalent to the identification information I2 can be output to the outside of the home appliance 100 without providing a rich display device such as a display device having a display screen. Thereby, the cost of the home appliance 100 can be reduced.

In this embodiment, the home appliance 100 performs display based on a lighting pattern by sequentially switching a plurality of display-related output patterns (for example, a plurality of lighting patterns L1, L2, L3) based on a user's operation. According to such a configuration, information equivalent to the identification information I2 can be output to the outside of the home appliance 100 even with an inexpensive display unit that is limited in the amount of information that can be displayed at one time. Thereby, further cost reduction of the home appliance 100 can be achieved. Furthermore, since information can be acquired using still images, the amount of information that needs to be processed by the terminal device 200 can be reduced. Additionally, users can work at a pace that suits them. This allows even users who are not good at operating electronic products to work calmly.

Note that a plurality of display-related output patterns (for example, a plurality of lighting patterns) may be sequentially switched over time. Even in this case, information equivalent to the identification information I2 can be output to the outside of the home appliance 100 using an inexpensive notification unit that is limited in the amount of information that can be displayed at one time. Furthermore, since information can be acquired using still images, the amount of information that needs to be processed by the terminal device 200 can be reduced.

In this embodiment, each of the plurality of output patterns related to display includes information that allows identification of the switching order of each pattern. According to such a configuration, even if a plurality of images (for example, still images) capturing the state of the display lamp unit 111 are not stored in association with time information, they are displayed in the order of lighting patterns L1, L2, and L3. It is possible to arrange multiple images with high accuracy. Thereby, the accuracy of the matching process can be improved.

In the present embodiment, the home appliance 100 has a display/operation unit 110 that displays status information of the drive unit 120, a first display mode that causes the display/operation unit 110 to display the status information, and a first display mode that displays the status information on the display/operation unit 110. It has a control unit 180 that can switch between a second display mode that displays information different from the status information. According to such a configuration, the home appliance 100 can output other information using the display/operation unit 110 that displays status information of the drive unit 120. That is, it is possible to display information different from information regarding the original function of the display/operation unit 110. Therefore, information can be reported without equipping the home appliance 100 with new devices or functions. Thereby, user convenience can be improved.

This embodiment further includes a mode notification unit (for example, a registration lamp 511) that reports whether the display/operation unit 110 is displaying in either the first display mode or the second display mode. According to such a configuration, when displaying information different from the status information of the drive unit 120, it is possible to avoid being misunderstood as a failure.

Some modified examples will be described below. These modified examples may be applied in combination with each other, or may be applied in combination with the second and third embodiments described below. In each modification, the configurations other than those described below are the same as those in the first embodiment.

(First modification of the first embodiment: Verification using home appliance ID)
In the first embodiment described above, the collation unit 330 of the server device 300 matches the lighting pattern information (second information) received from the home appliance 100 and the collation information (third information) received from the terminal device 200. Verification is performed based on Instead, the information acquisition unit 320 of the server device 300 receives identification information I2 (first information) from the home appliance 100, and also receives verification information corresponding to the lighting pattern information from the terminal device 200. By performing additional analysis processing (inverse analysis) on the verification information obtained, verification information corresponding to the identification information I2 (for example, verification information corresponding to the serial number) may be obtained. Such a reverse analysis can be performed by referring to the correspondence table T1, which is also stored in the server device 300, for example. In this modification, the verification unit 330 of the server device 300 performs verification based on the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 and the verification information corresponding to the identification information I2. Such processing corresponds to an example of "processing related to associating the terminal device or the user of the terminal device with the home appliance based on the first information and the third information" in the present application.

(Second modification of the first embodiment: lighting pattern information is generated by the server device)
In the first embodiment described above, the identification information I2 (first information) is stored in the storage unit 130 of the home appliance 100, and the lighting pattern information (second information) is generated by the information conversion unit 140 of the home appliance 100. . Alternatively, the lighting pattern information (second information) may be generated by the server device 300. That is, the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 is transmitted from the home appliance 100 to the server device 300, lighting pattern information is generated by the information conversion unit 140 provided in the server device 300, and the generated lighting pattern information is transmitted to the home appliance 100. may be returned to. In this case, the display lamp section 111 of the home appliance 100 performs lighting based on the lighting pattern information received from the server device 300.

(Third modification of the first embodiment: identification information of home appliances is set by the server device)
In the first embodiment described above, the identification information I2 (first information) is stored in the storage unit 130 of the home appliance 100. Alternatively, arbitrary identification information may be assigned to the home appliance 100 by the server device 300 when the home appliance 100 and the server device 300 are connected for the first time. For example, the information acquisition unit 150 of the home appliance 100 may request the server device 300 to allocate identification information. In this modification, the identification information is assigned completely independently of information unique to the home appliance 100 (eg, serial number, etc.). In this modification, the information conversion unit 140 of the home appliance 100 generates lighting pattern information based on the identification information I2 assigned by the server device 300. In this case, the work of storing the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 in the storage unit 130 of the home appliance 100 can be omitted, and the manufacturability of the home appliance 100 can be improved. In this modification, as in the second modification, the server device 300 even generates lighting pattern information based on arbitrary identification information assigned to the home appliance 100, and transmits the generated lighting information pattern to the home appliance 100. You may.

In addition, in the above-mentioned first to third modifications, all or all of the processing performed by the server device 300 (for example, generation of identification information, generation of lighting pattern, and analysis processing of acquiring verification information corresponding to identification information I2) Part of the process may be performed by the home appliance 100, the terminal device 200, or another device connected to the network N.

(Fourth modification of the first embodiment: lighting pattern information is stored in advance)
In the first embodiment described above, the identification information I2 (first information) is stored in the storage unit 130 of the home appliance 100, and the lighting pattern information (second information) is generated by the information conversion unit 140 of the home appliance 100. . Alternatively, the storage unit 130 of the home appliance 100 may store lighting pattern information in advance instead of the serial number or the like. Alternatively, the information acquisition unit 150 of the home appliance 100 may acquire lighting pattern information stored in advance in the server device 300 or another device from the server device 300 or another device. In this case, the lighting pattern information is an example of "first information". In this case, the display lamp section 111 displays the first information.

(Fifth modification of the first embodiment: display unit capable of displaying numbers)
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a display device 110A of a fifth modification. In this modification, the home appliance 100 includes a display device 110A instead of the display/operation unit 110. The display device 110A is a display device that can display numbers. For example, display device 110A includes one or more 7-segment displays. The display device 110A is an example of a "notifier" and a "display section."

In this modification, when the identification information I2 (first information) of the home appliance 100 is composed of only numbers or symbols that can be displayed on a 7-segment display, the display device 110A displays the identification information I2 (first information) display it. In this case, the information conversion unit 140 of the home appliance 100 generates a plurality of display patterns by dividing the identification information I2 by the amount of information that can be displayed at one time on the display device 110A. Under the control of the control unit 180, the display device 110A sequentially switches the plurality of display patterns based on the user's operation on the home appliance 100 (or with the passage of time), thereby displaying the identification information of the home appliance 100. Display I2.

On the other hand, if the identification information I2 (first information) of the home appliance 100 does not consist only of numbers or symbols that can be displayed on a 7-segment display, the information conversion unit 140 of the home appliance 100 converts the identification information of the home appliance 100 into The information I2 is converted into information (second information) expressed by a combination of numbers or symbols that can be displayed on a 7-segment display. In this case, the display device 110A displays the information converted by the information conversion unit 140. Note that the display device 110A may be a display device having a display screen such as a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. In this case, the display device 110A can display the identification information I2 (first information) as is.

In this modification, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 may acquire verification information based on the display displayed on the display device 110A of the home appliance 100 by capturing an image of the display device 110A with a camera or the like. good. Instead, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 may acquire the verification information based on the user's input operation based on the display of the home appliance 100, similarly to the sixth modification example described below.

In this modification, the storage unit 130 of the home appliance 100 stores the identification information I2 in a non-rewritable manner. The control unit 180 can display the information stored in the storage unit 130 on the display device 110A in the second display mode. Note that the storage unit 130 of the home appliance 100 may rewritably store arbitrary information different from the status information of the drive unit 120. In this case, the control unit 180 can display any information stored in the storage unit 130 on the display device 110A in the second display mode.

(Sixth modification of the first embodiment: Generate verification information based on user input operation)
In the first embodiment described above, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 acquires verification information based on the display of the home appliance 100 by capturing an image with a camera or the like. Alternatively, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 may acquire the verification information based on a user's input operation based on the display of the home appliance 100 (user's input operation on the terminal device 200). For example, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 displays an image or illustration corresponding to the display lamp unit 111 of the home appliance 100 on the display screen of the terminal device 200, and also displays a A guide to touch the position corresponding to the lighting pattern of the lamp section 111 (the position of the indicator lamp 111a to be lit) is displayed. The user can display information indicating the lighting pattern of the display lamp section 111 on the terminal device 200 by touching a position corresponding to the lighting pattern of the display lamp section 111 in the image or illustration displayed on the display screen of the terminal device 200. Enter. The information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 receives information indicating the lighting pattern of the display lamp unit 111 based on the user's input operation as described above, and generates verification information based on the received information.

(Seventh modification of the first embodiment: Outputting the camera image itself as verification information)
In the first embodiment described above, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 acquires verification information by performing image analysis on the content (image or video) captured by the camera 211. Alternatively, the verification information may be an image or video itself captured by the camera 211. In this case, the information output unit 220 of the terminal device 200 outputs the image or video itself captured by the camera 211 to the server device 300 as verification information (third information). Then, the information acquisition unit 320 of the server device 300 performs image analysis on the verification information (the image or video captured by the camera 211) received from the terminal device 200, and acquires an image analysis result. Then, the matching unit 330 of the server device 300 compares the lighting pattern information (second information) received from the home appliance 100 with the image analysis result, and compares the degree of coincidence (similarity) between the lighting pattern information and the image analysis result. ) is greater than or equal to the threshold, a process for associating the user of the terminal device 200 with the home appliance 100 is performed. Such processing also corresponds to an example of "processing related to associating the terminal device or the user of the terminal device with the home appliance based on the second information and the third information" in the present application.

(Eighth modification of the first embodiment: verification using home appliances or terminal devices)
In the first embodiment described above, the matching unit 330 of the server device 300 matches the lighting pattern information received from the home appliance 100 and the matching information received from the terminal device 200. Alternatively, the above verification may be performed by the home appliance 100 or the terminal device 200. This verification is an example of "processing related to association between a terminal device or a user of the terminal device and a home appliance." Furthermore, only the verification may be performed by the home appliance 100 or the terminal device 200, and the registration based on the verification result may be performed by the server device 300.

(Ninth modification of the first embodiment: linking a terminal device and a home appliance)
In the first embodiment described above, the registration unit 340 of the server device 300 associates the user of the terminal device 200 with the home appliance 100 (for example, associates the user ID of the user of the terminal device 200 with the home appliance ID). )register. Instead, the server device 300 registers the terminal device 200 and the home appliance 100 in association with each other (for example, by associating the identification information (terminal ID) of the terminal device 200 with the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100). Good too.

(Second embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment will be described. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that information equivalent to the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 is outputted from the home appliance 100 as a sound.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the home appliance 100, the terminal device 200, and the server device 300 according to the second embodiment. In this embodiment, the home appliance 100 includes a speaker (sound output unit) 110B. The speaker 110B is an example of a "notification unit".

In the present embodiment, the information conversion unit 140 generates information (hereinafter referred to as "sound pattern information") indicating a sound pattern output from the speaker 110B corresponding to the content of the identification information I2, based on the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100. generate. The sound pattern information is, for example, information indicating the pitch and timing of the sound output from the speaker 110B. For example, when the sound pattern output from the speaker 110B changes over time, the information includes information such as which sound is output at the first timing and which sound is output at the second timing. The sound pattern is an example of an "output pattern." The sound pattern information includes a plurality of sound patterns that are sequentially switched based on the user's operation on the home appliance 100 (or over time).

In this embodiment, the sound pattern is, for example, a combination of tone signals. The tone signal is, for example, DTMF (Dual Tone Multi Frequency). Specifically, the tone signal contains a total of 16 types of codes, including numbers from 0 to 9 and symbols *, #, A, B, C, and D, in two sound frequency bands, low group and high group. This is a signal sent as a synthesized signal tone. That is, the tone signal has 16 types of sound. In order to increase the number of sound patterns, it is sufficient to increase the number of times tone signals are output.

As shown in FIG. 12, in this embodiment, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 includes a microphone (sound collection unit) 211B that collects the sound output from the speaker 110B of the home appliance 100 based on the sound pattern. , and an information generation unit 212 that generates verification information based on the sound picked up by the microphone 211B. The matching information is information corresponding to the sound pattern information described above, and is information indicating the pitch and timing of the sound included in the sound pattern of the home appliance 100. The verification information can be obtained by performing acoustic analysis on the sound picked up by the microphone 211B. Note that, instead of the above, the verification information may be the sound itself picked up by the microphone 211B.

For configurations other than those described above, "lighting pattern information" in the description of the first embodiment (or each modification of the first embodiment) should be read as "sound pattern information", and "lighting pattern" should be replaced with "sound pattern information". ”. With such a configuration as well, it is possible to improve the user's convenience as in the first embodiment.

(First modification of the second embodiment: Reading out characters/alphabets by voice)
Instead of outputting a tone signal, the speaker 110B of the home appliance 100 may output a voice reading out numbers and/or alphabets. In this case, the speaker 110B of the home appliance 100 may output the identification information I2 (first information) of the home appliance 100 itself in audio.

(Second modification of the second embodiment: Generate verification information based on user input operation)
In the second embodiment described above, the terminal device 200 acquires verification information based on the sound output from the home appliance 100 by collecting sound with a microphone or the like. Alternatively, the terminal device 200 may acquire the verification information based on the user's input operation based on the sound output from the home appliance 100 (the user's input operation on the terminal device 200). For example, the sound output from the home appliance 100 is the sound of reading out numbers and/or alphabets. In this case, the information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 displays a list of numbers and/or alphabets on the display screen of the terminal device 200, and selects the home appliances from the displayed list of numbers and/or alphabets. 100 speakers 110B, and/or guidance prompting users to operate keys or buttons corresponding to alphabets, etc., is displayed. The user can output output from the home appliance 100 by touching a key or button corresponding to the voice read out from the speaker 110B of the home appliance 100 in the list of numbers and/or alphabets displayed on the display screen of the terminal device 200. information indicating the sound pattern to be played is input to the terminal device 200. The information acquisition unit 210 of the terminal device 200 receives information indicating a sound pattern output from the home appliance 100 based on the user's input operation as described above, and generates matching information based on the received information.

(Third embodiment)
Next, a third embodiment will be described. The third embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a temporarily generated random number is used instead of the preset identification information I2.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the configurations of the home appliance 100, the terminal device 200, and the server device 300 according to the third embodiment. In this embodiment, the storage unit 130 of the home appliance 100 does not store the identification information I2. Instead, the home appliance 100 includes a random number generator 190.

The random number generation unit 190 temporarily generates a random number when the home appliance 100 is shifted to the registration mode. The random number may be information of a certain number of digits with a low probability of coincidence. The generated random number is an example of "first information". Random number generation section 190 outputs the generated random number to information conversion section 140. In this embodiment, the information acquisition section 150, the storage section 130, and the random number generation section 190 form an example of an "information management section."

Based on the random number generated by the random number generation section 190, the information conversion section 140 generates lighting pattern information of the display lamp section 111 corresponding to the random number. The information output unit 160 outputs the lighting pattern information generated by the information conversion unit 140 to the server device 300.

The server device 300 assigns arbitrary identification information to the home appliance 100 when the home appliance 100 and the server device 300 are connected for the first time. Then, the information acquisition unit 320 of the server device 300 associates and stores the identification information of the home appliance 100, the lighting pattern information received from the home appliance 100, and the reception time when the server device 300 received the lighting pattern information.

For configurations other than those described above, "identification information I2" in the description of the first embodiment (or each modification of the first embodiment) may be read as "random number". With such a configuration as well, user convenience can be improved as in the first embodiment. Further, in this embodiment, the work of storing the identification information I2 of the home appliance 100 in the storage unit 130 of the home appliance 100 can be omitted, and the manufacturability of the home appliance 100 can be improved.

(First modification of the third embodiment: Verification using random numbers)
In the third embodiment described above, the matching unit 330 of the server device 300 matches the lighting pattern information received from the home appliance 100 and the matching information received from the terminal device 200. Instead, the collation unit 330 of the server device 300 receives the random numbers generated by the random number generation unit 190 from the home appliance 100, and performs additional analysis processing (reverse processing) on the collation information received from the terminal device 200. Verification information corresponding to the random number may be obtained by performing analysis). In this modification, the matching unit 330 of the server device 300 matches the random number generated by the home appliance 100 with matching information corresponding to the random number obtained in the analysis process. Such processing corresponds to an example of "processing related to associating the terminal device or the user of the terminal device with the home appliance based on the first information and the third information" in the present application.

(Second modification of the third embodiment: lighting pattern information is generated by the server device)
In the third embodiment described above, the home appliance 100 generates a random number (first information), and the information converter 140 of the home appliance 100 generates lighting pattern information (second information). Alternatively, the lighting pattern information (second information) may be generated by the server device 300. That is, a random number generated by the home appliance 100 is transmitted from the home appliance 100 to the server device 300, lighting pattern information is generated by the information conversion unit 140 provided in the server device 300, and the generated lighting pattern information is transmitted to the home appliance. It may be returned to 100. In this case, the display lamp section 111 of the home appliance 100 performs lighting based on the lighting pattern information received from the server device 300.

(Third modification of the third embodiment: random numbers are generated by a server device, a terminal device, or another device)
In the third embodiment described above, the identification information I2 (first information) is stored in the storage unit 130 of the home appliance 100. Alternatively, the random number may be generated by the server device 300, the terminal device 200, or another device. In this case, the generated random number is transmitted from the server device 300 (or via the server device 300) to the home appliance 100. For example, the information acquisition unit 150 of the home appliance 100 may request the server device 300 to transmit the random number generated by the server device 300 to the home appliance 100. In this case, the information conversion unit 140 of the home appliance 100 generates lighting pattern information based on the random number transmitted from the server device 300 (or via the server device 300). Also in this modification, the server device 300 may generate lighting pattern information based on random numbers generated by the server device 300 or the terminal device 200, and may transmit the generated lighting information pattern to the home appliance 100.

In addition, in the first to third variations described above, all or part of the processing performed by the server device 300 (for example, generation of random numbers, generation of lighting patterns, and analysis processing of acquiring verification information corresponding to the random numbers) , may be performed in the home appliance 100, may be performed in the terminal device 200, or may be performed in another device connected to the network N.

Several embodiments and modifications have been described above. However, embodiments are not limited to the above example. For example, the second and third embodiments can be applied in combination with each other. Moreover, the "first information" is not limited to the identification information of the home appliance 100, but may be the identification information of the terminal device 200 or the identification information of the user. When the identification information of the terminal device 200 or the user's identification information is used as the "first information", for example, when the terminal device 200 is connected to the server device 300, the identification information of the terminal device 200 or the user's identification information is used. Information is transmitted from the terminal device 200 to the server device 300 and managed by the server device 300. Then, the server device 300 is connected within a predetermined time range from the time when information indicating that a predetermined registration operation (user operation) has been performed on the terminal device 200 is transmitted from the terminal device 200 to the server device 300. If there is a home appliance 100 that has been configured, the identification information of the terminal device 200 and the user identification information may be transmitted from the server device 300 to the home appliance 100 and used as the first information. In this case, the identification information of the terminal device 200 and the identification information of the user may be encrypted in advance.

Next, I will add some home appliances.
[1] A drive unit that performs a predetermined function;
a display unit that displays state information regarding at least one of a driving state and a setting state of the driving unit;
a control unit capable of switching between a first display mode in which the display unit displays the status information and a second display mode in which the display unit displays information different from the status information;
Home appliances equipped with

According to such a configuration, it is possible to use a display section provided in a home appliance to display information different from information regarding the original function of the home appliance. Thereby, user convenience can be improved.

[2] The home appliance according to [1], further comprising a mode notification unit that notifies whether the display unit is displaying in either the first display mode or the second display mode.

According to such a configuration, it is possible to suppress a user's misunderstanding that the display unit is out of order.

[3] Further comprising a storage unit that stores predetermined information in an unrewritable manner,
The home appliance according to [1] or [2], wherein the control unit is capable of displaying the information stored in the storage unit on the display unit in the second display mode.

According to such home appliances, the serial number, model number, etc. of the home appliance can be displayed. Therefore, when you want to know the serial number or model number, there is no need to search for separate storage items such as manuals. Furthermore, compared to a method of displaying the serial number or the like on a printed matter attached to a home appliance, this method has the advantage that display problems are less likely to occur later due to scratches on the printed matter.

[4] Equipped with a storage unit that stores arbitrary information in a rewritable manner,
The home appliance according to any one of [1] to [3], wherein the control unit is capable of displaying the information stored in the storage unit on the display unit in the second display mode.

According to such home appliances, arbitrary information can be stored and outputted to the outside, so that, for example, there is an advantage that the home appliances can be individually identified using information acquired after the product is shipped. For example, contact information (telephone number) of a support center for home appliances can also be displayed. Therefore, when you want to know the contact information for the support center, there is no need to search for separate storage materials such as manuals. Furthermore, compared to a method of displaying the serial number or the like on a printed matter attached to a home appliance, this method has the advantage that display problems are less likely to occur later due to scratches on the printed matter. Furthermore, the home appliance may inquire of the server device 300 whether or not the information to be displayed in the second display mode has been updated, and if the information has been updated, the information stored in the storage section of the home appliance may be updated. In this case, even if the contact information for the support center changes, for example, the latest information can be presented.

According to at least one embodiment described above, the information processing system includes a server device, a home appliance, and a terminal device. The home appliance displays or sounds based on first information held or generated by the home appliance, the terminal device, the server device, or another device, or second information obtained based on the first information. Output. The terminal device acquires the third information based on the display or sound, or an input operation corresponding to the display or sound. One of the home appliance, the terminal device, and the server device communicates with the terminal device or the user of the terminal device and the home appliance based on the first information or the second information and the third information. Performs processing related to association with devices. According to such a configuration, convenience can be improved.

Although several embodiments of the invention have been described, these embodiments are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and changes can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included within the scope and gist of the invention as well as within the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalents.

1... Information processing system, 100... Home appliance, 110... Display/operation section, 111... Display lamp section, 111a... Display lamp, 120... Drive section, 130... Storage section, 200... Terminal device, 210... Information acquisition section, 300...Server device, 320...Information acquisition unit, 330...Verification unit, 340...Registration unit.

Claims (9)

Equipped with home appliances, terminal devices, and server devices,
The home appliance includes a plurality of display lamps that are arranged side by side and correspond to a plurality of items of the operating state or setting state of the home appliance, and the home appliance, the terminal device, the server device, or another device. Outputting a display based on first information held or generated or second information obtained based on the first information in a lighting pattern based on a combination of a lighting state and a non-lighting state of the plurality of display lamps;
The terminal device acquires third information based on the lighting pattern or an input operation corresponding to the lighting pattern ,
One of the home appliance, the terminal device, and the server device is configured to combine the first information or the second information with the first information or the second information based on the first information or the second information and the third information. Performs a matching process to determine whether or not the three pieces of information have a corresponding relationship with each other,
If it is determined that the first information or the second information and the third information are in a correspondence relationship with each other as a result of the verification process, the server device may communicate with the terminal device or the user of the terminal device, registering in association with the home appliance;
Information processing system. The first information is identification information preset for the home appliance,
The information processing system according to claim 1. The first information is a random number generated by the home appliance, the terminal device, the server device, or another device,
The information processing system according to claim 1. The home appliance outputs the first information or the second information by sequentially switching a plurality of output patterns related to the lighting pattern over time.
The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . The home appliance outputs the first information or the second information by sequentially switching a plurality of output patterns related to the lighting pattern based on a user's operation.
The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 3 . Each of the plurality of output patterns includes information that allows identification of the switching order of each pattern.
The information processing system according to claim 4 or claim 5 . The home appliance has a first display mode in which a plurality of items of the operating state or setting state of the home appliance are displayed on the plurality of display lamps, and a first display mode in which the first information or the second information is displayed by the lighting pattern. further comprising a control unit capable of switching between a second display mode and a second display mode displayed on the plurality of display lamps;
The information processing system according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A home appliance used as part of an information processing system,
The information processing system includes the home appliance, a terminal device, and a server device,
The home appliance outputs a display based on first information held or generated by the home appliance, the terminal device, the server device, or another device, or second information obtained based on the first information. death,
The terminal device acquires third information based on the display or an input operation corresponding to the display,
One of the home appliance, the terminal device, and the server device performs a matching process to determine whether or not the first information or the second information and the third information have a correspondence relationship with each other. ,
If it is determined that the first information or the second information and the third information are in a correspondence relationship with each other as a result of the verification process, the server device may communicate with the terminal device or the user of the terminal device, register in association with the home appliance;
The home appliances include:
a plurality of display lamps arranged side by side and corresponding to a plurality of items of operating states or setting states of the home appliance;
an information management unit that holds or generates the first information or acquires the first information from the terminal device, the server device, or the another device;
a notification unit that outputs the display based on the first information or the second information obtained based on the first information in a lighting pattern based on a combination of lighting states and non-lighting states of the plurality of display lamps ;
Home appliances equipped with A program executed by a computer of a terminal device used as part of an information processing system,
The information processing system includes a home appliance, the terminal device, and a server device,
The home appliance includes a plurality of display lamps that are arranged side by side and correspond to a plurality of items of the operating state or setting state of the home appliance, and the home appliance, the terminal device, the server device, or another device. Outputting a display based on first information held or generated or second information obtained based on the first information in a lighting pattern based on a combination of a lighting state and a non-lighting state of the plurality of display lamps;
The terminal device acquires third information based on the lighting pattern or an input operation corresponding to the lighting pattern,
One of the home appliance, the terminal device, and the server device performs a matching process to determine whether or not the first information or the second information and the third information have a correspondence relationship with each other. ,
If it is determined that the first information or the second information and the third information are in a correspondence relationship with each other as a result of the verification process, the server device may communicate with the terminal device or the user of the terminal device, Performing a registration process to associate and register the home appliance,
The program is sent to the computer of the terminal device,
acquiring the third information based on the lighting pattern or an input operation corresponding to the lighting pattern ;
transmitting the third information to the server device, or performing the collation process based on the first information or the second information and the third information and transmitting the result of the collation process to the server device; let,
program.

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