JPH096849A - On-line terminal equipment and image display method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To enable a user to easily make use of high-level home shopping services by displaying an image wherein an article to be purchased is put in a container on a display means when the article is designated. CONSTITUTION: When the user enters a store and do shopping, a control means displays a shopping card 51 as the container for articles to be purchased and a store clerk 52 on a display 20 and expects an indication to be inputted by the user. When the article to be purchased is indicated with a pointing device, etc., the control means displays the image where the article 61 is put in the shopping card 51 on the display 20. In this case, the indication of the article to be purchased is inputted by specifying the article to be purchased among articles 60 displayed on the display 20 by the user with the pointing device.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an online terminal device which can access an online server for home shopping, and an image display method in such an online terminal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, an online service has been developed in which an online server, which is a server computer, and an online terminal device, which is a client computer, are connected via a public line or the like to receive various services on the online terminal device. .

As such an online service,
For example, there is a so-called home shopping service in which an online server can be accessed from an online terminal device and an item can be purchased by an operation on the online terminal device.

[0004] In this home shopping service, an image such as service content or product description is usually displayed on the display device of the online terminal device, and the user selects the product and executes the purchase process while referring to the display. To do. As a result, the charging process is performed and the product is sent to the user. Here, normally, when the purchased product is software such as game software and can be transmitted and received through the line, the online product is directly transmitted to the online terminal device, and the purchased product is an article and transmitted through the line. If the item cannot be sent / received, the product is separately sent from the shopping service provider to the user.

[0005]

Conventionally, in such a home shopping service, the image displayed on the display device of the online terminal device, that is, the image of the service content or the description of the product is a combination of characters and still images. Images were the main. Therefore, the purchase of a product on an online terminal device by a home shopping service is far from the image when purchasing a product in an actual store, for example, a method of selecting a product to purchase, a method of confirming the purchased product. However, it was a service that was very difficult for the user to use because the confirmation of billing information was difficult to understand.

As described above, the conventional home shopping service is very difficult for the user to use. Therefore, it is desired to improve the man-machine interface so that the user can receive the advanced service more easily. ing.

Therefore, the present invention has been proposed in view of such a conventional situation, and improves the man-machine interface of an online terminal device capable of performing home shopping, so that the user can easily and sophisticatedly use it. The purpose is to be able to receive home shopping services.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an image display method for displaying an image on an online terminal device so that a user can easily receive an advanced home shopping service during home shopping. .

[0009]

The online terminal device according to the present invention, which has been completed to achieve the above-mentioned object, is a connecting means for connecting to an online server and an instruction inputting means for inputting an instruction from a user. And control means for performing processing based on information supplied from the online server via the connection means and an instruction input from the instruction input means, and display means for displaying an image based on the processing by the control means. At least shopping information is supplied from the online server via the connecting means, and the online means is an online terminal device capable of performing shopping by online processing, wherein the control means receives an instruction to start shopping from the instruction input means. , The image of the container for the product to be purchased is displayed on the display means, and the instruction of the product to be purchased is the instruction input means. Once entered, it is characterized in that to display an image that takes the item to the container on the display means.

On the other hand, in the image display method according to the present invention, an image for displaying an image at the time of shopping is displayed on a display device of an online terminal which is connected to at least an online server which supplies shopping information and can perform shopping by online processing. A display method, when an instruction to start shopping is input to the online terminal, an image of a container for the product to be purchased is displayed on the display device, and when the instruction of the product to be purchased is input to the online terminal, the container is concerned. It is characterized in that an image containing a product is displayed on the display device.

[0011]

In the online terminal device of the present invention, an image of a container for a product to be purchased is displayed at the time of home shopping, and when the product to be purchased is selected, the image of the product in the container is displayed. To do. Therefore, it is possible to easily visually recognize what the user has selected as a product for purchase.

Similarly, according to the image display method of the present invention, when carrying out home shopping, an image of a container for a product to be purchased is displayed, and when the product to be purchased is selected, the product is put into the container. Display an image. Therefore, it is possible to easily visually recognize what the user has selected as a product for purchase.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS First, FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 show an embodiment of a system including an example of an online terminal device to which the present invention is applied.
This will be described with reference to FIG. The system of this embodiment is an online service in which an online server, which is a server computer, and an online terminal device, which is a client computer, are connected via a line, and various services are supplied from the online server to the online terminal device. System. Here, examples of online services include services such as home shopping, video-on-demand, online karaoke, and distribution of game software.

In the system of this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, an online terminal device 2 which is a client computer has a large-scale ATM network 3, a transfer conversation device 4 and an FD.
Via a DI (Fiber Distribution Data Interface) interface 5, it is connected to a service management server 13, a video server 12, a service AP server 14, etc., which are online servers on the service supply side. In addition,
The ATM is an asynchronous transfer mode, and the A
In TM, fixed-length data is divided into 48-byte units regardless of the type of data, a 5-byte header is added to the fixed-length data to create 53-byte cells, and switching is performed in cell units. This ATM network 3 is characterized in that it can transfer voices, moving pictures, and computer data in a mixed manner. The FDDI is a 100 Mbit / sec token-passing medium access method using an optical fiber.

The video server 12 comprises a server computer 7 and a data storage device 6 composed of, for example, a hard disk or an optical disk, and the data storage device 6 stores digital video data processed in a format such as MPEG described later. ing. The digital video data corresponding to the request from the online terminal device 2 is read from the data storage device 6 of the video server 12 and transferred.

The service AP server 14 also comprises a server computer 11 and a data storage device 10,
The data storage device 10 stores data and scripts that are the basis of a three-dimensional image as application (AP) program data. The service AP server 14
The application program data corresponding to the request from the online terminal device 2 is read out from the data storage device 10 and is transferred.

The service management server 13 also comprises a server computer 9 and a data storage device 8. The service management server 13 corresponds to the online terminal device 2, and also each video server 7 and service AP.
It manages the server 11.

The video server 12 and the service A
It is possible to provide a plurality of P servers 14 respectively, and it is also possible to combine each of the servers 12, 13, 14 into one server.

The request from the online terminal device 2 transferred through the ATM network 3 is transferred to the transfer conversation device 4, which performs protocol conversion, automatic data distribution, data transfer speed conversion, etc., and the FDDI interface 5. Is transmitted to the server side via.

In response to the request from the online terminal device 2, the data sent from the server side is processed for display by the online terminal device 2 and displayed on the display of the monitor device 1, thereby displaying a graphic. User interface (graphical user interface, hereinafter referred to as GUI)
Is built. Therefore, the user operates while watching the display on the display of the monitor device 1,
It becomes possible to receive service provision.

The structure of the online terminal device 2 shown in FIG. 1 is as shown in FIG. 2, for example. That is, the online terminal device 2 is connected from the online server via the EISA board 36, which is a connecting means for connecting to the online server, the wireless mouse 31, which is an instruction inputting means for inputting an instruction from the user, and the connecting means. The processing unit 41, the three-dimensional rendering engine 34, the MPEG2, which is a control unit that performs processing based on the information supplied and the instruction input from the instruction input unit.
Decoder 35, PC audio decoder 39, MPEG
2 audio decoder 40, RGB mixer 33, audio mixer 38, wireless mouse tuner 37 and NTSC encoder 22, and display 2 which is a display means for displaying an image based on the processing by the control means.
0, a memory 42 which is a storage means for temporarily holding data and the like, and a hard disk 43 which is a storage means for storing and saving data and the like.
The virtual reality space can be displayed on the display 20 based on the information supplied from the online server via the ISA board 36.

In FIG. 2, the EISA board 36
Is a communication board for connecting the online terminal device 2 and the ATM network 3, and the EI via the ATM network 3.
The signal supplied to the SA board 36 is once stored in the hard disk 43 whose recording / playback is controlled by the processing unit 41, and then read according to the type of data, and the corresponding three-dimensional rendering engine 34, MPEG
2 decoder 35, PC audio decoder 39, MPE
It is sent to the G2 audio decoder 40 or the like.

The 3D rendering engine 34 uses 3
A coordinate converter that converts three-dimensional coordinate data of a three-dimensional object into data (image data in a three-dimensional virtual reality space) to be displayed on the display 20 of the monitor device 1, and is a GUI (graphical
It is for building a user interface).

The MPEG2 decoder 35 is a decoder for decompressing data compressed according to the MPEG2 standard. In addition, MPEG (Moving Picture Image Coding)
Experts Group: A study organization for video coding for storage) 2
Is an international standard for compression / decompression of moving images.

The RGB mixer 33 receives the data from the 3D rendering engine 34 and the MPEG2 decoder 35.
The data from both are R (red) and G of the three primary colors of light.
Since the data is composed of (green) and B (blue), data in which these R, G, and B are mixed is generated.

The NTSC encoder 32 converts the data from the RGB mixer 33 into an NTSC television standard signal. The video signal from the NTSC encoder 32 is displayed on the display 20 of the monitor device 1. On the display 20 in the example of FIG. 2, a pointer (cursor) 22 by a pointing device and an image 23 obtained by decoding MPEG2 are displayed.
And an image (for example, a three-dimensional or two-dimensional image 21) for the GUI by the 3D rendering engine 34 are displayed. The image of the MPEG2 and the image for the GUI can be combined and displayed.

On the other hand, the PC audio decoder 39 is
For example, a sound effect is generated using the DPCM sound source. Also,
The MPEG2 audio decoder 40 expands the MPEG2 compressed audio data. The data from the PC audio decoder 39 and the data from the MPEG2 audio decoder 40 are transferred to the audio mixer 3.
The audio signal is mixed by 8 to be an audio signal, and the audio signal is sent to the speaker 30. As for the sound output from the speaker 30, stereo sound or multi-channel sound is desirable. Recently, even stereo audio has been introduced, and a system capable of stereoscopically localizing a sound image by controlling the phase difference of the sound has appeared, and these can also be used.

A GUI on the display 20 is also provided.
The operation using is performed based on the point information transmitted from the wireless mouse 31, which is an example of a pointing device. The point information transmitted from the wireless mouse 31 is stored in the wireless tuner 37.
And the received pointer information is received by the processing unit 4
Sent to 1. In addition, the above pointing device,
Not only the wireless mouse 31 described above, but also various devices such as an ordinary mouse, a trackball, a joystick, and a touch panel whose coordinate position corresponds to that of the display 20 can be used. Further, it goes without saying that a keyboard or the like may be provided as the instruction input means in addition to such a pointing device.

The processing unit 41 includes a CPU (central processing unit), and each component is connected via a bus based on program data held in the program ROM of the memory 42 having a function as a program ROM and a work RAM. And controls the GUI based on the point information from the wireless mouse 31, and communicates with the server computer as necessary.
Although the example of FIG. 2 shows an example in which the 3D rendering engine 34, the MPEG2 decoder 35, and the like are provided as independent chips, the above-described processing unit 41 performs various signal processing by these as software. It is also possible to do so.

A specific operation of providing a service online to a user when the system of FIGS. 1 and 2 as described above is used will be described below.

First, the user uses the pointing device of the online terminal device 2 to instruct the connection between the online terminal device 2 and the server-side computer (in this case, the computer 9 of the service management server 13) on the network. .

When the computer 9 of the service management server 13 on the server side is connected on the network and a request is supplied from the online terminal device 2,
Video server 12 and service A according to the request
By controlling the P server 14, the following data and software are transferred to the online terminal device 2. That is, for example, a script that describes the behavior of the virtual reality space, three-dimensional coordinate data of the virtual reality space,
The voice data in the virtual reality space, the script describing the options to be instructed to the user from the online terminal device 2, and other various data necessary for the processing are transferred.

The online terminal device 2 uses the screen of the display 20 of the monitor device 1 and a speaker or the like as necessary to provide the user with a virtual reality space based on the data and software received from the server side. To present.

While viewing the virtual reality space presented on the online terminal device 2, the user uses the pointing device to instruct the moving direction and the like to wander around the virtual reality space and operate the operation buttons and the like. Work on objects or facilities inside the virtual reality space.

According to the script, the online terminal device 2 reacts to the user's operation with the viewpoint position, the line-of-sight direction, the voice, and the action or behavior of the object in the virtual reality space, and the user enters the virtual reality space. The virtual reality space is presented to the user by using the display 20 and the speaker of the monitor device 1 as if the user were on the way. In addition, according to the description of the script, the user is provided with various kinds of information, remarks, orders for articles, and the like.

Next, in the above system,
Regarding the operation of accessing the online server from the online terminal device 2 to receive the home shopping service, refer to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 3 and 10 and examples of the images displayed on the display 20 shown in FIGS. 4 to 9. While explaining.

In this system, the home shopping service is started by the user entering the store in the virtual reality world displayed on the display 20 based on the information supplied from the online server.

When the user enters the store and starts shopping, first, as step ST1 in FIG. 3, the control means, as shown in FIG. 4, is a shopping cart 51 which is a container for the product to be purchased. Then, the store clerk 52 is displayed on the display 20, and a state of waiting for an instruction from the user is entered. Here, the shopping cart 51
Is an image of a cart for putting products to be purchased in the virtual reality world store displayed on the display 20, and the image of the clerk 52 is a virtual reality world store displayed on the display 20. It is an image of a store clerk. At this time, the user can see various products 60 as shown in FIG. 5 by moving inside the store in the virtual reality world.

Then, as shown in step ST2 of FIG. 3, when an instruction of a product to be purchased is input by a pointing device or the like, the control means, as shown in FIG. An image containing the product 61 is displayed on the display 20. Here, the instruction of the product to be purchased is input, for example, by designating the product to be purchased by the user with the pointing device from the products 60 displayed on the display 20 as shown in FIG. By displaying the image in which the product 61 selected as the product to be purchased is put in the shopping cart 51, the user can easily recognize what is selected as the product to be purchased, and the user can recognize the product. It prevents you from accidentally purchasing. Then, when the process of step ST3 ends, the process returns to the state of waiting for the input of an instruction from the user.

Further, as shown in step ST4 of FIG. 3, when an instruction to confirm the product 61 in the shopping cart 51 is input by a pointing device or the like,
In step ST5, the control means displays information about the products 61 in the shopping cart 51 on the display 20.
To be displayed. Here, the display of the information about the product 61 in the shopping cart 51 is not only textual information, but also the image of the product 61 is enlarged and displayed, or it is displayed by using a moving image so that it is easy to understand visually. It is preferable to display. By providing the information in such a manner that it is visually easy to understand, the user can easily and accurately obtain a lot of information, and it is possible to prevent the user from mistakenly purchasing the product.

In step ST5, if the instruction to cancel the purchase of the product is input while the information about the product is displayed, the control means determines that the purchase of the product is canceled and the shopping cart 51
The display of the product 61 inside is erased. Step ST5
In the case where there are a plurality of products in the shopping cart 51, the control means displays information about the products on the display 20 one by one for each of the products. There is one product in the shopping cart 51.
If neither is included, of course, nothing is done here. Then, when the process of step ST5 is completed, the process returns to the state of waiting for the input of the instruction from the user.

Further, as shown in step ST6 of FIG. 3, when an instruction for explaining to the clerk 52 is inputted by a pointing device or the like, step ST7 is executed.
As shown in FIG. 7, the control means displays on the display 20 an image 62 in which the clerk 52 explains the product. Here, the instruction for the clerk 52 to explain may be, for example, an instruction that is input when the clerk 52 is designated by the pointing device after a certain product is designated by the pointing device. And step ST
When the process of 7 is completed, the process returns to the state of waiting for the input of the instruction from the user.

In the process of step ST7, it is preferable that the description of the product by the clerk 52 is displayed using not only the description in text but also the image. In addition, by providing information by using the image as described above, it becomes possible for the user to easily and accurately obtain much information visually, and it is possible to prevent the user from mistakenly purchasing the product. It Further, the explanation by the clerk 52 need not be limited to the explanation of each individual product, and may be, for example, a general explanation about the store, an explanation of recommended products, or the like that the clerk actually performs in a real world store. It is preferable to carry out widely.

Further, as shown in step ST8 of FIG. 3, when a settlement instruction is input by a pointing device or the like, the control means executes step ST9 of FIG.
As shown in, the display of the product in the shopping cart 51 is erased assuming that the product is taken out from the shopping cart 51, and
The display 20 displays the accounting information 70 such as the commodities contained therein, the amount of the commodities, and the total of the commodities.

Then, as shown in step ST10 of FIG. 3, when an instruction to stop the purchase of the product is input by a pointing device or the like, the control means does not perform the charging process for the product and the accounting information 70 is stored. The display is erased, and the state returns to the state of waiting for the user's instruction input.

On the other hand, as shown in step ST11 of FIG. 3, when an instruction to purchase the merchandise 60 is input by a pointing device or the like, the control means executes the billing process for the merchandise in step ST12. , The display of the accounting information 70 is erased. In addition, when performing such a charging process, it is preferable to display an animation of how to pay money, presenting a credit card, etc. By displaying such an animation, you can certainly make payment. It is possible to give the user a feeling of having purchased a product.

Thereafter, as step ST13, the control means displays an image in which the purchased product 63 is put in the shopping bag 53, which is a container for the purchased product, on the display 20, as shown in FIG. By displaying the image in which the purchased product 63 is put in the shopping bag 53 in this way, the user can easily recognize what was purchased. Further, in this embodiment, since the product to be purchased is put in the shopping cart 51 and the product already purchased is put in the shopping bag 53, the two containers are used properly. , It is possible to visually and easily identify unpurchased products. Then, when the process of step ST13 is completed, the process returns to the state of waiting for the input of the instruction from the user.

Further, as shown in step ST14 of FIG. 3, when an instruction to confirm the product 63 in the shopping bag 53 is input by a pointing device or the like, the control means sets the product 63 in the shopping bag 53 as step ST15. The information regarding the display is displayed on the display 20. Here, the display of the information on the product 63 in the shopping bag is not limited to the character information, and the product 6 is displayed.
It is preferable that the image of No. 3 is displayed in an easy-to-understand manner, such as by enlarging and displaying the image or using a moving image. By providing the information in such a manner that it is visually easy to understand, the user can easily and accurately obtain a lot of information, and it is possible to prevent the user from mistakenly purchasing the product. In step ST15,
When there are a plurality of products in the shopping bag, the control means displays information about the products on the display 20 one by one for each of the products. And
When the process of step ST15 ends, the process returns to the state of waiting for the input of an instruction from the user.

Further, as shown in step ST16 of FIG. 3, when an instruction to end shopping is input by a pointing device or the like, step ST17 of FIG.
Then, the control means determines whether or not there is a product in the shopping cart 51. If there is a product in the shopping cart 51, step ST
In step 18, if there are no products in the shopping cart 51, the process proceeds to step ST23.

At step ST18, the control means
As in step ST9, the shopping cart 5 is assumed to have taken out the product from the shopping cart 51.
The display of the product in 1 is deleted, and the accounting information such as the product in the shopping cart 51, the amount thereof, and the total thereof is displayed on the display 20.

Then, as shown in step ST19,
When an instruction to stop the purchase of the product is input by a pointing device or the like, the control means proceeds to step ST.
As in the case of 10, the display of the accounting information is deleted without performing the charging process for the product 60, and the process proceeds to step ST23.

On the other hand, as shown in step ST20, when an instruction to purchase the product is input by a pointing device or the like, the control means proceeds to step ST1.
As in the case of 2, the display of the accounting information is erased after performing the charging process for the product. Then, as step ST22, the control means displays the image of the shopping bag 53 containing the purchased product on the display 20, as in step ST13, and then proceeds to step ST23.

At step ST23, the control means
The display of the clerk 52 and the shopping cart 51 is erased from the display 20, and then the shopping process is terminated. At this time, if the user has purchased the product, the display of the shopping bag 53 containing the product 63 remains on the display 20. In this way, even after the shopping process is completed, the product 63 is displayed on the display 20.
By displaying the shopping bag 53 in which is displayed, it is possible to give the user the feeling that the product 63 is certainly purchased.

As described above, by displaying a shopping cart as a container for storing the purchased product and displaying a shopping bag as the container for storing the purchased product, when shopping online. The user can easily visually recognize the product purchased or the product purchased.

It should be noted that the container for the purchased product is not limited to the shopping cart as shown in FIGS. 4 to 9 as long as the user can easily visually recognize the purchased product. Such a container may also be used, and the container for the purchased product is not limited to the shopping bag shown in FIG. 9 as long as the user can easily visually recognize the purchased product. ,
Any container may be used.

[0056]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, when the user receives the home shopping service, it is possible to easily visually recognize what the user has selected as a product to purchase. it can. Therefore, according to the present invention, the man-machine interface at the time of home shopping by the online service is improved, and the user can easily receive the advanced home shopping service.

Further, by improving the man-machine interface in this way, it is expected that a wider range of users will participate in the home shopping service, which will contribute to the development of online services.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an overall configuration of a system including an example of an online terminal device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an online terminal device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart when performing home shopping.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed during home shopping.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of an image displayed during home shopping.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing another example of an image displayed during home shopping.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of an image displayed during home shopping.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing another example of an image displayed during home shopping.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another example of an image displayed during home shopping.

10 is a continuation of the flowchart of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 20 Display 51 Shopping Cart 52 Clerk 53 Shopping Bag 60, 61, 63 Products

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. Connection means for connecting to an online server, instruction input means for inputting an instruction from a user, information supplied from an online server via the connection means, and input from the instruction input means. And a display means for displaying an image based on the processing by the control means. At least shopping information is supplied from the online server via the connection means, and the online processing is performed. In an online terminal device capable of shopping, the control means displays an image of a first container for a product to be purchased on the display means when an instruction to start shopping is input from the instruction input means, When the instruction of the product to be purchased is input from the instruction input means, the product is placed in the first container. Image line terminal device, characterized in that the display on the display means was. 2. The control means, when an instruction to confirm the product contained in the first container is input from the instruction input means, displays information on the product contained in the first container on the display means. The online terminal device according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The control means, when displaying on the display means information about the product placed in the first container,
The online terminal device according to claim 2, wherein an image of the product is enlarged and displayed on the display means. 4. The control means, when an instruction to purchase a product placed in the first container is input from the instruction input means, performs a purchase process for the product, and the product for which the purchase process is completed, The online terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the image contained in the second container for the purchased product is displayed on the display means. 5. The control means, when an instruction to confirm the product in the second container is input from the instruction input means, the control means displays the information about the product in the second container. The online terminal device according to claim 4, wherein the online terminal device is displayed. 6. The control means, when displaying the information on the product contained in the second container on the display means, enlarges the image of the product and displays it on the display means. The online terminal device according to claim 5. 7. The control means, when an instruction to start shopping is input from the instruction input means, displays an image of a clerk on the display means, and an instruction to explain by the clerk is input from the instruction input means. 2. The information displayed by the clerk is displayed on the display means.
Online terminal device described. 8. An image display method of displaying an image at the time of shopping on a display device of an online terminal which is connected to at least an online server which supplies shopping information and can carry out shopping by online processing. Is input to the online terminal, an image of the first container for the product to be purchased is displayed on the display device, and when the instruction of the product to be purchased is input to the online terminal, the product is included in the first container. An image display method, characterized in that an image containing the above is displayed on the display means. 9. When the instruction to confirm the product contained in the first container is input to the online terminal, information regarding the product contained in the first container is displayed on the display device. The image display method according to claim 8. 10. The display device according to claim 9, wherein an image of the product is enlarged and displayed on the display device when the information about the product contained in the first container is displayed on the display device. Image display method. 11. When a purchase instruction for a product placed in the first container is input to the online terminal, a purchase process for the product is performed, and the product for which the purchase process is completed is a first product for the purchased product. 9. The image display method according to claim 8, wherein the image contained in the second container is displayed on the display device. 12. When the instruction to confirm the product in the second container is input to the online terminal, information about the product in the second container is displayed on the display device. The image display method according to claim 11. 13. The image of the product is enlarged and displayed on the display device when the information on the product contained in the second container is displayed on the display device. Image display method. 14. When an instruction to start shopping is input to the online terminal, an image of a clerk is displayed on the display device, and when an instruction to explain by the clerk is input to the online terminal, an explanation by the clerk is displayed. The image display method according to claim 8, wherein the image is displayed on the display device.