TWI856447B - Information providing system, information providing method, and program product - Google Patents

Abstract

[Topic] It is possible to improve user convenience. [Solution] The material designation accepting unit (101) of the information providing system (S) accepts the material designation made by the user by using one of the services of the digital leaflet service for providing digital leaflets and the recipe service for providing recipes. The information providing unit (104) provides information about the material provision object to the user by using the service of the other service between the digital leaflet service and the recipe service.

Description

Information providing system, information providing method, and program product

This disclosure relates to an information providing system, an information providing method, and a program product.

Previously, digital flyer services that provide digital flyers and recipe services that provide recipes have been known. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a digital flyer service that selects products that may be of interest to the user based on the user's browsing history and provides a digital flyer containing product information about the selected product. For example, Patent Documents 2 and 3 describe recipe services that provide recipes for cooking in accordance with the user's usage performance or conditions specified by the user. [Prior Technical Documents] [Patent Documents]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent No. 5760872 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent No. 6890747 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-41670

[The problem that the invention wants to solve]

However, in the technology of Patent Document 1, the user must think of the recipe of the dish to be prepared by himself, and must use the digital flyer service to search for the ingredients required for the recipe, which is quite troublesome. In the technologies of Patent Documents 2 and 3, the user must search for a store that sells the ingredients of the recipe searched by the recipe service by himself, which is quite troublesome. Therefore, in the prior art, the convenience of the user cannot be fully improved.

One of the purposes of this disclosure is to improve user convenience. [Means for solving the problem]

The information providing system disclosed in the present invention comprises: a material designation accepting unit that uses a service of either a digital leaflet service that provides digital leaflets or a recipe service that provides recipes to accept the designation of materials made by the user; and an information providing unit that uses a service other than the service of the digital leaflet service or the recipe service to provide information about the recipients of the materials mentioned above to the users mentioned above. [Effect of the invention]

According to the present disclosure, the convenience of users can be improved.

[1. Overall structure of information provision system] An example of an implementation form of the information provision system involved in the present disclosure is described. FIG. 1 is a diagram of an example of the overall structure of the information provision system. The server 10 and the user terminal 20 can be connected to the Internet N. The information provision system S only needs to contain at least one computer and is not limited to the example in FIG. 1.

The server 10 is a server computer. The server 10 includes a control unit 11, a memory unit 12, and a communication unit 13. The control unit 11 includes at least one processor. The memory unit 12 includes a volatile memory such as a RAM and a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk. The communication unit 13 includes at least one of a communication interface for wired communication and a communication interface for wireless communication.

The user terminal 20 is a computer of the user. For example, the user terminal 20 is a personal computer, a smart phone, a tablet, or a wearable terminal. The physical structures of the control unit 21, the memory unit 22, and the communication unit 23 are the same as the control unit 11, the memory unit 12, and the communication unit 13, respectively. The operation unit 24 is an input device such as a touch panel. The display unit 25 is a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display.

In addition, the programs or data stored in each of the server 10 and the user terminal 20 can also be supplied through the Internet N. Furthermore, the programs or data stored in the information storage medium can also be supplied through a reading unit (such as a CD drive or a memory card slot) that reads the computer-readable information storage medium, or an input/output unit (such as a USB port) required for inputting and outputting data with an external device.

[2. Overview of information provision system] In the information provision system S, a digital flyer service that provides digital flyers and a recipe service that provides recipes are provided to users. In this embodiment, although a single server 10 is described to provide both services, the computer that provides the digital flyer service and the computer that provides the recipe service may be different. The company that provides the digital flyer service and the company that provides the recipe service may be the same or different.

A digital flyer is a flyer provided electronically. A digital flyer is also referred to as an electronic flyer. A digital flyer may contain only products from a single store or may contain a mixture of products from multiple stores. For example, the advertiser of the digital flyer is the store. The store will bear the advertising fee. Although the digital flyer may have the same composition as the paper flyer distributed by the store, the digital flyer of this embodiment is assumed to have a different composition from the paper flyer. Providing a digital flyer means sending the data required to display the digital flyer to the user terminal 20.

A recipe is a method of making a dish. A recipe contains information about the ingredients necessary for the dish. Ingredients are things used in a dish. Ingredients are also called food ingredients. For example, ingredients are meat, fish, vegetables, fruits, grains, processed foods, seasonings, cooking oil, or water. In this embodiment, although it is described that users of the recipe service contribute recipes, recipes can be created by any person, such as the administrator of the recipe service, a store that publishes digital flyers, or an expert. Providing a recipe means sending the data required to display the recipe to the user terminal 20.

In this embodiment, although the digital flyer service and the recipe service are described as being independent services, the digital flyer service can also be embedded as part of the recipe service. That is, the digital flyer service can also be a function of the recipe service. Conversely, the recipe service can also be embedded as part of the digital flyer service. That is, the recipe service can also be a function of the digital flyer service. In addition, for example, the digital flyer service and the recipe service can also be provided in services such as point earning services or e-commerce transaction services.

FIG. 2 to FIG. 8 are diagrams showing an example of screen transition when a user utilizes the digital flyer service and the recipe service. In the present embodiment, although the digital flyer service and the recipe service are described as being provided by an application (hereinafter referred to as the application) installed on the user terminal 20, they may also be provided by other media such as a browser or e-mail. Hereinafter, the application for the digital flyer service is referred to as the digital flyer application. The application for the recipe service is referred to as the recipe application. The digital flyer service and the recipe service may also be provided by one application.

In this embodiment, the case of calling a recipe application from a digital flyer application is taken as an example. For example, when the digital flyer application is first started, once the user registers his/her personal profile such as a zip code or an address, digital flyers of nearby stores are provided. Once the user browses through the stores that can provide digital flyers and specifies a favorite store, the digital flyers of the store are provided.

In this embodiment, if the same company has multiple stores like a chain store, each store is considered to be an independent store. For example, if a supermarket called "AAA Store" exists in locations A1, A2, and A3, "AAA Store A1 Store", "AAA Store A2 Store", and "AAA Store A3 Store" are considered to be independent stores. Users can register each store in the chain as a favorite store.

Once the settings for the first startup are completed, as shown in the upper left screen example of FIG. 2 , a digital flyer screen G1 including a store icon I10 and product information I11 is displayed on the display unit 25. The store icon I10 includes a logo or mark of the user's favorite store. Below the store icon I10 is the location of the store. Once the user adds or deletes a favorite store, the store icon I10 on the digital flyer screen G1 will also be added or deleted. In accordance with the favorite store that is added or deleted, the product information I11 contained in the digital flyer screen G1 will also change.

Product information I11 is information about the products sold in the favorite store. For example, product information I11 includes: the image, name, description, and price of the product. In this embodiment, product information I11 includes: a store icon indicating the store that sells the product (a circular icon in FIG. 2 ), a favorite icon required to register a product as a favorite (a heart-shaped icon in FIG. 2 ), and a refrigerator icon required to register materials in my refrigerator (a refrigerator icon in FIG. 2 ). Since there are many of these icons, the symbols in the diagram are omitted.

For example, if a user selects a favorite icon included in the product information I11 of a certain product, the product will be registered as a favorite product. The user can browse the favorite products at any time and display them on the digital leaflet screen G1. If the user selects a favorite icon included in the product information I11 of a favorite product again, the product will be removed from the favorite products. For example, if a user selects a refrigerator icon included in the product information I11 of a certain product, the product will be registered as the material for my refrigerator.

My Fridge is a virtual refrigerator that supports the user's shopping needs. Information about the ingredients required for the user's cooking is recorded in My Fridge. My Fridge is a kind of bookmark. Favorite products are also a kind of bookmark. My Fridge is equivalent to a note used to record the ingredients required for cooking. Favorite products are equivalent to a note used to record the products to be purchased in the store.

Favorite products are products listed in the digital flyer, while My Fridge is not limited to products listed in the digital flyer. In My Fridge, materials with names different from the actual product names can be registered. For example, even if the name of the product listed in the digital flyer is "beef shank", in My Fridge, a name such as "beef shank slices 300g of trimmings is also OK" can be registered. The names of the materials in My Fridge can include any comments.

For example, when the user selects the product information I11 (the part other than the small icon) of a certain product, as shown in the upper right screen of FIG. 2 , the product details screen G2 showing the details of the product is displayed on the display unit 25. When the user selects the favorite small icon I20, the product currently displayed in the product details screen G2 is registered as a favorite product. When the user selects the refrigerator small icon I21, the product currently displayed in the product details screen G2 is registered as the material of my refrigerator.

Returning to the upper left screen of FIG. 2 , for example, once the user selects link L12, as shown in the lower left screen of FIG. 2 , menu M13 for urging the user to use my refrigerator is displayed. Menu M13 may be displayed as a suggestion to the user even if link L12 is not selected. If the user has never used my refrigerator, menu M13 is displayed at an arbitrary timing. If the user has used my refrigerator, menu M13 is not displayed.

For example, when the user selects the button B130 of the menu M13, as shown in the lower right screen of FIG. 2, a menu M14 for urging the user to add materials to the refrigerator is displayed. When the user selects the button B140 of the menu M14, as shown in the upper left screen of FIG. 3, a menu M15 for selecting a method for adding materials is displayed on the display unit 25. In this embodiment, two methods are prepared as methods for adding materials: a method of searching from a digital leaflet and a method of adding materials manually.

For example, once the user selects the button B150 of the menu M15, the menu M15 is deleted as shown in the upper right screen of FIG. 3. The user can add a product to my refrigerator by selecting a small refrigerator icon in the product information I11 of a certain product. For example, once the user selects the small refrigerator icon included in the product information I11 of the product "beef hind leg" of the store "AAA store A1 store", the product is added to my refrigerator as shown in the lower left screen of FIG. 3 and the my refrigerator screen G3 is displayed on the display unit 25.

My refrigerator screen G3 is a screen showing the contents of my refrigerator. As shown in the lower left screen of FIG. 3, material information I30 about the material added to my refrigerator and a message M31 indicating that the material already in my refrigerator has been added are displayed on my refrigerator screen G3. The user can return to the digital leaflet screen G1, select the small refrigerator icon included in the product information I11, and then add materials. Once the user adds materials again, as shown in the lower right screen of FIG. 3, the material information I30 about the materials added by the user is arranged and displayed on the my refrigerator screen G3.

Returning to the upper left screen of FIG. 3 , when the menu M15 is displayed, once the user selects the button B151, as shown in the upper left screen of FIG. 4 , the menu M16 required for adding materials is displayed. The user enters the name of the material in the input form F160. The name of the material is expressed by letters, numbers, other symbols, or a combination of these. For example, the user uses the keyboard of the operation unit 24 or the software keyboard displayed in the display unit 25 to enter an arbitrary name into the input form F160. The user can enter an arbitrary name regardless of the name of the product published in the digital leaflet.

In this embodiment, stores, recipes, and tags can be associated with materials in my refrigerator. Stores associated with materials in my refrigerator are stores that are scheduled to purchase the materials. Recipes associated with materials in my refrigerator are recipes that are scheduled to use the materials. Tags associated with materials in my refrigerator are tags that have been assigned to the materials. Tags are information required to classify materials. In this embodiment, although tags related to the purchase of materials are used as an example, any tags that can classify materials in some form will suffice. For example, labels such as "buy next time", "buy if available, buy if cheap", or "don't buy now because it's still available" can be given to materials to indicate the actual availability of the items in the refrigerator.

For example, when the user selects the button B161 of the menu M16, as shown in the upper right screen of FIG. 4, a store search screen G4 required for searching for stores associated with the material is displayed on the display unit 25. For example, when the user selects the button B41 by checking the check boxes C40 of more than one store, as shown in the lower left screen of FIG. 4, a store designation screen G5 required for designating the name of the selected store is displayed on the display unit 25. In the store designation screen G5, a small refrigerator icon I50 required for designating each store is displayed.

For example, once the user selects a store's refrigerator icon I50, as shown in the lower right screen of FIG4, the store is associated with the input material. In the lower right screen example of FIG4, the store "AAA store A1 store" is associated as the store where the input material "beef hind leg slices 300g, trimmings are also OK" is scheduled to be purchased. For example, once the user selects the button B162 of the menu M16, the recipe application is activated and the digital leaflet application is moved to the background.

Once the recipe application is started, as shown in the upper left screen of FIG. 5 , the main screen G6 of the recipe service is displayed on the display unit 25. When the button B141 in the lower right screen of FIG. 2 has been selected, the same main screen G6 can also be displayed. The user can search for any recipe from the main screen G6. For example, the user specifies a category of recipes such as meat dishes or fish dishes, or enters any keyword to search for recipes registered in the recipe service. Once the user selects any recipe from the recipe search results, as shown in the upper right screen of FIG. 5 , a detailed recipe screen G7 showing the selected recipe is displayed on the display unit 25.

In the recipe screen G7, a small refrigerator icon I70 is displayed for associating the inputted material with the recipe, a button B71 is displayed for batch registering the materials of the recipe, and a small refrigerator icon I72 is displayed for individually registering the materials of the recipe. For example, once the user selects the small refrigerator icon I70, the recipe application moves to the background and the digital leaflet application returns to the foreground.

Once the digital leaflet application returns to the foreground, as shown in the lower left screen of FIG5, the recipe specified by the user is associated with the input material. In the example of the lower left screen of FIG5, the recipe "Super delicious with rice! Sukiyaki beef tofu" is associated as a recipe that is scheduled to use the input material "300g of sliced beef hind leg, trimmings are also OK". For example, once the user selects button B163 of menu M16, any tag can be associated with the material. The user can also not associate the material with the tag.

For example, if the user does not associate the material with the tag and selects the button B164 of the menu M16, as shown in the lower right screen of FIG5, the My Refrigerator screen G3 indicating that the material "300g of beef hind leg slices and trimmings are also OK" entered by the user has been added to My Refrigerator is displayed. In addition, if the user selects the button B165 of the menu M16 in the state of the lower left screen of FIG5, the addition of the material to My Refrigerator is cancelled.

The user can also add ingredients to My Refrigerator from the recipe screen G7. For example, in the state of the upper left screen of FIG. 6, once the user selects the button B71 of the recipe screen G7, as shown in the upper right of FIG. 6, the My Refrigerator screen G3 containing a message M36 indicating that the ingredients of the recipe have been batch-registered is displayed on the display unit 25. As shown in the message M37, if the recipe contains ingredients that have already been registered in My Refrigerator, the same ingredients are prevented from being registered repeatedly.

For example, in the state of the upper left screen of FIG. 6 , once the user selects the refrigerator icon I72 of the recipe screen G7, the material shown in the refrigerator icon I72 is registered in My Refrigerator as shown in the lower right screen of FIG. 6 . In this case, the material whose refrigerator icon I72 is not selected is not registered in My Refrigerator. In the upper right and lower right screen examples of FIG. 6 , since no store is associated with the material added to My Refrigerator, the user can associate the material with the store by selecting the button included in the material information I30. Once the user selects the menu M32 required to manually add the material, the menu M16 shown in the upper left screen of FIG. 4 is displayed.

The user can also set the My Refrigerator from the My Refrigerator screen G3. For example, in the state of the upper left screen of FIG. 7, once the user selects the setting small icon I33, as shown in the upper right screen of FIG. 7, the setting screen G8 required for setting the My Refrigerator is displayed on the display unit 25. For example, the user can set the store associated with the material default, set the tag associated with the material default, and edit the tag.

For example, in the state of the upper left screen of FIG. 7, once the user selects the material information I30 of a certain material, a label can be assigned to the material. Once the user assigns a label to a material, the background color of the material information I30 in the My Refrigerator screen G3 will change as shown in the lower right screen of FIG. 7. The user can intuitively grasp the label of each material through the background color of the material information I30. In the diagram, the color is represented pattern by the density of the dots.

In this embodiment, the function of my refrigerator is utilized to manage materials and provide recommended information to the user. For example, for materials with recommended information, information that can identify the information is displayed in at least one of the store icon and the recipe icon in the material information I30 (in the example of FIG8 , it is a "!" mark). For example, in the state of the upper left screen of FIG8 , once the user selects the material information I30 of the material with recommended information, as shown in the upper right screen of FIG8 , a menu M38 indicating the material is displayed on the display unit 25.

In the upper right screen of Figure 8, there is recommended information about products and recommended information about recipes. The "!" mark on the small store icon included in menu M38 means that this is recommended information about products. The "!" mark on the small recipe icon included in menu M38 means that this is recommended information about recipes. Users can edit the name of the material, change the store, recipe, and label associated with the material from menu M38.

For example, once the user selects a small store icon with an "!" mark, the menu M38 is switched to display the recommended products of the store associated with the displayed material, as shown in the lower left screen of FIG. 8. The menu M38 may also display recommended products of neighboring stores in the same system, or recommended products of stores in other systems. Once the user selects a recommended product included in the menu M38, the product detail screen G2 of the product is displayed.

For example, when the user selects a recipe icon with an "!" mark, the menu M38 is switched to display recommended recipes related to the displayed ingredients, as shown in the lower right screen of FIG8 . Recipes different from the recipe associated with the ingredient are displayed in the menu M38. The recipes displayed in the menu M38 may be recipes retrieved from the name of the ingredient, or may be recipes frequently viewed by other users who viewed the recipe associated with the ingredient.

As described above, the information providing system S links the digital leaflet service and the recipe service, and provides useful information to users across these services to improve user convenience. The following describes the details of the information providing system S.

[3. Functions implemented in the information providing system] FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram of an example of functions implemented in the information providing system S. In this embodiment, the main functions are implemented in the server 10. Among the functions in FIG. 9, the data storage unit 100 is implemented mainly by the storage unit 12. The other functions are implemented mainly by the control unit 11.

[3-1. Data storage unit] The data storage unit 100 stores data required to provide information to users. For example, the data storage unit 100 stores: user database DB1, digital leaflet database DB2, and recipe database DB3.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a user database DB1. The user database DB1 is a database in which information about users in the digital flyer service is stored. For example, the user database DB1 stores: user ID, password, user name, personal profile information, favorite store information, favorite product information, my refrigerator information, and setting information. The information stored in the user database DB1 is not limited to the example in FIG. 5, and any information can be stored.

Personal profile information is information about the user's personal profile. For example, personal profile information includes: zip code, address, frequently visited areas, occupation, date of birth, gender, or interests. Favorite store information is information about the user's favorite stores. For example, favorite store information includes the store ID of the favorite store. Store ID is an example of store identification information that can identify a store. Store identification information can be any information other than the store ID, such as the name of the store. Favorite product information is information about the user's favorite products. For example, favorite product information includes the product ID of the favorite product. The product ID is an example of store identification information that can identify the product. The product identification information may be any information other than the product ID, for example, the name of the product.

My refrigerator information is information about the contents of my refrigerator. For example, my refrigerator information includes: material information, store ID, recipe ID, and label ID. Material information is information about materials that have been registered in my refrigerator. For example, material information includes: material ID, and the name of the material. Material ID is an example of material identification information that can identify a material. Material identification information can be any information other than material ID. For example, the name of the material can also be equivalent to material identification information. Recipe ID is an example of recipe identification information that can identify a recipe. Recipe identification information can be any information other than recipe ID. For example, the name of the recipe can also be equivalent to recipe identification information. Tag ID is an example of tag identification information that can identify a tag. Tag identification information can be any information other than tag ID. For example, the name of the tag can also be equivalent to tag identification information. Every time a user registers ingredients in my refrigerator, my refrigerator information is updated.

The setting information is information about the setting of My Refrigerator. For example, the setting information includes: the store ID of the default store, the tag ID of the default tag, and the tag list. The tag list includes: the tag ID and the name of the tag. For example, once the user sets My Refrigerator from the setting screen G8, the setting information is updated.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a digital leaflet database DB2. The digital leaflet database DB2 is a database in which information about digital leaflets is stored. For example, the digital leaflet database DB2 stores leaflet ID, store ID, period, and digital leaflet information. The information stored in the digital leaflet database DB2 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 11, and any information can be stored.

Flyer ID is flyer identification information that can identify digital flyers. Flyer identification information can be any information other than flyer ID. For example, the name of the flyer can also be equivalent to flyer identification information. A flyer ID is issued for each digital flyer registered by a store. Stores register digital flyers for each project such as limited-time promotions or regular promotions. In this case, flyer ID can be said to be information that can be used to identify the store's project.

The store ID associated with the flyer ID is the store ID of the store that has registered the digital flyer. The period associated with the flyer ID is the period during which the digital flyer is displayed. The digital flyer information is information about the digital flyer. For example, the digital flyer information includes product information about the products published in the digital flyer. For example, the product information includes: product ID, product name, product image, product price, and product description. The product information associated with the flyer ID is the information necessary to display the product information I11 in the digital flyer screen G1.

FIG12 is a diagram showing an example of a recipe database DB3. The recipe database DB3 is a database in which information about recipes is stored. For example, the recipe database DB3 stores recipe IDs, user IDs of contributors, and recipe information. The information stored in the recipe database DB3 is not limited to the example shown in FIG12, and any information can be stored.

In this embodiment, although the user ID and password are the same in the digital flyer service and the recipe service, the user ID and password of the digital flyer service and the user ID and password of the recipe service may be different. In other words, a unique user ID and password may be issued to each of the digital flyer service and the recipe service.

Recipe information is information about recipes. For example, recipe information includes: recipe category, recipe name (title), cooking image, ingredient information, preparation time, comments made by the contributor, and comments made by the viewer. Recipe information associated with a recipe ID is information necessary for display on the recipe screen G7. Each time a user in the recipe service contributes a recipe, a recipe ID is issued, and the user ID of the user and the recipe information of the contributed recipe are stored in the recipe database DB3. Ingredient information is information about the ingredients contained in the recipe. For example, ingredient information includes the name and amount of the ingredients required in the recipe.

In addition, the data stored in the data storage unit 100 is not limited to the above examples. For example, the data storage unit 100 may also store a user database storing information about users in the recipe service. The user database may store various information such as user IDs, passwords, and names registered by users in the recipe service. For example, the data storage unit 100 may also store a store database storing information about stores that publish products in digital flyers.

[3-2. Material Designation Acceptance Unit] The material designation acceptance unit 101 accepts the designation of materials made by the user using one of the services of the digital flyer service that provides digital flyers and the recipe service that provides recipes. The so-called one-side service is a service required to specify the materials to be registered in my refrigerator. The one-side service can be a digital flyer service or a recipe service. In this embodiment, since materials can be specified from both the digital flyer service and the recipe service, any of these services can be equivalent to the one-side service.

In the present embodiment, the material designation accepting unit 101 is implemented by the server 10, and therefore the material designation accepting unit 101 accepts the designation of the material by receiving data on the material designated by the user from the user terminal 20. For example, the material designation accepting unit 101 accepts the designation of the material by receiving data representing a product ID, a recipe ID, the name of the material included in the recipe information, or a string manually input by the user. When the material designation accepting unit 101 is implemented by the user terminal 20, the material designation accepting unit 101 only needs to accept the designation of the material based on the detection signal of the operation unit 24.

For example, when the digital flyer service is equivalent to a service of one party, the material specification accepting unit 101 accepts specification on the digital flyer using the digital flyer service. For example, the material specification accepting unit 101 accepts specification of materials by accepting selection of a small refrigerator icon included in the product information I11 of the digital flyer screen G1. The material specification accepting unit 101 accepts specification of materials by accepting selection of a small refrigerator icon I21 of the product detail screen G2.

Furthermore, when specifying materials using the digital flyer service, the product selected by the user can be directly specified as the material, but the name of the product and the name of the material may not be the same. For example, after the user selects the product, a part of the product name may be changed, or only a part of the product name may be used as the name of the material. The material specification accepting unit 101 may also accept the specification of the material from other screens other than the digital flyer screen G1 or the product detail screen G2. Other screens may be any screen provided in the digital flyer service.

For example, in the case where the recipe service is equivalent to a service of one party, the material specification accepting unit 101 accepts specification on the recipe using the recipe service. For example, the specification of the material is accepted by selecting the button B71 on the recipe acceptance screen G7 or the refrigerator icon I72. Once the button B71 is selected, the multiple materials contained in the recipe are batch-registered to my refrigerator, so the material specification accepting unit 101 becomes to accept the batch specification of multiple materials on the recipe using the recipe service. Instead of all the materials contained in the recipe being batch-registered, the user may select any multiple materials contained in the recipe, and the selected multiple materials may be batch-registered.

Furthermore, when specifying ingredients using the recipe service, at least one ingredient included in the recipe selected by the user may be directly specified as an ingredient for my refrigerator, but the name of the ingredient included in the recipe may not be consistent with the name of the ingredient in my refrigerator. For example, after the user selects a recipe, a part of the name of the ingredient included in the recipe may be changed, or only a part of the name of the ingredient included in the recipe may be used as the name of the ingredient in my refrigerator. The ingredient specification accepting unit 101 may also accept the specification of ingredients from other screens other than the recipe screen G7. Other screens may be any screen provided in the recipe service.

In this embodiment, the material specification accepting unit 101 accepts the specification of the material by accepting the input of the string representing the material. For example, the material specification accepting unit 101 accepts the specification of the material by accepting the input of the string to the input form F160 of the menu M16. The user can also change the name of the material registered using the digital leaflet service or the recipe service. In this case, the material specification accepting unit 101 accepts the specification of the material by accepting the operation of changing the name of the material already registered in my refrigerator.

In this embodiment, since multiple materials can be registered in My Refrigerator, the material designation accepting unit 101 accepts the designation of each of the multiple materials. The method of designating each material is the same as described above. For example, the material designation accepting unit 101 can also accept the designation of the first material using the digital flyer service and accept the designation of the second material using the recipe service. Furthermore, the material designation accepting unit 101 can also accept the designation of the third material through manual input by the user. In this case, the designation method of the multiple materials registered in My Refrigerator becomes mixed.

[3-3. Registration unit] The registration unit 102 registers material information about a material when the material designation acceptance unit 101 accepts the designation. The so-called registration of material information is to record the material information in a memory. In this embodiment, storing the material information as part of the my refrigerator information of the user database DB1 is equivalent to registering the material information. The registration unit 102 registers the material information of each of the multiple materials when the designation of multiple materials is accepted in a batch. The material information can also be registered in the user database DB1 as other information different from the my refrigerator information, and can also be registered in other databases other than the user database DB1.

In this embodiment, the registering unit 102 does not register the material information of the material if the designation of the material represented by the registered material information has been accepted, and registers the material information if the designation of the material whose material information has not been registered has been accepted. The registering unit 102 compares the material information of the material designated by the user with the registered material information, and when they are consistent, determines that the designation of the material represented by the registered material information has been accepted.

In this embodiment, although the registration unit 102 is described as determining the complete match of the material information, the registration unit 102 may also determine the partial match of the material information. In this embodiment, although the name of the material is described as the comparison target, the comparison target may be any information that can be used as material information, for example, the product ID of the product selected when specifying the material, or the recipe ID of the recipe selected when specifying the material. In this case, these product IDs or recipe IDs are included in the my refrigerator information.

[3-4. Label Assignment Unit] The label assignment unit 103 assigns the label specified by the user to the material. Assigning a label to a material means associating the label with the material. In this embodiment, associating the label ID or the label name with the material ID contained in the "My Refrigerator" information of the user database DB1 is equivalent to assigning the label to the material. In this embodiment, since the user can specify any string as a label, the label assignment unit 103 assigns the string input by the user to the material as a label. For example, once the user inputs a label string from the setting screen G8, the string will be associated with the material ID. The label assigning unit 103 can also use the machine learning model to determine whether there are materials in the actual user's refrigerator and automatically assign labels.

[3-5. Information provision unit] The information provision unit 104 provides information on the target of the material specified by the user by using a service of another party other than the service of one party in the digital flyer service and the recipe service. The so-called service of another party is a service of the other party other than the service used when specifying the material in the digital flyer service and the recipe service. If the user specifies the material by using the digital flyer service (that is, if the service of one party is the digital flyer service), the recipe service is equivalent to the service of the other party. If the user specifies the material by using the recipe service (that is, if the service of one party is the recipe service), the digital flyer service is equivalent to the service of the other party.

The so-called target information is information provided to the user. The target information is any information related to the material. For example, the content of a digital flyer of a store that sells the material as a commodity, or a recipe using the material, is equivalent to the target information. In this embodiment, the recommended information displayed in the menu M38 is equivalent to the target information. Therefore, the place where the recommended information is explained can be replaced by the target information. The target information is not limited to the recommended information, and can be any information related to the material.

When the digital flyer service is used to designate the material, the information providing unit 104 uses the recipe service to provide the user with the recipe for the material as the information to be provided. For example, when the user designates the material by selecting the small refrigerator icon included in the product information I11 of the digital flyer screen G1 or the small refrigerator icon I21 of the product detail screen G2, the information providing unit 104 displays the recommended recipe for the material in the menu M38 to provide the information to be provided to the user.

When the recipe service is used to specify the material, the information providing unit 104 uses the digital flyer service to provide the user with product information about the material published in the digital flyer as the provided object information. For example, when the user specifies the material by selecting the button B71 or the refrigerator icon I72 on the recipe screen G7, the information providing unit 104 displays the recommended product of the material in the menu M38 to provide the provided object information to the user. In the menu M38, multiple recommended products can be displayed, so the information providing unit 104 uses the digital flyer service to provide the user with product information of each of the multiple materials.

In this embodiment, since the material information is registered in the user database DB1, the information providing unit 104 provides the user with the provision target information based on the material information. If there is no material registered in my refrigerator, the information providing unit 104 can provide the user with the provision target information based on the material specified by the user. That is, if the user specifies the material using the digital leaflet instead of using the mechanism of my refrigerator, the information providing unit 104 can immediately provide the user with the recipe corresponding to the material as the provision target information. Alternatively, if the user specifies the ingredients using the recipe service instead of using the "my refrigerator" mechanism, the information providing unit 104 may immediately provide the user with a digital leaflet corresponding to the ingredients as the provided information.

In this embodiment, since the user can freely input the name of the material to be registered in my refrigerator, the information providing unit 104 provides the user with the information of the provided object retrieved based on the string input as the material. For example, the information providing unit 104 retrieves the recommended recipe based on the name of the material, and displays the retrieved recommended recipe in the menu M38. The recommended recipe is retrieved based on the string matching of the name of the material. The recommended recipe can also be retrieved by considering other factors such as the number of views or comments.

In this embodiment, the information providing unit 104 can also provide the user with the information about the target of the material provided in the service of one party. For example, when the material is specified by using the digital flyer service, the information providing unit 104 can also provide the user with not only the information provided in the recipe service but also the information provided in the digital flyer service as the target of the material. For example, when the material is specified by using the recipe service, the information providing unit 104 can also provide the user with not only the information provided in the digital flyer service but also the information provided in the recipe service as the target of the material.

In addition, when the information providing system S is linked to the inventory management system of the store, the information providing unit 104 can also provide the target information of the products in stock in the store to the user. The target information of the products that are not in stock in the store is not provided to the user. In addition, the information providing unit 104 can provide the target information in any screen. For example, the target information of the recommended products or recommended recipes can be provided in the digital leaflet screen G1. The target information of the recommended products or recommended recipes can also be provided in the main screen G6 of the recipe service.

[4. Processing performed in the information provision system]

FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 are flowcharts of an example of processing performed in the information providing system S. FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 illustrate the processing required for displaying the screens of FIG. 2 to FIG. 8. When the processing of FIG. 13 and FIG. 14 is performed, it is assumed that the user has completed the registration for using the digital leaflet service and the recipe service, and the operation at the first startup of the digital leaflet application. If the operation at the first startup of the recipe application is necessary, it is assumed that the user has also completed the operation.

As shown in FIG. 13 , once the digital leaflet application is started in the user terminal 20, the login process to the digital leaflet service is executed between the server 10 and the user terminal 20 (S1). In S1, the input of the user ID and password may also be required. If the user has logged in before, information indicating this will be recorded in the user terminal 20, and the input of the user ID and password may be omitted by using this information.

Once the login to the digital leaflet service is successful, the processing required for displaying the digital leaflet screen G1 is executed between the server 10 and the user terminal 20 based on the user database DB1 and the digital leaflet database DB2 (S2). Once the processing of S2 is executed, the digital leaflet screen G1 is displayed on the display unit 25 as shown in the upper left screen of FIG. 2 or the upper right screen of FIG. 3. The digital leaflet screen G1 is the first screen to be displayed for starting the digital leaflet application, and is therefore equivalent to the so-called first screen.

The user terminal 20 identifies the user's operation in the digital leaflet screen G1 based on the detection signal of the operation unit 24 (S3). In S3, it is assumed that an operation of selecting the refrigerator icon of the product information I11, an operation of selecting a part other than the icon in the product information I11, an operation of selecting the link L12, or a closing operation of the digital leaflet application is performed. When other operations are performed, the corresponding processing of the other operations is executed, and this processing is terminated. For example, when the store icon I10 of a certain store has been selected, a screen representing the digital leaflet of the store is displayed. In this screen, too, operations required to register the products sold by the store as materials for my refrigerator can be accepted.

In S3, when the refrigerator icon of the product information I11 has been selected (S3; refrigerator icon), the processing required for registering the product represented by the product information I11 as a material in my refrigerator is performed between the server 10 and the user terminal 20 (S4). Thereafter, the processing of S9 described later is performed, and the my refrigerator screen G3 is displayed. In S4, in order to add the information about the material specified by the user to the my refrigerator information, the user database DB1 is updated.

In S3, when a part other than the small icon in the product information I11 has been selected (S3; product selection), the processing required for displaying the product detail screen G2 is executed between the server 10 and the user terminal 20 based on the digital leaflet database DB2 (S5). The user terminal 20 specifies the user's operation in the product detail screen G2 based on the detection signal of the operation unit 24 (S6). In S6, it is assumed that the selection operation of the refrigerator small icon I21 or the operation of returning to the digital leaflet screen G1 is performed. In the case where other operations are performed, the processing corresponding to the other operations is executed, and this processing is terminated. For example, when the favorite icon I20 has been selected, the displayed product is regarded as a favorite product and is registered in the user database DB1.

In S6, when the refrigerator icon I21 is selected (S6; refrigerator icon), the processing of S4 is executed, and the displayed product is registered as the material of my refrigerator. In S6, when the operation of returning to the digital leaflet screen G1 is performed (S6; return), the processing of S2 is executed, and the digital leaflet screen G1 is displayed on the display unit 25.

In S3, when the link L12 to the My Refrigerator screen G3 is selected (S3; My Refrigerator screen), the user terminal 20 determines whether the user is using My Refrigerator for the first time (S7). In S7, the information indicating whether My Refrigerator has been used is stored in the user terminal 20, and the determination is made based on the information, or the information is stored in the server 10, and the determination is made by the server 10.

If it is determined that the user is using the refrigerator for the first time (S7; Y), the server 10 and the user terminal 20 perform a process for registering the first material in the refrigerator based on the user database DB1 and at least one of the digital leaflet database DB2 and the digital leaflet database DB3 (S8). In S8, the first material is registered in the refrigerator through the process described in the lower left screen of FIG. 2, the lower right screen of FIG. 2, and each screen of FIG. 3 to FIG. 6. Thereafter, the process of S9 described later is performed, and the refrigerator screen G3 is displayed.

If it is not determined that it is the first time to use my refrigerator (S7; N), the processing required for displaying the my refrigerator screen G3 based on the user database DB1 is executed between the server 10 and the user terminal 20 (S9). Once the processing of S9 is executed, the my refrigerator screen G3 is displayed on the display unit 25 as shown in the lower right screen of FIG. 3, the lower right screen of FIG. 5, the upper left screen of FIG. 7, or the upper left screen of FIG. 8. The background color of the material information I30 is determined according to the label of the material.

Moving to FIG. 14 , the user terminal 20 specifies the user's operation in the My Refrigerator screen G3 based on the detection signal of the operation unit 24 (S10). Here, it is assumed that an operation of adding a new material from the menu M32, an operation of selecting material information I30, an operation of selecting a setting small icon I33, or an operation of closing the digital leaflet application is performed. If other operations are performed, the corresponding processing of the other operations is executed, and this processing is terminated.

In S10, when the operation of adding a new material is performed (S10; material addition), the same processing as S4 is performed, and the material is added to my refrigerator. In S10, when the material information I30 has been selected (S10; material information selection), the processing required for displaying the menu M38 is performed between the server 10 and the user terminal 20 (S11), and the process returns to S9. In the case of recommendation information, the processing required for displaying the recommendation information in the menu M38 is performed.

In S10, when the setting icon I33 is selected (S10; My Refrigerator Setting), the processing required for setting My Refrigerator based on the user database DB1 is performed between the server 10 and the user terminal 20 (S12), and the process returns to S9. In S3 or S10, when the closing operation of the digital leaflet application is performed (S3, S10; Close), this process ends.

According to the information providing system S of this embodiment, the user's designation of materials is accepted by using one of the digital leaflet service and the recipe service, and the information on the object of provision is provided to the user by using the service of the other party. In this way, useful information can be provided to the user across the digital leaflet service and the recipe service, thereby improving the convenience of the user. For example, by providing recommended recipes based on the materials that the user has registered in my refrigerator from the digital leaflet, the user's trouble of thinking about dishes can be reduced. For example, by providing recommended products in the digital leaflet based on the materials that the user has registered in my refrigerator from the recipe, the user's trouble of searching for stores to purchase the materials needed for the recipe can be reduced.

Furthermore, the information providing system S uses a digital flyer service to accept the designation of ingredients to be registered in My Refrigerator on a digital flyer, and uses a recipe service to provide the user with a recipe for the ingredient as the provided information. In this way, a recipe that uses at least one of the ingredients that the user plans to purchase and the ingredients that the user has already purchased can be provided to the user. Therefore, the user can be relieved of the trouble of thinking about the dishes to eat.

Furthermore, the information providing system S utilizes the recipe service to accept the designation of the ingredients to be registered in the recipe book, and utilizes the digital flyer service to provide the user with the product information of the digital flyer as the provided object information. In this way, the user can be provided with the product information of the ingredients necessary for the dish that the user intends to prepare. Therefore, the trouble of the user in searching for the store to purchase the ingredients can be reduced.

In addition, the information providing system S utilizes a recipe service, and accepts batch designation of multiple ingredients on the recipe, and utilizes a digital leaflet service to provide the user with product information of each of the multiple ingredients. This eliminates the need for the user to register the ingredients one by one into the refrigerator, thereby reducing the user's operational burden.

Furthermore, the information providing system S does not register the material information of the material if the designation of the material represented by the registered material information has been accepted, and registers the material information if the designation of the material whose material information has not been registered has been accepted. This prevents the same material from being registered repeatedly in My Refrigerator. As a result, My Refrigerator can be easily managed by the user.

Furthermore, the information providing system S accepts input of a character string representing a material to be registered in my refrigerator, accepts designation of the material, and provides the user with the provided object information retrieved based on the character string. Thus, the user can register the material of the desired name in my refrigerator, thereby improving the convenience of the user.

Furthermore, the information providing system S uses the character string input by the user as a label and assigns it to the material in my refrigerator. Thus, the user can assign a label of a desired name to the material, thereby further improving the convenience of the user.

Furthermore, the information providing system S can also provide the user with information about the target of material provision provided in the service used to specify the material to be registered in my refrigerator among the digital flyer service and the recipe service. In this way, more information useful to the user can be provided, thereby improving the convenience of the user. For example, based on the materials registered to my refrigerator by the user from the digital flyer, not only the recipes but also the recommended products of the digital flyer are provided, thereby providing more useful information. For example, based on the materials registered to my refrigerator by the user from the recipe, not only the product information of the digital flyer but also the recommended recipes are provided, thereby providing more useful information.

[5. Variations] This disclosure is not limited to the above-described implementation forms. Appropriate changes can be made within the scope of the purpose of this disclosure.

15 is a functional block diagram of a modification. The first limiting unit 105, the second limiting unit 106, the first display control unit 107, the second display control unit 108, the third display control unit 109, and the setting unit 110 are realized mainly by the control unit 11.

[5-1. Modification 1] For example, the information providing system S may also include: the first restriction unit 105 is to restrict the display of the digital leaflet that has been restricted from being specified by the user, among the multiple products published in the digital leaflet. The product that cannot be specified as a material is a product that cannot be used as food. In the upper left screen example of Figure 2, products such as shampoo or soap are examples of products that cannot be specified as materials.

For example, the first restriction section 105 determines whether each can be designated as a material based on the product information registered in the digital leaflet database DB2. In variant 1, although it is described that the determination is performed based on the name of the product, the determination itself can be performed by any method. For example, in the case where a category is associated with the product, it can also be determined based on the category. The category of the product can be stored in the digital leaflet database DB2, or in another database where the basic information of the product is stored. In the case where product identification information such as a JAN code has been stored in the digital leaflet database DB2, the category can also be inferred from the product identification information.

For example, it is assumed that the names of materials that can be registered or the names of materials that cannot be registered have been predefined in the data storage unit 100. The first restriction unit 105 compares the names of each product with the names of materials that can be registered or the names of materials that cannot be registered to determine whether each product can be designated as a material. These comparisons may require complete or partial consistency.

The first restriction section 105 is for products that cannot be specified as materials, so that the material designation image required to designate the material to be registered in my refrigerator is not displayed. The refrigerator icon in the product information I11 and the refrigerator icon I21 are examples of material designation images. The material designation image can be any image and is not limited to these. The material designation image can also be a small icon representing an item other than a refrigerator, or an image other than a small icon. If it is a digital flyer screen G1, the refrigerator icon is not displayed in the product information I11. If it is a product detail screen G2, the refrigerator icon I12 is not displayed.

According to the first variation, among the multiple products published in the digital flyer, the products that cannot be specified as materials are displayed as digital flyers that are restricted to be specified by the user. This prevents the products that cannot be specified as materials from being registered in My Refrigerator, and makes My Refrigerator easy for the user to manage. Since the products that cannot be specified as materials can be prevented from being mistakenly registered in My Refrigerator, there is no need to delete the products, thereby improving the convenience of the user.

[5-2. Variant 2] For example, the information providing unit 104 may provide a recipe that can be prepared using multiple ingredients registered in my refrigerator. The information providing unit 104 may provide a recipe that uses multiple ingredients registered in my refrigerator. The information providing unit 104 may provide a recipe that uses all ingredients registered in my refrigerator, or may provide a recipe that uses part of the ingredients registered in my refrigerator. The information providing unit 104 searches for recipes that use multiple ingredients registered in my refrigerator based on recipe information stored in the recipe database DB3, and provides the searched recipe.

The information providing unit 104 compares the name of each of the multiple ingredients with the name of each ingredient contained in the recipe to retrieve recipes using the multiple ingredients registered in my refrigerator. The comparison is performed by determining whether the strings are consistent. The consistency may be complete or partial. Recipes using multiple ingredients may also be retrieved by comparing information other than strings. In addition to this, for example, the information providing unit 104 may also retrieve recipes using the multiple ingredients registered in my refrigerator from the categories of recipes corresponding to the names of the ingredients registered in my refrigerator.

According to variation 2, recipes that can be prepared using multiple ingredients registered in my refrigerator are provided. In this way, recipes that match the contents of my refrigerator can be provided. By providing recipes using multiple ingredients, it is possible to provide such recipes that can efficiently consume the ingredients actually in the user's refrigerator.

[5-3. Variant 3] For example, the information providing unit 104 may provide a recipe that can be prepared using a combination of ingredients registered in My Refrigerator and products published in the digital flyer. As the ingredients registered in My Refrigerator, only one ingredient may be used, or multiple ingredients may be used as in Variant 2. The information providing unit 104 provides a recipe that uses both ingredients registered in My Refrigerator and products published in the digital flyer. The recipe provided to the user may use only one product published in the digital flyer, or multiple products may be used.

The information providing unit 104 searches for recipes that use both the ingredients registered in my refrigerator and the products published in the digital leaflet based on the product information stored in the digital leaflet database DB2 and the recipe information stored in the recipe database DB3, and provides the searched recipes. The information providing unit 104 searches for recipes that use both the ingredients and the products by comparing the names of the ingredients and the products with the names of the ingredients contained in the recipes. The detailed method of the search is as described in Modification Example 2. The information providing unit 104 may also provide the user with a digital leaflet of the product required in the recipe provided to the user. If multiple products are required, the digital leaflet containing the multiple products may also be provided to the user.

According to variant 3, recipes that can be prepared using a combination of ingredients registered in My Refrigerator and products published in the digital flyer are provided. In this way, recipes that match both the contents of My Refrigerator and the contents of the digital flyer can be provided. By providing recipes that use ingredients from My Refrigerator, recipes that can efficiently consume ingredients actually in the user's refrigerator can be provided. By providing recipes that use products published in the digital flyer, users can be given an incentive to visit the store. As a result, the appeal of the products in the digital flyer can be enhanced.

[5-4. Variant 4] For example, when providing recipes as in Variant 3, the information providing unit 104 may also provide a recipe in which all ingredients are available in one store published in the digital flyer. The information providing unit 104 provides the recipe in such a way that the ingredients included in the recipe provided to the user are products of a specific store that are equivalent to the products published in the digital flyer. When searching for recipes, the referenced products are searched in such a way that they are available in one store, which is different from Variant 3, but other points are the same as Variant 3.

According to variation 4, a recipe that has all the ingredients available in one store listed in the digital flyer is provided. This improves user convenience by providing a recipe that allows users to purchase all the ingredients by just visiting one store. From the store's perspective, users can be motivated to purchase multiple products from their own store, thereby increasing the appeal of the products in the digital flyer.

[5-5. Variant 5] For example, the information providing system S may also include: the second restriction unit 106 is used to display the recipe as a restricted recipe for the specific material in the recipe. The so-called specific material is a material that it is difficult to assume that the user will buy. For example, water, seasoning, or cooking oil are equivalent to specific materials because the user is more likely to have them on hand. The specific material can be any material that is predetermined and can also be specified by the user. It is assumed that information that can identify the specific material is pre-stored in the data storage unit 100. The second restriction unit 106 determines whether each material contained in the recipe is equivalent to the specific material based on the information. The specific material may also be a material that has been registered in my refrigerator.

The second restriction section 106 is for specific materials contained in the recipe, so that the material designation image required to specify the material to be registered in my refrigerator is not displayed. The material designation image is as described in variant (1). In variant 5, the refrigerator icon I72 is equivalent to the material designation image. The point that the material designation image can be an arbitrary image is as described in variant (1). In the case of recipe screen G7, the refrigerator icon I72 corresponding to the specific material is not displayed. In the case of the upper left screen example of Figure 6, since the user is more likely to always have salt and wine, the refrigerator icon I72 is not displayed for salt and wine. In addition, even if the user selects button B71, specific products such as salt and wine will not be registered in my refrigerator.

According to modification 5, the fact that a specific ingredient in a recipe is specified is displayed as a restricted recipe. This prevents ingredients that do not need to be registered as ingredients from being registered in My Refrigerator, and makes My Refrigerator easy for users to manage. Since ingredients that do not need to be registered as ingredients can be prevented from being mistakenly registered in My Refrigerator, there is no need to delete the product, thereby improving user convenience.

[5-6. Modification 6] For example, when a store that sells products related to a plurality of materials is associated with each other, the information providing system S may also include a first display control unit 107 that displays the My Refrigerator screen G3 based on the store associated with each of the plurality of materials. The My Refrigerator screen G3 is an example of a designated material screen. Therefore, the description of the My Refrigerator screen G3 may be replaced with the Designated Material screen. The Designated Material screen is a screen that shows each of the plurality of materials. The Designated Material screen is a screen that shows a list of materials that have been registered in My Refrigerator. The display method of materials in the Designated Material screen may be any display method, and is not limited to the card-style display method as in the My Refrigerator screen G3. For example, the Designated Material screen may also be displayed in a list format.

The first display control unit 107 sorts the material information I30 based on the store associated with each of the plurality of materials and displays it on the My Refrigerator screen G3. For example, once a store is designated from the input form F34, the first display control unit 107 sorts the material information I30 in ascending or descending order of the store name and displays it on the My Refrigerator screen G3. The material information I30 of a material that is not associated with a store is sorted last. The sorting condition of the store may be, for example, in the order of registration to the favorite store instead of in the order of the name.

According to Modification 6, the My Refrigerator screen G3 showing each of the multiple materials registered in My Refrigerator is displayed based on the store associated with each of the multiple materials registered in My Refrigerator. This makes the My Refrigerator screen G3 more visually readable, and thus makes My Refrigerator easier for the user to manage.

[5-7. Modification 7] For example, when a recipe using the material is associated with each of the plurality of ingredients, the information providing system S may also include a second display control unit 108 that displays the My Refrigerator screen G3 based on the recipe associated with each of the plurality of ingredients. The My Refrigerator screen G3 is an example of a designated ingredient screen, which is the same as Modification 6.

The second display control unit 108 sorts the material information I30 based on the recipes associated with each of the plurality of materials and displays them on the My Refrigerator screen G3. For example, once a recipe is specified from the input form F34, the second display control unit 108 sorts the material information I30 in ascending or descending order of the recipe name and displays them on the My Refrigerator screen G3. The material information I30 of a material that is not associated with a recipe is sorted last. The recipe sorting condition may be, for example, not in order of name, but in order of popularity or in order of registration to the recipe service.

According to modification 7, the My Refrigerator screen G3 showing each of the multiple ingredients registered in My Refrigerator is displayed based on the recipe associated with each of the multiple ingredients registered in My Refrigerator. This makes the My Refrigerator screen G3 more visually plural, and thus makes My Refrigerator easier for the user to manage.

[5-8. Modification 8] For example, when a label of the material is associated with each of the plurality of materials, the information providing system S may also include a third display control unit 109, which displays the My Refrigerator screen G3 based on the label associated with each of the plurality of materials. The My Refrigerator screen G3 is an example of a designated material screen, which is the same as Modification 6.

The third display control unit 109 sorts the material information I30 based on the tag associated with each of the plurality of materials and displays it on the my refrigerator screen G3. For example, once the tag is specified from the input form F34, the third display control unit 109 sorts the material information I30 in ascending or descending order of the tag ID and displays it on the my refrigerator screen G3. The material information I30 of the material not associated with the tag is sorted last. The sorting condition of the tag may not be the tag ID, but may be, for example, in the order of the tag name.

According to Modification 8, the My Refrigerator screen G3 is displayed based on the tags associated with each of the plurality of materials. This makes it possible to provide a My Refrigerator screen G3 with higher visual recognition, and thus make it possible for the user to easily manage the My Refrigerator.

[5-9. Variant 9] For example, the information providing system S may also include a setting unit 110 for performing settings related to fuzzy search corresponding to the user. In Variant 9, although the setting of whether to perform fuzzy search is given as an example, the level of fuzzy search may also be equivalent to the setting. For example, in the setting screen G8, the setting related to fuzzy search is accepted. The user may specify either the setting to perform fuzzy search or the setting not to perform fuzzy search. The setting unit 110 updates the setting information based on the setting specified by the user.

The information providing unit 104 provides the user with the information on the object of provision retrieved based on the settings made by the setting unit 110. The point that the settings made by the setting unit 110 are used in the search for the information on the object of provision is different from the embodiment, but the method of providing the information on the object of provision itself is the same as described in the embodiment. For example, the information providing unit 104 provides, as the information on the object of provision, recommended products or recommended recipes that are completely consistent with the names of the materials registered in "My Refrigerator" to users who do not use fuzzy search. The information providing unit 104 provides, as the information on the object of provision, recommended products or recommended recipes that are partially consistent with the names of the materials registered in "My Refrigerator" to users who want to use fuzzy search. The level of partial consistency allowed is determined according to the level of fuzzy search specified by the user.

According to modification 9, the provided object information retrieved based on the setting of the fuzzy search corresponding to the user is provided to the user. Thus, for example, a user who wants to use a specific material to make a dish can set not to allow fuzzy search, and a user who wants to use some general materials to make a dish can set to allow fuzzy search, thereby improving the convenience of the user.

[5-10. Variant 10] For example, the information providing unit 104 can also provide the user with the information on other materials belonging to the same category as the material registered in my refrigerator. For example, if the material "beef hind leg" has been registered in my refrigerator, the information on the object of provision can also be searched based on other materials "beef belly" belonging to the same category "beef" as the material. The point that the search based on other materials is performed is different from the implementation form, but the search method for the information on the object of provision itself is as described in the implementation form. The information providing unit 104 can also provide the user with the information on the object of provision of materials of the upper category of the material registered in my refrigerator, and can also provide the user with the information on the object of provision of materials of the lower category of the material registered in my refrigerator.

In variant 10, it is assumed that a material database of materials used in general recipes has been stored in the data storage unit 100. The material database has the names and categories of the materials registered. The information providing unit 104 compares the names of the materials registered in my refrigerator with the names of the materials registered in the material database, and obtains the category associated with the names of the consistent materials. The consistency may be complete or partial. The information providing unit 104 obtains the names of other materials belonging to the category that should have been obtained, and retrieves the information of the provided object based on the names of the other materials that should have been obtained.

According to modification 10, the target information about other materials belonging to the same category as the materials registered in my refrigerator is provided to the user. In this way, target information about materials similar to the materials registered in my refrigerator can be provided, so more information can be provided to the user, which can improve the convenience of the user.

[5-11. Other variations] For example, the above variations can be combined.

For example, when button B35 of the My Refrigerator screen G3 is selected, the material information I30 may be displayed with only the material name. In this case, the size of the material information I30 becomes smaller, and more material information I30 can be displayed in the My Refrigerator screen G3. For example, the material can be specified only from the digital flyer service or only from the recipe service. For example, the recommended information can only provide recommended products of the digital flyer service or only provide recommended recipes of the recipe service.

For example, the store that publishes the products in the digital flyer may be any store other than a retail store. For example, the store may also be an online store. For example, although the main functions are described as being implemented by the server 10, each function may be shared by a plurality of computers. For example, each function may be shared between the server 10 and the user terminal 20. For example, the data described as being stored in the server 10 may also be stored in another database server.

S: Information provision system N: Internet 10: Server 20: User terminal 11,21: Control unit 12,22: Memory unit 13,23: Communication unit 24: Operation unit 25: Display unit G1: Digital leaflet screen G2: Product details screen G3: My refrigerator screen G4: Store search screen G5: Store designation screen G6: Main screen G7: Recipe screen G8: Settings screen 100: Data storage unit 101: Material designation acceptance unit

102: Registration Department

103: Label Assignment Department

104: Information provision department

105: Restricted Section 1

106: Restriction Section 2

107: 1st display control unit

108: Second display control unit

109: 3rd display control unit

110: Setting Department

C40: Check the box

DB1: User database

DB2: Digital leaflet database

DB3: Recipe database

F35: Input form

I10:Small store icon

I11: Product information

I12: Small refrigerator icon

I20: Small icon

I21: Refrigerator icon

I30: Material information

I33: Small icon

I50: Refrigerator icon

I70: Refrigerator icon

I72: Refrigerator icon

L12: Link

M13,M14,M15,M16,M35,M38:Menu

M31,M32,M36,M37: Message

B35,B41,B71,B130,B140,B141,B150,B151,B161,B162,B164,B163,B165:Button

F34, F160: Input form

[Figure 1] An example of an overall configuration of an information provision system. [Figure 2] An example of a screen transition when a user uses a digital flyer service and a recipe service. [Figure 3] An example of a screen transition when a user uses a digital flyer service and a recipe service. [Figure 4] An example of a screen transition when a user uses a digital flyer service and a recipe service. [Figure 5] An example of a screen transition when a user uses a digital flyer service and a recipe service. [Figure 6] An example of a screen transition when a user uses a digital flyer service and a recipe service. [Figure 7] An example of a screen transition when a user uses a digital flyer service and a recipe service. [Figure 8] An example of screen transition when a user uses the digital flyer service and recipe service. [Figure 9] A functional block diagram of an example of functions implemented in the information provision system. [Figure 10] An example of a user database. [Figure 11] An example of a digital flyer database. [Figure 12] An example of a recipe database. [Figure 13] A flowchart of an example of processing performed in the information provision system. [Figure 14] A flowchart of an example of processing performed in the information provision system. [Figure 15] A functional block diagram in a modified example.

10: Server

100: Data storage unit

101: Material Designation Acceptance Department

102: Registration Department

103: Label Assignment Department

104: Information provision department

DB1: User database

DB2: Digital leaflet database

DB3: Recipe database

Claims (12)

An information providing system comprises: a material designation accepting unit for accepting material designations made by users using a digital leaflet service for providing digital leaflets; and a providing unit for searching for a pre-recorded recipe that uses both the pre-recorded material and the pre-recorded product based on the product information of a digital leaflet database storing product information about each of a plurality of products published in the pre-recorded digital leaflet and the recipe information of a recipe database storing recipe information about each of a plurality of recipes provided in a recipe service, and providing the searched recipe. The information providing system described in claim 1, wherein the aforementioned information providing system further comprises: a first restriction section, which is to display the aforementioned digital leaflet that is restricted in that the aforementioned multiple products cannot be designated as the aforementioned materials by the aforementioned user. In the information providing system described in claim 1 or 2, the pre-recorded material designation accepting unit accepts the pre-recorded designation of each of the plurality of pre-recorded materials; and the pre-recorded providing unit provides pre-recorded recipes that can be prepared using the plurality of pre-recorded materials. The information providing system as described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the previous digital leaflet database stores: store identification information of each of a plurality of stores and previous product information of each of a plurality of previous products published in the previous digital leaflet of the store; the previous providing unit provides such a previous recipe that all the ingredients can be prepared in one store published in the previous digital leaflet based on the previous store identification information and the previous product information in the previous digital leaflet database. In the information providing system described in claim 1 or 2, the pre-recorded material designation acceptance unit uses the pre-recorded recipe service to accept the pre-recorded designation on the pre-recorded recipe; the pre-recorded provision unit uses the pre-recorded digital leaflet service to provide the product information about the pre-recorded material published in the pre-recorded digital leaflet to the pre-recorded user. In the information providing system described in claim 5, the pre-recorded material designation acceptance unit uses the pre-recorded recipe service to accept batch designations of multiple pre-recorded materials on the pre-recorded recipe; the pre-recorded provision unit uses the pre-recorded digital leaflet service to provide pre-recorded product information of each of the multiple pre-recorded materials to pre-recorded users. The information providing system as described in claim 5, wherein the information providing system further comprises: a second restriction section, which causes the designation of specific materials in the recipe to be displayed as the restricted recipe. In the information providing system described in claim item 1 or 2, the pre-recorded material designation accepting unit accepts the pre-recorded designation by accepting input of a string representing the pre-recorded material. The information providing system described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the pre-notation material designation accepting unit accepts the pre-notation designation of each of the plurality of pre-notation materials; each of the plurality of pre-notation materials is associated with a store selling goods related to the material; the pre-notation information providing system further comprises: a first display control unit, which displays a designated material screen showing each of the plurality of pre-notation materials based on the pre-notation store associated with each of the plurality of pre-notation materials. The information providing system described in claim 1 or 2, wherein the pre-note material designation accepting unit accepts the pre-note designation of each of the plurality of pre-note materials; each of the plurality of pre-note materials is associated with a pre-note recipe using the material; the pre-note information providing system further comprises: a second display control unit, which displays a designated material screen showing each of the plurality of pre-note materials based on the pre-note recipe associated with each of the plurality of pre-note materials. An information providing method includes: a material designation acceptance step of accepting the material designation made by the user using a digital flyer service for providing digital flyers; and a providing step of retrieving the forementioned recipes that use both the forementioned materials and the forementioned products based on the product information of the digital flyer database storing the product information of each of the plurality of products published in the forementioned digital flyer and the recipe information of the recipe database storing the recipe information of each of the plurality of recipes provided in the recipe service, and providing the retrieved recipes. A program product is used to make a computer function as: a material designation acceptance unit that accepts the designation of materials made by users using a digital leaflet service that provides digital leaflets; a provision unit that retrieves the foregoing recipes that use both the foregoing materials and the foregoing products based on the product information of the digital leaflet database that has stored product information about each of the plurality of products published in the foregoing digital leaflet and the recipe information of the recipe database that has stored recipe information about each of the plurality of recipes provided in the recipe service, and provides the retrieved recipes.

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