WO2015152256A1 - Information processing device, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

The objective of the present invention is to enable the transmission of information by exploiting the advantages of an information transmission method using a print medium and an information transmission method using the internet or the like communication. A store image processing unit (52) generates processed store image data (D2) by embedding an identifier and URL information such as the store home page in store image data (D1). On the basis of the processed store image data (D2), a printing company produces a print medium store image (P), in which the store image with the embedded identifier is printed, and when this print medium store image is photographed as a photographic subject by a user terminal (15), this image is transmitted as user image data (UD). A verification unit (56) performs a verification using the user image data (UD) and processed store image data (D2) based on the identifier. A URL transmission unit (57) transmits the URL information to the user terminal (15) when the verification is successful. A counting unit (58) counts the number of verifications. A verification count management unit (59) manages the number of verifications.

Description

Information processing apparatus, information processing method, and program

The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a program.

Conventionally, a provider of a product or service (hereinafter referred to as “product, etc.” as appropriate) orders information for advertisement or advertisement of the product, etc. from a printing company and prints it on a paper medium. It was transmitted by distributing. Here, the paper medium to be distributed may be a single leaflet or a part of a plurality of paper media such as one page of a magazine.

In recent years, information communication technology has dramatically improved, and various types of information can be easily transmitted through the Internet.
For this reason, a provider of products, etc. must place an order for information on advertisements and advertisements for their products, etc. on a Web page production company instead of a printing company, and post them on their HP (Web page). Therefore, it is also possible to transmit via the Internet (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

JP 2001-268552 A JP 2012-73814 A

However, both the information transmission method using paper media and the information transmission method using communication such as the Internet have advantages and disadvantages, and it is not preferable to bias to any one.

The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, taking advantage of both the information transmission method using paper media and the information transmission method using communication such as the Internet, and The purpose is to be able to communicate information.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention provides:
Reference image generation for generating, as reference image data, location information indicating the location of information about the provider and image data in which the identifier of the original image is embedded in the original image data of the product or service provider Means,
Comparison image acquisition means for acquiring, as comparison image data, image data captured by a camera of a user terminal, where a paper medium on which the original image in which the identifier is embedded is printed is a subject.
Authentication means for performing authentication using the reference image data and the comparison image data based on the identifier;
When authentication by the authentication unit is successful, a transmission control unit that executes control to transmit the location information embedded in the reference image data to the user terminal;
Counting means for counting the number of times of authentication by the authentication means;
Authentication number management means for managing the number of authentications;
It is characterized by providing.

The authentication number management means manages the authentication number as the number of access times to the information related to the provider.
be able to.

The reference image data has a plurality of location information embedded therein,
The counting means further counts the number of times of accessing each of the plurality of pieces of information specified by each of the plurality of pieces of location information,
The authentication count management means manages the authentication count as the number of times the paper medium has been shot, and manages the number of accesses to each of the plurality of information.
be able to.

The transmission control means executes control for transmitting, together with the location information, the number of times of authentication for the reference image data in which the location information is embedded, to the user terminal.
be able to.

The authentication count management means further controls execution of a billing process for the provider based on the authentication count.
be able to.

The identifier has an expiration date,
The authentication means further determines whether or not the identifier is within an expiration date,
The transmission control unit transmits the location information embedded in the reference image data to the user terminal when the authentication unit determines that the identifier is within the validity period and authentication by the authentication unit is successful. Execute the control to
be able to.

The location information embedded in the reference image is associated with the location of a plurality of information,
The comparative image acquisition means acquires specific information capable of specifying one of the locations of the plurality of information together with the comparative image,
When the authentication by the authentication unit is successful, the transmission control unit is configured to store the information specified by the specific information among the locations of the plurality of information associated with the location information embedded in the reference image data. Notifying the user terminal of the location,
be able to.

The information processing method and program of one embodiment of the present invention are a method and program corresponding to the above-described information processing apparatus of one embodiment of the present invention.

According to the present invention, it is possible to transmit information about a provider of a product or the like by taking advantage of both the information transmission method using paper media and the information transmission method using communication such as the Internet.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the information system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the hardware structure of the service provider server among the information processing systems of FIG. It is a functional block diagram which shows the functional structure for performing a page link process among the functional structures of the service provider server of FIG. It is a schematic diagram explaining the outline | summary of a page link process. It is a schematic diagram explaining the outline | summary of a page link process. It is a schematic diagram explaining the outline | summary of a page link process. FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a page link process executed by the service provider terminal of FIG. 2 having the functional configuration of FIG. 3. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a page link process executed by the service provider terminal of FIG. 2 having the functional configuration of FIG. 3, and illustrating a flow of an example different from FIG. 7. It is a schematic diagram explaining the outline | summary of a page link process in case the some URL information is matched with one URL information.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the information processing system shown in FIG. 1, the service provider server 11, the store HP storage server 12, the store terminal 13, the printing company terminal 14, and the user terminal 15 each have a predetermined network N such as the Internet. Are connected to each other.

For convenience of explanation, each of the service provider server 11 to the user terminal 15 is one by one in the present embodiment, but is not particularly limited to one and may be a plurality.
That is, in reality, each of M users (M is an arbitrary integer value equal to or greater than 1) has at least one user terminal 15.
Each of N stores (N is an integer value of 1 or more) has at least one store terminal 13. Furthermore, in particular, if it is a business that provides a user with some product or the like without having a “store”, the service described below can be provided in the same manner as the “store”. In this case, a terminal having the same function (the function will be described later) as the business operator and the store terminal 13 is held.
In addition, each of the printing companies of P (P is an integer value of 1 or more) has at least one printing company terminal 14 in this embodiment.

The service provider server 11 is a server managed by a person who provides the services shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 (hereinafter referred to as “service provider”).

The store HP storage server 12 is a server that stores a store's HP and presents the HP to a URL accessed via a network N.

The store terminal 13 is a terminal owned by the store, and generates image data (hereinafter referred to as “store image data”) such as store advertisements and product descriptions in the present embodiment.

The printing company terminal 14 is a terminal owned by the printing company. As will be described later, information indicating the HP URL of the store (hereinafter referred to as “URL information”) and a store in which an identifier is embedded are processed. Image data (hereinafter referred to as “processed store image data”) is acquired.
Then, the printing company terminal 14 prints the store image on a paper medium based on the processed store image data.
Hereinafter, the paper medium on which the store image is printed in this way is referred to as a “paper medium store image”. Here, although details will be described later, an identifier is embedded in the paper medium store image.

The user terminal 15 is configured by a smartphone or the like held by the user, and has at least a camera function and a browser function for accessing a predetermined URL and presenting an HP or the like.
The user terminal 15 captures a paper medium store image and transmits image data obtained as a result (hereinafter referred to as “user image data”) to the service provider server 11 via the network N.

The service provider server 11 executes an authentication process using the user image data and the processed store image data. Although details of the authentication process will be described later, the service provider server 11 transmits the URL information embedded in the processed shop image data to the user terminal 15 via the network N when the authentication is successful.

The user terminal 15 accesses the URL specified by the URL information via the network N.
In this embodiment, the URL specifies the top page of the store's HP in the store HP storage server 12. For this reason, in this embodiment, the user terminal 15 can display HP of the said store.
Although details will be described later, the URL does not need to indicate the location of the store's HP. That is, the information held in the place indicated by the URL is not particularly limited to the store HP, and may be arbitrary.

The series of processes described above is hereinafter referred to as “page link process”.
Further, the service provider server 11 that is the execution subject of the “page link process” will be described in detail below.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the service provider server 11 according to an embodiment of the information processing apparatus of the present invention in the information processing system of FIG.
The service provider server 11 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 22, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 23, a bus 24, an input / output interface 25, an input unit 26, and an output. A unit 27, a storage unit 28, a communication unit 29, and a drive 30.

The CPU 21 executes various processes according to a program recorded in the ROM 22 or a program loaded from the storage unit 28 to the RAM 23.
The RAM 23 appropriately stores data necessary for the CPU 21 to execute various processes.

The CPU 21, ROM 22, and RAM 23 are connected to each other via a bus 24. An input / output interface 25 is also connected to the bus 24. An input unit 26, an output unit 27, a storage unit 28, a communication unit 29, and a drive 30 are connected to the input / output interface 25.

The input unit 26 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like, and inputs various information.
The output unit 27 includes a display, a speaker, and the like, and outputs various information.
The storage unit 28 includes a hard disk and stores various information.
The communication unit 29 performs communication with other devices (mainly the store HP storage server 12, the store terminal 13, the printing company terminal 14, and the user terminal 15 in FIG. 1 in this embodiment) via the network N. Control.

A removable medium 31 is appropriately attached to the drive 30 as necessary. The program read from the removable medium 31 by the drive 30 is installed in the storage unit 28 as necessary. The removable medium 31 can also store various data stored in the storage unit 28 in the same manner as the storage unit 28.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram showing a functional configuration for executing page link processing among the functional configurations of the service provider server 11.

When the page link process is executed, mainly in the CPU 21 of the service provider server 11, as shown in FIG. 3, a store image acquisition unit 51, a store image processing unit 52, an upload unit 53, and a print The provision unit 54, the user image acquisition unit 55, the authentication unit 56, the URL transmission unit 57, the count unit 58, and the authentication count management unit 59 function.

Here, the functional configuration of the service provider server 11 will be described with reference to FIGS.
4 to 6 are schematic diagrams for explaining the outline of the page link process.

The store image acquisition unit 51 acquires, for example, store image data D1 shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, the store image data D1 is transmitted from the store terminal 13 to the service provider server 11. However, the store image data D1 is not particularly limited, and is recorded on a predetermined recording medium on the store side. The recording medium may be provided to the service provider by mail or the like.

The store image processing unit 52 embeds URL information such as the store's HP in the store image data D1 and further embeds a predetermined identifier to generate, for example, processed store image data D2 shown in FIG.

Here, a plurality of URLs can be included in the URL information. However, for convenience of explanation, it is assumed that only one URL of the store HP is included unless otherwise specified.
The URL information embedding method for the store image data D1 is not particularly limited as long as the URL information is not output when the store image data D1 is printed on a paper medium. However, in the present embodiment, Adobe Acrobat ( The method installed as a standard function of the registered trademark) is adopted.

Here, the identifier is not particularly limited as long as it can uniquely identify the store image data D1, but in the present embodiment, a string of characters or numbers generated by random numbers or the like (hereinafter referred to as “encryption”). Called).
The identifier embedding method for the store image data D1 is not particularly limited as long as the identifier is also output when the store image data D1 is printed on a paper medium, but the identifier is embedded. It is desirable not to be detected by a third party as much as possible. In this respect, the present embodiment employs a so-called electronic watermark method.

The upload unit 53 uploads the processed store image data D2.
“Upload” here refers to storing predetermined information while the service provider server 11 is connected to the network N, and in this embodiment, the storage unit 28 (FIG. 2) of the service provider server 11 is stored. It is stored in the processed store image storage unit 61 that is one area.
That is, in this embodiment, the processed store image data D2 is stored in the processed store image storage unit 61 by being uploaded.

The print providing unit 54 transmits the processed store image data D2 to the printing company terminal 14 via the communication unit 29 (FIG. 2) and the network (FIG. 1).
In this embodiment, the processed store image data D2 is transmitted from the service provider server 11 to the printing company terminal 14. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the service provider side stores the processed store image data D2 on a predetermined recording medium. It is recorded, and the recording medium may be provided to the printing company by mail or the like.

The printing company prints out and distributes one or more paper medium store images P shown in FIG. 5, for example, based on the processed store image data D2. Here, the paper medium store image P may be a single paper medium such as a leaflet, or may be posted on a part (one page) of a plurality of paper media such as magazines. May be.
Here, as described above, the URL information is not embedded in the paper medium store image P, but the identifier is embedded (in an invisible state as much as possible).

Here, it is assumed that dedicated application software (hereinafter referred to as “dedicated application”) provided from the service provider server 11 has been downloaded to the user terminal 15 in advance.
As illustrated in FIG. 6, the dedicated application has a function of generating user image data UD by capturing the paper medium store image P in conjunction with the camera function of the user terminal 15. Here, it is assumed that an identifier is embedded in the user image data UD.
Further, the dedicated application has a function of transmitting the user image data UD to the service provider server 11 via the communication unit 29 (FIG. 2) and the network N (FIG. 1).

In this case, the user image acquisition unit 55 of the service provider server 11 in FIG. 3 acquires user image data UD.
As shown in FIG. 6, the authentication unit 56 performs an authentication process using the user image data UD and the processed store image data D2.
The authentication processing method is not particularly limited as long as it can authenticate that the user image data UD is legitimately generated image data from the original processed store image data D2. In this embodiment, collation of identifiers embedded in the user image data UD and the processed store image data D2 and pattern matching of all or part of the images of the user image data UD and the processed store image data D2, respectively. A method of authenticating by a combination with collation by is adopted as a method of authentication processing.

When the authentication by the authentication unit 56 is successful, the URL transmission unit 57 receives the URL information embedded in the processed store image data D2 from the communication unit 29 (FIG. 2) via the network N (FIG. 1). Execute control to send to.

Although not shown, the dedicated application installed in the user terminal 15 has a function of presenting a user interface for linking to a URL specified by the URL information to the user. The form of the user interface is not particularly limited, but is assumed to be a software button in this embodiment.
In addition, when the dedicated application is instructed by the user to access the URL via the user interface (in this embodiment, when the software button is pressed), the communication unit 29 (FIG. 2) and the network N (FIG. 1). ) To access the URL designation destination and present the HP stored there to the user.
In this embodiment, the URL specifies the top page of the store's HP in the store HP storage server 12. For this reason, in this embodiment, the user terminal 15 can display HP of the said store.
That is, the user can obtain not only the store information obtained from the paper medium store image P but also the store's HP simply by photographing the paper medium store image P using the user terminal 15 that has activated the dedicated application. Information can also be obtained easily and immediately.

Returning to FIG. 3, the processed store image storage unit 61 actually stores a plurality of processed store image data as well as the processed store image data D2 related to one store. The plurality of processed store image data may include image data related to one provider of products or the like, and may include image data related to each of a plurality of providers such as products.
Therefore, the count unit 58 counts the number of times of authentication by the authentication unit 56 (hereinafter referred to as “number of authentications”) for each of a plurality of processed store image data stored in the processed store image storage unit 61. Here, as the number of authentications, the total number of times including authentication failure may be adopted, but in this embodiment, the number of successful authentications is adopted.

The authentication count management unit 59 stores “authentication count” for each of a plurality of processed store image data stored in the processed store image storage unit 61 and performs various types of management.
The method and type of “authentication count” management by the authentication count management unit 59 are not particularly limited, but some specific examples will be given below.

It is assumed that the service provider takes the following two steps in order to increase the profit using the “number of authentications” when providing the service accompanied by the page link process described above.
That is, the first stage is a stage where a dedicated application for the user terminal 15 is spread.
The second stage is a stage of constructing a structure for obtaining profits from the number of authentications from a product provider (store, company, etc.).
The management method of the “number of authentications” is different between the first stage and the second stage. Therefore, a specific example of the “authentication frequency” management method will be described below for each of the first stage and the second stage.

First, a specific example of the first-stage “number of authentications” management method will be described.
In order to succeed in the first stage and make a successful transition to the second stage, the first purpose is to spread the dedicated application to many users. In other words, a large number of users install a dedicated application on their user terminal 15 as well as actually use the dedicated application to shoot a paper media store image, and the URL information transmitted as a result is displayed. Based on this, the first purpose is to have the store or business operator's website browsed.
Furthermore, the information stored in the URL destination need not be HP, and may be content such as a moving image or various applications (including the above-described dedicated application).
That is, in order to achieve the first object, it is important how to make the information stored in the URL destination attractive so that the user wants to acquire it.
Therefore, the “number of times of authentication” is used as a subsidiary to achieve the first purpose.

Therefore, the authentication count management unit 59 can manage the “authentication count” as a number of accesses to an embedded URL (store HP, etc.) for each of a plurality of processed store image data.
In this case, when transmitting URL information to the user terminal 15, the URL transmission unit 57 can transmit the number of accesses (authentication count) of the URL to the user terminal 15.
As a result, the number of accesses to the URL (number of authentications) is changed to the access to the new URL (store HP) so that the total number of content views in You Tube (registered trademark) can be a trigger for new viewing of the content. Etc.).

Further, the authentication count management unit 59 can compare and examine the “authentication count” for each of a plurality of processed store image data.
As a result, the service provider can grasp market trends such as what kind of URL (what kind of content, etc.) and the number of users' access increase based on the result of the comparative study. . Then, the service provider can further increase the number of users of the dedicated application by embedding HP URL information including contents and the like that are likely to increase in the number of user accesses in the store image data.

Next, a specific example of the management method of the “authentication number” in the second stage will be described.
In the second stage, the “number of authentications” is used as one of the main purposes of the service.

As in the first stage, the authentication count management unit 59 can manage the “authentication count” as a number of accesses to the embedded URL (store HP, etc.) for each of a plurality of processed store image data. it can.
In this case, the authentication count management unit 59 can charge the URL access count × the prescribed fee to a store or the like (provider of goods etc.) that owns the HP of the URL. The billing process can naturally be executed by a person other than the authentication count management unit 59. That is, it is sufficient for the authentication count management unit 59 to control the execution of the accounting process, and the execution place may be the service provider server 11 or another device.

Here, as described above, it is possible to easily embed a plurality of URL information in one store image data. That is, a plurality of URL information may be embedded in one processed store image data.
Specifically, for example, if one store image data (paper medium store image as one page of a magazine or the like) includes a first photo of A hotel and a second photo of B hotel, the first It is also possible to embed the URL information of the HP of Hotel A at the location of the photo and the URL information of the HP of Hotel B at the location of the second photo.
In this case, the “number of times of authentication” is the number of times of authentication for one processed store image data.
On the other hand, it is expected that the user terminal 15 does not always access both the URL to the HP of the A hotel and the URL to the HP of the B hotel, and often accesses only one of them.
Therefore, the authentication count management unit 59 may manage the “authentication count” by regarding the paper media store image (the whole page of a magazine or the like) as the number of times of shooting. Further, the counting unit 58 may count the “number of accesses” for each of a plurality of URLs separately from the “number of authentications”, and the authentication number management unit 59 may manage the “number of accesses” for each of a plurality of URLs.
In this case, the charging method for the A hotel and the B hotel is not particularly limited, and a charging method based on the “number of times of authentication (number of times of photographing)” may be adopted, or charging based on the respective “number of times of access”. The method may be adopted.
Thereby, the service provider can easily obtain statistical information such as the ranking of the number of accesses of each URL in one paper medium store image (entire page of a magazine or the like).
That is, in the above example, a paper media store image (entire page of a magazine or the like) was taken because he wanted to browse the A hotel's HP, or a paper media store image where he wanted to browse the HP of the B hotel. Information such as whether (a whole page of a magazine or the like) has been photographed is easily provided to the service provider.

Furthermore, in one store image data of the above example (paper media store image as one page of a magazine etc.), in addition to the first photo of A hotel and the second photo of B hotel, there is a third photo of C hotel In this case, if the service provider is not contracted with C Hotel, the URL may not be embedded in the third photo.
In this case, as described above, the A hotel and the B hotel are charged, and the C hotel is not charged.
The service provider presents the number of times (number of authentications) of the store image data (paper media store image as one page of a magazine, etc.) to the C hotel, and says, “There are so many users paying attention to the page. You can advertise to C Hotel. In other words, the service provider can use the number of times of photographing (the number of authentications) for the business purpose of obtaining a contract for embedding URLs from the next time onward from the C hotel.

Next, page link processing executed by the service provider server 11 having the functional configuration as described above will be described.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of a page link process executed by the service provider server 11 of FIG. 2 having the functional configuration of FIG.

In step S1, the store image acquisition unit 51 acquires store image data.
In step S2, the store image processing unit 52 creates processed store image data by embedding URL information and an identifier in the store image data.
In step S3, the upload unit 53 uploads the processed store image data. That is, the processed store image data is stored in the processed store image storage unit 61.
In step S4, the printing providing unit 54 transmits the processed shop image data to the printing company terminal.

In step S5, the authentication unit 56 determines whether user image data has been acquired.
If user image data has not yet been acquired by the user image acquisition unit 55, it is determined as NO in step S5, and the process proceeds to step S11.
In step S11, the authentication unit 56 determines whether or not an instruction to end the process is given.
Here, the instruction to end the process is not particularly limited, and for example, a power-off command or the like can be adopted. When an instruction to end the process is given, it is determined as YES in Step S11, and the page link process ends.
On the other hand, if the instruction to end the process has not been given yet, it is determined NO in step S11, the process returns to step S5, and the subsequent processes are repeated.
That is, if the instruction to end the process has not been issued yet, the loop process of step S5NO and step S11NO is repeatedly executed until the user image data is acquired, and the page link process in the service provider server 11 is performed. Enters a standby state.

Here, as described above with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, based on the processed store image data transmitted in the process of step S <b> 4, a paper medium store image (such as one page of a magazine) is printed by the printing company, When the image is captured by the user terminal 15, user image data obtained as a result is transmitted to the service provider server 11.
In this case, the user image acquisition unit 55 acquires the user image data. Thereby, it determines with it being YES in step S5, and a process progresses to step S6.

In step S6, the authentication unit 56 performs authentication using the processed store image data and the user image data.
In step S7, the authentication unit 56 determines whether or not the authentication is successful.

When authentication fails, it determines with it being NO in step S7, and a process progresses to step S10.
In step S10, the authentication unit 56 executes predetermined error processing. The content of the error processing is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to employ a technique for notifying the user terminal 15 that the authentication has failed.
When the error process in step S10 ends, the process proceeds to step S11. Since the process of step S11 has been described above, the description thereof will be omitted.

On the other hand, if the authentication is successful, YES is determined in step S7, and the process proceeds to step S8.
In step S8, the count unit 58 increments the number of authentications by one.
The number of authentications incremented by 1 is overwritten and stored by the authentication number management unit 59, and various management is performed as described above.
In step S <b> 9, the URL transmission unit 57 transmits the URL information embedded in the processed store image data to the user terminal 15.
Thereby, a process progresses to step S11. Since the process of step S11 has been described above, the description thereof will be omitted.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and modifications, improvements, etc. within a scope that can achieve the object of the present invention are included in the present invention.

For example, in the above-described embodiment, the store image data is used. However, the present invention is not particularly limited to this, and any original image data relating to a provider such as an arbitrary product is sufficient.
Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the URL information of the store HP is embedded in the original image data such as the store image data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the location indicating the location of the information related to the provider Information is enough.
Here, the form of the information related to the provider is not particularly limited as described above, and may be the HP page of the above-described embodiment, or may be downloadable content such as an image or sound. Furthermore, application software that can be installed and executed in the user terminal 15 may be used.
The application software is independent of the dedicated application provided by the service provider described above, and is mainly an application provided to the user by the product provider. Called “Apps”. Note that the dedicated application itself can be used as a product etc. provider application, and at least a part of the functions of the dedicated application can be included as one function of the product etc. provider application. Further details of the merchandise provider application will be described later.

In short, processed store image data is generated as image data (hereinafter referred to as “reference image data”) as a reference at the time of authentication in the above-described embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It is only necessary to generate image data in which the location information indicating the location of the information related to the provider and the identifier of the original image are embedded in the original image data.

In other words, the information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied can take various embodiments having the following configuration, including the service provider server 11 as the above-described embodiment.
That is, the information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied including the service provider server 11 includes a reference image generation unit, a comparison image acquisition unit, an authentication unit, a transmission control unit, a count unit, and an authentication count management unit. And.

The reference image generation means uses, as reference image data, image data in which the location information indicating the location of information related to the provider and the identifier of the original image are embedded in the original image data of the product or the like provider. Generate.
That is, as an example of a provider of products and the like, “store” and “business owner” are employed in the above-described embodiment. As an example of original image data, “store image data” is employed in the above-described embodiment. As an example of the reference image data, “processed store image data” is employed in the above-described embodiment. As an example of the reference image generating means, the “store image processing unit 52” in FIG. 3 has been adopted.

The comparison image acquisition means acquires, as comparison image data, image data captured by the camera of the user terminal, with the paper medium on which the original image embedded with the identifier is printed as a subject.
That is, as an example of the paper medium on which the original image in which the identifier is embedded is printed, the “paper medium store image” is employed in the above-described embodiment. As an example of the comparison image data, “user image data” is employed in the above-described embodiment. As an example of the comparison image acquisition unit, the “user image acquisition unit 55” of FIG. 3 is employed in the above-described embodiment.

The authentication unit executes authentication using the reference image data and the comparison image data based on the identifier. That is, as an example of the authentication unit, the “authentication unit 56” of FIG. 3 is employed in the above-described embodiment.
The transmission control unit executes control to transmit the location information embedded in the reference image data to the user terminal when authentication by the authentication unit is successful. That is, as an example of the transmission control unit, the “URL transmission unit 57” in FIG. 3 is employed in the above-described embodiment.
The counting means counts the number of times of authentication by the authentication means. That is, as an example of the counting means, the “counting unit 58” in FIG. 3 is employed in the above-described embodiment.
The authentication count management means manages the authentication count. That is, as an example of the authentication number management means, the “authentication number management unit 59” of FIG. 3 is employed in the above-described embodiment.

As a result, it is possible to achieve the effect that the information of the provider of the product or the like can be transmitted by taking advantage of both the information transmission method using paper media and the information transmission method using communication such as the Internet. .
Hereinafter, such an effect will be specifically described.

The information transmission method using a paper medium is a so-called push type because it is premised on the distribution of a plurality of paper media.
On the other hand, the method of transmitting information by communication such as the Internet is based on the premise that information is provided to a person who has accessed, so it is a so-called pull type.

Here, for example, it is assumed that a provider of a product or the like desires to announce the development of a new product or service.
In this case, in consideration of the pull type regarding the information transmission method by communication such as the Internet, the user cannot know the development of the new product unless notification is given. I can't even get a date. In other words, there is a drawback that it is difficult to make an announcement because it is rare to access the HP or the like if no announcement is made. However, the types of information that can be transmitted (for example, not only still images but also various types such as audio and moving images), the amount of information, and the transmission range are overwhelmingly large compared to information transmission methods using paper media. There are advantages.
On the other hand, the information transmission method using a paper medium is a push type that is also suitable for face-to-face explanations with a user. If even a paper medium is handed over to a user, the user can be easily notified. There is an advantage. However, the information that can be transmitted is limited to text and still images (photos and pictures), and the amount and range of information is overwhelmingly small compared to information transmission methods such as the Internet. .

As described above, both the information transmission method using paper media and the information transmission method using communication such as the Internet have advantages and disadvantages, and it is not preferable to be biased to either one.
In particular, in recent years, the number of adoption of information transmission methods by communication such as the Internet has been remarkably increased, focusing only on the above-mentioned advantages. However, due to the above disadvantages, even if a single information transmission method using communication such as the Internet is adopted, the information transmission effect is not so much improved.
On the other hand, the information transmission method using paper media has been significantly reduced due to the reaction, and the above-mentioned advantages have not been fully utilized.

Therefore, in the present invention, in consideration of the pull type of the information transmission method using the paper medium, the paper medium on which the original image is printed (such as “paper medium store image” in the above embodiment) is the user. Is transmitted to.
If the original image includes the minimum content that the provider of the product or the like wants to notify, it is possible to easily notify the user only by distributing a paper medium to the user.
However, as described above, the paper medium has a drawback in that its information amount and type are limited. Therefore, in order to make up for the drawback, an information transmission method by communication such as the Internet is used next. That is, a wide variety of information (such as moving images and voices) with a large amount of information is transmitted to the user by communication such as the Internet.
However, in the information transmission method by communication such as the Internet, the user needs to access the location (URL destination) of the information. Conventionally, a user cannot access a URL destination without performing troublesome and time-consuming operations such as inputting a URL. If the user is forced to perform such a conventional operation, even if the announcement is successful with a paper medium, it is difficult to link to the access.
Therefore, in the present invention, the user can easily acquire the URL information simply by photographing the paper medium using the user terminal, and clicks a link (software button or the like) to the URL indicated in the URL information. By simply performing a simple operation, the URL destination can be accessed immediately. That is, the user can easily and immediately acquire the information of the URL destination by only performing the shooting operation and the click operation.
As described above, in the present invention, by utilizing the advantages of both the information transmission method using paper media and the information transmission method using communication such as the Internet, it is possible to transmit the information of the provider of the product etc. to the user. It becomes possible to play.

More specifically, for example, for a printing company (publishing industry), the following effects can be achieved.
In other words, the printing company can be transformed into a person who provides media that is connected to the Internet and the like, rather than being a conventional publisher of paper media.
For example, what has traditionally been limited to the publication of a cooking magazine (paper media) that includes photos of each dish jumps from the photos of each dish to a video of how the chef is creating the dishes. It is possible to easily provide media that can be used.
For example, it has become possible to easily provide media that can be used to publish a video that each person is talking about, although it has been limited to publishing a magazine (paper medium) in which an interview article of a person has been published. .
In this case, it is assumed that the user purchases a paper magazine in order to view these moving images. Therefore, it is expected that the printing company (publishing industry) will greatly promote the promotion of paper media.

For example, the following effects can be obtained for a provider of goods or the like, or a person who undertakes the advertisement (such as an advertising agency).
You can easily link the information of each room published in a real estate magazine or flyer (paper medium) directly to an individual page of each room on the real estate website or to a video of each room. become.
For each product posted on a supermarket flyer (paper medium), it is possible to easily link each product to a Web page that can be purchased directly.
It becomes possible to easily link the information of each hotel published in a travel brochure (paper medium) with a video introducing each hotel.
Each product posted on a flyer (paper medium) of a mass retailer can be easily linked to a moving image describing each product or sale information (information such as discounting from a flyer).

Furthermore, as information on the Internet linked from a paper medium, in addition to such a moving image, a product etc. provider application can be adopted as described above.
Therefore, the product etc. provider application will be described below.

As described above, the product etc. provider application is an application specific to the product etc. provider, and therefore any product can be created with the free design concept of the product etc. provider.
Here, as the simplest example, an application that can easily handle image data corresponding to a paper medium and capable of linking to an embedded URL is adopted as a product application provider application. Think about the case.
The paper medium is described in advance so that the user can know, for example, that it is possible to jump to a URL of interest by shooting with a user terminal, or that a provider application such as a product can be dropped for free. Shall.
The user can see the description and download the product etc. provider application to the user terminal simply by photographing the paper medium at the user terminal. That is, the user can carry the leaflet or the like as digital data (image data) in the user terminal on the spot where a paper medium such as a leaflet is obtained. Here, since the digital data is not mere photo data, but the URL link is valid data, the user can always access the URL destination using the user terminal.

Here, the creator of the product etc. provider application does not need to be the product etc. provider itself, and is usually a service provider or a printing company.
For example, the service provider creates the default application for the above-mentioned simple product provider application as a default, and further provides a high value-added product provider application to a printing company or an advertising company. Can be created.
Note that the default product etc. provider application can be the above-mentioned dedicated application itself, or at least a part of the functions of the dedicated application can be included as one function of the default product etc. provider application.

For example, more attractive content, specifically, for example, a moving image can be adopted as the URL destination content corresponding to a paper medium photograph.
In this case, the printing company, the advertising company, etc. create a merchandise provider application that further has a function of reproducing a moving image instead of a paper medium photo.

For example, in response to a photo of a paper medium, it is possible to employ a URL destination content having a larger number of pages than the paper medium (a catalog of all products in a store, etc.). As a result, a printed material such as a paper medium, which has a limited amount of information due to the cost, can eliminate the limitation and increase the amount of information dramatically.
In this case, the printing company, the advertising company, and the like create a product etc. provider application having a function that can easily reproduce the contents of a plurality of pages such as a page turning function.

For example, when a photograph of a product or the like is included in a paper medium, as a URL destination content, a purchase button may be provided on content that can purchase the product, specifically, for example, a photograph of the product or the like displayed on the user terminal. When a (software button) is arranged and the purchase button is pressed, it is possible to employ content that is linked to the HP for purchasing products and presented to the user terminal.
In this case, the printing company, the advertising company, etc., the product provider application displays the purchase button as described above, or detects that the purchase button is pressed, and links to the HP for purchasing the product. A provider application such as a product having a function to be displayed on the user terminal is created.

By creating such a merchandise provider application and applying it to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, a pull-type net function can be instantly added to a high-touch push-type paper medium (printed material). .
In addition, at the same time that the paper medium (printed material) is created, a product application provider that can view the digital data can be provided to the accessing user terminal at any time.
In addition, merchandise provider applications can be reprinted or linked to related sites, and sites that provide applications to user terminals (for example, iTune Store (registered trademark) and Google Play (registered trademark)). Can be posted.
In addition, printing companies and advertising companies, etc., can create traditional product orders and advertising orders by creating product applications that add original functions with high added value to default product providers. You can also take on additional tasks.

Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, the expiration date for use of the processed attached image data is not particularly defined, but the expiration date of the processed attached image data may be determined.
In this case, the management method of the usage time limit of the processed attached image data is not particularly limited. For example, a management method that sets the usage time limit for each identifier and manages the service provider server 11 in association with the identifier and the usage time limit. Can be adopted.
An example of a page link process that employs such a management technique is shown in FIG.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of page link processing executed by the service provider server 11 of FIG. 2 having the functional configuration of FIG.

Since the series of processes in steps S21 to S25 in FIG. 8 is basically the same as the series of processes in steps S1 to S5 in FIG. 7, the description thereof is omitted here.
It is assumed that an expiration date is set for the identifier embedded in the process of step S22.

Here, as described above with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6, based on the processed store image data transmitted in the process of step S <b> 24 (process equivalent to step S <b> 4 of FIG. 7), the paper medium store image is printed by the printing company. When (a page of a magazine) is printed and captured by the user terminal 15, user image data obtained as a result is transmitted to the service provider server 11.
In this case, the user image acquisition unit 55 acquires the user image data. Thereby, it determines with it being YES in step S25, and a process progresses to step S26.

In step S26, the authentication unit 56 determines whether or not the expiration date of the identifier included in the user image data is an expiration date.
If the expiration date of the identifier is within the expiration date, the process proceeds to step S27. Note that the processes in steps S27 to S32 are basically the same as the processes in steps S6 to S11 in FIG. 7, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.
On the other hand, when the expiration date of the identifier has passed the expiration date, it is determined as NO in Step S26, and the process proceeds to Step S31.
In step S31, the authentication unit 56 executes predetermined error processing. The content of the error processing is not particularly limited, but it is preferable to employ a method of notifying the user terminal 15 that the user image data (identifier) has expired.
When the error process in step S31 ends, the process proceeds to step S31. Since the process of step S32 is the same process as step S11 mentioned above, the description is abbreviate | omitted.

Further, for example, in the above-described embodiment, one URL such as the URL of the store's HP is specified from the URL information embedded in the processed store image data. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of URLs are specified. Any one of the URLs may be selectively presented to the user.
For example, in the case of an HP of a multilingual store, even if the content is the same, the text portion is described in each language, so a URL for each language may be set.
A plurality of URLs for each language can be associated with one URL information, and the URL information can be embedded in the store image data.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining the outline of the page link process when a plurality of URLs are associated with one URL information.
In the example of FIG. 9, it is assumed that the processed store image data D2 is associated with, for example, a Chinese version URL and a Japanese version URL for the store HP, respectively.
In addition, the dedicated application of the user terminal 15 has a function capable of supporting both Japanese and Chinese, and information GI indicating whether Japanese or Chinese is used (hereinafter “used language information GI”). It is assumed that it has a function capable of outputting to the outside.
In this case, the dedicated application of the user terminal 15 is linked with the camera function of the user terminal 15 to generate the user image data UD by capturing the paper medium store image P, and the user image data UD and the language information used. The GI is transmitted to the service provider server 11 via the communication unit 29 (FIG. 2) and the network N (FIG. 1).
The user image acquisition unit 55 of the service provider server 11 in FIG. 3 acquires user image data UD.
As shown in FIG. 6, the authentication unit 56 performs an authentication process using the user image data UD and the processed store image data D2. Here again, the validity period of the identifier may be confirmed.
When the authentication by the authentication unit 56 is successful, the URL transmission unit 57 is specified by the use language information GI among the Chinese URL and the Japanese URL associated with the URL information embedded in the processed store image data D2. Is notified from the communication unit 29 (FIG. 2) to the user terminal 15 via the network N (FIG. 1).
That is, if the dedicated application of the user terminal 15 uses Japanese (if the language specified by the use language information GI is Japanese), a Japanese URL is notified to the user terminal 15, while the user terminal 15 If the dedicated application uses Chinese (if the language specified by the use language information GI is Chinese), the Chinese URL is notified to the user terminal 15.

The plurality of URLs associated with the URL information need not be multilingual URLs, and can be freely selected on the store side or on the service provider side.
In this case, however, it is assumed that specific information (language information in the above example) that specifies which URL is to be transmitted to the user terminal 15 is transmitted from the user terminal 15.
That is, when the authentication by the authentication unit 56 is successful, the URL transmission unit 57 specifies the URL specified by the language used information among the plurality of URLs associated with the URL information embedded in the processed store image data D2. To the user terminal 15 from the communication unit 29 (FIG. 2) via the network N (FIG. 1).

In the above-described embodiment, the information processing apparatus to which the present invention is applied has been described by taking the service provider server 11 as an example, but is not particularly limited thereto.

The series of processes described above can be executed by hardware or can be executed by software.
In other words, the functional configuration of FIG. 3 is merely an example, and is not particularly limited. That is, it is sufficient if the machine service provider server 11 capable of executing the above-described series of processing as a whole is provided, and what functional blocks are used to realize this function is not particularly limited to the example of FIG. .
In addition, one functional block may be constituted by hardware alone, software alone, or a combination thereof.

When a series of processing is executed by software, a program constituting the software is installed on a computer or the like from a network or a recording medium.
The computer may be a computer incorporated in dedicated hardware. The computer may be a computer capable of executing various functions by installing various programs, for example, a general-purpose personal computer.

The recording medium including such a program is not only constituted by the removable medium 31 of FIG. 2 distributed separately from the apparatus main body in order to provide the program to the user, but also in a state of being incorporated in the apparatus main body in advance. It is comprised with the recording medium etc. which are provided in. The removable medium 41 is composed of, for example, a magnetic disk (including a floppy disk), an optical disk, a magneto-optical disk, or the like. The optical disk is composed of, for example, a CD-ROM (Compact Disk-Read Only Memory), a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), or the like. The magneto-optical disk is constituted by an MD (Mini-Disk) or the like. In addition, the recording medium provided to the user in a state of being preinstalled in the apparatus main body includes, for example, the ROM 22 in FIG. 2 in which the program is recorded, the hard disk included in the storage unit 28 in FIG.

In the present specification, the step of describing the program recorded on the recording medium is not limited to the processing performed in time series along the order, but is not necessarily performed in time series, either in parallel or individually. The process to be executed is also included.
Further, in the present specification, the term “system” means an overall apparatus configured by a plurality of devices, a plurality of means, and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 ... Service provider server, 12 ... Store HP preservation server, 13 ... Store terminal, 14 ... Printing company terminal, 15 ... User terminal, 21 ... CPU, 22 ... ROM, 23 ... RAM, 24 ... bus, 25 ... input / output interface, 26 ... input unit, 27 ... output unit, 28 ... storage unit, 29 ... communication unit, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 30 ... Drive, 51 ... Store image acquisition part, 52 ... Store image processing part, 53 ... Upload part, 54 ... Print provision part, 55 ... User image acquisition part, 56 ... Authentication unit, 57 ... Count unit, 58 ... Authentication count management unit, 59 ... URL transmission unit

Claims (9)

1. Reference image generation for generating, as reference image data, location information indicating the location of information about the provider and image data in which the identifier of the original image is embedded in the original image data of the product or service provider Means,
   Comparison image acquisition means for acquiring, as comparison image data, image data captured by a camera of a user terminal, where a paper medium on which the original image in which the identifier is embedded is printed is a subject.
   Authentication means for performing authentication using the reference image data and the comparison image data based on the identifier;
   When authentication by the authentication unit is successful, a transmission control unit that executes control to transmit the location information embedded in the reference image data to the user terminal;
   Counting means for counting the number of times of authentication by the authentication means;
   Authentication number management means for managing the number of authentications;
   An information processing apparatus comprising:
2. The authentication number management means manages the authentication number as the number of access times to the information related to the provider.
   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.
3. The reference image data has a plurality of location information embedded therein,
   The counting means further counts the number of times of accessing each of the plurality of pieces of information specified by each of the plurality of pieces of location information,
   The authentication number management means manages the authentication number as the number of times the paper medium has been photographed, and manages the number of times of accessing each of the plurality of information.
   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.
4. The transmission control means executes control for transmitting, together with the location information, the number of times of authentication for the reference image data in which the location information is embedded, to the user terminal.
   The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3.
5. The authentication count management means further controls execution of a billing process for the provider based on the authentication count.
   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1.
6. The identifier has an expiration date,
   The authentication means further determines whether or not the identifier is within an expiration date,
   The transmission control unit transmits the location information embedded in the reference image data to the user terminal when the authentication unit determines that the identifier is within the validity period and authentication by the authentication unit is successful. Execute the control to
   The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 5.
7. The location information embedded in the reference image is associated with the location of a plurality of information,
   The comparative image acquisition means acquires specific information capable of specifying one of the locations of the plurality of information together with the comparative image,
   When the authentication by the authentication unit is successful, the transmission control unit is configured to store the information specified by the specific information among the locations of the plurality of information associated with the location information embedded in the reference image data. Notifying the user terminal of the location,
   The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
8. An information processing method executed by an information processing apparatus,
   Reference image generation for generating, as reference image data, location information indicating the location of information about the provider and image data in which the identifier of the original image is embedded in the original image data of the product or service provider Steps,
   A comparison image acquisition step of acquiring, as comparison image data, image data captured by a camera of a user terminal, where a paper medium on which the original image in which the identifier is embedded is printed is a subject.
   An authentication step of performing authentication using the reference image data and the comparison image data based on the identifier;
   When the authentication in the authentication step is successful, a transmission control step for executing control to transmit the location information embedded in the reference image data to the user terminal;
   A counting step of counting the number of times of authentication by the authentication means;
   An authentication count management step for managing the authentication count;
   An information processing method including:
9. On the computer,
   Reference image generation for generating, as reference image data, location information indicating the location of information about the provider and image data in which the identifier of the original image is embedded in the original image data of the product or service provider Steps,
   A comparison image acquisition step of acquiring, as comparison image data, image data captured by a camera of a user terminal, where a paper medium on which the original image in which the identifier is embedded is printed is a subject.
   An authentication step of performing authentication using the reference image data and the comparison image data based on the identifier;
   When the authentication in the authentication step is successful, a transmission control step for executing control to transmit the location information embedded in the reference image data to the user terminal;
   A counting step of counting the number of times of authentication by the authentication means;
   An authentication count management step for managing the authentication count;
   A program that executes control processing including

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