WO2018174287A1

WO2018174287A1 - Store management system

Info

Publication number: WO2018174287A1
Application number: PCT/JP2018/011912
Authority: WO
Inventors: 雄介柴田; 智彦大内; 浩平小川; 雄一郎吉川; 石黒　浩
Original assignee: 株式会社ゼンショーホールディングス; 国立大学法人大阪大学
Priority date: 2017-03-24
Filing date: 2018-03-23
Publication date: 2018-09-27
Also published as: JP2018161711A

Abstract

Provided is a store management system which determines the situation of a customer from the content of a conversation and gives an operation order to the staff of a store. This store management system is provided with: a robot for performing an operation according to an order signal; an information acquisition unit for acquiring conversation scenario information for a customer visiting a restaurant to have a conversation with the robot; a conversation control unit for carrying on a conversation with the customer on the basis of the conversation scenario information acquired by the information acquisition unit; a staying state determination unit for determining a staying state of the customer in the restaurant on the basis of the content of the conversation with the customer; and an operation ordering unit for ordering an operation to the staff of the restaurant according to the staying state of the customer determined by the staying state determination unit.

Description

Store management system

The present invention relates to a store management system.

In recent years, there have been cases where humanoid robots are used as guides for visitors in restaurants and other public facilities (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2015-66623). A technology for performing communication (dialogue) with such a robot using a dedicated operation terminal has been studied. According to this technology, a user can enjoy a dialogue with a robot via an operation terminal, or guide information can be obtained. Can be obtained.

For example, when installing a robot in a restaurant, a service is conceivable in which the robot installed at the table seat interacts directly or indirectly via a tablet or the like. In this case, customer satisfaction can be improved by presenting a recommended menu or chatting.

However, even if such a service is provided, if the store staff does not come to pick up orders at the appropriate time, provide meals, or perform accounting, the customer satisfaction It may also be lowered.

Therefore, the present invention provides a store management system that determines the customer's situation from the content of the dialogue and issues an operation instruction to the store staff.

The store management system according to an embodiment includes a robot that performs an operation according to an instruction signal, and an information acquisition unit that acquires dialog scenario information for a customer who enters the restaurant to interact with the robot. Based on the dialogue scenario information acquired by the information acquisition unit, a dialogue control unit that conducts a dialogue with the customer, and based on the contents of the dialogue with the customer, determines a staying state of the customer in the restaurant A stay state determination unit; and an operation instruction unit that instructs the restaurant staff to perform an operation according to the stay state of the customer determined by the stay state determination unit.

The store management system may include an operation terminal that generates the instruction signal and transmits the instruction signal to the robot, and the stay state determination unit is configured to use the customer based on information operated by the customer at the operation terminal. The staying state in the restaurant may be determined.

Each of the information acquisition unit and the dialogue control unit may be provided in the robot or the operation terminal.

The store management system may include a store management device that communicates with the robot and communicates with the operation terminal, and the store management device includes the stay state determination unit and the operation instruction unit. Also good.

The store management system may include an order terminal that transmits the order information of the customer input by the staff to the store management device, and the stay state determination unit transfers the order information from the order terminal to the store management device. The staying state of the customer may be determined based on the transmitted order information and the content of the interaction with the customer.

The robot may include the information acquisition unit and the dialogue control unit, and further, a voice recognition unit that analyzes the utterance content of the customer, and the information acquisition unit is recognized by the voice recognition unit. The dialog scenario information is acquired based on the utterance content of the customer, and the dialog control unit is configured to acquire the dialog scenario acquired by the information acquisition unit based on the utterance content of the customer recognized by the voice recognition unit. The dialogue scenario may proceed according to the information.

The operation instruction unit may instruct the staff to perform an operation according to the changed stay state of the customer when the stay state of the customer changes.

The stay state of the customer determined by the stay state determination unit may be a state that changes over time.

The stay state of the customer determined by the stay state determination unit is the state from when the customer enters the restaurant or until the food and drink to be ordered is determined after the customer enters the restaurant, the food and drink ordered by the customer The state from when the food is determined until the order is placed, the state waiting for the food and drink ordered by the customer to be provided, the state until the customer completes the food and drink, and the customer eats and drinks You may include at least 1 state among the states after completing eating and drinking of goods until leaving a store.

The operation instruction unit may instruct the staff to receive the customer's order when the stay state determination unit determines that the food and drink to be ordered by the customer has been determined.

The operation instruction unit may instruct the staff to clear a table on which the customer is seated when the stay state determination unit determines that the customer has finished eating or drinking food or drink.

According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a store management system that instructs store staff on operations based on the contents of dialogue.

The block diagram which shows an example of the store management system which concerns on one Embodiment. The block diagram which shows an example of the scenario control part which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows the process of the scenario control in the dialog control which concerns on one Embodiment. The flowchart which shows the flow of the process of the dialog control which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the dialogue which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the dialog of menu provision which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the operation instruction | indication at the time of the menu selection which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the operation instruction | indication at the time of the menu non-selection concerning one Embodiment. The figure which shows an example of the operation instruction | indication of order confirmation which concerns on one Embodiment. The block diagram which shows another example of the scenario control part which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows another example of the shop management system which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows another example of the shop management system which concerns on one Embodiment. The figure which shows another example of the shop management system which concerns on one Embodiment.

Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the store management system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In addition, embodiment shown below is an example of embodiment of this invention, This invention is limited to these embodiment, and is not interpreted. In the drawings referred to in this embodiment, the same portions or portions having similar functions are denoted by the same reference symbols or similar symbols, and repeated description thereof may be omitted. In addition, the dimensional ratio in the drawing may be different from the actual ratio for convenience of explanation, or a part of the configuration may be omitted from the drawing.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a store management system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the store management system 1 includes a robot 2, an operation terminal 3 that is an example of a robot control device, a handy terminal 4, and a store management device 5 such as a POS (Point Of Sales) system. Prepare. The store management system 1 is, for example, a system for a restaurant customer (hereinafter referred to as a user) to interact with the robot 2 via the operation terminal 3 that operates the robot 2. The handy terminal 4 is, for example, an order terminal possessed by a store staff, and the store staff transmits an order to the store management apparatus 5 through the handy terminal 4 when receiving an order from a user.

1 is a machine having a human-like appearance and dialogue function, that is, a humanoid. Note that the robot 2 may have a dissimilar appearance to humans such as animals and characters. Further, the robot 2 may be a virtual robot based on an image displayed on the display unit 35.

(Robot 2)
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the robot 2 includes a robot drive unit 21 and a robot control unit 22 that is an example of a drive control unit. The robot 2 may be driven by electric power supplied from a commercial power source or may be driven by a battery.

The robot drive unit 21 includes a voice output device that outputs the speech voice of the robot 2. By driving the robot drive unit 21 as necessary, the robot 2 can speak to perform a dialogue with the user. A drive control signal for controlling the drive of the robot drive unit 21 is input from the robot control unit 22 to the robot drive unit 21. The robot drive unit 21 is driven according to the drive control signal. In addition, the robot drive unit 21 may include an actuator that drives a portion of the robot 2 having a degree of freedom, a lighting device that lights the eyeball unit of the robot 2, and the like.

The robot control unit 22 receives a robot control command, which is an example of a command signal, from the operation terminal 3. The robot control unit 22 generates the above-described drive control signal based on the received robot control command, and outputs the generated drive control signal to the robot drive unit 21. That is, the robot 2 can operate according to the robot control command. Note that the command for causing the robot 2 to speak includes data indicating the content of the utterance (scenario data described later).

The robot control unit 22 includes, for example, at least one memory storing software such as an application program and an operating system that operates the application program, and a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that executes the software stored in the memory. The drive control signal may be generated by the CPU executing software stored in the memory.

(Operation terminal 3)
The operation terminal 3 is carried by the user and is, for example, a tablet terminal having a touch function. In addition, the operation terminal 3 may be a smartphone, a desktop display type terminal, or the like. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the operation terminal 3 includes an orientation sensor 31 that is an example of a sensor, and an operation generation unit 32 that is an example of a command signal generation unit and a transmission unit. The operation terminal 3 is driven by electric power supplied from the built-in battery.

The azimuth sensor 31 outputs an azimuth detection signal indicating the azimuth of the operation terminal 3 to the motion generation unit 32. The direction sensor 31 outputs a direction detection signal indicating the detected direction of the operation terminal 3 to the operation generation unit 32. The operation generation unit 32, for example, a direction in which the operation terminal 3 exists based on the direction detection signal. A robot control command for controlling the posture of the robot 2 is generated so as to face.

The operation generation unit 32 generates a robot control command for controlling the operation of the robot 2. The motion generation unit 32 transmits the generated robot control command to the robot control unit 22 via wireless communication such as Wi-Fi, for example. The robot control unit 22 receives the robot control command from the motion generation unit 32, and outputs a drive control signal corresponding to the received robot control command to the robot drive unit 21, thereby controlling the operation of the robot 2. Do.

The operation of the robot 2 includes an interactive operation in which a conversation with the user is performed using voice. As a configuration for performing a dialogue between the user and the robot 2, the operation terminal 3 includes a scenario DB (database) 33, a scenario control unit 34, and a display unit 35 in addition to the motion generation unit 32 described above. And an input unit 36 such as a touch panel, and an audio output unit 37.

The scenario DB 33 stores a plurality of pieces of dialogue scenario information for carrying out a dialogue between the user and the robot 2. The dialogue scenario information includes a plurality of dialogue scenarios. The dialogue scenario is a story of dialogue exchanged between the user and the robot 2. A user who has entered a restaurant changes a plurality of staying states between entering the restaurant and leaving the store. Therefore, a separate dialogue scenario is stored in the scenario DB 33 for each transition state. Further, when a customer selects a specific option from among a plurality of options while the dialog scenario executed in a certain staying state is in progress, there may be a case of switching to another dialog scenario. Each dialogue scenario is composed of robot-side scenario data that the robot 2 uses for dialogue (ie, utterance) and user-side scenario data that the user uses for dialogue (ie, selection on the operation terminal 3). The user-side scenario data is data that collects user-side options and the like for the utterances of the robot 2 in each dialogue scenario. The user-side scenario data is used for displaying options and the like on the display unit 35 of the operation terminal 3 in accordance with the progress of the conversation scenario. The user can select a specific option from the displayed options using the input unit 36.

Each of the dialogue scenario options shown in the user-side scenario data has a tree structure in which new (lower) robot-side scenario data and user-side scenario data different from each other are alternately coupled as nodes. In the tree structure, a predetermined series of nodes ranging from the highest level to the lowest level are managed as basic scenarios used for typical dialogue, for example, and many node groups are managed as correction scenarios for correcting the basic scenarios. It may be.

For example, dialogue scenario data for restaurants may be divided into a plurality of scenario groups according to status data indicating user stay information at restaurants. The status data is data including the user's action in which the staying state of the user is changed. For example, the status data is information transmitted from the handy terminal 4 by the store staff. The status data in the example of FIG. 1 is information indicating that the user has performed the following actions: sitting, ordering, food and drink provision, meal termination, and accounting. The dialogue scenario data is provided from the scenario group classified by these status data.

The scenario control unit 34 controls the scenario based on the staying state of the user. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating functions of the scenario control unit 34 and the store management device 5. As shown in FIG. 2, the scenario control unit 34 includes a reception unit 341, a stay state determination unit 342, an information acquisition unit 343, and a dialogue control unit 345. Further, the store management device 5 includes a transmission unit 51, a reception unit 52, and an operation instruction unit 53. In FIG. 2, the orientation sensor 31 and the audio output unit 37 in the operation terminal 3 shown in FIG. 1 are omitted for simplicity.

The receiving unit 341 of the operation terminal 3 receives information including status data output from the store management device 5. For example, information that the user has entered the store and information that the user has been seated are transmitted from the store management device 5 to the operation terminal 3 via the receiving unit 341. The status data can be input, for example, at the handy terminal 4 for ordering carried by the store staff of the restaurant. This status data is transmitted from the handy terminal 4 to the store management device 5 and received by the reception unit 52 of the store management device 5, and then from the transmission unit 51 of the store management device 5 to the reception unit 341 of the scenario control unit 34. Sent. Further, the status data may be transmitted from the handy terminal 4 directly to the operation terminal 3 via the receiving unit 341 without passing through the store management device 5.

In the present embodiment, since the staying state is determined from the dialogue, the status data transmitted from the handy terminal 4 may be used for preliminarily determining the staying state. Further, in the initial state, that is, in the state where the user enters or sits in the store, information indicating that the user enters or sits down from the handy terminal 4 may be transmitted as status data in order to initialize the staying state. In this way, by preliminarily determining the stay state from the status data input via the handy terminal 4, even if the change of the stay state is not determined during the dialogue, the handy terminal 4 forces the stay state. It is possible to change the staying state.

For example, when an order is received from the user when the store staff guides the user to the seat, at the timing when the store staff inputs the user's order to the handy terminal 4, the stay state is after ordering and waiting for provision of food and drink It becomes possible to set to the state. As another example, when the user makes an order to the store staff and the store staff inputs a menu to the handy terminal 4 during the conversation between the user and the robot 2, the stay state is before the order at this timing. Even if it is the state of, it may be made to make a transition to a state waiting for provision of food and drink after ordering. By doing so, the staying state is not changed during the conversation, but it is possible to cope with the case where the staying state is changed by the user's action. As described above, when the staying state is updated by the store staff, an operation according to the staying state may be performed. Therefore, an operation instruction may not be issued. The operation refers to all operations performed in the store such as customer service, cooking, provision of food and drinks performed by the store staff.

The stay state determination unit 342 determines the stay state of the user based on the interaction information performed between the robot 2 and the user. This staying state is a state indicating the state of the user that changes over time.

The information acquisition unit 343 acquires, from the scenario DB 33, dialogue scenario information corresponding to the stay state determined by the stay state determination unit 342. The dialogue scenario information refers to information on a scenario group that changes depending on the stay state, or individual scenario data included in the scenario group. There may be no scenario group, and the dialogue scenario information may be composed of data of a plurality of dialogue scenarios.

The scenario group is a bundle of scenario data suitable for the staying state of the user, and includes various scenario data according to the staying state. For example, when the user's staying state is the state before ordering, the scenario group includes scenario data that presents a menu that matches each time, and the content of the conversation and the way the conversation changes depending on the number of adults and children Data and other scenario data according to various situations are included. Moreover, even in the same staying state, a plurality of dialogue scenario data that can be selected according to the operation of the operation terminal 3 may be provided.

The information acquisition unit 343 may acquire scenario data to be interacted according to the stay state of the user determined by the stay state determination unit 342, or after the information acquisition unit 343 acquires the scenario group, the scenario You may make it select and output the scenario data used for a dialog from a group. The information acquisition unit 343 or the dialogue control unit 345 may select the scenario data used for the dialogue from the scenario group.

The dialogue control unit 345 outputs information including scenario data used for the dialogue acquired according to the staying status of the user to the action generation unit 32. Further, the dialogue control unit 345 may output data used for the dialogue to the display unit 35 of the operation terminal 3 if necessary. The data used for the dialogue is basically information on the user side scenario data used for responding to the robot side scenario data.

Note that the data output by the dialogue control unit 345 is not limited to the user-side scenario data, and when the user selects a menu, an image or video of food or drink may be output to the display unit 35. . That is, not only information about words and characters used for dialogue, but also data that can be used for display, such as images and moving images, may be output to the display unit 35 as appropriate.

In addition, the present invention is not limited to this, and sound may be output from the operation terminal 3 or the operation terminal 3 may be vibrated as necessary. In this case, the sound data, vibration data, and the like are output. You may do it. Further, when the robot 2 utters a sound, the sound uttered by the robot 2 may be output to the display unit 35 as characters. On the other hand, the user makes an arbitrary selection at the input unit 36 from the options displayed on the display unit 35 based on the user-side scenario data displayed on the display unit 35.

Then, the dialogue control unit 345 outputs the robot side scenario data for responding to the data selected by the user to the display unit 35 and the motion generation unit 32. At this time, the user's selection may be output as audio information from the operation terminal 3 via the audio output unit 37. Thus, the dialogue between the user and the robot 2 is repeatedly performed by the dialogue control unit 345. With the above configuration, a dialogue between the user and the robot 2 can be performed using the dialogue scenario data.

(Store management device)
The store management device 5 is a device that collectively manages other devices in the store such as the robot 2, the operation terminal 3, the handy terminal 4, and the POS terminal that exist in the store, and includes a transmission unit 51, a reception unit 52, The operation instruction unit 53 is provided.

The transmission unit 51 transmits necessary data to each device in the store. The necessary data is, for example, data including information that the user has entered the store or sat down.

The receiving unit 52 receives necessary information from each device in the store. The necessary data is, for example, data transmitted from the handy terminal 4, accounting data transmitted from the POS terminal, or the like. Although not shown, the store management device 5 may include a database that stores data used for transmission and reception.

The operation instruction unit 53 instructs the operation corresponding to the changed stay state to the store staff when the stay state of the user is changed. The operation instruction to the store staff is given to the handy terminal 4, and a display board for receiving and displaying the operation instruction at a predetermined position in the store is provided and displayed on the display board. Good.

In addition, the store management device 5 performs processing related to other stores. For example, when an order is received from the user via the handy terminal 4, the order of the user can be transmitted to the staff who cooks food and drink by transmitting the order to the kitchen. Furthermore, by associating the order information from the user with the user, when the user leaves the store, it becomes possible to perform accounting processing based on the food and drink ordered by each user at the POS terminal.

(Stay status)
FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a state of processing from dialogue between the robot 2 and the user to selection of scenario data together with time series. In FIG. 3, solid arrows indicate data and signal input / output, and broken arrows indicate the passage of time. As described above and as shown in FIG. 3, the process up to scenario data selection is executed by the store management device 5, the scenario DB 33, and the scenario control unit 34.

The transition of stay status and scenario group will be described with reference to FIG. First, the first information that the user has entered the store or the second information that the user has been seated is input to the handy terminal 4 by the operation of the store staff. This information is transmitted to the operation terminal 3 via the store management device 5. When this information is input, the stay state determination unit 342 initializes the stay state of the user, and is the stay state P1 that is a state from when the user enters the restaurant or sits down and places an order. Judge. The stay state determination unit 342 notifies the information acquisition unit 343 and the operation instruction unit 53 that the stay state of the user is the stay state P1.

The information acquisition unit 343 acquires scenario data belonging to the scenario group 1 corresponding to the stay state P1 from the scenario DB 33, and performs dialogue with the user. At the same time, the operation instruction unit 53 transmits to the handy terminal 4 held by the store staff an operation to be performed in the staying state P1, for example, an operation for carrying a menu or water to the user.

If the stay state determination unit 342 determines that the food and drink that the user wants to order is determined from the dialogue between the user and the robot 2 after the time has elapsed in the stay state P1, the stay state determination unit 342 receives the reception unit 52. The operation instructing unit 53 is notified that the staying state has changed. The staying state at this timing is a state from the determination of the food and drink to be ordered by the user to the ordering. Receiving the notification that the staying state has changed, the operation instruction unit 53 performs an operation instruction to the handy terminal 4 held by the store staff so as to receive an order from the user.

In parallel with the above operation instruction, the stay state determination unit 342 is a stay state from the determination of the food and drink ordered by the user until the order is placed, or the food and drink ordered by the user are provided. It is determined that the stay is waiting. The information acquisition unit 343 acquires scenario data belonging to the scenario group suitable for the stay state from the scenario DB 33. Then, the dialogue control unit 345 controls the robot 2 to utter the dialogue based on the scenario information via the motion generation unit 32 based on the scenario information acquired by the information acquisition unit 343.

For example, the stay state includes a state until the user completes eating and drinking of the food and drink, a state until the user leaves the restaurant after completing the eating and drinking of the food and drink, and the user enjoys the conversation after the meal. A state such as a state, a state in which a user orders dessert may be provided.

A scenario group is selected according to each of the above stay states, and a dialogue between the user and the robot 2 is performed. When the stay state determination unit 342 determines that the stay state of the user has changed, the operation instruction unit 53 issues an operation instruction to the store staff each time. In addition, the information acquisition unit 343 selects a dialogue scenario according to the changed stay state.

Specifically, scenario data belonging to scenario group 1 is acquired in a staying state from when the user enters the restaurant or sits down until the user determines the food to order. Similarly, for example, from the scenario group 2, if the staying state from the determination of the food and drink to be ordered by the user until the ordering and the staying state waiting for the food and drink ordered by the user to be provided, If it is a staying state until the user completes eating and drinking of the food and drink, the scenario group 3 and if it is a staying state after the user completes eating and drinking of the food and drink and leaves the store, the scenario group 4 and the scenario Data is acquired.

Thus, the user's staying state changes with the passage of time. The stay state change is determined by the stay state determination unit 342 based on the dialogue between the user and the robot 2, or is forcibly changed by the handy terminal 4 possessed by the store staff as an auxiliary.

In FIG. 3, the stay state is divided into four states, stay state P1 to stay state P4, but is not limited thereto. For example, in the stay state P1, the stay state P10 in which the user enters the store and is not seated, the stay state P11 in which the user is guided to the seat by the store staff, and the stay state in which the user starts operating the operation terminal 3 P12, stay state P13 in which the user has started browsing the menu using the operation terminal 3, stay state P14 in which the user has browsed a certain number of menus from the operation terminal 3, stay state P15 in which the user's order is confirmed, etc. It may be divided.

In other words, due to the dialogue between the user and the robot 2, several staying states transition with time. For example, the state transitions from the staying state P11 to the staying state P12 at the timing when the user starts the conversation, and the state transitions from the staying state P12 to the staying state P13 when the user shows an intention to view the menu in the dialog. After that, when the user browses some menus in the dialog, the state transitions to the stay state P14, and when the user states that the menu is determined in the dialog, the state transitions to the stay state P15. In addition, a stay state is not restricted to these, You may set a finer stay state, You may set a finer stay state similarly not only in stay state P1 but in stay state P2 thru / or stay state P4. .

(Operation example)
Next, the process flow described above will be described with reference to a flowchart. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of processing according to the present embodiment.

When the user comes to the store and sits down, the scenario control unit 34 initializes the stay information of the user to the state where the user enters or is seated via the handy terminal 4 possessed by the store staff, that is, The initial value of stay information is acquired (step S10). For example, at the timing when the user is seated, the store staff transmits to the handy terminal 4 to the store management device 5 that the user is seated at a number corresponding to the table. Then, the stay state determination unit 342 acquires the information through the transmission unit 51 and the reception unit 341.

Next, the stay state determination unit 342 determines the stay state of the user based on the acquired information, and the information acquisition unit 343 acquires scenario data from the scenario group corresponding to the state (step S11). For example, in the stay state initialized as described above, the stay state determination unit 342 determines that the stay state is the stay state 11 in which the user is seated. Stay state determination unit 342 outputs the obtained stay state P11 to information acquisition unit 343, and information acquisition unit 343 acquires scenario data.

Next, the dialog control unit 345 transmits a control signal to the robot 2 via the motion generation unit 32 based on the scenario data acquired by the information acquisition unit 343, and performs dialog with the user and acquires the content of the dialog. (Step S12). As described above, the dialogue operation is performed based on the scenario data corresponding to the stay state acquired by the information acquisition unit 343.

Next, the staying state determination unit 342 determines the staying state of the user based on the acquired user interaction content, for example, information input to the user via the input unit 36, and detects the staying state of the user. (Step S13). Information input from the input unit 36 is output to the stay state determination unit 342 via the dialogue control unit 345. For example, at the timing when the dialogue operation is started as in step S12 described above, the stay state determination unit 342 indicates that the stay state has started the conversation via the operation terminal 3 and the user has not yet browsed the menu. It is judged that it is the stay state P12 which is a state.

Next, the stay state determination unit 342 determines whether or not the user's stay state has been changed (step S14). For example, when it is detected in step S13 that the detected stay state has transitioned from the stay state P11 to the stay state P12, the stay state determination unit 342 has transitioned to the new stay state P12. (Step S14: YES), the process proceeds to the operation instruction step.

The stay state determination unit 342 that has determined that the stay state has been changed notifies the operation instruction unit 53 of the stay state via the reception unit 52. Receiving the notification, the operation instruction unit 53 instructs the store staff through the handy terminal 4 or the like for the operation corresponding to the stay state (step S15). For example, it asks the user whether or not it is necessary to explain how to use the operation terminal 3 and how to read the menu together with the table number where the user is seated. If explanation is necessary, explanation of the operation method of the operation terminal 3 An instruction of an operation to perform is performed.

Next, after the operation instruction is given or in parallel with the operation instruction, or when the staying state of the user has not been changed (step S14: NO), the robot 2 acquires the conversation content. Determines whether or not to change the dialogue scenario based on the stay state (step S16). For example, when the dialogue scenario needs to be changed as in the case of transition from the stay state P1 to the stay state P2 (step S16: YES), the processing shifts to the scenario data reacquisition process used for the dialogue (step S16). S11).

Next, the dialogue control unit 345 determines whether or not to terminate the dialogue based on the content of the dialogue (step S17). When it is determined that the dialogue operation is to be terminated (step S17: YES), for example, when the user selects to terminate the dialogue or when the user enters a staying state for accounting, the dialogue operation is terminated. On the other hand, if it is determined not to end the dialogue operation (step S17: NO), the dialogue is continued by repeating the operation from step S12 based on the dialogue content obtained in step S12 or the stay state obtained in step S13. .

Next, the flow of dialogue and judgment of stay status will be described more specifically with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a dialogue between the robot 2 and the operation terminal 3 after the user is seated. When the store staff notifies the handy terminal 4 that the user has been seated, the information includes the reception unit 52 of the store management device 5, the transmission unit 51, and the reception unit 341 of the scenario control unit 34 of the operation terminal 3. Is notified to the stay state determination unit 342. When the stay state determination unit 342 receives the information, the stay state determination unit 342 determines that the user is in a seated state as an initial value of the stay state. Then, as shown in FIG. 5, “What to order?”

When the initial value is set as the staying state, the robot 2 starts an interactive operation to show the menu to the user. At this time, a greeting may be made in accordance with the time information held by the robot 2, the operation terminal 3, the handy terminal 4, or the store management device 5. For example, at the morning time, the robot 2 may greet "Good morning!" In addition, the robot 2 may be introduced before starting to speak. For example, the greeting may be followed by saying “Good morning! It ’s Robo!”.

The operation terminal 3 may cause the user to select whether to refer to the normal menu or the recommended menu in accordance with this timing. For example, when the user selects to refer to the recommended menu, the display on the display unit 35 of the operation terminal 3 is the display shown in FIG.

At this timing, when the user inputs via the input unit 36, or when the user lifts or moves the operation terminal 3 with the direction sensor 31 provided in the operation terminal 3, the dialogue control unit When 345 detects that operating terminal 3 has been operated, stay state determination unit 342 determines that the stay state has transitioned from stay state P11 to stay state P12. Then, the stay state determination unit 342 notifies the store management device 5 that the transition to the stay state P12 has been made, and issues an operation instruction to the handy terminal 4 via the operation instruction unit 53. For example, “seat number XX, dialogue start, operation explanation confirmation” is transmitted to the handy terminal 4.

The store staff who has received the operation, for example, goes to the user seated at the seat number and confirms whether or not it is necessary to explain the operation method of the operation terminal 3. In FIG. 5, “dialogue start” and “operation explanation confirmation” and the stay information of the user and the operation are displayed together. However, the present invention is not limited to this. It can be anything. For example, “dialogue start” may not be displayed, or may be displayed as “P12” which is a display indicating a staying state instead of “dialogue start”.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of the display unit 35 when “Tell me a recommended menu!” In FIG. 5 is selected by the user. The stay state determination unit 342 determines that the stay state P12 has changed to the stay state P13 at this timing. For example, in this case, an operation instruction may be given to the store staff so as to pay attention to user trends. As shown in FIG. 6, the letters “Italian cheese hamburger” are displayed together with images and moving images as today's recommended menu. At the same time, other recommended menus may be displayed together.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of dialogue when the recommended menu is selected. First, the robot 2 utters a message such as “Thank you for choosing the recommended menu. Thank you!” For the user's selection. Then, on the display unit 35, as an answer to the utterance, options such as “of course!” And “change after all” are displayed. Here, when “of course!” Is selected by the user, the robot 2 utters, for example, “Recommended menu is ... Good choice!”.

In parallel with the utterance of the robot 2, the dialogue control unit 345 notifies the stay state determination unit 342 of the content of the dialogue that the user has decided the menu. The stay state determination unit 342 notified of the dialogue content determines that the stay state of the user is the stay state P15 from the determination of the food and drink ordered by the user until the order is received, and receives the stay state. The information is transmitted to the store management device 5 via the unit 52.

This stay state P15 is notified from the reception unit 52 to the operation instruction unit 53. When the operation instruction unit 53 determines that the stay state P13 has been changed to the stay state P15, the operation instruction unit 53 transmits an operation instruction for accepting an order to the user to the handy terminal 4 possessed by the store staff. For example, an operation instruction “seat number XX, order order” is displayed on the handy terminal 4. As shown in FIG. 7, the handy terminal 4 that has received the operation instruction displays to the store staff which seat user is in the order waiting state. In this way, there may be a stay state transition such as a transition from P13 to P15 without going through the stay state P14.

Note that the handy terminal 4 may vibrate or a beep sound or the like may be generated from the handy terminal 4 in order to more clearly communicate the operation instruction to the store staff. . The transmission destination of the operation is not limited to the handy terminal 4, and may be displayed on an operation display device or the like installed at a predetermined position in the store, or a predetermined sound may be output.

On the other hand, in FIG. 6, when “View other menu” is selected, the dialogue is continued without an operation instruction. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example when the recommended menu is not selected. As shown in FIG. 8, the robot 2 speaks, for example, “I made a different menu”. On the display unit 35, options such as “I'm sorry” or “I want to change after all” are displayed as times for the utterance. Here, when “I ’m sorry” is selected by the user, the robot 2 utters a message such as “See another recommended menu?” And recommends another recommended menu to the user. Good.

In this case, since the stay state does not change, the dialog control unit 345 may not notify the stay state determination unit 342 of the dialog content. If the content of the dialogue is not notified to the stay state determination unit 342, the stay state is not changed, so that the operation instruction is not given from the store management device 5 to the handy terminal 4. In this way, it may be set whether or not to convey the contents of dialogue to the selected job. In other words, when the user selects a predetermined option, for example, “I'm sorry”, the stay may not be notified to the stay state determination unit 342.

Note that where the change in stay status is determined is not limited to the above. That is, when the dialog control unit 345 stores the dialog content or stay state in the previous determination step and acquires the dialog content for shifting from the current stay state to a different stay state, the dialog control unit 345 interacts with the stay state determination unit 342. The content may be transmitted.

As another example, the stay state determination unit 342 stores the stay state, and the dialog control unit 345 sequentially notifies the stay state determination unit 342 of the dialog contents and is notified from the dialog control unit 345. The updated staying state may be transmitted to the store management device 5 when shifting to a staying state different from the current staying state depending on the conversation content.

As yet another example, the operation instruction unit 53 may store the stay state, and the operation instruction may be issued when the stay state transmitted from the stay state determination unit 342 is changed.

As yet another example, a stay state storage unit (not shown) for storing the stay state may be provided. The stay state determination unit 342 updates the stay state of the stay state storage unit every predetermined time, for example, every 30 seconds or every minute. The operation instruction unit 53 refers to the stay state in the stay state storage unit every predetermined time, for example, every 30 seconds or every minute, and gives an operation instruction when the stay state is updated to a different stay state. You may make it do. The predetermined time is not limited to 30 seconds or 1 minute, and may be a shorter time interval or a longer time interval.

The stay state confirmation method is not limited to the above-described one, and the operation state is appropriately determined according to the dialog content notified by the dialog control unit 345, the stay state determined by the stay state determination unit 342, and the stay state received by the operation instruction unit 53. Any form may be used as long as an instruction can be issued.

The above example is a case where the user does not explicitly indicate that the order has been decided during the dialogue, but predicts and determines from the user's selection. However, the user explicitly selects that the order has been decided. It may be. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the user explicitly selects to update the stay state.

For example, after the user selects a predetermined number of foods and drinks as a menu that the user wants to order, the robot 2 speaks “Is the order complete?”. Then, the display unit 35 displays options such as “I have decided!” And “I am still thinking”. Here, when “decided!” Is selected by the user, the dialogue control unit 345 notifies the stay state determination unit 342 of the dialogue content that the menu has been decided. The stay state determination unit 342 that has received the notification of the dialog content determines the stay state corresponding to the dialog content and transmits the stay state to the operation instruction unit 53 via the reception unit 52. The operation instruction unit 53 that has received the stay state outputs an operation instruction to the handy terminal 4. In this way, the user may be able to explicitly select the content of the conversation that causes the stay state to transition.

As indicated above, the stay status is updated by the user during the conversation, either explicitly or not explicitly. This stay state change may be included in the scenario data. That is, the scenario data stored in the scenario DB 33 internally retains information that changes the stay state associated with the option selected by the user, and refers to the information that changes the stay state by the dialog control unit 345. You may be able to do it.

As another example, if each option is scored as a condition for transitioning to the predetermined stay state, and the cumulative value of the score for transitioning to the stay state exceeds the threshold value, The control unit 345 may issue the conversation content. In addition, the dialog control unit 345 transmits the contents of the dialog to the stay state determination unit 342 every time the user inputs, and the stay state determination unit 342 stays at a timing when the accumulated value exceeds the threshold value. It may be determined that the state has changed.

For example, when the menu for the number of people input in advance through the handy terminal 4 is referred to from the menu, the transition from the stay state P13 to the stay state P14 may be performed. In this case, the dialogue control unit 345 may notify the stay state determination unit 342 at the timing when the number-of-times menu is referenced. Alternatively, the dialog control unit 345 notifies the stay state determination unit 342 that the menu has been referred to each time the menu is referred to, and counts the number of notifications that the menu has been referred to by the stay state determination unit 342. It may be determined that the stay state has transitioned to P14 at the timing of reaching. In this case, an operation instruction may be made to ask the user whether or not an order has been decided to the store staff via the operation instruction unit 53.

In the above description, whether or not an order has been decided as an operation instruction has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and an operation instruction based on each stay state or dialogue content is made.

For example, when a transition is made to a state where there is no dialogue between the user and the robot 2 after food and drinks are provided, the dialogue control unit 345 at the timing when the user starts a dialogue or game with the robot 2 from the operation terminal 3. May notify the content of the dialogue that the user has finished eating and drinking and has entered the dialogue mode.

Then, the stay state determination unit 342 that has received the information indicating that the dialogue operation has started determines that the user has completed the food and drink, and transmits the stay state to the operation instruction unit 53. The operation instructing unit 53 that has received the stay state instructs the handy terminal 4 to clean up tableware on which the user is seated. Further, in this case, when the menu is started again, the stay state may be changed to a state until the food or drink to order is determined, and the above-described process may be repeated. Further, in this case, dessert may be recommended as the dialogue scenario data selected by the information acquisition unit 343.

Other examples of staying conditions include the following.

If there is no notification of the dialog contents from the dialog control unit 345 for a predetermined time after the information that the user is seated, an operation instruction may be issued to confirm whether or not an order has been decided. By doing so, it is possible to prompt the user to place an order.

When the information that food or drink has been provided is notified, an operation instruction may be made to confirm whether or not water or tea or other beverages remain moderately. By doing in this way, a user can start a meal comfortably in the state with a moderate drink.

When eating and drinking and the user starts to refer to the menu via the operation terminal 3, an operation instruction may be given to wait for an additional order to be picked up. In this way, when a dialog content indicating that an additional order has been made is notified, the store staff can go to listen to the order more quickly.

□ When the eating and drinking is completed and the dialog content for accounting is notified, an operation instruction may be given to prepare for accounting. In this way, when making a check at the POS terminal, the check can be made without making the user wait and the store can be closed.

Note that the stay state and the operation instruction corresponding to the stay state are not limited to those described above as long as the operation of the store staff is made appropriate and the satisfaction of the user is improved.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, dialogue information is issued according to the state of dialogue between the user and the robot 2, the stay state is determined based on the issued dialogue information, and based on the determined stay state. By giving an operation instruction to the store staff, the store staff can provide a service to the user at an appropriate timing, and the satisfaction of the user can be improved. In this way, store staff can grasp the user's condition without looking around the entire hall at all times, and can provide services to users more quickly and more appropriately. And The basic operation is the same for each modification described below.

(First modification)
In the embodiment described above, the stay state determination unit 342 is provided in the scenario control unit 34 of the operation terminal 3, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the store management device 5 may include a stay state determination unit 342. FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating the configuration of the operation terminal 3 and the store management device 5 according to this modification.

As described above, when the stay state determination unit 342 is provided in the store management device 5, the dialog information or the dialog content in the dialog between the user and the robot 2 is transmitted from the dialog control unit 345 to the stay state determination unit of the store management device 5. 342 is transmitted. The stay state determination unit 342 that has received the dialog information or the content of the dialog determines the stay state of the user and transmits an appropriate operation instruction to the handy terminal 4 via the operation instruction unit 53 as appropriate.

Further, the stay state determined by the stay state determination unit 342 is transmitted to the information acquisition unit 343 via the transmission unit 51 of the store management device 5 and the reception unit 341 of the operation terminal 3. The information acquisition unit 343 that has received the stay information acquires appropriate dialogue scenario data from the scenario DB 33. Then, the dialogue control unit 345 performs a dialogue operation between the user and the robot 2 based on the dialogue scenario data acquired by the information acquisition unit 343.

Thus, by providing the stay state determination unit 342 in the store management device 5, it becomes possible to secure the processing capability and data area in the operation terminal 3. In general, the store management device 5 that is a server or the like has a higher processing capability and a larger data area than the operation terminal 3 that is a tablet or the like. Further, since the operation terminal 3 is operated by being held by the user's hand, when the operation terminal 3 is not connected to a power source or the like, the operation amount of the battery is lowered according to the usage time by being operated by the user for a long time. According to this modification, it becomes possible to perform high-speed processing at a more appropriate location, lighten the processing of the operation terminal 3, improve the battery usage status of the operation terminal 3, and allow the user to It can be gripped and used.

(Second modification)
In the embodiment described above, the store management system 1 is provided with the operation terminal 3, but is not limited thereto. For example, the operation terminal 3 is not provided, and a dialogue operation between the user and the robot 2 may be performed by voice. FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the store management system 1 according to the present modification.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the store management system 1 according to this modification, the robot 2 includes a robot drive unit 21, a robot control unit 22, an operation generation unit 32, a scenario DB 33, and a scenario control unit 34. Furthermore, a voice recognition unit 23 is provided. The robot drive unit 21 and the robot control unit 22 are the same as those in the above-described embodiment, and the motion generation unit 32 and the scenario DB 33 are moved to the robot 2 instead of omitting the operation terminal 3.

In this modification, the robot 2 further includes a voice recognition unit 23 unlike the above-described embodiment. The voice recognition unit 23 is a substitute for the input unit 36 according to the above-described embodiment. That is, the user tries to have a conversation with the robot 2 by generating a voice instead of the user-side scenario data inputted by the user selecting an option via the operation terminal 3.

When the voice recognition unit 23 receives a voice from the user, the voice recognition unit 23 converts the received voice into a signal using a voice recognition method, and converts the converted signal data into user-side scenario data. As a speech recognition method, an acoustic model such as a hidden Markov model may be used, or a language model such as a context free grammar may be used. The speech recognition method is not limited to these, and any method may be used as long as speech can be appropriately converted into character string data. Although not shown, an input device such as a microphone may be provided in order to distinguish surrounding noise and the like from the user's voice.

The voice recognition unit 23 extracts user-side scenario data using the converted character string data after the user's voice is converted into character string data. The extracted user side scenario data is transmitted to the scenario control unit 34. The scenario control unit 34 in FIG. 11 is equivalent to the scenario control unit 34 shown in FIG. 2, and the stay state determination unit 342 is provided in the scenario control unit 34. The subsequent processing is the same as that in the above-described embodiment.

In this way, it is possible to omit the operation terminal 3 and allow the user and the robot 2 to interact with each other via voice. In this way, the user can interact with the robot 2 in a state closer to a conversation between humans, rather than selecting an option displayed on the operation terminal 3, and further, a store management system 1 makes it possible to appropriately extract the conversation contents related to the stay state from these conversations.

In addition, although this modification demonstrated the case where the shop management system 1 was not provided with the operation terminal 3, also in the case where the operation terminal 3 is provided, the stay state judgment part 342 is a robot like this modification. 2 may be provided. That is, the stay state determination unit 342 may be provided in the operation terminal 3 as in the first embodiment, may be provided in the store management device 5 as in the first modification, or the present modification. It may be provided in the robot 2 as an example. Based on various viewpoints such as processing weight in each device or terminal, data flow, memory amount, data area for a program that secures the function, the mounting location can be appropriately changed to an appropriate location. .

(Third Modification)
In the second modified example described above, the stay state is determined in the robot 2 and scenario data is acquired. However, in the store management system 1 according to the present modified example, the stay state determination and scenario data Acquisition is to be performed in the store management device 5.

In general, the robot 2 must have a mechanism and a structure for physically controlling the robot 2 and a data area for controlling the same, and it is difficult to secure other processing capabilities and data areas. There is something wrong. Therefore, in the present modification, the store management device 5 performs processing that places a heavy load.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the store management system 1 according to this modification. In this modification, the robot 2 includes a robot drive unit 21, a robot control unit 22, and a voice recognition unit 23. Further, the store management device 5 includes an operation generation unit 32, a scenario DB 33, a scenario control unit 34, a stay state determination unit 342, and an operation instruction unit 53.

The robot 2 acquires the user's voice, that is, the dialogue data by the voice recognition unit 23, and then transmits the dialogue data to the stay state determination unit 342 of the store management device 5. The stay state determination unit 342 determines the stay state and outputs the stay state to the scenario control unit 34 and the operation instruction unit 53 when the dialog data includes information regarding the transition of the stay state.

The operation instruction unit 53 gives an operation instruction to the handy terminal 4 when the stay state is updated and an operation instruction for the store staff is necessary. In parallel with the operation instruction, the scenario control unit 34 acquires scenario data, and the operation generation unit 32 controls the interactive operation with the user. The scenario control unit 34 in the present modification is equivalent to the configuration of the scenario control unit 34 shown in FIG.

As described above, even in the case where the operation terminal 3 is not provided, it is possible to provide the store management device 5 with a portion that performs high-load processing. In particular, such a configuration is effective when the communication band is sufficient or when it is desired to secure the processing capability of the robot 2.

(Fourth modification)
In the embodiment and each modification described above, the scenario DB is provided in the robot 2, the operation terminal 3, or the store management device 5, but is not limited thereto. FIG. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the store management system 1 according to the present modification.

As shown in FIG. 13, the scenario DB 33 may be in another place via the communication network 6 connected by a wired or wireless method. For example, it may be stored in a predetermined database on the cloud, or may be on a server that supervises many stores. By arranging the scenario DB 33 in this way, it is not necessary to secure the scenario DB 33 for each store, and it is also possible to manage the scenario in a unified manner.

In all the embodiments and modifications described above, the dialogue is described as a state in which the user or the robot 2 outputs some information, but is not limited thereto. For example, since it is less necessary to interact with the robot 2 during a meal, a silent scenario may be prepared in advance and the silent scenario may be output. .

The store management system 1 according to all the embodiments and modifications described above can be suitably applied to a food and beverage service as described above, but may be applied to various services other than the food and beverage service.

In addition, the store management system 1 according to all the embodiments and modifications described above is a specific example in which software processing is specifically executed by hardware using a program recorded in a computer such as a CPU and a memory. Alternatively, each unit may be configured by an analog circuit or a digital circuit to execute a function, or a function may be realized by mixing a computer and a circuit.

The aspects of the present invention are not limited to the individual embodiments described above, but include various modifications that can be conceived by those skilled in the art, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to the contents described above. That is, various additions, modifications, and partial deletions can be made without departing from the concept and spirit of the present invention derived from the contents defined in the claims and equivalents thereof.

1 store management system, 2 robot, 21 robot drive unit, 22 robot control unit, 23 voice recognition unit, 3 operation terminal, 31 direction sensor, 32 motion generation unit, 33 scenario DB, 34 scenario control unit, 341 reception unit, 342 Stay state determination unit, 343 information acquisition unit, 345 dialog control unit, 35 display unit, 36 input unit, 37 audio output unit, 4 handy terminal, 5 store management device, 51 transmission unit, 52 reception unit, 53 operation instruction unit, 6 Communication network

Claims

A robot that performs an action according to the instruction signal;
An information acquisition unit that acquires dialogue scenario information for a customer who entered a restaurant to interact with the robot;
A dialogue control unit for conducting a dialogue with the customer based on the dialogue scenario information acquired by the information acquisition unit;
A stay state determination unit that determines the stay state of the customer in the restaurant based on the content of the dialogue with the customer;
An operation instruction unit for instructing the staff of the restaurant to perform an operation according to the stay state of the customer determined by the stay state determination unit;
A store management system.
An operation terminal that generates the instruction signal and transmits the instruction signal to the robot;
The store management system according to claim 1, wherein the stay state determination unit determines a stay state of the customer in the restaurant based on information operated by the customer at the operation terminal.
The store management system according to claim 2, wherein each of the information acquisition unit and the dialogue control unit is provided in the robot or the operation terminal.
A store management device that communicates with the robot and communicates with the operation terminal,
The store management system according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the store management device includes the stay state determination unit and the operation instruction unit.
An order terminal for transmitting the customer order information input by the staff to the store management device;
The store according to claim 4, wherein the stay state determination unit determines the stay state of the customer based on the order information transmitted from the order terminal to the store management device and the content of the interaction with the customer. Management system.
The robot has the information acquisition unit and the dialogue control unit,
The robot further includes a voice recognition unit for analyzing the utterance content of the customer,
The information acquisition unit acquires the dialogue scenario information based on the utterance content of the customer recognized by the voice recognition unit,
The dialogue control unit according to claim 1, wherein the dialogue control unit advances a dialogue scenario according to the dialogue scenario information acquired by the information acquisition unit based on the utterance content of the customer recognized by the voice recognition unit. Store management system.
The store according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein, when the stay state of the customer changes, the operation instruction unit instructs the staff to perform an operation according to the changed stay state of the customer. Management system.
The store management system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the stay state of the customer determined by the stay state determination unit is a state that changes with the passage of time.
The stay state of the customer determined by the stay state determination unit is:
The state until the customer enters the restaurant or decides the food to order after sitting down,
The state from the determination of food and drink to be ordered by the customer until the order is placed,
Waiting for food and drink ordered by the customer to be provided,
The state until the customer completes eating and drinking of food and drink, and
The state from when the customer completes eating and drinking of food and drinks to leave the store,
The store management system according to claim 8, comprising at least one state.
The said operation instruction | indication part instruct | indicates the said staff to receive the said customer's order, when the said stay state judgment part judges that the food and drink which the said customer orders has been determined. Item 1. A store management system according to item 1.
The said operation instruction | indication part instruct | indicates the said staff to clean up the table where the said customer is seated, when the said stay state judgment part judges that the said customer has completed eating and drinking of the food and drink. The store management system according to any one of 10.