WO2022259962A1

WO2022259962A1 - Processing device, processing method, and processing program

Info

Publication number: WO2022259962A1
Application number: PCT/JP2022/022558
Authority: WO
Inventors: 俊允中村
Original assignee: エヌ・ティ・ティ・コミュニケーションズ株式会社
Priority date: 2021-06-08
Filing date: 2022-06-02
Publication date: 2022-12-15
Also published as: JP2022187930A; JP7233471B2

Abstract

A server device (10) has: a construction unit (132) for constructing, in a virtual space, a virtual shop that allows a user to browse and purchase products and for providing the virtual shop to a user terminal to be used by the user; and a room construction unit (133) for constructing, in the virtual space, a user-specific room in which a certain one of the products is reflected and for displaying the user-specific room on the user terminal.

Description

Processing device, processing method and processing program

The present invention relates to a processing device, a processing method, and a processing program.

In the past, it has become common to purchase products using websites that sell products on the Internet (EC sites (Electronic Commerce sites)). Furthermore, in recent years, technology has been proposed that reproduces a store in a virtual space and links it with an EC site to provide users with a purchasing experience similar to that of purchasing products in a real store.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-220074

On conventional online sites such as e-commerce sites, it is possible for users to register the products they want in their wish list and display the products in a list. However, since conventional online sites such as EC sites only display a list of products, there are cases where the user cannot imagine placing the products on the wish list in his/her room and does not even purchase the products.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a processing apparatus, a processing method, and a processing program capable of increasing the user's willingness to purchase in a virtual space-built purchasing environment. and

In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the processing device of the present invention builds a virtual shop in a virtual space where the user can browse and purchase products, and provides the virtual shop to the user terminal used by the user. It is characterized by having a first building unit and a second building unit that builds a user-dedicated room reflecting any of the products in the virtual space and displays it on the user terminal.

According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the user's willingness to purchase in the purchasing environment constructed in the virtual space.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the server device shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining a room. FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure of communication processing in the communication system according to the embodiment. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a computer that executes a program.

Embodiments of the processing apparatus, processing method, and processing program according to the present application will be described in detail below based on the drawings. Note that the processing apparatus, processing method, and processing program according to the present application are not limited by this embodiment.

In the following embodiments, the processing flow of the processing apparatus, processing method, and processing program according to the embodiments will be described in order, and finally the effects of the embodiments will be described.

[Embodiment]
First, an embodiment will be described. In the embodiment, a communication system for providing users with a shopping environment in virtual space will be described.

In the communication system according to the embodiment, a virtual town is built in a virtual space in a server device of a VR (Virtual Reality) shopping mall provider that provides a shopping environment to users. A virtual shopping mall (VR shopping mall) including a virtual store (VR store) is constructed. In the communication system according to the embodiment, by displaying on the user terminal 20 a user-dedicated room that reflects the product that the user is considering purchasing in the virtual space, the user can imagine the state in which the product is arranged in the user's own room. to improve the user's willingness to purchase.

[Configuration of communication system]
A configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a communication system according to an embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 1, the communication system according to the embodiment has a user terminal 20 used by each user and a server device 10 (processing device) of a VR store provider. Also, the server device 10 is connected to a store server device 30 of a store P that sells products. Note that the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is merely an example, and the specific configuration and the number of each device are not particularly limited.

The server device 10 of the VR store provider receives information about products that can be displayed in the VR store and advertisements from the store server device 30 of the store P that sells the products. It provides users with a VR shopping mall that includes street advertisements.

Then, the server device 10 constructs a user-dedicated room reflecting any of the products in the virtual space and displays it on the user terminal. A room is, for example, a virtual space modeled after a user's room. A server device 10 displays on a user terminal 20 a user-dedicated room reflecting merchandise that the user considers purchasing in a virtual space so that the user can imagine a state in which merchandise is arranged in his or her own room. In this way, the server device 10 provides the user with an image that reflects the product in an environment close to the user's own room.

The store server device 30 has an inventory DB of the products it holds. The store server device 30 transmits information on products that can be displayed in a VR store or in an advertisement among the products held by each shop server device 30 to the server device 10 via a network or the like. The store server device 30 transmits identification information, name, size, color, price, and inventory information of the product as product information. Note that there are actually a plurality of stores and store server devices 30 .

The user terminal 20 is an electronic information processing device such as a notebook PC (Personal Computer) or desktop PC, or a smart device such as a tablet or smartphone. The user terminal 20 connects to the server device 10 via the network N and receives provision of the VR shopping mall. The user terminal 20 browses shops and advertisements in the shopping mall, browses products and advertisements in the VR store, and purchases products in the provided VR shopping mall. Next, the server device 10 shown in FIG. 1 will be described.

[Server device]
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the server device 10 shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the server device 10 includes a communication unit 11 for controlling communication related to various information, a storage unit 12 for storing data and programs required for various processes by the control unit 13, and various processes. It has a control unit 13 for Processing of each unit of the server apparatus 10 will be described below.

The communication unit 11 is a communication interface that transmits and receives various types of information to and from other devices connected via a network or the like. The communication unit 11 is realized by a NIC (Network Interface Card) or the like, and performs communication between another device and the control unit 13 (described later) via an electric communication line such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. For example, the communication unit 11 receives information about products that can be exhibited from the store server device 30 via the network. In addition, the communication unit 11 receives, via the network N, from the user terminal 20 a request to enter a VR shopping mall, a request to enter a VR store, and a request to browse or purchase a product. The communication unit 11 transmits to the store server device 30 information on product purchase procedures and inventory update after product purchase.

The storage unit 12 is a storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or an SSD (Solid State Drive). Note that the storage unit 12 may be a rewritable semiconductor memory such as RAM (Random Access Memory), flash memory, NVSRAM (Non Volatile Static Random Access Memory). The storage unit 12 stores an OS (Operating System) and various programs executed by the server device 10 . Further, the storage unit 12 stores various information used in executing the program. The storage unit 12 stores construction information 121 , user information 122 and store and product information 123 .

The building information 121 is information required to build a VR store and a VR shopping mall in the virtual space. The building information 121 includes image processing conditions and image processing programs for building the VR store and VR shopping mall in the virtual space. In addition, the construction information 121 includes photographs of store interiors, products, townscapes, and store exteriors taken at a fixed point or 360 degrees, or images of VR stores and VR shopping malls constructed by image processing these photographs. . The construction information 121 is, for example, an image that reproduces the interior of the store, the products, the cityscape, and the exterior of the store when the VR store and VR shopping mall are constructed using CG (Computer Graphics). The building information 121 also includes information required to build a user-dedicated room in the virtual space.

The user information 122 is information about each user registered as a visitor to the VR store and VR shopping mall. The user information 122 includes, for example, user IDs, and purchase histories 1221, browsing histories 1222, and wishlists 1223 associated with each user ID.

The purchase history 1221 is a list of products purchased by the user, and has items such as purchase time, name of the store where the product was purchased, product ID, product name, size, color, and quantity. The browsing history 1222 is a list of products whose product information has been browsed by the user, and includes, for example, browsing time, name of store where the product was browsed, product ID, product name, size, color, and quantity as items. The wish list 1223 is a list of products registered as desired by the user, and includes, for example, the name of the store that sells the product, product ID, product name, product image, color, size, and price as items. The wish list 1223 also includes product data for arranging each product in the virtual space, for example, images created by the server 10 from product images.

The store and product information 123 is information about stores located in the VR shopping mall and products displayed in the VR store. The store and product information 123 has items of store ID, store type, product ID, product name, size, color, and number of products held by each store that can be displayed in VR stores and advertisements. For example, if the store P is a clothing store, images or photographs of clothes and accessories that can be displayed in the VR store will be displayed at the store along with information such as the size, color, and other features of these products, the price, and the number of items in stock. and stored in product information 123 .

The control unit 13 controls the server device 10 as a whole. The control unit 13 is, for example, an electronic circuit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro Processing Unit), or an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array). The control unit 13 also has an internal memory for storing programs defining various processing procedures and control data, and executes each processing using the internal memory. Further, the control unit 13 functions as various processing units by running various programs. The control unit 13 has a reception unit 131, a construction unit 132 (first construction unit), and a room construction unit 133 (second construction unit).

The reception unit 131 receives the user's entry into the VR shopping mall, entry into the VR store in the VR shopping mall, browsing of products, purchase of products, and entry into the user-dedicated room.

The construction unit 132 constructs a VR shopping mall and a VR store in virtual space using images or CG. Upon receiving the user's entry into the VR shopping mall, the construction unit 132 acquires the construction information 121 and constructs the VR shopping mall in the virtual space. The construction unit 132 then provides the VR shopping mall to the user terminal 20 used by the user. Note that the construction unit 132 may change the cityscape of the VR shopping mall and the products displayed in the VR store for each season.

In the VR shopping mall, the layout of each store, the appearance of each store, roads, and relevant advertisements are constructed based on the actual townscape. In the VR shopping mall, the user can move the user's avatar as if walking through a real city street. Then, in the VR shopping mall, for example, the user can enter the selected VR store by clicking or tapping the store name displayed on the store exterior or the entrance of the store.

Upon accepting the user's entry into the VR store, the building unit 132 builds the VR store in the virtual space. Then, the construction unit 132 provides the constructed VR store to the user terminal 20 used by the user.

In the VR store, the interior is built based on the actual store, and the items that can be displayed among the products held by the actual store are displayed in the actual store display method (arranged in a line on the display shelf, etc.). is displayed. For the displayed products, product information (type, color, shape, size, price, stock status) is provided so that it can be browsed. The exhibited products can also be purchased. Also, in the VR store, it is possible to display advertisements of products displayed in the store in an arbitrary area within the store.

Note that the building unit 132 may also build each VR store located in the VR shopping mall together with the VR shopping mall when accepting the user's entry into the VR shopping mall.

The room construction unit 133 constructs a user-dedicated room reflecting any of the products in the virtual space, and causes the user terminal 20 to display it. This room is a user-dedicated space provided in the virtual space, and is constructed by the user selecting a room button displayed on the user terminal 20, for example. A room is a space that can be customized according to the user's wishes. For example, in a room, furniture, clothes, and other products can be placed where the user desires. In addition, the size of the room, the positions of windows and doors, the size, the design, the carpet on the floor, the wallpaper, etc. can be changed as desired by the user.

FIG. 3 is a diagram explaining the room. When the user selects the room button, the room constructing unit 133 constructs my room M1, which is a user-dedicated room, shown in FIG. 3, and displays it on the user terminal 20 ((1) in FIG. 3). In addition to displaying the user's avatar A1 in my room M1, the room construction unit 133 displays an image of furniture arranged and set by the user, for example, an image of the sofa G1.

Then, when the user registers a new wishlist L1 by desiring clothes G11 and G12 and a sofa G13 ((2) in FIG. 3), the room construction unit 133 adds the user's registration to the user's My Room M1. The products in the selected wish list L1 are displayed.

For example, clothes G11 and G12 of wishlist L1 are hung on the wall of my room M1, and the products of wishlist L1 are reflected in my room M1 ((3) in FIG. 3). By hanging the clothes G11 and G12 of the wish list L1 on the wall of my room M1, the user can visually recognize an image of the clothes G11 and G12 in his room.

In addition, the room construction unit 133 causes the avatar A1 to wear the product exhibited or displayed in the room, such as the clothes G11, according to the operation information of the user terminal 20. Since the My Room M1 is displayed on the user terminal 20, the user can change the clothes of his or her avatar in the My Room M1 to the product displayed or displayed in the room, thereby creating an image of himself/herself wearing the product. can be visually recognized ((4) in FIG. 3). If the avatar A1 resembles the user, the image of the avatar A1 wearing clothes will be closer to the image of the user actually wearing clothes. be done.

In addition, the room construction unit 133 may replace the similar product with the product on the wish list when the product similar to the registered product on the wish list is already arranged in my room M1 ((5) in FIG. 3). . In the case of the example of FIG. 3, the room construction unit 133 replaces the already placed sofa G1 with the sofa G13 registered in the wishlist L1. By replacing the furniture in my room M1 with the furniture registered in wishlist L1, the user can visually recognize an image of arranging the sofa G13 in wishlist L1 in his/her own room.

In addition, the room constructing unit 133 changes the interior decoration of my room M1 to an interior decoration according to the user's preference. Here, the interior includes not only wallpaper and floor specifications, but also products and clothes to be displayed in My Room M1. For example, when the user registers clothes or accessories of a certain brand in the wish list, the room construction unit 133 determines that the user is implementing the brand. Then, the room constructing unit 133 may pick up not only the products registered in the wish list but also the best-selling products among the clothes and accessories of the brand and display them in my room M1.

Also, for example, if the user has registered a travel tour to the seaside in the wish list, the room construction unit 133 determines that the user likes the sea. Note that the room constructing unit 133 determines the user's preferences based on, for example, keywords tagged to products. In addition, the room construction unit 133 may extract the user's preference target from a recommendation function such as AI (Artificial Intelligence). Then, the room construction unit 133 may display the seaside scenery introduced in the travel tour so that it can be seen from the window of my room M1. Alternatively, the room construction unit 133 may change the wallpaper of my room M1 to wallpaper similar to the wallpaper of the hotel used for the tour.

The room constructing unit 133 refers to not only the user's wish list but also the user's purchase history and browsing history, and displays products that the user has purchased in the past and products that the user has viewed in the past in my room M1. good too. In addition, the user himself/herself may select the products to be displayed in the My Room M1 and the interior decoration of the My Room, or the room construction unit 133 may automatically select products from the user's purchase history, browsing history, and wish list products. good too.

[Processing procedure of communication processing]
FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure of communication processing in the communication system according to the embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the server device 10 receives product information and inventory information from the store server device 30 (step S1), it updates the store and product information 123 (step S2).

In the server device 10, when the reception unit 131 receives an application to enter the VR store from the user terminal 20 (steps S3 and S4), the construction unit 132 acquires the construction information 121 and the store and product information 123. (Step S5), a VR store is constructed in the virtual space (Step S6). The construction unit 132 then provides the VR store to the user terminal 20 (step S7). Note that the construction unit 132 may construct a VR shopping mall in the virtual space and provide it to the user terminal 20 .

When the server device 10 receives a request to enter the user's my room from the user terminal 20 (step S8), the server device 10 refers to the user information 122 (step S9), and creates a user-dedicated room reflecting any of the products in the virtual space. Build on top (step S10). Then, the server device 10 transmits an instruction to display the constructed room to the user terminal 20 (step S11), and causes the user terminal 20 to display the user-dedicated room. At this time, the products displayed in the room and the interior decoration of the room may be selected by the user himself or may be automatically selected by the server device 10 from the user's purchase history, browsing history, and products on the wish list. .

For example, when the server device 10 receives an avatar dress-up request from the user terminal 20 (step S12), the server device 10 changes the clothes of the avatar (step S13), and instructs the user to display the avatar after the dress-up. It is transmitted to the terminal 20 (step S14), and the user terminal 20 displays the avatar after the dress-up in the user-dedicated room.

[Effects of Embodiment]
As described above, the server device 10 according to the embodiment causes the user terminal 20 to display a user-dedicated room reflecting the product that the user is considering purchasing in the virtual space, thereby arranging the product in the user's own room. It is possible to improve the user's willingness to buy by enabling the user to imagine the state of the product.

[System configuration, etc.]
Also, each component of each device illustrated is functionally conceptual, and does not necessarily need to be physically configured as illustrated. In other words, the specific form of distribution and integration of each device is not limited to the one shown in the figure, and all or part of them can be functionally or physically distributed and integrated in arbitrary units according to various loads and usage conditions. Can be integrated and configured. Furthermore, all or any part of each processing function performed by each device is realized by a CPU or GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) and a program that is analyzed and executed by the CPU or GPU, or wired It can be implemented as hardware by logic.

Further, among the processes described in this embodiment, all or part of the processes described as being automatically performed can be performed manually, or the processes described as being performed manually can be performed manually. All or part of this can also be done automatically by known methods. In addition, information including processing procedures, control procedures, specific names, and various data and parameters shown in the above documents and drawings can be arbitrarily changed unless otherwise specified.

[program]
It is also possible to create a program in which the processing executed by the server device 10 described in the above embodiment is described in a computer-executable language. For example, it is also possible to create a program in which the processing executed by the server device 10 in the embodiment is described in a computer-executable language. In this case, the same effects as those of the above embodiments can be obtained by having the computer execute the program. Further, such a program may be recorded in a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded in this recording medium may be read by a computer and executed to realize processing similar to that of the above embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a computer that executes a program. As illustrated in FIG. 5, computer 1000 includes, for example, memory 1010, CPU 1020, hard disk drive interface 1030, disk drive interface 1040, serial port interface 1050, video adapter 1060, and network interface 1070. , and these units are connected by a bus 1080 .

The memory 1010 includes a ROM (Read Only Memory) 1011 and a RAM 1012, as illustrated in FIG. The ROM 1011 stores a boot program such as BIOS (Basic Input Output System). Hard disk drive interface 1030 is connected to hard disk drive 1090 as illustrated in FIG. A disk drive interface 1040 is connected to the disk drive 1100 . A removable storage medium such as a magnetic disk or optical disk is inserted into the disk drive 1100 . Serial port interface 1050 is connected to mouse 1110 and keyboard 1120, for example. Video adapter 1060 is connected to display 1130, for example.

Here, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the hard disk drive 1090 stores an OS 1091, application programs 1092, program modules 1093, and program data 1094, for example. That is, the above program is stored, for example, in hard disk drive 1090 as a program module in which instructions to be executed by computer 1000 are described.

Also, the various data described in the above embodiments are stored as program data in the memory 1010 or the hard disk drive 1090, for example. Then, the CPU 1020 reads the program modules 1093 and program data 1094 stored in the memory 1010 and the hard disk drive 1090 to the RAM 1012 as necessary, and executes various processing procedures.

Note that the program module 1093 and program data 1094 related to the program are not limited to being stored in the hard disk drive 1090. For example, they may be stored in a removable storage medium and read by the CPU 1020 via a disk drive or the like. . Alternatively, the program module 1093 and program data 1094 related to the program are stored in another computer connected via a network (LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), etc.), and via the network interface 1070 It may be read by CPU 1020 .

The above embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope of the invention described in the claims and their equivalents, as well as the technology disclosed in the present application.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 server device 11 communication unit 12 storage unit 13 control unit 20 user terminal 30 store server device 121 construction information 122 user information 123 store and product information 131 reception unit 132 construction unit 133 room construction unit

Claims

a first building unit that builds a virtual store in a virtual space where a user can browse and purchase products, and provides the virtual store to a user terminal used by the user;
a second building unit that builds a user-dedicated room reflecting any of the products in the virtual space and displays it on the user terminal;
A processing apparatus comprising:
The processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second construction unit displays in the room products on a wish list that the user has registered as wanting.
3. The process according to claim 1, wherein the second construction unit displays an avatar of the user in the room, and causes the avatar to wear the product displayed or displayed in the room. Device.
The processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second construction unit changes the interior decoration of the room to suit the taste of the user.
A processing method performed by a processing device, comprising:
A step of constructing a virtual store in a virtual space where a user can browse and purchase products, and providing the virtual store to a user terminal used by the user;
A step of constructing a user-dedicated room reflecting any of the products in the virtual space and displaying it on the user terminal;
A processing method characterized by including
building a virtual store in a virtual space where a user can browse and purchase products, and providing the virtual store to a user terminal used by the user;
building a user-dedicated room reflecting any of the products in the virtual space and displaying it on the user terminal;
A processing program for causing a computer to execute