Information processing system, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To secure sufficient choices for a user in a retrieval result of a service facility.SOLUTION: An information processing system includes a storage unit, a communication unit, and a control unit. The storage unit stores facility information about a plurality of service facilities. The communication unit communicates with a user terminal. When the control unit receives, from the user terminal, a search request including a reservation date and time, a search reference location, and additional search conditions as search conditions for the service facility that can be reserved, the control unit sets a search range based on the search reference location to a different size in accordance with the additional search conditions and searches for the service facility that can be reserved. Then, the control unit transmits search result information indicating a search result of the service facility to the user terminal.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program that can execute a search process for service facilities such as restaurants on a user terminal. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, in a system capable of accepting reservations for use of service facilities such as restaurants via a network, search conditions for service facilities are accepted from a user, and information on service facilities that match the search conditions is output as a search result.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 below describes that when a search request for a restaurant including information on the number of people in a restaurant is received, a search is performed to find restaurants that are located within a circular range (search range) centered on the location of the user terminal and that can accept reservations for that number of people. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-057154 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, in the technology described in Patent Document 1, the search range remains constant regardless of the search conditions set by the user, so depending on the search conditions, the search results provided to the user may be extremely limited, and the user may not be provided with a sufficient selection of facilities.

[0006] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program that can ensure sufficient options for users in search results for service facilities. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] An information processing system according to one aspect of the present invention includes a storage unit, a communication unit, and a control unit. The storage unit stores facility information related to a plurality of service facilities. The communication unit communicates with a user terminal. When the control unit receives a search request from the user terminal, the search request includes a reservation date and time, a search reference location, and additional search conditions as search conditions for the service facilities that can be reserved. The control unit searches for the service facilities that can be reserved by setting a search range based on the search reference location to a different size depending on the additional search conditions. The control unit then transmits search result information indicating the search results for the service facilities to the user terminal.

[0008] With this configuration, by varying the search range in accordance with the additional search criteria, it is possible to prevent the search results for service facilities from becoming too limited, thereby ensuring sufficient options for the user. The information processing system includes at least one information processing device.

[0009] The additional search condition may be the number of people making reservations, and the control unit may widen the search range as the number of people making reservations increases.

[0010] This allows you to widen the search range and provide a sufficient selection of facilities available for reservation, even when there are a large number of people making reservations.

[0011] The storage unit may store, as the facility information, information on a genre of the service facility in association with the size of the search range. In this case, the additional search condition may be the genre, and the control unit may change the search range depending on the genre.

[0012] This allows for a sufficient selection of facilities available for reservation for facilities in a genre with a small absolute number of users, and prevents the search results from becoming too large for facilities in a genre with a large absolute number of users.

[0013] The control unit may increase the search range as the time between the date and time at which the search request is received and the reservation date and time decreases.

[0014] This allows the user to have sufficient options by widening the search range even if the time until the reservation date and time is short.

[0015] When the search range is included in the additional search conditions, the control unit may search for the service facility using the search range.

[0016] The storage unit may store information relating to a plurality of search ranges of different predetermined sizes, and the control unit may select a search range from the plurality of search ranges according to the additional search condition.

[0017] The control unit may change the search range in accordance with the number of the additional search conditions.

[0018] The control unit may increase the search range as the number of the additional search conditions increases. Information processing system. This allows the user to have sufficient options by widening the search range, in view of the fact that the more search criteria are added, the lower the chance of finding a reservable facility that matches them.

[0019] An information processing method according to another aspect of the present invention includes: A search request including a reservation date and time, a search reference location, and additional search conditions as search conditions for a service facility that can be reserved is received from the user terminal; According to the additional search conditions, a search range based on the search reference location is set to a different size to search for the available service facilities; and transmitting search result information indicating the search results for the service facilities to the user terminal.

[0020] A program according to another aspect of the present invention is a program for executing the following on an information processing device: receiving a search request including a reservation date and time, a search reference location, and additional search conditions as search conditions for reservable service facilities from a user terminal; a step of searching for the reservable service facilities by setting a search range based on the search reference location to a different size according to the additional search conditions; and transmitting search result information indicating the search results for the service facilities to the user terminal. [Effects of the Invention]

[0021] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide users with sufficient options in the search results for service facilities, but this effect does not limit the present invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0022] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a restaurant information providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a restaurant information providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a database included in a restaurant information providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing the flow of a restaurant search process performed by a restaurant information providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0023] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0024] [System Configuration] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a restaurant information providing system according to this embodiment.

[0025] As shown in the figure, this system includes a restaurant information providing server 100 on the Internet 50, a plurality of user terminals 200, and a plurality of restaurant terminals 300.

[0026] Restaurant information providing server 100 is a web server that operates a portal site that lists information about restaurants. Restaurant information providing server 100 is connected to a plurality of user terminals 200 and a plurality of restaurant terminals 300 of restaurants via Internet 50.

[0027] The restaurant information providing server 100 provides a restaurant information search system for users of user terminals 200 on the portal site. Specifically, the restaurant information providing server 100 searches for restaurant information that matches search conditions based on a search request from the user terminal 200, generates a web page listing the search results, and transmits it to the user terminal 200. The restaurant information providing server 100 also handles reservation acceptance processing for any restaurant from the user terminal 200 of the user who viewed the restaurant information.

[0028] User terminal 200 (200A, 200B, 200C...) is a terminal used by a user, such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet PC (Personal Computer), a notebook PC, a desktop PC, etc. User terminal 200 accesses restaurant information providing server 100, receives the web page, and displays it on a screen using a browser or the like.

[0029] The user terminal 200 determines search conditions for restaurants based on user operation, and transmits a restaurant search request based on the search conditions to the restaurant information providing server 100. In this embodiment, the user of the user terminal 200 can transmit a search request by selecting pre-set search conditions such as the restaurant's location area (nearest station), genre, price range, etc. Then, based on user operation, the user terminal 200 can transmit a reservation request for any of the restaurants displayed as the search results to the restaurant information providing server 100.

[0030] Meanwhile, restaurant information providing server 100 provides a management screen (web page) of restaurant information for restaurants (affiliated restaurants) listed on the portal site. Through the management screen, users of restaurant terminals 300 can edit and update restaurant information (content) on a web page provided to general users as the search results, and upload the web page to the portal site.

[0031] Restaurant terminal 300 (300A, 300B, 300C...) is a terminal installed in each restaurant, and is a tablet PC, notebook PC, desktop PC, etc. Restaurant terminal 300 can execute processes related to its own restaurant information, such as editing and updating the restaurant information, through communication with restaurant information providing server 100 based on operations by an administrator.

[0032] In this embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100 can provide restaurant information as a search result to the user terminal 200 in response to a search request for restaurant information. In this case, if the search conditions set by the user include the date and time of use, the search reference location, and the number of users, the restaurant information providing server 100 can vary the search range based on the search reference location depending on the number of users. Details of this process will be described later.

[0033] [Hardware configuration of restaurant information server] 2 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the restaurant information providing server 100. As shown in the figure, the restaurant information providing server 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, an input / output interface 15, and a bus 14 connecting these components to one another.

[0034] The CPU 11 accesses the RAM 13 and other memory as needed, and performs various arithmetic processing while controlling all blocks of the restaurant information providing server 100. The ROM 12 is a non-volatile memory that permanently stores firmware such as the OS, programs, and various parameters to be executed by the CPU 11. The RAM 13 is used as a working area for the CPU 11, and temporarily stores the OS, various applications currently being executed, and various data currently being processed.

[0035] The input / output interface 15 is connected to a display unit 16, an operation reception unit 17, a storage unit 18, a communication unit 19, and the like.

[0036] The display unit 16 is a display device that uses, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an OLED (Organic ElectroLuminescence Display), a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or the like.

[0037] The operation reception unit 17 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, or other input device. When the operation reception unit 17 is a touch panel, the touch panel can be integrated with the display unit 16.

[0038] The storage unit 18 is a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a flash memory (solid state drive (SSD)), or other solid-state memory. The storage unit 18 stores the OS, various applications, and various data.

[0039] As will be described later, particularly in this embodiment, the storage unit 18 has a restaurant information database, a user information database, and an area / reservation number correspondence information table in addition to programs such as applications necessary for the restaurant search processing described later.

[0040] The communication unit 19 is, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card) for Ethernet or various modules for wireless communication such as wireless LAN, and is responsible for communication processing with the user terminal 200.

[0041] Although not shown, the basic hardware configuration of user terminal 200 and restaurant terminal 300 is also substantially the same as the hardware configuration of restaurant information providing server 100 described above.

[0042] [Database table configuration of restaurant information server] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a database table included in the restaurant information providing server 100. As shown in FIG.

[0043] As shown in the figure, the restaurant information providing server 100 has a restaurant information database 31, a user information database 32, and an area / reservation number correspondence information table 33 in the storage unit 18.

[0044] The restaurant information database 31 stores, for each restaurant, the restaurant's name, location information (address or latitude and longitude), area information, access information (information about the nearest station, information about the distance from the nearest station), telephone number, an ID (store ID) that identifies the restaurant, information about the restaurant's business type and service genre, information introducing the restaurant (information indicating the restaurant's characteristics such as promotional text for the restaurant, information about events held by the restaurant, etc.), image data related to the restaurant (introducing the restaurant), menu information about the menus offered by the restaurant, average budget information, business hours, website URL, etc. This information is input from the restaurant terminal 300 of each restaurant via a management screen provided by the restaurant information providing server 100. The restaurant information database 31 may also store information indicating the reservation acceptance status of each restaurant (reservation ledger information).

[0045] The menu information corresponds to the menus posted on the website of each restaurant on the portal site, and stores the names of multiple menu items that each restaurant can offer for each restaurant. The menu information may be stored for each menu category, such as appetizer / main course, lunch / dinner / course, etc. The menu information may also include text information indicating the menu name, price, description, etc., as well as image information such as a photograph of the menu item, in association with the menu item.

[0046] The area information includes information about a plurality of areas with different units of size to which each restaurant is linked. Examples of large areas include prefectures and cities, and examples of small areas include towns, villages, and blocks.

[0047] Furthermore, regardless of such administrative divisions, area information may also be used, for example, an area within several hundred meters of a reference transportation facility such as a train station (e.g., "Ginza area"), an area within 1 km, an area within 2 km, or an area consisting of areas around multiple stations (e.g., "Ginza-Shinbashi-Yurakucho area").

[0048] This means that the same restaurant can be linked to multiple areas of different sizes.

[0049] The genre information may include main categories such as Japanese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Italian cuisine, French cuisine, and grilled meat, as well as more detailed sub-genres such as yakitori and tempura in Japanese cuisine, and pasta and pizza in Italian cuisine.

[0050] The user information database 32 stores information about users who own user terminals 200 and are users (members) of the restaurant information service provided by the restaurant information providing server 100 via the portal site. Specifically, the user information database 32 stores information such as a user ID, password, name, email address (information to which other messages will be sent), telephone number, address, age (group), gender, and birthday for each user.

[0051] The area / number of people for reservation correspondence table 33 stores the correspondence between the above-mentioned multiple area information of different sizes and the number of people for reservation (value or value range). This is because the area information is used as a search range based on the search reference location in the restaurant search process described later.

[0052] Specifically, the larger the number of people making a reservation, the larger the area that corresponds to it. For example, the smallest area corresponds to a reservation number of 1-2 people, the next larger medium area corresponds to a reservation number of 3-6 people, and the largest area corresponds to a reservation number of 7 people or more. This is because it is thought that the more people making a reservation, the fewer restaurants that can accommodate that number of people.

[0053] These database tables are used by mutual reference as needed in the restaurant search process by the restaurant information providing server 100, which will be described later.

[0054] [Operation of the restaurant information server] Next, we will explain the operation of the restaurant information providing server 100 configured as above. The operation is performed by cooperation between hardware such as the CPU 11 and communication unit 19 of the restaurant information providing server 100 and software stored in the storage unit 18. For convenience, in the following explanation, the CPU 11 is the subject of operation.

[0055] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of restaurant search processing by the restaurant information providing server 100.

[0056] As shown in the figure, the CPU 11 of the restaurant information providing server 100 first determines whether or not a search request for restaurants that are available for reservation and are included in the restaurant information on the portal site has been received from the user terminal 200 (step 41).

[0057] The search request includes information (user ID, email address, etc.) that identifies the user of the user terminal 200, as well as information on at least the search reference location (area or station where the restaurant is located) and reservation date and time (date and time of use), as well as information on the number of people making a reservation (number of people using the restaurant) as an additional search condition, as well as information on the user of the user terminal 200 that is selected or input on the portal site (or application).

[0058] If it is determined that a search request including the above-mentioned search reference location, reservation date and time, and number of people for reservation has been received (Yes), the CPU 11 determines whether or not the search request includes a search range as an additional search condition (step 42).

[0059] If it is determined that the search range is not included as the additional search condition (No), the CPU 11 refers to the area / number of people corresponding to the reservation number included in the search request, and selects from multiple search areas a search area corresponding to the reservation number included in the search request as a search range based on the search reference location (step 43).

[0060] Next, the CPU 11 searches for restaurants that can be reserved according to the search conditions included in the search request (step 44). Here, the search range is set to the search range selected in step 43 or the search range included as an additional search condition in step 42.

[0061] The CPU 11 then generates a search result page showing the search results (step 45). The search result page is generated as a list of restaurant information columns including, for example, the restaurant name, a representative photo, information about the nearest station, etc. Each restaurant information column includes a hyperlink to a restaurant detailed information page and a reservation page.

[0062] Then, the CPU 11 transmits the generated search result page to the user terminal 200 (step 46). If a reservation request is subsequently made for any of the restaurants, the CPU 11 executes reservation processing in accordance with the request.

[0063] [summary] As described above, according to this embodiment, even when a large number of people are making reservations, the restaurant information providing server 100 can provide the user with a sufficient selection of facilities that can be reserved by expanding the search range based on the search reference location accordingly.

[0064] [Variations] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0065] In the above-described embodiment, the search reference location is an area name or a station name, but instead, the current location of user terminal 200 may be used as the search reference location. In this case, restaurant information providing server 100 may set a search range according to the number of people making a reservation, using the latitude and longitude information of the current location of user terminal 200 as a reference, for example, within 200 m if the number of people making a reservation is 1 to 2, within 500 m if the number of people is 3 to 6, and within 1 km if the number of people is 7 or more. In this case, restaurants are searched for using the set search range and the straight-line distance between the latitude and longitude information of the location stored in restaurant information database 31 and the latitude and longitude information of the current location.

[0066] In the above embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100 selected a search area corresponding to the number of people making a reservation as the search range from among a plurality of predetermined search areas of different sizes. However, the search area does not have to be predetermined, and the search range may be dynamically set, for example, by multiplying the number of people making a reservation by a reference value (e.g., 100 m, 500 m, etc.) of the radius of a circle from the search reference point.

[0067] In the above-described embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100 varies the search range according to the number of people making a reservation as an additional search criterion other than the reservation date and time and the search reference location. However, the additional search criterion is not limited to the number of people making a reservation.

[0068] For example, the restaurant information providing server 100 may use the restaurant genre as an additional search criterion instead of the number of people making a reservation. In this case, the storage unit 18 stores a table linking information about the restaurant genre (such as the above-mentioned Japanese, Chinese, Italian, or yakiniku) with information about the plurality of search areas of different sizes. The restaurant information providing server 100 may then select, as the search range, a search area corresponding to the genre included in the search request as an additional search criterion other than the reservation date and time and the search reference location. For example, even if the reservation date and time and the search reference location are the same as the search criteria, if the genre is Italian, the search range may be set wider than if the genre is Japanese.

[0069] For example, the restaurant information providing server 100 may associate a genre that is more popular in an area (more reservations in total) or that has fewer listings on the portal site with a wider area. This makes it possible to provide a sufficient selection of restaurants that can be reserved for restaurants in a genre that is popular or has a small number of listings, and to prevent too many search results for restaurants in a genre that has a large number of listings.

[0070] In the above-described embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100 may widen the search range as the time between the date and time of receiving the search request and the reservation date and time becomes shorter. For example, the restaurant information providing server 100 may select a wide search area if the remaining time is one to two days, a medium area if three to one week, and a narrow area if one week or more. In this way, the restaurant information providing server 100 can ensure the user has sufficient options by widening the search range even if the time until the reservation date and time is short, and can adjust the search area so that an appropriate number of candidate restaurants are found depending on the time remaining until the planned date and time of use.

[0071] In the above-described embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100 may change the search range depending on the number of additional search conditions other than the reservation date and time and the search reference location. That is, the restaurant information providing server 100 may narrow the search range as the number of additional search conditions increases, or may widen the search range as the number of additional search conditions increases. In the latter case, the more additional search conditions there are, the lower the chance of finding a restaurant that matches the conditions and is available for reservation. Therefore, by widening the search range, the user can be provided with sufficient options.

[0072] The configurations of the above-described embodiment and modified example regarding the process of changing the search range in response to additional search conditions can be combined in any way as long as they are not mutually contradictory. For example, the search range (width) may be selected based on all of the number of people making the reservation, the genre, and the remaining time from the message sending date and time to the reservation date and time, or may be selected based on any one or two of them.

[0073] In the above-described embodiment, restaurants are given as an example of service facilities, but service facilities are not limited to restaurants. The present invention can also be applied to various other service facilities, such as accommodation facilities such as hotels and inns, various sports facilities such as tennis, basketball, and golf, entertainment facilities such as karaoke and bowling, and treatment facilities such as massage and beauty salons.

[0074] Among the inventions described in the claims of this application, the invention described as an "information processing method" is one in which each step is automatically performed by at least one device such as a computer through software-based information processing, and is not performed by a human using a device such as a computer. In other words, the "information processing method" is an information processing method using computer software, and is not a method in which a human operates a computing tool called a computer. [Explanation of symbols]

[0075] 11...CPU 18...Storage section 19…Communications Department 31...Restaurant information database 32...User information database 33...Area and reservation number information table 100...Restaurant information server 200...User terminal 300...Restaurant terminal

Claims

1. a storage unit that stores facility information relating to a plurality of service facilities; a communication unit capable of communicating with a user terminal; a control unit that, when receiving a search request including a reservation date and time, a search reference location, and additional search conditions as search conditions for the reservable service facilities from the user terminal, searches for the reservable service facilities by setting a search range based on the search reference location to a different size in accordance with the additional search conditions, and transmits search result information indicating the search results for the service facilities to the user terminal; An information processing system comprising:

2. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, The additional search condition is the number of people making a reservation, The control unit increases the search range as the number of people making reservations increases. Information processing system.

3. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, the storage unit stores, as the facility information, information relating to a genre of the service facility in association with a size of the search range; the additional search criteria is the genre, The control unit changes the search range depending on the genre. Information processing system.

4. 4. The information processing system according to claim 1, The control unit increases the search range as the time between the date and time of receiving the search request and the reservation date and time decreases. Information processing system.

5. 5. An information processing system according to claim 1, When the search range is included in the additional search conditions, the control unit searches for the service facility using the search range. Information processing system.

6. 6. An information processing system according to claim 1, the storage unit stores information relating to a plurality of search ranges of different predetermined sizes; The control unit selects a search range according to the additional search condition from the plurality of search ranges. Information processing system.

7. 7. An information processing system according to claim 1, The control unit changes the search range depending on the number of the additional search conditions. Information processing system.

8. 8. The information processing system according to claim 7, The control unit increases the search range as the number of the additional search conditions increases. Information processing system.

9. A search request including a reservation date and time, a search reference location, and additional search conditions as search conditions for a service facility that can be reserved is received from the user terminal; Searching for the reservable service facilities by setting a search range based on the search reference location to a different size according to the additional search conditions; Transmitting search result information indicating the search results for the service facilities to the user terminal. Information processing methods.

10. In the information processing device, receiving a search request including a reservation date and time, a search reference location, and additional search conditions as search conditions for reservable service facilities from a user terminal; A step of searching for the service facilities that can be reserved by setting a search range based on the search reference location to a different size according to the additional search conditions; transmitting search result information indicating the search results of the service facilities to the user terminal; A program that executes the following.

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