Information display apparatus

Abstract

To improve the ease with which a user can grasp the remaining amount of an object of interest.SOLUTION: In a presentation system 1, an information display apparatus 10 is provided with a communication unit 13, a marker unit 14 for displaying a marker, and a control unit 11 for receiving information on the remaining amount of an object of interest of a user from the communication unit 13 and displaying an area corresponding to the remaining amount of the marker on the marker unit 14. The display unit 14 drives a physical marker or changes a marker composed of an image to make the remaining amount of the object of interest of the user visible. The user can intuitively recognize the remaining amount of the object of interest by looking at the marker displayed by the marker unit 14 of the information display apparatus 10.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information presentation device. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a technique for ordering consumables according to the remaining amount of the consumables. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a consumables ordering device that orders the consumables or products related to the consumables when it is detected that the remaining amount of the consumables in a container is equal to or less than a predetermined amount. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2022-109476 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In the art of providing users with information regarding remaining amounts of objects, there is room for making it easier for users to ascertain the remaining amounts of objects of interest.

[0005] Hereinafter, an information presentation device and the like that can improve the ease with which a user can grasp the remaining amount of a subject of interest will be disclosed. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An information presentation device according to one embodiment of the present disclosure includes a communication unit, a sign unit that displays a sign, and a control unit that receives information about a remaining amount of an object of interest of a user via the communication unit and causes the sign unit to display an area of ​​the sign corresponding to the remaining amount. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the information presentation device and the like of the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the ease with which a user can grasp the remaining amount of a subject of interest. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a presentation system. [Diagram 2] 11 is a flowchart showing the operation of the presentation system. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining interest information. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of a presentation system 1 according to an embodiment. The presentation system 1 includes an information presentation device 10, an information processing device 20, and a terminal device 30, which are communicably connected to each other via a network 40.

[0010] The network 40 includes the Internet, at least one Wide Area Network (WAN), at least one Metropolitan Area Network (MAN), or a combination thereof. The network 40 may include at least one wireless network, at least one optical network, or a combination thereof. The wireless network may be, for example, an ad-hoc network, a cellular network, a wireless Local Area Network (LAN), a satellite communication network, or a terrestrial microwave network.

[0011] The information processing device 20 is installed in a facility such as a data center, etc. The information processing device 20 is, for example, a server computer belonging to a cloud computing system or other computing system.

[0012] The terminal device 30 is held by a user. The terminal device 30 is, for example, a mobile device such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, or a tablet, or a personal computer (PC).

[0013] The information presentation device 10 includes a communication unit 13, a sign unit 14 that displays a sign, and a control unit 11 that receives information on the remaining amount of an object of interest of the user through the communication unit 13 and displays an area corresponding to the remaining amount of the sign on the sign unit 14. The object of interest is, for example, a consumable item, a future event, or a destination. The remaining amount of the object of interest is, for example, the remaining amount of the consumable item, the remaining time until the future event, or the distance to the destination. The consumable item includes a battery of a vehicle such as a BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) that the user rides in, beverages and food in the user's home, and the like. The future event includes any event that the user has registered in the schedule, such as a concert, a seminar, or a meeting with family or friends. The destination is a destination where any person, such as the user's family or friends, is heading in a vehicle or the like, and includes a company, a house, and the like. The vehicle in which the person rides is previously associated with the user and stored in the storage unit 12. The sign unit 14 drives a physical sign or changes a sign configured with an image to make the remaining amount of the object of interest of the user visible. The user can intuitively recognize the remaining amount of the subject of interest by looking at the sign displayed by the sign unit 14 of the information presentation device 10. This makes it possible to improve the ease with which the user can grasp the remaining amount of the subject of interest.

[0014] The information presentation device 10 includes a control unit 11, a storage unit 12, a communication unit 13, and a sign unit 14.

[0015] The control unit 11 includes at least one processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a micro processing unit (MPU), at least one dedicated circuit, or a combination of these. The processor is a general-purpose processor or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The dedicated circuit is, for example, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). The control unit 11 executes processes related to the operation of the information presentation device 10 while controlling each part of the information presentation device 10.

[0016] The storage unit 12 includes at least one semiconductor memory, at least one magnetic memory, at least one optical memory, or a combination of at least two of these. The semiconductor memory is, for example, a random access memory (RAM) or a read only memory (ROM). The RAM is, for example, a static random access memory (SRAM) or a dynamic random access memory (DRAM). The ROM is, for example, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM). The storage unit 12 functions as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 12 stores any information, control / processing programs, etc. used in the operation of the information presentation device 10, and information obtained by the operation of the information presentation device 10.

[0017] The communication unit 13 includes at least one communication interface. The communication interface is, for example, an interface compatible with a mobile communication standard such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G (4th Generation) standard, or 5G (5th Generation) standard, an interface compatible with short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), or a LAN interface. The communication unit 13 receives information used in the operation of the information presentation device 10, and transmits information obtained by the operation of the information presentation device 10.

[0018] The sign unit 14 has a configuration for making the sign visible. The sign is a rod-shaped body made of any material such as plastic, and the configuration for making it visible is an actuator. One end of the rod-shaped body protrudes vertically upward from the information presentation device 10, and the other end is connected to the actuator inside the information presentation device 10. The actuator includes a stepping motor or the like. The actuator operates in response to an instruction from the control unit 11 to raise or lower the rod-shaped body in the vertical direction, so that the rod-shaped body protrudes outside the information presentation device 10, that is, the area to be made visible is adjusted. The sign unit 14 may include a light-emitting element such as an LED lamp that can emit light in a predetermined color in response to an instruction from the control unit 11 on the rod-shaped sign. The predetermined color is preset by the user and stored in the memory unit 12.

[0019] The indicator unit 14 may be an output interface such as a display that changes an indicator configured with an image. The display is, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display. The indicator is configured with an image such as a rod-shaped bar. For example, the length of the bar shortens according to the remaining amount. In this way, the indicator has an area corresponding to the remaining amount, remaining time, or remaining distance indicated by the information received from the information processing device 20. The area corresponding to the remaining amount is made visible by the indicator.

[0020] The information processing device 20 includes a control unit 21, a storage unit 22, and a communication unit 23.

[0021] The control unit 21 includes at least one processor, at least one dedicated circuit, or a combination of these. The processor is a general-purpose processor such as a CPU or a GPU (graphics processing unit), or a dedicated processor specialized for a specific process. The dedicated circuit is, for example, an FPGA or an ASIC. The control unit 21 executes processes related to the operation of the information processing device 20 while controlling each part of the information processing device 20.

[0022] The storage unit 22 includes at least one semiconductor memory, at least one magnetic memory, at least one optical memory, or a combination of at least two of these. The semiconductor memory is, for example, a RAM or a ROM. The RAM is, for example, an SRAM or a DRAM. The ROM is, for example, an EEPROM. The storage unit 22 functions as, for example, a main storage device, an auxiliary storage device, or a cache memory. The storage unit 22 stores any information, control / processing programs, etc. used in the operation of the information processing device 20, and information obtained by the operation of the information processing device 20.

[0023] The communication unit 23 includes at least one communication interface. The communication interface includes, for example, a LAN interface. The communication interface may include an interface compatible with a mobile communication standard such as LTE, 4G, or 5G. The communication unit 23 receives data used in the operation of the information processing device 20 and transmits data obtained by the operation of the information processing device 20.

[0024] The functions of the information presentation device 10 or the information processing device 20 are realized by executing the program according to this embodiment on a processor corresponding to the control unit 11 or the control unit 21. The program is a program for causing a computer to function as the information presentation device 10 or the information processing device 20. The program can be stored in a non-transitory computer-readable medium such as a ROM. The computer-readable medium may include a magnetic recording device, an optical disk, and a magneto-optical recording medium. The program may be distributed by a portable medium, or may be distributed from a server or the like via a network. Alternatively, the program may be stored in a server or the like, and executed by a so-called ASP (application service provider) type service in which the function is realized by an execution instruction from the information presentation device 10 or the information processing device 20 and result acquisition.

[0025] 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation procedure of each device in the presentation system 1. Among the procedures in FIG. 2, the operation procedure by the information presentation device 10 is a procedure related to a process executed by the control unit 11 of the information presentation device 10, and the operation procedure by the information processing device 20 is a procedure related to a process executed by the control unit 21 of the information processing device 20.

[0026] In S1, the control unit 21 of the information processing device 20 acquires interest information. The control unit 21 acquires interest information for each user. The interest information is information that associates a consumer product, an event, or a destination that is the subject of the user's interest with the degree of the user's interest in the consumer product, the event, or the destination. The control unit 21 acquires text information such as an email entered by the user from the user's terminal device 30, and analyzes the text using any natural language processing technology. The control unit 21 detects a character string of the name of the consumer product, the event, or the destination mentioned by the user during a predetermined period. The control unit 21 counts the number of times the character string is detected, and adds a score to the consumer product, the event, or the destination according to the count. For example, the score is a positive score when the number of times detected during the predetermined period is equal to or greater than a predetermined number, and a negative score when the number of times is less than the predetermined number. The predetermined number is arbitrarily set in advance and stored in the storage unit 22. The control unit 21 generates interest information by associating the name of the consumable, event, or destination with the score, and stores the interest information in the storage unit 22. Alternatively, the control unit 21 may identify the user from an image taken by a camera installed in the user's house using any image analysis technology, detect the number of times the user picks up a consumable or eats a consumable, and generate interest information by adding a score according to the number of times. The interest information may be arbitrarily set in advance by the user and stored in the storage unit 22. The control unit 11 periodically updates the interest information. As a result, the user's latest interest is reflected in the interest information. The interest information T1 in the example of FIG. 3 includes "concert" as an event, "house" as the destination of the user's family, and "milk" as a consumable as subjects of interest, and the scores as the degree of interest are 7, 10, and 4, respectively.

[0027] In S2, the control unit 21 transmits information indicating the remaining amount of the consumable, the remaining time until the event, or the distance to the destination for the consumable, event, or destination with the highest interest score, i.e., the highest level of interest of the user, based on the interest information, to the information presentation device 10. The control unit 21 acquires information indicating the remaining amount from any sensor that detects the remaining amount of the consumable. The sensor includes a weight sensor that detects the weight of the consumable, a camera that captures the state of the consumable, and the like. When an image of the camera is acquired, the control unit 11 detects the remaining amount of the consumable from the image by any image analysis technology. The camera is installed, for example, in a refrigerator, and captures the remaining amount of food as the consumable. The control unit 21 acquires the scheduled date and time of the event from the user's terminal device 30 or a server device in which the schedule is registered, and calculates the remaining time until the event. The control unit 21 acquires a route to the destination from a server that provides any map information based on the position information of the vehicle acquired from the vehicle moving to the destination, and acquires the distance of the route as the remaining distance to the destination. In this case, the vehicle heading to the destination is set in advance and stored in the storage unit 22. The control unit 21 transmits the information in response to a request from the information presentation device 10. In this example, the control unit 21 transmits to the information presentation device 10 information indicating the remaining amount of the consumable product “milk” that has the highest score in the interest information T1.

[0028] In S3, the control unit 11 of the information display device 10 receives information indicating the remaining amount of the consumable, the remaining time until the event, or the distance to the destination, which is the remaining amount of the object of interest indicated by the interest information, from the information processing device 20. The control unit 11 controls the sign unit 14 based on the received information indicating the remaining amount, remaining time, or distance. When the control unit 11 first receives information about the object of interest of the user, the sign of the sign unit 14 is in a state in which it is entirely protruding vertically upward from the information display device 10. In other words, the area of ​​the sign corresponding to the maximum remaining amount is revealed. The control unit 11 sends information for controlling the sign unit 14 to the actuator. The actuator operates in response to the information, and the more the remaining amount, remaining time, or remaining distance decreases, the more the sign connected to the actuator descends vertically downward. Specifically, the control unit 11 stores the remaining amount, remaining time, or remaining distance indicated by the information when the control unit 11 first receives information indicating the remaining amount of the consumable, the remaining time until the event, or the distance to the destination from the information processing device 20 in the storage unit 12 in correspondence with the maximum length of the sign protruding outside the information presentation device 10. When the control unit 11 receives information from the information processing device 20 for the second or subsequent time, the control unit 11 calculates the rate at which the remaining amount, remaining time, or distance has decreased, and controls the actuator of the sign unit 14 so that the sign retracts into the information presentation device 10 at a length corresponding to the calculated rate. The sign is completely retracted inside the information presentation device 10 when the remaining amount, remaining time, or remaining distance becomes 0. In this example, the maximum length of the sign protruding outside is 20 cm, the remaining amount of the consumable "milk" indicated by the information first received by the information presentation device 10 from the information processing device 20 is 1000 ml, and the remaining amount indicated by the information next received from the information presentation device 10 is 800 ml. The control unit 11 of the information presentation device 10 sends information to the sign unit 14 to control the sign to descend vertically downward by a length of 4 cm, which corresponds to 20% of the rate at which the remaining amount has been reduced from 1000 ml to 800 ml. This maintains the sign protruding outward from the information presentation device 10 to an extent that corresponds to the remaining amount. In other words, the area of ​​the sign that corresponds to the remaining amount is made visible.

[0029] In S4, the control unit 11 determines whether the remaining amount of the consumable item, the remaining time until the event, or the distance to the destination received from the information processing device 20 has reached 0. If it is determined that it has reached 0, the operation procedure of the processing of the presentation system 1 ends. If it is determined that it has not reached 0, the control unit 11 transmits a request to the information processing device 20 to transmit the information, and the operation procedure of the processing of the presentation system 1 returns to S2.

[0030] In the above, the embodiment has been described based on the drawings and examples, but it should be noted that those skilled in the art can easily make various modifications and corrections based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and corrections are included in the scope of the present disclosure. For example, the functions included in each means, etc. can be rearranged so as not to be logically inconsistent, and multiple means, etc. can be combined into one or divided.

[0031] For example, the control unit 21 of the information processing device 20 may generate interest information related to a pet such as a dog or a cat based on an image captured by a camera capturing the behavior of the pet. The control unit 21 detects the number of times that the pet approaches an automatic pet feeder or an automatic pet water dispenser, and the greater the number of times, the higher the score that is added as a degree of interest in the food or water replenished in the automatic feeder or the automatic water dispenser.

[0032] For example, the control unit 21 of the information processing device 20 may transmit, to the user's terminal device 30, information indicating an object of interest that is transmitting information about the remaining amount, remaining time, or remaining distance to the information display device 10. This allows the user to know what the information display device 10 is displaying about the remaining amount, remaining time, or remaining distance. [Explanation of symbols]

[0033] 1 Presentation System 10 Information presentation device 11 Control section 12 Storage section 13. Communications Department 14 Sign section 20 Information processing device 21 Control section 22 Memory section 23 Communications Department 30 Terminal Equipment 40 Network

Claims

[Claim 1] The Communications Department and A sign unit that makes a sign visible; a control unit that receives information on a remaining amount of an object of interest of a user through the communication unit and causes the marker unit to display an area of ​​the marker corresponding to the remaining amount, Information presentation device.

Images