Product generation process assistance system and operation method thereof

Abstract

To provide a system for paying assistance money and providing a material proving the payment of assistance money as a ticket with a product profit reception right to a user member in a product generation process.SOLUTION: A product generation process assistance system comprises: a generation process assistance management server; and a user terminal. The generation process assistance management server includes a ticket issuance management unit that issues a material proving payment of given assistance money during a given period from a system operation expense containing fees of user members as a ticket with a product profit reception right, presents the material to be browsable and selectable on a web page to the user members, and provides the ticket to a user member who has applied for acquisition, and a ticket management unit that, when the user member who has acquired the ticket desires purchasing of the ticket during a desired period, passes the ticket with money recorded in the ticket to the user member.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a product creation process support system and an operating method thereof, and in particular to a product creation process support system and an operating method thereof that provides user members with documents certifying that they have paid a support fee of any amount at any time for the product creation process using system operating fees, including membership fees, in the form of a ticket with the right to receive a product benefit. [Background technology]

[0002] In primary industries such as growing crops, cultivating marine resources, and raising livestock, after a period in which no revenue is earned from cultivation or raising has passed, revenue can finally be earned by selling the results of the cultivated crops and marine resources. Similarly, in secondary industries such as manufacturing, revenue can be earned from products that are only completed after a long process, such as the production of fermented foods and alcoholic beverages, which require long preparation times, and the production of craft products, which require a lot of time and effort. Many of these products that undergo a long process are easily affected by environmental factors such as the weather, and the quality of the finished product is easily affected by the raw materials used. Furthermore, in countries and regions where natural disasters are frequent, there is a high risk that natural disasters will cause great damage during the production process, and that the desired quality of the product will not be obtained.

[0003] For this reason, people in the above professions must continue the long creative process without any income and with the anxiety of whether the end product will be completed as expected. From another perspective, this situation also applies to the creation of artworks, where creators of artworks must continue the creative process without income unless they can find a sponsor, until the finished product is recognized as an artwork and they can earn income. In order to reduce some of the anxiety and risk involved in the production process, methods have been proposed to provide financial support for the process.

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses a recruitment system that sets the number of units to be recruited that meets the support conditions to provide support for the production costs of product production, and confirms the establishment of the conditions when it is determined that the number of units has been reached. This system accepts applications for products for which production support services are to be provided, and provides support for product production by having members of the public provide a set amount for the product, and it is described that, since the amount provided by the applicant is linked to the product, an individual contract is made with each applicant.

[0005] In the support method using the system described in Patent Document 1, the product creator is under a great deal of pressure from the applicants they are supporting to ensure that the product is completed, and the applicants who are providing support must anxiously watch over the product to make sure that their support is not wasted. Therefore, there is a need for a system that allows creators of products to receive support funds without being tied too much to the provider, and that allows supporters to support the product with anticipation by allowing them to enjoy a portion of the profits or added value that the product provides, without the anxiety that the results of the support will not be satisfactory. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] JP 2001-256363 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The present invention has been made in consideration of the problems with the conventional product creation process support systems described above, and an object of the present invention is to provide a product creation process support system and an operating method thereof which provides user members with documentation proving that they have paid a support fee of any amount at any time for the product creation process using system operating fees, including membership fees, in the form of a ticket with the right to receive product benefits. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The product creation process support system of the present invention, which has been made to achieve the above-mentioned object, comprises a creation process support management server and a user terminal connected via a network, and provides a predetermined amount of funding in advance for the creation process of an object to be supported, and when a predetermined profit or added value is obtained from the product of the object to be supported, provides a ticket with the right to receive the product benefit, which is a part of the profit or added value obtained.The creation process support management server issues a document proving that a user member has paid a support amount of any amount at any time from system operating expenses including membership fees, as a ticket with the right to receive the product benefit, and presents the ticket to the user member so that it can be viewed and selected on a Web page, and provides the ticket as electronic data or printed matter to a user member who has applied to acquire the ticket or a user member who has won a lottery after applying to acquire the ticket, and a ticket delivery management unit which delivers the ticket to the user member at the amount recorded on the ticket when the user member who has acquired the ticket wishes to purchase the ticket at a desired time.

[0009] It is preferable that the generation process assistance management server further has a user holder management unit that stores and manages information regarding the tickets acquired and held by the user member for each user member, and that the user holder management unit manages the number of tickets held by the user member so that it does not exceed a predetermined specified number.

[0010] If a user member wishes to cancel the ticket, it is preferable that the generation process support management server cancels the user member's possession of the ticket when the user member returns the ticket, and presents the returned ticket on a new web page for viewing and selection.

[0011] When a user member wishes to sell the ticket, it is preferable that the generation process support management server, upon receiving the return of the ticket from the user member and confirming a deposit into a designated account from another user member who wishes to purchase the ticket, provides the returned ticket to the other user member who wishes to purchase the ticket and instructs the transfer of money from the designated account to the account of the user member who wishes to sell.

[0012] It is preferable that the generation process support management server further has a matching support unit that provides ticket information of user members who wish to sell their tickets on a Web page, accepts information of user members who wish to purchase the tickets, provides information of the user members who wish to purchase the tickets on the Web page, and supports finding user members to sell the tickets to.

[0013] It is preferable that the creation process support management server further has a creation process information providing unit that obtains information regarding the status of the creation process of the supported object from the creator of the supported object to whom the support money has been paid, and provides the information to user members, including user members who have obtained the ticket proving that they have paid the support money.

[0014] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the operating method of the product creation process support system according to the present invention comprises a creation process support management server and a user terminal connected via a network, provides a predetermined amount of funding in advance for the creation process of an object to be supported, and, when a predetermined profit or added value is obtained from the object to be supported, provides a ticket with the right to receive the result-benefit, which is a part of the profit or added value obtained, characterized in having the steps of paying a support fee of any amount at any time using system operating expenses including membership fees of user members, issuing a document proving that the support fee has been paid as a ticket with the right to receive the result-benefit, presenting the document to user members so that they can be viewed and selected on a Web page, and providing the ticket as electronic data or printed matter to user members who have applied to acquire the ticket or to user members who have won a lottery after applying to acquire the ticket, and, when the user member who has acquired the ticket wishes to purchase the ticket at a desired time, handing over the ticket to the user member for the amount recorded on the ticket. Effect of the Invention

[0015] According to the present invention, the system and method for supporting the process of creating a product allow the creator of the product to receive at least a part of the funds necessary to create the product as a grant before or during the process of creating the product, and thus the creator can work on creating the product with less financial anxiety. Furthermore, since the funds are grants and the creator is not obligated to provide a product, and when a certain profit or added value is obtained from the product, the creator can concentrate on creating the product without feeling pressured to complete the product as expected.

[0016] According to the product creation process support system and its operating method of the present invention, the system operator can pay any amount as support at any time from system operating expenses, including user membership fees, so that, unlike investment, the product creation process can be supported without incurring any special risks in normal business operations.

[0017] In addition, according to the product creation process support system and its operating method of the present invention, user members can obtain the tickets they want simply by paying a membership fee, and the acquired tickets can be purchased and used at any time. Therefore, for example, once the product is completed and it is confirmed that the expected profits will be obtained, the tickets can be used to receive the product benefits from the creator. However, if the production is unsuccessful and profits are not expected, the tickets can be canceled to avoid losses, allowing users to participate in product creation process support activities with a high expected profit value and no risk of loss.

[0018] Furthermore, according to the present invention, the product creation process support system and its operating method provide user members with information on the status of the product creation process obtained from the creator of the product for which they have provided financial support at any time, so that user members who have obtained a ticket corresponding to the product can share the information on the creation process while imagining future benefits from the product, feel familiar with the product and its creator, and are likely to be motivated to continue supporting it. Also, by viewing the information on the creation process, user members who have not obtained a ticket can feel familiar with the product, which makes them more likely to be motivated to support it and participate in new support. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram illustrating an overall configuration of a product creation process support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of ticket processing in a deliverable production process support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 11 is a diagram illustrating a result return by tickets in a case where the result generation process according to an embodiment of the present invention proceeds smoothly. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating loss avoidance due to ticket cancellation when the deliverable production process is unsuccessful according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5]FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an increase in added value due to holding a ticket after completion of a deliverable according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] 1 is a diagram illustrating ticket buying and selling between user members in a product creation process support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] 1 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a Web page provided to user members in a product creation process support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 8] 11 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for ticket processing in a product creation process assistance system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] 1 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for canceling a ticket according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] 4 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for buying and selling tickets according to an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0020] Next, a specific example of an embodiment for carrying out the product creation process support system and its operating method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an outline of the overall configuration of a product creation process support system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0021] 1, a product creation process support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a creation process support management server 10 and a user terminal 30, which are connected via a network 5 such as the Internet. The number of user terminals 30 is not limited, but is basically multiple.

[0022] The product creation process support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention is a system in which the operator of the creation process support management server 10 supports the creation of the supported object by paying a support fee of any amount at any time to the creator of the supported object using system operating costs including user member membership fees, and provides the user member through the creation process support management server 10 with a ticket that entitles him or her to receive the product benefit, which is a part of the profit or added value obtained, when a specified profit or added value is obtained from the product of the supported object.

[0023] More specifically, the product generation process support system 1 issues documents proving that a support fee of any amount has been paid at any time as a ticket with the right to receive the result-benefit, presents the ticket to user members for viewing and selection on a web page provided by the generation process support management server 10, provides the ticket to a user member who applies to acquire the ticket or a user member who wins a lottery after applying, and if a user member who has acquired a ticket wishes to purchase the ticket at a time when a result-benefit is expected depending on the status of the generation of the supported object, the ticket is handed over to the user member at the amount recorded on the ticket.

[0024] A user member who has purchased a ticket can apply for settlement of the ticket with the creator who received the support funds evidenced by the ticket and receive the total amount recorded on the ticket plus any profits from the performance.

[0025] The supported items here include various natural products such as agricultural, marine, and livestock products, as well as man-made products such as artworks, industrial products, and buildings, and are not limited to goods but also include various projects such as the development of new businesses, which are the subject of support funds. Here, creation refers to the general act of completing the supported items into a final product, such as cultivation, breeding, and production. Creators are those who create the supported items, and include those working in the agriculture, fisheries, livestock, forestry, industry, and construction industries, as well as artists and project workers, depending on the supported items.

[0026] The creation of a support object does not always go smoothly. Particularly in industries that deal with nature, the end product is not always obtained as expected. In this regard, the ticket provided by the end product creation process support system 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention can be cancelled, and in the event that the creation of the support object is unsuccessful, no benefit of the outcome is expected, or a loss occurs, the user member can avoid the loss by cancelling the acquired ticket.

[0027] In this way, by paying the annual membership fee, user members can obtain a ticket that comes with the right to receive the profits from the performance without paying any additional costs. After obtaining the ticket, if the profits from the performance are expected, the user can purchase the acquired ticket and settle the payment, thereby ensuring that the profits from the performance are received as the difference between the price, and if the profits from the performance are not expected or a loss will be incurred, the ticket can be canceled to avoid the loss. Therefore, the product creation process support system 1 is a system that makes it possible for users to easily participate in supporting creators without worrying about the risks.

[0028] Furthermore, since the tickets provided by the product creation process support system 1 can be sold to other user members, when a user member suddenly needs funds, he or she can sell the ticket at a price agreed upon with other user members who wish to purchase it. Since there is no cost to the user member to obtain a ticket, acquiring and selling the ticket is also a way to make a profit.

[0029] As shown in Figure 1, the generation process support management server 10 includes a control unit 11, an input / output unit 12, a memory unit 13, a display unit 14, a user registration unit 15, a ticket issuance management unit 16, a ticket delivery management unit 17, a user holder management unit 18, a matching support unit 19, a ticket buying and selling management unit 20, and a generation process information provision unit 21.

[0030] The user registration unit 15 registers a user who wishes to use the product creation process support system 1 as a user member, and when registering as a user member, saves and manages basic information of the user transmitted from the user terminal 30. The basic information of the user includes information such as the user's name and email address, as well as a password for authenticating the user's login. When a user registers, user registration unit 15 issues a user member ID unique to the user and notifies the user of the user member ID, and stores the issued user member ID in storage unit 13 in association with basic information about the user.

[0031] The ticket issuance management unit 16 issues documents certifying that the system operator has paid support money to the creator of the supported object at any time and in any amount using system operating costs including user member membership fees, as tickets with the right to receive the results-related benefits, presents the tickets to user members so that they can be viewed and selected on a Web page provided by the creation process support management server 10, and provides the tickets as electronic data or printed matter to user members who have applied to obtain a ticket or to user members who have applied to obtain a ticket and then won a lottery. The ticket issuing management unit 16 stores information on which user member the ticket was provided to in association with the provision of the ticket. This ticket provision information is passed to the user holder management unit 18 and is also used for managing tickets held by each user member.

[0032] A user member can purchase and settle the ticket he / she has acquired at any time to obtain the result benefit, or can cancel and return it to the creation process support management server 10. In other words, acquiring a ticket means that the user has exclusive possession of the ticket and can decide on a course of action, but the ticket does not become the property of the user member unless the ticket is purchased, so the user holds the ticket in a state in which it cannot be used for settlement. Only the user member who has acquired the ticket can purchase a ticket and obtain the result benefit. In addition, if the support object is something like a work of art, whose assessed value increases over time after the product is completed, the added value of the acquired ticket may increase just by holding it, and if there is another user member who wants to purchase the ticket, the acquired ticket can also be sold.

[0033] The payment of the support money certified by this ticket is made by the operating company or the like that manages the creation process support management server 10, and the support money is paid out of the system operating expenses, including the membership fees of the user members. In other words, the funds for the support money are contributed from a predetermined budget or surplus funds within the system operating expenses, and no new funds are collected from the user members to pay the support money, so there is no financial burden on the user members. The type of support object to be supported, the amount of the support money, and the timing of payment of the support money are freely decided by the management of the creation process support management server 10.

[0034] The ticket issuance management unit 16 presents the record of the support payment to the user member on a web page, and also issues a ticket that serves as a document certifying the record of the support payment, which is posted on the web page so that the user member can select it. A ticket is issued so that one ticket corresponds to one support payment, but in some embodiments, multiple tickets may be issued to correspond to one support payment by dividing the support money. When issuing multiple tickets, when there is no application for a previously issued ticket, or when there are tickets for which applications are being accepted, the ticket issuance management unit 16 provides information on these tickets in a list display together with tickets for which the acquirer is not yet determined.

[0035] The ticket issuance management unit 16 displays and provides a list of tickets whose acquirer has not been confirmed, but in the product creation process support system 1, tickets acquired by user members may be canceled, and canceled tickets are returned, so the ticket issuance management unit 16 provides information about canceled tickets on the Web page as newly acquireable tickets. Accordingly, the ticket information stored in association with the canceled user member is deleted or updated as canceled.

[0036] In addition, the issued ticket can be sold to another user member. In this case, when the sale is established, the ticket issuance management unit 16 deletes or updates the ticket information stored in association with the user member who sold the ticket as "sold," and stores the sold ticket information in association with the user member who purchased the ticket.

[0037] There is not always one user member who wishes to acquire a ticket presented on a Web page. In the embodiment, the ticket issuance management unit 16 sets an acceptance period for acquisition applications for each ticket, conducts a lottery among user members who submit ticket acquisition applications during the acceptance period, and determines the winner as the user member who will acquire the ticket. Even if the lottery is conducted fairly, there may be a bias in the winning ticket, resulting in a sense of unfairness between user members who have a high probability of winning and user members who have a low probability of winning. Therefore, in the embodiment, a limit is set on the number of tickets that a user member can acquire and hold, and eligibility to participate in the lottery is restricted based on information from the user holder management unit 18 described later.

[0038] When a user member who has acquired a ticket wishes to purchase the ticket at a desired time, the ticket delivery management unit 17 accepts the user member's ticket purchase application, and delivers the ticket to the user member upon receiving payment of the ticket purchase fee from the user member. In this embodiment, the ticket purchase fee is the same as the amount of the support money written on the ticket. If additional costs such as transfer fees are incurred in paying the support money, the additional costs may be included in the ticket purchase fee. Furthermore, the ticket delivery management unit 17 may perform processing such as discounting the initial ticket purchase fee for new user members in order to attract new user members.

[0039] In the product creation process support system 1, a blockchain mechanism may be used to leave a transaction record when the ticket is delivered. This proves that the ticket is issued legitimately and that the user member is the legitimate owner, so that fraudulent claims using counterfeit tickets can be prevented when settling the purchased ticket. When using a blockchain, the ticket delivery management unit 17 includes means for processing the blockchain, such as encryption processing and sharing information with the user terminal 30.

[0040] The user holder management unit 18 stores and manages information about tickets acquired and held by user members for each user member in the storage unit 13. The user holder management unit 18 also manages the number of tickets held by a user member so that it does not exceed a predetermined number. When a user member finds a ticket that they like, they apply to purchase it, and if they win the lottery, they acquire the new ticket. As the number of tickets acquired by user members increases in this way, it becomes necessary to manage them appropriately.

[0041] The user holder management unit 18 manages how many tickets each user member currently owns, and provides this information to be displayed in a user holder information field called "My Holder" on a Web page. In the embodiment, My Holder displays a list of tickets, and also displays the result benefit or outlook for the support object corresponding to each ticket so that the status of each result object can be seen at a glance.

[0042] There is no cost for simply holding a ticket, and tickets can be cancelled or sold, so the more tickets you hold, the more advantageous it is. If multiple user members apply for one ticket, a lottery is held, and user members who never win the lottery may lose motivation to continue paying membership fees. To reduce this sense of unfairness, the product creation process support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention places a limit on the number of tickets each user member can hold, preventing tickets from being concentrated in the hands of some user members. In one embodiment, the number of tickets that a user member can hold is limited to 10.

[0043] The user holder management unit 18 monitors the number of tickets held by user members to ensure that it does not exceed the limit, and in one embodiment, provides the ticket issuance management unit 16 with a list of user members who hold tickets up to the limit, and manages the number of tickets so that user members included in the list are not included in the lottery draw if a lottery is held to acquire a ticket. Therefore, if a user member who already holds tickets up to the limit wishes to acquire a new ticket, he or she must first purchase, cancel, or sell one of the tickets he or she holds to another user member before applying to acquire the new ticket. In this way, when one of the tickets held by a user member is used, the user holder management unit 18 updates information regarding the tickets held by that user member.

[0044] A matching support unit 19 provides ticket information of user members who wish to sell their tickets on a Web page, and in response, receives information of user members who wish to purchase tickets, provides the information of user members who wish to purchase tickets on a Web page, and supports finding user members to whom tickets can be sold.

[0045] A user member who wishes to sell a ticket he or she owns transmits the desired selling price when applying to sell the ticket, and the matching support unit 19 provides the desired price together with the information of the ticket to be sold on a Web page. In response to this, if there is a purchase application from another user member who wants to purchase the ticket at the desired price, the matching support unit 19 provides information of the user member who wishes to purchase the ticket on a Web page. When there are multiple purchase applications within a certain acceptance period, the purchaser may be determined by lottery, but in the embodiment, like an auction, a user member who wishes to purchase a ticket also transmits the amount they are willing to purchase when applying to purchase, and the user member who offers the highest amount they are willing to purchase during the certain acceptance period is determined to be the purchaser.

[0046] There are two possible ways to buy and sell tickets: buying and selling an acquired ticket, and buying and selling a ticket that has already been acquired and then purchased. Acquired tickets are bought and sold as acquired tickets, and purchased tickets are bought and sold, so that the status of the tickets does not change. For this reason, the matching support unit 19 guides the user member to set the price without including the support amount written on the ticket when buying and selling an acquired ticket, and to set the price including the support amount written on the ticket when buying and selling a ticket that has already been acquired and then purchased.

[0047] When the ticket buying and selling management unit 20 determines the seller and buyer user members and the buying and selling price, it requests the selling user member to return the provided ticket and instructs the purchasing user member to transfer the ticket purchase amount to a designated account managed by the generation process support management server 10. When the ticket is returned and the money is transferred to the designated account, it provides the returned ticket to the purchasing user member and outputs an instruction to transfer the received ticket purchase amount from the designated account to the registered financial institution account of the selling user member as the selling amount of the ticket. In the case of buying and selling a purchased ticket, the actual owner of the ticket changes, so the ticket buying and selling management unit 20 records the change of the ticket owner. At this time, the mechanism of the blockchain may be used to record the change of the ticket owner.

[0048] The generation process information providing unit 21 obtains generation process information on the status of the generation process of the supported object from the creator of the supported object to whom the support money has been paid, and provides the obtained generation process information to user members, including user members who have obtained a ticket proving that the support money has been paid. For example, if the supported object is rice, a farmer who grows the rice transmits images of the rice growth status and comments describing the growth status as generation process information to the generation process support management server 10. The generation process information providing unit 21 provides the received images and comments to the user members via a Web page. User members, particularly user members who have obtained a ticket describing the support money corresponding to the cultivation of this rice, can watch over the rice while hoping that it will grow well and produce a sufficient harvest in the fall. If the supported object has a brand, it is expected that the user members will easily develop an attachment to the brand during this generation process.

[0049] The input / output unit 12 of the creation process support management server 10 includes a communication means for inputting and outputting data to and from the user terminal 30 via the network 5, and for receiving information on the status of the creation process of the supported object from the creator of the supported object. The input / output unit 12 also includes a keyboard and a mouse for inputting characters to the creation process support management server 10. The storage unit 13 stores various management data such as registration information such as basic information about users and information about issued tickets, as well as a control program for controlling the generation process assistance management server 10. The storage unit 13 is realized by a storage medium such as a hard disk, and may be configured as an external memory device when there is a large amount of information to be stored.

[0050] The display unit 14 displays management information such as records of support payment and information on issued tickets, and, if necessary, programs such as a control program for controlling the production process support management server 10. The display unit 14 is implemented as a liquid crystal display device or the like. The control unit 11 controls each component of the creation process assistance management server 10 in accordance with a control program stored in the storage unit 13 so as to perform the functions described above.

[0051] The user terminal 30 is a terminal used by a user member to register as a member and to use various services provided by the product creation process support system 1, such as applying for a ticket or canceling a ticket. The user terminal 30 includes a control unit 31, an input / output unit 32, a storage unit 33, a display unit , and a ticket management unit .

[0052] The ticket management unit 35 stores and manages information about the purchased ticket in the storage unit 33. When the product generation process support system 1 uses a blockchain for ticket management, the ticket management unit 35 includes a means for processing the blockchain, such as encryption processing and information sharing with the generation process support management server 10 and other user terminals 30.

[0053] The input / output unit 32 includes a communication means for transmitting / receiving basic information when a user newly registers as a member, receiving ticket-related information provided from a Web page, etc. The input / output unit 32 also includes a keyboard or touch panel for inputting the user's basic information into the user terminal 30, and a pointing device such as a mouse for selecting data to be displayed on the display screen. The storage unit 33 stores various electronic data such as basic information about the user and ticket information, as well as a control program for controlling the user terminal 30.

[0054] The display unit 34 displays screen data for using the product creation process support system 1, such as information on a Web page provided by the creation process support management server 10, and, if necessary, programs such as a control program. The control unit 31 controls each component of the user terminal 30 to perform the above-mentioned functions in accordance with a control program stored in the storage unit 33. The user terminal 30 is realized by an electronic device such as a personal computer, a tablet terminal, or a smartphone.

[0055] Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of ticket processing in a product creation process support system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Note that in Fig. 2, tickets are distinguished according to their status by using symbols 40 for a generic name or an issued ticket, 41 for an acquired ticket, and 42 for a purchased ticket.

[0056] Referring to Fig. 2, first, as shown in (1), the administrator who manages the creation process support management server 10 pays support money at any time and in any amount using system operating costs including membership fees of user members for any supported object 43. The administrator can freely select the supported object 43, but objects that take a long time to create and are susceptible to various influences from the natural environment are often more beneficial to the creator of the supported object 43. Depending on the embodiment, the support recipient may be selected by referring to the support objects 43 that are most desired to be supported through a survey of user members.

[0057] Information on the time of payment of the support money, the amount, and the support object 43 are stored in the creation process support management server 10 as a record of the support money payment, and is issued as a ticket 40 proving the record of the support money payment and presented to the user member on a web page provided by the creation process support management server 10. A user member who wishes to acquire a ticket 40 presented by browsing the Web page transmits a ticket acquisition application to the generation process assistance management server 10 from the user terminal 30 as shown by (2).

[0058] The generation process assistance management server 10 checks the user members who have applied to acquire tickets during the specified application acceptance period, and if only one user member has applied to acquire tickets, it selects that user member, but if multiple user members have applied to acquire tickets, it holds a lottery to determine the winner as the ticket acquirer, and provides the ticket 40 to the ticket acquirer as shown in (3). Accordingly, in the generation process assistance management server 10, the ticket 40 is removed from the list of issued but unacquired tickets 40, and is added as an acquired ticket 41 to the user holder of the user member who acquired the ticket.

[0059] Creation process information for the support object 43 corresponding to the ticket 40 is provided as appropriate by the creator of the support object 43, so the creation process support management server 10 receives the creation process information and provides it for viewing as appropriate via a Web page. A user member who has acquired a ticket 40 can check the generation process information when necessary, and if he or she wishes to purchase the acquired ticket 41 at any time, for example when the end product of the supported object 43 has been obtained and a specified profit or added value has been determined, he or she can send a purchase application to the generation process support management server 10 as shown in (4) and also pay the purchase cost of the acquired ticket 41.

[0060] When the creation process support management server 10 confirms the payment of the purchase cost of the acquired ticket 41, it delivers the ticket 40 to the user member as shown in (5). After this, the user member can request settlement at any time by sending a settlement application for the purchased ticket 42 to the creator of the supported object 43 corresponding to the purchased ticket 42 as shown in (6). The creator who receives the settlement application confirms that the user member is the legitimate purchaser of the purchased ticket 42, and as shown in (7), returns the ticket price equivalent to the support money plus the profit from the achievement, which is part of the profit obtained from the outcome of the supported object 43, to the user member who requested settlement.

[0061] In order to facilitate confirmation as to whether the user member who has requested the settlement of a purchased ticket 42 is a legitimate purchaser, a record of the transfer of the ticket 40 may be stored in the generation process support management server 10 at the time of transfer of the ticket 40 shown in (5) and may be provided upon request from the creator. In addition, when a blockchain is used, the record of the transfer of the ticket can also be confirmed from the blockchain, so it may be possible to confirm whether the user member is a legitimate purchaser based on the record in the blockchain.

[0062] FIG. 2 shows the process flow when the generation of the support object 43 proceeds smoothly and the specified result-benefit is obtained. However, if the generation of the support object 43 does not proceed smoothly and the result-benefit is not obtained or a loss occurs, the user member can avoid unnecessary expenditure by sending a cancellation request instead of a purchase request as shown in FIG. 2 (4) and returning the acquired ticket 41.

[0063] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a result return by tickets when the result generation process according to the embodiment of the present invention proceeds smoothly. Creators such as farmers, fishermen, and livestock farmers need to prepare seeds, fertilizer, eggs, feed, and the like to generate the supported object, and expenses 50 are required to purchase these. Usually, these expenses 50 cannot be recovered until the product of the supported object is completed and sold. However, in the product generation process support system 1 according to the embodiment, the operator of the product generation process support system 1 pays support money 51 to the creator at any time, so the creator can use support money 51 as part of expenses 50.

[0064] On the other hand, the system operator issues a ticket 40 in response to the payment of the support money 51 through the generation process support management server 10. The issued ticket 40 is provided to a user member who wishes to obtain it, and the provided ticket 40 is held by the user member as an obtained ticket 41.

[0065] If the supported object is generated smoothly through generation process 56, it will be completed as a result. If it is sold at selling price 55, income of selling price 55 will be earned, and the income of selling price 55 minus expenses 50 will be profit 54 obtained from the supported object. The majority of profit 54 is received by the creator as creator profit 52, but part of profit 54 is used as return for support money 51 as result profit 53. Results profit 53 is based on rules such as the ratio or amount agreed upon between the creator and the system operator when paying support money 51.

[0066] A user member can hold an acquired ticket 41 for any period of time, and can therefore purchase an acquired ticket 41 after checking the profit 53, for example, when the supported object is generated smoothly and profit 54 is confirmed. After purchasing a ticket, the user member can settle at any time using the purchased ticket 42. To purchase a ticket, the user member pays a purchase cost equivalent to the support money 51, but when the purchased ticket 42 is settled, the ticket purchase cost is returned plus the profit 53, so that the user member can obtain an income equivalent to the profit 53.

[0067] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating loss avoidance caused by ticket cancellation when the deliverable generation process is unsuccessful according to an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 4, the creator also needs to pay a cost 50 to create the supported object, and part of the cost 50 is covered by the support money 51, just like in FIG. 3. Also, tickets 40 are issued in response to the payment of the support money 51, and the tickets 40 are provided to user members who wish to obtain them. FIG. 4 differs from FIG. 3 in that the generation does not go smoothly in the generation process 56 of the supported object. If the generation does not go smoothly and the product is not of good quality, the selling price 55 will not be the expected value, and it may end up being less than the cost 50. In this case, the difference between the selling price 55 and the cost 50 is the loss 57.

[0068] If a user member who has an acquired ticket 41 confirms that he or she will not receive any profit 53 after the generation process 56 has passed, he or she can cancel the acquired ticket 41 and avoid any loss without incurring any expenses. In this case, the issued ticket 40 will not be liquidated, and the support money 51 will remain paid to the creator, and the creator's loss will be reduced by the amount of the support money 51.

[0069] FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining an increase in added value due to holding a ticket after completion of a deliverable according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figures 3 and 4 show examples of supported items that are sold when the end product is obtained, but if the supported item is a work of art, the value may change over time from the time the end product is completed. Figure 5 shows an example of such a work of art.

[0070] In the case of Figure 5, the creator needs to pay a cost 50 to create the supported object, and part of the cost 50 is covered by a support grant 51, and a ticket 40 is issued upon payment of the support grant 51 and provided to an interested user member, just as in the cases of Figures 3 and 4. In the case of an artistic work, when the work is completed through the creation process 56, an assessed value 59 is obtained at that point. The difference obtained by subtracting the cost 50 from the assessed value 59 is the added value 58 due to the completion of the supported object. A part of the added value 58 corresponds to the outcome benefit 53.

[0071] For example, if a creator sets a selling price for a work of art, and a buyer appears, the work is recognized as being worth that price. Also, if a work of art is exhibited at an exhibition, its value may be recognized by experts. As a work of art becomes more well-known and popular, its assessed value may increase. If the profit from the sale 53 in relation to the support money 51 is determined as a ratio to the added value 58, the value of the ticket 40 will also increase as the assessed value 59 increases.

[0072] Thus, a user member who has acquired a ticket 40 corresponding to such support money 51 for an artwork can watch the evolution of the assessed value 59 of the artwork while holding the acquired ticket 41. If necessary, the user member can purchase the acquired ticket 41 at a desired time and liquidate it to obtain the profit 53 at that time. In addition, although not shown in Fig. 5, the acquired ticket 41 can be sold to another user member who wishes to acquire it, at a price mutually agreed upon, in anticipation of a future price increase.

[0073] FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining ticket buying and selling between user members in the product creation process support system according to the embodiment of the present invention. The process is the same as that described with reference to FIG. 2 up to the point where the generation process assistance management server 10 posts the ticket 40 issued in response to the support payment on a Web page and provides it to the user member who applied to acquire the ticket.

[0074] In the case of a support object that has a long generation process, it takes a long time from when the ticket is acquired until the result of the acquisition can be profited. In this case, it is possible to sell the acquired ticket 41 to another member user if there is a buyer. A user member who wishes to sell an acquired ticket 41 sends a selling request to the generation process support management server 10 as shown in (3). In accordance with the accepted selling request, the generation process support management server 10 posts information about the acquired ticket 41, including the desired selling price, on a web page for matching to support buying and selling, and discloses it to other user members. In response, a user member who wishes to purchase the acquired ticket 41 sends a purchasing request to the generation process support management server 10, including the available purchase price, as shown in (4).

[0075] The production process assistance management server 10 presents information on user members who have made purchase applications during a certain acceptance period on a web page, and after the end of the certain acceptance period, determines the purchaser of the acquired tickets 41 by lottery or by the user member who has offered the highest purchase price. In another embodiment, a user member who wishes to sell may specify a purchaser from among the user members who have made purchase applications to determine the ticket purchaser.

[0076] Once the ticket purchaser has been decided, the generation process support management server 10 deletes or hides the information on the sale of the acquired ticket 41 from the web page. Furthermore, when the purchase price is paid from the user member wishing to purchase to the designated account of the management agency as shown in (5), the generation process support management server 10 outputs an instruction to transfer the received ticket purchase price from the designated account to the registered financial institution account of the user member wishing to sell as the sales amount for the acquired ticket 41. Once the purchase price for the acquired ticket 41 has been transferred, the generation process support management server 10 changes the provision destination of the ticket to the user member wishing to purchase as shown in (6). Ticket trading between user members is also possible for purchased tickets 42. In this case, too, the ticket purchaser is determined by the processing of the generation process support management server 10, and the purchase price is paid via a designated account.

[0077] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of a Web page provided to a user member in the product creation process support system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 7, a ticket information providing section 61 and a user membership section 64 are displayed on a creation process support Web page 60 provided by a product creation process support system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0078] The ticket information provision field 61 presents information on the issued ticket 40 that has not yet been acquired by the user member, among the information on the issued ticket 40 that indicates the record of the support money paid by the administrator who is the manager of the generation process support management server 10. The information on the issued ticket 40 displayed includes the support recipient, the support money, the support money payment date and time, the support theme, etc., and a code 62 of the issued ticket 40 associated with the record of these purchases is also displayed. The code 62 is expressed as a number or a character string that is assigned as a unique code 62 for the ticket when the ticket is issued, and is information stored in the memory unit 13 of the generation process support management server 10 so that information related to the ticket 40 can be extracted by inputting the code 62 as a key. In the embodiment, at least the support recipient, the support money, the support money payment date and time, and the code 62 are displayed on each ticket 40.

[0079] In the ticket information section 61, a ticket acquisition application section 63 is displayed next to the ticket code 62. The information on tickets 40 presented in the ticket information section 61 is categorized by the field of support, such as <agriculture>, <fisheries>, <livestock industry>, etc., so that user members can easily determine whether or not there is a ticket 40 they desire. Also, since the expected time when the deliverables are obtained differs for each support theme, the expected time when the deliverables are obtained may also be stated, although this is not shown in FIG. 7.

[0080] When a user member viewing the generation process assistance Web page 60 finds a desired ticket 40, he or she selects and submits the ticket acquisition application field 63 for the desired ticket 40, and information about the user member wishing to acquire the ticket is sent to the generation process assistance management server 10. The ticket information provision field 61 also displays the number of user members who have submitted ticket acquisition applications for each ticket 40.

[0081] The user member column 64 displays different information for each user member, and information specific to each user member is displayed. In the example of Fig. 7, the user member column 64 displays a user member information column 65 and a user holder information column 66. The user member information field 65 displays the user member name, information from the previous login, etc. The user member name may be displayed as a nickname. The user holder information field 66 displays the maximum number of tickets that one user member can hold, 10, and below that displays a list of the tickets 40 held by the user member.

[0082] In the example of Fig. 7, data for six tickets 40 held is displayed on each line. Each line displays a code 62, an up, down, or diagonal arrow, and a number in percentage. The up or down arrow and number indicate what ratio the profit from the achievement will be to the support money when the generation process of the support object associated with the ticket 40 indicated by the respective ticket code 62 is completed. The diagonal arrow and number are also indicated as an upward diagonal arrow if the generation process of the associated support object is in progress and the generation status is going well, and as a downward diagonal arrow if the generation status is not going well, and the number indicates what ratio the profit from the achievement expected at this point will be to the support money.

[0083] This allows user members to grasp at a glance the generation status of the support objects corresponding to each ticket 40. In addition, by clicking on the magnifying glass icon between the icon and arrow of each ticket 40, further detailed information on that ticket 40 is displayed. The detailed information includes generation process information. This allows user members to check the latest generation status of support objects related to the tickets 40 they own.

[0084] 7 is merely one example, and the creation process support Web page 60 and the display contents may be of any type as long as a record of the support money paid and management information of the user member's personal ticket 40 are provided. For example, the ticket information provision section 61 and the user member section 64 may each be displayed as an independent Web page.

[0085] FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of ticket processing in the deliverable creation process support system according to the embodiment of the present invention. 8, in step S800, the creation process support management server 10 issues a document certifying the record of the support money paid in advance as a ticket 40 and presents it to the user member on a web page. By referring to this web page, the user member can view information on the ticket 40 that has been issued by the creation process support management server 10 and has not yet been acquired by any user member.

[0086] When a user member finds a ticket 40 that he or she likes, he or she transmits an application for acquiring the ticket 40 from the user terminal 30 to the creation process assistance management server 10 in step S810. When a certain acceptance period ends, the generation process support management server 10 holds a lottery among user members who submitted an application to acquire a ticket 40 during this acceptance period to determine the ticket acquirer (step S820). If the application for acquisition is from only one user member, that person is determined as the ticket acquirer. When holding the lottery, the generation process support management server 10 refers to the number of tickets 40 currently held by each user member, and controls the lottery so that user members who hold 10 tickets 40 in response to a limit on the number of tickets they hold, for example a limit of 10 tickets, are excluded from the lottery. Once the ticket acquirer is determined, a notification is sent to the determined user member that they have won the lottery to acquire a ticket.

[0087] Next, the target ticket 40 is provided to the user member who has decided to acquire it (paragraph S830). The provision of the ticket 40 is executed by sending it to the user member in the form of electronic data, but if the user member desires, the ticket 40 can be created in print form and delivered to the user member by mail or the like. In response to the provision of the ticket 40, the creation process assistance management server 10 adds and updates the information of the ticket 40 acquired by the user member in the user holder in step S840. This allows the user member to check the information of the acquired ticket 40 in the user holder information field 66 on the Web page.

[0088] When a user member who holds a ticket 40 wishes to purchase the acquired ticket 41, for example when the outcome benefit of the support object corresponding to the ticket 40 has been determined, the user member sends a purchase request for the ticket 40 to the generation process support management server 10 from the user terminal 30 (step S850). When the purchase price for the ticket 40 is paid by the user member, the generation process assistance management server 10 performs a delivery process for the ticket 40 in step S860 and updates the user holder information. In this embodiment, the status of the newly delivered ticket 40 in the ticket information included in the user member's user holder is changed from "Acquired by user member" to "Purchased by user member." Accordingly, the display of the user holder information column 66 on the Web page may be differentiated between the acquired ticket 41 and the purchased ticket 42.

[0089] FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for canceling a ticket according to an embodiment of the present invention. 9, a user member who wishes to cancel a ticket 40 transmits a ticket cancellation application from the user terminal 30 to the generation process assistance management server 10 in step S900.

[0090] Upon receiving the ticket cancellation request, the production process support management server 10 transmits a ticket return request to the user terminal 30 in step S910, and the ticket to be canceled is returned from the user terminal 30 to the production process support management server 10 (step S920). Next, in step S930, the creation process support management server 10 cancels the ticket 40 that is the subject of cancellation.

[0091] Cancellation of a ticket 40 is performed by deleting the information of the ticket 40 stored in association with the cancelled user member or updating it as cancelled. Accordingly, in step S940, the ticket information of the user holder is updated. That is, the cancelled ticket 40 is deleted from the user holder as cancelled, or a cancelled flag is set so that it is not displayed in the user holder information column 66. Finally, in step S950, the creation process assistance management server 10 presents the canceled ticket 40 on the Web page as a ticket 40 that can be newly acquired by other user members.

[0092] Fig. 10 is a flowchart for explaining the procedure for buying and selling tickets according to an embodiment of the present invention. In order to illustrate different user terminals 30 in Fig. 10, the terminal of the user member who wishes to sell tickets is represented as user terminal 30A, and the terminal of the user member who wishes to purchase tickets is represented as user terminal 30B.

[0093] 10, in step S1000, a user member who wishes to sell a ticket 40 that he or she owns transmits a ticket selling application from the user terminal 30A to the generation process assistance management server 10. The ticket selling application includes a desired selling price for the ticket 40 set by the user member who wishes to sell the ticket 40. The creation process support management server 10 presents information about the tickets 40 to be sold to the user member on a Web page (step S1010).

[0094] A user member who refers to the information of the ticket for sale 40 and wishes to purchase the ticket 40 transmits a ticket purchase application to the generation process assistance management server 10 from the user terminal 30B (step S1020). If there are no other ticket purchase applications within a certain acceptance period, the generation process assistance management server 10 determines the user member who submitted the ticket purchase application as the purchaser of the target ticket 40, and if there are other ticket purchase applications, the purchaser of the ticket 40 is determined by lottery or by the user member who has offered the highest purchase price for the ticket 40 (step S1030). Upon determining the purchaser of the ticket 40, a notification requesting payment of the purchase price of the ticket 40 may be sent to the user terminal 30B of the ticket purchaser along with a notification that the purchaser of the ticket 40 has been determined.

[0095] The purchase price of ticket 40 is not paid directly from the user member who purchases ticket 40 to the user member who sells ticket 40, but is paid through a designated account managed by the production process support management server 10. When the purchase price of ticket 40 is paid by the user member who purchases ticket 40, the production process support management server 10 confirms the receipt of the purchase price (step S1040), and based on that, outputs a remittance instruction to remit the deposited purchase amount as the sales price to the financial institution account of the user member who sold ticket 40. This causes the remittance of the sales price to be carried out. Although not shown in the figure, when the sale of the ticket 40 is completed, the creation process support management server 10 updates the user holders of the user member who sold the ticket 40 and the user member who purchased the ticket 40.

[0096] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and can be modified in various ways without departing from the technical scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0097] 1 Product Creation Process Support System 5. Network 10. Creation process support management server 11, 31 Control section 12, 32 Input / output section 13, 33 Storage section 14, 34 Display section 15 User Registration Section 16 Ticket Issuance Management Department 17 Ticket Delivery Management Department 18 User Holder Management Department 19 Matching Support Department 20 Ticket Sales Management Department 21 Generation process information provision unit 30 User terminals 35 Ticket Management Department 40 tickets (issued tickets) 41 Tickets (already acquired tickets) 42 Tickets (purchased tickets) 43 Support target items 50 cost 51 Support money 52 Creator's profit 53 Earnings 54 Profit 55 Selling price 56 Generation process 57 loss 58 Added value 59 Valuation 60 Creation Process Support Web Page 61 Ticket Information Column 62 Code 63 Ticket application form 64 User Membership Column 65 User Membership Information 66 User holder information field

Claims

1. A system comprising a creation process support management server and a user terminal connected via a network, which supports a predetermined amount of funds in advance for the creation process of a support object, and when a predetermined profit or added value is obtained from the result of the support object, provides a ticket with a right to receive a result profit that is a part of the profit or added value obtained, The generation process support management server includes: a ticket issuing and managing unit which issues documents certifying that a user member has paid any amount of support money at any time from system operating expenses including membership fees as tickets with the right to receive the benefits, presents the documents to user members so that they can view and select them on a web page, and provides the tickets as electronic data or printed matter to user members who have applied to obtain the tickets or to user members who have applied to obtain the tickets and then won a lottery; A product creation process support system characterized by having a ticket delivery management unit that delivers the ticket to a user member at the amount recorded on the ticket when the user member who has acquired the ticket wishes to purchase the ticket at a desired time.

2. The creation process assistance management server further includes a user holder management unit that stores and manages information about the tickets acquired and held by the user members for each user member, 2. The product creation process support system according to claim 1, wherein said user holder management section manages said number of tickets held by said user member so as not to exceed a predetermined number.

3. The product creation process support system described in claim 2, characterized in that if a user member wishes to cancel the ticket, the creation process support management server cancels the user member's possession of the ticket when the user member returns the ticket, and presents the returned ticket on a new web page for viewing and selection.

4. The product generation process support system described in claim 1, characterized in that when a user member wishes to sell the ticket, the generation process support management server, upon receiving the ticket from the user member and confirming a deposit into a designated account from another user member who wishes to purchase the ticket, provides the returned ticket to the other user member who wishes to purchase the ticket and instructs the transfer of money from the designated account to the account of the user member who wishes to sell.

5. The product generation process support system described in claim 4, characterized in that the generation process support management server further has a matching support unit that provides ticket information of user members who wish to sell the tickets they own on a web page, accepts information of user members who wish to purchase the tickets, provides information of the user members who wish to purchase the tickets on the web page, and supports finding user members to whom the tickets can be sold.

6. The product creation process support system described in claim 1, characterized in that the creation process support management server further has a creation process information providing unit that obtains information regarding the status of the creation process of the supported object from the creator of the supported object to whom the support money has been paid, and provides the information to user members including user members who have obtained the ticket proving that they have paid the support money.

7. A method of operating a system that includes a creation process support management server and a user terminal connected via a network, supports a creation process of a supported object with a predetermined amount of funds in advance, and, when a predetermined profit or added value is obtained from the result of the supported object, provides a ticket that entitles the user to receive a profit that is a part of the profit or added value obtained, a step of paying support funds of any amount at any time from system operating expenses including membership fees of user members; issuing documents evidencing the payment of said support money as tickets with the right to receive the performance benefits, presenting said tickets to user members so that they can be viewed and selected on a web page, and providing said tickets as electronic data or printed matter to user members who have applied to acquire said tickets or user members who have applied to acquire said tickets and then won a lottery; and if a user member who has acquired the ticket wishes to purchase the ticket at a desired time, delivering the ticket to the user member for the amount recorded on the ticket.

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