Information processing method, information processing device and program

Abstract

To provide an information processing method, an information processing device and a program capable of easily customizing a recipe in accordance with equipment and utensils owned by a user.SOLUTION: An information processing method includes the steps of: acquiring a first recipe including a plurality of blocks including first information indicating equipment and utensils to be used in a plurality of cooking steps; acquiring second information indicating equipment and utensils owned by a user and information indicating operating states of the equipment and the utensils indicated by the second information; generating a second recipe obtained by deleting, from the first recipe, blocks including equipment and utensils that are included in the first information but are not included in the second information and blocks including equipment and utensils having an operating state indicating being in operation; and outputting information indicating the second recipe to be displayed on a display.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 14

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to techniques for displaying recipes that use multiple appliances and tools. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, household electrical appliances and housing facilities are controlled according to operating conditions (control programs) prepared in advance by their manufacturers, etc. Patent Document 1 discloses a washing machine that allows a user to set operating conditions for washing that he or she desires to carry out.

[0003] However, in the above-mentioned conventional technology, a control program developed in advance by a product manufacturer or the like must be stored in the product in advance, and it is difficult to generate, customize, and update a diverse and safe control program. No consideration is given to customizing the control program in consideration of the devices and appliances owned by the user.

[0004] For this reason, when a user cooks according to a recipe, the user must take into consideration differences between the equipment and utensils indicated in the recipe and the equipment and utensils the user owns, select the equipment and utensils appropriate for each cooking step, and customize the recipe by changing the settings of the equipment, etc. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2003-284889 A Summary of the Invention

[0006] The present disclosure has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and aims to present an information processing method, an information processing device, and a program that allow a user to easily customize recipes according to the devices and utensils they own.

[0007] An information processing method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a computer acquiring information indicating a first recipe including a plurality of cooking steps and a plurality of blocks corresponding to each of the plurality of cooking steps, the plurality of blocks including first information indicating at least one of the appliances and utensils used in the plurality of cooking steps, acquiring second information indicating one or more appliances and utensils owned by a user and information indicating the operating status of the one or more appliances and appliances indicated by the second information, generating a second recipe by deleting from the first recipe blocks including one or more appliances and appliances that are included in the first information but not included in the second information, and blocks including one or more appliances and appliances having an operating status indicating that they are in operation, and outputting information indicating the second recipe to be displayed on a display. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of an overall configuration of a recipe providing system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the development terminal. [Diagram 3] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a recipe creation screen. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of a user terminal. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a recipe reference screen. [Figure 6] FIG. 13 illustrates an example of creating a user recipe. [Figure 7] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a method for determining a first block according to a washing reduction rule. [Figure 8] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a method for determining a first block according to a time shortening rule. [Figure 9] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a method for determining a first block according to a time-saving rule. [Figure 10] 13 is a diagram showing an example of the display of a recommended recipe created when the first block is determined based on the effort reduction rule. FIG. [Figure 11]13 is a diagram showing an example of displaying a plurality of recommended recipes created when a first block is determined by the automatic rule. FIG. [Figure 12] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a block registration method. [Figure 13] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a recipe creation process. [Figure 14] 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a display process of a user recipe. [Figure 15] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a recommended recipe display process. [Figure 16] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a recommended recipe creation process. [Figure 17] 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for creating recommended recipes according to an automatic rule. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] (Background to this disclosure) In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for applications that link multiple household appliances, such as an application that operates multiple appliances, such as a rice cooker, a microwave oven, and an IH (Induction Heating) cooking heater, according to a recipe.

[0010] However, as described above, the control programs of devices are developed in advance by manufacturers or the like who are familiar with the devices, and cannot be easily customized or updated by people who are not familiar with the devices. In recent years, development tools have been proposed that make it easy to create applications that control multiple products by arranging blocks that abstractly represent the operation of each device in a chronological order.

[0011] Suppose that an application that controls multiple appliances according to the above-mentioned recipe is created using such a development tool. In this case, since the creator of the recipe cannot take into account the appliances and utensils owned by the user, the creator of the recipe will determine examples of appliances to be used in each cooking step and utensils to be used with the appliances, and create the recipe application.

[0012] However, if a user does not own the appliances or utensils intended for use with a recipe application, the user cannot run the application as is. In this case, the user must consider the differences between the appliances and utensils intended for use with the application and the appliances and utensils owned by the user, select the appliances and utensils appropriate for each cooking step, and customize the recipe by changing the settings of the appliances, etc.

[0013] Therefore, the present inventors have thoroughly investigated technology that allows a user to easily customize recipes according to the devices and equipment owned by the user, and have arrived at the following aspects of the present disclosure.

[0014] An information processing method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes a computer acquiring information indicating a first recipe including a plurality of cooking steps and a plurality of blocks corresponding to each of the plurality of cooking steps, the plurality of blocks including first information indicating at least one of the appliances and utensils used in the plurality of cooking steps, acquiring second information indicating one or more appliances and utensils owned by a user and information indicating the operating status of the one or more appliances and appliances indicated by the second information, generating a second recipe by deleting from the first recipe blocks including one or more appliances and appliances that are included in the first information but not included in the second information, and blocks including one or more appliances and appliances having an operating status indicating that they are in operation, and outputting information indicating the second recipe to be displayed on a display.

[0015] According to this configuration, a second recipe is generated by deleting from the first recipe the blocks including one or more appliances and utensils not owned by the user and the blocks including appliances and utensils in operation, and information indicating the second recipe to be displayed on the display is output. Therefore, the user can display the second recipe on the display and understand the recipe including the cooking process to which the block including the appliances and utensils that the user can use is associated. Thus, the user can easily customize the first recipe according to the appliances and utensils used by the user by simply selecting one block from one or more blocks associated with each cooking process included in the second recipe.

[0016] In the above information processing method, when a first cooking process to which a plurality of blocks are associated is detected from the second recipe, a first block may be determined from the plurality of blocks associated with the first cooking process in accordance with one or more rules, and one or more third recipes may be created in accordance with the one or more rules by associating the first block with the first cooking process in the second recipe, and information indicating the one or more third recipes to be displayed on the display may be output.

[0017] According to this configuration, the user can display one or more third recipes corresponding to one or more rules on the display, and can easily refer to the third recipes corresponding to each rule.

[0018] In the above information processing method, the one or more rules may include a first rule, and when a second cooking process to which only one block is associated is detected from the second recipe, the first rule may determine, as the first block, a block among multiple blocks associated with the first cooking process that includes the same equipment as the one block.

[0019] According to this configuration, a user can display on the display a third recipe in which a block containing the same equipment as the block associated with the second cooking process is associated with the first cooking process, and cook according to the third recipe, thereby reducing the number of equipment used and ultimately the number of dishes to wash.

[0020] In the above information processing method, each block may further include a cooking time which is the time required for a cooking process, and the one or more rules may include a second rule which determines, as the first block, a block which includes the shortest cooking time among a plurality of blocks corresponding to the first cooking process.

[0021] According to this configuration, the user can reduce the time required for cooking by displaying on the display a third recipe in which a block including the shortest cooking time is associated with the first cooking process, and cooking according to the third recipe.

[0022] In the above information processing method, each block may further include a degree of human involvement which is a degree of human involvement in each cooking process, and the one or more rules may include a third rule which determines, as the first block, a block having the lowest degree of human involvement among a plurality of blocks associated with the first cooking process.

[0023] According to this configuration, the user can reduce the effort required for cooking by displaying on the display a third recipe in which a block having the lowest degree of involvement in the first cooking process is associated with the first cooking process, and cooking according to the third recipe.

[0024] In the above information processing method, the one or more rules may be a plurality of rules, and an input of a rule selected by a user from the plurality of rules may be accepted, and a third recipe in accordance with the one rule may be created using the first block determined in accordance with the one rule.

[0025] According to this configuration, a third recipe according to a selected rule is output to the display, and the user can easily use the third recipe according to the desired rule.

[0026] An information processing device according to another aspect of the present disclosure includes a first acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a first recipe including a plurality of cooking steps and a plurality of blocks corresponding to each of the plurality of cooking steps; a second acquisition unit that acquires second information indicating one or more appliances and appliances owned by a user, the plurality of blocks including first information indicating at least one of the appliances and utensils used in the plurality of cooking steps, and information indicating the operating status of the one or more appliances and appliances indicated by the second information; a generation unit that generates a second recipe by deleting from the first recipe blocks including one or more appliances and appliances that are included in the first information but are not included in the second information, and blocks including one or more appliances and appliances having an operating status indicating that they are in operation; and an output unit that outputs information indicating the second recipe to be displayed on a display.

[0027] According to this configuration, the same effects as those of the above-described information processing method can be obtained.

[0028] A program according to another aspect of the present disclosure is a program that causes a computer to function as: a first acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a first recipe including a plurality of cooking steps and a plurality of blocks corresponding to each of the plurality of cooking steps; a second acquisition unit that acquires second information indicating one or more appliances and appliances owned by a user, the plurality of blocks including first information indicating at least one of the appliances and utensils used in the plurality of cooking steps, and information indicating the operating status of the one or more appliances and appliances indicated by the second information; a generation unit that generates a second recipe by deleting from the first recipe blocks including one or more appliances and appliances that are included in the first information but not included in the second information, and blocks including one or more appliances and appliances having an operating status indicating that they are in operation; and an output unit that outputs information indicating the second recipe to be displayed on a display.

[0029] According to this configuration, the same effects as those of the above-described information processing method can be obtained.

[0030] The present disclosure can also be realized as a system operated by such a program. It goes without saying that such a computer program can be distributed on a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium such as a CD-ROM or via a communication network such as the Internet.

[0031] Note that the embodiments described below each show a specific example of the present disclosure. The numerical values, shapes, components, steps, and order of steps shown in the following embodiments are merely examples and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Furthermore, among the components in the following embodiments, components that are not described in an independent claim showing the highest concept are described as optional components. Furthermore, in all of the embodiments, the respective contents can be combined.

[0032] (Embodiment 1) Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings. Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a recipe providing system 100. The recipe providing system 100 is a system that provides recipe information indicating a recipe created by a development terminal 50 to a user terminal 30 (information processing device) via a communication network 90.

[0033] 1, the recipe providing system 100 includes one or more devices 20 and tools 21 owned by a user, a block database 41, a recipe database 42, a log database 43, a development terminal 50, a plurality of user terminals 30, and an application providing server 10. For example, these components included in the recipe providing system 100 are connected via a communication network 90 such as the Internet.

[0034] The device 20 is one or more electric cooking appliances owned by a user, such as a rice cooker, an IH cooking heater, a multi-cooker, a cutting board with a scaler (hereinafter abbreviated as a cutting board), a microwave oven, and an oven range. The device 20 transmits log information indicating its own operating state to the application providing server 10 via the communication network 90. ​​The log information includes the current date and time, identification information of the device 20, information indicating whether the device 20 is operating, information indicating the content of the operation of the device 20 when it is operating, the start time of the operation, and information indicating whether an abnormality has occurred during the operation.

[0035] The utensils 21 are containers and tools used in cooking ingredients by the appliance 20. For example, the utensils 21 include containers such as frying pans, pots, bowls, bats, and heat-resistant dishes. The utensils 21 also include tools used by a user to perform preparations such as cutting ingredients to be cooked before cooking by the appliance 20, such as knives, kitchen scissors, tongs, and peelers.

[0036] The block database 41 is configured with a storage device such as a hard disk drive (HDD) and a solid state drive (SSD), etc. The block database 41 stores a plurality of blocks created by a developer of the device 20.

[0037] A block is information including the operation of the device 20. For example, a block may be information indicating the operation of the device 20 itself, or information indicating an abstracted version of the operation of the device 20. A block is modularized as a screen component that can be used on the development terminal 50 and the user terminal 30. A block is created by a developer who is familiar with the device 20. Parameters related to the operation of the device 20 included in the block can be set in the block. The parameters related to the operation of the device 20 may include the instrument 21 used for the operation of the device 20. Information indicating the operation of the device 20 included in the block and the instrument 21 that may be included in the block is an example of first information related to the present disclosure.

[0038] For example, the oven range block includes a block including a baking operation of the oven range and a block including a steaming operation of the oven range. Hereinafter, a block including an operation "X" of device 20 will be referred to as block "X" of device 20. Parameters that can be set in the oven range block "bake" include the set temperature in the oven range, the temperature reaching time required for the oven range to reach the set temperature, the time the baking operation of the oven range will continue (hereinafter, cooking time), and the appliance 21 used in the baking operation of the oven range.

[0039] Furthermore, the block may be information including the operation of the appliance 21. For example, the block may be information indicating the operation of the appliance 21 itself, or may be information indicating an abstracted version of the operation of the appliance 21. The block is created by a developer who is familiar with the appliance 21. The operation of the appliance 21 indicates an operation performed by a user using the appliance 21. For example, the operation of a knife includes cutting ingredients and crushing ingredients. That is, the block includes information (first information) indicating an operation of at least one of the appliance 20 and the appliance 21 used in the cooking process.

[0040] Furthermore, each block has a degree of involvement indicating the degree of human involvement in the operation of the device 20 or tool 21 included in the block. The degree of involvement of each block is determined, for example, based on the degree to which the operation of the device 20 or tool 21 included in the block requires the user's vision, hearing, or smell. Without being limited to this, the degree of involvement of each block may be determined based on the degree to which the operation of the device 20 or tool 21 indicated by each block requires manual work by the user. Furthermore, the degree of involvement of each block may be determined based on the frequency at which the operation of the device 20 or tool 21 included in the block requires the user's vision, hearing, or smell, or manual work by the user.

[0041] For example, the degree of involvement of a block that includes operations that do not require any user involvement, such as each operation of a multi-cooker, is defined as 0. When making an IH cooking heater perform a simmering operation, it is considered necessary for the user to periodically monitor the state of the simmered food using their eyesight, hearing, or smell. Thus, the degree of involvement of a block that includes operations that periodically require the user's eyesight, hearing, or smell is defined as 1.

[0042] When using an induction cooker to heat food, it is likely that the user will need to periodically stir the food. For this reason, the degree of involvement of a block that includes an action that requires manual interaction by the user periodically is defined as 2.

[0043] When an IH cooking heater is made to perform a stir-frying operation, it is considered necessary for the user to always check, using sight, hearing or smell, whether the ingredients have been stir-fried to the desired state. Thus, the degree of involvement of a block that always includes an operation that requires the user's sight, hearing or smell is defined as 3. When a scaler is made to perform a weighing operation, it is necessary for the user to place the item to be weighed on the scale and check the weighing result. Thus, the degree of involvement of a block that always includes an operation that requires manual work by the user is defined as 3. Furthermore, since the operation of the appliance 21 always requires manual work by the user, the degree of involvement of a block that includes the operation of the appliance 21 is defined as 3.

[0044] The method of defining the degree of involvement is not limited to the above example. For example, the degree of involvement may be defined as a percentage, such as by defining the degree of involvement of a block including an operation that always requires manual work by the user as 100% and the degree of involvement of a block including an operation that can be performed automatically without user involvement as 0%.

[0045] The recipe database 42 is configured with storage devices such as an HDD, an SSD, etc. In the recipe database 42, recipe information indicating recipes created in the development terminal 50 is stored.

[0046] The log database 43 is composed of storage devices such as an HDD and an SSD. The log database 43 stores log information transmitted from the device 20. The log database 43 also stores device information (second information) indicating at least one of one or more devices 20 and / or tools 21 owned by the user.

[0047] The development terminal 50 is configured with a computer such as a notebook computer, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, etc., equipped with a processor, memory, etc. The development terminal 50 acquires a plurality of blocks stored in the block database 41 via the communication network 90, and creates a recipe using the acquired plurality of blocks.

[0048] The user terminal 30 is configured with a computer such as a notebook computer, a smartphone, or a tablet terminal equipped with a processor, memory, etc. The user terminal 30 requests the application providing server 10 via the communication network 90 to provide recipe information indicating recipes created by the development terminal 50 and stored in the recipe database 42. The user terminal 30 obtains the recipe information sent by the application providing server 10 in response to the request via the communication network 90.

[0049] Furthermore, the user terminal 30 requests the application providing server 10 via the communication network 90 to store device information indicating each device 20 and each appliance 21 owned by the user, which information was input by the user when purchasing the device 20 and the appliance 21, in the log database 43. Furthermore, the user terminal 30 requests the application providing server 10 via the communication network 90 to transmit the device information of the user stored in the log database 43. The user terminal 30 acquires, via the communication network 90, the device information of the user transmitted by the application providing server 10 in response to the request.

[0050] The application providing server 10 is configured with a computer such as a server equipped with a processor, a memory, etc., and a cloud server. The application providing server 10 acquires recipe information indicating a recipe created in the development terminal 50 via the communication network 90, and stores the acquired recipe information in the recipe database 42.

[0051] In response to a request for providing a recipe received from a user terminal 30 via a communication network 90, the application providing server 10 acquires recipe information stored in the recipe database 42 and transmits the acquired recipe information to the user terminal 30.

[0052] In response to a request to store the user's device information in the log database 43, the application providing server 10 acquires the device information of the user from the user terminal 30 via the communication network 90, and stores the acquired device information of the user in the log database 43.

[0053] Assume that a user sends device information of the user by mail to the provider of the recipe providing system 100. In this case, the application providing server 10 stores the input device information of the user in the log database 43 via the communication network 90 in response to an input operation of the device information of the user by an operator.

[0054] The application providing server 10 acquires log information from the device 20 via the communication network 90 and stores the acquired log information in the log database 43.

[0055] Next, the development terminal 50 will be described in detail. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the development terminal 50. As shown in Fig. 2, the development terminal 50 includes a processor 51, a memory 52, a display 53, an operation unit 54, and a communication unit 55. The processor 51 is composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit).

[0056] The processor 51 includes a display control unit 511, a reception unit 512, and a registration unit 513. The display control unit 511 to the registration unit 513 are realized, for example, by the processor 51 executing a recipe creation program (program).

[0057] The memory 52 is composed of a non-volatile memory such as a Read Only Memory (ROM) and a volatile memory such as a Random Access Memory (RAM), and stores various information used by the processor 51 for control.

[0058] The display 53 is configured with a liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, or the like, and displays various information instructed by the processor 51.

[0059] The operation unit 54 is configured with a touch panel or the like, and is used by the user for various operations on the development terminal 50. The communication unit 55 is configured with a communication circuit compatible with any communication method such as Ethernet (registered trademark), and communicates with external devices via the communication network 90 (FIG. 1).

[0060] Next, the display control unit 511 to the registration unit 513 will be described in detail.

[0061] The display control unit 511 displays on the display 53 a recipe creation screen W1, which is an operation screen for creating a recipe.

[0062] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the recipe creation screen W1. Specifically, when a creator performs a predetermined operation using the operation unit 54, the display control unit 511 displays the recipe creation screen W1 as shown in Fig. 3. The recipe creation screen W1 is provided with a block list area D2, a parameter setting area D1, a cooking process setting area D3, a selected block area D5, and an equipment display area D4.

[0063] The block list area D2 is an area where one or more list boxes for selecting blocks corresponding to each device 20 are displayed. The parameter setting area D1 is an area where a parameter setting screen for setting parameters of blocks arranged in the selection block area D5 described later is displayed. The cooking process setting area D3 is an area where one or more combo boxes for selecting or editing cooking processes constituting a recipe are displayed. The selection block area D5 is an area where blocks selected using the list boxes displayed in the block list area D2 are placed. The device display area D4 is an area where devices 20 corresponding to each block arranged in the selection block area D5 are displayed. Note that the device 20 corresponding to a block refers to the device 20 that performs the operation of the device 20 included in the block.

[0064] For example, Fig. 3 shows an example where a recipe consisting of four cooking steps, i.e., thawing meat, cutting ingredients, parboiling root vegetables, and simmering, has been created on the recipe creation screen W1. In the following description, the cooking step in which X is performed will be referred to as cooking step "X".

[0065] In the example of Fig. 3, the block "Thawing meat" for a microwave oven selected using the list box displayed in the block list area D2 is placed in the area below the cooking step "Thawing meat" in the selected block area D5. Therefore, the microwave oven, which is the device 20 corresponding to that block, is displayed in the area to the left of that block in the device display area D4.

[0066] 3 shows an example in which three blocks, a microwave block "parboil," a gas stove block "parboil," and an IH block "parboil," are placed in the area below the cooking step "parboil root vegetables" in the selection block area D5. In this way, multiple blocks can be placed for one cooking step in the selection block area D5.

[0067] When displaying the recipe creation screen W1, the display control unit 511 controls the communication unit 55 to acquire a plurality of blocks stored in the block database 41 via the communication network 90. ​​The display control unit 511 classifies the acquired plurality of blocks into devices 20 corresponding to each block. The display control unit 511 displays one or more list boxes in the block list area D2 for selecting a block corresponding to each device 20. FIG. 3 shows an example in which list boxes for selecting blocks corresponding to a rice cooker, a microwave oven, a gas stove, an IH, a cutting board, and an automatic cooker are displayed in the block list area D2.

[0068] The display control unit 511 also acquires the actions of one or more devices 20 from the actions of the multiple devices 20 included in the acquired multiple blocks without overlapping. The display control unit 511 creates multiple combo boxes with the acquired actions of the one or more devices 20 as selection items. Then, the display control unit 511 displays the created multiple combo boxes in the cooking process setting area D3. Fig. 3 shows an example in which four combo boxes created by the display control unit 511 are displayed in the cooking process setting area D3.

[0069] The reception unit 512 receives various operations on the recipe creation screen W1 by the creator.

[0070] Specifically, the receiving unit 512 receives an operation to create multiple cooking steps. More specifically, the receiving unit 512 receives an operation in which the creator selects or edits one cooking step using a combo box included in the cooking step setting area D3 as an operation to create one cooking step constituting a recipe. Fig. 3 shows an example in which operations to select "thaw meat", "cut ingredients", "parboil", and "simmer" are performed in each of the four combo boxes displayed by the display control unit 511, and an operation to edit "parboil" to "parboil root vegetables" in the combo box in which "parboil" is selected is performed, and these operations are received by the receiving unit 512.

[0071] The receiving unit 512 receives an operation of selecting a block for constituting a recipe. Specifically, the receiving unit 512 receives an operation of the creator selecting one block using a list box included in the block list area D2 as an operation of selecting one block for constituting a recipe.

[0072] The reception unit 512 receives an operation for associating a plurality of blocks constituting a recipe with a plurality of cooking steps.

[0073] Specifically, suppose that the creator drags a block selected in a list box included in the block list area D2 onto a column displaying a cooking process and drops the block. In this case, the reception unit 512 receives an operation to associate the block with the cooking process. When the reception unit 512 receives the operation, it displays an image showing the block associated with the cooking process by the operation onto the column displaying the cooking process.

[0074] After displaying an image showing a block, if the device 20 corresponding to the block is not displayed in the device display area D4 at the beginning of the line in which the image is displayed, the reception unit 512 displays the device 20 corresponding to the block in the device display area D4 at the beginning of the line.

[0075] 3 shows an example in which an operation to associate a microwave oven block "thaw meat" with a cooking process "thaw meat" is received by reception unit 512. In this case, reception unit 512 displays an image of the microwave oven block "thaw meat" in the column in which the cooking process "thaw meat" is displayed, and displays device 20 "microwave oven" corresponding to the block in device display area D4 at the beginning of the row in which the image is displayed.

[0076] Furthermore, the accepting unit 512 displays in the parameter setting area D1 a setting screen for parameters that can be set for the blocks arranged in the selected block area D5. The accepting unit 512 also accepts an operation to select another block that has already been arranged in the selected block area D5. In this case, the accepting unit 512 also displays in the parameter setting area D1 a setting screen for parameters that can be set for the other block selected by the operation.

[0077] The reception unit 512 receives an operation to set parameters of each block on a setting screen of the parameters of each block displayed in the parameter setting area D1. The parameters of each block include a cooking time which is a time for which the device 20 or the appliance 21 included in each block continues to operate, the appliance 21 used in the operation of the device 20 included in each block, etc.

[0078] Hereinafter, the cooking time, which is the time during which the operation of the device 20 or the appliance 21 included in each block continues, will be abbreviated to the cooking time of each block. Also, the appliance 21 used in the operation of the device 20 or the appliance 21 included in each block will be described as the appliance 21 corresponding to each block. When the receiving unit 512 receives an operation to set parameters of each block, it acquires the parameters of each block set by the operation.

[0079] Note that the initial values ​​of the parameters of each block may be set in advance by the developer of the device 20. In this case, the reception unit 512 displays the initial values ​​of the parameters of each block that have been set in advance in a parameter setting field for each block on the parameter setting screen.

[0080] The registration unit 513 registers in the recipe database 42 recipe information indicating the recipe R1 created on the recipe creation screen W1.

[0081] Specifically, it is assumed that the creator presses a complete button (not shown) on the recipe creation screen W1. In this case, the registration unit 513 creates information associating each of the multiple cooking steps displayed in the cooking step setting area D3 with one or more blocks associated with each cooking step as recipe information indicating the recipe R1 created on the recipe creation screen W1.

[0082] The registration unit 513 causes the created recipe information, together with information requesting the registration of recipe R1, to be transmitted to the application providing server 10 via the communication unit 55. In response to this, the application providing server 10 acquires the information requesting the registration of recipe R1 from the development terminal 50 via the communication network 90, and stores the recipe information acquired from the development terminal 50 together with the information in the recipe database 42.

[0083] Next, a detailed description will be given of the user terminal 30. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the user terminal 30. As shown in Fig. 4, the user terminal 30 is equipped with a memory 32, a display 33, an operation unit 34, and a communication unit 35 similar to the memory 52, display 53, operation unit 54, and communication unit 55 (Fig. 2) equipped in the development terminal 50, a processor 31, and an audio output unit 36.

[0084] The processor 31 is configured with, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The processor 31 includes an output unit 311, a first acquisition unit 312, a second acquisition unit 313, a generation unit 314, a determination unit 315, and a creation unit 316. The output unit 311 to the creation unit 316 are realized, for example, by the processor 31 executing a recipe reference program.

[0085] The audio output unit 36 ​​is configured with a speaker or an earphone jack, and outputs various sounds or audio signals instructed by the processor 31.

[0086] Hereinafter, the output unit 311 to the creation unit 316 will be described in detail. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a recipe reference screen W2. When a user performs a predetermined operation using the operation unit 34, the output unit 311 causes the display 33 to display the recipe reference screen W2 as shown in Fig. 5.

[0087] Specifically, the output unit 311 outputs information indicating the recipe reference screen W2 to be displayed on the display 33 to the display 33. The information indicating the recipe reference screen W2 to be displayed on the display 33 includes screen data indicating the recipe reference screen W2 in a data format that can be displayed on the display 33, such as HTML (HyperText Markup Language), and information indicating an instruction to display the recipe reference screen W2 indicated by the screen data.

[0088] As a result, the display 33 displays the recipe reference screen W2 in accordance with the information input from the output unit 311. The recipe reference screen W2 is provided with a list box L20, a recipe display area D7, four recommendation buttons B20 to B23, and an end button B24.

[0089] The list box L20 is a list box for selecting a recipe to be referenced from one or more recipes indicated by one or more pieces of recipe information stored in the recipe database .

[0090] The recipe display area D7 is an area for displaying a user recipe (second recipe). The user recipe is a recipe generated by deleting, from a recipe selected using the list box L20, blocks including one or more devices 20 and devices 21 that are included in multiple blocks included in the recipe and are not included in the user's device information, and blocks including one or more devices 20 and devices 21 that have an operating status indicating that they are operating.

[0091] In other words, in the user recipe, from the multiple blocks included in the recipe selected using the list box L20, blocks containing equipment 20 or appliances 21 other than one or more equipment 20 and appliances 21 owned by the user and blocks containing equipment 20 and appliances 21 that are in operation have been deleted.

[0092] In the recipe display area D7, multiple cooking steps included in the user recipe are displayed in association with one or more blocks corresponding to each cooking step in the user recipe. At the beginning of the row in which each block is displayed in the recipe display area D7, the device 20 and the appliance 21 corresponding to each block are displayed.

[0093] For example, Fig. 5 shows an example in which recipe R1 (Fig. 3) for making curry is selected using list box L20, and user recipe R10 generated from the selected recipe R1 is displayed in recipe display area D7. Fig. 5 also shows an example in which a microwave oven and a heat-resistant container, which are devices 20 and utensils 21 corresponding to the microwave oven block "Thawing meat" associated with the cooking step "Thawing meat" of user recipe R10, are displayed at the beginning of the line in recipe display area D7 where that block is displayed.

[0094] The four recommendation buttons B20 to B23 are buttons for displaying one or more recommended recipes (third recipes) created by customizing the user recipe R10 displayed in the recipe display area D7 according to rules associated with each of the recommendation buttons B20 to B23. The exit button B24 is a button for closing the recipe reference screen W2.

[0095] When the output unit 311 displays the recipe reference screen W2 on the display 33, it controls the communication unit 35 to acquire a list of recipe names indicated by the recipe information stored in the recipe database 42 via the communication network 90. ​​The output unit 311 outputs, to the display 33, the recipe reference screen W2 including a list box L20 in which the acquired list of recipe names is set as selection items.

[0096] When the user presses the end button B24, the output unit 311 controls the display 33 to hide the recipe reference screen W2.

[0097] The first acquisition unit 312 accepts various operations on the recipe reference screen W2 by the user.

[0098] Specifically, the first acquisition unit 312 accepts an operation to select a recipe to be referenced. More specifically, the first acquisition unit 312 accepts an operation of the user selecting one recipe using the list box L20 as an operation to select a recipe to be referenced. Figure 5 shows an example in which the first acquisition unit 312 accepts an operation to select recipe R1 (Figure 3) for making curry as the recipe to be referenced.

[0099] When the first acquisition unit 312 accepts an operation to select a recipe to be referenced, it requests the application providing server 10 to provide recipe information indicating the recipe to be referenced selected by the operation. In response to this, the application providing server 10 acquires the recipe information requested by the user terminal 30 from the recipe database 42, and returns the information to the user terminal 30. As a result, the first acquisition unit 312 acquires recipe information indicating the recipe to be referenced (first recipe) selected by the user.

[0100] The second acquisition unit 313 acquires device information indicating one or more devices 20 and appliances 21 owned by the user (hereinafter, user's device information) and information indicating the operating status of the one or more devices 20 and appliances 21 indicated by the user's device information.

[0101] Specifically, the second acquisition unit 313 requests the application providing server 10 to transmit, via the communication network 90, the user's device information stored in the log database 43 and log information for the most recent specified period (e.g., 10 minutes) of one or more devices 20 indicated by the device information.

[0102] In response to this, the application providing server 10 obtains, via the communication network 90, the user's device information requested by the user terminal 30 and log information for the most recent specified period of one or more devices 20 indicated by the device information from the recipe database 42, and returns the information to the user terminal 30.

[0103] As a result, the second acquisition unit 313 acquires device information indicating one or more devices 20 and appliances 21 owned by the user, and acquires log information for the most recent specified period of the one or more devices 20 indicated by the device information as information indicating the operating status of the one or more devices 20 indicated by the device information.

[0104] Furthermore, the second acquisition unit 313 acquires information indicating the operation status of one or more appliances 21 owned by the user, which information is input by the user through operation of the operation unit 34. The information indicating the operation status of the appliance 21 includes the current date and time, identification information of the appliance 21, information indicating whether the appliance 21 is in operation, the use time of the appliance 21, etc. The appliance 21 being in operation indicates that the appliance 21 is being used by the user.

[0105] The generation unit 314 deletes, from the recipe indicated by the recipe information acquired by the first acquisition unit 312, blocks including one or more devices 20 and appliances 21 that are included in multiple blocks included in the recipe and are not included in the user's device information acquired by the second acquisition unit 313. In other words, the generation unit 314 deletes, from the recipe indicated by the recipe information acquired by the first acquisition unit 312, blocks including devices 20 or appliances 21 that are different from the one or more devices 20 and appliances 21 indicated in the user's device information acquired by the second acquisition unit 313.

[0106] Furthermore, the generation unit 314 refers to information indicating the operation states of one or more devices 20 and appliances 21 indicated in the user's device information acquired by the second acquisition unit 313, and deletes blocks indicating one or more devices 20 and appliances 21 having operation states indicating that they are in operation from the recipe from which the blocks have been deleted. As a result, the generation unit 314 generates the recipe from which these two types of blocks have been deleted as a user recipe.

[0107] For example, when more than half of the log information of a certain device 20 for a most recent predetermined period acquired by the second acquisition unit 313 includes information indicating that the device 20 is in operation, the generation unit 314 determines that the device 20 is in an operation state indicating that the device 20 is in operation. However, the generation unit 314 may determine that the device 20 is in an operation state indicating that the device 20 is in operation by using the log information acquired by the second acquisition unit 313 in another manner.

[0108] The generation unit 314, like the output unit 311, causes the display 33 to display a recipe reference screen W2 in which the generated user recipe is displayed in the recipe display area D7. The generation unit 314 causes the display 33 to display the recipe reference screen W2 in which the tools 21 and devices 20 corresponding to each block are displayed at the beginning of the line in which each block is displayed in the recipe display area D7.

[0109] 6 is a diagram showing an example of a user recipe. For example, it is assumed that recipe R1 (FIG. 3) for making curry is acquired by the first acquisition unit 312. It is also assumed that the user's device information acquired by the second acquisition unit 313 includes a heat-resistant container, a microwave oven, a rice cooker, an IH cooker, a pan, a cutting board, a knife, and an automatic cooker. It is also assumed that, among the log information of five devices 20 (microwave oven, rice cooker, IH cooker, cutting board, and automatic cooker) included in the device information acquired by the second acquisition unit 313, the log information of the rice cooker indicates that the rice cooker is operating. It is also assumed that the second acquisition unit 313 has not acquired information indicating the operating state of the knife.

[0110] Fig. 6 shows an example in which the generation unit 314 generates a user recipe from the curry recipe R1 in this case. Specifically, in Fig. 6, four cooking steps included in the curry recipe R1 are displayed in association with nine blocks, and the devices 20 and utensils 21 corresponding to each block are displayed at the beginning of each line.

[0111] In this example, since a gas stove is not included in the user's device information, the generation unit 314 deletes the gas stove block "pre-boil" and the gas stove block "boil", which indicate a gas stove not included in the user's device information, from curry recipe R1, as shown by the solid line in Fig. 6. Furthermore, the generation unit 314 refers to the information acquired by the second acquisition unit 313 and deletes the rice cooker block "boil" that has an operating status indicating that it is operating, as shown by the dashed line in Fig. 6.

[0112] As a result, the generation unit 314 generates a user recipe R10 (Figure 5) in which the cooking step "Thawing meat" and the cooking step "Cutting ingredients" are respectively associated with a microwave block "Thawing meat" and a cutting board block "Cutting ingredients", and in which two blocks are respectively associated with the cooking step "Parboiling root vegetables" and the cooking step "Boiling".

[0113] 5, the generation unit 314 displays on the display 33 a recipe reference screen W2 in which the generated user recipe R10 is displayed in the recipe display area D7. Specifically, the generation unit 314 associates the four cooking steps included in the user recipe R10, "thawing meat," "cutting ingredients," "parboiling root vegetables," and "simmering," with one or more blocks associated with each cooking step in the user recipe R10, and displays on the display 33 the recipe reference screen W2 displayed in the recipe display area D7.

[0114] The generation unit 314 causes the display 33 to display a recipe reference screen W2 in which the tools 21 and devices 20 corresponding to each block are displayed at the beginning of the line in which each block is displayed in the recipe display area D7. The generation unit 314 also causes the display 33 to display a recipe reference screen W2 in which the width of the image showing each block included in the user recipe R10 is changed according to the cooking time of each block.

[0115] For example, the generating unit 314 adjusts the width of an image showing a block with a first cooking time to be narrower than the width of an image showing a block with a second cooking time longer than the first time. Fig. 5 shows an example in which the width of the image showing the microwave block "parboiling" is narrower than the IH block "parboiling" because the cooking time of the microwave block "parboiling" associated with the cooking process "parboiling root vegetables" is shorter than the cooking time of the IH block "parboiling" associated with the cooking process "parboiling root vegetables".

[0116] When the determination unit 315 detects a cooking process (hereinafter referred to as a first cooking process) to which multiple blocks are associated from the user recipe R10, it determines a first block from among the multiple blocks associated with the first cooking process in accordance with one or more rules.

[0117] Specifically, when the user presses any one of the four recommended buttons B20 to B23 on the recipe reference screen W2, the determination unit 315 detects a first cooking process associated with multiple blocks in the user recipe R10 displayed in the recipe display area D7. In the example of Fig. 5, two cooking processes associated with two blocks in the user recipe R10, the cooking process "pre-boil root vegetables" and the cooking process "simmer", are detected as the first cooking process.

[0118] When the determination unit 315 detects the first cooking process, it determines a first block from among the multiple blocks associated with the first cooking process according to the rule associated with the pressed recommendation button.

[0119] (How to determine the first block based on the washing reduction rule) When the recommendation button B20 is pressed, the determination unit 315 accepts an input of a washing reduction rule (first rule) associated with the recommendation button B20. In this case, the determination unit 315 determines a first block from among a plurality of blocks associated with the first cooking process according to the washing reduction rule.

[0120] Specifically, when the determination unit 315 detects a cooking process to which only one block is associated from the user recipe R10 (hereinafter referred to as the second cooking process), it determines, as the first block, a block among the multiple blocks associated with the first cooking process that corresponds to the same device 20 as the one block.

[0121] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a method for determining a first block according to the washing reduction rule. Fig. 7 shows a user recipe R10 displayed on the recipe reference screen W2 shown in Fig. 5. In this case, when the recommendation button B20 is pressed, the determination unit 315 determines the first block from among a plurality of blocks associated with the cooking step "pre-boiling root vegetables", which is the first cooking step, according to the washing reduction rule.

[0122] In this example, the determination unit 315 detects the cooking process "thaw meat" associated with only the microwave oven block "thaw meat" as the second cooking process. Also, the determination unit 315 detects the cooking process "cut ingredients" associated with only the cutting board block "cut ingredients" as the second cooking process.

[0123] When the determination unit 315 detects the second cooking process, it determines, from among the microwave oven block "parboiling" and the IH block "parboiling" which are associated with the cooking process "parboiling root vegetables" which is the first cooking process, the microwave oven block "parboiling" which corresponds to the same appliance 20 as the microwave oven block "thawing meat" which is associated with the cooking process "thawing meat" which is the second cooking process, as the first block. Note that in Fig. 7, a star is added to the first block determined according to the washing reduction rule.

[0124] On the other hand, the determination unit 315 determines that the IH block "simmer" and the automatic cooker block "simmer", which are associated with the cooking process "simmer" that is the first cooking process, are not blocks corresponding to the same appliance 20 as the microwave block "thaw meat" which is associated with the cooking process "thaw meat" that is the second cooking process, and the cutting board block "cut ingredients" which is associated with the cooking process "cut ingredients" that is the second cooking process. In this case, the determination unit 315 selects one block from among the multiple blocks associated with the cooking process "simmer" that is the first cooking process, using a predetermined method, and determines the selected one block as the first block.

[0125] The predetermined method includes, for example, a method of randomly selecting one block. The predetermined method also includes a method of storing blocks in the block database 41 in association with a priority and selecting the block associated with the highest priority. Further, the predetermined method includes a method of selecting a block that is included in the most recipes among recipes indicated by recipe information stored in the recipe database 42.

[0126] In addition, when multiple second cooking processes are detected as in this example, multiple first blocks may be determined. In this case, the determination unit 315 may determine one block selected from the multiple first blocks by the above-mentioned predetermined method as the first block.

[0127] (How the first block is determined by the time-saving rule) When the recommendation button B21 is pressed, the determination unit 315 accepts an input of a time-saving rule (second rule) associated with the recommendation button B21. In this case, the determination unit 315 determines a first block from among a plurality of blocks associated with the first cooking step according to the time-saving rule.

[0128] Specifically, the determination unit 315 determines, as the first block, the block including the shortest cooking time among the multiple blocks associated with the first cooking process.

[0129] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a method for determining a first block according to the time-saving rule. Fig. 8 shows a user recipe R10 displayed on the recipe reference screen W2 shown in Fig. 5, similar to Fig. 7. In this case, when the recommendation button B21 is pressed, the determination unit 315 determines the first block from among a plurality of blocks associated with the cooking step "parboiling root vegetables", which is the first cooking step, according to the time-saving rule.

[0130] In this example, the cooking time of the microwave block "parboiling" associated with the cooking process "parboiling root vegetables" which is the first cooking process is 10 minutes shorter than the cooking time of the IH block "parboiling". In this case, the determination unit 315 determines the microwave block "parboiling" which includes the shortest cooking time among the multiple blocks associated with the cooking process "parboiling root vegetables" which is the first cooking process, as the first block. Note that in FIG. 8, a star is added to the first block determined according to the time-saving rule.

[0131] On the other hand, the cooking time of the IH block "simmer" associated with the cooking process "simmer" which is the first cooking process is the same as the cooking time of the automatic cooker block "simmer". In this case, it is not possible to identify the block with the shortest cooking time from among the multiple blocks associated with the cooking process "simmer" which is the first cooking process. In such a case, the determination unit 315 selects one block using the above-mentioned predetermined method and determines the selected one block as the first block.

[0132] (How to determine the first block using the labor reduction rule) When the recommendation button B22 is pressed, the determination unit 315 accepts an input of the effort reduction rule (third rule) associated with the recommendation button B22. In this case, the determination unit 315 determines a first block from among a plurality of blocks associated with the first cooking step according to the effort reduction rule.

[0133] Specifically, the determination unit 315 determines, as the first block, the block showing the lowest degree of involvement among the multiple blocks associated with the first cooking process.

[0134] Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a method for determining a first block according to the effort reduction rule. Like Fig. 7 and Fig. 8, Fig. 9 shows a user recipe R10 displayed on the recipe reference screen W2 shown in Fig. 5. In this case, when the recommendation button B22 is pressed, the determination unit 315 determines the first block from among a plurality of blocks associated with the cooking step "parboiling root vegetables", which is the first cooking step, according to the effort reduction rule.

[0135] In this example, the degree of involvement of the knife and cutting board blocks is defined as 3, the degree of involvement of the IH and gas stove blocks is defined as 2, and the degree of involvement of the automatic cooker and microwave oven blocks is defined as 1. In this case, the determination unit 315 determines the microwave oven block "parboiling" having the lowest degree of involvement as the first block among the multiple blocks associated with the cooking process "parboiling root vegetables" which is the first cooking process. Also, the determination unit 315 determines the automatic cooker block "boiling" having the lowest degree of involvement as the first block among the multiple blocks associated with the cooking process "boiling" which is the first cooking process. In addition, in FIG. 9, a star is added to the first block determined by the effort reduction rule.

[0136] In addition, if multiple blocks associated with the first cooking process have the same degree of involvement, the first block cannot be identified. In such a case, the determination unit 315 selects one block by the above-mentioned predetermined method and determines the selected one block as the first block.

[0137] (How the first block is determined by the random rule) When the recommendation button B23 is pressed, the determination unit 315 accepts an input of the automatic rule associated with the recommendation button B23. In this case, the determination unit 315 determines a first block from among the blocks associated with the first cooking step according to the automatic rule. In this case, the determination unit 315 sets a priority indicating the degree to which each block is displayed with priority over other blocks as a parameter for each block.

[0138] Specifically, the determination unit 315 sets the priorities of the multiple blocks associated with the first cooking process to 0, then adds a predetermined first priority to the first block determined by the above-mentioned washing reduction rule, adds a predetermined second priority to the first block determined by the above-mentioned time reduction rule, and adds a predetermined third priority to the first block determined by the above-mentioned effort reduction rule. Then, the determination unit 315 determines the block with the highest priority among the multiple blocks associated with the first cooking process as the first block.

[0139] When there are multiple blocks with the highest priority among the multiple blocks associated with the first cooking process, the determination unit 315 selects one block from the multiple blocks with the highest priority using the above-mentioned predetermined method, and determines the selected one block as the first block.

[0140] The creation unit 316 creates one or more recommended recipes (third recipes) according to the one or more rules by associating the first block determined by the determination unit 315 according to the one or more rules with the first cooking step in the user recipe R10. The creation unit 316, like the output unit 311, causes the display 33 to display a recipe reference screen W2 including the created one or more recommended recipes.

[0141] Specifically, the determination unit 315 determines the first block based on any one of the washing reduction rule, the time saving rule, and the effort reduction rule. In this case, the creation unit 316 creates a recommended recipe by associating the determined first block with a first cooking step in the user recipe R10 and associating a block with a second cooking step in the user recipe R10 according to the user recipe R10.

[0142] For example, suppose that the determination unit 315 determines the first block associated with the first cooking step in the user recipe R10 shown in Fig. 5 using the effort reduction rule. As a result, as shown in Fig. 9, the microwave block "parboil" is determined as the first block associated with the cooking step "parboil root vegetables", which is the first cooking step, and the automatic cooker block "boil" is determined as the first block associated with the cooking step "boil", which is the first cooking step.

[0143] In this case, the creation unit 316 creates a recommended recipe in accordance with the effort reduction rules by associating the microwave block "pre-boil" and the automatic cooker block "boil" determined as the first block with the cooking step "parboiling root vegetables" and the cooking step "boiling", which are the first cooking steps in the user recipe R10, respectively, and by associating the microwave block "defrosting meat" and the cutting board block "cutting ingredients" with the cooking step "defrosting meat" and the cooking step "cutting ingredients", which are the second cooking steps, respectively, as per the user recipe R10.

[0144] 10 is a diagram showing an example of the display of a recommended recipe W20 created when the first block is determined by the effort reduction rule. The creation unit 316 outputs information indicating a recipe reference screen W2 including the created recommended recipe W20 to be displayed on the display 33, to the display 33. As a result, the display 33 displays the recipe reference screen W2 including the created recommended recipe W20, as shown in FIG.

[0145] On the other hand, suppose that the determination unit 315 determines the first block according to the automatic rule. In this case, the creation unit 316 creates a recipe in which the determined first block is associated with the first cooking step in the user recipe R10, and the first block is associated with the second cooking step in the user recipe R10 according to the user recipe R10, as the first recommended recipe according to the automatic rule.

[0146] In addition, the creation unit 316 creates a recipe as the second recommended recipe according to the automatic rule, in which the block with the second highest priority is associated with the first cooking step in the user recipe R10, and a block is associated with the second cooking step in the user recipe R10 according to the user recipe R10.

[0147] In this way, the creation unit 316 creates multiple recipes as recommended recipes according to the automatic rules, in which blocks are associated with the first cooking step in the user recipe R10 in order of priority, and one block is associated with the second cooking step in the user recipe R10 in accordance with the user recipe R10.

[0148] Fig. 11 is a diagram showing a display example of multiple recommended recipes W21 created when the first block is determined by the automatic rule. Fig. 11 shows an example in which the multiple recommended recipes W21 include a first recommended recipe "recommended 1", a second recommended recipe "recommended 2", a third recommended recipe "recommended 3", and a fourth recommended recipe "recommended 4".

[0149] When the first block is determined by the automatic rule, the creation unit 316 causes the display 33 to display a recipe reference screen W2 including selection buttons B211 associated with each of the multiple recommended recipes W21, as shown in Fig. 11. When the selection button B211 is pressed by the user, the creation unit 316 causes the display 33 to display the recipe reference screen W2 including the recommended recipe corresponding to the pressed selection button B211 as one recommended recipe W20, as in Fig. 10.

[0150] For example, suppose that the selection button B211 displayed to the right of the first recommended recipe "Recommendation 1" in Fig. 11 is pressed. In this case, the creation unit 316 causes the display 33 to display the recipe reference screen W2 including the first recommended recipe "Recommendation 1" corresponding to the selection button B211 as one recommended recipe W20, as shown in Fig. 10.

[0151] Next, a method for registering a block will be described with reference to a flowchart shown in Fig. 12.

[0152] The developer of the device 20 performs steps S101 to S103 by operating an information processing device such as a personal computer (not shown) that is capable of communicating with the application providing server 10 via the communication network 90. ​​In step S101, the developer of the device 20 creates a block indicating an operation corresponding to a cooking step. For example, a developer of a microwave oven creates a microwave oven block "Thaw meat" indicating an operation corresponding to the cooking step "Thaw meat".

[0153] In step S102, the developer of device 20 sets initial values ​​of parameters of the blocks created in step S101. For example, a developer of a microwave oven sets a heat-resistant container as the initial value of a parameter indicating device 21 used in the meat defrosting operation indicated by the microwave oven block "meat defrosting."

[0154] In step S103, the developer of the device 20 registers the block created in step S101 and for which initial parameter values ​​have been set in step S102, in the block database 41. Specifically, in step S103, the developer of the device 20 requests the application providing server 10 to register the block created in step S101 and for which initial parameter values ​​have been set in step S102, in the block database 41. In response to the request from the information processing device, the application providing server 10 stores the block created by the information processing device in the block database 41 via the communication network 90.

[0155] Next, a description will be given of the flow of recipe creation processing in the development terminal 50. Fig. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of recipe creation processing.

[0156] When a creator performs a predetermined operation using the operation unit 54, in step S201, the display control unit 511 displays the recipe creation screen W1 (FIG. 3) on the display 53. This starts the recipe creation process shown in FIG.

[0157] In step S202, the reception unit 512 receives an operation to create a plurality of cooking steps that constitute a recipe.

[0158] In step S203, the receiving unit 512 receives an operation to select a block for configuring a recipe, and receives an operation to associate the block selected by the operation with any of the cooking steps created in step S202. By repeating this process, one or more blocks are associated with each of the multiple cooking steps.

[0159] In step S204, the reception unit 512 displays a parameter setting screen for each block associated with each cooking process in step S203 in the parameter setting area D1 (FIG. 3) and receives an operation for setting parameters for each block on the setting screen. By repeating this process, parameters are set for each of the multiple blocks.

[0160] In step S205, the registration unit 513 registers in the recipe database 42 the recipe information indicating the recipe R1 created on the recipe creation screen W1.

[0161] Next, a description will be given of the flow of display processing of a user recipe in the user terminal 30. Fig. 14 is a flowchart showing an example of display processing of a user recipe.

[0162] When a creator performs a predetermined operation using the operation unit 34, in step S301, the output unit 311 displays the recipe reference screen W2 on the display 33. This starts the display process of the user recipe shown in FIG.

[0163] In step S302, the first acquisition unit 312 accepts an operation to select the recipe to be referenced on the recipe reference screen W2, and acquires recipe information indicating the recipe to be referenced stored in the recipe database 42 via the application providing server 10.

[0164] In step S303, the second acquisition unit 313 acquires, via the application providing server 10, device information that indicates one or more devices 20 and appliances 21 owned by the user and that is stored in the log database 43.

[0165] In step S304, the second acquisition unit 313 acquires information indicating the operation states of one or more devices 20 and appliances 21 indicated by the device information acquired in step S303.

[0166] In step S305, the generation unit 314 determines whether or not the user owns the same equipment 20 and appliances 21 as the equipment 20 and appliances 21 corresponding to at least one block among one or more blocks associated with each cooking step of the recipe indicated by the recipe information acquired in step S302.

[0167] Specifically, in step S305, the generation unit 314 determines whether or not one or more blocks corresponding to the same equipment 20 and appliances 21 as the one or more equipment 20 and appliances 21 indicated by the equipment information acquired in step S303 are associated with each cooking step of the recipe indicated by the recipe information acquired in step S302.

[0168] In step S305, the generation unit 314 determines that a certain cooking step of the recipe indicated by the recipe information acquired in step S302 is not associated with a block corresponding to the same appliances 20 and appliances 21 as the one or more appliances 20 and appliances 21 indicated by the appliance information acquired in step S303. In this case (NO in step S305), in step S310, the generation unit 314 notifies on the recipe reference screen W2 that cooking cannot be performed according to the recipe selected in step S302.

[0169] Specifically, in step S310, the generation unit 314 causes the display 33 to display a recipe reference screen W2 including a message indicating that cooking cannot be performed according to the recipe selected in step S302. Without being limited to this, in step S310, the generation unit 314 may cause the audio output unit 36 ​​(FIG. 4) to output a sound indicating that cooking cannot be performed according to the recipe selected in step S302. According to step S310, the user can easily understand that cooking cannot be performed according to the recipe selected as the reference recipe in step S302. Thereafter, the processing from step S302 onwards is performed.

[0170] On the other hand, in step S305, the generation unit 314 determines that one or more blocks corresponding to the same equipment 20 and appliances 21 as the one or more equipment 20 and appliances 21 indicated by the equipment information acquired in step S303 are associated with all cooking steps of the recipe indicated by the recipe information acquired in step S302.

[0171] In this case (YES in step S305), in step S306, the generation unit 314 deletes blocks corresponding to one or more devices 20 and appliances 21 that are included in the multiple blocks included in the recipe, and that are not included in the device information acquired in step S303, from the recipe indicated by the recipe information acquired in step S302. In other words, the generation unit 314 deletes blocks including devices 20 or appliances 21 different from the one or more devices 20 and appliances 21 indicated by the device information acquired in step S303, from the recipe indicated by the recipe information acquired in step S302.

[0172] Next, in step S307, the generation unit 314 determines, for each cooking step of the recipe after the blocks have been deleted in step S306, whether or not the equipment 20 and the utensils 21 corresponding to at least one block among the one or more blocks associated with each cooking step can be used.

[0173] Specifically, in step S307, the generation unit 314 refers to the information acquired in step S304 and determines whether or not, for each cooking step of the recipe after the blocks have been deleted in step S306, there is associated with one or more blocks corresponding to equipment 20 and appliances 21 different from the equipment 20 and appliances 21 having an operating status indicating that they are in operation.

[0174] In step S307, it is assumed that the generation unit 314 determines that no block corresponding to the appliance 20 and the appliance 21 different from the appliance 20 and the appliance 21 having an operation status indicating that they are in operation is associated with one or more cooking steps of the recipe after the block is deleted in step S306. In this case (NO in step S307), step S310 is performed, and then the processes in and after step S302 are performed.

[0175] On the other hand, in step S307, the generation unit 314 determines that, for all cooking steps of the recipe after the blocks have been deleted in step S306, one or more blocks corresponding to equipment 20 and appliances 21 different from the equipment 20 and appliances 21 having an operating status indicating that they are in operation are associated with each other.

[0176] In this case (YES in step S307), in step S308, the generation unit 314 deletes the blocks corresponding to the equipment 20 and the appliances 21 having an operating status indicating that they are in operation from the recipe after the blocks have been deleted in step S306.

[0177] In step S309, the generation unit 314 causes the display 33 to display the recipe reference screen W2 in which the user recipe, which is the recipe after the blocks have been deleted in step S308, is displayed in the recipe display area D7 (FIG. 5).

[0178] Next, the flow of the display process of recommended recipes will be described with reference to Fig. 15. The display process of recommended recipes is shown in Fig. 15 as a flowchart.

[0179] When any of the four recommendation buttons B20 to B23 on the recipe reference screen W2 (FIG. 5) is pressed, the display process of the recommended recipe shown in FIG. 15 is started, and in steps S401 to S404, the first cooking step and the second cooking step are detected from the user recipe R10.

[0180] Specifically, in step S401, the determining unit 315 sets a variable n to 1. In step S402, the determining unit 315 counts the number of blocks associated with the n-th cooking step in the user recipe R10.

[0181] In step S402, if the number of blocks associated with the nth cooking process is 2 or more (2 or more in step S402), the determination unit 315 detects the nth cooking process as the first cooking process and proceeds to step S404. In step S402, if the number of blocks associated with the nth cooking process is 1 (1 in step S402), the determination unit 315 detects the nth cooking process as the second cooking process. In this case, in step S403, the determination unit 315 stores one block associated with the second cooking process in the memory 32 as a confirmed to be used block.

[0182] In step S404, if the variable n does not match the number N of cooking steps in the user recipe R10 (NO in step S404), the determining unit 315 increments the variable n by 1 in step S407 and repeats the processes in and after step S402.

[0183] Next, in step S405, one or more recommended recipes according to the rule associated with the pressed button out of the four recommendation buttons B20 to B23 are created by the determination unit 315 and the creation unit 316. Step S405 will be described in detail later.

[0184] In step S406, the creation unit 316 causes the display 33 to display the recipe reference screen W2 including the one or more recommended recipes created in step S405.

[0185] Next, step S405 (FIG. 15) will be described in detail. FIG 16 is a flowchart showing an example of a recommended recipe creation process.

[0186] When step S405 (FIG. 15) is started, the recommended recipe creation process shown in FIG. 16 is started, and in steps S501 to S503, it is determined which of the four recommendation buttons B20 to B23 (FIG. 5) has been pressed. Then, in steps S504 to S507, one or more recommended recipes are created according to rules based on the results of the determination in steps S501 to S503.

[0187] Specifically, the determination unit 315 determines whether or not the recommendation button B23 has been pressed in step S501, determines whether or not the recommendation button B21 has been pressed in step S502, and determines whether or not the recommendation button B22 has been pressed in step S503.

[0188] If the decision unit 315 determines in step S501 that the recommendation button B23 has not been pressed (NO in step S501), determines in step S502 that the recommendation button B21 has not been pressed (NO in step S502), and determines in step S503 that the recommendation button B22 has not been pressed (NO in step S503), it determines that the recommendation button B20 has been pressed.

[0189] In this case, in step 504, the determination unit 315 determines a first block from among the blocks associated with each first cooking process detected in step S402 according to the washing reduction rule as described above. The creation unit 316 creates one recommended recipe according to the washing reduction rule by associating each first block determined by the determination unit 315 with each first cooking process detected in step S402, and by associating each second cooking process detected in step S402 with the confirmed use block stored in memory 32 in step S403.

[0190] If the determination unit 315 determines in step S503 that the recommendation button B22 has been pressed (YES in step S503), then in step 505, for each of the first cooking steps detected in step S402 according to the effort reduction rule as described above, it determines a first block from among the multiple blocks associated with each of the first cooking steps. The creation unit 316 creates one recommended recipe according to the effort reduction rule by associating each of the first blocks determined by the determination unit 315 with each of the first cooking steps detected in step S402, and by associating each of the second cooking steps detected in step S402 with the confirmed use block stored in memory 32 in step S403.

[0191] If the determination unit 315 determines in step S502 that the recommendation button B21 has been pressed (YES in step S502), then in step 506, for each first cooking process detected in step S402 according to the time-saving rule as described above, it determines a first block from among the multiple blocks associated with each first cooking process. The creation unit 316 creates a recommended recipe according to the time-saving rule by associating each first block determined by the determination unit 315 with each first cooking process detected in step S402, and by associating each second cooking process detected in step S402 with the confirmed use block stored in memory 32 in step S403.

[0192] If the determination unit 315 determines in step S501 that the recommendation button B23 has been pressed (YES in step S501), the determination unit 315 and the creation unit 316 create a plurality of recommended recipes according to the automatic rule in step S507. Details of step S507 will be described later.

[0193] Next, step S507 (FIG. 16) will be described in detail. FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing an example of a process for creating recommended recipes according to the automatic rule.

[0194] When step S507 (FIG. 16) is started, the process of creating a recommended recipe according to the automatic rule shown in FIG. 17 is started. The determination unit 315 executes steps S601 to S610 for each of the first cooking steps detected in step S402 (FIG. 15), thereby determining a first block to be associated with each first cooking step.

[0195] Specifically, in step S601, the determination unit 315 sets the variable m to 1, and sets the priority of the mth block associated with one of the first cooking processes detected in step S402 (hereinafter, the target first cooking process) for which the first block has not been determined, to 0.

[0196] In steps S602 and S603, the determination unit 315 adds a predetermined first priority α1 to the priority of the first block determined by the above-mentioned washing reduction rule. Specifically, in step S602, the determination unit 315 determines whether the appliance 20 corresponding to the m-th block associated with the target first cooking process is the same as the appliance 20 corresponding to the confirmed use block stored in the memory 32 in step S403 (FIG. 15).

[0197] In step S602, if the determination unit 315 determines that the appliance 20 corresponding to the m-th block is the same as the appliance 20 corresponding to the confirmed-to-be-used block (YES in step S602), the m-th block is the first block determined by the above-mentioned washing reduction rule, so in step S603, the priority of the m-th block is increased by the first priority α1. In step S602, if the determination unit 315 determines that the appliance 20 corresponding to the m-th block is different from the appliance 20 corresponding to the confirmed-to-be-used block (NO in step S602), step S604 is performed.

[0198] In steps S604 and S605, the determination unit 315 adds a predetermined second priority α2 to the priority of the first block determined by the above-mentioned time reduction rule. Specifically, in step S604, the determination unit 315 determines whether the cooking time of the m-th block associated with the target first cooking process is the shortest among the cooking times of all blocks associated with the target first cooking process.

[0199] In step S604, if the determination unit 315 determines that the cooking time of the mth block is the shortest (YES in step S604), the mth block is the first block determined by the time-saving rule described above, so in step S605, the priority of the mth block is increased by the second priority α2. In step S604, if the determination unit 315 determines that the cooking time of the mth block is not the shortest (NO in step S604), the determination unit 315 performs step S606.

[0200] In steps S606 and S607, the determination unit 315 adds a third priority α3 to the priority of the first block determined by the effort reduction rule. Specifically, in step S606, the determination unit 315 determines whether the involvement degree of the m-th block associated with the target first cooking process is the lowest among the involvement degrees of all blocks associated with the target first cooking process.

[0201] In step S606, if the determination unit 315 determines that the degree of involvement of the mth block is the lowest (YES in step S606), the mth block is the first block determined by the above-mentioned effort reduction rule, so in step S607, the priority of the mth block is increased by the third priority α3. In step S606, if the determination unit 315 determines that the degree of involvement of the mth block is not the lowest (NO in step S606), the determination unit 315 performs step S608.

[0202] In step S608, if the variable m does not match the number of blocks (hereinafter, the number of assigned blocks) M associated with the target first cooking process (NO in step S608), the determination unit 315 increments the variable m by 1 in step S609 and repeats the processes from step S602 onwards.

[0203] Next, in step S610, the determination unit 315 determines the block with the highest priority among the multiple blocks associated with the target first cooking process as the first block to be associated with the target first cooking process.

[0204] In step S611, if the determination unit 315 has determined first blocks to be associated with all of the first cooking processes detected in step S402 (YES in step S611), the process proceeds to step S612. On the other hand, in step S611, if the determination unit 315 has not determined first blocks to be associated with one or more of the first cooking processes detected in step S402 (NO in step S611), the process from step S601 onwards is repeated.

[0205] In step S612, the creation unit 316 creates a first recommended recipe according to the automatic rule by associating each first block determined in step S610 with each first cooking step in the user recipe R10, and by associating a second cooking step other than the first cooking step in the user recipe R10 with the confirmed usage block of the second cooking step stored in memory 32 in step S403 (Figure 15).

[0206] In addition, in step S612, the creation unit 316 creates a second recommended recipe according to the automatic rule by associating each first cooking step in the user recipe R10 with the block with the second highest priority, and by associating the second cooking step in the user recipe R10 with the confirmed usage block for the second cooking step stored in the memory 32 in step S403 (Figure 15).

[0207] In this way, in step S612, the creation unit 316 associates blocks with each first cooking step in the user recipe R10 in order of priority, and creates multiple recipes as recommended recipes according to the automatic rule in which the second cooking steps in the user recipe R10 are associated with the confirmed blocks for the second cooking steps stored in the memory 32 in step S403 (Figure 15).

[0208] The present disclosure can employ the following modifications.

[0209] (1) In the recipe reference screen W2 (FIG. 5), instead of the four recommendation buttons B20 to B23, a list box for selecting one rule from among the washing reduction rule, the time saving rule, the effort reduction rule, and the automatic rule may be provided. Then, the generation unit 314 may determine the first block according to the one rule selected in the list box.

[0210] (2) The recipe reference screen W2 (FIG. 5) may not include the four recommendation buttons B20 to B23, and information indicating any one of the rules for reducing washing, the rule for saving time, the rule for reducing effort, and the automatic rule may be stored in the memory 32 by the user operating the operation unit 34.

[0211] In this case, in the process of creating a recommended recipe shown in Fig. 16, steps S501 to S503 may be omitted, and the determination unit 315 may perform step S504 when the information indicating a rule stored in the memory 32 indicates a rule to reduce dish washing. Similarly, the determination unit 315 may perform steps S506, S505, and S507 when the information indicating a rule stored in the memory 32 indicates a time-saving rule, an effort-saving rule, or an automatic rule, respectively. Furthermore, the determination unit 315 may perform step S507 when the information indicating the one rule is not stored in the memory 32.

[0212] (3) The recipe reference screen W2 (FIG. 5) may not include one or more of the three recommendation buttons B20 to B22. In addition, if the recipe reference screen W2 does not include the recommendation button B20, steps S602 and S603 (FIG. 17) may be omitted. If the recipe reference screen W2 does not include the recommendation button B21, steps S604 and S605 (FIG. 17) may be omitted. If the recipe reference screen W2 does not include the recommendation button B22, steps S606 and S607 (FIG. 17) in the process of creating a recommended recipe according to the automatic rule shown in FIG. 17 may be omitted.

[0213] (4) The processor 31 may be simplified so as not to include the determination unit 315 and the creation unit 316.

[0214] (5) The processor of the application providing server 10 may have functional units similar to the output unit 311 to the creation unit 316 ( FIG. 4 ) included in the processor 31 of the user terminal 30. In this case, the output unit 311 to the creation unit 316 may cause the functional units similar to those of the processor of the application providing server 10 (information processing device) to perform processing via the communication network 90. [Industrial Applicability]

[0215] According to the present disclosure, recipes can be easily customized according to the devices and equipment owned by the user, which is useful for providing recipes to a variety of users. [Explanation of symbols]

[0216] 10: Application provision server (information processing device) 20:Equipment 21: Equipment 30: User terminal (information processing device) 33: Display 100: Recipe provision system 311: Output section 312:First Acquisition Department 313:Second Acquisition Department 314 :Generation part 315: Decision Section 316: Creation Department R1: Recipe (an example of the first recipe) R10: User recipe (second recipe) W20: Recommended recipe (third recipe) W21: Multiple recommended recipes (third recipe)

Claims

1. The computer Acquire information indicating a first recipe including a plurality of cooking steps and a plurality of blocks corresponding to each of the plurality of cooking steps, the plurality of blocks including first information indicating at least one of an appliance and a tool used in the plurality of cooking steps; Acquire second information indicating one or more devices and appliances owned by the user and information indicating the operating states of the one or more devices and appliances indicated by the second information; A recipe is generated as a second recipe by deleting from the first recipe a block including one or more devices and appliances that are included in the first information and have an operating state indicating that they are in operation; outputting information indicative of the second recipe for display on a display; Information processing methods.

2. When a first cooking process corresponding to a plurality of blocks is detected from the second recipe, determining a first block from among the plurality of blocks corresponding to the first cooking process according to one or more rules; creating one or more third recipes according to the one or more rules by associating the first block with the first cooking step in the second recipe; outputting information indicative of the one or more third recipes for display on the display; The information processing method according to claim 1 .

3. the one or more rules include a first rule, The first rule is: When a second cooking process associated with only one block is detected from the second recipe, a block including the same appliance as the one block is determined as the first block among a plurality of blocks associated with the first cooking process. The information processing method according to claim 2 .

4. Each block further includes a cooking time, which is the time required for the cooking process; the one or more rules include a second rule, The second rule is: determining, as the first block, a block including the shortest cooking time among a plurality of blocks associated with the first cooking process; 4. The information processing method according to claim 2 or 3.

5. Each block further includes a degree of involvement of a person in each cooking step, the one or more rules include a third rule, The third rule is: Among the plurality of blocks corresponding to the first cooking process, a block including the lowest degree of inclusion is determined as the first block. The information processing method according to any one of claims 2 to 4.

6. the one or more rules is a plurality of rules, accepting an input of one rule selected by a user from among the plurality of rules; creating a third recipe according to the first rule by using the first block determined according to the first rule; The information processing method according to claim 2 .

7. a first acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a first recipe including a plurality of cooking steps and a plurality of blocks corresponding to each of the plurality of cooking steps, the plurality of blocks including first information indicating at least one of an appliance and a tool used in the plurality of cooking steps; A second acquisition unit that acquires second information indicating one or more devices and appliances owned by a user and information indicating an operating state of the one or more devices and appliances indicated by the second information; a generating unit that generates a second recipe by deleting from the first recipe a block including one or more devices and appliances that are included in the first information and have an operating state indicating that they are in operation; an output unit that outputs information indicating the second recipe to be displayed on a display; An information processing device comprising:

8. A program for causing a computer to function, The computer, a first acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a first recipe including a plurality of cooking steps and a plurality of blocks corresponding to each of the plurality of cooking steps, the plurality of blocks including first information indicating at least one of an appliance and a tool used in the plurality of cooking steps; A second acquisition unit that acquires second information indicating one or more devices and appliances owned by a user and information indicating an operating state of the one or more devices and appliances indicated by the second information; a generating unit that generates a second recipe by deleting from the first recipe a block including one or more devices and appliances that are included in the first information and have an operating state indicating that they are in operation; an output unit that outputs information indicating the second recipe to be displayed on a display; A program that functions as a

9. generating, as the second recipe, a recipe obtained by deleting from the first recipe a block including one or more devices and appliances that are included in the first information and are not included in the second information; The information processing method according to claim 1 .

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