Information processing device, information processing method and information processing program

Abstract

To appropriately set a fee for using a paid public toilet.SOLUTION: A sensor provided on a toilet seat of a paid public toilet detects excretion by a user, and counts the number of excretion times. Then, a fee discount corresponding to the counted number of excretion times is applied to a fee for using the paid public toilet.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program. In particular, it relates to an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program for setting usage fees for pay public toilets.

Background Art

[0002] Pay public toilets may be used and occupied for a long time for improper purposes contrary to the purpose of a toilet, such as using a smartphone or doing makeup. As a countermeasure against such long-term occupation, it is conceivable to charge an additional fee for use exceeding a predetermined time (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The following analysis is made from the perspective of the present invention. It should be noted that the disclosures of the above prior art documents are incorporated herein by reference.

[0005] Cases where pay public toilets are occupied for a long time are not limited to using a smartphone or doing makeup. For example, there are cases where excretion continues intermittently due to poor physical condition, or cases that require a long time in the first place, such as menstrual control in which menstrual blood is discharged in the toilet. Since these cases are for legitimate purposes in line with the purpose of a toilet, long-term occupation should be tolerated.

[0006] However, when charging an additional fee as in Patent Document 1, the fee is uniformly added regardless of the legitimacy or illegitimacy of the purpose of use. As a result, there is a problem that it hinders the use of a paid public toilet even for a legitimate purpose.

[0007] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program that contribute to appropriately setting the usage fee of a paid public toilet.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] According to a first aspect of the present invention, an excretion count unit that detects excretion by a user using a sensor provided in a toilet seat of a paid public toilet and counts the number of excretions; a discount application unit that applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretions to the usage fee of the paid public toilet; An information processing apparatus including the above is provided.

[0009] According to a second aspect of the present invention, an information processing apparatus detects excretion by a user using a sensor provided in a toilet seat of a paid public toilet and counts the number of excretions, applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretions to the usage fee of the paid public toilet, An information processing method is provided.

[0010] According to a third aspect of the present invention, a computer as an information processing apparatus detects excretion by a user using a sensor provided in a toilet seat of a paid public toilet and counts the number of excretions, applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretions to the usage fee of the paid public toilet, An information processing program for executing the above process is provided.

Effects of the Invention

[0011] According to each aspect of the present invention, there are provided an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and an information processing program that contribute to appropriately setting the usage fee of a pay public toilet.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012]

Figure 1

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Figure 8

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the reference numerals attached to the elements in the following description are for convenience of each element as an example to assist understanding, and are not intended to limit the present invention to the illustrated embodiments. Also, the connection lines between blocks in each figure include both bidirectional and unidirectional ones. For one-way arrows, they schematically show the flow of main signals (data) and do not exclude bidirectionality. Further, in the circuit diagrams, block diagrams, internal configuration diagrams, connection diagrams, etc. shown in the present application disclosure, although not explicitly shown, input ports and output ports exist at the input ends and output ends of each connection line respectively. The same applies to input / output interfaces.

[0014] First, a general overview of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 100 includes an excretion count unit 110 and a discount application unit 120. The excretion count unit 110 detects excretion by a user using a sensor provided on the toilet seat of a paid public toilet and counts the number of excretions. Specifically, the excretion count unit 110 determines whether excretion has been detected for each unit time and counts the number of unit times in which excretion has been detected as the number of excretions. The discount application unit 120 applies a fee discount corresponding to the counted number of excretions to the usage fee of the paid public toilet.

[0015] According to the above information processing apparatus 100, in cases where excretion continues intermittently due to poor physical condition or cases that require a long time such as menstrual control in which menstrual blood is discharged in the toilet, a usage fee with a discount applied is set. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the use of paid public toilets for improper purposes without hindering the use for legitimate purposes.

[0016] [Embodiment 1] Hereinafter, the information processing apparatus 100 will be described in more detail. In Embodiment 1, a case where the present invention is applied to a private booth of a paid public toilet will be described as an example.

[0017] First, matters similar to the prior art will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, a toilet 11 is provided in the booth 10 of the paid public toilet. The booth 10 is also provided with a door and a locking function. When the user presents the card 13 to the reader 12 installed outside the booth 10, the door is unlocked. Then, when the user locks the door from the inside, the management terminal 15 starts counting the usage time.

[0018] After that, when the user who has finished excretion presents the card 13 to the management terminal 15, the management terminal 15 presents the usage fee based on the counted usage time to the user. When the user deposits the presented amount into the management terminal 15, the management terminal 15 unlocks the door.

[0019] The above matters are an example of a paid public toilet, and various existing technologies can be applied. For example, the card 13 can be a deposit card, and the management terminal 15 can also deduct the usage fee from the card 13.

[0020] Next, the features of the present invention will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, the toilet 11 is provided with a sensor 14 for detecting excretion by the user. Here, various existing technologies can be applied as long as the sensor 14 can detect excretion by the user. For example, the sensor 14 may detect excretion based on an image captured by a camera. Further, the sensor 14 may be an odor sensor or a gas sensor for detecting the odor of excrement, a voice sensor for detecting the sound during excretion, an infrared sensor, a photoelectric sensor, a thermosensor, or the like. In FIG. 2, the sensor 14 is shown outside the toilet 11, but the sensor 14 may be installed inside the toilet 11 or may be integrally formed with the toilet 11. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2023-034134 discloses a technique for collecting information on excrement in a toilet using an imaging device or a distance sensor.

[0021] The sensor 14 and the management terminal 15 are connected to the information processing device 100 as shown in FIG. 3. The information processing device 100 includes an excretion count unit 110 and a discount application unit 120 as in the above outline.

[0022] The excretion count unit 110 detects excretion by the user by the sensor 14 and counts the number of excretions. Specifically, the excretion count unit 110 determines whether excretion has been detected every unit time, and counts the number of unit times in which excretion has been detected as the number of excretions. For example, after the management terminal 15 starts counting the usage time, the excretion count unit 110 makes a determination with 5 minutes as the unit time. For example, when the excretion count unit 110 detects excretion between 0 and 5 minutes, it regards the time zone from 0 to 5 minutes as having excretion and adds "1 time" as the number of excretions. Further, for example, when no excretion is detected between 6 and 10 minutes, the excretion count unit 110 regards the time zone from 6 to 10 minutes as having no excretion and does not add to the number of excretions.

[0023] The discount application unit 120 applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretion times to the usage fee of the pay public toilet. Specifically, the discount application unit 120 applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretion times to the usage fee according to the usage time of the pay public toilet. More specifically, the discount application unit 120 applies a fee discount according to the number of unit times when excretion is detected to the usage fee according to the usage time of the pay public toilet.

[0024] Even more specifically, the discount application unit 120 reads out the counted usage time from the management terminal 15 that has received the presentation of the card 13 and calculates the basic usage fee. Then, the discount application unit 120 reads out the counted number of excretion times from the excretion count unit 110 and applies a fee discount to the basic usage fee. And the discount application unit 120 presents the usage fee to which the fee discount has been applied to the user via the management terminal 15.

[0025] Here, a specific example is given to explain the technical significance. First, as a premise, it is assumed that the basic fee setting of the pay public toilet is as shown in FIG. 4. That is, it is free for use of 0 minutes or more and less than 5 minutes, 100 yen for use of 5 minutes or more and less than 10 minutes, 200 yen for use of 10 minutes or more and less than 20 minutes, and 500 yen for use of 20 minutes or more.

[0026] And it is assumed that the discount application unit 120 has the fee discount setting shown in FIG. 5. That is, if the number of excretion times is 1, a discount of 100 yen is applied, if the number of excretion times is 2, a discount of 200 yen is applied, and if the number of excretion times is 3, a discount of 500 yen is applied.

[0027] In the above basic fee setting and fee discount setting, even if a user uses a paid public toilet for 20 minutes or more, if excretion is detected in 3 out of 4 time zones within 20 minutes, a discount of 500 yen is applied, making the usage fee for the paid public toilet free. Therefore, for users with intermittent excretion due to poor physical condition or users who perform menstrual control, even if they use a paid public toilet for 20 minutes or more, the usage fee will be free. On the other hand, for improper use users who only use a smartphone or apply makeup, 500 yen will be charged for use of 20 minutes or more.

[0028] The flow of processing by the information processing apparatus 100 will be described. As shown in FIG. 6, when the card 13 is presented to the management terminal 15 by the user who has finished excretion (step S01, Yes), the information processing apparatus 100 reads the counted usage time and calculates the basic usage fee (step S02). Subsequently, the information processing apparatus 100 reads the number of excretions and applies a fee discount to the basic usage fee (step S03). Then, the information processing apparatus 100 presents the usage fee to which the fee discount has been applied to the user via the management terminal 15 (step S04). Since other processing is the same as in the prior art, the description thereof is omitted.

[0029] As described above, while usage fees corresponding to the usage time are charged to improper use users, usage fees to which discounts have been applied are charged to proper use users. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the use of paid public toilets for improper purposes without interfering with the use for legitimate purposes.

[0030] [Embodiment 2] As described above, cases where excretion continues intermittently due to poor physical condition or cases that originally require a long time such as menstrual control are legitimate uses that conform to the purpose of the toilet, so long-term occupancy should be tolerated. Here, it is also conceivable to apply a special fee discount after identifying these cases.

[0031] For example, as shown in FIG. 7, the information processing apparatus 100 further includes a user state estimation unit 130. The user state estimation unit 130 identifies the content of excrement by the user using the sensor 14 and estimates the state of the user. Specifically, the sensor 14 identifies that the excrement by the user is "diarrhea stool" or "menstrual blood" based on the image captured by the camera. From these identification results, it is estimated that the user is in a state of "diarrhea" or "menstruation".

[0032] The discount application unit 120 applies a fee discount according to the state of the user. For example, when it is estimated that the user is in a state of "diarrhea" or "menstruation", the discount application unit 120 applies a special fee discount that makes the usage fee of the paid public toilet free.

[0033] As described above, when it is estimated that the user is in a state of "diarrhea" or "menstruation", a special fee discount is applied and the usage fee of the paid public toilet becomes free. Therefore, when the user is in a state such as "diarrhea" or "menstruation" and there is a justifiable reason for occupying the paid public toilet for a long time, the use is not hindered.

[0034] [Modification] Note that the present invention can also be implemented as a guidance program that causes a computer as the information processing apparatus 100 to execute the above-described processing. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, a computer as the information processing apparatus 100 includes a memory, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and an interface. The CPU reads out and executes the guidance program of the present invention from the memory, thereby realizing processing modules corresponding to the excretion count unit 110 and the discount application unit 120.

[0035] Some or all of the above-described embodiments can be described as follows in the following supplementary notes, but are not limited thereto.

[0036] (Supplementary Note 1) An excretion count unit that counts the number of excretions by detecting the excretion by the user using a sensor provided on the toilet seat of a paid public toilet, A discount application unit that applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretion times to the usage fee of a paid public toilet, An information processing apparatus comprising the same.

[0037] (Appendix 2) The information processing apparatus according to Appendix 1, wherein the discount application unit applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretion times to the usage fee according to the usage time of the paid public toilet.

[0038] (Appendix 3) The excretion count unit determines whether excretion is detected for each unit time, and counts the number of unit times in which excretion is detected as the number of excretion times, The information processing apparatus according to Appendix 2, wherein the discount application unit applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretion times.

[0039] (Appendix 4) Further comprising a user state estimation unit that identifies the content of excrement by the user by a sensor and estimates the state of the user, The information processing apparatus according to any one of Appendices 1 to 3, wherein the discount application unit applies a fee discount according to the state of the user.

[0040] (Appendix 5) The information processing apparatus is Excretion by the user is detected by a sensor provided on the toilet seat of the paid public toilet, and the number of excretion times is counted, A fee discount according to the counted number of excretion times is applied to the usage fee of the paid public toilet. An information processing method.

[0041] (Appendix 6) A computer as an information processing apparatus, Excretion by the user is detected by a sensor provided on the toilet seat of the paid public toilet, and the number of excretion times is counted, A fee discount according to the counted number of excretion times is applied to the usage fee of the paid public toilet. An information processing program for causing execution of processing.

[0042] Note that the features described in Supplementary Notes 2 to 4 can also be extended to the information processing method of Supplementary Note 5 and the information processing program of Supplementary Note 6. For example, in the information processing method of Supplementary Note 5, the content of the excrement by the user may be specified by a sensor, the state of the user may be estimated, and a fee discount according to the state of the user may be applied.

[0043] Note that each disclosure of the above-cited patent documents and the like is incorporated herein by reference and can be used as the basis or part of the present invention as necessary. Within the framework of the entire disclosure of the present invention (including the claims), further changes and adjustments of the embodiments or examples can be made based on the basic technical idea. Also, within the framework of the entire disclosure of the present invention, various combinations or selections (including partial deletion) of various disclosure elements (including each element of each claim, each element of each embodiment or example, each element of each drawing, etc.) are possible. That is, the present invention naturally includes all the disclosures including the claims and various modifications and corrections that could be made by those skilled in the art according to the technical idea. In particular, regarding the numerical ranges described in this document, any numerical value or small range included within the range should be construed as specifically described even in the absence of separate description. Furthermore, each disclosure item of the above-cited documents is also included in the disclosure of the present application as part of the disclosure of the present invention, and can be used in combination with the description items of this document, in whole or in part, in accordance with the spirit of the present invention as necessary.

Explanation of Reference Numerals

[0044] 10 Booth 11 Toilet 12 Reader 13 Card 14 Sensor 15 Management Terminal 100 Information Processing Device 110 Excretion Counting Unit 120 Discount Application Unit 130 User State Estimation Unit

Claims

1. An excretion count unit that detects excretion by a user using a sensor provided in the toilet seat of a paid public toilet and counts the number of excretions; A discount application unit that applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretions to the usage fee of the paid public toilet; An information processing apparatus comprising the above.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discount application unit applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretions to the usage fee according to the usage time of the paid public toilet.

3. The excretion count unit determines whether excretion has been detected every unit time, and counts the number of unit times in which excretion has been detected as the number of excretions, The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the discount application unit applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretions.

4. Further comprising a user state estimation unit that identifies the content of the excrement by the user using a sensor and estimates the state of the user, The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the discount application unit applies a fee discount according to the state of the user.

5. An information processing apparatus, detects excretion by a user using a sensor provided in the toilet seat of a paid public toilet and counts the number of excretions, applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretions to the usage fee of the paid public toilet, An information processing method.

6. On a computer as an information processing apparatus, detects excretion by a user using a sensor provided in the toilet seat of a paid public toilet and counts the number of excretions, applies a fee discount according to the counted number of excretions to the usage fee of the paid public toilet, An information processing program for executing the processing.

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