Information providing device, information providing method, and information providing program

Abstract

To promote distribution of information on a building material.SOLUTION: An information providing device 100 includes: an image acquisition part for acquiring, among images posted to an image posting service for publishing posted images via a network, an image to which identification information indicating that it is an image of a construction example of a building material is imparted; an image presenting part for presenting the image acquired by the image acquisition part; and a constructor information providing part for providing information on a constructor of the construction example shown in the image presented by the image presenting part.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information providing device, an information providing method, and an information providing program that provide information regarding the application of building materials. [Background technology]

[0002] Services such as social networking services and blogs are used by many users. These services are attracting attention as an important advertising tool because information on popular products, restaurants, and so on is posted daily and viewed by many users (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-119471 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, since only a limited number of users are interested in building materials that make up buildings such as houses, there are not many opportunities to see information about them. The inventors recognized that a system for promoting the distribution of information about building materials was needed.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in view of such problems, and its purpose is to provide a technology that promotes the distribution of information related to building materials. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problem, an information providing device of one aspect of the present disclosure includes an image acquisition unit that acquires images posted to an image posting service that makes posted images public via a network, and that have identification information attached to them indicating that they are images of construction examples of building materials; an image presentation unit that presents the images acquired by the image acquisition unit; and a contractor information providing unit that provides information about the contractors of the construction examples that appear in the images presented by the image presentation unit.

[0007] Another aspect of the present disclosure is an information providing method, which causes a computer to execute the steps of acquiring an image, which has been posted to an image posting service that makes posted images public via a network and which has identification information indicating that the image is an image of a construction example of a building material, presenting the acquired image, and providing information about the contractor of the construction example that appears in the presented image.

[0008] Any combination of the above components, and conversion of the present disclosure into a method, device, system, recording medium, computer program, etc., are also valid aspects of the present disclosure. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information providing system according to an embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of an information providing method according to an embodiment. [Figure 3] 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an information providing device according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a web page presented on a user terminal from an information providing device. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a web page presented on a user terminal from an information providing device. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a web page presented on a user terminal from an information providing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] As an embodiment of the present disclosure, an information provision system that can promote the distribution of information about building materials will be described. The information provision system of the present disclosure collects images posted to an image posting service that have identification information indicating that they are images of construction examples of building materials, and presents the collected images to users, while also providing users with information about the contractors of the construction examples shown in the images. According to the technology of the present disclosure, useful information such as construction examples and contractors can be provided to users who are planning to install building materials, thereby improving user convenience. Furthermore, it is possible to increase the opportunities for users to access contractors, thereby increasing the contractors' profits. Furthermore, it is possible to increase the opportunities for users to see construction examples of building materials, thereby stimulating users' interest in building materials and increasing the profits of manufacturers and sellers of building materials.

[0011] 1 shows the configuration of an information providing system 1 according to an embodiment. The information providing system 1 includes an information providing device 100, an image posting server 3, a contractor terminal 4, a user terminal 5, and a communication network 2 that communicatively connects these devices.

[0012] The image posting server 3 provides an image posting service that makes images posted by contributors public via a network. The image posting service may be a social networking service (SNS), an electronic bulletin board, a blog, a website, or the like.

[0013] The information providing device 100 acquires, from among images published by the image posting server 3, images that have been assigned identification information indicating that they are images of construction examples of building materials, and presents the acquired images while providing information on the builders of the construction examples shown in the presented images. The building materials may be materials that constitute a building such as a house, or components, parts, or equipment installed inside or outside the building. The building materials may be, for example, interior building materials such as roofs, floors, walls, doors, windows, stairs, storage, kitchens, and toilets, or exterior building materials such as gates, walls, storage sheds, carports, fences, terraces, balconies, and decks.

[0014] The builder terminal 4 is a terminal used by a builder who installs the building material. The builder terminal 4 takes images of examples of installation of the building material and posts the taken images to the image posting server 3.

[0015] The user terminal 5 is a terminal used by a user of the information providing device 100. The user terminal 5 accesses the information providing device 100 and views images of construction examples of building materials and information on builders.

[0016] 2 is a sequence diagram showing the procedure of the information providing method according to the embodiment. In the sequence diagram, there is no particular distinction between the installer and the installer terminal 4, and between the user and the user terminal 5.

[0017] The builder installs building materials in the client's home or the like (S10). The builder terminal 4 photographs the installed building materials as an installation example (S12), and adds identification information to the photographed image of the installation example, indicating that it is an image of an installation example of the building materials (S14), and posts the image to the image posting server 3 (S16). The identification information may be a predetermined specific hashtag, character string, keyword, tag, symbol, or the like. The identification information may be written in a comment or other text included in the post. The identification information may be written in an image included in the post. The image of the installation example of the building materials may be further provided with information such as the builder's identification information, the builder's location, the location of the installation example, the type of building materials, the installation period, and the installation cost.

[0018] The image posting server 3 makes the posted images public via the communication network 2 (S18). The information providing device 100 accesses the image posting server 3 to view the posted images and collects, from the posted images, images that have been assigned identification information indicating that they are images of construction examples of building materials (S20). The information providing device 100 may access multiple image posting servers 3 to view and collect posted images. The information providing device 100 may collect images posted from specific accounts that have agreed to the reprinting of posted images. The specific account may be the account of a builder of the building materials or the client of the construction example, and the information providing device 100 may store information about the specific account in advance. This makes it possible to prevent posted images from being reprinted without the permission of the client or builder.

[0019] The information providing device 100 determines the type of building material shown in each of the collected images (S22). If the post contains information indicating the type of building material, the information providing device 100 acquires the information indicating the type of building material included in the post. If the post does not contain information indicating the type of building material, the information providing device 100 may determine the type of building material using a trained AI (artificial intelligence) that inputs an image and outputs information indicating the type of building material. The information providing device 100 may acquire information indicating the type of building material from the poster of the image or the person who reviewed the image. This makes it possible to extract only images of construction examples of building materials that are to be posted, even if the collected images contain images of construction examples of building materials that are not to be posted.

[0020] The information providing device 100 acquires information about the builder of the construction example that appears in each of the collected images (S24). If the image of the construction example has been posted to the image posting server 3 from the builder's account, the information providing device 100 acquires information about the account that posted the image. If the image of the construction example has been posted to the image posting server 3 from an account other than the builder's, the information providing device 100 may acquire identification information of the builder included in the post. The information providing device 100 may acquire information about the builder using a trained AI that inputs an image and outputs information about the builder. The information providing device 100 may acquire information about the builder from the person who posted the image or the person in charge who confirmed the image.

[0021] The information providing device 100 generates a webpage that displays a list of the collected images (S26). When a single post contains multiple images, the information providing device 100 may post one of the images on the webpage, or may post multiple images on the webpage. In the former case, the information providing device 100 may post the first image included in the post on the webpage, or may select an image to post on the webpage according to predetermined conditions or using a trained AI that inputs multiple images and outputs one image to be posted on the webpage. For example, when information specifying which image to post (e.g., #2) is included as identification information such as a hashtag or keyword, the information providing device 100 may select an image to post based on that identification information. This allows only images of construction examples of building materials that are not eligible for posting to be posted, even if a single post contains images of construction examples of building materials that are not eligible for posting.

[0022] In addition to the images of the construction examples, the webpage may also include information about the builders who built the examples. The images of the construction examples posted on the webpage may also include a link to a webpage that includes information about the builders who built the examples. The builder information may include the builder's name, address, contact information, homepage URL, account information for the image posting server 3, etc.

[0023] The web page may provide a function to narrow down or sort posted images according to conditions such as the type of building material, the location of the construction example, the contractor, the contractor's location, the construction time, the construction period, the construction cost, and the evaluation of the posted image (number of likes, number of reposts, number of comments on the post). For example, images of contractors or construction examples within a predetermined range from the location of the user who requested the images to be presented may be presented. Furthermore, images of construction examples may be presented in order of proximity to the location of the user who requested the images to be presented. This can improve user convenience.

[0024] The webpage may provide a function for acquiring an image of the user's home or the like from the user terminal 5 and extracting and presenting images similar to the acquired image. In this case, the information providing device 100 may extract images similar to the acquired image using a trained AI that inputs the acquired image and extracts and outputs images similar to the acquired image from collected images. If the image of the user's home or the like contains location information, the information providing device 100 may extract images of construction examples similar to the image of the home or the like, and present the extracted images of construction examples within a predetermined range from the user's location or in order of proximity to the location based on the location information contained in the image. This allows the user to view images that can be used as reference when renovating their home, thereby improving user convenience.

[0025] Web pages may be generated for each type of building material, each builder, each location of the builder or construction example, and each construction period. As shown in FIG. 6, a map may also be displayed on the web page. For example, a list of images of construction examples of the building material shown in FIG. 4 may be displayed on the web page together with the map shown in FIG. 6. A map of the locations of the builders or construction examples may also be displayed on the web page. Images of the construction examples may be superimposed on the map at the locations of the builders or construction examples on the map.

[0026] Unlike general products, the required characteristics and construction conditions of building materials can vary significantly depending on the surrounding environment and weather conditions of the construction site. Therefore, by narrowing or sorting the images of construction examples displayed by the contractor or the location of the construction example, preparing web pages for each location, or displaying images of construction examples on a map, the user can view actual construction examples near the location where the building material is to be installed. This allows the user to select appropriate building materials, determine construction methods, and access contractors. The information providing device 100 may narrow or sort the images of construction examples that match the characteristics and construction conditions of the building materials required at the user's location and display them. For example, if the user's location is determined to be in a snowy region, images of construction examples that correspond to snowy regions may also be displayed, even if they are far from the user's location.

[0027] The user terminal 5 accesses the website of the information providing device 100 and views images of the construction example (S28). The user terminal 5 acquires information about the builder of the construction example (S30). If necessary, the user terminal 5 accesses the builder's account on the image posting server 3 and views other posts (S32).

[0028] 3 shows the configuration of an information providing device 100 according to an embodiment. The information providing device 100 includes a communication device 101, a processing device 160, and a storage device 170.

[0029] The communication device 101 controls communication with other devices via the communication network 2. The communication device 101 may perform communication using any wired or wireless communication method.

[0030] The storage device 170 stores programs, data, etc. used by the processing device 160. The storage device 170 may be a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, etc. The storage device 170 includes a construction example image storage unit 171, a contractor information storage unit 172, and a building material information storage unit 173.

[0031] The construction example image storage unit 171 stores information such as posted images, comments, hashtags, ratings on the posted images (number of likes, number of reposts, number of comments on the posted image, etc.), the URL of the posted image, and the URL of the poster's account, all of which are obtained from the image posting server 3. The construction example image storage unit 171 may also store information such as the name, location, and contact information of the contractor of the construction example shown in the posted image, the name, location, and contact information of the client, the type of building material, the time of construction, the construction period, and the construction cost.

[0032] The builder information storage unit 172 stores information such as the name, address, contact information, account ID, URL, and homepage URL of the builder of the building material.

[0033] The building material information storage unit 173 stores information such as the type, product number, name, price, and contractors capable of carrying out the work on the building material.

[0034] The processing device 160 includes an image acquisition unit 161, a building material discrimination unit 162, a builder information acquisition unit 163, a page generation unit 164, an image presentation unit 165, and a builder information provision unit 166. These components are realized as hardware by any circuit, a computer CPU, memory, or other LSI. These components are realized as software by programs loaded into memory. Here, functional blocks realized by the cooperation of these components are depicted. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various ways, such as hardware alone or a combination of hardware and software.

[0035] The image acquisition unit 161 acquires, from among the images posted to the image posting server 3, images to which identification information indicating that they are images of construction examples of building materials has been added, and stores the images in the construction example image storage unit 171.

[0036] The building material discrimination unit 162 discriminates the type of building material appearing in each of the images acquired by the image acquisition unit 161, and stores the determined type of building material in the construction example image storage unit 171. The building material discrimination unit 162 may add a tag indicating the determined type of building material to the image.

[0037] The contractor information acquisition unit 163 acquires information about the contractors of the construction examples shown in the images acquired by the image acquisition unit 161 , and stores the information in the construction example image storage unit 171 .

[0038] The page generation unit 164 generates a web page that displays a list of images of construction examples stored in the construction example image storage unit 171. The web page may be generated for each type of building material, each builder, each location of the builder or construction example, or each construction period.

[0039] When a webpage displaying a list of images of construction examples is requested by the user terminal 5, the image presentation unit 165 presents the webpage to the user terminal 5. When conditions such as the type of building material, the location of the construction example, the contractor, the contractor's location, the construction time, the construction period, the construction cost, the content of comments and hashtags, and the evaluation of the posted image are input on the webpage, the image presentation unit 165 extracts and presents images that match the conditions. When sorting conditions such as the type of building material, the location of the construction example, the contractor, the contractor's location, the construction time, the construction period, the construction cost, the content of comments and hashtags, and the evaluation of the posted image are input on the webpage, the image presentation unit 165 sorts and presents the images according to the conditions. When the image presentation unit 165 acquires an image of the user's home or the like from the user terminal 5, it extracts and presents images similar to the acquired image.

[0040] The builder information providing unit 166 provides information about the builder of the construction example shown in the image presented by the image presenting unit 165. The builder information providing unit 166 may provide the builder information on a web page that displays a list of images of the construction example, or may provide the builder information on a linked web page set on the web page that displays a list of images of the construction example. The builder information providing unit 166 may provide a link to the builder's homepage or an account on the image posting server 3. When a link to the builder's homepage is provided, the builder's information can be provided to users who do not use the image posting service provided by the image posting server 3, thereby improving user convenience.

[0041] 4 shows an example of a web page presented to the user terminal 5 from the information providing device 100. The web page displays a list of images of construction examples of building materials. The web page provides a function for narrowing down the images by the contractor, the location of the construction example, or the type of building material.

[0042] 5 shows an example of a web page presented from the information providing device 100 to the user terminal 5. When an image is clicked on the web page shown in FIG. 4, the contractor information providing unit 166 provides the user terminal 5 with a web page that lists information about the contractor of the construction example shown in the clicked image. The web page lists the contractor's address, contact information, homepage URL, account URL on the image posting server 3, images of other construction examples, and the like.

[0043] While the present disclosure has been described above based on the embodiments, the embodiments merely illustrate the principles and applications of the present invention. Furthermore, many modifications and changes in arrangement are possible to the embodiments without departing from the spirit of the present invention as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0044] 1 Information provision system, 2 Communication network, 3 Image posting server, 4 Builder terminal, 5 User terminal, 100 Information provision device, 101 Communication device, 160 Processing device, 161 Image acquisition unit, 162 Building material discrimination unit, 163 Builder information acquisition unit, 164 Page generation unit, 165 Image presentation unit, 166 Builder information provision unit, 170 Storage device, 171 Construction example image storage unit, 172 Builder information storage unit, 173 Building material information storage unit.

Claims

1. an image acquisition unit that acquires, from among images posted to an image posting service that makes posted images public via a network, images that have been given identification information indicating that they are images of construction examples of building materials; an image presentation unit that presents the image acquired by the image acquisition unit; a builder information providing unit that provides information about builders of construction examples shown in the images presented by the image presenting unit; An information providing device comprising:

2. The image acquisition unit acquires images posted by the installer to the image posting service. The information providing device according to claim 1 .

3. The image acquisition unit acquires images posted to the image posting service from an account of a builder of the building material or a client of the construction example. The information providing device according to claim 2 .

4. The image presentation unit narrows down or sorts and presents the images acquired by the image acquisition unit according to conditions including at least one of the type of building material, the builder, the location of the builder, the location of the construction example, the construction time of the construction example, the construction period of the construction example, the construction cost of the construction example, and an evaluation of the image.

3. The information providing device according to claim 1 or 2.

5. The image presentation unit also presents a map.

3. The information providing device according to claim 1 or 2.

6. The image presentation unit presents an image of a construction example similar to an image of a place where the user is going to install the building material.

3. The information providing device according to claim 1 or 2.

7. A building material discrimination unit is provided to discriminate the type of building material shown in the image.

3. The information providing device according to claim 1 or 2.

8. A web page is provided that lists information about the contractor of the construction example shown in an image selected by the user from the images presented by the image presentation unit.

3. The information providing device according to claim 1 or 2.

9. On the computer, A step of acquiring an image that has been posted to an image posting service that makes posted images public via a network and that has been assigned identification information indicating that the image is an image of a construction example of a building material; presenting the acquired image; providing information about the builder of the construction example shown in the presented image; A method of providing information to execute the above.

10. Computer, an image acquisition unit that acquires, from among images posted to an image posting service that makes posted images public via a network, images that have been given identification information indicating that they are images of construction examples of building materials; an image presentation unit that presents the image acquired by the image acquisition unit; a builder information providing unit that provides information about builders of construction examples shown in the images presented by the image presenting unit; An information provision program to function as a

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