Program, voting device, and voting method

Abstract

To provide a program, a voting device, and a voting method capable of providing a new experience to users accepting donations.SOLUTION: A voting device comprises a voting screen display part 646 to display the voting screen for accepting voting operations to identify at least one of more than two voting destinations on a display 665 of the voting device, a voting information output part 648 to output the voting information related to that the voting is cast for the voting destination identified by the voting operation accepted by using the voting screen, and a settlement part 655 to perform the payment processing related to the donation donating to a fund raiser according to the voting operation accepted using the voting screen. The new experience can be provided to the users accepting the donations by the voting device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a program, a voting device, and a voting method that can be used when making a donation. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, various devices and methods have been proposed that can be used when making donations to fundraising efforts.

[0003] For example, Patent Document 1 listed below describes the configuration of a payment device that allows change received in an electronic payment to be donated to a donation destination specified on a store terminal. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-097337 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] When making a donation, there is a need to attract as many users as possible to donate. In order to attract as many users as possible, it would be useful to be able to provide users who donate with a new experience.

[0006] An object of the present invention is to provide a program, a voting device, and a voting method that can provide a new experience to users who make donations. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The program of this first invention is a program that causes a computer of a voting device to function as a voting screen display unit that displays a voting screen on the display of the voting device to accept a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations, a voting information output unit that outputs voting information regarding the fact that a vote has been cast for the voting destination specified by the voting operation accepted using the voting screen, and a payment unit that performs payment processing regarding the donation to be donated to a donor in accordance with the voting operation accepted using the voting screen.

[0008] With this configuration, it is possible to settle the donation amount to be donated to the donor in response to the acceptance of the voting operation, and it is possible to provide a new experience to the user who makes the donation.

[0009] In addition, the program of the second invention is a program that, compared to the first invention, causes the computer of the voting device to function as a situation acquisition unit that acquires detection results regarding at least one of the user's operating status and environmental status related to the physical, geographical, and meteorological environment in which the user is located, and a judgment unit that determines whether or not specified display conditions are met based on the detection results acquired by the situation acquisition unit, and causes the voting screen display unit to function to display the voting screen when the judgment unit determines that the display conditions are met.

[0010] With this configuration, the voting screen can be displayed according to the situation and voting operations can be accepted.

[0011] Furthermore, the program of the third invention is a program that, compared to the first or second invention, causes the computer of the voting device to further function as a situation acquisition unit that acquires detection results regarding at least one of the user's operating status and environmental status related to the physical, geographical, and meteorological environment in which the user is located, and a voting screen determination unit that determines a combination of voting destinations that can be identified by voting operations based on the detection results acquired by the situation acquisition unit.

[0012] With this configuration, it is possible to specify a combination of votes that is determined depending on the situation through a voting operation.

[0013] Furthermore, the program of the fourth invention is a program for any one of the first to third inventions, which causes the computer of the voting device to further function as a status acquisition unit that acquires detection results regarding at least one of the user's operating status and environmental conditions related to the physical, geographical, and meteorological environment in which the user is located, and a donation destination determination unit that determines donors to whom donations related to the payment processing will be made based on the detection results acquired by the status acquisition unit.

[0014] This configuration makes it possible to carry out settlement processing for donations to donors determined according to the circumstances.

[0015] Furthermore, the program of the fifth invention is a program that, compared to the fourth invention, causes the voting screen display unit to function to display information about two or more donors and to display a voting screen on the display of the voting device that can further accept a donation destination selection operation that identifies at least one of the two or more donors, and causes the donation destination determination unit to function to determine a donor in accordance with the donation destination selection operation accepted using the voting screen.

[0016] With this configuration, it is possible to carry out a settlement process for donations to donors in accordance with the results of the donation destination selection operation using the voting screen.

[0017] In addition, the program of the sixth invention is a program for any one of the second to fifth inventions that causes the status acquisition unit to function to acquire detection results using the output results of a sensor provided in the voting device.

[0018] With this configuration, a voting screen can be displayed according to the output result of the sensor provided in the voting device, and voting operations can be accepted.

[0019] In addition, the voting device of the seventh invention is a voting device comprising a display, a voting screen display unit that displays on the display a voting screen for accepting a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations, a voting information output unit that outputs voting information regarding the fact that a vote has been cast for the voting destination specified by the voting operation accepted using the voting screen, and a payment unit that performs payment processing regarding the donation to be donated to a donor in accordance with the voting operation accepted using the voting screen.

[0020] With this configuration, it is possible to settle the donation to be donated to the donor in response to the acceptance of a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations.

[0021] Furthermore, the voting method of the eighth invention is a voting method carried out using a display, a voting screen display unit, a voting information output unit, and a settlement unit possessed by a voting device, and comprises a voting screen display step in which the voting screen display unit displays on the display a voting screen for accepting a voting operation that identifies at least one of two or more voting destinations, a voting information output step in which the voting information output unit outputs voting information regarding the fact that a vote has been cast for the voting destination identified by the voting operation accepted using the voting screen, and a settlement step in which the settlement unit performs settlement processing regarding the donation to be donated to the donor in accordance with the voting operation accepted using the voting screen.

[0022] With this configuration, it is possible to settle the donation to be donated to the donor in response to the acceptance of a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations. [Effects of the Invention]

[0023] According to the present invention, a new experience can be provided to users who make donations. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0024] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a voting system according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] A block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing device and a terminal device of the voting system. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 shows an example of voting screen information used in the voting system. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 shows an example of voting screen information used in the voting system. [Figure 5] A flowchart showing an example of the operation of the terminal device [Figure 6] A flowchart showing an example of the operation of the information processing device [Figure 7] FIG. 10 shows a specific example of screen transitions on the terminal device. [Figure 8] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a voting system according to a modification of the present embodiment. [Figure 9] Overview of the computer system in the above embodiment [Figure 10] Block diagram of the computer system DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0025] Hereinafter, embodiments of a voting system (which may also be called a voting device) and the like will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that components with the same reference numerals in the embodiments perform similar operations, and therefore repeated description may be omitted.

[0026] The terms used below are generally defined as follows: The meanings of these terms should not always be interpreted as shown here, but rather, when they are individually explained below, they should be interpreted in light of that explanation.

[0027] Fundraising is the act of publicly raising money for a specific purpose or cause. A donor is a person (who may be an individual, a corporation, or other organization) who makes a donation.

[0028] A donation is the provision of money or other items to a beneficiary (recipient), such as an individual or organization, for charitable purposes. Donations include, for example, the payment of money or other items in response to donations. Donations refer to money or other items that are donated.

[0029] Payment is the process of paying, receiving, or transferring money or other things of value. Payment can include so-called electronic payments, such as online banking, credit or debit card transactions, electronic money transactions, and cryptocurrency transactions, but can also include a variety of other methods, such as cash transactions and securities transactions.

[0030] Voting is when an individual expresses their opinion, preference, etc. by voting for a choice from among options. Voting is usually done when aggregating the opinions, preferences, etc. of multiple people. Note that in the following, voting does not necessarily have to be done for the purpose of aggregating opinions, etc. In that case, voting can simply be called selection.

[0031] A user is someone who uses the voting device according to this embodiment to cast a vote or make a donation.

[0032] An identifier for a certain item is a character or code that uniquely identifies that item. An identifier could be, for example, an ID, but any type of information can be used as long as it can identify the corresponding item. In other words, an identifier could be the name of the thing it represents, or a combination of codes that uniquely identify the thing.

[0033] "Acquisition" may include acquiring information entered by a user or the like, or acquiring information stored in another device. "Acquisition" of information stored in another device may include acquiring information stored in another device via an API or the like, or acquiring the contents of a document file (including the contents of a web page) provided by another device by scraping or the like. It may also include acquiring information in a format different from the original information, such as acquiring information by performing optical character reading on an image file.

[0034] Outputting information is a concept that includes displaying on a display, projecting using a projector, printing on a printer, outputting sound, transmitting to an external device, storing on a recording medium, transferring the processing results to another processing device or another program, etc. Specifically, it includes, for example, making it possible to display information on a web page, transmitting as e-mail, etc., and outputting information for printing.

[0035] The concept of accepting information includes accepting information entered from input devices such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel, receiving information transmitted from other devices via wired or wireless communication lines, and accepting information read from recording media such as optical disks, magnetic disks, and semiconductor memories.

[0036] (Embodiment)

[0037] The outline of this embodiment is as follows. When a voting operation specifying at least one of two or more voting destinations is accepted using the voting screen, the voting device is configured to output voting information related to the voting for the voting destination and to perform settlement processing for the donation to the donor in response. The display of the voting screen may be configured to be performed based on the detection results of the user's operating status and the environmental status related to the environment in which the user is placed. The voting destinations that can be specified by the voting operation, i.e., the voting destinations included on the voting screen, may be determined based on the detection results of the user's operating status and the user's environmental status. The donor to whom the donation is to be made may be determined based on the detection results of the user's operating status and the user's environmental status. The donor to whom the donation is to be made may be determined based on the reception result of the donation destination selection operation using the voting screen. A voting device configured in this manner will be described below.

[0038] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of a voting system 1 according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] In this embodiment, the voting system 1 comprises an information processing device 100 and a terminal device 600. The information processing device 100 and the terminal device 600 can communicate with each other via a network such as a local area network or the Internet. However, the configuration of the voting system 1 is not limited to this. The number of devices included in the voting system 1 is not important, and other devices may also be included in the voting system 1.

[0040] A user of the voting system 1 can use the voting system 1 by using a terminal device 600. In FIG. 1, a mobile information terminal device such as a smartphone is shown as the terminal device 600, but the terminal device 600 is not limited to such a mobile information terminal device. The terminal device 600 may be, for example, a personal computer (PC) such as a laptop computer, or other devices such as a tablet-type information terminal device. In the following example, the description will be given assuming that the terminal device 600 is a mobile information terminal device such as a smartphone.

[0041] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing device 100 and the terminal device 600 of the voting system 1. As shown in FIG.

[0042] The information processing device 100 includes a server storage unit 110, a server receiving unit 120, a server accepting unit 130, a server processing unit 140, and a server transmitting unit 170. The information processing device 100 is, for example, a server device.

[0043] The terminal device 600 includes a terminal storage unit 610, a terminal receiving unit 620, a terminal acceptance unit 630, a terminal processing unit 640, a terminal output unit 660, a terminal transmission unit 670, and a sensor 680. The terminal output unit 660 includes a display 665 such as a liquid crystal display.

[0044] The server storage unit 110 and the terminal storage unit 610 are preferably non-volatile recording media, but can also be realized as volatile recording media. Information acquired by each device is stored in these units, but the process by which the information is stored is not limited to this. For example, information may be stored via a recording medium, information transmitted via a communication line, or information input via an input device.

[0045] The server processing unit 140 and the device processing unit 640 can usually be realized by an MPU, memory, etc. The processing procedures of the server processing unit 140 and the device processing unit 640 are usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, they may also be realized by hardware (dedicated circuitry).

[0046] The input means that can be used to input information that can be accepted by the server acceptance unit 130 and the terminal acceptance unit 630 may be any means, such as a numeric keypad, keyboard, mouse, menu screen, etc. The server acceptance unit 130 and the terminal acceptance unit 630 may be realized by a device driver for an input means such as a numeric keypad or keyboard, or control software for a menu screen.

[0047] The server receiving unit 120 and the terminal receiving unit 620 are usually realized by wireless or wired communication means, but may also be realized by means for receiving broadcasts.

[0048] The server transmitting unit 170 and the terminal transmitting unit 670 are usually realized by wireless or wired communication means, but may also be realized by broadcasting means.

[0049] The terminal device 600 is configured to be able to display various information on a display 665 and to accept operations by a user. The terminal device 600 is configured to be able to receive information transmitted from an external device such as the information processing device 100 via a network such as the Internet. The terminal device 600 is also configured to be able to transmit information to an external device via the network in response to, for example, a user operation or the operation of predetermined software or the like.

[0050] In this embodiment, the components of the information processing device 100 and the terminal device 600 are configured as follows, for example.

[0051] The terminal storage unit 610 stores programs that can be executed by the computer of the terminal device 600, and information that is used when the terminal device 600 is operating. In this embodiment, the terminal storage unit 610 is provided with a donation information storage unit 611 and a user information storage unit 615.

[0052] The donation information storage unit 611 stores, for example, information about donations made by donors and information about donors. Such information may be referred to as donation information. Information about donations may include, for example, an identifier that identifies the donation or the donor, and information used for settlement such as the recipient of the donation for the donation. Information about donors may also include, for example, an identifier that identifies the donor, an identifier that identifies the donation made by the donor, and information that can identify the donor's contact information, etc.

[0053] Furthermore, the donation information storage unit 611 may contain information regarding options (votes) that the user can vote for, as described below. This information may be referred to as voter information. The information regarding voters is, for example, information regarding a topic associated with information regarding options that indicate positions or thoughts on the topic. Votes allow the user to select their own position on a specific topic, such as whether they agree with the opinion on environmental protection, or how to strike a balance between economic growth and environmental protection. In the information regarding voters, for example, information indicating two or more voters (options) may be associated with one topic, or information indicating one voter may be associated with one topic.

[0054] In this embodiment, the donation information storage unit 611 stores donors or donations made by those donors (hereinafter, donors or donations may be collectively referred to as donors, etc.) and voting destinations in correspondence with each other. The correspondence is, for example, a one-to-one relationship between donors, etc. and voting destinations, but is not limited to this and may be a one-to-many, many-to-one, or many-to-many relationship. In this embodiment, the donation information storage unit 611 stores two or more donors, etc. and two or more voting destinations, and one donor, etc. and one voting destination in correspondence with each other. In other words, in this embodiment, the donation information storage unit 611 stores two or more pairs of donations or donors and voting destinations associated with the donors, etc. Note that the correspondence between donors, etc. and voting destinations may be said to be a correspondence between an identifier identifying the donor, etc. and an identifier indicating the voting destination.

[0055] Each piece of information stored in the donation information storage unit 611 is information that can be used when displaying the voting screen described below. This information may be referred to as voting screen information. Information about donors, etc. may be included in the voting screen information. Information about voting destinations may also be included in the voting screen information. Information about pairs of donors, etc. and voting destinations associated with the donors, etc. may also be included in the voting screen information. It can be said that the donation information storage unit 611 stores voting screen information about the voting screen. The information stored in the donation information storage unit 611 is, for example, transmitted from the information processing device 100 to the terminal device 600 and stored therein, but the route of acquisition by the terminal device 600 is not limited to this.

[0056] The voting screen information may include information on the display conditions corresponding to each voting destination. That is, the display conditions may include, for example, conformance to the information on the display conditions specified in the voting screen information.

[0057] Fig. 3 is a first diagram showing an example of voting screen information used in the voting system 1. Fig. 4 is a second diagram showing an example of voting screen information used in the voting system 1.

[0058] In the example shown in the figure, the voting screen information includes, for example, a subject identifier (subject ID), which is information regarding the voting destination, the subject, and two voting destinations (voting destination_A and voting destination_B), each recorded in correspondence with information indicating the donation destination (donation destination ID_A and donation destination ID_B).

[0059] Furthermore, in the example shown in the figure, the voting screen information has location information and a distance threshold set for each subject ID. If the terminal device 600 is within a distance range defined by the distance threshold from a point determined by the location information, it can be determined that the display conditions described below are satisfied. Note that the voting screen information is not limited to this, and information regarding the display conditions does not need to be associated with the voting screen information.

[0060] The user information storage unit 615 stores user information. In this embodiment, the user information is information in which a user identifier, which is an identifier for identifying a user using the terminal device 600, i.e., a user using the voting system 1, is associated with information about the user. The user information may include various information. For example, it may include payment information, which is information for identifying the user's bank account and other information used to make payments to the bank account, etc. The payment information may include information for making payments using the user's credit card, electronic money, etc. The user information may also include attribute values ​​related to the user's characteristics, preferences, etc. Note that the user information may include, for example, information about the user received from the information processing device 100, information about the user acquired by the terminal device 600 as described below, etc.

[0061] In addition, user information for each of two or more users may be stored in the server storage unit 110 of the information processing device 100, and the user information may be stored in the user information storage unit 615 by the terminal device 600 acquiring the user information of the user using the terminal device 600 transmitted from the information processing device 100.

[0062] In this embodiment, the user information storage unit 615 stores user information such as the user's current location, user preference information, and other attribute values ​​in association with a user identifier. The user's current location is, for example, but not limited to, location information identified using the detection results of the sensor 680. This user information can be used when displaying a voting screen, as described below, but is not limited to this.

[0063] The terminal receiving unit 620 receives information transmitted from the information processing device 100 or other devices via a network. The terminal receiving unit 620 stores the received information in, for example, the terminal storage unit 610 so that the device processing unit 640 and the like can acquire the information.

[0064] The terminal reception unit 630 receives various input operations for the terminal device 600 by a user of the terminal device 600. The operations are performed, for example, using a touch panel provided on the display 665, but may also be performed using other input devices (not shown). The terminal reception unit 630 may also receive input operations using voice input through a microphone, for example.

[0065] In this embodiment, the terminal receiving unit 630 is configured to be able to accept a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations (options) performed using voting screen information output as described below. For example, when two or more voting destinations are displayed on the display 665 and the user performs a voting operation that specifies one of them, the terminal receiving unit 630 accepts it.

[0066] It may be considered that the terminal accepting unit 630 accepts the information received by the terminal receiving unit 620 as information input to the terminal device 600. In other words, input of information to the terminal device 600 may be interpreted as meaning that the information is indirectly input to the terminal device 600 by the user via the information processing device 100 or the like, or may be interpreted as meaning that the information is directly input to the terminal device 600 by the user using an input means. Also, input of information to the terminal device 600 may be considered as the user providing information to the terminal device 600 by executing a program that automatically generates information or by providing various information to a program to make it function.

[0067] Device processing unit 640 performs various information processing operations using each unit of terminal device 600. In this embodiment, device processing unit 640 includes a status acquisition unit 641, a judgment unit 643, a voting screen determination unit 645, a voting screen display unit 646, a voting information output unit 648, a donation destination determination unit 651, and a settlement unit 655.

[0068] The situation acquisition unit 641 acquires a detection result related to the user's situation. The user's situation is, for example, the user's motion situation or the user's environmental situation. The motion situation is, for example, the situation of an operation performed by the user on the terminal device 600, but is not limited to these. The motion situation may be, for example, the user's walking state, posture, information about lifestyle habits such as sleep time, or information indicating a physical condition such as heart rate or respiratory rate. Furthermore, the environmental information is, for example, the situation related to the physical, geographical, and meteorological environment in which the user is placed, such as the temperature, air pressure, weather, location, brightness, etc., but is not limited to these. In this embodiment, the situation acquisition unit 641 is configured to acquire a detection result related to at least one of the user's motion situation and the environmental situation using the output result of the sensor 680 of the terminal device 600 used by the user.

[0069] The determination unit 643 determines whether or not a predetermined determination condition is satisfied based on the detection result acquired by the status acquisition unit 641.

[0070] In this embodiment, the determination unit 643 determines whether the display conditions are met based on the detection results. The display conditions may be considered to be conditions for displaying a voting screen on the terminal device 600. The display conditions may be considered to be start conditions for starting to accept votes. The display conditions include, for example, but are not limited to, a state in which the distance between the user's position and a predetermined position remains within a predetermined value for a predetermined period of time, a predetermined start operation is performed by the user, or a combination of these.

[0071] The voting screen determination unit 645 determines which voting destinations are to be identifiable by a voting operation based on the detection result acquired by the status acquisition unit 641. In this embodiment, voting operations can be accepted while the voting screen is displayed on the display 665, and it can be said that identifiable voting destinations are voting destinations that are to be displayed selectably on the voting screen. In other words, it can be said that the voting screen determination unit 645 determines the display mode of the voting screen to be displayed by determining a combination of voting destinations that are identifiable by a voting operation.

[0072] For example, when a display condition is satisfied in response to a user's operation, voting destinations may be determined according to the operation mode. For example, when a display condition is satisfied according to the user's location, voting destinations may be determined according to the location. For example, when a display condition is satisfied according to the temperature or the like, voting destinations may be determined according to the situation. This makes it possible to display a voting screen that allows voting for a voting destination according to the situation. Furthermore, the voting screen determination unit 645 may be configured to determine a combination of voting destinations in response to a setting operation of the voting destinations. In this case, the combination of voting destinations may be determined according to a setting operation of the combination of voting destinations. For example, when there are two combinations of two or more voting destinations, a setting operation may be performed to determine which combination is to be displayed selectably on the voting screen. Furthermore, a setting operation may be performed to add or delete another voting destination for a combination of two or more voting destinations. Such setting operations may be performed, for example, by an administrator of the information processing device 100 or the like. That is, the results of the setting operation are reflected in the information stored in the donation information storage unit 611, and the voting screen determination unit 645 is able to determine the combination of votes as described above.

[0073] The voting screen display unit 646 displays a voting screen for accepting a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations on the display 665 of the voting system 1. The voting screen display unit 646 displays the voting screen when the determination unit 643 determines that the display conditions are satisfied. The voting screen display unit 646 displays the voting screen on the display 665 by controlling the terminal output unit 660, for example.

[0074] In this embodiment, the voting screen display unit 646 acquires voting screen information from the donation information storage unit 611 and displays the voting screen. The voting screen may be a screen corresponding to the voting destination determined by the voting screen determination unit 645, from among screens prepared in advance to include display information related to the voting destinations. The voting screen display unit 646 may also configure and display the voting screen to include the voting destinations determined by the voting screen determination unit 645. When the determination unit 643 determines that the display conditions are met, the voting screen display unit 646 may be said to display the voting screen on the display 665 by acquiring and outputting voting screen information for displaying the voting screen.

[0075] The voting screen display unit 646 may be configured to acquire voting screen information that satisfies a predetermined acquisition condition from among two or more pieces of voting screen information stored in the donation information storage unit 611, based on the user information acquired from the user information storage unit 615. The voting screen determination unit 645 may be configured to acquire voting screen information that corresponds to a voting destination that satisfies a predetermined acquisition condition from among two or more pieces of voting screen information stored in the donation information storage unit 611, based on the user information acquired from the user information storage unit 615. For example, user information to be associated with voting destinations and voting screen information may be specified in advance, and the voting destinations and voting screen information that correspond to the user information acquired from the user information storage unit 615 may be determined from among the user information. For example, a voting screen that includes voting destinations that match the user's preferences may be displayed.

[0076] Here, in this embodiment, as described above, donors and voting destinations are associated with each other. Therefore, a voting screen including two or more voting destinations can be said to be a screen that displays information about two or more donors and can also accept a donation destination selection operation that identifies at least one of the two or more donors. In other words, in this embodiment, the voting screen is a screen that can simultaneously accept a voting operation that identifies at least one of two or more voting destinations and a donation destination selection operation that identifies at least one donor of the two or more donors. It can also be said that the voting operation doubles as a donation destination selection operation. As a result, the user can identify the donor to whom to donate by selecting a voting destination.

[0077] The voting screen may be configured to accept a donation destination selection operation separately from the voting operation. In this case, the user can use the voting screen to cast a vote and select a donation destination through separate operations.

[0078] The voting information output unit 648 outputs voting information regarding the casting of a vote for a designated voting destination specified by a voting operation accepted using the voting screen. The voting information includes, for example, information identifying the designated voting destination. The voting information may also include a user identifier identifying the user who cast the vote.

[0079] The donation destination determination unit 651 determines donors to whom donations are to be made. In this embodiment, as described above, donors and voting destinations are associated with each other. Therefore, when the voting screen determination unit 645 determines the voting destinations to be displayed on the voting screen based on the detection results acquired by the status acquisition unit 641, it can be said that the donation destination determination unit 651 determines candidate donors to whom donations are to be made in relation to the settlement process described below based on the detection results acquired by the status acquisition unit 641. The donation destination determination unit 651 is configured to determine donors in accordance with the donation destination selection operation received using the voting screen.

[0080] The donation destination determination unit 651 may be configured to determine a unique donor as a donation destination regardless of the voting operation, for example. By designating a unique donor as a donation destination regardless of the voting operation and having votes for the donor compete, it is expected that many donations will be collected for that donor. In this case, the donation destination determination unit 651 may be configured to determine a donation destination based on the detection results acquired by the status acquisition unit 641, for example. Alternatively, it may be determined that a specific donor is always the donation destination.

[0081] The settlement unit 655 performs a settlement process for the donation to be donated to the donor in accordance with the voting operation accepted using the voting screen. In this embodiment, the settlement unit 655 performs a settlement process for the donation to be donated to the donor corresponding to the voting destination specified by the voting operation.

[0082] In this embodiment, the settlement process may be said to be, for example, a process of instructing the information processing device 1 to pay a donation from the user to the donor of the donation destination.

[0083] The donation amount determination unit 656 determines the donation amount. For example, the donation amount determination unit 656 determines the donation amount using a predetermined determination method. Once the donation amount determination unit 656 determines the donation amount, it outputs the information. Note that various methods can be used as the predetermined determination method. For example, the donation amount may always be a fixed value. Alternatively, the donation amount may be a randomly determined amount.

[0084] The donation instruction unit 657 issues an instruction to make a donation from an account corresponding to the user. Here, instead of an account, an instruction may be issued to make a donation from a wallet such as an electronic money account. The donation instruction unit 657 issues an instruction to the information processing device 100 to make a donation according to the result of the determination by the donation amount determination unit 656.

[0085] The donation instruction unit 657 transmits the content of the instruction to the information processing device 100 using, for example, the terminal transmission unit 670. This allows the information processing device 100 to receive the instruction and execute the payment.

[0086] The terminal output unit 660 has a display 665. The terminal output unit 660 outputs information, for example, by displaying a screen on the display 665. Note that the method of outputting information is not limited to this, and the information may be output by outputting sound or the like from a speaker or the like.

[0087] The terminal transmitting unit 670 transmits information acquired by, for example, the terminal processing unit 640 via the network.

[0088] The sensor 680 is, for example, an illuminance sensor, a camera, or a position information sensor capable of identifying a position using a GPS or the like. The sensor 680 is capable of detecting information related to the surrounding situation and outputting the detection results. Note that the types of the sensor 680 are not limited to these, and a microphone, an acceleration sensor, an air pressure sensor, or the like may also be provided.

[0089] The information processing device 100 is configured to be capable of communicating with, for example, a terminal device 600 or an external device (not shown), and to perform information processing using information transmitted from the terminal device 600 or the external device, and to transmit information to the terminal device 600 or the external device.

[0090] The server storage unit 110 stores various information used by the information processing device 100. For example, information acquired by the information processing device 100, information output by the information processing device 100, etc. may be stored. In addition, programs executed by the information processing device 100, etc. may also be stored.

[0091] The server receiving unit 120 receives information transmitted from another device. The server receiving unit 120 stores the received information in, for example, the server storage unit 110. In this embodiment, a user performs a voting operation using, for example, the terminal device 600. Then, as will be described later, voting information is transmitted from the terminal device 600 to the information processing device 100. The server receiving unit 120 can store each piece of transmitted information in the server storage unit 110 in association with a user identifier. When receiving this information from the terminal device 600, the server receiving unit 120 can identify the user identifier of the user related to the transmission based on the transmitted information.

[0092] The server reception unit 130 receives information input using an input means (not shown) connected to the information processing device 100. The server reception unit 130 stores the received information in, for example, the server storage unit 110. The input means may be any means, such as a numeric keypad, keyboard, mouse, or menu screen. The server reception unit 130 may also receive information input by an input operation (including, for example, information read by a device) performed using a reading device (for example, a code reader) connected to the information processing device 100.

[0093] Note that the server accepting unit 130 may be considered to accept the information received by the server receiving unit 120 as information input to the information processing device 100. In other words, input of information to the information processing device 100 may be interpreted as meaning that the information is indirectly input to the information processing device 100 by the user via the terminal device 600 or the like, or may be interpreted as meaning that the information is directly input to the information processing device 100 by the user using an input means. Furthermore, input of information to the information processing device 100 may be considered to mean that the user provides information to the information processing device 100 by executing a program that automatically generates information or by providing various information to a program to make it function.

[0094] The server processing unit 140 includes a tally result output unit 149 and a settlement execution unit 158. The server processing unit 140 performs various processes. The various processes are, for example, processes performed by each unit of the server processing unit 140 as follows.

[0095] The tally result output unit 149 is configured to acquire the tally result of the votes corresponding to one piece of voting screen information. The tally result output unit 149 is also configured to output the acquired tally result to the user. The user to whom the tally result is output may be a user different from the user who participated in the vote. The tally result may include, but is not limited to, information indicating the ranking of the number of votes for each voting destination, or information indicating the number and percentage of votes for each voting destination. By outputting such tally result of the voting destination, the user can know the voting results, including those of other users, for the subject on which they voted.

[0096] The payment execution unit 158 ​​executes payment in accordance with instructions from the donation instruction unit 657. That is, payment is made so that the user pays the determined donation amount to the donor identified by the donation instruction unit 657. Here, executing payment refers to, for example, outputting a message or the like to execute a transaction for transferring money between bank accounts in a predetermined remittance system. Note that, for example, processing may be performed so that credit card payment is made using the user's credit card information, or processing may be performed so that electronic money is paid from the user's wallet or the like. In this way, donations are made to donors in accordance with their votes. That is, users can make donations by performing a voting operation.

[0097] The server transmitting unit 170 transmits the information via the network to other devices that make up the voting system 1. The server transmitting unit 170 transmits the information to, for example, the terminal device 600. In other words, the server transmitting unit 170 outputs the information to, for example, the terminal device 600.

[0098] Next, an example of the operation of the information processing device 100 when a user uses the voting system 1 according to this embodiment will be described. In this embodiment, for example, the user can use the voting system 1 by accessing the information processing device 100 using the terminal device 600 and receiving information transmitted from the information processing device 100, and by running a predetermined application on the terminal device 600, performing voting operations and donation destination selection operations. Note that the predetermined application may be, for example, a dedicated application that operates using information transmitted from the information processing device 100, or a web browser that operably displays web applications provided on the information processing device 100.

[0099] In this embodiment, the voting system 1 is typically used as follows. That is, when a user is using the terminal device 600, the display conditions are satisfied. Then, a voting screen is displayed on the display 665 of the terminal device 600, and the user can perform a voting operation. When the user performs a voting operation, voting information is transmitted to the information processing device 100 accordingly. The information processing device 100 tallys up the voting results and performs settlement. As a result, the donation is paid from the user to the donor.

[0100] When the voting system 1 operates in this manner, the terminal device 600 and the information processing device 100 perform various operations, for example, as follows: These operations are performed by the terminal processing unit 640 and the server processing unit 140 executing control operations and the like using each unit.

[0101] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the terminal device 600.

[0102] (Step S11) The device processing unit 640 acquires the detection result of the sensor 680.

[0103] (Step S12) The device processing unit 640 uses the detection result to determine whether the display conditions are met. If it is determined that the display conditions are met, the process proceeds to step S13; if not, the process returns to step S11.

[0104] (Step S13) The device processing unit 640 acquires voting screen information from the donation information storage unit 611. In this case, the device processing unit 640 can acquire corresponding voting screen information, for example, based on the detection results of the sensor 680. The corresponding voting screen information includes, for example, the corresponding voting destination, but is not limited to this.

[0105] (Step S14) Using the acquired voting screen information, the terminal processing unit 640 displays the voting screen on the display 665. This makes it possible to accept voting operations.

[0106] (Step S15) The terminal processing unit 640 determines whether or not a voting operation by the user has been accepted. If it is determined that the voting operation has been accepted, the process proceeds to step S16; if not, for example, this process is repeated until the voting operation is accepted.

[0107] (Step S16) The terminal processing unit 640 outputs voting information in response to the voting operation. That is, the voting information is transmitted to the information processing device 100.

[0108] (Step S17) The terminal processing unit 640 starts the payment process. That is, first, the donation amount is determined according to a predetermined determination method.

[0109] (Step S18) Terminal processing unit 640 issues a donation instruction, that is, transmits information to information processing device 100 indicating an instruction to perform processing to pay the determined donation amount to the donation recipient corresponding to the voting operation.

[0110] (Step S19) The terminal processing unit 640 determines whether or not it has received the tallying result transmitted from the information processing device 100. If it determines that it has received the tallying result, it proceeds to step S20; if not, it repeats this process, for example, until it receives the tallying result.

[0111] (Step S20) Based on the received tally results, the terminal processing unit 640 displays the tally results on the display 665. This allows the user to know the results of the vote.

[0112] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the information processing device 100.

[0113] (Step S31) Server processing unit 140 determines whether or not voting information has been received from user terminal device 600. If it is determined that voting information has been received, the process proceeds to step S32; otherwise, the process proceeds to step S34.

[0114] (Step S32) Server processing unit 140 uses the received voting information to tally the voting results.

[0115] (Step S33) The server processing unit 140 outputs the counting result to the terminal device 600 of the user who transmitted the voting information.

[0116] (Step S34) Server processing unit 140 determines whether a predetermined timing for transmitting results has arrived. The timing for transmitting results may be, for example, the date and time of a preset voting deadline, or the timing when a predetermined number of votes have been cast, but is not limited to these. If it is determined that the timing for transmitting results has arrived, proceed to step S35; otherwise, proceed to step S36.

[0117] (Step S35) The server processing unit 140 transmits the counting results at that time to a predetermined destination. The predetermined destination can be set as appropriate, but may be, for example, a voting administrator or the terminal device 600 of a user who has transmitted voting information up to that point. This allows the current voting results to be easily known.

[0118] (Step S36) Server processing unit 140 determines whether or not information indicating a donation instruction has been received from user terminal device 600. If it is determined that the information has been received, the process proceeds to step S37; if not, the process ends.

[0119] (Step S37) The server processing unit 140 executes the settlement based on the received donation instruction. As a result, the determined donation amount is paid from the user to the donor corresponding to the voting destination specified by the voting operation.

[0120] When the process of step S37 is completed, the series of operations ends.

[0121] When a voting screen is displayed or a voting operation is performed using the voting system 1 according to this embodiment, for example, the following screen is displayed on the terminal device 600 used by the user.

[0122] FIG. 7 shows a specific example of screen transitions on the terminal device 600. In FIG.

[0123] The figure shows an example of a state in which a voting screen 901 is displayed on the display 665 of the terminal device 600. As shown in step S91, the voting screen 901 displays, for example, information indicating a subject and information regarding two voting destinations (dogs and cats). The voting screen 901 includes voting buttons 910, 920 corresponding to each voting destination, and the user can vote for the corresponding voting destination by tapping either of the voting buttons 910, 920.

[0124] When voting button 910 is operated, a vote is cast for one of the voting destinations (dog) and a donation is made to the corresponding donation destination, and the screen transitions to post-voting screen 911 shown in step S92. When voting button 920 is operated, a vote is cast for the other voting destination (cat) and a donation is made to the corresponding donation destination, and the screen transitions to post-voting screen 921 shown in step S93. Each of post-voting screens 911, 921 displays, for example, a message that voting has been completed, a tally of the total number of votes, and a tally of the total amount of donations to the corresponding donation destination. The user can check this information to confirm the number of votes and whether they were able to fulfill the donation.

[0125] As described above, according to this embodiment, payment for donations to be made to donors can be made in response to the acceptance of a voting operation. In recent years, with the increasing adoption of cashless payments, it is thought that there are fewer opportunities to casually pay coins or the like in response to donations when paying at a cash register or the like. By using a voting system such as that according to this embodiment, a new experience can be provided to users who make donations, and motivation to donate can be effectively increased. The voting screen can accept a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations, so users can be effectively encouraged to cast their votes, and more donations can be expected to be collected.

[0126] In this embodiment, the method for performing voting operations and donations using the voting system 1 can be expressed as follows. That is, the voting system 1 can execute a voting method using the display, voting screen display unit, voting information output unit, and settlement unit of the voting device. The voting method includes a voting screen display step in which the voting screen display unit displays on the display a voting screen for accepting a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations, a voting information output step in which the voting information output unit outputs voting information regarding the fact that a vote has been cast for the voting destination specified by the voting operation accepted using the voting screen, and a settlement step in which the settlement unit performs settlement processing regarding the donation to be donated to the donor in accordance with the voting operation accepted using the voting screen.

[0127] The processing in this embodiment may be realized by software. This software may be distributed by software download, etc. This software may also be recorded on a recording medium such as an optical disc and distributed. The software that realizes the voting device in this embodiment is the following program. That is, this program is executed on the computer of the voting device, and causes the computer of the voting device to function as: a voting screen display unit that displays on the display of the voting device a voting screen for accepting a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations; a voting information output unit that outputs voting information regarding the fact that a vote has been cast for the voting destination specified by the voting operation accepted using the voting screen; and a settlement unit that performs settlement processing regarding the donation to be donated to the donor in accordance with the voting operation accepted using the voting screen.

[0128] (others)

[0129] In the above embodiment, the voting device is configured so that the terminal device 600 essentially realizes each function of the voting device, but this is not limited to this. For example, the functions of the voting device may be realized by the terminal device 600 and the information processing device 100 operating in cooperation with each other.

[0130] FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a voting system 2001 according to a modified example of this embodiment.

[0131] As shown in the figure, voting system 2001 comprises an information processing device 2100 provided with some of the components provided in terminal device 600 in the above-described voting system 1, and a terminal device 2600 from which these components have been removed. That is, a donation information storage unit 611 and a user information storage unit 615 are provided in the server storage unit 110. In addition, server processing unit 2140 is provided with, for example, a voting screen determination unit 645, a donation destination determination unit 651, a payment unit 655, and a payment execution unit 158.

[0132] For example, in the voting system 2001 configured in this manner, each unit operates in the same way as the voting system 1 according to the above-described embodiment, and the same operations can be performed as a whole. That is, when the terminal device 2600 determines that the display conditions are met based on the detection results regarding the situation, the server processing unit 2140 acquires voting screen information for the voting screen to be displayed. For example, by transmitting the voting screen information to the terminal device 2600, the voting screen is displayed on the terminal device 2600 and a voting operation is accepted. The voting information is transmitted from the terminal device 2600 to the information processing device 2100, and payment processing and the like can be performed.

[0133] Even with this configuration, it is possible to obtain the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment, and also to reduce the amount of processing required by the terminal device 2600.

[0134] Fig. 9 is a schematic diagram of a computer system 800 according to the embodiment, and Fig. 10 is a block diagram of the computer system 800.

[0135] These figures show examples of the configuration of a computer that executes the programs described in this specification to realize the information processing device 100, terminal device 600, etc. of the above-mentioned embodiments. The above-mentioned embodiments can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed thereon.

[0136] Computer system 800 includes a computer 801 that includes an optical disk drive, a keyboard 802, a mouse 803, and a monitor 804.

[0137] In addition to an optical disk drive (ODD) 8012, the computer 801 includes an MPU 8013, a bus 8014 connected to the optical disk drive 8012 etc., a ROM 8015 for storing programs such as a boot-up program, a RAM 8016 connected to the MPU 8013 for temporarily storing instructions of application programs and providing temporary storage space, and a hard disk (HDD) 8017 for storing application programs, system programs, and data. Although not shown here, the computer 801 may further include a network card for providing connection to a LAN.

[0138] A program that causes the computer system 800 to execute the functions of the information processing device or the like of the above-described embodiments may be stored on an optical disk 8101, inserted into the optical disk drive 8012, and then transferred to the hard disk 8017. Alternatively, the program may be transmitted to the computer 801 via a network (not shown) and stored on the hard disk 8017. The program is loaded into the RAM 8016 when executed. The program may also be loaded directly from the optical disk 8101 or the network.

[0139] The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS) or a third-party program that causes the computer 801 to execute the functions of the information processing device of the above-described embodiment. The program only needs to include instructions that call appropriate functions (modules) in a controlled manner to achieve desired results. How the computer system 800 operates is well known, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0140] In addition, in the above program, the sending step of sending information and the receiving step of receiving information do not include processing performed by hardware, such as processing performed by a modem or interface card in the sending step (processing that can only be performed by hardware).

[0141] The computer that executes the program may be a single computer or a plurality of computers, that is, it may perform centralized processing or distributed processing.

[0142] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments, two or more components present in one device may be physically realized on one medium.

[0143] In the above embodiments, each component may be configured with dedicated hardware, or, for components that can be realized by software, may be realized by executing a program. For example, each component may be realized by a program execution unit such as a CPU reading and executing a software program recorded on a recording medium such as a hard disk or semiconductor memory. During execution, the program execution unit may execute the program while accessing a storage unit or recording medium. The program may also be executed by being downloaded from a server or the like, or by being read from a predetermined recording medium (e.g., an optical disk, a magnetic disk, a semiconductor memory, etc.). The program may also be used as a program constituting a program product. The program may be executed by a single computer or multiple computers. That is, centralized processing or distributed processing may be performed.

[0144] Furthermore, in the above embodiments, each process (each function) may be realized by centralized processing by a single device (system), or may be realized by distributed processing by multiple devices (in this case, the entire system consisting of multiple devices performing distributed processing can be understood as a single "device").

[0145] Furthermore, in the above embodiments, the transfer of information between components may be performed, for example, by one component outputting information and the other component receiving information if the two components transferring the information are physically different, or by moving from a processing phase corresponding to one component to a processing phase corresponding to the other component if the two components transferring the information are physically the same.

[0146] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments, information related to the processing performed by each component, such as information accepted, acquired, selected, generated, transmitted, or received by each component, and information such as thresholds, formulas, and addresses used in processing by each component, may be temporarily or long-term stored in a recording medium (not shown), even if not explicitly stated in the above description. Furthermore, the storage of information in the recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a storage unit (not shown). Furthermore, the reading of information from the recording medium (not shown) may be performed by each component or a reading unit (not shown).

[0147] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiments, if the information used by each component, such as thresholds, addresses, and various setting values ​​used by each component in processing, may be changed by the user, the user may or may not be able to change the information as appropriate, even if not explicitly stated in the above description. If the information is changeable by the user, the change may be realized, for example, by a receiving unit (not shown) that receives a change instruction from the user and a changing unit (not shown) that changes the information in accordance with the change instruction. The change instruction may be received by the receiving unit (not shown), for example, from an input device, by receiving information transmitted via a communication line, or by receiving information read from a predetermined recording medium.

[0148] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible, and these modifications are also included within the scope of the present invention.

[0149] The components of the above-described embodiments and modifications may be combined as appropriate to form an embodiment. Also, some of the components or functions of the above-described embodiments and modifications may be omitted. [Industrial Applicability]

[0150] As described above, the program according to the present invention has the effect of being able to provide a new experience to users who make donations, and is useful as a program, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0151] 1. Voting system (an example of a voting device) 100 Information processing device 110 Server Storage 120 Server receiving unit 130 Server Reception Department 140 Server processing unit 149 Aggregation result output section 158 Payment Execution Department 170 Server transmission unit 600 Terminal Equipment 610 Terminal storage section 611 Donation Information Storage Unit 615 User information storage section 620 Terminal receiving unit 630 Terminal Reception 640 Terminal Processing Unit 641 Status Acquisition Department 643 Judgment Department 645 Voting screen decision section 646 Voting screen display section 648 Voting Information Output Unit 651 Donation Decision Department 655 Payment Department 656 Donation Amount Determination Department 657 Donation Instructions Section 660 Terminal Output Unit 665 Display 670 Terminal Transmitter 680 Sensors

Claims

1. The voting device computers, a voting screen display unit that displays a voting screen on a display of the voting device for accepting a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations; a voting information output unit that outputs voting information regarding the fact that a vote has been cast for a voting destination specified by the voting operation accepted using the voting screen; a payment unit that performs payment processing for the donation to be donated to the donor in accordance with the voting operation accepted using the voting screen.

2. The voting device computer further comprises: a situation acquisition unit that acquires a detection result regarding at least one of a user's operating situation and an environmental situation regarding the physical, geographical, and meteorological environment in which the user is located; a determination unit that determines whether a predetermined display condition is satisfied based on the detection result acquired by the situation acquisition unit, The program according to claim 1 , further comprising causing the voting screen display unit to function to display the voting screen when the determination unit determines that the display condition is met.

3. The voting device computer further comprises: a situation acquisition unit that acquires a detection result regarding at least one of a user's operating situation and an environmental situation regarding the physical, geographical, and meteorological environment in which the user is located; The program according to claim 1 , further comprising: a voting screen determination unit that determines a combination of voting destinations that can be specified by the voting operation based on the detection result acquired by the status acquisition unit.

4. The voting device computer further comprises: a situation acquisition unit that acquires a detection result regarding at least one of a user's operating situation and an environmental situation regarding the physical, geographical, and meteorological environment in which the user is located; 2. The program according to claim 1, further comprising: a donation destination determination unit that determines a donor to be a recipient of a donation related to the payment process based on the detection result acquired by the status acquisition unit.

5. the voting screen display unit is caused to function to display information about two or more donors and to display the voting screen on the display of the voting device, which is capable of further accepting a donation destination selection operation that identifies at least one of the two or more donors; 5. The program according to claim 4, which causes the donation destination determination unit to function to determine the donor in response to a donation destination selection operation accepted using the voting screen.

6. The program according to claim 2 , further comprising causing the status acquisition unit to function to acquire the detection result using an output result of a sensor provided in the voting device.

7. The display and a voting screen display unit that displays on the display a voting screen for accepting a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations; a voting information output unit that outputs voting information regarding the fact that a vote has been cast for a voting destination specified by the voting operation accepted using the voting screen; a settlement unit that performs settlement processing for the donation to be donated to the donor in accordance with the voting operation accepted using the voting screen.

8. A voting method using a display, a voting screen display unit, a voting information output unit, and a settlement unit of a voting device, a voting screen display step in which the voting screen display unit displays, on the display, a voting screen for accepting a voting operation that specifies at least one of two or more voting destinations; a voting information output step in which the voting information output unit outputs voting information regarding the fact that a vote has been cast to a voting destination specified by the voting operation accepted using the voting screen; and a payment step in which the payment unit performs payment processing for the donation to be donated to the donor in accordance with the voting operation accepted using the voting screen.

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