Guide control device and guide control method

Abstract

To properly provide information according to an interest of a visitor in an exhibition facility.SOLUTION: A guide control device 20 that guides an exhibit in an exhibition facility in which the exhibit and an explanatory plate having an explanatory text is described thereon, displayed near the exhibit, includes: a visual line detection unit 21 that detects a frequency when a visual line of a visitor reciprocates between a first area where the exhibit is located and a second area where the explanatory plate is located; a determination unit 22 that determines the presence or absence of an interest of the visitor for the exhibit on the basis of a detection result by the visual line detection unit 21; a facility information acquisition unit 23 that acquires facility information from a facility information storage unit 12 storing the facility information for the exhibition facility; a search unit 24 that searches for the exhibit of the exhibition facility according to the interest of the visitor from the facility information on the basis of a determination result by the determination unit 22; and an output control unit 29 that outputs a search result by the search unit 24.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a guidance control device and a guidance control method. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a technology that estimates the interests of each visitor and provides personalized information related to the exhibit for each visitor (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, signals from a transmitter carried by the visitor are detected in each exhibition room within the exhibition venue, and the current location and viewing history of each visitor are determined to estimate the interests of each visitor. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-096230 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The technology described in Patent Document 1 requires visitors to carry a transmission source, which may make it difficult to apply. There is room for improvement in providing visitors with information that matches their interests in exhibition facilities.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to more appropriately provide information that matches the interests of visitors in an exhibition facility. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the objectives, the guidance control device of the present disclosure is a guidance control device that guides visitors to exhibits in an exhibition facility where there are exhibits and explanatory boards with explanatory text displayed near the exhibits, and is equipped with a gaze detection unit that detects the number of times a visitor's gaze moves back and forth between a first area where the exhibits are located and a second area where the explanatory board is located, a judgment unit that judges whether the visitor is interested in the exhibits based on the detection results of the gaze detection unit, a facility information acquisition unit that acquires facility information from a facility information storage unit that stores facility information of the exhibition facility, a search unit that searches the facility information for exhibits in the exhibition facility that correspond to the visitor's interests based on the judgment results of the judgment unit, and an output control unit that outputs the search results of the search unit.

[0007] The guidance control method of the present disclosure is a guidance method for guiding visitors to exhibits in an exhibition facility where there are exhibits and explanatory boards with explanatory text displayed near the exhibits, and includes a gaze detection step of detecting the number of times a visitor's gaze moves back and forth between a first area where the exhibits are located and a second area where the explanatory board is located, a determination step of determining whether or not the visitor is interested in the exhibits based on the detection results of the gaze detection step, a facility information acquisition step of acquiring facility information from a facility information storage unit that stores facility information about the exhibition facility, a search step of searching the facility information for exhibits in the exhibition facility that correspond to the visitor's interests based on the determination results of the determination step, and an output control step of outputting the search results of the search step, all of which are executed by a guidance control device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present disclosure, it is possible to provide information that is more appropriate to the interests of visitors in an exhibition facility. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an exhibition room in an exhibition facility. [Figure 2]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a guidance system including a guidance control device according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an explanatory board corresponding to an exhibit. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the guidance control device according to the embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A guidance control device and a guidance control method according to embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0011] [First embodiment] <Guidance system> FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an exhibition facility. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a guidance system including a guidance control device according to an embodiment. The guidance system 10 guides visitors to exhibits that are of interest to them in an exhibition facility that includes an exhibit 101 and an explanatory board 102 that is displayed near the exhibit 101 and has an explanatory text about the exhibit 101. Note that the material and shape of the explanatory board 102 are not limited to any particular one.

[0012] An exhibition facility is a facility where exhibits are viewed, such as an art gallery, a museum, an aquarium, etc. An exhibition facility may also be an outdoor facility, such as a zoo.

[0013] The guidance system 10 is installed in an exhibition facility. The guidance system 10 includes a line-of-sight sensor 11, a facility information storage unit 12, an output unit 19, and a guidance control device 20.

[0014] The gaze sensor 11 is arranged around the exhibit 101 and the explanatory board 102. The gaze sensor 11 detects the gaze of a visitor facing the exhibit 101 and the explanatory board 102. The gaze sensor 11 is a camera that captures images so as to detect the number of times the visitor's gaze moves back and forth between a first area where the exhibit 101 is located and a second area where the explanatory board 102 is located. The gaze sensor 11 is, for example, a camera that captures images of the visitor's eyes. The gaze sensor 11 may be a group of multiple cameras. The gaze sensor 11 is, for example, composed of a visible light camera or a near-infrared camera. The gaze sensor 11 may be, for example, composed of a combination of a visible light camera and a near-infrared camera. The gaze sensor 11 outputs the captured image to the gaze detection unit 21 of the guidance control device 20.

[0015] The line-of-sight sensors 11 may be arranged for all exhibits 101 in the exhibition facility. Alternatively, the line-of-sight sensors 11 may be arranged only near the starting position of the tour route in the exhibition facility.

[0016] Examples of the vicinity of the starting point of the tour route include the first exhibition room of the tour route, some exhibits from the beginning of the tour route, and an exhibition room visited within about the first 10 minutes of the tour route.

[0017] The facility information storage unit 12 is a storage device that stores facility information of the exhibition facility. The facility information storage unit 12 may be a storage device such as an external server that acquires facility information via a communication function.

[0018] The facility information includes a map showing the layout of exhibition rooms and corridors within the exhibition facility, and information showing the location within the facility of the exhibits 101. The facility information includes information for each exhibit 101 showing the artist, the year it was made, the country or region where it was made, the classification that classifies the exhibit 101, an explanation, etc.

[0019] For example, if the exhibit 101 is a painting, the classification into which the exhibit 101 is divided is impressionism, realism, etc. For example, if the exhibit 101 is a painting, the classification into which the exhibit is divided is landscape painting, portrait painting, etc.

[0020] The facility information may include, for example, information indicating the location of a store such as a museum shop that sells products related to the exhibit 101 within the exhibition facility, and the exhibit 101 associated with the products.

[0021] The output unit 19 is a device that outputs information about exhibits in the exhibition facility that correspond to the interests of the visitor.

[0022] The output unit 19 may be, for example, a display including a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display. The output unit 19 may be, for example, a display unit of a rental terminal rented out at the exhibition facility, or a display unit of a mobile information terminal such as a smartphone used by a visitor. The output unit 19 displays video related to exhibits in the exhibition facility that correspond to the visitor's interests based on a video signal output from the output control unit 29 of the guidance control device 20. The rental terminal or the visitor's mobile information terminal and the guidance system 10 can communicate data via short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). The rental terminal or the visitor's mobile information terminal and the guidance system 10 are paired.

[0023] The output unit 19 may be, for example, a speaker or headphones that output audio. The output unit 19 may be, for example, a speaker of a rental terminal rented out at the exhibition facility, or headphones used by a visitor. The output unit 19 outputs audio related to exhibits in the exhibition facility that correspond to the visitor's interest, based on an audio signal output from the output control unit 29 of the guidance control device 20. The rental terminal or the visitor's headphones and the guidance system 10 can communicate data via short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). The rental terminal or the visitor's headphones and the guidance system 10 are paired.

[0024] <Guidance control device> The guidance control device 20 controls the guidance of visitors to exhibits that match their interests in an exhibition facility that contains exhibits and information boards near the exhibits that contain explanatory text about the exhibits. The guidance control device 20 is an arithmetic processing device (control device) that is composed of, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The guidance control device 20 loads a stored program into memory and executes instructions contained in the program. The guidance control device 20 includes a memory (not shown) as a storage unit, and the memory is used for temporary storage of data in the guidance control device 20, etc. The guidance control device 20 is a computer that executes the guidance control method according to the present disclosure. The guidance control device 20 has a gaze detection unit 21, a determination unit 22, a facility information acquisition unit 23, a search unit 24, and an output control unit 29.

[0025] The gaze detection unit 21 detects the number of times the viewer's gaze moves back and forth between the first area 111 where the exhibit 101 is located and the second area 112 where the explanatory board 102 is located, based on the video captured by the gaze sensor 11. The gaze detection unit 21 may detect the number of times the viewer's gaze moves back and forth between the first area 111 and the second area 112 for each user, based on the video captured by one gaze sensor 11. The gaze detection unit 21 may detect the number of times the viewer's gaze moves back and forth between the first area 111 and the second area 112 for each user, based on the video captured by multiple gaze sensors 11.

[0026] The gaze detection unit 21 may detect, based on the image captured by the gaze sensor 11, whether the gaze is located in the second area 112, the heading area 112A in which the heading of the explanatory text is written, or the main text area 112B in which the main text is written.

[0027] FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing an example of an information board corresponding to an exhibit. The heading area 112A is an area corresponding to the heading of the explanatory text on the information board 102. The heading area 112A is an area in which, for example, the name of the exhibit, the artist, the year of production, the country or region of production, and the classification are written. The heading area 112A is a portion of the explanatory text that is displayed in a conspicuous manner, such as in larger or bolder letters than the other letters. The heading area 112A is the beginning of the explanatory text.

[0028] The main text area 112B is an area that corresponds to the main text of the explanatory text of the information board 102. The main text area 112B is, for example, an area that contains a detailed explanation of the exhibit 101. The main text area 112B is an area that follows the heading area.

[0029] The gaze detection unit 21 may detect the gaze at multiple exhibits 101 and an explanatory board 102 containing explanatory text corresponding to the exhibits 101 based on images captured by a gaze sensor 11 placed near the starting point of the tour route of the exhibition facility.

[0030] The determination unit 22 determines whether the viewer is interested in the exhibit 101 based on the detection result of the gaze detection unit 21. If the number of times the viewer's gaze moves back and forth between the first area and the second area is equal to or greater than a frequency threshold based on the detection result of the gaze detection unit 21, the determination unit 22 determines that the viewer is interested in the exhibit 101. If the viewer's gaze does not move between the first area and the second area based on the detection result of the gaze detection unit 21, the determination unit 22 determines that the viewer is not interested in the exhibit 101.

[0031] The determination unit 22 may determine, for each user, whether or not the visitor is interested in the exhibit 101 based on the detection result of the gaze detection unit 21 based on the video captured by one gaze sensor 11. The determination unit 22 may determine, for each user, whether or not the visitor is interested in the exhibit 101 based on the detection result of the gaze detection unit 21 based on the video captured by multiple gaze sensors 11.

[0032] Based on the detection result of the gaze detection unit 21, the judgment unit 22 may judge that if the gaze is located in both the heading area 112A and the main text area 112B, the degree of interest is higher than if the gaze is located only in the heading area 112A.

[0033] The judgment unit 22 may detect the gaze at multiple exhibits 101 and an explanatory board 102 containing explanatory text corresponding to the exhibits 101 based on the detection results of an eye gaze sensor 11 placed near the starting point of the tour route of the exhibition facility.

[0034] The facility information acquisition unit 23 acquires facility information from the facility information storage unit 12 that stores facility information of the exhibition facility. Based on the determination result of the determination unit 22, the facility information acquisition unit 23 acquires facility information of other exhibits in the exhibition facility that correspond to the interest of the visitor.

[0035] Based on the determination result of the determination unit 22, the search unit 24 searches for other exhibits in the exhibition facility that match the interest of the visitor from the facility information acquired by the facility information acquisition unit 23. In this embodiment, the search unit 24 searches for other exhibits 101 that are made by the same artist, produced in the same era, produced in the same country or region, or in the same category as the exhibit 101 that has been determined to be of interest to the visitor from the facility information acquired by the facility information acquisition unit 23. In this embodiment, the search unit 24 searches for other exhibits that are presumed to be of interest to the visitor from the facility information acquired by the facility information acquisition unit 23.

[0036] The search unit 24 may search for other exhibits 101 that are made by the same artist, produced in the same year, produced in the same country or region, or in the same category as the exhibit 101 that has been determined to have no interest to the visitor, from the facility information acquired by the facility information acquisition unit 23. In this embodiment, the search unit 24 may search for other exhibits that are presumed to have no interest to the visitor, from the facility information acquired by the facility information acquisition unit 23.

[0037] The search unit 24 may further search for a route to visit other exhibits 101 related to the exhibit 101 determined to be of interest to the visitor, from the facility information acquired by the facility information acquisition unit 23. The search unit 24 may further search for a route from the facility information acquired by the facility information acquisition unit 23 that will, for example, allow the visitor to visit other exhibits 101 related to the exhibit 101 determined to be of interest to the visitor in the shortest time or the shortest distance.

[0038] The search unit 24 may further search for stores that sell products related to the exhibit 101 that is determined to be of interest to the visitor, based on the facility information acquired by the facility information acquisition unit 23.

[0039] The output control unit 29 controls the search unit 24 to output the search results to the output unit 19. The output control unit 29 controls the output unit 19 to output information about exhibits in the exhibition facility that correspond to the interests of the visitor.

[0040] A case will be described in which the output unit 19 is a display unit. The output control unit 29 outputs, for example, an image of an exhibit in an exhibition facility that corresponds to the interest of the visitor based on facility information.

[0041] The video of the exhibits in the exhibition facility that correspond to the interests of the visitor is, for example, a list of exhibits or a facility guide map that highlights other exhibits 101 that are made by the same artist, made in the same year, made in the same country or region, or in the same category as the exhibit 101 that has been determined to interest the visitor, and their display locations.The video of the exhibits in the exhibition facility that correspond to the interests of the visitor is, for example, a list of exhibits or a facility guide map that highlights other exhibits 101 that are made by the same artist, made in the same year, made in the same country or region, or in the same category as the exhibit 101 that has been determined to not interest the visitor, and their display locations.

[0042] A case will be described in which a speaker or headphones is used as the output unit 19. The output control unit 29 outputs, for example, sound related to exhibits in the exhibition facility that correspond to the visitor's interests based on facility information.

[0043] The audio related to the exhibits in the exhibition facility that correspond to the visitor's interests is, for example, audio that guides the visitor to other exhibits 101 that are made by the same artist, in the same period of production, in the same country or region of production, or in the same category as the exhibit 101 that is determined to interest the visitor, and the locations of those exhibits.

[0044] <Processing in the guidance control device> Next, the flow of processing in the guidance control device will be described with reference to Fig. 4. Fig. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the guidance control device according to the embodiment. When the guidance system 10 is started, the processing of the flowchart shown in Fig. 4 is started. The processing of Fig. 4 is started under any condition. It is assumed that the processing of Fig. 4 is executed for each user.

[0045] The guidance control device 20 detects the line of sight (step S101). More specifically, the guidance control device 20 detects, by the line of sight detection unit 21, the number of times the viewer's line of sight moves back and forth between the first area 111 where the exhibit 101 is located and the second area 112 where the explanatory board 102 is located. The guidance control device 20 may detect, by the line of sight detection unit 21, the number of times the viewer's line of sight moves back and forth between the first area 111 and the second area 112 for each user, based on images captured by the multiple line of sight sensors 11. The guidance control device 20 proceeds to step S102.

[0046] The guidance control device 20 determines whether or not the viewer is interested in the exhibit 101 (step S102). More specifically, the guidance control device 20 determines whether or not the viewer is interested in the exhibit 101, based on the detection result of the gaze detection unit 21, using the determination unit 22. The guidance control device 20 may also determine whether or not the viewer is interested in the exhibit 101, using the detection result of the gaze detection unit 21, which is based on images captured by multiple gaze sensors 11, using the determination unit 22. If the guidance control device 20 determines that the viewer is interested in the exhibit (Yes in step S102), the process proceeds to step S103. If the guidance control device 20 does not determine that the viewer is interested in the exhibit (No in step S102), the process ends.

[0047] If it is determined that the visitor is interested in the exhibit (Yes in step S102), the guidance control device 20 searches for other exhibits that match the visitor's interest (step S103). More specifically, the guidance control device 20 uses the search unit 24 to search for other exhibits in the exhibition facility that match the visitor's interest from the facility information acquired by the facility information acquisition unit 23 based on the determination result of the determination unit 22. The guidance control device 20 further uses the search unit 24 to search for routes to visit other exhibits 101 related to the exhibit 101 that has been determined to be of interest to the visitor. The guidance control device 20 proceeds to step S104.

[0048] The guidance control device 20 displays the search results of the search unit 24 through the output control unit 29 (step S104). More specifically, the guidance control device 20 causes the output control unit 29 to display, for example, a list of exhibits or a facility guide map showing other exhibits 101 that are made by the same artist, produced in the same year, produced in the same country or region, or in the same category as the exhibit 101 that has been determined to be of interest to the visitor, and their display locations.

[0049] <Effects> As described above, in this embodiment, it is possible to determine whether or not a visitor is interested in an exhibit based on the number of times the visitor's line of sight moves back and forth between the first area where the exhibit is located and the second area where the explanatory board is located, and to output search results for exhibits in the exhibition facility that match the visitor's interests. According to this embodiment, it is possible to appropriately provide information that matches the visitor's interests in the exhibition facility.

[0050] In this embodiment, it is possible to search for a route to visit other exhibits related to an exhibit that has been determined to interest the visitor. According to this embodiment, it is possible to make it easier for the visitor to visit other exhibits related to an exhibit that has been determined to interest the visitor.

[0051] In this embodiment, if the gaze is directed to both the heading area where the heading of the information board is written and the main text area where the main text is written in the second area, it can be determined that the degree of interest is higher than when the gaze is directed only to the heading area. According to this embodiment, the interest of the visitor can be determined more appropriately.

[0052] In this embodiment, the gaze direction is detected at a plurality of exhibits and an explanatory board located near the starting point of the tour route of the exhibition facility. According to this embodiment, it is possible to appropriately provide information according to the interest of the visitor at the beginning of the tour route of the exhibition facility. According to this embodiment, it is possible to support the visitor in efficiently touring the exhibition facility.

[0053] The guidance control device according to the present disclosure has been described above, but it may be implemented in various different forms other than the above-described embodiment.

[0054] The components of the illustrated guidance control device are conceptual functional components and do not necessarily have to be physically configured as shown in the drawings. In other words, the specific form of each device is not limited to that shown in the drawings, and all or part of each device may be functionally or physically distributed or integrated in any unit depending on the processing load and usage status of each device.

[0055] Any configuration within the guidance control device is realized, for example, as software, by a program loaded into memory. In the above embodiment, the functional blocks are described as being realized by the cooperation of these hardware and software. In other words, these functional blocks can be realized in various forms, using only hardware, only software, or a combination of both.

[0056] The above-described components include those that can be easily imagined by a person skilled in the art and those that are substantially the same. Furthermore, the above-described configurations can be appropriately combined. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, or modifications of the configurations are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

[0057] [Variations] In the above, the gaze detection unit 21 detects the number of times the gaze moves back and forth between the first area and the second area based on the image captured by the gaze sensor 11, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, if an exhibition facility can be photographed and the exhibits and explanatory boards are photographed by a camera carried by a visitor, the gaze detection unit 21 may detect the number of times the gaze moves back and forth, with the optical axis of the camera being the visitor's gaze.

[0058] In the above description, the visitor's interest in the exhibit is determined based on the number of times the gaze moves back and forth between the first area and the second area, but this is not limiting. Furthermore, the presence or degree of interest may be determined based on the length of time the gaze stays on the first area and the second area. In this case, the gaze detection unit 21 detects the number of times the gaze moves back and forth, but also detects the time the gaze stays on the first area and the second area. [Explanation of symbols]

[0059] 10 Guidance System 11 Eye gaze sensor 12 Facility information storage unit 19 Output section 20 Guidance control device 21 Gaze detection unit 22 Judgment section 23 Facility Information Acquisition Department 24 Search Section 29 Output control section 101 Exhibits 102 Information board 111 First area 112 Second area 112A Heading Area 112B Text area

Claims

1. A guidance control device that guides exhibits in an exhibition facility where there are exhibits and explanatory boards that are displayed near the exhibits and have explanatory text thereon, a gaze detection unit that detects the number of times the gaze of the visitor moves back and forth between a first area where the exhibit is located and a second area where the explanatory board is located; a determination unit that determines whether the visitor is interested in the exhibit based on the detection result of the gaze detection unit; a facility information acquisition unit that acquires facility information from a facility information storage unit that stores facility information of the exhibition facility; a search unit that searches the facility information for exhibits at the exhibition facility that match the interests of the visitor based on the determination result of the determination unit; an output control unit that outputs the search results of the search unit; A guidance control device comprising:

2. the search unit searches for routes to visit other exhibits related to the exhibit determined to be of interest to the visitor. The guidance control device according to claim 1 .

3. the gaze detection unit detects whether the gaze is located in a heading area where a heading of the information board is written or in a main text area where a main text is written in the second area, the determination unit determines that the degree of interest is higher when the gaze is positioned on both the headline region and the main text region than when the gaze is positioned only on the headline region; The guidance control device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. the gaze detection unit detects gazes at a plurality of the exhibits arranged near a starting position of a tour route of the exhibition facility and at the information boards corresponding to the exhibits; The guidance control device according to claim 1 or 2.

5. A guidance method for guiding an exhibit in an exhibition facility where an exhibit and an explanatory board with explanatory text displayed near the exhibit are present, comprising: a gaze detection step of detecting the number of times the gaze of the visitor moves back and forth between a first area where the exhibit is located and a second area where the explanatory board is located; a determining step of determining whether or not the visitor is interested in the exhibit based on the detection result in the gaze detecting step; a facility information acquisition step of acquiring the facility information from a facility information storage unit that stores facility information of the exhibition facility; a search step of searching the facility information for exhibits at the exhibition facility that correspond to the interest of the visitor based on the determination result at the determination step; an output control step of outputting the search results in the search step; A guidance control method executed by a guidance control device, comprising:

Images