Information processing apparatus, information processing system, and information processing method

Abstract

To simplify a procedure for lending a vehicle to a foreign user.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus according to the present invention includes a controller that accepts registration of a certificate required when a foreign user rents a vehicle. The controller acquires image data obtained by photographing a certificate by a user, determines whether or not the certificate is a regular certificate based on the image data, and registers the certificate determined as the regular certificate in a database.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing system, and an information processing method. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there are technologies that simplify procedures at rental car stores. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that automatically reads the information written on a user's driver's license using image processing and registers the read information in a server device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2018-163429 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the prior art did not take into account users of foreign nationality, and no disclosure or suggestion was made regarding simplifying the vehicle rental procedure for users of foreign nationality. Currently, at the vehicle rental store, users of foreign nationality are required to submit multiple documents such as an international driver's license in person, and the store must then determine whether these documents are legitimate. This results in a problem of the time it takes to rent a vehicle to users of foreign nationality.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and aims to provide an information processing device, an information processing system, and an information processing method that can simplify the vehicle rental procedures for users of foreign nationality. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the information processing device of the present invention has a controller that accepts registration of a certificate required when a user of foreign nationality rents a car, and the controller acquires image data of the certificate photographed by the user, determines based on the image data whether the certificate is a legitimate certificate, and registers the certificate determined to be a legitimate certificate in a database. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, advance registration of a certificate can be accepted from users of foreign nationality, thereby simplifying the procedure for renting a vehicle to users of foreign nationality. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an outline of the information processing method. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the information processing device. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of sample information stored in the storage unit. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of certificate information stored in the storage unit. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the information processing device. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the information processing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Hereinafter, an information processing apparatus, an information processing system, and an information processing method disclosed in the present application will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0010] First, an overview of an information processing method according to an embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of the information processing method. The information processing method according to the embodiment is executed by an information processing device 1 shown in Fig. 1.

[0011] The information processing device 1 is a device that supports procedures for a rental car service that rents out vehicles such as rental cars. Specifically, the information processing device 1 supports procedures at a rental car store when a user of foreign nationality makes a reservation for a rental car.

[0012] 1 is a terminal device owned by a user. The user terminal 10 can perform various procedures for the information processing device 1 through an application (for example, a web browser application) provided by the information processing device 1.

[0013] 1 illustrates an example in which the user terminal 10 is a smartphone, and in the present disclosure, a case in which the user terminal 10 is a terminal device of a user of foreign nationality will be described. In addition, hereinafter, a user of foreign nationality may also be simply referred to as a user.

[0014] The reservation provider terminal 100 is a terminal of a provider that operates a rental car reservation site. For example, the reservation provider terminal 100 accepts rental car reservations from various users, including users of foreign nationality, through the reservation site.

[0015] Generally, when a user makes a reservation for a rental car, the store where the reservation is made will check the user's driver's license in person, and the driver's license data after the check is completed will be registered in a database.

[0016] Furthermore, if the customer is a foreign national, the store clerk must check various documents such as an international driver's license, a domestic driver's license, a passport, etc. In this case, it is not easy for the store clerk to determine whether each document is legitimate, and language barriers arise when serving the customer.

[0017] Therefore, when renting a car to a foreign user, there is a problem that it takes time at the store before the vehicle can be rented.

[0018] Therefore, the information processing device 1 according to the embodiment accepts the submission of each certificate by a user of foreign nationality in advance. Specifically, as shown in Fig. 1, a user of foreign nationality operates his / her user terminal 10 to make a reservation for a rental car at a reservation provider terminal 100 (step S1).

[0019] When a rental car reservation by a user of foreign nationality is completed, the reservation business terminal 100 requests the information processing device 1 to register a certificate for the user of foreign nationality (step S2). For example, the certificate registration request includes information about the user who made the reservation, a reservation ID, etc. The user information includes information about the user's name, gender, age, nationality, and language used.

[0020] As a result, the information processing device 1 starts a process of accepting pre-registration of a certificate via the user terminal 10. The information processing device 1 accepts submission of image data of a certificate of a user of foreign nationality via the web browser application of the user terminal 10 (step S3).

[0021] First, the information processing device 1 identifies the type of certificate required when the user rents a car based on the user's nationality, etc. For example, the required certificates include an international driver's license, a driver's license from the user's home country, a passport, etc.

[0022] Next, the information processing device 1 receives image data of these certificates from the user terminal 10. Next, the information processing device 1 determines whether the certificates are legitimate certificates based on the acquired image data (step S4).

[0023] The information processing device 1 compares a sample certificate, which is a sample of a genuine certificate, with the certificate shown in the image data to determine whether the certificate is genuine. More specifically, the information processing device 1 first compares the shape, dimensions, and character size of each sample certificate with that of the certificate to identify the type of certificate.

[0024] In this way, the information processing device 1 identifies the certificate type by comparing the external shape of the sample certificate with that of the certificate. This allows the user to upload image data of a photograph of the certificate without specifying the certificate type, thereby improving operability for the user.

[0025] Next, the information processing device 1 compares the character positions, items, and photo positions of the certificate with a sample certificate corresponding to the identified certificate type, and determines whether the certificate is a legitimate certificate.

[0026] Then, the information processing device 1 registers the image data of the certificate determined to be a legitimate certificate in a database (step S5). The certificate data registered in the database is provided to a store terminal (not shown) of the store that rents out the rental car to the user via the reservation business terminal 100. This simplifies the certificate check by the store clerk at the rental car store.

[0027] In this way, the information processing device 1 according to the embodiment acquires image data of a certificate from a user of foreign nationality, and determines whether the certificate is legitimate. Then, the information processing device 1 registers the certificate determined to be legitimate in a database.

[0028] Therefore, according to the information processing device 1, it is possible to accept advance registration of a certificate from a user of foreign nationality, and therefore it is possible to simplify the procedure for renting a vehicle to a user of foreign nationality.

[0029] Next, an example of the configuration of the information processing device 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a block diagram of the information processing device 1. As shown in Fig. 2, the information processing device 1 includes a communication unit 2, a controller 3, and a storage unit 4.

[0030] The communication unit 2 is realized by, for example, a network interface card (NIC), etc. The communication unit 2 is connected to a communication network by wire or wirelessly.

[0031] The controller 3 includes a microcomputer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM, etc., and various other circuits. The controller 3 executes the overall operation of the information processing device 1 by having the CPU execute a program stored in the ROM using the RAM as a working area. Note that the controller 3 may be partially or entirely configured with hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0032] The storage unit 4 is, for example, a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a data flash. The storage unit 4 can store information about various programs, etc. The information processing device 1 may also acquire the above-mentioned programs and various information via another computer or portable recording medium connected via a wired or wireless network.

[0033] In the present disclosure, the storage unit 4 stores sample information about a sample certificate, which is a sample of a legitimate certificate, and certificate information about a certificate provided by a user. Here, the sample information and certificate information will be described with reference to Figs. 3 and 4.

[0034] Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of sample information stored in the storage unit 4. Fig. 4 is a diagram showing an example of certificate information stored in the storage unit 4. As shown in Fig. 3, the certificate information is information in which "nationality," "required certificate type," "sample data," etc. are associated with one another.

[0035] "Nationality" indicates the user's nationality, "Type of required certificate" indicates the type of certificate required to rent a car for the corresponding nationality, and "Sample data" indicates sample certificates of legitimate certificates for each corresponding type of required certificate.

[0036] That is, the certificate information is information that associates, for each nationality, the type of certificate required with a sample certificate of the required certificate.

[0037] Next, the certificate information will be described. As shown in Fig. 4, the certificate information is information in which information items such as "reservation ID," "store ID," "reservator ID," "reservator information," and "certificate data" are associated with one another.

[0038] The "reservation ID" is an identifier for identifying reservation information when renting a car. The "store ID" is an identifier for identifying the store that will rent the car to the user for the reservation identified by the corresponding reservation ID.

[0039] The "reservation user ID" is an identifier for identifying the user who made the reservation identified by the corresponding reservation ID. The "reservation user information" is information about the user identified by the corresponding reservation user ID.

[0040] "Certificate data" is data related to the certificate of a subscriber identified by the corresponding subscriber ID. In this disclosure, "certificate data" refers to image data of a certificate that has been determined to be a legitimate certificate. In other words, data of a certificate that has not been determined to be a legitimate certificate is excluded from "certificate data."

[0041] Returning to the explanation of Figure 2, the controller 3 will now be described. The controller 3 accepts registration of certificates required when foreign users rent cars. The controller 3 acquires image data of the certificate photographed by the user, determines whether the certificate is legitimate based on the image data, and registers certificates determined to be legitimate in a database.

[0042] Specifically, first, the controller 3 accepts a certificate registration request from a user of foreign nationality from the reservation provider terminal 100. When the reservation provider terminal 100 accepts the certificate registration request from the information processing device 1, an application provided by the information processing device 1 (for example, a web browser application) is launched on the user terminal 10.

[0043] Furthermore, the certificate registration request from the reservation provider terminal 100 includes information regarding the reservation ID, store ID, reservation ID, reservation information, etc. The certificate registration request may also include nationality information regarding the user's nationality. Note that the user may select their nationality via the user terminal 10.

[0044] In this case, the user terminal 10 may display a selection screen for the user to select a language and a nationality when the application is launched. This allows the user to perform subsequent processes in their native language. Furthermore, the controller 3 can identify the type of certificate the user requires based on the user's nationality information.

[0045] Next, the controller 3 acquires image data of the photographed certificate through an application of the user terminal 10. At this time, for example, a tutorial for photographing a certificate is displayed to the user on the user terminal 10, and the user photographs the certificate according to the tutorial and uploads the photographed image data to the information processing device 1.

[0046] When the controller 3 acquires the image data of the certificate, the controller 3 determines whether the certificate is a genuine certificate. For example, the controller 3 identifies the type of the certificate before determining whether the certificate is genuine.

[0047] Specifically, the controller 3 compares each sample certificate in the certificate information (see FIG. 3) stored in the storage unit 4 with the shape, dimensions and character size of the certificate shown in the image data to identify the type of certificate.

[0048] That is, the controller 3 compares the external shape and determines that the certificate is of a type whose external shape satisfies the conditions. At this time, the controller 3 may compare the external shape of the certificate with sample certificates of each nationality in a round-robin manner, or may compare the external shape with only sample certificates of a specified nationality based on the nationality information.

[0049] In the latter case, the controller 3 only needs to compare the certificate with a small number of sample certificates, and therefore can efficiently identify the type of the certificate.

[0050] Next, the controller 3 determines whether the certificate whose type has been identified is a genuine certificate. The controller 3 compares the sample certificate with the certificate in terms of the position of the text, items, and photo position to determine whether the certificate is genuine.

[0051] The controller 3 recognizes the character positions and items on the certificate using OCR and determines whether they match those on the sample certificate. The controller 3 also determines whether the position of the photo (e.g., a face photo) on the certificate matches that on the sample certificate.

[0052] If the controller 3 determines that the certificate satisfies all the conditions as a result of these determinations, it determines that the certificate is a genuine certificate and registers the image data of the certificate in the database.

[0053] Furthermore, the controller 3 rejects certificates that are not determined to be genuine. This allows the controller 3 to register only certificates that are determined to be genuine in the database. In other words, the controller 3 does not register certificates that are determined to be fake in the database, thereby preventing fraudulent use of fake certificates.

[0054] The controller 3 repeats these processes as many times as the number of certificates the user needs to rent a car. At this time, the controller 3 may notify the user of the types of certificates whose registration has not been completed.

[0055] In other words, the controller 3 may request the user to upload a certificate by specifying the type of certificate. This allows the user to easily upload the certificates, since the user only needs to upload the certificates specified by the controller 3 in order.

[0056] The controller 3 also registers the user information of the user read from the certificate determined to be authentic in a database. Specifically, the controller 3 reads information about the user by image recognition processing such as OCR. At this time, the controller 3 may read user information items that were not acquired by the reservation business terminal 100. Specifically, the controller 3 reads user information items such as the number and expiration date of an international driver's license or a domestic driver's license, and the number and expiration date of a passport. The controller 3 then registers the read user information in the reservation user information in the storage unit 4.

[0057] In particular, since the controller 3 identifies the type of certificate in advance, it can read the user information while knowing in advance the items written in the certificate. More specifically, the controller 3 can read the user information while knowing in advance what information is written where in the certificate. This allows the controller 3 to efficiently read the user information from the certificate.

[0058] Thereafter, the controller 3 confirms with the user the terms and conditions and precautions regarding the rental car reservation, and also confirms options, etc. With this, the controller 3 completes the advance registration process by the user.

[0059] After completing this series of processes, the controller 3 provides the certificate data registered in the database to the reservation provider terminal 100. This enables the reservation provider terminal 100 to share the certificate data with shops that rent vehicles to users of foreign nationality.

[0060] As a result, when a user of foreign nationality rents a vehicle at a store, the user does not need to submit a certificate, and therefore the certificate check can be omitted.In other words, the present disclosure can accept advance registration of a certificate from users of foreign nationality, thereby simplifying the vehicle rental procedure for users of foreign nationality.

[0061] Next, a processing procedure executed by the information processing device 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 5 and Fig. 6. Fig. 5 and Fig. 6 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure executed by the information processing device 1.

[0062] First, the process of determining whether a certificate is a legitimate certificate by the controller 3 will be described with reference to Fig. 5. As shown in Fig. 5, the controller 3 receives a request to register a certificate from the reservation provider terminal 100 (step S101). Specifically, the controller 3 receives a request to register a certificate for a user of foreign nationality from the reservation provider terminal 100.

[0063] Next, the controller 3 identifies the nationality of the user who has foreign nationality (step S102). The controller 3 identifies the nationality of the user based on the nationality information acquired together with the registration request received from the reservation provider terminal 100, or based on the nationality selected by the user.

[0064] Next, the controller 3 determines a sample certificate to be compared with the certificate based on the identified nationality (step S103). Next, the controller 3 acquires image data of the certificate photographed by the user terminal 10 of the user of foreign nationality (step S104).

[0065] Next, the controller 3 compares the sample certificate with the certificate to determine whether the certificate is a genuine certificate (step S105). The controller 3 determines whether the result of the determination in step S105 is a genuine certificate (step S106).

[0066] If the controller 3 determines that the certificate is a genuine certificate (step S106; Yes), it registers the image data of the certificate in the database (step S107). If the controller 3 determines that the certificate is not a genuine certificate (step S106; No), it rejects the certificate (step S109).

[0067] Then, the controller 3 determines whether or not there is an unregistered certificate (step S108), and if it determines that there is no unregistered certificate (step S108; No), it ends the process. On the other hand, if it determines in the determination of step S108 that there is an unregistered certificate (step S108; Yes), the controller 3 returns to the process of step S104 for the unregistered certificate.

[0068] Next, the procedure for reading user information by the controller 3 will be described with reference to Fig. 6. As shown in Fig. 6, the controller 3 first identifies the location of the information written on the certificate (step S201).

[0069] Specifically, the controller 3 identifies the type of certificate and identifies the location of the information written on the certificate based on a sample certificate of the identified type (step S201). Next, the controller 3 identifies the information by image recognition such as OCR (step S202). In other words, the controller 3 reads the information related to the user information written on the certificate.

[0070] Then, the controller 3 updates the user's reservation information based on the identified description items (step S203), and ends the process.

[0071] As described above, the information processing device 1 according to the embodiment has a controller 3 that accepts registration of a certificate required when a user of foreign nationality rents a car. The controller 3 acquires image data of a certificate photographed by the user, determines whether the certificate is a legitimate certificate based on the image data, and registers the certificate determined to be a legitimate certificate in a database.

[0072] Therefore, according to the information processing device 1 according to the embodiment, it is possible to accept advance registration of a certificate from a user of foreign nationality, and therefore it is possible to simplify the procedure for renting a vehicle to a user of foreign nationality.

[0073] Further advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described above. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0074] 1. Information processing equipment 2. Communications Department 3 Controller 4 Storage section 10 User terminal 100 Reservation business terminal

Claims

1. The system has a controller that accepts registration of certificates required for foreign users to rent cars, The controller The user acquires image data of the certificate, determining whether the certificate is a genuine certificate based on the image data; The certificate that is determined to be a genuine certificate is registered in a database. Information processing device.

2. The controller determining the type of the certificate based on the image data; Determine whether the identified certificate type is genuine or not The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The controller The type of the certificate is determined based on nationality information regarding the nationality of the user. The information processing device according to claim 2 .

4. The controller The type of the certificate is determined by comparing the shape, dimensions, and character size of the sample certificate, which is a sample of the genuine certificate, with that of the certificate. The information processing device according to claim 3 .

5. The controller The type of the certificate is determined by comparing the character positions, items, and photo positions of the sample certificate, which is a sample of the genuine certificate, with the certificate. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

6. The controller Reject the certificate that is not determined to be genuine. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

7. The controller The user information of the user read from the certificate is registered in the database. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

8. The controller Providing certificate information regarding the certificate registered in the database to a business that rents out a car to the user The information processing device according to claim 1 .

9. An information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 8; a business terminal of a business that accepts car reservations from the user; a user terminal that transmits the image data to the information processing device; An information processing system comprising:

10. An information processing method executed by a controller that accepts registration of a certificate required when a user of foreign nationality rents a car, comprising: The user acquires image data of the certificate, determining whether the certificate is a genuine certificate based on the image data; The certificate that is determined to be a genuine certificate is registered in a database. Information processing methods.

Images