Information provision device, information provision method, and information provision program

Abstract

To improve user convenience when considering the installation of commercial materials. [Solution] The information providing device 100 includes: a construction target image acquisition unit 161 that acquires images related to the construction targets of materials that can be applied to buildings; a search unit 162 that searches for images of construction examples similar to the images acquired by the construction target image acquisition unit 161 from among images of multiple construction examples; a construction example image presentation unit 163 that presents images of construction examples found by the search unit 162; and a material information presentation unit 164 that presents information on the materials used in the construction examples presented by the construction example image presentation unit 163.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information providing device, an information providing method, and an information providing program for providing information on commercial materials that can be constructed in a building.

Background Art

[0002] When considering constructing commercial materials such as building materials and housing equipment that can be constructed in a building in a client's house or the like, professional users such as construction companies ask for the desires and conditions of end users such as the client, search for commercial materials from catalogs of commercial materials, etc., and propose them to the end users.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] Since this work takes a great deal of time and effort, a technology for assisting the work of professional users and end users is required.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in view of such problems, and an object thereof is to provide a technology for improving the convenience of users when considering the construction of commercial materials.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] To solve the above problems, an information providing device in one aspect of the present disclosure includes: a construction target image acquisition unit that acquires images related to the construction targets of materials that can be applied to buildings; a search unit that searches for images of construction examples similar to the images acquired by the construction target image acquisition unit from among images of multiple construction examples; a construction example image presentation unit that presents images of construction examples found by the search unit; and a material information presentation unit that presents information on the materials used in the construction examples presented by the construction example image presentation unit.

[0007] Another aspect of this disclosure is an information provision method. This method causes a computer to perform the following steps: acquire images related to the construction targets of materials that can be used in buildings; search for images of construction examples similar to the acquired images from among images of multiple construction examples; present the images of the searched construction examples; and present information on the materials used in the presented construction examples.

[0008] Furthermore, any combination of the above components, as well as any conversion of the expressions of this disclosure between methods, apparatus, systems, recording media, computer programs, etc., are also valid forms of this disclosure. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0009] [Figure 1] This is a diagram showing the configuration of the information provision system according to the embodiment. [Figure 2] This is a flowchart showing the procedure for the information provision method according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] This diagram shows the configuration of the information providing device according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of a screen displayed by an information-providing device. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of a screen displayed by an information-providing device. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of a screen displayed by an information-providing device. [Figure 7] This figure shows an example of a screen displayed by an information-providing device. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0010] As an embodiment of this disclosure, we will describe a technology that provides information on materials that can be used in construction.

[0011] Figure 1 shows the configuration of an information provision system 1 according to an embodiment. The information provision system 1 comprises an information provision device 100, a user terminal 3, and a communication network 2 that connects them in a communicative manner.

[0012] User terminal 3 is a terminal device used by end users such as homeowners, and professional users such as construction companies that install the materials.

[0013] The information provider 100 acquires images related to the installation target of the product from the user terminal 3 and searches for images of installation examples similar to the acquired image from among multiple installation example images. The information provider 100 presents a list of the searched installation example images to the user terminal 3 and also presents information on the products used in the installation examples to the user terminal 3. This allows the user to view images of installation examples similar to the installation target, such as the homeowner's house, and visualize what the installation will look like with the product installed. Furthermore, they can view information on the products used in those installation examples to help them select and install the products. This improves convenience for both end users and professional users.

[0014] The commercial materials may include materials that make up buildings such as houses, or building materials, parts, and equipment installed inside or outside buildings. For example, the commercial materials may include interior building materials such as floors, walls, wallpaper, doors, windows, stairs, storage, kitchens, toilets, and lighting fixtures, or exterior building materials such as roofs, gates, gateposts, mailboxes, walls, sheds, carports, fences, terraces, balconies, decks, and light fixtures.

[0015] The construction targets for commercial materials may include the interior, exterior structure, underground areas, rooms, living rooms, dining rooms, kitchens, bathrooms, toilets, corridors, entrances, approaches, gates, fences, gardens, wooden decks, verandas, balconies, parking lots, etc. of buildings such as the user's home, buildings, and facilities.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the information providing method according to the embodiment.

[0017] The information providing apparatus 100 acquires an image related to the construction target of the commercial material from the user terminal 3 (S10). The image related to the construction target may be an image of the construction target itself of the commercial material, or an image of a location other than the construction target of the commercial material but related to the construction target of the commercial material. For example, when the construction target of the commercial material is the exterior structure of the client's home, an image of the interior of the client's home may be acquired, or an image of another building owned by the client may be acquired.

[0018] The information providing apparatus 100 searches for an image similar to the acquired image related to the construction target from among the images of a plurality of construction cases (S12). The information providing apparatus 100 may hold images of a plurality of construction cases and search for an image similar to the image related to the construction target from among the images of the plurality of construction cases held by the apparatus itself, or may search for an image similar to the image related to the construction target from among the images of a plurality of construction cases held by another apparatus accessible via the communication network 2. The images of the construction cases may include captured images of actual construction cases, virtual construction case images created by computer graphics (CG) technology, etc., or virtual construction case images generated by a learned generation AI for generating images.

[0019] The information providing device 100 may analyze the acquired images related to the construction target using a trained AI or the like to determine the shape, size, color, material, and design of the construction target, as well as the type, size, color, material, design, number, and identification information of the materials shown in the images related to the construction target. Based on the determination results, it may search for images of construction examples similar to the images related to the construction target. The information providing device 100 may calculate the similarity between the images related to the construction target and the images of construction examples for each determined item, and extract images of construction examples with high scores calculated from the similarity scores. The score may be calculated by weighting each item according to the degree to which each item is considered important in the similarity between the images related to the construction target and the images of construction examples. The information providing device 100 may search for images of construction examples similar to the images related to the construction target using a trained AI or the like that searches for similar images.

[0020] The information provider 100 presents a list of images of the searched construction examples to the user terminal 3 (S14). The information provider 100 may present all images of the searched construction examples to the user terminal 3, or it may present a predetermined number of images to the user terminal 3 in descending order of score, or it may present images whose score is equal to or greater than a predetermined value to the user terminal 3. The information provider 100 may accept the number of images to present and the score threshold from the user terminal 3. The information provider 100 may present a user interface such as a slider to the user terminal 3 for the user to adjust the number of images to present, the score threshold, etc.

[0021] The information providing device 100 may present a user interface for narrowing down images of construction cases to the user terminal 3. For example, it may be possible to narrow down images of construction cases by specifying conditions such as designs like modern, natural, Japanese style, classic, resort, etc., product categories such as around the garage, space design parts, fences / screens, lighting, around the gate, around the garden, related to verandas / balconies, functions such as enjoying home time, particular planting, renovation, protecting a beloved car, being particular about the entrance approach, enjoying lighting up, using a fence for privacy, etc. Information such as these designs, product categories, functions, etc. may be attached as meta-information to the images of construction cases. These meta-informations may be attached to the images of construction cases manually or automatically in advance. The meta-information may be attached by a meta-information provider that has learned, by supervised learning, a set of an image of a construction case and the meta-information attached manually, using the set as learning data.

[0022] The information providing device 100 may extract images of construction cases suitable for the user's place of residence, the size of the house, etc. and present them to the user terminal 3. Thereby, since it is possible to extract construction cases according to the size, environment, weather conditions, etc. of the user's house, it is possible to present more realistic construction cases to the user. Information such as the user's place of residence and the size of the house may be acquired in advance from the user terminal 3 and stored in the user database. The information providing device 100 may present information such as a building contractor near the user's place of residence where the construction of the commercial materials is possible to the user terminal 3. Thereby, the convenience of the user can be improved.

[0023] The information providing device 100 may extract images of construction cases constructed or photographed during a predetermined period and present them to the user terminal 3. For example, it may extract and present to the user terminal 3 images of construction cases constructed or photographed during the most recent predetermined period. Thereby, the user can grasp the latest trends, etc.

[0024] The information providing device 100 receives a selection of construction examples from the user terminal 3 (S16) and presents information on the materials used in the selected construction example to the user terminal 3 (S18). The material information may include the type of material, name, image, manufacturer, size, shape, color, material, price, construction conditions, and contractors who can perform the work. This improves the convenience for end users such as clients and professional users such as construction companies. The material information may also include drawings and construction methods of the materials. This also improves the convenience for professional users such as construction companies. The material information presented in step S18 may be information on all materials used in the construction example, or it may be information on some of the materials used in the construction example.

[0025] Images of construction examples may be pre-associated with the types and identification information of materials used in the construction examples. Materials used in construction examples may be pre-associated with images of construction examples manually or automatically. The correspondence between construction examples and the materials used in them may be stored in a construction example database. The types and materials of materials used in construction examples may be determined in advance, or when an image of a construction example is selected, by a material classifier trained through supervised learning using pairs of material images and material information such as material type and identification information as training data. The information providing device 100 may present information on materials that differ in design, color, price, etc., from the materials used in the selected construction example. The information providing device 100 may present information on materials that are included in images related to the construction target acquired from the user terminal 3 but are not included in the image of the selected construction example to the user terminal 3. The information providing device 100 may present information on materials that are included in images related to the construction target acquired from the user terminal 3 but are not included in the image of the selected construction example to the user terminal 3. This allows more information on materials suitable for the construction target to be provided to the user.

[0026] The information provider 100 presents information on products that fit the selected construction example to the user terminal 3 (S20). Products that fit the construction example may be products that match, are similar to, are suitable for, adapt to, or are compatible with the construction example, products that are highly relevant to the construction example, or products whose installation location is suitable for the construction example. The information provider 100 may also present information on products that fit the selected construction example but are not used in the selected construction example to the user terminal 3. The information provider 100 presents information on products with a matching accuracy higher than a threshold, which indicates the degree to which the construction example and the product fit. The matching accuracy may be pre-compiled in a database manually or automatically. The matching accuracy may be calculated from the similarity of items such as the design, type, color, size, and material of the construction example and the product. The matching accuracy may be determined in advance or when an image of a construction example is selected by a matching accuracy decider trained through supervised learning using a set of training data consisting of an image of a construction example, information about the material such as the type and identification information of the material, and the matching accuracy calculated manually or as described above. The information providing device 100 may present a user interface such as a slider for adjusting the matching accuracy threshold to the user terminal 3 so that the user can adjust the number of materials presented. This makes it possible to provide the user with information on materials that are more suitable for the construction target. Step S20 may be omitted.

[0027] The information providing device 100 may coordinate multiple materials that fit the construction target or selected construction example and present information about those materials to the user terminal 3. The information providing device 100 may also select a combination of materials from among the types of materials that can be installed at the location of the construction target or construction example, in terms of shape, design, type, color, size, material, etc., that are similar to the construction target or construction example.

[0028] The information providing device 100 may coordinate multiple materials to be installed on the installation target by selecting materials that fit each zone, area, region, or range of the installation target and present them to the user terminal 3. For example, if the installation target is the exterior of a house, the information providing device 100 may coordinate multiple materials to be installed on the entire exterior of the house by selecting materials that fit each image of the installation target for each zone, such as the entrance area, gate area, garden, and carport.

[0029] The information provider 100 may change the lighting effects in images related to the construction target or selected construction examples acquired from the user terminal 3, convert them into daytime or nighttime scenes, and present them to the user terminal 3. The information provider 100 may also add lighting fixtures to the image converted into a nighttime scene and present the scene with the added lighting effect from the lighting fixtures to the user terminal 3. This allows the user to visualize the nighttime conditions or the conditions with added lighting fixtures.

[0030] When the user terminal 3 requests that the information provider 100 save any of the construction examples or product information presented to the user terminal 3, the information provider 100 records the specified construction example or product information in the user database and saves it so that it can be read when the user accesses the information provider 100 again (S22). This improves user convenience.

[0031] The information provider 100 calculates an estimate of the cost of installing the materials selected by the user on the installation target and presents it to the user terminal 3 (S24). The information provider 100 may calculate the estimate by referring to a materials database that stores information such as the price of materials, or a contractor database that stores information such as the contractor's installation costs.

[0032] The information provision device 100 outputs a list of products selected by the user to an external application or service for calculating an estimate (S26). This improves user convenience.

[0033] The information provider 100 may acquire images related to the construction target, as well as conditions such as the size and slope of the construction target and drawings, and present information on construction examples and materials that match the acquired conditions to the user terminal 3. The information provider 100 may also coordinate combinations of multiple materials that match the conditions specified by the user. In addition to the estimate presented in step S24, the information provider 100 may calculate an estimate of the cost of installing materials that match the conditions specified by the user and present it to the user terminal 3. For example, when presenting images of construction examples and information on materials in steps S14, S18, and S20, an estimate of the construction cost may also be presented. This can improve user convenience.

[0034] Figure 3 shows the configuration of an information providing device 100 according to an embodiment. The information providing device 100 comprises a communication device 101, a processing device 160, and a storage device 170.

[0035] The communication device 101 controls communication with other devices via the communication network 2. The communication device 101 may communicate using any communication method, whether wired or wireless.

[0036] The storage device 170 stores programs, data, etc., used by the processing device 160. The storage device 170 may be a semiconductor memory, a hard disk, or the like. The storage device 170 includes a construction example image storage unit 171, a construction example database 172, a product information database 173, a contractor database 174, and a user database 175.

[0037] The construction example image storage unit 171 stores images of construction examples in which the product has been installed. The construction example image storage unit 171 may be stored by the information providing device 100, or it may be stored by another device accessible to the information providing device 100.

[0038] The construction example database 172 stores information about images of construction examples held in the construction example image storage unit 171. The construction example database 172 stores information such as the client, contractor, construction location, construction cost, construction period, type of materials used in the construction example, identification information, quantity, name, and price.

[0039] The product information database 173 stores information about products. The product information database 173 stores information such as the type of product, identification information, name, price, construction conditions, and contractors who can perform the work.

[0040] The contractor database 174 stores information about the contractors who install the products. The contractor database 174 holds information such as the contractor's name, address, contact information, and website URL.

[0041] The user database 175 stores information about the user. The user database 175 stores information such as the user's name or company name, place of residence, size of the house, and identification information of saved construction examples and products. The user database 175 may be held by the information providing device 100, or it may be held by another device accessible to the information providing device 100.

[0042] The processing unit 160 comprises a construction target image acquisition unit 161, a search unit 162, a construction example image presentation unit 163, a product information presentation unit 164, a storage unit 165, a product discrimination unit 166, an output unit 167, and an estimate calculation unit 168. These configurations can be realized as hardware using arbitrary circuits, a computer CPU, memory, or other LSIs. These configurations can also be realized as software using programs loaded into memory. Here, we are illustrating the functional blocks realized through the cooperation of these components. Therefore, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that these functional blocks can be realized in various forms, such as hardware only or a combination of hardware and software.

[0043] In step S10, the construction target image acquisition unit 161 acquires images related to the construction target of the product from the user terminal 3.

[0044] In step S12, the search unit 162 searches among multiple images of construction examples held in the construction example image holding unit 171 for images similar to the image related to the construction target acquired by the construction target image acquisition unit 161.

[0045] In step S14, the construction example image display unit 163 reads images of construction examples found by the search unit 162 from the construction example image holding unit 171 and presents them to the user terminal 3. The construction example image display unit 163 may present images of construction examples that are suitable for the user's place of residence or the size of their house. The construction example image display unit 163 may present images of construction examples that were constructed or photographed during a predetermined period. The construction example image display unit 163 may narrow down and present images of construction examples according to specified conditions. The construction example image display unit 163 may change the lighting effects in the images of construction examples before presenting them.

[0046] In step S16, the product information display unit 164 receives a selection from the user terminal 3 of a construction example from among the construction example images displayed by the construction example image display unit 163, for which product information should be displayed. In step S18, the product information display unit 164 reads the product information used in the selected construction example from the product information database 173 and displays it to the user terminal 3. The product information display unit 164 may further display information on products that differ in design, color, or price from the products used in the construction example.

[0047] In step S20, the product information display unit 164 further displays information on products that fit the construction target or construction example but are not used in the construction example. The product information display unit 164 may also display information on products whose matching accuracy, which indicates the degree to which the product fits the construction target or construction example, is higher than a threshold. The product information display unit 164 may also display a user interface for adjusting the matching accuracy threshold and display information on products whose matching accuracy is higher than the specified threshold. The product information display unit 164 may also display combinations of multiple products that fit the construction target or construction example. The product information display unit 164 may also display information on products that fit each zone of the construction target. The product information display unit 164 may further display information on products that are included in images related to the construction target but not in images of the construction example. The product information display unit 164 may also read and display information on contractors who are close to the user's place of residence and capable of installing the product from the contractor database 174.

[0048] If, in step S22, the user terminal 3 requests that the storage unit 165 save any of the construction examples or product information presented to the user terminal 3, the storage unit 165 records the specified construction example or product information in the user database 175 and saves it so that it can be read when the user accesses the information provision device 100 again.

[0049] In step S24, the estimation unit 168 calculates an estimate of the cost of installing the materials specified by the user on the installation target and presents it to the user terminal 3. The estimation unit 168 may also calculate an estimate of the cost of installing materials that meet the conditions specified by the user and present it to the user terminal 3.

[0050] In step S26, the output unit 167 outputs the list of products specified by the user to an external application or service for calculating an estimate.

[0051] The material discrimination unit 166 takes an image of a construction example as input and uses a material discrimination unit that outputs information about the material used in the construction example, such as the type of material and identification information, to determine the type of material and identification information used in the construction example. The material discrimination unit 166 may determine the type of material and identification information used in the construction example when the material information presentation unit 164 presents information about the material, or it may pre-determine the type of material and identification information used in the construction example held in the construction example image holding unit 171 and store it in the construction example database 172.

[0052] Figure 4 shows an example of a screen presented by the information provision device 100. This figure shows the user interface for the construction target image acquisition unit 161 to acquire images related to the construction target from the user terminal 3. When the user selects and uploads an image, the construction target image acquisition unit 161 acquires the uploaded image. The user can also specify conditions such as the design of the construction example, product category, and function.

[0053] Figure 5 shows an example of a screen presented by the information provision device 100. This figure shows a screen where the construction example image presentation unit 163 presents a list of images of construction examples found by the search unit 162. The user can narrow down the images of construction examples by specifying conditions such as the design, product category, and function of the construction example. The user selects the image of the construction example for which they wish to view product information.

[0054] Figure 6 shows an example of a screen presented by the information provision device 100. This figure shows a screen that presents detailed information of a construction example selected by the user in the screen of Figure 5, and information on materials that fit the construction example. The material information presentation unit 164 presents information on materials used in the construction example and materials that fit the construction example. The screen displays a slider 180 for adjusting the matching accuracy threshold between the construction example and the materials. The user can adjust the matching accuracy threshold by moving the slider 180 left or right. The material information presentation unit 164 presents information on materials with a matching accuracy higher than the threshold specified by the user. For example, if the user moves the slider 180 to the right to increase the matching accuracy threshold, only the materials with a matching accuracy higher than the threshold, i.e., materials that are more similar to the construction example, will be displayed from the currently displayed material information. On the other hand, if the user moves the slider 180 to the left to decrease the matching accuracy threshold, additional materials with a lower similarity than the currently displayed material information will be displayed. This allows users to adjust the matching accuracy threshold themselves and display / modify product information, thereby improving convenience when considering the installation of products. Furthermore, the ability for users to intuitively adjust the matching accuracy threshold enhances user convenience. While this diagram displays the matching accuracy as a numerical value between 0 and 1.00, the display format is not particularly limited and may be displayed as any numerical range or as a percentage. Also, while this diagram shows the matching accuracy threshold adjustable via slider 180, the user interface format is not particularly limited and may include a format where the threshold is entered as a numerical value.

[0055] Figure 7 shows an example of a screen displayed by the information provision device 100. This figure shows a screen that displays images of construction examples saved by the user and information on materials that fit the construction examples. The user can view the saved information again at a later date.

[0056] The present disclosure has been described above based on embodiments, but embodiments merely illustrate the principles and applications of the present invention. Furthermore, many modifications and changes in arrangement are possible in the embodiments, without departing from the spirit of the present invention as defined in the claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0057] 1... Information provision system, 2... Communication network, 3... User terminal, 100... Information provision device, 161... Construction target image acquisition unit, 162... Search unit, 163... Construction example image presentation unit, 164... Product information presentation unit, 165... Storage unit, 166... ​​Product identification unit, 167... Output unit, 168... Estimate calculation unit, 171... Construction example image holding unit, 172... Construction example database, 173... Product information database, 174... Contractor database, 175... User database, 180... Slider.

Claims

1. A construction target image acquisition unit that acquires images related to the construction target of materials that can be applied to buildings, A search unit searches for images of construction examples similar to the image acquired by the aforementioned construction target image acquisition unit from among images of multiple construction examples. A construction example image display unit that displays images of construction examples found by the search unit, A material information display unit that displays information on the materials used in the construction example images displayed by the aforementioned construction example image display unit, An information-providing device equipped with the following features.

2. The system includes a material identification unit that identifies the materials used in a construction example based on images of the materials used in the construction example. The information providing device according to claim 1.

3. The system includes a database of construction examples that stores images of construction examples of the materials used and the corresponding relationships between those images and the materials used in those construction examples. The information providing device according to claim 1.

4. The aforementioned product information display unit further displays information on products that differ in design, color, or price from the products used in the aforementioned construction example. The information providing device according to claim 1.

5. The aforementioned product information display unit further displays information on products that fit the aforementioned construction target or construction example but were not used in the aforementioned construction example. The information providing device according to claim 1.

6. The aforementioned product information display unit displays information on products whose matching accuracy, which indicates the degree to which the product fits the construction target or construction example, is higher than a threshold. The information providing device according to claim 5.

7. The aforementioned product information display unit presents a user interface for adjusting the matching accuracy threshold. The information providing device according to claim 6.

8. The aforementioned product information display unit presents a combination of multiple products that fit the aforementioned construction target or construction example. The information providing device according to claim 1.

9. The aforementioned product information display unit displays information on products that fit each zone of the construction target. The information providing device according to claim 1.

10. The aforementioned product information display unit further displays information on products included in the image related to the construction target but not included in the image of the construction example. The information providing device according to claim 1.

11. The aforementioned product information display unit displays information on contractors who are located near the user's place of residence and who are capable of installing the aforementioned product. The information providing device according to claim 1.

12. The aforementioned construction example image display unit displays images of construction examples that are suitable for the user's place of residence or the size of their house. The information providing device according to claim 1.

13. The aforementioned construction example image display unit displays images of construction examples that were constructed or photographed during a predetermined period. The information providing device according to claim 1.

14. The aforementioned construction example image display unit narrows down and displays images of construction examples according to the specified conditions. The information providing device according to claim 1.

15. The aforementioned construction example image display unit displays the images of the construction examples with altered lighting effects. The information providing device according to claim 1.

16. It includes a storage unit that stores information on construction examples or products specified by the user. The information providing device according to claim 1.

17. It includes an output unit that outputs a list of products specified by the user. The information providing device according to claim 1.

18. It includes an estimation unit that calculates an estimate of the cost of installing materials specified by the user. The information providing device according to claim 1.

19. It includes an estimation unit that calculates an estimate of the cost of installing materials that meet the conditions specified by the user. The information providing device according to claim 1.

20. On the computer, Steps include obtaining images related to the application target of materials that can be used in construction, The steps include: searching for images of construction examples similar to the acquired image from among images of multiple construction examples; The steps include: presenting images of the searched construction examples, The steps include: providing information on the materials used in the presented construction examples; A method of providing information to enable the execution of an action.

21. Computers, A construction target image acquisition unit that acquires images related to the construction target of materials that can be applied to buildings, A search unit searches for images of construction examples similar to the image acquired by the aforementioned construction target image acquisition unit from among images of multiple construction examples. A construction example image display unit that displays images of construction examples found by the search unit, A material information display unit that displays information on the materials used in the construction example images displayed by the aforementioned construction example image display unit, An information provision program designed to function as such.

Images