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

Abstract

To provide a device, a system, a method and a program capable of providing information an optimum order.SOLUTION: An information processing device includes: storage means for storing registration information on information registered by each provider providing the information, each user receiving the provision of the information, or both of them, and address information showing a storage place of the information provided by each provider; reception means for receiving a providing request for in formation from a terminal of the user; determination means for drawing and determining an order of the information to be displayed in the terminal of the user by using the registration information stored in the storage means according to a set condition; and transmission means for transmitting the determined order and the address information of each information stored in the storage means to the terminal of the user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information provision system, a method, and a program for causing a computer to execute a process for supporting information provision. [Background technology]

[0002] Companies and the like exhibit their products, etc. at exhibitions, conduct business negotiations regarding the exhibited products, etc., and collect and exchange information on market trends (needs), etc. In recent years, with the advancement of communication technology, digital exhibition systems have been proposed that enable companies to exhibit products, etc., conduct business negotiations, exchange information, etc. over the Internet (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2001-290963 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2016-201125 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the system described in Patent Document 1 simply displays a list of exhibiting companies in alphabetical order, and visitors cannot view the exhibited products, etc. unless they select a company name, register as a visitor, and enter the website of the selected company.

[0005] On the other hand, the system described in Patent Document 2 displays an avatar as the user's avatar in a virtual space, and by moving the avatar, the user can select a specific company, etc. and view an exhibition without having to register as a visitor.

[0006] However, when two or more booths of companies exhibiting products that visitors are interested in are located far apart, it takes time and effort to move the avatar. In addition, even if exhibitors exhibit many products, the location of their booths may be affected, and many visitors may not be able to view them. For this reason, there has been a demand for a device, system, method, and program that makes it possible to provide information in an optimal order. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In view of the above problems, the present invention provides an information processing device that supports the provision of information, a storage means for storing registration information relating to information registered by each provider who provides information or each user who receives information, or both of them, and address information indicating a storage location of the information provided by each provider; A receiving means for receiving a request for providing information from a user terminal; a determining means for determining by lottery an order of information to be displayed on the user's terminal using the registered information stored in the storage means in accordance with a set condition; a transmitting means for transmitting the determined order and address information of each piece of information stored in the storage means to a user terminal; An information processing device is provided, comprising: Effect of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an apparatus, a system, a method, and a program that enable information to be provided in an optimal order. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information providing system. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing device constituting the information providing system. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of an information processing apparatus. [Figure 4]1 is a flowchart showing an example of a process executed by an information processing system. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a first example of processing executed by the information processing system. [Figure 6] FIG. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining tabs displayed on a user's terminal. [Figure 8] FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining a second example of a process executed by the information processing system. [Figure 9] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of information provided by each provider. [Figure 10] 5A and 5B are diagrams for explaining a process for determining the order of display data to be displayed on a user's terminal. [Figure 11] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of a terminal constituting the information providing system. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of a terminal. [Figure 13] 4A and 4B are diagrams for explaining a terminal operation by a user and a timing at which the terminal requests display data. [Figure 14] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of display data having a hierarchical structure. [Figure 15] 11A to 11C are diagrams illustrating a process of transitioning an image depending on a selected area. [Figure 16] 13A to 13C are diagrams for explaining a method for displaying image data captured after rotating the image by 360 degrees. [Figure 17] 1A and 1B are diagrams for explaining a method of combining video data with text data and displaying the combined data. [Figure 18] 1 is a diagram for explaining a method of combining a plurality of still image data and text data to configure video data including text. [Figure 19] 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating brightness adjustment of image data captured by an omnidirectional imaging device. [Figure 20] A diagram explaining the Opportunity page. [Figure 21] 11A and 11B are diagrams for explaining a method by which an information provider identifies a user who is currently viewing the information. [Figure 22] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a user's browsing time. [Figure 23] A diagram showing an example of a screen that prompts a user to move to a sales negotiation page. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration example of an information providing system. The information providing system includes at least an information processing device 10 that supports the provision of information. The information processing device 10 registers and manages information provided by information providers. Here, the information processing device 10 is described as registering and managing information provided by providers, but a device other than the information processing device 10 may be provided to register and manage information provided by the provider. Hereinafter, the information providing system will be described as a digital exhibition system for providing product information and conducting business negotiations, but the information provided is not limited to products and may be services, solutions, etc. In addition, the information provider is not limited to companies that provide product information and may be a group such as a club that provides information on club activities.

[0011] The information processing device 10 is connected to a PC 12 used by each provider (hereinafter referred to as an exhibitor) via a network 11 such as the Internet, and is connected to a user's terminal 13 using wireless communication such as 4G, 5G, Wi-Fi (registered trademark), or by a wired connection such as a cable. When connecting wirelessly, the terminal 13 connects to the network 11 via an access point 14.

[0012] The information processing device 10 provides a screen for inputting visitor information, a screen for asking questions (survey) to the visitor, and the like to the terminal 13 of a user (hereinafter referred to as a visitor) who will be attending the exhibition. The terminal 13 transmits the information input by the visitor to the information processing device 10. The information processing device 10 has a visitor database (visitor DB) that manages visitor information, and performs visitor authentication processing. Note that the visitor authentication processing may be performed by a separately provided authentication server.

[0013] The information processing device 10 also communicates with each exhibitor's PC 12 to acquire exhibitor registration information such as exhibitor information, address information (e.g., URL (Uniform Resource Locator)) indicating the storage location of display data of basic information provided by the exhibitor, and display data of exhibited products, etc. The information processing device 10 has an exhibitor database (exhibitor DB) that manages the acquired exhibitor registration information. According to set conditions, the information processing device 10 uses the visitor registration information registered in the visitor DB or the exhibitor registration information registered in the exhibitor DB, or both, to determine by lottery the order in which the display data of each exhibitor will be displayed, and transmits the determined order, URL, etc. to the terminal 13. In addition to the above order and URL, the information transmitted by the information processing device 10 to the terminal 13 includes exhibitor names, etc.

[0014] The information processing device 10 communicates with each exhibitor's PC 12 and acquires information provided by the exhibitor, such as display data introducing the exhibitor, display data displaying the exhibitor's booth (product list), and display data displaying details of each product. The information processing device 10 has an image database (image DB) that registers and manages the acquired display data. Upon receiving a request for display data based on a URL from terminal 13, the information processing device 10 searches for the requested display data from among the display data managed in the image DB and transmits it to terminal 13. When transmitting the display data, the display data can be encoded before transmission.

[0015] The terminal 13 implements a browser for displaying the display data received from the information processing device 10. The terminal 13 requests display data managed in the image DB of the information processing device 10 based on the order and URL received from the information processing device 10, and acquires the display data from the image DB. The screen size of the terminal 13 is fixed, and the display size of each display data is also determined, for example, as large, medium, and small, so that the number of display data that can be displayed at one time is determined. For this reason, the terminal 13 requests the number of display data that can be arranged and displayed in the above order from the information processing device 10 that manages the display data using a URL, acquires each display data from the image DB of the information processing device 10, and displays them on the screen in the above order. As a result, the display data is displayed on the terminal 13 in an optimized display order. Note that, if the display data is encoded, it can be decoded and restored to the data before encoding.

[0016] When a visitor presses his / her finger against the screen of terminal 13 and slides it a long distance (swipes), terminal 13 uses a URL to request display data for the next sequence that has not been displayed and the sequence after that from information processing device 10, and retrieves and displays the data from the image DB of information processing device 10.

[0017] The display data introducing exhibitors is data that displays logos, company names, catchphrases, etc. that visualize the features of the exhibitors' products and services, and is data such as videos that express the company's image. The display data displaying the exhibitors' booths is data that displays a list of products exhibited by the exhibitors. These display data may be still image data or text data, but can also be video data. Video data is composed of still image data of multiple frames. The display data displaying details of each product may be video data, but can also be still image data or text data.

[0018] When a visitor swipes to request the next display data, it takes time to load the video data, and so it takes time to display the next display data, which makes it difficult to achieve a smooth display.

[0019] Therefore, when a request based on the first URL is received from the terminal 13, the information processing device 10 transmits not only the video data based on the requested URL, but also only the first frame of the video data of all exhibitors. Here, only the first frame is transmitted, but this is not limited to this, and several frames of the video data of all exhibitors may be transmitted. When a request to obtain display data is received by swiping, the information processing device 10 can transmit data of the remaining frames.

[0020] On the screen of the terminal 13, the display data is arranged in order, and the display data that has not yet been displayed is displayed in a determined order by the visitor swiping his / her finger. The display data arranged in a determined order is not all displayed at once, and the display data that is later in the order is displayed with a time delay due to the swipe, so it can be said that the display data is displayed in chronological order. Here, this display is called a timeline display.

[0021] The display data has the URL of other display data embedded in it, and visitors can transition to the other display data by briefly touching the screen on the display data with their fingertip (tapping). For example, if the display data displayed in a timeline is display data that displays a list of exhibitors with a row of images introducing each exhibitor, tapping on an image of one exhibitor can transition to an image of that exhibitor's booth (image of a product list). The booth image can include information such as the company's business activities, number of employees, address, telephone number, email address, etc., as well as images introducing each product that the company is exhibiting.

[0022] Before using the system, visitors register their information using terminal 13. The visitor's information is authentication information (login information) for starting to use the system. The login information is identification information (ID) and a password for identifying the visitor. The login information may be input via a reading device that reads from an IC (Integrated Circuit) card or the like, or may be biometric information such as a fingerprint or vein pattern.

[0023] When registering login information, the information processing device 10 provides a questionnaire screen to the terminal 13 as necessary. The questionnaire screen includes questions to investigate areas of interest to the visitor. The visitor answers the questionnaire on the questionnaire screen and transmits the answers to the information processing device 10. The questionnaire may include a field for inputting information such as the visitor's job title and department. The information processing device 10 associates the login information with the answers and stores them in the visitor DB.

[0024] Exhibitors also register their information in advance in the information processing device 10 using the PC 12. Exhibitor information includes attribute information indicating the company name, product field, etc., the number of display frames (panels) for the display data, etc. Exhibitors also register the URL of the display data as the information they will provide. In an actual exhibition, the degree of prominence varies depending on the size of the booth. The size of the booth varies depending on the number of products to be exhibited, and so does the exhibition fee. The number of panels mentioned above corresponds to the number of products to be exhibited. Therefore, by determining the display order according to the number of panels, companies that have spent money to make their booths larger can be given priority in displaying them first, making them more visible.

[0025] Incidentally, all exhibitors want their company's display data to be seen first, so they prefer to be placed early in the display order. Exhibitors with financial resources will use their funds to secure an early (higher) position in the display order. This puts exhibitors with fewer funds at a disadvantage. On the other hand, if it were a complete lottery system, there would be no incentive to contribute a lot of money to exhibit. Therefore, the display order is determined by lottery so that exhibitors who have contributed a lot of money and have many panels have a higher chance of being displayed at the top, and exhibitors with fewer panels have a lower chance of being displayed at the top.

[0026] In the example shown in Figure 1, the information processing device 10 is described as having all of the visitor DB, exhibitor DB, and image DB, but the information processing device 10 does not have to have all of the DBs, and a separately provided server or the like may have one or more DBs.

[0027] There may be any number of PCs 12 and terminals 13. The network 11 is not limited to one network, but may be composed of two or more networks connected by a relay device such as a router or a proxy server. The network 11 may be a wired network or a wireless network.

[0028] Here, the display order is determined by drawing lots depending on the number of panels, but this is not limited to the above, and the system administrator or visitors may draw lots for the display order based on other conditions, or may be determined based on certain criteria without drawing lots.

[0029] For example, the display order may be determined by drawing lots according to the order of interest of the visitor, based on the fields of interest obtained from a questionnaire answered by the visitor. In this case, the fields of interest of the visitor may be inferred from the browsing history of display data viewed by the visitor in the past, and the display order may be determined by drawing lots based on the inferred fields.

[0030] In addition, the administrator (exhibition organizer) may decide the display order by drawing lots based on the registered information of exhibitors, according to conditions such as giving priority to exhibitors who have won awards, giving priority to exhibitors with few visitors, or in order of exhibitor popularity. These are just examples, and the conditions are not limited to these. The registered information to be registered in each DB can be decided according to the conditions.

[0031] These conditions may be selectable by the administrator or visitors. By selecting these conditions, the administrator or visitors can determine the display order by lottery based on the selected conditions. Since exhibitors pay an exhibition fee to exhibit, it is not desirable to determine the display order based only on the visitor's conditions, and it is desirable to determine the display order in combination with the exhibitor's conditions (such as the number of panels).

[0032] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the information processing device 10. The information processing device 10 is a general computer, and includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 20, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 21, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 22, a HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 23, an input / output I / F 24, a communication I / F 25, a bus 26, an input device 27, and a display device 28. Here, the HDD 23 is used, but instead of the HDD 23, an SSD (Solid State Drive) or the like may be used. The information processing device 10 may include a DVD-RW (Digital Versatile Disk Rewritable) drive, a media I / F, a microphone, a speaker, and the like. Here, the information processing device 10 is described as including the input / output I / F 24, the input device 27, and the display device 28, but these may be included as necessary.

[0033] The CPU 20 controls the overall operation of the information processing device 10. The ROM 21 stores programs used to drive the CPU 20. The RAM 22 provides a working area for the CPU 20. The HDD 23 stores various programs and data.

[0034] The input / output I / F 24 is an interface for connecting an input device 27 and a display device 28. The input device 27 is a device such as a mouse or a keyboard for inputting various instructions, characters, numbers, etc. The display device 28 is a device for displaying a cursor, a pointer, a menu, characters, numbers, images, etc., such as a display.

[0035] The communication I / F 25 is an interface for communicating data using the network 11. The bus 26 is an address bus, a data bus, or the like for electrically connecting the components such as the CPU 20.

[0036] 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the information processing device 10. Each function of the information processing device 10 can be realized by a processing circuit such as a CPU 20. The processing circuit includes a processor programmed to execute each function by a program, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), etc. designed to execute each function.

[0037] The information processing device 10 includes a storage unit 30, a receiving unit 31, a setting unit 32, a determination unit 33, a transmission unit 34, an authentication unit 35, and an acquisition unit 36. The information processing device 10 may include other functional units. Note that, when each DB and authentication server are separately provided, the information processing device 10 does not need to include the storage unit 30 and the authentication unit 35.

[0038] The memory unit 30 constitutes an attendee DB and stores the attendee's registration information, such as the attendee's ID, password, name, name of the company they work for, and questionnaire responses, in association with each other. The attendee's registration information may include the company name, as well as job type, position, and the like. The responses include interest tags that indicate the areas in which the attendee is interested. Like PR tags, interest tags are character strings, such as "5G," "IoT (Internet of Things)," and "AI (Artificial Intelligence)."

[0039] The storage unit 30 constitutes an exhibitor DB, and stores, as the registration information of the exhibitors, information on each exhibitor such as a company name and ID, attribute information such as a PR (Public Relations) tag indicating the attributes of the information on the products exhibited by each exhibitor, and the number of panels of the display data introducing the products exhibited by each exhibitor, in association with each other. The storage unit 30 also stores URLs embedded in the display data introducing each exhibitor and URLs embedded in the display data displaying the booth. Here, the storage unit 30 is described as including two DBs, a visitor DB and an exhibitor DB, but the storage unit may be divided into two, with the visitor DB being the first storage unit and the exhibitor DB being the second storage unit. The PR tag is a character string indicating the attributes of the products, for example, "5G", "IoT", "AI", "resistance", "audio", "compression", "video", etc.

[0040] The storage unit 30 can include an image DB and stores each display data. The storage unit 30 may be divided into three, with the visitor DB as the first storage unit, the exhibitor DB as the second storage unit, and the image DB as the third storage unit.

[0041] The receiving unit 31 communicates with the attendee's terminal 13, and receives information about the attendee to be registered, responses to questionnaires, login information entered when using the system, logoff information entered when terminating use of the system, etc., transmitted from the terminal 13. The receiving unit 31 also communicates with each exhibitor's PC 12, and receives information about the exhibitor to be registered, display data, etc., transmitted from each exhibitor's PC 12.

[0042] In response to receiving login information entered by a visitor, the authentication unit 35 compares the information with the ID and password registered in advance in the storage unit 30, and authenticates the visitor. If the ID and password included in the entered login information match the ID and password registered in the storage unit 30, the authentication is successful and the visitor is allowed to start using the system. On the other hand, if they do not match, the authentication is unsuccessful and the visitor cannot use the system.

[0043] If authentication is successful in the authentication unit 35, the acquisition unit 36 ​​acquires the number of panels, the URL, etc. from the storage unit 30. In addition, the acquisition unit 36 ​​acquires an interest tag and a promotion tag associated with the visitor's ID as necessary.

[0044] The setting unit 32 sets conditions for determining the display order. The conditions may be in order of visitor interest, in order of the number of panels, in order of companies that have won awards, in order of the fewest visitors, in order of exhibitor popularity, etc., and may be a combination of two or more of these conditions.

[0045] The setting unit 32 may set the conditions upon receiving that the system manager has selected one of the above conditions, or may set the conditions upon receiving that the visitor has selected one of the above conditions. For this reason, the setting unit 32 can provide a screen for allowing the manager or visitor to set the above conditions.

[0046] The determination unit 33 determines by lottery the order of display data to be displayed on the terminal 13 based on the registration information of visitors and / or exhibitors stored in the memory unit 30 in accordance with the conditions set in the setting unit 32.

[0047] The transmission unit 34 transmits the order and the URL, etc., determined by the determination unit 33 to the terminal 13. At this time, the transmission unit 34 may transmit data of the panel including the company name or product name and the URL together with the determined order.

[0048] When the terminal 13 receives the order and URL etc. from the information processing device 10, it determines the number of display data that can be displayed based on the screen size and the size of the display data, determines the display data to be displayed based on the order and the determined number, and acquires the determined display data using the URL. For example, if the terminal 13 can only display two display data, it acquires only the first and second display data in the determined order. If the display data is video data, it also acquires the first frame of the display data that first introduces all the exhibitors, regardless of the screen size or other dimensions.

[0049] When a visitor swipes, terminal 13 displays the first frame of data that has already been acquired in the order in which it was received, and uses a URL to request the second and subsequent frames of data. If, when terminal 13 displays the first frame of data in the order in which it was received, the visitor swipes too quickly and the data disappears from the screen, it does not request the second and subsequent frames of data of the display data that disappeared from the screen, and skips acquiring that display data.

[0050] Furthermore, the terminal 13 may predict the display data to be displayed by the swipe, and request the second and subsequent frames of the display data predicted to be displayed according to the order of reception. The requested display data varies depending on the layout configuration of the page, etc., and when scrolling is performed only in one direction, the up and down direction, the display data may be the display data in the scroll direction, but when scrolling is performed in the left and right direction or the depth direction, the display data is the display data in the left and right direction or the depth direction.

[0051] When a visitor taps on one of the display data, terminal 13 requests the display data using the URL embedded in the tapped display data. The display data requested by terminal 13 is display data that displays the booth (product list) of the company selected by the tap.

[0052] The display data showing the booths is also data introducing each product arranged in order, just like the display data introducing each exhibitor. Therefore, the display order of the data introducing each product can be determined by lottery, and the data can be displayed according to the determined display order. The method of determining the display order is the same as the display order of the display data introducing each exhibitor, and can be determined based on the number of panels for each product.

[0053] 4 is a flow chart showing an example of processing executed by the information processing system. Processing by the information processing system starts at step 100 when a visitor requests a login screen, inputs login information on the login screen, and transmits the information from the terminal 13 to the information processing device 10. Here, a process of displaying display data in order of the number of panels of exhibitors will be described.

[0054] In step 101, the receiving unit 31 receives login information from the terminal 13. The authentication unit 35 executes authentication processing. Here, it is assumed that the login is successful. If a separate authentication server is provided, information on the logged-in visitor, such as an ID, is received. The information processing device 10 identifies the terminal 13 to which the display data should be sent based on the received ID, and sends the display data to the identified terminal 13. The information processing device 10 also acquires information such as an interest tag based on the received ID.

[0055] In step 102, the acquisition unit 36 ​​acquires the number of panels and the URL of the display data from the storage unit 30.

[0056] In step 103, the determination unit 33 determines by lottery the order in which the display data introducing each exhibitor will be displayed on the terminal 13, based on the number of panels acquired as registration information, in accordance with the set conditions. In step 104, the transmission unit 34 transmits the determined order and the URLs of the display data, etc. to the terminal 13. As a result, the terminal 13 displays a list of exhibitors on the screen.

[0057] In step 105, it is determined whether or not the receiving unit 31 has received log-off information. If log-off information has not been received, the process proceeds to step 106, where the receiving unit 31 determines whether or not it has received a request to acquire display data based on a URL from the terminal 13. If a request to acquire display data has not been received, the process returns to step 105; if a request has been received, the process proceeds to step 107.

[0058] In step 107, the acquisition unit 36 ​​acquires the number of panels for each product, display data (booth page) displaying the booth of the requested exhibitor, and the URL of the display data introducing each product to be displayed on the booth page. In step 108, the determination unit 33 determines by lottery the order in which the display data introducing each product will be displayed on the terminal 13, based on the number of panels for each product. In step 109, the transmission unit 34 transmits to the terminal 13 the display data of the booth page acquired by the acquisition unit 36, the URL of the display data introducing each product, and the determined order.

[0059] In step 110, it is determined whether the user has left the exhibitor's booth page. The user can exit the booth page by pressing an exit button or the like displayed on the booth page. If the user has returned, the process returns to step 105. If the user has not returned, the process proceeds to step 111, where the receiving unit 31 determines whether a request for display data based on a URL has been received from the terminal 13. If so, the process proceeds to step 112, where the acquiring unit 36 ​​acquires detailed display data of the requested product. In step 113, the transmitting unit 34 transmits the display data acquired by the acquiring unit 36 ​​to the terminal 13. In step 114, it is determined whether the user has returned to the exhibitor's booth page. If the user has not returned, the determination process of step 114 is repeated. On the other hand, if the user has returned, the process returns to step 110.

[0060] If it is determined in step 105 that the logoff information has not been received, the process proceeds to step 115, where the process ends.

[0061] The processes executed by the information processing system will be described in detail below with specific examples. Note that these processes will also be described assuming that the order of exhibitors' panel numbers is set as a condition.

[0062] Fig. 5 is a diagram for explaining a first example of processing executed by the information processing system. The system shown in Fig. 5 is composed of a visitor DB 16, an exhibitor DB 17, and an image DB 18 constituting a memory unit 30, and an information processing unit 19 including functional units other than the memory unit 30. After logging in, a visitor transmits a request for acquiring a screen including an ID and information on tabs 40 set by default from the visitor's own terminal 13 to the information processing unit 19. The tab information is information for setting conditions for determining the display order set by the visitor. In this example, the condition of ordering by the total number of panels by the exhibitor is set as the default setting.

[0063] Upon receiving a request from terminal 13, information processing unit 19 checks the tab information and, if necessary, retrieves visitor information from visitor DB 16 based on the ID included in the request. Visitor information such as ID, password, name, and company name is pre-registered in visitor DB 16. A questionnaire is conducted when registering visitor information, and interest tags obtained from the responses to the questionnaire are also registered in visitor DB 16. In this example, the condition is to order by the total number of panels by the exhibitor, and visitor information is not required, so no process is performed to retrieve visitor information based on the ID.

[0064] Based on the tab information, the information processing unit 19 acquires from the exhibitor DB 17 the number of panels (total number of panels) of the entire company of each exhibitor and a URL of display data introducing each exhibitor to be displayed in a company list.

[0065] The information processing unit 19 determines the display order of the display data introducing each exhibitor by drawing lots based on the number of panels of each exhibitor according to the tab information. This allows a company with a larger number of panels to have a higher probability of being displayed at the top, while a company with a smaller number of panels can also be displayed at the top, resulting in a more fair and optimized display order.

[0066] FIG. 6 is a diagram explaining an example of a lottery method. Assume that there are exhibitors A to H, with exhibitors A to C each having 20 panels, exhibitors D to F each having 10 panels, and exhibitors G and H each having 5 panels. The exhibitors and the number of panels are managed using a table. The exhibitors are ranked in order of the number of panels they have, and numbers are assigned. In the case of exhibitors with the same number of panels, numbers are assigned in order, starting with the exhibitor who requested to exhibit first. The probability of displaying is the same for exhibitors with the same number of panels, so the assigned numbers do not affect the lottery.

[0067] For example, the weight is the square of the number of panels. Then, exhibitors A to C have a weight of 400, exhibitors D to F have a weight of 100, and exhibitors G and H have a weight of 25. When calculating the display probability taking these weights into account, the display probability for exhibitors A to C is 25.81%, the display probability for exhibitors D to F is 6.45%, and the display probability for exhibitors G and H is 1.61%. Here, the weight is taken to be the square of the number of panels, but the weight is not limited to the square of the number of panels.

[0068] The determination unit 33 generates a random number that takes any value between 0 and 100. The random number can be generated using, for example, a function. The determination unit 33 compares the value of the generated random number with the value of the display probability of exhibitor A of number 1. If the value of the generated random number is, for example, 45, it is compared with the value of the display probability of exhibitor A of number 1, 25.81 (%). If the value of the random number is larger, the determination unit 33 adds the value of the display probability of exhibitor B of number 2 to the value of the display probability of exhibitor A. That is, the determination unit 33 compares the value of the random number with the cumulative value of the display probability values ​​that have been added up to the value of the display probability of that number. The determination unit 33 compares the value of the random number, 45, with the cumulative value of the display probability values ​​of exhibitors A and B, 51.62 (%), and determines exhibitor B as the winner of the lottery since the value of the random number is less than the value of the random number. That is, it determines exhibitor B to be the first in the display order.

[0069] The display probability is recalculated except for the determined exhibitor B. Then, the display probability of exhibitors A and C is 34.78%, the display probability of exhibitors D to F is 8.70%, and the display probability of exhibitors G and H is 2.17%. The determination unit 33 generates a random number again and compares the value of the generated random number with the display probability value of exhibitor A (number 1). If the value of the generated random number is, for example, 60, it is compared with the display probability value of exhibitor A (number 1), 34.78 (%). If the value of the random number is larger, the determination unit 33 adds the display probability value of exhibitor C (number 2) to the display probability value of exhibitor A. The determination unit 33 compares the random number value 60 with the cumulative value of the display probability values ​​of exhibitors A and C, 69.57 (%), and determines exhibitor C as the winner of the lottery since it is less than the value of the random number. In other words, it determines exhibitor C as the second in the display order.

[0070] In the same manner, the display probabilities of the remaining exhibitors A, D to H are recalculated, and the display order from third place onwards is determined while generating random numbers.

[0071] Referring again to FIG. 5, the information processing unit 19 transmits the determined display order and the URL of the display data to the terminal 13. The terminal 13 downloads the display data to be displayed using the URL from the image DB 18 based on the display order acquired from the information processing unit 19, and displays it on the screen. In the example shown in FIG. 5, the video data of the exhibitor list is determined to be arranged in the order of P company, Q company, ..., and the number of data that can be displayed is two based on the display size of the video data and the screen size, etc., so the terminal 13 requests the video data of P company and Q company. At this time, the terminal 13 downloads the first frame of the video data of all other exhibitors as well as the video data of P company and Q company. Therefore, when a visitor swipes, the first frame of the video introducing the exhibitors is displayed in the determined order, and while the first frame of the data is being displayed, the second and subsequent frames of the data are acquired, thereby reducing the delay in display and realizing smooth automatic playback of the video.

[0072] In addition to the video data, a number of tabs 40 for setting conditions for determining the display order are displayed above the displayed video data on the screen displayed on the terminal 13. By selecting a tab 40, the visitor can display the display data in the display order according to the tab information.

[0073] Fig. 7 is a diagram illustrating tabs 40 displayed on the terminal 13. In the example shown in Fig. 7, four tabs 40 are provided: "Standards", "Products", "Technology Field", and "By Theme". In this example, the number of tabs 40 is four, but is not limited to four, and may be two, three, or five or more.

[0074] If you select "Standard", companies with a large number of panels will likely be displayed at the top. "Standard" is set as the default. If you select "Product", products with a large number of panels will likely be displayed at the top.

[0075] When "Technology" is selected, companies with a large number of panels that match the visitor's interest tags will likely be displayed at the top. When "Theme" is selected, products that match the visitor's interest tags will likely be displayed at the top.

[0076] In this example, the visitor is asked to select tab 40, but tab 40 may not be provided and the system administrator may set it arbitrarily. Note that the names displayed on tab 40 are not limited to standards, products, technical fields, and themes, and may be other names.

[0077] Fig. 8 is a diagram for explaining a second example of processing executed by the information processing system. The example shown in Fig. 8 is processing when "Technical Field" is selected in tab 40. Immediately after logging in, the screen is displayed in "Standard" which is set as the default, so if a tab 40 other than "Standard" is selected, the screen will be displayed in "Standard" first. The visitor transmits a request from his / her own terminal 13 to the information processing unit 19 to obtain a screen including his / her ID and information on the selected tab 40.

[0078] Upon receiving a request from the terminal 13, the information processing unit 19 checks the tab information and retrieves an interest tag from the visitor DB based on the ID included in the request. The information processing unit 19 also retrieves the total number of panels for each exhibitor, a promotion tag, and the URL of the display data introducing each exhibitor from the exhibitor DB 17 based on the tab information.

[0079] The information processing unit 19 determines the display order of the display data introducing each exhibitor by drawing lots based on the interest tag, the PR tag, and the total number of panels. The drawing method has already been described, so a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0080] The information processing unit 19 transmits the determined display order and the URL of the display data to the terminal 13. The terminal 13 downloads the display data to be displayed using the URL from the image DB 18 based on the display order acquired from the information processing unit 19, and displays it on the screen. At this time, the terminal 13 also downloads the data of the first frame of the video data introducing all the exhibitors.

[0081] In order to determine the display order of the display data, the information processing unit 19 may use the number of panels for a product having a specific tag, or the number of panels for the product, in addition to the total number of panels of the exhibitor.

[0082] The panels will be described with reference to Figure 9. Exhibitor A has five panels and Exhibitor B has four panels. That is, Exhibitor A has a total of five panels and Exhibitor B has a total of four panels. Each panel is associated with a tag and display data that displays the product. Panels do not need to be associated with different products one by one, and Exhibitor B can have multiple panels for the same product, as does Exhibitor B.

[0083] If the display order is determined by drawing lots using the total number of panels, exhibitor A has a total of 5 panels and exhibitor B has a total of 4 panels, so if they are arranged in order of highest display probability, the order would be exhibitor A, then exhibitor B. For this reason, if the display order is determined by drawing lots, exhibitor A will have a high probability of being ranked higher than exhibitor B. If the display order is determined by drawing lots using the number of panels for products with IoT tags, exhibitor A has two panels for products with IoT tags, product "A" and "I", and exhibitor B has four panels for products with IoT tags, product "K", "Ki", ​​"Ki", ​​and "Ki". For this reason, if they are arranged in order of highest display probability, the order would be exhibitor B, then exhibitor A. For this reason, if the display order is determined by drawing lots, exhibitor B will have a high probability of being ranked higher than exhibitor A.

[0084] Even if products have the same tag, they are not necessarily the same product. For example, if product "I" and product "Ki" are the same product, and the display order is determined using the number of panels for that product, exhibitor A will have one and exhibitor B will have three. If they are arranged in order of highest probability of display, the order will be exhibitor B, then exhibitor A. For this reason, if the display order is determined by drawing lots, exhibitor B will be determined to have a high probability of appearing higher than exhibitor A.

[0085] So far, we have explained the display order based on the number of panels. With reference to Figure 10, we will also explain the display order based on interest tags. Exhibitors A to E and O to S are companies in different industries, and each has a tag as a promotional tag. Suppose visitor 1 registers "car manufacturer" as the industry attribute, and "development" as the occupation. Also, suppose visitor 1 answers "video," "navigation," "LCD panel," and "design" to the areas of interest in a questionnaire, and these are registered as interest tags.

[0086] When exhibitors with common tags are identified based on the interest tags, exhibitors B, D, E, and Q that have shared tags that match or contain at least one of the interest tags "video," "navigation," "LCD panel," and "design" are determined to be companies that match the interest tags, and their display data is identified.

[0087] Visitors generally first select the field in which they are most interested. From this, it can be assumed that visitors are interested in "videos," "navigation," "LCD panels," and "design," in that order. For this reason, weights are set in the following order: "videos," "navigation," "LCD panels," and "design." The weights are set in advance as coefficients. For example, the first selection, "video," can have a coefficient of 20, the second, "navigation," a coefficient of 10, the third, "LCD panels," a coefficient of 5, and the fourth, "design," a coefficient of 2. Note that the coefficients shown here are merely examples and are not limited to these coefficients.

[0088] An exhibitor with the tag "video" is E, and an exhibitor with a tag including the tag "navigation" is D. An exhibitor with the tag "LCD panel" is B, and an exhibitor with a tag including the tag "design" is Q. Therefore, the weights are in the order of "video", "navigation", "LCD panel", and "design", so the display probability is highest for Company E, followed by Company D, Company B, and Company Q. If a lottery is held, the display order will most likely be Company E, Company D, Company B, and Company Q.

[0089] Suppose visitor 2 has registered "Home appliance manufacturer" as the industry attribute and "Purchasing manager" as the occupation. Also, visitor 2 answers "LED (Light Emitting Diode)," "Resistor," "Switch," "Plastic," and "Procurement system" to the fields of interest in the questionnaire, and these are registered as interest tags.

[0090] When exhibitors with common tags are identified based on the interest tags, exhibitors A, C, O, and P with tags that match or contain at least one of the interest tags "LED," "resistor," "switch," "plastic," and "procurement system" are identified as companies that match the interest tags.

[0091] Visitors generally select the field they are most interested in first. From this, it can be assumed that visitors are interested in "LEDs," "resistors," "switches," "plastics," and "procurement systems," in that order. Therefore, the weights are set in the order of "LEDs," "resistors," "switches," "plastics," and "procurement systems."

[0092] Exhibitors A and P have the tag "LED." Exhibitor A shares the same interest tag, "LED," as exhibitor P. Exhibitor P shares the same interest tags, "LED" and "resistor." Therefore, exhibitor P, who shares more common tags, has a higher probability of being displayed.

[0093] There are no exhibitors with the tag "Switch", the next tag "Plastic" is exhibitor O, and the next tag "Procurement System" is exhibitor C. Therefore, the display probability is Company P, Company A, Company O, and Company C, and if a lottery is drawn, the display order will be determined to be Company P, Company A, Company O, and Company C with a high probability.

[0094] So far, we have explained the mechanism for optimizing the display order of the display data displaying the exhibitor list and the display data displaying the product list, but when visitors receive information or when exhibitors provide information, in addition to the display order of the display data, it is also desirable for the display data to be displayed comfortably on terminal 13. Next, we will explain the mechanism for displaying display data comfortably.

[0095] The terminal 13 is provided with a function for comfortably displaying display data, for example, by installing an application or the like. The information providing system includes a user's terminal 13 in addition to the information processing device 10. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the terminal 13.

[0096] The terminal 13 is, for example, a smartphone, and includes a CPU 50, a ROM 51, a RAM 52, an EEPROM 53, an image sensor I / F 54, an image sensor 55, various sensors 56, a display unit 57, an input unit 58, a communication circuit 59, an audio input / output I / F 60, a microphone 61, and a speaker 62.

[0097] The CPU 50 controls the overall operation of the terminal 13. The ROM 51 stores programs used to drive the CPU 50. The RAM 52 provides a working area for the CPU 50. The EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM) 53 stores various programs, data, etc. The image sensor I / F 54 controls the driving of the image sensor 55. The image sensor 55 is a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) sensor, a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) sensor, etc., which captures an image of a subject under the control of the CPU 50 and outputs image data.

[0098] The various sensors 56 are an acceleration sensor, a direction sensor, a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor, etc., and measure the acceleration acting on the terminal 13, the direction in which the top of the terminal 13 faces, the position of the terminal 13, etc. The display unit 57 is a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electroluminescent) display, etc., and displays various screens such as image data of the captured subject and a login screen. The input unit 58 is a touch panel, and accepts operations and inputs by visitors on the display unit 57.

[0099] The communication circuit 59 performs long-distance communication using 4G or 5G, and short-distance communication using WiFi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth (registered trademark). The sound input / output I / F 60 controls a microphone 61 as a sound input device and a speaker 62 as a sound output device.

[0100] 12 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the terminal 13. An application is installed in the terminal 13, and the CPU 50 functions as each functional unit. The functional units include a storage unit 70, a receiving unit 71, a transmitting unit 72, an input accepting unit 73, a determining unit 74, a synthesizing unit 75, and a correcting unit 76.

[0101] The storage unit 70 stores the received display order, URL, display data, various setting data, etc. The receiving unit 71 receives the input screen, the display order, the URL, and the display data from the information processing device 10. The transmitting unit 72 transmits to the information processing device 10 a request to acquire the input screen, login information, and a request to acquire display data based on the URL.

[0102] The input reception unit 73 receives operations such as swipes and taps by the visitor, and input of information such as the visitor's registration information. The judgment unit 74 judges whether to acquire display data and which display data to acquire based on the operation information received by the input reception unit 73. The synthesis unit 75 synthesizes text, still image data, etc. with video data as display data using a template, and displays the synthesized data on the display unit 57. The correction unit 76 corrects the brightness, etc. of the display data.

[0103] Specific functions realized by the above-mentioned functional units of the terminal 13 will be described in detail below. A visitor can display the display data on the screen of the terminal 13 according to the determined display order by swiping. The operation of the terminal 13 by the visitor and the timing of a request to acquire the display data will be described with reference to Fig. 13. The display data will be described as video data.

[0104] 13(a), when two videos A and B are displayed on the screen, terminal 13 requests acquisition of video A data using the URL of video A data, and after download of video A data is completed, requests acquisition of video B data using the URL of video B data. However, with this method, video B is displayed with a delay, so multiple booths that would be visible at the same time in an actual exhibition appear one after the other with a delay, and it is not possible to obtain the sense of realism of being at an actual exhibition.

[0105] Therefore, the transmission unit 72 of terminal 13 first obtains the data for the first frame of videos of all exhibitors, then downloads the data for video A (data from the second frame onwards), and while video A is being played, requests the acquisition of data for video B (data from the second frame onwards). This allows terminal 13 to start the download and playback of video B in parallel with the download and playback of video A. As the two videos that should be displayed on the screen are displayed almost simultaneously, it is possible to achieve a sense of realism as if you were at an actual exhibition.

[0106] 13(a), part of video B has disappeared from the screen, but based on the operation information received by the input receiving unit 73, the determination unit 74 calculates how much area would be displayed if video B were displayed, and based on the calculation result, it can determine whether or not to request acquisition of data for video B. The area is the area of ​​the display region of the video.

[0107] The visitor can set a threshold value of the area ratio (e.g., 50%) for judging whether or not to request the acquisition of video B data. The threshold value is stored in the storage unit 70, and any value may be set in advance as a default. For example, if 50% is set as the threshold, and the calculation result is 50% or more, the visitor can request the acquisition of video B data, download it from the information processing device 10, and start playing the video B data.

[0108] 13(b) is a diagram showing an example of the screen when a visitor swipes. When a visitor swipes from the bottom to the top of the screen, video A disappears from the screen, video B moves to the top of the screen, and video C appears based on the operation information.

[0109] Since video A starts playing as soon as it is downloaded, the download will continue even if a swipe is performed during the download. The terminal 13 includes a cache memory used as the storage unit 70, accumulates downloaded data in the cache memory, and displays the video on the display unit 57 using the data accumulated in the cache memory. When the download continues, the accumulation of data in the cache memory also continues.

[0110] Therefore, the determination unit 74 determines whether or not the video A will disappear from the screen based on the operation information received by the input reception unit 73, and if it will disappear, instructs the reception unit 71 to stop receiving the data of the video A. The terminal 13 further includes an erasure unit, and when the download of the data of the video A is stopped, the erasure unit erases the data of the video A stored in the cache memory.

[0111] Meanwhile, the determination unit 74 determines whether or not to request acquisition of data for video C, which is next in the display order, based on the operation information received by the input reception unit 73. Whether or not to request acquisition of data for video C can be determined based on whether an area that is equal to or larger than the threshold is displayed when video C is displayed. When it is determined to request acquisition of data for video C, the transmission unit 72 uses the URL of the data for video C to request acquisition of data for video C (data from the second frame onwards) from the information processing device 10, and the reception unit 71 downloads the data for video C from the information processing device 10. The data for video C is stored in a cache memory and is then played back.

[0112] Visitors swipe on the screen of terminal 13, and when they find a video of a company they are interested in, they tap on the video that plays automatically to move to the page of that company's product booth, where they can watch videos of the products exhibited by that company, etc. A URL for transitioning to the page of that company's product booth is embedded in the video data introducing each company included in the exhibitor list that is displayed first, and the URL is transmitted when the visitor taps, and the data stored in the memory location indicated by the URL is downloaded and played.

[0113] The products exhibited by a company are not necessarily all in the same category. For example, in a furniture store, the furniture sold varies depending on the room, such as the kitchen, the living room, and the children's room. In such a case, if all the products were displayed side by side, the number of products would be too large, and visitors would have to swipe multiple times to find the video of the product they want.

[0114] 14, the display data can be managed in a hierarchical structure in the information processing device 10. The first layer is the top root node, and contains video and still image data introducing each company. The data in the first layer has embedded therein a URL indicating the storage location of the data in the second layer.

[0115] The second level is one level below the first level that branches off from the root node, and contains video and still image data that will be displayed in the product list to introduce each product group exhibited by the company. For example, the product groups for the furniture mentioned above include cupboards, kitchen counters, dining and living room furniture, children's room furniture, etc. The data for the second level has an embedded URL that indicates where the data for the third level is stored.

[0116] The third hierarchical level is a level one level below the second hierarchical level that branches off from the second hierarchical level. In the example shown in Fig. 14, the third hierarchical level is the lowest level, and contains video and still image data of products included in each product group in the second hierarchical level. Examples of products include the above-mentioned dining and living room furniture, such as a TV stand, dining table, and sofa.

[0117] By managing data in such a hierarchical structure, visitors can find and view videos or still images of the product they want without having to repeatedly swipe.

[0118] A hierarchical structure is a structure that branches into multiple lower levels. For example, when branching from one piece of data in the first level to three pieces of data in the second level, the conditions for branching must be defined. For example, it is possible to branch into each piece of data depending on the display area of ​​the image represented by the data in the first level.

[0119] With reference to Fig. 15, an example of using the display area of ​​an image as a branching condition will be described. Suppose that the display data of a page introducing dining and living room furniture of P company is image data of a dining and living room as shown in Fig. 15(a). When the image in Fig. 15(a) is enlarged, it becomes an image as shown in Fig. 15(b). The image may be a still image or a video.

[0120] If the image is a video and recorded as a single video, such branching by display area is not possible because it is not possible to distinguish individual elements within the video. However, when holding each still image of a video made up of multiple still images, it is possible to distinguish individual elements from each still image, so when holding each still image that makes up the video, such branching by display area is possible.

[0121] The image is divided into three display areas A to C, indicated by dashed lines. Area A contains images of windows and curtains. Area B contains an image of a dining table. Area C contains an image of a sofa set. In area A, a URL for image data of a page introducing the windows and curtains is embedded. In area B, a URL for image data of a page introducing the dining table is embedded. In area C, a URL for image data of a page introducing the sofa set is embedded.

[0122] Therefore, by tapping anywhere within area A of the image showcasing dining / living room furniture and selecting area A, image data of a page showcasing windows and curtains can be displayed via the embedded URL. Similarly, by selecting area B, image data of a page showcasing a dining table can be displayed. Moreover, by selecting area C, image data of a page showcasing a sofa set can be displayed.

[0123] When the image data to be displayed is video data, the video data may be video data obtained by placing a product 81 on a turntable 80 as shown in FIG. 16(a), placing a video camera 82 capable of taking video at a predetermined position, and rotating the turntable 80 to take a video of the product 81 going around it.

[0124] In the example shown in FIG. 16(a), a pair of glasses is placed on a turntable 80 as a product 81, and the turntable 80 is rotated clockwise to capture a 360-degree video.

[0125] 16(b) is a diagram showing an example of images of each frame when one revolution is shot as a 360-frame video. A frame is a unit for recording an image, and in this example, 360 images are recorded while the eyeglasses, which are the product 81, are rotated 360 degrees, and images 1 to 359 are shown. Note that the 360th image is the same as the first image, so it is omitted here.

[0126] 16(c) is a diagram showing an example of swiping a video on the terminal 13. The swipe display rotates the product 81 in the operation direction by swiping, and displays images of the product 81 at each rotation position. Therefore, when a visitor swipes to the right while facing the screen, the product 81 rotates to the right, and when a visitor swipes to the left, the product 81 rotates to the left.

[0127] In the swipe display, since it is not known whether a visitor will swipe right or left, it is not possible to rotate the image in any direction until all 360 frames have been loaded from the information processing device 10 to the cache memory of the terminal 13. This is because the frame in the desired direction has not yet been loaded. Incidentally, it takes one to several seconds to load all the frames.

[0128] Therefore, in order to enable rotation by swiping before loading all 360 frames, a method is adopted in which the frames of the video are thinned out and loaded. To explain this method in detail, when loading frames 1 to 359, instead of loading frames in order starting from frame 1, after loading frame 1, the 180th frame, which is between frames 1 and 359, is loaded next, and then the 90th frame, which is between frames 1 and 180, and then the 270th frame, which is between frames 180 and 359, and so on, starting with a rough frame and thinning out the frames so that they become finer and finer. In summary, the frames are loaded in the order of 1, 180, 90, 270, 45, 225, 135, 315, ...

[0129] By performing this thinning-out reading, there are frames that have been read in both directions, and although the frames are rough, they can still be played back, making it possible to rotate in either direction. Initially, the reading is rough, resulting in rough rotation. To be more specific, if only the 1st, 180th, 90th, and 270th frames have been read, when rotating in the direction that displays the images starting from the 1st frame, the frames between them have not been read, so the images will rotate and be played in the order 1st, 90th, 180th, and 270th frames. After a while, the frames between the frames that have already been read will also be read, resulting in a smooth rotation.

[0130] Text information such as technical explanations can be added to images of display data introducing each product or display data showing details of each product. A method of adding text information to a video is described with reference to FIG. 17. A video is composed of still images for each frame, and text information can be added to each still image. However, adding text information to each still image for each frame is time-consuming because it is necessary to insert text using editing software or the like. Furthermore, if it is desired to add different text information, it is necessary to insert text again using editing software from the data before editing. For this reason, it is necessary to prepare multiple pieces of data before editing.

[0131] Therefore, the video is configured to have a transparent virtual sheet (layer). This allows any character information to be added to any position of the transparent layer, and the transparent layer 91 with the character information added to the original video 90 (still image of each frame) to be overlaid on the original video 90, making it possible to create a video 92 with the character information added to the original video 90 without much effort. Specifically, the synthesis unit 75 acquires the character information transmitted from the information processing device 10 and information on the position where the character information is to be added, adds the acquired character information to any position of the layer, and synthesizes it with the original video 90.

[0132] If you want to change the text information, you can remove the overlaid layer 91 and overlay a new transparent layer 93 with different text information on the original video 90 to obtain a video 94 with changed text information. In this way, as shown in Figure 17, you can change the text information to negotiate with different business partners, the developer and the purchaser, and there is no need to prepare extra video data.

[0133] A method of adding text information to a video has been described with reference to FIG. 17, but it is also possible to combine a plurality of still images and texts to create a video and display it. In this case, videos may be combined. In this case, as shown in FIG. 18, a video material DB 100, a material DB 101 of still images to be combined, a material DB 102 of text to be combined, and a DB 103 that stores a template to be used when combining each material are used. These DBs may be included in the information processing device 10, or may be provided separately from the information processing device 10. Note that the material to be combined is not limited to still images and text, and sound, etc. may also be combined.

[0134] At the time of login, the transmitting unit 72 of the terminal 13 transmits an ID to the information processing device 10, and the receiving unit 71 receives and acquires the display order and the URL. At that time, the receiving unit 71 also receives and acquires the name, interest tag, etc. When the transmitting unit 72 transmits a request to acquire display data using the URL, the receiving unit 71 receives and acquires a plurality of still images, text, and templates required to configure the display data from each DB. The acquisition request may include an interest tag, and a still image, text, and template that matches the interest tag may be acquired. The synthesis unit 75 uses the template acquired by the receiving unit 71 to combine a plurality of still images, text, name, etc. to create a video.

[0135] For example, when selecting an exhibitor and transitioning to a product list page, the system can display video data that composes the product booth page in DB101 by adding the acquired name and text data from material DB102 using multiple still images from DB101 and templates from DB103, and adding text information such as "Thank you for entering, Mr. / Ms. X." This creates a sense of realism as if the user were actually at the exhibition and exchanging greetings.

[0136] Also, to attract the interest of visitors, it is possible to use templates in DB103 to move still images and text obtained from the material DBs 101 and 102 like animation. The technology for moving still images and text like animation is well known, so it will not be described in detail here.

[0137] Although 360-degree video has been explained above, it is also possible to display an image area in any direction within a still image (spherical image) captured in 360 degrees by an omnidirectional imaging device (spherical camera) by swiping. This allows visitors to change the viewing direction by swiping, and to compare products, for example.

[0138] A spherical camera takes pictures in all directions, 360 degrees from the center of the camera, at once. For this reason, the captured image will have bright and dark areas depending on the position of the lighting and the presence or absence of windows. This can result in overexposure, where bright areas become pure white, or underexposure, where dark areas become pure black, which can make it impossible to recognize the shape or design of a product.

[0139] Therefore, as shown in FIG. 19, a certain range of brightness is set, and for area A having a brightness higher than that range, correction unit 76 lowers the brightness so that it falls within that range, and for area B having a brightness lower than that range, correction unit 76 raises the brightness so that it falls within that range.

[0140] The luminance correction can be performed, for example, by applying a conversion formula to the luminance value of each pixel constituting the image and converting the luminance value. Note that this correction method is only an example and is not limited to this method.

[0141] The display data introducing each product for displaying the product list can be displayed in a timeline format in which the display data introducing the products are arranged, as shown in Fig. 20(a), in the same way as the display data introducing each exhibitor for displaying the exhibitor list described above. Since the display data introducing the products is also associated with the number of panels and has a PR tag attached, the display order can be determined by lottery based on the number of panels or the interest tag, or both, and the products can be displayed in the determined display order.

[0142] An inquiry / negotiation button 110 can be displayed on the product list page where display data introducing products is arranged in the determined display order, and a business negotiation page 111 shown in FIG. 20(b) can be displayed by a visitor tapping and pressing the inquiry / negotiation button 110. On the business negotiation page 111, business negotiations can be conducted with the person in charge by text or voice using means such as telephone, chat, Web conference, etc. In the example shown in FIG. 20(b), business negotiations are conducted by chat. Also, on the business negotiation page 111, business card information created in advance can be attached to messages and sent to each other, and business card information can be exchanged. Furthermore, when the business negotiation is completed, a questionnaire can be sent from the PC 12 to the terminal 13 at will.

[0143] Next, with reference to FIG. 21, a method for a person in charge of an exhibiting company to identify a visitor who is visiting the company's booth will be described. When a visitor taps to select one of the display data introducing a company included in the exhibitor list displayed in a timeline format, data on the company's booth page is downloaded based on the URL embedded in the selected display data, and display data introducing the company's products is displayed in a timeline on terminal 13. Here, the display data introducing the products is described as being displayed in a timeline, but is not limited to a timeline display. When a visitor selects a piece of display data introducing a company, terminal 13 uses the URL to transmit a request to obtain the display data including the visitor ID.

[0144] When the information processing device 10 receives a request to acquire display data from the terminal 13, it acquires the visitor ID included in the acquisition request. The information processing device 10 also acquires the exhibitor ID that provides the requested display data. Based on the acquired visitor ID, the information processing device 10 refers to the visitor DB to identify the visitor's name, etc., and based on the acquired exhibitor ID, refers to the exhibitor DB to identify the exhibitor's booth that the visitor entered. At this time, the information processing device 10 may acquire the visitor's job title, department, interest tag, etc. The information processing device 10 associates the visitor ID, the visitor's name, etc., the name of the exhibitor's booth that the visitor entered, etc., with the time of entry, and stores them as history information.

[0145] Furthermore, when a visitor operates the terminal 13 and returns to the exhibitor list page, the information processing device 10 receives a notification that the visitor has returned to the exhibitor list page along with the visitor ID, and detects that the visitor has left the company's booth. The information processing device 10 associates the visitor ID, the visitor's name, etc., the name of the exhibitor's booth from which the visitor left, etc., and the time of exit, and stores them as history information.

[0146] The information processing device 10 identifies the name of the visitor, and after identifying the booth of the exhibitor that the visitor entered, notifies the PC 12 owned by the exhibitor of the name of the visitor who entered. Also, the information processing device 10 identifies the name of the visitor, and after identifying the booth of the exhibitor that the visitor left, notifies the PC 12 owned by the exhibitor of the name of the visitor who left. By receiving such a notification, the person in charge of each company can detect which user entered and when they left the booth of their company. Also, since the information processing device 10 records the information as history information, it is possible to obtain information such as how many users entered at what time and how long they stayed. Also, the exhibitor can grasp the situation of the visitor from the management screen of the PC 12, and if the visitor's stay is long, a pop-up such as "Do you have any questions?" can be displayed on the screen of the visitor's terminal 13 by pressing (clicking) the "Call" button on the management screen.

[0147] With reference to FIG. 22, a method for detecting which display data a visitor who has entered a company's booth has been viewing and for how long will be described. The visitor starts an operation by swiping on the terminal 13 he or she owns, and searches for a product or the like that he or she wishes to view. While the visitor is swiping, display data introducing products that have not been displayed up until then must be displayed one after another on the terminal 13, so the terminal 13 transmits a request to acquire display data including a visitor ID to the information processing device 10 based on the URL. For this reason, the information processing device 10 receives the request to acquire display data from the terminal 13 and transmits the corresponding display data to the terminal 13.

[0148] On the other hand, when a visitor is intently viewing one piece of display data, the visitor does not swipe on terminal 13. That is, terminal 13 does not transmit a request to obtain display data. Therefore, information processing device 10 does not transmit display data to terminal 13 either. When the visitor finishes viewing, he or she starts operating again. Therefore, terminal 13 starts transmitting a request to obtain display data. In response to this, information processing device 10 also starts displaying data to terminal 13. Information processing device 10 can detect the time from when reception of the request to obtain display data from terminal 13 stops until reception of the request to obtain display data resumes as the time during which the display data is being viewed.

[0149] The display data being viewed by the visitor is the display data being displayed on the terminal 13, and is the display data transmitted by the information processing device 10 based on the acquisition request made immediately before the display data was stopped.

[0150] In this way, the display data viewed by each visitor and the viewing time can be obtained, and the information processing device 10 can record this information as a viewing history in association with the visitor ID, etc.

[0151] The longer a visitor's viewing time, the more interested he or she is in the product. For this reason, a threshold is set for the viewing time, and when the viewing time exceeds the threshold, the information processing device 10 can notify the PC 12 owned by the person in charge of the company providing the display data of the display data being viewed along with the visitor's information. The visitor information is information such as a visitor ID that enables direct communication with the visitor's terminal 13. This allows a person in charge of the company exhibiting that product to send a notification to a visitor who is intently viewing a particular product, asking if they have any questions.

[0152] The notification can be made, for example, by a pop-up that appears on the front page. Alternatively, instead of a notification, a pop-up 112 urging a business negotiation as shown in FIG. 23 may be displayed to prompt a transition to a business negotiation page.

[0153] Browsing history is a chronological trace of visitor behavior. Therefore, based on browsing history, it is possible to analyze trends that are likely to lead to business matching, provide exhibitors with information on visitors who are likely to be willing to negotiate, and encourage visitors to move on to the business negotiation page. In this way, it is possible to appropriately connect visitors who wish to negotiate with exhibitors.

[0154] The information providing system may have functions other than those described above, such as a function for displaying advertisements from sponsors, a function for viewing seminar videos, a survey function for taking surveys and changing product display, etc.

[0155] As described above, by providing the device, system, method, and program of the present invention, it is possible to provide information in an optimal order for visitors and exhibitors.

[0156] The device, system, method, and program of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the embodiments shown in the drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be modified within the scope of what a person skilled in the art can conceive, including other embodiments, additions, modifications, deletions, etc., and any aspect is within the scope of the present invention as long as it achieves the functions and effects of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0157] 10...Information processing device 11. Network 12…PC 13...Terminal 14…Access point 20…CPU 21...ROM 22…RAM 23...HDD 24...Input / output interface 25…Communication I / F 26…Bus 27...Input device 28…Display device 30...Storage section 31...Receiver 32...Extraction part 33...Decision making section 34...Transmitter 35…Authentication Department 36…Acquisition part 37... Processing section 40…tab 50…CPU 51...ROM 52…RAM 53...EEPROM 54...Image sensor I / F 55…Image sensor 56...Various sensors 57…Display section 58...Input section 59…Communication circuit 60…Audio input / output I / F 61…Mike 62…Speaker 70...Storage section 71...Receiver 72...Transmitter 73... Input reception section 74…Judgment department 75…Synthetic section 76…Compensation section 80…Turntable 81…Product 82…Video camera 90, 92, 94...Video 91, 93...Layer 100~102…Material DB 103…DB 110…Inquiry / Negotiation button 111…Negotiations page 112…Pop-up

Claims

1. An information processing device that supports the provision of information, a storage means for storing registration information relating to information registered by each provider who provides information or each user who receives information, or both of them, and address information indicating a storage location of the information provided by each provider; A receiving means for receiving a request for providing information from a user terminal; a determining means for determining, by drawing lots, an order of information to be displayed on the terminal of the user, using the registration information stored in the storage means in accordance with a set condition; a transmission means for transmitting the determined order and address information of each piece of information stored in the storage means to a terminal of the user; An information processing device comprising:

2. The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein the determining means calculates a probability of displaying each piece of information using the registered information related to the condition, generates a random number, and performs a lottery based on the random number and the probability of displaying each piece of information.

3. The registration information includes the number of slots for information provided by each of the providers, The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the determining means determines the order of the information provided by each of the providers by drawing lots using the registered information in accordance with the condition set as the order of the number of slots.

4. The registration information includes information on a plurality of fields set for information provided by each provider and information on a plurality of fields in which each user is interested, 3. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the determination means determines the order of the information provided by each of the providers by drawing lots using the user information included in the request for provision and the registration information, in accordance with the condition set as an order of user interest.

5. The registration information includes information on a plurality of fields set for information provided by each provider and a browsing history of information browsed by each user, The information processing device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the determination means uses the user information included in the provision request and the registration information to infer fields in which the user having the user information is interested from the browsing history of the user, in accordance with the condition set as an order of the user's interests, and determines by lottery the order of the information provided by each of the providers from the inferred fields.

6. The registration information includes attribute information of each of the providers, 3 . The information processing device according to claim 1 , wherein the determining means determines the order of the information provided by each of the providers by drawing lots using the registered information, in accordance with the condition that a provider having a specified attribute is given priority.

7. The registration information includes information on a plurality of fields set for information provided by each provider, information on a plurality of fields in which each user is interested, and information on the scale of information provided by each provider, 3. The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the determination means determines the order of the information provided by each of the providers by drawing lots using the user information and the registration information contained in the request for provision, in accordance with the conditions set as the order of user interest and the order of the size of each of the providers.

8. 8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a setting unit for setting the condition selected by the user.

9. 9. An information providing system comprising: an information processing device according to claim 1; a user terminal; and a management device managed by each information provider.

10. 10. The information providing system according to claim 9, wherein the terminal includes a terminal transmitting means for transmitting a request to acquire other information provided by a provider using address information embedded in the information of the provider displayed on the screen of the terminal.

11. The information providing system according to claim 10, wherein the terminal includes an input receiving means for receiving operation information from a user, and a judgment means for judging whether or not to request acquisition of information not displayed on a screen of the terminal based on the operation information received by the input receiving means.

12. a terminal receiving means for receiving the information requested by the terminal transmitting means; 12. The information providing system according to claim 11, wherein the determination means determines whether the requested information will disappear from the screen of the terminal during reception based on the operation information received by the input receiving means, and if it determines that the requested information will disappear, instructs the terminal receiving means to stop receiving the information that is being received.

13. The information provided by each of the providers is data having a hierarchical structure, 13. The information providing system according to claim 9, wherein each layer of data except for the data at the lowest layer includes address information indicating a storage location of the data at the layer one level lower than each layer.

14. The information providing system of claim 13, wherein the information provided by each of the providers includes video data of a video composed of a plurality of still images, and the video data is assigned address information indicating storage locations of two or more other data provided by each of the providers for each of two or more areas specified in each still image.

15. The information provided by each of the providers includes video data consisting of a plurality of still image data captured at each predetermined angle when the product is rotated 360 degrees in the horizontal direction, 13. The information providing system according to claim 12, wherein the terminal receiving means receives the plurality of still image data obtained in the order of shooting in a manner that changes the order so that an image of a rotated product is displayed regardless of whether the user operates the device to the left or right in the horizontal direction.

16. The information provided by each of the providers includes video data of a video composed of a plurality of still images, The information providing system according to any one of claims 9 to 15, wherein the terminal includes a synthesis means for overlaying a transparent layer to which text information has been added onto each still image to create the video data including the text information.

17. the information provided by each of the providers includes a plurality of still image data and character string data; 17. The information providing system according to claim 16, wherein said synthesizing means uses a template to combine said plurality of still image data and said character string data to form video data including character strings.

18. The information provided by each of the providers includes spherical image data, a correction unit that corrects a luminance of an image area when data of a part of an image area of ​​the spherical image is displayed on a screen of the terminal in accordance with the operation information received by the input receiving unit.

19. A method for assisting in providing information, the method comprising: the information processing device includes a storage means for storing registration information on information registered by each provider providing information or each user receiving information, or both of them, and address information indicating a storage location of the information provided by each provider; The method comprises: receiving a request for information from a user terminal; determining by lottery an order of information to be displayed on the user's terminal using the registered information stored in the storage means according to a set condition; transmitting the determined order and address information of each piece of information stored in the storage means to a terminal of the user; A method comprising:

20. A program for causing a computer to execute a process for supporting the provision of information, receiving a request for information from a user terminal; a step of determining by lottery an order of information to be displayed on the terminal of the user using registration information stored in a storage means for storing registration information related to information registered by each information provider or each user receiving the information, or both, according to set conditions, and information provided by each information provider; transmitting the determined order and address information of each piece of information stored in the storage means to a terminal of the user; A program to execute.

Images