Recipe suggestion system

Abstract

To provide a recipe proposal system capable of proposing dishes suitable for a user's recovery of physical strength after exercise while making use of food materials owned by the user.MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEM: A recipe proposal system of a present embodiment includes: a terminal apparatus 30 that acquires a user's exercise data; a food material management data acquisition unit that acquires food material management data about food materials stored in a refrigerator 10; a user data acquisition unit 38 that acquires user data; a storage unit 23 that stores the exercise data, the food material management data, and the user data; a recipe creation unit 25 that creates proposal recipe data, which is recipe data using food materials included in the food material management data from the exercise data, the food material management data, and the user data; and a notification unit 26 that notifies the user of the proposal recipe data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] An embodiment of the present invention relates to a recipe suggestion system. [Background technology]

[0002] In order to effectively recover one's physical strength after exercise, it is preferable to consume food containing appropriate nutrients. Therefore, a system has been known that proposes to a user recommended recipe information representing a future meal menu suitable for the user based on exercise data representing the user's amount of exercise and intake menu information representing the meal contents (for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2012-73872 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, the system of Patent Document 1 does not create recipe information that takes into account ingredients that the user owns. As a result, in order to prepare a meal based on the proposed recipe information, the user may need to purchase new ingredients instead of using ingredients that the user owns, or may not be able to use ingredients that the user owns within the appropriate period of time, resulting in the waste of ingredients.

[0005] An embodiment of the present invention has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a recipe suggestion system that can suggest meals suitable for the user's physical recovery after exercise, while utilizing ingredients that the user has in their possession. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A recipe suggestion system according to one embodiment includes a terminal that acquires exercise data of a user, an ingredient management data acquisition unit that acquires ingredient management data related to ingredients stored in a refrigerator, a user data acquisition unit that acquires user data, a storage unit that stores the exercise data, the ingredient management data, and the user data, a recipe creation unit that creates proposed recipe data, which is recipe data using ingredients included in the ingredient management data, from the exercise data, the ingredient management data, and the user data, and a notification unit that notifies a user of the proposed recipe data. When the recipe creation unit acquires the exercise data transmitted from the terminal, it creates recommended nutrient data from the exercise data and the user data, the recommended nutrient data including nutrients recommended to be taken after exercise, the intake amount of the nutrients, and the time from the end of exercise to the intake of the nutrients, and sets recipe data using one or more ingredients selected from ingredients included in the ingredient management data based on the recommended nutrient data as the proposed recipe data. If the nutrient cannot be ingested from the ingredients included in the ingredient management data in an amount equal to or greater than the intake amount, the recipe creation unit creates ingredient-shortage recipe data, which is recipe data including the nutrient that cannot be ingested in an amount equal to or greater than the intake amount, and the notification unit notifies the user of the ingredient-shortage recipe data. It is a recipe suggestion system. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0007] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a recipe providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] Block diagram showing an example of a refrigerator configuration [Diagram 3] Block diagram showing an example of a terminal configuration [Figure 4] Block diagram showing an example of a server configuration [Diagram 5] Flow diagram showing the process of creating nutrient data [Figure 6] A diagram showing the relationship between exercise content, calories burned, exercise purpose, and intake goal [Figure 7] Diagram showing the relationship between intake goals, recommended intake times, and recommended nutrients [Figure 8] Diagram showing nutrient requirements [Figure 9] Flow diagram showing the process of creating recipe data from nutrient data and ingredient management data [Figure 10]FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen configuration for displaying suggested recipe data. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a flow diagram showing a process for creating recipe data from nutrient data and ingredient management data in a recipe providing system according to a modified example of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a screen configuration for displaying store information in a modified example of the present invention; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0008] Hereinafter, a recipe suggestion system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0009] (1) Configuration of the recipe suggestion system 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of a recipe suggestion system according to the present embodiment. This recipe suggestion system is constructed to include a refrigerator 10 installed in a user's home 50, a server 20, and a terminal device 30 operated by the user.

[0010] In this recipe suggestion system, the combination of a device adapter provided in the refrigerator 10 and a terminal device 30 is registered (paired) in the server 20, thereby enabling the refrigerator 10, the server 20, and the terminal device 30 to communicate with each other.

[0011] A wireless LAN, which is a short-range communication network, is provided in each home 50. A repeater 54 of the wireless LAN is connected to a wide-area communication network 52 including the Internet. The repeater 54 is a communication device such as a WiFi (registered trademark) router or a WiFi access point.

[0012] (2) Configuration of refrigerator 10 The refrigerator 10 comprises a cooling mechanism 11 consisting of a well-known refrigeration cycle or the like for cooling the inside of a storage compartment, a camera 12 for capturing images of the inside of the storage compartment, an equipment adapter 13 for wireless communication with a server 20 and a terminal device 30, a control unit 14 for controlling these, and a storage unit 15 consisting of a non-volatile memory or the like.

[0013] The control unit 14 has a function of controlling the temperature inside the storage compartment to a predetermined set temperature by controlling the driving of the cooling mechanism 11. The control unit 14 also functions as an ingredient management data acquisition unit that acquires food management data regarding food stored in the storage compartment of the refrigerator 10.

[0014] That is, control unit 14 has a function of receiving image data captured by camera 12 and performing image recognition processing on the image data. Control unit 14 captures an image of the inside of the storage compartment with camera 12 upon receiving a command from server 20, and detects ingredients stored in the storage compartment based on the obtained image data. Control unit 14 then stores ingredient management data in memory unit 15, including information such as the names of the detected ingredients and the detection dates and times.

[0015] The control unit 14 receives signals transmitted from the server 20 or the terminal device 30 via the device adapter 13, executes operations according to the received signals, and transmits operation data relating to the operating state of the refrigerator 10 and the above-mentioned food material management data from the device adapter 13 to the server 20 via the wide area communication network 52.

[0016] (3) Configuration of terminal device 30 The terminal device 30 is a wearable device, a smartphone, a tablet device, or the like, and is connected to the server 20 via a wide area communication network 52. The terminal device 30 is connected to the Internet in the wide area communication network 52 via 4G (4th Generation), 5G (5th Generation), LTE (Long Term Evolution), or a home or public WiFi (registered trademark) access point. An application for registering a combination of the terminal device 30 and the refrigerator 10 in the server 20 and an application for acquiring exercise data of a user are installed in the terminal device 30.

[0017] 3, the terminal device 30 is mainly composed of a control unit 31 that controls the overall operation of the terminal device 30. To this control unit 31, a display unit 32, an operation unit 33, a communication unit 34, a storage unit 35, etc. are connected.

[0018] The display unit 32 is composed of a display device such as a liquid crystal panel or an organic EL display, and displays various information including the status of the refrigerator 10 in response to instructions from the control unit 31, thereby presenting this information to the user.

[0019] The operation unit 33 is composed of touch panel switches formed on the display screen of the display unit 32 and mechanical switches provided around the display unit 32, and receives operation inputs from the user and transmits them to the control unit 31.

[0020] The communication unit 34 is an element that realizes wireless communication with the external refrigerator 10 in accordance with standards such as 4G, 5G, LTE, and wireless LAN.

[0021] The storage unit 35 stores computer programs executed by the control unit 31 and information referenced or updated by the control unit 31. As an example of such information, the storage unit 35 stores the various programs described above, acquired exercise data, and the like.

[0022] The control unit 31 controls the operations of the display unit 32, the operation unit 33, the communication unit 34 and the storage unit 35. The control unit 31 also virtually realizes a device registration unit 36 ​​by executing an application for registering a combination of the terminal device 30 and the refrigerator 10 in the server 20, and virtually realizes an exercise data acquisition unit 37 and a user data acquisition unit 38 by executing an application for acquiring the user's exercise data.

[0023] The device registration unit 36 ​​registers the combination of the user's terminal device 30 and the refrigerator 10 to be remotely controlled in the server 20. Specifically, in response to an instruction from the user, the device registration unit 36 ​​transmits device information (address information) such as the MAC address (Media Access Control address) of the terminal device 30 from the communication unit 34 to the server 20. The device registration unit 36 ​​also links the device information of the terminal device 30 with the device information such as the MAC address of the refrigerator 10 transmitted from the refrigerator 10 to the server 20, and requests the server 20 to register the information in association with user identification information that identifies the user.

[0024] When a user carries the terminal device 30 and starts exercising, the exercise data acquisition unit 37 receives input of the exercise content to be performed by the user from the operation unit 33. For example, the user selects the exercise content to be performed from among the exercise contents such as running, weight training, walking, and cycling displayed in a selectable manner on the display unit 32 using the operation unit 33, and the exercise data acquisition unit 37 acquires the exercise content.

[0025] When the user starts exercising while carrying the terminal device 30, the exercise data acquisition unit 37 starts recording the exercise time, calories burned, heart rate, body temperature, etc., and continues recording these data until the end of the exercise. After the exercise ends, the exercise data acquisition unit 37 transmits the acquired exercise details, exercise time, calories burned, heart rate, and body temperature as exercise data from the communication unit 34 to the server 20 via the wide area communication network 52.

[0026] The user data acquisition unit 38 receives input of the user's physical data, such as the user's gender, age, height, weight, etc., and the user's purpose for exercising (exercise purpose), such as training, maintaining health, dieting, etc., from the operation unit 33. When the user's physical data and exercise purpose are input from the operation unit 33, the user data acquisition unit 38 transmits them as user data from the communication unit 34 to the server 20 via the wide area communication network 52. Note that the user data is preferably input before the user exercises, such as when installing an application that acquires the user's exercise data.

[0027] (4) Configuration of Server 20 The server 20 is installed in each home 50 and is capable of communicating with the refrigerator 10 and the terminal device 30 via a wide area communication network 52 and a wireless LAN repeater 54 .

[0028] Server 20 is configured by a known computer system, and mainly includes control unit 21 that controls the overall operation of server 20. Server 20 has communication unit 22 connected to terminal device 30 and refrigerators 10 installed in each home 50 via wide area communication network 52 and wireless LAN repeater 54, so that it can communicate with them.

[0029] As shown in Fig. 4, the server 20 is connected to a storage unit 23 that stores computer programs executed by the control unit 21 and information referenced or updated by the control unit 21. The information stored in the storage unit 23 includes foodstuff management data transmitted from the refrigerator 10, exercise data and user data transmitted from the terminal device 30, an intake goal determination table as shown in Fig. 6, a nutrient data determination table as shown in Fig. 7, a nutrient requirement table as shown in Fig. 8, a foodstuff database, a recipe database, etc.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 6, the intake goal determination table stores combinations of exercise content, calories burned, and exercise purpose in association with intake goals.

[0031] As shown in Figure 7, the nutrient data determination table stores the nutrients that the user should ingest after exercise (hereinafter also referred to as recommended nutrients) and the desired time from the end of exercise to ingesting the recommended nutrients for achieving the intake goal (hereinafter also referred to as recommended intake time), in correspondence with the intake goal.

[0032] The nutrient requirement table stores the relationship between the user's physical data and the intake amount for each nutrient, as shown in Figures 8(a) to 8(d). Note that, although Figure 8 shows the requirement tables for vitamin C, vitamin E, iron, protein, and carbohydrates, requirement tables are stored in storage unit 23 for not only these nutrients but also all nutrients that are candidates for recommended nutrients.

[0033] The ingredient database stores information (ingredient data) about the nutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins) contained in each ingredient and the amount of each nutrient, for various ingredients.

[0034] The recipe database stores a plurality of types of recipe data, such as the name of the dish, ingredients used, cooking method, nutrients that can be obtained from the dish and their intake amounts, cooking time, etc.

[0035] In addition, the control unit 21 virtually realizes a recipe creation unit 25 that creates proposed recipe data to be transmitted to the terminal device 30, a notification unit 26 that notifies the user of the proposed recipe data, and a location acquisition unit 27 that acquires information on the user's current location, by executing a program stored in the memory unit 23.

[0036] The recipe creation unit 25 creates recipe data for a dish recommended to the user using ingredients included in the ingredient management data, based on the ingredient management data, exercise data, and user data.

[0037] Specifically, when the communication unit 22 receives the exercise data transmitted from the terminal device 30 after the user has finished exercising, the recipe creation unit 25 acquires the exercise content, calories burned, and exercise purpose from the exercise data and user data stored in the storage unit 23. The recipe creation unit 25 then determines the intake goal from the acquired exercise content, calories burned, and exercise purpose based on an intake goal determination table as shown in Fig. 6 (step S1). For example, if a user who is 25 years old, female, and has the exercise purpose of maintaining health performs an exercise in which the exercise content is running, the exercise time is 1 hour, and the calories burned are 500 Kcal, the recipe creation unit 25 determines the intake goal to be fatigue recovery (medium).

[0038] Next, the recipe creation unit 25 determines recommended nutrients and recommended intake times from the intake goal based on a nutrient data determination table such as that shown in Fig. 7 (step S2). For example, if the intake goal is fatigue recovery (medium), the recipe creation unit 25 determines the recommended nutrients to be carbohydrates, vitamin C, vitamin E, and iron, and the recommended intake time to be 30 to 120 minutes.

[0039] Next, the recipe creation unit 25 determines the recommended nutrient intake (hereinafter sometimes referred to as the recommended intake) recommended to the user after exercise from the recommended nutrients and user data based on a nutrient requirement table as shown in Fig. 8 (step S3), creates recommended nutrient data including the intake goal, recommended nutrients, recommended intake time, and recommended intake, and stores this in the storage unit 23. Note that if there are multiple types of recommended nutrients in step S2, the recommended intake is determined for each nutrient.

[0040] Then, after creating the recommended nutrient data, the recipe creation unit 25 creates recipe data (hereinafter sometimes referred to as suggested recipe data) to be suggested to the user from the recommended nutrient data and the ingredient management data acquired from the memory unit 23, as shown in FIG. 9.

[0041] Specifically, first, recipe creation unit 25 obtains recommended nutrients from the recommended nutrient data, searches for ingredients with high contents of each recommended nutrient from the ingredient database stored in memory unit 23, and stores the searched ingredients as candidate ingredients in memory unit 23 (step S11).

[0042] Next, recipe creation unit 25 commands refrigerator 10 to obtain and transmit ingredient management data, and then extracts ingredients that are in refrigerator 10 from the candidate ingredients based on the ingredient management data, and stores the extracted ingredients in memory unit 23 as ingredients to be used (step S12).

[0043] Next, recipe creation unit 25 searches the recipe database for recipes that use the ingredients to be used (step S13), and determines whether the cooking time of the searched recipe data is within the recommended intake time (step S14).

[0044] If the cooking time of the searched recipe data is equal to or longer than the recommended intake time, the process returns to step S13 and searches again for other recipes that use the ingredients in the recipe database. If the cooking time of the searched recipe data is shorter than the recommended intake time, the process sets the recipe data searched in step S13 as suggested recipe data (step S15), stores this in the memory unit 23, and then proceeds to step S16.

[0045] In step S16, the recipe creation unit 25 determines whether the nutrients that can be ingested from the proposed recipe data and their intake amounts satisfy the recommended nutrients and recommended intake amounts in the recommended nutrient data, and if they do, proceeds to step S17, and if they do not, proceeds to step S18.

[0046] In step S17, the notification unit 26 transmits the proposed recipe data from the communication unit 22 to the terminal device 30, and displays information about the proposed recipe data on the display unit 32 of the terminal device 30 to notify the user.

[0047] 10 shows an example of the display of the display unit 32 of the terminal device 30, and the notification unit 26 may display the recommended intake time together with the name of the dish in the proposed recipe data on the display unit 32. Furthermore, when the user operates the operation unit 33 provided at the position where the name of the dish is displayed on the display unit 32, the notification unit 26 may display other information contained in the proposed recipe data, such as how to prepare the dish displayed on the operation unit 33, on the display unit 32.

[0048] The method of notifying the user can be various known methods such as push notification, email notification, etc. Also, while Fig. 10 shows a case where notification is given to a wearable terminal as the terminal device 30, information regarding the suggested recipe data may be notified to any terminal device 30 associated with the same user, such as a smartphone or tablet terminal.

[0049] In step S18, if the nutrients that can be ingested from the proposed recipe data and their intake amounts do not satisfy the recommended nutrients and recommended intake amounts of the recommended nutrient data, in other words, if the recommended nutrients in the recommended nutrient data cannot be ingested from the ingredients in the ingredient management data in amounts equal to or more than the recommended intake amount, recipe creation unit 25 stores the nutrients that cannot be ingested in amounts equal to or more than the recommended intake amount (hereinafter sometimes referred to as deficient nutrients) in storage unit 23. Then, recipe creation unit 25 searches the recipe database for recipes that include deficient nutrients, and stores the searched recipe data in storage unit 23 as ingredient-deficient recipe data.

[0050] Then, in step S19, recipe creation unit 25 detects missing ingredients, that is, ingredients used in cooking the recipe data with insufficient ingredients but not present in the ingredient management data, based on the recipe data with insufficient ingredients and the ingredient management data, and stores the searched ingredients in memory unit 23.

[0051] Then, in step S20, the notification unit 26 transmits at least one of the deficient nutrients, the deficient ingredients, and the recipe data with a lack of ingredients in addition to the proposed recipe data from the communication unit 22 to the terminal device 30, and displays at least one of the information on the deficient nutrients, the deficient ingredients, and the recipe data with a lack of ingredients on the display unit 32 of the terminal device 30 to notify the user.

[0052] Note that some of the functions of the server 20 in this embodiment may be provided in the terminal device 30.

[0053] (5) Effects In the present embodiment as described above, the user is notified immediately after exercise of the user's exercise data, food management data regarding food stored in the refrigerator, and suggested recipe data created based on the user's physical data and exercise objectives, so that meals suitable for the user's exercise objectives can be suggested after exercise while utilizing ingredients owned by the user.

[0054] In addition, in this embodiment, the user is notified of the recommended intake times along with the proposed recipe data, so that the user can easily know the time remaining until the recommended nutrients are consumed after completing exercise.

[0055] In addition, in this embodiment, recipe data with cooking times shorter than the recommended intake time is notified to the user as suggested recipe data, so that the user can consume effective meals in line with their exercise goals without missing the appropriate timing.

[0056] In addition, in this embodiment, if the user cannot ingest more than the recommended intake amount of the recommended nutrients in the recommended nutrient data from the ingredients included in the ingredient management data, the user is notified of the deficient nutrients, the deficient ingredients, and the recipe data for deficient ingredients in addition to the suggested recipe data, so that meals using the ingredients in the refrigerator 10 can be suggested to the user, and recipes for ingesting the deficient nutrients, the deficient ingredients, and the deficient nutrients can be suggested to the user.

[0057] (6) Example of changes Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described above, this embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. These novel embodiments can be implemented in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the invention. These embodiments and their modifications are included in the scope and gist of the invention, and are included in the scope of the invention and its equivalents described in the claims.

[0058] For example, in addition to notifying the user of suggested recipe data and recipe data for which ingredients are in short supply as in the above embodiment, the user may be notified of store information where the ingredients that are in short supply can be purchased.

[0059] Specifically, the server 20 stores in the storage unit 23 store information linking ingredients with the store name and location of the store selling the ingredients.

[0060] Then, the control unit 21 detects the user's current location from the location acquisition unit 27 (step S100), and based on the acquired user's current location information and the store information in the memory unit 23, searches for stores within a specified range of the user's current location where the missing ingredients can be purchased, and stores the searched store information in the memory unit 23 (step S101).

[0061] Then, the notification unit 26 transmits the searched store information together with the lacking ingredients and nutrients to the terminal device 30, and displays this information on the display unit 32 of the terminal device 30 as shown in FIG. 12 to notify the user (step S102).

[0062] In such a modified example, the user can be notified of the lacking ingredients and nutrients as well as stores where the lacking ingredients can be purchased, making it possible to notify the user of more useful information.

[0063] In addition, when the memory unit 23 stores location data of the user's home, the control unit 21 may search for stores within a specified range from the user's current location on the route home to the user's home where the missing ingredients can be purchased, or may search for stores within a specified range from the user's home where the missing ingredients can be purchased.

[0064] Furthermore, when the searched store information is displayed on a map as in FIG. 12, the stores displayed on the map may be changed according to a change in the scale of the map.

[0065] The other configurations and functions and effects are similar to those of the above-described embodiment, and detailed description thereof will be omitted. [Explanation of symbols]

[0066] 10...refrigerator, 11...cooling mechanism, 12...camera, 13...equipment adapter, 14...control unit, 15...memory unit, 20...server, 21...control unit, 22...communication unit, 23...memory unit, 25...recipe creation unit, 26...notification unit, 27...position acquisition unit, 30...terminal device, 31...control unit, 32...display unit, 33...operation unit, 34...communication unit, 35...memory unit, 36...equipment registration unit, 37...exercise data acquisition unit, 38...user data acquisition unit

Claims

1. A terminal for acquiring exercise data of a user; a foodstuff management data acquisition unit that acquires foodstuff management data relating to foodstuffs stored in the refrigerator; A user data acquisition unit that acquires user data; A storage unit that stores the exercise data, the foodstuff management data, and the user data; a recipe creation unit that creates suggested recipe data, which is recipe data using ingredients included in the ingredient management data, based on the exercise data, the ingredient management data, and the user data; a notification unit that notifies a user of the proposed recipe data; Equipped with When the recipe creation unit acquires the exercise data transmitted from the terminal, it creates recommended nutrient data from the exercise data and the user data, the recommended nutrient data including nutrients recommended for intake after exercise, the intake amounts of the nutrients, and the time from the end of exercise to the intake of the nutrients, and sets recipe data using one or more ingredients selected from ingredients included in the ingredient management data based on the recommended nutrient data as the proposed recipe data; When the nutrient cannot be ingested from the ingredients included in the ingredient management data in an amount equal to or greater than the intake amount, the recipe creation unit creates ingredient-deficient recipe data, which is recipe data including the nutrient that cannot be ingested in an amount equal to or greater than the intake amount, The notification unit is a recipe suggestion system that notifies a user of the ingredient shortage recipe data.

2. The exercise data includes exercise content and calories burned, and the user data includes exercise purpose and user physical data; The recipe suggestion system according to claim 1 , wherein the recipe creation unit creates the recommended nutrient data from the exercise details, the calories burned, the exercise purpose, and the physical data.

3. The storage unit stores a plurality of recipe data including information on ingredients to be used and cooking times, The recipe suggestion system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recipe creation unit sets the suggested recipe data from among the recipe data in which the cooking time is within a time required for ingesting the nutrients.

4. When the recipe creation unit cannot ingest the nutrient from the ingredient included in the ingredient management data, the recipe creation unit stores the nutrient that cannot be ingested in the amount equal to or greater than the intake amount in the storage unit; The recipe suggestion system according to claim 1 , wherein the notification unit notifies the user of the nutrients that the user cannot ingest in excess of the intake amount.

5. A location acquisition unit that acquires current location information of a user, The recipe creation unit detects ingredients that are in short supply from the recipe data for recipes that are in short supply and the ingredient management data, The storage unit stores store information related to a store that sells food ingredients, The recipe suggestion system according to claim 1 , wherein the notification unit notifies the user of the store information within a predetermined range from the current location information and the missing ingredients detected by the recipe creation unit.

6. The recipe suggestion system according to claim 1 , wherein the notification unit notifies the user of the time remaining until the nutrient is ingested.

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