Home appliance system, display control method, program, and server

Abstract

The transition pattern of the display screen related to the registration of the home appliance is changed depending on the situation. [Solution] An embodiment of the home appliance system is a home appliance system comprising home appliances, a server that manages the home appliances, and a terminal device that can operate the home appliances registered via an app, wherein the terminal device transmits home appliance information, which is information about home appliances that are to be registered or have already been registered, to the server, the server compares the received home appliance information with device information stored in a memory unit, and transmits comparison result information to the terminal device, and when an operation is performed to register the home appliance, the terminal device transitions the display screen according to a transition pattern that corresponds to the comparison result information.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] FIELD Embodiments of the present invention relate to a home appliance system, a display control method, a program, and a server. [Background technology]

[0002] There has been technology available for some time that allows home appliances (refrigerators, air conditioners, etc.) to be controlled using terminal devices such as smartphones, rather than dedicated remote controls. In this case, an app (application program) is downloaded to the terminal device, and the home appliance can be operated and managed by registering the appliance with the app.

[0003] Furthermore, the procedure for registering home appliances on a terminal device is often not simple, resulting in the user having to navigate through many display screens in sequence according to user operations. This tendency is particularly pronounced in integrated home appliance apps (apps that can register and use multiple types of home appliances). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0004] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2023-59584 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-31387 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-81775 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0005] However, it is not appropriate to uniformly transition all display screens on a terminal device for various users, including users who are familiar with and are unfamiliar with operations such as registering home appliances. For example, a user who is familiar with such operations may not need to see some of the multiple display screens.

[0006] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and one of its objectives is to provide a home appliance system, a display control method, a program, and a server that can change the transition pattern of display screens related to the registration of home appliances depending on the situation. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] A home appliance system according to an embodiment includes home appliances, a server that manages the home appliances, and a terminal device that can operate the home appliances registered by an app. The terminal device transmits home appliance information, which is information about home appliances to be registered or that have already been registered, to the server. The server compares the received home appliance information with device information stored in a storage unit. If there is device information corresponding to the home appliance information, The terminal device transmits comparison result information to the terminal device, and the terminal device, during an operation related to the registration of the home electric appliance, performs a transition pattern according to the comparison result information, and displaying a device sharing screen, which is a setting screen for enabling the home appliance to be operated by another terminal device. Transition of the display screen.

[0009] The server compares the received home appliance information with the device information stored in a storage unit, and if there is no device information corresponding to the home appliance information, transmits the corresponding comparison result information to the terminal device, and the terminal device, at the time of an operation related to registration of the home appliance, The aforementioned Depending on the comparison result information, The aforementioned A device registration screen is displayed, which is a setting screen that enables the user to operate the home appliance themselves.

[0010] A home appliance system according to an embodiment includes home appliances, a server that manages the home appliances, and a terminal device that can operate the home appliances registered by an app, wherein the terminal device transmits home appliance information, which is information about home appliances to be registered or that have already been registered, to the server; The server receives the home appliance information and stores the information stored in the storage unit. machine If there is any device information corresponding to the home appliance information, Comparison The comparison result information is transmitted to the terminal device, and the terminal device, upon an operation related to registration of the home electric appliance, The aforementioned According to the comparison result information The transition pattern A part of the display screen to be transitioned is omitted compared to when there is no device information corresponding to the home appliance information. While making it possible, if a predetermined time has passed since the previous device registration, the display screen to which the device is to be transitioned is not omitted. .

[0012] When the terminal device transmits the home appliance information, which is information about a home appliance to be registered or that has already been registered, to the server, the terminal device transmits analysis result information of a captured image of a two-dimensional barcode, which includes information about screen transitions, to the server.

[0013] The terminal device transitions the display screen according to a transition pattern according to the analysis result of a captured image of a two-dimensional barcode containing information about screen transition.

[0014] A home appliance system according to an embodiment includes home appliances, a server that manages the home appliances, and a terminal device that can operate the home appliances registered by an app. The terminal device transmits home appliance information, which is information about home appliances to be registered or that have already been registered, to the server. The server compares the received home appliance information with device information stored in a storage unit, and, if there is device information corresponding to the home appliance information, transmits corresponding comparison result information to the terminal device. When performing an operation related to the registration of the home appliance, the terminal device The aforementioned According to the comparison result information Depending on the transition pattern , compared with the case where there is no device information corresponding to the home appliance information, Table Part of the display screen is omitted. At the same time An operation unit for transitioning to the omitted display screen is displayed.

[0015] A display control method according to an embodiment is a display control method for a home appliance system including home appliances, a server that manages the home appliances, and a terminal device that can operate the home appliances registered by an app, the method including the steps of: the terminal device transmitting home appliance information, which is information about home appliances to be registered or already registered, to the server; and the server comparing the received home appliance information with device information stored in a storage unit; If there is device information corresponding to the home appliance information, transmitting comparison result information to the terminal device; and, when the terminal device performs an operation related to the registration of the home electric appliance, performing a transition pattern according to the comparison result information, and displaying a device sharing screen, which is a setting screen for enabling the home appliance to be operated by another terminal device. and a step of transitioning the display screen.

[0016] The program of the embodiment includes a home appliance system including home appliances, a server that manages the home appliances, and a terminal device that can operate the home appliances registered by an app. The program includes steps of transmitting home appliance information, which is information about home appliances to be registered or that have already been registered, to the server by the terminal device, and comparing the received home appliance information with device information stored in a storage unit by the server; If there is device information corresponding to the home appliance information, transmitting comparison result information to the terminal device; and, when the terminal device performs an operation related to the registration of the home electric appliance, by a transition pattern according to the comparison result information, and displaying a device sharing screen, which is a setting screen for enabling the home appliance to be operated by another terminal device. and a step of transitioning the display screen.

[0017] The server of an embodiment is a server in a home appliance system including home appliances, a server that manages the home appliances, and a terminal device that can operate the home appliances registered by an app, and receives home appliance information from the terminal device, which is information about home appliances to be registered or that have already been registered, and compares the received home appliance information with device information stored in a storage unit; If there is device information corresponding to the home appliance information, Depending on the comparison result, a display screen for an operation related to the registration of the home appliance on the terminal device is displayed. a device sharing screen, which is a setting screen for enabling the operation of the home appliance from another terminal device, is displayed. and creating control information including the transition pattern and transmitting the control information to the terminal device.

[0018] According to the above-described home appliance system, display control method, program, and server, the transition pattern of the display screen related to the registration of the home appliance can be changed depending on the situation. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0019] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a home electric appliance system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the server according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating the functional configuration of the terminal device of the first embodiment. [Figure 4A] FIG. 4A is a diagram showing a home appliance system X of the prior art. [Figure 4B] FIG. 4B is a diagram showing a home appliance system X of the prior art. [Figure 5A] FIG. 5A is a diagram showing a home appliance system Y according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5B] FIG. 5B is a diagram showing a home appliance system Y according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing by the home electric appliance system of the first embodiment. [Figure 7A] FIG. 7A is a diagram showing a home appliance system Z according to the second embodiment. [Figure 7B] FIG. 7B is a diagram showing a home appliance system Z according to the second embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing by the home electric appliance system of the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0020] Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, embodiments (first embodiment and second embodiment) of the home appliance system, display control method, program, and server of the present disclosure will be described. In this specification, components of the embodiments and descriptions of the components may be described using multiple expressions. The components and their descriptions are examples and are not limited by the expressions in this specification. The components may also be identified by names different from those in this specification. The components may also be described using expressions different from those in this specification. In the following, home appliances may also be simply referred to as "home appliances." In the following, FIGS. 4A and 4B will be collectively referred to as "FIG. 4," FIGS. 5A and 5B will be collectively referred to as "FIG. 5," and FIGS. 7A and 7B will be collectively referred to as "FIG. 7."

[0021] (First embodiment) A first embodiment will be described. To facilitate understanding of the embodiment, background art will be described again. In recent years, IoT (Internet of Things) home appliances have become widespread, and linking home appliances with smartphone apps has improved user convenience.

[0022] For example, smartphones can be used as remote controls for air conditioners, etc. Also, for cooking appliances (microwave ovens, oven ranges, etc.), recipe setting information viewed on a smartphone can be sent to the appliance, making it easy to set up the appliance.

[0023] There are various ways to control home appliances from a smartphone, but here we will focus on the method of connecting home appliances to a server via a communication network (Figure 1).

[0024] 1 is a diagram showing the overall configuration of a home electric appliance system S according to the first embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the home electric appliance system S includes home electric appliances 10 (10A to 10F), a terminal device 100, a server 200, a modem M, and a wireless router R.

[0025] The home appliance 10 and the terminal device 100 are each communicably connected to the server 200 via, for example, a wireless router R, a modem M, and a communication network NW (for example, the Internet). The home appliance 10 and the terminal device 100 may also be configured to be connected to each other via a communication adapter (not shown) or the like so that they can communicate with each other wirelessly. The home appliance 10 and the terminal device 100 may also be configured to be connected to each other via a communication cable such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable so that they can communicate with each other via a wired connection.

[0026] The living room is equipped with a refrigerator 10A, a microwave oven 10B, and an air conditioner 10C. The bathroom is equipped with a washing machine 10D. The bedroom is equipped with an air conditioner 10E. The study is equipped with an air conditioner 10F.

[0027] The terminal device 100 is a means capable of operating the home appliance 10 registered by the app. The terminal device 100 is configured as, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, or the like.

[0028] Server 200 is configured by a well-known computer system and manages home appliance 10. Server 200 stores various information such as information for accessing home appliance 10 and terminal device 100 (e.g., IP (Internet Protocol) address, etc.), various computer programs including application software, etc.

[0029] Next, the server 200 will be described. Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the server 200 according to the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 2, the server 200 includes a control unit 201, a communication unit 202, a storage unit 203, and a timing unit 204.

[0030] The control unit 201 is realized by a CPU (Central Processing Unit), RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc. The CPU executes programs stored in the ROM, for example, to perform various controls and calculations on the server 200.

[0031] The communication unit 202 is an element that realizes a communication function for communicating with an external device. The communication unit 202 executes communication with the home electric appliance 10 and the terminal device 100.

[0032] The storage unit 203 is configured by an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), etc. The storage unit 203 stores various types of information and data.

[0033] The timekeeping unit 204 keeps track of time (date and time).

[0034] Next, the terminal device 100 will be described. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the terminal device 100 of the first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 3, the terminal device 100 has a processing unit 301, a display unit 302, an operation unit 303, a communication unit 304, and a storage unit 305. The display unit 302, the operation unit 303, the communication unit 304, and the storage unit 305 are connected to the processing unit 301.

[0035] The processing unit 301 is realized by a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc. The CPU executes a program stored in the ROM, for example, to perform various controls of the terminal device 100 and various calculations.

[0036] The display unit 302 is configured by a display such as a liquid crystal panel.

[0037] The operation unit 303 is composed of touch panel switches formed on the display screen of the display unit 302, mechanical switches provided around the periphery of the display unit 302, and the like.

[0038] The communication unit 304 is an element that realizes a communication function for communicating with external devices, and executes communication with the server 200.

[0039] The storage unit 305 is configured by an SSD (Solid State Drive) etc. The storage unit 305 stores various types of information and data.

[0040] The processing unit 301 has, as its functional components, an acquisition unit 311 and a control unit 312 .

[0041] The acquisition unit 311 acquires various types of information. For example, the acquisition unit 311 acquires information about the home appliance 10 from the home appliance 10 via the server 200.

[0042] Control unit 312 executes various controls. For example, control unit 312 causes display unit 302 to display various information. Control unit 312 also instructs home electric appliance 10 via server 200 to operate according to the contents of the operation timer information.

[0043] In the following, for simplicity of explanation, when describing the operation of the control unit 201 of the server 200, the subject of the operation may be referred to as "server 200." Similarly, when describing the operation of the processing unit 301 (acquisition unit 311, control unit 312) of the terminal device 100, the subject of the operation may be referred to as "terminal device 100."

[0044] A technique for changing the transition pattern of the display screen related to the registration of the home appliance 10 according to the situation in such a home appliance system S will be described.

[0045] Here, "device registration", "device sharing", etc. will be explained. Conventionally, in a home appliance system S, a procedure called "device registration" is used to connect a server 200 and a home appliance 10 via a communication network NW, and to associate the home appliance 10 with a registered user ID. A user logs in to an app on a terminal device 100 using the user ID, performs an operation on the home appliance 10 from the app, and the request reaches the home appliance 10 via the communication network NW and the server 200. With this method, it becomes possible to operate the home appliance 10 even when away from home, as long as the terminal device 100 is in an environment where it can communicate via the communication network NW.

[0046] Here, consider a case where the home appliance 10 is transferred. After the new user registers the home appliance 10, how the original user should behave when operating the home appliance 10 with the terminal device 100 will be considered.

[0047] It is expected that various adverse effects will occur if the original user is able to operate the home appliance 10. It is desirable that the device registration of the original user is cancelled when the new user registers the device. This concept is realized in the form of an "owner" and "ownership" of the home appliance. When the new user registers the device, the ownership of the home appliance 10 is transferred from the original user, and the new user is managed on the server 200 so that the new user becomes the owner of the home appliance 10. At this point, the transferred home appliance 10 is deleted from the original user's app.

[0048] However, if the owner and ownership change whenever a device is registered, convenience may be impaired. For example, convenience would be improved if all family members could operate one air conditioner, but if the owner and ownership change whenever a device is registered, only one user could operate it. Therefore, this problem is solved by introducing the idea that the owner of home appliance 10 shares ownership with specific users.

[0049] This is achieved by an operation called "device sharing." The sharing user simply borrows ownership, but does not become the owner. Such information is managed by server 200, and both the owner of the ownership and the user who is borrowing the ownership can operate home appliance 10. If a new user registers the device, the owner changes, and the ownership also changes. At this point, the user who borrowed the ownership will no longer be able to operate home appliance 10.

[0050] In other words, to improve user convenience, the operations of "device registration" and "device sharing" are required, which poses the problem of requiring frequent screen transitions within the app.

[0051] Therefore, in the home electric appliance system S, in order to change the transition pattern of the display screen related to the registration of the home electric appliance 10 depending on the situation, for example, the following (1) to (3) are executed in order.

[0052] (1) The terminal device 100 transmits to the server 200 home electric appliance information, which is information relating to the home electric appliance 10 to be registered or already registered. (2) The server 200 compares the received home appliance information with the appliance information stored in the storage unit 203 and transmits the comparison result information to the terminal device 100. (3) When an operation related to the registration of the home electric appliance 10 is performed, the terminal device 100 transitions the display screen according to a transition pattern corresponding to the received comparison result information.

[0053] In (1), for example, the terminal device 100 transmits information read from a two-dimensional barcode (e.g., a QR code (registered trademark)) attached to the home appliance 10, information about the home appliance 10 input by the user, and the like to the server 200. Note that, although the two-dimensional barcode attached to the home appliance 10 generally contains only information about the model name and serial number of the home appliance 10, various other information can be added to the barcode to be used as information for screen transitions.

[0054] Regarding (2), for example, the server 200 compares the received home appliance information with the appliance information stored in the memory unit 203, and if there is appliance information corresponding to the home appliance information, it transmits the corresponding comparison result information to the terminal device 100.

[0055] In this case, with regard to (3), the terminal device 100 displays, in accordance with the comparison result information, a device sharing screen, which is a setting screen for enabling the home appliance 10 to be operated by another terminal device 100, during an operation related to the registration of the home appliance 10. In other words, if the home appliance 10 to be registered has already been registered, the device sharing screen is displayed.

[0056] Regarding (2), for example, the server 200 compares the received home appliance information with the appliance information stored in the memory unit 203, and if there is no appliance information corresponding to the home appliance information, it transmits the corresponding comparison result information to the terminal device 100.

[0057] In this case, with regard to (3), when an operation related to the registration of the home electric appliance 10 is performed, the terminal device 100 displays a device registration screen, which is a setting screen for enabling the terminal device 10 to operate the home electric appliance 10 itself, in accordance with the comparison result information.

[0058] Regarding (2), for example, the server 200 compares the received home appliance information with the appliance information stored in the memory unit 203, and if there is appliance information corresponding to the home appliance information, it transmits the corresponding comparison result information to the terminal device 100.

[0059] In this case, with regard to (3), when performing an operation related to the registration of the home appliance 10, the terminal device 100 omits part of the display screen to be transitioned to, in accordance with the comparison result information, compared to when there is no device information corresponding to the home appliance information (details will be described later using Figures 4 to 6).

[0060] For example, it is generally necessary to explain to the user where to paste information (such as a QR code) of the home appliance 10. The paste location varies depending on the home appliance 10, and in a system that allows multiple types of home appliance 10 to be registered, the user is prompted to select which home appliance 10 to register, and an explanation screen corresponding to the home appliance 10 is displayed. However, for a user who has already registered a home appliance, the explanation screen for the paste location and the selection screen for that purpose are unnecessary, and therefore it is desirable to omit these screens.

[0061] However, in this case, when performing an operation related to the registration of the home electric appliance 10, if a predetermined time (for example, about three months or six months) has passed since the previous device registration, the terminal device 100 may not omit the transition display screen.

[0062] This is because, when registering a device after a predetermined time has elapsed since the previous device registration, there is a possibility that the user has forgotten where to attach the two-dimensional barcode on the home appliance 10. When there is a high possibility that this will happen, it is more convenient for the user if the screen transition is not omitted.

[0063] Regarding (3), for example, when the terminal device 100 transmits home appliance information, which is information about a home appliance 10 to be registered or already registered, to the server 200, the terminal device 100 transmits analysis result information of a captured image of a two-dimensional barcode including information about screen transitions to the server 200. Specifically, for example, the two-dimensional barcode includes information indicating that the screen ID (Identifier) ​​is A, which indicates the screen transition destination. This makes it easy to control the screen transition destination using the read two-dimensional barcode.

[0064] In addition to the above, the terminal device 100 may transition the display screen according to a transition pattern according to the analysis result of a captured image of a two-dimensional barcode containing information about the screen transition. In recent years, two-dimensional barcodes have become increasingly common, and an increasing number of users are taking a picture of the two-dimensional barcode of the home appliance 10 with the camera of the terminal device 100 before installing an app. Therefore, information such as a deep link (a type of URL (Uniform Resource Locator)) is included in the two-dimensional barcode. This makes it possible for the terminal device 100 to display a screen showing the installation procedure for the app, or, if the app is already installed, to display a screen showing the device registration procedure for the app.

[0065] Next, Fig. 4 is a diagram showing a home appliance system X of the prior art. Home appliance system X shows a method of displaying multiple display screens without omissions when performing operations related to registering home appliance 10 in terminal device 100. The example in Fig. 4 shows the transition from the top screen of the app to the screen for reading a QR code.

[0066] First, on the top screen (A), click the "Add Home Appliances" button at the bottom right of area R11 to transition to screen (B).

[0067] The screen in (B) allows the user to select either "Device Registration" ("Register a new home appliance" in area R21) or "Device Sharing" ("Share a home appliance" in area R22). When "Device Registration" is selected, the screen transitions to the screen in (C).

[0068] Screen (C) prompts the user to check the wireless connection status (wireless LAN mark) of the home appliance 10, and depending on the status (if the wireless LAN mark is lit), guides the user to select "Device Sharing" ("Ask family members to share home appliance" in area R32). This is because if the original user mistakenly selects "Device Registration" ("Register home appliance" in area R31), the user will lose ownership. When "Device Registration" is selected, the screen transitions to screen (D).

[0069] When a refrigerator is selected in area R41 on the screen (D), the screen transitions to screen (E).

[0070] On screen (E), the location of the QR code on the refrigerator is displayed in area R51. The user can see this and recognize the location of the QR code on the refrigerator. Then, when the "Scan QR code" button is pressed in area R52, the screen transitions to screen (F) for scanning the QR code.

[0071] Furthermore, after reading the QR code on screen (F), the server 200 checks the read information. The server 200 checks to see if an incorrect QR code has been read, or if an old app has been used to read the QR code of a newly released home appliance 10. The reason for checking on the server 200 rather than the app on the terminal device 100 is to enable checking information that is not known at the time of app release, such as for a new home appliance 10. If the read information is determined to be appropriate, the screen returns to screen (E), the read information (model name, serial number, etc.) is displayed in area R53 on the screen, and the "Next" button becomes enabled.

[0072] In this example, five steps are required to transition from the app's top screen to the screen for reading the QR code. However, in some cases (for example, for a user who wishes to register a device rather than share it), screens (B) and (C) are unnecessary. Therefore, we consider omitting screens (B) and (C). The home appliance system of this embodiment in which screens (B) and (C) are omitted will be called home appliance system Y.

[0073] 5 is a diagram showing home appliance system Y of the first embodiment. In home appliance system Y, when the "Add home appliance" button at the bottom right of area R11 is operated on the top screen (A), screens (B) and (C) are skipped and the screen transitions to screen (D). (E) and (F) are the same as those in home appliance system X.

[0074] Similarly to home appliance system X, home appliance system Y reads the QR code on the screen (F), then transitions to the screen (E1), and checks the information in the QR code on server 200. In addition, home appliance system Y checks whether the home appliance 10 with that information has already been registered on server 200.

[0075] The server 200 responds to the application with not only the check result but also whether or not the product is registered. The application uses this "registration status" information to control screen transitions. Specifically, when the "Next" button is pressed on the (E1) screen, if the model name and serial number are not registered on the server 200, the application transitions to the (E2) screen, and if the model name and serial number are registered on the server 200, the application transitions to the (G1) screen.

[0076] On the (E2) screen, the user inputs the specified information (refrigerator name, installation location) and then presses the "Next" button, which transitions to another screen.

[0077] Also, on the screen (G1), a dialogue such as "Do you want to share your home appliance?" is displayed, and then the screen transitions to screens (G2) to (G5) depending on the operation.

[0078] 6 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing by the home electric appliance system S of the first embodiment. Here, the processing after the terminal device 100 scans the QR code of the home electric appliance 10 will be described.

[0079] In step S1, the user U scans the QR code of the home appliance 10 (such as the refrigerator 10A) using the terminal device 100 (FIG. 5(F)).

[0080] Next, in step S2, the terminal device 100 decodes the scanned QR code.

[0081] Next, in step S3, the terminal device 100 requests the server 200 to verify the decrypted information.

[0082] Next, in step S4, the server 200 replies (responds) to the terminal device 100 with the verification result (whether the information is correct or not, and whether the device is registered or not).

[0083] Next, if the verification result is correct, in step S5, the terminal device 100 displays the model name and serial number (FIG. 5(E1)).

[0084] Next, in step S6, the terminal device 100 activates the "Next" button (FIG. 5(E1)).

[0085] Next, in step S7, the user U presses the "Next" button on the terminal device 100 (FIG. 5(E1)).

[0086] Thereafter, if the home electric appliance 10 has been registered, the terminal device 100 proceeds to a device sharing procedure in step S8 (displaying the screen of FIG. 5(G1)).

[0087] If the home electric appliance 10 is not registered, the terminal device 100 proceeds to a device registration procedure in step S9 (displaying the screen of FIG. 5(E2)).

[0088] If the verification result is incorrect, the terminal device 100 displays an error message in step S10.

[0089] As described above, according to the home electric appliance system S of the first embodiment, the terminal device 100 transmits home electric appliance information to the server 200, and transitions the display screen according to a transition pattern according to the comparison result information from the server 200. This makes it possible to change the transition pattern of the display screen related to the registration of the home electric appliance 10 depending on the situation.

[0090] For example, when a user attempts to register a home electric appliance 10 on the terminal device 100, if the home electric appliance 10 has not yet been registered with the server 200, a device registration screen is displayed, and if the home electric appliance 10 has already been registered with the server 200, a device sharing screen is displayed. This type of screen allocation can be performed automatically, improving user convenience.

[0091] Furthermore, depending on the situation, the convenience for the user can be improved by omitting display screens that are unlikely to be necessary for the user.

[0092] Even in this case, if a predetermined time has passed since the last device registration, the display screen is not omitted, thereby dealing with cases where the user has forgotten the information on the display screen seen during the last device registration.

[0093] Furthermore, by including information about screen transitions in the QR code attached to the home appliance 10, appropriate screen transitions can be easily achieved.

[0094] (Second embodiment) Next, a second embodiment will be described. Explanations of matters similar to those in the first embodiment will be omitted as appropriate.

[0095] The conventional home appliance system X described in the first embodiment is designed to be user-friendly, but contains many redundant explanations, which also contributes to the increase in screen transitions. For example, in Fig. 4, (D) displays a selection screen for the home appliance 10 to be registered, and (E) displays the display position of the QR code of the selected home appliance 10, which at first glance seems user-friendly.

[0096] However, for users who have registered devices several times, these screens that require operations can be cumbersome. Therefore, we will explain home appliance system Z, in which (D) and (E) are automatically omitted.

[0097] 7 is a diagram showing a home appliance system Z according to the second embodiment. When a user registers a device for the first time, the screen transition is performed using home appliance system X or Y, rather than home appliance system Z. If the user successfully registers the device, the information is stored in an app or the like.

[0098] Next time the user attempts to register a device, if the information indicates that device registration has been successful in the past, home appliance system Z will skip the screen transitions of (D) and (E). In other words, when "Device Registration" (area R31) is selected on the screen of (C), the screen will transition to screen (F). Note that, like home appliance system Y, (B) and (C) may also be omitted.

[0099] Also, for users who have forgotten where the QR code is displayed on the home appliance 10 and are confused when the screen (F) suddenly appears after the screen (C), a link saying "QR code location (here)" is displayed on the screen (F). When this link is tapped, the screen transitions to the screen (D).

[0100] Specifically, as an operation of the terminal device 100, with regard to (3) above, when an operation is performed to register the home appliance 10, if part of the display screen to be transitioned to is omitted in accordance with the comparison result information compared to when there is no device information corresponding to the home appliance information, an operation unit (the above link) for transitioning to the omitted display screen is displayed.

[0101] FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of processing by the home electric appliance system S of the second embodiment.

[0102] In step S11, the user U operates the screen using the terminal device 100.

[0103] Next, when registering a device for the first time or after a certain period (predetermined time) has elapsed, the terminal device 100 transitions to the next screen in step S12 in the same way as the home appliance system X.

[0104] Next, if the device registration is successful, in step S13, the terminal device 100 stores whether the device registration was successful and the date and time in the storage unit 305. This information will be used the next time a device is registered. Note that instead of storing the information in the app, it may also be stored in the server 200.

[0105] Next, when registering a device for the second time, in step S14, the terminal device 100 skips screens (D) and (E) and transitions to the next screen (FIG. 7).

[0106] Next, in step S15, the terminal device 100 displays a link related to the position where the QR code is to be attached on the screen (F) (FIG. 7(F)).

[0107] As described above, according to the home electric appliance system S of the second embodiment, when a part of the display screen to be transitioned is omitted in the terminal device 100, an operation unit for transitioning to the omitted display screen is displayed. This improves convenience for a user who has forgotten the information at the time of the previous device registration.

[0108] (Variation) The control of screen transitions may be performed by the server 200 rather than the terminal device 100. That is, the server 200 may receive home appliance information, which is information about the home appliance 10 to be registered or already registered, from the terminal device 100, compare the received home appliance information with the device information stored in the storage unit 203, and, depending on the comparison result, create control information including a transition pattern of the display screen when the terminal device 100 performs an operation related to the registration of the home appliance 10, and transmit the control information to the terminal device 100. In this way, the terminal device 100 can execute appropriate screen transitions based on the control information.

[0109] In this case, the server 200 can create the control information in, for example, HTML (HyperText Markup Language).

[0110] This makes it possible to realize the present embodiment without updating the application of the terminal device 100. Furthermore, the processing load on the terminal device 100 can be reduced.

[0111] Furthermore, the programs executed by the terminal device 100, the server 200, and the home appliance 10 of the present embodiment can be provided by being recorded in an installable or executable file format on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc)-ROM (Read Only Memory), a flexible disk (FD), a CD-R (Recordable), or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk).The programs may also be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

[0112] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described, this embodiment is presented as an example and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention. This novel embodiment can be embodied in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. This embodiment and its modifications are included within the scope and spirit of the invention, and are also included in the invention described in the claims and their equivalents.

[0113] For example, the target home electric appliance 10 is not limited to a refrigerator, but may be another home electric appliance.

[0114] Furthermore, the predetermined time (for example, about three months or six months) that is a condition for not omitting the transition display screen may be set differently for each type of home appliance 10. For example, in the case of a large home appliance in which a QR code is attached over a wide area, the user may easily forget where the QR code is attached and it takes time to find it, so the predetermined time may be set shorter than for other home appliances. This further improves convenience for the user. [Explanation of symbols]

[0115] 10... Home appliance, 100... Terminal device, 200... Server, 201... Control unit, 202... Communication unit, 203... Storage unit, 204... Timekeeping unit, 301... Processing unit, 302... Display unit, 303... Operation unit, 304... Communication unit, 305... Storage unit, 311... Acquisition unit, 312... Control unit, M... Modem, NW... Communication network, R... Wireless router, S... Home appliance system

Claims

1. A home appliance system including a home appliance, a server that manages the home appliance, and a terminal device that can operate the home appliance registered by an app, The terminal device transmits home appliance information, which is information about a home appliance to be registered or already registered, to the server; the server compares the received home appliance information with device information stored in a storage unit, and if there is device information corresponding to the home appliance information, transmits corresponding comparison result information to the terminal device; When an operation related to the registration of the home appliance is performed, the terminal device transitions the display screen to display a device sharing screen, which is a setting screen for enabling the home appliance to be operated by another terminal device, using a transition pattern corresponding to the comparison result information.

2. the server compares the received home appliance information with the device information stored in a storage unit, and if there is no device information corresponding to the home appliance information, transmits the corresponding comparison result information to the terminal device; The home appliance system according to claim 1, wherein the terminal device displays a device registration screen, which is a setting screen for enabling the terminal device to operate the home appliance itself, in accordance with the comparison result information when performing an operation related to the registration of the home appliance.

3. A home appliance system comprising: a home appliance; a server that manages the home appliance; and a terminal device that can operate the home appliance registered by an app, The terminal device transmits home appliance information, which is information about a home appliance to be registered or already registered, to the server; the server compares the received home appliance information with device information stored in a storage unit, and if there is device information corresponding to the home appliance information, transmits corresponding comparison result information to the terminal device; The terminal device, when performing an operation related to the registration of the home appliance, can omit some of the display screens to be transitioned to, using a transition pattern corresponding to the comparison result information, compared to when there is no device information corresponding to the home appliance information, but does not omit the display screens to be transitioned to if a predetermined time has passed since the last device registration.

4. The home appliance system according to claim 1, wherein when the terminal device transmits the home appliance information, which is information about a home appliance to be registered or that has already been registered, to the server, the terminal device transmits analysis result information of a captured image of a two-dimensional barcode, which includes information about screen transitions, to the server.

5. The home appliance system according to claim 4 , wherein the terminal device transitions the display screen according to a transition pattern according to an analysis result of a captured image of a two-dimensional barcode containing information about screen transition.

6. A home appliance system comprising: a home appliance; a server that manages the home appliance; and a terminal device that can operate the home appliance registered in an app, The terminal device transmits home appliance information, which is information about a home appliance to be registered or already registered, to the server; the server compares the received home appliance information with device information stored in a storage unit, and if there is device information corresponding to the home appliance information, transmits corresponding comparison result information to the terminal device; When performing an operation related to the registration of the home appliance, the terminal device omits a part of the display screen to be transitioned to, in accordance with a transition pattern corresponding to the comparison result information, compared to when there is no device information corresponding to the home appliance information, and displays an operation unit for transitioning to the omitted display screen.

7. A display control method for a home appliance system including home appliances, a server that manages the home appliances, and a terminal device that can operate the home appliances registered by an app, comprising: a step of transmitting, by the terminal device, home appliance information, which is information about home appliances to be registered or already registered, to the server; the server comparing the received home appliance information with device information stored in a storage unit, and if there is device information corresponding to the home appliance information, transmitting corresponding comparison result information to the terminal device; and a step of transitioning the display screen of the terminal device, when performing an operation related to the registration of the home appliance, to display a device sharing screen, which is a setting screen for enabling the home appliance to be operated by another terminal device, using a transition pattern corresponding to the comparison result information.

8. In a home appliance system including a home appliance, a server that manages the home appliance, and a terminal device that can operate the home appliance registered by an app, a step of transmitting, by the terminal device, home appliance information, which is information about a home appliance to be registered or already registered, to the server; a step of comparing the received home appliance information with device information stored in a storage unit by the server, and if there is device information corresponding to the home appliance information, transmitting corresponding comparison result information to the terminal device; A program for executing a step of transitioning the display screen to display a device sharing screen, which is a setting screen for enabling operation of the home appliance by another terminal device, using a transition pattern corresponding to the comparison result information when the terminal device performs an operation related to the registration of the home appliance.

9. A server in a home appliance system including home appliances, a server that manages the home appliances, and a terminal device that can operate the home appliances registered by an app, receiving, from the terminal device, home appliance information that is information about a home appliance to be registered or that has already been registered; The server compares the received home appliance information with device information stored in a memory unit, and if there is device information corresponding to the received home appliance information, creates control information including a transition pattern in which the display screen during operations related to registering the home appliance on the terminal device displays a device sharing screen, which is a setting screen for enabling operation of the home appliance on other terminal devices, according to the comparison result, and transmits the control information to the terminal device.

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