Information processing device and information processing system

Abstract

To provide an information processing device and an information processing system that can properly provide recommended action information showing environmentally contributing actions to recommend to a user.SOLUTION: The information processing device according to an embodiment has a controller for performing control to provide recommended action information showing environmentally contributing actions to recommend to a user. The controller determines a plurality of pieces of recommended action information as provision candidates for a user, selects recommended action information to provide to the user from the determined pieces of recommended action information, and provides the selected information to the user. If the user rejects the selected recommended action information, the user will be provided with recommended action information which is different from the rejected recommended action information from the plural pieces of recommended action information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1A

Description

[Technical Field]

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

[0002] Conventionally, various technologies have been proposed to support behavioral change of users (for example, see Patent Document 1). Conventional technologies are configured to provide users with behavioral information that is likely to change their behavior, for example. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-133638 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In recent years, for example, actions such as traveling by bicycle or walking to a destination instead of using a car or the like are being recommended as actions that contribute to reducing CO2 emissions (hereinafter referred to as "environmentally beneficial actions"). Therefore, it is expected that by providing recommended action information indicating recommended environmentally beneficial actions to users, users' actions will be transformed into environmentally beneficial actions.

[0005] However, the conventional techniques have room for further improvement in terms of providing recommended action information appropriately.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and aims to provide an information processing device and an information processing system that can appropriately provide recommended behavior information that indicates environmentally friendly behaviors that are recommended to users. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In order to solve the above problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides an information processing device having a control unit that controls the provision of recommended action information indicating environmentally friendly actions recommended to a user. The control unit determines a plurality of pieces of recommended action information to be provided to the user, selects the recommended action information to be provided to the user from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information, and provides it to the user. Furthermore, if the provided recommended action information is rejected by the user, the control unit selects the recommended action information different from the rejected recommended action information from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information and provides it to the user. [Effects of the Invention]

[0008] According to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately provide recommended action information indicating environmentally beneficial actions that are recommended to a user. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1A] FIG. 1A is a diagram showing an overview of an information processing method by an information processing device according to an embodiment. [Figure 1B] FIG. 1B is a diagram showing an overview of an information processing method by the information processing device according to the embodiment. [Figure 1C] FIG. 1C is a diagram showing an overview of an information processing method performed by the information processing device according to the embodiment. [Figure 2A] FIG. 2A is a diagram for explaining data collection in the information processing system according to the embodiment. [Figure 2B] FIG. 2B is a diagram for explaining data collection in the information processing system according to the embodiment. [Figure 2C] FIG. 2C is a diagram for explaining data collection in the information processing system according to the embodiment. [Figure 2D] FIG. 2D is a diagram for explaining data collection in the information processing system according to the embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an information processing system. [Figure 4]FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of an information processing device. [Figure 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of collected data. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of recommended action information. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of the provision result information. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the display of the user terminal device to which the recommended action information has been provided again. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a user terminal device. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the information processing device. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure executed by the information processing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0010] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an information processing apparatus and an information processing system according to embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0011] <Outline of information processing method by information processing device> First, an overview of an information processing method by an information processing device according to an embodiment will be described below with reference to Figures 1A to 1C. Figures 1A to 1C are diagrams showing an overview of an information processing method by an information processing device according to an embodiment.

[0012] As shown in FIG. 1A, an information processing system 1 according to the embodiment includes an information processing device 10 and a user terminal device 100 used by a user U.

[0013] The information processing device 10 is realized by a server capable of executing various processes such as processing of information related to environmentally contributing behaviors. The information processing device 10 may be realized as, for example, a cloud server, or may perform distributed processing using multiple servers.

[0014] The user terminal device 100 is a device carried and used by a user U. The user terminal device 100 may be, for example, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a wearable device such as a glasses-type or watch-type information processing terminal, but is not limited to these. The user terminal device 100 is an example of a terminal device.

[0015] The user terminal device 100 includes various sensors, such as a GPS (Global Positioning System) sensor, an acceleration sensor, and an operation detection sensor, as well as a storage device. The GPS sensor detects the position of the user U (more precisely, the position of the user terminal device 100), and the acceleration sensor detects acceleration acting on the user terminal device 100. The operation detection sensor is a sensor that detects, for example, an input operation (e.g., a touch operation on a touch panel) by the user U to the user terminal device 100. Note that, for example, a capacitive touch sensor can be used as the operation detection sensor, but is not limited to this.

[0016] Furthermore, each process in the user terminal device 100 is performed by, for example, an application (hereinafter, an app) registered in the user terminal device 100, but is not limited to this.

[0017] In recent years, interest in environmentally beneficial behaviors (environmentally beneficial behaviors), such as those that contribute to CO2 reduction, has grown, and the practice of such behaviors is encouraged. Examples of environmentally beneficial behaviors include traveling to a destination by bicycle or walking, which have a relatively low environmental impact, rather than by automobile, which has a relatively high environmental impact; purchasing products with a low environmental impact, such as products made from materials with a low environmental impact (e.g., products made from natural materials); energy-saving home appliances; and food and beverages with a low environmental impact during production and transportation (e.g., locally produced food and beverages). While the above examples of environmentally beneficial behaviors have been specifically presented, these are merely examples and are not limiting; other types of environmentally beneficial behaviors are also acceptable.

[0018] For this reason, it is expected that activities will become widespread that, for example, provide recommended behavior information indicating recommended environmentally friendly behaviors to a user U, thereby transforming the user U's future behavior into environmentally friendly behaviors.

[0019] However, conventional technologies may not be able to provide recommended behavior information appropriately. For example, there may be cases where the environmentally friendly behavior corresponding to the recommended behavior information provided in a certain situation is not the behavior intended by the user U. In other words, there may be cases where the behavior is not the behavior desired by the user U in the situation, but the user U desires a different environmentally friendly behavior. In such cases, the provided recommended behavior information is rejected and not accepted by the user U, and as a result, the user U's future behavior cannot be transformed into an environmentally friendly behavior. Conventional technologies have not been able to address such cases.

[0020] Therefore, the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment is configured to be able to provide recommended action information appropriately.

[0021] The processing of the information processing device 10 will be described in detail below. First, the information processing device 10 acquires user information about the user U (step S1). For example, the user information includes information about the user's behavior, and more specifically, includes location information about the user U and information indicating environmentally responsible behaviors in which the user U is interested, but these are examples and are not limited thereto. Note that the information indicating environmentally responsible behaviors in which the user U is interested may be set (estimated) based on, for example, the results of a questionnaire about environmentally responsible behaviors previously administered to the user U, or a behavioral history of environmentally responsible behaviors actually performed by the user U, as will be described later, or may be set by the user U himself / herself via an app on the user terminal device 100, for example.

[0022] Next, the information processing device 10 determines a plurality of pieces of recommended action information to be provided to the user U based on the user information (step S2). For example, the information processing device 10 determines a plurality of pieces of recommended action information including environmentally responsible actions that the user U is presumed to want to perform based on location information of the user U included in the user information, information indicating environmentally responsible actions that the user U is interested in, etc. In other words, the information processing device 10 determines a plurality of pieces of recommended action information as candidates to be provided in advance before actually providing the information to the user U.

[0023] A priority order is set for each of the multiple pieces of recommended action information that are candidates for provision. The priority order is information indicating the order in which the pieces of recommended action information are to be provided to the user U. For example, the priority order is set in the order in which it is estimated that the user U is likely to accept the recommended action information when it is provided, in other words, in the order in which it is estimated that the user U is likely to desire and perform the environmentally friendly action included in the recommended action information.

[0024] Next, the information processing device 10 selects the recommended action information to be provided to the user U from the plurality of pieces of recommended action information and provides it to the user U (step S3). For example, the information processing device 10 selects the recommended action information with the highest priority (i.e., the recommended action information with the first priority) from the plurality of pieces of recommended action information and provides it to the user U, or more precisely, to the user terminal device 100.

[0025] 1B is a diagram showing the display 130 of the user terminal device 100 to which the recommended action information with the highest priority has been provided. As shown in FIG. 1B, the recommended action information with the highest priority is displayed in a display field 131 on the display 130 of the user terminal device 100. Note that FIG. 1B shows an example in which the recommended action information with the highest priority is "environmentally beneficial action of traveling by bicycle to the destination."

[0026] Furthermore, the information processing device 10 may display the information indicating the above-described priority in a priority display field 132 on the display 130. This allows the user U to confirm (recognize) the priority of the currently displayed recommended action information.

[0027] Furthermore, if the display 130 has a touch switch function, the information processing device 10 displays, on the display 130, an accept button 133 for inputting that the user intends to accept (accept) the recommended action information, and a reject button 134 for inputting that the user intends to reject (not accept) the recommended action information, in response to an operation by the user U. The accept button 133 and the reject button 134 are not limited to those shown in FIG. 1B . That is, the accept button 133 may be, for example, a button indicating that the provided recommended action information is what the user U intended and that the user U highly values ​​it. The reject button 134 may be, for example, a button indicating that the provided recommended action information is not what the user U intended and that the user U lowly values ​​it. Furthermore, a method for inputting the user's intention to accept the recommended action information other than button operation, such as a voice input method, may also be applied.

[0028] Here, for example, it is assumed that the environmentally-contributing action corresponding to the provided recommended action information is not the action intended by the user U, and the user U operates the reject button 134. As a result, as shown in FIG. 1A, information indicating that the user U has rejected the recommended action information is transmitted to the information processing device 10 (step S4).

[0029] If the environmentally-contributing action corresponding to the provided recommended action information is an action intended by the user U and the user U operates the accept button 133, information indicating that the user U has accepted the recommended action information is transmitted to the information processing device 10. Then, when the information processing device 10 receives information indicating that the user U has accepted the recommended action information, it stores the information indicating that the user U has accepted the recommended action information, and terminates the provision of the recommended action information without providing new recommended action information to the user.

[0030] When the user U rejects the recommended action information provided to the user U, the information processing device 10 selects, from among a plurality of pieces of recommended action information that are candidates for provision, recommended action information different from the recommended action information rejected by the user U, and provides it to the user (step S5). For example, when the recommended action information with the highest priority is rejected, the information processing device 10 selects the recommended action information with the next highest priority (here, the recommended action information with the second highest priority) and provides it to the user U, or more precisely, to the user terminal device 100.

[0031] 1C is a diagram showing the display 130 of the user terminal device 100 to which the second-priority recommended action information has been provided. As shown in FIG. 1C, the second-priority recommended action information is displayed in a display field 135 on the display 130 of the user terminal device 100. Note that FIG. 1C shows an example in which the second-priority recommended action information is "environmentally contributing action of purchasing products made from materials with low environmental impact."

[0032] If the recommended action information is, for example, "product purchasing behavior," the information processing device 10 may display information associated with the recommended action information, such as information about the store where the product is purchased, in the display field 136. The information processing device 10 may also display, on the display 130, the priority display field 132, the accept button 133, the reject button 134, and a previous information button 137 for returning to the display of information with a next higher priority. When the user U operates the previous information button 137, the information processing device 10 displays the previously displayed information with a next higher priority (here, the recommended action information with the highest priority). This allows the user U to easily check the previously displayed recommended action information. Subsequently, the same operations as those described above are performed in response to the user U's acceptance, rejection, etc. of the recommended action information.

[0033] In this way, in this embodiment, multiple pieces of recommended action information that are candidates for provision are determined in advance based on user information, and if the provided recommended action information is rejected by user U, another piece of recommended action information (for example, recommended action information that has the next priority after the rejected recommended action information) is selected and provided.

[0034] As a result, in this embodiment, the recommended action information can be provided in an appropriate sequential manner. Furthermore, in this embodiment, even if the initially provided recommended action information is rejected by the user U, by determining multiple pieces of recommended action information in advance, it is possible to quickly provide recommended action information different from the rejected recommended action information.

[0035] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the recommended action information is provided to the user U in order of priority, which reduces the possibility that the user U will stop checking the recommended action information due to the continuous provision of unintended recommended action information, and increases the possibility that the provided recommended action information will be accepted by the user U. As a result, it becomes easier to transform the user U's future actions into environmentally friendly actions.

[0036] 1B and 1C, the types of environmentally friendly actions included in the plurality of pieces of recommended action information are different, that is, "moving around" and "purchasing," but this is merely an example and is not limiting. That is, the types of environmentally friendly actions included in the plurality of pieces of recommended action information may be the same (in the above case, the type of action is "moving") but the method of action may be different (in the above case, the method of action is "bicycle" and "walking"), such as "moving around by bicycle" and "moving around on foot."

[0037] <Data collection in information processing systems> Next, data collection in the information processing system 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 2A to 2D. Figures 2A to 2D are diagrams for explaining data collection in the information processing system 1 according to the embodiment.

[0038] The information processing system 1 according to this embodiment can collect behavioral data related to environmentally friendly behaviors performed by the user U. The behavioral data may be, for example, movement data (e.g., location data, time-series transition data of location data, acceleration data, etc.) when the user U travels by bicycle or on foot, which have a relatively low environmental impact, or purchase history data showing the purchase history of products, food, and beverages related to environmentally friendly behaviors, but these are merely examples and are not limiting. In other words, the behavioral data may be any type of behavioral data related to environmentally friendly behaviors.

[0039] 2A, an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment includes an information processing device 10, user terminal devices 100-a, 100-b, 100-c, etc. used by users Ua, Ub, Uc, etc., and a data user terminal device 200. In the following description, when users Ua to Uc and user terminal devices 100-a to 100-c are not particularly distinguished from each other, they will be referred to as "user U" and "user terminal device 100," respectively.

[0040] The information processing device 10 receives, for example, a request from a data user to collect behavioral data related to environmentally contributing behaviors performed by a user U, and collects the behavioral data from each user terminal device 100 based on the received data collection request, etc. Then, the information processing device 10 provides the collected behavioral data, etc. to the data user.

[0041] The user terminal device 100 acquires a data collection instruction from the information processing device 10 in response to the data collection request received by the information processing device 10, and based on the data collection instruction, collects (acquires) various behavioral data from a sensor or the like, including behavioral data related to environmentally contributing behaviors performed by the user U. Then, the user terminal device 100 uploads the collected behavioral data, etc. to the information processing device 10 as appropriate.

[0042] The data user terminal device 200 is a device used by a data user. The data user terminal device 200 may be, for example, a notebook PC (Personal Computer), a desktop PC, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or the like, but is not limited to these.

[0043] In the information processing system 1 according to this embodiment, the information processing device 10 collects behavioral data and the like from the user terminal device 100 based on collection conditions specified via the data user terminal device 200, and provides the data to the data user terminal device 200. Then, the data user of the data user terminal device 200 analyzes the provided behavioral data, thereby enabling the data user to provide appropriate information when providing recommended behavior information to, for example, user U. Note that the above-described behavioral data analysis process may be performed by the information processing device 10.

[0044] However, if the information processing system 1 described above were configured to collect all of the behavioral data from the multiple user terminal devices 100-a, 100-b, and 100-c, for example, this could result in an increase in the amount of data to be collected and an increase in communication load. Therefore, the information processing system 1 according to this embodiment is configured to efficiently collect behavioral data related to environmentally contributing behaviors performed by the user U.

[0045] 2A to 2D, specific processing in the information processing system 1 will be described below. In particular, a series of steps until behavioral data is provided to a data user in the information processing system 1 will be described.

[0046] 2A, first, a data user specifies collection conditions using a data user terminal device 200 connected to the information processing device 10. The data user terminal device 200 transmits a collection request including the specified collection conditions to the information processing device 10.

[0047] Here, the collection conditions described above include various parameters such as conditions that trigger collection. Such conditions that trigger collection can be set arbitrarily, and one example is when the user U is moving. For example, a condition that triggers collection is set when the user U takes an environmentally friendly action, such as traveling to a destination by bicycle, walking, or electric kick scooter, which have a relatively low environmental impact, rather than by car or other means that have a relatively high environmental impact.

[0048] The determination of whether the user U will perform an environmentally beneficial behavior is based on, for example, but not limited to, information input by the user U himself / herself into the application of the user terminal device 100 (for example, information of an input operation indicating that the user will now start an environmentally beneficial behavior). The conditions that trigger collection may include behavior (movement) that does not fall under the category of environmentally beneficial behavior.

[0049] Furthermore, when collection conditions are specified, the information processing device 10 according to this embodiment generates tag generation data that is added to the actual data R (an example of behavioral data) to be collected and is used to generate tag data (tag information) T having characteristics as index data used for searching and understanding the outline of the actual data R. That is, the tag data T is metadata obtained by converting the actual data R into meta-information, and the tag generation data is data for converting the actual data R into tag data T. Note that the tag generation data is generated from a program stored in the data user terminal device 200 or the information processing device 10, or from tags created in the past. It is generated based on the operation of the data user using generation data, etc.

[0050] The specified collection conditions and the generated tag generation data are then stored in the information processing device 10. The information processing device 10 also generates a collection instruction in response to the collection request including the collection conditions, and distributes the collection instruction together with the tag generation data to the user terminal device 100 of the user U who is the target of data collection, and the user terminal device 100 stores these data.

[0051] Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, each user terminal device 100 monitors the output data of various sensors, and when an event occurs that satisfies the stored collection conditions (here, when user U is moving), it collects actual data R including output data (e.g., position data, acceleration data, etc.) based on the collection instruction and stores it in a storage device.

[0052] Each user terminal device 100 generates and stores tag data T corresponding to the actual data R based on the stored tag generation data and actual data R. Then, each user terminal device 100 uploads the tag data T to the information processing device 10, and the information processing device 10 acquires the tag data T and registers (stores) it in a storage device. At this time, the actual data R is not uploaded to the information processing device 10. In other words, as shown in FIG. 2B, the information processing device 10 holds only the tag data T.

[0053] Next, when the data user connects to the information processing device 10 using the data user terminal device 200 to check the collection status and collect the actual data R, meta information based on the tag data T collected by the information processing device 10 is displayed on the data user terminal device 200.

[0054] As shown in FIG. 2C , when a data user desires to collect and transmit predetermined real data R (behavioral data), the data user terminal device 200 specifies the real data R to be collected based on the displayed tag data T. For example, the user may specify an identification number in the tag data T of the desired content, or may specify a range of tag data content of the desired content. In other words, when an identification number is specified, the real data R corresponding to the tag data T of that identification number is determined. When a tag data content range is specified, the tag data T (its identification symbol) within that range is extracted, and the corresponding real data R is determined. This determination of the real data R (its identification symbol) can be performed by the data user terminal device 200, the information processing device 10, or the user terminal device 100, which has the tag data T. In this embodiment, the determination is performed by the user terminal device 100, for example. In this case, the user terminal device 100 outputs the identification symbol of the real data R or the identification symbol of the tag data T (converted into the identification symbol of the real data R by the information processing device 10 or the user terminal device 100) to the user terminal device 100 via the information processing device 10. In addition, by specifying the data items of the actual data R, it is possible to specify and collect only some of the necessary data items rather than all of the data items of the actual data R (the user terminal device 100 selects the items in accordance with the specified instructions and transmits the actual data R).

[0055] As a result, the data user terminal device 200 outputs a data transmission request for the specified tag data T, more specifically, a data transmission request for predetermined real data R (behavioral data) corresponding to the specified tag data T, to the information processing device 10. Then, the information processing device 10 outputs a transmission instruction for the real data R in response to the data transmission request (in other words, instruction data specifying the real data R) to the corresponding user terminal device 100 (user terminal device 100-b in the example of FIG. 2C).

[0056] 2D, based on the transmission instruction, the specified actual data R is transmitted (uploaded) from each user terminal device 100 to the information processing device 10 and stored in the information processing device 10. Then, the data user accesses the actual data R stored in the information processing device 10 using the data user terminal device 200, and a transmission process of the actual data R from the information processing device 10 to the data user terminal device 200 is performed, such as viewing or downloading the actual data R.

[0057] As a result, in this embodiment, it is possible to collect only the behavioral data for which a data transmission request has been received from the user terminal device 100, thereby reducing the amount of data collected and the communication load compared to a configuration in which, for example, all actual data R of the behavioral data is collected, and as a result, behavioral data can be collected efficiently.

[0058] From the viewpoint of the data capacity of the user terminal device 100, it is preferable that the actual data R uploaded to the information processing device 10 and the corresponding tag data T are deleted from the user terminal device 100 after being uploaded to the information processing device 10.

[0059] Furthermore, it is preferable that the tag data T is not simply a portion of the actual data R, but is meta-information to the extent that a data user can grasp the outline of the actual data R when referencing it and determine whether or not the actual data R is necessary.

[0060] <Configuration of information processing system> Next, the configuration of an information processing system 1 including an information processing device 10 according to this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the information processing system 1. Note that in the block diagrams such as Fig. 3, only components necessary for explaining the features of the embodiment are shown, and descriptions of general components are omitted.

[0061] Furthermore, each component shown in a block diagram such as Figure 3 is a functional concept, and does not necessarily have to be physically configured as shown. For example, the specific form of distribution and integration of each block is not limited to that shown, and all or part of it can be functionally or physically distributed and integrated in any unit depending on various loads, usage conditions, etc.

[0062] In addition, in the explanation of FIG. 3 and subsequent figures, the explanation of components that have already been explained may be simplified or omitted.

[0063] 3, the information processing system 1 according to this embodiment includes an information processing device 10, a user terminal device 100, and a data user terminal device 200. The information processing device 10, the user terminal device 100, and the data user terminal device 200 are communicably connected via a network N.

[0064] <Configuration of information processing device> First, the configuration of the information processing device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 4 etc. Fig. 4 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of the information processing device 10. As shown in Fig. 4, the information processing device 10 includes a communication unit 11, a control unit 20, and a storage unit 30, and provides, for example, recommended behavior information indicating environmentally contributing behaviors recommended to a user.

[0065] The communication unit 11 is a communication interface that is connected to the communication network N so as to enable two-way communication, and transmits and receives information between the user terminal device 100 and the data user terminal device 200 .

[0066] The control unit 20 includes an acquisition unit 21, a reception unit 22, a distribution unit 23, a registration unit 24, a collection unit 25, a determination unit 26, a provision unit 27, a cancellation processing unit 28, and an assignment unit 29, and includes, for example, a computer having a CPU (Central Processing Unit), ROM (Read Only Memory), RAM (Random Access Memory), a hard disk drive, input / output ports, etc., and various circuits.

[0067] The computer's CPU functions as the acquisition unit 21, reception unit 22, distribution unit 23, registration unit 24, collection unit 25, determination unit 26, provision unit 27, cancellation processing unit 28 and assignment unit 29 of the control unit 20, for example, by reading and executing a program stored in the ROM.

[0068] In addition, at least some or all of the acquisition unit 21, reception unit 22, distribution unit 23, registration unit 24, collection unit 25, determination unit 26, provision unit 27, cancellation processing unit 28 and assignment unit 29 of the control unit 20 can be configured using hardware such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

[0069] The storage unit 30 is configured with a storage device such as a non-volatile memory, a data flash, a hard disk drive, etc. The storage unit 30 stores user information 31, collection condition information 32, collected data 33, recommended action information 34, provision result information 35, various programs, etc.

[0070] User information 31 is information about a user. Here, the user information 31 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the user information 31. As shown in FIG. 5, the user information 31 includes items such as "user ID," "user location," "age group," and "interested environmental contribution behavior," and data for each item is associated with the "user ID." In other words, corresponding data such as "user location" and "age group" is stored in a data record identified by the "user ID."

[0071] "User ID" is identification information that identifies a user. "User location" is user location information that indicates the user's location. In the example shown in Figure 5, for convenience, "user location" is described abstractly as "B1," but specific information is stored in "B1." Below, other information may also be described abstractly.

[0072] The "age group" is information indicating the age group of the user. For example, the "age group" includes information that divides age into stages, such as "adult," "child," and "elderly." The "age group" is, for example, registered and set from the user terminal device 100 via an app or the like, but is not limited to this.

[0073] The "interesting environmental contribution behavior" is information indicating environmental contribution behaviors in which the user is interested. The "interesting environmental contribution behavior" is set based on, for example, the results of responses to a questionnaire regarding environmental contribution behaviors administered to the user in advance, or the user's behavioral history (behavioral data) regarding environmental contribution behaviors actually performed by the user. The questionnaire regarding environmental contribution behavior is a questionnaire that asks questions such as whether the user is interested in environmental contribution behaviors and the details of the environmental contribution behaviors of interest. The behavioral history regarding environmental contribution behaviors is estimated and set based on the user's travel history of traveling to a destination by bicycle or walking, which have a relatively low environmental impact, and the user's purchase history of products related to environmental contribution behaviors (e.g., products made from materials with a low environmental impact), but these are merely examples and are not limiting. In other words, the "interesting environmental contribution behavior" may be registered and set from the user terminal device 100 via an app (navigation app, online shopping app), for example, in addition to or instead of the above-mentioned questionnaire. The "interesting environmental contribution behavior" may also be estimated and set based on the user's hobbies and preferences.

[0074] In the example shown in FIG. 5, the data of a user identified by a user ID "A01" indicates that the user location is "B1," the age group is "C1," and the environmental contribution behavior of interest is "D1."

[0075] Returning to the explanation of FIG. 4, the collection condition information 32 is information indicating the collection conditions designated by the data user terminal device 200 and accepted by the accepting unit 22, which will be described later.

[0076] The collected data 33 is collected by the collector 25, which will be described later, from the user terminal device 100. The collected data 33 includes the above-mentioned tag data T and real data R (i.e., behavior data).

[0077] The collected data 33 will now be described with reference to Fig. 6. Fig. 6 is a diagram showing an example of the collected data 33.

[0078] As shown in Fig. 6, the collected data 33 includes items such as "collected data ID," "tag ID," "user ID," "date and time of action," "type of action," "content of action," and "number of people participating in the action," and data for each item is associated with a "collected data ID." In other words, corresponding data such as "date and time of action" and "type of action" are stored in a data record identified by a "collected data ID." The collected data 33 shown in Fig. 6 is in a format that includes both tag data T and actual data R. When tag data T is received, the content of the tag data is stored, and when actual data R is received, the actual data R is stored in the record of the collected data ID in which the corresponding tag data T is stored.

[0079] "Collected data ID" is identification information that identifies collected data. "Tag ID" is identification information that identifies tag data T. "User ID" is identification information that identifies a user. "Action date and time" is information that indicates the date and time when a user performed an environmentally contributing action.

[0080] "Type of activity" is information indicating the type of environmentally friendly activity performed by the user. For example, "type of activity" includes information indicating "bicycle travel," "walking," "purchase of a product related to environmentally friendly activity," etc. Note that "type of activity" is information estimated based on location data included in the activity data, travel speed calculated from acceleration data, purchase history data, etc., but is not limited to this and may also be information input by the user himself / herself into an app on the user terminal device 100, for example.

[0081] The "activity content" is information indicating the content of the environmentally-contributing activity performed by the user. For example, if the environmentally-contributing activity is traveling by bicycle, the "activity content" includes information indicating the location data of the departure point and arrival point, the route traveled, and the distance traveled. Note that the "activity content" is information estimated based on the location data included in the activity data and time-series transition data of the location data, but is not limited to this and may be information input by the user himself / herself into an app on the user terminal device 100, for example.

[0082] The "number of people who participated in the activity" is information indicating the number of people who participated in the same environmentally contributing activity when the user performed the activity. The "number of people who participated in the activity" may be, for example, information estimated based on the activity data or information input by the user himself / herself into an application on the user terminal device 100, but is not limited to these.

[0083] In the example shown in Figure 6, the collected data identified by the collected data ID "E01" has a tag ID of "F01" (identification information of tag data T obtained by tagging the collected data with collected data ID "E01"), a user ID of "A01" (identification information of the user who collected the collected data with collected data ID "E01"), an action date and time of "G1", an action type of "H1", an action content of "I1", and a number of people participating in the action of "J1".

[0084] 4, the recommended action information 34 is information related to the recommended action information to be provided to the user. For example, the recommended action information 34 includes information indicating the conditions for providing the recommended action information, and information indicating multiple pieces of recommended action information having priorities that are candidates for providing to the user.

[0085] Here, the recommended action information 34 will be described with reference to Fig. 7. Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of the recommended action information 34. As shown in Fig. 7, the recommended action information 34 includes items such as "recommended action information ID," "conditions for provision," and "contents for provision," and data for each item is associated with the "recommended action information ID." In other words, corresponding data such as "conditions for provision" and "contents for provision" is stored in a data record identified by the "recommended action information ID."

[0086] The "recommended action information ID" is identification information for identifying the recommended action information. The "provision conditions" are information indicating conditions for providing the recommended action information, etc. to the user. The "provision conditions" include, for example, when the user is planning to travel to a destination (for example, when searching for a route to a destination using the user terminal device 100, or when planning to travel from home to a destination such as work during a specific time period (for example, in the morning)), when the user is planning to purchase a product (for example, when browsing a product purchase site using the user terminal device 100), etc., but are not limited to these.

[0087] The "contents to be provided" are recommended action information that are candidates for provision. For example, the "contents to be provided" include, but are not limited to, information indicating environmentally beneficial actions such as "travel to the destination by bicycle," "travel to the destination on foot," and "purchase products made from environmentally friendly materials." There are multiple pieces of recommended action information that are candidates for provision, and the "contents to be provided" include information indicating the order in which the multiple pieces of recommended action information that are candidates for provision are to be provided to the user, i.e., information indicating priority. The above-mentioned "conditions for provision" and "contents to be provided" are set by the determination unit 26 or the like, which will be described later.

[0088] In the example shown in FIG. 7, the recommended action information identified by the recommended action information ID "L01" indicates that the provision condition is "M01" and the provision content is "N01".

[0089] Returning to the explanation of Fig. 4, the provision result information 35 is information relating to the result of providing the recommended action information to the user. The provision result information 35 includes information indicating whether the provided recommended action information was accepted or rejected by the user, information indicating whether the environmentally friendly action included in the recommended action information was actually performed by the user, information relating to the discontinuation of the environmentally friendly action, etc.

[0090] Here, the provision result information 35 will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the provision result information 35. As shown in Fig. 8, the provision result information 35 includes items such as "provision result information ID," "recommended behavior information ID," "recipient user ID," "priority," "user reaction," "execution information," "provision conditions at the time of cancellation," "action after cancellation," and "comparison information," and data of each item is associated with the "provision result information ID." In other words, corresponding data such as "priority" and "user reaction" is stored in a data record identified by the "provision result information ID."

[0091] The "provided result information ID" is identification information for identifying the provided result information. The "recommended action information ID" is identification information for identifying the recommended action information provided to the user. The provided result information 35 is linked to the data of the recommended action information 34 by this "recommended action information ID."

[0092] The "recipient user ID" is identification information for identifying the user to whom the recommended action information is to be provided. The "recipient user ID" links the provision result information 35 with data such as the user information 31.

[0093] "Priority" is information indicating the priority of the recommended action information provided to the user. "User response" is information indicating the user's response to the provided recommended action information. For example, "user response" includes, but is not limited to, information indicating whether the provided recommended action information was accepted or rejected by the user.

[0094] "Execution information" is information indicating the user's execution status (execution result) of the environmentally friendly behavior included in the recommended behavior information. For example, "execution information" includes, but is not limited to, information indicating that the user accepted the recommended behavior information and actually performed (completed) the environmentally friendly behavior included in the recommended behavior information, that the user accepted the recommended behavior information but actually did not perform the environmentally friendly behavior, or that the environmentally friendly behavior was performed but then discontinued. Note that "execution information" may also include the conditions under which recommended behavior information including the environmentally friendly behavior was provided when the environmentally friendly behavior was not performed (conditions for not performing the behavior).

[0095] The "conditions for provision at the time of cancellation" is information indicating the conditions for provision when recommended behavior information including the canceled environmentally friendly behavior is provided (conditions at the time of cancellation). Note that the "conditions for provision at the time of cancellation" may also include environmental conditions such as the time and weather when the environmentally friendly behavior was canceled.

[0096] "Actions after cancellation" is information indicating the actions taken by the user after the environmentally responsible action was cancelled. As an example, "actions after cancellation" includes information such as the above-mentioned car trip (taxi trip), but this is merely an example and is not limited thereto. Note that "provision conditions at the time of cancellation" and "actions after cancellation" are examples of non-execution information.

[0097] The "comparison information" is information comparing a case where an environmentally responsible action corresponding to equivalent recommended action information provided to a user is not performed with a case where the equivalent environmentally responsible action is completed. For example, the "comparison information" is information showing a comparison between the user's situation when the environmentally responsible action is discontinued and the user's situation when the environmentally responsible action is performed without being discontinued. As an example, when the environmentally responsible action is walking, the "comparison information" includes information showing the travel time reduced in traveling to the destination. That is, the travel time reduced by discontinuing the environmentally responsible action is the time obtained by subtracting the travel time (required time) required when the environmentally responsible action of walking is discontinued and switched to car travel from the travel time (required time) required when the environmentally responsible action of walking is performed without being discontinued. Therefore, the "comparison information" includes information showing this reduced travel time, but this is merely an example and is not limited thereto.

[0098] In the example shown in FIG. 8, the provision result information identified by the provision result information ID "P01" indicates that the recommended action information identified by the recommended action information ID "L01" is information when it is provided to the user identified by the user ID "A01" of the provision destination. Furthermore, the provision result information of the provision result information ID "P01" indicates that the priority is "1st" and the user's reaction is "rejection." In other words, it indicates that the user identified by the user ID "A01" rejected the provision content (recommended action information) with the first priority. Note that, since the user's reaction is "rejection," no information is registered in the "execution information," "provision conditions at the time of cancellation," "action after cancellation," and "comparison information."

[0099] Furthermore, the recommended action information identified by the recommended action information ID "P02" indicates that the recommended action information identified by the recommended action information ID "L02" is information when it is provided to the user identified by the user ID "A01" who is the recipient. Furthermore, the provision result information with the provision result information ID "P02" indicates that the priority is "second," the user's response is "accepted," and the execution information is "executed." In other words, it indicates that the user identified by the user ID "A01" accepted the provision content (recommended action information) with the second priority, and actually performed and completed the environmentally friendly action included in the recommended action information.

[0100] Furthermore, the recommended action information identified by the recommended action information ID "P11" indicates that the recommended action information identified by the recommended action information ID "L11" is information when provided to the user identified by the user ID "A02" who is the recipient. Furthermore, the provision result information of the provision result information ID "P11" indicates that the priority is "1st," the user's response is "accepted," and the execution information is "not performed." In other words, the user identified by the user ID "A02" accepted the provision content (recommended action information) with the highest priority, but did not perform the environmentally friendly action included in the recommended action information. Note that such non-performance of the environmentally friendly action may occur, for example, when the user's schedule changes, or when the weather worsens after the environmentally friendly action of cycling is accepted but before it is performed, i.e., when the environmentally friendly action is no longer the action the user intended after acceptance.

[0101] Furthermore, the recommended action information identified by the recommended action information ID "P21" indicates that the recommended action information identified by the recommended action information ID "L21" is information when provided to the user identified by the user ID "A03." Furthermore, the provision result information of the provision result information ID "P21" indicates that the priority is "1st," the user's reaction is "accepted," the execution information is "cancelled," the provision condition at the time of cancellation is "Q1," the action after cancellation is "R1," and the comparison information is "S1." In other words, the user identified by the user ID "A03" accepted the provision content (recommended action information) with the highest priority and performed the environmentally friendly action included in the recommended action information, but the action was canceled midway. Such an environmentally friendly action may be canceled, for example, when a user changes from walking as an environmentally friendly action to traveling by car (e.g., taxi), which has a high environmental impact, due to time constraints or worsening weather, while walking; in other words, when the environmentally friendly action was performed after acceptance, but the environmentally friendly action is no longer the user's intended action midway.

[0102] Returning to the explanation of FIG. 4, the acquisition unit 21 of the control unit 20 acquires user information related to the user. For example, the acquisition unit 21 can acquire the user information from the user terminal device 100 (see FIG. 2) or the like. Specifically, the acquisition unit 21 acquires, as the user information, user location information indicating the user's location, the user's age group, and information indicating environmentally responsible behaviors in which the user is interested. Then, the acquisition unit 21 registers the acquired information in the storage unit 30 as user information 31 (see FIG. 5). Furthermore, the acquisition unit 21 may read and acquire the user information 31 stored in the storage unit 30, and output the acquired information to the determination unit 26 or the like.

[0103] The reception unit 22 receives the collection conditions specified from the data user terminal device 200 via the communication unit 11 and outputs them to the distribution unit 23. The reception unit 22 also registers the collection conditions specified by the data user in the storage unit 30 as collection condition information 32.

[0104] The receiving unit 22 also receives a data transmission request based on the tag information from the data user terminal device 200. The receiving unit 22 then outputs the received data transmission request to the collection unit 25.

[0105] The distribution unit 23 distributes collection conditions and the like specified by the data user to the user terminal device 100 from which data is to be collected. For example, the distribution unit 23 generates a collection instruction in response to a collection request including the collection conditions, and distributes it to the user terminal device 100. At this time, the distribution unit 23 distributes tag generation data, generated based on the operation of the data user, to the user terminal device 100 together with the collection instruction.

[0106] The registration unit 24 acquires tag information and registers it in the storage unit 30. For example, the registration unit 24 acquires tag information generated in the user terminal device 100, more specifically, tag information corresponding to behavioral data, and registers it in the storage unit 30 as collected data 33. When the tag information is registered in the storage unit 30 and the data user terminal device 200 accesses the information processing device 10, meta information based on the tag information is displayed on the data user terminal device 200.

[0107] When a data transmission request based on the tag information is input from the receiving unit 22, the collecting unit 25 collects behavioral data corresponding to the tag information from the user terminal device 100 in response to the data transmission request. Then, the collecting unit 25 registers the collected behavioral data in the storage unit 30 as collected data 33, and transmits it to the data user terminal device 200.

[0108] This allows the data user to view or download only the behavioral data necessary for, for example, analysis processing. That is, in this embodiment, the information processing device 10 can collect only the behavioral data for which a data transmission request has been received from the user terminal device 100 and provide it to the data user terminal device 200. This reduces the amount of data to be collected and the communication load compared to a configuration in which all behavioral data is collected, and as a result, behavioral data can be collected efficiently.

[0109] The determination unit 26 determines, based on the user information, a plurality of pieces of recommended action information that indicate environmentally contributing actions that are recommended for the user and that are candidates for provision to the user.

[0110] For example, the determination unit 26 first determines the user's characteristics regarding environmentally responsible behavior based on collected behavioral data, or in other words, estimates the environmentally responsible behavior of interest to the user. As an example, the collected behavioral data may contain a relatively large number of environmentally responsible behaviors, such as "using a bicycle as a means of transportation when the distance to the destination is less than 5 km," "using walking as a means of transportation when the distance to the destination is less than 2 km," and "purchasing products made from materials with a low environmental impact." In such cases, it can be estimated that the user has a characteristic that makes them likely to perform the above-mentioned (or similar) environmentally responsible behaviors and is interested in the above-mentioned environmentally responsible behaviors. Therefore, the determination unit 26 sets the above-mentioned environmentally responsible behaviors as "environmentally responsible behaviors of interest" in the user information 31 based on the collected behavioral data. Note that the "environmentally responsible behaviors of interest" in the user information 31 may be set in advance based on, for example, the results of responses to a questionnaire regarding environmentally responsible behaviors, as described above.

[0111] Then, based on the user's situation, such as user location information (e.g., the user's current location) and the current time included in the user information 31, the determination unit 26 determines multiple pieces of recommended action information to be provided to the user from among the information indicating "interesting environmental contribution actions" in the user information 31, or from among recommended action information that is estimated to be appropriate by processing that information, and sets the "provision conditions" and "provision content" of the recommended action information 34.

[0112] The determination unit 26 also sets priorities for a plurality of pieces of recommended behavior information that are candidates for provision. For example, the determination unit 26 sets priorities based on the number of times or frequency of environmentally beneficial behaviors included in the collected behavioral data. For example, the priorities are set so that the environmentally beneficial behaviors are prioritized in descending order of the number of times or frequency of their execution, but this is merely an example and is not limiting.

[0113] Furthermore, the determination unit 26 may appropriately modify (maintain) the "interesting environmentally responsible actions" of the user information 31, the "conditions for providing," the "contents for providing," and the priority of the recommended action information 34. For example, the determination unit 26 may receive recommended action information provided by the providing unit 27 (described later) from the user. In such a case, the determination unit 26 may determine that the environmentally responsible actions included in the recommended action information may be of relatively low interest to the user, and may modify the "conditions for providing" of the recommended action information 34, for example, by lowering the priority or excluding the environmentally responsible actions from the "interesting environmentally responsible actions" of the user information 31 or the "contents for providing" of the recommended action information 34. Furthermore, when the provided recommended action information is rejected by the user, the determination unit 26 may determine that the conditions for providing the recommended action information may be inappropriate, and may modify the "conditions for providing" of the recommended action information 34, for example. Note that the above-mentioned modifications are performed, for example, when the recommended action information is rejected by the user multiple times or when the recommended action information is rejected consecutively, but this is merely an example and is not limiting.

[0114] In this way, the determination unit 26 can modify the user information 31 and the recommended action information 34 according to reaction information indicating the user's reaction to the provided recommended action information (e.g., information indicating rejection). This makes it possible in this embodiment to improve the accuracy of the recommended action information provided to the user, in other words, to increase the possibility that the provided recommended action information will be accepted by the user.

[0115] The providing unit 27 selects the recommended action information to be provided to the user from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information, and provides the selected recommended action information to the user. For example, the providing unit 27 selects the recommended action information with the highest priority, i.e., the recommended action information with the first priority, from the plurality of pieces of recommended action information, and provides it to the user (see FIG. 1B).

[0116] As a result, in this embodiment, it is possible to provide the user with recommended action information that is estimated to be highly likely to be accepted by the user.

[0117] Next, a case will be described in which the environmentally friendly action corresponding to the provided recommended action information is rejected because it is not the action intended by the user.

[0118] When the user rejects the recommended action information provided to the user, the providing unit 27 selects, from among a plurality of pieces of recommended action information to be provided, recommended action information different from the rejected recommended action information by the user, and provides the selected recommended action information to the user. For example, the providing unit 27 selects recommended action information with the next highest priority after the rejected recommended action information, in other words, recommended action information with a lower priority than the rejected recommended action information (for example, recommended action information with the second highest priority), and provides the selected recommended action information to the user (see FIG. 1C). This operation is repeated until the user accepts the recommended action information provided, or until all recommended action information up to a predetermined priority level is provided (if the user has not accepted all recommended action information, a notification is issued that the provision of recommended action information is complete), or until the user performs an operation to stop the provision of recommended action information.

[0119] As a result, in this embodiment, even if the user rejects the recommended action information provided to him, it is possible to provide the user with other recommended action information that is more likely to be accepted by the user. Also, in this embodiment, by determining multiple pieces of recommended action information in advance, it is possible to quickly provide the user with other recommended action information that is different from the rejected recommended action information.

[0120] In this way, in this embodiment, the recommended action information is provided to the user sequentially according to priority, which increases the likelihood that the provided recommended action information will be accepted by the user, and as a result, it becomes easier to transform the user's future actions into environmentally friendly actions.

[0121] Here, we will explain the case where the environmentally friendly action corresponding to the provided recommended action information is not executed (including the case where the execution is stopped midway and the execution is not completed) after the user has accepted the provided recommended action information, in other words, the case where the environmentally friendly action is not executed (completed) by the user. As mentioned above, such non-execution of the environmentally friendly action can occur when, for example, the user's schedule changes and the environmentally friendly action is no longer the action the user intended after acceptance.

[0122] In this embodiment, if the user has accepted the recommended action information and has not performed the environmentally-contributing action corresponding to the recommended action information, the providing unit 27 provides the recommended action information preferentially the next time the recommended action information is provided. In other words, the providing unit 27 provides the recommended action information to the user again at the next or subsequent provision timing. That is, by providing the recommended action information preferentially, the providing unit 27 encourages the user to remember and perform the environmentally-contributing action that the user was unable to perform due to a change in the user's schedule, for example.

[0123] 9 is a diagram showing the display 130 of the user terminal device 100 to which recommended action information including an unexecuted environmentally-contributing action has been provided again. In the example of Fig. 9, the providing unit 27 displays recommended action information in the display field 136 that encourages the user to perform the environmentally-contributing action that was unexecuted last time, such as "Unfortunately, our schedules didn't match up last time, but this time, why don't you travel to your destination by bicycle and perform the environmentally-contributing action?"

[0124] As a result, in this embodiment, recommended action information can be provided appropriately, making it easier to transform the user's future actions into environmentally friendly actions. In other words, since the user previously accepted recommended action information including an environmentally friendly action that was not performed and intended to perform the environmentally friendly action, the user is likely to accept the recommended action information provided again this time and perform the environmentally friendly action. Therefore, it is easier to transform the user's future actions into environmentally friendly actions included in the recommended action information provided again this time.

[0125] Continuing with the explanation of FIG. 4, the timing for providing the recommended action information by the providing unit 27 from the next time onward is set when the same conditions as those under which the recommended action information including the unperformed environmentally-contributing action were determined are met again (when the conditions are met again). As an example, if the recommended action information is provided under the condition that the user plans to travel to a certain destination and the environmentally-contributing action (e.g., traveling by bicycle) was not performed, the providing unit 27 will preferentially select and provide the recommended action information including the unperformed environmentally-contributing action (here, traveling by bicycle) to the user the next time the condition that the user plans to travel to a certain destination is met, in other words, will provide the recommended action information to the user again. More specifically, for example, if the unexecuted environmentally-contributing behavior was "traveling 5 km by bicycle," the providing unit 27 provides the environmentally-contributing behavior of "traveling 6 km by bicycle" when the user's behavior is "traveling 6 km" (equivalent behavioral state). Note that equivalent behavioral states (including equivalent similar environmentally-contributing behaviors) can be realized by, for example, providing data of the "conditions for providing" and "contents for providing" with data of an allowable range for determining equivalence.

[0126] In this way, by setting the conditions (situations) under which recommended action information is provided again to be the same as the conditions (situations) under which recommended action information including unexecuted environmentally-friendly actions was provided, the likelihood that the user will accept the provided recommended action information and perform the environmentally-friendly actions can be increased.

[0127] In the above description, the timing for providing the next and subsequent recommendations is set to the timing when the conditions when the recommended action information including the unexecuted environmentally friendly action was provided are met again, but this is not limited to this. In a situation where some of the conditions when the recommended action information including the unexecuted environmentally friendly action was provided are met, for example, in an extreme case where the recommended action information was "travel (any distance)" (for example, the unexecuted recommended action information was "travel by bicycle 5 km"), it can be expected to be effective to provide "travel by bicycle is recommended."

[0128] The cancellation processing unit 28 executes various processes when the user cancels an environmentally-contributing action that corresponds to the recommended action information provided to the user after the user has performed it. Note that, as described above, such an environmentally-contributing action may be canceled, for example, when the user changes from walking to traveling by car (e.g., taxi) due to time constraints or worsening weather while performing the environmentally-contributing action, i.e., when the user performs the environmentally-contributing action after consenting to it, but the environmentally-contributing action is no longer the action the user intended midway through.

[0129] The cancellation processing unit 28 can determine whether the environmentally-contributing action corresponding to the recommended action information has been cancelled based on output data from various sensors of the user terminal device 100. For example, the cancellation processing unit 28 can determine whether the environmentally-contributing action has not been performed based on the user's moving speed. Specifically, if the environmentally-contributing action includes an action related to the user's movement, the cancellation processing unit 28 can estimate whether the user is moving and the means of transportation based on the user's moving speed (more precisely, the moving speed of the user terminal device 100) obtained from location information from a GPS sensor or acceleration information from an acceleration sensor, and determine whether the environmentally-contributing action has been cancelled. As an example, if the environmentally-contributing action is walking, the cancellation processing unit 28 determines that the walking action, which is the environmentally-contributing action, has been cancelled and infers that the user has switched to car travel if the user's moving speed changes from a speed equivalent to walking to a speed equivalent to car travel. Furthermore, in the case of the purchase of an environmentally-contributing product, it is possible to infer whether the environmentally-contributing action has been cancelled based on the payment history information of an electronic payment app on the user terminal, the user's input of the purchased product, etc.

[0130] In this way, the cancellation processing unit 28 can accurately determine whether or not an environmentally contributing behavior (here, an environmentally contributing behavior related to movement) has been cancelled by using the user's movement speed and the like.

[0131] In the above, the determination of whether or not the environmentally contributing behavior has been discontinued is made based on the output data of the sensor of the user terminal device 100, but this is not limited to this, and the determination may also be made based on information input by the user himself / herself into an app on the user terminal device 100 (for example, information on an input operation indicating that the behavior has been discontinued).

[0132] When an environmentally-contributing action corresponding to the provided recommended action information is executed and then discontinued, the discontinuation processing unit 28 generates discontinuation information (an example of non-execution information) related to the discontinuation of the environmentally-contributing action. For example, the discontinuation processing unit 28 generates, as the discontinuation information, information indicating the provision conditions when the recommended action information including the discontinued environmentally-contributing action was provided, information indicating the actions the user performed after discontinuing the environmentally-contributing action, comparison information, and the like, and registers the generated information in provision result information 35 (see FIG. 8 ) in the storage unit 30.

[0133] For example, the cancellation processing unit 28 registers information indicating the provision conditions when recommended behavior information including the canceled environmentally friendly behavior was provided as the “provision conditions at the time of cancellation” in the provision result information 35. In addition, the cancellation processing unit 28 may register information indicating the environmental conditions, such as the time and weather, when the environmentally friendly behavior was canceled as the “provision conditions at the time of cancellation” in the provision result information 35.

[0134] Furthermore, the cancellation processing unit 28 registers information indicating the behavior performed by the user after canceling the environmentally contributing behavior as “behavior after cancellation” in the provision result information 35. As described above, the behavior performed after cancellation may be estimated from output data of the sensor of the user terminal device 100, such as the user's moving speed, or may be estimated based on information input to an app of the user terminal device 100 (for example, information on an input operation indicating the behavior after cancellation).

[0135] Furthermore, the cancellation processing unit 28 generates comparison information between a case where an environmentally friendly action corresponding to equivalent recommended action information is not performed and a case where the equivalent environmentally friendly action is completed, with respect to the recommended action information provided to the user, and registers the comparison information as "comparison information" in the provision result information 35. For example, the cancellation processing unit 28 generates comparison information between the user's situation when the environmentally friendly action is canceled (non-execution) and the user's situation when the environmentally friendly action is performed without being canceled (execution completion), and registers the comparison information as "comparison information" in the provision result information 35. As an example, the comparison information includes, but is not limited to, information indicating the travel time shortened by canceling the environmentally friendly action (here, walking), as described above.

[0136] The providing unit 27 can provide the recommended behavior information based on the cancellation information. For example, when the providing unit 27 is to provide the recommended behavior information including the canceled environmentally contributing behavior again next time or later, the providing unit 27 can provide the recommended behavior information to the user again based on the cancellation information.

[0137] For example, if the provision conditions included in the cancellation information include information indicating environmental conditions indicating that the weather was fine at the time of provision but subsequently deteriorated due to rain, it is presumed that the cancellation of the environmentally-contributing behavior is due to the worsening weather. Therefore, for example, if the canceled environmentally-contributing behavior is walking to the destination, when recommended behavior information including the canceled environmentally-contributing behavior is to be provided again next time or later, the providing unit 27 will provide the recommended behavior information (here, recommended behavior information including walking) to the user again based on the cancellation information, for example, if the weather is fine and will continue until the user reaches the destination. This allows the user to reliably perform and complete the environmentally-contributing behavior (walking) included in the recommended behavior information; more specifically, it allows the user to travel to the destination without interrupting walking.

[0138] In this way, in this embodiment, by using cancellation information (non-execution information) related to the cancellation of environmentally friendly behavior that occurred in the past, it is possible to make it less likely that environmentally friendly behavior included in recommended behavior information provided from the next time onwards will be canceled, thereby making it possible to reliably transform the user's future behavior into environmentally friendly behavior.

[0139] Furthermore, the providing unit 27 processes and generates recommended action information to be provided to the user based on the comparison information included in the cancellation information. That is, the user is provided with the recommended action information processed and generated by the providing unit 27. For example, the comparison information includes information indicating the travel time shortened by canceling walking, for example, when walking is canceled and switching to car travel due to time constraints, such as not being able to arrive at the destination at the scheduled arrival time if walking continues.

[0140] Therefore, when providing recommended action information including the discontinued environmentally-contributing action again next time or later, the providing unit 27 processes and generates the recommended action information and provides it to the user, for example, by providing the recommended action information to the user earlier based on the comparison information. In other words, the providing unit 27 provides the recommended action information to the user earlier than the scheduled departure time of the user by the shortened travel time included in the comparison information.

[0141] In this way, in this embodiment, by using comparison information, it is possible to make it less likely that environmentally beneficial behavior (here, walking) included in recommended behavior information provided next time onwards will be canceled due to time constraints, etc., as described above, and therefore it is possible to reliably transform the user's future behavior into environmentally beneficial behavior.

[0142] 4, when the user actually performs an environmentally-contributing action included in the recommended action information, the granting unit 29 can grant a reward to the user. The reward is in the form of points that can be used at stores, public transportation, etc. However, the reward is not limited to this and may be other types of rewards, such as coupons that can be used at stores, public transportation, etc.

[0143] In this way, in this embodiment, by granting a reward when an environmentally friendly behavior included in the recommended behavior information is actually performed by a user, it is possible to effectively encourage the user to accept the recommended behavior information and perform the environmentally friendly behavior.

[0144] The reward may be different between a reward when an environmentally friendly behavior equivalent to the recommended behavior information is performed and a reward when an environmentally friendly behavior that was not performed in the past is performed. For example, the granting unit 29 may set different rewards for a case where an environmentally friendly behavior corresponding to the initially provided recommended behavior information is performed and a case where an environmentally friendly behavior corresponding to the second provided recommended behavior information is performed.

[0145] For example, if the environmentally beneficial behavior corresponding to the initially provided recommended behavior information is not performed (or is canceled), the awarding unit 29 can make the reward (e.g., points) higher when the environmentally beneficial behavior corresponding to the provided recommended behavior information is performed again.

[0146] This strongly stimulates the user's motivation to try again an environmentally responsible action that they were unable to perform (complete), in other words, an environmentally responsible action that was difficult, and more effectively encourages them to perform that environmentally responsible action. It also leads to the user performing a difficult environmentally responsible action and completing it, and as a result, it is expected that the content of the environmentally responsible action and the environmental awareness of the user will be improved.

[0147] <Configuration of user terminal device> Next, the user terminal device 100 will be described with reference to Fig. 10. Fig. 10 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of the user terminal device 100. As shown in Fig. 10, the user terminal device 100 includes a communication unit 101, various sensors 102, a control unit 110, and a storage unit 120, and is connected to, for example, the information processing device 10 for communication, and presents recommended action information to the user.

[0148] The communication unit 101 is a communication interface that is connected to the communication network N so as to enable two-way communication, and transmits and receives information to and from the information processing device 10 and the like.

[0149] As described above, the various sensors 102 include, for example, a GPS sensor, an acceleration sensor, an operation detection sensor, etc., but are not limited to these, and may include other types of sensors, such as a camera sensor, a microphone sensor, etc., in addition to or instead of the GPS sensor, etc.

[0150] The control unit 110 includes an acquisition unit 111, a detection unit 112, a collection unit 113, a generation unit 114, and an upload unit 115, and includes, for example, a computer having a CPU, ROM, RAM, input / output ports, etc., and various circuits.

[0151] The CPU of the computer functions as the acquisition unit 111, detection unit 112, collection unit 113, generation unit 114, and upload unit 115 of the control unit 110, for example, by reading and executing a program stored in the ROM. Also, at least some or all of the acquisition unit 111, detection unit 112, collection unit 113, generation unit 114, and upload unit 115 of the control unit 110 can be configured using hardware such as an ASIC or FPGA.

[0152] The storage unit 120 is configured with a storage device such as a nonvolatile memory, a data flash, a hard disk drive, etc. The storage unit 120 stores collection condition information 121, collected data 122, various programs, etc.

[0153] The collection condition information 121 is information including collection conditions distributed from the information processing device 10. The collected data 122 is collected data collected by the collection unit 113, as will be described later. The collected data 122 includes the above-mentioned tag data T and real data R (i.e., behavioral data).

[0154] The collected data 122 may also include data on behaviors that do not qualify as environmentally beneficial behaviors. Examples of behaviors that do not qualify as environmentally beneficial behaviors include, for example, traveling by automobile (including taxis), which has a relatively high environmental impact, but this is merely an example and is not limiting. In other words, various data may be collected, and the necessary data may be selectively extracted and used by appropriate filtering. Specifically, behavioral data may be collected regardless of whether it is environmentally beneficial or not, and then environmentally beneficial behaviors may be selected and processed in later processing. The collected behavioral data may then be appropriately selected and processed according to the processing content of subsequent analysis, etc. During data collection and acquisition, it is also possible to selectively store the data, for example, by collecting or storing only data on environmentally beneficial behaviors.

[0155] The acquisition unit 111 of the control unit 110 acquires an instruction to collect behavioral data including collection conditions etc., distributed from the information processing device 10, and registers the acquired collection conditions etc. as collection condition information 121 in the storage unit 120. In addition, the acquisition unit 111 acquires data for tag generation distributed from the information processing device 10, and outputs the acquired data for tag generation to the generation unit 114.

[0156] The detection unit 112 monitors output data from the various sensors 102, and detects the occurrence of an event that triggers data collection and recording (satisfies the collection conditions) based on the output data and the collection conditions. For example, when the detection unit 112 detects the occurrence of an event that triggers the collection of behavioral data in the collection conditions (while the collection conditions are satisfied), it causes the collection unit 113 to collect the behavioral data.

[0157] The collecting unit 113 collects behavioral data related to behaviors performed by the user. For example, the collecting unit 113 collects behavioral data based on an instruction to collect behavioral data, and registers the collected behavioral data in the storage unit 120. In detail, when the detecting unit 112 detects the occurrence of a trigger for collecting behavioral data, the collecting unit 113 collects behavioral data based on output data from the various sensors 102 and registers the behavioral data in the storage unit 120 as collected data 122.

[0158] The generation unit 114 generates tag information corresponding to behavioral data related to behavior performed by the user. For example, the generation unit 114 generates tag information based on the collected behavioral data and the acquired tag generation data (i.e., instruction data related to an instruction to generate tag information). Then, the generation unit 114 registers the generated tag information in the storage unit 120 as collected data 122.

[0159] As described above, in the user terminal device 100 according to this embodiment, tag information corresponding to behavioral data is generated. This makes it possible, for example, to transmit only the tag information to the information processing device 10 prior to transmitting the behavioral data to the information processing device 10. This allows a data user to select necessary actual data based on the tag information and request transmission of only the necessary actual data. For example, a data user selects behavioral data necessary for analysis processing based on the tag information, and transmits tag information data (referred to as specific data) that identifies the selected behavioral data to the user terminal device 100 via the information processing device 10. The user terminal device 100 then transmits only the behavioral data (actual data R) identified by the specific data to the information processing device 10. This operation reduces the amount of data collected and the communication load, thereby improving the efficiency of behavioral data collection.

[0160] The upload unit 115 uploads (transmits) tag information and behavioral data to the information processing device 10. For example, the upload unit 115 uploads tag information to the information processing device 10 at a predetermined timing (for example, at a predetermined time interval). Furthermore, when an instruction to transmit behavioral data (in other words, instruction data specifying behavioral data) is input from the information processing device 10, the upload unit 115 uploads the specified behavioral data to the information processing device 10 based on the transmission instruction.

[0161] <Control process of information processing device> Next, an example of a specific processing procedure in the information processing device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 11 and Fig. 12. Fig. 11 and Fig. 12 are flowcharts showing the processing procedure executed by the information processing device 10. Fig. 11 shows the processing procedure for providing recommended behavior information related to environmentally friendly behavior, and Fig. 12 shows the processing procedure including the case where the environmentally friendly behavior is discontinued (not executed).

[0162] The process shown in FIG. 11 is started when it is determined that it is time to provide information about environmentally contributing behavior based on the user's operation or behavior (when a series of behaviors, such as movement, is about to begin).

[0163] 11, the control unit 20 of the information processing device 10 acquires user information related to the user (step S10). Next, the control unit 20 determines whether the current provision conditions are the same as the provision conditions when the environmentally contributing behavior was not performed in the past (step S11). If it is determined that they are not the same (step S11, No), the control unit 20 proceeds to step S12, whereas if it is determined that they are the same (step S11, Yes), the control unit 20 proceeds to step S18, which will be described later.

[0164] When the control unit 20 executes step S11 for the first time, the control unit 20 determines that the provision conditions this time are not the same as the conditions when the environmentally contributing behavior was not performed in the past, since the environmentally contributing behavior has not been performed in the past.

[0165] In step S12, the control unit 20 determines a plurality of pieces of recommended action information to be provided to the user based on the user information. At this time, the control unit 20 also assigns priorities to the plurality of pieces of recommended action information based on the user information, etc.

[0166] Next, the control unit 20 selects the recommended action information to be provided to the user from the plurality of pieces of recommended action information based on the priority order and provides it to the user (step S13). Next, the control unit 20 determines whether the provided recommended action information has been accepted by the user (step S14).

[0167] If it is determined that the provided recommended action information has not been accepted by the user (step S14, No), that is, if the recommended action information has been rejected by the user, the control unit 20 returns to step S13 and selects recommended action information different from the recommended action information rejected by the user based on the priority (for example, selects the recommended action information with the next priority) and provides it to the user.

[0168] If it is determined that the provided recommended action information has been accepted by the user (Yes at step S14), the control unit 20 determines whether the environmentally-contributing action corresponding to the recommended action information has been performed by the user (step S15).

[0169] If the user has performed (completed) the environmentally-contributing behavior corresponding to the recommended behavior information (Yes in step S15), the control unit 20 grants a reward to the user (step S16) and ends the process. On the other hand, if the user has not performed (No in step S15), that is, if the environmentally-contributing behavior corresponding to the recommended behavior information has not been performed (not completed), the control unit 20 performs a response process for non-performance, such as registering the conditions under which the recommended behavior information including the environmentally-contributing behavior was provided (i.e., the conditions for non-performance of the behavior) in the recommended behavior information 34 of the storage unit 30 (step S17), and ends the process.

[0170] On the other hand, if the control unit 20 determines that the current provision conditions are the same as the conditions when the action was not performed in the past (step S11, Yes), it again provides the user with recommended action information including the environmentally friendly action that was not performed (step S18), and then performs processing from step S14 onwards.

[0171] In step S18, the control unit 20 also adds and corrects information according to the reasons for non-execution of environmentally friendly behavior that was not performed in the past, as described above, and provides the user with recommended behavior information for which the processing has been performed. For example, if an environmentally friendly behavior was canceled due to a delay in the arrival (estimated) time under similar conditions (behavior) in the past, the control unit 20 performs processing such as providing the user with recommended behavior information in which the scheduled departure time is earlier than the past information.

[0172] Next, a processing procedure when an environmentally-contributing action is stopped midway after being performed will be described with reference to Fig. 12. Note that the processing shown in Fig. 12 is repeatedly performed when the user agrees to the environmentally-contributing action corresponding to the provided recommended action information (while the environmentally-contributing action is being performed).

[0173] 12, the control unit 20 determines whether the environmentally-contributing behavior corresponding to the recommended behavior information presented for recommendation has been discontinued after being accepted by the user (after the environmentally-contributing behavior has been performed) (step S100). If it is determined that the environmentally-contributing behavior has been discontinued (step S100, Yes), the control unit 20 performs a response process for the discontinuation, such as generating discontinuation information related to the discontinuation of the environmentally-contributing behavior and registering it in the storage unit 30 (step S101). Note that the discontinuation information includes, as described above, the provision conditions (conditions at the time of discontinuation of behavior) and comparison information when the recommended behavior information including the discontinued environmentally-contributing behavior is provided.

[0174] On the other hand, if it is determined that the environmentally contributing behavior has not been discontinued (No at step S100), the control unit 20 skips step S101 and ends the process.

[0175] As described above, the information processing device 10 according to the embodiment includes a control unit 20 that controls the provision of recommended action information indicating environmentally friendly actions recommended to the user. The control unit 20 determines a plurality of pieces of recommended action information to be provided to the user, selects the recommended action information to be provided to the user from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information, and provides it to the user. Furthermore, if the provided recommended action information is rejected by the user, the control unit 20 selects recommended action information different from the rejected recommended action information from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information and provides it to the user. This makes it possible to appropriately provide recommended action information indicating environmentally friendly actions recommended to the user.

[0176] Further advantages and modifications will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the invention in its broader aspects is not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described above. Accordingly, various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents. [Explanation of symbols]

[0177] 1. Information Processing Systems 10. Information processing equipment 20 Control Unit 100 User terminal device

Claims

1. a control unit that controls the provision of recommended behavior information indicating recommended environmentally friendly behavior to a user; The control unit determining a plurality of pieces of recommended behavior information to be provided to the user; selecting the recommended action information to be provided to the user from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information and providing the selected recommended action information to the user; If the provided recommended action information is rejected by the user, selecting a recommended action information different from the rejected recommended action information from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information and providing it to the user; If the user does not perform the environmentally beneficial action corresponding to the recommended action information after the user has accepted the recommended action information, the recommended action information will be given priority when providing the recommended action information from the next time onwards. Information processing device.

2. The control unit When the recommended action information including the unexecuted environmentally friendly action is determined under the same conditions as those under which the recommended action information including the unexecuted environmentally friendly action was determined, the recommended action information including the unexecuted environmentally friendly action is preferentially selected and provided to the user. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The control unit generating non-execution information relating to the non-execution of the environmentally friendly behavior when the environmentally friendly behavior corresponding to the recommended behavior information is not executed after the user has accepted the recommended behavior information provided to the user; Based on the generated non-execution information, if the conditions for determining the recommended action information including the non-executed environmentally friendly action are equivalent to the conditions for determining the recommended action information including the non-executed environmentally friendly action, the recommended action information including the non-executed environmentally friendly action is preferentially selected and provided to the user. The information processing device according to claim 2 .

4. The control unit With regard to the recommended action information provided to the user, the recommended action information to be provided to the user is processed and generated based on comparison information between a case where an environmentally friendly action corresponding to equivalent recommended action information was not performed and a case where the environmentally friendly action corresponding to equivalent recommended action information was performed.

4. The information processing device according to claim 1.

5. The control unit determining whether or not the user has performed the environmentally-contributing behavior based on the user's moving speed; 5. The information processing device according to claim 1.

6. The control unit When the user performs an environmentally friendly action corresponding to the recommended action information, a reward is given to the user. The above benefits are: The rewards for taking an environmentally friendly action based on the recommended action information provided differ from the rewards for taking an environmentally friendly action that was not taken in the past.

6. The information processing device according to claim 1.

7. a control unit that controls the provision of recommended behavior information indicating recommended environmentally friendly behavior to a user; The control unit determining a plurality of pieces of recommended behavior information to be provided to the user; selecting the recommended action information to be provided to the user from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information and providing the selected recommended action information to the user; If the provided recommended action information is rejected by the user, selecting a recommended action information different from the rejected recommended action information from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information and providing it to the user; With regard to the recommended action information provided to the user, the recommended action information to be provided to the user is processed and generated based on comparison information between a case where an environmentally friendly action corresponding to equivalent recommended action information was not performed and a case where the environmentally friendly action corresponding to equivalent recommended action information was performed. Information processing device.

8. a control unit that controls the provision of recommended behavior information indicating recommended environmentally friendly behavior to a user; The control unit determining a plurality of pieces of recommended behavior information to be provided to the user; selecting the recommended action information to be provided to the user from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information and providing the selected recommended action information to the user; If the provided recommended action information is rejected by the user, selecting a recommended action information different from the rejected recommended action information from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information and providing it to the user; When the user performs an environmentally friendly action corresponding to the recommended action information, a reward is given to the user. The above benefits are: The rewards for taking an environmentally friendly action based on the recommended action information provided differ from the rewards for taking an environmentally friendly action that was not taken in the past. Information processing device.

9. an information processing device that provides recommended behavior information indicating environmentally friendly behaviors recommended to a user; a terminal device that is communicatively connected to the information processing device and presents the recommended action information to a user; In an information processing system having The information processing device includes: determining a plurality of pieces of recommended behavior information to be provided to the user; selecting the recommended action information to be provided to the user from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information and providing the selected recommended action information to the user; If the provided recommended action information is rejected by the user, selecting a recommended action information different from the rejected recommended action information from the determined plurality of pieces of recommended action information and providing it to the user; If the user does not perform the environmentally beneficial action corresponding to the recommended action information after the user has accepted the recommended action information provided to the user, the recommended action information is provided with priority the next time that the recommended action information is provided; The terminal device transmitting user information including information regarding user behavior to the information processing device; Information processing system.

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