Information processing system, information processing method and program

Abstract

To generate congestion level information of restaurants or food courts in a simplified and highly-accurate manner.SOLUTION: An information processing system includes a control unit. The control unit receives, from a sensor installed in a restaurant or a food court, a first detection result indicating whether or not a guest or a specific article exists in a neighborhood of at least one first seat provided in a first area of the restaurant or the food court. In addition, when the first detection result indicates that the guest or the article exists in the neighborhood of the first seat, the control unit generates and outputs congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or the food court is congested to a display device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing system, an information processing method, and a program capable of processing order information transmitted from a user terminal in a restaurant. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there has been known a technique for recognizing the congestion state in a store using a sensor such as a camera. For example, Patent Document 1 below describes a technique in which markers are placed on the floor of a store in advance, the floor of the store is photographed with a CCD camera, the number of markers recognized in the image portion of the floor in the photographed image is counted, and the degree of congestion in the store is calculated using the number of markers counted. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5354697 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the conventional technology described above, it is necessary to recognize landmarks throughout all areas of a store, which increases the processing load and time required to calculate the congestion level. Furthermore, if landmarks are not evenly distributed throughout all areas of a store, it is not possible to accurately calculate the congestion level by simply counting the number of landmarks.

[0005] In view of the above circumstances, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing system, an information processing device, an information processing method, and a program that can generate congestion information for restaurants or food courts easily and with high accuracy. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] To achieve the above object, an information processing system according to one aspect of the present invention includes a control unit that receives, from a sensor installed in a restaurant or food court, a first detection result indicating whether a customer or a specific item is present near at least one first seat installed in a first area of ​​the restaurant or food court. If the first detection result indicates that the customer or the item is present near the first seat, the control unit generates congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or food court is crowded and outputs the congestion level information to a display device.

[0007] This allows the information processing system to easily and accurately generate congestion information for a restaurant or food court based on whether a seat at a specific location is occupied by a customer. The items are items such as bags or clothes that customers place at their seats. The first detection result is obtained, for example, from a sensor or camera near the seat. The display device is, for example, a user terminal such as a smartphone or PC, or a digital signage terminal. The information processing system can be composed of one or more information processing devices.

[0008] The first area may be the area farthest from the food and drink pick-up counter in the restaurant or food court, or the least popular area.

[0009] This allows overall congestion information to be generated without checking the congestion status of areas close to the food and beverage pick-up counter or highly popular areas. This is because, while seats in restaurants and food courts typically fill first in areas close to the food and beverage pick-up counter or highly popular areas, if seats in areas far from the food and beverage pick-up counter or less popular areas are filled, it is highly likely that seats in other areas are also filled (the entire restaurant is crowded). Examples of less popular areas include, but are not limited to, areas with poor views or counter seating. A food and beverage pick-up counter typically refers to a location in a food court, fast food restaurant, or similar establishment where customers receive their ordered food and beverages from a waiter. However, it also includes locations where customers receive food and beverages self-service without a waiter, such as a drink bar or a table where dishes are displayed for customers to serve themselves in a buffet-style restaurant.

[0010] The control unit may receive a second detection result indicating whether the customer or the item is present near at least one second seat located in a second area that is closer to the first seat than the first area or has a higher popularity level than the first area in addition to the first seat.The control unit may then output the congestion level information indicating that the area is crowded when the first detection result indicates that the customer or the item is present near the first seat and the second detection result indicates that the customer or the item is present near the second seat.

[0011] This allows the information processing system to check not only the first area but also the second area, eliminating cases where a customer happens to be seated in the first area even though other areas are not crowded, thereby further improving the accuracy of the congestion level information.

[0012] The control unit may receive, in addition to the first detection result, a second detection result indicating whether the customer or the item is present near at least one second seat installed in each of a plurality of second areas that are different from the first area in terms of the distance or popularity.The control unit may then generate and output congestion level information indicating the congestion level of the restaurant or food court in a plurality of stages according to the first detection result and the second detection result.

[0013] This allows the information processing system to check not only the first area but also multiple second areas, thereby improving the accuracy of congestion information and reporting the congestion level in more detail (for example, three levels: very crowded, slightly crowded, empty, etc.).

[0014] The control unit may generate the congestion degree information when the customer or the item stays near the first seat for a predetermined time or longer.

[0015] This allows the information processing system to generate congestion level information while excluding people other than customers, such as staff who are merely passing by the seats, thereby improving the accuracy of the congestion level information. The predetermined time period is, for example, 1 minute, 3 minutes, 5 minutes, etc., but is not limited to these.

[0016] According to another aspect of the present invention, an information processing system includes a control unit. The control unit receives detection results from a sensor installed in a restaurant or food court, the detection results indicating the presence or absence of a customer or a specific item in each of a first area including at least one first seat in the restaurant or food court and being the farthest from a food and beverage pick-up counter or being the least popular, and a second area including at least one second seat and being closer to the first area or being more popular than the first area. When the detection results indicate the presence of the customer or the specific item in the first area and the presence of the customer or the specific item in the second area, the control unit generates congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or food court is crowded and outputs the congestion level information to a display device.

[0017] This allows the information processing system to easily and accurately generate congestion information for a restaurant or food court based on the presence or absence of customers in two specific areas. The first area and the second area may be, for example, an area with a radius of several meters where customers and items can be detected by a sensor, or an area with a field of view of several meters where a camera at a specific position can capture an image, but is not limited to this.

[0018] An information processing method according to another aspect of the present invention includes: receiving a first detection result from a sensor installed in a restaurant or a food court, the first detection result indicating whether a customer or a specific item is present near at least one first seat installed in a first area of ​​the restaurant or the food court; If the first detection result indicates that the customer or the item is present near the first seat, congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or food court is crowded is generated and output to a display device.

[0019] An information processing method according to another aspect of the present invention includes: receiving, from a sensor installed in a restaurant or food court, detection results indicating whether or not a customer or a specific item is present in each of a first area including at least one first seat in the restaurant or food court and being the farthest from a food and beverage receiving counter or being the least popular area, and a second area including at least one second seat and being closer to the first area or being more popular than the first area; If the detection result indicates that the customer or the specific item is present in the first area and that the customer or the specific item is present in the second area, congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or food court is crowded is generated and output to a display device.

[0020] A program according to another aspect of the present invention is a program for executing the following on an information processing device: receiving a first detection result from a sensor installed in a restaurant or food court, the first detection result indicating whether a customer or a specific item is present near at least one first seat installed in a first area of ​​the restaurant or food court; If the first detection result indicates that the customer or the item is present near the first seat, the system executes a step of generating congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or food court is crowded and outputting the information to a display device.

[0021] A program according to another aspect of the present invention is a program for executing the following on an information processing device: receiving, from a sensor installed in a restaurant or food court, detection results indicating whether or not a customer or a specific item is present in a first area of ​​the restaurant or food court, the first area including at least one first seat in the restaurant or food court and being the farthest from the food and beverage pick-up counter or being the least popular area, and the second area including at least one second seat and being closer to the first area or being more popular than the first area; If the detection result indicates that the customer or the specific item is present in the first area and that the customer or the specific item is present in the second area, the system executes a step of generating congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or food court is crowded and outputting the information to a display device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0022] As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to generate congestion level information of a restaurant or food court easily and with high accuracy. However, this effect does not limit the present invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0023] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a restaurant congestion status notification system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] 1 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a restaurant information providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of a database included in a restaurant information providing server according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 4] 10 is a flowchart showing a flow of a congestion degree information display process performed by the restaurant information providing server according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] 10 is a diagram showing an example of a congestion degree information display screen displayed on a user terminal or a digital signage terminal according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0024] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0025] [System Configuration] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a restaurant information providing system according to this embodiment.

[0026] As shown in the figure, this system includes a restaurant information providing server 100 on the Internet 50, a plurality of user terminals 200, a restaurant terminal 300, and a digital signage terminal 400.

[0027] Restaurant information providing server 100 is a web server that operates a portal site (restaurant information providing site) that lists information about restaurants (including food courts). Restaurant information providing server 100 is connected to a plurality of user terminals 200, restaurant terminals 300 of restaurants, and digital signage terminals 400 via the Internet 50.

[0028] The restaurant information providing server 100 provides a restaurant information providing system for users of user terminals 200 on the portal site. Specifically, the restaurant information providing server 100 searches for restaurant information that matches search conditions based on a search request from the user terminal 200, generates a web page listing the search results, and transmits it to the user terminal 200. The restaurant information providing server 100 also handles reservation acceptance processing for any restaurant from the user terminal 200 of the user who viewed the restaurant information.

[0029] User terminal 200 (200A, 200B, 200C...) is a terminal used by a user, such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet PC (Personal Computer), a notebook PC, a desktop PC, etc. User terminal 200 accesses restaurant information providing server 100, receives the web page, and displays it on a screen using a browser or the like.

[0030] The user terminal 200 determines search conditions for restaurants based on user operation, and transmits a restaurant search request based on the search conditions to the restaurant information providing server 100. In this embodiment, the user of the user terminal 200 can transmit a search request by selecting pre-set search conditions such as the restaurant's location area (nearest station), genre, price range, etc. Then, based on user operation, the user terminal 200 can transmit a reservation request for any of the restaurants displayed as the search results to the restaurant information providing server 100.

[0031] Meanwhile, restaurant information providing server 100 provides a management screen (web page) of restaurant information for restaurants (affiliated restaurants) listed on the portal site. Through the management screen, users of restaurant terminals 300 can edit and update restaurant information (content) on a web page provided to general users as the search results, and upload the web page to the portal site.

[0032] Restaurant terminal 300 is a terminal installed in each restaurant or food court, and may be a tablet PC, notebook PC, desktop PC, etc. Restaurant terminal 300 can execute processes related to its own restaurant information, such as editing and updating the restaurant information, based on the operation of an administrator, by communicating with restaurant information providing server 100. Although only one food court and one restaurant terminal 300 are shown in the figure, there may be multiple food courts or restaurants, and each food court or restaurant may have its own restaurant terminal 300.

[0033] As shown in the figure, a camera C capable of capturing images of at least a specific area (area X in the figure) within the food court or restaurant is installed within the food court or restaurant, and a human presence sensor M that detects human movement is installed, for example, on the underside of the top surface of each seat (table T) in at least a specific area (area X in the figure) within the food court / restaurant.

[0034] The camera C and the human presence sensor M are sensors for detecting whether a customer or an item (such as a bag, clothing, or other item that a customer places on their seat) is present at a seat (first seat) (table T) located in a specific area of ​​the store or in its vicinity (for example, within 1 meter).

[0035] The detection results (first detection results) of these sensors are transmitted to restaurant terminal 300 via wireless relay terminal W installed inside the restaurant, and then transmitted from restaurant terminal 300 to restaurant information providing server 100. The detection results may also be transmitted from camera C and human presence sensor M to restaurant information providing server 100 without going through restaurant terminal 300. The detection results may also be transmitted to restaurant information providing server 100 via a terminal (for example, a terminal carried by a restaurant staff member) or server (for example, a server managing camera C and human presence sensor M) other than restaurant terminal 300.

[0036] Not all food courts / restaurants are equipped with both the camera C and the motion sensor M, and some may only have one of them.

[0037] When the detection results of the above sensors indicate that a customer U or an item is present in a specific area (area X in the same figure) within the food court / restaurant, the restaurant information providing server 100 can generate congestion level information indicating that the food court / restaurant is crowded, and output this to a user terminal 200 or a digital signage terminal 400 as a display device.

[0038] Here, the specific area X is typically the area farthest from food and beverage pick-up counter 10 in the restaurant or food court, or the least popular area (for example, an area with a poor view or an area with counter seats). The congestion level information may also be generated by using the detection results (second detection results) of a sensor at a seat (second seat) (table T) that is closer to food and beverage pick-up counter 10 than area X, or that is located in area Y that is more popular. Here, the food and beverage pick-up counter typically refers to a place where customers receive their ordered food and beverages from a waiter, but also includes places where customers receive food and beverages by themselves without a waiter, such as a drink bar or a table where dishes are displayed for customers to serve themselves in a buffet-style restaurant.

[0039] The digital signage terminal 400 is a display terminal installed, for example, at stations, roads, or facilities (such as entrances or elevator halls) around restaurants / food courts, and receives and displays congestion information about nearby restaurants and food courts from the restaurant information server 100.

[0040] The process of generating and displaying the congestion level information will be described in detail later.

[0041] [Hardware configuration of restaurant information server] 2 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the restaurant information providing server 100. As shown in the figure, the restaurant information providing server 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 12, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 13, an input / output interface 15, and a bus 14 connecting these components to one another.

[0042] The CPU 11 accesses the RAM 13 etc. as needed, and performs various arithmetic processing while controlling all blocks of the restaurant information providing server 100. The ROM 12 is a non-volatile memory that permanently stores firmware such as the OS, programs, and various parameters to be executed by the CPU 11. The RAM 13 is used as a working area for the CPU 11, and temporarily stores the OS, various applications currently being executed, and various data currently being processed.

[0043] The input / output interface 15 is connected to a display unit 16, an operation reception unit 17, a storage unit 18, a communication unit 19, and the like.

[0044] The display unit 16 is a display device that uses, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), an OLED (Organic ElectroLuminescence Display), a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube), or the like.

[0045] The operation reception unit 17 is, for example, a pointing device such as a mouse, a keyboard, a touch panel, or other input device. When the operation reception unit 17 is a touch panel, the touch panel can be integrated with the display unit 16.

[0046] The storage unit 18 is a non-volatile memory such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a flash memory (solid state drive (SSD)), or other solid-state memory. The storage unit 18 stores the OS, various applications, and various data.

[0047] As will be described later, particularly in this embodiment, the storage unit 18 has a restaurant information database, a user information database, and a congestion degree information database in addition to programs such as applications required for the congestion degree information generation process described later.

[0048] Communication unit 19 is, for example, a NIC (Network Interface Card) for Ethernet or various modules for wireless communication such as wireless LAN, and is responsible for communication processing between user terminal 200, restaurant terminal 300, and digital signage terminal 400.

[0049] Although not shown, the basic hardware configuration of user terminal 200 and restaurant terminal 300 is also substantially the same as the hardware configuration of restaurant information providing server 100 described above.

[0050] [Database configuration of restaurant information server] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of a database included in the restaurant information providing server 100. As shown in FIG.

[0051] As shown in the figure, the restaurant information providing server 100 has a restaurant information database 31, a user information database 32, and a congestion degree information database 33 in the storage unit 18.

[0052] The restaurant information database 31 stores, for each restaurant, the restaurant's name, location information (address or latitude and longitude), area information, access information (nearest station information, walking distance information from the nearest station), telephone number, an ID (store ID) identifying the restaurant, information about the restaurant's business type and service category, information introducing the restaurant (information indicating the restaurant's characteristics such as promotional text for the restaurant, information about events held by the restaurant, etc.), image data related to the restaurant (introducing the restaurant), menu information related to the menus offered by the restaurant, average budget information, business hours, website URL, etc. This information is input from the restaurant terminal 300 of each restaurant via a management screen provided by the restaurant information providing server 100. The restaurant information database 31 also stores reservation ledger information for each restaurant.

[0053] The menu information corresponds to the menus posted on the website of each restaurant on the portal site, and stores the names of multiple menu items that each restaurant can offer for each restaurant. The menu information may be stored for each menu category, such as appetizer / main course, lunch / dinner / course, etc. The menu information may also include text information indicating the menu name, price, description, etc., as well as image information such as a photograph of the menu item, in association with the menu item.

[0054] The area information includes information about multiple areas with different units of size. Large areas include prefectures and municipalities, small areas include areas within a few hundred meters of a station (e.g., the "Ginza area"), and areas in between include, but are not limited to, areas within 1 km of a station or areas surrounding multiple stations (e.g., the "Ginza-Shinbashi-Yurakucho area"). This means that the same restaurant can be linked to multiple areas depending on its size.

[0055] Furthermore, information (such as a terminal ID) about the digital signage terminal 400 installed in that area is associated with that area (for example, the smallest area among multiple areas), and the digital signage terminal 400 and each restaurant are associated via that area. However, apart from the area information, the terminal ID of the digital signage terminal 400 may also be directly associated with the store ID of the restaurant.

[0056] The category information may include main categories such as Japanese, Chinese, Italian, French, and yakiniku, as well as more detailed subcategories such as yakitori and tempura in Japanese cuisine and pasta and pizza in Italian cuisine.

[0057] The user information database 32 stores information about users who own user terminals 200 and are users (members) of the restaurant information service provided by the restaurant information providing server 100 via the portal site. Specifically, the user information database 32 stores information such as a user ID, password, name, email address (information to which other messages will be sent), telephone number, address, age (group), gender, and birthday for each user.

[0058] The congestion information database 33 stores the detection result data of each restaurant / food court received from the camera C and the human presence sensor M via the restaurant terminal 300 (or directly), and the congestion level information of each restaurant / food court generated by the restaurant information providing server 100 based on the detection result data.

[0059] These databases are used by mutual reference as needed in the congestion degree information generation process by the restaurant information providing server 100, which will be described later.

[0060] [System Operation] Next, a description will be given of the operation of the restaurant information providing server 100 configured as above. The operation is performed by cooperation between hardware such as the CPU 1 of the restaurant information providing server 100 and software stored in the storage unit 18. For convenience, in the following description, the CPU 11 is the subject of operation.

[0061] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the congestion degree information generation and display process performed by the restaurant information providing server 100.

[0062] As shown in the figure, the CPU 11 of the restaurant information providing server 100 receives the detection results of the sensors in the first area X (step 41).

[0063] Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the detection result indicates that a customer or an article is present near the seat in the first area X (step 42).

[0064] If it is determined that the detection result indicates the presence of a customer or an article (Yes in step 42), the CPU 11 receives the detection result of the sensor in the second area Y (step 43).

[0065] Next, the CPU 11 determines whether or not the detection result indicates that there are customers or articles near the seats in the second area Y (step 44).

[0066] If it is determined that the detection result indicates the presence of a customer or an item (Yes in step 44), the CPU 11 generates congestion level information (high congestion level) indicating that the restaurant or food court is crowded (step 45).

[0067] Here, the CPU 11 may use the presence of a customer or an item near a seat in the first area X (and the second area Y) for a predetermined period of time or more as a condition for generating the congestion level information (or may use a detection time of a predetermined period of time or more as a condition for determining whether a customer or an item is present). The predetermined period of time may be, for example, one minute, three minutes, five minutes, etc., but is not limited to these. This allows the CPU 11 to generate congestion level information while excluding people other than customers, such as store staff who are merely passing by the seat, thereby improving the accuracy of the information.

[0068] Then, the CPU 11 transmits the generated congestion level information to the user terminal 200 or the digital signage terminal 400.

[0069] If it is determined that the detection result indicates that there are no customers or items present (No in step 44), CPU 11 ends the process without generating congestion level information. Alternatively, if the result in step 44 is No, CPU 11 may generate congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or food court is not crowded (low congestion level) or that the degree of mixing is not high (medium congestion level), and transmit the congestion level information to user terminal 200 or digital signage terminal 400.

[0070] In this way, restaurant information providing server 100 can generate overall congestion level information simply by checking the presence or absence of customers or items in first area X and second area Y, without checking the congestion status of areas that are close to food and drink pick-up counter 10 or highly popular areas. This is because, while seats in restaurants and food courts usually fill up first in areas that are close to food and drink pick-up counter 10 or highly popular areas, if seats in areas that are far from food and drink pick-up counter 10 or less popular areas are filled, it is highly likely that seats in other areas are also already filled (the entire food court / store is crowded).

[0071] Furthermore, the restaurant information server 100 sets the condition for generating congestion information as not only the seats in the first area X, but also the detection of customers or items in seats in the second area Y, which is closer to the food and drink receiving counter 10 than area X or is more popular than area X. This makes it possible to eliminate cases where customers happen to be seated in area X even though other areas are not crowded, thereby further improving the accuracy of the congestion information.

[0072] The restaurant information providing server 100 repeats the above process when a request is made from the user terminal 200 to display congestion level information for a specific restaurant / food court, or when a regular timing arrives for displaying (updating) congestion level information on the digital signage terminal 400.

[0073] In addition, after transmitting congestion information of a specific restaurant / food court to the user terminal 200, if the restaurant information providing server 100 detects, based on the detection results of the above sensors, that the congestion at the restaurant / food court has been resolved, it may send a notification to that effect to the user terminal 200.

[0074] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a congestion level information display screen displayed on the user terminal 200 or the digital signage terminal 400. As shown in FIG.

[0075] As shown in the figure, on the user terminal 200 or the digital signage terminal 400, current images 61 from each camera C of, for example, a nearby food court or restaurant are displayed as a real-time image of the inside of the store, along with the store name and congestion status information 62.

[0076] For food courts / restaurants for which the presence of customers or items in the first area X and the second area Y has been detected and congestion level information has been generated through the above-mentioned process, the words "Crowded" or "Highly Crowded" are displayed as the congestion status information, and for food courts / restaurants for which congestion level information has not been generated, the words "Available Seats" or "Low Crowded" are displayed as the congestion status information. Alternatively, for food courts / restaurants for which the presence of customers or items in the first area X and the second area Y has been detected and congestion level information has been generated through the above-mentioned process, the words "Crowded" or "Highly Crowded" may simply be displayed as the congestion status information, and in other cases, the congestion level may not be displayed.

[0077] An application corresponding to the system provided by the restaurant information providing server 100 is installed on each user terminal 200, and the application can display a screen such as that shown in Fig. 5 above as congestion status information for food courts or restaurants around the current location of the user terminal 200. Furthermore, when a display field for a restaurant or food court on the screen is selected by the user, the application may be able to display a map showing the location of the restaurant or food court or detailed information.

[0078] [summary] As described above, according to this embodiment, the restaurant information providing server 100 can easily and accurately generate crowdedness information for a restaurant or food court based on whether seats in a specific area are occupied by customers. In addition, because it is necessary to check the crowdedness of only some of the seats, the information processing load required to generate crowdedness information can be significantly reduced compared to checking the crowdedness of all seats.

[0079] [Variations] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0080] In the above embodiment, the conditions for generating congestion information are the detection of customers or objects at (near) seats in the first area X and the detection of customers or objects at (near) seats in the second area Y, but the detection of customers or objects in the second area Y is not essential, and congestion information may be generated based only on the detection of customers or objects at seats in the first area X. In this case, there is no need to judge between the two areas X and Y, which simplifies the processing.

[0081] In the above-described embodiment, restaurant information providing server 100 generates and outputs congestion level information indicating whether a restaurant / food court is crowded, based on the detection results of the sensor in first area X. However, restaurant information providing server 100 may also receive, in addition to the detection results of the sensor in first area X, detection results indicating whether customers or items are present near seats in multiple other areas that are different from first area X in terms of distance from food and drink pick-up counter 10 or popularity, and generate and output congestion level information indicating the congestion level of the restaurant or food court in multiple stages based on the detection results in first area X and the multiple other areas. In this way, restaurant information providing server 100 can check not only first area X but also multiple other areas, thereby further improving the accuracy of the congestion level information and reporting the congestion level in more detail. For example, congestion level information may be generated and output in three levels (e.g., high congestion level = customers / items detected in all areas X to Z, medium congestion level = detected only in areas Y and Z, low congestion level = detected only in area Z) depending on the detection results of customers or items at each seat in the first area X, which is the farthest from the food and beverage receiving counter 10, the second area Y, which is medium distance, and the third area Z, which is the smallest.

[0082] In the above-described embodiment, restaurant information providing server 100 generates crowdedness information when it detects the presence of a customer or an item at or near a seat in a first area. Alternatively, restaurant information providing server 100 may generate crowdedness information when it detects a customer or an item in two areas at different locations, without being limited to a seat or near the seat.

[0083] That is, restaurant information providing server 100 receives detection results from sensors installed in a restaurant or food court indicating whether a customer or a specific item is present in each of a first area that includes at least one first seat in the restaurant or food court and is farthest from the food and beverage pick-up counter or is least popular, and a second area that includes at least one second seat and is closer to the first area or is more popular than the first area. If the detection results indicate that the customer or the specific item is present in the first area and that the customer or the specific item is present in the second area, restaurant information providing server 100 generates congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or food court is crowded and outputs the congestion level information to a display device.

[0084] This allows the restaurant information providing server 100 to easily and accurately generate congestion information for a restaurant or food court based on the presence or absence of customers in two specific areas, even if customers frequently get up from their seats or move to nearby seats. The first area and the second area are, for example, areas (spaces) with a radius of several meters or the like where customers and items can be detected by a sensor, or areas with a field of view of several meters that can be photographed by a camera at a specific position, but are not limited to these.

[0085] In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the restaurant information providing server 100 on the cloud generates congestion information for each food court or restaurant, but a server with functions similar to the restaurant information providing server 100 may be installed for each food court or restaurant, and the congestion information generation process may be performed.

[0086] Among the inventions described in the claims of this application, the invention described as an "information processing method" is one in which each step is automatically performed by at least one device such as a computer through software-based information processing, and is not performed by a human using a device such as a computer. In other words, the "information processing method" is an information processing method using computer software, and is not a method in which a human operates a computing tool called a computer. [Explanation of symbols]

[0087] 10...Food and drink pick-up counter 11...CPU 18...Storage section 19…Communications Department 31...Restaurant information database 32...User information database 33...Congestion information database 100...Restaurant information server 200...User terminal 300...Restaurant terminal 400...Digital signage terminal X: Area 1 Y: Second area Z...Third Area C...Camera M...Human sensor

Claims

1. receiving, from a sensor installed in a restaurant or food court, a first detection result indicating whether or not a customer or a specific item is present near at least one first seat installed in a first area that is only a part of the restaurant or food court; If the first detection result indicates that the customer or the item is present near the first seat, congestion level information indicating that the entire restaurant or food court is crowded is generated and output to a display device. Control unit An information processing system comprising:

2. 2. The information processing system according to claim 1, The first area is the area farthest from the food and beverage pick-up counter in the restaurant or food court, or the least popular area. Information processing system.

3. 3. The information processing system according to claim 2, The control unit receiving a second detection result indicating whether the customer or the item is present near at least one second seat located in a second area that is closer to the first seat than the first area or has a higher popularity than the first area in addition to the first seat; When the first detection result indicates that the customer or the item is present near the first seat and the second detection result indicates that the customer or the item is present near the second seat, the congestion degree information indicating that the seat is crowded is output. Information processing system.

4. 3. The information processing system according to claim 2, The control unit receiving, in addition to the first detection result, a second detection result indicating whether the customer or the item is present near at least one second seat installed in each of a plurality of second areas, the second areas being different from the first area in terms of the distance or the popularity level and different from each other; generating and outputting congestion level information indicating a congestion level of the restaurant or food court in a plurality of stages according to the first detection result and the second detection result; Information processing system.

5. 5. An information processing system according to claim 1, The control unit generates the congestion degree information when the customer or the item stays near the first seat for a predetermined period of time or more. Information processing system.

6. receiving, from a sensor installed in a restaurant or food court, detection results indicating whether or not a customer or a specific item is present in a first area of ​​the restaurant or food court, the first area including at least one first seat and being the farthest from a food and beverage receiving counter or being the least popular area, and a second area including at least one second seat and being closer than the first area or being more popular than the first area; If the detection result indicates that the customer or the specific item is present in the first area and that the customer or the specific item is present in the second area, congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or food court is crowded is generated and output to a display device. Control unit An information processing system comprising:

7. receiving, from a sensor installed in a restaurant or food court, a first detection result indicating whether or not a customer or a specific item is present near at least one first seat installed in a first area that is only a part of the restaurant or food court; If the first detection result indicates that the customer or the item is present near the first seat, congestion level information indicating that the entire restaurant or food court is crowded is generated and output to a display device. Information processing methods.

8. receiving, from a sensor installed in a restaurant or food court, detection results indicating whether or not a customer or a specific item is present in a first area of ​​the restaurant or food court, the first area including at least one first seat and being the farthest from a food and beverage receiving counter or being the least popular area, and a second area including at least one second seat and being closer than the first area or being more popular than the first area; If the detection result indicates that the customer or the specific item is present in the first area and that the customer or the specific item is present in the second area, congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or food court is crowded is generated and output to a display device. Information processing methods.

9. In the information processing device, receiving a first detection result from a sensor installed in the restaurant or food court, the first detection result indicating whether or not a customer or a specific item is present near at least one first seat installed in a first area that is only a part of the restaurant or food court; generating congestion level information indicating that the entire restaurant or food court is crowded when the first detection result indicates that the customer or the item is present near the first seat, and outputting the information to a display device; A program that executes the following.

10. In the information processing device, receiving detection results from sensors installed in a restaurant or food court indicating whether or not a customer or a specific item is present in a first area of ​​the restaurant or food court, the first area including at least one first seat and being the furthest from a food and beverage receiving counter or being the least popular area, and a second area including at least one second seat and being closer than the first area or being more popular than the first area; generating congestion level information indicating that the restaurant or food court is crowded and outputting the information to a display device when the detection result indicates that the customer or the specific item is present in the first area and that the customer or the specific item is present in the second area; A program that executes the following.

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