Information processing device, vote acceptance method, and vote acceptance program

Abstract

To provide an information processing device which allows a user who is inexperienced in voting to easily cast a vote.SOLUTION: An information processing device (20) for accepting votes for a game in which a vote can be casted for a voting target in a plurality of voting systems comprises: a storage unit (201) for storing a voting history that indicates a history of past votes of a user; a selection unit (203) for selecting one or more voting systems that are recommended to the user among a plurality of voting systems on the basis of the voting history; a notification unit (204) for notifying the user of at least one of the one or more selected voting systems; and an acceptance unit (205) for accepting a designation of a voting system from among the plurality of voting systems for the user to cast a vote.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 6

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, a vote acceptance method, and a vote acceptance program. [Background technology]

[0002] For example, in various types of sports where betting is conducted, such as horse racing, bicycle racing, and boat racing, a betting device is used to accept votes from voters (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Voters can cast their votes by writing the necessary voting information on a ballot and inputting it into the betting device. For example, in the case of horse racing, voters can cast their votes by writing the details such as the racecourse where the race will be held, the betting method (win or place), and the horse they are betting on on a ballot and inputting them into the betting device. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-114487 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, depending on the sport, the voting method may be complicated. For example, in horse racing, there are many types of betting methods to choose from, many horses to bet on, and many voting patterns, making it complicated. For this reason, users with little voting experience have difficulty deciding which voting pattern to use, making it difficult to vote.

[0005] SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an information processing device, a vote acceptance method, and a vote acceptance program that allow even users with little voting experience to easily cast their votes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An information processing device according to one aspect of the present invention is an information processing device that accepts votes for a competition in which voting for a voting target can be made using multiple voting methods, and has: a memory unit that stores a voting history indicating the history of votes a user has made in the past; a selection unit that selects one or more voting methods to recommend to the user from the multiple voting methods based on the voting history; a notification unit that notifies the user of at least one of the one or more selected voting methods; and a reception unit that accepts the user's designation of a voting method from the multiple voting methods when casting a vote. [Effects of the Invention]

[0007] According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing device, a vote acceptance method, and a vote acceptance program that allow even users with little voting experience to easily cast their votes. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram illustrating a voting system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a terminal and a server. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional block configuration of a terminal. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional block configuration of a server. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing procedure performed by the voting system. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a recommended voting method DB. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing another example of a recommended voting method DB. [Figure 8] 10 shows an example of a voting screen displayed on a terminal. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0009] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which the same reference numerals denote the same or similar components.

[0010] (System Configuration) Fig. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a voting system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The voting system 1 shown in Fig. 1 is a system for managing votes by users in a betting competition, such as a horse race.

[0011] In this embodiment, the betting system 1 is described as being used for horse racing, but the betting system 1 may be used for various types of competitions in which betting is performed, such as bicycle racing, boat racing, and auto racing, in addition to horse racing. The betting system 1 in this embodiment may also be used for various types of competitions in which rankings are determined. It may also be used in simulation games for the various types of competitions mentioned above.

[0012] The voting system 1 includes a terminal 10a, a terminal 10b, and a server 20. The terminals 10a, 10b, and the server 20 are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a communication network N such as the Internet or a wireless LAN. In this embodiment, a user using the terminal 10a is referred to as user A, and a user using the terminal 10b is referred to as user B. Furthermore, when there is no need to distinguish between the terminals 10a and 10b, the terminals 10a and 10b are each referred to as a terminal 10. The number of terminals 10 included in the voting system 1 may be one or may be three or more. In this embodiment, the terminal 10 and the server 20 may be collectively referred to as an information processing device, or only the terminal 10 may be referred to as an information processing device, or only the server 20 may be referred to as an information processing device.

[0013] Any type of terminal may be used as the terminal 10, such as a smartphone, tablet terminal, mobile phone, personal computer (PC), notebook PC, personal digital assistant (PDA), home game console, etc. The server 20 may be composed of one device, may be composed of multiple devices, or may be a server realized on the cloud.

[0014] An overview of the voting system 1 will be explained using Figure 1. First, user A operates terminal 10a to access server 20. After accessing server 20, user A inputs information for identifying the user (user ID: identification, etc.) into terminal 10a. The input information is transmitted to server 20 via communication network N. Server 20 identifies the user using voting system 1 based on the received information.

[0015] Thereafter, the server 20 creates screen information including information for displaying a voting screen on which user A can place a vote, and transmits it to the terminal 10a. Then, based on the received screen information, the terminal 10a displays a voting screen that accepts votes from user A. User A places a vote using the voting screen displayed on the terminal 10a. For example, in horse racing, the voting screen displays options for betting methods such as win, place, and exacta, and horses to be bet on (for example, if the betting method is win, the horse that will come in first), and user A can use the voting screen to select a betting method and a horse to bet on.

[0016] When accepting a vote from user A, the voting system 1 performs a process to assist user A's voting. For example, if user A has little experience with betting, simple betting methods with a small number of horses to choose from, such as win or place, or low-risk betting methods may be preferentially displayed on the betting screen. Also, for example, the betting method selected by user B and information about the horses on which they bet may be displayed on user A's terminal 10a so that user A can refer to it when betting.

[0017] When user A has completed voting, information about the entered vote is sent from terminal 10a to server 20 via communication network N. Server 20 then determines whether user A's vote was correct or not based on the actual results of the race, and transmits the result of the determination to terminal 10a.

[0018] (Hardware configuration) 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the terminal 10 and the server 20. The terminal 10 and the server 20 include a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11, a storage device 12, a communication interface (IF), and The system includes an interface 13, an input device 14, and an output device 15. These components are connected to each other so that they can transmit and receive data.

[0019] The CPU 11 is a control unit that controls the execution of programs stored in the storage device 12 and performs data calculations and processing. The CPU 11 receives data from the communication IF 13, outputs the calculation results of the data to the output device 15, and stores them in the storage device 12.

[0020] The storage device 12 is a device that stores various types of information. The storage device 12 is a volatile storage medium that allows data to be rewritten or a non-volatile storage medium that allows data to be read only.

[0021] The communication IF 13 is a device that connects the terminal 10 or the server 20 to the communication network N. The communication IF 13 may be provided outside the terminal 10 or the server 20. In this case, the communication IF 13 is connected to the terminal 10 or the server 20 via an interface such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus).

[0022] The input device 14 is a device for receiving information input from a user, and is, for example, a touch panel, a button, a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, or the like.

[0023] The output device 15 is a device for outputting information, and is, for example, a liquid crystal display, an organic EL (Electronic Luminescent) display, a speaker, or the like.

[0024] (Function block configuration) FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional block configuration of the terminal 10. The terminal 10 includes a communication unit 101, an input reception unit 102, and a display control unit 103. The communication unit 101, the input reception unit 102, and the display control unit 103 can be realized by the CPU 11 of the terminal 10 executing a program stored in the storage device 12. The program may be a program (application) that can be downloaded from a server and installed on the terminal 10. The program may also be stored in a storage medium. The storage medium storing the program may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory storage medium is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a storage medium such as a universal serial bus (USB) memory or a compact disc read only memory (CD-ROM).

[0025] The communication unit 101 has a function of transmitting and receiving signals and messages to and from the server 20 via the communication IF 13 .

[0026] The input receiving unit 102 has a function of receiving various inputs from the user via the input device 14 such as a touch panel, a mouse, or a keyboard.

[0027] The display control unit 103 displays various screens including a voting screen on the output device 15 such as a liquid crystal display based on the screen information received from the server 20. The input accepting unit 102 and the display control unit 103 may be functional units realized by a web browser provided in the terminal 10.

[0028] FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a functional block configuration of the server 20. The server 20 includes a storage unit 201, a communication unit 202, a selection unit 203, a display control unit 204, and a reception unit 205. The storage unit 201 can be implemented using the storage unit 12 or an external storage unit with which the server 20 can communicate. The communication unit 202, the selection unit 203, the display control unit 204, and the reception unit 205 can be implemented by the CPU 11 of the server 20 executing a program stored in the storage unit 12. The program can be stored in a storage medium. The storage medium storing the program may be a non-transitory computer-readable medium. The non-transitory storage medium is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, a storage medium such as a USB memory or a CD-ROM.

[0029] The storage unit 201 stores a betting history DB (Data Base) (betting history information) that stores the history of betting made by the user in the past. The betting history DB stores, for example, a user ID (Identification) that identifies the user, the date on which the user placed a betting ticket, the race number, the betting method (win, place, etc.), the betting target (horse number) corresponding to the betting method, the amount bet, and the payout amount in case of a win. The storage unit 201 also stores a recommended betting method DB (betting method information) that indicates recommended conditions for each betting method. Recommended conditions are conditions that indicate a betting method that is recommended depending on the user's level of experience with horse racing (hereinafter referred to as "experience level").

[0030] The communication unit 202 has a function of transmitting and receiving signals and messages to and from the terminal 10 via the communication IF 13 .

[0031] The selection unit 203 has a function of selecting one or more voting methods to recommend to the user from among a plurality of voting methods based on the voting history DB. The selection unit 203 may also acquire the user's experience level based on the voting history DB, and select voting methods whose acquired experience level satisfies the recommendation conditions as the one or more voting methods to recommend to the user.

[0032] The display control unit 204 has a function to control the voting screen to be displayed on the terminal 10. The voting screen includes at least one of one or more voting methods recommended to the user selected by the selection unit 203. The display control unit 204 may also include, on the voting screen, voting methods that can be selected when voting (multiple voting methods set for the race). Note that the display control unit 204 may be a functional unit realized by a web server.

[0033] The reception unit 205 has the function of receiving the race number for which the bet will be placed, the betting method for placing the bet, the horse number corresponding to the betting method, and the amount to be bet from the terminal 10 used by the user placing the bet.

[0034] The display control unit 103 provided in the terminal 10 or the display control unit 204 provided in the server 20 described above can be expressed as having a function of notifying the user of information using a screen. Therefore, the display control unit 103 may be referred to as a notification unit, the display control unit 204 may be referred to as a notification unit, or the display control unit 103 and the display control unit 204 may be collectively referred to as a notification unit.

[0035] In this embodiment, the processes performed by the server described above (selection of a recommended voting method, processes related to displaying the voting screen, and processes related to accepting votes) may be performed by the terminal 10 itself. That is, each of the functional blocks provided in the server 20 described above may be provided on the terminal 10 side.

[0036] (Processing Procedure) Next, a description will be given of the processing procedure performed by the voting system 1. Fig. 6 is a sequence diagram showing an example of the processing procedure performed by the voting system 1 according to this embodiment.

[0037] First, the input receiving unit 102 of the terminal 10 receives an instruction from the user of the terminal 10 to display a voting screen (step S100). The communication unit 101 then transmits the user ID of the user to the server 20 (step S110). Next, the selection unit 203 of the server 20 retrieves the user's voting history by searching the voting history DB using the received user ID as a key. The selection unit 203 also retrieves (calculates) the user's experience level by analyzing the retrieved voting history. The selection unit 203 also retrieves a voting method that satisfies the retrieved (calculated) experience level from the recommended voting method DB, thereby selecting one or more voting methods to recommend to the user (step S120). The experience level may be calculated in any manner, and may be calculated based on, for example, the number of votes the user has cast up to now, the current winning rate, the total amount of bets, and / or the total amount of refunds. Here, a specific example of the recommended voting method DB will be described.

[0038] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a recommended betting method DB. The "betting method" stores the betting method set for the race, or information that can identify (specify) the betting method. In the example of FIG. 6, the betting methods are arranged in order of increasing difficulty of winning (in order of increasing likelihood of winning). Place is a betting method in which one horse that will finish in the top three is selected. Win is a betting method in which one horse that will come in first. Wide is a betting method in which two horses that will come in first through third are selected. Box combination is a betting method in which the gate numbers of the first and second place horses are selected in no particular order. Box exacta is a betting method in which the gate numbers of the first and second place horses are selected, along with their order. Horse pair is a betting method in which the first and second place horses are selected in no particular order. Exacta is a betting method in which both the first and second place horses are selected. Trifecta is a betting method in which the first through third place horses are selected in no particular order. The trifecta is a betting method in which you bet on all horses that will come in first through third.

[0039] The "recommended conditions" store conditions that indicate which betting method should be recommended to a user with a certain level of horse racing experience (track record). In the example of Figure 6, the order of experience level that meets the upper limit of recommendation is A, B, C, etc. In other words, the recommended betting method DB shown in Figure 6 has recommended conditions set so that the higher the experience level, the more betting methods are recommended. For example, for users with betting experience less than A, only place bets are recommended, but for users with betting experience between C and D, place, win, wide, and box bets are recommended.

[0040] FIG. 7 is a diagram showing another example of a recommended voting scheme DB. As shown in FIG. 7, the recommended voting scheme DB may have recommendation conditions set so that a betting scheme requiring a larger number of parameters to be specified for betting is recommended as the level of experience increases. The number of parameters to be specified for betting may be, for example, the number of horses (or the number of brackets) to be selected. For win and place bets, the number of horses to be specified for betting is one. For wide bets, box bets, box exacta bets, exacta bets, and exacta bets, the number of horses to be specified for betting is two. For trio bets and exacta bets, the number of horses to be specified for betting is three. In the example of FIG. 7, for users with low experience (less than X), place bets, win bets, and wide bets are selected as recommended betting schemes. For users with medium experience (X or more but less than Y), place bets, win bets, wide bets, box exacta bets, box exacta bets, exacta bets, exacta bets, and exacta bets are selected as recommended betting schemes. For users with high experience (Y or more), all betting schemes are selected as recommended betting schemes.

[0041] Next, the display control unit 204 of the server 20 generates screen information for a voting screen including one or more voting methods recommended to the user selected by the selection unit 203 and voting methods selectable when voting (specifically, all voting methods set for the race) (step S130). The communication unit 202 transmits the generated screen information to the terminal 10 (step S140).

[0042] Next, the display control unit 103 of the terminal 10 displays the betting screen using the screen information of the betting screen received from the server 20 (step S150). The input accepting unit 102 accepts the betting details (e.g., betting method, betting target (horse number), and bet amount) entered by the user on the betting screen, and transmits the accepted betting details to the server 20 (step S160). The accepting unit 205 of the server 20 executes the bet (purchase of a betting ticket) in accordance with the betting details received from the terminal 10 (step S170).

[0043] Figure 8 shows an example of a voting screen displayed on the terminal 10. Figure 8(a) shows an example of a menu for accepting bets for a win on the voting screen. Figure 8(b) shows an example of a menu for accepting a selection of a betting method on the voting screen. As shown in Figure 8(b), the menu for accepting a selection of a betting method displays a list of each of the multiple betting methods set for the race, and for betting methods recommended to the user, a character string indicating that the method is recommended is displayed.

[0044] In addition, the menu on the voting screen that accepts the selection of the voting method may be configured to display only voting methods recommended to the user, as shown in FIG. 8(c). In other words, the voting methods available to an inexperienced user may be limited, and as the user gains experience, more voting methods may be gradually made available. To achieve this processing, the display control unit 204 of the server 20 may cause the terminal 10 to display a voting screen that displays only one or more voting methods recommended to the user selected by the selection unit 203 as voting methods selectable at the time of voting. Furthermore, the accepting unit 205 of the server 20 may accept the designation of the voting method by the user by limiting it to one or more voting methods recommended to the user.

[0045] According to the processing procedure described above, it is possible to recommend a betting method that is easy to win or a betting method that is simple to use to users with little experience in horse racing. This allows users to easily decide which betting method to use, making it easy for even users with little betting experience to cast their bets. This also prevents users from having to repeatedly operate the betting screen due to worrying about which betting method to use, and it is possible to reduce the processing load on the terminal 10 and the server 20 related to drawing the betting screen.

[0046] (Variation) In this embodiment, when accepting votes for a betting target from a user, the accepting unit 205 of the server 20 may accept votes in units of groups generated by grouping multiple betting targets that share a common attribute. The display control unit 204 may also display the betting targets by group and cause the terminal 10 to display a betting screen that allows votes to be accepted by group. Examples of betting targets with a common attribute include a group with common horse characteristics (e.g., front-runner, front-runner, overtaker, etc.), a group of horses with odds below a predetermined ratio (favorite group), a group of horses with odds above a predetermined ratio (longshot group), a group of horses with a common gender, and a group of horses that placed highly in a predetermined position in the previous race. This eliminates the need for the user to specifically select a betting target by horse number, making it easier for the user to select a betting target.

[0047] Furthermore, the voting system according to this embodiment may allow a user to refer to information about the betting method selected and the horses on which the user has bet by other users who are more experienced than the user, or to duplicate the same bet as that of the other user. As mentioned above, the voting system according to this embodiment may limit the betting methods available to less experienced users, gradually opening up more betting methods as the user gains experience.

[0048] In this case, the accepting unit 205 of the server 20 may accept from a user a vote that is a copy of a vote made by another user, even if the voting method used in the vote made by the other user is not included in one or more of the voting methods recommended to the user (i.e., is not open). In other words, even if the voting method is not open, a vote using the not open voting method may be permitted only if it is a copy of a vote made by another user. This allows even an inexperienced user to cast a vote that is a copy of a vote made by a more experienced user, thereby increasing interest in horse racing.

[0049] In the voting system according to this embodiment, it may be possible to cast votes using virtual currency that can only be used within the voting system, instead of actual money.

[0050] The voting method in this embodiment is not limited to the voting method used in the above description, and includes various voting methods in which a predetermined ranking or the like is specified for one or more voting targets in random order or explicitly.

[0051] The above-described embodiments are intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. The elements of the embodiments, as well as their arrangement, materials, conditions, shapes, sizes, etc., are not limited to those illustrated and can be modified as appropriate. Furthermore, configurations shown in different embodiments can be partially substituted or combined with each other. [Explanation of symbols]

[0052] 1... Voting system, 10... Terminal, 11... CPU, 12... Storage device, 13... Communication IF, 14... Input device, 15... Output device, 20... Server, 101... Communication unit, 102... Input reception unit, 103... Display control unit, 201... Storage unit, 202... Communication unit, 203... Selection unit, 204... Display control unit, 205... Reception unit

Claims

1. An information processing device including a processor, the processor: Accepting votes for competitions where multiple voting methods are available for the voting target, changing the number of voting methods to be recommended to the user from among the plurality of voting methods based on a voting history indicating a history of votes made by the user in the past; On a screen for accepting a betting method selection from the user, one or more betting methods recommended to the user are displayed, and for a betting method not recommended to the user, other users other than the user are allowed to vote by referring to the betting method selected by the other user and information on the horses on which the other user has bet. Information processing device.

2. The processor: determining the number of voting methods to recommend to the user based on a pre-stored correspondence between a history of votes previously performed by the user and voting methods to recommend to the user; The information processing device according to claim 1 .

3. The processor: On the screen, votes from the user can be accepted only by a voting method designated by the user from among the one or more recommended voting methods, and by a voting method not recommended and a duplicate of a vote made by another user different from the user. The information processing device according to claim 1 .

4. A processor accepts votes for a competition in which voting for a voting target can be performed using multiple voting methods, a processor varying the number of voting methods to be recommended to the user from among the plurality of voting methods based on a voting history indicating a history of votes cast by the user in the past; a processor displays the betting methods that the user will use to vote on a screen for accepting the user's selection of a betting method, and allows other users other than the user to vote on a betting method that is not recommended to the user by referring to information on the betting method selected and the horses on which the other users have bet; Information processing methods.

5. A method for making a processor accept votes for a competition in which multiple voting methods are available for a voting target, The processor varies the number of voting methods to be recommended to the user from among the plurality of voting methods based on a voting history indicating a history of voting performed by the user in the past; a processor that displays the betting methods that the user will use to vote on a screen for accepting the user's selection of a betting method, and allows other users other than the user to vote on a betting method that is not recommended to the user by referring to the betting method selected by the other user and information on the horses that the other users have bet on; A program that executes a process.

6. A server and a terminal device are provided, a processor of the server, Accepting votes from users of the terminal devices for a competition in which voting can be performed using multiple voting methods for a voting target; changing the number of voting methods to be recommended to the user from among the plurality of voting methods based on a voting history indicating a history of voting performed by the user in the past; On a screen for accepting a selection of a betting method from the user, the betting method to be voted for by the user is displayed, and for a betting method not recommended to the user, other users other than the user are allowed to vote by referring to the betting method selected by the user and information on the horses on which the user has bet. A program that executes a process.

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