Recipe suggestion device, recipe suggestion method, recipe suggestion program, and recipe suggestion system

Abstract

To enhance an accuracy of information on a food material held as an assumption of a proposal of a recipe.SOLUTION: A recipe proposal device 10 comprises: a first food material information acquisition part 11 that acquires first food material information as information of a food material held in a predetermined space by a user, causes the first food material information acquired to be stored in a food material holding information storage part 22; a second food material information acquisition part 12 that acquires second food material information as information on the food material added to the food material to be held, and makes the food material holding information storage part 22 store the second food material information acquired; a first provision part 13 that refers a recipe information store part 21 that stores recipe information associated with a recipe and a food material used for the recipe, and extracts the recipe of which the food material to be used is stored in the food material holding information storage part 22 as a proposal recipe; and an output part 14 that outputs the proposal recipe to a user device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a recipe suggestion device, a recipe suggestion method, a recipe suggestion program, and a recipe suggestion system. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a technique for suggesting recipes based on ingredients. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a device that provides multiple recipes based on information on ingredients that a user owns. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2018-81496 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Conventional recipe suggestion systems determine ingredients to be used based on images taken inside the refrigerator. However, when determining ingredients based on images, if there are ingredients with similar appearances, it is difficult to accurately determine which ingredients can be used in the recipe, or it is time-consuming to correct the determination results. Another issue is that when new ingredients are added, they must be photographed after being stored.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention aims to improve the accuracy of information on ingredients held, which is a prerequisite for proposing recipes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problem, a recipe suggestion device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a recipe suggestion device that suggests cooking recipes to a user device, and includes: an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information about ingredients possessed by the user; a first ingredient information acquisition unit that acquires first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients possessed by the user in a specified space, and stores the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient possession information storage unit; a second ingredient information acquisition unit that acquires second ingredient information, which is information about ingredients added to the possessed ingredients, and stores the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient possession information storage unit; a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information that associates recipes with ingredients used in the recipes; a first suggestion unit that references the recipe information storage unit and extracts recipes whose ingredients are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit as suggested recipes; and an output unit that outputs the suggested recipes to the user device.

[0007] A recipe suggestion method according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a recipe suggestion method in a recipe suggestion device that suggests cooking recipes to a user device. The recipe suggestion device includes an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information about ingredients possessed by the user, and a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information associating recipes with ingredients used in the recipes. The recipe suggestion method includes a first ingredient information acquisition step of acquiring first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients possessed by the user in a specified space, and storing the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient possession information storage unit; a second ingredient information acquisition step of acquiring second ingredient information, which is information about ingredients added to the possessed ingredients, and storing the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient possession information storage unit; a first suggestion step of referring to the recipe information storage unit and extracting recipes whose ingredients are used and stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit as suggested recipes; and an output step of outputting the suggested recipes to the user device.

[0008] A recipe suggestion program according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a recipe suggestion program that causes a computer to function as a recipe suggestion device that suggests cooking recipes to a user device. The recipe suggestion device includes an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information about ingredients possessed by the user, and a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information associating recipes with ingredients used in the recipes. The recipe suggestion program causes the computer to implement a first ingredient information acquisition function that acquires first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients possessed by the user in a specified space, and stores the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient possession information storage unit; a second ingredient information acquisition function that acquires second ingredient information, which is information about ingredients added to the possessed ingredients, and stores the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient possession information storage unit; a first suggestion function that references the recipe information storage unit and extracts recipes whose ingredients are used and stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit as suggested recipes; and an output function that outputs the suggested recipes to the user device.

[0009] A recipe suggestion system according to one aspect of the present disclosure is a recipe suggestion system that suggests cooking recipes to a user device, and includes: an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information about ingredients possessed by the user; a first ingredient information acquisition unit that acquires first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients possessed by the user in a specified space, and stores the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient possession information storage unit; a second ingredient information acquisition unit that acquires second ingredient information, which is information about ingredients added to the possessed ingredients, and stores the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient possession information storage unit; a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information that associates recipes with ingredients used in the recipes; a first suggestion unit that references the recipe information storage unit and extracts recipes whose ingredients are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit as suggested recipes; and an output unit that outputs the suggested recipes to the user device.

[0010] According to this aspect, first ingredient information regarding ingredients held in a specified space and second ingredient information regarding ingredients added to the held ingredients are obtained, and ingredient holding information is generated based on the two pieces of ingredient information, the first ingredient information and the second ingredient information, thereby improving the accuracy of the information on held ingredients.

[0011] In a recipe suggestion device according to another aspect, the first ingredient information acquisition unit may acquire the first ingredient information based on an image captured of a space holding the ingredients.

[0012] According to this aspect, the first ingredient information can be obtained by a simple means such as capturing an image of the space where the ingredients are stored.

[0013] In a recipe suggestion device according to another aspect, the second ingredient information acquisition unit may acquire the second ingredient information based on purchase data relating to ingredients purchased by the user.

[0014] According to this aspect, the second ingredient information can be obtained by a simple means such as obtaining purchase data related to ingredients purchased by the user.

[0015] In another aspect, the recipe suggestion device may further include an ingredient information update unit that updates the ingredient possession information based on user input, and the first suggestion unit may re-extract the suggested recipe based on the ingredient possession information updated by the ingredient information update unit.

[0016] According to this aspect, the ingredient possession information can be updated based on input by the user, thereby further improving the accuracy of the ingredient possession information.

[0017] In another aspect of the recipe suggestion device, the ingredient information update unit may delete ingredients used in a recipe selected by the user from the suggested recipes output by the output unit from the ingredient possession information storage unit, and the first suggestion unit may re-extract the suggested recipe based on the ingredient possession information from which the ingredients have been deleted by the ingredient information update unit.

[0018] According to this aspect, when a dish is prepared based on a proposed recipe and the ingredients used in that recipe are consumed, the recipe is input by the user, and the ingredients used in that recipe are deleted from the ingredient possession information, thereby maintaining the accuracy of the ingredient possession information.

[0019] In another aspect of the recipe suggestion device, the ingredient information update unit may delete ingredients specified by the user from the ingredient possession information, and the first suggestion unit may re-extract the suggested recipe based on the ingredient possession information from which the ingredients have been deleted by the ingredient information update unit.

[0020] According to this aspect, when a dish is prepared based on a proposed recipe and the ingredients used in the recipe are consumed, the ingredients are input by the user, and the input ingredients are deleted from the ingredient possession information, thereby maintaining the accuracy of the ingredient possession information.

[0021] In another aspect of the recipe suggestion device, the first suggestion unit extracts a recipe group consisting of multiple recipes as suggested recipes, and when extracting as the suggested recipe one recipe that uses ingredients stored in the ingredient holding information storage unit as overlap-restricted ingredients, which are ingredients that are not extracted in duplicate as ingredients used in multiple recipes, other recipes stored in the recipe information storage unit that use ingredients that fall under the overlap-restricted ingredients may not be extracted as suggested recipes.

[0022] According to this aspect, multiple recipes are extracted from the recipe information based on the ingredient possession information, and if one of the extracted recipes uses a duplicate-restricted ingredient, other recipes using that duplicate-restricted ingredient are not extracted, so that dishes from the extracted multiple recipes can be prepared simultaneously. Therefore, multiple meal recipes can be obtained based on a single acquisition of the first ingredient information and the second ingredient information.

[0023] In another aspect of the recipe suggestion device, the first suggestion unit may repeat the following steps from the first to nth times to extract recipes in which all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit, calculate scores for all of the extracted recipes based on predetermined weightings, extract one of the top predetermined number of recipes in terms of score as the i-th (i = 1, 2, ... n) recipe, and delete the ingredients used in the i-th recipe from the ingredient possession information.

[0024] According to this aspect, suggested recipes that include recipes with high scores calculated based on a predetermined weighting are extracted preferentially. In addition, since one recipe is extracted by calculating the score for each recipe, the amount of calculation required for the extraction process of suggested recipes consisting of a recipe group can be reduced.

[0025] In another aspect of the recipe suggestion device, the first suggestion unit may generate one or more recipe groups consisting of combinations of multiple recipes in which all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient holding information storage unit and the overlap-restricted ingredients do not overlap with each other in each recipe, calculate the scores of each of the multiple recipes included in each recipe group based on a predetermined weighting, and extract the recipe group with the highest total score of the multiple recipes included as the suggested recipe.

[0026] According to this aspect, a recipe group consisting of multiple recipes that can be cooked simultaneously is comprehensively extracted, and the recipe group with the highest calculated score is extracted as the suggested recipe. In this way, by expressing the priority of ingredients for suggesting to the user in advance as weights for the ingredients, it is possible to extract a recipe group consisting of recipes that are desired to be suggested to the user with higher priority.

[0027] In another aspect of the recipe suggestion device, the first suggestion unit may calculate a score for each recipe based on at least one of a weighting previously set for each ingredient and a weighting previously set for each recipe.

[0028] According to this aspect, by assigning appropriate weights to recipes and ingredients in advance, it is possible to extract recipes that you would like to preferentially suggest to users and recipes that use ingredients that you would like users to preferentially consume.

[0029] In another aspect, the recipe suggestion device further includes a specification receiving unit that receives a user specification for one or more recipes among the multiple recipes included in the suggested recipes output by the output unit, and when a duplicate-restricted ingredient is used in a recipe whose specification has been accepted by the specification receiving unit, the first suggestion unit may re-extract at least one recipe in which all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit and the duplicate-restricted ingredient is not used.

[0030] According to this aspect, the output unit outputs the suggested recipes consisting of the recipe group, so that even if a recipe has been suggested to the user once, it is possible to re-extract recipes other than the recipe specified by the user from the recipe group, thereby enabling the user to receive a suggested recipe that they desire.

[0031] In another aspect, the recipe suggestion device further includes a specification acceptance unit that accepts a user specification for one or more recipes among the multiple recipes included in the suggested recipes output by the output unit, and when a duplicate-restricted ingredient is used in a recipe among the suggested recipes output by the output unit for which the specification was not accepted by the specification acceptance unit, the first suggestion unit may re-extract at least one recipe in which all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit and the duplicate-restricted ingredient is not used.

[0032] According to this aspect, the output unit outputs the suggested recipes consisting of the recipe group, so that even if a recipe has been suggested to the user once, it is possible to re-extract recipes included in the recipe group other than the recipes not specified by the user, thereby enabling the user to receive a suggested recipe that they desire.

[0033] In another aspect, the recipe suggestion device may further include a second suggestion unit that refers to the recipe information storage unit and extracts one or more recipes in which all of the remaining ingredients, excluding a predetermined number of ingredients from the ingredients to be used, are stored in the ingredient holding information storage unit, and the output unit may output the recipe suggested by the second suggestion unit.

[0034] According to this aspect, even if a recipe cannot be made using only the ingredients contained in the current ingredient possession information, a recipe that can be made by adding a predetermined number of ingredients can be extracted, thereby making it possible to expand the variety of recipes suggested to the user.

[0035] A recipe suggestion device according to another aspect may further include a recommended ingredient storage unit that stores recommended ingredients recommended for purchase by the user, and the second suggestion unit may extract one or more recipes that use the recommended ingredients, and in which all ingredients used in the recipe other than the recommended ingredients are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit.

[0036] According to this aspect, recipes that can be cooked are extracted by adding recommended ingredients to ingredients included in the current ingredient possession information, so that the user can be encouraged to purchase the recommended ingredients. [Effects of the Invention]

[0037] According to one aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to improve the accuracy of information on ingredients held, which is a prerequisite for proposing recipes. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0038] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a device configuration of a recipe suggestion system including a recipe suggestion device. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the recipe suggestion device. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the recipe suggestion device. [Figure 4] 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating an example of the structure of recipe information stored in a recipe information storage unit and an example of stored data. [Figure 5] 3 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of ingredient possession information stored in an ingredient possession information storage unit and stored data. FIG. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of recipe history information stored in a recipe history storage unit. [Figure 7] 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of ingredient history information stored in an ingredient history storage unit. FIG. [Figure 8] 10 is a diagram showing an example of recommended ingredient information stored in a recommended ingredient information storage unit. FIG. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing the process of extraction processing for extracting a recipe in the first suggestion unit. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on a user terminal on which a suggested recipe is displayed. [Figure 11] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen on a user terminal for inputting consumed ingredients. [Figure 12] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed on a user terminal, showing a recipe that can be made by adding certain ingredients to the ingredients included in the ingredient possession information. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen that accepts a user's input of a recipe group displayed on a user terminal. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing the process of a recipe suggestion method performed in the recipe suggestion device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0039] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or equivalent elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant description will be omitted.

[0040] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the device configuration of a proposal system including a recipe proposal device according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the proposal system 1 includes a recipe proposal device 10 and multiple user terminals T (user devices). The recipe proposal device 10 is a device that proposes cooking recipes to users. Specifically, the recipe proposal device 10 proposes recipes to users by transmitting recipe information to the user terminal T. The recipe proposal device 10 and the user terminal T are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a communication network N.

[0041] The user terminal T is a device operated by a user, which transmits a recipe proposal request to the recipe proposal device 10, and receives and displays recipe information returned in response to the request. The device constituting the user terminal T is not limited, and may be, for example, a stationary or portable personal computer, or a portable terminal such as a highly functional mobile phone (smartphone), a mobile phone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA). Although three user terminals T are shown in FIG. 1, the number of user terminals T is not limited.

[0042] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of a recipe suggestion device 10 according to this embodiment. As shown in FIG. 2, the recipe suggestion device 10 functionally comprises a first ingredient information acquisition unit 11, a second ingredient information acquisition unit 12, a first suggestion unit 13, an output unit 14, an ingredient information update unit 15, a second suggestion unit 16, and a designation acceptance unit 17. These functional units 11 to 17 are realized by loading a server program P1 (recipe suggestion program) into a processor 101, which will be described with reference to FIG. 3, and executing the program. Each functional unit will be described later. Note that, although the functional units 11 to 17 are configured in the recipe suggestion device 10 in this embodiment, they may also be configured as distributed across multiple computers.

[0043] The recipe suggestion device 10 also includes storage means such as a recipe information storage unit 21, an ingredient possession information storage unit 22, a recipe history storage unit 23, an ingredient history storage unit 24, and a recommended ingredient information storage unit 25. In the example shown in Fig. 2, these storage units 21 to 25 are configured in the recipe suggestion device 10, but they may also be configured as elements of the recipe suggestion system 1 in other devices configured to be accessible from the recipe suggestion device 10.

[0044] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the recipe suggestion device 10, and shows a server computer 100 that functions as the recipe suggestion device 10. As shown in FIG.

[0045] As an example, the server computer 100 includes a processor 101, a main memory unit 102, an auxiliary memory unit 103, and a communication unit 104 as hardware components.

[0046] The processor 101 is a computing device that executes an operating system and application programs. Examples of processors include a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphics processing unit (GPU), but the type of processor 101 is not limited to these. For example, the processor 101 may be a combination of a sensor and a dedicated circuit. The dedicated circuit may be a programmable circuit such as a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), or may be another type of circuit.

[0047] The main memory unit 102 is a device that stores programs for implementing the recipe suggestion device 10, etc., and calculation results output from the processor 101. The main memory unit 102 is configured, for example, with at least one of a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory).

[0048] The auxiliary storage unit 103 is generally a device capable of storing a larger amount of data than the main storage unit 102. The auxiliary storage unit 103 is configured with a non-volatile storage medium such as a hard disk or flash memory. The auxiliary storage unit 103 stores a server program P1 for causing the server computer 100 to function as the recipe suggestion device 10, as well as various data. In this embodiment, the recipe suggestion program that realizes the recipe suggestion device 10 is implemented as the server program P1. Furthermore, when the storage units 21 to 25 are included in the recipe suggestion device 10, the storage units 21 to 25 may be configured in either the main storage unit 102 or the auxiliary storage unit 103.

[0049] The communication unit 104 is a device that executes data communication with other computers via the communication network N. The communication unit 104 is configured by, for example, a network card or a wireless communication module.

[0050] Each functional element of the server is realized by loading a corresponding server program P1 onto processor 101 or main memory unit 102 and having processor 101 execute that program. Server program P1 includes code for realizing each functional element of the corresponding server. Processor 101 operates communication unit 104 in accordance with server program P1, and executes reading and writing of data from and to main memory unit 102 or auxiliary memory unit 103. Through such processing, each functional element of the corresponding server is realized.

[0051] The server program P1 may be provided by being fixedly recorded on a tangible recording medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, a semiconductor memory, etc. Alternatively, at least one of these programs may be provided via a communications network as a data signal superimposed on a carrier wave.

[0052] Each server may be composed of one or more computers. When multiple computers are used for one server, these computers are connected to each other via a communication network to logically configure one server.

[0053] Referring again to FIG. 2, each storage unit of the recipe suggestion device 10 will be described. The recipe information storage unit 21 is a storage means for storing recipe information. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of recipe information stored in the recipe information storage unit 21. As shown in FIG. 4, the recipe information includes a recipe name, and the recipe name is associated with ingredients used in the recipe. For example, a recipe with the recipe name "nikujaga" (meat and potato stew) uses ingredients such as potatoes, ground beef, and onions. The recipe information also includes information such as text and images (not shown) for guiding the user through the cooking method of each recipe.

[0054] The recipe information stored in the recipe information storage unit 21 may be information previously acquired from an external recipe site that publishes various recipes. In this case, the recipe information may include the name of the site from which the recipe information was acquired. For example, the recipe information shown in FIG. 4 includes recipes for "nikujaga" (meat and potato stew) acquired separately from site A and site B.

[0055] The ingredient possession information storage unit 22 is a storage means for storing ingredient possession information indicating ingredients possessed by the user. As will be described in detail later, the ingredient possession information includes first ingredient information and second ingredient information.

[0056] The first ingredient information is information about ingredients stored in a predetermined space by the user. In this embodiment, the first ingredient information is, for example, information about ingredients stored in a refrigerator, freezer, or the like, and is obtained by a predetermined image analysis process based on an image captured inside the refrigerator, freezer, or the like. The first ingredient information may also be information about seasonings obtained based on an image captured of the space where the seasonings are stored. In this way, the predetermined space may be a refrigerator, freezer, or space where seasonings are stored, or it may be a space where ingredients are stored, such as a seasoning shelf or kitchen cupboard. Furthermore, the first ingredient information is preferably obtained based on a captured image to simplify user operation, but it may also be obtained by user input.

[0057] The second ingredient information is information about ingredients added to ingredients owned by the user. The ingredients owned by the user are not necessarily limited to ingredients stored in the ingredient ownership information storage unit 22. Therefore, a configuration may be adopted in which the recipe suggestion device 10 first acquires purchase data, etc., of a new ingredient. When the recipe suggestion device 10 first acquires purchase data, etc., of a new ingredient as second ingredient information, the first acquired second ingredient information may be set as ingredients owned by the user. In this embodiment, the second ingredient information is acquired after the first ingredient information. With this configuration, after the second ingredient information is acquired, recipes can be suggested based on the first ingredient information and the second ingredient information, allowing the user to select a recipe immediately after acquisition.

[0058] In this embodiment, the second ingredient information is, for example, purchase data. The purchase data is data related to ingredients purchased by the user and may be obtained by performing an analysis process, such as a predetermined optical character recognition (OCR), based on an image of a receipt issued when the user purchases ingredients. POS data containing information about ingredients purchased by the user may be transmitted from a store's POS system to the recipe suggestion device 10 via a communication network, transferred from the POS system to the recipe suggestion device 10 via a user terminal T, or obtained by referencing the user's purchase history on an e-commerce site. The second ingredient information may also be obtained by user input. The purchase data may be, for example, a product ID or name, or text, as long as it can identify the ingredient.

[0059] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of ingredient possession information stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22. As shown in FIG. 5, the ingredient possession information includes information such as quantity, information source, expiration date, and score associated with each ingredient name. The ingredient possession information may also include information such as the expiration date and registration date of each ingredient. The quantity indicates the number and weight of the ingredient. The information source indicates whether the ingredient information was obtained based on a refrigerator image or receipt information, i.e., whether the ingredient is classified as first ingredient information or second ingredient information. Information sources may include refrigerator images and receipt images, as well as image information of a specific space other than the refrigerator (e.g., a spice shelf), purchase data from a POS system, user input, and the like. The expiration date indicates the expiration date of the ingredient and may be obtained, for example, by OCR processing of an image of the product or from a POS system. The expiration date indicates the expiration date of the ingredient and may be obtained, for example, by OCR processing of an image of the product or from a POS system. The registration date indicates the date on which the ingredient was registered as ingredient possession information in ingredient possession information storage unit 22.

[0060] The overlap restriction flag is set for overlap restriction ingredients that cannot be used in multiple recipes. In other words, the overlap restriction flag is a flag for identifying ingredients that cannot be used in multiple recipes, because it is undesirable for an ingredient used in a recipe to be consumed in the dish of that recipe and therefore be included in recipes proposed at the same time. Note that overlap restriction ingredients may include first overlap restriction ingredients and second overlap restriction ingredients, depending on the degree of overlap restriction. The first overlap restriction ingredient is a non-overlapping ingredient that cannot be used in multiple recipes proposed at the same time. The second overlap restriction ingredient is an ingredient that can be used up to a predetermined limit in multiple recipes proposed at the same time, for example, due to a large quantity. Unlike these overlap restriction ingredients, for example, seasonings can be used in both one recipe and another recipe, and therefore are not overlap restriction ingredients.

[0061] In the example shown in FIG. 5, ingredients other than seasonings are flagged with "1" to indicate that the ingredient is a first duplicate-restricted ingredient (a non-duplicable ingredient). On the other hand, seasonings are not duplicate-restricted ingredients, so no flag is set. For example, for ingredients related to the second ingredient information, the duplicate-restricted flag may not be set, given that the ingredient is a newly added ingredient to the currently owned ingredients and therefore likely to be in large quantities, or a flag indicating that the ingredient is a second duplicate-restricted ingredient may be set. For example, for ingredients related to the second ingredient information, the duplicate-restricted flag may be set along with the number of allowed duplicates (e.g., "2" or "3"), given that the ingredient is a newly added ingredient to the currently owned ingredients and therefore likely to be in large quantities, so that duplicates are permitted up to the number of allowed duplicates (not shown). In the following description of this embodiment, duplicate-restricted ingredients are described as first duplicate-restricted ingredients (non-duplicable ingredients).

[0062] The score is a numerical value used as an index when extracting suggested recipes, and may be calculated in advance for each ingredient, as shown in the figure. The score may also be calculated based on weights assigned to each piece of attribute information for an ingredient. For example, with regard to the information source as one piece of attribute information, a refrigerator image may be weighted more heavily than a receipt, and a value corresponding to the weighting may be added to the score or multiplied by a coefficient corresponding to the weighting. With regard to the expiration date as one piece of attribute information, a greater weight may be assigned to an ingredient with a shorter time remaining until the expiration date, and a value corresponding to the weighting may be added to the score or multiplied by a coefficient corresponding to the weighting. With regard to the registration date as one piece of attribute information, a greater weight may be assigned to an ingredient with an older registration date, and a value corresponding to the weighting may be added to the score or multiplied by a coefficient corresponding to the weighting.

[0063] The recipe history storage unit 23 is a storage means for storing recipe history information including a history of recipes that each user has cooked in the past. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of recipe history information. The recipe history information is managed for each user and includes the date on which cooking was performed based on the recipe and the recipe name. As shown in an example in FIG. 6, the recipe history storage unit 23 stores recipe history information indicating that the recipes of "thinly sliced ​​pork steak" and "Japanese paprika" were performed on "March 20th," and recipe history information indicating that the recipes of "grilled tuna with herb breadcrumbs" and "burdock salad" were performed on "March 19th."

[0064] As will be described later, when the ingredient information update unit 15 acquires the name of a recipe cooked by the user, the acquired recipe name is stored together with the date in the recipe history storage unit 23. Also, when the name of a recipe cooked by the user is input on the user terminal T, a recipe name input via another route may be acquired by the recipe suggestion device 10 and stored in the recipe history storage unit 23. As will be described later, the recipe history information is used to calculate a score when extracting a suggested recipe.

[0065] The ingredient history storage unit 24 is a storage means for storing ingredient history information, including the history of ingredients that each user has used in cooking in the past. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of ingredient history information. The ingredient history information is managed for each user and includes the date on which the ingredient was used in cooking and the name of the ingredient. As shown in the example in FIG. 7, the ingredient history storage unit 24 stores ingredient history information indicating that "thinly sliced ​​pork" and "paprika" were used in cooking on "March 20th," and ingredient history information indicating that "fillet of tuna" and "burdock" were used in cooking on "March 19th."

[0066] As will be described later, when the ingredient information update unit 15 acquires a recipe that the user has cooked, the ingredients used in the acquired recipe are acquired by referencing the recipe information storage unit 21, and the acquired ingredients are stored together with the date in the ingredient history storage unit 24. Furthermore, when information on an ingredient purchased by the user is acquired as second ingredient information, regardless of whether the ingredient was used in cooking, the ingredient may be stored in the ingredient history storage unit 24. As will be described later, the ingredient history information is used to calculate a score when extracting a suggested recipe.

[0067] The recommended ingredient information storage unit 25 is a storage means for storing recommended ingredient information, which is information about ingredients recommended for use by the user. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of recommended ingredient information stored in the recommended ingredient information storage unit 25. As shown in FIG. 8, the recommended ingredient information includes an ingredient name associated with a suggestion source. The ingredient name is the name of an ingredient recommended for use by the user. The suggestion source is information identifying the ingredient manufacturer that suggested the use of the recommended ingredient. The recommended ingredient information may be received by the recipe suggestion device 10 from a terminal of an ingredient manufacturer that may be the source of the recommended ingredient, and registered in the recommended ingredient information storage unit 25. As described below, the recommended ingredient information is referenced when the second suggestion unit 16 suggests a recipe. The recommended ingredient information may also be referenced when the first suggestion unit 13 suggests a recipe. That is, when a recommended ingredient is included in the ingredient possession information, the first suggestion unit 13 may preferentially extract recipes that use the recommended ingredient.

[0068] Referring again to FIG. 2, the functional units of the recipe suggestion device 10 will be described. The first ingredient information acquisition unit 11 acquires first ingredient information and stores the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22 as ingredient possession information. The first ingredient information is information about ingredients possessed by a user in a specified space. In this embodiment, as an example, the first ingredient information is information about ingredients possessed in a refrigerator, as will be described below.

[0069] Specifically, the first ingredient information acquisition unit 11 acquires images of the inside of the refrigerator. For example, if an image of the inside of the refrigerator is captured by a user terminal T, the first ingredient information acquisition unit 11 acquires the image of the inside of the refrigerator transmitted from the user terminal T. If a so-called smart camera is installed inside the refrigerator, the first ingredient information acquisition unit 11 may acquire the image captured by the smart camera via a communication network or via the user terminal T and the communication network.

[0070] The first ingredient information acquisition unit 11 performs a predetermined image analysis process on the acquired image of the inside of the refrigerator to identify the ingredients contained in the image. The predetermined image analysis method is not limited, and any well-known image analysis method may be used. Examples of the image analysis method include pattern matching and identification using an ingredient identification model generated by machine learning. The first ingredient information acquisition unit 11 may acquire, as the first ingredient information, the results of image analysis performed on the user terminal T on the image of the inside of the refrigerator.

[0071] If an ingredient in an image cannot be identified due to limitations in image analysis technology, the first ingredient information acquisition unit 11 may acquire the ingredient name manually entered by the user on the user terminal T. Furthermore, as described below, information on previously purchased ingredients is acquired as the second ingredient information. Therefore, if the image recognition result does not determine whether an ingredient is ingredient A or ingredient B, but the previous purchase of ingredient A is acquired as the second ingredient information, the first ingredient information acquisition unit 11 may determine the ingredient as ingredient A. Furthermore, if the image recognition result does not determine whether an ingredient is ingredient C or ingredient D, but the ingredient history storage unit 24 indicates that the user tends to purchase ingredient C, the first ingredient information acquisition unit 11 may determine the ingredient as ingredient C.

[0072] In this way, the first ingredient information can be obtained by a simple method such as capturing an image of the space where ingredients are stored, and highly accurate ingredient possession information can be easily generated by further determining the first ingredient information based on the user's tendencies.

[0073] The second ingredient information acquisition unit 12 acquires the second ingredient information and stores the acquired second ingredient information as ingredient possession information in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22. The second ingredient information is information about ingredients added to the ingredients possessed. For example, the second ingredient information acquisition unit 12 acquires the second ingredient information based on text information in which the names of ingredients to be added are listed. The acquisition of the second ingredient information is illustrated below.

[0074] The second ingredient information acquisition unit 12 acquires an image of a receipt captured on the user terminal T, for example, and performs OCR processing on the text on the receipt to acquire the ingredient names, etc. Then, the second ingredient information acquisition unit 12 stores the ingredient names, etc. acquired from the receipt as ingredient possession information in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22. Note that the second ingredient information acquisition unit 12 may also acquire, as the second ingredient information, the results of OCR processing performed on the text on the receipt by the user terminal T.

[0075] Alternatively, the second ingredient information acquisition unit 12 may acquire POS data containing information about the ingredients purchased by the user as second ingredient information from the POS system of the store where the user purchased the ingredients via a communication network. Alternatively, if the POS data is provided to the user terminal T of the user from the POS system, the second ingredient information acquisition unit 12 may acquire the POS data from the user terminal T.

[0076] In this way, the second ingredient information can be obtained by a simple means such as obtaining and inputting text information of the list of ingredients to be added, so that highly accurate ingredient inventory information can be easily generated.

[0077] The first suggestion unit 13 refers to the recipe information and extracts, as a suggested recipe, a recipe in which all ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22. Note that the first suggestion unit 13 may also extract, as a suggested recipe, a recipe in which ingredients used in the recipe, other than seasonings, are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22. That is, when a recipe includes seasonings as ingredients used in the recipe, the first suggestion unit 13 may extract the recipe even if the seasonings are not stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22. In other words, the first suggestion unit 13 may not take into account the seasonings used in each recipe when extracting recipes from the recipe information storage unit.

[0078] Furthermore, first proposal unit 13 can extract a recipe group consisting of multiple recipes as suggested recipes. When multiple recipes are extracted as suggested recipes, if first proposal unit 13 extracts one recipe that uses overlap-limited ingredients as a suggested recipe, it does not extract other recipes that use overlap-limited ingredients among the recipes stored in the recipe information storage unit as suggested recipes.

[0079] In other words, since the recipes extracted from the recipe information as possible recipes based on the ingredient possession information do not use the same ingredients, it is possible to simultaneously prepare dishes from these recipes. Therefore, it is possible to obtain recipes for multiple meals based on a single acquisition of the first ingredient information and the second ingredient information.

[0080] An example of a recipe group extraction process by the first proposal unit 13 will be described with reference to Fig. 9. Fig. 9 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the extraction process for extracting recipes in the first proposal unit. Specifically, a predetermined number n of recipes are extracted as a recipe group according to the flowchart shown in Fig. 9.

[0081] In step S11, the first suggestion unit 13 extracts from the recipe information recipes that can be cooked using ingredients included in the ingredient possession information. Here, a recipe that can be cooked is a recipe in which all of the ingredients used in the recipe are included in the ingredient possession information. That is, the first suggestion unit 13 extracts from the recipe information storage unit 21 recipes in which all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22. Note that the first suggestion unit 13 may also extract from the recipe information storage unit 21 recipes in which all of the ingredients used, other than seasonings, are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22.

[0082] In step S12, the first suggestion unit 13 calculates a score for each recipe extracted in step S11. The first suggestion unit 13 may calculate the score for each recipe based on at least one of a weighting previously set for each ingredient and a weighting previously set for each recipe.

[0083] The method for calculating the score is not limited, but for example, if a score is associated with each ingredient as described with reference to Figure 5, the first suggestion unit 13 may calculate the score for a recipe by obtaining the scores for all ingredients used in the recipe and calculating the sum of the scores for each ingredient.

[0084] The first suggestion unit 13 may also calculate a score for each recipe based on the weight assigned to each piece of attribute information for the ingredients. For example, the first suggestion unit 13 may assign a higher weight to the refrigerator image than to the receipt, with respect to the information source of the ingredient attribute information, and add or subtract a value according to the weighting to the score, or multiply the score by a coefficient according to the weighting. By calculating the score for each recipe in this way, recipes using ingredients in the refrigerator (i.e., ingredients whose information has been acquired as the first ingredient information) can be preferentially extracted as suggested recipes.

[0085] Furthermore, the first suggestion unit 13 may assign a greater weight to ingredients whose expiration date and best-before date are shorter than the present date, and add or subtract a value according to the weighting to the score, or multiply the score by a coefficient according to the weighting. By calculating the score of each recipe in this way, recipes using ingredients whose expiration date and best-before date are shorter than the present date can be preferentially extracted as suggested recipes.

[0086] The first suggestion unit 13 may also calculate a score for each recipe by referring to the recipe history information. Specifically, when the recipe for which the score is calculated is stored in the recipe history storage unit 23 as recipe history information for a recipe that has been cooked in the past, the first suggestion unit 13 may add or subtract a predetermined value to the score or multiply the score by a predetermined coefficient. Conversely, when the recipe for which the score is calculated is not stored in the recipe history storage unit 23 as recipe history information for a recipe that has been cooked in the past, the first suggestion unit 13 may add or subtract a predetermined value to the score or multiply the score by a predetermined coefficient. By calculating the recipe scores in this way, it is possible to preferentially suggest recipes that the user has cooked, or preferentially suggest recipes that the user has not cooked.

[0087] The first suggestion unit 13 may also calculate the score of each recipe by referring to the ingredient history information. Specifically, if an ingredient used in a recipe for which a score is to be calculated is stored in the ingredient history storage unit 24 as ingredient history information that the user has used in the past, the first suggestion unit 13 may assign a predetermined weight to the ingredient. The first suggestion unit 13 may then add or subtract a value corresponding to the weighting based on the ingredient history information to the score, or multiply the score by a coefficient corresponding to the weighting. By calculating the recipe score in this manner, it is possible to preferentially suggest recipes that use ingredients that the user has used in the past, or to preferentially suggest recipes that use ingredients that the user has not used.

[0088] In addition, if a score is previously associated with each recipe in the recipe information storage unit 21, the first proposal unit 13 may acquire that score and use it as the score for each recipe, or may add or subtract based on weighting to the acquired score, or multiply it by a coefficient based on weighting.

[0089] In step S13, the first proposal unit 13 extracts one recipe from among a predetermined number of recipes with the highest scores calculated in step S12 from the plurality of recipes extracted in step S11.

[0090] Specifically, for example, the first suggestion unit 13 sorts the multiple recipes extracted in step S11 in descending order of score. Then, the first suggestion unit 13 extracts a predetermined number of top-ranked recipes from the sorted recipes. Here, the predetermined number for the number of recipes to be extracted from the sorted recipes may be 1, or may be 2, 3, or more. If the predetermined number is 1, the first suggestion unit extracts the top-ranked recipe with the highest score from the sorted recipes. By extracting recipes in this way, it is possible to extract, as suggested recipes, a group of recipes with the highest total score from a group of recipes that can be cooked simultaneously using ingredients included in the ingredient possession information.

[0091] Furthermore, if the predetermined number is two or more, the first suggestion unit 13 further extracts one recipe, for example, randomly, from the recipes extracted from the sorted recipes. In this case, the total score of the recipes extracted as suggested recipes can be maintained at a certain high value, while the recipe extraction can be made random. Therefore, as will be described later, when the first suggestion unit 13 extracts a recipe group again in response to a user's specified input, it can extract a recipe group different from the recipe group extracted previously.

[0092] In step S14, the ingredients used in the recipe extracted in step S13 are deleted from the ingredient possession information. That is, the recipe extracted based on the ingredient possession information from which the ingredients have been deleted does not contain ingredients that overlap with the recipe extracted in step S13, so both recipes can be cooked simultaneously.

[0093] In step S15, the first proposal unit 13 determines whether or not a predetermined number n of recipes have been extracted. If it is determined that the predetermined number n of recipes have been extracted, the recipe group extraction process by the first proposal unit 13 ends. On the other hand, if it is not determined that the predetermined number n of recipes have been extracted, the process returns to step S11, and steps S11 to S14 are repeated until the predetermined number n of recipes have been extracted.

[0094] This extraction process makes it possible to extract, as suggested recipes, a group of recipes that preferentially include recipes with high scores calculated based on a predetermined weighting. Furthermore, since one recipe is extracted by calculating the score for each recipe, the amount of calculation required for the process of extracting suggested recipes can be reduced.

[0095] Next, we will explain another example of the process of extracting suggested recipes by the first suggestion unit 13. In this other example of the extraction process, first, the first suggestion unit 13 generates one or more recipe groups each consisting of a combination of multiple recipes in which all of the ingredients used (which may be ingredients excluding seasonings) are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit and the overlap-restricted ingredients do not overlap with each other in each recipe.

[0096] Next, the first proposal unit 13 calculates the score of each of the recipes included in each recipe group based on a predetermined weighting. The calculation of the score of each recipe is similar to the example of score calculation described with reference to FIG.

[0097] Then, the first proposal unit 13 calculates the sum of the scores of the multiple recipes included in each recipe group, and extracts the recipe group with the largest sum of the calculated scores as the suggested recipe.

[0098] This extraction process comprehensively extracts a recipe group consisting of multiple recipes that can be cooked simultaneously, and then extracts the recipe group with the highest calculated score. By expressing the priority of ingredients to be suggested to the user in advance as weights for the ingredients, it is possible to extract a recipe group consisting of recipes that are desired to be suggested to the user with higher priority.

[0099] 2 again, the output unit 14 outputs the suggested recipes extracted by the first suggestion unit 13. Specifically, the output unit 14 extracts recipe information for each recipe included in the suggested recipes from the recipe information storage unit 21, and transmits the extracted recipe information to the user terminal T. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on the user terminal T displaying the suggested recipes. As shown in FIG. 10, the display screen D1 displayed on the user terminal T includes recipe information r11 to r16 for multiple recipes included in the suggested recipes. For example, when the user performs a designation input (e.g., a touch operation) to designate one of the displayed recipe information r11 to r16, information such as the cooking method for the designated recipe is displayed.

[0100] 2, the ingredient information update unit 15 updates the ingredient inventory information based on user input. Specifically, the ingredient information update unit 15 may delete from the ingredient inventory information ingredients used in a recipe selected by the user from the group of suggested recipes output by the output unit 14. That is, when the user terminal T receives an input specifying a recipe cooked by the user from the group of suggested recipes displayed on the user terminal T, information on the specified recipe is sent from the user terminal T to the recipe suggestion device 10, and the ingredient information update unit 15 acquires the information on the recipe specified and input by the user, acquires the ingredients used in the recipe as consumed ingredients by referring to the recipe information, and deletes the information on the consumed ingredients from the ingredient inventory information.

[0101] The ingredient information update unit 15 may also delete ingredients specified by the user from the ingredient inventory information. Specifically, the ingredient information update unit 15 may acquire information about ingredients consumed by the user when cooking based on the suggested recipe output by the output unit 14 from the user terminal T based on the user's designated input, and delete the consumed ingredients from the ingredient inventory information. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen for inputting consumed ingredients on the user terminal T. As shown in FIG. 11, the input screen D2 includes lists 111 to 113 of ingredient inventory information. Each ingredient name included in the lists 111 to 113 is associated with a button b for specifying the consumed ingredient. When the user terminal T accepts an input operation (e.g., a touch operation) by the user on the button b corresponding to the consumed ingredient, information about the specified ingredient is transmitted from the user terminal T to the recipe suggestion device 10, and the ingredient information update unit 15 acquires the information about the ingredients designated and input by the user and deletes the acquired information about the ingredients from the ingredient inventory information.

[0102] After the ingredient information update unit 15 updates the ingredient possession information in this manner, the first suggestion unit 13 may re-extract the suggested recipe based on the ingredient possession information from which the ingredients have been deleted by the ingredient information update unit 15. The re-extraction of the suggested recipe may be triggered by the first suggestion unit 13 receiving a re-extraction instruction from the user terminal T.

[0103] In this way, the ingredient information update unit 15 updates the ingredient information based on the user's input of the cooked recipe or consumed ingredients, thereby improving the accuracy of the ingredient information. Furthermore, recipes using ingredients other than the consumed ingredients can be suggested to the user again.

[0104] Referring again to FIG. 2 , the second suggestion unit 16 references the recipe information and extracts one or more recipes in which all of the remaining ingredients, excluding a predetermined number of ingredients from the ingredients used, are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22, and the predetermined number of ingredients are not stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22. Specifically, the second suggestion unit 16 extracts one or more recipes that can be prepared by adding a predetermined number of ingredients to the ingredients included in the ingredient possession information. As described above, the first ingredient information is information on ingredients possessed by the user, and the second ingredient information is information on ingredients that have been purchased and added to the ingredients possessed. Therefore, by having the second suggestion unit 16 suggest a recipe before the ingredients are purchased, the user can be encouraged to purchase specific ingredients.

[0105] In this embodiment, the second suggestion unit 16 extracts recipes that can be prepared by adding one ingredient to the ingredients included in the ingredient possession information. Specifically, the second suggestion unit 16 extracts recipes from the recipe information storage unit 21 that use one ingredient not included in the ingredient possession information and ingredients included in the ingredient possession information.

[0106] The second suggestion unit 16 may refer to the ingredient history information and extract recipes that use ingredients that are not included in the ingredient possession information and that the user has never used, and ingredients that are included in the ingredient possession information, from the recipe information storage unit 21. By suggesting such recipes to the user, it is possible to motivate the user to purchase ingredients that they have never purchased before.

[0107] Furthermore, the second suggestion unit 16 may extract recipes that use one specific ingredient not included in the ingredient possession information and ingredients included in the ingredient possession information from the recipe information stored in the recipe information storage unit 21. When extracting such recipes, the second suggestion unit 16 may limit the one specific ingredient. Specifically, the second suggestion unit 16 may refer to recommended ingredient information in which recommended ingredients, which are ingredients that the user is desired to purchase, are registered in advance, and extract recipes that use the recommended ingredients and ingredients included in the ingredient possession information from the recipe information stored in the recipe information storage unit 21.

[0108] For example, seasonal ingredients, sale ingredients, ingredients that food manufacturers want users to purchase, etc. are acquired in advance by the recipe suggestion device 10 and registered as recommended ingredient information, so that recipes using these recommended ingredients can be suggested to users.

[0109] When the second suggestion unit 16 extracts a recipe, the output unit 14 outputs the recipe extracted by the second suggestion unit 16 to the user terminal T. Fig. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a screen on the user terminal T displaying recipes that can be cooked by adding certain ingredients (recommended ingredients) to ingredients included in the ingredient possession information. Specifically, the screen D3 includes four pieces of recipe information r21 to r24 that use Chinese cabbage as a recommended ingredient.

[0110] Furthermore, after the recipe extracted by the second proposal unit 16 is output to the user terminal T, the first proposal unit 13 may extract, as a suggested recipe, at least one recipe that does not use the overlap-restricted ingredients used in the recipe extracted by the second proposal unit 16. In this case, the output unit 14 outputs the recipe extracted by the second proposal unit 16 and the suggested recipe proposed by the first proposal unit 13 together.

[0111] 2 again, the designation receiving unit 17 receives a user designation for one or more recipes among the plurality of recipes included in the proposed recipes output by the output unit 14. Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of an input screen that receives a user designation input for the proposed recipe displayed on the user terminal T.

[0112] Specifically, the user can select a recipe to adopt from the group of recipes displayed on the user terminal T and specify the selected recipe. Alternatively, the user can select a recipe not to adopt from the suggested recipes displayed on the user terminal T and specify the selected recipe. On the screen D4 shown in FIG. 13, a check mark C indicating a designated input is displayed on the recipes r11, r14, and r16 selected as the recipes to adopt from among the multiple recipes r11 to r16.

[0113] When a designation input for the output suggested recipe is accepted by the designation acceptance unit 17, the first proposal unit 13 re-extracts at least one recipe in which, if a duplicate-restricted ingredient is used in the recipe whose designation is accepted by the designation acceptance unit 17, all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22 and the duplicate-restricted ingredient is not used.

[0114] In addition, when the designation receiving unit 17 receives a designation input for a recipe that is not to be adopted, if a duplicate-restricted ingredient is used in a recipe from the group of recipes output by the output unit 14 for which the designation was not received by the designation receiving unit 17, the first suggestion unit 13 re-extracts at least one recipe in which all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22 and the duplicate-restricted ingredient is not used.

[0115] The re-extraction of a recipe by the first suggestion unit 13 may be triggered by inputting an instruction for re-extraction following input of a selected recipe designation in the user terminal T. The output unit 14 outputs the recipe selected as the recipe to be adopted and the recipe re-extracted by the first suggestion unit 13 together to the user terminal T for display.

[0116] In this way, by outputting the suggested recipe from the output unit 14, even if a recipe has been suggested to the user, it is possible to re-extract recipes other than the recipe specified by the user from the group of recipes included in the suggested recipes. This allows the user to receive a proposal of a desired recipe. Furthermore, when a designation input for a recipe not to be adopted is received, it is possible to re-extract recipes other than the recipe not specified by the user from the group of recipes included in the suggested recipes. This allows the user to receive a proposal of a desired recipe.

[0117] Next, the operation of the recipe suggestion device 10 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 14. Fig. 14 is a flowchart showing the processing content of the recipe suggestion method performed in the recipe suggestion device 10.

[0118] In step S1, the first ingredient information acquisition unit 11 acquires the first ingredient information and stores the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22 as ingredient possession information.

[0119] In step S2, second ingredient information is acquired, and the acquired second ingredient information is stored in ingredient possession information storage unit 22 as ingredient possession information.

[0120] Before the processing of step S2, the second suggestion unit 16 may refer to the recipe information and extract one or more recipes that can be cooked by adding a predetermined number of ingredients (the predetermined number is, for example, 1) to the ingredients included in the ingredient possession information. The recipes extracted by the second suggestion unit 16 are transmitted to the user terminal T by the output unit 14 and displayed on the user terminal T.

[0121] In step S3, the first proposing unit 13 refers to the recipe information and extracts recipes in which all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit 22 as suggested recipes.

[0122] In step S4, the output unit 14 outputs the proposed recipe extracted by the first proposal unit 13. The proposed recipe is output, for example, in a form such as transmitting recipe information to the user terminal T and displaying it on the user terminal T.

[0123] In step S5, the ingredient information update unit 15 determines whether or not there has been an update to the ingredient information entered into the user terminal T and transmitted to the recipe suggestion device 10. The update to the ingredient information may be, for example, the specification of recipe information for a dish cooked by the user, or the specification of ingredients consumed by the user when cooking. If it is determined that there has been an update to the ingredient information, the process proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, if it is not determined that there has been an update to the ingredient information, the process proceeds to step S7.

[0124] In step S6, the ingredient information update unit 15 deletes the consumed ingredient from the ingredient possession information based on the update input.

[0125] In step S7, the first proposal unit 13 determines whether an instruction to re-propose the recipe has been received. The instruction to re-propose the recipe is transmitted, for example, from the user terminal T to which the user has input the instruction to re-propose the recipe. If it is determined that the instruction to re-propose the recipe has been received, the process proceeds to step S8. On the other hand, if it is not determined that the instruction to re-propose the recipe has been received, the process returns to step S5.

[0126] In step S8, the first suggestion unit 13 determines whether to accept the input of the first ingredient information and the second ingredient information based on the instruction information from the user terminal T. That is, when the user inputs an instruction to re-acquire the first ingredient information and the second ingredient information at the user terminal T, the user terminal T transmits instruction information to that effect to the recipe suggestion device 10. If it is determined that the input of the first ingredient information and the second ingredient information is accepted, the process returns to step S1. On the other hand, if it is not determined that the input of the first ingredient information and the second ingredient information is accepted, the process returns to step S3.

[0127] In the recipe suggestion method of the present embodiment described above, after extracting (S3) and outputting (S4) a suggested recipe, the ingredient possession information is updated (S6) without first and second ingredient information acquisition (S1, S2), and the suggested recipe can be extracted (S3) and output (S4) again. Therefore, the user does not need to acquire the first ingredient information (e.g., taking an image of the inside of the refrigerator) and the second ingredient information (acquiring information on the receipt for purchased ingredients) each time a group of recipes is proposed. In other words, the user can receive multiple groups of recipes by acquiring the first ingredient information and the second ingredient information once. Due to the features of the recipe suggestion method of the present embodiment, for example, the user can receive multiple (e.g., two or three) suggested recipes corresponding to a week's worth of menus by performing the cumbersome tasks of taking an image of the inside of the refrigerator and acquiring information on the receipt for purchased ingredients once a week, and inputting information on consumed ingredients into the user terminal T each time a group of recipes is proposed.

[0128] According to the recipe suggestion device 10, recipe suggestion method, and recipe suggestion program of this embodiment described above, first ingredient information about ingredients held in a specified space and second ingredient information about ingredients added to the held ingredients are obtained, and ingredient holding information is generated based on the two pieces of ingredient information, the first ingredient information and the second ingredient information, thereby improving the accuracy of the information about held ingredients.

[0129] The present invention has been described in detail above based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various modifications of the present invention are possible without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention.

[0130] The recipe suggestion device 10, recipe suggestion method, recipe suggestion program, and recipe suggestion system of the present disclosure may have the following configuration. [1] A recipe suggestion device that suggests cooking recipes to a user device, an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information on ingredients possessed by a user; a first ingredient information acquisition unit that acquires first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients held by a user in a predetermined space, and stores the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; A second ingredient information acquisition unit acquires second ingredient information, which is information about ingredients added to the ingredients currently held, and stores the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information that associates the recipe with ingredients used in the recipe; a first suggestion unit that refers to the recipe information storage unit and extracts, as a suggested recipe, a recipe in which ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit; an output unit that outputs the proposed recipe to the user device; A recipe suggestion device comprising: [2] the first ingredient information acquisition unit acquires the first ingredient information based on an image captured of the space in which ingredients are held; [1] The recipe suggestion device described in [1]. [3] the second ingredient information acquisition unit acquires the second ingredient information based on purchase data related to ingredients purchased by the user; The recipe suggestion device according to [1] or [2]. [4] An ingredient information update unit that updates the ingredient possession information based on the input by the user, The first suggestion unit re-extracts the suggested recipe based on the ingredient possession information updated by the ingredient information update unit. The recipe suggestion device according to any one of [1] to [3]. [5] the ingredient information update unit deletes ingredients used in the recipe selected by the user from the suggested recipe output by the output unit from the ingredient possession information storage unit; The first suggestion unit re-extracts the suggested recipe based on the ingredient possession information from which the ingredient has been deleted by the ingredient information update unit. [4] The recipe suggestion device described in [4]. [6] The ingredient information update unit deletes the ingredient designated by the user from the ingredient possession information storage unit, The first suggestion unit re-extracts the suggested recipe based on the ingredient possession information from which the ingredient has been deleted by the ingredient information update unit. [4] or [5]. The recipe suggestion device. [7] The first proposal unit extracting a group of recipes consisting of a plurality of recipes as the proposed recipes; When a recipe using an ingredient stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit as a duplicate-restricted ingredient, which is an ingredient that is not duplicately extracted as an ingredient used in a plurality of recipes, is extracted as the proposed recipe, other recipes stored in the recipe information storage unit that use the ingredient corresponding to the duplicate-restricted ingredient are not extracted as the proposed recipe. The recipe suggestion device according to any one of [1] to [6]. [8] The first proposal unit Extracting a recipe in which all ingredients used are stored in the ingredient information storage unit; Calculating a score for each of the extracted recipes based on a predetermined weighting; Extracting one recipe from a predetermined number of recipes with the highest score as the i-th (i=1, 2, ..., n) recipe; and Deleting the ingredients used in the i-th recipe from the ingredient possession information; is repeated from the first to nth times, and the first to nth recipes are extracted as the suggested recipes. [7] The recipe suggestion device described in [7]. [9] The first proposal unit Generate one or more recipe groups each consisting of a combination of a plurality of recipes in which all ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit, and the overlap-restricted ingredients do not overlap with each other in each recipe; Calculating a score for each of the recipes included in each recipe group based on a predetermined weighting; extracting the recipe group having the highest total score of the included recipes as the suggested recipe; [7] The recipe suggestion device described in [7].

[10] the first suggestion unit calculates the score of each recipe based on at least one of a weighting previously set for each of the ingredients and a weighting previously set for each of the recipes; [8] or [9]. The recipe suggestion device.

[11] The apparatus further includes a designation receiving unit that receives a designation by a user for one or more recipes among a plurality of recipes included in the proposed recipes output by the output unit, When the duplicate-restricted ingredient is used in a recipe whose designation has been accepted by the designation accepting unit, the first suggestion unit re-extracts at least one recipe in which all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit and the duplicate-restricted ingredient is not used. The recipe suggestion device according to any one of [7] to

[10] .

[12] The apparatus further includes a designation receiving unit that receives a designation by a user for one or more recipes among a plurality of recipes included in the proposed recipes output by the output unit, When the duplicate-restricted ingredient is used in a recipe whose designation has not been accepted by the designation accepting unit among the proposed recipes output by the output unit, the first suggestion unit re-extracts at least one recipe in which all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit and the duplicate-restricted ingredient is not used. The recipe suggestion device according to any one of [7] to

[10] .

[13] a second suggestion unit that refers to the recipe information storage unit and extracts one or more recipes in which all of the remaining ingredients, excluding a predetermined number of ingredients from the ingredients used, are stored in the ingredient storage information storage unit; The output unit outputs the recipe proposed by the second proposal unit. The recipe suggestion device according to any one of [1] to

[12] .

[14] The system further includes a recommended ingredient storage unit that stores recommended ingredients recommended for purchase by the user, the second suggestion unit extracts one or more recipes that use the recommended ingredients, and all ingredients other than the recommended ingredients among the ingredients used in the recipes are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit;

[13] The recipe suggestion device described in

[13] .

[15] A recipe suggestion method in a recipe suggestion device that suggests cooking recipes to a user device, comprising: The recipe suggestion device includes: an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information on ingredients possessed by a user; a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information that associates the recipe with ingredients used in the recipe, The recipe suggestion method includes: a first ingredient information acquisition step of acquiring first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients held by a user in a predetermined space, and storing the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; A second ingredient information acquisition step of acquiring second ingredient information, which is information on ingredients added to the ingredients currently held, and storing the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; a first proposing step of referring to the recipe information storage unit and extracting, as a proposed recipe, a recipe whose ingredients are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit; an output step of outputting the proposed recipe to the user device; A recipe suggestion method having the above steps.

[16] A recipe suggestion program for causing a computer to function as a recipe suggestion device that suggests cooking recipes to a user device, The recipe suggestion device includes: an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information on ingredients possessed by a user; a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information that associates the recipe with ingredients used in the recipe, The recipe suggestion program is configured to: A first ingredient information acquisition function that acquires first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients held by a user in a predetermined space, and stores the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; A second ingredient information acquisition function that acquires second ingredient information, which is information about ingredients added to the ingredients currently held, and stores the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; a first suggestion function that refers to the recipe information storage unit and extracts, as a suggested recipe, a recipe whose ingredients are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit; an output function for outputting the proposed recipe to the user device; A recipe suggestion program that makes this possible.

[17] A recipe suggestion system that suggests cooking recipes to a user device, an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information on ingredients possessed by a user; a first ingredient information acquisition unit that acquires first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients held by a user in a predetermined space, and stores the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; A second ingredient information acquisition unit acquires second ingredient information, which is information about ingredients added to the ingredients currently held, and stores the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information that associates the recipe with ingredients used in the recipe; a first suggestion unit that refers to the recipe information storage unit and extracts, as a suggested recipe, a recipe in which ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit; an output unit that outputs the proposed recipe to the user device; A recipe suggestion system comprising: [Explanation of symbols]

[0131] 1... proposal system, 10... recipe proposal device, 11... first ingredient information acquisition unit, 12... second ingredient information acquisition unit, 13... first proposal unit, 14... output unit, 15... ingredient information update unit, 16... second proposal unit, 17... designation reception unit, 21... recipe information storage unit, 22... ingredient possession information storage unit, 23... recipe history storage unit, 24... ingredient history storage unit, 25... recommended ingredient information storage unit, P1... server program.

Claims

1. A recipe suggestion device that suggests cooking recipes to a user device, an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information on ingredients possessed by a user; A first ingredient information acquisition unit acquires first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients held by a user in a predetermined space, and stores the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; A second ingredient information acquisition unit acquires second ingredient information, which is information on ingredients added to the ingredients currently held, and stores the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information that associates the recipe with ingredients used in the recipe; a first suggestion unit that refers to the recipe information storage unit and extracts, as a suggested recipe, a recipe in which ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit; an output unit that outputs the proposed recipe to the user device, The first ingredient information acquisition unit acquires the first ingredient information based on an image of the space captured by a camera installed in the space where the ingredient is held or a camera installed in the user's terminal, The recipe suggestion device further includes a recommended ingredient storage unit that stores recommended ingredients recommended for purchase by the user, the first suggestion unit refers to the recipe information storage unit, and extracts, as a suggested recipe, a recipe in which ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit and the recommended ingredient storage unit; Recipe suggestion device.

2. the second ingredient information acquisition unit acquires the second ingredient information based on purchase data related to ingredients purchased by the user; The recipe suggestion device according to claim 1 .

3. An ingredient information update unit that updates the ingredient possession information based on the input by the user, The first suggestion unit re-extracts the suggested recipe based on the ingredient possession information updated by the ingredient information update unit. The recipe suggestion device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. the ingredient information update unit deletes ingredients used in the recipe selected by the user from the suggested recipe output by the output unit from the ingredient possession information storage unit; The first suggestion unit re-extracts the suggested recipe based on the ingredient possession information from which the ingredient has been deleted by the ingredient information update unit. The recipe suggestion device according to claim 3 .

5. The ingredient information update unit deletes the ingredient specified by the user from the ingredient possession information storage unit, The first suggestion unit re-extracts the suggested recipe based on the ingredient possession information from which the ingredient has been deleted by the ingredient information update unit. The recipe suggestion device according to claim 3 or 4.

6. The first proposal unit extracting a group of recipes consisting of a plurality of recipes as the proposed recipes; When a recipe using an ingredient stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit as a duplicate-restricted ingredient, which is an ingredient that is not duplicately extracted as an ingredient used in a plurality of recipes, is extracted as the proposed recipe, other recipes stored in the recipe information storage unit that use the ingredient corresponding to the duplicate-restricted ingredient are not extracted as the proposed recipe. The recipe suggestion device according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The first proposal unit Extracting a recipe in which all ingredients used are stored in the ingredient information storage unit; Calculating a score for each of the extracted recipes based on a predetermined weighting; Extracting one recipe from a predetermined number of recipes with the highest score as the i-th (i=1, 2, . . . n) recipe; and Deleting the ingredients used in the recipe i from the ingredient possession information; is repeated from the first time to the nth time, and the first to nth recipes are extracted as the proposed recipes. The recipe suggestion device according to claim 6 .

8. The first proposal unit generating one or more recipe groups each consisting of a combination of a plurality of recipes in which all ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit, and the overlap-restricted ingredients do not overlap with each other in each recipe; Calculating a score for each of the recipes included in each recipe group based on a predetermined weighting; extracting the recipe group having the highest total score of the included recipes as the suggested recipe; The recipe suggestion device according to claim 6 .

9. the first suggestion unit calculates the score of each recipe based on at least one of a weighting previously set for each of the ingredients and a weighting previously set for each of the recipes; The recipe suggestion device according to claim 7 or 8.

10. a designation receiving unit that receives a designation by a user for one or more recipes among a plurality of recipes included in the proposed recipes output by the output unit, When the duplicate-restricted ingredient is used in a recipe whose designation has been accepted by the designation accepting unit, the first suggestion unit re-extracts at least one recipe in which all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit and the duplicate-restricted ingredient is not used. The recipe suggestion device according to any one of claims 6 to 9.

11. a designation receiving unit that receives a designation by a user for one or more recipes among a plurality of recipes included in the proposed recipes output by the output unit, When the duplicate-restricted ingredient is used in a recipe whose designation has not been accepted by the designation accepting unit among the proposed recipes output by the output unit, the first suggestion unit re-extracts at least one recipe in which all of the ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit and the duplicate-restricted ingredient is not used. The recipe suggestion device according to any one of claims 6 to 9.

12. a second suggestion unit that refers to the recipe information storage unit and extracts one or more recipes in which all of the remaining ingredients, excluding a predetermined number of ingredients from the ingredients used, are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit; the output unit outputs the recipe proposed by the second proposal unit. The recipe suggestion device according to any one of claims 1 to 11.

13. the second suggestion unit extracts one or more recipes that use the recommended ingredients, and all ingredients other than the recommended ingredients among the ingredients used in the recipes are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit; The recipe suggestion device according to claim 12.

14. A recipe suggestion method in a recipe suggestion device that suggests cooking recipes to a user device, comprising: The recipe suggestion device includes: an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information on ingredients possessed by a user; a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information that associates the recipe with ingredients used in the recipe; a recommended ingredient storage unit that stores recommended ingredients that are recommended for purchase to a user; The recipe suggestion method includes: A first ingredient information acquisition step of acquiring first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients held by a user in a predetermined space, and storing the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; A second ingredient information acquisition step of acquiring second ingredient information, which is information on ingredients added to the ingredients currently held, and storing the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; a first proposing step of referring to the recipe information storage unit and extracting, as a proposed recipe, a recipe whose ingredients are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit; an output step of outputting the proposed recipe to the user device, In the first ingredient information acquisition step, the first ingredient information is acquired based on an image of the space captured by a camera installed in the space where the ingredient is held or a camera installed in the user's terminal, In the first suggestion step, the recipe information storage unit is referenced, and recipes whose ingredients are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit and the recommended ingredient storage unit are extracted as suggested recipes. How to suggest recipes.

15. A recipe suggestion program for causing a computer to function as a recipe suggestion device that suggests cooking recipes to a user device, The recipe suggestion device includes: an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information on ingredients possessed by a user; a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information that associates the recipe with ingredients used in the recipe; a recommended ingredient storage unit that stores recommended ingredients that are recommended for purchase to a user; The recipe suggestion program is configured to: A first ingredient information acquisition function that acquires first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients held by a user in a predetermined space, and stores the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; A second ingredient information acquisition function that acquires second ingredient information, which is information on ingredients added to the ingredients currently held, and stores the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; a first suggestion function that refers to the recipe information storage unit and extracts, as a suggested recipe, a recipe in which ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit; an output function for outputting the proposed recipe to the user device; The first ingredient information acquisition function acquires the first ingredient information based on an image of the space captured by a camera installed in the space where the ingredient is held or a camera installed in the user's terminal, The first suggestion function refers to the recipe information storage unit, and extracts, as a suggested recipe, a recipe in which ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit and the recommended ingredient storage unit. Recipe suggestion program.

16. A recipe suggestion system that suggests cooking recipes to a user device, an ingredient possession information storage unit that stores ingredient possession information indicating information on ingredients possessed by a user; A first ingredient information acquisition unit acquires first ingredient information, which is information about ingredients held by a user in a predetermined space, and stores the acquired first ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; A second ingredient information acquisition unit acquires second ingredient information, which is information on ingredients added to the ingredients currently held, and stores the acquired second ingredient information in the ingredient holding information storage unit; a recipe information storage unit that stores recipe information that associates the recipe with ingredients used in the recipe; a first suggestion unit that refers to the recipe information storage unit and extracts, as a suggested recipe, a recipe in which ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit; an output unit that outputs the proposed recipe to the user device, The first ingredient information acquisition unit acquires the first ingredient information based on an image of the space captured by a camera installed in the space where the ingredient is held or a camera installed in the user's terminal, The recipe suggestion system further includes a recommended ingredient storage unit that stores recommended ingredients recommended for purchase by the user, the first suggestion unit refers to the recipe information storage unit, and extracts, as a suggested recipe, a recipe in which ingredients used are stored in the ingredient possession information storage unit and the recommended ingredient storage unit; Recipe suggestion system.

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