Apparatus, method, and program for performing gifting.

Abstract

To support a reply to gifting in a method for the gifting.SOLUTION: A device 100 receives, from a fan terminal 110, a purchase request for purchasing a gift, where a target person for gifting and the gift are selected. Then, the device 100 transmits notification of the gifting to a player terminal 120 used by a player, the target of the gifting, and the player receiving the notification inputs a reply for the gifting. The device 100 receiving the reply information generates a reply image including the reply, and gives an NFT associated with the reply image to the fan who has given the gift. When an intention to transfer the NFT is transmitted from the fan terminal 110, the device 100 transmits, to the player terminal 120 of the player who has made the reply, notification that the NFT associated with the reply image including the reply has been transferred.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus, a method, and a program for gifting.

Background Art

[0002] Sports teams mainly rely on revenue sources such as ticket sales for games held at stadiums, advertising revenue from sponsors, broadcast rights revenue for broadcasting or distributing games, and merchandise sales revenue for goods related to the team or its players. The revenue thus obtained is used for player compensation, player development, etc.

[0003] Among these revenue sources, merchandise sales, unlike ticket sales, can be carried out at any time regardless of the presence of a game, and is promising as a means to strengthen the operating foundation of a sports team. The applicant provides a mechanism called "gifting" that allows fans to sell digital content called gifts and give them to a team or its players. On the website "Engate (registered trademark)" provided by the applicant, web pages for each team can be viewed, and gifts can be given by designating a team or its player as the recipient. When gifting is performed, on the relevant page, it is displayed who gave which gift to whom. For example, fans can convey the feelings they have about the game content by performing gifting during the game, and can convey feelings such as expectations and support for the team or its players by performing gifting before and after the game.

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When gifting is performed by designating a player as the recipient, although the player can send a reply, that is, a response to convey gratitude, etc., well-known players who are expected to reply by fans have more time constraints, and replies are not often made.

[0005] This situation, where it is difficult to receive replies to gifts, is not limited to gifts from sports fans, but can also be expected to occur when gifts are sent to various celebrities such as artists and comedians.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of these points, and its purpose is to support replies to gifting in an apparatus, method, and program for gifting. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] To achieve this objective, a first aspect of the present invention is a method for performing gifting, comprising: a device receiving a purchase request for a gift from a user terminal used by a user, in which the recipient of the gift and the gift have been selected; the device transmitting a notification to a recipient terminal used by the recipient that the gifting has been performed; the device generating an image that includes at least a portion of the reply to the gifting received from the recipient terminal; the device granting the user an NFT associated with the image; and the device transmitting a notification to the recipient terminal that the granted NFT has been transferred.

[0008] Furthermore, a second aspect of the present invention is the method of the first aspect, wherein the granting step includes the step of the device requesting the granting of the NFT from an NFT server that can communicate with the device.

[0009] Furthermore, a third aspect of the present invention is the method of the second aspect, wherein the granting step includes the steps of the device requesting an NFT server, which can communicate with the device, to issue an NFT and associate the image with the NFT, with the issuer address corresponding to the target person or the organization to which the person belongs as the owner; and the steps of the device requesting the NFT server to transfer the NFT to which the image is associated to a user address corresponding to the user.

[0010] Furthermore, a fourth aspect of the present invention is a method according to any of the first to third aspects, wherein the image further includes the name of the subject person, the date and time the subject person entered the reply, and the serial number of the reply entered by the subject person.

[0011] Furthermore, a fifth aspect of the present invention is the method of the fourth aspect, wherein the image includes a pre-registered image associated with the target person.

[0012] Furthermore, a sixth aspect of the present invention is the method of the fourth or fifth aspect, wherein the image is a set of images relating to the subject person, and the NFT is associated with a single file representing the set of images.

[0013] Furthermore, a seventh aspect of the present invention is a method according to any of the first to sixth aspects, further comprising the step that, in response to the device receiving an NFT collection display request for the display of an NFT collection, transmits to the user terminal that transmitted the NFT collection display request display information for displaying an NFT collection display screen, which includes one or more images associated with one or more NFTs identified by one or more NFT identifiers associated with a user identifier included in the NFT collection display request.

[0014] Furthermore, an eighth aspect of the present invention is the method of the seventh aspect, wherein the NFT collection display screen includes a display element for indicating an intention to transfer an NFT associated with an image displayed on the NFT collection display screen.

[0015] Furthermore, a ninth aspect of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to perform a method for gifting, the method comprising: receiving a purchase request for a gift from a user terminal used by the user, in which the recipient of the gift and the gift have been selected; sending a notification to a recipient terminal used by the recipient that the gifting has been performed; generating an image that includes at least a portion of the reply to the gifting received from the recipient terminal; granting the user an NFT associated with the image; and sending a notification to the recipient terminal that the granted NFT has been transferred.

[0016] Furthermore, a tenth aspect of the present invention is a device for performing gifting, which receives a purchase request for a gift selected by the user from a user terminal used by the user, sends a notification to the target person's terminal used by the target person that the gifting has been performed, generates an image that includes at least a portion of the reply to the gifting received from the target person's terminal, assigns an NFT associated with the image to the user, and sends a notification to the target person's terminal that the assigned NFT has been transferred. [Effects of the Invention]

[0017] According to one aspect of the present invention, an image is generated that includes at least a portion of the replies from the recipient of a gift, and the recipient can be notified when the NFT associated with the image is transferred. This makes the monetary value of replies visible and encourages replies. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0018] [Figure 1] This figure shows an apparatus for performing gifting according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This diagram shows the flow of a method for performing gifting according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3A]This figure shows an example of a reply image related to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3B] This figure shows an example of a reply image related to one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] This diagram shows the flow of NFT assignment according to one embodiment of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0019] Embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

[0020] Figure 1 shows a device according to one embodiment of the present invention. The device 100 communicates with a user terminal 110 used by a user via an IP network such as the Internet and provides a gifting service that allows gifting. The device 100 also communicates with a target person terminal 120 used by the recipient of the gift, such as a sports player, via an IP network such as the Internet, and enables replies to gifts selected for that target person. Furthermore, the device 100 communicates with an NFT server 130 that issues non-fungible tokens (hereinafter referred to as "NFTs") via an IP network such as the Internet and grants the NFT associated with the reply to the user. The device 100 can also communicate with an administrator terminal 140 used by an administrator who manages the reply settings for the target person or the sports team, sports organization, or other organization to which the target person belongs, via an IP network such as the Internet, and receive setting information. Here, "gifting" refers to a user purchasing digital content called a gift for a specific target, and "purchase" refers to the payment of consideration. In the present invention, the target can be a person such as a sports player, artist, or entertainer.

[0021] The device 100 includes a communication unit 101 such as a communication interface, a processing unit 102 such as a processor or a CPU, and a storage unit 103 including a storage device or a storage medium such as a memory or a hard disk, and can be configured by the processing unit 102 executing a program for performing each process. The device 100 may include one or more devices, computers, or servers. Also, the program may include one or more programs, and can be recorded on a computer-readable storage medium to form a non-transitory program product. The program can be stored in a storage device or a storage medium such as a database 104 accessible via an IP network from the storage unit 103 or the device 100 and executed in the processing unit 102. The data described below as being stored in the storage unit 103 may be stored in the database 104, and vice versa.

[0022] Hereinafter, an example in which a sports fan makes a gift for a sports player will be mainly described, but the present invention is also applicable when the recipient is a person other than a sports player.

[0023] FIG. 2 shows the flow of a method for a fan to make a gift. First, the device 100 receives a point issuance request for requesting the issuance of points from the fan terminal 110 (S201). In response to the point issuance request, the device 100 issues points corresponding to the quantity of the consideration included in the point issuance request to the fan using the fan terminal 110 and stores them in the storage unit 103 in association with the fan identifier of the fan in the gifting service provided by the device 100 (S202). Here, points have been described as a means of payment having a property value issued by paying consideration, but they may also be issued without requiring payment of consideration.

[0024] Device 100 receives configuration information from the administrator terminal 120 as needed (S203). This configuration information may include specifying which players' replies should be converted into NFTs. Although device 100 receives this configuration information after a fan purchases points, this order may be reversed.

[0025] The input of the configuration information can be performed by sending HTML-formatted configuration information input screen display information to the administrator terminal 140 from the device 100, and then accessing the configuration information input screen displayed on the administrator terminal 140's display screen via a web browser, or by running an application (hereinafter referred to as "app") installed on the administrator terminal 140 and accessing the configuration information input screen displayed within that app. The "input screen" can be in various formats, such as a web page, modal window, or popup window, when displayed on a web browser, or as a single screen within an app when displayed within an app. In any case, any screen that includes an area with input fields for inputting information is considered an input screen, and the same applies to input screens other than the configuration information input screen described herein.

[0026] The device 100 then receives a purchase request from the fan terminal 110 to purchase the gift, in which the recipient and the gift have been selected (S204). The purchase request includes a fan identifier, a recipient identifier to identify the selected recipient, and a gift identifier to identify the selected gift.

[0027] When device 100 receives a gift purchase request, it determines, for example, whether the points required for the gift identified by the gift identifier are less than or equal to the points awarded to the fan identified by the fan identifier (S205). If the points awarded to the fan are sufficient, the device stores the gift identifier in the storage unit 103 in association with the target person identifier and the fan identifier as part of the purchase process, and updates the balance of points stored in association with the fan identifier. The balance update can be performed, for example, by subtracting the points required to purchase the gift from the points stored in association with the fan identifier. When the gift identifier is stored in the storage unit 103 in association with the target person identifier and the fan identifier, it is recorded that the fan identified by the fan identifier has, so to speak, given the gift identified by the gift identifier to the target person identified by the target person identifier.

[0028] In Figures 1 and 2, the device 100 is shown receiving a gift purchase request from a single fan terminal 110; however, in reality, it receives multiple purchase requests from multiple fan terminals.

[0029] Device 100 sends a notification to the player terminal 120 used by the player who is the recipient of the gift, informing them that the gift has been made (S206). The player who receives the notification can enter a reply to the gift, and if one is entered, the reply information, including the reply, is sent from the player terminal 120 to device 100 (S207).

[0030] The reply can be entered, for example, by sending HTML-formatted reply input screen display information from the device 100 to the player terminal 120, and then using the reply input screen displayed on the player terminal 120's display screen via a web browser, or by running an application installed on the player terminal 120 and using the reply input screen displayed within that application.

[0031] The device 100 that receives the reply information generates a reply image that includes at least a portion of the reply (S208). Figure 3A shows an example of a reply image according to one embodiment of the present invention. The reply image 300A includes the player's name 301, at least a portion of the reply entered by the player 302, and the date and time of the reply 303, and may further include the serial number 304 of the reply by the player. Note that the serial number 304 does not have to be for the entire period, but may be, for example, a serial number for 2022 or a number within a predetermined period.

[0032] Furthermore, the reply image 300A may include gifting information 305 relating to the gift to which the reply was directed. The gifting information 305 may include at least one of the following: the date and time of the gift, the price of the gifted item, and an illustration representing the gifted item. As the reply image 300A may be bought and sold afterward, as described below, it is preferable that the gifting information 305 does not include any personal content, even if there is a comment made by the fan when they made the gift.

[0033] In addition, the reply image 300A may include as part an image 306 associated with the player. The player may specify the image 306 on the reply input screen, or the administrator may specify the image 306 for each player on the settings information input screen. If multiple reply images 300A contain the same pre-registered image 306, each reply image can be distinguished by its serial number 304.

[0034] Figure 3B shows another example of a reply image according to one embodiment of the present invention. Reply image 300B is similar to reply image 300A, but differs in that it includes the full text of the reply entered by the player. Note that the replies shown in Figures 3A and 3B are strings used to fill spaces and do not represent the actual replies. In addition, reply image 300A includes an image 306 of the player, while reply image 300B includes an image of the player's handwritten signature.

[0035] The generated reply images may be a set of images relating to the player, such as the first reply image 300A and the second reply image 300B. Such a set of images may be displayed as a single file or as a set of corresponding files. Figure 3A shows an example in which the first reply image 300A is displayed on the NFT collection details display screen, which will be described later, and has a selection area 307 for switching between the first reply image 300A and the second reply image 300B.

[0036] Device 100 sends an NFT assignment request to the NFT server 130 to assign an NFT associated with the reply image to the user who performed the gifting (S209). Details of NFT assignment will be described later.

[0037] Then, after receiving notification from the NFT server 130 that the NFT has been granted (S210), the device 100 sends a notification to the fan terminal 110 of the fan who is the recipient of the NFT that the NFT has been granted as a gifting reward (S211).

[0038] A fan who has been assigned an NFT can, for example, tap or click the button 308 labeled "Buy or Sell on the Marketplace" on the NFT collection details display screen shown in Figure 3A to select it, and then, if necessary, enter the required information to send their intention to transfer the NFT to the device 100 (S212). If the device 100 finds that the predetermined conditions for the transfer of the NFT are met (S213), it sends a transfer request to the NFT server 130 to transfer the NFT (S214).

[0039] Then, after receiving notification from the NFT server 130 that the NFT transfer has been completed (S215), the device 100 sends a notification to the player terminal 120 of the player who made the reply that the NFT associated with the reply image, which includes at least a part of the reply, has been transferred (S216).

[0040] In this way, by generating an image that includes at least a portion of the replies from the recipient of the gift, and by making it possible to notify the recipient when the NFT associated with that image is bought or sold, the monetary value of replies can be made visible, thereby encouraging replies.

[0041] In the above description, it was explained that an NFT granting request is sent to the NFT server 130 and the NFT is granted to the recipient. However, the device 100 may perform the processing necessary for granting the NFT. Similarly, the device 100 may perform the processing necessary for transferring the granted NFT.

[0042] Details of NFT granting Figure 4 shows the flow of NFT assignment in an NFT server according to one embodiment of the present invention. First, the NFT server 130 issues an NFT with an issuer address corresponding to an issuer identifier that identifies the player who made the reply or the sports team, sports organization, or other organization to which they belong, by specifying an NFT identifier such as a unique name (S401). Subsequently, the reply image, its hash value, or the access destination of the reply image is registered by specifying the NFT identifier (S402). As a result, the reply image is associated with the NFT identified by the NFT identifier, and is, so to speak, NFTized.

[0043] Then, the NFT server 130 transfers ownership of the NFT from the issuer address to the user address corresponding to the user identifier that identifies the recipient user (S403). For example, the issuer address and the user address are public keys in a public-key cryptography scheme. By transferring ownership of an NFT issued with the issuer address as the owner to the user address of the recipient user in this way, it becomes possible to verify that the NFT was officially issued, thereby guaranteeing that the reply image associated with the NFT is a genuine image provided by the issuer player or the organization to which they belong. The verifiability of the NFT and the authenticity of the reply image obtained in this way are maintained even if the NFT is bought, sold, or resold on a platform where NFTs issued by the NFT server 130 are managed.

[0044] Although it was described that the reply image, its hash value, or the access destination of the reply image is registered to the NFT after it is issued, depending on the NFT method, it may also be possible to set the reply image, its hash value, or the access destination of the reply image from the beginning when issuing the NFT. In other words, it is conceivable that the association of the NFT is included in the issuance of the NFT.

[0045] Details of NFT transfer Device 100 can maintain an association between one or more users and one or more NFTs owned by each user. More specifically, it can maintain an association between one or more user identifiers and one or more NFT identifiers that identify one or more NFTs owned by the user address corresponding to each user identifier, or an association between one or more user addresses and one or more NFT identifiers that identify one or more NFTs owned by each user address. In the latter case, it is preferable to separately maintain an association between one or more user identifiers and the user address corresponding to each user identifier.

[0046] When device 100 receives a request from user terminal 110 to display an NFT collection display screen, it can determine one or more NFT identifiers associated with the user identifier included in the display request and send HTML-formatted NFT collection display screen information to user terminal 110 to display one or more NFTs identified by those one or more NFT identifiers. The NFT collection display screen can adopt various formats such as a web page, modal window, or popup window when displayed on a web browser, and can be a screen of an application when displayed on an application. In any case, any screen that includes one or more images associated with one or more NFTs is considered an NFT collection display screen. A screen that displays an overview of one or more NFTs associated with the user can be called an "NFT collection overview display screen," and a screen that displays details of any one of the one or more NFTs associated with the user can be called an "NFT collection details display screen."

[0047] If a user wishes to transfer an NFT they own, as displayed on the NFT collection display screen, they can send their intention to transfer the NFT to the device 100 by tapping or clicking a display element such as a button 308 as shown in Figure 3A, and then entering the necessary information as needed. The display element displayed on the NFT collection display screen only needs to indicate the intention to transfer; the selection itself does not necessarily have to immediately signify an intention to transfer. When the NFT is transferred as a result of the transfer, the device 100 can notify the player terminal 120 of the player who made the reply included in the reply image associated with the NFT that the NFT has been transferred, as described above. At this time, the player can be given consideration corresponding to the buying and selling price of the NFT, thereby creating monetary value in the act of replying and encouraging replies.

[0048] Furthermore, in the embodiments described above, unless the word "only" is used, such as "based only on XX," "according only to XX," or "in the case of XX only," it is assumed in this specification that additional information may also be considered. Also, as an example, the statement "if a, then b" does not necessarily mean "always b in the case of a" or "b immediately after a," unless explicitly stated otherwise. In addition, the statement "each a constituting A" does not necessarily mean that A is composed of multiple components, but includes the possibility that the component is singular.

[0049] Furthermore, for the sake of clarity, even if there are aspects of operation in some method, program, terminal, device, server, or system (hereinafter referred to as "method, etc.") that differ from the operation described herein, each aspect of the present invention is intended to cover the same operation as any of the operations described herein, and the existence of operation different from the operation described herein does not mean that such method, etc. is outside the scope of each aspect of the present invention.

[0050] Furthermore, the "start" and "end" shown in Figure 4 are merely examples, and do not necessarily mean that the method according to this embodiment will always start at S401 or always end at S403. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0051] 100 devices 101 Communications Department 102 Processing Unit 103 Storage section 104 Databases 110 user terminals 120 Organizer terminals 130 NFT servers 300A Reply Image 300B Reply Image 301 Player name At least some of the replies entered by 302 players 303 Date and Time 304 Serial Number 305 Gifting Information Images associated with 306 players 307 Selection Area 308 buttons

Claims

1. A method for performing gifting, The device receives a purchase request for the gift from a user terminal used by the user, in which the recipient of the gift and the gift itself have been selected. The device sends a notification to the target person's terminal used by the target person indicating that the gifting has taken place. The device includes the steps of generating an image that includes at least a portion of the reply to the gift received from the target person's terminal, The device provides the user with an NFT associated with the image. Includes.

2. The method according to claim 1, The aforementioned step of granting is, The procedure includes the step of the device requesting an NFT server, which can communicate with the device, to grant the NFT.

3. The method according to claim 2, The aforementioned step of granting is, The device requests an NFT server, which is able to communicate with the device, to issue an NFT and associate the image with the NFT, with the issuer address corresponding to the target person or the organization to which they belong as the owner. The device requests the NFT server to transfer the NFT to which the image is associated with the user address corresponding to the user. Includes.

4. The method according to claims 1 to 3, The aforementioned image is, The name of the person concerned, The date and time when the aforementioned person entered the reply, The serial number of the reply entered by the aforementioned person and It also includes.

5. The method according to claim 4, The aforementioned images include pre-registered images associated with the aforementioned person.

6. The method according to claim 4 or 5, The aforementioned image is a set of images relating to the aforementioned person, The aforementioned NFT is associated with a single file that represents the set of images.

7. A method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, The device further includes the step of, upon receiving an NFT collection display request that requests the display of an NFT collection, transmitting display information to the user terminal that sent the NFT collection display request, for displaying an NFT collection display screen which includes one or more images associated with one or more NFTs identified by one or more NFT identifiers associated with a user identifier included in the NFT collection display request.

8. The method according to claim 7, The NFT collection display screen includes a display element for indicating an intention to transfer an NFT associated with an image displayed on the NFT collection display screen.

9. A program for causing a computer to perform a method for gifting, wherein the method is The steps include receiving a purchase request for the gift from the user's terminal, in which the recipient of the gift and the gift itself have been selected, The steps include sending a notification to the terminal used by the person concerned that the gifting has taken place, The steps include generating an image that includes at least a portion of the reply to the gift received from the target person's terminal, The steps include: assigning an NFT associated with the image to the user; Includes.

10. A device for performing gifting, The user's terminal receives a purchase request for the gift, in which the recipient of the gift and the gift itself have been selected. A notification is sent to the terminal used by the person concerned, informing them that the gifting has taken place. The system is configured to generate an image that includes at least a portion of the reply to the gift received from the target person's terminal, and to assign the NFT associated with the image to the user.

Images