Patent Application
20150248704
This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-038017, filed Feb. 28, 2014, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a method for distributing information to a mobile device carried by a user.
There is a technique for distributing information to mobile devices carried by users in commercial facilities such as a store, a shopping mall or an event site. According to the technique, a transmitter (beacon transmitter, i-beacon transmitter, or the like) that transmits a radio wave for wireless communication is provided in the commercial facilities and service information such as reward points, a coupon, or an event schedule is transmitted through the transmitter to the mobile devices. The user of the mobile device, however, may not be interested in receiving all of transmitted information.
An exemplary embodiment provides a technique capable of distributing information according to preference of a customer.
In general, according to one embodiment, a method for distributing information to a mobile device carried by a user within a service location, includes transmitting a first signal through one or more transmitters at the service location, in response to the first signal, receiving from a mobile device that is in range of the transmitters, a second signal containing information about the mobile device or a user of the mobile device, determining content of information related to services offered at the service location, based on the received information, and transmitting a third signal containing the determined content to the mobile device.
In an exemplary embodiment, service information determined based on a purchase tendency (preference of low price over high quality, preference of high quality over low price, or the like), taste, or attributes (age, gender or the like) of a user of a portable terminal device is distributed. In the exemplary embodiment, the service information refers to information such as a floor guide or a map in commercial facilities, time sale information, a guide of service target merchandise such as highly recommended merchandise, a coupon, a guide of an event schedule, for example. Further, a service provider such as a store or an event sponsor may distribute service information with high priority of provision or high importance.
In the exemplary embodiment, when distributing information to a portable terminal device of a user through communication with a transmitter, the information distribution apparatus may select content of the information according to expected preference of the user. Thus, it is possible to perform more useful information distribution to the user.
Hereinafter, the exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the following description, the method according to the exemplary embodiment is applied to a shopping mall as an example, but the method may be applied to other commercial facilities such as a single store or an event site.
The transmitters 301 to 303 distribute service information or the like to portable terminal devices 401 to 403 carried by store visitors in a push type manner. The transmitters 301 to 303 are located at any place in a commercial facility accommodating plural stores. The location may be a passage that store visitors pass, the inside of a store, an information desk, a service counter, a resting place, or any other places the store visitors may enter. An internal configuration of each of the transmitters 301 to 303 may be any configuration that may perform wireless communication with the portable terminal devices 401 to 403 and may perform communication with the server 100. For example, a configuration obtained by combining plural application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or a device in which plural ASICs are assembled may be used. Further, a unit that performs wireless communication with the portable terminal devices 401 to 403 may be connected to a small computer such as a notebook-type computer and wired or wireless communication may be performed with respect to the server 100 (in this example, the wireless communication is performed through the access point 310).
The server 100 is a computer that provides service information to the portable terminal devices 401 to 403 through the access point 310. Further, the server 100 acquires attribute information (age, gender, and purchase tendency) transmitted from the portable terminal devices 401 to 403 through the access point 310 or the transmitters 301 to 303, and distributes service information according to the attribute information. Furthermore, the server 100 may determine whether the user is interested in a place (disposed in the vicinity of the disposition position of the transmitters 301 to 303 (for example, a merchandise bulletin board or a show window), based on the intensity of a signal from the transmitters 301 to 303 detected by the portable terminal devices 401 to 403, or a time period during which the intensity is maintained.
The access point 310 is a communication base device for wireless communication between the server 100 and the transmitters 301 to 303. In the exemplary embodiment, the access point 310 performs communication based on the standard of IEEE802.11, and performs encryption communication.
The portable terminal devices 401 to 403 are typically smart phones carried by store visitors, or passersby (hereinafter, collectively referred to as users as needed), but may be notebook-type computers, tablet-type computers, or the like. It is assumed that the portable terminal devices 401 to 403 are able to perform at least wireless communication and that an application exclusively used for an information distribution system 1 is preinstalled therein.
The exclusive application preinstalled in the portable terminal devices 401 to 403 may detect a signal (beacon) from the transmitters 301 to 303 and calculate the intensity of the signal. Further, when the exclusive application is installed and then an initial start is performed, the portable terminal devices 401 to 403 acquire attribute information of a user and store the attribute information in a storage unit of the devices. The attribute information includes the gender, the age, the purchase tendency, and the like of the user. The purchase tendency includes preference of price over quality, preference of quality over price, preference of high-price products, or the like. When acquiring the attribute information, the portable terminal devices 401 to 403 display a direct or indirect inquiry, and store a response obtained from a user in the storage unit. Further, the exclusive application also includes a web browser function.
A configuration of the server 100 will be described with reference to
In the HDD 104, a terminal information database (DB) 111, a transmitter DB 112, condition definition data 113, distribution data 114, and the program 115 are stored in advance. The terminal information database (DB) 111, the transmitter DB 112, and the condition definition data 113 will be described below. The distribution data 114 is an entity data group to be distributed to the portable terminal devices 401 to 403, and is collected in a folder for each content to be distributed. The entity data has the same format as a format used in an existing web system, and includes layout data, image data for display, a script to be executed in the portable terminal devices 401 to 403, or the like. The program 115 is a program that is operated when a detection signal from the portable terminal devices 401 to 403 is received, which is a program group that provides a web server function.
Next, a variety of data of the terminal information DB 111, the transmitter DB 112, and the condition definition data 113 will be described.
In the transmitter DB 112, a variety of data including a device ID 801, an installation place 802, and a radio wave strength 803 is stored. The device ID 801 is identification information of the transmitters 301 to 303, and the installation place 802 is an installation place of the transmitters 301 to 303 in a facility. The radio wave strength 803 represents a design value or an actual value of a beacon generation strength of each of the transmitters 301 to 303, which is set to a strength when measurement is performed at a place separated from the transmitter that is a measurement target by a predetermined distance (for example, 5 m). Each value of the transmitter information is set when the information distribution system 1 is introduced, or when maintenance is performed.
The condition definition data 113 is defined using a predetermined markup language. An example thereof is illustrated in
For example, condition 1 in
When the entirety of the above condition is satisfied, data included in a folder name “H0001—1” in the distribution data 114 is distributed.
Further, condition 2 is defined as follows.
When the entirety of the above condition is satisfied, data included in a folder name “H0001—2” in the distribution data 114 is distributed.
Condition 3 is as follows. That is, when the portable terminal device is continuously positioned for 10 seconds or longer in the vicinity of the transmitter of which the device ID is any one of “0002” to “0005” in a range where the radio wave strength is −20 dBm, data included in a folder name “H0002—1” in the distribution data 114 is distributed regardless of the beacon detection time and the attribute information.
In the terminal information DB 111 and the transmitter DB 112, the information is stored as a form of a database table, and in the condition definition data 113, the information is stored in the markup language form. However, the exemplary embodiment is not limited thereto, and the storage may be in any form. Further, in the distribution data 114, the distribution information is collected in the unit of the folder, but the exemplary embodiment is not limited thereto.
Next, an operation example of the server 100 will be described with reference to a flowchart of
The processor 101 receives access information from the portable terminal device 401, which is transmitted when the portable terminal device 401 detects a signal through the network I/F 105 (ACT 001).
ACT 001 will be described in detail. As a store visitor enters a range that radio waves of the transmitters 301 to 303 located in plural places in the facility reach, the portable terminal device 401 detects a beacon signal. The portable terminal device 401 acquires the device ID of the transmitters 301 to 303 from the detected signal, calculates the strength of the radio wave from the transmitter (for example, the transmitter 301), and transmits access information to the server 100 through the transmitter 301. The access information includes the device ID of the transmitter 301, the radio wave strength, and the device ID of the portable terminal device 401. Further, when a user visits the store for the first time, the set attribute information (gender, age, and purchase tendency) may also be included in correlation with the access information for new registration. The radio wave strength may be a value obtained by calculating a representative value (for example, an average value or the like) of plural measured values. Further, ACT 001 may be performed any time at an interval of 1 second or shorter.
The processor 101 acquires the device ID of the transmitter 301 from the access information (ACT 002), and acquires terminal information (ACT 003). The terminal information acquires the attribute information of the gender, the age, and the purchase tendency related to the terminal ID in the access information, from the terminal information DB 111 using the terminal ID. When the terminal ID is not registered in the terminal information DB 111, that is, when the user is a new store visitor, the currently acquired attribute information is newly registered in the terminal information DB 111 in correlation with the terminal ID.
The processor 101 determines whether to distribute service information based on the condition definition data 113, and determines, if it is determined that the service information is to be distributed, which service information is to be distributed (ACT 004). In the example in
With respect to the continuous detection time, in ACT 001, since the access information is acquired at a certain cycle that is less than 1 second, the processor 101 may determine whether the portable terminal device 401 is continuously in a state that satisfies the condition. Further, the detection time may be determined by referring to a time (approximately current time) when the access information has been acquired. The continuous detection time period and the detection time may be measured by the exclusive application of the portable terminal device 401, and then, may be transmitted to the server 100 in a state of being included in the access information. Further, the transmitter 301 may measure the continuous detection time period, the detection time, and the radio wave strength, and then, may transmit the continuous detection time period, the detection time, and the radio wave strength to the server 100.
With respect to the radio wave strength, the processor 101 may acquire the value of the radio wave strength 803 of the transmitter 301 from the transmitter DB 112, may correct the radio wave strength obtained in ACT 001 using the value, and may determine whether the corrected value satisfies the conditions. Information to be acquired is a distance from the transmitter 301 to the portable terminal device 401, which is represented as the radio wave strength. In the exemplary embodiment, the radio wave strength is used as an index of the distance. Accordingly, the value of the radio wave strength 803 in the transmitter DB 112 and the value of the radio wave strength obtained in ACT 001 may be substituted into a predetermined formula to calculate the distance. In this case, a “strength” tag illustrated in
If all the conditions (conditions 1 to 3) designated in the condition definition data 113 are not satisfied (No in ACT 005), the process is terminated. On the other hand, if one or plural conditions are satisfied (Yes in ACT 005), the processor 101 acquires service information according to the condition or conditions from the distribution data 114 (ACT 006), and distributes the service information (ACT 007). For example, when the portable terminal device 401 satisfies condition 1 illustrated in
Instead of the push-type distribution, the web browser of the portable terminal device 401 may access the web server of the server 100. In this case, the information distributed in ACT 007 has the folder name of “H0001—1” or the like, for example. In the exclusive application of the portable terminal device 401, as a prefix of a URL password, for example, “http://192.168.1.10/beaconid/”, or a global IP address or a URL for public line communication is set. A folder name to be distributed is added to the fixed password to form an access password to the web server.
Further, when the same portable terminal device accesses the server 100 again after the service information that satisfies the conditions once is distributed, the same service information may be distributed again. In order to avoid this problem, a restriction for preventing the service information distributed once from being re-distributed on the same day, for example, may be performed. For example, by storing the terminal ID, the distributed information (folder name or the like), and the distribution date and time in the server 100 in correlation, and by checking the storage content before distribution, the restriction may be performed.
In the exemplary embodiment, the function for achieving the exemplary embodiment is stored in the apparatus in advance, but the exemplary embodiment is not limited thereto, and the same function may be downloaded to the apparatus from the network, or the same function may be stored in a recording medium to be installed to the apparatus. As the recording medium, any type of a recording medium capable of storing a program such as a CD-ROM and capable of being read by the apparatus may be used. Further, functions that may be obtained by installation or downloading in advance may be achieved in cooperation with an operating system (OS) or the like in the apparatus.
As described above, in the exemplary embodiment, it is possible to distribute information according to preference of a user. Thus, it is possible to promote purchase of a product or participation to an event by the user. Further, the system according to the embodiment may be able to promote use of the system.
While certain embodiments have been described, these embodiments have been presented by way of example only, and are not intended to limit the scope of the inventions. Indeed, the novel embodiments described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions and changes in the form of the embodiments described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the inventions. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the inventions.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014-038017 | Feb 2014 | JP | national |
