Patent Application
20220414569
The present invention relates to a store management system, a store management method, a computer program and a recording medium that manage a store.
A known system of this type monitors a situation of a store. For example, Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique/technology of specifying merchandise displayed on a display shelf by capturing an image of the display shelf in a store. Patent Literature 2 discloses a technique/technology of utilizing a predetermined priority for each category of merchandise when monitoring a shortage state of the merchandise. Patent Literature 3 discloses a technique/technology of obtaining an image of a plurality of individual areas set in a store and displaying the image of the individual area in the order of high priority.
As another related technique/technology, Patent Literature 4 discloses a technique/technology of generating and outputting a three-dimensional image in accordance with a display priority. Patent Literature 5 discloses a technique/technology of capturing and displaying an image of a suspicious person.
When managing a store, various information obtained from the captured image of the store may be divided into a plurality of items (e.g., items corresponding to respective merchandise shelves) and displayed on a terminal or the like. These items are displayed, for example, in a list format on a display screen of the terminal, but if there are too many items, some of them may not fit on the screen. Therefore, it is preferable that an item to be immediately confirmed (e.g., an item of high urgency such as a “stockout” or the like) is displayed preferentially than the other items (e.g., is displayed in a higher ranking).
The Patent Literatures 1 to 3 described above disclose the technique/technology of specifying merchandise from the image of the store and the technique/technology of setting priority for each article of merchandise, but even if each item is displayed in the priority set in advance, it is not necessarily optimal order for a user. In other words, each of the above-described Patent Literatures has room for improvement in appropriately displaying a plurality of items.
In view of the problems described above, it is therefore an example object of the present invention to provide a store management system, a store management method, a computer program, and a recording medium that are configured to appropriately displaying a plurality of information about a store.
A store management system according to an example aspect of the present invention includes: a first setting unit that sets a first priority indicating a degree of priority about a display, for a plurality of display items relating to a store; a second setting unit that sets a second priority that is different from the first priority, on the basis of a captured image of the store; a sorting unit that rearranges the plurality of display items on the basis of the first priority and the second priority; and a display unit that displays the plurality of display items, in order of rearrangement performed by the sorting unit.
A store management method according to an example aspect of the present invention includes: a first setting step that sets a first priority indicating a degree of priority about a display, for a plurality of display items relating to a store; a second setting step that sets a second priority that is different from the first priority, on the basis of a captured image of the store; a sorting step that rearranges the plurality of display items on the basis of the first priority and the second priority; and a display step that displays the plurality of display items, in order of rearrangement performed by the sorting step.
A computer program according to an example aspect of the present invention allows a computer to execute: a first setting step that sets a first priority indicating a degree of priority about a display, for a plurality of display items relating to a store; a second setting step that sets a second priority that is different from the first priority, on the basis of a captured image of the store; a sorting step that rearranges the plurality of display items on the basis of the first priority and the second priority; and a display step that displays the plurality of display items, in order of rearrangement performed by the sorting step.
On a recording medium according to an example aspect of the present invention, the computer program described above is recorded.
According to the store management system, the store management method, the computer program, and the recording medium in the respective example aspects described above, it is possible to appropriately display a plurality of information about a store.
Hereinafter, a store management system, a store management method, a computer program, and a recording medium according to an example embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
Firstly, a configuration of a store management system according to an example embodiment will be described with reference to
In
The camera 10 is configured to image the interior of the store or the periphery of the store. The camera 10 may be one that captures a moving image, or may be one that periodically captures a still image at a constant cycle. There may be a plurality of cameras 10 that are installed for one store. Incidentally, the camera 10 is preferably installed so as not to allow blind spots in the store. If a target monitored by the store management system 1 (in other words, a target associated with a display item) is limited, an imaging range may be limited. The captured image captured by the camera is configured to be outputted to the store managing apparatus 20.
The store management apparatus 20 is configured, for example, as a management server. The store management apparatus 20 obtains a plurality of display items relating to the store, from the captured image of the camera 10. The display item is, for example, an item corresponding to each shelf in the store (e.g., “shelf A”, “shelf B”, “shelf C”, etc.). Alternatively, when managing a plurality of stores, the display item may be an item corresponding to each store (e.g., “store A”, “store B”, “store C”, etc.). Incidentally, the store control apparatus 20 may correspond to a plurality of cameras 10. Furthermore, the store management apparatus 20 may correspond to a plurality of stores (in other words, a plurality of cameras 10 installed in the respective stores). The store management apparatus includes a first priority setting unit 210, a second priority setting unit 220, and a sorting unit 230 as logical processing blocks for realizing the functions.
The first priority setting unit 210 is configured to set a first priority for each of the display items relating to the store obtained from the captured image of the camera 10. The “first priority” here is a parameter for determining the display order of the plurality of display items. The first priority may be set in advance, for example, in accordance with a user's operation (in other words, the user may be allowed to arbitrarily set the first priority).
The second priority setting unit 220 is configured to set a second priority for each of the display items relating to the store obtained from the captured image of the camera 10. The “second priority” here is a parameter for determining the display order of the plurality of display items as in the first priority, but is set under a different condition from that of the first priority. Specifically, the second priority is set in accordance with the captured image of the camera 10. For example, the second priority setting unit 220 may set the second priority on the basis of an abnormality detected from the captured image of the camera 10 (e.g., a stockout, a foreign matter, a suspicious person, etc.).
The sorting unit 230 sorts out the plurality of display items relating to the stores obtained from the captured images of the camera 10, on the basis of the first priority set by the first priority setting unit 210 and the second priority set by the second priority setting unit 220. A specific sorting method in the sorting unit 230 will be described in detail later.
As illustrated in
The CPU 11 reads a computer program. For example, the CPU 11 may read a computer program stored by at least one of RAM 12, ROM 13 and the storage apparatus 14. For example, the CPU 11 may read a computer program stored in a computer-readable recording medium, by using a not illustrated recording medium reading apparatus. The CPU 11 may obtain (i.e., read) a computer program from a not-illustrated apparatus located outside the store management apparatus 20, through a network interface. The CPU 11 controls the RAM 12, the storage apparatus 14, the input apparatus 15, and the output apparatus 16 by executing the read computer program. Especially in the example embodiment, when the CPU 11 executes the read computer program, a functional block for rearranging and displaying the plurality of display items is implemented in the CPU 11. The first priority setting unit 210, the second priority setting unit 220, and the sorting unit 230 described above are implemented in this CPU 11, for example.
The RAM 12 temporarily stores the computer program to be executed by the CPU 11. The RAM 12 temporarily stores the data that is temporarily used by the CPU 11 when the CPU 11 executes the computer program. The RAM 12 may be, for example, a D-RAM (Dynamic RAM).
The ROM 13 stores the computer program to be executed by the CPU 11. The ROM 13 may otherwise store fixed data. The ROM 13 may be, for example, a P-ROM (Programmable ROM).
The storage apparatus 14 stores the data that is stored for a long term by the store management system 1. The storage apparatus 14 may operate as a temporary storage apparatus of the CPU 11. The storage apparatus 14 may include, for example, at least one of a hard disk apparatus, a magneto-optical disk apparatus, an SSD (Solid State Drive), and a disk array apparatus.
The input apparatus 15 is an apparatus that receives an input instruction from a user of the store management system 1. The input apparatus 15 may include, for example, at least one of a keyboard, a mouse, and a touch panel.
The output apparatus 16 is an apparatus that outputs information about the store management system 1 to the outside. For example, the output apparatus 16 may be a display apparatus that is configured to display the information about the store management system 1.
Returning to
Next, a flow of the operation of the store management system 1 according to the example embodiment will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
Subsequently, the first priority setting unit 210 sets the first priority (step S102). The first priority is set, for example, in accordance with the user's operation. The first priority may be set in advance (in other words, before the image is obtained by the camera 10). In this case, the first priority setting unit 210 obtains the first priority by reading the first priority set (or stored) in advance.
Subsequently, the second priority setting unit 220 obtains the second priority (step S103). The second priority is set on the basis of the captured image obtained by the camera 10. Specifically, the second priority is set on the basis of a result of analysis of the captured image corresponding to each display item. For example, the second priority of the display item “shelf A” is set on the basis of the analysis result of an image obtained by capturing the shelf A. Similarly, the second priority of the display item “Shelf B” is set on the basis of the analysis result of an image obtained by capturing the shelf B.
Subsequently, the sorting unit 230 rearranges the plurality of display items on the basis of the first priority and the second priority (step S104). The sorting unit 230 outputs and displays the rearranged display items on the user terminal 30 (step S105). The plurality of items are displayed, for example, in a list format on a display screen of the user terminal 30. At this time, the user may specify a display item, by which the captured image corresponding to the specified display item may be displayed.
A series of operation steps described above may be performed at each time that the captured image is obtained by the camera 10, or may be performed periodically at a predetermined cycle. Alternatively, it may be performed at a time at which the user terminal 30 is turned on or at a time at which the display items are displayed on the user terminal 30.
Next, a specific sorting example by the sorting unit 230 will be described with reference to
As can be seen by comparing
The sorting unit 230 is configured to prioritize the second priority over the first priority when rearranging the display order by using both the first priority and the second priority. In other words, the sorting unit 230 is configured such that the weight of the second priority is larger than the weight of the first priority. Therefore, the “shelf D” in which both the first priority and the second priority are high is displayed on the top, and the “shelf G” in which the first priority is low, but the second priority is high, is displayed on the second top. After that, the “shelf A”, the “shelf C”, and the “shelf H” in which the first priority is high are displayed, and the “shelf E” and the “shelf F” in which both the first priority and the second priority are low, are displayed below them.
As can be seen by comparing
Incidentally, the display item in which the abnormality is detected (i.e., the display item in which the second priority is high) may be highlighted, in addition to being displayed in a higher ranking. Specifically, as illustrated in
(Example of Setting Second Priority)
Next, a more specific method of setting the second priority will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
The second priority may be set not only on the basis of the type of the abnormality described above, but also on the basis of an occurrence time and the number of occurrences of the abnormality or the like. Specifically, when the occurrence time of the abnormality is early (in other words, a long time has elapsed from the occurrence), it is considered to be relatively highly urgent, and thus, the second priority may be set high. Alternatively, even when there are a lot of occurrences of the abnormality, it is considered to be relatively highly urgent, and thus, the second priority may be set high.
When using the number of occurrences of the abnormality, in order to avoid detecting the same abnormality many times, a similarity of the abnormality may be determined. Specifically, when the similarity of the detected abnormalities is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value, the abnormalities may be treated as being identical. In this way, it is possible to prevent that the second priority becomes unreasonably high because the same abnormality is detected many times. Incidentally, the existing technique/technology can be adopted to determine the similarity of the abnormality. For example, the similarity of the abnormality may be determined by comparing the similarities of the captured images of the camera 10.
(Interruption Display of Alert)
Next, with reference to
As illustrated in
Here, the second priority of the alert item of “suspicious person detection” is set to the highest so as to be displayed on the top, but the second priority may be set appropriately in accordance with the type of the abnormality or the like. Therefore, for example, the interruption display may be performed on the second or third position from the top. In addition, when the alert item is interruptedly displayed, if the same abnormality is detected many times, multiple alert items may be interruptedly displayed. For this reason, when the interruption display is performed, it is preferable to perform the above-described similarity determination or the like of the abnormality to prevent the same abnormality from being repeatedly detected many times.
Next, technical effects obtained by the store management system 1 according to the example embodiment will be described.
As described in
<Example of Application of Store Management System>
Next, a specific example of an application (e.g., a smartphone application) used when using the store management system 1 according to the example embodiment will be described with reference to
(Application Screen Transition Flow)
Firstly, a screen transition flow in an application will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
As described above, when using the store management system 1, it is possible to display the shelf image by subsequently selecting the “store” and “shelf” after logging into the application. However, when the store management system 1 is used for only one store, the store selection screen may be omitted and the shelf selection screen may be displayed immediately after login. In the case of the example embodiment, the display items in the store selection screen and the display items in the shelf selection screen may be rearranged (i.e., may be rearranged by using the first priority and second priority).
(Multiple Display Function)
Next, a function of displaying a plurality of images in the application will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
By displaying a plurality of shelf images at the same time, for example, it is possible to compare the states of shelves between one store and another store. Thus, it is possible to confirm, for example, a difference in merchandise arrangement with that of an excellent store.
(Store Comparison Function)
Next, a store comparison function in the application will be described with reference to
As illustrated in
<Supplementary Notes>
With respect to the example embodiment described above, the following Supplementary Notes will be further disclosed.
(Supplementary Note 1)
A store management system described in Supplementary Note 1 is a store management system including: a first setting unit that sets a first priority indicating a degree of priority about a display, for a plurality of display items relating to a store; a second setting unit that sets a second priority that is different from the first priority, on the basis of a captured image of the store; a sorting unit that rearranges the plurality of display items on the basis of the first priority and the second priority; and a display unit that displays the plurality of display items, in order of rearrangement performed by the sorting unit.
(Supplementary Note 2)
A store management system described in Supplementary Note 2 is the store management system described in Supplementary Note 1, wherein the sorting unit rearranges the plurality of display items by increasing a weight of the second priority than that of the first priority.
(Supplementary Note 3)
A store management system described in Supplementary Note 3 is the store management system described in Supplementary Note 1 or 2, wherein the first setting unit sets the first priority in accordance with an operation by a user.
(Supplementary Note 4)
A store management system described in Supplementary Note 4 is the store management system described in Supplementary Note 3, wherein the first setting unit sets the first priority of an item that is selected by the user from among the plurality of display items, to be higher than the first priority of an item that is not selected by the user.
(Supplementary Note 5)
A store management system described in Supplementary Note 5 is the store management system described in any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 4, wherein the second setting unit detects an abnormality in the store from the captured image, and sets the second priority of an item that is related to the abnormality among the plurality of display items, to be higher than the second priority of an item that is not related to the abnormality.
(Supplementary Note 6)
A store management system described in Supplementary Note 6 is the store management system described in Supplementary Note 5, wherein the second setting unit sets the second priority on the basis of at least one of a type of the abnormality, an occurrence time, and number of occurrences.
(Supplementary Note 7)
A store management system described in Supplementary Note 7 is the store management system described in Supplementary Note 5 or 6, wherein the second setting unit compares similarities of abnormalities detected from the captured image and treats the abnormalities as being identical when each of the similarities is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value.
(Supplementary Note 8)
A store management system described in Supplementary Note 8 is the store management system described in any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 7, wherein the plurality of display items are items corresponding to respective display shelves in the store.
(Supplementary Note 9)
A store management method described in Supplementary Note 9 is a store management method including: a first setting step that sets a first priority indicating a degree of priority about a display, for a plurality of display items relating to a store; a second setting step that sets a second priority that is different from the first priority, on the basis of a captured image of the store; a sorting step that rearranges the plurality of display items on the basis of the first priority and the second priority; and a display step that displays the plurality of display items, in order of rearrangement performed by the sorting step.
(Supplementary Note 10)
A computer program described in Supplementary Note 10 is a computer program that allows a computer to execute: a first setting step that sets a first priority indicating a degree of priority about a display, for a plurality of display items relating to a store; a second setting step that sets a second priority that is different from the first priority, on the basis of a captured image of the store; a sorting step that rearranges the plurality of display items on the basis of the first priority and the second priority; and a display step that displays the plurality of display items, in order of rearrangement performed by the sorting step.
(Supplementary Note 11)
A recording medium described in Supplementary Note 11 is a recording medium on which the computer program described in Supplementary Note 10 is recorded.
The present invention is not limited to the examples described above and is allowed to be changed, if desired, without departing from the essence or spirit of the invention which can be read from the claims and the entire specification. A store management system, a store management method, a computer program and a recording medium with such changes are also intended to be within the technical scope of the present invention.
To the extent permitted by law, this application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-155558, filed Aug. 28, 2019, and incorporates all of its disclosure herein. Also, to the extent permitted by legislation, all the publications and articles described in the description are incorporated herein by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019-155558 | Aug 2019 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2020/029851 | 8/4/2020 | WO |
