Patent Publication Number: US-2010117795-A1

Title: Information terminal

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to an information terminal, such as installed in a convenience store and provides contents based on information inputted from a non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone. 
     BACKGROUND ART 
     Conventionally, information terminals of this type are installed in the inside of a store, and provide a user of the store with contents corresponding to a request of the user through operations on a keyboard, touch panel or the like. 
     In this case, vested contents corresponding to the request are provided without differentiating among users, and thus appropriate contents are not necessarily provided. 
     To solve this problem, there has been known an information terminal which accesses the server of a service provider via a network, receives contents produced by the server based on information which the user has inputted via the information terminal, and provides the contents requested by the user (for example, refer to Patent Document 1). 
     According to the conventional information terminal, however, the user must input the user ID and information on requested contents by use of a keyboard, touch panel or the like; thus as the number of contents increases and also the preference of users varies widely, the input operation may become cumbersome or complicated. 
     Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2003-108696  
     DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION 
     Problems to be Solved by the Invention 
     The present invention has been accomplished in view of the above problems and has an object to provide an information terminal which can provide appropriate contents with a simple operation. 
     Means for Solving the Problems 
     In order to achieve the above object, the present invention proposes an information terminal which provides contents based on information inputted from the outside, the information terminal including: a storage unit which stores a plurality of contents; a communication unit which receives predetermined information from an external IC chip; a display unit which displays the contents in the storage unit; and a control unit which selects from among the contents of the storage unit based on the information received via the communication unit from the IC chip and causes the display unit to display the contents. 
     According to the present invention, the predetermined information in an IC chip is received solely by bringing close to the communication unit, for example, a non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone, so that contents based on the predetermined information in the IC chip are displayed on the display unit. 
     ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION 
     According to the present invention, the predetermined information stored in an IC chip is received solely by bringing close to the communication unit, for example, a non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone, so that contents based on the predetermined information stored in the IC chip are displayed on the display unit. Thus contents can be selected and displayed on the display unit based on, for example, user identification information or the number of reception times; appropriate contents can be provided with a simple operation. 
     The above object and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become evident with reference to the following descriptions and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is an external perspective view of an information terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a control system configuration of the information terminal; 
         FIG. 3  is a view illustrating a database configuration of the storage unit illustrated in  FIG. 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the information terminal; 
         FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an information terminal according to a variation of the first embodiment; and 
         FIG. 6  is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an information terminal according to a second embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 
       1  . . . Information terminal,  2  . . . Non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone,  11  . . . Control unit,  12  . . . Storage unit,  21  . . . Display unit,  22  . . . Communication unit, A . . . IC chip. 
     BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION 
       FIGS. 1 to 4  illustrate a first embodiment of the present invention.  FIG. 1  is an external perspective view of an information terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention;  FIG. 2  is a block diagram illustrating a control system configuration of the information terminal;  FIG. 3  is a view illustrating a database configuration of the storage unit illustrated in  FIG. 2 ;  FIG. 4  is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the information terminal;  FIG. 5  is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an information terminal according to a variation of the first embodiment. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 1 , an information terminal  1  according to the present embodiment is a kiosk terminal known as a small-sized information terminal installed in the inside of a store, and constituted of a terminal main body  10  and a front panel  20 . 
     The front panel  20  is arranged on the front face of the terminal main body  10 ; and a display is arranged as a display unit  21  at the center of the front panel  20 . 
     The display unit  21  is for displaying video contents represented by still images, moving images, characters, figures, symbols or the like, and arranged in the inside of the front panel  20  so that its display surface is exposed to the outside. In this case, the display unit  21  may be a liquid crystal display, for example, or a known CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, PDP (Plasma Display Panel), organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display or like which can display contents. 
     An IC chip reader is arranged as a communication unit  22  below the front panel  20  which has a curved-forward surface. 
     The communication unit  22  is, for example, for performing communication via an antenna (not illustrated) by radio wave with IC chip A of a non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2  which lies in a communicatable range, and thereby receiving predetermined data stored in a memory of IC chip A. Accordingly, data in IC chip A can be received solely by bringing close to the communication unit  22 , the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2 . In this case, the reception object is not limited to the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2 , but may be an IC card or the like. An IC chip reader/writer may be provided as the communication unit  22  to allow the information terminal  1  to transmit the result of communicating with IC chip A and cause it to be stored in the memory of IC chip A. 
     Unless described otherwise, there will be described below a case where predetermined data is received from the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2 . 
     Loudspeakers are arranged as an audio unit  23  on both surfaces of the terminal main body  10 . 
     The audio unit  23  is for outputting audio contents represented by sounds, voices or the like. To achieve stereophonic effects by a stereo system, multichannel system or the like, two or more loudspeakers are preferably provided, but a single loudspeaker may be sufficient. 
     The terminal main body  10  includes, as illustrated in  FIG. 2 , a control unit  11  and a storage unit  12 . 
     The control unit  11  is for selecting from among contents stored in the storage unit  12  based on data received via the communication unit  22  from IC chip A of the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2  and then causing the display unit  21  to display the video contents and/or causing the audio unit  23  to output the audio contents. The control unit  11  is constituted of a known computer containing CPU, RAM, ROM and the like, and connected to the storage unit  12 , the display unit  21 , the communication unit  22  and the audio unit  23 . 
     The storage unit  12  is for storing multiple video and/or audio contents to be displayed on the display unit  21  and/or outputted to the audio unit  23 , and is constituted of a known large-capacity storage apparatus such as a hard disk apparatus, magnetic tape apparatus or optical disk apparatus or the like, and may be arranged in the inside or outside of the terminal body  10 . The storage unit  12  may be an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM) such as flash memory or the like depending on the amount of stored contents, or may be a storage apparatus, such as a network drive apparatus or the like, connected via a network. 
     The storage unit  12  is as illustrated in  FIG. 3 , constituted of an ID management database (hereinafter referred to as a DB)  12   a , contents DB  12   b  and setting DB  12   c.    
     Registered in the ID management DB  12   a  are data including: unique ID numbers for each IC chip A previously received via the communication unit  22 ; and a history of the number of reception times and the reception dates of each ID number; and the like. Preliminarily registered in the contents DB  12   b  are component data of video or audio contents such as games, commercials, music, or sound effects or the like. Registered in the setting DB  12   c  are setting data for each contents component, such as game winning odds, character type, and/or commercial background and the like; this setting data and the contents component data registered in the contents DB  12   b  are combined to provide contents. 
     In this case, video contents or audio contents may be provided, or a combination of video and audio contents may be provided. Further, each DB may be any type of database, such as relational, network or hierarchical type or the like, or may be not a DB, but a mere file used to store and/or file a large amount of data. The configuration and number of DBs are not limited to the above three DBs, but a single or two or three or more DBs may be appropriately designed. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 4 , when the information terminal  1  starts up, in order to provide preliminarily set predetermined contents, e.g., a commercial, the control unit  11  activates the program for contents selection to combine contents component data and setting data from the storage unit  12  and thereby select predetermined contents (S 11 ). In this case, the number of the predetermined contents does not need to be preliminarily set to one, but the program for contents selection may make random selection from among multiple preliminarily set contents, or make selection according to the date or time. The control unit  11  causes the display unit  21  to display the selected contents and if necessary, also outputs them to the audio unit  23  (S 12 ). 
     Subsequently, the control unit  11  determines based on mutual authentication between the communication unit  22  and non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2 , whether or not the communication unit  22  has received ID number data from IC chip A (S 13 ). Alternatively, it may be determined whether or not predetermined data containing ID number data has been received. 
     If it is determined that ID number data has not been received from IC chip A of the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2 , steps S 11  to S 13  are repeated until ID number data is received. 
     On the other hand, if it is determined that ID number data has been received from IC chip A of the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2 , the control unit  11  determines whether or not the received ID number data has been registered in the ID management DB  12   a  (S 14 ). If it is determined that the received ID number data has been registered in the ID management DB  12   a,  a predetermined value (for example, “1”) is added to data on the number of reception times of the received ID number data, registered in the ID management DB  12   a  to update the data (S 15 ). If the received ID number data has not been registered, the received ID number and data on the number of reception times (for example, the number of reception times=“1”) are registered without executing step S 15  (S 16 ). 
     Subsequently, the control unit  11  selects contents by causing the program for contents selection to combine, according to the received ID number and data on the number of reception times, contents component data registered in the contents DB  12   b  and setting data registered in the setting DB  12   c  (S 17 ). Accordingly, there can be selected contents which are, for example, of a different type, such as bingo or roulette or the like, dependent on the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2 , and which have a different setting such as winning odds increased according to the number of reception times. 
     The control unit  11  causes the display unit  21  to display the selected contents and if necessary, also outputs the selected contents to the audio unit  23  (S 18 ). Then, after displaying and outputting the contents for a predetermined length of time, the control unit  11  repeats steps S 11  to S 18  until the information terminal  1  stops. 
     In this way, with the information terminal  1  of the present embodiment, the ID number of IC chip A is received solely by bringing the non-contact type IC chip equipped mobile telephone  2  close to the communication unit  22 , so that contents based on the received ID number of IC chip A and on the number of times of reception from IC chip A are displayed on the display unit  21 . Thus, contents dependent on the ID number and the number of reception times can be selected and displayed on the display unit  21 ; that is, appropriate contents can be provided with a simple operation. 
     According to the present embodiment, contents are selected based on the ID number of IC chip A and the number of times of reception from that IC chip A; however, contents may be selected based on the ID number of IC chip A and the date of reception from that IC chip A, or predetermined data received from that IC chip A. 
     Alternatively, contents may be selected solely based on the ID number of IC chip A. In this case, there can be selected contents based on the user&#39;s age, sex and/or profession and the like specified by the ID number of IC chip A. 
     As illustrated in  FIG. 5 , when ID number data is received from IC chip A of the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2  after step S 13 , before performing step S 14 , it is determined whether or not the ID number received by the control unit  11  is particular ID number data for modifying the program for contents selection (S 19 ). In performing this determination, particular ID number flag is provided in the ID management DB  12   a  to preliminarily register a particular ID. 
     If the ID number data received from IC chip A of the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2  is not the particular ID number data, S 14  and subsequent steps are executed. On the other hand, if the ID number data received from IC chip A of the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2  is the particular ID number data, the setting of the program for contents selection is modified (S 20 ), and then step S 11  and the steps thereafter is executed again. Accordingly, after the setting modification, timely contents selection is possible, such as provision of predetermined special contents, e.g., commercial selection according to climate conditions at step S 11  and the like, or selection of a bingo having odds increased according to the number of reception times or according to the number of reception times during a limited period at step S 17 , or the like; thus, more appropriate contents can be provided. 
     The information terminal  1  is preferably provided with an interface such as USB (Universal Serial Bus), whereby contents component data and/or setting data are updated, registered and/or deleted, if necessary, from the outside, or the program for contents selection is modified. 
       FIG. 6  illustrates a second embodiment of the present invention and is a flowchart illustrating the operation of an information terminal. In  FIG. 6 , the same reference characters are applied to constituent parts corresponding to the first embodiment, and an explanation thereof is omitted. 
     According to the second embodiment, when the information terminal  1  starts up, in order to provide preliminarily set predetermined contents, the control unit  11  activates the program for contents selection to combine contents component data and setting data from the storage unit  12  and thereby select from among multiple predetermined contents (S 31 ), and stores the selected contents into RAM or the storage unit  12  (S 32 ). Similarly to the first embodiment, the program for contents selection may make random selection from among multiple preliminarily set contents, or make selection according to the date or time. The control unit  11  causes the display unit  21  to display the selected contents and if necessary, also outputs them to the audio unit  23  (S 33 ). 
     Subsequently, the control unit  11  determines based on mutual authentication between the communication unit  22  and non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2 , whether or not the communication unit  22  has received predetermined data from IC chip A (S 34 ). In this case, the predetermined data is data stored in the memory of IC chip A and may or may not contain ID number data. 
     If predetermined data has not been received from IC chip A of the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2 , steps S 31  to S 34  are repeated until predetermined data is received. 
     If predetermined data has been received from IC chip A of the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2 , the control unit  11  causes the program for contents selection to combine, based on the received predetermined data and the contents stored in step S 32 , contents component data registered in the contents DB  12   b  and setting data registered in the setting DB  12   c  and thereby make contents selection (S 35 ). 
     The control unit  11  causes the display unit  21  to display the selected contents and if necessary, also outputs them to the audio unit  23  (S 36 ). Then, after displaying and/or outputting the contents for a predetermined length of time, the control unit  11  repeats steps S 31  to S 36  until the information terminal  1  stops. 
     In this way, with the information terminal  1  according to the present embodiment, for example, based on data on the purchased amount and/or points and the like at the store received from IC chip A of the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2  and the commercial most recently displayed on the display unit  21 , discount information or coupon information related to the displayed commercial can be provided according to the purchased amount, the points or the like. Thus, similarly to the first embodiment, appropriate and timely contents can be provided with a simple operation. 
     In this case, while discount information or coupon information are displayed on the display unit  21 , the communication unit  22  preferably transmits via an IC chip reader/writer the discount information or coupon information to the non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone  2 , so that they are stored in the memory of IC chip A. 
     The information terminal may be constructed by combining the configurations and operations of the above described embodiments or replacing part of the configurations and operations. 
     Further, the configuration and operation of the present invention are not limited to the above described embodiments, but many changes or modifications to the embodiments are possible without departing from the gist of the invention. 
     INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY 
     The present invention is applicable to an information terminal which selects from among contents stored in a storage unit based on information received via a communication unit from an IC chip and causes a display unit to display the contents, and thus can select contents dependent on the identification information of the user or the number of reception times or the like and display them on the display unit; that is, the information terminal is installed in the inside of a store such as a convenience store or the like and provides contents based on information inputted from a non-contact type IC equipped mobile telephone.