JP2017033103A - Digital signage control system, digital signage control system including the same, and product advertisement or service advertisement providing method using digital signage control systems - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a digital signage control system that allows various works such as updating of content data and the like to be implemented with a feeling of operating smart phones at ease.SOLUTION: A digital signage control system 100 is configured to comprise: a user interface device 140 with respect to a display device 300; a wireless access point function 110 that provides a wireless access point to a portable terminal 200; an application 120 that implements a creation support of content data; and a content server function 130 that controls to provide the content data. Users: enter an area of the wireless access point function 110 to establish a wireless communication session via a wireless communication function 230; create content data including a product advertisement and the like with a feeling just like persons concerned with shop/stores writing blogs through the portable terminal 200; upload the content data to the content server function 130; and cause the display device 300 to reproduce the content data.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a digital signage control system. In particular, the present invention relates to a digital signage control system that repeatedly reproduces and displays content data related to product advertisements or service advertisements using a general-purpose display device installed in a store or in a store.

In recent years, digital signage systems have attracted attention. Conventionally, there have been many so-called electric bulletin board types in which only simple electric messages are sent, but in recent years digital signage systems using large-sized high-definition liquid crystal displays as display devices are increasing.
Digital signage is digitized by displaying signage (advertisement), which is conventionally printed on a paper medium, on an electronic medium such as a liquid crystal display. For example, an electronic advertisement is provided by displaying signage information such as a target product advertisement on a liquid crystal display device or the like installed in a store.

The digital signage system is highly visible and appealing, so it is expected to promote product sales and service sales.
In particular, a digital signage system using a liquid crystal display device can display not only characters but also high-definition product images and moving images, and the high-quality visual effects that are designed for the layout can be fully utilized. There are many things that have been done. As with web pages on the Internet, digital signage displays are becoming more expensive and sophisticated.

  In constructing a conventional digital signage system, the compatibility with existing web pages on the Internet is also emphasized, and a part of the digital signage system device configuration has a router function, and it has the same system resources as a computer. In many cases, the device configuration is similar to a web terminal that displays a so-called Internet website.

  On the other hand, if the display contents of digital signage are elaborately costly, as with many web pages on the Internet, it becomes so-called professional content production with designers intervening, If uploading to a digital signage system is also done on the Internet or a local LAN, it will become difficult to build systems, install and update content data unless you have so-called network and computer skills. there were. Even if the content data is installed or updated from the data input / output port of the liquid crystal display device, not via the network, it is difficult for a person who does not have computer skills to handle it.

JP 2004-227308 A JP 2005-18478 A

From such a background, it has been difficult to introduce the conventional digital signage system.
The first problem is the cost of the device configuration of the digital signage system.
As described above, a part of the device configuration of the digital signage system has a router function, further has system resources similar to those of a computer, and has a device configuration similar to a web terminal that displays a so-called Internet website. If so, the cost of these components is a major problem. In fact, it can be said that such router functions, computer resources, etc. are over-spec if the application software is of a level that repeatedly displays a plurality of content data.

The second problem is the initial cost of introducing the digital signage system.
As mentioned above, the construction of a digital signage system requires high network skills and computer skills, and we have to order various operations such as system construction and installation of content data from specialists with those skills. There was a problem that it was costly.

The third problem is the operational cost of the digital signage system.
The products and services that you want to advertise at the store can change daily due to factors such as time, season, and sales, so there is a strong desire to change the contents of digital signage to be displayed frequently. At present, many contents data of several to tens of patterns are repeatedly displayed in a fixed manner, and contents cannot be frequently added or updated. If the display contents can be changed frequently, for example, the signage contents can be changed according to the time of day, the degree of freedom for effective advertising increases. As an example, there is a restaurant that provides daily lunches at restaurants and the like. There is a need to constantly change to the new display contents if the store is not a fixed rotation but new menus are introduced one after another. It would be very convenient if the shop owner could cook the daily menu for the day, take a picture, upload it to the digital signage system and display it as a digital signage.

  However, as mentioned above, in many cases, it is an environment in which it is inevitable to order content data production and uploading to a digital signage system each time from a web production company, which requires a lot of operating costs. It was difficult to easily perform various operations such as updating content data.

  Therefore, the present invention simplifies the configuration of the digital signage system, eliminates overspec, suppresses the cost of the device configuration, suppresses the initial cost of introducing the digital signage system, and further suppresses the operation cost. It is an object of the present invention to provide a new digital signage control system that can easily perform various operations such as updating content data as if operating a smartphone, and a method for providing a product advertisement or a service advertisement using the digital signage control system.

  In order to achieve the above object, a digital signage control system of the present invention includes an interface device for a display device, a wireless access point function that enables wireless LAN connection to a portable terminal with a wireless communication function, and the wireless LAN connection. Application software that logs in the mobile terminal and supports data transfer of dynamically photographed or photographed image data for product advertisement or service advertisement, and uses the image data as content data for signage display, and the application The content server function of reproducing the content data provided from software on the display device, logging in via the wireless access point function, and dynamically capturing or capturing the image and transferring the data with the mobile terminal Day Which is a digital signage control system capable allowed to appear as digital signage.

  Here, if the content server function has a repeat function that repeatedly provides content data to the content reproduction function, the content can be repeatedly reproduced and displayed on the display device.

As described above, the digital signage control system of the present invention can upload content data and update content data by a simple operation of the user himself / herself.
When the above-mentioned application software receives dynamic shooting or data transfer of content data that has already been shot for a product advertisement or service advertisement from a user's mobile terminal, an update function that updates the current content data to the new content data If it is the structure provided with, the updated content data can be replaced | exchanged for conversion to a display apparatus.

As shown in the above configuration, the digital signage control system of the present invention has a configuration that does not have a router function, Internet transmission / reception means, and media reader device, but the user uploads and plays back content data and updates content data. Etc. can be easily performed.
In addition, the digital signage control system of the present invention has a simplified device configuration as described above, and each component can be reduced in size, so that it is housed in a single set-top box housing as a device housing. And can be provided as being attached to a housing of the display device or a support base of the display device. In recent years, the display device has been increased in size, and the housing of the display device itself has become larger with the increase in the screen size. Therefore, the display device can be stored on the back surface or the display device support.

  The digital signage control system according to the present invention transmits and receives content data by using a wireless LAN connection function with a wireless access point that a mobile terminal such as a smartphone used by a user generally has. For example, even if the display device is installed in a store, wireless LAN connection is possible if it is in the area of the wireless access point function of the digital signage control system of the present invention, and it is as if operating a mobile terminal such as a smartphone. Content data can be uploaded.

The digital signage control system according to the present invention may be introduced into a general-purpose display device procured by the user himself / herself, or can be provided to the user in a form incorporated in the display device.
When the digital signage control system of the present invention is used, it is sufficient to have a photographing function and a data communication function that are generally possessed by a mobile terminal such as a user's smartphone, and no special application software is required. When the user operates the mobile terminal and logs in to the application software by connecting to the wireless LAN using the wireless access point function provided by the digital signage control system of the present invention, the user follows his / her instructions according to the instructions displayed by the application software. Image data transfer is executed simply by dynamically shooting an image for a product advertisement or service advertisement on a mobile terminal, or by selecting a captured image, and the image data is transferred to a content server function.

  According to the digital signage control system of the present invention, the system configuration is simplified to eliminate overspecs, the cost of the device configuration is reduced, the initial cost of introducing the digital signage system is reduced, and the store operator himself operates the smartphone. This makes it possible to perform various tasks such as updating content data easily.

It is a figure which shows simply the example of installation in the shop which introduced the digital signage control system 100 concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows the structural example of the digital signage control system 100 concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows simply a mode that authentication is started automatically and a communication session is established. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of menu selection buttons displayed on the screen of the display operation unit 210 of the mobile terminal 200. FIG. It is the figure which showed simply a mode that content data were produced using the imaging | photography function of the portable terminal. It is the figure which showed a mode that the layout selection, the input of catch phrase, etc. are performed with respect to a picked-up image, and the content data for advertisement are completed. It is a figure which shows a mode that the produced content data are uploaded to the digital signage control system 100 from the portable terminal 200. FIG. It is the figure which showed simply a mode that the setting input of a reproduction time table was performed via the input screen shown to the display operation part 210 of the portable terminal 200. FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing how content data is reproduced on the display device 300 by the content server function 130; 6 is a diagram showing an example in which content is reproduced and displayed on the display device 300. FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a procedure for a user himself / herself to create content data using the mobile terminal 200 and upload the created content data to the digital signage control system 100.

  Hereinafter, the best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described specifically by way of examples. The present invention is not limited to these examples.

A configuration example of a digital signage control system of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Hereinafter, a display device installed near the storefront of a commercial facility will be described as an example of the display device, but it goes without saying that the installation location of the digital signage control system can be changed as appropriate.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram simply showing an example of installation at a store where the digital signage control system 100 according to the present invention is introduced. In this example, a display 300 is installed at a storefront of a restaurant, and the digital signage control system 100 according to the present invention, which is tailored as a set-top box type, is attached to a part of the casing. User A holds mobile terminal 200.

The system configuration will be described.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example of the digital signage control system 100 according to the present invention. The display device 300 and the user's mobile terminal 200 are also shown.
As shown in FIG. 2, the digital signage control system 100 according to the present invention includes a wireless access point function 110, application software 120, a content server function 130, and an interface device 140. The above configuration is only an example, and it goes without saying that there can be variations in various system configurations.
In the description of the present invention, the processing itself is described in the meaning performed by the control unit (not shown) when the processing subject is not clearly indicated for the part describing the processing performed by the digital signage control system 100. Many.

Each component will be briefly described.
The wireless access point function 110 enables wireless LAN connection to the portable terminal 200 with a wireless communication function. In general, what is called a wireless access point means a connection point to the Internet having a router function. However, in the digital signage control system 100 of the present invention, it is sufficient if a connection via wireless is established, which is complicated. Since routing and the like are unnecessary and the router function is overspec, a bridge type wireless access point function is sufficient. However, this does not exclude the adoption of a router-type wireless access point function.

  The wireless access point function 110 can detect whether or not the mobile terminal 200 of the specific user exists in the communicable area. For example, it is detected whether or not the user's portable terminal 200 is present in the communicable area by monitoring the presence or absence of a radio wave transmission and response to the communicable area. A function of performing mutual authentication between the wireless access point function 110 and the mobile terminal 200 may be provided.

  The application software 120 logs in the mobile terminal 200 connected to the wireless LAN via the wireless access point function 110, and dynamically shoots the product advertisement or service advertisement by the mobile terminal 200 or transfers the data of the captured image data. And the transferred image data is transferred to the content server function 130 and processed as content data to be displayed on the display device 300 as signage.

Various functions of the application software 120 will be described.
In this configuration example, it is assumed that a menu selection function 121, a content data input function 122, and a content data management function 123 are provided as shown in FIG. Although it is simply integrated into three functions, it goes without saying that other functions can be added as needed.

  The menu selection function 121 is an interface type input support function provided to the user by the application software 120. For example, when the mobile terminal 200 logs in, a menu selection button is presented on the screen of the mobile terminal 200, and the menu can be selected by the user touching the screen.

The content data input function 122 is a function that supports creation and input of content data to be uploaded to the digital signage control system 100.
For example, the content data input function 122 prompts the user to create photograph data for a product using the photographing function 220 of the mobile terminal 200 or to input character data via the display operation unit 210. Support the creation of content data. Since it can be created by operating the normal mobile terminal 200, it is possible to provide an environment where the user can easily create it as if he / she writes a blog.

Note that the content data itself may be taken from the portable terminal 200 that is produced in an external environment.
For example, after displaying and confirming the created content data on the display operation unit 210, the user touches and selects the content data to be uploaded to the digital signage control system 100 according to the guide of the content data input function 122.
Thus, the content data input function 122 supports uploading of content data.

The content data management function 123 is a function for storing and managing content data input from the mobile terminal 200 by the user.
The content data management function 123 has a function of converting the content data delivered from the portable terminal 200 into a video data format that can be input to the display device 300, and stores and holds the content data that has been converted into the video data format. preferable.
The content data management function 123 preferably includes storage means such as a nonvolatile storage element or a recording medium for storing and holding the content data converted into the video data format.

  The above is an example of various functions of the application software 120. Regardless of the above example, the application software 120 includes functions other than the menu selection function 121, the content data input function 122, and the content data management function 123. It goes without saying that it is possible.

  The content server function 130 is a server function that reproduces content data stored / held in the content data management function 123 as video data on the display device 300 and reproduces it on the display device 300. The output is output to the video input terminal of the display device 300 via the interface device 140.

The content server function 130 may have a function of providing content data to be provided to the display apparatus 300 according to a schedule according to the time table.
In addition, when displaying digital signage on the display device 300, it is possible to display one digital signage on the entire surface of the display device 300, or to display the digital signage as a multi-window by dividing the display screen. It is. The content server function 130 preferably has a function of controlling the multi-window display.

The interface device 140 is an interface device that inputs / outputs video data to / from the display device 300.
A standard video data input / output interface may be used.
For example, if the display device 300 has a DVI terminal, it can be supported if the interface device 140 includes a DVI-compatible interface.
For example, if the display device 300 has an HDMI (registered trademark) terminal, the interface device 140 can be used if it includes an interface compatible with HDMI (registered trademark).

Next, the user's portable terminal 200 will be described.
The user's portable terminal 200 of this configuration example may be provided with a function mounted on a normal smartphone, and need not be equipped with a special function. That is, any configuration including a general display operation unit 210 with a touch panel input function, a photographing function 220, and a wireless communication function 230 may be used.

  The above is the basic configuration of the digital signage control system 100 and the mobile terminal 200.

  Next, a basic processing procedure from uploading content data to display on the display device 300 by the digital signage control system 100 and the portable terminal 200 of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

The following description will be divided into two procedures.
In the first procedure, a user A enters a wireless access point of the digital signage control system 100, creates content data using the mobile terminal 200, and uploads the created content data to the digital signage control system 100. It is.
The second procedure is a content data reproduction procedure in the digital signage control system 100 of the present invention.

  Hereinafter, it is assumed that the user A is an owner chef of a restaurant, and a usage procedure for displaying a digital signage for daily lunch that changes every day using a display device in front of the store will be described as an example.

First, the first procedure will be described.
In the first procedure, a user A enters a wireless access point of the digital signage control system 100, creates content data using the mobile terminal 200, and uploads the created content data to the digital signage control system 100. It is.

User A with mobile terminal 200 approaches the vicinity of digital signage control system 100 and enters the wireless communicable area of wireless access point function 110 (step S1 in FIG. 11).
The range of the wireless communicable area depends on the specifications of the wireless access point 110, but is 10 m in this example. It goes without saying that this distance can be set freely according to the specifications of the wireless access point 110.

The wireless access point function 110 of the digital signage control system 100 has a function of detecting whether or not the mobile terminal 200 is present in the wireless communicable area. For example, monitoring is performed based on the presence or absence of a radio wave transmission and a response toward an area where wireless communication is possible. Here, the entry of the portable terminal 200 is detected (step S2 in FIG. 11).
Here, as shown in FIG. 3, authentication is automatically started between the portable terminal 200 and the digital signage control system 100, and a communication session is established (step S3 in FIG. 11).

  Next, an interface type input screen is provided on the display operation unit 210 of the portable terminal 200 by the menu selection function 121 of the application software 120 shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of menu selection buttons displayed on the screen of the display operation unit 210 of the mobile terminal 200 when the mobile terminal 200 logs in.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the user A can select a menu by touching the screen of the display operation unit 210. In this example, the top button is a new creation button, and the other buttons are content data designation buttons created in the past.
Here, as shown in FIG. 4B, it is assumed that a menu selection button for newly creating content data is selected (step S4 in FIG. 11).

Next, as shown in FIG. 5, the user A operates his / her portable terminal 200 to create content data (step S5 in FIG. 11).
For example, the content data input function 122 shown in FIG. 2 (b) “shoots a product image to be advertised” in the display operation unit 210 of the mobile terminal 200. ”And other guides are displayed.
Following this guide, user A neatly decorates the sample food for the daily lunch of the day, and then creates image data for advertising the sample food using the photographing function 220 of the mobile terminal 200 as shown in FIG. To do.

Further, for example, the content data input function 122 displays a guide such as “Please insert a description of the photographed product image” on the display operation unit 210 of the mobile terminal 200.
As shown in FIG. 6, necessary layout selection, catch phrase input, and the like are performed using a character input function provided in the display operation unit 210 of the mobile terminal 200, and the content data for advertisement is completed.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the created content data is selected and uploaded to the digital signage control system 100 (step S6 in FIG. 11).
For example, the content data input function 122 displays a guide such as “Please confirm the created content and press the send button” on the display operation unit 210 of the mobile terminal 200.
User A displays and confirms the created content data on display operation unit 210, and then touches and selects content data to be uploaded to digital signage control system 100 according to the guide of content data input function 122.

  The content data input function 122 transmits content data to the mobile terminal 200 via the wireless communication function 230 (step S7 in FIG. 11).

The content data management means 123 shown in FIG. 2B converts the content data delivered from the portable terminal 200 into a video data format that can be input to the display device 300 as necessary, and converts it into a video data format. The stored content data is stored and held (step S8 in FIG. 11).
The content data converted into the video data format is stored in a storage means such as a nonvolatile storage element or a recording medium.
The content data format is assumed to be converted into the JPEG format and stored here.

As an option, the user A can also make an input setting related to a time table related to reproduction of the content data A to the content server function 130 via the display operation unit 210 of the mobile terminal 200.
However, it is possible to perform processing in which only one content is reproduced and repeat reproduction is automatically set. In this case, the procedure for setting the playback time table for the playback content data is not necessary.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram simply showing a state in which the setting input of the reproduction time table is performed via the input screen presented on the display operation unit 210 of the mobile terminal 200. In this example, as shown in FIG. 8, the content data management unit 123 provides a playback time table setting screen on the screen of the display operation unit 210, and the user plays back the playback content via the screen of the display operation unit 210. Enter the timetable.

  The content server function 130 stores and holds a reproduction time table, and reproduces the designated content data on the display device 300 when the designated time is reached according to the reproduction time table.

Next, the second procedure will be described.
The second procedure is a content data reproduction procedure in the digital signage control system 100 of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing how content data is reproduced on the display device 300 by the content server function 130 of the digital signage control system 100 of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 9, the content server function 130 connects the interface 140 from the content server function 130 immediately according to the playback time table if there is a playback time table, or when the repeat playback is simply performed without using the playback time table. Accordingly, the reproduction of the content data is started on the display device 300 (step S9 in FIG. 11).
Upon receiving the content data transmission, the display device 300 reproduces and displays the content (step S10 in FIG. 11).

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in which content is reproduced and displayed on the display device 300.
In this example, as shown in FIG. 10, the display device 300 can display content data input via the interface device 140 on the screen as digital signage.

The above is an example of the basic processing flow.
Note that the above procedure can be performed in the same manner when content data is newly created, replaced with the current content data, and the digital signage currently being displayed is updated.

According to the digital signage control system of the present invention, Internet connection or the like is unnecessary, and advanced image processing on a personal computer is unnecessary.
Through the above processing, the content data for the advertising advertisement produced by the user A as if writing a blog can be easily uploaded and the digital signage can be displayed on the display device 300. The creation process and the replacement process can be easily performed by a professional such as a website creation agency.

  As mentioned above, although the preferred embodiment in the configuration example of the digital signage control system of the present invention has been illustrated and described, it is understood that various modifications can be made without departing from the technical scope of the present invention. Let's go.

  The digital signage control system of the present invention can be widely provided as a digital signage control system that displays signage information such as targeted product advertisements on a display device installed in a commercial facility, a storefront, or the like.

100 Digital Signage Control System 110 Wireless Access Point Function 120 Application Software 130 Content Server Function 130
140 Interface Device 200 User Terminal 210 Display Operation Unit 220 Shooting Function 230 Wireless Communication Function 300 Display Device

Claims (8)

An interface device for the display device;
A wireless access point function that enables wireless LAN connection to a portable terminal with a wireless communication function;
An application that logs in the mobile terminal connected to the wireless LAN, supports dynamic shooting of product advertisement or service advertisement, or data transfer of image data that has already been shot, and uses the image data as content data for signage display Soft and
A content server function for reproducing the content data provided from the application software on the display device;
A digital signage control system capable of logging in via the wireless access point function and displaying the image data dynamically taken or transferred by the portable terminal as digital signage.   The digital signage control system according to claim 1, wherein the content server function includes a repeat function for repeatedly playing the content data on the display device, and causes the display device to play the content data repeatedly.   When the application software receives dynamic shooting or data transfer of image data that has already been shot for a new product advertisement or service advertisement, the application software is provided with an update function that updates the current content data to new content data. The digital signage control system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the content data after that can be reproduced on the display device.   The digital signage control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein only the access point function is provided as communication means, and no router function or Internet connection function is provided.   5. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display device includes a USB port, and the wireless access point function is a USB type wireless application software module attached to each USB port. Digital signage control system.   The digital signage control system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the digital signage control system is configured to be housed in a single set-top box housing and attached to the housing or support base of the display device. .   The digital signage control system provided with the digital signage control system in any one of Claim 1 to 6, and the said display apparatus.   A method for providing a product advertisement or a service advertisement using the digital signage control system according to claim 7.

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