JP7653616B2 - Program and terminal device - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to a program and a terminal device.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technology that provides a menu based on the user's input results, such as their physical condition, mental state, desired taste, time to cook, cost, and type of food they want to eat, using a slide bar.

JP 2013-178602 A

This disclosure provides a program and a terminal device that can provide cooking information that takes into account the cooking appliances used by the user.

The program of the present disclosure is a program executed by a control unit of a terminal device having a display unit, and causes the control unit to function as a program execution unit that has a menu providing function that provides a menu, accepts an operation from a user to select one or more cooking appliances that cooperate with the menu providing function from among the cooking appliances registered by the program, and displays, by the menu providing function, menu information indicating the menu including a first dish using the cooking appliance selected by the accepted operation, and the program execution unit displays the menu information indicating the menu excluding the first dish included in the menu provided by the menu providing function up to a date going back a predetermined number of days from the present, and the menu information includes a plurality of dish images that are images of dishes, and each of the dish images is superimposed with a distinguishing image to distinguish whether it is a main dish or a side dish.

The terminal device of the present disclosure includes a display unit and a control unit that reads and executes a program capable of registering cooking appliances, and the control unit has a menu providing function that provides a menu, and accepts from a user an operation to select one or more of the cooking appliances that are linked to the menu providing function from among the cooking appliances registered by the program, and displays, on the display unit, menu information indicating the menu including a first dish using the cooking appliance selected by the accepted operation using the menu providing function, and in displaying the menu information, displays the menu information indicating the menu excluding the first dish included in the menu provided by the menu providing function up to a date going back a predetermined number of days from the present, and the menu information includes a plurality of dish images that are images of dishes, and each of the dish images has a distinguishing image superimposed on it to distinguish whether it is a main dish or a side dish.

The program and terminal device disclosed herein can display information about cooking using a cooking appliance selected by the user, and therefore can provide information about cooking that takes into account the cooking appliance used by the user.

A diagram showing the configuration of an information processing system. A block diagram showing the functional configuration of an information processing server and a terminal device. A diagram showing an example of a cooking appliance management database. A diagram showing an example of a menu provision screen A diagram showing an example of screen transitions when registering a cooking appliance. A diagram showing an example of screen transitions when setting up menu linkage 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of an information processing system. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of an information processing system. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of an information processing system. A block diagram showing the functional configuration of an information processing server and a terminal device. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a recipe providing screen and a screen transition to the recipe providing screen. 1 is a flowchart showing the operation of an information processing system.

(Knowledge and other information that forms the basis of this disclosure)
In the above conventional technology, the menu provided to the user takes into consideration the user's mood, but does not take into consideration what cooking appliances the user uses. Therefore, in the above conventional technology, for example, there may be cases where the user cannot easily prepare the menu provided. Therefore, it is desirable that the menu provided to the user takes into consideration the cooking appliances used by the user. Although the above conventional technology shows a case where a menu is provided, it is desirable to take into consideration the cooking appliances not only for the menu, but also for other cooking-related information such as recipes.
Therefore, the present disclosure provides a program and a terminal device that can provide cooking information such as menus and recipes while taking into consideration the cooking appliances used by the user.

Hereinafter, the embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. However, in some cases, more detailed explanations than necessary may be omitted. For example, detailed explanations of already well-known matters or duplicate explanations of substantially the same configurations may be omitted.
It should be noted that the accompanying drawings and the following description are provided to enable those skilled in the art to fully understand the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the subject matter described in the claims.

(Embodiment 1)
Hereinafter, the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
[1-1. Configuration]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an information processing system 1000.

The information processing system 1000 is a system that provides cooking-related information to the user P. In this embodiment, the information processing system 1000 provides the user P with a menu as cooking-related information.

The house H shown in FIG. 1 is equipped with four types of cooking appliances 1: a refrigerator 11, a microwave oven 12, a rice cooker 13, and an induction cooking heater 14. Note that the refrigerator 11 is generally an appliance for storing food at low temperatures, but depending on the dish, the cooking process may include a cooling process or a low-temperature storage process, and the refrigerator 11 may be used in these processes. Therefore, in each embodiment, the refrigerator 11 is treated as a cooking appliance 1.

Of the four types of cooking appliances 1 shown in FIG. 1, the refrigerator 11, the microwave oven 12, and the rice cooker 13 are communicatively connected to a communication device 2 installed in the house H, and can communicate with the information processing server 3 via the communication device 2.

The communication device 2 connects to the global network GN and communicates with the information processing server 3 connected to the global network GN. The communication device 2 functions as an interface device for connecting the cooking appliance 1 to the global network GN. In addition, when the terminal device 4 has established a communication connection with the communication device 2, the communication device 2 functions as an interface device for connecting the terminal device 4 to the global network GN. The communication device 2 has functions such as a modem-related function, a router function, and a NAT (Network Address Translation) function. The communication device 2 transfers data exchanged between the cooking appliance 1 and the information processing server 3 connected to the global network GN. In addition, the communication device 2 transfers data exchanged between the terminal device 4 that has established a communication connection and the information processing server 3 connected to the global network GN.

The information processing system 1000 includes a terminal device 4 having a touch panel 42. The terminal device 4 is configured, for example, by a smartphone or a tablet terminal, and is used by a user P. The touch panel 42 corresponds to an example of a "display unit." An application program for providing a menu to the user P is installed in the terminal device 4. In the following description, an application program for providing information related to cooking, such as a menu, to the user P is referred to as a "providing application" and is assigned the reference number "413."
The provided application 413 corresponds to an example of a "program" and an "application program".

In FIG. 1, a user P who is at home is indicated by a dotted line, and a user P who has left the house H is indicated by a solid line. When the terminal device 4 is used by a user P who is at home, the terminal device 4 uses the function of the provision app 413 to communicate with the information processing server 3 connected to the global network GN via the communication device 2 or without the communication device 2 to provide a menu to the user P. Also, when the terminal device 4 is used by a user P who has left the house H, the terminal device 4 uses the function of the provision app 413 to communicate with the information processing server 3 connected to the global network GN without the communication device 2 to provide a menu to the user P.

The information processing system 1000 includes an information processing server 3. The information processing server 3 in this embodiment is a server device that processes information related to the provision of menus, is connected to the global network GN, and communicates with at least the terminal device 4.
In each drawing, the information processing server 3 is represented by one block, but this does not necessarily mean that the information processing server 3 is composed of a single server device. For example, the information processing server 3 may be composed of multiple server devices with different processing contents.

Next, the functional configurations of the information processing server 3 and the terminal device 4 will be described.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the information processing server 3 and the terminal device 4. As shown in FIG.

The information processing server 3 includes a server control unit 30 and a server communication unit 31.

The server control unit 30 includes a server processor 300, which is a processor that executes programs such as a CPU or MPU, and a server storage unit 310, and controls each unit of the information processing server 3. The server control unit 30 executes various processes through cooperation between hardware and software, such that the server processor 300 reads out a control program 311 stored in the server storage unit 310 and executes processing.

The server storage unit 310 has a storage area for storing programs executed by the server processor 300 and data processed by the server processor 300. The server storage unit 310 stores a control program 311 executed by the server processor 300, setting data 312 related to the settings of the information processing server 3, a cooking appliance management database 313, and various other data. The server storage unit 310 has a non-volatile storage area for non-volatilely storing programs and data. The server storage unit 310 may also have a volatile storage area and constitute a work area for temporarily storing programs executed by the server processor 300 and data to be processed.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the cooking appliance management database 313.
The cooking appliance management database 313 is a database that manages information related to the cooking appliance 1. Each record R stored in the cooking appliance management database 313 has a user ID 3131, cooking appliance type information 3132, cooking appliance identification information 3133, and linkage on/off information 3134.

Note that each record R stored in the cooking appliance management database 313 may further include one or more different pieces of information.

The user ID 3131 is identification information that identifies the user P who uses the provided application 413, and is appropriately assigned to the user P who uses the provided application 413.

The cooking appliance type information 3132 is information indicating the type of cooking appliance 1. In embodiments 1, 2, and 3, there are four types of cooking appliance 1: "refrigerator," "microwave oven," "rice cooker," and "induction cooking heater."

The cooking appliance identification information 3133 is identification information that identifies the cooking appliance 1. The cooking appliance identification information 3133 is, for example, a serial number, a model number, a product number, etc.

The linkage on/off information 3134 is information indicating the on/off state of the linkage between the menu provision function of the provision application 413 and the cooking appliance 1. Linkage on indicates that the linkage with the menu provision function is enabled, and linkage off indicates that the linkage with the menu provision function is disabled. In one record R, the same number of linkage on/off information 3134 as the cooking appliance identification information 3133 are associated with the user ID 3131.

Returning to the explanation of FIG. 2, the server communication unit 31 is equipped with communication hardware that complies with a specified communication standard, and communicates with devices connected to the global network GN according to the specified communication standard under the control of the server control unit 30.

Next, the functional configuration of the terminal device 4 will be described.
The terminal device 4 includes a terminal control unit 40, a terminal communication unit 41, a touch panel 42, and a camera 43. The terminal control unit 40 corresponds to an example of a "control unit".

The terminal control unit 40 includes a terminal processor 400, which is a processor that executes programs such as a CPU or MPU, and a terminal storage unit 410, and controls each unit of the terminal device 4. The terminal control unit 40 executes various processes through cooperation of hardware and software, such that the terminal processor 400 reads a control program 411 stored in the terminal storage unit 410 and executes the process. A provided application 413 is pre-installed in the terminal device 4. The provided application 413 is read from the terminal storage unit 410 by the terminal processor 400 and executed, causing the terminal control unit 40 to function as an application execution unit 4000. The application execution unit 4000 corresponds to an example of a "program execution unit." Details of the application execution unit 4000 will be described later.

The terminal storage unit 410 has a storage area for storing programs executed by the terminal processor 400 and data processed by the terminal processor 400. The terminal storage unit 410 stores a control program 411 executed by the terminal processor 400, setting data 412 related to the settings of the terminal device 4, a provided application 413, a user ID 3131, and various other data. The terminal storage unit 410 has a non-volatile storage area for non-volatilely storing programs and data. The terminal storage unit 410 may also have a volatile storage area and constitute a work area for temporarily storing programs executed by the terminal processor 400 and data to be processed.

The terminal communication unit 41 includes communication hardware such as a communication circuit that complies with a specific communication standard, and communicates with devices connected to the global network GN according to the specific communication standard under the control of the terminal control unit 40. In this embodiment, the terminal communication unit 41 communicates with the information processing server 3 according to the specific communication standard under the control of the application execution unit 4000. In this embodiment, the communication standard used by the terminal communication unit 41 is exemplified as a wireless communication standard, but may also be a wired communication standard.

The touch panel 42 includes a display panel such as a liquid crystal display panel, and a touch sensor that is overlaid on or integrated with the display panel. The display panel displays various images under the control of the terminal control unit 40. The touch sensor detects touch operations and outputs the detected operations to the terminal control unit 40. The terminal control unit 40 executes processing corresponding to the touch operations based on the input from the touch sensor.

The camera 43 takes pictures according to the control of the terminal control unit 40. The camera 43 outputs the captured image data to the terminal control unit 40.

As described above, the terminal control unit 40 functions as the application execution unit 4000 .
The application execution unit 4000 controls the terminal communication unit 41 to transmit and receive various information to and from the information processing server 3. When the terminal device 4 and the communication device 2 are communicatively connected, the application execution unit 4000 transmits and receives various information to and from the information processing server 3 via the communication device 2, and when this is not possible, transmits and receives various information to and from the information processing server 3 without via the communication device 2. Therefore, even if the user P is not located inside or near the house H, the terminal device 4 can transmit and receive various information to and from the information processing server 3 by the function of the provision application 413.

The application execution unit 4000 also displays a user interface on the touch panel 42. In the following description, the user interface that the application execution unit 4000 displays on the touch panel 42 is referred to as an "application UI" and is given the reference number "4100." The application execution unit 4000 provides various information to the user P by displaying the application UI 4100 on the touch panel 42, and also accepts various inputs from the user P.

The application execution unit 4000 functions as a registration setting unit 4001, and registers the cooking appliance 1 and performs settings to link the registered cooking appliance 1 to the menu provision function (hereinafter, simply referred to as "menu link setting"). Note that in each embodiment, registering the cooking appliance 1 means storing various information related to the cooking appliance 1 in the cooking appliance management database 313. The registration setting unit 4001 displays the operation screen SSG in the application UI 4100 when registering the cooking appliance 1 and performing menu link setting.

The app execution unit 4000 also functions as a menu provision unit 4002 and executes a menu provision function that provides a menu. When executing the menu provision function, the menu provision unit 4002 displays a menu provision screen KTG that provides a menu in the app UI 4100. As a result, the menu provision unit 4002 provides the menu to the user P.

Figure 4 shows an example of the menu provision screen KTG.

The menu presentation screen KTG has a menu information display area HA1.
The menu information display area HA1 is an area for displaying menu information J1 indicating a menu. The menu information J1 displayed in the menu information display area HA1 includes one or more food images RG, which are images of food. The menu information J1 shown in FIG. 4 includes three food images RG, RG1, RG2, and RG3. A distinction image KG is superimposed on each of the food images RG to distinguish whether the food is a main dish or a side dish in the menu indicated by the menu information J1. In the case of FIG. 4, a distinction image KG indicating that the food image RG1 is a main dish is superimposed, and a distinction image KG indicating that the food image RG2 and RG3 are side dishes is superimposed.

In this way, since the menu information J1 includes food images RG of the dishes that make up the menu, the user P can intuitively and easily recognize the menu provided by the menu presentation screen KTG. In addition, since a distinction image KG is superimposed on the food image RG, the user P can easily recognize whether each of the dishes that make up the menu provided is provided as a main dish or a side dish.

The menu information J1 includes dish name information J2. The dish name information J2 indicates at least the name of the dish indicated by the dish image RG on which the distinction image KG indicating the main dish is superimposed.

The menu information display area HA1 has an edit button B1 for editing the menu indicated by the displayed menu information J1. When the edit button B1 is touched, the app UI4100 transitions from the menu provision screen KTG to a screen in which the menu indicated by the menu information J1 can be edited. When editing is performed on this screen, the menu indicated by the menu information J1 displayed in the menu information display area HA1 becomes a menu that reflects the editing, for example, the food image RG is different before and after editing.

The menu information display area HA1 displays date information J3. The date information J3 in FIG. 4 shows Monday, 5/13. By displaying the date information J3 along with the menu information J1 in the menu information display area HA1, the user P can easily recognize what date the menu indicated by the menu information J1 displayed in the menu information display area HA1 is for.

The menu information display area HA1 has a shopping list display button B2. When the shopping list display button B2 is touched, the app UI4100 transitions from the menu provision screen KTG to a screen that displays the shopping list.

The menu provision screen KTG has a date button display area HA2. The date button display area HA2 is an area that displays multiple date buttons B3. The date buttons B3 indicate dates and are software buttons that can be selected by touch operation. The date button display area HA2 shown in FIG. 4 displays date buttons B3 for one week starting from a certain day. When one date button B3 is touched, menu information display area HA1 displays menu information J1 that indicates the menu for the date indicated by the touched date button B3.

In this embodiment, the menu provided by the menu providing screen KTG can include dishes that use the cooking appliance 1 used by the user P. For this reason, the user P registers the cooking appliance 1 in the providing app 413. In addition, the user P sets up menu linkage in the providing app 413.

When registering the cooking appliance 1 and setting up the menu linkage, the app execution unit 4000 functions as the registration and setting unit 4001 and displays the operation screen SSG in the app UI 4100. Then, when registering the cooking appliance 1 and setting up the menu linkage, the screen transitions to various operation screens SSG in response to touch operations by the user P.

First, the transition of the operation screen SSG and each operation screen SSG when registering the cooking appliance 1 will be described. When registering the cooking appliance 1, in response to the touch operation of the user P, the screens transition in the order of the first operation screen SSG1, the second operation screen SSG2, and the third operation screen SSG3, or the first operation screen SSG1 and the third operation screen SSG3.

Figure 5 shows an example of screen transitions when registering a cooking appliance 1.

The first operation screen SSG1 includes an object OB related to each cooking appliance 1. The first operation screen SSG1 shown in FIG. 5 includes an object OB1 related to the microwave oven 12, an object OB2 related to the rice cooker 13, an object OB3 related to the refrigerator 11, and an object OB4 related to the induction cooking heater 14. Each of the objects OB can be selected by the user P by a touch operation.

The object OB includes a cooking appliance image KKG, which is an image of the cooking appliance 1, cooking appliance type information 3132, and cooking appliance identification information 3133. In addition, the object OB includes a linkage indication icon IC1 indicating that the linkage is on when the corresponding cooking appliance 1 is linked with the menu provision function.

The object OB1 relating to the microwave oven 12 shown in Figure 5 includes a cooking appliance image KKG1 indicating the microwave oven 12, cooking appliance type information 3132 indicating "microwave oven", cooking appliance identification information 3133 indicating "NE-BS2600", and a linkage indication icon IC1.
Further, the object OB2 relating to the rice cooker 13 includes a cooking appliance image KKG2 indicating the rice cooker 13, cooking appliance type information 3132 indicating "Rice cooker", and cooking appliance identification information 3133 indicating "SR-VSX109".
Furthermore, the object OB3 related to the refrigerator 11 includes a cooking appliance image KKG3 indicating the refrigerator 11, cooking appliance type information 3132 indicating "refrigerator", and cooking appliance identification information 3133 indicating "NEBS-2600-K".
Furthermore, the object OB4 related to the IH cooking heater 14 includes a cooking appliance image KKG4 indicating the IH cooking heater 14, cooking appliance type information 3132 indicating "IH cooking heater", and cooking appliance identification information 3133 indicating "IH KZ-YP77S".

An object OB is displayed in a grayed-out state if the corresponding cooking appliance 1 is a cooking appliance 1 that can be registered by the providing application 413 but is not currently registered. That is, an object OB related to an unregistered cooking appliance 1 is displayed in a different manner than an object OB related to a registered cooking appliance 1. In the example of FIG. 5, an object OB4 related to an induction cooking heater 14 is displayed in a grayed-out state. When a grayed-out object OB is touched, the application UI 4100 transitions from the first operation screen SSG1 to the third operation screen SSG3.

The first operation screen SSG1 has an add button B4. The add button B4 is a software button for registering the cooking appliance 1 and adding an object OB to be displayed on the first operation screen SSG1. When the add button B4 is touched, the app UI 4100 transitions from the first operation screen SSG1 to the second operation screen SSG2.

The registration setting unit 4001 generates the first operation screen SSG1 as follows.
First, the registration setting unit 4001 determines whether the home appliance icon IC2 arranged on the application UI 4100 has been touched. When the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the home appliance icon IC2 has been touched, the registration setting unit 4001 transmits record request information requesting a record R stored in the cooking appliance management database 313 to the information processing server 3 via the terminal communication unit 41. This record request information includes the user ID 3131 stored in the terminal storage unit 410. Next, the registration setting unit 4001 receives the record R having the user ID 3131 included in the record request information from the information processing server 3 via the terminal communication unit 41. Next, the registration setting unit 4001 generates a first operation screen SSG1 based on the received record R. The registration setting unit 4001 generates an object OB for each cooking appliance identification information 3133 included in the record R. In addition, when there is a cooking appliance 1 that can be registered by the provision application 413 but is not currently registered, the registration setting unit 4001 generates a grayed-out object OB for the cooking appliance 1. Then, the registration setting unit 4001 generates a first operation screen SSG1 including the generated object OB.

The second operation screen SSG2 has a selection button B5 for selecting the type of cooking appliance 1 for each type of cooking appliance 1 that can be registered. In the example of FIG. 5, the second operation screen SSG2 has four selection buttons B5 as types of cooking appliance 1: a selection button B5 for selecting "microwave oven", a selection button B5 for selecting "refrigerator", a selection button B5 for selecting "induction cooking heater", and a selection button B5 for selecting "rice cooker".

When any of the selection buttons B5 is touched on the second operation screen SSG2, the app UI 4100 transitions from the second operation screen SSG2 to the third operation screen SSG3.

The third operation screen SSG3 has a read button B6. The read button B6 is a software button for obtaining cooking appliance identification information 3133 by reading a code such as a barcode or a QR code (registered trademark). When the read button B6 is touched, the application execution unit 4000 activates the camera 43. Next, if the application execution unit 4000 is able to read a code from an image captured by the camera 43, it communicates with an external server such as the information processing server 3 to obtain the cooking appliance identification information 3133 corresponding to the code.

The third operation screen SSG3 has a list button B7. The list button B7 is a software button that allows user P to select cooking appliance identification information 3133 1 from a list of cooking appliance identification information 3133. In the example of FIG. 5, the list button B7 is a software button that allows user P to select the product number of cooking appliance 1 as cooking appliance identification information 3133. When the list button B7 is touched, the app UI 410 transitions from the third operation screen SSG3 to a screen that displays a list of cooking appliance identification information 3133.

Next, the screen transition of the operation screen SSG in the menu link setting and each operation screen SSG will be described. In the menu link setting, the screen transition is made in the order of the first operation screen SSG1 and the fourth operation screen SSG4 in response to the touch operation of the user P.

Figure 6 shows an example of screen transitions when setting up menu integration.

In the description of Figure 6, components that are the same as those in Figure 5 are given the same reference numerals and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted where appropriate.

In the example of FIG. 6, like the example of FIG. 5, the object OB4 related to the IH cooking heater 14 is displayed in a grayed-out state, and the other objects OB are not displayed in a grayed-out state. When an object OB that is not displayed in a grayed-out state, i.e., an object OB related to a registered cooking appliance 1, is selected by a touch operation, the app UI4100 transitions from the first operation screen SSG1 to the fourth operation screen SSG4.

The fourth operation screen SSG4 shown in FIG. 6 shows a case where an object OB1 relating to the microwave oven 12 is selected by a touch operation on the first operation screen SSG1.

The fourth operation screen SSG4 has a cooking appliance image KKG, cooking appliance type information 3132, and cooking appliance identification information 3133 included in the object OB selected on the first operation screen SSG1. Since FIG. 6 shows a case where an object OB1 related to the microwave oven 12 is selected on the first operation screen SSG1, the fourth operation screen SSG4 in FIG. 6 has a cooking appliance image KKG1 indicating the microwave oven 12, cooking appliance type information 3132 indicating "microwave oven", and cooking appliance identification information 3133 indicating "NE-BS2600".

Furthermore, in the fourth operation screen SSG4, if the object OB touched on the first operation screen SSG1 includes the cooperation explicit icon IC1, the fourth operation screen SSG4 includes the cooperation explicit icon IC1.

The fourth operation screen SSG4 also has an on/off button B8 for turning on and off the link with the menu providing function. The on/off button B8 switches on and off the link with the menu providing function in response to a touch operation by the user P. When the on/off button B8 is touched when the link is off, it switches on the link with the menu providing function, and when the on/off button B8 is touched when the link is on, it switches off the link with the menu providing function. In this embodiment, of the registered cooking appliances 1, the number of cooking appliances 1 that can be linked to the menu providing function is one. Therefore, in this embodiment, if another cooking appliance 1 is already linked to the menu providing function, the on/off button B8 cannot be switched from off to on.

The on/off button B8 on the fourth operation screen SSG4 shown in FIG. 6 indicates that the link with the menu providing function of the microwave oven 12 is on. In FIG. 6, when a user P touches the on/off button B8, the on/off button B8 switches the link with the menu providing function of the microwave oven 12 off. When the link with the menu providing function is turned off, the link indication icon IC1 is no longer displayed on the fourth operation screen SSG4.

User P performs menu linkage settings for a desired cooking appliance 1 in the following procedure. That is, user P selects the desired cooking appliance 1 to be linked to the menu provision function by selecting object OB on the first operation screen SSG1. Next, user P switches the on/off button B8, which indicates off, to on by touching the fourth operation screen SSG related to the selected cooking appliance 1.

Returning to the explanation of the fourth operation screen SSG4, the fourth operation screen SSG4 has a network settings button B9. The network settings button B9 is a software button for configuring the cooking appliance 1 shown in the cooking appliance image KKG to connect to the global network GN. The fourth operation screen SSG4 also includes various links LK.

The fourth operation screen SSG4 may have a control button for controlling the cooking appliance 1 depending on the type of the cooking appliance 1. For example, in the case of the fourth operation screen SSG4 of the refrigerator 11, the fourth operation screen SSG4 may have a control button for causing the refrigerator 11 to execute an operation for temporarily lowering the temperature inside the refrigerator 11. In this configuration, when the control button is touched, the application execution unit 4000 transmits an instruction to the refrigerator 11 via the information processing server 3 to start the operation.

[1-2. Operation]
Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described.
First, the operation of the information processing system 1000 in registering the cooking appliance 1 will be described.
7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing system 1000. In Fig. 7, a flowchart FA shows the operation of the terminal device 4, and a flowchart FB shows the operation of the information processing server 3.

At the start of the flowchart shown in FIG. 7, it is assumed that the application execution unit 4000 is functioning as the registration setting unit 4001 and the first operation screen SSG1 is being displayed in the application UI 4100.

The registration setting unit 4001 determines whether a grayed-out object OB, i.e., an object OB relating to a cooking appliance 1 that can be registered by the providing application 413 but is not currently registered, has been touched (step SA1).

When the registration setting unit 4001 determines that an object OB related to an unregistered cooking appliance 1 has been touched (step SA1: YES), it displays the third operation screen SSG3 in the app UI 4100 (step SA2).

Next, the registration setting unit 4001 determines whether the cooking appliance identification information 3133 has been acquired by reading the code (step SA3).

If the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the cooking appliance identification information 3133 has been acquired by reading the code (step SA3: YES), it executes the processing of step SA5.

On the other hand, if the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the cooking appliance identification information 3133 has not been obtained by reading the code (step SA3: NO), it determines whether or not the user P has selected the cooking appliance identification information 3133 from the list of cooking appliance identification information 3133 (step SA4).

If the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the user P has not selected cooking appliance identification information 3133 from the list of cooking appliance identification information 3133 (step SA4: NO), it executes the processing of step SA3 again.

On the other hand, if the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the user P has selected cooking appliance identification information 3133 from the list of cooking appliance identification information 3133 (step SA4: YES), it executes the processing of step SA5.

In step SA5, the registration setting unit 4001 transmits registration request information requesting registration of the cooking appliance 1 to the information processing server 3 via the terminal communication unit 41.

In the case of step SA5 after passing through step SA3: YES, the registration setting unit 4001 sends to the information processing server 3 registration request information including the user ID 3131 stored in the terminal memory unit 410, cooking appliance type information 3132 indicating the type of cooking appliance 1 corresponding to the grayed-out object OB that was touched, and cooking appliance identification information 3133 obtained by reading the code.
In addition, in the case of step SA5 after passing through step SA4: YES, the registration setting unit 4001 sends to the information processing server 3 registration request information including the user ID 3131 stored in the terminal memory unit 410, cooking appliance type information 3132 indicating the type of cooking appliance 1 corresponding to the grayed-out object OB that was touched, and cooking appliance identification information 3133 selected from the list.

Returning to the explanation of step SA1, if the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the grayed-out object OB has not been touched (step SA1: NO), it determines whether the add button B4 has been touched (step SA6).

If the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the add button B4 has not been touched (step SA6), it transitions the process to step SA1 and performs the processes from step SA1 onwards again.

If the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the add button B4 has been touched (step SA6: YES), it displays the second operation screen SSG2 in the app UI 4100 (step SA7).

Next, the registration setting unit 4001 determines whether the selection button B5 has been touched (step SA8).

If the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the selection button B5 has not been touched (step SA8: NO), it executes the process of step SA8 again.

On the other hand, if the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the selection button B5 has been touched (step SA8: YES), it displays the third operation screen SSG3 in the app UI 4100 (step SA9).

Next, the registration setting unit 4001 determines whether the cooking appliance identification information 3133 has been acquired by reading the code (step SA10).

If the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the cooking appliance identification information 3133 has been acquired by reading the code (step SA10: YES), it executes the processing of step SA12.

On the other hand, if the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the cooking appliance identification information 3133 has not been obtained by reading the code (step SA10: NO), it determines whether or not the user P has selected the cooking appliance identification information 3133 from the list of cooking appliance identification information 3133 (step SA11).

If the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the user P has not selected cooking appliance identification information 3133 from the list of cooking appliance identification information 3133 (step SA11: NO), it executes the processing of step SA10 again.

On the other hand, if the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the user P has selected cooking appliance identification information 3133 from the list of cooking appliance identification information 3133 (step SA11: YES), it executes the processing of step SA12.

In step SA12, the registration setting unit 4001 transmits registration request information requesting registration of the cooking appliance 1 to the information processing server 3 via the terminal communication unit 41.

In the case of step SA12 after passing through step SA10: YES, the registration setting unit 4001 sends registration request information to the information processing server 3, the registration request information including the user ID 3131 stored in the terminal memory unit 410, cooking appliance type information 3132 indicating the type of cooking appliance 1 selected on the second operation screen SSG2, and cooking appliance identification information 3133 obtained by reading the code.
In addition, in the case of step SA12 after step SA11: YES, the registration setting unit 4001 sends registration request information to the information processing server 3, the registration request information including the user ID 3131 stored in the terminal memory unit 410, cooking appliance type information 3132 indicating the type of cooking appliance 1 selected on the second operation screen SSG2, and cooking appliance identification information 3133 selected from the list.

Referring to the flowchart FB, the server control unit 30 of the information processing server 3 determines that the server communication unit 31 has received registration request information from the terminal device 4 (step SB1).

When the server control unit 30 determines that registration request information has been received from the terminal device 4 (step SB1), it registers the cooking appliance 1 based on the received registration request information (step SB2).

To explain step SB2 in more detail, the server control unit 30 identifies a record R having a user ID 3131 included in the received registration request information from the cooking appliance management database 313. The server control unit 30 then newly associates the cooking appliance type information 3132 and cooking appliance identification information 3133 included in the registration request information with the linkage on/off information 3134 indicating off, for the user ID 3131 of the identified record R.

Next, the operation of the information processing system 1000 related to menu linkage setting will be described.
8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing system 1000. In Fig. 8, a flowchart FC shows the operation of the terminal device 4, and a flowchart FD shows the operation of the information processing server 3.

At the start of the flowchart shown in FIG. 8, it is assumed that the application execution unit 4000 is functioning as the registration setting unit 4001 and that the first operation screen SSG1 is being displayed in the application UI 4100.

The registration setting unit 4001 determines whether an object OB related to a registered cooking appliance 1 has been touched (step SC1). That is, in step SC1, the registration setting unit 4001 determines whether an object OB that is not grayed out has been touched.

When the registration setting unit 4001 determines that an object OB related to a registered cooking appliance 1 has been touched (step SC1: YES), it displays the fourth operation screen SSG4 on the touch panel 42 (step SC2).

Next, the registration setting unit 4001 determines whether the on/off button B8 has been touched (step SC3).

If the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the on/off button B8 has been touched (step SC3: YES), it determines whether the on/off button B8 has been switched on or off (step SC4).

When the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the on/off button B8 has been switched to on (step SC4: "on"), it transmits first change request information requesting that the link with the menu provision function be changed to on to the information processing server 3 via the device communication unit 41 (step SC5). The first change request information includes the cooking appliance identification information 3133 of the cooking appliance 1 corresponding to the object OB selected by a touch operation on the first operation screen SSG1, and the user ID 3131 stored in the device storage unit 410.

On the other hand, if the registration setting unit 4001 determines that the on/off button B8 has been switched to off (step SC5: "off"), it transmits second change request information requesting that the link with the menu provision function be switched off to the information processing server 3 via the device communication unit 41 (step SC6). The second change request information includes the cooking appliance identification information 3133 of the cooking appliance 1 corresponding to the object OB selected by a touch operation on the first operation screen SSG1, and the user ID 3131 stored in the device storage unit 410.

Referring to the flowchart FD, the server control unit 30 of the information processing server 3 determines whether the server communication unit 31 has received the first change request information or the second change request information from the terminal device 4 (step SD1).

When the server control unit 30 determines that it has received the first change request information or the second change request information from the terminal device 4 (step SD1: YES), it updates the cooking appliance management database 313 based on the received first change request information or the second change request information (step SD2).

To explain step SD2 in more detail, the server control unit 30 refers to the cooking appliance management database 313 and changes the linkage on/off information 3134 corresponding to the combination of the user ID 3131 and cooking appliance identification information 3133 included in the received first change request information to linkage on/off information 3134 indicating on. The server control unit 30 also refers to the cooking appliance management database 313 and changes the linkage on/off information 3134 corresponding to the combination of the user ID 3131 and cooking appliance identification information 3133 included in the received second change request information to linkage on/off information 3134 indicating off.

Next, the operation of the information processing system 1000 related to providing menus will be described.
9 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing system 1000. In FIG. 9, a flowchart FE shows the operation of the terminal device 4, and a flowchart FF shows the operation of the information processing server 3.

Referring to the flowchart FE, the application execution unit 4000 of the terminal device 4 determines whether or not to display the menu provision screen KTG in the application UI 4100 (step SE1). If the menu icon IC3 of the application UI 4100 is touched, the application execution unit 4000 makes a positive determination in step SE1.

When the app execution unit 4000 determines that the menu provision screen KTG is to be displayed in the app UI 4100 (step SE1: YES), it functions as a menu provision unit 4002 and sends menu request information requesting a menu to the information processing server 3 via the device communication unit 41 (step SE2). The menu request information sent in step SE2 includes the user ID 3131 stored in the device memory unit 410.

Referring to flowchart FF, the server control unit 30 of the information processing server 3 determines whether menu request information has been received by the server communication unit 31 (step SF1).

When the server control unit 30 determines that menu request information has been received (step SF1: YES), it refers to the cooking appliance management database 313 and identifies record R for the user ID 3131 included in the received menu request information (step SF2).

Next, the server control unit 30 executes the menu creation process based on the record R identified in step SF2 (step SF3).

Here, the menu creation process will be described in detail.
In the menu creation process, the server control unit 30 creates menus for multiple dates, such as for one week from the current date. Note that the menus created in the menu creation process may not be for multiple dates, but may be for only a specific date.

First, the server control unit 30 refers to a specific database and selects dishes that use seasonal ingredients corresponding to the current date as candidates for dishes to be included in the menu.

Next, the server control unit 30 excludes from the picked candidates any dishes included in menus served to user P up to a certain number of days (e.g., one week) prior to the present. Note that the server control unit 30 manages, for each user P, the dishes served to user P up to a certain number of days prior to the present.

Next, the server control unit 30 refers to the record R identified in step SF2 to determine whether or not there is a cooking appliance 1 that is linked to the menu provision function. If there is linkage on/off information 3134 indicating on in the record R, the server control unit 30 determines that there is a cooking appliance 1 that is linked to the menu provision function.

If it is determined that there is no cooking appliance 1 linked to the menu provision function, the server control unit 30 picks up multiple dishes from the candidates excluding dishes that have been served in the past, and creates menus for multiple dates based on the multiple picked dishes. For example, if one menu consists of three dishes and one week's menu is to be created, the server control unit 30 picks 21 dishes from the candidates excluding dishes that have been served in the past, and creates one week's menu based on the 21 picked dishes.

When it is determined that there is a cooking appliance 1 linked to the menu provision function, the server control unit 30 picks up a dish using the cooking appliance 1 linked to the menu provision function from the candidates excluding dishes that have been provided in the past. The picked dish is a dish using the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P in the menu linkage setting. The dish using the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P may be considered as a dish using the type of cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P, or a dish using the cooking appliance 1 with the product number selected by the user P. In this embodiment, the dish using the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P in the menu linkage setting is called a "used dish." The used dish corresponds to an example of a "first dish." The server control unit 30 creates menus for multiple dates based on the picked used dishes. For example, when creating a menu for one week consisting of three dishes per menu, the server control unit 30 picks up 21 used dishes from the candidates excluding dishes that have been provided in the past, and creates a menu for one week based on the picked 21 used dishes.

Here, there may be cases where it is not possible to select a sufficient number of dishes from the candidates to create menus for multiple dates. In this case, the server control unit 30 performs either process 1 or process 2.

<Process 1>
To make up for the shortage, the server control unit 30 picks up dishes that do not use the cooking appliance 1 linked to the menu provision function, i.e., dishes that do not use the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P in the menu linkage setting, from the candidates excluding dishes that have been provided in the past. In this embodiment, a dish that does not use the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P in the menu linkage setting is called an "unused dish." An unused dish corresponds to an example of a "second dish." This allows the server control unit 30 to create a menu that prioritizes the use of dishes and prevent a decrease in the number of dishes included in the menu.

<Process 2>
The server control unit 30 does not fill in the shortage. This allows the server control unit 30 to create a menu that is made up of only the dishes used.

The menu creation process described above is merely one example, and seasonal ingredients do not need to be taken into consideration, and dishes included in menus provided to user P up to a certain number of days (e.g., one week) in the past do not need to be excluded from the candidates.

Returning to the explanation of flowchart FF, when the server control unit 30 creates a menu in the menu creation process, it transmits menu information J1 indicating the created menu for multiple days to the terminal device 4 via the server communication unit 31 (step SF4). In step SF4, the server control unit 30 transmits date information J3 and menu information J1 indicating the menu created for the date indicated by the date information J3, in association with each other.

Referring to the flowchart FE, the menu providing unit 4002 of the terminal device determines whether the menu information J1 has been received from the information processing server 3 via the terminal communication unit 41 (step SE3).

When the menu providing unit 4002 determines that the menu information J1 has been received from the information processing server 3 (step SE3: YES), it displays the menu providing screen KTG on the touch panel 42, displaying the received menu information J1 (step SE4).

[1-3. Modifications]
Next, a modification of the first embodiment will be described.
In the above-described first embodiment, the number of the cooking appliances 1 that can be linked to the menu providing function among the registered cooking appliances 1 is one. In the present modification, the number of the cooking appliances 1 that can be linked to the menu providing function may be two or more.

Therefore, in this modified example, even if another cooking appliance 1 is already linked to the menu providing function, the on/off button B8 can be switched from off to on. When multiple cooking appliances 1 are linked to the menu providing function, multiple pieces of linkage on/off information 3134 indicate on in one record R in the cooking appliance management database 313. In this case, the server control unit 30 creates a menu in the menu creation process that includes dishes that use at least one of the multiple cooking appliances 1 linked to the menu providing function. The menu providing unit 4002 then provides the menu created by the information processing server 3 to the user P.

[1-4. Effects, etc.]
As described above, the provision app 413 causes the terminal control unit 40 to function as an app execution unit 4000 that receives an operation from the user P to select one or more cooking appliances 1 from the cooking appliances 1 registered by the provision app 413, and displays, on the touch panel 42, information related to the dish to be prepared using the cooking appliance 1 selected by the received operation.

The terminal device 4 also includes a touch panel 42 and a terminal control unit 40 that reads and executes a provision app 413 that can register cooking appliances 1. The terminal control unit 40 receives an operation from the user P to select one or more cooking appliances 1 from among the cooking appliances 1 registered by the provision app 413, and displays, on the touch panel 42, information related to the dish to be prepared using the cooking appliance 1 selected by the received operation.

The provision app 413 and the terminal device 4 can display information related to cooking using the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user. Therefore, when providing information related to cooking, it is possible to provide information that takes into account the cooking appliance 1 used by the user P.

The application execution unit 4000 has a menu provision function that provides a menu. The application execution unit 4000 accepts an operation from the user P to select one or more cooking appliances 1 that are linked to the menu provision function from among the cooking appliances 1 registered by the provision application 413, and displays menu information J1 indicating a menu including the dishes used on the touch panel 42 by the menu provision function.

This allows a menu to be displayed that uses the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P. Therefore, when providing a menu, it is possible to provide a menu that takes into account the cooking appliance 1 used by the user P.

The menu indicated by the menu information J1 does not include any unused dishes that do not use the cooking appliance 1 selected by the operation accepted by the app execution unit 4000.

This allows the user P to be provided with a menu consisting only of dishes made using the cooking appliance 1 used by the user P. As a result, the menu can be provided in a way that is highly convenient for the user P.

The menu indicated by the menu information J1 includes used dishes in priority over unused dishes that use a cooking appliance 1 that has not been selected by an operation received by the application execution unit 4000.

This allows the user P to be provided with a menu that includes as many of the dishes used as possible and has a sufficient number of items. This allows the menu to be provided in a way that is highly convenient for the user P.

The provision app 413 is an application program that can be installed on the terminal device 4.

As a result, a terminal device 4 that does not have the function of providing cooking information to a user P can be made into a terminal device 4 that has this function by installing the provision app 413. Therefore, a general-purpose terminal device 4 can be made into a terminal device 4 that can provide cooking information that takes into account the cooking appliance 1 used by a user P. In the case of this embodiment, a general-purpose terminal device 4 can be made into a terminal device 4 that can provide a menu that takes into account the cooking appliance 1 used by a user P.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.
In the description of the second embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[2-1. Configuration]
The information processing system 1000 in the second embodiment is a system that provides a user P with recipes for dishes in addition to menus as information related to cooking. The information processing server 3 in the second embodiment is a server device that processes information related to the provision of menus and recipes for dishes.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the information processing server 3 and the terminal device 4 according to the second embodiment.

As is clear from a comparison between FIG. 10 and FIG. 2, in the second embodiment, the application execution unit 4000 functions as a recipe providing unit 4003 in addition to a registration setting unit 4001 and a menu providing unit 4002.

The app execution unit 4000 executes a recipe provision function that provides a cooking recipe by functioning as the recipe provision unit 4003. When executing the recipe provision function, the recipe provision unit 4003 displays a recipe provision screen RTG that provides the cooking recipe in the app UI 4100. As a result, the recipe provision unit 4003 provides the cooking recipe to the user P.

The app execution unit 4000 functions as a recipe providing unit 4003 when a keyword is input into a keyword input field NR of the app UI 4100. The recipe providing unit 4003 then displays a recipe providing screen RTG in the app UI 4100. The keyword input field NR is provided on various screens in the app UI 4100.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the recipe providing screen RTG and an example of a screen transition to the recipe providing screen RTG.
FIG. 11 illustrates an example of transition from the first operation screen SSG1 to the recipe providing screen RTG.

When a keyword is entered in the keyword input field NR, the screen in the app UI 4100 transitions to the recipe provision screen RTG.

The recipe provision screen RTG has a recipe information display area HA3. The recipe information display area HA3 displays one or more pieces of recipe information J4 that show recipes for dishes that use ingredients of the keyword entered in the keyword input field NR.

The recipe information display area HA3 shown in FIG. 11 displays four pieces of recipe information J4 for dishes that use onions. Note that the recipe information display area HA3 is scrollable, and the user P can scroll the recipe information display area HA3 to display recipe information J4 that cannot be displayed in the recipe information display area HA3.

In this embodiment, the recipe provided by the recipe providing screen RTG can be a recipe for cooking using a cooking appliance 1 linked to the recipe providing function. For this reason, in the providing app 413, as in the first embodiment, the user P registers the cooking appliance 1 and sets up the registered cooking appliance 1 to be linked to the recipe providing function (hereinafter simply referred to as "recipe linking setting").

In this embodiment, when the link to the menu providing function is on, the link to the recipe providing function is on. That is, the user P can link the desired cooking appliance 1 to the menu providing function and the recipe providing function by selecting one cooking appliance 1 from the registered cooking appliances 1 on the first operation screen SSG1 and switching the on/off button B8 on the fourth operation screen SSG4 to on. Note that in this embodiment as well, as in embodiment 1, the number of cooking appliances 1 that can be linked to the recipe providing function is one.

[2-2. Operation]
Next, the operation of the information processing system 1000 related to providing recipes will be described.
12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information processing system 1000. In FIG. 12, a flowchart FG shows the operation of the terminal device 4, and a flowchart FH shows the operation of the information processing server 3.

Referring to the flowchart FG, the application execution unit 4000 of the terminal device 4 determines whether a keyword has been entered in the keyword input field NR (step SG1).

When the app execution unit 4000 determines that a keyword has been entered in the keyword input field NR (step SG1: YES), it functions as a recipe providing unit 4003 and transmits recipe request information requesting a recipe to the information processing server 3 via the device communication unit 41 (step SG2). The recipe request information transmitted in step SG2 includes the user ID 3131 stored in the device memory unit 410 and the keyword entered in the keyword input field NR.

Referring to flowchart FH, the server control unit 30 of the information processing server 3 determines whether or not recipe request information has been received by the server communication unit 31 (step SH1).

If the server control unit 30 determines that recipe request information has been received (step SH1: YES), it refers to the cooking appliance management database 313 and identifies record R for the user ID 3131 included in the received recipe request information (step SH2).

Next, the server control unit 30 executes a recipe search process based on the record R identified in step SH2 (step SH3).

Here, the recipe search process will be described in detail.
In the recipe search process, the server control unit 30 refers to a specific database and picks out recipes for dishes that use ingredients that match the keywords included in the recipe request information as search result candidates.

Next, the server control unit 30 refers to the record R identified in step SF2 to determine whether or not there is a cooking appliance 1 that is linked to the recipe provision function. If there is linkage on/off information 3134 indicating on in the record R, the server control unit 30 determines that there is a cooking appliance 1 that is linked to the recipe provision function.

If it is determined that there is no cooking appliance 1 that is linked to the recipe provision function, the server control unit 30 determines all of the picked recipes as the search results.

On the other hand, if it is determined that there is a cooking appliance 1 linked to the recipe provision function, the server control unit 30 picks up a dish that uses the cooking appliance 1. The picked up dish is a dish that uses the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P in the recipe linkage setting. In this embodiment and in embodiment 3, the dish that uses the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P in the recipe linkage setting is called a "used dish." The server control unit 30 then determines all of the recipes for the picked up used dishes as search results. In other words, the server control unit 30 does not pick up recipes for dishes that do not use the cooking appliance 1 linked to the recipe provision function, i.e., recipes for dishes that do not use the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P in the recipe linkage setting, and does not include them in the search results. In this embodiment and in embodiment 3, the dish that does not use the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P in the recipe linkage setting is called an "unused dish."

Returning to the explanation of flowchart FH, the server control unit 30 transmits recipe information J4 for all recipes for dishes included in the search results in the recipe search process to the terminal device 4 via the server communication unit 31 (step SH4). That is, in step SH4, the server control unit 30 transmits recipe information J4 indicating recipes for dishes that have been used to the terminal device 4, but does not transmit recipe information J4 indicating recipes for dishes that have not been used to the terminal device 4. The former recipe information J4 corresponds to the "first recipe information" and the latter recipe information J4 corresponds to the "second recipe information".

Referring to flowchart FE, the recipe providing unit 4003 of the terminal device determines whether or not recipe information J4 has been received from the information processing server 3 via the terminal communication unit 41 (step SG3).

When the recipe providing unit 4003 determines that the recipe information J4 has been received from the information processing server 3 (step SE3: YES), the recipe providing screen RTG displaying the received recipe information J4 is displayed in the app UI 4100 (step SG4). In step SG4, recipes for used dishes are provided to the user P, but recipes for unused dishes are not provided to the user P.

[2-3. Modifications]
Next, a modification of the second embodiment will be described.
In the above-described second embodiment, there is one cooking appliance 1 that can be linked to the recipe providing function among the registered cooking appliances 1. In this modification, there may be a plurality of cooking appliances 1 that can be linked to the recipe providing function.

Therefore, in this modified example, even if another cooking appliance 1 is already linked to the recipe providing function, the on/off button B8 can be switched from off to on. When multiple cooking appliances 1 are linked to the recipe providing function, multiple pieces of linkage on/off information 3134 indicate on in one record R in the cooking appliance management database 313. In this case, the server control unit 30 searches for recipes for dishes that use at least one of the multiple cooking appliances 1 linked to the recipe providing function through a recipe search process. The menu providing unit 4002 then provides the user P with the recipe for the dishes that the information processing server 3 has searched for.

[2-4. Effects, etc.]
As described above, the provision app 413 causes the terminal control unit 40 to function as an app execution unit 4000 that receives an operation from the user P to select one or more cooking appliances 1 from the cooking appliances 1 registered by the provision app 413, and displays information related to dishes to be prepared using the cooking appliances 1 selected by the received operation on the touch panel 42. In the present embodiment, the app execution unit 4000 has a recipe providing function that provides recipes for dishes, receives an operation from the user P to select one or more cooking appliances 1 that cooperate with the recipe providing function from the cooking appliances 1 registered by the provision app 413, and displays recipe information J4 indicating the recipes for the dishes to be prepared on the touch panel 42 by the recipe providing function.

This makes it possible to display recipes for dishes that use the cooking appliance 1 selected by the user P. Therefore, when providing recipes for dishes, it is possible to provide recipes that take into account the cooking appliance 1 used by the user P.

The app execution unit 4000, using the recipe provision function, does not display on the touch panel 42 recipe information J4 that indicates a recipe for an unused dish that does not use the cooking appliance 1 selected by the received operation.

This allows the user P to be provided with only recipes for dishes that use the cooking appliance 1 that the user P uses. This allows the user P to be provided with recipes that are highly convenient for the user P.

The provision app 413 is an application program that can be installed on the terminal device 4.

As a result, a terminal device 4 that does not have the function of providing cooking information to a user P can be made into a terminal device 4 that has this function by installing the provision app 413. Therefore, a general-purpose terminal device 4 can be made into a terminal device 4 that can provide cooking information that takes into account the cooking appliance 1 used by a user P. In the case of this embodiment, a general-purpose terminal device 4 can be made into a terminal device 4 that can provide cooking recipes that take into account the cooking appliance 1 used by a user P.

(Embodiment 3)
In the third embodiment, the recipes provided by the recipe providing screen RTG are different from those in the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the recipes provided by the recipe providing screen RTG are recipes for used dishes that use ingredients of the keyword entered in the keyword input field NR. In the third embodiment, in addition to the recipes provided by the second embodiment, the recipe providing screen RTG also provides recipes for unused dishes that use ingredients of the keyword entered in the keyword input field NR.

In the recipe search process, the server control unit 30 refers to a specific database, picks up recipes for dishes that use ingredients of the keywords included in the recipe request information, and confirms all of the picked recipes as search results. The server control unit 30 then transmits recipe information J4 for all of the recipes in the search results in the recipe search process to the terminal device 4 via the server communication unit 31. The recipe information J4 transmitted by the terminal device 4 includes cooking appliance type information 3132 that indicates the type of cooking appliance 1 used for the dish.

The recipe providing unit 4003 receives record R of user ID 3131 stored in the terminal storage unit 410 from the information processing server 3. Based on the received record R, the recipe providing unit 4003 classifies the recipe information J4 received from the information processing server 3 into recipe information J4 indicating recipes for used dishes and recipe information J4 indicating recipes for unused dishes. The recipe providing unit 4003 then displays the former recipe information J4 in a higher display order than the latter recipe information J4 on the recipe providing screen RTG. Note that displaying in a higher display order means displaying in a way that reduces the amount of scrolling when displayed in the recipe information display area HA3.

As described above, the app execution unit 4000 uses the recipe provision function to display recipe information J4 showing the recipe for the used dish on the touch panel 42, placing it higher in the display order than recipe information J4 showing the recipe for an unused dish that uses a cooking appliance 1 that has not been selected by the received operation.

This allows recipes for cooking using the cooking appliance 1 used by the user P to be provided to the user P in a way that the user P can quickly recognize, and also allows a sufficient number of recipes to be provided to the user P. As a result, cooking recipes can be provided in a way that is highly convenient for the user P.

Other Embodiments
As described above, the first, second, and third embodiments have been described as examples disclosed in the present application. However, the technology in the present disclosure is not limited to these, and can be applied to embodiments in which modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, etc. are made. In addition, it is also possible to combine the components described in the first, second, and third embodiments to create new embodiments.
Therefore, other embodiments will be exemplified below.

In each of the above-described embodiments, the cooking appliances 1, namely the refrigerator 11, the microwave oven 12, and the rice cooker 13, are configured to be connected to the global network GN, but these cooking appliances 1 are not connected to the communication device 2 and may not be connected to the global network GN.

In addition, in each of the above-described embodiments, an example has been given of an object OB related to an unregistered cooking appliance 1 being grayed out to make the display mode different from that of an object OB related to a registered cooking appliance 1. However, the display mode of an object OB related to an unregistered cooking appliance 1 is not limited to being grayed out, and may be different from the display mode of an object OB related to a registered cooking appliance 1.

For example, in each of the above-described embodiments, four types of cooking appliances 1 are exemplified: "refrigerator," "microwave oven," "rice cooker," and "induction cooking heater." However, the types of cooking appliances 1 may include other types such as an electronic pressure cooker, a mixer, a toaster, etc., or may include fewer types.

In each of the above-described embodiments, when the number of linkable appliances is 1, if another cooking appliance 1 is already linked to the menu providing function or recipe providing function, the on/off button B8 cannot be switched from off to on. However, linking can be switched on and off by making an inquiry such as the following. For example, when the refrigerator 11 is linked on and an attempt is made to change the microwave oven linking on, a confirmation pop-up message such as "Are you sure you want to turn off the refrigerator linking?" is displayed, and if the user P selects OK, the microwave oven 12 is linked on and the refrigerator 1 is linked off.

For example, the functions of the server control unit 30 and the terminal control unit 40 may be realized by multiple processors or semiconductor chips.

The components shown in Figures 2 and 10 are merely examples, and the specific implementation form is not particularly limited. In other words, it is not necessary to implement hardware that corresponds to each component individually, and it is of course possible to implement a configuration in which one processor executes a program to realize the functions of each component. Also, some of the functions realized by software in the above-mentioned embodiment may be hardware, or some of the functions realized by hardware may be software. In addition, the specific detailed configurations of the information processing server 3 and other components of the terminal device 4 may also be changed as desired without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

7-9 and 12 are divided according to the main processing contents in order to facilitate understanding of the operation of the information processing system 1000, and the present invention is not limited by the manner in which the processing units are divided or the names of the processing units. The processing units may be further divided into more step units according to the processing contents. Furthermore, one step unit may be further divided to include more processing. Furthermore, the order of the steps may be appropriately changed within a range that does not impede the spirit of the present invention.
For example, the flowcharts shown in Figures 7 and 8 are flowcharts in which a screen transition is made to each operation screen SSG without returning from a transition destination screen to a transition source screen, but the operations of the flowcharts shown in Figures 7 and 8 may include a step for returning from a transition destination screen to a transition source screen, and may be operations that take into consideration returning to the transition source screen. Also, for example, the flowcharts shown in Figures 7 and 8 are flowcharts in which a step transition is made when a predetermined operation (e.g., a touch operation on the on/off button B8 or a touch operation on the additional button B4) is performed in the application UI 4100, but the operations of the flowcharts shown in Figures 7 and 8 may be operations that take into consideration a case in which an operation other than a predetermined operation is performed in the application UI 4100.

The above-described embodiments are intended to illustrate the technology disclosed herein, and various modifications, substitutions, additions, omissions, etc. may be made within the scope of the claims or their equivalents.

The program and terminal device disclosed herein can be used to provide cooking information to users.

1 Cooking appliance 4 Terminal device 11 Refrigerator (cooking appliance)
12. Microwave oven (cooking appliance)
13 Rice cooker (cooking appliance)
14. Induction cooking heater (cooking appliance)
40 Terminal control unit (control unit)
42 Touch panel (display unit)
413 Provided application (program, application program)
4000 Application execution unit (program execution unit)
J1 Menu information J4 Recipe information P User

Claims (8)

A program executed by a control unit of a terminal device having a display unit,
The control unit,
It has a menu provision function that provides menus,
The program execution unit receives, from a user, an operation of selecting one or more of the cooking appliances linked to the menu providing function from among the cooking appliances registered by the program, and causes the menu providing function to display, on the display unit, menu information indicating the menu including a first dish using the cooking appliance selected by the received operation;
The program execution unit displays the menu information indicating the menu provided by the menu providing function up to a date going back a predetermined number of days from the present, excluding the first dish included in the menu,
The menu information includes a plurality of dish images,
A distinguishing image for distinguishing whether the dish is a main dish or a side dish is superimposed on each of the dish images.
program. The menu does not include a second dish that does not use the cooking appliance selected by the operation accepted by the program execution unit.
The program according to claim 1. The menu includes the first dish in priority over a second dish that does not use the cooking appliance selected by the operation accepted by the program execution unit.
The program according to claim 1. The program execution unit is
It has a recipe provision function that provides cooking recipes,
receiving, from the user, an operation of selecting one or more of the cooking appliances that are to be linked with the recipe providing function from among the cooking appliances registered by the program;
The recipe providing function displays first recipe information indicating a recipe for the first dish on the display unit.
The program according to claim 1. The program execution unit is
The recipe providing function does not display, on the display unit, second recipe information indicating a recipe for a second dish that does not use the cooking appliance selected by the accepted operation.
The program according to claim 4. The program execution unit is
The recipe providing function displays the first recipe information on the display unit in a higher display order than second recipe information indicating a recipe for a second dish that does not use the cooking appliance selected by the accepted operation.
The program according to claim 5. The program is an application program that can be installed in the terminal device.
The program according to any one of claims 1 to 6. A display unit;
A control unit that reads and executes a program that allows a cooking appliance to be registered,
The control unit is
It has a menu provision function that provides menus,
An operation of selecting one or more of the cooking appliances to be linked with the menu providing function from among the cooking appliances registered by the program is received from a user;
The menu providing function displays, on the display unit, menu information indicating the menu including a first dish using the cooking appliance selected by the accepted operation;
In displaying the menu information, the menu information showing the menu provided by the menu providing function up to a date going back a predetermined number of days from the present is displayed, excluding the first dish;
The menu information includes a plurality of dish images,
A distinguishing image for distinguishing whether the dish is a main dish or a side dish is superimposed on each of the dish images.
Terminal device.

Images