JP7700738B2 - Recommendation device, recommendation method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a recommendation device, a recommendation method, and a program.

Various technologies have been proposed for performing processing based on data related to people. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing device that automatically estimates the life rhythms of members belonging to a specific community based on sensor data obtained by sensing the members. Patent Document 2 discloses a menu suggestion system that calculates the amount of energy and nutrients that each of multiple users should ingest, and proposes menus for a group such as a family made up of multiple users based on the calculated amounts and the amounts of energy and nutrients contained in each of multiple menus. As a technology related to meals, Patent Document 3 discloses a technology that converts information indicating dishes consumed by a user into nutrient information and generates information indicating dishes provided by a restaurant that are necessary to compensate for nutrient deficiencies based on the nutrient information.

International Publication No. 2019/146195 JP 2020-107096 A JP 2021-043721 A

As described above, there are known technologies that support users' nutritional intake. However, the nutrient deficiencies of all group members do not necessarily match those of each individual member of the group. For this reason, it is preferable to present recommended information targeted at all group members and recommended information targeted at each individual member of the group to the members. Therefore, there is a demand for technology that can appropriately present this recommended information to participants in a dinner party.

This disclosure has been made against the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and aims to provide a recommendation device, recommendation method, and program that can appropriately present recommendation information to dinner party participants.

In order to achieve the above object, one aspect of the present disclosure is to
A member information acquisition unit that acquires nutrient deficiency information of each member of the group;
An analysis unit that analyzes nutrient deficiencies in all members of the group based on the acquired nutrient deficiency information;
A restaurant information acquisition unit that acquires nutritional information of food or drinks provided by the restaurant;
a recommendation information generating unit that generates first recommendation information for recommending to the group foods or drinks to be ordered at the restaurant used for the dinner party based on nutrient information of the foods or drinks provided by the restaurant used for the dinner party and an analysis result of nutrient deficiency for all members of the group, and generates second recommendation information for recommending to each member foods or drinks to be ordered at the restaurant used for the dinner party based on the nutrient information of the foods or drinks provided by the restaurant used for the dinner party and the nutrient deficiency information of each member of the group;
and a notification unit that transmits the first recommendation information to a terminal device provided in the restaurant used for the dining party, and transmits the second recommendation information to a terminal device carried by a member corresponding to the second recommendation information.
According to such a recommendation device, the first recommendation information, which is recommendation information targeted at all members of a group, can be easily shared among the members, and the second recommendation information, which is recommendation information targeted at each member, can be prevented from being known to other members, thereby ensuring both convenience and privacy. As a result, the recommendation information can be appropriately presented to the participants of the dinner party.

In one aspect of the above, the group further includes a restaurant candidate determination unit that determines candidate restaurants to use for the meal based on nutritional information of the food or drinks provided by the restaurants and the analysis results regarding nutrient deficiencies among all members of the group, and the notification unit may further notify members of the group of information about the restaurants determined as candidates.
According to this configuration, only restaurants that can supplement missing nutrients can be extracted from various restaurants and the user can be notified of such restaurants, thereby improving user convenience.

In one aspect above, the member information acquisition unit may further acquire prohibited ingredient information for each member of the group, which is information indicating ingredients that are prohibited to be consumed, and the restaurant information acquisition unit may further acquire used ingredient information, which is information indicating ingredients used in food or drinks provided by restaurants, and the recommendation information generation unit may generate the first recommendation information based on the prohibited ingredient information, the used ingredient information, the analysis results, and nutrient information of the food or drinks provided by the restaurants used for the dinner party.
According to this configuration, it is possible to recommend foods or drinks other than those containing ingredients that are prohibited from consumption, thereby improving convenience for the user.

In the above aspect, the recommendation information generating unit may generate a plurality of pieces of first recommendation information, and set priorities for the plurality of pieces of first recommendation information based on the analysis result.
According to such a configuration, various pieces of recommended information with priorities assigned thereto are provided, thereby improving convenience for the user.

In the above aspect, the first recommendation information or the second recommendation information may include information indicating a reason for recommendation.
According to this configuration, the user can know the reason for recommendation, thereby improving convenience for the user.

Another aspect of the present disclosure for achieving the above object is to
A recommendation method performed by a recommendation device,
Obtaining nutrient deficiency information for each of the group members;
Based on the acquired nutrient deficiency information, an analysis is performed on nutrient deficiencies in all members of the group;
Obtain nutritional information for food or drinks provided by restaurants,
Based on nutrient information of the food or drink provided by the restaurant used for the dinner party and the analysis result of nutrient deficiency of all members of the group, first recommendation information is generated that recommends to the group food or drink to be ordered at the restaurant used for the dinner party, and based on the nutrient information of the food or drink provided by the restaurant used for the dinner party and the nutrient deficiency information of each member of the group, second recommendation information is generated that recommends food or drink to be ordered at the restaurant used for the dinner party for each member of the group,
The recommendation method includes transmitting the first recommendation information to a terminal device provided in the restaurant used for the dining party, and transmitting the second recommendation information to a terminal device carried by a member corresponding to the second recommendation information.
According to this recommendation method, the first recommendation information, which is the recommendation information targeted at all the members of the group, can be easily shared among the members, and the second recommendation information, which is the recommendation information targeted at each member, can be prevented from being known to the other members, so that both convenience and privacy can be ensured. Therefore, the recommendation information can be appropriately presented to the participants of the dinner party.

Another aspect of the present disclosure for achieving the above object is to
A member information acquisition step of acquiring nutrient deficiency information of each member of the group;
An analysis step of analyzing nutrient deficiencies in all members of the group based on the acquired nutrient deficiency information;
A restaurant information acquisition step of acquiring nutritional information of food or beverages provided by the restaurant;
a recommendation information generating step of generating first recommendation information for recommending to the group foods or drinks to be ordered at the restaurant to be used for the dinner party based on nutrient information of the foods or drinks provided by the restaurant to be used for the dinner party and an analysis result of nutrient deficiencies of all members of the group, and generating second recommendation information for recommending foods or drinks to be ordered at the restaurant to be used for the dinner party for each member based on the nutrient information of the foods or drinks provided by the restaurant to be used for the dinner party and the nutrient deficiency information of each member of the group;
A notification step of transmitting the first recommendation information to a terminal device installed in the restaurant used for the dining party, and transmitting the second recommendation information to a terminal device carried by the member corresponding to the second recommendation information.
According to such a program, the first recommendation information, which is the recommendation information targeted at all the members of the group, can be easily shared among the members, and the second recommendation information, which is the recommendation information targeted at each member, can be prevented from being known to the other members, so that both convenience and privacy can be ensured. Therefore, the recommendation information can be appropriately presented to the participants of the dinner party.

The present disclosure provides a recommendation device, recommendation method, and program that can appropriately present recommendation information to dinner party participants.

1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a recommendation system according to an embodiment. 4 is a table showing an example of personal information data of each member managed by a member information management device. 11 is a table showing an example of product data managed by a restaurant information management device. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the recommendation device. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a computer included in a recommendation device, a member information management device, a restaurant information management device, a restaurant terminal device, and a user terminal device. FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow of the recommendation device.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
1 is a block diagram showing an example of a configuration of a recommendation system 1 according to an embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the recommendation system 1 includes, for example, a recommendation device 10, a member information management device 20, a restaurant information management device 30, a restaurant terminal device 40, and a plurality of user terminal devices 50.

The member information management device 20 is a device that manages personal information about the diet of members who make up a predetermined group. The member information management device 20 manages at least nutrient deficiency information as personal information about the diet of members.

Deficient nutrient information is information that indicates which nutrients a member is lacking. Specifically, the member information management device 20 manages a deficiency index value for each nutrient as nutrient deficiency information for each member. The deficiency index value is data that indicates the degree to which the member is lacking a nutrient. Specifically, the deficiency index value is, for example, a level value that indicates the degree of deficiency, but it may also be a value that indicates only whether or not there is a deficiency. Note that, for nutrients whose degree of deficiency is unknown, a value indicating that the degree of deficiency is unknown or a value indicating that no deficiency has occurred may be registered as the deficiency index value.

The deficiency index value for each nutrient managed by the member information management device 20 may be, for example, a value specified by the member, a value determined from medical data such as health check data, or a value determined from the member's dietary history data.

When a member specifies a specific value for the deficiency index value, for example, the member specifies a value according to the degree of deficiency of each nutrient that the member recognizes. Note that the user terminal device 50 may be used to specify the value.

The deficiency index value identified from the medical data may be obtained, for example, by the member information management device 20 acquiring the member's medical data by executing a predetermined process, or may be obtained by a process by another device (not shown). In this process, for example, the deficiency index value is estimated by obtaining a value corresponding to the member's physical condition shown in the medical data as an estimated value of the deficiency index value. For example, if it is known that a deficiency of a certain nutrient causes a certain physical condition (e.g., anemia due to iron deficiency, or weakened bones due to calcium deficiency), it is possible to estimate the deficiency index value from the physical condition. That is, based on the severity of a certain physical condition, the deficiency index value of a nutrient previously associated with the certain physical condition may be estimated. In addition, if the medical data includes a deficiency index value for each nutrient, the deficiency index value to be registered as personal information may be identified by extracting the deficiency index value from the medical data.

The deficiency index value identified from the meal history data may be obtained, for example, by a predetermined process executed by the member information management device 20 that has acquired the member's meal history data, or may be obtained by a process executed by another device (not shown). In this process, for example, the ingested ingredients and the intake amount are identified from the meal history data, the intake amount of each nutrient is estimated based on the intake amount of the identified ingredients and the nutrient content of each ingredient previously stored in the database, and the deficiency index value is estimated based on the estimated nutrient intake. Note that the meal history data may be data that reflects the meals that the member has eaten, and is not limited to data indicating the actual intake amount of each ingredient, but may also be food purchase history data by the member. When food purchase history data by the member is used as the meal history data, the nutrient content of the purchased food is assumed to be identifiable based on information previously stored in the database.

In this embodiment, the member information management device 20 manages prohibited ingredient information for each member as personal information about the members' meals. Prohibited ingredient information is information that indicates ingredients that are prohibited from being consumed, and may be, for example, information that indicates ingredients that cause food allergies in the member, or information that indicates ingredients that cannot be consumed by the member for religious reasons or the like. The prohibited ingredient information managed by the member information management device 20 is, for example, information that is registered when a member inputs prohibited ingredient information using a user terminal device 50 or the like.

Figure 2 is a table showing an example of personal information data of each member managed by the member information management device 20. As an example, as shown in Figure 2, the personal information data of each member includes user identification information that identifies the member, deficiency index values for each nutrient for this member, and prohibited ingredient information for this member. Note that the personal information data shown in Figure 2 is merely an example, and the personal information data may include other information. Furthermore, when the recommendation system 1 is used for multiple groups, the personal information data may include group identification information that indicates which group each member belongs to.

In the example shown in FIG. 2, deficiency index values are registered for each of nutrients A, B, ..., and X, but the personal information data only needs to include a deficiency index value for at least one type of nutrient. Deficiency index values can be registered for any known nutrient, such as iron, calcium, vitamins, protein, and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid). It goes without saying that the nutrients listed here are merely examples, and deficiency index values for other nutrients may also be managed by the member information management device 20.

The restaurant information management device 30 is a device that manages information about restaurants. As information about restaurants, the restaurant information management device 30 manages at least nutrient information of products (i.e., food or drinks) provided by the restaurant. The nutrient information of a product is information that indicates the nutrients contained in the product and their amounts. In this embodiment, the restaurant information management device 30 specifically manages product data for each product provided by the restaurant to customers. The product data includes at least the content of each nutrient in the product. The information managed by the restaurant information management device 30 is registered in advance, for example, by the restaurant operator.

3 is a table showing an example of product data managed by the restaurant information management device 30. As an example, as shown in FIG. 3, the product data for each product includes restaurant identification information that identifies the restaurant that provides the product to the customer, product identification information that identifies the product, a list of ingredients used in the product (also referred to as ingredient information), and the content of each nutrient in the product. Note that the product data shown in FIG. 3 is merely an example, and the product data may include other information. In addition, in cases where a product is recommended without avoiding ingredients that are prohibited from being consumed, the list of ingredients may be omitted. In addition, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the list of ingredients is managed as product data, but data that associates the list of ingredients with the product identification information may be managed separately from the product data. Such data may be managed by a device not shown in FIG. 1. In addition, in cases where the restaurant information management device 30 manages only product data for one specific restaurant, the restaurant identification information may be omitted from the product data. In addition, in the example shown in FIG. 3, the restaurant identification information is managed as product data, but data that associates the restaurant identification information with the product identification information may be managed separately from the product data. Such data may be managed by a device not shown in FIG. 1. In the example shown in FIG. 3, the amount of nutrient A, nutrient B, ..., nutrient X contained in the product is registered, but the product data need only include the amount of content of at least one type of nutrient. Note that the amount of content in a product can be registered for any known nutrient, similar to the deficiency index value.

The restaurant terminal device 40 is a terminal device provided in a restaurant, particularly a restaurant used for dining out, and is, for example, but not limited to, a tablet terminal or a personal computer. The restaurant terminal device 40 may be a terminal device for placing orders (self-order terminal). The restaurant terminal device 40 has an output device and outputs information such as recommendation information notified from the recommendation device 10. The output device may be a display or a speaker. In other words, the output device provided in the restaurant terminal device 40 may be any device capable of outputting information from the recommendation device 10 to customers of the restaurant.

The user terminal device 50 is a terminal device carried by each member of the group, and examples of such devices include, but are not limited to, a smartphone and a tablet terminal. The user terminal device 50 includes an output device and outputs information such as recommendation information notified from the recommendation device 10. The output device may be a display or a speaker. In other words, the output device included in the user terminal device 50 may be any device capable of outputting information from the recommendation device 10 to the user.

The recommendation device 10 is a device that provides recommendation information to group members that recommends food or drinks to order at a restaurant to be used for a meal. In this embodiment, the recommendation device 10 is connected to the member information management device 20, the restaurant information management device 30, the restaurant terminal device 40, and the user terminal device 50 via wired or wireless communication.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the recommendation device 10. As shown in FIG. 4, the recommendation device 10 has a member information acquisition unit 100, an analysis unit 110, a restaurant information acquisition unit 120, a restaurant candidate determination unit 130, a recommendation information generation unit 140, and a notification unit 150.

The member information acquisition unit 100 acquires personal information about meals for the group members. In this embodiment, specifically, the member information acquisition unit 100 acquires nutrient deficiency information and prohibited ingredient information for each member of the group. Note that, in the case where prohibited ingredient information is not used in generating the recommendation information described later, the member information acquisition unit 100 may acquire only nutrient deficiency information. In this embodiment, the member information acquisition unit 100 acquires personal information (nutrient deficiency information and prohibited ingredient information) from the member information management device 20 by requesting personal information from the member information management device 20. Also, in the case where the member information management device 20 manages personal information for multiple groups, the member information acquisition unit 100 acquires personal information for a specific group designated as a group to have a meal among these multiple groups. Note that the designation of the group to have a meal may be realized by a member belonging to the group using the user terminal device 50.

The analysis unit 110 analyzes the nutrient deficiencies of all the members of the group based on the nutrient deficiency information of each member acquired by the member information acquisition unit 100. Specifically, in this analysis, the nutrients that the group should take are determined by referring to the nutrient deficiency information of each member belonging to the group. The analysis unit 110 may determine one nutrient as the nutrient that the group should take, or may determine multiple nutrients as the nutrients that the group should take. Note that the determination of the nutrients that the group should take may be performed using any predetermined algorithm. For example, the analysis unit 110 may determine a nutrient that is commonly lacking in a predetermined number of members or more as the nutrient that the group should take. Here, the above-mentioned predetermined number of members is specifically an arbitrary number of people equal to or greater than two. The analysis unit 110 may also count the amount of deficiency for each nutrient of each member and determine the nutrient with the largest amount of deficiency as the nutrient that the group should take. When multiple nutrients are determined as the nutrients that the group should take, the analysis unit 110 may specify the number of members who are lacking in each nutrient that the group should take. Additionally, the analysis unit 110 may determine the degree of deficiency of each nutrient that the group should ingest among all members.

The restaurant information acquisition unit 120 acquires information about restaurants. In particular, the restaurant information acquisition unit 120 acquires nutrient information on products (food or drinks) that restaurants provide to customers. In this embodiment, the restaurant information acquisition unit 120 acquires product data from the restaurant information management device 30 by requesting product data from the restaurant information management device 30. In this manner, the restaurant information acquisition unit 120 acquires ingredient information (a list of ingredients) indicating the ingredients used in the product, and the content of each nutrient in the product.

When the restaurant to be used for the meal has been specified in advance, the restaurant information acquisition unit 120 may acquire only product data for the specified restaurant. The restaurant to be used for the meal may be specified by a member of the group hosting the meal using the user terminal device 50. In contrast, when the restaurant to be used for the meal has not been specified in advance, the restaurant information acquisition unit 120 may acquire product data for all restaurants whose product data is managed by the restaurant information management device 30, for example, but may also acquire product data for only a portion of the restaurants.

The restaurant candidate determination unit 130 determines candidate restaurants to be used for the dinner party. In particular, the restaurant candidate determination unit 130 determines candidate restaurants when the restaurant to be used for the dinner party has not been specified in advance. The restaurant candidate determination unit 130 determines candidate restaurants to be used for the dinner party based on the nutrient information of the products (i.e., food or drink) provided by the restaurants and the analysis results of the analysis unit 110 on the nutrient deficiencies of all the members of the group. Specifically, for example, the restaurant candidate determination unit 130 determines restaurants that provide products containing the nutrients that the group should consume, as determined by the analysis unit 110, as candidate restaurants to be used for the dinner party. The restaurant candidate determination unit 130 notifies the members of the group who will be dining with the restaurant candidate by the notification unit 150, which will be described later. As a result, for example, a restaurant to be used for the dinner party is selected from the restaurant candidate by any of the members who receive this notification. This selection may be realized by the member selecting a candidate using the user terminal device 50.

The restaurant candidate determination unit 130 may determine the candidate restaurants to be used for the meal based on further information. For example, the restaurant candidate determination unit 130 may determine, as the candidate restaurants to be used for the meal, restaurants that provide products containing the nutrients that the group should consume and whose locations satisfy a predetermined condition. In this case, the predetermined condition for the restaurant location may be set according to the locations of the members belonging to the group. For example, the predetermined condition may be a condition that restricts the positional relationship between the location of each member and the location of the restaurant. The restaurant location may be managed by the restaurant information management device 30 and acquired by the restaurant information acquisition unit 120. The member locations may be managed by the member information management device 20 and acquired by the member information acquisition unit 100.

In this embodiment, the recommendation device 10 includes a restaurant candidate determination unit 130, but the restaurant candidate determination unit 130 may be omitted.

The recommendation information generating unit 140 generates recommendation information that recommends products (i.e., food or drink) to be ordered at a restaurant used for a meal. The recommendation information is information that indicates products that are recommended to be ordered among products provided by a restaurant. For example, when a restaurant used for a meal is specified in advance, the recommendation information generating unit 140 generates recommendation information that recommends products to be ordered at the specified restaurant. In addition, when a restaurant is selected from the candidates determined by the restaurant candidate determining unit 130, the recommendation information generating unit 140 generates recommendation information that recommends products to be ordered at the selected restaurant. The recommendation information generating unit 140 may select a restaurant according to the results of votes received from the members of the group having the meal for the candidate restaurants, and generate recommendation information for the selected restaurant. In addition, when a restaurant is not selected from the candidates determined by the restaurant candidate determining unit 130, recommendation information that recommends products to be ordered for each candidate restaurant may be generated.

The recommendation information generating unit 140 generates recommendation information for a group, i.e., recommendation information for all members belonging to the group (hereinafter referred to as first recommendation information), and recommendation information for each individual member belonging to the group (hereinafter referred to as second recommendation information). That is, the first recommendation information is information that recommends to the group products to be ordered at a restaurant to be used for a meal, and the second recommendation information is information that recommends to each member products to be ordered at a restaurant to be used for a meal. The products recommended in the first recommendation information and the products recommended in the second recommendation information are products that can be used to obtain deficient nutrients.

First, the generation of recommendation information for a group, that is, the first recommendation information, will be described.
The recommendation information generating unit 140 generates the first recommendation information based on the nutrient information of products provided by the restaurant used for the meal and the analysis result of the nutrient deficiency of all the members of the group by the analysis unit 110. Specifically, the recommendation information generating unit 140 generates recommendation information that recommends products that contain more than a predetermined reference amount of a nutrient that should be consumed by the group determined by the analysis unit 110. Note that, when there are multiple products that contain the nutrient, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may generate recommendation information that recommends the product with the highest content of the nutrient among those products.

Note that there may be multiple recommended products. That is, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may generate multiple pieces of first recommendation information that recommend different products. Here, the multiple pieces of first recommendation information that recommend different products may be multiple pieces of recommendation information that recommend products with the same nutrient that is most compensated for when ingested, or multiple pieces of recommendation information that recommend products with different nutrient deficiencies that are most compensated for when ingested. For example, various products whose nutrient deficiency is mainly compensated for when ingested may be recommended, or a product whose nutrient deficiency is mainly compensated for when ingested may be recommended, as well as ....

When generating a plurality of pieces of first recommendation information, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may set priorities for the plurality of pieces of first recommendation information. In particular, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may set priorities for the plurality of pieces of first recommendation information based on the analysis results. When the analysis unit 110 has specified the number of members who are deficient in each nutrient that the group should take, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may set the highest priority, for example, for the recommendation information of a product that can take the nutrient that the largest number of members are deficient in. When the analysis unit 110 has determined the degree of deficiency of each nutrient that the group should take in the entire members, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may set the highest priority, for example, for the recommendation information of a product that can take the nutrient that is determined to be the most deficient. In addition, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may set priorities for the first recommendation information according to the content of the nutrient that the group should take in the product recommended by the recommendation information.

Furthermore, when prohibited ingredient information is obtained for members of a dining group, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may generate first recommendation information based on the prohibited ingredient information, ingredient information of products provided by the restaurant used for the dining group, the analysis results of the analysis unit 110, and nutrient information of products provided by the restaurant used for the dining group. In this case, specifically, the recommendation information generating unit 140 generates recommendation information that recommends products that contain more than a predetermined reference amount of nutrients that the group should ingest as determined by the analysis unit 110, and that do not contain ingredients indicated by the prohibited ingredient information of any of the members.

Next, generation of recommendation information for an individual member, that is, second recommendation information, will be described.
The recommendation information generating unit 140 generates the second recommendation information based on the nutrient information of the products provided by the restaurant used for the meal and the nutrient deficiency information of each member of the group. In other words, the recommendation information generating unit 140 generates the second recommendation information for one member of the group based on the nutrient information of the products provided by the restaurant used for the meal and the nutrient deficiency information of one member of the group. In this way, since the second recommendation information is generated using the nutrient deficiency information of only one member, the products recommended by the second recommendation information may be different for each member. Specifically, the recommendation information generating unit 140 generates recommendation information for each member that recommends a product that contains more than a predetermined reference amount of the nutrient that is lacking for the member, as indicated by the nutrient deficiency information acquired by the member information acquiring unit 100. Note that, when there are multiple products that contain the nutrient, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may generate recommendation information that recommends the product with the highest content of the nutrient among those products.

Note that the second recommendation information may also recommend multiple products. That is, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may generate multiple pieces of second recommendation information that recommend different products. Here, the multiple pieces of second recommendation information that recommend different products may be multiple pieces of recommendation information that recommend products that have the same nutrient that is most remedied when ingested, or multiple pieces of recommendation information that recommend products that have different nutrients that are most remedied when ingested.

When generating multiple pieces of second recommendation information, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may set priorities for the multiple pieces of second recommendation information. For example, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may set the highest priority for recommendation information for a product that allows the member to ingest a nutrient that is determined to be most deficient. The recommendation information generating unit 140 may also set priorities for the second recommendation information according to the content of nutrients that the member should ingest in the product recommended by the recommendation information.

Furthermore, when prohibited ingredient information for a member is obtained, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may generate second recommendation information for the member based on the prohibited ingredient information, ingredient information of products provided by the restaurant used for the meal, nutrient deficiency information, and nutrient information of products provided by the restaurant used for the meal. In this case, specifically, the recommendation information generating unit 140 generates recommendation information that recommends products that contain more than a predetermined reference amount of the nutrients that are deficient as indicated by the member's nutrient deficiency information, but that do not use ingredients indicated by the member's prohibited ingredient information.

The generation of the first recommendation information and the second recommendation information has been described above, but these pieces of recommendation information may include not only information about the recommended product, but also other information. For example, the recommendation information generating unit 140 may generate the first recommendation information or the second recommendation information that includes information indicating the reason for recommendation.

Specifically, for example, the information indicating the reason for recommendation included in the first recommendation information may be information informing the group that the product contains a nutrient that is lacking, information informing how many members of the group are lacking in the product that contains the nutrient, or information indicating the amount of the nutrient contained in the product. Note that, although it is preferable for the name of the nutrient that is lacking for the group to be clearly indicated in the information indicating the reason for recommendation, it is not necessary to indicate this clearly. To give a specific example of the first recommendation information, the first recommendation information may include a message such as "Product X is recommended for this group because it contains 10 mg of iron, a nutrient that is lacking in five members of this group." The first recommendation information is not limited to text, and may also include an image of product X, etc.

More specifically, for example, the information indicating the reason for recommendation included in the second recommendation information may be information informing the member that the product contains a nutrient that the member is lacking, or may be information indicating the amount of that nutrient contained in the product. Note that, although it is preferable for the name of the nutrient that the member is lacking to be clearly indicated in the information indicating the reason for recommendation, it is not necessary to indicate this. To give a specific example of the second recommendation information, the second recommendation information may include a message such as "Product Y is recommended for you because it contains 200 mg of calcium, a nutrient that you are lacking." The second recommendation information is not limited to text, and may also include an image of product Y, etc.

The notification unit 150 outputs the information generated by the recommendation device 10 to other devices. In particular, the notification unit 150 transmits recommendation information for the group, i.e., the first recommendation information, to a restaurant terminal device 40 provided in a restaurant used for dining by the group, and transmits recommendation information for an individual member, i.e., the second recommendation information, to a user terminal device 50 carried by the member corresponding to the second recommendation information. Here, the user terminal device 50 carried by the member corresponding to the second recommendation information is a user terminal device 50 carried by a member who receives a recommendation based on the second recommendation information, and can also be said to be a user terminal device 50 carried by a member whose nutrient deficiency information was referenced to generate this second recommendation information. The notification unit 150 may further transmit the first recommendation information to the user terminal device 50 of each member.

When the recommendation information generating unit 140 generates recommendation information for multiple restaurants, the notification unit 150 may transmit the first recommendation information corresponding to the restaurants to the restaurant terminal device 40 of each restaurant, or may transmit the first recommendation information corresponding to the restaurant to the restaurant terminal device 40 of the restaurant specified by the member. Similarly, when the recommendation information generating unit 140 generates recommendation information for multiple restaurants, the notification unit 150 may transmit the second recommendation information for all of the multiple restaurants to the user terminal device 50 of each member, or may transmit only the second recommendation information for the restaurant specified by the member to the user terminal device 50.

Furthermore, when the restaurant candidate determination unit 130 determines candidate restaurants to be used for a group meal, the notification unit 150 notifies the group members of the information about the restaurants determined as candidates. The restaurant information may be identification information of the restaurant (e.g., the name of the restaurant). The restaurant information may also be other information. For example, it may be the address of the restaurant, or a list of products offered by the restaurant (i.e., menu information). The notification unit 150 notifies the members of the information about the restaurants determined as candidates by transmitting this information to, for example, the user terminal device 50, but it may also be transmitted to another device.

The restaurant terminal device 40 and the user terminal device 50 that receive information from the recommendation device 10 output the received information. These devices, for example, display the information on a display as an output of information, but may output the information by other methods such as audio output. In addition, it is preferable that the restaurant terminal device 40 outputs the information when a member of the group corresponding to the first recommendation information to be output comes to the restaurant. For this reason, for example, the restaurant terminal device 40 may authenticate whether the operator of the restaurant terminal device 40 is a member of the group corresponding to the first recommendation information to be output, and output the first recommendation information if the authentication is successful. In addition, when the restaurant terminal device 40 and the user terminal device 50 receive recommendation information with a priority set, they output the recommendation information according to the priority. Specifically, the restaurant terminal device 40 and the user terminal device 50 output the recommendation information so that the priority is recognized by the members. For example, the restaurant terminal device 40 and the user terminal device 50 may output recommendation information with a relatively high priority with emphasis over recommendation information with a relatively low priority, or may output the priority of the recommendation information together with the recommendation information.

By presenting the first recommendation information to the group, the group can be encouraged to consume food or drink that contains nutrients that are common to multiple members of the group. This allows the group to easily decide on a food or drink to be shared among all members of the group during a meal, for example. Furthermore, by presenting the second recommendation information to a member, the member can be encouraged to consume a food or drink that contains a nutrient that is personally deficient for that member. This allows the member to easily decide on a food or drink to be consumed only by that member during a meal. Note that the food or drink recommended in the second recommendation information may be ordered to be shared among all members of the group during a meal.

The recommendation device 10, member information management device 20, restaurant information management device 30, restaurant terminal device 40, and user terminal device 50 all function as computers. FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a computer 200 provided in the recommendation device 10, member information management device 20, restaurant information management device 30, restaurant terminal device 40, and user terminal device 50. As shown in FIG. 5, the computer 200 includes a network interface 201, a memory 202, and a processor 203.

The network interface 201 is used to communicate with any other device. The network interface 201 may include, for example, a network interface card (NIC).

Memory 202 is composed of, for example, a combination of volatile memory and non-volatile memory. Memory 202 is used to store software (computer programs) including one or more instructions executed by processor 203, data used for various processes, etc.

The processor 203 reads and executes software (computer programs) from the memory 202 to perform the above-mentioned processing of each device. The processor 203 may be, for example, a microprocessor, a microprocessor unit (MPU), or a central processing unit (CPU). The processor 203 may include multiple processors.

The program includes instructions (or software code) that, when loaded into a computer, cause the computer to perform one or more functions described in the embodiments. The program may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium or a tangible storage medium. By way of example and not limitation, computer-readable media or tangible storage media include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, solid-state drive (SSD) or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disc (DVD), Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device. The program may be transmitted on a transitory computer-readable medium or communication medium. By way of example and not limitation, a transitory computer-readable medium or communication medium includes electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals.

Next, the processing flow of the recommendation device 10 will be described with reference to a flowchart. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the processing flow of the recommendation device 10. Below, the processing flow will be described with reference to FIG. 6.

In step S100, the member information acquisition unit 100 acquires nutrient deficiency information and prohibited ingredient information of the group members from the member information management device 20.

Next, in step S101, the analysis unit 110 analyzes the nutrient deficiencies of all members of the group based on the nutrient deficiency information of each member acquired in step S100. This determines the nutrients that the group should ingest.

Next, in step S102, the restaurant information acquisition unit 120 acquires information about restaurants from the restaurant information management device 30.

If a restaurant has not been specified in advance (No in step S103), in step S104, the restaurant candidate determination unit 130 determines candidate restaurants to be used for the dinner party. Then, in step S105, the recommendation information generation unit 140 selects a restaurant from the candidate restaurants to be used for the dinner party in accordance with instructions from the members. After step S105, the process proceeds to step S106. Also, if a restaurant has been specified in advance (Yes in step S103), steps S104 and S105 are skipped and the process proceeds to step S106.

In step S106, the recommendation information generation unit 140 generates first recommendation information for the group and second recommendation information for each individual member belonging to the group for a restaurant selected from among pre-specified restaurants or candidates.

Finally, in step S107, the notification unit 150 transmits the first recommendation information and the second recommendation information generated in step S106. In particular, the notification unit 150 transmits the first recommendation information to the restaurant terminal device 40 and transmits the second recommendation information to the user terminal device 50.

The above describes the embodiment. As described above, the recommendation device 10 according to the present embodiment generates first recommendation information for a group and second recommendation information for individual members belonging to the group, and transmits the first recommendation information to the restaurant terminal device 40 while transmitting the latter to the user terminal device 50. With such a recommendation device 10, the first recommendation information, which is recommendation information targeted at all members of a group, can be easily shared among the members, and the second recommendation information, which is recommendation information targeted at each member, can be prevented from being known to other members. In other words, the recommendation device 10 can ensure both convenience and privacy. Therefore, the recommendation device 10 can appropriately present recommendation information to participants in a dinner party.

The recommendation device 10 also has a restaurant candidate determination unit 130 that determines candidate restaurants to be used for a meal based on the nutrient information of products provided by the restaurant and the analysis result of the analysis unit 110. Therefore, only restaurants that can supplement nutrient deficiencies can be extracted from various restaurants, and such restaurants can be notified to the user. This improves user convenience. The recommendation device 10 also generates recommendation information based on prohibited ingredient information. Therefore, it is possible to recommend foods or drinks other than those using ingredients that are prohibited from consumption, thereby improving user convenience. Furthermore, as described above, the recommendation device 10 can set priorities for multiple pieces of recommendation information. This provides various pieces of recommendation information with priorities assigned, thereby improving user convenience. Furthermore, the recommendation information can include the reason for recommendation. This allows the user to know the reason for recommendation, thereby improving user convenience.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the recommendation system 1 includes, in addition to the recommendation device 10, a member information management device 20 that manages personal information of members, and a restaurant information management device 30 that manages information about restaurants, but the recommendation device 10 may include the functions of these management devices.

Reference Signs List 1 Recommendation system 10 Recommendation device 20 Member information management device 30 Restaurant information management device 40 Restaurant terminal device 50 User terminal device 100 Member information acquisition unit 110 Analysis unit 120 Restaurant information acquisition unit 130 Restaurant candidate determination unit 140 Recommendation information generation unit 150 Notification unit 200 Computer 201 Network interface 202 Memory 203 Processor

Claims (8)

A member information acquisition unit that acquires nutrient deficiency information of each member of the group;
An analysis unit that analyzes nutrient deficiencies in all members of the group based on the acquired nutrient deficiency information;
A restaurant information acquisition unit that acquires nutritional information of food or drinks provided by the restaurant;
a recommendation information generating unit that generates first recommendation information for recommending to the group foods or drinks to be ordered at the restaurant used for the dinner party based on nutrient information of the foods or drinks provided by the restaurant used for the dinner party and an analysis result of nutrient deficiency for all members of the group, and generates second recommendation information for recommending to each member foods or drinks to be ordered at the restaurant used for the dinner party based on the nutrient information of the foods or drinks provided by the restaurant used for the dinner party and the nutrient deficiency information of each member of the group;
a notification unit that transmits the first recommendation information to a terminal device provided in the restaurant used for the dining party, and transmits the second recommendation information to a terminal device carried by a member corresponding to the second recommendation information ;
As the nutrient deficiency information, data indicating the degree of nutrient deficiency preliminarily associated with a certain physical condition, which is estimated based on the severity of the certain physical condition indicated in the medical data of the members of the group, is used.
Recommendation device. Further comprising a restaurant candidate determination unit that determines candidates for restaurants to be used for the meal based on nutrient information of the food or drink provided by the restaurant and the analysis result of the nutrient deficiency of all the members of the group,
The recommendation device according to claim 1 , wherein the notification unit further notifies the members of the group of information about the restaurant determined as the candidate. The member information acquisition unit further acquires prohibited ingredient information for each member of the group, the prohibited ingredient information being information indicating ingredients that are prohibited from being consumed;
The restaurant information acquisition unit further acquires ingredient information indicating ingredients used in the food or drink provided by the restaurant,
The recommendation device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the recommendation information generation unit generates the first recommendation information based on the prohibited ingredient information, the used ingredient information, the analysis result, and nutrient information of food or drinks provided by the restaurant used for the dining party. The recommendation device according to claim 1 , wherein the recommendation information generating unit generates a plurality of pieces of the first recommendation information and sets priorities for the plurality of pieces of the first recommendation information based on the analysis result. The recommendation device according to claim 1 , wherein the first recommendation information or the second recommendation information includes information indicating a reason for recommendation. The predetermined physical condition is anemia or weakened bones.
The recommendation device according to claim 1 . A recommendation method performed by a recommendation device,
Obtaining nutrient deficiency information for each of the group members;
Based on the acquired nutrient deficiency information, an analysis is performed on nutrient deficiencies in all members of the group;
Obtain nutritional information for food or drinks provided by restaurants,
Based on nutrient information of the food or drink provided by the restaurant used for the dinner party and the analysis result of nutrient deficiency of all members of the group, first recommendation information is generated that recommends to the group food or drink to be ordered at the restaurant used for the dinner party, and based on the nutrient information of the food or drink provided by the restaurant used for the dinner party and the nutrient deficiency information of each member of the group, second recommendation information is generated that recommends food or drink to be ordered at the restaurant used for the dinner party for each member of the group,
Transmitting the first recommendation information to a terminal device provided in the restaurant used for the dining party, and transmitting the second recommendation information to a terminal device carried by a member corresponding to the second recommendation information;
As the nutrient deficiency information, data indicating the degree of nutrient deficiency preliminarily associated with a certain physical condition, which is estimated based on the severity of the certain physical condition indicated in the medical data of the members of the group, is used.
How to recommend. A member information acquisition step of acquiring nutrient deficiency information of each member of the group;
An analysis step of analyzing nutrient deficiencies in all members of the group based on the acquired nutrient deficiency information;
A restaurant information acquisition step of acquiring nutritional information of food or beverages provided by the restaurant;
a recommendation information generating step of generating first recommendation information for recommending to the group foods or drinks to be ordered at the restaurant to be used for the dinner party based on nutrient information of the foods or drinks provided by the restaurant to be used for the dinner party and an analysis result of nutrient deficiencies of all members of the group, and generating second recommendation information for recommending foods or drinks to be ordered at the restaurant to be used for the dinner party for each member based on the nutrient information of the foods or drinks provided by the restaurant to be used for the dinner party and the nutrient deficiency information of each member of the group;
a notification step of transmitting the first recommendation information to a terminal device provided in the restaurant used for the dining party and transmitting the second recommendation information to a terminal device carried by a member corresponding to the second recommendation information ;
As the nutrient deficiency information, data indicating the degree of nutrient deficiency preliminarily associated with a certain physical condition, which is estimated based on the severity of the certain physical condition indicated in the medical data of the members of the group, is used.
program.

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