JP7772070B2 - Matching device, matching system, matching method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to a matching device, a matching system, a matching method, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium.

In order to increase the satisfaction of users participating in an event, methods have been proposed for recommending seats or areas to users. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an information processing device that matches the characteristics of an area assigned to a user at an event with the characteristics of the user, and selects a combination of area and user to recommend.

International Publication No. 2015/016094

In recent years, many online events have been held with remote participation. Participants mainly participate in these online events from their homes. However, participating from home can sometimes lack a sense of immersion and realism. Therefore, there is a need for a way to easily participate in these online events from a preferred facility other than home, such as a shared office or a private room in a hotel.

Note that while the information processing device described in Patent Document 1 above can match users with areas within an event venue, it is not intended to match users with facilities where they can participate in online events in a remote participation format.

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the object of the present disclosure is to provide a matching device, a matching system, a matching method, and a non-transitory computer-readable medium that allow a user to easily identify a facility that suits the user from among facilities where the user can remotely participate in an online event.

A matching device according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes:
a facility information acquisition means for acquiring facility information regarding each of a plurality of facilities capable of hosting an online event with remote participation;
a user information acquisition means for acquiring user information of users who wish to participate in the online event;
a selection means for selecting a recommended facility from the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user and the facility information;
and an output control means for outputting information relating to the recommended facilities to a user terminal used by the user.

A matching system according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes:
a user terminal used by a user;
A matching device and
The matching device is
a facility information acquisition means for acquiring facility information regarding each of a plurality of facilities capable of hosting an online event with remote participation;
a user information acquisition means for acquiring user information of users who wish to participate in the online event;
a selection means for selecting a recommended facility from the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user and the facility information;
and an output control means for causing the user terminal to output information related to the recommended facilities.

A matching method according to one aspect of the present disclosure includes:
Obtain facility information for each of multiple facilities that can host online events with remote participation,
Acquire user information of users who wish to participate in the online event;
selecting a recommended facility from the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user and the facility information;
Information related to the recommended facilities is output to a user terminal used by the user.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a non-transitory computer-readable medium, comprising:
A facility information acquisition process for acquiring facility information regarding each of a plurality of facilities capable of hosting an online event with remote participation;
a user information acquisition process for acquiring user information of users who wish to participate in the online event;
a selection process of selecting a recommended facility from the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user and the facility information;
and an output control process for outputting information related to the recommended facilities to a user terminal used by the user.

The present disclosure provides a matching device, matching system, matching method, and non-transitory computer-readable medium that allow users to easily identify facilities that suit them from among facilities where they can remotely participate in online events.

1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a matching device according to a first embodiment. 1 is a flowchart showing the flow of a matching method according to the first embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a matching system according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a user terminal according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a facility terminal according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a matching device according to a second embodiment. 10A and 10B are diagrams for explaining a selection process by a selection unit according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a matching method according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a matching method according to a second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an input screen for user information according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen displayed on a user terminal according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a matching system according to a third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a matching device according to a third embodiment. 11A and 11B are diagrams for explaining clustering processing and selection processing by a selection unit according to a third embodiment. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of a matching method according to a third embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen displayed on a user terminal according to the third embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen displayed on a user terminal according to the third embodiment.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In each drawing, identical or corresponding elements are designated by the same reference numerals, and duplicate descriptions will be omitted as necessary for clarity.

<Embodiment 1>
First, a first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a matching device 10 according to the first embodiment. The matching device 10 is a computer device that selects and recommends a facility suitable for a user from facilities capable of hosting a remote-participation online event. Here, a "facility capable of hosting a remote-participation online event" refers to a facility equipped with facilities that allow participants to remotely participate in the online event. For example, the facility may be equipped with at least communication equipment for connecting a computer to the Internet and display equipment. For example, the facility may be a hotel, inn, private lodging facility, karaoke room, cafe, rental office, apartment, or public facility. Furthermore, a "facility capable of hosting a remote-participation online event" may refer to a room within the facility.

The matching device 10 is connected to a network (not shown). The network may be wired or wireless. In addition, a user terminal (not shown) used by a user is connected to the network. In other words, the matching device 10 is connected to the user terminal via the network so that it can communicate with the user terminal. The matching device 10 includes a facility information acquisition unit 11, a user information acquisition unit 12, a selection unit 13, and an output control unit 15.

The facility information acquisition unit 11 is also called a facility information acquisition means. The facility information acquisition unit 11 acquires facility information regarding each of a plurality of facilities. The above facilities are facilities capable of hosting online events with remote participation. An online event is an event that is broadcast over a network for a specified period of time using a network. The facility information may include information regarding reservation status, availability, location, services provided, facilities, equipment, or usage fees or price ranges of usage fees.

The user information acquisition unit 12 is also called user information acquisition means. The user information acquisition unit 12 acquires user information of users who wish to participate in the online event. Here, a "user who wishes to participate in the online event" may be a user who has sent a registration request for participation in the online event to the matching device 10 using a user terminal. However, the user may also be a user who has completed registration for participation in the online event in the matching device 10 or another participation registration system. The user information may include the user's age, gender, place of residence, hobbies, inclinations, desired usage fee, etc. The user information may also include information about the user's favorite people, people the user supports, or the number of years the user has been a fan of the person (so-called fan history).

The selection unit 13 is also called a selection means. The selection unit 13 selects recommended facilities from a plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user acquired by the user information acquisition unit 12 and the facility information acquired by the facility information acquisition unit 11.

The output control unit 15 is also called output control means. The output control unit 15 outputs information related to recommended facilities to the user terminal. The information related to recommended facilities may include facility information of the recommended facilities. The information related to recommended facilities may also include the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the website of the recommended facility, the URL of a reservation site for making reservations for the recommended facility, or preferential treatment information for using the recommended facility.

Figure 2 is a flowchart showing the flow of the matching method according to embodiment 1. First, the facility information acquisition unit 11 of the matching device 10 acquires facility information about facilities where online events can be held (S10). Next, the user information acquisition unit 12 acquires user information about users who wish to participate in the online event (S11). Next, the selection unit 13 selects recommended facilities based on the user information and facility information (S12). Next, the output control unit 15 causes information related to the recommended facilities to be output to the user terminal (S13).

According to embodiment 1, the matching device 10 can easily provide information related to facilities that suit the user from among facilities where the user can remotely participate in online events. Therefore, the user can easily identify facilities that suit them.

<Embodiment 2>
Next, a second embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a matching system 1000 to which a matching device according to the second embodiment can be applied. The matching system 1000 is a computer system that selects and recommends a facility suitable for a user from facilities that can host online events with remote participation, and executes a facility reservation process. The matching system 1000 includes a matching device 100, a user terminal 200, and a plurality of facility terminals 300. In the matching system 1000, these devices are connected to each other so as to be able to communicate with each other via a network N.

The user terminal 200 is an information terminal used by a user. When a user wishes to participate in an online event, the user terminal 200 transmits a participation registration request to the matching device 100. At this time, the user terminal 200 transmits the above-mentioned user information to the matching device 100. Then, in response to receiving information related to the above-mentioned recommended facility from the matching device 100, the user terminal 200 displays information related to the recommended facility. When the user wishes to make a reservation for the recommended facility, the user terminal 200 accepts this and transmits a reservation request to the matching device 100.

Each facility terminal 300 is an information terminal that manages facility information related to each facility as described above. Each facility terminal 300 transmits to the matching device 100 information indicating that an online event can be held, along with the facility information. Each facility terminal 300 may also perform reservation processing for its own facility together with the matching device 100.

When the matching device 100 receives a participation registration request from the user terminal 200, it also receives user information from the user terminal 200. The matching device 100 also receives from each facility terminal 300 information that an online event is available for hosting, along with the facility information. The matching device 100 then selects a recommended facility that suits the user from among multiple facilities based on the user information and the multiple facility information. The matching device 100 transmits information related to the recommended facility (hereinafter referred to as output information) to the user terminal 200.

Figure 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a user terminal 200 according to embodiment 2. The user terminal 200 includes a memory unit 220, a communication unit 230, a display unit 240, an input unit 250, and a control unit 260.

The memory unit 220 is a storage device that stores programs for realizing each function of the user terminal 200. The communication unit 230 is a communication interface with the network N. The display unit 240 is a display device. The input unit 250 is an input device that accepts input. The display unit 240 and the input unit 250 may be configured integrally, such as a touch panel. The control unit 260 controls the hardware that the user terminal 200 has.

In response to receiving input from the user via the input unit 250 indicating that the user wishes to participate in an online event, the control unit 260 transmits a participation registration request to the matching device 100 via the communication unit 230. The control unit 260 also transmits user information received from the user via the input unit 250 to the matching device 100 via the communication unit 230. In addition, when the control unit 260 receives output information related to a recommended facility from the matching device 100, it causes the output information to be displayed on the display unit 240. In addition, in response to receiving a selection operation for a recommended facility from the user via the input unit 250, the control unit 260 transmits a reservation request to the matching device 100 via the communication unit 230.

Figure 5 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the facility terminal 300 according to embodiment 2. The facility terminal 300 includes a memory unit 320, a communication unit 330, a display unit 340, an input unit 350, and a control unit 360.

The memory unit 320 is a storage device that stores programs for realizing each function of the facility terminal 300. The communication unit 330 is a communication interface with the network N. The display unit 340 is a display device. The input unit 350 is an input device that accepts input. The control unit 360 controls the hardware that the facility terminal 300 has.

In response to receiving input from the facility manager via the input unit 350 indicating that an online event can be held and input of facility information, the control unit 360 transmits this information to the matching device 100 via the communication unit 330. Furthermore, when the control unit 360 receives notification from the matching device 100 that a reservation request has been made by a user, it executes reservation registration for the corresponding facility. Reservation registration may, for example, mean registering information related to the reservation in the reservation system of the corresponding facility.

Figure 6 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the matching device 100 according to embodiment 2. The matching device 100 includes a storage unit 110, a memory 120, a communication unit 130, and a control unit 140.

The memory unit 110 is a storage device such as a hard disk or flash memory. The memory unit 110 stores a program 111, a facility DB 112, and a user DB 113. The program 111 is a computer program that implements the processing of the matching method according to the second embodiment.

Facility DB 112 stores facility information for facilities where online events can be held. Specifically, facility DB 112 stores facility ID 1121, facility information 1122, and provision information 1123 in association with each other.

Facility ID 1121 is information that identifies the facility, for example, the facility name.

Facility information 1122 includes information on reservation status, location, services provided, equipment, and usage fees. Information on services provided may indicate the content of services related to the event. Services related to the event may, for example, be room decoration services related to the event, provision of souvenirs or amenities related to the event, sales of merchandise related to the event, or provision of food and beverage menus related to the event. Information on services provided may include information on services provided in normal usage. Information on equipment may include information on the communication environment, audio equipment such as speakers, display equipment such as displays and projectors, or soundproofing equipment for the room. Facility information 1122 may also include evaluation information (e.g., word of mouth and evaluation points) of equipment or the facility. Equipment may include, for example, microphones, PCs, keyboards, mice, displays, chargers, desks, chairs, stationery, cameras, tablet devices, maracas, tambourines, or various cables.

Provided information 1123 is information related to the facility. For example, provided information 1123 may include facility information 1122 for the facility. Also, for example, provided information 1123 may include the URL of the facility's website, the URL of a reservation site for making reservations at the facility, or preferential treatment information for using the facility. Provided information 1123 for a facility selected as a recommended facility is used as output information to be sent to the user terminal 200 or as the basis for output information.

The user DB 113 stores user information of users who wish to participate in an online event. Specifically, the user DB 113 stores a user ID 1131 and user information 1132 in association with each other.
The user ID 1131 is information for identifying a user and may be issued at the time of registration for participation.
The user information 1132 may be information indicating the user's attributes, hobbies, and preferences, or desired conditions for facility reservations. In this example, the user information 1132 includes information on the user's age, place of residence, hobbies, and desired price range for usage fees. The user information 1132 may also include information on the user's gender, preferences, favorite people, people they support, fan history, or desired equipment.

Memory 120 is a volatile storage device such as RAM (Random Access Memory) and is a storage area for temporarily storing information when control unit 140 is operating. Communication unit 130 includes a communication interface with network N.

The control unit 140 is a processor, or control device, that controls each component of the matching device 100. The control unit 140 loads the program 111 from the storage unit 110 into the memory 120 and executes the program 111. As a result, the control unit 140 realizes the functions of the facility information acquisition unit 141, the user information acquisition unit 142, the selection unit 143, the output control unit 145, and the reservation processing unit 146.

The facility information acquisition unit 141 is an example of the facility information acquisition unit 11 described above. The facility information acquisition unit 141 receives and acquires the facility ID, information indicating that an online event can be held, and facility information for that facility from the facility terminal 300 corresponding to each of a plurality of facilities. The facility information acquisition unit 141 stores the facility information for facilities that can hold online events in the facility DB 112 in association with the facility ID. The facility information acquisition unit 141 also acquires provision information for each of the above facilities and stores it in the facility DB 112 in association with the facility ID.

The user information acquisition unit 142 receives a participation registration request from the user terminal 200. Then, upon receiving the participation registration request, the user information acquisition unit 142 issues a user ID to the user. The user information acquisition unit 142 also receives and acquires user information entered into the user terminal 200 from the user terminal 200. The user information acquisition unit 142 associates the acquired user information with the user ID and registers it in the user DB 113. In this way, the user information acquisition unit 142 accepts participation registration for the online event.

The user information acquisition unit 142 may acquire the user's behavioral history or user's purchase history at any time and extract user information from the user's behavioral history or user's purchase history. For example, the user information acquisition unit 142 may acquire the user's behavioral history or user's purchase history from a behavioral history or purchase history management application running on the user terminal 200 or an external device. The user information extracted here may include hobbies, inclinations, favorite or supported people, or fan history information. The user information acquisition unit 142 then associates the extracted user information with the user ID and registers it in the user DB 113.

The selection unit 143 is an example of the selection unit 13 described above. The selection unit 143 selects recommended facilities for the user from among multiple facilities based on user information registered in the user DB 113 and associated with the user ID of the user who requested participation registration, and facility information associated with each facility ID stored in the facility DB 112.

Figure 7 is a diagram for explaining the selection process by the selection unit 143 according to the second embodiment. Figure 7 shows a user U who has requested participation registration and multiple facilities F-1 to F-4. The selection unit 143 first calculates a recommendation level for each of facilities F-1, F-2, F-3, and F-4 based on the user information of user U and the facility information for that facility. At this time, the selection unit 143 calculates the recommendation level so that a facility having facility information that is highly correlated with the user information has a high recommendation level. This allows the matching device 100 to recommend to the user who has requested participation registration facilities that have facility information that matches the preferences of that user.

The selection unit 143 then selects a recommended facility from among the multiple facilities based on each recommendation level. For example, the selection unit 143 selects facility F-1, which has the highest recommendation level, as the recommended facility. However, the selection unit 143 may also select facilities with a predetermined number of top recommendation levels (for example, facilities F-1 and F-4, which have the top two recommendation levels), or facilities with a recommendation level equal to or greater than a predetermined value (for example, facilities F-1, F-2, and F-4, which have a recommendation level of 3 or greater), as the recommended facility.

Regarding the recommendation level for each facility (sometimes referred to as the overall recommendation level), the selection unit 143 may calculate an individual recommendation level for each predetermined evaluation item (e.g., "distance," "price," and "service") and then calculate the overall recommendation level based on the individual recommendation levels. As a specific example, the selection unit 143 may calculate the recommendation level for each facility as follows. First, the selection unit 143 may calculate the individual recommendation level for "distance" for each facility based on the "place of residence" included in the user information and the "location" included in the facility information for that facility. The selection unit 143 may also calculate the individual recommendation level for "price" for each facility based on the "age" and "interest" included in the user information and the "usage fee" included in the facility information for that facility. The selection unit 143 may also calculate the individual recommendation level for "service" for each facility based on the "age," "gender," "hobbies," and "favorite people" included in the user information and the "service" included in the facility information for that facility. The selection unit 143 may then set the overall recommendation level to be higher the higher the average of the individual recommendation levels. Furthermore, when there are evaluation items that the user U values, the selection unit 143 may calculate an overall recommendation level by weighting the individual recommendation levels corresponding to those evaluation items. Alternatively, when there is user information that the user U values, the selection unit 143 may weight that user information at the stage of calculating the individual recommendation levels.

The selection unit 143 may also calculate the recommendation level for each of facilities F-1, F-2, F-3, and F-4 based on the user information and facility information of user U as well as the user information of other users. The other users may be other users who currently wish to participate at the facility, or other users who have made reservations to use the facility. This makes it easier for the matching device 100 to bring together users who have good chemistry with each other at facilities that suit the preferences of those users.

Returning to Figure 6, the explanation will continue. The output control unit 145 is an example of the output control unit 15 described above. When the output control unit 145 receives a participation registration request from the user terminal 200, it causes the user terminal 200 to display an input screen for user information. Note that the output control unit 145 may also cause the user terminal 200 to output audio output information for accepting input of user information, and may accept input of user information by acquiring the picked-up audio from the user terminal 200.

The output control unit 145 acquires provided information associated with the facility ID of the recommended facility from the facility DB 112. The output control unit 145 then transmits the provided information as output information to the user terminal 200 that requested participation registration, and displays it on the user terminal 200. However, instead of this, the output control unit 145 may generate output information based on the provided information, and then transmit the output information to the user terminal 200 that requested participation registration, and display it on the user terminal 200. In this case, the output information may include one or more acquired pieces of provided information and information on the display mode of the provided information. The display mode may be determined by the output control unit 145 according to the recommendation level of the recommended facility associated with the provided information. In this case, the output control unit 145 may determine the display mode so that provided information for a recommended facility with a higher recommendation level is displayed higher in the display order or is displayed more emphasized.

The reservation processing unit 146 is also called a reservation processing means. When the reservation processing unit 146 receives a reservation request from the user terminal 200 that displays the output information, it starts reservation processing for the facility related to the reservation request. For example, the reservation processing unit 146 notifies the facility terminal 300 of the facility related to the reservation request that a reservation request has been made by the user, and causes the reservation registration to be carried out. Then, when the reservation processing unit 146 receives from the facility terminal 300 that the reservation registration has been completed, it updates the reservation status of the facility information associated with the facility ID of the facility in the facility DB 112.

8 and 9 are sequence diagrams showing the flow of the matching method according to the second embodiment. For the sake of explanation, the matching system 1000 includes facility terminals 300-1 and 300-2 corresponding to two facilities, but this is not limited to this. Each of the facility terminals 300-1 and 300-2 transmits to the matching device 100 a message that its facility is available to host an event, along with the facility information and facility ID of its facility (S20). The facility information acquisition unit 141 of the matching device 100 then associates the acquired facility information with the facility ID and stores it in the facility DB 112 (S21).

Next, the user terminal 200 transmits a request to register to participate in the online event to the matching device 100 (S22). Next, the output control unit 145 of the matching device 100 transmits an input screen for user information to the user terminal 200 and displays it on the user terminal 200 (S23).

Figure 10 is a diagram showing a user information input screen according to embodiment 2. The display unit 240 of the user terminal 200 displays an input area for user information required for participation registration. In Figure 10, as an example, the display unit 240 displays areas for inputting age, gender, place of residence, hobbies, favorite entertainer, fan history, desired price range for usage fees, and desired equipment.

The display unit 240 may also display an area where the user can check whether, when selecting a facility, they prioritize facilities located close to their place of residence ("price priority"), whether they prioritize low usage fees ("price priority"), or whether they prioritize the content of the service ("service priority"). If any of these evaluation items is checked, the selection unit 143 of the matching device 100 may consider the checked evaluation item to be an evaluation item that user U prioritizes. In this case, in the subsequent selection process, the selection unit 143 may weight the individual recommendation levels corresponding to the checked evaluation items to calculate an overall recommendation level.

Returning to Figure 8, we will continue the explanation. When the above-mentioned input screen is displayed on the display unit 240 of the user terminal 200, the user performs an input operation of user information using the input unit 250 of the user terminal 200 (S24). The user terminal 200, which has accepted the input operation, transmits the input user information to the matching device 100 (S25). The user information acquisition unit 142 of the matching device 100, which has received the user information, issues a user ID (S26), associates the user ID with the user information, and registers it in the user DB 113 (S27). The user information acquisition unit 142 of the matching device 100 then notifies the user terminal 200 of the user ID (S28).

Next, the selection unit 143 of the matching device 100 calculates a recommendation level for each of the multiple facilities based on at least the user information and each facility information (S29). Next, the selection unit 143 selects a recommended facility from the multiple facilities based on the recommendation level (S30). Next, the output control unit 145 of the matching device 100 acquires provided information associated with the facility ID of the recommended facility from the facility DB 112 (S31). Next, the output control unit 145 generates output information including the provided information and information on its display mode (S32). Next, the output control unit 145 transmits the output information to the user terminal 200 (S33).

The user terminal 200 that receives the output information displays the output information on the display unit 240 (S34). Next, the user terminal 200 accepts from the user a selection operation for the facility for which the user wishes to make a reservation (S35).

11 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the user terminal 200 according to the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11, the display unit 240 of the user terminal 200 displays a display screen based on the output information. In this example, the facilities recommended to the user are Hotel A and Hotel B, and the output information includes provided information 400 for Hotel A, provided information 401 for Hotel B, and display mode information. The display mode information includes information indicating that the display order of provided information 400 for Hotel A is first and that the display order of provided information 401 for Hotel B is second. The provided information 400 and 401 include facility information or information generated based on facility information. As an example, the provided information 400 and 401 may include an address, the nearest station, a usage fee, and recommended services. As another example, the provided information 400 and 401 may include information on the number of other users currently wishing to participate at the facility and information indicating how many more people can make reservations. This allows the user to know the number of other users who currently wish to use the facility, and allows the user to understand the degree of congestion and popularity of the room, making it easier for the user to decide on a facility to use.

Here, when the selection unit 143 of the matching device 100 calculates the individual recommendation level for each evaluation item described above, the output information may include information indicating the individual recommendation level for each evaluation item of facilities recommended to the user. The display unit 240 of the user terminal 200 may then display, together with the provided information, information indicating the individual recommendation level for each evaluation item of facilities recommended to the user. As an example, the display unit 240 may display that Hotel A has three stars in all evaluation items, but Hotel B has two stars for "price" and "service," and three stars for "distance." The number of stars may be determined according to the magnitude of the individual recommendation levels. Furthermore, if user U selects "distance-focused," weights are assigned to the individual recommendation levels corresponding to "distance." Therefore, the display unit 240 preferentially displays facilities with a high number of stars for "distance," even if they have low star ratings for "price" and "service."

In addition, the display unit 240 of the user terminal 200 also displays input areas 500, 501 for making room reservations for Hotel A and Hotel B, respectively. If the user wishes to make a reservation for a room at Hotel A, the user selects the input area 500 associated with the provided information 400 for Hotel A.

Returning to Figure 9, the explanation will continue. The user terminal 200 that has accepted the selection operation sends a reservation request to the matching device 100 (S36). The reservation request includes information about the recommended facility selected by the user (e.g., the facility ID).

When the reservation request is received, the reservation processing unit 146 of the matching device 100 notifies the facility terminal 300 corresponding to the selected recommended facility (facility terminal 300-1 in this figure) of this request and starts the reservation process (S37). As a result, the matching device 100 and facility terminal 300-1 execute the reservation process. Upon completion of the reservation process, the reservation processing unit 146 of the matching device 100 updates the reservation status associated with the facility ID of the facility related to the reservation in the facility DB 112 (S38).

According to embodiment 2, the matching device 100 selects a facility that suits the user from among facilities where the user can remotely participate in an online event, and easily provides output information related to the facility. This allows the matching device 100 to encourage the user to make a reservation for the facility. Therefore, the user can easily find a facility that suits them simply by providing their user information to the matching device 100. The user can then easily make a reservation to use the facility that suits them.

<Embodiment 3>
Next, a third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described. The third embodiment is characterized by matching a cluster of users who have good chemistry with a facility.

Figure 12 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a matching system 1000a according to embodiment 3. The matching system 1000a includes multiple user terminals 200. The matching system 1000a also includes a matching device 100a instead of the matching device 100.

Figure 13 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a matching device 100a according to embodiment 3. The matching device 100a includes a memory unit 110a and a control unit 140a instead of the memory unit 110 and the control unit 140. The memory unit 110a stores a program 111a instead of the program 111. The program 111a is a computer program that implements the processing of the matching method according to embodiment 3.

The control unit 140a differs from the control unit 140 in that it has a user information acquisition unit 142a and a selection unit 143a instead of the user information acquisition unit 142 and the selection unit 143.

The user information acquisition unit 142a acquires user information in the same way as the user information acquisition unit 142. However, the user information acquisition unit 142a acquires user information for each of multiple users.

The selection unit 143a clusters multiple users based on the user information of each user (clustering process). Known clustering methods, such as k-means, can be used as the clustering method. Here, the selection unit 143a may perform clustering so that the number of users belonging to one cluster is two or more, ensuring that multiple people are assigned to each facility. However, the condition for the number of users belonging to one cluster is not limited to this, and may be a predetermined number or more.

Then, for each cluster, the selection unit 143a selects recommended facilities from among multiple facilities based on the user information of users belonging to that cluster and the facility information of each facility (selection process).

Fig. 14 is a diagram for explaining the clustering process and the selection process by the selection unit 143a according to the third embodiment. Fig. 14 shows a plurality of users U-1 to U-5 who have made participation registration requests.
First, the selection unit 143a clusters users U-1 to U-5 based on the user information. As a result, users U-1 to U-5 are classified into cluster C-1 or cluster C-2, which have high correlations in the user information. As an example, cluster C-1 is a cluster where users tend to have favorite people from "idol group A," and cluster C-2 is a cluster where users tend to have favorite people from "artist B."
The selection unit 143a then selects recommended facilities for each of the clusters C-1 and C-2. For example, the selection unit 143a generates attribute information for the cluster C-1 based on the user information of the users U-1 and U-3 who belong to the cluster C-1. As an example, the selection unit 143a may generate attribute information such as "fan of idol group a" for the cluster C-1 and "fan of artist b" for the cluster C-2. The selection unit 143a then selects facility F-2, which has a high correlation with the cluster C-1, as a recommended facility for the cluster C-1 based on the user information of the users U-1 and U-3 who belong to the cluster C-1 and the facility information of the facilities F-1, F-2, F-3, and F-4. The selection unit 143a similarly selects recommended facilities for the cluster C-2. This makes it easier for the matching device 100a to bring together users who have good chemistry with each other at facilities that match their preferences.

Here, the user information used in the clustering process and the user information used in the selection process (particularly the process of generating cluster attribute information) may be of the same type, or may be partially or entirely different. In the above description, the same type of user information (in the above example, favorite people) was used in both the clustering process and the selection process. However, as an example, the selection unit 143a may use information about favorite people from the user information for clustering, and information about favorite people and desired price range from the user information for the selection process. As another example, the selection unit 143a may use information about favorite people from the user information for clustering, and information about residence and desired price range from the user information for the selection process. Here, the user U may be able to set which user information to emphasize in each process. The selection unit 143a may weight the set user information and perform the clustering process and selection process.

Note that if the number of users belonging to cluster C-1 or C-2 does not satisfy the number of users condition set for the recommended facility of that cluster, the selection unit 143a may perform clustering again. The number of users set for the recommended facility is the maximum number of people that can be accommodated in the room of that recommended facility (the so-called capacity) or the minimum number of people required to hold an online event (the so-called minimum number of participants). In the example of FIG. 14, the recommended facility for cluster C-1, to which users U-1 and U-3 belong, is facility F-2. Here, if the minimum number of participants for facility F-2 is three, the number of users in cluster C-1 is less than three, so the selection unit 143a may perform clustering again. Note that performing clustering again may involve changing parameters and performing similar clustering using all users as the parent population, or may involve clustering using users in some clusters as the parent population. Furthermore, performing clustering again may involve accommodating some users from some clusters in other clusters, or may involve merging some clusters. This makes it possible to match clusters with facilities so that the number of people conditions are met.

Alternatively, if the number of people condition is not met as described above, the selection unit 143a may perform the selection process again to obtain a different combination of clusters and facilities. This also makes it possible to match clusters and facilities so that the number of people condition is met.

Figure 15 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of the matching method according to the third embodiment. S51 shown in Figure 15 is performed after S28 in Figure 8 is executed for each user terminal 200-1, 200-2. User terminals 200-1, 200-2 are user terminals used by user U-1 and user U-2, respectively.

The selection unit 143a of the matching device 100a clusters the registered users U-1 and U-2 based on the user information acquired from the user terminals 200-1 and 200-2 (S51). Next, the selection unit 143a of the matching device 100a calculates the recommendation level of each facility for each cluster (S52). Here, as in the above-described second embodiment, the selection unit 143a may calculate an individual recommendation level for each of predetermined evaluation items (e.g., "distance," "price," and "service") and calculate the recommendation level (overall recommendation level) of each facility based on the individual recommendation levels. Next, the selection unit 143a of the matching device 100a assigns recommended facilities for each cluster based on the recommendation levels (S53). The matching device 100a performs S54 to S55, which are the same processes as S31 to S32 in FIG. 9, for each cluster. Next, the output control unit 145 of the matching device 100a transmits output information according to the clusters C-1 and C-2 to which the users U-1 and U-2 belong to the user terminals 200-1 and 200-2 (S56).

Each of the user terminals 200-1 and 200-2 that receive the output information displays the output information on the display unit 240 (S57). Next, each of the user terminals 200-1 and 200-2 accepts from the user a selection operation for the facility for which the user wishes to make a reservation (S58).

Figure 16 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the user terminal 200-1 according to the third embodiment. As shown in Figure 16, the display unit 240 of the user terminal 200-1 displays a display screen based on output information corresponding to cluster C-1. In this example, the facility recommended to the user is Hotel A, and the output information includes provided information 410 for Hotel A. As an example, the provided information 410 may include the address, the nearest station, the usage fee, and recommended services. The provided information 410 may also include information indicating the characteristics of the users for whom Hotel A is recommended. The information indicating the characteristics of the users for whom Hotel A is recommended may be characteristic information of the user information used in the clustering process or attribute information of cluster C-1 generated based on the user information used in the selection process. By displaying such information, the user can understand whether other users for whom the facility is recommended are likely to be compatible with the user. Note that when the selection unit 143a calculates the individual recommendation level for each of the evaluation items described above, the output information may also include information indicating the individual recommendation level for each of the evaluation items of the recommended facility.

Here, the display unit 240 of the user terminal 200-1 displays an input area 510 for user U-1 to request a reservation for a room at the recommended Hotel A. Meanwhile, the display unit 240 of the user terminal 200-1 may also display an input area 600 for requesting information on other facilities, in case user U-1 wishes to make a reservation at a facility other than the recommended Hotel A.

In response to the selection of the input area 600, the selection unit 143a of the matching device 100a may identify a facility with available capacity that has a high correlation with user U-1 from among facilities with available capacity. A facility with available capacity may be one or more when the value obtained by subtracting the number of users belonging to the cluster already assigned to it from the capacity is 1 or greater. Whether a facility has a high correlation with user U-1 may be determined based on the recommendation level based on the user information of user U-1 and the facility information of the facility, as in the second embodiment described above. Furthermore, whether a facility has a high correlation with user U-1 may also be determined based on the recommendation level based on the user information of users belonging to the cluster already assigned to the facility.

If the selection unit 143a identifies another facility, the output control unit 145 transmits output information including the provision information of the facility identified as described above to the user terminal 200-1. Then, the display screen shown in Figure 17 is displayed on the display unit 240 of the user terminal 200-1. Figure 17 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen displayed on the user terminal 200-1 according to the third embodiment.

In this example, the other identified facilities are Hotel B and Hotel C, and the output information includes information provided by Hotel B 411, information provided by Hotel C 412, and information on the display mode. The display unit 240 of user terminal 200-1 also displays input fields 511 and 512 for requesting room reservations for Hotel B and Hotel C, respectively.

As in the second embodiment described above, the output information may include information indicating the individual recommendation levels for each evaluation item of facilities highly correlated with the user. The display unit 240 of the user terminal 200-1 may then display, along with the provided information, information indicating the individual recommendation levels for each evaluation item of facilities highly correlated with the user. As an example, the display unit 240 may display that Hotel B has three stars in all evaluation items, but Hotel C has two stars for "price" and "service," and three stars for "distance." The number of stars may be determined according to the magnitude of the individual recommendation levels. Furthermore, if user U selects "distance-focused," weights are assigned to the individual recommendation levels corresponding to "distance," and therefore the display unit 240 preferentially displays facilities with a large number of stars for "distance," even if they have small numbers of stars for "price" and "service."

When user terminal 200-1 receives a selection from one of input areas 510, 511, or 512, it sends a reservation request to the matching device 100a (S59). The same applies to user terminal 200-2. Then, the same processing as S37 to S38 in Figure 9 is performed for each user terminal's reservation request.

According to embodiment 3, the matching device 100a can easily bring together users who have good chemistry with each other at a facility that suits their preferences, while imposing a number of participants requirement. Therefore, facilities can avoid the risk of holding an online event without attracting enough participants. This can encourage facilities to provide venues for online events. Furthermore, users can share their event experience directly with other users who have good chemistry with them, while avoiding overcrowding. This can further increase users' satisfaction with online events.

The above-described embodiments have been described as hardware configurations, but this is not limited to this. Any processing in the present disclosure can also be realized by having a processor execute a computer program.

In the above examples, 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 medium or tangible storage medium includes 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® disc or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassette, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage device. The program may also be transmitted on a transitory computer-readable medium or communication medium. By way of example and not limitation, transitory computer-readable medium or communication medium includes electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals.

Note that this disclosure is not limited to the above embodiments and can be modified as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the disclosure.

10, 100, 100a Matching device 11 Facility information acquisition unit 12 User information acquisition unit 13 Selection unit 15 Output control unit 110, 110a Storage unit 111, 111a Program 112 Facility DB
1121 Facility ID
1122 Facility information 1123 Provided information 113 User DB
1131 User ID
1132 User information 120 Memory 130 Communication unit 140, 140a Control unit 141 Facility information acquisition unit 142, 142a User information acquisition unit 143, 143a Selection unit 144 Generation unit 145 Output control unit 146 Reservation processing unit 200 User terminal 220 Storage unit 230 Communication unit 240 Display unit 250 Input unit 260 Control unit 300 Facility terminal 320 Storage unit 330 Communication unit 340 Display unit 350 Input unit 360 Control unit 400, 401, 410 Provided information 500, 501, 510, 511, 512, 600 Input area 1000, 1000a Matching system N Network

Claims (8)

a facility information acquisition means for acquiring facility information regarding each of a plurality of facilities capable of hosting an online event with remote participation;
a user information acquisition means for acquiring user information of users who wish to participate in the online event;
a selection means for selecting a recommended facility from the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user and the facility information;
an output control means for outputting information related to the recommended facilities to a user terminal used by the user;
The selection means
Calculating a recommendation level for each of the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user, the facility information, and user information of other users who wish to participate at the facility;
selecting a recommended facility based on the recommendation level of each of the plurality of facilities, and displaying the recommendation level of the recommended facility in a manner that changes in accordance with information on the other users who wish to participate;
The output control means
displaying, on the user terminal, for each of the plurality of facilities, the number of other users who wish to participate at the facility and information on the user's characteristics that are recommended when using the facility, the information being generated based on attribute information of the other users;
Matching device. the output control means causes the user terminal to output an input screen for the user information;
The matching device according to claim 1 , wherein the user information acquisition means receives the user information input to the user terminal from the user terminal. the user information acquisition means acquires user information of each of a plurality of users;
The selection means
clustering the plurality of users based on at least a portion of the user information;
selecting, for each cluster, recommended facilities from the plurality of facilities based on at least a portion of the user information of users belonging to that cluster and the facility information;
the output control means outputs, for each cluster, information related to the recommended facilities to a user terminal used by a user belonging to that cluster;
The user information used in the user clustering process and the user information used in the selection process are different types of user information.
3. The matching device according to claim 1 or 2. The matching device according to claim 3 , wherein the selection means performs the clustering so that the number of users belonging to each cluster is two or more. The matching device according to claim 3 or 4 , wherein the selection means performs clustering again when the number of users belonging to a cluster does not satisfy a condition of the number of users determined in accordance with the recommended facilities of the cluster. a user terminal used by a user;
A matching device and
The matching device includes:
a facility information acquisition means for acquiring facility information regarding each of a plurality of facilities capable of hosting an online event with remote participation;
a user information acquisition means for acquiring user information of users who wish to participate in the online event;
a selection means for selecting a recommended facility from the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user and the facility information;
an output control means for causing the user terminal to output information related to the recommended facilities;
The selection means
Calculating a recommendation level for each of the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user, the facility information, and user information of other users who wish to participate at the facility;
selecting a recommended facility based on the recommendation level of each of the plurality of facilities, and displaying the recommendation level of the recommended facility in a manner that changes in accordance with information of the other users who wish to participate;
displaying, on the user terminal, for each of the plurality of facilities, the number of other users who wish to participate at the facility and information on the user's characteristics that are recommended when using the facility, the information being generated based on attribute information of the other users;
Matching system. Obtain facility information for each of multiple facilities that can host online events with remote participation,
Acquire user information of users who wish to participate in the online event;
selecting a recommended facility from the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user and the facility information;
When outputting the information related to the recommended facility to the user terminal used by the user,
Calculating a recommendation level for each of the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user, the facility information, and user information of other users who wish to participate at the facility;
selecting a recommended facility based on the recommendation level of each of the plurality of facilities, and displaying the recommendation level of the recommended facility in a manner that changes in accordance with information of the other users who wish to participate;
displaying, on the user terminal, for each of the plurality of facilities, the number of other users who wish to participate at the facility and information on the user's characteristics that are recommended when using the facility, the information being generated based on attribute information of the other users;
Matching method. A facility information acquisition process for acquiring facility information regarding each of a plurality of facilities capable of hosting an online event with remote participation;
a user information acquisition process for acquiring user information of users who wish to participate in the online event;
a selection process of selecting a recommended facility from the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user and the facility information;
an output control process for outputting information related to the recommended facility to a user terminal used by the user,
Calculating a recommendation level for each of the plurality of facilities based on the user information of the user, the facility information, and user information of other users who wish to participate at the facility;
selecting recommended facilities based on the recommendation level of each of the plurality of facilities, and displaying the recommendation levels of the recommended facilities in a manner that changes in accordance with information on other users who wish to participate; and
displaying, on the user terminal, for each of the plurality of facilities, the number of other users who wish to participate at the facility and information on the user's characteristics that is generated based on attribute information of the other users and that is recommended when using the facility;
A program that causes a computer to execute the following.