JP7788144B2 - Memorial album system and memorial album management server - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a memorial album system and a memorial album management server, and in particular to memorial albums of the deceased that are used at funerals, etc.

In recent years, online funeral services have been proposed.

Patent Document 1 provides technology that allows online funerals to be registered and allows the chief mourner to decline condolence money from those attending the online funeral.

Patent Document 2 proposes a technology that reliably distributes condolence information to those involved in a funeral via the Internet, and also acts on behalf of those who wish to attend the funeral, charging them for this service.

Patent No. 6889889 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-252917

With the availability of technologies such as those described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the need for online funerals has increased in recent years. Online funerals are held with both those who actually attend the funeral hall and those who attend online. In this type of system, as in the past, photographs (memorial albums) of the deceased as they appeared in life were placed at the actual funeral hall. In addition, it was not possible for attendees to add photographs of the deceased to the memorial album on the spot.

The purpose of this invention is to enable all attendees to view the memorial album even at online funerals.

While funerals themselves can be held online, many funeral-related procedures still cannot be completed online. The inventors of this application focused on this issue and diligently developed technology to streamline the process, particularly for funeral attendees making purchases. The present invention is based on this knowledge.

According to the present invention,
An online bookkeeping system including a memorial album management server, a funeral home terminal, a chief mourner terminal, and attendee terminals,
The funeral home terminal registers funeral information in the memorial album management server,
The memorial album management server generates a bookkeeping website corresponding to the funeral information and provides it to the attendee terminals.
The attendee terminal transmits the input attendee information to the memorial album management server via the bookkeeping website,
The memorial album management server provides the attendee information to both the funeral home terminal and the chief mourner terminal.
You get an online bookkeeping system.

The present invention can streamline the procedures that funeral attendees must complete in advance, particularly the attendee registration process that attendees must complete in advance.

1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a memorial album system according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the memorial album management server of FIG. 1. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the funeral home terminal, the chief mourner terminal, and the attendee terminal of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the memorial album management server of FIG. 1. 10A and 10B are diagrams showing examples of display of a memorial album according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is another diagram showing the processing flow of the system according to the embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention will be described below by listing the contents of the embodiments. The present invention has the following configuration.
[Item 1]
A memorial album system including a memorial album management server, a funeral home terminal, and a chief mourner terminal,
The funeral home terminal transmits a request to the memorial album management server to generate an obituary page for the deceased person related to the funeral;
The memorial album management server generates the obituary page in response to the request and provides it to the chief mourner's terminal so that it can be displayed;
The funeral home terminal acquires photographic information of the deceased from the chief mourner's terminal and provides the photographic information to the memorial album management server;
The memorial album management server generates a website including a memorial album containing the photographic information and associates the website with the obituary page.
Memorial album system.
[Item 2]
2. The memorial album system according to claim 1,
The memorial album management server receives photographic information of the deceased from attendees and transmits the received photographic information to the chief mourner's terminal;
The chief mourner's terminal transmits permission to publish the photographic information to the memorial album management server,
The memorial album management server publishes the permitted photograph information in the memorial album.
Memorial album system.
[Item 3]
3. The memorial album system according to claim 2,
The memorial album management server receives the photo information from the attendees on the generated obituary page.
Memorial album system.
[Item 4]
A memorial album management server configured to be able to communicate with a funeral home terminal,
an obituary page generation unit that receives a request from the funeral home terminal to generate an obituary page for the deceased person related to the funeral and generates the obituary page;
An obituary page providing unit that provides the obituary page so that it can be displayed on the chief mourner's terminal;
a memorial album generating unit that acquires photographic information of the deceased from the chief mourner's terminal and generates a website including a memorial album containing the photographic information;
A memorial album providing unit and a memorial album management server provide the generated website in association with the obituary page.

<Details of the embodiment>
Hereinafter, a memorial album system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

<Configuration>
As shown in Figure 1, the offering information provision system (hereinafter referred to as "this system") according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a memorial album management server, a funeral home terminal, a chief mourner terminal, and attendee terminals. These terminals are connected to each other via a network so that they can communicate with each other.

This system further generates a website that includes a memorial album containing photos and videos of the deceased on the obituary page generated by the funeral home terminal, and provides the memorial album to attendees.

<Hardware configuration>
As shown in Figures 2 and 3, the server 1 and the attendee terminal 2 according to this embodiment have the following hardware configuration. Note that the following configuration is an example, and other configurations may also be used. Furthermore, the configurations of the funeral home terminal and the chief mourner's terminal may be the same as that of the attendee terminal 2.

<Memorial Album Management Server>

As shown in Figure 2, the memorial album management server is a type of information processing device. A memorial album management server typically includes a processor 10, memory 11, storage 12, a transmission/reception unit 12, an input/output unit 14, and a bus 15.

Examples of the processor 10 may include a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or an MPU (Micro-Processing Unit). It may also include a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), DSP (Digital Signal Processor), etc. In other words, the processor 10 may be any device capable of executing instructions from a program. It may also include registers, L1 cache, and L2 cache that store information in locations physically close to the processor 10. These may be included in the processor 10, or may be included in the memory 11 or storage 12.

Memory 11 is temporary storage and can utilize RAM (Random Access Memory). Memory 11 temporarily retrieves and stores data from storage 12.

Storage 12 is a device that records information. It may be either external or internal memory. It may be either primary storage or secondary storage. It may be a magnetic disk (hard disk), optical disk, magnetic tape, semiconductor memory, etc. It may also have storage via a network or cloud storage via a network. Storage 12 of the present invention may be equipped with a memorial album management server program related to one embodiment of the memorial album system. Storage 12 may also record some or all of the data required to execute services related to the present invention. Storage 12 may also include a database, as described below.

The above-described configuration describes a case in which the processor 10 executes a memorial album management server program stored in the storage 12. However, the processor 10, storage 12, and bus 15 may be combined into a dedicated circuit, such as a programmable logic device (PLD), in which the information processing to be performed is predetermined.

The transmission/reception unit 13 transmits information together with the communication IF. The transmission/reception unit 13 includes a transmission unit and a reception unit. The transmission/reception unit has the function of transmitting information from the memorial album management server to other information terminals (user terminals or owner terminals) via the network. The communication IF can be any connection type, such as USB, IEEE 1394, Ethernet (registered trademark), PCI, or SCSI. The network can be either wired or wireless, and can use optical fiber, coaxial cable, or the like. The connection in the system of the above-mentioned embodiment can be a direct connection or an indirect connection.

The input/output unit 14 includes an input device and an output device. Examples of input devices include a keyboard, mouse, touch panel, or pen-type pointing device. The display device has the function of displaying information. For example, any device capable of displaying information, such as a liquid crystal display, plasma display, or organic EL display, may be used. It may also be provided with an input device, such as a touch panel, as part of the device.

The hardware that makes up the memorial album management server may be a general-purpose computer or a dedicated computer. The hardware may also be a workstation, desktop computer, laptop computer, notebook computer, PDA, mobile phone, smartphone, etc.

Although Figure 2 illustrates a single memorial album management server, the memorial album management server may be configured with multiple information processing devices. If configured with multiple information processing devices, one or more of the information processing devices may be terminal devices. The multiple information processing devices may be connected internally or externally. Furthermore, if the memorial album management server is configured with multiple information processing devices, the owners may be different. Furthermore, the person operating the memorial album management server may be different from the owner of the memorial album management server. Furthermore, the memorial album management server may be virtual. For example, the memorial album management server may be virtually realized using cloud computing.

<Hardware configuration of funeral home terminal, chief mourner terminal, and attendee terminal>
3 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the funeral home terminal, the chief mourner terminal, and the attendee terminal (hereinafter referred to as "user terminal"), which are connected to the memorial album management server via a network and perform information processing. The illustrated configuration is an example, and other configurations may be included, or may be replaced with elements having similar functions. Furthermore, although the illustrated user terminal is shown as a single device, multiple devices may be combined to form a single device. Among the following elements, elements with the same name can be configured in the same way as the above-mentioned memorial album management server, so detailed explanations of them will be omitted.

As shown in the figure, a user terminal is a type of information processing device. A user terminal typically comprises a processor 20, memory 21, storage 22, a transmission/reception unit 23, an input/output unit 24, and a bus 25. Like the memorial album management server described above, the hardware constituting the user terminal of the present invention may be a general-purpose electronic computer or a dedicated electronic computer. The hardware may also be a workstation, desktop computer, laptop computer, notebook computer, PDA, mobile phone, smartphone, etc. However, since it is desirable for the user to carry it with them, it is preferable that this hardware be portable.

<Details of functional configuration>
The following explanation will be given with reference to the drawings that refer to the detailed configuration. The explanatory text in the drawings also constitutes an embodiment of the present invention. The funeral to which the present invention is applicable is not only an actual funeral, but also a funeral or memorial service in which the actual funeral or memorial service is shared online in real time (or as archived data), or a combination of these.

As shown in Figure 4, the memorial album management server has a funeral information storage unit, an obituary page generation unit, an obituary page provision unit, a management unit, a photo editing unit, a memorial album generation unit, and a memorial album provision unit.

The funeral information storage unit manages information related to funerals. For example, it stores information about the deceased, bereaved family, funeral date, sect, attendees, style, offerings, and other information necessary for the funeral announcement, execution, and subsequent memorial service. This funeral information is provided by the funeral home terminal.

In response to a request for an obituary page from the funeral home terminal, the obituary page generation unit generates a website for an obituary page that provides the obituary information based on the funeral information stored in the funeral information storage unit. The website may be generated in the same format by embedding information obtained by referencing the funeral information in a predetermined format.

The obituary page provider provides the obituary page so that it can be displayed on the terminals of users who are expected to attend. The funeral home terminal receives access information to the obituary page (URL, QR code (registered trademark), etc.) and provides it to the chief mourner's terminal. The chief mourner's terminal then shares the access information with potential attendees, providing it to each of them.

The memorial album generation unit generates a memorial album such as that shown in Figure 5 using images and videos of the deceased obtained from the funeral home terminal. As shown in Figure 5, the memorial album is a so-called digital photo album that contains at least the name of the deceased and, on page w, photos p including a memorial portrait of the deceased and photos of the deceased when they were alive.

Returning to Figure 4, the memorial album provision unit provides the memorial album to attendees by associating it with the obituary page. Providing the memorial album to attendees may involve, for example, providing an area on the obituary page where the memory album can be viewed, or providing a link (URL, button, banner, etc.) that allows access to the memorial album.

<Processing flow>
Figure 6 shows the processing flow of this system. As shown in the figure, the funeral home terminal registers funeral information with the funeral management server (SQ301). The memorial album management server generates an obituary page based on the funeral information (SQ302). The memorial album management server provides the URL information required to access the obituary page's website (SQ303). The chief mourner uses the chief mourner's terminal to select content to include in the memorial album, such as photos and videos of the deceased (SQ304), and sends them to the funeral home terminal (SQ305). The funeral home terminal may process or edit the received photos and videos appropriately (SQ306). Once the photos and other information required to create the memorial album are registered by the funeral home terminal with the memorial album management server (SQ307), the memorial album is created (SQ308). The memorial album management server provides the URL information required to access the memorial album's website (SQ309). The chief mourner's terminal shares the URL information for the memorial album with attendees (SQ310).

Figure 7 shows the processing flow of an additional function of this system. As shown in the figure, when the memorial album management server generates a memorial album (SQ403), it may accept registration of personal photos and other information from attendees who view it. In this case, attendees can select a site using their own terminal (SQ404) and register photos and videos using the photo provision means (URL, button, banner, etc.: not shown) provided on the memorial album (SQ405). In this embodiment, when the memorial album management server receives photos and other information from attendees, it notifies the chief mourner's terminal of this fact (SQ406) and prompts the chief mourner's terminal to confirm the contents (SQ407). If the chief mourner's terminal determines that the photos can be included in the memorial album (SQ408), the memorial album is updated with the updated contents.

It is also possible to generate multiple memorial albums with different content, public access, and release dates, such as for general attendees and relatives. In this case, each album will be generated with associated access information. This will prevent private photos of bereaved family members from being made public to general attendees.

Also, when giving permission for photos provided by attendees to be published in the memorial album, it is possible to give separate permission for publication for the general attendees and for relatives (for example, it is possible to allow photos to be published in the memorial album for the New Zaku, but not in the memorial album for general attendees).

The above-described embodiments are merely examples intended to facilitate understanding of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention. The present invention can be modified and improved without departing from its spirit, and it goes without saying that the present invention includes equivalents thereof.

It goes without saying that the inventions described in the embodiments of this application are not limited to those described in this application, but can be applied to various examples within the scope of their technical concepts. For example, in the embodiments of this application, the system of each embodiment may be configured so that information presented on the screen of an information processing device can be transmitted to another information processing device so that it can be displayed on the screen of that other information processing device.

Furthermore, the processes and procedures described in this application document may be realized not only by those explicitly described in the embodiments, but also by software, hardware, or a combination of these. Furthermore, the processes and procedures described in this application document may be implemented as computer programs and executed by various computers. Furthermore, these computer programs may be stored in storage media. Furthermore, these programs may be stored in non-transitory or temporary storage media.

(Industrial application field)
The system according to the present invention can be applied not only to funerals, but also to various events, ceremonies, weddings, funerals, ceremonies, competitions, festivals, music events, exhibitions, etc., in order to pre-register and authenticate participants.

Claims (3)

A memorial album system including a memorial album management server, a funeral home terminal, and a chief mourner terminal,
The funeral home terminal transmits a request to the memorial album management server to generate an obituary page for the deceased person related to the funeral;
The memorial album management server generates the obituary page in response to the request and provides the chief mourner's terminal with access information for accessing the obituary page;
The funeral home terminal acquires photographic information of the deceased from the chief mourner's terminal and provides the photographic information to the memorial album management server;
The memorial album management server generates a website including a memorial album containing the photograph information and associates the website with the obituary page.
Memorial album system. 2. The memorial album system according to claim 1,
The memorial album management server receives photographic information of the deceased from attendees and transmits the received photographic information to the chief mourner's terminal;
The chief mourner's terminal transmits permission to publish the photographic information to the memorial album management server,
The memorial album management server publishes the permitted photograph information in the memorial album.
Memorial album system. 3. The memorial album system according to claim 2,
The memorial album management server receives the photo information from the attendees on the generated obituary page.
Memorial album system.