JP2015136044A - Beacon device and beacon signal transmission system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To allow a purchaser having interest in a product to obtain the product information with no extra effort, by using a beacon signal transmission and reception system including a beacon device for transmitting a beacon signal, and a portable terminal capable of receiving the beacon signal transmitted by the beacon device.SOLUTION: A beacon device 1 includes a beacon signal transmitter 12, and an inclination sensor 13. When a purchaser takes a product in hand, and an inclination sensor built in the beacon device detects inclination, the beacon device is triggered to start transmission of the beacon signal containing the product information toward a smart phone. Upon receiving the beacon signal, the smart phone displays the product information taken out from the beacon signal in a display. In such a manner, the purchaser obtains the product information about a product that is interested.

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, a beacon device that transmits a beacon signal, and a beacon signal transmission / reception system that includes a beacon device and a mobile terminal device that can receive the beacon signal transmitted by the beacon device.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, beacon devices that are arranged in supermarkets, convenience stores, department stores, specialty stores, and the like and capable of transmitting beacon signals to mobile terminals held by users have been provided. The mobile terminal that has received the beacon signal from the beacon device can extract the product information from the beacon signal using an application installed on the mobile terminal and display the product information on the display unit of the mobile terminal.

As a technique for the beacon device to transmit the beacon signal and the mobile terminal to receive the beacon signal as described above, for example, one disclosed in Patent Document 1 is known.
In Patent Document 1, a seller-side device detects from a beacon signal that a buyer-side device carried by a buyer has approached a store, and communication between the seller-side device and the buyer-side device is performed. A data communication system has been proposed in which a product advertisement or the like is performed on a buyer side device.

JP 2000-134147 A

  By the way, the seller side apparatus disclosed by patent document 1 detects presence of a buyer side apparatus by responding to the beacon signal which the buyer side apparatus received. For this reason, when the seller side device is installed corresponding to each of the individual products, the buyer side device also obtains advertising information about products other than the product that the buyer is interested in. There is a risk that. In this case, the purchaser needs extra time to select the advertisement information of the target product from the miscellaneous advertisement information.

On the other hand, when the buyer side device is configured so that the buyer manually instructs a response, the buyer visually confirms that the beacon signal is received from the seller side device corresponding to the product he is interested in. After that, it is necessary to instruct a response to access the merchant side device. For this reason, it has been difficult to say that the purchaser can easily obtain the product information using the purchaser side device.
In addition, since the seller side device needs to constantly transmit a beacon signal at a predetermined cycle and monitor the approach of the buyer side device, there is a problem that the battery built in the seller side device tends to be consumed. .
In addition, there is a method of taking a two-dimensional barcode displayed on the seller-side device with a camera of the buyer-side device and accessing a product site indicated by the two-dimensional barcode. Forced the person to over-operate.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object of the present invention is to enable a purchaser who is interested in a product to obtain product information without taking time and effort.

The present invention is a beacon device that includes a beacon signal transmitter and a sensor disposed in proximity to the beacon signal transmitter, and the beacon signal transmitter transmits a beacon signal according to a detection output of the sensor.
Moreover, this invention is a beacon signal transmission / reception system which has a beacon apparatus and the portable terminal device which takes in the information contained in a beacon signal.
This beacon device includes a beacon signal transmitter that transmits a beacon signal carrying information and a sensor that is arranged in proximity to the beacon transmitter, and the beacon signal transmitter includes information according to the detection output of the sensor. A beacon signal is transmitted.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the purchaser who was interested in the goods etc. which were displayed in the shop can acquire goods information from a beacon apparatus, without taking time and effort to a portable terminal device.

It is explanatory drawing which showed the mode in the store of the clothes store which shows the positional relationship of the smart phone which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention, and a beacon apparatus. 1A shows a configuration example of a beacon signal transmission / reception system including a beacon device and a smartphone, FIG. 1B shows an example in which a purchaser picks up a product, and FIG. 1C shows an example in which the purchaser touches the beacon device. FIG. 1D shows an example in which a smartphone displays product information. It is a hardware block diagram which shows the schematic structural example of the beacon apparatus which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the functional block of the beacon apparatus which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the functional block of the smart phone which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed operation example of the beacon apparatus which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a display of the display which concerns on the 1st Example of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of the hanger which attached the beacon apparatus which concerns on the modification of the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which showed the mode in the store of the household appliance store which shows the positional relationship of the smart phone which concerns on the 2nd Example of this invention, and a beacon apparatus. The example of schematic structure of the beacon apparatus based on the 2nd Example of this invention is shown. FIG. 9A shows a state where the smartphone is not in contact with the beacon device, and FIG. 9B shows a state where the smartphone is in contact with the beacon device. The circuit diagram of the beacon apparatus concerning the 2nd example of an embodiment of the present invention is shown. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed operation example of the beacon apparatus based on the 2nd Example of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the structural example of the beacon signal transmission / reception system 50 containing the database which concerns on the modification of this invention.

[1. First embodiment (example in which beacon device detects that buyer has picked up product)]
Hereinafter, a beacon device according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. In this beacon device, when a computer executes a program, a beacon signal is transmitted by cooperation of functional blocks described later. In the present specification and drawings, components having substantially the same function or configuration are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

<Position relationship between beacon device and smartphone>
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the inside of a clothes store showing the positional relationship between the smartphone 2 and the beacon device 1. FIG. 1A shows a configuration example of a beacon signal transmission / reception system 10 including a beacon device 1 and a smartphone 2, FIG. 1B shows an example in which a purchaser 4 picks up a product, and FIG. The example which touched the apparatus 1 is shown, FIG. 1D shows the example in which the smart phone 2 displays merchandise information.

  The beacon signal transmission / reception system 10 includes a beacon device 1 that intermittently transmits a beacon signal by wireless communication and a smartphone 2 (an example of a mobile terminal device) that receives the beacon signal. In this beacon signal transmission / reception system 10, the smartphone 2 can use various product information received from the beacon signal received from the beacon device 1 and loaded from the beacon signal. Here, the information put on the beacon signal is information on a specific article (for example, a shirt shown as the merchandise 3), and includes an image, a merchandise name, a price, etc. of the merchandise 3 (see FIG. 6 described later). .

FIG. 1A shows an example in which a commodity 3 hung on a hanger (not shown) is displayed in a clothes store. A beacon device 1 is attached to the product 3 by a clip or the like. When the purchaser 4 is not touching the product 3, the beacon device 1 does not transmit a beacon signal, and only the inclination sensor 13 (see FIG. 2 described later) built in the beacon device 1 is operating. .
On the other hand, it is assumed that the purchaser 4 carries the smartphone 2 and is looking for a product 3 desired to be purchased in the clothes store.

  When the purchaser 4 picks up the product 3 in which he / she is interested (FIG. 1B), or when the purchaser 4 touches the beacon device 1 suspended by the product 3 (FIG. 1C), the beacon device 1 is built in. The tilt sensor 13 detects the tilt. In this manner, the beacon device 1 starts transmitting a beacon signal including product information toward the smartphone 2 using the tilt sensor 13 as detecting a tilt.

  As illustrated in FIG. 1D, the smartphone 2 that has received the beacon signal from the beacon device 1 stores the product information extracted from the beacon signal, and displays the product information on the display 22. In this way, the purchaser 4 can obtain product information regarding the product 3 that is interested.

<Configuration example of beacon device>
FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration example of the beacon device 1.
The beacon signal transmitter 12, the inclination sensor 13, the display unit 14, and the power supply unit 15 included in the beacon device 1 are accommodated in one case 11. The case 11 is substantially rectangular and has a shape in which the tip is recessed, and is shown in a state in which the upper lid is removed. A mounting hole (not shown) to which a cord, a pin, a clip and the like for hanging the beacon device 1 as a tag can be attached to the tip.

  The beacon signal transmitter 12 transmits a beacon signal based on the detection output from the tilt sensor 13. The beacon signal transmitter 12 transmits the beacon signal for a predetermined period (for example, 30 seconds) or a predetermined number of times (for example, 10 times), and then stops transmitting the beacon signal.

  The inclination sensor 13 includes a pair of terminals (not shown) and a metal ball, respectively. When the tilt sensor 13 is at a predetermined angle, the metal ball is stationary at a position where both terminals are not connected. When the tilt sensor 13 is tilted from a predetermined angle to a certain angle or more, the metal ball moves to a position where both terminals are connected. An electrical signal is sent to the beacon signal transmitter 12 as a detection output by the connection between the terminals.

  The display unit 14 is configured by a light emitting diode (LED) or the like, and the purchaser 4 can confirm that the display unit 14 emits light through the casing 11. And since the display part 14 lights or blinks while the beacon signal transmitter 12 is transmitting the beacon signal, the purchaser 4 can know that the beacon signal is transmitted from the beacon device 1. Note that the display unit 14 may be removed from the beacon device 1 to reduce the power consumption of the power supply unit 15.

  The power supply unit 15 supplies a drive voltage to each unit in the beacon device 1. For example, a button battery is used for the power supply unit 15. Since the power supply unit 15 is small and has a small battery capacity, it is required to suppress power consumption of each unit in the beacon device 1 as much as possible.

FIG. 3 shows a configuration example of functional blocks of the beacon device 1.
The beacon signal transmitter 12 included in the beacon device 1 includes a memory 12a, a state determination unit 12b, a device control unit 12c, a radio unit 12d, and an antenna 12e.

  The memory 12a is configured by a storage medium such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access Memory). In the memory 12a, various data such as programs, parameters, product information, etc. of the device control unit 12c are permanently stored or temporarily stored.

  The state determination unit 12b determines that the beacon device 1 is inclined when the detection output supplied from the inclination sensor 13 changes. And the state determination part 12b sends the determination result which shows that the smart phone 2 exists in the vicinity of the beacon apparatus 1 to the apparatus control part 12c.

  The device control unit 12 c controls the operation of each unit in the beacon device 1 and manages the drive voltage supplied from the power supply unit 15 to each unit. The device control unit 12c is configured by, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) that can be driven with low power consumption. The device control unit 12c is in a dormant state while no determination result is input from the state determination unit 12b, and at this time, no beacon signal is transmitted from the beacon device 1. However, when a determination result is input from the state determination unit 12b, the device control unit 12c wakes up. And the apparatus control part 12c which got up performs control which transmits a beacon signal by radio | wireless from the radio | wireless part 12d and the antenna 12e based on the determination result input from the state determination part 12b. At this time, the device control unit 12c controls the wireless unit 12d to include the product information in the beacon signal.

The radio unit 12d generates, for example, an advertisement signal defined by the Bluetooth (registered trademark) LE (Low Energy) standard (hereinafter abbreviated as “BLE standard”) as a beacon signal, and performs a procedure according to the BLE standard. A beacon signal is sent to the antenna 12e. Here, by subdividing the product information, all the product information can be stored in a small-capacity margin (hereinafter referred to as “beacon data”) in the advertisement signal.
The antenna 12 e transmits a beacon signal around the beacon device 1. The smartphone 2 that has received this beacon signal can display the product information.

<Configuration example of smartphone>
FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of functional blocks of the smartphone 2.
The smartphone 2 includes an input unit 21, a display 22, a memory 23, a terminal control unit 24, a communication control unit 25, a local communication control unit 26, a radio wave intensity determination unit 27, a radio unit 28, and an antenna 29.

The input unit 21 outputs an operation signal to the terminal control unit 24 in accordance with an operation input performed by a screen touch in addition to a button and a switch (not illustrated) arranged in the case of the smartphone 2.
The display 22 (an example of a display unit) displays the product information received from the beacon device 1. In the smartphone 2, the input unit 21 and the display 22 are used as a touch panel display in which an operation surface and a display surface are overlapped.

  The memory 23 is constituted by a storage medium such as a ROM or a RAM, for example. In the memory 23, various data such as a program for controlling each unit in the smartphone 2, parameters, and product information received from the beacon device 1 are permanently stored or temporarily stored.

  The terminal control unit 24 controls each unit in the smartphone 2 based on the program, parameters, etc. read from the memory 23. The terminal control unit 24 also performs various controls for displaying text, images, and the like on the display 22 based on operation signals input from the input unit 21 and various information received by the wireless unit 28 via the antenna 29. I do.

The communication control unit 25 performs control for performing base station communication performed with a base station antenna (not shown). Further, the communication control unit 25 controls, for example, packet communication for performing data communication with an access point (not shown) for WiFi (registered trademark).
The local communication control unit 26 performs communication control in accordance with the BLE standard described above. In addition, the local communication control unit 26 sends the beacon signal received from the beacon device 1 to the terminal control unit 24 and the radio wave intensity determination unit 27.

  The radio wave strength determination unit 27 determines the radio wave strength of the beacon signal transmitted from the beacon device 1 based on the beacon signal received from the local communication control unit 26. As the radio wave intensity of the beacon signal used for this determination, a received signal strength indicator (RSSI) is used.

  Here, if the reception intensity of the beacon signal determined by the radio field intensity determination unit 27 is equal to or less than a predetermined value, the terminal control unit 24 indicates that the beacon device 1 is not near the smartphone 2 (for example, 1 m or more away). Estimate and ignore the received beacon signal. On the other hand, if the reception intensity of the beacon signal is greater than the predetermined value, it is estimated that the beacon device 1 is near the smartphone 2 (for example, less than 1 m), so that the terminal control unit 24 uses the local communication control unit 26. The product information included in the beacon signal received from is fetched.

  The wireless unit 28 wirelessly transmits the modulated data from the antenna 29 or demodulates the data wirelessly received from the antenna 29 under the control of the communication control unit 25 or the local communication control unit 26 to control the communication control unit 25 or the local communication control. Processing to be passed to the unit 26 is performed.

<Operation example of beacon device>
Next, a detailed operation example of the beacon device 1 will be described.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating a detailed operation example of the beacon device 1.

  First, the device control unit 12c is in a dormant state, and the beacon device 1 is in a beacon signal transmission stop state (S1). During the rest state, the state determination unit 12b determines whether or not there is a detection output from the tilt sensor 13 (S2). If there is no detection output from the tilt sensor 13, the state determination unit 12b continues to wait in step S1.

  The state determination unit 12b that has determined that the detection output from the tilt sensor 13 has been received in step S2 transmits the determination result to the device control unit 12c, and the device control unit 12c starts the transmission process of the beacon signal (S3). ). And the apparatus control part 12c judges whether the transmission period or the frequency | count of transmission of the beacon signal exceeded the predetermined period or the predetermined frequency (S4). Here, the apparatus control unit 12c may avoid the determination process in step S4 by transmitting the beacon signal only once when the determination result transmitted by the state determination unit 12b is received.

  If the device control unit 12c determines in step S4 that the beacon signal transmission period or the number of transmissions does not exceed the predetermined period or the predetermined number of times, the device control unit 12c returns to step S3 and continues to transmit the beacon signal. In addition, when the device control unit 12c determines in step S4 that the transmission period or the number of transmissions of the beacon signal exceeds the predetermined period or the predetermined number of times, the apparatus control unit 12c stops the transmission of the beacon signal (S5) and transitions to the dormant state. Return to step S1.

<Example of product information display>
Next, a specific example of product information displayed on the display 22 of the smartphone 2 will be described.
FIG. 6 shows a display example on the display 22.

  The upper part of the display 22 displays the visit date of the purchaser 4 and the name of the store that visited the store. The central part of the display 22 shows information about the product that the purchaser 4 has taken as an example of product information. Has been. The product information indicates that the product name is “shirt” and the price is “YYYY yen” together with the shirt image. Two types of buttons are displayed at the bottom of the display 22. Among these buttons, the text on the left button displays “View color / size variations”, and the text on the right button displays “Save this product as a favorite”. In the beacon signal, in addition to the product 3 of a specific color and size that the buyer 4 has shown interest in, the product information of the color difference and size difference of the product 3 is also included. For this reason, when the purchaser 4 performs an operation of pressing the left button, the color and size variations of the product 3 taken out from the beacon signal can be displayed on the display 22. In addition, a command for adding a favorite (bookmark) is embedded in the button on the right side. When the purchaser 4 presses the button on the right side, a favorite is added and information on this product can be viewed at any time. .

  According to the beacon device 1 according to the first embodiment described above, the purchaser 4 who is interested in the product to which the beacon device 1 is attached picks up the hand, or the purchaser 4 touches the beacon device 1. In such a case, the tilt sensor 13 detects the tilt. And the state determination part 12b analyzes the detection output from the inclination sensor 13, determines what kind of state the beacon apparatus 1 exists, and outputs a determination result. Based on the determination result, the device control unit 12c can instruct the wireless unit 12d to transmit a beacon signal. Since this beacon signal includes the product information of the product 3, the product information of the product 3 that the buyer 4 is interested in is automatically displayed on the display 22 of the smartphone 2. As a result, the purchaser 4 can obtain detailed information on the product with interest without performing a complicated operation. In addition, the smartphone 2 stores the product information in the memory 23 so that the purchaser can check the product information at an arbitrary timing even outside the store.

  In addition, the beacon device 1 transmits a beacon signal only to the smartphone 2 that is sufficiently close to the beacon device 1 even in an environment where radio waves by other wireless communication are transmitted near the beacon device 1. be able to. For this reason, the smart phone 2 close to the beacon device 1 can reliably receive the beacon signal.

  Moreover, the apparatus control part 12c stops transmission of a beacon signal after the lapse of a predetermined period or a predetermined number of times. For this reason, the beacon device 1 can suppress the power consumption of the power supply unit 15 and reduce the replacement frequency of the power supply unit 15.

  Further, the beacon device 1 is sufficiently small, and even if the beacon device 1 is attached to the product 3, the visibility of the product 3 is not affected. In addition, as goods 3 to which the beacon device 1 can be attached, various items such as clothes, accessories, and miscellaneous goods are assumed.

  Further, the display unit 14 may be configured by a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display, and text information indicating that the beacon device 1 is transmitting or stopping the beacon signal may be displayed on the display unit 14. . In addition, the display unit 14 made of electronic paper can continue to display information without the need for a voltage used for backlighting or refreshing, thus further reducing the power consumption of the power supply unit 15. Can do.

  The tilt sensor 13 does not generate a detection output if it is slightly shaken. For this reason, when the purchaser 4 unintentionally touches the product 3, the inclination detected by the inclination sensor 13 is very small, and no extra detection output is generated. For this reason, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the product information of the product 3 that has been touched unintentionally by the purchaser 4 is taken from the beacon signal.

  In the first embodiment described above, the state determination unit 12b is provided between the inclination sensor 13 and the device control unit 12c so that the state determination unit 12b determines the state of the beacon device 1. The function of the state determination unit 12b may be included in the device control unit 12c. In this case, the detection output of the inclination sensor 13 is directly input to the device control unit 12c, and the device control unit 12c can determine the state of the beacon device 1.

<Example of attaching a beacon device to a hanger>
Since the size of the beacon device is sufficiently small, the beacon device may not be suspended from the product 3 but may be attached to another product.
FIG. 7 shows an example of the hanger 5 to which the beacon device 1A is attached.
The beacon device 1A includes the same internal mechanism as the beacon device 1 in a cylindrical case in which a space is formed on the central axis. The beacon device 1 </ b> A is attached to the neck 5 a of the hanger 5. By attaching the beacon device 1A to the neck 5a of the hanger 5 in this way, there is no possibility of damaging clothes with pins or the like. Further, since the beacon device 1A does not contact the clothes hung on the inclined portion 5b, the beacon device 1A is not left on the clothes. Moreover, since the case surface of the beacon device 1A is smooth, the end of the clothes hung on the hanger 5 is not easily caught by the case 11 of the beacon device 1A. Thereby, even if a large number of clothes are hung on a large number of hangers 5 to which the beacon device 1A is attached, the storage of the clothes is not affected.

[2. Second embodiment (example in which a beacon device detects that a buyer has pressed a smartphone against a beacon device)]
Next, a beacon device according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

<Position relationship between beacon device and smartphone>
FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing the inside of the home appliance store showing the positional relationship between the smartphone 2 and the beacon device 40.

  The beacon signal transmission / reception system 30 includes a beacon device 40 that intermittently transmits a beacon signal by wireless communication and the smartphone 2 described above. For example, the beacon device 40 is provided on an exhibition stand 32 on which a printer to be displayed as a product 31 is installed.

<Configuration example of beacon device>
FIG. 9 shows a schematic configuration example of the beacon device 40. 9A shows a state in which the smartphone 2 is not in contact with the beacon device 40, and FIG. 9B shows a state in which the smartphone 2 is in contact with the beacon device 40.
FIG. 10 shows a circuit diagram of the beacon device 40.

  As illustrated in FIG. 9A, the beacon device 40 includes a beacon signal transmitter 12, a power supply unit 15, and four pressure-sensitive sensors 42 that are connected to each other by a conductive wire 45 inside a case 41 that is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape. .

  Here, a configuration and an operation example of the pressure sensor 42 will be described. The pressure-sensitive sensor 42 includes a flat portion 43 and leg portions 44 formed in a columnar shape. The bottom surface of the leg portion 44 is in contact with the stand of the display stand 32, and the top surface of the leg portion 44 is connected to the flat surface portion 43. The leg portion 44 and the flat portion 43 can be displaced in the vertical direction.

  An elastic force by an elastic plate (not shown) is applied to the leg portion 44 and the flat portion 43 vertically downward. For this reason, in a state where the beacon device 40 is installed on the display stand 32, the weight of the beacon device 40 is applied to the leg portion 44, and the drag from the display stand 32 is applied vertically upward. In this state, since the elastic force and the drag force are equal, the length of the leg portion 44 protruding from the bottom surface of the case 41 is kept constant.

  As shown in FIG. 10, one end of the pressure-sensitive sensor 42 is grounded, and the other end is connected to the beacon signal transmitter 12. The pressure sensor 42 and the beacon signal transmitter 12 are connected to the power supply unit 15 (see FIG. 3) via a conducting wire 45. In a state where nothing is in contact with the beacon device 40, there is no change in the position of the leg 44 in the vertical direction, and there is no voltage change due to the pressure sensor 42.

  However, as shown in FIG. 9B, when the smartphone 2 is placed on the case 41 of the beacon device 40 from above by the purchaser 4, the case 41 falls downward and the length of the leg portion 44 protruding from the case 41 is shortened. . At this time, since the flat part 43 contacts the conducting wire 45, the beacon signal transmitter 12 takes in the voltage change as a detection output and determines that the smartphone 2 is in contact with the beacon device 40. And beacon signal transmitter 12 starts transmission of a beacon signal.

<Operation example of beacon device>
Next, a detailed operation example of the beacon device 40 will be described.
FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation example of the beacon device 40.

  First, the device control unit 12c is in a dormant state, and the beacon device 40 is in a beacon signal transmission stop state (S11). During the hibernation state, the device control unit 12c determines whether there is a detection output from the pressure sensor 42 (S12). If there is no detection output, the device control unit 12c continues to wait in step S11.

  The state determination unit 12b that has determined that there is a detection output in step S12 transmits the determination result to the device control unit 12c, and the device control unit 12c starts a beacon signal transmission process (S13). And the apparatus control part 12c judges whether the detection output from the pressure sensor 42 stopped by receiving the determination result from the state determination part 12b (S14).

  When the device control unit 12c determines that the detection output continues, the device control unit 12c returns to step S13 and continues to transmit the beacon signal. On the other hand, if the device control unit 12c determines in step S14 that the detection output is stopped, the device control unit 12c stops transmission of the beacon signal (S15), transitions to a dormant state, and then returns to step S11.

  The beacon device 40 according to the second embodiment described above is difficult for the purchaser 4 to pick up, like home appliances such as printers, refrigerators, and television receivers, as well as large machines such as automobiles. Can be installed on various goods. Then, when the purchaser 4 places the smartphone 2 on the beacon device 40, it is estimated that the smartphone 2 is within the close range of the beacon device 40. For this reason, a beacon signal is transmitted from the beacon device 40. At this time, the smartphone 2 determines the radio wave intensity of the received beacon signal, takes in the beacon signal from the beacon device 40 within the close range, and ignores the beacon signal from the beacon device 40 outside the close range. And the smart phone 2 which received the beacon signal can display the information of the product 31 taken in from the beacon signal on the display 22.

  In addition, the beacon signal transmitted by the beacon device 40 is continuously transmitted only while the pressure-sensitive sensor 42 generates a detection output. When the pressure sensor 42 stops the detection output, the transmission of the beacon signal is also stopped. For this reason, the power consumption of the power supply part 15 which the beacon apparatus 40 incorporates can be suppressed.

  Such a beacon device 40 can be applied to electronic payment systems that perform authentication using an IC chip (not shown) embedded in the smartphone 2 in addition to providing product information.

  Similar to the first embodiment described above, the beacon device 40 transmits the beacon signal after transmitting the beacon signal for a predetermined period or a predetermined number of times after the pressure sensor 42 generates the detection output. You may stop. Thereby, when an object other than the smartphone 2 accidentally comes into contact with the beacon device 40, it is possible to suppress power consumption caused by continuing to transmit the beacon signal.

[3. Modified example]
<Example of smartphone acquiring product information from a database on the web>
Each embodiment mentioned above demonstrated the example which transmits the beacon signal containing all the merchandise information from the beacon apparatuses 1 and 40 to the smart phone 2. FIG. However, in a situation where the network environment is maintained, if the beacon devices 1 and 40 can transmit information for specifying a product as a beacon signal, they do not necessarily transmit a beacon signal including all product information. May be. Here, cooperation between the smartphone 2 and the database on the Web will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 12 shows a configuration example of the beacon signal transmission / reception system 50.

  The beacon signal transmission / reception system 50 includes a web server 51 and a database 52 in addition to the beacon device 1 and the smartphone 2. In the Web server 51, a product site specified by the identification information is constructed. Here, as identification information, URL (Uniform Resource Locator) shall be used in the following description. This URL is considered as a kind of information handled by the beacon device 40.

  The product information of the product 3 arranged on this product site, the information of the store that sells the product 3, etc. are shown as an example of information related to the information, and are composed of a large capacity HDD (Hard disk drive) or the like. It is stored in the database 52. The database 2 can be connected to the smartphone 2 via a website. Thereby, the smartphone 2 can acquire the product information of the product 3 from the database 52.

  Since the capacity of the beacon data is small as described above, if the product information cannot be stored in the beacon data, the beacon device 1 includes the URL for accessing the product information from the Web in the beacon data and transmits a beacon signal. . Then, the purchaser 4 holding the smartphone 2 displays the URL included in the product information captured from the beacon signal on the display 22 and performs an operation of clicking this URL. With this operation, the smartphone 2 can display on the display 22 the product information of the product 3 downloaded from the product site specified by the URL accessed via the Internet, the information on the store that sells the product 3, and the like. Since this merchandise site includes a lot of merchandise information in addition to the merchandise information of the merchandise 3 that the buyer 4 is interested in, the buyer 4 can be motivated to purchase.

  In the modification, the information about the product handled by the beacon device 1 is not limited to the identification information for specifying the product information on the database 52. For example, the beacon device 1 may transmit processing information for requesting the smartphone 2 to communicate with the Web server 51 and capture the product information stored in the database 52. Further, the beacon device 1 may transmit processing information for requesting the web server 51 to transmit the product information stored in the database 52 to the smartphone 2 by communication via the smartphone 2. By configuring in this way, information on the product 3 that the purchaser 4 is interested in is automatically accumulated in the smartphone 2, so the purchaser 4 confirms information on the product 3 at a desired timing. be able to.

<Other variations>
Various types of sensors can be used in addition to the inclination sensor 13 and the pressure-sensitive sensor 42 shown in the above-described embodiments. For example, a vibration sensor, an acceleration sensor, a weight sensor, an electrostatic sensor, a tactile switch, or the like may be used alone or in combination.
The vibration sensor can detect vibration by rolling of a conductive sphere supported by a damper, for example. The acceleration sensor can detect, for example, a change in acceleration in the 1st to 3rd axis directions. The weight sensor can detect the weight using, for example, a piezoelectric element. The electrostatic sensor can detect the approach of an object based on, for example, a change in capacitance between the electrodes. The tactile switch is turned on when the operation unit is pressed and turned off when the operation unit is released, and an explicit operation by the purchaser 4 can be detected.
Even with such a sensor, it is possible to detect a change in the attitude or operation of the beacon device 1 that is caused by performing some operation on an article that the purchaser 4 is interested in.

  Further, in a museum or the like, information on an exhibit in front of the user may be displayed when a user who comes in front of an exhibit such as a picture touches the beacon device.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the smartphone 2 is used as an example of the mobile terminal device. However, as the mobile terminal device, various devices such as a feature phone, a pager, a portable music player, and a wristwatch are used. Can be assumed. Further, as the installation position of the beacon device, not only the attachment to the product 3 and the display stand 32 but also the vicinity of the register device, the ceiling in the store, the floor surface, and the like can be assumed.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various other application examples and modifications can of course be taken without departing from the gist of the present invention described in the claims.
For example, the above-described embodiments are detailed and specific descriptions of the configuration of the apparatus and the system in order to explain the present invention in an easy-to-understand manner, and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. Absent. Further, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Moreover, it is also possible to add, delete, and replace other configurations for a part of the configuration of each embodiment.
Further, the control lines and information lines indicate what is considered necessary for the explanation, and not all the control lines and information lines on the product are necessarily shown. Actually, it may be considered that almost all the components are connected to each other.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Beacon apparatus, 2 ... Smartphone, 10 ... Beacon signal transmission / reception system, 11 ... Case, 12 ... Beacon signal transmitter, 12a ... Memory, 12b ... State determination part, 12c ... Apparatus control part, 12d ... Radio | wireless part, 12e ... Antenna, 13 ... Tilt sensor, 14 ... Power supply unit, 15 ... Display unit, 22 ... Display

Claims (15)

A beacon signal transmitter;
A sensor disposed proximate to the beacon signal transmitter,
A beacon device in which the beacon signal transmitter transmits a beacon signal according to the detection output of the sensor. The beacon device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a tilt sensor. The beacon device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a vibration sensor. The beacon device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is an acceleration sensor. The beacon device according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is a pressure-sensitive sensor. The beacon device according to claim 1, wherein the beacon signal transmitter stops transmitting the beacon signal after transmitting the beacon signal for a predetermined time or a predetermined number of times. The beacon device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the beacon signal transmitter transmits a beacon signal only during a period in which the sensor generates a detection output. The beacon device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the beacon signal transmitter and the sensor are housed in one case. With a display element,
The beacon device according to claim 1, wherein the display element is lit while the beacon signal transmitter transmits a beacon signal. A beacon signal transmitter for transmitting a beacon signal carrying information, and a sensor disposed in proximity to the beacon transmitter;
A beacon device for transmitting a beacon signal including the information by the beacon signal transmitter according to a detection output of the sensor;
A beacon signal transmission / reception system comprising: a mobile terminal device that captures information included in the beacon signal. The beacon signal transmission / reception system according to claim 10, wherein the portable terminal device detects a radio wave intensity of a beacon signal from the beacon apparatus and takes in information included in the beacon signal when the radio wave intensity is greater than a predetermined value. The beacon signal transmission / reception system according to claim 10 or 11, wherein the information is information on a specific article. Furthermore, the portable terminal device has a database that can be connected and has information related to the information,
The beacon signal transmission / reception system according to claim 10, wherein the mobile terminal device acquires information related to the information from the database. The beacon signal transmission / reception system according to claim 13, wherein the information related to the information is information on a store that sells the article. The beacon signal transmission / reception system according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the mobile terminal device includes a display unit that displays the information and / or the related information.

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