Tag management system, tag management method, information provision system, and information provision method, as well as devices and tag used therefor

• US 10,324,972 B2
• Filed: 03/13/2015
• Issued: 06/18/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 03/13/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aquabit Spirals Inc.
• Original Assignee: Aquabit Spirals Inc.
• Inventors: Hagiwara, Tomohiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Plecha, Thaddeus J
• Application Number:
  US15/125,600
• Publication Number:
  US 20170006027A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,558 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/381 using identifiers, e.g. barcodes, RFIDs for URLs G06F16/9554
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9554 by using bar codes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/178 Electronic token or RFID
• CPC Class Codes: G06K 7/10297 arrangements for handling protocols designed for non-contact record carriers such as RFIDs NFCs, e.g. ISO/IEC 14443 and 18092 cryptographic protocols H04L9/00; network security protocols H04L63/00; real-time communication protocols in data switching networks H04L65/00; network protocols for data switching network services H04L67/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0609 Buyer or seller confidence or verification
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0623 Item investigation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/083 using passwords cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication using a predetermined code H04L9/3226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0853 using an additional device, e.g. smartcard, SIM or a different communication terminal cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for entity authentication involving additional secure or trusted devices H04L9/3234
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]

Abstract

An operation terminal (120) requires an input of an authentication code when an authority granting request for corresponding electronic information to a tag (100) is received from a user, and transmits the authentication code to a server together with the authority granting request. The server (140) has an authentication code memory unit (142) that stores the authentication code for each tag, and an authorized user management unit (144) that manages the authorized user for each tag. In the case where an authority granting request and an authentication code are received from the operation terminal (120), the server (140) registers the user of the operation terminal (120) with the authorized user management unit (144) as an authorized user of the tag (100) under the conditions that an authorized user of the tag (100) is not registered with the authorized user management unit (144) and the received authentication code matches the contents of the authentication code memory unit (142).

Claims

1. An information provision system, comprising:

a display that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a tag installed so as to correspond to a single display;

a server that manages a URL for the information of the object to be provided; and

a user terminal that displays the information of the object to be provided on a basis of the URL, characterized in that;

said tag has a memory unit that stores a tag ID in such a manner as to be readable by said user terminal,

said display has;

a memory unit that stores a display ID uniquely corresponded to the tag ID stored in said tag;

a display unit that displays the contents indicating information of the object to be provided;

a selection recognition unit that recognizes a selection by a user for the displayed contents by detecting a specific operation for said display; and

a transmission software/hardware interface that transmits the display ID to said server through a network in response to the recognition of the selection,

said user terminal has;

a reading unit that reads the tag ID from said tag by using communication with said tag or by using analysis of an image of said tag;

a transmission software/hardware interface that transmits the read tag ID to said server through the network;

a reception software/hardware interface that receives the URL from said server through the network;

an acquisition software/hardware interface that acquires the information of the object to be provided on a basis of the received URL, through the network; and

a display unit that displays the acquired information of the object to be provided, and

said server has;

a memory unit that stores the display ID and the URL that correspond to each other;

a reception software/hardware interface that receives the display ID from said display through the network;

a reception software/hardware interface that receives the tag ID from said user terminal through the network, and a transmission software/hardware interface that responds to the reception of the display ID from said display and to the reception of the tag ID uniquely corresponding to the display ID from said user terminal, and that transmits the URL corresponding to the display ID stored in the memory unit of said server to said user terminal through the network.

2. The information provision system according to claim 1, characterized in that said display stores as the display ID the tag ID that is stored by the memory unit in said tag, and as a result, the display ID and the tag ID uniquely correspond to each other.

3. The information provision system according to claim 1, characterized in that said server stores information for allowing the display ID and the tag ID to uniquely correspond to each other, and the display ID and the tag ID uniquely correspond to each other on a basis of the stored information.

4. The information provision system according to claim 1, characterized in that in said display, said display unit displays a number of pieces of contents, said selection recognition unit recognizes a selection of any piece of displayed contents by the user, and said transmission software/hardware interface transmits an ID of the selected piece of displayed contents in association with the display ID to said server, and

in said server, said memory unit stores an ID of each piece of contents displayed on said display which corresponds to the display ID and the URL for the information of the object to be provided concerning the displayed contents in such a manner that the ID of each piece of contents and the URL correspond to the display ID, said reception software/hardware interface receives the ID of the selected piece of the displayed contents from said display in addition to the display ID, and said transmission software/hardware interface transmits the URL that corresponds to the received ID of the displayed contents to said user terminal.

5. The information provision system according to claim 1, characterized in that a display that is the same as said display and a tag that is the same as said tag are installed in a number of different locations, and the respective displays are connected to said server through the network.

6. The information provision system according to claim 1, characterized in that said server stores the contents indicating the information of the object to be provided and transmits the stored contents to said display, and

said display acquires the contents indicating the information of the object to be provided from said server and displays the acquired contents.

7. The information provision system according to claim 1, characterized in that in said display, said display unit switches contents to be displayed as time elapses, and said selection recognition unit recognizes the switching of the displayed contents as a tacit selection.

8. A server used in an information provision system, wherein the information provision system includes a display that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a tag installed so as to correspond to a single display; and

a user terminal that displays the information of the object to be provided on a basis of a URL, characterized in that;

said tag has a memory unit that stores a tag ID in such a manner as to be readable by said user terminal,

said display has;

a memory unit that stores a display ID uniquely corresponded to the tag ID stored in said tag;

a display unit that displays the contents indicating the information of the object to be provided;

a selection recognition unit that recognizes a selection by a user for the displayed contents by detecting a specific operation for said display; and

a transmission software/hardware interface that transmits the display ID to said server through a network in response to the recognition of the selection, and

said user terminal has;

a reading unit that reads the tag ID from said tag by using communication with said tag or by using analysis of an image of said tag;

a transmission software/hardware interface that transmits the read tag ID to said server through the network;

a reception software/hardware interface that receives the URL from said server through the network;

an acquisition software/hardware interface that acquires the information of the object to be provided on a basis of the received URL, through the network; and

a display unit that displays the acquired information of the object to be provided,

said server comprising;

a memory unit that stores the display ID and the URL that correspond to each other;

a reception software/hardware interface that receives a the display ID from said display through the network;

a reception software/hardware interface that receives the tag ID from said user terminal through the network; and

a transmission software/hardware interface that responds to the reception of the display ID from said display and the reception of the tag ID uniquely corresponded to the display ID from said user terminal, and transmits the URL corresponded to the display ID stored in the memory unit of said server to said user terminal through the network.

9. An information provision method implemented by using:

a display that displays contents indicating information of an object to be provided;

a tag installed so as to correspond to a single display;

a server that manages the URL for the information of the object to be provided; and

a user terminal that displays the information of the object to be provided on a basis of the URL, characterized in that;

said tag stores a tag ID in such a manner as to be readable by said user terminal, said display stores a display ID uniquely corresponded to the tag ID stored in said tag, said server stores the display ID and the URL that correspond to each other,

said display transmits the display ID to said server through a network in response to a selection by a user for displayed contents indicating the information of the object to be provided, by detecting a specific operation for said display,

said user terminal transmits the tag ID which is read from said tag by using communication with said tag or by using analysis of an image of said tag, to said server through the network,

said server responds to reception of the display ID from said display and reception of the tag ID uniquely corresponded to the display ID from said user terminal, and transmits the URL corresponded to the display ID stored in said server to said user terminal through the network, and

said user terminal acquires the information of the object to be provided on a basis of the URL received from said server through the network and displays the acquired information of the object to be provided.