JP2021064261A - Menu providing system and computer program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a menu providing system capable of improving usability for a user. SOLUTION: A menu providing system analyzes an image of an acquired ingredient to determine the type, amount and state of the ingredient, and based on the determination result of the ingredient image determination unit 12 and the ingredient image determination unit. It is provided with a menu candidate search unit 11 for searching menu candidates that can be cooked using the above, and provides the searched menu candidates to the user. [Selection diagram] Fig. 1

Description

The present invention relates to a menu providing system and a computer program.

There is known a system that manages to select menus that match the user's health needs, tastes, and purposes from stock ingredients and safely deliver them to the user (Patent Document 1).

In addition, by processing and storing special sale information and recipe information that are sent daily, and by gradually matching these information with personal information and store information, it is not necessary to perform troublesome work on the optimal menu and recipe for service users. The system to be provided is also known (Patent Document 2).

Further, there is also known a system for notifying the user to preferentially use the foodstuff having a short shelf life among the foodstuffs purchased by the user (Patent Document 3).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-209382 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-257271 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2014-174791

In Patent Document 1, an optimum menu for a user is calculated based on information such as a user's taste and purpose, and ingredients for cooking the optimum menu are prepared and sent to the user. However, Patent Document 1 does not propose a menu to the user based on the foodstuff that the user has purchased or will purchase in the future, but provides the foodstuff for realizing the optimum menu for the user. is there.

Patent Document 2 proposes a menu using special sale information to a user, and does not propose a menu suitable for a user's own foodstuff or a foodstuff to be purchased, as described in Patent Document 1.

Patent Document 3 proposes to the user a dish in consideration of the storage form (whether it is in a frozen state, etc.) and the storage period of the foodstuff stored by the user. However, in Patent Document 3, since the type and amount of foodstuffs are specified by analyzing the contents of the receipt and the amount that should have been consumed is automatically subtracted, there is a possibility that it does not match the current amount and state of foodstuffs. is there.

In the conventional technology, it is necessary to print a receipt or enter a keyword in order to register the foodstuffs that the user has or the foodstuffs to be purchased in the computer system, which takes time and effort for the user and is convenient for the user. Is low.

Further, in the prior art, the state at the time of purchasing the food material can be grasped by the computer system, but the change in the state of the food material after that cannot be grasped. The user rarely uses up the ingredients in a normal state such as one radish, one cabbage, and one carrot in one cooking, and consumes only the required amount. Further, the food material may be stored in a shape different from the normal state, for example, the carrot is cut into small pieces and stored. Conventional technology cannot follow such changes in the state of foodstuffs. Therefore, in the prior art, for example, when a large amount of shredded cabbage remains, it is conceivable that the computer system proposes cabbage rolls, but the cabbage rolls cannot be cooked with the shredded cabbage, and the user cannot cook the cabbage rolls. It is not very convenient for you.

In addition, ingredients such as vegetables, rice, and fish may be handed over from friends and acquaintances, but since receipts are not attached to these, the ingredients handed over from friends and acquaintances cannot be registered in the computer system. , Cannot be used effectively. If the user registers the type and amount of the foodstuff in the computer system from the keyboard, it takes time and effort for the user, and the usability for the user is also low.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a menu providing system and a computer program capable of improving usability for a user.

In order to solve the above problems, the menu providing system according to one viewpoint of the present invention has a food material image determination unit that determines the type, amount and state of the food material by analyzing the acquired image of the food material, and the food material image determination. A menu candidate search unit that searches for menu candidates that can be cooked using the ingredients based on the determination result of the unit is provided, and the searched menu candidates are provided to the user.

According to the present invention, it is possible to determine the type, amount and state of the food material from the image of the food material, search for a menu candidate that can be cooked using the determined food material, and propose it to the user.

Overall configuration diagram of the menu provision system. Explanatory drawing which shows the judgment result of the food material image. Explanatory drawing which shows user information. Explanatory drawing which shows meal history information. Explanatory diagram showing nutritional information. Explanatory drawing which shows the regular equipment information. Explanatory drawing which shows recipe response information. A flowchart showing a process of determining a food material image. A flowchart showing the menu proposal process. Explanatory drawing of the screen to propose to the user. The figure which shows the configuration example of the menu provision system. The figure which shows the other configuration example of the menu provision system. The figure which shows still another configuration example of a menu providing system. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a determination process of a food material image according to the second embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The menu providing system according to the present embodiment determines the type, amount, and state of the food material based on the image of the food material, and proposes a menu (menu candidate) that can be cooked using the determined food material. The user only needs to send an image of the foodstuff to the menu providing system, and there is no need to register the type of foodstuff in the system by text or voice, which improves usability for the user.

In the present embodiment, not only the type and amount of the foodstuff but also the state (for example, the difference in shape from the foodstuff in the normal state) is discriminated and considered, so that the user searches for a menu suitable for the state of the foodstuff. Can be suggested to.

Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to propose to the user a menu including a plurality of dishes belonging to a predetermined cooking genre, which can be cooked using the determined ingredients. That is, it is possible to propose to the user a cohesive meal belonging to a common cooking genre such as Japanese food, Western food, and Chinese food.

Further, in the present embodiment, it is possible to propose a menu suitable for the user in consideration of the nutrition information of the determined foodstuff (information such as what kind of nutrient is contained and how much) and the user's meal history information. it can.

The first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 13. FIG. 1 is an overall configuration diagram of the menu providing system. The menu providing system includes, for example, a menu proposal unit 10, a user terminal 20, and a recipe management unit 30.

The menu proposal unit 10 acquires a menu that can be cooked using the food from the recipe management unit 30 by determining the food image input from the user, and proposes the acquired menu to the user. The menu proposal unit 10 includes, for example, a menu candidate search unit 11, a food material image determination unit 12, a nutrition evaluation unit 13, a user information management unit 14, a nutrition information acquisition unit 15, and an information providing unit 16.

The menu proposal unit 10 has a function of proposing a menu including a plurality of cookable dishes from the determined ingredients based on the determination result of the food ingredient image, the evaluation of the nutrition evaluation unit 13, and the information from the user information management unit 14. is there.

The menu proposal unit 10 may include, for example, a main dish candidate extraction unit 111 for extracting main dish candidates, a side dish candidate extraction unit 112 for extracting side dish candidates, and a soup candidate extraction unit 113 for extracting soup candidates. it can. At least the main dish candidate and the side dish candidate belong to a common cooking genre.

The food material image determination unit 12 determines the type, amount, and state of the food material by machine learning from the input food material image. Information on the determination result of the food material image will be described later in FIG.

The nutrition evaluation unit 13 evaluates the nutrition of foodstuffs and menus based on the nutrition information acquired from the nutrition information acquisition unit 15. The nutrition evaluation unit 13 evaluates what kind of nutrients and how much each foodstuff has based on the determination result of the foodstuff image. In addition, the nutrition evaluation unit 13 also evaluates the nutrients of the dish that can be cooked from the determined ingredients. Further, the nutrition evaluation unit 13 evaluates the nutrition of the meal taken by the user in the latest predetermined period based on the user's meal history information acquired from the user information management unit 14.

The user information management unit 14 manages user information and a user's meal history. Details of the user information will be described later in FIG. Details of the meal history information will be described later in FIG.

The nutrition information acquisition unit 15 supplies information on the nutrients of the foodstuff to the nutrition evaluation unit 13. The nutrition information acquisition unit 15 can store information described in, for example, a food composition table in advance, or acquire nutrition information of foodstuffs from an external information providing device (not shown) as needed. You may.

The information providing unit 16 provides the user terminal 20 with the information of the menu candidate searched by the menu candidate search unit 11. The information providing unit 16 may also receive an instruction or information from the user terminal 20 and deliver it to the menu candidate search unit 11. The menu candidate search unit 11 can search for menu candidates including a main dish centered on a designated ingredient from the user terminal 20, for example.

The user terminal 20 is used by a user who uses the menu providing system. The user terminal 20 is configured as, for example, a desktop or notebook type personal computer, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, a mobile information terminal, or the like. A goggle type terminal used for VR (Virtual Reality) or AR (Augmented Reality) may be used as the user terminal 20.

The user terminal 20 includes, for example, a food material image acquisition unit 21, a regular item information acquisition unit 22, and a user interface unit 23. In the figure, the user interface is abbreviated as UI.

The foodstuff image acquisition unit 21 acquires an image of the foodstuff as a cooking material and transmits it to the foodstuff image determination unit 12 of the menu proposal unit 10. For example, the food material image acquisition unit 21 may take a picture of the food material with a camera (not shown), or may read a food material image file stored in a memory (not shown). The foodstuff image acquisition unit 21 can acquire one image including a plurality of foodstuffs and send it to the foodstuff image determination unit 12, or can acquire an image of one foodstuff and send it to the foodstuff image determination unit 12. You can also do it.

The regular equipment information acquisition unit 22 acquires information on the regular equipment that can be used by the user. A regular item is an item used for cooking foodstuffs, which is almost always available to the user. Examples of regular items include salt, pepper, soy sauce, miso, vinegar, seven flavors, butter, cooking oil, mayonnaise, curry roux, stew roux and other seasonings, and foods such as rice or canned foods. What is always available is usually different for each user.

The user interface unit 23 exchanges information between the menu proposal unit 10 and the user terminal 20. That is, the user interface unit 23 is a device that presents information from the menu proposal unit 10 to the user, or inputs instructions and information from the user to the menu proposal unit 10. The user terminal 20 and the user interface unit 23 may be physically separated from each other and may be connected by wireless communication or the like.

FIG. 2 shows the determination result of the food material image. One food ingredient image Img1 contains a plurality of foodstuffs such as vegetables, fish, and meat. The food material image determination unit 12 determines the type, amount, and state of each food material contained in the food material image Img1 by using a machine learning method.

An example of the foodstuff determination result T1 by the foodstuff image determination unit 12 is shown on the lower side of FIG. The foodstuff determination result T1 manages, for example, the image ID C11, the foodstuff ID C12, the foodstuff name C13, the quantity C14, the first state C15, and the second state C16.

The image ID C11 is an identifier that identifies the food material image Img1. The food material ID C12 is an identifier that identifies each food material contained in the food material image Img1. The food material name C13 corresponds to the "type of food material". The quantity C14 corresponds to the “amount of foodstuff”. For the quantity C14, both the total weight and the weight of the edible portion can be written together. The first state C15 corresponds to the “state of foodstuff”, and indicates, for example, the shape of foodstuff. The shape of the food material includes the shape of the food material in a normal state and the shape of the food material after processing. The second state C16 indicates the freshness of the food material. For example, it is possible to further manage the third state, the fourth state, and the like, such as whether or not the foodstuff is in a frozen state and whether or not the foodstuff is wrapped.

FIG. 2 shows an example of determining a plurality of foodstuffs contained in one foodstuff image Img1, but instead of this, one foodstuff included in one foodstuff image can be judged. For example, there is a case where a user moves in a store while taking a picture of desired ingredients in a supermarket or the like. Furthermore, the user takes out the ingredients in the refrigerator (not shown), arranges them on the table, and takes a picture of the whole as one ingredient image, then moves to the supermarket and takes an image of each individual ingredient one by one. May be good. Such an embodiment will be described later in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an example of user information T2. The user information T2 manages information about the user, and includes, for example, a user ID C21, a name C22, a date of birth C23, a height C24, a weight C25, an exercise amount C26, and a blood pressure C27. Can be done.

The user information T2 can be roughly divided into basic information C21 to C23 and health state management information C24 to C27. The basic information will be explained. The user ID C21 is an identifier that identifies a user of the menu providing system. The name C22 is the name of the user. Date of birth C23 is the date of birth of the user. The health condition management information will be explained. In this embodiment, for example, height C24, weight C25, exercise amount C26, and blood pressure C27 are managed as information for managing the health condition of the user. It is not always necessary to manage all of the information C24 to C27, and it may be possible to manage the information as needed or as desired by the user. The health state management information is not limited to the above information, and may include, for example, heart rate, sleep time, body temperature, body fat percentage, and the like.

FIG. 4 is an example of meal history information T3. The meal history information T3 manages the user's meal history, and includes, for example, a user ID C31, a date C32, a time C33, and a plurality of recipe IDs C34 to C37.

The user ID C31 is the same as the user ID C21 in FIG. Date C32 is the date of eating. Time C33 is the time when the meal was eaten. The time C33 may be a start time or an end time. It may be the time when the menu candidate (recipe group) is provided from the menu providing system to the user terminal 20. Alternatively, it may be the time when the menu candidate is provided plus the cooking time.

The recipe ID is an identifier that identifies a dish. The plurality of recipe IDs C34 to C37 indicate the contents of the food consumed by the user in one meal. The number of dishes may vary depending on the timing of meals, such as breakfast, lunch, snacks, midnight snacks, and evening meals. That is, each meal includes at least one dish (recipe ID). The menu providing system transmits only one recipe ID to the user terminal 20, or transmits a plurality of recipe IDs to the user terminal 20.

FIG. 5 shows an example of nutritional information T4. Nutrition information T4 manages the nutrition of foodstuffs. The nutritional information T4 includes, for example, basic information including a foodstuff ID C41, a foodstuff name C42, and a reference unit C43, and nutrient information such as calories C44, carbohydrates C45, proteins C46, and lipids C47. Nutrient information is the amount of nutrients contained in a standard unit of foodstuff. The nutrient information is not limited to that shown in FIG. 5, and includes various vitamins, minerals, amino acids, and the like.

FIG. 6 is an example of the regular equipment information T5. The regular item information T5 is information for managing the items that the user has on hand for cooking. The regular product information T5 includes, for example, basic information of the regular product ID C51, the regular product name, and the type of the regular product, and component information such as calorie C54, salt content C55, protein C56, and lipid C57. The component information may include information other than the above-mentioned calories and the like.

FIG. 7 is an example of the recipe response information T6. The recipe response information T6 is returned in response to the request from the menu proposal unit 10. The recipe response information T6 includes, for example, response ID C61, cooking name C62, foodstuff C63, usage amount C64, cooking method C65, main dish C66, first side dish C67, and second side dish C68. , Juice C69, nutrition C6A, and genre C6B.

The response ID C61 is an identifier that identifies the recipe response information T6. The dish name C62 is the name of a dish composed of one or more recipes. Ingredient ID C63 is information that identifies one or more ingredients used in cooking. The amount used C64 is the amount of foodstuff used for cooking. Cooking method C65 is information indicating a cooking method of a main dish, each side dish, and a soup stock. The information of the cooking method C65 can be composed by combining text, still images, illustrations, moving images, sounds, and the like.

The main dish ID C66 is an identifier that identifies the main dish. The first side dish ID C67 is an identifier that identifies the first side dish. The second side dish ID C68 is an identifier that identifies the second side dish. The soup ID C69 is an identifier that identifies the soup. Nutrient C6A indicates the type of nutrient contained in one serving of food and the amount of each nutrient. The genre C6B indicates a genre to which a single dish specified by the dish name C62 belongs.

The recipe response information T6 is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 7. In short, it suffices to include information that allows the user to cook one meal belonging to a common genre.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the food material image determination process. The food material image determination unit 12 captures the food material image from the food material image acquisition unit 21 (S11), and determines the type, amount, and state of the food material contained in the food material image by using a machine learning method (S12). Then, the food material image determination unit 12 outputs the determination result to the menu candidate search unit 11 or the like (S13).

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of the menu proposal process by the menu proposal unit 10. The menu proposal unit 10 acquires the determination result T1 of the food material image determination unit 12, the user information T2, the meal history information T3, the nutrition information T4, the nutrition information T4, and the regular item information T5 (S21).

Based on the acquired information, the nutrition evaluation unit 13 of the menu proposal unit 10 calculates the total of the nutrients of the menu in the predetermined period and the total of the nutrients of the ingredients obtained from the judgment result of the food image, respectively, and the nutrition of the menu. Is evaluated (S22).

The predetermined period is, for example, a period that is a predetermined number of days before the present, and is a period for determining whether or not the nutrition is balanced. The predetermined period may be arbitrarily set by the user. When evaluating nutrition, the nutrition evaluation unit 13 uses the nutrients of each food material registered in the nutrition information T4 according to the amount of the food material used. The nutrient to be evaluated may be arbitrarily set by the user. For example, a user on a carbohydrate-restricted diet may evaluate menu nutrition centered on carbohydrates, proteins, and fats.

When the menu proposal unit 10 detects a nutrient deficient in the user based on the user's meal history information T3 and the nutrient of the food material obtained from the determination result of the food material image, the menu proposal unit 10 supplements the deficient nutrient. Extract the possible ingredients (S23). For example, a threshold value can be set for the nutrients specified by the user, and when the total value of the nutrients ingested within a predetermined period is equal to or less than the threshold value, it can be determined that the nutrients are deficient. Multiple nutrients to be judged can be set. The user may set all of them, or the menu proposal unit 10 may automatically set some nutrients. The threshold value may be set by the user or may use a value recommended by a public institution or the like.

The menu proposal unit 10 determines whether to search for a menu that can be cooked using the foodstuff determined from the foodstuff image (S24). When the total amount of nutrients does not reach the threshold value only with the foodstuffs determined from the foodstuff image (S24: NO), the menu proposal unit 10 sends the foodstuffs to be added to the user terminal 20 and asks the user to purchase the additional foodstuffs. Propose (S25).

For example, if the foodstuffs judged from the foodstuff image are only green and yellow vegetables, no foodstuffs containing a lot of protein such as fish or meat are contained, and the protein intake of the user is lower than the threshold value, the menu proposal department It can be determined that No. 10 cannot propose an appropriate menu in terms of nutrients only with the determined ingredients.

On the other hand, when the menu candidate can be searched only by the determined ingredients (S24: YES), the menu proposal unit 10 has a main dish candidate, a plurality of side dish candidates, and a soup as described in detail below. Candidates are obtained from the recipe management unit 30 (S26 to S34) and presented to the user via the user terminal 20 (S35).

The process of calculating the main dish candidates will be described. The menu proposal unit 10 acquires a candidate for a main dish (or a candidate for a staple food and a main dish). That is, the menu proposal unit 10 acquires the type, amount, cooking name, genre, and the like of the ingredients used for the candidate main dish (S26). As described above, the cooking genre is information for classifying the type of cooking, the cooking method, and the like. Examples of cooking genres include Japanese food, Western food, Chinese food, fried food, and stew.

The menu proposal unit 10 acquires a main dish candidate from the recipe management unit 30 based on the determination result (foodstuff name, amount, state) T1 of the foodstuff image and the regular item information T5.

The menu proposal unit 10 selects a main dish candidate for a dish that satisfies all of the following conditions. Firstly, the necessary ingredients are included in the judgment result ingredients, secondly, there are no necessary ingredients other than the regular items or the judgment result ingredients, and thirdly, the amount of the necessary ingredients is the judgment result ingredients. It is less than or equal to the amount of food, and fourthly, it conforms to the condition of the foodstuff as a result of the judgment. For example, when the ingredient of the determination result is "cabbage in a shredded state", it is determined that the condition of the ingredient of the determination result does not match because the cabbage roll cannot be made from the ingredient.

The menu proposal unit 10 excludes the main dish candidates proposed to the user in the past and similar main dish candidates from the main dish candidates acquired in step S26 (S27).

For example, if "pork cutlet" is included in the main dish candidates acquired in step S26 and "piccata" is recorded as a dinner two days ago in the meal history information T3, the menu proposal unit 10 "Tonkatsu" is excluded from the main dish candidates acquired in step S26. This is because both "Tonkatsu" and "Piccata" are dishes centered on pork and are similar. Excluding main course candidates that are the same as or similar to those previously proposed to users prevents users from getting bored with continued monotonous menus, increases eating enjoyment, and is nutritionally biased. This is to prevent.

The exclusion method can be divided into (1) excluding past dishes and (2) excluding similar dishes. For example, (1) the main dish candidate proposed to the user within the past X days is presumed to have already been eaten by the user and excluded. Further, for example, (2) a main dish candidate similar to the main dish candidate proposed to the user within the past Y days is excluded. The values and units of the predetermined number of days X and Y can be set arbitrarily.

The menu proposal unit 10 calculates the ingredients (ingredient name, amount, state) that can be used as the candidate for the first side dish (S28). That is, the menu proposal unit 10 excludes the foodstuffs used in the main dish candidates extracted in steps S26 and S27 from the determination result (foodstuff name, amount) of the foodstuff image. Consider the amount of ingredients that will be used as a main dish candidate.

By searching the recipe management unit 30 based on the result of step S28, the menu proposal unit 10 finds the ingredients to be used, the amount thereof, and the cooking name for the first side dish candidate (first side dish candidate). (S29).

The method of acquiring the first side dish candidate will be described. For example, the menu proposal unit 10 uses information on the ingredients (ingredient name, amount, state) that can be used as the first side dish candidate and the regular items, and uses the recipe management unit 30 (API (Application Programming Programming) to the recipe database). Interface)) is searched and the first side dish candidate is acquired.

The menu proposal unit 10 selects a dish that satisfies all of the following conditions as the first side dish candidate, as in the case of acquiring the main dish candidate. That is, firstly, the necessary ingredients are included in the judgment result ingredients, secondly, there are no necessary ingredients other than the regular items or the judgment result ingredients, and thirdly, the amount of the necessary ingredients is the judgment result. It is less than or equal to the amount of ingredients in the above, fourthly it conforms to the condition of the ingredients in the judgment result, fifthly it is a side dish, and sixthly it belongs to the same cooking genre as the main dish candidate. is there.

As a result, the menu proposal unit 10 sets the side dish that is different from the main dish used in the main dish candidate and belongs to the same genre as the main dish candidate as the first side dish. It can be obtained as a candidate.

Subsequently, the menu proposal unit 10 calculates the ingredients (ingredient name, amount, state) that can be used for the second side dish candidate (second side dish candidate) (S30). The menu proposal unit 10 subtracts the amount used for the first side dish candidate from the amount of each ingredient. The menu proposal unit 10 selects a second side dish candidate that satisfies all of the following conditions, as in the method of acquiring the first side dish candidate (selection method) (S31). Firstly, the necessary ingredients are included in the judgment result ingredients, secondly, there are no necessary ingredients other than the regular items or the judgment result ingredients, and thirdly, the amount of the necessary ingredients is the judgment result ingredients. It is less than or equal to the amount of food, fourthly it conforms to the state of the foodstuff of the judgment result, fifthly it is a side dish, and sixthly it belongs to the same cooking genre as the main dish candidate.

Further, the menu proposal unit 10 calculates the foodstuffs (foodstuff name, amount, state) that can be used as the candidate for the soup (S32). The menu proposal unit 10 considers the type and amount of the foodstuff to be used in the second side dish candidate in the same manner as the calculation of the foodstuff in each side dish candidate. For example, when the main dish is "pork cutlet", this is to prevent the ingredients from dripping so that "pork soup" is not selected as the soup.

The menu proposal unit 10 acquires a soup candidate from the recipe management unit 30 (S33). The menu proposal unit 10 selects a dish that satisfies all of the following conditions as a first side dish candidate. That is, firstly, the necessary ingredients are included in the judgment result ingredients, secondly, there are no necessary ingredients other than the regular items or the judgment result ingredients, and thirdly, the amount of the necessary ingredients is the judgment result. It is less than or equal to the amount of ingredients in the above, fourthly it conforms to the condition of the ingredients as a result of judgment, fifthly it is a soup, and sixthly it belongs to the same cooking genre as the main dish candidate. .. The user can arbitrarily set whether or not to add the soup.

The menu proposal unit 10 acquires recipes for cooking the acquired main dish candidate, each side dish candidate, and soup candidate from the recipe management unit 30 (S34), and the information providing unit 16 to the user interface unit of the user terminal 20. Propose to the user via 23 (S35).

Using the menu proposal screen G1 of FIG. 10, the proposal information sent from the menu proposal unit 10 to the user terminal 20 will be described.

The menu proposal screen G1 includes, for example, a food information column GP11, a menu candidate column GP12, an OK button GP13, and a cancel button GP14. The menu proposal screen G1 does not propose a single dish, but proposes a dish name, how to make it, and nutrition information (nutrition information after cooking) for menu candidates for one meal having a common genre.

The nutrition prediction information presents to the user the sum of the nutrients of each dish of the main dish, each side dish, and the soup based on the nutrition information after cooking. The nutrition prediction information is information that predicts each nutrient when the proposed candidate for one meal is eaten. The nutritional information can be predicted from the nutritional information T4 about the menu candidate for one meal and the user's meal history information T3.

When proposing a menu candidate, the feature of the menu, the evaluation value, or the like may be displayed together. For example, "This menu contains a lot of vitamins that are effective in restoring your power. Recommendation: 4 points", "This menu is full of collagen and minerals that protect your skin with short sleep time. You may add a message such as "Recommendation: 3.5 points".

Some examples of the case where the menu proposal system is realized as a computer system will be described with reference to FIGS. 11 to 13.

FIG. 11 shows an example in which the menu proposal server 100, the user terminal 200, and the recipe providing server 300 are connected by a communication network CN. The menu proposal server 100 serves as the menu proposal unit 10 of FIG. That is, the menu proposal server 100 includes a food material image determination unit 12, a user information management unit 14, a nutrition information acquisition unit 15, a nutrition evaluation unit 13, a menu candidate search unit 11, and an information providing unit 16.

The menu proposal server 100 includes, for example, a microprocessor (CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 in the figure), a memory 102, a communication interface unit (not shown), and the like, and can read and write information between the storage medium 103 and the like. Is. Each of the above-mentioned functions 11 to 16 is realized by the microprocessor 101 reading and executing a predetermined computer program stored in the memory 102. Similarly, the user terminal 200 and the recipe providing server 300 are realized as a computer provided with a microprocessor, a memory, and a communication interface unit (none of which are shown).

A part or all of a predetermined computer program that realizes the menu proposal unit 10 of this embodiment can be fixed to the storage medium 103 and distributed. Alternatively, a predetermined computer program can be downloaded to the computer via a communication medium.

The user terminal 200 serves as the user terminal 20 of FIG. That is, the user terminal 200 includes a food material image acquisition unit 21, a regular item information acquisition unit 22, and a user interface unit 23.

The recipe providing server 300 is a computer that realizes the recipe management unit 30.

FIG. 12 is another example of a computer system that realizes a menu proposal system. In the configuration example of FIG. 12, the foodstuff image determination server 400 is separated from the menu proposal server 100A and provided as a separate computer. The menu proposal server 100A, the user terminal 200, the recipe providing server 300, and the foodstuff image determination server 400 are connected via the communication network CN.

The meal image acquired by the user terminal 200 is transmitted to the foodstuff image determination server 400 via the communication network CN, and is determined by the foodstuff image determination unit 12. The determination result is transmitted from the food image determination server 400 to the menu proposal server 100A via the communication network CN. The menu proposal server 100A acquires the menu candidate recipe from the recipe providing server 300 via the communication network CN. Then, the menu proposal server 100A transmits the proposal information to the user terminal 200 via the communication network CN.

FIG. 13 shows yet another example of a computer system for realizing a menu proposal system. In this configuration example, the food material image determination unit 12 is provided on the user terminal 200B. The user terminal 200B determines the foodstuff image acquired by the foodstuff image acquisition unit 21 by the foodstuff image determination unit 12, and transmits the determination result and the regular equipment information to the menu proposal server 100 via the communication network CN. The following operations are the same, so they are omitted.

If the determination result of the food material image determination unit 12 is incorrect, the user can correct it via the user interface unit 23 of the user terminal 200B. Further, although not shown, it is also possible to transmit the food material image to the food material image determination server 400 described in FIG. 12 and request the determination. When the user terminal 200B receives the determination result from the food material image determination server 400, the user terminal 200B transmits the determination result to the menu proposal server 100.

According to this embodiment configured in this way, the user simply acquires an image of the foodstuff by taking a picture of the foodstuff, and the menu is suitable for the type (foodstuff name), amount, and state of the foodstuff included in the foodstuff image. Candidates can be obtained, and usability for the user is improved.

The user does not need to take a picture of the receipt when the food is purchased, input the name and amount of the food from the keyboard, or read out the name and amount of the food by voice.

Further, in this embodiment, not only the type and amount of the food material but also the state of the food material can be taken into consideration, so that a menu candidate suitable for the state of the food material can be proposed to the user.

Further, in this embodiment, since the cooking genre to which the main dish candidate and each side dish candidate (and soup) belong can be the same or similar, a sense of unity is obtained as compared with the case where the recipe for a single dish is individually selected. It is possible to easily obtain a recipe for a menu with a certain amount of food, which improves usability for the user.

The second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In this embodiment, the differences from the first embodiment will be mainly described. In the first embodiment, a case where a plurality of foodstuffs are included in one foodstuff image has been described. Instead of this, in this embodiment, the ingredients can be taken in one by one and judged, and further, the menu candidates can be obtained while adding the ingredients.

The foodstuff image determination unit 12 of this embodiment captures the foodstuff image from the foodstuff image acquisition unit 21 (S11), and determines whether to determine the captured foodstuff image (S14). When the captured food material image is determined (S14: YES), the food material image is determined (S12). If no determination is made (S14: NO), the process returns to step S11, and another ingredient is taken in.

The food material image determination unit 12 determines whether to request the menu proposal unit 10 to propose a menu candidate based on the determination result (S15). When requesting a proposal (S15: YES), the determination result (type, amount, state of the ingredient) of the food material image determination unit 12 is sent to the menu proposal unit 10 (S13).

This embodiment configured in this way also has the same effect as that of the first embodiment. Further, in this embodiment, images of foodstuffs can be individually acquired and determined. Therefore, the user can confirm the menu candidates when the foodstuff is purchased while searching for the foodstuff in, for example, a supermarket.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment. A person skilled in the art can make various additions and changes within the scope of the present invention. In the above-described embodiment, the configuration is not limited to the configuration example shown in the accompanying drawings. The configuration and processing method of the embodiment can be appropriately changed within the range of achieving the object of the present invention.

In addition, each component of the present invention can be arbitrarily selected, and an invention having the selected configuration is also included in the present invention. Further, the configurations described in the claims can be combined in addition to the combinations specified in the claims.

10: Menu Proposal Department, 11: Menu Candidate Search Department, 12: Food Image Judgment Department, 13: Nutrition Evaluation Department, 14: User Information Management Department, Nutrition Information Acquisition Department 15, Information Providing Department 16, 20: User Terminal, 21 : Ingredient image acquisition department, 22: Regular equipment information acquisition department, 23: User interface department, 30: Recipe management department

Claims (8)

It is a menu provision system
A food material image determination unit that determines the type, amount, and state of the food material by analyzing the acquired image of the food material.
A menu candidate search unit that searches for menu candidates that can be cooked using the ingredients based on the determination result of the food ingredient image determination unit.
A menu providing system that provides the user with the searched menu candidates. The state of the food material includes a difference in shape from the food material in the normal state.
The menu providing system according to claim 1. The menu candidate includes a plurality of dishes, and the plurality of dishes belong to a predetermined cooking genre.
The menu providing system according to claim 2. The plurality of dishes include a main dish and at least one side dish, and a side dish belonging to the same cooking genre as the cooking genre of the main dish is selected as a candidate.
The menu providing system according to claim 3. The menu candidate search unit searches for menu candidates that can be cooked using the ingredients, taking into consideration information on the user's meal history and nutrition.
The menu providing system according to claim 4. The foodstuff image determination unit determines the type, amount, and state of each foodstuff by analyzing the foodstuff image containing a plurality of foodstuffs.
The menu providing system according to claim 1. A computer program that allows a computer to function as a menu providing system.
A food material image determination unit that determines the type, amount, and state of the food material by analyzing the image of the food material acquired on the computer.
A menu candidate search unit that searches for menu candidates that can be cooked using the ingredients based on the determination result of the food ingredient image determination unit.
A computer program for realizing a provider that provides the searched menu candidates to the user. The state of the food material includes a difference in shape from the food material in the normal state.
The computer program according to claim 7.

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