JP2000266557A - Reporting device, searching device, and storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a reporting device, a searching device, and a storage medium for bringing reporting functions or the like, for example, in a navigator into full play even if countries and regions differ. SOLUTION: In a step 100, information for indicating the current position of an own vehicle is acquired from a signal sent from a GPS or the like. In a step 110, a country (or a region) where the own vehicle is located is discriminated from information for indicating the current position. In a step 120, it is judged whether the own vehicle has moved from one country (region) to another country (region) or not. In a step 130, it is judged whether setting has been made by a user or not. In a step 140, the said country information, a region information table, and an information acquisition table are used to search for and obtain information on a new country (region) where the own vehicle is located. In a step 150, country (region) change processing such as the switching the current display screen to a new display screen is executed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a notifying device, a searching device, and a recording medium which can display data such as a map and a place name, and can search for a place name, for example, with a navigation device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, in a car navigation system, a map screen near the current position is displayed on a display thereof, and a current vehicle position, a traveling route, a target, and the like are displayed on the map screen. Was.

When a destination or the like is input to the navigation device, for example, "Ah ..." is displayed on a display.
An input screen showing the characters of the Japanese syllabary is displayed, and input is performed using the switch as a switch. In this type of navigation device, for example, when used in Japan, the map screen itself of the display changes even if there is movement across regions (for example, from one city to another city). (Eg to enter a destination)
The screen design, display language, pronunciation voice language, and unit of the input screen were not switched. This is the same when used in various parts of the world.

[0004] In addition, even when the country or region of the route guide point is different, predetermined screen design, display, and voice utterance have been performed.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following problems and is not always preferable. The navigation device, in any country or region, limited screen design, determined language, display only the determined unit, because only performs a predetermined sound pronunciation,
There was a problem that the original navigation function was not always fully exhibited.

[0006] In addition, the country or region where oneself is located may be changed or the country or region where the guide route point is located may be different due to the change of the current position due to the movement of the vehicle, but regardless of the change of the current position. As described above, since the screen design, language, unit display, and pronunciation sound do not change, there has been a problem that the navigation function may not be sufficiently exhibited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and provides a notification device, a search device, and a recording medium that can sufficiently exhibit a notification function in a navigation device, for example, even in different countries and regions. It is in.

[0008]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention (1) In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, a country or a region is determined based on information on a current position and, for example, a display is performed. The mode of notification of the information such as the screen design, display language, and unit of the screen (method of notification) is changed. Therefore, appropriate information can be provided to the user corresponding to each country or region.

For example, when the country of the current position changes due to the movement of a car, for example, the name of a destination or the like in the country is changed by changing the characters on the character input screen according to the characters of the country. Can be entered. In addition, when moving from a meter display country to a mile display country, by changing the display of the map screen from the meter display to the mile display, it is possible to achieve consistency with road signs and the like in that country, Driving becomes easy.

[0010] Here, the mode of information notification is, for example, information notification such as changing the unit from meters to miles on the same map screen rather than the map screen of a certain area itself. It shows how to display and how to pronounce. (2) According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the current position can be automatically detected by the position detecting device, the country or region can be automatically determined based on the information on the current position.

As a position detecting device for detecting the current position, for example, a sensor such as a GPS and a geomagnetic sensor, a gyro and the like can be mentioned. (3) In the invention of claim 3, the current position is input by the user. Therefore, the mode of reporting information can be appropriately changed according to the input country or region information.

(4) The invention of claim 4 exemplifies an alarm device. As the display device, for example, a display device such as a liquid crystal attached to a dashboard or the like of an automobile is exemplified. The display device can display a map screen, an input screen, and the like. (5) The invention of claim 5 exemplifies a mode of reporting information on the display device. As an aspect of the notification of the information, a screen design, a display language, a unit, and the like of the display screen are given. Here, the screen design is, for example, as shown in FIG.
It is a character input screen such as Japanese / English or a guide point screen, etc., the display language is Japanese or English, etc., and the unit is
It is a unit such as kilometers or a unit such as miles.

Therefore, by switching the mode of reporting information in this manner, appropriate information can always be provided to the user even when the country or region changes. (6) The invention of claim 6 exemplifies the notification means. The sounding device is, for example, a speaker that guides by voice.

(7) The seventh aspect of the invention exemplifies a mode of reporting information in a sound generator. For example, if you change from using English to using German,
The pronunciation is changed from English to German. (8) The invention of claim 8 exemplifies a device in which the notification device is used. That is, when the above-described notification device is used for the navigation device, the mode of notification of information is switched according to the country or region, so that the navigation function can be sufficiently exhibited and the user is highly convenient. Become.

(9) The invention of claim 9 shows a recording medium on which means (for example, a program) for realizing the function of the notification device is recorded. (10) In the invention of claim 10, a country or a region is determined based on the information of the current position, and according to the country or the position,
The priority at the time of the search is changed (usually, the priority is increased).

That is, normally, there is a high possibility of searching for information on the country or region where the vehicle is currently located. For example, by increasing the priority of the country or region where the vehicle is currently located, the search speed is increased. Has the advantage that operability is improved. (11) According to the eleventh aspect, the current position can be automatically detected by the position detecting device, so that the country or region can be automatically determined based on the information on the current position.

(12) In the twelfth aspect, the current position is input by the user. Therefore, the search priority can be changed according to the input country or region information. (13) The invention of claim 13 exemplifies a device in which the search device is used. In other words, when the above-described search device is used as the navigation device, the search priority is switched according to the country or region, so that the navigation function can be sufficiently exhibited and the user is highly convenient. .

(14) The invention of claim 14 shows a recording medium on which a means (for example, a program) for realizing the function of the search device is recorded. The function of realizing the above-described notification device or search device in a computer system can be provided, for example, as a program activated on the computer system side. In the case of such a program, for example, it can be used by recording it on a computer-readable recording medium such as a floppy disk, a magneto-optical disk, a CD-ROM, or a hard disk, and loading and activating the computer system as needed. it can. In addition, ROM
The above program is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as a computer or a backup RAM.
M or a backup RAM may be incorporated in the computer system and used.

Further, as the above-mentioned area, in Japan,
Examples include administrative divisions such as prefectures, cities, towns, and villages, and divisions of each region such as the Chugoku region. In foreign countries, similar administrative divisions, such as states, and rough divisions, such as the southern and northern parts, can be cited. Further, there are also categories such as EC and a category such as a language zone to be used.

[0020]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Next, an embodiment (embodiment) of a notification device, a retrieval device, and a recording medium according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. (Embodiment 1) Here, as an embodiment of the notification device, a navigation device mounted on a vehicle will be described as an example.

The navigation device of this embodiment is a device that can display and pronounce not only information of each region in Japan, but also various foreign information such as the United States and the United Kingdom. a) First, the basic configuration of the navigation device of the present embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, a navigation device 1 of the present embodiment is a device mainly composed of a microcomputer for processing map information and the like, and mainly includes an input device 3, a storage device 5, It comprises a detection device 7, a central processing unit 9, a display device 13, a voice utterance device 11, and the like. The input device 3 and the display device 13 are configured as an integrated input / output device 15.

The input device 3 is, for example, a panel switch provided on a frame around a display of the display device 13, a touch switch set on an input screen of the display, a remote controller, or the like. Various instructions and settings are made to the central processing unit 9 of the navigation device 1.

The storage device 5 is a device for storing various data such as map information in addition to data such as facility names, road names, and place names as a database, and includes, for example, a CD-ROM and a DVD. No. In particular, in the present embodiment, various tables such as a country information table, a region information table, and an information acquisition table are set in the database as shown in FIG.

Of these, in the country information table, information codes are set for each country such as "A, B, C ...". In the region information table, information codes that are classified according to each country and further classified according to the region of each country are “A”.
1, A2 ... B1 ... ". In the information acquisition table, for example, a screen design, a language (of display and pronunciation), a unit, other guidance information, and the like are set in correspondence with a country-specific information code.

In the database, in addition to the table, for example, based on longitude and latitude information from the GPS,
A table for determining a country or region is also stored. Examples of the position detection device 7 include a device using a GPS, a sensor, a gyro, and the like. The current position of the vehicle can be detected based on information from the GPS and the like. Further, map information is obtained from the database based on the information on the current position, and the map information on the current position (or the destination) can be displayed on a display.

The central processing unit 9 forms an essential part of the control mechanism of the navigation device 1, and is mainly composed of a microcomputer. In the central processing unit 9, based on the detected current position of the vehicle,
As will be described in detail later, the screen design, the display language, the pronunciation voice language, and the like are switched with reference to the information of each table stored in the database. Further, based on the information on the current position, map information on the current position is displayed, and map information on the destination is displayed. Further, the database is searched according to the character string input for the search, and names such as facility names, road names, and place names are searched.

The voice utterance device 11 is, for example, a speaker, and notifies the user of the current location by voice in a predetermined language. The display device 13 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays a map screen showing map information such as a current position and a destination, and an input screen (for example, a character input screen) for inputting a character string and the like. The display device 13 is also used as the input device 3 as described above.

B) Next, control processing performed by the navigation device 1 of the present embodiment will be described. (i) First, a country (region) change processing routine will be described. This country (region) change process means that when a country or region changes with the movement of a car, the screen design, display language, unit, and pronunciation voice language of the display screen are changed according to the country or region. This is switching processing.

First, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
In step 100, information (for example, latitude and longitude) indicating the current position of the vehicle is acquired from a signal from the position detection device 7 such as GPS. The information on the current position is periodically taken into the central processing unit 9 from the position detecting device 7.

In step 110, the country (or region) where the vehicle is currently located is determined from the information indicating the current position. Specifically, a current country (region) is searched for and obtained from current position information such as latitude and longitude using a table stored in a database.

In the following step 120, step 1
From the determination result of 10, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has moved from a certain country (region) to another country (region). In other words, the current country (region) obtained from the newly acquired current location information
Is different from the country (region) determined up to the previous time. If a positive determination is made here, step 13
Then, if the determination is negative, the process is temporarily terminated.

In step 130, it is determined whether or not the setting has been made by the user. The setting by the user includes, for example, a setting not to perform a country (region) change process, a setting to fix a display of a certain language, and the like. Here, if the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step 140, while if the determination is negative, the process is temporarily terminated.

At step 140, information of a new country (region) that is present is searched for and obtained using the country information table, region information table and information acquisition table stored in the database. In the following step 150, a country (region) change process described later is executed, and this process is temporarily ended. That is, it outputs a signal for switching the current display screen to a new display screen, and outputs a signal for switching the current pronunciation voice language to a new pronunciation voice language.

(Ii) Next, the details of the process of changing the country (region) in step 150 will be described in more detail. For example, consider a case where a vehicle moves from Japan to the United States (by transport by ship, etc.). In this case, in the United States,
When the navigation device 1 is turned on, the current position is detected by the position detection device 7.

As a result, since it is automatically known that the car has moved from Japan to the United States, the navigation device 1 executes a country (region) change process accompanying the movement of the country (region). That is, in order to switch the screen design of the display of the display device 13 for the United States, the display language, unit, and traffic information are switched as shown in Table 1 below.

[0037]

[Table 1]

Specifically, as schematically shown in FIG. 4A, the input character screen is changed from an existing screen for inputting Japanese syllabary characters to a new screen for inputting US English (English) alphabet. Switch to Further, as shown in FIG. 4B, the guide point screen is switched from the existing screen on the left lane display to a new screen on the right lane display. Further, as shown in FIG. 4C, the vehicle speed setting screen is switched from the existing screen of meter display to a new screen of mile display.

At the same time, the pronunciation voice language is shown in Table 2 below.
Switch from Japanese to American as shown in.

[0040]

[Table 2]

As described above, in the present embodiment, when the country or region changes due to the movement of the own vehicle, the display or sound state of the navigation device 1 is not limited to the conventional limited screen design. Is automatically switched to the screen design, display language, unit, and pronunciation voice language according to the country or region, so that the navigation function can be sufficiently exhibited.

As a result, the convenience of the user is improved, and necessary display contents such as traffic information such as a speed limit in a foreign country, which are necessary for the country or region, can be obtained, thereby improving security. . (Embodiment 2) Next, Embodiment 2 will be described.

The basic structure of the navigation device 1 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, for example, when searching for a place name of a destination, a process of increasing the priority of the country (or area) determined from the current position is performed.

For example, as shown in FIG.
If the place names are stored in the tables classified by country, the priority of the table of the country at the current position is raised, and the search is started from the table of the country. That is, in the present embodiment, for example, it is considered that there is a high possibility that a destination is present in the country indicated by the current position, and, for example, by raising the priority of that country when searching for the destination, the You can search for the name of the destination.

When a table is set for each region in addition to a country, when the country is searched, if the priority of the table of the region at the current position is further increased, the speed of the search is further improved. . Third Embodiment Next, a third embodiment will be described.

The basic configuration of the navigation device 1 of the present embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted. In this embodiment, corresponding to the region in Japan,
The display screen is switched.

A) For example, when moving from the Chugoku region to the Kyushu region, switches (touch switches) that need to be operated only in the Kyushu region may be displayed on the display screen. That is, in Japan, for example, the screen design of the input screen, which is suitable for the region, is switched. This further improves the navigation function, such as shortening the search time for the destination.

B) Further, for example, when searching for a destination or the like, a point search function is provided to roughly narrow down search points. In the case of a navigation device having this point search function, there is a local list to be selected for the point search function. In this embodiment, however, usually, the head of the list is, for example, the Chugoku region, For example, if the current position is Kyushu, the output is controlled so that the Kyushu region is at the top of the list.

As a result, there is an advantage that the speed of selection of the list is increased and operability is greatly improved.
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment at all, and it goes without saying that the present invention can be implemented in various modes without departing from the present invention.

(1) For example, the present invention can be applied not only to the notification device or the search device but also to a recording medium storing means for executing the above-described processing. Examples of the recording medium include various recording media such as a microchip, a floppy disk, a hard disk, and an optical disk. That is, there is no particular limitation as long as it stores means such as a program that can execute the processing of the above-described notification device or search device.

(2) The present invention is also applicable to, for example, a portable navigation device or a personal computer for use at home or in a library in addition to a notification device or a search device used for an on-board navigation device. It can also be used for applications. (3) Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the current position is detected and the screen design and the sound language are automatically switched. However, a manual switch is provided separately, and the manual switch is operated by operating the manual switch. The screen design and the like and the pronunciation voice language may be switched according to the country or region.

(4) In addition, in the above-described embodiment, when the navigation device is turned on, the current position is detected and the screen design and the sound language are automatically switched. Until this switch is operated, the screen design or the pronunciation voice language corresponding to the country (region) stored up to the previous time may be used.

(5) When a country or region moves,
The screen design, the display language, the unit, and the pronunciation voice language may not be switched all at once, but may be set so that only specific contents are switched as appropriate. (6) Further, even when the country or region moves, for example, when moving from Germany to France, the user who normally drives the vehicle does not change. May be in trouble. In this case, for example, it is desirable to display the own language in addition to the display of the foreign language.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a navigation device according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a database used in the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a country (region) change processing routine according to the first embodiment.

4A and 4B show screens that can be switched in the first embodiment, FIG. 4A is an explanatory diagram showing a character input screen, FIG. 4B is an explanatory diagram showing a guide point screen, and FIG. 4C is an explanatory diagram showing a vehicle speed setting screen. is there.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram illustrating a configuration of a database according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Navigation device 3 ... Input device 5 ... Storage device 7 ... Position detection device 9 ... Central processing unit 11 ... Speech utterance device 13 ... Display device 15 ... Input / output device

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Akihiro Nakamoto 1-1-1, Showa-cho, Kariya-shi, Aichi Prefecture Inside Denso Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Tomomi Shigaki 1-1-1, Showa-cho, Kariya-shi, Aichi Co., Ltd. F term in DENSO Corporation (reference) 2C032 HB05 HB22 HC13 HC21 HC31 2F029 AA02 AB07 AB13 AC02 AC08 AC14 AC18 5H180 AA01 BB13 CC27 FF04 FF05 FF22 FF25 FF27 FF33 FF40

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A notifying device for notifying information by notifying means, a discriminating means for discriminating a country or an area based on information on a current position, and notifying the information by the notifying means based on a discrimination result by the discriminating means. Changing means for changing the mode according to the country or region. 2. The notification device according to claim 1, wherein the information on the current position is detected by a position detection device. 3. The notification device according to claim 1, wherein the information on the current position is detected by a manual switch operated by a user. 4. The notification device according to claim 1, wherein the notification device is a display device. 5. The information notification mode according to claim 1, wherein the mode of notification is at least one of a screen design, a display language, and a unit on a display screen of the display device. Notifying device as described. 6. The notification device according to claim 1, wherein the notification device is a sound generator. 7. The notification device according to claim 6, wherein the mode of notification of the information is a pronunciation voice language pronounced by the pronunciation device. 8. The notification device according to claim 1, wherein the notification device is a device used for notification of the information in a navigation device. 9. A recording medium on which is recorded means for realizing the function of the notification device according to claim 1. Description: 10. A discriminating means for discriminating a country or a region based on information on a current position, and when performing an information search, changing the search priority for the information on the country or region discriminated by said discriminating means. And a priority changing means. 11. The notification device according to claim 10, wherein the information on the current position is detected by a position detection device. 12. The notification device according to claim 10, wherein the information on the current position is detected by a manual switch operated by a user. 13. The search device according to claim 10, wherein the search device is a device used for searching for the information in a navigation device. 14. A recording medium on which is recorded means for realizing the function of the retrieval device according to claim 10. Description: