JP2006072068A - Map display controller unit - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a map display with which the simple visual check of scenery including the appearances of buildings is possible over a wide range. <P>SOLUTION: The map display controller unit controls the map display by using a drawing DB 224 and image DB 226 stored in a map data base. A plurality of photographs photographing the appearances of the various buildings in the map from multiple directions are stored in the image DB 226. The respective photographs are associated with pathways Ra in the surroundings of the buildings. When a user assigns the pathway Ra, the map display controller unit reads the image data Imal made correspondent to the pathway Ra, and displays the image data in the position of the building BULa. By doing in this way, the user is able to easily check the appearance of the building in spite of the two-dimensional map and to check the appearance from the multiple directions by changing the assignment of the pathway. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

The present invention relates to a map display system that displays a map of a passable passage and a building facing the passage.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there has been proposed a map display device that displays a map of a passable passage and a building facing the passage. The map display device described in Patent Document 1 (hereinafter referred to as “first map display device”) includes two-dimensional map data including a passage and an icon representing a building facing the passage, and photograph data obtained by photographing the building. Are stored in association with each other based on the position of the building, and when the icon of the building is designated on the displayed two-dimensional map, the photograph data of the designated building is read, and the photograph of the building is read. indicate.

  According to this first map display device, a building can be specified after visually and intuitively grasping the approximate position of the building using a two-dimensional map. Moreover, the construction example with respect to a building can be known by the external appearance photograph displayed according to this designation | designated. In addition, even when you find a construction example you like and want to visit, you can immediately know the route to the site using the 2D map.

  The map display device described in Patent Document 2 (hereinafter referred to as “second map display device”) stores three-dimensional map data of a passage and a building facing the passage, and an arbitrary spatial point is designated. Then, the 3D map data is read and a 3D map is displayed.

  According to this second map display device, it is possible to know the exterior of the building viewed from an arbitrary spatial point, the neighborhood, the state of the city (hereinafter referred to as “landscape”), and the viewpoint along the passage By moving it, you can know the scenery as if you were actually strolling around the city.

JP 2002-056373 A JP-A-11-232484

  In general, there is a lot of information that can be acquired from the landscape including the exterior of the building (hereinafter referred to as “landscape-related information”), and by using this landscape-related information, the sales efficiency of products and services is improved. Can do.

  For example, the size of the garage in the site of a building, the type, model year, and number of cars parked in the garage correspond to the landscape-related information. Based on this landscape-related information, the vehicle sales staff can determine the strength of replacement demand for new vehicles, the type of new vehicle when replacing, etc., and can increase the sales probability of new vehicles.

  As another example, it is possible to determine the strength of the demand for purchase and maintenance work of plants and bonsai based on the size of the garden in the site of the building and the landscape-related information such as the planting and bonsai of the garden. Similarly, the strength of house construction demand can be determined based on landscape-related information such as the aging state of buildings.

  Traditionally, these landscape-related information has been acquired by sales staff visiting the site, but further improvement in information collection efficiency has been desired. From such a viewpoint of further efficiency, in recent years, expectation for a map display device has increased. This is because if the landscape can be known by the map display device, the landscape-related information can be acquired without visiting the site.

  However, the first map display device described above cannot acquire sufficient landscape-related information according to the purpose. In other words, the photograph displayed on the first map display device is usually taken from a place where the building itself is regarded as the object of goods or services, and the place that maximizes its value can be photographed at the best angle. Used. For example, when a building is a detached house and a large garden and a living room facing the garden are selling points, photographs of the garden and living room taken from the corner of the garden are used. Such landscape-related information cannot be said to be sufficient as landscape-related information that can be sufficiently utilized for various purposes such as sales. It is preferable that the appearance of the building can be confirmed from various directions so that the building is actually seen on site.

  On the other hand, in the second map display device, the scenery can be known as if the city was actually walked, but the effect of looking over a wide area at a time like a two-dimensional map is poor. That is, the range that can be overlooked from the spatial point designated by the second map display device is only the vicinity of the spatial point, and there is very little landscape-related information that can be acquired at one time. Also, if you want to know the landscape extensively, you will move the viewpoint for all the passages within that range, but because the range that can be seen at once is narrow, you get lost and you can not get landscape related information well, Even if it can, it takes a lot of time. In addition, when a sales destination of a product or service is specified and an attempt is made to visit, it is inconvenient because it is impossible to immediately know the route to the site.

  In addition, the production of 3D map data requires enormous time and cost, and the data capacity is enormous, which requires a large storage device and a large computer for processing this at high speed. In the second map display device, the 3D map data capacity of the building is reduced so that the 3D map display can be realized with relatively limited computer processing power, so the shape and appearance of the building are simple. It is necessary to make it. When such 3D map data is used, it is not always possible to obtain landscape-related information that can be sufficiently utilized for various purposes such as business.

  The purpose of the present invention is to understand the positional relationship of buildings over a wide range and to understand the route to the target building, and the advantages of the two-dimensional map, It is to realize a map display having the advantage of being able to know the appearance that is close to the state seen in.

The map display control device of the present invention made to solve at least a part of the above problems is a map display control device for displaying a map of a passage that can be passed and a building facing the passage,
Map data storage means for storing map data including passage data representing the passage and image data of the building, and associated with the passage data and the image data;
Passage data specifying means for specifying at least one of the passage data;
Display data providing means for providing display data for displaying a map using at least the image data related to the passage data designated by the passage data designation means with reference to the map data storage means;
It has.

  According to the map display control device of the present invention, display of a map on a display can be controlled through provision of display data. At this time, image data of a building is included in the map according to designation of passage data. Can be displayed. Therefore, regarding the scenery around the passage, it is possible for the sales staff to acquire the scenery-related information without visiting the site. When a plurality of buildings are associated with the passage, it is possible to view an image of each building over a wide range without specifying each building one by one. Further, since the external appearance of the building is given by image data, 3D map data is unnecessary, and there is an advantage that the processing load of the map display can be suppressed relatively lightly.

  The association between the image data of the building and the passage data can be set according to various standards. For example, the image data and the passage data may be associated based on the positional relationship between the building and the passage. Such examples include a method of associating image data with passage data of a passage facing the building. Moreover, you may link both based on the visual recognition possibility of a building. Such an example includes a method of associating image data with passage data of the closest passage among the passages through which the building can be visually recognized. With these associations, when the passage data is designated, a map display capable of recognizing a more realistic landscape can be performed.

  As image data stored in the map data storage means, a photograph representing the appearance of a building, a computer graphics image, or the like can be used. The image data is not limited to one for one building, and may be plural. For example, a plurality of types of image data with different drawing directions such as image data taken from different passages, different image data such as image data taken from the same passage with different dates and times, and photographing ranges including backgrounds around buildings are different. It includes a plurality of types of image data having different angles of view such as image data, or image data obtained by changing these elements in combination. By preparing multiple types of image data, it is possible to provide a variety of landscape-related information.

  Various methods can be used to display the image of the building. As a display method, for example, a method for displaying the position of the image according to a location where the building can be accessed such as the position of the building, the entrance, and the gate, a method for displaying the image with a size corresponding to the occupied area of the building, For example, a method of arranging and displaying images of each building at intervals according to the interval between adjacent buildings may be used. Furthermore, the image display is not limited to one for one building, and a plurality of images are allowed. Such display includes arranging a plurality of images and displaying them simultaneously, or displaying a plurality of images alternately.

  In the present invention, the map data storage means may store a plurality of types of image data for one building in association with one or a plurality of passage data. For example, when using a plurality of types of image data obtained by photographing a building from one direction at different times, a method of storing these image data in association with one passage data can be employed. As another example, when image data is associated with a plurality of passage data, image data in a state where a building is viewed from a plurality of passages can be used as the plurality of types of image data. The plurality of image data and the passage data do not necessarily have to be associated with each other one by one, and may be n to m (n and m are natural numbers). Also, some image data may be associated with a plurality of passage data in an overlapping manner. When the passage data is designated, the designated passage data and the image data of the building photographed from the passage are read and displayed.

  By doing so, it is possible to confirm the appearance of the building at a plurality of points in time, or to confirm the appearance of the building from multiple directions according to the positional relationship with the passages in the field. The plurality of passages do not necessarily face the building, and may be passages that allow the building to be visually recognized around the building, for example. Further, when the building faces a plurality of passages, for example, when the building is built on a corner, image data may be associated with each passage facing the building.

  As multiple types of image data, image data having different depiction directions of buildings may be prepared and associated with the passage data in a correspondence relationship according to the description direction. For example, there is a mode in which image data from the front is associated with the passage facing the building, and image data from the back is associated with the passage on the back of the building. In this way, by making the correspondence relationship based on the drawing direction, it is possible to provide landscape-related information in a state closer to confirmation on site.

In the present invention,
The passage data specifying means can specify a plurality of the passage data,
The display data providing means selects a part of the image data based on a predetermined condition when there are a plurality of the image data related to the plurality of the passage data designated by the passage data designation means, Display data for displaying a map may be provided. By doing so, landscape-related information can be presented while avoiding complexity.

  For example, if two passages facing a building built in a corner lot are specified, there will be multiple image data of the buildings taken from both passages. Image data is selected and read out. Predetermined conditions are, for example, the priority order specified in advance according to the type of the specified passage (national road / prefectural road / city road, etc.), width, and the outer surface of the building (front (entrance) / side / back). is there. Moreover, it is not limited to this, and may be a user's selection. Further, the number of passage designations is not limited to two and may be all designations.

  In the present invention, the passage data designation means may present the route data candidates that can be designated in a map format and accept the designation of the passage data from the presented candidates. According to the present invention, the user can designate the passage data on the map after grasping the approximate positional relationship based on the map of the displayed passage data, and the designation of the passage data is visual and intuitive. It will be something. In addition to this, candidates for passages may be displayed in a list format using passage names and the like. The designation of the passage may be performed individually based on the above-described map or list, or the passage group may be designated by an attribute. For example, designation by direction attributes such as north-south streets, east-west streets, designation by width attributes such as streets of two or more lanes, designation by type attributes such as national roads, prefectural roads, and the like are included. Alternatively, a path parallel to the individually specified path or a path intersecting with the specified path may be automatically specified together. In order to make these designations possible, it is only necessary to store attribute information used for designation, intersection relations between passages, and the like in association with the passage data.

  The present invention does not necessarily have all the features described above, and can be configured by omitting or combining some of them as appropriate. Further, instead of the above-described features or together with the above-described features, the following features may be provided. First, the display size of the image displayed on the map may be enlarged or reduced according to the display scale of the map. In this case, the display size may be changed by resolution conversion of single image data, or two or more image data may be used properly according to the display size. According to the latter method, for example, when the display size is relatively large (that is, in the case of a large scale), the image data including the background of the building is used, and in other cases (that is, in the case of a small scale). May use image data that can display the entire building with the background omitted. By switching the presence / absence of the background in accordance with the enlargement / reduction, appropriate landscape-related information can be provided while avoiding complication of the figure. The display / non-display of the image data may be controlled based on the attributes of the building such as the presence or absence of planting / bonsai in the garage or site, and the aging state of the building. According to such a method, only the image data of buildings that meet the purpose of landscape-related information, for example, the demand for replacement of vehicles, the demand for maintenance work for plants and bonsai, the demand for house construction, etc. are displayed. Can improve the collection efficiency of landscape-related information by sales staff. Such control is performed by, for example, registering the above-mentioned “attribute” in association with image data or building data, accepting designation of the “attribute” to be displayed at the time of map display, and an image corresponding to this This can be realized by extracting and displaying the data.

  Second, various image processing methods can be applied to building image data associated with a passage other than the designated passage. For example, if the display of these images is omitted, a simple and visually easy-to-understand map can be provided. If image data associated with passage data other than the designated passage is also displayed based on a predetermined rule, a map display that can present landscape-related information over a wide range without specifying complicated passages is possible. It becomes possible. For example, the image may be displayed based on a rule that a passage parallel to the designated passage is regarded as designated. Moreover, you may make it control the display of an image based on whether the passage data linked | related with the building exist between the designated passage and each building.

  Thirdly, various modes of image display may be prepared so as to be switchable. For example, for a specified passage, “front view mode” for displaying an image of a building viewed from the passage side, and “back view mode” for displaying an image of a building viewed from the back side of the passage. May be prepared, and both of them may be switched according to a user instruction. For example, by using the “rear view mode” locally, it is possible to easily refer to the image from the back side while confirming the appearance of the actual building from the passage side.

  The map display control device of the present invention can be configured in various forms such as a stand-alone device or a combination of a server and a terminal. The display on which the map is to be displayed and the map display control device may be integrated or separate. Further, the map data storage means does not necessarily have to be integrally incorporated in the apparatus, and may be prepared, for example, in the form of a server connected via a network, a storage medium storing map data, or the like.

  The present invention can be configured in various modes as well as the above-described mode as the map display control device. For example, it may be configured as digitized map data used for map display by the map display control device. In this case, the map data may associate date and time information such as the shooting date and time of the image data with the image data. By doing so, it is also possible to display the image data based on the date / time information.

  Moreover, you may comprise as a map display method for displaying a map of the passage which can be passed, and the building which faced this passage using a computer. Furthermore, you may comprise as a recording medium which recorded the computer program for making a computer implement | achieve this map display function, and this computer program. Here, as a recording medium, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, a DVD, a magneto-optical disk, an IC card, a ROM cartridge, a punch card, a printed matter on which a code such as a barcode is printed, an internal storage device of a computer (RAM or ROM) A variety of computer-readable media, such as memory) and external storage devices. Furthermore, you may comprise as a passage which can be passed, the expression method of the building which faced this passage, and the building map of this expression method. In this case, the building map may be printed on paper or an electronic map. In any case, the advantages of the two-dimensional map that it is possible to grasp the positional relationship of the building over a wide range or the route to the target building, and about each building, It is possible to have the advantage of being able to know the appearance that is closer to what was seen on site. When a building map is expressed on a medium such as paper, it is preferable to add a display indicating the correspondence between the image expressed in the map and the passage. Examples of such a display include an arrow and other displays for indicating the drawing direction of each image, and a display such as a line connecting each image and the passage.

  The present invention may be further configured as a map production method for producing a building map as a paper medium. As this map production method, for example, as a process executed by the computer, the storage of the map data described above, the condition for producing the map, the designation of at least one passage data, the designated passage data This can be realized by performing printing using the printing data thus obtained, including each step of generating map printing data using related image data. When selecting image data, various features described above with reference to the map display control device can be reflected.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order.
A. System configuration:
B. data structure:
C. Passage designation processing:
D. Map display processing:
E. Image data placement processing:
F. Map display example:
G. Variations:

A. System configuration:
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the overall configuration of a map display system as an embodiment. The map display system according to the present embodiment can be used, for example, when a salesperson or the like browses a map and selects a building to be a business partner before going to the site. In order to support such work, the map display system has a function of displaying an image representing the appearance of each building together with the map. The map display system can be used for a variety of purposes. In the following, the structure and function will be described as an example of the above-described usage.

  The map display system of an Example is comprised by connecting the server 200 which functions as a map display control apparatus, and the display terminal 100 which a user uses by network NET. As the network NET, for example, a mobile phone line can be used. The display terminal 100 is not limited to the illustrated example, and a plurality of display terminals 100 can be connected to the server 200.

  The display terminal 100 can use an in-vehicle navigation device or a mobile phone. The functional blocks of the display terminal 100 are also shown in the figure. These functional blocks are configured in software by causing a microcomputer mounted on the display terminal 100 to execute a predetermined program, but may be configured in hardware.

  Each functional block implements the following functions under the control of the main control unit 110. The communication unit 120 controls communication via the network NET. The GPS 140 detects the latitude and longitude of the current position of the display terminal 100 using a global positioning system. The command input unit 130 inputs commands related to route search and map display based on a user operation on a switch or the like. Commands related to map display include passage designation, display mode, zoom, and the like, as shown. The designation of the passage is a designation parameter for controlling the type of image displayed on the map, as will be described later. These designations are transmitted to the server 200. The display control unit 150 displays the above-described menu for command input, a map, and the like on the display of the display terminal 100.

  Based on the command from the display terminal 100, the server 200 generates display data for displaying a map or performs a route search, and provides the result to the display terminal 100. Functional blocks for realizing such functions are shown in the figure. These functional blocks are configured in software by a computer program executed by the CPU of the server 200, but may be configured in hardware.

  The map DB 220 is an electronic map database used for route search and map display. In the present embodiment, the map DB 220 includes a road network DB 222, a drawing DB 224, and an image DB 226. The road network DB 222 is a database used for route search, and records data indicating road connection states by links and nodes, traffic regulation information, and costs that are link evaluation values. The drawing DB 224 is polygon data for displaying a map. The image DB 226 is a database that stores image data provided together with the map in accordance with the passage designation by the user. In this embodiment, image data representing the appearance of each building is stored. Writing and reading information to and from the map DB 220 is controlled by the DB management unit 208.

  The communication unit 202 controls communication with the display terminal 100 via the network NET. The information to be communicated includes passage designation, display mode, map display commands such as zoom, and display data for displaying the map. In addition, a departure point, a destination, a waypoint designation, other route search commands, and a route search result are also included.

  The route search unit 206 performs a route search based on a command designated by the user. For the route search, for example, a known method such as the Dijkstra method can be used. By using this function, for example, when the user designates a destination building according to a map display, the server 200 starts from the current location detected by the GPS 140 of the display terminal 100 as a starting point. The route to can be searched.

  As described above, the map display system can display an image representing the appearance of each building together with the map. The presence / absence and type of image display can be controlled by the user specifying the passage. The server 200 includes functional blocks described below in order to realize this display.

  The passage designation receiving unit 204 provides an interface screen for passage designation by the user and inputs a command for passage designation. When the user designates a passage by an attribute or the like, there is also a function of specifying a passage corresponding to the designated attribute or the like.

  The image data extraction unit 212 provided in the map display control unit 210 extracts image data to be displayed from the image DB 226 based on the path thus designated. The map display control unit 210 generates display data using the image data thus extracted and the polygon data stored in the drawing DB 224, and provides the display data to the display terminal 100 via the communication unit 202.

B. data structure:
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the data structure of the drawing DB 224 and the image DB 226. The data structure will be described using the map PV shown in the upper right of the figure as an example. In this map PV, the four paths Ra, Rb, Rc, Rd are each represented by polygons. The polygon of the passage Ra has points Pa1, Pa2, Pa3, and Pa4 as vertices. The passage polygon data 224a in the drawing DB 224 stores data representing the polygons described above. Specifically, as shown in the figure, the names of the passages (Ra, Rb, etc.) are stored, and the coordinates of the vertices (Pa1, Pa2, etc.) constituting the polygons of each passage are in the form of (latitude, longitude). Stored. Although not shown, attribute data such as road type and lane is also stored for each passage.

  Five buildings are built in the area surrounded by four passages. The building BULa is represented by a polygon whose center is the position Ca. The building polygon data 224b in the drawing DB 224 stores the name of the building (such as BULa), the coordinates of its center of gravity (such as Ca), and the vertex coordinates of the polygon for expressing the building. Yes. However, in order to avoid complication of the drawing, the center of gravity and the vertex coordinates of the polygon are not shown. In addition, for each building, the address, the name of the householder or owner, the presence or absence of trees and bonsai in the garage or site, the aging state of the building, etc. are managed as attribute data. In the present embodiment, the building attribute data employs a configuration in which the map data provider has previously stored the results of the survey, but this is not the only case, and the sales staff writes it afterwards. A rewriting configuration can also be adopted. In such a case, the attributes of the building can be stored based on the latest information obtained by the sales staff. Moreover, it is good also as a structure which writes the business history for every building.

  In the building BULa, photographs taken of its exterior from four directions are stored in the image DB 226. The appearance facing the passage Ra, that is, the appearance seen in the direction of the arrow Va is an image Ima. For the front image Ima, an image Ima1 having a small angle of view and an image Ima2 having a large angle of view are prepared. The appearance seen in the direction of the arrow Vc is an image Imc. The appearance seen in the direction of the arrow Vd is an image Imd. Since the appearance seen in the direction of the arrow Vb is not obtained, it is blank. Each image data has a shooting date and time as attribute information. The image DB 226 may store image data generated by computer graphics or the like instead of a photograph.

  The drawing DB 224 stores relational data 224c that associates the above-described data. In the present embodiment, as shown in the figure, a form in which a passage, a building, a front image, and a back image are associated with each other is adopted. The relational data 224c is not limited to the illustrated form, and can take various forms in which the correlation between the passage polygon data 224a, the building polygon data 224b, and the image DB 226 can be defined.

  In this embodiment, the building BULa faces the passage Ra and is associated with the passage Ra. Further, the front image Ima viewed from the passage Ra and the rear image Imc viewed from the passage Ra are also associated with each other. The building BULa is similarly associated with other passages Rb, Rc, Rd. The front image and the back image are related with the direction viewed from each passage as a reference. For example, when viewed from the path Rc side, that is, when viewed from the direction of the arrow Vc in the upper right view, the front image is Imc and the back image is Ima. The association between each image and the passage can be arbitrarily set. For example, each image may be associated with a passage facing the building, or may be associated with a passage where the building can be visually recognized according to the shooting direction of the image. Moreover, it is not always necessary to relate to the passage closest to the building, and it may be related to a passage that is several distances away.

  Here, the association is shown only for the building BULa, but the association is also performed for other buildings. In the relational data 224c, one building or image may be associated with a plurality of passages, or one passage may be associated with a plurality of buildings or images. In the example of FIG. 2, the building BULa has been illustrated as being associated with all four surrounding passages, but the association with some of the passages may be omitted.

C. Passage designation processing:
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the passage designation process. This process is executed by the server 200 in response to a command transmitted by the user operating the display terminal 100. When this process is started, the server 200 inputs a mode designation for passage designation (step S10), and accepts passage designation according to the mode (step S11). In this embodiment, three modes of attribute designation, list designation, and map designation are prepared. In this embodiment, these modes can be used properly, but any one mode may be fixed.

  When the list designation mode is selected, the server 200 displays the passage list on the display terminal 100 (step S14) and accepts the designation (step S15). An example of the display list is shown in the figure. In this example, passage names are displayed in a list. When the user designates a passage, a check mark is added to the passage. The list may be displayed not only with the passage name but also with a display of “Oth street from the north.

  When the map designation mode is selected, the server 200 displays a map of the area designated by the user (step S16) and accepts the designation (step S17). A map display example is shown in the figure. This example shows a state where the passage R is designated by clicking with a pointing device P0 such as a mouse.

  When the passage is designated in the map designation mode, the server 200 accepts option designation (step S518). As shown in the drawing of step S16, in this embodiment, two options “parallel” and “intersection” are prepared. “Parallel” is a function for collectively specifying paths parallel to the path specified by the user. “Intersection” is a function for collectively specifying paths that intersect the path specified by the user. When the user clicks these buttons on the map display screen, each option can be specified. Option specification may be omitted.

  In the attribute designation mode, the passage is designated according to the passage attribute. First, the server 200 displays an attribute input screen on the display terminal 100 (step S12) and accepts an attribute input (step S13). An example screen is shown in the figure. In this example, the attribute is specified based on the road type, the number of lanes, and the heading. The road type is selected from national roads, prefectural roads, and the like. The lane is selected from “4 lanes” (meaning that the lane width exceeds 4 lanes), “2 lanes”, and the like. The designation of “heading” will be described later. It is not always necessary to specify all of these attributes, and only a part of them may be specified. In the example shown in the figure, “National road” and “2 lanes” are selected, and the designation of heading is omitted. Attributes used for designation are not limited to those exemplified here. For example, the direction of the passage such as “East and West” and “North and South” may be used as an attribute.

  The server 200 stores the result of specifying the passage by the above processing (step S19), and ends the passage designation processing.

  FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing heading designation. As shown in the drawing, an explanation will be given by taking as an example a map with “north” above. In this area, there are buildings B1 and B2. The building B1 is associated with the passages St1 to St4. The building B2 is associated with the passages St5 to St8.

  For example, the designation of “north” in the “heading” attribute previously shown in step S12 of FIG. 3 is a map with north facing up using an image corresponding to the landscape in the state of looking at the north side (in the direction of arrow Vs). Means display. In order to realize such display, passages St2, St4, St6, and St8 running east and west are collectively designated for this designation. At this time, since the building B1 is associated with the passages St2 and St4, both the image viewed in the arrow Vs direction and the image viewed in the arrow Vn direction may be displayed. Since the building B2 is also associated with the passages St6 and St8, both the image viewed in the direction of the arrow Vs and the image viewed in the direction of the arrow Vn may be displayed. However, as will be described later, the image in the heading instruction direction, in this example, the direction of the arrow Vs is preferentially displayed by the control during display.

  Similarly, when the heading “south” is designated, the east and west passages are designated collectively. When the headings “east” and “west” are designated, the north-south passages are designated collectively. When the result of the building is related to two or more passages, images in the directions of arrows Vn, Ve, and Vw are respectively displayed for the headings “south”, “east”, and “west” by display control described later. Displayed with priority.

  The above-described designation method is only an example in heading designation. For example, when the heading “north” is designated, it may be set so that the passages running north and south are collectively designated.

D. Map display processing:
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the map display process. This process is executed by the server 200 in response to the result of the passage designation process (FIG. 3). When this process is started, the server 200 inputs display parameters for controlling display (step S30). The display parameters include, for example, designation of a map display range, a display mode, and a display scale.

  Next, the server 200 reads the processing result of FIG. 3, that is, the passage designation result (step S31). Then, according to this result, image data associated with the designated passage is extracted (step S32). The image data is extracted with reference to the relational data 224c shown in FIG.

  The image data extraction method is shown in the figure. When the rear mode is designated as the display mode, the rear image data associated with the designated passage is extracted with reference to the relational data 224c. When the passage Ra is designated, the back image Imc is extracted for the building BULa shown in FIG. The back mode is useful, for example, when a salesperson visits the site. By displaying in the back mode, the sales staff can easily compare and observe the appearance of the back of the building while directly confirming the appearance of the front of the building on site.

  When the front mode is designated, front image data is extracted. When the passage Ra is designated, the front image Ima is extracted from the building BULa shown in FIG. In this example, since two types of image data are prepared, when the display scale specified in step S30 is small, the data Ima1 that can display the building on the entire image is selected, and the display scale is large. In this case, data Ima2 that can display the periphery is selected. About the display scale which should become the threshold value which uses both appropriately, it can select arbitrarily according to the content etc. of an image. Further, three or more types of image data may be used properly.

  When the extraction of the image data is completed, the server 200 performs map drawing using the polygon data stored in the drawing DB 224 (step S33), and arranges the image data on the map (step S40). A method for arranging image data will be described later. Then, the server 200 outputs the obtained map display data to the display terminal 100 (Step S50), and ends the map display process.

E. Image data placement processing:
FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the image data arrangement process. This is processing corresponding to step S40 of the map display processing (FIG. 5).

  First, the server 200 inputs image data and building data to be arranged (step S41). As building data, the position of the building and the occupied area of the site were used.

  Next, the server 200 determines whether or not the input image data includes duplicate images, that is, image data of the same building (step S42). If there is an overlapping image, image data to be used for map display (referred to as “display image data”) is selected (step S43). In this embodiment, this selection is made in the priority order of “heading” → “lane” → “type”.

  For example, consider the case where the heading “north” is designated in FIG. 4 described above. At this time, for the building B1, two images respectively associated with the passages St2 and St4 are extracted as overlapping images. The server 200 considers the designation of the heading “north”, and selects, as display image data, an image viewed in the direction of the arrow Vs, that is, an image associated with a passage located on the south side of the building. As a result, for the building B1, the image associated with the passage St2 is selected. Similarly, an image associated with the passage St6 is selected for the building B2.

  If display image data cannot be selected even if heading is taken into consideration, the lane and the type are considered sequentially. For “lanes”, priority is given to wide passages. For “type”, priority is given to national roads, prefectural roads, and others. However, these selection criteria are not limited to the example of FIG. 6 and can be arbitrarily set. If there is no overlapping image (step S42), the above selection process (step S43) is skipped.

  When one display image data is thus determined for each building, the server 200 executes an arrangement process according to the display mode (step S44). In this embodiment, an “large image display” mode for displaying an image as large as possible and a “site fit display” mode for displaying an image in a size suitable for the site of a building are prepared.

  When the large image display mode is designated, the server 200 sets the display size of each image so that it is displayed as large as possible without being constrained by the site of the building. However, this setting was performed under the condition that it does not overlap the passage and other images. Furthermore, when there are images corresponding to a plurality of buildings, a constraint condition that the area ratio of each image matches the site area ratio of each building may be added. In the figure, an example of setting the image size in consideration of this additional constraint condition is shown. The hatched rectangles represent the images PIC1 and PIC2, and the thick solid line rectangles inside represent the building site. In the large image display mode, since the image can be displayed outside the site, there is an advantage that it is easy to confirm the appearance of the building.

  When the site fit display mode is designated, the server 200 determines the display size of the image so as to fit the building site (step S46). In the figure, images PIC1 and PIC2 are illustrated. Each image is displayed in a size that matches the site of the building indicated by a thick solid line. When the aspect ratio of the image and the site is different, the image size may be set so that one of the vertical and horizontal sides of the image fits the site without exceeding the site.

  When these processes are completed, the server 200 arranges the image by aligning the representative point of the image with the building position (step S47). As the representative point, for example, the position of the center of gravity of the image, the vertex of the image, or the like can be used. In such an arrangement, when the images overlap each other, the position may be finely corrected so as to avoid the overlap.

  Regardless of the example of FIG. 6, various methods can be used for image arrangement. For example, any one display mode may be fixedly used without properly using the display modes. Further, the processing in steps S42 and S43 may be omitted, and if there are duplicate images, all the images may be displayed. As this method, a method of arranging the display size of the overlapping images in a reduced manner, a method of alternately displaying the overlapping images at a predetermined time interval, a method of alternately displaying them according to a user instruction, and the like can be adopted.

F. Map display example:
FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a map display example in the embodiment. The state when the heading is changed to the four directions of east, west, south, and north is displayed. The uppermost figure HE shows the state of heading “east”, and the figures HN, HW and HS arranged counterclockwise show the states of heading “north”, “west” and “south”, respectively.

  As illustrated, the display image of the building B1 changes according to the heading. Here, it is assumed that each image of the image DB 226 shown in FIG. 2 is associated with the building B1 in a positional relationship where the arrow Va direction is “north”.

  When the heading is “north” (FIG. HN), as a result of the display image data selection process shown in step S43 of FIG. 6, the image Ima associated with the passage St2 located south of the building B1 is displayed. When the heading is switched to “west” (FIG. HW), the display image data is changed, and an image Imb associated with the passage St3, that is, a blank, is displayed at the position of the building B1. Similarly, in the heading “South” (FIG. HS), the image Imc associated with the passage St4 is displayed, and in the heading “East” (FIG. HE), the image Imd associated with the passage St1 is displayed. Although illustration is omitted, similarly, for the building B2, images associated with the passages St5 to St8 are displayed according to the heading direction. Thus, according to the present Example, the external appearance according to heading can be confirmed about each building. In the case described above, instead of displaying a blank, bibliographic information such as the name of the owner of the building, the name of the building, the address, the type of building (general house, building, factory, etc.) It is also possible to configure to display registered house frames.

  FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram illustrating an example of an enlarged map display in the embodiment. FIG. SCL1 shows the state of the heading “north” in FIG. In this state, when the user gives an instruction to enlarge the display scale so as to display the inside of the broken line frame in the figure, the map of FIG. As the display scale is enlarged, the display portion of the building site is also enlarged, and as a result of the processing shown in FIG. 6, the image size of the building is also enlarged.

  When the user designates further enlargement so as to display the broken line frame in FIG. SCL2, the diagram SCL3 is displayed. In this display scale, the image data to be used is switched by the process of step S32 of the map display process (FIG. 5). According to the present embodiment, the image data can be properly used according to the display scale as described above. Therefore, when the display scale is small, the appearance of the building itself can be sufficiently confirmed, and in a place where the display scale is large, a display that can be confirmed including the scenery around the building can be realized. In this embodiment, such display is realized by switching image data. However, only a photograph (Ima2 in FIG. 2) taken with a wide angle of view is prepared, and when this display scale is small, only a part of this is trimmed. May be used.

  According to the map display system of the embodiment described above, as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8, an image representing the appearance of the building can be displayed in the map in accordance with the designation of the passage. Therefore, for example, a salesperson can visually grasp the local landscape before going to the site. In addition, since this display is performed by pasting an image on a two-dimensional map, unlike a three-dimensional map, the advantage is that the processing load for map display is light, and it is easy to grasp a relatively wide range of landscapes. There are advantages.

  In a present Example, you may attach | subject the display showing the corresponding relationship between an image and a path | route during map display, for example. Examples of such a display include an arrow for indicating the drawing direction of each image, such as arrows Vn, Ve, Vs, and Vw shown in FIG. 4 and a line connecting each image and the passage. . By performing these displays, it is possible to easily grasp the relationship between the passage and the image from the displayed map.

G. Variations:
FIG. 9 is a flowchart of image data extraction processing as a modification. This is a process executed by the server 200 in place of step S32 of the map display process (FIG. 5) of the embodiment. In the embodiment, an example is shown in which only image data associated with a designated passage is extracted. However, in a modification, a process that can also extract image data associated with a passage other than the designated passage is illustrated.

  In the process of the modified example, the server 200 inputs an image extraction mode (step S321). In this embodiment, three types of designated passage orientation mode, parallel passage designation mode, and designated passage limited mode are prepared. The image extraction mode may be specified by the user by operating the display terminal 100 in step S30 of the map display process (FIG. 5). Any of the above-described image extraction modes may be fixedly used without performing such designation.

  The designated passage limited mode is a process corresponding to the embodiment. That is, when this mode is designated (step S321), the server 200 extracts image data based on the designation of the passage by the user (step S323). The contents of the image data extraction process are the same as in step S32 of the map display process (FIG. 5) in the embodiment. In this mode, image data associated with a passage other than the designated passage is not extracted.

  When the parallel passage designation mode is designated (step S321), the server 200 adds a passage parallel to the designated passage designated by the user to the designated passage (step S322), and extracts image data. (Step S323). For example, if the passage Rp in the figure is designated by the user, the passages Rq and Rr parallel to this are considered to be designated at the same time, and image data is extracted. This corresponds to automatically executing the “parallel” option of the passage designation process (FIG. 3) of the embodiment. Here, a “parallel” passage is added, but a passage that “crosses” the designated passage may be added to the designated passage.

  When the designated passage directing mode is designated (step S321), the following processing is executed for all buildings (step S324) to extract image data. The server 200 searches for a passage associated with the building between the building to be processed and the designated passage.

  For example, consider the case where the passage Rq is designated in the figure. The buildings H1 and H2 facing the passage Rq have image data associated with the passage Rq, but the building H3 not facing the passage Rq does not have image data associated with the passage Rq. And In this case, the server 200 draws a normal line NL from the building H3 to the designated passage Rq, and searches the passage intersecting with the normal line NL for the building H3 associated therewith. In the example in the figure, the passage Rq facing the building H3 is searched.

  When the passage is searched in this way, the server 200 extracts image data associated with the passage as display image data (step S326). In the designated passage-oriented mode, the above processing (steps S325 and S326) is executed for all buildings (step S327).

  Here, the difference between the parallel passage designation mode and the designated passage orientation mode will be described. An output example of each mode is illustrated in steps S322 and S325. When there is a building H2 associated with two passages Rq and Rp, in the parallel passage designation mode, an image is selected with priority given to heading by the image data arrangement processing (FIG. 6) of the embodiment. Therefore, for the building H2, not the passage Rq but the image associated with the passage Rp is used for map display. On the other hand, in the designated passage-oriented mode, a passage is searched between the designated passage and the building (step S325), so the passage Rp is not recognized as the designated passage for the building H2. Therefore, in the designated passage orientation mode, an image associated with the passage Rq is used for map display for the building H2. Thus, in both modes, the images used differ according to the positional relationship between the building and the passage. Generally speaking, in the parallel passage designation mode, image data is extracted so as to show the landscape when looking at the heading direction, while in the designated passage orientation mode, each side of the designated passage is standing on the designated passage. There is a difference that image data is extracted so as to show a landscape when the edge is seen.

  After the display image data is extracted by the processing in each mode described above, the appearance of the building is also obtained for the passages other than the designated passage by executing step S33 and subsequent steps of the map display processing (FIG. 5) of the embodiment. An image can be displayed. As described above, according to the processing of the modified example, it is possible to easily check a wide range of landscapes by simply specifying a part of the passages, and there is an advantage that convenience is improved.

  As mentioned above, although the various Example of this invention was described, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to these Examples, and can take a various structure in the range which does not deviate from the meaning. In this embodiment, the map DB 220 is prepared in the server 200. However, the map DB 220 may be provided by another server or a storage medium. In the present embodiment, the map display system including the server 200 and the display terminal 100 is exemplified, but the two may be integrated as a stand-alone device. In addition to being configured as a system for electronically displaying a map, this embodiment can also be configured as a map production system that outputs a map on paper by outputting display data as print data suitable for a printer. It is. In the present embodiment, an image of each building may be further configured as a building map expressed on a medium such as paper. As described in the first embodiment, such a building map may be accompanied by a display indicating the correspondence relationship between the image represented in the map and the passage.

It is explanatory drawing which shows the whole structure of the map display system as an Example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the data structure of drawing DB224 and image DB226. It is a flowchart of a passage designation process. It is explanatory drawing shown about heading designation | designated. It is a flowchart of a map display process. It is a flowchart of an image data arrangement process. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a map display in an Example. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of an enlarged display of the map in an Example. It is a flowchart of the image data extraction process as a modification.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Display terminal 110 ... Main control part 120 ... Communication part 130 ... Command input part 140 ... GPS
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 150 ... Display control part 200 ... Server 202 ... Communication part 204 ... Path | route designation | designated reception part 206 ... Path | route search part 210 ... Map display control part 212 ... Image data extraction part 220 ... Map DB
222 ... Road network DB
224 ... Drawing DB
224a ... passage polygon data 224b ... building polygon data 224c ... relational data 226 ... image DB

Claims (10)

A map display control device for displaying a map of a passable passage and a building facing the passage,
Map data storage means for storing map data including passage data representing the passage and image data of the building, and associated with the passage data and the image data;
Passage data specifying means for specifying at least one of the passage data;
Display data providing means for providing display data for displaying a map using at least the image data related to the passage data designated by the passage data designation means with reference to the map data storage means;
A map display control device. The map display control device according to claim 1,
The map data storage means stores a plurality of types of image data of the one building in association with one or a plurality of the passage data. The map display control device according to claim 2,
The map display control device, wherein the plurality of types of image data includes image data having different depiction directions of the building, and are associated with the passage data in a correspondence relationship according to the description direction. The map display control device according to claim 2,
The passage data specifying means can specify a plurality of the passage data,
The display data providing means selects a part of the image data based on a predetermined condition when there are a plurality of the image data related to the plurality of the passage data designated by the passage data designation means, A map display control device characterized by providing display data for displaying a map. A map display control device according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The map display control device, wherein the path data specifying means presents the path data candidates that can be specified in a map format, and receives the path data specification from the displayed candidates. A map display control method for displaying a map of an accessible passage and a building facing the passage,
As a process executed by the computer,
Managing the map data including the passage data representing the passage and the image data of the building, the map data associated with the passage data and the image data being referred to, and
Receiving designation of at least one passage data;
Providing display data for displaying a map using at least the image data related to the passage data designated by the passage data designation means with reference to the map data;
A map display control method comprising: A computer program for displaying a map of an accessible passage and a building facing the passage,
A program code for managing the map data including the passage data representing the passage and the image data of the building, wherein the map data in which the passage data and the image data are associated with each other can be referred to;
A program code for accepting designation of at least one passage data;
A program code for providing display data for displaying a map using at least the image data related to the passage data designated by the passage data designation means with reference to the map data;
A computer program comprising: Electronic map data used for map display by a map display control device,
Passage data representing passages that can be passed,
Including image data of buildings,
The passage data and the image data of the building are map data associated so that the image data can be selected according to the designation when the passage data is designated. The map data according to claim 8,
Map data in which a plurality of types of image data for one building are associated with one or a plurality of the passage data. The map data according to claim 8 or 9, wherein
Map data associating predetermined date and time information so as to be provided according to the selection of the image data.