JP4675215B2 - Information notification apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information notification apparatus and method for notifying a user of information, and more particularly to an information notification apparatus for notifying information at an appropriate timing depending on a position.

  In recent years, as represented by e-mail magazines, news, advertisements, life information, and the like have been distributed in a push type to personal computers and mobile phones. Unlike the information browsing based on the user's request, the PUSH type information provision notifies the user of the existence of information that can be browsed by the device, and the user browses the information according to convenience.

In such PUSH type information provision, a technique for providing information with appropriate contents according to time and the position of the user has been proposed. For example, there is a technique for distributing information according to time and position based on a user's information browsing history based on the combination of time and position and the regularity of information content browsed by the user (for example, Non-Patent Document 1). In addition, there is a technique for predicting the next action based on the regularity of the movement of the user and distributing information on the content related to the predicted next action (for example, Patent Document 1).
Katsumi Nibe, Atsushi Chazono, Noriko Ito: Mobile information distribution platform TPOCAST-Matsue Sightseeing GIS Demonstration Test Results-, IPSJ 63rd National Convention, 2R-3 ・ 4, 2001. JP 2000-293540 A

  However, there is a problem that even if information with appropriate contents is provided according to the time and the position of the user according to the conventional technique, the user cannot always browse the distributed information.

  That is, even if information that is considered useful for the user is notified from the time when the browsing information is notified and the position of the user, the user may not be able to browse the information when the notification is received.

  Further, the timing at which the user wants to receive information notification differs depending on the user. For example, if you get home and immediately notify the news that happened that day, one user will view the news immediately. However, some users will ignore the notification immediately after returning home to see the news before going to bed. For the latter, notification of such information is more appropriate before bedtime.

  If the user misses the opportunity to browse the notified information, the user may forget to notify the information, and the information may eventually remain unviewed. The user who browses the information before going to bed in the previous example may have forgotten the notification immediately after returning home.

  Also, depending on the content of the information, the value of the information may be lost if the information is not immediately viewed after receiving the notification. For example, the value of the information is lost because the user has moved to another location.

  Further, the fact that the user cannot browse the information means that the provider loses the opportunity to widely inform the information, and also the user loses the opportunity to obtain useful information. That is, if the user misses the opportunity to browse information, there is a problem that it is disadvantageous for both the provider and the user.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information notification device that can improve the probability that a user views the distributed information.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information notification device according to the present invention is an information notification device provided in a portable information terminal, which stores information for notifying a user, and the portable information Position determination means for determining a current position that is a current position of the terminal; elapsed time measurement means for measuring an elapsed time since the portable information terminal arrived at the current position; a preset position and the position A notification time storage means for storing a notification time that is an optimum elapsed time for notification of information after arriving at the position, and the notification time corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination means Notification determining means for determining that the information is to be notified when the elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measuring means reaches the notification time; Notification determination means and an information notifying means for signaling said information to the user when it is determined to notify the information.

  In this way, after the user arrives at a predetermined position, the information is notified when a time set by the user himself / herself has elapsed according to the position. Therefore, it is possible to notify the appropriate timing, and it is possible to improve the probability that the user views the distributed information.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information notification device according to the present invention is an information notification device provided in a portable information terminal, and stores information for notifying a user; Determined by position determination means for determining a current position that is the current position of the portable information terminal, elapsed time measurement means for measuring an elapsed time since the portable information terminal arrived at the current position, and determination by the position determination means Notification determining means for determining whether to notify the information from the current position and the elapsed time, and information for notifying the user of the information when the notification determining means determines to notify the information A notification means, a position when the information notification means notifies the information, an elapsed time from arrival at the position until the notification of the information, and a user who receives the notification of the information A browsing history accumulating unit that accumulates a browsing history corresponding to whether or not the report has been browsed, and the notification determining unit includes the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determining unit, The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the information is notified to the user using the browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time as an index indicating the appropriateness of the information notification.

  Thus, the information notification timing after the user arrives at a predetermined position is determined from the information browsing history of the user at that position, and the appropriate notification time is automatically updated. As a result, it is possible to further improve the probability that the user views the distributed information, and to release the user from the trouble of setting the notification time and improve the convenience of the user.

  Preferably, the notification determining unit calculates a browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determining unit, and the browsing possibility when the browsing frequency is high. The elapsed time measuring means calculates the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time, and sets the elapsed time of a predetermined width including the elapsed time with the highest browsing possibility as the optimal notification time for information notification. It is determined that the information is notified when the elapsed time measured by (1) reaches the notification time.

  In this way, the information notification timing after the user arrives at a predetermined position is notified when the user is most likely to view at that position. Thereby, it becomes possible to further improve the probability that the user browses the distributed information.

  More preferably, the notification determining unit calculates a browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determining unit, and the browsing is possible when the browsing frequency is high The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated, and the browsing possibility value corresponding to the elapsed time is measured by the elapsed time measuring unit as an index indicating appropriateness of information notification. In the elapsed time, it is determined that the information is notified with a probability of having a positive correlation with the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time.

  In this way, the information notification after the user arrives at the predetermined position is notified according to the position and the possibility that the user will browse at the elapsed time after arrival at the position. Thereby, notification of information to the user can be distributed, and the user is less likely to receive a large amount of information notification at a time. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the probability that the user views the distributed information.

  More preferably, the notification determination unit further calculates a browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit, and when the browsing frequency is high, The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time, which also increases the browsing possibility, is calculated, and it is determined that the information is periodically notified based on a browsing period indicating a temporal period in which the browsing possibility is increased.

  Thus, by notifying information according to the browsing possibility cycle, it is possible to disperse the information notification and further improve the probability that the user browses the distributed information.

  More preferably, the information notification device according to the present invention further includes a position category storage unit that stores a position category that is a classification of a position based on stay characteristics and a position that belongs to the position category in association with each other. The determination unit includes a current position category determination unit that determines the position category corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit based on content stored in the position category storage unit, and the current position category determination unit. A position category browsing history acquisition unit that acquires the browsing history corresponding to a position belonging to the same position category as the position category to which the current position belongs determined by the browsing history storage unit; and acquisition of the position category browsing history The browsing frequency corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated from the browsing history acquired by the department, and the browsing frequency is high. When the browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated and the browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated, and the information is notified to the user as an index indicating the appropriateness of information notification. A notification determination unit for determining.

  The stay characteristic is indicated by a combination of a stay time that is an average time of staying at a position and a stay frequency that is the number of times of staying at the position during a certain period.

  Furthermore, the information notification device according to the present invention further includes a stay history storage unit that stores the position and the stay history at the position of the portable information terminal in association with each other, and the position of the position obtained from the stay history. A location category classification unit is provided that classifies the location category according to the stay characteristic and stores the classification result in the location category storage unit.

  In this way, by classifying the position into position categories according to the stay characteristics and calculating the browsing possibility from the browsing history for each position category, an appropriate notification time is calculated even when the browsing history of each position is small can do. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the probability that the user views the distributed information.

  More preferably, the browsing history storage means includes a position when the information notification means notifies information, an elapsed time from arrival at the position to notification of the information, and a user who receives the notification of the information. In addition to whether or not the information has been browsed, a browsing history that associates the previous position before the position is accumulated, and the position determination unit determines a current position that is the current position of the portable information terminal. A current position determination unit, and a previous position storage unit that stores a previous position that is a position before the current position, and the notification determination unit stores the previous position stored in the previous position storage unit. And, from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit, calculates the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time, which increases the browsing possibility when the browsing frequency is high. It determines whether to notify the information to the user the elapsed time corresponding browsing possibilities as an index indicating the adequacy of the information notice.

  Thus, by determining not only the current position but also the previous position and determining the appropriateness of the information notification, the appropriateness of the information notification can be calculated more precisely. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the probability that the user views the distributed information.

  More preferably, the information notification device according to the present invention further includes a time acquisition unit that acquires the current time, and a time segment storage unit that stores a time segment that is a time zone that divides a certain period into a plurality of times. The browsing history storage means includes a position when the information notification means notifies the information, an elapsed time from arrival at the position to notification of the information, and a user who has received the notification of the information. In addition to whether or not the information has been browsed, the browsing history is stored in association with the time when the information notification means notifies the information, and the notification determination means corresponds to the current time acquired from the time acquisition means. A current time segment determination unit that determines the time segment according to the contents stored in the time segment storage unit, and a time belonging to the same time segment as the time segment determined by the time segment determination unit A browsing frequency acquisition unit that acquires the corresponding browsing history from the browsing history storage unit, and calculates a browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history acquired by the classification browsing history acquisition unit, and the browsing frequency is When it is high, the browsing possibility becomes high, the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time is calculated, and the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time is notified to the user as an index indicating appropriateness of information notification Then, a notification determination unit that determines to do so.

  The information notification device according to the present invention further includes a stay history storage unit that stores the position and the stay history of the user at the position in association with each other, and the current position according to time from the stay history of the current position. The frequency of stay is calculated, the magnitude of the stay frequency is divided into a plurality of frequency sections, and the time indicated by the dividing point of each frequency section is segmented into a certain period as a boundary time of the time section, A stay history time zone segmenting means for storing the result of the check in the time segment storage means.

  Further, the stay history time zone segmenting means calculates a stay frequency of the current position according to time from the stay history of the current position, calculates a maximum point and a minimum point of the stay frequency, and sets each adjacent maximum The time indicated by each intermediate point between the point and the minimum point is segmented into a plurality of predetermined periods as the boundary time of the time segment, and the segmented result is stored in the time segment storage means.

  Furthermore, the information notification device according to the present invention further includes time acquisition means for acquiring the current time, and time zones that are a plurality of candidates determined in advance for a time zone that is a time zone for dividing a certain period into a plurality of times. A time zone segment candidate storage unit that stores a segment candidate, and the notification determination unit includes each of the time zone segment candidates for the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit. The browsing frequency according to the elapsed time in the time segment is calculated, the browsing possibility is increased when the browsing frequency is high, the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time is calculated, and the browsing possibility is the highest. A notification time calculation unit that calculates an elapsed time of a predetermined width including an elapsed time that becomes higher as an optimal notification time for information notification, and each time zone of each of the time zone segment candidates calculated by the notification time calculation unit Among the notification times calculated by the notification time calculation unit, and a time zone classification selection unit that selects the time zone segment candidate that maximizes the distribution of the notification time as the time zone classification to be applied to the current position. The notification time corresponding to the time zone classification candidate selected by the band classification selection unit is acquired, and the information when the elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measuring means reaches the notification time corresponding to the current time A notification determination unit that determines to notify the user.

  As described above, the appropriateness of the information notification can be calculated more precisely by determining the appropriateness of the information notification with reference to not only the position but also the time zone in which the notification is performed. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the probability that the user views the distributed information.

  More preferably, the browsing history storage means includes a position when the information notification means notifies information, an elapsed time from arrival at the position to notification of the information, and a user who receives the notification of the information. In addition to whether or not the information has been browsed, it accumulates a browsing history that associates the time when the information notifying unit notifies the information and the time when the information has been withdrawn from the location, and the location determination unit includes the portable information A current position determination unit that determines a current position that is a current position of the terminal; and a previous position storage unit that stores a previous position that is a position before the current position, and the notification determination unit includes the position The elapsed time, wherein the browsing frequency corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the determination unit, and the browsing possibility increases when the browsing frequency is high. The elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measuring means is calculated with the elapsed time having a predetermined width including the elapsed time at which the browseability is the highest as notification time optimal for information notification. A first determination unit that determines to notify the information when the notification time is reached, and information from the browsing time corresponding to the previous position stored in the previous position storage unit from the exit time of the previous position The browsing frequency corresponding to the back calculation time until the notification time is calculated, the browsing possibility is increased when the browsing frequency is high, the browsing possibility is calculated according to the elapsed time, and the browsing possibility is 1 When the elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measuring means reaches an elapsed time of a predetermined width including the predicted notification time, the half of the elapsed time becomes the predicted predicted time optimal for information notification. And a second determination unit determines to notify the information.

  In addition, the notification determination unit may further include the information by the first determination unit when the current position of the user cannot be acquired by the position determination unit, or when the browsing history at the current position is less than a predetermined number. If the user's current position can be acquired by the position determination means and the browsing history at the current position does not reach a predetermined number, the second determination unit It has a switching determination unit for determining whether to notify information.

  In this way, even when the position of the information notification device cannot be specified or when the browsing history at that position is small, it is possible to notify the user of appropriate information at a wider range of positions by predicting the appropriateness of the information notification. It can be performed. Therefore, it is possible to further improve the probability that the user views the distributed information.

  More preferably, the browsing history storage means includes a position when the information notification means notifies information, an elapsed time from arrival at the position to notification of the information, and a user who receives the notification of the information. In addition to whether or not the information has been browsed, the user who has received the notification of the information accumulates a browsing history that is associated with a reaction time that is a time until the user reacts to the information. A notification length calculation unit that calculates an average of the reaction time at the current position as a notification length from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit; When the notification determination unit determines to notify the information, the information is notified to the user by the length of the notification calculated by the notification length calculation unit.

  As described above, it is possible to improve the convenience of the user by setting the length for notifying the information to an appropriate length according to the position of the user.

  More preferably, the information notification device according to the present invention is an information notification device provided in a mobile phone that is the information notification device, wherein the notification determination unit is further configured to measure the progress measured by the elapsed time measurement unit. If there is a voice call in the information notification device before the time reaches the notification time, the voice call time is added to the notification time.

  Thus, by considering the voice call time in the notification time, it becomes possible to perform information notification at a more appropriate time.

  More preferably, the information notification device according to the present invention further includes a stay history storage unit that stores a location and a stay history at the location of the portable information terminal in association with each other, and the notification determination unit includes: An average stay time at the current position is calculated from the stay history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination means, and the elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measurement means is determined according to the average stay time. When the notification time that monotonously increases is reached, the information is determined to be notified.

  In this way, the information notification timing after the user arrives at a predetermined position is determined from the user's stay history at that position, and the appropriate notification time is automatically updated. As a result, it is possible to improve the probability that the user views the distributed information, and to release the user from the trouble of setting the notification time and improve the convenience of the user. Note that the present invention can be realized not only as an information notification apparatus provided with such characteristic means, but also as an information notification method using the characteristic means included in the information notification apparatus as a step. .

  According to the present invention, it is possible to notify information at a timing convenient for the user's information browsing, and it is possible to improve the possibility that the user who has received the notification browses the information.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of an information notification device according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiments”) will be described with reference to the drawings.

(First embodiment)
First, a first embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “Embodiment 1”) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of the configuration of an information notification system in an embodiment of an information notification apparatus according to the present invention. The information notification device according to the present invention is provided in a portable information terminal having a wireless communication function. The information notification device according to the present invention is carried by a user, and notifies the information at a timing suitable for the user's location by acquiring the location of the terminal.

  The information notification system using the information notification device according to the present invention includes the information notification device 10, destination candidates 31, 32, and 33, and local wireless devices 41, 42, and 43. Such a configuration is common to all the embodiments.

  The information notification device 10 is an information notification device according to the present invention, and is a device that notifies the user of information. The information notification apparatus 10 is carried by the user and moves with the user. Therefore, the location of the user can be determined by acquiring the location of the information notification device 10. Further, the information notification device 10 is realized as a dedicated information notification device.

  The destination candidates 31, 32, and 33 are places where the user moves, for example, the home 31, the store 32, and the work place 33.

  The local wireless devices 41, 42, and 43 are devices that specify the position of the information notification device 10. The local wireless devices 41, 42, and 43 are respectively installed in the home 31, the store 32, and the work place 33 that are movement destination candidates.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an appearance of the information notification apparatus 10 according to the present invention.
An information notification device 10 according to the present invention includes an LED (Light Emitting Diode) 11, a speaker 12, a vibrator 13, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 14, a content display button 15, a notification stop button 16, a power supply And a button 17. The appearance of the information notification apparatus 10 shown in this figure is common to all the embodiments.

  The LED 11 notifies the user that there is information by light, the speaker 12 notifies the user that there is information by sound, and the vibrator 13 notifies the user that there is information by vibration.

The LCD 14 displays the contents of the notified information.
The content display button 15 is a button switch to be pressed when the user who has received the information notification displays the information content.

  The notification stop button 16 is a button switch that is pressed when the user who has received the information notification stops the notification.

  The power button 17 is a button for switching the power of the information notification apparatus 10 according to the present invention on and off. When the power button 17 is pressed during operation of the information notification device 10 according to the present invention, the information notification device 10 according to the present invention is turned off, and the information notification device 10 according to the present invention does not perform information notification. In addition, when the power button 17 is pressed when the information notification device 10 according to the present invention is not operating, the information notification device 10 according to the present invention is turned on. Execute processing such as notification.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. The information notification device 10 according to the first embodiment stores a notification time according to the position of the user, and refers to the stored content to provide information at a timing appropriate for the user arriving at a predetermined position. To be notified.

  The information notification apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, a notification time storage unit 106, a notification determination unit 107, and an information notification. Unit 108 and an operation acquisition unit 109.

  The information acquisition unit 101 is a communication I / F (interface) having a wireless communication function for acquiring information to be notified to the user from the outside. The acquisition source of the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 101 is, for example, a server that provides information. The information acquisition unit 101 accesses this server and acquires information.

  The information storage unit 102 is a memory or the like that stores information acquired by the information acquisition unit 101 through wireless communication. The content of information displayed on the LCD 14 when the user who has received the information notification presses the content display button 15 is stored.

  Here, a specific example of the content 102a stored in the information storage unit 102 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content 102 a stored in the information storage unit 102. The information content 102a stored in the information storage unit 102 is news such as a mail magazine, advertisements, and life information. The information storage unit 102 illustrated in the figure stores the content 102a of each information divided into items such as “genre”, “title”, and “text”.

  The position determination unit 104 determines the current position, which is the current position of the information notification device 10 according to the present invention, stores the previous position, which is the previous position, and compares the current position with the previous position. For example, Bluetooth (R) for determining the presence or absence.

  When the position determination unit 104 receives signals emitted from the local wireless devices 41, 42, and 43 installed at each location, the current position of the information notification device according to the present invention is determined. The current position determined by the position determination unit 104 is output to the notification determination unit 107.

  The time acquisition unit 105 acquires the current time. The time acquisition unit 105 acquires the current time from a part (not shown) having a clock function, and delivers the acquired time in response to an acquisition request from the notification determination unit 107.

  The notification time storage unit 106 stores notification time information 106a. The notification time information 106a according to the first embodiment is information in which a preset position and a notification time, which is an optimum elapsed time for notification of information after arrival at the position, are associated with each other. The timing suitable for information notification differs depending on the position where the user is currently located. The notification time storage unit 106 according to the first embodiment stores a notification time for each position preset by the user for each position. The notification time is the timing of information notification, and is represented by the elapsed time after arrival at the position.

  The notification determination unit 107 determines whether or not to notify information based on the appropriate information notification at the current position and the elapsed time determined by the position determination unit 104. The notification determination unit 107 is realized by, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a ROM (Read Only Memory) in which a program is stored.

  The notification determination unit 107 acquires the current position of the information notification apparatus 10 according to the present invention from the position determination unit 104 and acquires the current time from the time acquisition unit 105. That is, the notification determination unit 107 measures the elapsed time since the information notification device 10 according to the present invention has arrived at the current position from the current time and the arrival time of the current position stored by itself. Has a measurement unit.

  The notification determination unit 107 acquires an appropriate notification time at the current position stored in the notification time storage unit 106. Since the time when the calculated elapsed time reaches the notification time for the first time is appropriate for information notification, the notification determination unit 107 determines to notify the information.

  That is, the notification determination unit 107 acquires the notification time corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit 104 from the notification time storage unit 106, and the elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measurement unit included in the notification determination unit 107. It is a processing unit that determines to notify information when the notification time is reached.

  The information notification unit 108 notifies the user of information when the notification determination unit 107 determines to notify the information. For example, the information notification unit 108 is realized by causing the LED 11 to emit light, causing the speaker 12 to ring, and vibrating the vibrator 13.

  The operation acquisition unit 109 acquires an operation performed by the user who has received the information notification in the information notification apparatus 10 according to the present invention. User operations acquired by the operation acquisition unit 109 are, for example, pressing of the content display button 15, pressing of the notification stop button 16, and pressing of the power button 17.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content 106a stored in the notification time storage unit 106 according to the first embodiment. The notification time storage unit 106 according to the first embodiment stores, as notification time information, when the appropriate timing for information notification is appropriate for each position, and when it is appropriate not to notify the information.

  The content 106a stored in the notification time storage unit 106 according to the first embodiment includes “position ID”, “notification time”, and “position description”.

  “Position ID” is an ID (identifier) assigned to each position. “Location ID” is, for example, the Bluetooth (R) address of the local wireless devices 41, 42 and 43. Since the Bluetooth (R) address is unique for each of the local wireless devices 41, 42 and 43, the current position can be identified by the Bluetooth (R) address. In this figure, “P1” is the Bluetooth (R) address of the local wireless device 43 installed at the work place 33, and “P2” is the Bluetooth (R) address of the local wireless device 41 installed at the home 31. “P3” corresponds to the Bluetooth (R) address of the local wireless device 42 installed in the store 32.

  The “notification time” includes the elapsed time after arrival at the position indicated by the position ID. The “notification time” shown in this figure is an elapsed time after the arrival at that position, in which a tendency that the user can generally view is generally observed. “Not notify” means that information should not be notified at the position.

  “Description of position” is an explanation regarding the position indicated by the position ID. For example, the “description of position” corresponding to “P1” is “self-seat of work place”. This means that “P1” is the Bluetooth (R) address of the local wireless device 43 installed in the vicinity of the seat of the workplace 33. However, this item is not essential for the operation of this apparatus.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification apparatus according to the first embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 6 is executed in the information notification device 10 according to the present invention in order to notify the information when the notification time has elapsed since the information notification device 10 according to the present invention arrived at a certain position. This is a process that is executed in each part shown in FIG.

  First, the notification determination unit 107 performs an initial process for initializing an elapsed time as a variable to 0 (S101).

  Next, the information acquisition unit 101 accesses the outside via the mobile phone network, and when there is information to be acquired outside, acquires information from the information and stores it in the information storage unit 102 (S102).

  Here, the information to be acquired is information that the user has registered in advance for distribution to a specific information provider, such as news, advertisements, and life information by e-mail magazines.

  Subsequently, the position determination unit 104 determines the current position (S104). In the present embodiment, a Bluetooth (R) address that is an identifier issued by the local wireless devices 41, 42, and 43 is received, and the current position is determined from the Bluetooth (R) address. Therefore, the range in which the same Bluetooth (R) address can be received is the same position.

  Specifically, it is possible to obtain the position with an accuracy that the range of about 10 m in radius is regarded as the same position outdoors and the same room is regarded as the same position indoors. If the position can be determined with such a degree of accuracy, it is possible to achieve the object of the present invention of notifying information at an appropriate timing depending on the position.

If any of the local wireless devices 4 cannot receive the identifier, the position is unspecified.
Subsequently, the position determination unit 104 determines whether or not the position of the information notification apparatus 10 according to the present invention has moved (S104).

  As for a specific movement determination method, the position determination unit 104 stores the previous position, and the determination is made from the previous position and the Bluetooth (R) address of the local wireless devices 41, 42, and 43 currently received. If the position is different, the position determination unit 104 determines that the user has moved. Further, if the stored previous position is not different from the position determined from the Bluetooth (R) address of the local wireless devices 41, 42, 43 currently received, the position determination unit 104 indicates that the user has not moved. Is determined.

  When the position determination unit 104 determines that the user has moved (Yes in S104), the position determination unit 104 updates the previous position stored by itself and the current position stored by the notification determination unit 107. A movement process is executed in which the arrival time at is rewritten to the time acquired by the notification determination unit 107 from the time acquisition unit 105 (S105).

  When the position determination unit 104 determines that the user has not moved (No in S104), the position determination unit 104 does not execute the movement process (S105).

  The position determination unit 104 measures the elapsed time after the arrival at the current position in the notification determination unit 107 after the movement process (S105) is executed or after it is determined that the user has not moved (No in S104). (S106). That is, the notification determination unit 107 that has received an instruction to measure the elapsed time from the position determination unit 104 acquires the time from the time acquisition unit 105 and arrives at the current position from the time and the arrival time at the current position. The elapsed time since then is calculated.

  Subsequently, the notification determination unit 107 determines whether or not the elapsed time since the user arrived at the current position reaches the notification time of the current position stored in the notification time storage unit 106 for the first time. (S107). The elapsed time since the user arrived at the current position is the elapsed time calculated in S106.

  When the notification determination unit 107 determines that the elapsed time has reached the notification time for the first time (Yes in S107), the notification determination unit 107 outputs an instruction to notify the information notification unit 108 of information. Upon receiving the information notification instruction, the information notification unit 108 executes information notification processing (S108). Specifically, the information notification unit 108 turns on the LED 11 of the information notification apparatus 10 according to the present invention, rings the speaker 12, and vibrates the vibrator 13.

  When the notification determination unit 107 determines that the elapsed time has reached the notification time but it is not the first time, or determines that the elapsed time has not reached the notification time (No in S107), the notification determination unit 107 does not output an instruction to execute the information notification process to the information notification unit 108.

  Subsequently, when the operation acquisition unit 109 does not accept the user's pressing of the power button 17 (No in S109), the information notification apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment executes the processes from S102 to S108 again. Further, when the operation acquisition unit 109 accepts the user pressing the power button 17 (Yes in S109), the information notification apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment ends the process.

  For example, when the user moves to “home” (Yes in S104), the position determination unit 104 rewrites the previous position stored by itself to “home” and also stores “home” stored in the notification determination unit 107. The movement process of rewriting the arrival time at "" to the time at that time is executed (S105).

  Then, the notification determination unit 107 calculates the elapsed time (S106) and determines whether the elapsed time has reached the notification time. When determining whether or not the elapsed time has reached the notification time, the notification determination unit 107 refers to the notification time storage unit 106. As shown in FIG. 6, the optimal notification time at “home” is 10 minutes.

  Therefore, the notification determination unit 107 causes the information notification unit 108 to perform information notification when 10 minutes have elapsed after arrival at “home” (Yes in S107) (S108). In other cases (No in S107), when the operation acquisition unit 109 accepts the user's pressing of the power button 17, the information notification apparatus 10 according to the present invention ends the process, and the operation acquisition unit 109 displays the user's power button. Do not accept the pressing of 17. The processing from S102 to S108 is executed again.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an external appearance of the information notification device 10 according to the present invention when it is in operation.
FIG. 7A is a diagram showing an operation state of the information notification apparatus 10 according to the present invention for notifying information, and FIG. 7B is an illustration of the LCD 14 of the information notification apparatus 10 according to the present invention when the user browses the information. It is a figure which shows the example of the information displayed on the top. The external appearance of the information notification apparatus 10 shown in this figure when operating is common to all the embodiments.

  The information notification unit 108 included in the information notification device 10 according to the present invention operates the LED 11, the speaker 12, or the vibrator 13 shown in FIG. 7a. Each of these emits light, emits sound, or vibrates to notify the user of information.

  The information notification continues for a predetermined time until the user who has received the notification presses the content display button 15 or presses the notification stop button 16. For example, the predetermined time may be set by the user in addition to being preset in about 10 to 60 seconds.

  When the user who has received the information notification presses the notification stop button 16, the information notification device 10 according to the present invention stops the information notification. When the notification of information is stopped by pressing the notification stop button 16 or when a certain time has elapsed, the information notification device 10 according to the present invention does not display the content of the information.

  When the user who has received the information notification presses the content display button 15 to view the information, the information notification device 10 according to the present invention stops the notification of all the information as shown in FIG. The contents of the information are displayed on the LCD 14.

  As described above, after the user arrives at the predetermined position, by notifying the information when the time corresponding to the position has elapsed, the useful information can be obtained without causing the user to feel uncomfortable due to the inappropriate timing notification. Opportunities to obtain increase and convenience for the user increases. Further, providing information is more effective for the information provider.

  The information notification device 10 according to the first embodiment has been described above, but the first embodiment is not limited to this.

  For example, an appropriate notification time for each position stored in the notification time storage unit 106 may be set by the user.

  For example, when the information storage unit 102 stores a large amount of information, the notification determination unit 107 determines a notification time range in proportion to the number of information to be notified, and the elapsed time is within the range. It may be determined that the information notification is performed when the value reaches.

  When the number of pieces of information is large, missing the information notification by the user is equivalent to losing an opportunity for the user to obtain a lot of information. Therefore, by increasing the frequency of notifying the user of information according to the number of information, it is possible to prevent the user from losing a large amount of information.

  Further, for example, the information acquisition process executed by the information acquisition unit 102 shown in FIG. 6 (S102) is a flowchart shown in FIG. 6 in which information for one day is acquired and stored in the early morning every day. The notification determination to be processed may be performed at an arbitrary timing asynchronous with the notification determination.

  Further, for example, the information acquired by the information acquisition unit 102 may be other information as long as the information can be browsed or viewed by the user, such as information from a mail magazine, an electronic mail between individuals, or an unsolicited advertisement.

  Further, for example, the information acquisition path when the information acquisition unit 102 acquires information may be any method that can acquire information, such as a mobile phone network, a local wireless network such as the Internet network or Bluetooth (R), or a memory card. The method is also acceptable.

  Further, for example, the current position acquisition method of the position determination unit 104 is a position acquisition method that allows the user's information browsing behavior to specify a similar position range in addition to the identifiers issued by the local wireless devices 41, 42, and 43. Other methods may be used. For example, a method in which a certain range around latitude and longitude information by GPS (Global Positioning System) is set as the current position, a method in which an ID of a tag acquired using an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tag is set as the current position, and entrance / exit There is a method of setting the entrance information by the management system as the current position.

  Further, for example, when using a method capable of acquiring a position on a continuous scale, such as GPS, a certain range around latitude / longitude information obtained by GPS is the same according to the frequency of browsing by the user. You may control so that the range of the position considered as a position may be narrowed.

  At a position where the information browsing frequency of the user is high, the position of information browsing can be improved by specifying the position more finely than the position where the information browsing frequency is low and controlling the timing of information notification.

  Further, for example, when determining whether or not to notify the information, the position determination unit 104 determines based on the elapsed time after arrival at the current position rather than the elapsed time after arrival at the current position. Also good. Further, the position determination unit 104 may make a determination based on the elapsed time after arrival at the current position and the elapsed time after arrival at the past position. At this time, the position determination unit 104 also holds the elapsed time after arrival at one or more previous positions, and performs notification even when the elapsed time reaches a predetermined notification time.

  Thereby, when the timing suitable for a user's information browsing depends on the elapsed time after arrival in the past position from the present, the opportunity for a user to browse information can be improved.

  For example, a user who browses information in the living room after a certain period of time after arriving at the entrance of his / her home, moved to the living room after stopping at the toilet, bedroom, washroom, etc. In some cases, information is browsed after a certain period of time after arrival at the entrance. Therefore, by determining the timing of information notification based on the position before the current position, the opportunity for such a user to browse information can be improved.

(Second Embodiment)
Next, a second embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “Embodiment 2”) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  In the first embodiment, the notification time for each position is set in advance. However, setting the notification time for each position is troublesome, and it is a burden for the user to grasp an appropriate notification time for each position. Furthermore, it is a burden on the user that the setting must be changed when the position of the position changes due to a change in the life of the user.

  Therefore, the information notification apparatus according to the second embodiment makes it unnecessary to set the notification time by automatically determining the notification time for each position based on the user's information browsing history.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment, and the appearance when the information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment is in operation in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment.
The information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, a notification time storage unit 106, a notification determination unit 107, and an information notification. Unit 208, operation acquisition unit 109, browsing history storage unit 209, notification time calculation unit 210, and update determination rule storage unit 211.

  8, parts having the same functions as the parts included in the information notification apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals as those in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted.

  The information notification unit 208 notifies the user of information in the information storage unit 102 when the notification determination unit 107 determines to notify information. Whether the user who received the information notification has browsed the information within a certain period of time from the operation acquisition unit 109, and whether the user who has received the information notification and the information notification has viewed the information Is stored in the browsing history storage unit 209.

  The browsing history storage unit 209 is a memory or the like that stores a user's browsing history. The browsing history storage unit 209 displays the information when the information notification unit 208 notifies the information, the elapsed time from when the information notification unit 208 arrives at the position, and the user who has received the notification of the information. Browsing history is stored associating whether or not.

  Based on the browsing history 209a accumulated in the browsing history accumulating unit 209, the notification time calculating unit 210 obtains browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time for each position, and notifies information on the notification time obtained from browsing possibility. The time is stored in the time storage unit 106.

  Further, the notification time calculation unit 210 calculates the elapsed time at which the browsing possibility is maximum at the position from the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time, and if the browsing possibility exceeds a predetermined threshold, the notification time storage unit The calculated elapsed time is stored in 106. When the browsing possibility is less than the predetermined threshold, the notification time calculation unit 210 stores information indicating that the information notification is not performed at the position in the notification time storage unit 106.

  The update determination rule storage unit 211 stores an update determination rule 211a that is a rule that is referred to when the notification time calculation unit 210 updates the contents 106a of the notification time storage unit 106.

  The update determination rule 211a is stored in advance, for example, an update determination rule 211a that updates the notification time when the elapsed time since the update of the notification time storage unit 106 is equal to or longer than a certain period. ing.

  This makes it possible to reduce the update frequency and save computing resources as compared to the case where the information is notified each time.

  The notification time calculation unit 210 refers to the update determination rule storage unit 210 and determines whether or not the notification time storage unit 106 needs to be updated according to the update determination rule 210a. If it is determined that the notification time storage unit 106 needs to be updated, the notification time calculation unit 210 extracts the history of the current position from the browsing history 209 a stored in the browsing history storage unit 209.

  In addition, the notification time calculation unit 210 calculates the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time at the current position from the browsing history 209a corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit 104, and is optimal from the browsing possibility. The notification time is calculated, and the optimal notification time at the position is stored in the notification time storage unit 106.

  Furthermore, when calculating the optimal notification time from the browsing history 209a, the notification time calculating unit 210 calculates the browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history 209a, and the browsing possibility increases when the browsing frequency is high. The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated, and the elapsed time with the highest browsing possibility is set as a notification time optimum for information notification.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a detailed functional configuration of the notification time calculation unit 210 according to the second embodiment.
The notification time calculation unit 210 according to the second embodiment includes a notification time update determination unit 2101, a browsing history elapsed time conversion unit 2102, a histogram calculation unit 2103, and a maximum point calculation unit 2104.

  The notification time update determination unit 2101 determines whether to update the content stored in the notification time storage unit 210 according to the update determination rule 211a stored in the update determination rule storage unit 211. In this determination, the notification time update determination unit 2101 also refers to the browsing history 209a of the current position as necessary.

  The browsing history elapsed time conversion unit 2102 acquires the browsing history 209a from the notification time update determination unit 2101 together with the determination that the notification time update determination unit 2101 updates the content 210a stored in the notification time storage unit 210a. Further, the browsing history elapsed time conversion unit 2102 converts the acquired browsing history 209a into a browsing history corresponding to the elapsed time after arrival at the current position.

  The histogram calculation unit 2103 calculates a histogram by setting “1” as the information notification viewed for the browsing history 209a converted by the browsing history elapsed time conversion unit 2102 and “0” as the information notification that is not browsed.

  The maximum point calculation unit 2104 receives the histogram calculated by the histogram calculation unit 2103, specifies a function that approximates the histogram, and calculates the elapsed time that maximizes the browsing possibility as the optimal notification time.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the browsing history 209a stored in the browsing history storage unit 209 according to the second embodiment. The browsing history 209a includes “position ID”, “elapsed time”, and “presence / absence of browsing”.

  The “position ID” is the current position of the user when information notification is performed. 5 is the same as the “position ID” illustrated in FIG. 5 according to the first embodiment, and the position determination unit 104 indicates a current position determined from, for example, a Bluetooth (R) address received from the local wireless devices 41, 42, and 43. ID.

  The “elapsed time” is the time from when the user arrives at the position when the information notification is received until the information notification is received.

  “Presence / absence of browsing” indicates whether or not the user who has received the information notification browsed the information by “◯” and “×”. “○” indicates that the user viewed the information within a certain time after receiving the notification, and “×” indicates that the user did not view the information within a certain time after receiving the notification. To express.

  This figure shows that, for example, there is a notification made 10 seconds after arriving at “P1”, and the user who has received the notification has browsed the contents of the information.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the update determination rule 211 a stored in the update determination rule storage unit 211. The update determination rule 211a includes “variables” and “conditions”.

  “Variable” is an item of information considered to be important in determining whether or not the notification time storage unit 106 needs to be updated, among items of information obtained from the update history and browsing history.

  The “condition” indicates how much the notification time storage unit 106 should be updated when the value corresponding to the information item set in the “variable” reaches.

  The update determination rule 211a shown in this figure uses the “elapsed time since the last notification time update” as a variable, and when the variable has reached “one week or more”, the “number of arrivals at the current position” is An example is shown in which the notification time storage unit 106 is set to be updated when it corresponds to either “5 times or more” and “the number of times of information notification at the current position” is “10 times or more”. .

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment.

  In FIG. 12, processing executed in S210 and S211 is added between S108 and S109 shown in FIG. 6 of the first embodiment. The processes denoted by reference numerals S101 to S109 illustrated in FIG. 11 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals illustrated in FIG.

  Therefore, the description regarding these processes is omitted, and here, the browsing history accumulation process (S210) and the notification time update process (S211) will be described.

  First, after notifying the user of the information (S108), the information notification unit 208 additionally accumulates for each position whether or not the user has browsed the content of the information notified. Specifically, regarding the information notification performed by the information notification unit 208 to the user in S108, the position at the time of notification, the elapsed time from the arrival at the position to the information notification, and the user's information browsing by the notification The presence / absence is stored in association with each other. The presence / absence of browsing by the user is determined, for example, from the presence / absence of pressing of the user's content display button acquired by the operation acquisition unit 109, and the information notification unit 208 acquires the presence / absence of pressing of the content display button from the operation acquisition unit 109. And stored in the browsing history storage unit 209. Thereby, the browsing history storage unit 209 stores browsing history information (S210).

  Next, the notification time calculation unit 210 determines whether or not the notification time storage unit 106 needs to be updated, and updates the notification time stored in the notification time storage unit 106 based on the determination result (S211). Details of the processing in S211 will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing details of the process executed in the notification time update process S211 shown in FIG.

  First, the notification time update determination unit 2101 included in the notification time calculation unit 210 acquires the update determination rule 211a, and determines whether the notification time update is necessary according to the acquired update determination rule 211a (S2111). In the specific example of the update determination rule 211a shown in FIG. 11, the notification time update determination unit 2101 performs an update determination using “the number of arrivals at the current position” and “the number of information notifications at the current position” as variables. The browsing history storage unit 209 is also referred to.

  Next, when it is determined that the update is unnecessary in light of the update determination rule 211a (No in S2111), the notification time calculation unit 210 ends the process.

  When it is determined that the update is necessary in light of the update determination rule 211a (Yes in S2111), the notification time calculation unit 210 executes the following processing.

  First, the browsing history elapsed time conversion unit 2102 included in the notification time calculation unit 210 acquires the browsing history 209a at the current position extracted by the notification time marching determination unit 2101, and uses the acquired browsing history 209a upon arrival at the current position. It is converted into a format of presence / absence of browsing according to the elapsed time from (S2112).

  Next, the histogram calculation unit 2103 included in the notification time calculation unit 210 calculates histogram data from the presence / absence of browsing according to the elapsed time after arrival at the current position converted by the browsing history elapsed time conversion unit 2102. (S2113).

  Further, the maximum point calculation unit 2104 included in the notification time calculation unit 210 calculates an elapsed time that maximizes the browsing possibility from the function specified by the histogram data created in S2113 (S2114).

  Further, the maximum point calculation unit 2104 included in the notification time calculation unit 210 stores the elapsed time with the highest browsing possibility in the notification time storage unit 106 as the notification time of the current position (S2115).

  Here, the value stored in the notification time calculation unit 210 is the elapsed time calculated in the maximum point calculation process (S2114) when the highest browsing possibility obtained in the maximum point calculation process (S2114) is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold. It is. In addition, when the highest browsing possibility obtained in S2114 is less than the predetermined threshold, the notification time calculation unit 210 stores information indicating “not notify” at the current position in the notification time storage unit 106.

  FIG. 14 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the browsing history 209a at the current position and the elapsed time.

  It is a graph in which the horizontal axis is the elapsed time from the arrival at the current position until the information is notified, and the vertical axis is the user's browsing presence or absence for the notification, and the browsing history at the current position is indicated by a dot . Each ○ point in the figure indicates each history information stored at the current position.

  This figure schematically shows the browsing history converted by the conversion process executed by the browsing history elapsed time conversion unit 2102 in the browsing history conversion process (S2112 shown in FIG. 13).

  FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between the elapsed time at the current position and a function indicating browsing possibility. In this figure, the abscissa indicates the elapsed time, the ordinate indicates the browsing possibility at the current position of the user, and the ◯ points indicate examples of accumulated information notifications.

  With reference to this figure, the process in the histogram calculation part 2103 and the maximum point calculation part 2104 which the notification time calculation part 210 has is demonstrated concretely.

  First, in the histogram calculation process (S2113) shown in FIG. 13, the histogram calculation unit 2103 sets t (i) as the elapsed time at the time of notification for the i-th information notification case in the browsing history 209a at the current position. Histogram data is calculated from all browsing histories 209a at the current position, where v (i) is the presence or absence of browsing. Here, v (i) is set to v (i) = 1 when there is browsing, and v (i) = 0 when there is no browsing.

  The circles in the figure indicate the histogram data calculated by the histogram calculation unit 2103.

  Next, the maximum point calculation unit 2104 specifies a function that approximates the histogram data in the maximum point calculation processing (S2114) shown in FIG. The function that approximates the histogram of the history information 209a is a function that indicates browsing possibility with the elapsed time as a variable. Subsequently, the maximum point calculation unit 2104 calculates an elapsed time at which the browsing possibility is maximized.

  In the present embodiment, the approximation function is a polygonal line, and the polygonal line in the figure is a function that approximates the histogram data specified by the maximum point calculation unit 2104. In the present embodiment, a polygonal line that is an approximate function is specified by a direct search method.

Here, the details of the specifying method will be described with reference to Equation (1) and Equation (2).
In the following equation (1), t is a variable indicating elapsed time, and y (t) is a function indicating browsing possibility. In addition, a, b, c, and d in the formula (1) are constants, and a broken line indicating browsing possibility is specified by these constants.

  The polygonal line indicated by Equation (1) is convex and bends at point (a, b). a, b, c, and d are the maximum point calculation unit 2104 so that the sum of squares of the difference between the broken line shown in Expression (1) and the browsing history (hereinafter referred to as “total square error”) is minimized. Is calculated by

The total square error is expressed by the following equation (2). In the following equation (2), e is a total square error, and n is the number of data in the browsing history 209a at the current position.

  The maximum point calculation unit 2104 calculates a, b, c, and d using a direct search method that searches for a coefficient that minimizes the total square error e by changing a plurality of values for each coefficient. (S2113).

  When the function indicating the browsing possibility is specified in this way, the maximum point calculation unit 2104 obtains the elapsed time at which the browsing possibility is maximized from the function. A broken line shown in FIG. 15 is a function indicating browsing possibility.

  Since the browsing possibility is maximized when the elapsed time is a, the maximum point calculation unit 2104 uses the elapsed time a as the notification time at the current position. However, when the browsing possibility when the elapsed time is a is less than the predetermined threshold, the current position is a position where no information notification is performed at any elapsed time.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relationship between elapsed time at a plurality of positions and a function indicating browsing possibility. The function indicating the browsing possibility is different for each user and for each position. This figure shows examples of function variations.

  A in this figure is an example in the cafeteria of the workplace, and the possibility of browsing is highest when the elapsed time is 3 minutes. The notification time calculation unit 210 stores “3 minutes” as the “notification time” of the “business cafeteria” stored in the notification time storage unit 106.

  This figure B is an example at the office of the office of work, and when the elapsed time is 0 minutes, the possibility of browsing is the highest and then decreases. The notification time calculation unit 210 stores “0 minutes” as the “notification time” of “workplace's own seat” stored in the notification time storage unit 106.

  C of this figure is an example of the conference room 1 of the workplace, and D is an example of the conference room 2 of the workplace. Although C and D have different optimal notification times, the browsing possibility remains lower than the threshold regardless of the elapsed time. The notification time calculation unit 210 stores “not notify” as “notification time” of “working conference room 1” and “working conference room 2” stored in the notification time storage unit 106. In such a case, information is not notified at any elapsed time.

  As described above, the information notification timing after the user arrives at the predetermined position can be automatically determined from the information browsing history of the user at the position. Thereby, it is not necessary to set the notification time for each position, and it is not necessary for the user to grasp the optimal notification time, and the convenience for the user can be further enhanced.

  The information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment has been described above, but the second embodiment is not limited to this.

  For example, the browsing history may be the amount of information browsed, not the presence or absence of browsing. In that case, in the histogram calculation process (S2113) shown in FIG. 13, v (i) is the information amount of information viewed by the user who has received the i-th information notification. The amount of information is measured by, for example, the number of characters for text and the number of images for image.

Thereby, the notification time with higher accuracy can be calculated.
In addition, for example, the browsing history may be browsing time, which is the time when browsing information, instead of browsing. In that case, in the histogram calculation process (S2113) shown in FIG. 13, v (i) is set as the browsing time browsed by the user who received the i-th information notification.

  Thereby, the notification time with higher accuracy can be calculated. The use of the browsing time is effective particularly when there is a strong correlation between the browsing time and the amount of information, such as text browsing time, video playback time, and sound playback time.

  Further, for example, the method of calculating the elapsed time with the highest browsing possibility is not a function that approximates the histogram data, but by adding the histogram data included in the sections obtained by dividing the elapsed time at fixed time intervals in each section. A method may be used in which a browsing probability histogram is created and the elapsed time a taking the maximum value is obtained from the histogram.

  Furthermore, in this case, the time interval for dividing the elapsed time may be variable. For example, there is a method of adjusting each time interval so that the number of notification cases in each time segment is constant.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an example of a browsing probability histogram in which the time interval is adjusted.
In the histogram shown in FIG. 17, the time segment is short because the frequency of notification cases is high in the elapsed time of 2 to 4 minutes, and the time segment is longest after 17 minutes because the frequency of notification cases is the smallest.

  As a result, it is possible to prevent a decrease in the reliability of the histogram of the browsing possibility of the time segment, which occurs due to a small number of notification cases. Therefore, even when the notification frequency varies depending on the elapsed time, it is possible to calculate an appropriate notification time based on a reliable histogram, so it is possible to improve the opportunity for the user to browse information It becomes.

  Further, for example, the function that approximates the histogram data calculated from the browsing history may be a function represented by another approximate expression such as a polynomial expression. Further, a moving average or the like may be used when specifying a function. In this case as well, in order to prevent a decrease in the reliability of approximation due to a variation in notification frequency due to elapsed time, the function to be approximated may take into account the weight according to the notification frequency.

  Further, for example, as a method for searching for an approximate curve, in addition to the direct search method, other search methods may be used as long as a method for obtaining an approximate curve solution such as a least square method.

  Further, for example, the threshold of the browsing possibility that is a criterion for determining whether or not to set the optimum notification time to “not notify” is a predetermined value, or may be set by the user. Alternatively, a method of automatically setting a threshold for browsing possibility may be used.

  The method of automatically calculating the threshold is, for example, based on the browsing history stored in the browsing history storage unit 209, by dividing the number of times of information browsing at all positions by the number of times of information notification, thereby obtaining an average of the user. There is a method of calculating an information browsing probability and using it as a threshold value.

  By automatically calculating the threshold based on the browsing history in this way, the threshold for users with high information browsing frequency is high because the desire for information browsing is high, and the need for information browsing is low because the desire for information browsing is low. The threshold for users with low frequency is low. For this reason, the information notification can be appropriately performed without being excessively frequent and without being excessively reduced.

  Further, for example, the information notification may be performed once to several times in a certain time width before and after the optimal notification time. In addition, the time width may not be constant, and may be a time proportional to the browsing possibility at the optimal notification time, for example.

  This makes it possible to avoid the concentration of information notification at that position.

(Third embodiment)
Further, a third embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “Embodiment 3”) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment automatically determines the optimal notification time according to the position based on the user's information browsing history. However, even when the notification time is optimal, if there is a plurality of pieces of information to be notified, if only one piece of information is notified at the notification time, the user loses the opportunity to browse other information. On the other hand, if a large amount of information is notified at an optimal notification time at a time, the user may get tired of browsing the information even if the optimal notification time is reached.

  Therefore, the information notification apparatus according to the third embodiment automatically uses a probability according to the browsing possibility for each elapsed time from the browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time calculated for each position based on the user's information browsing history. Determine information notification. Thereby, it becomes possible to disperse information notifications and prevent concentration of information browsing.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 53 according to the third embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 53 according to the third embodiment and the appearance when the information notification device 53 according to the third embodiment is in operation in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 53 according to the third embodiment.
The information notification device 53 according to the third embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, a browseability storage unit 306, a notification determination unit 307, an information A notification unit 208, an operation acquisition unit 109, a browsing history storage unit 209, and a browsing possibility calculation unit 310 are provided.

  18, parts having the same functions as the parts included in the information notification device 52 according to Embodiment 2 are given the same reference numerals as those in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted.

  The browsing possibility storage unit 306 stores browsing possibility data 306a. The browsing possibility data 306a is data indicating the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time for each position calculated by the browsing possibility calculation unit 310. Specifically, the browsing possibility data 306a is data for specifying the function indicating the browsing possibility described in the second embodiment, and is, for example, each value of a, b, c, and d in Expression (1).

The notification determination unit 307 determines whether to notify information probabilistically according to the elapsed time.
The notification determination unit 307 is an elapsed time after arrival at the current position from the current position of the information notification device 53 according to the present invention acquired from the position determination unit 104 and the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit 105. Measure. The notification determination unit 307 determines the execution of the information notification at that time with a probability having a positive correlation with the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time stored in the browsing possibility storage unit 306.

  That is, the notification determination unit 307 uses the browsing possibility value corresponding to the elapsed time as an index indicating the appropriateness of the information notification, and the browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time in the elapsed time measured by the notification determination unit 307. It is determined that information is notified with a probability of having a positive correlation.

  The browsing possibility calculation unit 310 calculates the browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history 209a corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit 104, and the browsing possibility increases when the browsing frequency is high. The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated.

  More specifically, the browsing possibility calculation unit 310 specifies a function indicating browsing possibility according to the elapsed time from the browsing history 209a stored in the browsing history storage unit 209, and specifies this function. The browsing possibility data which is data is calculated. The browsing possibility calculation unit 310 stores the browsing possibility data in the browsing possibility storage unit 306.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification device 53 according to the third embodiment.

  FIG. 19 is a flowchart in which the processes in S107 and S211 in the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment are replaced with the processes in S307 and S311.

  Of the processes shown in the figure, processes other than S307 and S311 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. Therefore, the processing executed in S307 and S311 will be described below.

First, the process in S307 will be described.
The notification determining unit 307 determines a probabilistic information notification according to the elapsed time after arrival at the current position (S307).

  In S307, the notification determination unit 307 first refers to the function indicating the browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time corresponding to the current position stored in the browsing possibility storage unit 306, and can be browsed at the current elapsed time. Get sex value. Next, the notification determination unit 307 generates a random number of 0 or more and less than 1 in order to make a determination of information notification probabilistically.

  If this random number is less than the browseability value (Yes in S307), the notification determination unit 307 issues an information notification instruction to the information notification unit 108, and the information notification unit 108 that has received the instruction executes information notification processing. (S108). Further, when the random number is equal to or larger than the browsing possibility value (No in S307), a determination process for determining whether or not to end is executed (S109).

Next, the process in S311 will be described.
The browsing possibility calculation unit 310 calculates the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time at the current position based on the browsing history stored in the browsing history storage unit 209, and the browsing possibility storage unit 306 stores the browsing possibility. The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time at the current position is updated (S311).

  The browsing possibility according to the elapsed time is indicated by the function indicating the browsing possibility described in the second embodiment. A function indicating the browsing possibility by executing the same processing as the processing performed by the notification time calculation unit 210 in S2112 and S2113 illustrated in FIG. 13 according to the second embodiment, by the browsing possibility calculation unit 310 in the third embodiment. Is identified.

  The browsing possibility data 306a stored in the browsing possibility storage unit 306 is updated with the browsing possibility data that is data for specifying a function indicating the browsing possibility. Specifically, a, b, c, and d of Expression (1) calculated by the browsing possibility calculation unit 310 are stored in the browsing possibility storage unit 306, respectively.

  As described above, information is automatically notified from the user's information browsing history at the current position of the user with a probability proportional to the browsing possibility at the position and the elapsed time for each elapsed time after arrival at the position. Or not is determined. As a result, it is possible to distribute the time of information notification, prevent a large amount of information from being notified at a time, and prevent the concentration of the burden of information browsing by the user.

  The information notification device 53 according to the third embodiment has been described above, but the third embodiment is not limited to this.

  For example, the browsing possibility is corrected by multiplying the browsing possibility by a coefficient proportional to the number of information stored in the information storage unit 102, and the probability of information notification increases when the number of information is large. When there is little, the probability of information notification may be lowered.

  In this way, by changing the probability of information notification according to the number of information, it is not possible to notify information when the number of information to be notified is large or when the number of information is small It is possible to prevent exhaustion and to prevent notification of excessive or too small information.

  In addition, for example, when information stored in the information storage unit 102 has a scale indicating importance and urgency, and there is information with high importance and urgency, the possibility of browsing according to the importance and urgency is provided. It is also possible to correct the browsing possibility so as to increase the probability of notification and increase the probability of notification.

  Furthermore, for example, as a premise of performing information notification stochastically, a browsing possibility threshold value may be provided. That is, the information notification device according to the present invention probabilistically notifies information when the browsing possibility at the position is equal to or greater than the threshold value, but does not perform information notification when the browsing possibility at the position is lower than the threshold value.

  This makes it possible to improve user convenience without performing information notification when the browsing possibility is lower than a certain degree, for example, during a meeting.

  Further, for example, the determination of the information notification may be determined by a probability having a positive correlation with the browsing possibility in addition to the probability directly proportional to the browsing possibility. Further, the determination of the information notification may be performed according to a probability function in which the probability of the information notification increases monotonously according to the browsing possibility.

  By determining the information notification according to the probability function that the probability of information notification increases monotonously according to the browsing possibility, you do not want to be notified at places and times when the browsing possibility is low, and notifications at places and times when the browsing possibility is high It is possible to notify the information when it is desired to meet the user's wish.

(Fourth embodiment)
Furthermore, a fourth embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment 4”) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment automatically determines the optimal notification time for each position based on the user's information browsing history. However, when the user's information browsing history is still small, an optimal notification time with high accuracy cannot be obtained.

  Here, it is observed that there is a correlation between the stay characteristic of the position and the elapsed time during which the user's information browsing at the position is most frequent. FIG. 20 is a schematic diagram illustrating a relationship among an average stay time at a position, a stay frequency, and an information browsing most frequent elapsed time. FIG. 20 shows that the information browsing mode elapsed time tends to be longer as the average stay time per time is longer, and the information browsing mode elapsed time tends to be longer as the stay frequency is higher.

  Therefore, the information notification apparatus according to the fourth embodiment classifies the positions into categories according to the stay characteristics, and automatically determines the notification time for each position category based on the user's information browsing history. This makes it possible to obtain an optimal notification time with high accuracy even when the information browsing history is still small.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 54 according to the fourth embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 54 according to the fourth embodiment, and the appearance when the information notification device 54 according to the fourth embodiment is in operation are described in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

FIG. 21 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 54 according to the fourth embodiment.
The information notification device 54 according to the fourth embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, a notification time storage unit 406, a notification determination unit 407, and an information notification. Unit 208, operation acquisition unit 109, browsing history storage unit 209, notification time calculation unit 410, and position category storage unit 411.

  21, parts having the same functions as the parts included in the information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted.

  The position category storage unit 411 stores a position category in which positions are classified according to a predetermined stay characteristic indicating the characteristic of stay at a position and a position belonging to the position category in association with each other.

  Here, the location category is a classification based on a stay characteristic that is an attribute of the position, and the stay characteristic is a stay time that is an average time that the user stays at the position and a stay that is the number of times the user stays at the position for a certain period of time. It is indicated by a combination of frequencies. The contents stored in the position category storage unit 411 are set in advance by the user.

The notification time storage unit 406 stores an optimal notification time for each position category.
The notification determination unit 407 acquires the current position of the information notification device 54 according to the present invention from the position determination unit 104, acquires the current time from the time acquisition unit 105, and the position to which the position belongs from the position category storage unit 411 Get category.

  Further, the elapsed time from arrival at the current position is calculated from the current time and the arrival time of the current position stored by itself, and the notification time corresponding to the position category is calculated from the position category notification time storage unit 406. Whether or not to notify the information is determined based on whether or not the elapsed time has reached the notification time for the first time.

  That is, the notification determination unit 407 includes a current position category determination unit that determines a position category corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit 104 with reference to the position category storage unit 411 and the current position category determination unit. Whether or not to notify the user of information is determined using the browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time corresponding to the position category to which the current position to be determined is an index indicating the appropriateness of the information notification.

  The notification time calculation unit 410 acquires, from the browsing history accumulation unit 209a, the browsing history 209a corresponding to the position belonging to the same position category as the position category to which the current position belongs, which is determined by the current position category determination unit included in the notification determination unit 407. To do.

  In addition, the notification time calculation unit 410 calculates the browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history 209a acquired by the position category browsing history acquisition unit, and the browsing possibility increases when the browsing frequency is high. The corresponding browsing possibility is calculated.

  Further, the notification time calculation unit 410 stores the calculated elapsed time in the notification time storage unit 106 when the maximum value of browsing possibility exceeds a predetermined threshold value, and the maximum value of browsing possibility is less than the predetermined threshold value. In this case, the notification time calculation unit 210 according to the second embodiment stores information in the notification time storage unit 106 that information notification is not performed at the position.

  FIG. 22 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of the position category data 411a stored in the position category storage unit 411.

  This figure uses stay time and stay frequency as an index indicating the stay characteristics of the location. The staying time is an average time that the user stays at the position. The stay frequency is an index indicating how many times the user stays at the position in a certain period.

  In this figure, the stay time is divided into three categories: “long (average 1 hour or more)”, “medium (average 10 minutes or more and less than 1 hour)” and “short (average 10 minutes or less)”. By dividing into “average (once a day or more)”, “medium (once a week or more and less than once a day)”, and “few (on average less than once a week)”, there are 9 location categories Classification. For example, the position “self-seat at work” indicates that the “stay time” belongs to the position category “long” and the “stay frequency” “high”.

  FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content 406a stored in the notification time storage unit 406 according to the fourth embodiment. The notification time storage unit 406 according to the fourth embodiment stores the location category and the optimal notification time of each category. This notification time is represented by an elapsed time after the user arrives at a position belonging to the position category.

  For example, in a position where “stay time” is “long” and “stay frequency” is “high”, the optimum elapsed time for information notification after arrival is “10 minutes”.

FIG. 24 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.
24 replaces the process executed in S107 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment with the process executed in S406 and S407, and is executed in S211 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment. 5 is a flowchart in which the process is replaced with the process executed in S411.

  Of the processes shown in the figure, processes other than S406, S407, and S411 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. Therefore, the process performed in S406, S407, and S411 will be described below.

First, the processing in S406 and S407 will be described.
The notification determination unit 407 refers to the position category to which the position stored in the position category storage unit 411 belongs, and acquires the position category of the current position (S406).

  Subsequently, the notification determination unit 407 refers to the notification time for each position category stored in the notification time storage unit 406, and the elapsed time after arrival at the current position is set to the notification time corresponding to the position category of the current position. It is determined whether or not it has been reached for the first time (S407).

  When the notification time is reached for the first time (Yes in S407), the notification determination unit 407 determines that information notification is to be performed, and issues an instruction to notify the information notification unit 108 of information (S108).

  Further, when the notification time has not been reached and when the notification time has been reached and the second time or later (No in S407), the operation acquisition unit 109 executes the process in S109.

  For example, when the current location is “home”, the location category of “home” is “long stay” for “stay time” and “high” for “stay frequency”. Since the optimal notification time in the location category where “stay time” is “long” and “stay frequency” is “high” is 10 minutes, the first 10 minutes after arriving at “home” (S407) When the notification determination unit 407 issues an information notification instruction to the information notification unit 208, the information notification unit that has received this instruction notifies the user of information (S108). In other cases (No in S407), the operation acquisition unit 109 executes the process in S109.

Next, the process in S411 will be described.
First, the notification time calculation unit 410 refers to the position category to which the position stored in the position category storage unit 411 belongs, and obtains the position category of the current position.

  Next, the notification time calculation unit 410 extracts the browsing history 209a of the position belonging to the position category of the current position from the browsing history 209a stored in the browsing history storage unit 209, and based on the extracted browsing history 209a, The browsing possibility according to the elapsed time in the position category of the position is calculated.

  Further, the notification time calculation unit 410 calculates the elapsed time that maximizes the browsing possibility from the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time, and the notification time storage unit 406 stores the elapsed time as a new notification time. The notification time corresponding to the position category to which the current position belongs is updated.

  The optimum notification time in the position category is the same as the processing performed by the notification time calculation unit 210 in S2112 to S2114 shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment, and is executed by the notification time calculation unit 410 according to the fourth embodiment. It is calculated by doing. However, the browsing history 209a extracted by the notification time calculation unit 410 in S2112 is history information 209a regarding the position category to which the current position belongs.

  FIG. 25 is a schematic diagram of a function indicating the browsing possibility specified by the notification time calculation unit 410 according to the fourth embodiment.

  FIG. 25 schematically illustrates a list of functions indicating browsing possibilities specified for each position category by the notification time calculation unit 410.

  As described above, it is possible to automatically determine the appropriate information notification timing according to the elapsed time since the user arrived at the predetermined position from the information browsing history of the user in the position category to which the position belongs. Since the browsing history for each location category accumulates a larger amount of history earlier than the browsing history for each location, it is possible to obtain a highly accurate optimal notification time when the user's information browsing history is still small. It becomes possible.

(Fifth embodiment)
Further, a fifth embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment 5”) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The information notification device 54 according to the fourth embodiment automatically determines the optimal notification time for each position category based on the user's information browsing history. However, registration of the position category is troublesome, and it is a burden to grasp the position category of the position.

  Therefore, the information notification apparatus according to the fifth embodiment eliminates the need for setting the position category by automatically classifying the position into the position category based on the stay history of the user's position.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 55 according to the fifth embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 55 according to the fifth embodiment, and the appearance when the information notification device 55 according to the fifth embodiment is in operation are described in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

FIG. 26 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 55 according to the fifth embodiment.
The information notification device 55 according to the fifth embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 504, a time acquisition unit 505, a notification time storage unit 406, a notification determination unit 407, and an information notification. Unit 208, operation acquisition unit 109, browsing history storage unit 209, notification time calculation unit 410, location category storage unit 511, stay history storage unit 512, and location category classification unit 513.

  In FIG. 26, the site | part which has the same function as the site | part with which the information notification apparatus 54 concerning Embodiment 4 is provided is attached | subjected with the same referential mark as the referential mark in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted.

  The position determination unit 504 determines the current position of the information notification device 65 according to the present invention, stores the previous position, and determines the presence or absence of movement by comparing the current position with the previous position.

The current position determined by the position determination unit 504 is output to the notification determination unit 407.
Also, the position determination unit 504 outputs the position after movement, that is, the current position to the position category classification unit 513 when it is determined that the movement has occurred.

  The time acquisition unit 505 acquires the current time. The time acquisition unit 505 delivers the acquired time to the notification determination unit 407 in response to the acquisition request from the notification determination unit 407.

  The position category storage unit 511 stores a position category and a position belonging to each position category. The contents stored in the position category storage unit 511 are the same as the information shown in FIG. 19 according to the fourth embodiment, and are updated by the position category classification unit 513.

  The stay history storage unit 512 stores the location and the stay history of the user at that location in association with each other.

  The location category classification unit 513 creates a stay history and stores the stay history in the stay history accumulation unit 512, and classifies the location into a location category according to the stay characteristics of the location obtained from the stay history accumulated in the stay history accumulation unit 512. Then, the classified result is stored in the position category storage unit 411.

  For the former, the position category classification unit 513 receives the current position output from the position determination unit 504 during movement, and acquires the time from the time acquisition unit 105 at that time. In addition, the location category classification unit 513 stores this time in the stay end time at the previous position and the stay start time at the current location in the stay history stored in the stay history accumulation unit 512. However, when the current position is unknown, the position category classification unit 513 does not store the stay start time of the current position and does not store the stay end time of the position.

  For the latter, the position category classification unit 513 first determines a new position category from the stay history accumulated in the stay history accumulation unit 512. Next, the position category classification unit 513 updates the position category corresponding to the current position stored in the position category storage unit 411 to the newly determined position category.

FIG. 27 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents 512 a stored in the stay history storage unit 512.
In FIG. 27, the stay history includes “position ID”, “stay start time”, “stay end time”, and “position description”. “Position ID” and “Description of position” shown in the figure are the same as “Position ID” and “Description of position” shown in FIG. 6 according to the first embodiment, respectively. Therefore, these descriptions are omitted.

“Stay start time” is the time of arrival at the position indicated by “position ID”.
The “stay end time” is a time when the user leaves the position indicated by the “position ID”.

  This figure is, for example, “stay end time” from “home stay” indicated by “P2” as “location ID” from “23:30 on April 5, 2005” which is “stay start time”. It shows that he stayed until “6:40 on April 6, 2005”.

  Here, the “stay end time” before the movement of the position does not match the “stay start time” after the movement of the position. These deviations are caused by the time required for processing in the information notification device 55 according to the present invention or passing through a place where the current position cannot be determined before and after the device is moved.

  FIG. 28 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification device 55 according to the fifth embodiment.

  FIG. 28 is a flowchart in which the processes executed in S512 and S513 are added between the processes executed in S104 and S105 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 24 according to the fourth embodiment.

  Of the processes shown in the figure, processes other than S512 and S513 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. Therefore, the process performed in S512 and S513 is demonstrated below.

  If the position determination unit 504 determines that the user has moved (Yes in S104), the position category classification unit 513 receives the determination and acquires the current time from the time acquisition unit 105. Next, the location category classification unit 513 stores the current date and time in the stay end date and time and the stay start date and time corresponding to the current location of the final location of the stay history accumulated in the stay history accumulation unit 512 (S512).

  Subsequently, the position category classification unit 513 first extracts all stay histories at the current position accumulated by the stay history accumulation unit 512, and calculates the average stay time at the current position once and the average stay frequency per day. To do. Next, the position category classification unit 513 refers to the stay characteristics for each position category stored in the position category storage unit 411 based on the calculated average stay time and average stay frequency, and the current position is assigned to any position category. Determine if it belongs. Further, the position category classification unit 513 updates the position category corresponding to the current position stored in the position category storage unit 411 to the position category obtained by the determination (S513).

  As described above, the position can be automatically classified into the position category based on the stay history of the user's position. For this reason, it is not necessary to set the position category to which the position belongs, and the convenience for the user can be further enhanced.

(Sixth embodiment)
Further, a sixth embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment 6”) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment automatically determines the optimal notification time according to the position based on the user's information browsing history. However, the optimal notification time is not always constant even at the same position.

  For example, even if the current position is “working at your office”, the optimal notification is given when the position before the current position is “home” and when the position before the current position is “working cafeteria”. It is observed that the times are different.

FIG. 29 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the notification time varies depending on the previous position.
A broken line indicating the browsing possibility in the case where the current position is “self-employed at work” and the previous position is “home” and “dining room at work” is shown.

  Since the former is moving from “home” to “self-employed at work”, it is time to go to work. Due to the condition of changing clothes to uniforms, the elapsed time with the highest possibility of browsing the former is about 16 minutes. The latter is after lunch at lunchtime because it has moved from the “working canteen” to the “working seat”. Since there is no particular preparation, the elapsed time with the highest browsing possibility of the latter is about 4 minutes.

  Therefore, the information notification apparatus according to the sixth embodiment automatically determines the notification time for each combination of the current position and the previous position based on the user's information browsing history. Thereby, even if it is the same position, different optimal notification time can be judged according to a situation, and it becomes possible to obtain the optimal notification time with higher accuracy.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 56 according to the sixth embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 56 according to the sixth embodiment, and the appearance when the information notification device 56 according to the sixth embodiment is in operation in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

FIG. 30 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 56 according to the sixth embodiment.
The information notification device 56 according to the sixth embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 604, a time acquisition unit 105, a notification time storage unit 606, a notification determination unit 607, and an information notification. Unit 208, operation acquisition unit 109, browsing history storage unit 609, and notification time calculation unit 610.

  30, parts having the same functions as the parts included in the information notification device 52 according to Embodiment 2 are given the same reference numerals as those in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted.

  The position determination unit 604 determines a current position that is the current position of the information notification device 66 according to the present invention, stores a previous position that is a position before the current position, and compares the current position with the previous position. To determine the presence or absence of movement.

  The position determination unit 604 outputs the previous position stored in the position determination unit 604 and the current position determined by the position determination unit 604 to the notification determination unit 607, and also determines the previous position and current position when it is determined that the position has moved. It outputs to the notification time calculation part 610.

  The notification time storage unit 606 stores a notification time for each combination of the current position and the previous position.

  The notification determination unit 607 determines whether or not to notify the user of information using the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time as an index indicating the appropriateness of the information notification. The notification determination unit 607 acquires the notification time at the current position stored in the notification time storage unit 606 based on the current position acquired from the position determination unit 104 and the previous position, and the elapsed time since the arrival at the current position, When the notification time is reached for the first time, it is determined to notify the information.

  The elapsed time is a difference between the arrival time of the current position stored in the notification determination unit 607 and the current time, and is calculated by the notification determination unit 607.

  The browsing history storage unit 609 stores a user's browsing history 609a. The browsing history accumulating unit 609 is a position where the information notifying unit 208 has notified the information, an elapsed time from arrival at the position until the information is notified, and a user who has received the notification of the information viewed the information. In addition to whether or not, the browsing history that associates the previous position before that position is accumulated.

  The notification time calculation unit 610 also increases the browsing possibility when the browsing frequency is high from the browsing history corresponding to the previous position stored in the position determination unit 604 and the current position determined by the position determination unit 604. The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated. The notification time calculation unit 610 stores the calculated result in the notification time storage unit 606.

  FIG. 31 is a diagram illustrating an example of the browsing history 609a stored in the browsing history storage unit 609 according to the sixth embodiment. The browsing history 609a includes “previous position ID”, “current position ID”, “elapsed time”, and “presence / absence of browsing”.

  The “previous position ID” is a position ID indicating the previous position of the user stored in the position determination unit 604 when information notification is performed.

“Current position ID” is a position ID indicating the current position of the user when the information is notified.
“Elapsed time” is the time from when the user arrives at the current position until the user receives an information notification.

  “Presence / absence of browsing” indicates whether or not the user who has received the information notification browsed the information by “◯” and “×”. “○” indicates that the user viewed the information within a certain time after receiving the notification, and “×” indicates that the user did not view the information within a certain time after receiving the notification. To express.

  This figure shows, for example, that there was a notification made 10 seconds after the user who moved from “P1” to “P2” arrived at “P2”, and the user who received the notification viewed the contents of the information Is shown.

  FIG. 32 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents 606a stored in the notification time storage unit 606 according to the sixth embodiment. The notification time storage unit 606 stores, for each combination of the current position and the previous position, the elapsed time since arrival at the current position optimal for information notification.

  In FIG. 32, for example, when the current position is “P1”, if the previous position is “P5”, the optimum elapsed time for information notification after arrival is 0 minutes, but if the previous position is “P2”, It indicates that the optimum elapsed time for notification of information after arrival is 15 minutes.

  FIG. 33 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification device 56 according to the sixth embodiment.

  FIG. 33 is a flowchart in which the processes executed in S107 and S211 in the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment are replaced with the processes executed in S607 and S611, respectively.

  Of the processes shown in the figure, processes other than S607 and S611 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. Therefore, the process performed in S607 and S611 will be described below.

First, the process in S607 will be described.
The notification determination unit 607 acquires from the position determination unit 604 the previous position stored in the position determination unit 604 and the current position determined by the position determination unit 604. Next, the notification determination unit 607 acquires the notification time corresponding to the acquired current position and the previous position from the notification time storage unit 606. Subsequently, the notification determination unit 607 calculates the difference between the arrival time of the current position stored in itself and the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit 105, so that the elapsed time since arrival at the current position is calculated. Is calculated. Further, the notification determination unit 607 compares the notification time acquired from the notification time storage unit 606 with the calculated elapsed time, and determines whether or not the elapsed time has reached the notification time for the first time (S607).

Next, the process in S611 will be described.
The notification time calculation unit 610 first acquires the previous position stored in the position determination unit 604 and the current position determined by the position determination unit 604 from the position determination unit 604.

  Next, when there is a browsing history 609a corresponding to a combination of the previous position and the current position from the browsing history 609a stored in the browsing history storage unit 609, the notification time calculation unit 610 extracts and extracts the browsing history 609a. Based on the browsing history 609a, the function indicating the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time in the combination of the current position and the previous position is specified.

  Here, the notification time calculation unit 610 ends the process (not shown) when there is no browsing history 609a corresponding to the combination of the previous position and the current position.

  Subsequently, the notification time calculation unit 610 calculates the elapsed time in the combination of the current position and the previous position where the browsing possibility is maximized from the specified function, and the notification time storage unit 606 uses this elapsed time as the notification time. The data to be updated is updated (S611).

  The optimal notification time for the combination of the current position and the previous position is calculated by the same method as the processing executed by the notification time calculation unit 210 in S2112 to S2114 shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment. That is, the optimum notification time for the combination of the current position and the previous position is calculated by replacing the process for the current position in S2112 to S2114 shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment with the process for the combination of the current position and the previous position. Is done.

  FIG. 34 is a schematic diagram of a function indicating the browsing possibility specified by the notification time calculation unit according to the sixth embodiment.

  FIG. 34 schematically shows a list of functions indicating the browsing possibility specified by the notification time calculation unit 610 for the combination of the current position and the previous position.

  As described above, the information notification timing after the user arrives at the predetermined position can be automatically determined from the information browsing history of the user in the combination of the position and the previous position. For this reason, it is possible to separate a plurality of optimum notification times in different situations at the same position, and to obtain a more accurate optimum notification time.

(Seventh embodiment)
Further, a seventh embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “Embodiment 7”) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment automatically determines the optimal notification time according to the position based on the user's information browsing history. However, the optimal notification time is not always constant even at the same position.

  For example, even when the current position is “closest station”, it is observed that the optimal notification time differs between the case where the current time is “morning time zone” and the case of “night time zone”.

FIG. 35 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the notification time varies depending on the time zone.
This figure shows a broken line indicating the browsing possibility when the current position is “nearest station” and the time zone in which “current station” stays is “morning” and “night”.

  The former is when going to work. Since only the information is browsed during the waiting time of the train, the elapsed time with the highest possibility of browsing the former is 0 minutes. The latter is when going home. Since the information is browsed in a situation such as shopping near the nearest station, the latter has the highest browsing time of about 13 minutes.

  Therefore, the information notification apparatus according to the seventh embodiment automatically determines the notification time for each combination of the current position and the time zone based on the information browsing history of the user. Thereby, even if it is the same position, different optimal notification time can be judged according to a situation, and it becomes possible to obtain the optimal notification time with higher accuracy.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 57 according to the seventh embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 57 according to the seventh embodiment, and the appearance when the information notification device 57 according to the seventh embodiment is in operation in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

FIG. 36 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 57 according to the seventh embodiment.
The information notification device 57 according to the seventh embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, a notification time storage unit 706, a notification determination unit 707, and an information notification. Unit 208, operation acquisition unit 109, browsing history storage unit 709, and notification time calculation unit 710.

  36, parts having the same functions as the parts included in the information notification device 52 according to Embodiment 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted.

  The notification time storage unit 706 stores a time segment that is a time zone for dividing a certain period into a plurality of times, and stores a notification time for each combination of the current position and the time zone segment. The time zone classification is a category in which time zones are classified, for example, “morning” before 0:00 and before 10:00 and “daytime” after 10:00 and before 17:00. “Morning”, “noon” and “night” when “after night” and before “12:00” are classified as “night”.

The time included in each time zone is set in advance by a user or the like.
The notification determination unit 707 determines whether or not to notify the user of information using the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time as an index indicating the appropriateness of the information notification. The notification determination unit 707 acquires the notification time at the current position stored in the notification time storage unit 606 based on the time zone to which the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit 105 belongs and the current position acquired from the position determination unit 104. When the elapsed time from the arrival at the current position reaches the notification time for the first time, it is determined to notify the information.

  The elapsed time is a difference between the arrival time of the current position stored in the notification determination unit 707 and the current time, and is calculated by the notification determination unit 707.

  The browsing history storage unit 709 adds the position when the information notification unit 208 notifies the information, the elapsed time since arrival at the position, and whether the user who received the notification of the information viewed the information. Thus, the browsing history is stored in association with the time when the information notification unit 108 notifies the information.

  The notification time calculation unit 710 is configured to determine a time segment corresponding to the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit 105 with reference to the notification time storage unit 706, and a current time determined by the time segment determination unit. A browsing history acquisition unit that acquires, from the browsing history storage unit 709, a browsing history 709a corresponding to a time that belongs to the same time zone as the time zone to which the time belongs;

  In addition, the notification time calculation unit 710 calculates the browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history 709a acquired by the classification browsing history acquisition unit, and the browsing possibility increases when the browsing frequency is high. The browsing possibility according to the above is calculated. Further, the notification time calculation unit 709 stores the calculated result in the notification time storage unit 706.

  FIG. 37 is a diagram illustrating an example of the browsing history 709a stored in the browsing history storage unit 709 according to the seventh embodiment. The browsing history 709a includes “position ID”, “elapsed time”, “notification time”, and “presence / absence of browsing”.

“Position ID” is a position ID indicating the current position of the user when information notification is performed.
“Elapsed time” is the time from when the user arrives at the current position until the user receives an information notification.

“Notification time” is the time when information notification is performed.
“Presence / absence of browsing” indicates whether or not the user who has received the information notification browsed the information by “◯” and “×”. “○” indicates that the user viewed the information within a certain time after receiving the notification, and “×” indicates that the user did not view the information within a certain time after receiving the notification. To express.

  In the figure, for example, there is a notification made at “7:50 on April 5, 2005” which is “2 minutes” after arrival at the position “P1”. This indicates that the content of the information was not browsed.

  FIG. 38 is a diagram illustrating an example of content 706a stored in the notification time storage unit 706 according to the seventh embodiment. The notification time storage unit 706 stores an optimal notification time for each combination of the current position and the time zone.

  For example, FIG. 38 shows that when the position ID indicating the current position is “P1” and the time zone is “morning”, “notification” is performed in the time zone included in “morning”. Further, for example, when the position ID indicating the current position is “P1” and the time zone is “daytime”, the optimum elapsed time for information notification after arrival is “0 minutes”, that is, notification is made immediately after arrival. Show. Further, for example, when the position ID indicating the current position is “P1” and the time zone is “night”, it indicates that the optimum elapsed time for information notification after arrival is “20 minutes”.

FIG. 39 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification apparatus according to the seventh embodiment.
FIG. 39 is a flowchart in which the processes executed in S107 and S211 in the flowchart shown in FIG. 11 according to the second embodiment are replaced with the processes executed in S707 and S711, respectively.

  Of the processes shown in this figure, processes other than S707 and S711 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. Therefore, the processing executed in S707 and S711 will be described below.

First, the process in S707 will be described.
The notification determination unit 707 acquires the current position determined by the position determination unit 104 from the position determination unit 104 and acquires the current time from the time acquisition unit 105. Next, the notification determination unit 707 acquires a notification time corresponding to the time zone classification to which the acquired current position and current time belong from the notification time storage unit 706. Subsequently, the notification determination unit 707 calculates the difference between the arrival time of the current position stored in itself and the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit 105, so that the elapsed time since arrival at the current position is calculated. Is calculated. Further, the notification determination unit 707 compares the notification time acquired from the notification time storage unit 706 with the calculated elapsed time, and determines whether or not the elapsed time has reached the notification time for the first time (S707).

Next, the process in S711 will be described.
When there is a browsing history 709a corresponding to a combination of time zone classifications to which the current position and current time belong from the browsing history 709a stored in the browsing history storage unit 709, the notification time calculation unit 710 first displays the browsing history 709a. Based on the retrieved browsing history 609a, the function indicating the browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time corresponding to the combination of the current position and the time zone classification is specified.

  Here, the notification time calculation unit 710 ends the process (not shown) when there is no browsing history 609a corresponding to the combination of the previous position and the current position.

  Subsequently, the notification time calculation unit 710 calculates the elapsed time in the combination of the current position and the time zone division that maximizes the browsing possibility from the specified function, and uses this elapsed time as the notification time in the notification time storage unit 706. The corresponding data is updated (S711).

  The optimal notification time corresponding to the combination of the current position and the time zone classification is calculated by the same method as the processing executed by the notification time calculation unit 210 in S2112 to S2114 shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment. That is, by replacing the process for the current position in S2112 to S2114 shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment with the process for the combination of the current position and the time zone classification, the optimal notification time in the combination of the current position and the time zone classification is Is calculated.

  FIG. 40 is a schematic diagram of a function indicating the browsing possibility specified by the notification time calculation unit 710 according to the seventh embodiment.

  FIG. 40 schematically shows a list of functions indicating the browsing possibility specified by the notification time calculation unit 710 for the combination of the current position and the time zone classification.

  As described above, the information notification timing after the user arrives at the predetermined position can be automatically determined from the information browsing history of the user in the combination of the position and the time zone. As a result, it is possible to separate a plurality of optimum notification times in different situations at the same position and obtain a more accurate optimum notification time.

  The information notification device 57 according to the seventh embodiment has been described above, but the seventh embodiment is not limited to this.

  For example, the time zone may be classified according to the day of the week, or may be another category as long as it is a category within the range related to the calendar, such as a work day and a non-work day.

  Since the user's information browsing behavior differs depending not only on the time zone but also on the day of the week or work day, information can be notified at an appropriate timing.

In addition, for example, the time zone division may be set for each position.
Further, for example, the notification time may be determined by a position category for each position.

  In this case, the information notification device 57 according to the seventh embodiment includes the position category classification unit 513 and the position category storage unit 511 illustrated in FIG. 26 according to the fifth embodiment in addition to the functional blocks illustrated in FIG.

(Eighth embodiment)
Furthermore, an eighth embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “Eighth Embodiment”) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The information notification device 68 according to the eighth embodiment automatically determines the optimal notification time according to the combination of the position and the time zone based on the information browsing history of the user. However, since the user's life time zone varies depending on the user, the time that becomes the boundary of each time zone differs in obtaining the optimum notification time.

  FIG. 41 is a diagram illustrating an example in which a life time zone varies depending on a user. User A and user B shown in FIG. 41 have different time zones in which they are staying at home and at work.

  Therefore, the information notification apparatus according to Embodiment 8 automatically creates a time zone classification that matches the time zone of the user's life based on the stay history of the user's location, and further, a combination of the current location and the time zone By automatically determining the notification time for each, it is possible to obtain a more accurate and optimal notification time that matches the time zone of the user's life.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 58 according to the eighth embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 58 according to the eighth embodiment, and the appearance when the information notification device 58 according to the eighth embodiment is in operation in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

FIG. 42 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 58 according to the eighth embodiment.
The information notification device 58 according to the eighth embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, a notification time storage unit 806, a notification determination unit 707, and an information notification. Unit 208, operation acquisition unit 109, browsing history storage unit 709, notification time calculation unit 810, time zone segment storage unit 811, stay history storage unit 512, and stay history time zone segmentation unit 815.

  In FIG. 42, parts having the same functions as the parts included in the information notification device 57 according to Embodiment 7 are given the same reference numerals as those in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted. 42 has the same function as the stay history storage unit 512 provided in the information notification device 55 according to the fifth embodiment shown in FIG. Therefore, the description here regarding the stay history accumulation unit 512 shown in FIG. 42 is omitted.

  The notification time storage unit 806 stores a notification time for each combination of position and time zone classification. The time zone segment indicating how the time included in each time zone is set is a notification time calculation unit 810 that acquires the contents of the time zone segment storage unit 811 that stores the determination of the stay history time zone segment unit 815. Updated by That is, the time zone segment in the notification time storage unit 806 is based on the determination of the stay history time zone segment unit 815.

  The elapsed time is a difference between the arrival time of the current position stored in the notification determination unit 707 and the current time, and is calculated by the notification determination unit 707.

  The notification time calculation unit 810 extracts the time zone classification to which the current time belongs and the browsing history 709a of the current position from the browsing history 709a stored in the browsing history storage unit 709, and extracts the current position from the extracted browsing history 709a. Calculate the notification time for each combination of time zones. The notification time calculation unit 810 stores the calculated result in the notification time storage unit 806.

  The time zone segment storage unit 811 stores the time zone segment determined for each position by the stay history time zone segment unit 815. The content 811 a stored in the time zone classification storage unit 811 is read by the notification time calculation unit 810.

  The stay history time zone segment unit 815 stores the stay history in the stay history storage unit 512 based on the current position determined by the position determination unit 104 and the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit. Further, the segment of the time zone for each position is determined from the stay history accumulated in the stay history accumulation unit 512, and the determined time zone segment for each position is stored in the time zone segment storage unit 811.

FIG. 43 is a diagram showing a detailed functional configuration of the stay history time zone segment unit 815.
The stay history time zone segment unit 815 includes a stay probability calculation unit 8151, a maximum / minimum point calculation unit 8152, and a time zone segment unit 8153.

  Stay probability calculation unit 8151 acquires the current time acquired by time acquisition unit 105 and the current position acquired by position determination unit 104, and further acquires the stay history corresponding to the current position from stay history storage unit 512. Moreover, the histogram which shows the stay probability according to the time in the said position from the acquired stay history is calculated.

  The maximum / minimum point calculation unit 8152 receives the histogram calculated by the stay probability calculation unit 8151 and calculates the maximum point and the minimum point of the stay probability.

  The time zone segment unit 8153 receives the maximum point and the minimum point of the stay probability calculated by the maximum / minimum point calculation unit 8152, performs time zone segmentation, and stores the result in the time zone segment storage unit 811.

  That is, the stay history time zone segment unit 815 calculates the stay frequency of the current position according to the time from the stay history of the current position, calculates the maximum point and the minimum point of the stay frequency, and each adjacent maximum value and minimum point The time indicated by each of the intermediate points is a processing unit that divides a certain period into a plurality of times as the boundary time of the time segment and stores the segmented result in the time segment storage means.

  FIG. 44 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content 811a stored in the time zone classification storage unit 811 according to the eighth embodiment. The content 811a stored in the time zone category storage unit 811 includes “position ID”, “category 1”, “category 2”, “category 3”, “category 4”, and “category 5”.

“Position ID” is an ID assigned to each position.
“Category 1” to “Category 5” are time zones included in each time zone division determined for each position. These divisions are not limited to five, and the number of time zone divisions corresponding to each position is stored.

  For example, the time zone segment of the location indicated by “PID” of “Place ID” is composed of only segments of four time zones. In this figure, for the time zone classification of the position indicated by “Position ID” “P6”, “Category 1” is “22:00 and before 7:30”, and “Category 2” is “7:30”. "After 10:14 and before 10:14", "Category 3" is "10:14 and before 18:30", and "Category 4" is "18:30 and after 22:00" Indicates. Here, “after 22:00 and before 7:30” includes “22:00 and before 24:00” and “00:00 and before 7:30”, and “24 “0:00” and “0:00” indicate the same time.

  Further, for example, the time zone classification of the location indicated by “Place ID” “P5” is composed of only segments of 5 time zones. In the figure, regarding the time zone classification of the position indicated by “PID” in “Position ID”, “Category 1” is “After 9:00 and before 11:00”, and “Category 2” is “11:00”. "After 14:00 and before 14:00", "Category 3" is "After 14:00 and before 16:45", "Category 4" is "After 16:45 and before 20:00", "Category “5” indicates “22:00 to 9:00 before”. “22:00 and before 9:00” includes “22:00 and after 24:00” and “00:00 and before 9:00” in the same manner as described above.

  FIG. 45 is a diagram illustrating an example of the content 806a stored in the notification time storage unit 806 according to the eighth embodiment. The notification time storage unit 806 stores a notification time for each combination of position and time zone classification.

  For example, when the position ID indicating the current position is “P6” and the time zone is “Category 1”, the notification time is “not notified”, indicating that no information notification is made. Further, for example, when the current position is “P6” and the time zone is “section 2”, the optimum elapsed time for information notification after arrival is “0 minutes”, that is, notification is made immediately after arrival.

  FIG. 46 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification device 68 according to the eighth embodiment.

  46 adds processing executed in S815 between S104 and S105 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 36 according to the seventh embodiment, and between S210 and S711 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 33 according to the seventh embodiment. 36 is a flowchart in which the process executed in S815 is added, and the process executed in S711 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 36 according to the seventh embodiment is replaced with the process executed in S811.

  Of the processes shown in the figure, processes other than S812, S815, and S811 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. Therefore, the process performed in S812, S815, and S811 is demonstrated below.

First, the process in S812 will be described.
When the position determination unit 504 determines that the user has moved (Yes in S104), the stay history time zone segment unit 815 receives the determination and acquires the current time from the time acquisition unit 105. Next, the stay history time zone segment unit 815 stores the current date and time in the stay end date and time of the final position of the stay history accumulated in the stay history accumulation unit 512 and the stay start date and time of the current position (S512).

Next, the processing of S815 and S811 will be described.
First, the stay history time zone segment unit 815 creates a histogram indicating the stay probability according to the time from all the stay histories at the current location from the stay history storage unit 512, and determines the segment of the time zone for each location. The determined time zone division for each position is stored in the time zone division storage unit 811 (S815).

  Next, the notification time calculation unit 810 acquires the time zone division of the current position from the time zone division storage unit 811 and determines the time zone division to which the current time belongs. Subsequently, the notification time calculation unit 810 acquires, from the browsing history storage unit 709, the browsing history 709a that is the browsing history 709a of the current position and belongs to the time zone classification to which the current time belongs. Further, the notification time calculation unit 810 specifies a function indicating the browsing possibility from the extracted browsing history 709a, and calculates the notification time that maximizes the browsing possibility. Subsequently, the notification time calculation unit 810 updates the notification time stored in the notification time storage unit 806 corresponding to the time zone to which the current position and the current time belong to the calculated notification time (S811).

  The optimum notification time in the combination of the current position and the time zone section is calculated by the same method as the calculation of the optimum notification time in S711 shown in FIG. 36 according to the seventh embodiment.

  FIG. 47 is a flowchart showing details of the processing executed in the time zone segment processing S815 shown in FIG.

  First, the stay probability calculation unit 8151 included in the stay history time zone segment unit 815 extracts all stay histories 512a at the current position from the stay history accumulation unit 512, and obtains a histogram of stay probabilities according to time (S8151).

  Next, the maximum / minimum point calculation unit 8152 included in the stay history time zone segment unit 815 determines the time when the stay probability is maximum from the histogram of the stay probability and the stay probability (hereinafter, the time when the maximum is “maximum time”, the maximum) The stay probability at the time is referred to as “maximum value”), the time at which the stay probability is minimum, and the stay probability (hereinafter, the time at which the stay is minimum is referred to as “minimum time”, and the stay probability at the minimum time is referred to as “minimum value”). Ask for. (S8152)

  Subsequently, the time zone segment unit 8153 included in the stay history time zone segment unit 815 determines the time at which the stay probability is the average of the maximum value and the minimum value between adjacent local maximum times and local minimum times. Calculate the boundary time. By calculating the time that becomes the boundary of the time zone division for all the maximum time and the minimum time combination, the time zone segments, that is, the number of time zone divisions and the time included in each time zone division are determined (S8153). ).

  Subsequently, the time zone segment unit 8153 included in the stay history time zone segment unit 815 stores the time zone segment at the position from the determined segment of the time zone in the time zone segment storage unit 811 (S8154).

FIG. 48 is a schematic diagram showing the relationship between the histogram of stay probability and the time zone classification.
The curve shown in the figure is an example of a curve indicating the stay probability at the position “P6”, which is represented by a function that smoothly connects the stay probability histograms.

  This figure shows the stay probability according to the time when the stay probability at the position “P6” becomes “0” at “1:00” and gradually becomes “0.9” at “9:00”, for example. Is shown until “24:00”. In addition, the crosses in the figure are points where the stay probability becomes maximum or minimum, and “1:00” and “14:00” are minimum times, and “9:00” and “21:00” “00 minutes” is the maximum time.

  From such a stay probability histogram, the stay history time zone segment unit 815 determines the time at which the stay probability is the average of the maximum value and the minimum value between adjacent maximum times and minimum times as the boundary of the time zone division. Is calculated.

  With reference to this figure, the time zone segment process (S815) which the stay history time zone segment part 815 performs is demonstrated concretely.

  For example, the stay probability at the minimum time “1:00” is “0”. Further, the stay probability at the local maximum time “9:00” adjacent thereto is “0.9”. The stay history time zone segment unit 815 calculates a time when the stay probability is “0.45” between “1:00” and “9:00”. In the example shown in the figure, the stay probability at “7:30” is “0.45”. The stay history time zone segment unit 815 determines “7:30” as the time that is the boundary of the stay category.

  The stay history time zone segment unit 815 determines the segment of the time zone by executing such processing for each adjacent maximum time and minimum time. Note that the time is considered to be in an annular shape between 24:00 and 00:00.

  In FIG. 48, the time zone is divided into four sections, “Category 1”, “Category 2”, “Category 3”, and “Category 4”, and “22: 0 to 7:30” and “7:30 to 10”, respectively. : 15 "," 10: 15-18: 30 "and" 18: 30-22: 00 ".

  FIG. 49 is a schematic diagram of a function indicating the browsing possibility specified by the notification time calculation unit 810 according to the eighth embodiment.

  FIG. 49 schematically shows a list of functions indicating the browsing possibility specified by the notification time calculation unit 810 for the combination of the current position and the time zone classification.

  As described above, it is possible to automatically create a time zone classification that matches the time zone of the user's life based on the stay history of the user's location, and automatically notify the notification time for each combination of the current location and the time zone. Can be determined. As a result, it is possible to obtain a more accurate optimal notification time that matches the time zone of the user's life.

  The information notification device 58 according to the eighth embodiment has been described above, but the eighth embodiment is not limited to this.

  For example, the time zone is divided into the categories of “high”, “medium”, and “low” with a stay probability using a predetermined threshold value without using a time at which the intermediate point between the maximum and minimum points of the stay probability is taken. Any other segmentation method may be used as long as the segmentation is based on the stay probability based on the stay history.

(Ninth embodiment)
Furthermore, a ninth embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “Embodiment 9”) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The information notification device 58 according to the eighth embodiment determines the time zone division at the position based on the stay history of the user's position. However, in the case of a position where the same position is entered and exited many times without leaving a time interval, it is difficult to make a phrase in the time zone using the stay history.

  For example, a “unique stay probability” can be seen in “workplace's own seat”, but it is observed that notification times with high browsing possibility differ between morning and afternoon.

  FIG. 50 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the notification time varies depending on the stay time at the position indicating the unimodal stay probability. The current position is “Self-employed at work” and is unimodal. As shown in FIG. 50, the broken line indicating the possibility of browsing the “workplace's own seat” is different between morning and afternoon, and the notification time with high browsing possibility is also different.

  Therefore, in the present embodiment, based on the information browsing history at the user's position, a time zone classification that matches the user's information browsing behavior is automatically created, and further, for each combination of the current position and the time zone. An example will be described in which the notification time is automatically determined so that a more accurate and optimal notification time can be obtained in accordance with the user's browsing habits.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 59 according to the ninth embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 59 according to the ninth embodiment, and the appearance when the information notification device 59 according to the ninth embodiment is in operation in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

FIG. 51 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 59 according to the ninth embodiment.
The information notification device 59 according to the ninth embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, a notification time storage unit 906, a notification determination unit 907, and an information notification. Unit 208, operation acquisition unit 109, browsing history storage unit 709, notification time calculation unit 910, time zone segment selection unit 916, and time zone segment candidate storage unit 917.

  In FIG. 51, the part which has the same function as the part with which the information notification apparatus 57 which concerns on Embodiment 7 is provided is attached | subjected with the same referential mark as the referential mark in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted.

  The notification time storage unit 906 stores a notification time for each combination of position and time zone classification. The time zone segment for determining the time included in each time zone is based on the determination of the time zone segmentation section 916.

  The elapsed time is a difference between the arrival time of the current position stored in the notification determination unit 907 and the current time, and is calculated by the notification determination unit 907.

  The notification determination unit 907 acquires, via the notification time storage unit 906, a notification time corresponding to the time zone category candidate selected by the time zone category selection unit from the notification times calculated by the notification time calculation unit 910, and notifies It is determined that the information is notified when the elapsed time measured by the determination unit 907 reaches the notification time corresponding to the current time.

  The time zone segment candidate storage unit 917 stores a plurality of time zone segment candidates that are predetermined candidates for a time segment that is a time zone that divides a certain period into a plurality of times. Time zone segment candidates are set in advance by a user or the like.

  The notification time calculation unit 910 extracts the browsing history 709a of the current position from the browsing history 709a accumulated in the browsing history accumulation unit 709, and for all the time zone classifications stored in the time zone classification candidate storage unit 917. The notification time for each combination of the current position and the time zone classification is calculated. The notification time calculation unit 710 delivers the calculated result to the time zone division calculation unit 916.

  That is, the notification time calculation unit 910 has an elapsed time at which the browsing frequency according to the elapsed time in each time segment of each time zone segment candidate is the maximum for the browsing history 709a corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit 104. Is calculated as the notification time.

  The time zone segment selection unit 916 selects a time zone segment optimal for the current location from the notification time for each combination of the current position and the time zone segment calculated by the notification time calculation unit 910, and selects the selected time zone segment and each The notification time in the time zone classification is stored in the notification time storage unit 906.

  That is, the time zone segment selection unit 916 applies the time zone segment candidate having the maximum variance of the notification time of each time zone segment of each time zone segment candidate calculated by the notification time calculation unit 910 to the current position. Choose as.

FIG. 52 is an image diagram showing an example of the contents 917a of the time zone segment candidate storage unit 917.
In the example shown in this figure, three types of time zone segment candidates are set. For example, “division candidate A”, which is one of the time zone division candidates, has a time zone of 2 “after 7:00 and before 12:00” and “12:00 and before 24:00”. It is segmented into two. In addition, all the classification candidates shown in this figure do not segment from 24:00 to 7:00. This is because the information notification device 59 according to the ninth embodiment does not perform information notification during this time period.

  FIG. 53 is a diagram illustrating an example of the contents 906a of the notification time storage unit 906 according to the ninth embodiment. The notification time storage unit 906 stores a notification time for each combination of a time zone segment corresponding to the location and the segment candidate selected for the location.

  For example, the classification candidate selected for the position ID “P4” is “division candidate B”. The “division candidate B” is segmented into three time zones. For the times included in “Category 1” and “Category 2” of “Candidate Category B”, the optimum elapsed time for notification of information after arrival is “0 minutes”, that is, notification is made immediately after arrival. In addition, regarding the time included in “Category 3” of “Candidate Category B”, the optimum elapsed time for information notification after arrival is “15 minutes”.

  FIG. 54 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification device 59 according to the ninth embodiment.

  FIG. 54 is a flowchart in which the process executed in S711 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 39 according to the seventh embodiment is replaced with the process executed in S916 and S917.

  Of the processes shown in the figure, processes other than S916 and S917 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. Therefore, processing executed in S916 and S917 will be described below.

  First, the notification time calculation unit 910 acquires all time zone segment candidates from the time zone segment candidate storage unit 917. For each time zone category candidate, the notification time for each combination of the current position and the time zone category is calculated based on the browsing history stored in the browsing history storage unit 209 (S916).

  The optimum notification time in the combination of the current position and the time zone section is calculated by the same method as the calculation of the optimum notification time in S711 shown in FIG. 39 according to the seventh embodiment.

  The optimum notification time in the combination of the current position and the time zone section is calculated by the same method as the calculation of the optimum notification time in S711 shown in FIG. 39 according to the seventh embodiment.

  Next, when receiving the notification time in each time zone segment for each time zone segment candidate at the current position calculated by the notification time calculation unit 910, the time zone segment selection unit 916 distributes the notification time for each time zone segment candidate. Are calculated, and the variances are compared, and the time zone segment with the maximum variance is selected as the time zone segment for that position.

  Subsequently, the time zone segment selection unit 916 stores the time zone segment selected for the current position and the notification time of each time zone segment corresponding thereto in the notification time storage unit 906 (S917).

FIG. 55 is an image diagram showing an example of a relationship between a time zone segment candidate and a notification time.
This figure shows that, for the position indicated by the position ID “P4”, when three types shown in FIG. 43 are stored in the time zone segment candidate storage unit 917 as time zone segment candidates, The function which shows the browsing possibility calculated about the time zone division is shown. In addition, the number given in the function indicating the browsing possibility of each item indicates the elapsed time at which the browsing possibility is maximum in each item, that is, the optimum notification time in each item.

  With reference to this figure, the time slot | zone division selection process (S917) which the time slot | zone division selection part 916 performs is demonstrated concretely.

  First, for “division candidate A”, the optimum notification time for the time zone division “category 1” is “0 minutes”, and the optimum notification time for the time zone division “category 2” is “10 minutes”. . The distribution of the notification time of “division candidate A” is “25”.

  Next, for “division candidate B”, the optimum notification time for the time zone division “category 1” is “0 minutes”, and the optimum notification time for the time zone division “category 2” is “0 minutes”. There is an optimal notification time of “15 minutes” when the time zone is “section 3”. The distribution of the notification time of “division candidate B” is “50”.

  Furthermore, for “Category Candidate C”, the optimum notification time for “Category 1” for the time zone division is “0 minutes”, and the optimum notification time for the “Category 2” is “0 minutes”. The optimal notification time for the time zone classification “Category 3” is “2 minutes”, and the optimal notification time for the time zone classification “Category 4” is “15 minutes”. The distribution of the notification time of “division candidate C” is about “39.2”.

The time zone segment candidate that maximizes the distribution of the notification time is “division candidate B”.
Through such processing, the time zone segment selection unit 916 selects “division candidate B” as the time zone segment for the position “P4”.

  As described above, based on the information browsing history of the user's location, automatically create a time zone classification that matches the information browsing behavior, and further automatically determine the notification time for each combination of the current location and time zone Can do. As a result, it is possible to obtain an optimal notification time with higher accuracy that matches the time zone of the user's browsing habits.

(Tenth embodiment)
Furthermore, a tenth embodiment according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “Embodiment 10”) will be described with reference to FIGS. 56 to 51.

  The information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment automatically determines the optimal notification time according to the position based on the user's information browsing history. Moreover, the information notification apparatus 53 which concerns on Embodiment 3 determines an information notification with the probability according to the browsing possibility according to elapsed time based on the stay log | history of a user's position.

  However, in the information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment, as well as the information notification device 53 according to the third embodiment, there is a possibility that information notification is probable frequently and the information notification is concentrated. there is a possibility. Even if the information notification is received at an appropriate timing, if the information notification is concentrated, the user gets bored with the information notification and does not browse.

  Therefore, the information notification device 60 according to the tenth embodiment pays attention to the periodicity of the user's information browsing observed in the user's information browsing history, and performs information notification with the elapsed time based on the periodicity.

  FIG. 56 is a schematic diagram showing a temporal cycle of browsing possibility. The browsing possibility shown in this figure increases until about 4 minutes after arriving at the current position, and then continues to decrease and increase, indicating temporal periodicity.

  By notifying information according to such periodicity, the information notification is distributed, the burden of information browsing is prevented from being concentrated, and the convenience and opportunity of information browsing are further improved.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 60 according to the tenth embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 60 according to the tenth embodiment, and the appearance when the information notification device 60 according to the tenth embodiment is in operation in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

  FIG. 57 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 60 according to the tenth embodiment.

  The information notification device 60 according to the tenth embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, a notification time storage unit 106, a notification determination unit 1007, and an information notification. Unit 208, operation acquisition unit 109, browsing history storage unit 209, notification time calculation unit 210, notification time cycle calculation unit 1017, and notification time cycle storage unit 1018.

  47, parts having the same functions as the parts included in the information notification device 52 according to Embodiment 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted.

  Similar to the notification determination unit 107 included in the information notification apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment, the notification determination unit 1007 stores the current position received from the position determination unit 104 and the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit 105. The timing of information notification is determined from the elapsed time calculated from the arrival time of the current position and the notification time stored in the notification time storage unit 106.

  The notification determination unit 1007 determines the timing of information notification from the position and time of the previous information notification stored by itself and the notification time cycle stored in the notification time cycle storage unit 1018.

  That is, the notification determination unit 1007 determines that information is periodically notified based on a browsing cycle indicating a temporal cycle in which browsing possibility increases.

  The notification time period calculation unit 1017 calculates the browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history 209a corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit 104, and the browsing possibility increases when the browsing frequency is high. The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated, and a browsing period indicating a temporal period in which the browsing possibility becomes high is calculated.

  Further, the notification time period calculation unit 1017 stores the calculated browsing period in the notification time period storage unit 1018.

The notification time period storage unit 1018 stores a notification time period for each position.
FIG. 58 is a diagram illustrating a detailed functional configuration of the notification time period calculation unit 1017.

  The notification time period calculation unit 1017 includes a post-notification elapsed time conversion unit 10171, a histogram calculation unit 10172, and a maximum point calculation unit 10173.

  The post-notification elapsed time conversion unit 10171 acquires the browsing history 209a at the current position from the browsing history storage unit 209, and converts the acquired browsing history 209a into presence / absence of browsing according to the elapsed time from the previous information notification.

  The histogram calculation unit 10172 obtains the presence / absence of browsing according to the elapsed time from the previous information notification from the post-notification elapsed time conversion unit 10171, and calculates the histogram according to the elapsed time from the previous information notification.

  The maximum point calculation unit 10173 acquires the data of the histogram calculated by the histogram calculation unit 10172, calculates a browsing cycle from the data, and stores the calculated browsing cycle in the notification cycle storage unit 1018 as a notification time cycle at the position. To do.

  FIG. 59 is a diagram illustrating an example of the notification time period 1018a stored in the notification time period storage unit 1018. The notification time period 1018a includes “position ID”, “position description”, and “notification time period”.

  The “position ID” and the “position description” are the same as the “position ID” and the “position description” shown in FIG. 6 according to the first embodiment, respectively.

  The “notification time period” includes information browsing period at the position indicated by the position ID. The “notification time period” shown in this figure is a period calculated by the notification time period calculation unit 1017 and having a high browsing possibility according to the elapsed time after arrival at the position. “-” Indicates that there is no periodicity at the position and the notification time period is not calculated.

  FIG. 60 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification device 60 according to the tenth embodiment.

  60 replaces the process executed in S107 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment with the process executed in S1007, S1008, and S1009, and performs the processes of S211 and S109 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment. It is the flowchart which added the process performed in S1019 in the meantime.

  Of the processes shown in this figure, processes other than S1007, S1008, S1009, and S1019 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. Therefore, processing executed in vS1007, S1008, and S1019 will be described below.

First, the processing in S1007, S1008, and S1009 will be described.
The notification determination unit 1007 determines whether or not the elapsed time since the user arrived at the current position has reached the notification time of the current position stored in the notification time storage unit 106 (S1007). .

  If the notification determination unit 1007 determines that the elapsed time has not reached the notification time (No in S1007), the notification determination unit 107 does not execute the process. The information notification apparatus 60 according to the tenth embodiment executes a process for determining whether or not the user has pressed the power button 17 by the operation acquisition unit 109 (S109).

  When the notification determining unit 1007 determines that the elapsed time has reached the notification time (Yes in S1007), the notification determining unit 1007 next determines whether or not the elapsed time at the current position has reached the notification time for the first time. (S1008).

  When the notification determination unit 1007 determines that the elapsed time has reached the notification time for the first time (Yes in S1008), it outputs an instruction to notify the information notification unit 108 of information.

  When the notification determination unit 1007 determines that the elapsed time has not reached the notification time (No in S1008), the notification determination unit 1007 further determines the previous notification time and time at the current position stored by itself. It is determined whether or not the elapsed time from the previous notification calculated from the current time acquired from the acquisition unit 105 has reached the notification time cycle at the current position stored in the notification time cycle storage unit 1018 for the first time. (S1009).

  If the notification determination unit 1007 determines that the elapsed time has not reached the notification time (No in S1009), the notification determination unit 1007 does not execute the process. The information notification apparatus 60 according to the tenth embodiment executes a process for determining whether or not the user has pressed the power button 17 by the operation acquisition unit 109 (S109).

  When the notification determination unit 1007 determines that the elapsed time has reached the notification time for the first time (Yes in S1009), the notification determination unit 1007 outputs an instruction to notify the information notification unit 108 of information.

Next, the process in S1019 will be described.
The notification time cycle calculation unit 1017 calculates the information browsing cycle of the user who has received the information notification at the current position from the browsing history 209a stored in the browsing history storage unit 209, and the notification time cycle storage unit 1018 stores the current The position notification time period is updated to the calculated information browsing period (S1019).

  FIG. 61 is a flowchart showing details of the process executed in the notification time period update process S1019 shown in FIG.

  First, the post-notification elapsed time conversion unit 10171 included in the notification time period calculation unit 1017 extracts the browsing history 209a corresponding to the current position stored in the browsing history storage unit 209, and the previous time after arrival at the current position. The extracted browsing history 209a is converted into a format of presence / absence of browsing according to the elapsed time from the information notification (S10191).

  Next, the histogram calculation unit 10172 included in the notification time period calculation unit 1017 calculates a histogram indicating the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time from the previous information notification (S10192). In the histogram, the elapsed time from the previous information notification is on the horizontal axis, and the browsing possibility is on the vertical axis. The browsing possibility is calculated by segmenting the elapsed time into elapsed time zones with a certain time width and calculating the browsing probability in each elapsed time zone.

  Subsequently, the maximum point calculation unit 10173 included in the notification time cycle calculation unit 1017 calculates the notification time cycle from the histogram (S10193). The notification time period calculation unit 1017 sets the elapsed time from the previous information notification obtained from the histogram and having the maximum browsing possibility as the notification time period.

  Subsequently, the maximum point calculation unit 10173 included in the notification time cycle calculation unit 1017 updates the notification time cycle corresponding to the current position stored in the notification time cycle storage unit 1018 with the calculated notification time cycle (S10194). .

  FIG. 62 is a diagram illustrating an example of a histogram indicating the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time after the previous notification. The horizontal axis is the elapsed time from the previous information notification, the vertical axis is the presence / absence of browsing and the possibility of browsing, and the ◯ points indicate examples of accumulated information notifications.

The browsing possibility shown in this figure becomes maximum five minutes after the previous information notification.
The notification time period calculation unit 1017 creates the data shown in this figure from the browsing history 209a (S10191 and S10192), and calculates “5 minutes” that maximizes the browsing possibility as the notification time period (S10193).

  As described above, the information notification timing after the user arrives at the predetermined position is automatically determined from the information browsing history of the user at the position, and the timing at which the information is notified again after the information notification is automatically determined. it can. As a result, it is possible to disperse information notification, prevent concentration of the burden of information browsing, and further improve the convenience and opportunity of information browsing.

(Eleventh embodiment)
Further, an eleventh embodiment according to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment 11”) will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment automatically determines the optimal notification time according to the position based on the user's information browsing history. However, if the information browsing history at that position is small, the accuracy of the appropriate notification time determined will be low.

  For example, when moving from a meeting room to a current position where position detection is impossible, it is experimentally observed that the browsing possibility increases before leaving the meeting room and the browsing possibility continues to increase for a while after leaving. Is done.

  Therefore, the information notification apparatus according to the eleventh embodiment estimates the optimal notification time at the current position based on the information browsing history of the position before movement when the history of the current position is small, and information at an appropriate timing Make a notification. Thereby, appropriate information notification can be performed in more positions, and the information browsing opportunity is further improved.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 61 according to the eleventh embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 61 according to the eleventh embodiment, and the appearance when the information notification device 61 according to the eleventh embodiment is in operation in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

  FIG. 63 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 61 according to the eleventh embodiment.

  The information notification device 61 according to the eleventh embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, a notification time storage unit 106, a notification determination unit 1107, and an information notification Unit 208, operation acquisition unit 109, browsing history storage unit 1109, notification time calculation unit 210, prediction notification time calculation unit 1119, and prediction notification time storage unit 1120.

  In FIG. 63, the part which has the same function as the part with which the information notification apparatus 52 which concerns on Embodiment 2 is provided is attached | subjected with the same referential mark as the referential mark in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted.

  The notification determination unit 1107 receives the current position from the position determination unit 104, and a notification serving as a criterion for notification determination is based on whether or not the browsing history 209a of the current position stored in the browsing history storage unit 209 is greater than or equal to a certain amount. By switching the storage unit for acquiring the time to either the notification time storage unit 106 or the predicted notification time storage unit 1120, an appropriate information notification timing is determined.

  When the browsing history 209a of the current position is equal to or greater than a certain amount, the current position received from the position determination unit 104 and the time acquisition unit 105 are acquired as in the notification determination unit 107 included in the information notification apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment. It is determined that the information is notified when the elapsed time measured from the current time and the arrival time of the current position stored by itself reaches the notification time stored in the notification time storage unit 106.

  When the browsing history 209a of the current position is less than a certain amount, it is calculated from the previous position received from the position determination unit 104, the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit 105, and the arrival time of the current position stored by itself. Information notification timing is determined from the elapsed time and the predicted notification time stored in the predicted notification time storage unit 1120.

  That is, the notification determination unit 1107 determines that the position determination unit 104 cannot obtain the current position of the user, or if the browsing history 1109a at the current position is less than a predetermined number, the result calculated by the prediction notification time calculation unit 1119 When it is determined whether or not to notify the information, the current position of the user can be acquired by the position determination unit 104 and the browsing history 1109a at the current position does not reach a predetermined number, the notification time calculation unit 210 It is determined whether to notify the information based on the result of calculation.

  The browsing history accumulation unit 1109 includes a position when the information notification unit 208 notifies the information, a time when the information notification unit 208 notifies the information, a time when the user leaves the position, and an elapsed time since arrival at the position. And the browsing history which matched whether the user who received the notice of the information browsed the information is accumulated.

  The prediction notification time calculation unit 1119 acquires the position before the movement from the position determination unit 104, calculates the prediction notification time for each position based on the browsing history 209a of the position before the movement, and the result is the prediction notification time storage unit. 1120 is stored.

  The predicted notification time storage unit 1120 stores predicted notification time data 1120a. The predicted notification time data 1120a includes the position and the optimal notification time after movement predicted for each position.

FIG. 64 is a diagram illustrating a detailed functional configuration of the predicted notification time calculation unit 1119.
The predicted notification time calculation unit 1119 includes a browsing history reverse calculation time conversion unit 11191, a histogram calculation unit 11192, an exit change calculation unit 11193, and a predicted notification time calculation unit 11194.

  The browsing history reverse calculation time conversion unit 11191 acquires the browsing history 1109a corresponding to the position before movement acquired by the position determination unit 104 from the browsing history storage unit 1109, and acquires the acquired browsing history 1109a from the movement time to the notification time. Convert to browsing history according to a certain reverse calculation time.

  The histogram calculation unit 11192 acquires the browsing history corresponding to the back calculation time from the browsing history reverse calculation time conversion unit 11191, and calculates histogram data.

  The change calculation unit 11193 at the time of exit obtains the viewability at the time of exit, the reverse calculation time when the viewability becomes the minimum at the time closest to the exit, and the viewability at that time, and can be viewed at the time of exit Calculate gender changes.

  The predicted notification time calculation unit 11194 determines whether or not to calculate the predicted notification time from the change in browsing possibility calculated by the change calculation unit 11193 at the time of exit and a preset threshold for browsing possibility, and sets the predicted notification time as the predicted notification time. When it is determined to calculate, the predicted notification time is calculated and the calculated predicted notification time is stored in the predicted notification time storage unit 1120.

  That is, the predicted notification time calculation unit 11194 calculates the browsing frequency according to the reverse calculation time from the exit time of the previous position to the information notification time from the browsing history 1109a corresponding to the previous position stored in the position determination unit 104, Browsing possibility increases when browsing frequency is high. Browsing possibility is calculated according to elapsed time, and a certain percentage of elapsed time that is expected to be a predetermined value is optimal for information notification. Calculated as a predicted notification time.

  FIG. 65 is a diagram showing a browsing history 1109a stored in the browsing history storage unit 1109 according to the eleventh embodiment. The browsing history 1109a includes “position ID”, “elapsed time”, “notification time”, “exit time”, and “presence / absence of browsing”.

“Position ID” is a position ID indicating the current position of the user when information notification is performed.
“Elapsed time” is the time from when the user arrives at the current position until the user receives an information notification.

“Notification time” is the time when the information notification is performed.
“Exit time” is the time when the user has moved from the position where the information is notified to a different position.

  “Presence / absence of browsing” indicates whether or not the user who has received the information notification browsed the information by “◯” and “×”. “○” indicates that the user viewed the information within a certain time after receiving the notification, and “×” indicates that the user did not view the information within a certain time after receiving the notification. To express.

  In this figure, for example, there is a notification made at “16:30” which is “10 minutes” after arriving at “P1”, and the user who has received the notification from P1 at “17:00” It indicates that the user has moved to a different position and has not browsed the information.

  FIG. 66 is a diagram showing the contents of the predicted notification time data 1120a stored in the predicted notification time storage unit 1120. The predicted notification time data 1120a includes “position ID”, “predicted notification time”, and “position description”.

  The “position ID” and the “position description” are the same as the “position ID” and the “position description” shown in FIG. 6 according to the first embodiment, respectively.

  The “predicted notification time” is an elapsed time that is predicted to be optimal for information notification after leaving the position indicated by the “position ID”.

  This figure shows, for example, that it is optimal to notify the information after “5 minutes” after leaving “home” as the position indicated by “P2”.

  FIG. 67 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification device 61 according to the eleventh embodiment.

  67 adds the processing executed in S1120, S1121 and S1122 between S106 and S107 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment, and is executed in S107 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment. 13 is a flowchart in which the process executed in S1123 is added between S211 and S109 in the flowchart shown in FIG.

  Of the processes shown in the figure, processes other than S1120, S1121, S1122, S1107, and S1123 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. Therefore, processing executed in S1120, S1121, S1122, S1107, and S1123 will be described below.

  First, the processing in S1120, S1121, S1122, and S1107 will be described.

  The notification determination unit 1107 determines whether the number of browsing histories 1109a at the current position is equal to or greater than a predetermined number (S1120).

  When the number of browsing histories 1109a at the current position is greater than or equal to a predetermined number (Yes in S1120), the notification time determination unit 1107 displays the notification time of the current position stored in the notification time storage unit 106 as the notification time. It is acquired from the storage unit 106, and it is determined whether or not the elapsed time since arrival at the current position has reached the notification time for the first time (S1107).

  When the number of browsing histories 1109a at the current position is less than a predetermined number (No in S1120), the notification time determination unit 1107 stores the notification time of the position before movement stored in the predicted notification time storage unit 1120. Is obtained from the predicted notification time storage unit 1120 (S1122), and it is determined whether or not the elapsed time since arrival at the current position has reached the notification time for the first time (S1107).

  (S1122) The next position prediction notification determination unit 1107 extracts the notification time for each position stored in the next position notification time storage unit 1120.

Next, the process in S1123 will be described.
The prediction notification time calculation unit 1119 obtains the browsing possibility before leaving from the browsing history 1109a at the position before movement, predicts the browsing possibility at the position after movement from the browsing possibility, and after the movement An appropriate prediction notification time at the position is calculated, and the calculated result is stored in the notification time at the position before the movement stored in the prediction notification time storage unit 1120 (S1123).

  FIG. 68 is a flowchart showing details of the processing executed in the next position notification time update processing S1123 shown in FIG.

  First, the browsing history reverse calculation time conversion unit 11191 included in the predicted notification time calculation unit 1119 takes out the browsing history 1109a at the position before the movement stored in the browsing history storage unit 209, and performs the reverse calculation from when the position is exited. A browsing history corresponding to the reverse calculation time with the presence or absence of browsing according to time as content is created (S11231).

  Next, the histogram calculation unit 11192 included in the prediction notification time calculation unit 1119 calculates a histogram indicating the browsing possibility according to the reverse calculation time (S11232). Details of the processing here are the same as the processing in S10192 shown in FIG. 50 according to the tenth embodiment.

  Subsequently, the exit change calculation unit 11193 of the predicted notification time calculation unit 1119 includes a browsing possibility at the time of leaving, a back-calculation time when the browsing possibility becomes the minimum at the time closest to the leaving, and a browsing at that time. The possibility is obtained (S11233).

  Subsequently, the prediction notification time calculation unit 11194 included in the prediction notification time calculation unit 1119 has a minimum possibility of browsing at the time of leaving and the possibility of browsing at the time of leaving. Is less than the threshold value, the predicted notification time corresponding to the position before the movement stored in the predicted notification time storage unit 1120 is replaced with “not notify”. When the exit time is not the minimum and the viewability at the time of exit is equal to or greater than the threshold, the viewability of the reverse calculation time at the time when the viewability becomes the minimum at the nearest time at the exit and the viewability at the time of leaving Are extended by connecting them in a straight line, and half of the elapsed time after leaving, which is predicted to have a browsing probability of 1 after leaving, is set as the predicted notification time (S11234).

  Subsequently, the prediction notification time calculation unit 11194 of the prediction notification time calculation unit 1119 updates the prediction notification time at the position before movement stored in the prediction notification time storage unit 1120 to the calculated prediction notification time (S11235). ).

  FIG. 69 is a diagram illustrating an example of a histogram indicating the browsing possibility according to the backward calculation time from the time of leaving. The horizontal axis is the elapsed time. The point where the elapsed time is “0” indicates the time of movement. The minus of the elapsed time indicates the elapsed time at the position before the movement calculated backward from the movement. The vertical axis represents whether or not browsing is possible and browsing possibility. The browsing possibility after movement indicates the transition of browsing possibility predicted from general observation results. Since this portion is not data created from the browsing history 1109a, it is indicated by a dotted line.

  In the example shown in this figure, the browsing possibility decreases from “0.4” of “−20 minutes” to “0.15” of “−5.5 minutes”, and thereafter “0 minutes” which is the time of movement. To “0.5”. After that, the browsing possibility has increased to “3.5 minutes” after moving.

  With reference to this figure, the process which the estimated notification time calculation part 1119 performs in S11231 to S11234 is demonstrated concretely. Here, the threshold value is set to “0.3”.

  The predicted notification time calculation unit 1119 takes out the browsing history 1109a at the position before the movement accumulated by the browsing history accumulation unit 209, and calculates the back calculation time at the position before the movement based on “0 minutes” at the time of movement. A browsing history corresponding to the reverse calculation time including the presence or absence of the corresponding browsing is created (S11231).

  Next, the predicted notification time calculation unit 1119 calculates a histogram indicating the browsing possibility according to the reverse calculation time shown in the figure (S11232).

  Subsequently, the predicted notification time calculation unit 1119 indicates “0.5”, which is the browsing possibility at the time of leaving, and “−5.5”, which is the back calculation time when the browsing possibility becomes the minimum at the time closest to the leaving. Minutes "and" 0.15 "which is the browsing possibility at that time are obtained (S11233).

  The possibility of browsing at the time of leaving is “0.5”, which is not the smallest of the browsing possibilities of the position before the movement. In addition, the browsing possibility at the time of leaving is “0.5”, which exceeds the threshold value “0.3”.

  Therefore, the predicted notification time calculation unit 1119 determines that the exit time is not the minimum and the viewability at the time of exit is equal to or greater than the threshold, and the viewability at the time point closest to the exit is the minimum. It extends by connecting a straight line between “0.15”, which is the browsing possibility of the reverse calculation time, and “0.5”, which is the browsing possibility when leaving. Since the elapsed time after leaving, which is predicted to be 1 after leaving, is about “7.86 minutes”, “3.9 minutes”, which is half of that, is set as the predicted notification time (S11234).

  As described above, when the current position is an undetectable position or when there is little history of the current position, the optimal notification time of the current position can be determined from the change in browsing possibility near the position before leaving the position before moving. Information can be notified at an appropriate timing. Thereby, appropriate information notification can be performed at more positions, and the opportunity of browsing information can be further improved.

  The information notification apparatus 61 according to the eleventh embodiment has been described above, but the eleventh embodiment is not limited to this.

  For example, the calculation method of the time when the browsing possibility becomes the minimum at the time closest to the exit is the same as in the second embodiment, and a function such as a polygonal line or a curve that approximates the histogram is specified, and the reverse calculation that the function becomes the minimum A method of calculating the elapsed time may be used.

(Twelfth embodiment)
Furthermore, a twelfth embodiment (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment 12”) according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  The information notification apparatus according to the second embodiment automatically determines the optimal notification time according to the position based on the user's information browsing history. There are various places where the user carries the portable terminal, such as in a hand, a pocket of clothes, a bag, etc., and the time until the user can take out the portable terminal and react to the notification is not uniform. Therefore, even if notification is made at the optimal notification time, if the length of the information notification is too short, there is a high possibility that it will not be noticed. If the length of the information notification is too long, the sound or vibration of the notification may be annoying.

  The information notification apparatus according to the twelfth embodiment appropriately controls not only the information notification timing but also the information notification time length based on the user's information browsing history. Thereby, it is possible to perform information notification of an appropriate time length at an appropriate notification timing.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 62 according to the twelfth embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 62 according to the twelfth embodiment, and the appearance when the information notification device 62 according to the twelfth embodiment is in operation in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

  FIG. 70 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 62 according to the twelfth embodiment.

  The information notification device 62 according to the twelfth embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, a notification time storage unit 106, a notification determination unit 1207, and an information notification. Unit 208, operation acquisition unit 109, browsing history storage unit 1209, notification time calculation unit 210, notification length calculation unit 1221, and notification length storage unit 1222.

  In FIG. 70, parts having the same functions as the parts included in the information notification device 52 according to Embodiment 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted.

  The notification determination unit 1207 includes an elapsed time and a notification time storage unit calculated from the current position received from the position determination unit 104, the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit 105, and the arrival time of the current position stored by itself. It is determined whether or not to notify information from the notification time stored in 106. Further, the notification determination unit 1207 determines the length of information notification from the current position and the notification length stored in the notification length storage unit 1222.

  If the notification determination unit 1207 determines to notify information, the notification determination unit 1207 outputs the information notification and the length of the notification to the information notification unit 208.

  Thereby, the information notification unit 208 notifies the user of the information by the length of the notification calculated by the notification length calculation unit 1221 when the notification determination unit 1207 determines to notify the information.

  The browsing history storage unit 1209 is added to the position when the information notification unit 208 notifies the information, the elapsed time since arrival at the position, and whether the user who received the notification of the information viewed the information. Thus, the browsing history 1209a in which the reaction time that is the time until the user who has received the notification of the information reacts to the information is associated is accumulated.

  The browsing history 1209 a is stored by the information notification unit 208 and read by the notification time calculation unit 210 and the notification length calculation unit 1221.

The notification length calculation unit 1221 calculates the average of the reaction time at the current position as the notification length from the browsing history 1209a corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit 104.
The notification length calculation unit 1221 stores the calculated result in the notification length storage unit 1222.

  The notification length storage unit 1222 stores the optimal notification time length for each position. The notification time data 1222a is stored by the notification length calculation unit 1221 and read by the notification determination unit 1207.

  FIG. 71 is a diagram illustrating an example of a browsing history stored in the browsing history accumulation unit 1209 according to the twelfth embodiment. The browsing history 1209a includes “position ID”, “elapsed time”, “presence / absence of browsing”, and “reaction time”.

  The “position ID”, “elapsed time”, and “presence / absence of browsing” are the “position ID”, “elapsed time”, and “of the browsing history 209a stored in the browsing history storage unit 209 according to Embodiment 2 shown in FIG. It is the same as “with / without browsing”.

  “Reaction time” stores the reaction time from when the information is notified until the user presses the content display button 15 or the notification stop button 16.

  This figure shows, for example, that there is a notification made after “10 seconds” after arriving at “P1”, and the user who received the notification browsed the contents of the information after “30 seconds” from the start of the notification. ing.

  FIG. 72 is a diagram illustrating an example of notification length data 1222a stored in the notification length storage unit 1222. The notification length data 1222a stores “position ID” and “notification length”.

  The “position ID” is the same as the “position ID” of the browsing history 1209a illustrated in FIG. 59 according to the twelfth embodiment.

“Notification length” is an appropriate information notification length at each position.
For example, this figure shows that the length of the appropriate information notification at the position indicated by “position ID” “P1” is “20 seconds”.

  FIG. 73 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification device 62 according to the twelfth embodiment.

  73 replaces the processes executed in S107 and S108 in the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment with the processes executed in S1207 and S1208, respectively, and S211 and S211 in the flowchart shown in FIG. 12 according to the second embodiment. It is the flowchart which added the process performed in S1224 during S109.

  Of the processes shown in the figure, processes other than S1207, S1208, and S1224 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. Therefore, processing executed in S1207, S1208, and S1224 will be described below.

First, the processing in S1207 and S1208 will be described.
The notification determination unit 1207 is a notification time for each position stored in the notification time storage unit 106, similarly to the process executed by the notification determination unit 107 included in the information notification device 52 according to the second embodiment in S107 illustrated in FIG. , It is determined whether or not the elapsed time since arrival at the current position has reached the notification time corresponding to the current position for the first time (S1207).

  When it reaches for the first time (Yes in S1207), it is determined that information notification is to be performed, and the notification determination unit 1207 reads the notification length at the current position from the notification length storage unit 1222, and notifies the information only for the length of the read time. The information notification unit 108 is instructed to execute.

  If the notification time has not yet been reached, and if the notification time has been reached and the second time or later (No in S1207), the notification determination unit 1007 does not execute the process. The information notification apparatus 62 according to the twelfth embodiment executes a process for determining whether or not the user has pressed the power button 17 by the operation acquisition unit 109 (S109).

Next, the process in S1224 will be described.
The notification length calculation unit 1221 calculates the notification length from the browsing history 1209 a read from the browsing history storage unit 1209 and stores the result in the notification length storage unit 1222.

  FIG. 74 is a flowchart showing details of the processing executed in the notification length update processing S1224 shown in FIG.

  The notification time calculation unit 210 refers to the update determination rule 211 stored in the update determination rule storage unit 211 and determines whether the notification time needs to be updated (S12241).

  When the notification time calculation unit 210 determines that the update is unnecessary (No in S12241), the process ends.

  When the notification time calculation unit 210 determines that the update is necessary (Yes in S12241), the notification length calculation unit 1221 first receives the notification time calculated by the notification time calculation unit 210, and includes a constant including the notification time. The browsing history 1209a at the elapsed time of the range is extracted from the browsing history storage unit 209 (S12242).

  Here, the certain range is determined in advance. In addition, when the browsing history 209a included in the range is less than 10, the range is expanded.

  Next, the notification length calculation unit 1221 calculates the average notification length included in the extracted browsing history 1209a as the optimal notification length (S12243).

  Further, the notification length calculation unit 1221 updates the notification length data 1222a corresponding to the current position stored in the notification length storage unit 1222 with the calculated optimal notification length (S12244).

  As described above, not only the information notification timing after the user arrives at a predetermined position, but also the time length of the information notification can be automatically determined from the information browsing history of the user at that position. Thereby, notification can be performed at the optimal notification timing and time length for each position, and the convenience for the user can be further improved.

(Thirteenth embodiment)
Further, a thirteenth embodiment of the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment 13”) will be described with reference to FIGS. 75 to 76.

  In the first embodiment, the notification time for each position is set in advance. However, setting the notification time for each position is troublesome, and it is a burden for the user to grasp an appropriate notification time for each position. Furthermore, it is a burden on the user that the setting must be changed when the position of the position changes due to a change in the life of the user.

  Therefore, the information notification apparatus according to the thirteenth embodiment is based on the user characteristic that the elapsed time that the user browses the information becomes longer as the position stays longer, and the notification time for each position is based on the stay history at the user's position. By automatically determining the notification time, the notification time need not be set.

  An overview of the configuration of the information notification system of the information notification device 63 according to the thirteenth embodiment, the appearance of the information notification device 63 according to the thirteenth embodiment, and the appearance when the information notification device 63 according to the thirteenth embodiment is in operation in the first embodiment. Since it is the same as FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG.

  FIG. 75 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification device 63 according to the thirteenth embodiment.

  The information notification device 63 according to the thirteenth embodiment includes an information acquisition unit 101, an information storage unit 102, a position determination unit 104, a time acquisition unit 105, a stay history storage unit 512, a notification determination unit 1307, and an information notification. Unit 108 and an operation acquisition unit 109.

  75, parts having the same functions as the parts included in the information notification device 54 according to the fifth embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. The description here regarding these parts is omitted.

  The notification determination unit 1307 notifies the information from the current position determined by the position determination unit, the current time acquired by the time acquisition unit 505, and the stay history at the current position accumulated by the stay history accumulation unit 512. Determine whether to do it.

  The example of the content 512a stored in the stay history storage unit 512 uses the same FIG. 27 as in the fifth embodiment.

  FIG. 76 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification device 63 according to the thirteenth embodiment.

  FIG. 76 is a flowchart in which the processes executed in S512 and S1301 are added between the processes executed in S104 and S105 of the flowchart shown in FIG. 6 according to the first embodiment.

  Of the processes shown in this figure, processes other than S512 and S1301 are the same as the processes denoted by the same reference numerals in FIG. Moreover, the process of S512 is the same as the process which attached | subjected the same referential mark shown in FIG. Therefore, the process executed in S1301 will be described below.

  The notification determination unit 1307 extracts all stay histories at the current position determined by the position determination unit 504 from the stay history accumulation unit 512, and calculates one average stay time at the current position. Next, the notification determining unit 1307 calculates a time obtained by multiplying a single average stay time at the current position by a certain ratio, for example, 1/30, as the notification time. (S1301)

  For example, if the average stay time is 5 minutes, the notification time is 10 seconds. If the average stay time is 30 minutes, the notification time is 1 minute. The longer the stay time is, the longer the notification time is.

As described above, the notification time can be automatically determined based on the stay history of the user's position. For this reason, the notification time can be appropriately set by using the stay history even at a position where the user is viewing the information on a paper medium or the like on which it is difficult to obtain the browsing history electronically.
In addition, by using the stay history, information that requires a long time to browse and view is notified at a position where the average stay time is long, and information that only requires a short time is notified at a position where the average stay time is short. It can also be used to select information to be used.

  The information notification devices 10 and 52 to 63 according to the embodiment of the present invention have been described above, but the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

  For example, the information notification devices 10, 52 to 63 according to the present invention may be realized as software for a portable information terminal such as a mobile phone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) in addition to being realized as a dedicated information notification device.

  Further, for example, when the information notification devices 10 and 52 to 63 according to the present invention are mobile phones, the voice call time may be reflected in the notification time. In this case, for example, the notification determination unit included in the information notification devices 10, 52, 54 to 63 according to the present invention further includes the notification time storage units 106, 406, When there is a voice call in the information notification apparatus before reaching the notification time stored in 606, 706, 806, 906, the voice call time is added to the notification time.

  Further, for example, the information notification devices 10 and 52 to 63 according to the present invention may be realized by a cooperative operation of a plurality of devices. The functions of the information notification devices 10, 52 to 63 according to the present invention can be realized by being separated into a mobile phone and an information notification dedicated terminal as shown in FIG. 77, for example.

  For example, when the function of the information notification device 10 shown in FIG. 3 is realized by being separated into a mobile phone and an information notification dedicated terminal, the mobile phone causes the LED 11 to emit light among the functions shown in FIG. The information notifying unit 108 has all the functions other than the information notifying unit 108 that vibrates the vibrator 13, and the information notification dedicated terminal causes the LED 11 to emit light, cause the speaker 12 to ring, and the vibrator 13 to vibrate. It has the function of.

  At this time, when the mobile phone and the information notification dedicated terminal communicate wirelessly, and the notification determination unit 107 provided in the mobile phone determines to notify the information, the information that causes the information notification dedicated terminal to perform information notification wirelessly The information notification unit 108 of the information notification dedicated terminal that has received the information notifies the user of the information.

  As a result, the information notification dedicated terminal can be further reduced in size. For example, even if a mobile phone is kept in a bag, it is possible to attach a dedicated information notification terminal to the wrist or to put it on the neck, so that the user can easily notice the information notification. The possibility can be improved. Further, for example, in the first to twelfth embodiments, the notification time may be a predetermined time width including an elapsed time with the highest browsing frequency or browsing possibility. In this case, each of the notification determination units 107, 307, 407, 707, 1007, and 1207 according to each embodiment, when the elapsed time after arrival at the position arrives at a notification time with a certain time width, It is determined that information is notified.

  The range of the notification time is, for example, a predetermined time. Further, for example, the notification time range is the time required for the information notification apparatus 10 according to the first embodiment to execute the processing from S102 to S109 shown in FIG.

  As a result, when the elapsed time after arrival at the position reaches the notification time, the determination process for determining whether or not to perform information notification is not executed, so that the information is not notified even though it is an appropriate notification time. This makes it possible to reliably notify information at an appropriate timing including the elapsed time with the highest browsing frequency.

  Further, for example, the elapsed time is measured by calculating from the time when the notification determination unit 107, 307, 407, 707, 1007, 1207 arrives at the position and the time acquired from the time acquisition unit 105. You may measure by providing the timer provided with the function which measures the elapsed time after arrival from the time of movement in a device.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be applied to an information notification device that notifies a user of information, and in particular, to a device that notifies a user of information in a PUSH type in a portable information terminal carried by the user such as a mobile phone or a PDA.

It is a figure which shows the general view of the structure of the information notification system in embodiment of the information notification apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the information notification apparatus which concerns on this invention. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information notification apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the content which the information storage part has memorize | stored. It is a figure which shows the example of the content which the notification time memory | storage part concerning Embodiment 1 has memorize | stored. 4 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification apparatus according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the external appearance at the time of the action | operation of the information notification apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows the detailed functional structure of the notification time calculation part which concerns on Embodiment 2. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the browsing history which the browsing history storage part which concerns on Embodiment 2 has accumulate | stored. It is a figure which shows the example of the update judgment rule which the update judgment rule memory | storage part has memorize | stored. 10 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification apparatus according to the second embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the process performed in notification time update process S211 shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the relationship between the browsing history in the present position, and elapsed time. It is a figure which shows the example of the relationship between the elapsed time in a present position, and the function which shows browsing possibility. It is a figure which shows the example of the relationship between the function which shows the elapsed time and browsing possibility in a some position. It is a figure which shows the example of the histogram of the browsing possibility which adjusted the time interval. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification apparatus according to the third embodiment. It is a schematic diagram which shows the relationship between one average stay time in a position, stay frequency, and information browsing most frequent elapsed time. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4. FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the example of the position category data which the position category memory | storage part has memorize | stored. It is a figure which shows the example of the content which the notification time memory | storage part concerning Embodiment 4 has memorize | stored. 10 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification apparatus according to the fourth embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of the function which shows the browsing possibility specified by the notification time calculation part which concerns on Embodiment 4. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 5. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the content which the stay log | history memory | storage part has memorize | stored. 10 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification apparatus according to the fifth embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example from which notification time differs by the difference in the last position. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 6. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the browsing history which the browsing history storage part which concerns on Embodiment 6 has accumulate | stored. It is a figure which shows the example of the content which the notification time memory | storage part concerning Embodiment 6 has memorize | stored. 14 is a flowchart of processing executed by an information notification apparatus according to Embodiment 6. It is a schematic diagram of the function which shows the browsing possibility specified by the notification time calculation part which concerns on Embodiment 6. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example from which notification time differs by the difference in a time slot | zone. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 7. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the browsing history which the browsing history storage part which concerns on Embodiment 7 has accumulate | stored. It is a figure which shows the example of the content which the notification time memory | storage part concerning Embodiment 7 has memorize | stored. 18 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification apparatus according to the seventh embodiment. It is a schematic diagram of the function which shows the browsing possibility specified by the notification time calculation part which concerns on Embodiment 7. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example from which the time slot | zone of life changes with a user. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus 58 which concerns on Embodiment 8. FIG. It is a figure which shows the detailed functional structure of a stay history time zone segment part. It is a figure which shows the example of the content which the time slot | zone division memory | storage part which concerns on Embodiment 8 has memorize | stored. It is a figure which shows the example of the content which the notification time memory | storage part concerning Embodiment 8 has memorize | stored. 10 is a flowchart of processing executed by an information notification apparatus according to an eighth embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the process performed in time slot | zone segmentation process S815 shown in FIG. It is a schematic diagram which shows the relationship between the histogram of a stay probability, and a time zone division. It is a schematic diagram of a function indicating the browsing possibility specified by the notification time calculation unit according to the eighth embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example from which notification time differs by the difference in stay time in the position which shows a unimodal stay probability. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 9. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the content of a time slot | zone division candidate memory | storage part. It is an image figure which shows the example of the content of the notification time memory | storage part which concerns on Embodiment 9. FIG. 10 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification apparatus according to the ninth embodiment. It is an image figure which shows the example of the relationship between a time slot | zone division | segmentation candidate and notification time. It is a schematic diagram which shows the time period of browsing possibility. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 10. FIG. It is a figure which shows the detailed functional structure of a notification time period calculation part. It is a figure which shows the example of the notification time period which the notification time period memory | storage part has memorize | stored. 16 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification apparatus according to the tenth embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the process performed in notification time period update process S1019 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the histogram which shows the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time after the last notification. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 11. FIG. It is a figure which shows the detailed functional structure of an estimated notification time calculation part. It is a figure which shows the browsing history which the browsing history storage part concerning Embodiment 11 has memorize | stored. It is a figure which shows the content of the prediction notification time data which the prediction notification time memory | storage part has memorize | stored. 18 is a flowchart of processing executed by the information notification device 61 according to Embodiment 11. 68 is a flowchart showing details of processing executed in next position notification time update processing S1123 shown in FIG. 67. It is a figure which shows the example of the histogram which shows the browsing possibility according to the back calculation time from the time of leaving. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 12. FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the browsing history which the browsing history storage part concerning Embodiment 12 has memorize | stored. It is a figure which shows the example of the notification length data which the notification length memory | storage part has memorize | stored. 19 is a flowchart of processing executed by an information notification apparatus according to Embodiment 12. 74 is a flowchart showing details of a process executed in notification length update process S1224 shown in FIG. 73. It is a block diagram which shows the functional structure of the information notification apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 13. FIG. It is a flowchart of the process which the information notification apparatus 63 concerning Embodiment 13 performs. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of each apparatus in the case of isolate | separating the function with which the information notification apparatus which concerns on this invention is provided to a several apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

10, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63 Information notification device 31 Home 32 Store 33 Work location 41, 42, 43 Local wireless device 101 Information acquisition unit 102 Information storage Unit 104, 504, 604 Position determination unit 105, 505 Time acquisition unit 106, 406, 606, 706, 806, 906 Notification time storage unit 107, 307, 407, 607, 707, 907, 1007, 1207, 1307 Notification determination unit 108, 208 Information notification unit 109 Operation acquisition unit 209, 609, 709, 1209 Browsing history accumulation unit 210, 410, 610, 710, 810, 910 Notification time calculation unit 211 Update determination rule storage unit 306 Browsing possibility storage unit 310 Browsing Possibility calculation unit 411 Location category storage unit 511 Location category storage unit 512 Stay history accumulation unit 513 Location category classification unit 811 Time zone segment storage unit 815 Stay history time zone segment unit 916 Time zone segment selection unit 918 Time zone segment candidate storage unit 1017 Notification cycle calculation unit 1018 Notification cycle storage unit 1119 Predictive notification time Calculation unit 1120 Predictive notification time storage unit 1222 Notification length storage unit 1221 Notification length calculation unit

Claims (18)

An information notification device provided in a portable information terminal,
Information storage means for storing information for notifying the user;
Position determination means for determining a current position which is a current position of the portable information terminal;
An elapsed time measuring means for measuring an elapsed time since the portable information terminal arrived at the current position;
Notification determining means for determining whether to notify the information from the current position determined by the position determining means and the elapsed time;
Information notification means for notifying the user of the information when the notification determination means determines to notify the information;
Correspondence between the position when the information notification means notifies the information, the elapsed time from the arrival at the position until the notification of the information, and whether the user who received the notification of the information viewed the information Browsing history storage means for storing the browsing history,
The notification determining unit, from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by said position determining means calculates a viewing frequency in accordance with the elapsed time in the current location as a browsing possibilities, depending on the elapsed time The information notification apparatus , wherein the browsing possibility is used as an index indicating the appropriateness of information notification, and it is determined whether to notify the information to the user according to the level of the browsing possibility . The notification determining unit calculates a browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determining unit, and the browsing possibility increases when the browsing frequency is high. The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated, and the elapsed time of the predetermined width including the elapsed time at which the browsing possibility becomes the highest is measured by the elapsed time measuring means as the optimal notification time for information notification. that the elapsed time, the information notifying apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that determines to notify the information upon reaching the notification time. The notification determining unit calculates a browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determining unit, and the browsing possibility increases when the browsing frequency is high. The elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measuring unit is calculated by calculating the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time, and using the value of the browsing possibility according to the elapsed time as an index indicating appropriateness of information notification. in the information notifying apparatus according to claim 1 for notifying the information with a probability having the viewing possibilities and positively correlated in accordance with the elapsed time, and determines that. The notification determining unit, the browsing history corresponding to the previous SL current position is converted to the presence or absence of viewing corresponding to the elapsed time since the last information notification, from the previous information notification from the converted existence of the viewing The browsing frequency is calculated according to the elapsed time, the browsing possibility is increased when the browsing frequency is high, the browsing possibility is calculated according to the elapsed time from the previous information notification, and the browsing possibility is calculated. A browsing cycle indicating a temporal cycle that increases is calculated, and the calculated browsing cycle determines that the information is periodically notified according to an elapsed time from the previous information notification. The information notification apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 . In addition, a location category storage means for storing a location category that is a classification of the location according to the stay characteristics and a location belonging to the location category in association with each other,
The notification determination unit includes a current position category determination unit that determines the position category corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit based on content stored in the position category storage unit;
A position category browsing history acquisition unit that acquires the browsing history corresponding to a position belonging to the same position category as the position category to which the current position belongs determined by the current position category determination unit;
The browsing frequency according to the elapsed time is calculated from the browsing history acquired by the position category browsing history acquisition unit, and the browsing possibility is increased when the browsing frequency is high. The browsing according to the elapsed time is possible. calculating a sex claim 1 or claim characterized in that it has a notification determination unit determines to notify the information to the user viewing possibilities in accordance with the elapsed time as an index indicating the appropriateness of the information notice 2. The information notification device according to 2. The information notification device according to claim 5 , wherein the stay characteristic is indicated by a combination of a stay time that is an average time of staying at a position and a stay frequency that is the number of times of staying at the position during a certain period. Furthermore, a stay history storage means for storing the position and the stay history at the position of the portable information terminal in association with each other;
Position, the classified into the position categories according staying characteristic of the position obtained from the stay history, the result of the classification, characterized in that it comprises a location category classifying means for storing in said position category storage means according to claim 5, wherein Item 7. The information notification device according to Item 6 . The browsing history accumulating unit is configured such that the position when the information notifying unit notifies the information, the elapsed time from the arrival at the position until the notification of the information, and the user who has received the notification of the information browses the information. In addition to whether or not, the browsing history corresponding to the previous position before that position is accumulated,
The position determination means includes a current position determination unit that determines a current position that is a current position of the portable information terminal;
A previous position storage unit that stores a previous position that is a position in front of the current position;
The notification determination unit is configured to display the browsing possibility when the browsing frequency is high from the previous position stored in the previous position storage unit and the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit. The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated, and it is determined whether or not the information is notified to the user using the browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time as an index indicating the appropriateness of the information notification. information notifying apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that. Furthermore, time acquisition means for acquiring the current time,
A time segment storage means for storing a time segment that is a time zone for segmenting a certain period into a plurality of times,
The browsing history accumulating means is the position when the information notifying means notifies the information, the elapsed time from the arrival at the position until the information is notified, and the user who has received the information has viewed the information. In addition to whether or not, the information notifying means accumulates the browsing history associated with the time when the information was notified,
The notification determination unit is configured to determine the time segment corresponding to the current time acquired from the time acquisition unit based on the content stored in the time segment storage unit;
A category browsing history acquisition unit that acquires from the browsing history storage means the browsing history corresponding to a time belonging to the same time segment as the time segment determined by the time segment determining unit;
The browsing frequency according to the elapsed time is calculated by calculating the browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history acquired by the classification browsing history acquisition unit, and the browsing possibility is increased when the browsing frequency is high. It calculates, according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that it has a notification determination unit determines to notify the information to the user viewing possibilities in accordance with the elapsed time as an index indicating the appropriateness of the information notice The information notification device described in 1. Furthermore, a stay history storage means for storing the position and the stay history at the position of the user in association with each other;
The stay frequency of the current position is calculated from the stay history of the current position according to time, the magnitude of the stay frequency is divided into a plurality of frequency sections, and the time indicated by the dividing point of each frequency section is the time The portable information terminal according to claim 9 , further comprising: a stay history time zone segmenting unit that segments a predetermined period as a segment boundary time into a plurality of segments and stores the segmented result in the time segment storage unit. The stay history time zone segmenting means calculates a stay frequency of the current position according to time from the stay history of the current position, calculates a maximum point and a minimum point of the stay frequency, and sets each adjacent maximum point and the time indicated the midpoint of the minimum point, the articulates certain period into a plurality as boundary time epoch, the results of the segment according to claim 10, characterized in that stored in the time segment storage means Mobile information terminal. Furthermore, time acquisition means for acquiring the current time,
A time zone segment candidate storage means for storing time zone segment candidates that are a plurality of candidates predetermined for a time segment that is a time zone that divides a certain period into a plurality of times,
The notification determination unit calculates a browsing frequency according to the elapsed time in each time segment of each time zone segment candidate for the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination unit, and the browsing When the frequency is high, the browsing possibility becomes high, the browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated, and the elapsed time of a predetermined width including the elapsed time when the browsing possibility becomes the highest is optimal for information notification. A notification time calculation unit that calculates the notification time;
A time zone segment selection unit that selects the time zone segment candidate that maximizes the variance of the notification time of each time segment of each of the time zone segment candidates calculated by the notification time calculation unit as a time zone segment to be applied to the current position. When,
Among the notification times calculated by the notification time calculation unit, the notification time corresponding to the time zone segment candidate selected by the time zone segment selection unit is acquired, and the elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measurement unit is the information notifying apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that it has a notification determination unit determines to notify the information when it reaches the current the notification time corresponding to the time. The browsing history accumulating unit is configured such that the position when the information notifying unit notifies the information, the elapsed time from the arrival at the position until the notification of the information, and the user who has received the notification of the information browses the information. In addition to whether or not, the information notifying means accumulates a browsing history that associates the time when the information is notified and the time when the information is exited from the position,
The position determination means includes a current position determination unit that determines a current position that is a current position of the portable information terminal;
A previous position storage unit that stores a previous position that is a position in front of the current position;
The notification determining unit calculates a browsing frequency according to the elapsed time from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determining unit, and the browsing possibility increases when the browsing frequency is high. The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated, and the elapsed time of the predetermined width including the elapsed time at which the browsing possibility becomes the highest is measured by the elapsed time measuring means as the optimal notification time for information notification. A first determination unit that determines to notify information when the elapsed time reaches the notification time;
When the browsing frequency according to the back calculation time from the exit time of the previous position to the information notification time is calculated from the browsing history corresponding to the previous position stored in the previous position storage unit, and the browsing frequency is high The browsing possibility corresponding to the elapsed time is calculated, the browsing possibility is also high, and a predetermined ratio of the elapsed time that is predicted that the browsing possibility becomes a predetermined value is predicted notification optimal for information notification A second determination unit configured to calculate the time and determine that the information is notified when the elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measuring unit reaches an elapsed time having a predetermined width including the predicted notification time. information notifying apparatus according to claim 1 or claim 2, characterized in that. The notification determination unit further notifies the information by the first determination unit when the current position of the user cannot be acquired by the position determination unit, or when the browsing history at the current position is less than a predetermined number. If the user's current position can be acquired by the position determination means and the browsing history at the current position does not reach a predetermined number, the second determination unit determines the information. The information notification apparatus according to claim 13 , further comprising a switching determination unit that determines whether or not to notify. The browsing history accumulating unit is configured such that the position when the information notifying unit notifies the information, the elapsed time from the arrival at the position until the notification of the information, and the user who has received the notification of the information browses the information. In addition to whether or not the user has received a notification of the information, it accumulates a browsing history corresponding to a reaction time that is a time until the user reacts to the information,
The information notification device further includes notification length calculation means for calculating an average of the reaction time at the current position as a notification length from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination means. Prepared,
The information notification unit, when the notification determination unit determines to notify the information, notifies the user of the information by the length of the notification calculated by the notification length calculation unit. The information notification device according to any one of claims 1 to 14 . An information notification device provided in a mobile phone that is the information notification device,
The notification determining unit further sets the voice call time to the notification time when there is a voice call in the information notification device before the elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measurement unit reaches the notification time. The information notification apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein addition is performed. Furthermore, it comprises a stay history accumulation means for associating a position and a stay time at the position of the portable information terminal as a stay history,
The notification determination means calculates an average stay time at the current position from the stay history corresponding to the current position determined by the position determination means, and the elapsed time measured by the elapsed time measurement means, The information notification device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined to notify the information when a notification time that monotonously increases according to the average stay time is reached. An information notification method in an information notification device provided in a portable information terminal,
A position determination step of determining a current position which is a current position of the portable information terminal;
An elapsed time measuring step of measuring an elapsed time since the portable information terminal arrived at the current position;
A notification determination step of determining whether to notify the information from the current position and the elapsed time determined in the position determination step;
When it is determined to notify the information in the notification determining step, the user is notified of the information, the position when the information is notified, and the process from arrival at the position to the notification of the information An information notification step of accumulating a browsing history in which time and whether the user who received the notification of the information has browsed the information,
The notification determination step, from the browsing history corresponding to the current position determined in the position determination step calculates a viewing frequency in accordance with the elapsed time in the current location as a browsing possibilities, depending on the elapsed time Browse possibility as an index indicating the adequacy of the information notification, information notification method characterized by determining whether to notify the information to the user according to the level of the viewing possibilities were.

Images