JP2000035341A - Destination guidance apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a destination guidance apparatus using a natural language capable of grasping a positional relationship in a short sentence capable of being memorized by a human being and even without using a map by a method wherein an institution which is within a prescribed distance from a destination and which has a high cognitive degree is selected so as to be decided as a target and the positional relationship between the target and the destination is output as the natural language. SOLUTION: First, a destination is input from a point input means 101. A target decision means 104 refers to a map-information storage means 102, and an institution which is within a prescribed distance and which has a high cognitive degree is selected from institutions around the destination. Then, neighborhood regions are decided by using an institution-neighborhood-region decision means 103 regarding four directions, i.e., the front direction, the rear direction and both side-face directions. Then, the target decision means 104 investigates whether the destination is contained in any of the found institution regions, and it decides an institution, to be checked, as a target. Then, when the target is decided, a natural-language output means 105 investigates the positional relationship between the target and the destination so as to be converted into a natural language, and the natural language is output as a destination guidance representation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a destination guiding device for guiding a user to a destination location.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to guide a user to a destination location, a map of the surrounding area is displayed on a display device,
A method of displaying a route from a current position to a destination is known, and is used in an in-vehicle navigation device, an Internet map information service, and the like. However, it is difficult to display a normal map on a portable terminal for carrying around when a person moves because the display screen is small. In addition, since data must be transmitted by wireless communication, if map data having a large data amount is transmitted, it takes time to display.

[0003] For example, in "Destination guidance method and apparatus (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 6-284212)" (hereinafter referred to as Document A), a guidance information voice message is generated, and guidance to the destination using voice is provided. I do. In the invention of Document A, information to be automatically guided is extracted based on the nearest station information or the relative distance from a target such as the nearest public institution or a famous building, and a guidance message is created. The guidance message given as an example in Document A is "Destination XX
○ is located 50 meters southeast of the department store. △ The department store is located at Exit A3 of Hibiya Station on the Chiyoda Line. Is characterized by using fixed phrases. In the "mobile guidance apparatus (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-94369)" (hereinafter referred to as Document B), the current position and destination are specified by inputting the names and characteristics of facilities using natural language, and the route is determined. It shows a method of outputting the names and features of the facilities on the route at the time of guidance using a natural language.

[0004] The invention of Document B is based on inputting features such as the name of the facility, the appearance of the facility, and the scale in a natural language.
For example, it is possible to input a point without a means for specifying a current position such as GPS. Reference B
Let's show how to use the correspondence between natural language and the names and characteristics of facilities when guiding a route, and how to express landmarks on the route like an intersection with a six-story public hall with brown stairs. I have. By replacing the word "intersection" in the guidance sentence "Please go straight ahead at two intersections and go before the third intersection to the left" with the above expression, the user can also use appropriate landmarks. You can follow the route. In this document B, the guidance sentence generated in document A is "Destination ○
There is no expression that focuses on the relationship with surrounding objects, such as "○ is 50 meters southeast of the department store."

[0005] A location guidance sentence generation method focusing on a positional relationship
(1997 IEICE General Conference D-12-2
6) ”(hereinafter referred to as Document C), nodes, links, and landmarks in a road network are collectively referred to as a spatial object, and a map of the spatial object is modeled, and a positional relationship between the spatial objects is used. The guide text is generated. In Document C, a spatial object that is a reference target for a destination to be guided is considered, and a relative position expression is considered while moving a network between the spatial objects from the reference target to the destination. For example, considering a reference target B with respect to a destination A, if another spatial object C is in a relationship between B and a road and is in a relationship of being next to A, "A is B
It is next to the building C across the road. "

[0006]

In order to provide a destination guidance service to a user having a portable terminal, it is necessary to display information that is easy to see even on a small display screen, and to reduce the amount of data to reduce communication time. Must be considered. For example, when only voices can be used, or when a map cannot be displayed because the screen is small, it is necessary to guide the destination by using a sentence that fits only a few lines and is short enough to be memorable by humans. In that case,
Appropriate guidance expressions must be used so that the positional relationship can be understood without a map.

In Document A, a guide text is automatically generated from a relationship with a target closest to a destination. This allows
It is possible to provide destination guidance with a simple effort without building a large-scale guidance database in advance.
However, since the relationship between the destination and the target is based only on the distance and the azimuth between them, the guidance sentence expression becomes monotonous. In particular, when the distance between the target and the destination is long, it is better to use another plain language.

[0008] In Document B, by associating the natural language expression with the attribute of the facility in the map database, the feature of the facility such as "a building with a short white height" is represented by using the natural language to provide a guide text. To enhance the expressiveness of the information and provide easy-to-understand guidance to users. However, it is characterized by expressing the attributes of facilities in natural language, and does not consider transmitting the relationships between facilities. Therefore, it is suitable for providing appropriate landmarks when guiding along a route. In that case, the guide text tends to be longer as the route becomes longer.

In Document C, the positional relationship between adjacent spatial objects is calculated in advance as a relationship network and stored in a database, and the relationship between a target and a destination is obtained by following the network between spatial objects. I have. However, in this method, when the target and the destination are far apart, it is difficult to directly express the relationship between the two. In order to express the relationship between a distant target and the destination, the positional relationship must be indirectly expressed using another spatial object between the target and the destination on the spatial object network. Must. Therefore, as the distance between the target and the destination increases, the number of spatial objects set to connect the two increases, and the guide text becomes longer.

[0010] The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned conventional problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal that cannot display a map by using a sentence that is short enough for a human to memorize.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a destination guidance device that can use an easy-to-understand natural language expression that can grasp a positional relationship without a map.

[0011]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention firstly designates a destination by using a point input means, and selects from facilities located within a predetermined distance from the destination. If a facility having a higher degree of recognition than a predetermined value is selected and the destination is included in any of the frontal vicinity area, the backside vicinity area, and the both side direction vicinity area of the facility, the target is determined, The positional relationship between the target and the destination is output as a natural language. As a result, the destination can be guided using a sentence that is short enough to be memorable by a human and using an easy-to-understand natural language expression that can grasp the positional relationship without a map.

Secondly, block information is stored as map information, and when deciding a target, a recognition level higher than a predetermined value is selected from facilities included in the same block as the destination. Is selected, and if any one of the neighboring areas includes a destination, it is determined as a target, and the positional relationship with the destination is output as a natural language. This makes it possible to easily determine an appropriate target without calculating the distance.

Third, a search for a road is performed with the destination as a starting point, and facilities are selected from facilities within a range that can be reached in a predetermined travel time in the order of higher recognition, and the facilities in each neighboring area are selected. If any of them includes a destination, the destination is determined, and the positional relationship with the destination is output as a natural language. This makes it possible to determine a target that can reach the destination in a fixed time, and to provide guidance that makes it easy to reach the destination without a map.

Fourth, the current position is input, and the facility located between the current position and the destination is determined as a target with priority. As a result, it is possible to determine a target that is easy to see and recognize when actually going to the destination.

Fifth, when determining whether or not the destination is included in the area near the facility, not only a predetermined front direction, a rear direction, and both side directions but also a right direction as viewed from the current position. , Left, back, and near directions are automatically calculated, and if any of the neighboring regions includes a destination, the region is determined as a target. Thus, the positional relationship between the target and the destination viewed from the current position is expressed, and the position of the destination can be grasped without knowing the front direction of the target.

Sixth, the facility information has an attribute for specifying the type, stores the characteristics of the user for each user with respect to the facility, and determines the target according to the characteristics of the user. Facilities are selected with priority and decided as landmarks.
As a result, a facility with a higher degree of recognition for the user can be set as the target.

Seventh, a new target is determined by operating a switch for re-determining the target by re-determining the target. Thereby, even if it is difficult to understand the destination guidance based on the once decided target, the destination guidance based on another target can provide more easily understandable destination guidance.

Eighth, an appropriate natural language expression is output according to the angle between the line connecting the target and the destination and the direction of the neighboring area. As a result, more precise destination guidance can be performed using a sentence that is short enough to be memorable by a human and with the feature that the positional relationship can be grasped without a map.

[0019]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a destination guide device comprising: a point input means for inputting a destination; and a map information storage means for storing map information provided with facility information. A facility neighborhood area determining means for obtaining a facility-specific neighborhood area in a designated direction of an arbitrary facility, a target object determining means for determining an appropriate facility from surrounding facilities as a target, And natural language output means for outputting the positional relationship between the two facilities using natural language, and how easily people can recognize the attributes of the facilities in the map information stored in the map information storage means. A recognition degree, which is an index indicating the degree of possibility, and the front, the back, and the directions of both sides of the facility are given, and the target deciding means is within a predetermined distance from the destination,
In addition, a facility having a higher degree of recognition than a predetermined value is selected, and a front-side neighborhood area, a back-side neighborhood area, and a both-sides neighborhood area of the facility are determined using the facility neighborhood area determination means, and the selected facility is selected. If the facility includes a destination in any of the neighborhood areas determined by the facility proximity area determination means, the selected facility is determined as a target, and the natural language output means is used to determine the relationship between the target and the destination. By outputting the positional relationship as a natural language, destination guidance can be provided using short sentences that can be memorized by humans and using an easy-to-understand natural language expression that can grasp the positional relationship without a map. It has the action of:

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the destination guiding apparatus according to the first aspect, when the target determining means determines a target, the target determining means is within a predetermined distance from the destination. , And from the facilities with a higher degree of recognition than the predetermined value,
It is designed to check whether a destination is included in the area near the facility, to determine a target that can reach the destination in the shortest possible time, and to provide guidance that makes it easy to reach the destination without a map It has the effect of being able to.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the destination guiding apparatus according to the first aspect, when the target determining means determines a target, the target determining means is located within a predetermined distance from the destination. It is designed to check whether a destination is included in the area near the facility in the order of higher recognition from facilities with higher recognition than a predetermined value. This has the effect that an appropriate target can be easily determined without performing.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the destination guiding apparatus according to the first aspect, the map information storage means stores the block information, and the target determining means determines a target. At that time, a facility with a higher recognition level than a predetermined value is selected from facilities included in the same block as the destination, and it is checked whether the destination is included in the area near the facility This has the effect that an appropriate target can be easily determined without calculating the distance.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the destination guidance device according to the first aspect, the map information storage means stores road network information, and travel time is set as an attribute of a link of the road network. By searching the road network using the destination designated by using the point input means as a starting point of the search, it is possible to obtain a range that can be reached from the destination in the road network within a predetermined travel time. A road search means capable of searching for a target, and when the target object determination means determines a target object, selects a facility from the facilities within the range determined by the road search means in descending order of the degree of recognition, and selects an area in the vicinity of the facility. It is designed to check whether or not a destination is included in a destination. It has the effect of being able to reach the ground easily guide.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the destination guiding apparatus according to the first aspect, there is provided a current position input means capable of inputting a current position, and the target object determining means is provided with a target object. When determining the facility, a facility located within a certain distance from a straight line connecting the current position input by the current position input means and the destination is selected, and it is checked whether or not the destination is included in the vicinity area of the facility. And has an effect that the facility located between the current position and the destination can be preferentially set as the target.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the destination guiding apparatus according to the sixth aspect, a route searching means for finding an optimal route between a current position and the destination is provided, and the target object is determined. When the means selects a facility, the facility is selected in ascending order of the distance from the optimal route between the current position and the destination determined by the route search means, and it is checked whether the destination is included in the area near the facility. In order to prioritize the facility between the current location and the destination as a landmark,
This has the effect of making it possible to target facilities that are actually easy to see and recognize when going to the destination.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the destination guiding apparatus according to the sixth or seventh aspect, the target deciding means selects a facility, and the destination is included in an area near the facility. When examining whether or not the vehicle is located in the front, back, and both side directions, the facility vicinity area determination means determines the vicinity areas in the right, left, back, and front directions as viewed from the current position. Automatically calculates, and if any of the calculated neighboring areas includes the destination, the selected facility is determined as the target, and the target and the destination viewed from the current position are determined. By expressing the positional relationship, it is possible to grasp the position of the destination without knowing the front direction of the target.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a destination guidance apparatus according to any one of the first to eighth aspects, wherein:
A user data management means for storing the characteristics of the user with respect to the facility, wherein the target object determination means refers to the user data management means when the target object is determined, and the facility according to the characteristics of the user; Is selected preferentially and determined as a target.In order to preferentially determine a facility according to the characteristics of the user as a target, depending on the user,
This has the effect that it is possible to provide destination guidance using a target that is more easily recognized.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the destination guidance apparatus according to any one of the first to ninth aspects, a switch for instructing the target determination means to redo the target determination is provided. When the user operates the switch, the target determining means determines a new target again by determining the target, and the natural language output means determines the position of the new target and the destination. The relationship is output as a natural language, and even if it is difficult to understand the destination guidance, the destination operation is decided again by operating the switch and the destination guidance using the target object that is more easily recognized by the user It has the effect that it can be changed to

According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the destination guidance apparatus according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, when the natural language output means outputs the positional relationship as a natural language, A natural language expression is output according to the angle between the line connecting the ground and the target and the direction used to calculate the area near the facility including the destination. Since the guidance expression is changed depending on the position, the destination guidance can be performed with higher accuracy.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) As shown in FIG. 1, a destination guide device according to a first embodiment of the present invention includes a point input means 101 for inputting a destination, and a map provided with facility information. Map information storage means 102 for storing information; facility adjacent area determining means 103 for obtaining a unique area specific to a facility in a specified direction of an optional facility; And a natural language output means 105 for outputting the positional relationship between the two facilities using natural language. The point input means 101 is used by a user of the apparatus to specify a destination. The designation method is performed, for example, by saying “S ward office” and the name of the facility. As another example, a position on a map such as longitude and latitude may be input, or a character string representing the name of a facility may be input.

The map information storage means 102 has facility information as map information. The facility information has at least the name and position of the facility and the front, back, and side directions as the attributes of each facility. However, in order to improve the accuracy of determining the vicinity area of the facility, which will be described later, the information may include a facility type, a numerical value indicating the facility scale, a facility attribute such as a facility shape, and road network information. The facility neighborhood area determination means 103 obtains a facility-specific neighborhood area in the designated direction. Here, the neighborhood areas in the four directions of the front, the back, and both sides which the facility has as attributes are obtained. The neighborhood area is
In natural language "~ front""~front""~back""~behind""~
It refers to an area that is expressed as “horizontal”, “to row” or the like. For example, the area near the front of S station refers to an area represented by the expression “in front of S station”. In the simplest example, as a method for obtaining a nearby area, there is a method in which only the shape is determined in advance as shown in FIG. In FIG.
The four arrows represent four directions for determining the neighborhood area. The area 202 is an area near the front of the facility 201, and the area 20
3 is a back surface vicinity region, and regions 204 and 205 are side surface vicinity regions.

As another example, a map information storage means 1
There is also a method in which the type and scale of the facility are stored as the facility information stored in 02, and the size of the area is adjusted according to the type and scale. By using this method, it is possible to make adjustments in accordance with the actual situation, such as taking a large area near the "S station" and making a small area near the "S ward office back". As a more accurate method, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-1
60483 "point vicinity determination method". An example of obtaining a nearby area using this method will be described with reference to FIG. When this method is used, the map information storage means 10
The information of the road network is stored in 2. next,
In the front direction, the back surface direction, and both side surface directions for obtaining the neighborhood area, the neighborhood initial value setting point is obtained, and the neighborhood initial value is given. In FIG. 3, a nearby area in front of Station S, which is a target, is obtained, a point 302 is selected as a nearby initial value setting point, and 1.0 is provided as a nearby initial value.

Next, while searching the road network,
Each time the signal passes through the node, the neighborhood determination value is distributed and propagated. FIG. 3 employs a method of evenly distributing the neighborhood discrimination values when the road network branches. Therefore, since the neighborhood discrimination value 1.0 at the point 302 is distributed to three, the neighborhood discrimination values at the points 303, 304, and 305 are 0.33. By repeating this, a node having a neighborhood discrimination value larger than a predetermined threshold for neighborhood discrimination and a link connecting them are regarded as a neighborhood area. If the vicinity determination value differs depending on the route of the road network, the larger value is prioritized. At point 306,
Since the neighborhood discrimination value distributed from the point 305 is 0.16 and the neighborhood discrimination value distributed from the point 304 is 0.11, the larger one is 0.16. By setting the threshold value for the neighborhood determination to 0.1, the portion indicated by the dotted line in FIG.

The above description is based on Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-160483.
This is an example of the method using the “point neighborhood discrimination method”. In addition, the neighborhood discrimination initial value is adjusted according to the type and scale of the facility, and only the facilities facing large roads using the shape of the road network are used. An application for determining a near region that is closer to intuition, such as including it in a region, can be considered. Needless to say, the area near the facility can be obtained by a method other than the method described above. Target object determination means 1
04 determines an appropriate target to refer to for destination guidance from facilities around the destination. Details of the procedure will be described later. Given the destination and the target, the natural language output means 105 outputs the positional relationship between the two as a natural language. For example, when the destination “restaurant A” is located in the area in front of the target “S station”, the natural language expression “restaurant A is in front of S station” is output.

The operation procedure of the apparatus according to the first embodiment will be described below with reference to FIG. First, in step 401, the user inputs a destination using the point input means 101. Next, in step 402, the target object determination means 104 refers to the map information storage means 102 and, among the facilities around the destination, facilities within a predetermined distance and having a higher degree of recognition than a predetermined value. Choose Here, as an example, as shown in FIG.
Is input, and the target object determination unit 104 selects “S station”, “P hotel”, and “Q department store”. Circle 501 is a circle indicating a range within a predetermined distance from restaurant A. Next, in step 403 and thereafter, it is checked whether or not the selected facility is appropriate as a target in order. First, at step 403, one of the facilities is set as a check target facility. As a method of setting check target facilities,
For example, facilities are selected in an unspecified order from candidate landmarks. Further, as another example, if the distance from the destination is selected in ascending order, the facility that is as close as possible to the destination becomes the target, so that destination guidance that can easily reach the destination without a map can be performed. As yet another example, if facilities are selected in the descending order of the degree of recognition, the facilities that are as easily recognized as possible are the target objects, so that destination guidance that makes it easy to grasp the position of the destination without a map can be provided.

In step 404, the front direction, the back direction,
Neighboring regions in four directions on both side surfaces are determined using the facility nearby region determining means 103. FIG. 3 shows that the map information storage means 102 has road network information and, as attributes of a facility, a facility type and a facility scale in addition to the name, position, front, back, and both side directions.
This is an example in which a method based on the “point neighborhood determination method” is adopted, and the neighborhood determination initial value is determined based on the facility type, the facility scale, and the direction of the neighborhood area to be obtained. The road represented by the dotted line in FIG. 3 is "S station"
Is shown, the facility along the road indicated by the dotted line is considered to be in the near-front area of the S station. It is needless to say that the facility vicinity area determining means 103 does not have to adopt the method described above, but can determine the facility proximity area by various methods. Next, in step 405, the target object determining means 104 checks whether or not the destination is included in any of the obtained facility vicinity areas. If it is included, the facility to be checked is determined as a target in step 406. If it is not included, the check target facility is deleted from the target candidate in step 407, and the process returns to step 403 to check whether another facility in the target candidate is a check target facility and whether it is appropriate as a target again. I do.
When the target is determined, at step 408, the natural language output unit 105 checks the positional relationship between the target and the destination, converts the target into a natural language, and outputs it as a destination guidance expression. Here, the destination guidance that "restaurant A is in front of S station" is output. Similarly, if restaurant A is included in the area near the back of station S, "restaurant A
Is located behind S station. "

As described above, in the first embodiment of the present invention, an appropriate target is selected from around the destination, and only the positional relationship between the destination and the target is expressed in natural language, not in a complicated route expression. Therefore, the destination can be guided by using a sentence that is short enough to be memorable by a human and using an expression that can grasp the positional relationship without a map.

(Embodiment 2) A destination guidance apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as that of the apparatus according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. 10
2 stores the block information. The block information is expressed as polygon data representing an area surrounded by roads and an area having the same address and number of addresses.

The candidates for the target according to the first embodiment are:
They selected from facilities within a predetermined distance from the destination. According to this method, a large number of facilities that do not include the destination in the neighboring area may be selected as candidates for the target.

In the second embodiment, step 4 in FIG.
In selecting a candidate for a target in 02, a facility having a higher degree of recognition than a predetermined value is selected from facilities located in the same block as the destination. The other operation procedure is the same as the operation procedure of the first embodiment shown in FIG. In the second embodiment, information that the target is in the same block as the destination can be used. If the target is S department store and the destination is restaurant A, the expression such as "Restaurant A is in the block where S department store is located behind S department store" or "Restaurant A
Is a sequence of S department stores and is the same block. "

As described above, in the second embodiment of the present invention, in order to select a candidate for a target from facilities located in the same block as the destination, a target having some positional relationship with the destination is selected. Since the probability of selection is high, it is possible to efficiently determine a target.

(Embodiment 3) A destination guidance apparatus according to a third embodiment of the present invention includes a road search means 606 as shown in FIG. Other components are the same as those of the apparatus of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and a point input means 601 for inputting a destination and a map information storage means 602 for storing map information provided with facility information. A facility near area determining unit 603 for obtaining a nearby area unique to a facility in a designated direction of an arbitrary facility; and a target object determining means 604 for determining an appropriate facility from surrounding facilities for a given facility. And natural language output means 605 for outputting the positional relationship between the two facilities using natural language.
The map information storage means 602 in FIG. 6 stores road network information. The links that make up the road network have travel time at each link as an attribute.

In the first embodiment and the second embodiment of the present invention, the arrival time from the target to the destination is not directly considered. Therefore, in the third embodiment, a candidate for a target is selected such that the arrival time from the target to the destination falls within a certain range. FIG. 7 shows an operation procedure according to the third embodiment.

After inputting a destination in step 701, a search is performed using the road search means 606 starting from the destination in step 702. At that time, the search is performed in parallel for all the road branches, and the search is performed until the travel time of the route from the destination reaches the predetermined value, so that the vehicle can be reached from the destination within the predetermined travel time. Routes to all points shall be determined. Next, in step 703, a facility having a higher degree of recognition than a predetermined value is selected from facilities found in step 702 and within a reachable range within a predetermined travel time from the destination. In step 704, the target facilities are set as check target facilities in descending order of recognition. Less than,
Steps 705 to 709 correspond to step 404 in the operation procedure of the first embodiment shown in FIG.
To 408.

In the third embodiment, travel time information from a target to a destination can be used. If the target is S department store and the destination is restaurant A, the expression such as "Restaurant A is located behind S department store and within 2 minutes on foot" or "Restaurant A is facing the front of S department store" About a minute to the right. "

As described above, in the third embodiment of the present invention, by selecting a target from a range that can be reached within a predetermined travel time, the destination guidance with reference to the target that is easy to reach the destination Can be.

(Embodiment 4) The destination guidance apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention is provided with a current position input means 807 capable of inputting a current position, as shown in FIG. Other configurations are the same as those of the apparatus of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and a point input means 8 for inputting a destination.
01, a map information storage unit 802 for storing map information to which facility information is added, a facility vicinity area determination unit 803 for obtaining a facility-specific neighborhood area in a designated direction of an arbitrary facility, and an arbitrary facility. Target object determination means 804 for determining an appropriate target object from surrounding facilities
And a natural language output unit 805 for outputting the positional relationship between the two facilities using a natural language.

The first to third embodiments do not consider where the user of the destination guidance device is. Therefore, in the fourth embodiment, the target is determined in consideration of the current position of the user.

FIG. 9 shows an operation procedure of the fourth embodiment. First, in step 901, the user inputs the current position using the current position input unit 807. The methods include clicking on the displayed map, inputting the nearest facility, inputting automatically using GPS, etc.
Any method may be used. Step 902
The step of inputting a destination and selecting a candidate for a target in step 903 are the same as steps 401 and 402 of the operation procedure of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. In step 904, when selecting a check target facility from the candidates for the target, the facility is selected from facilities located within a predetermined distance from a straight line connecting the current position input in step 901 and the destination input in step 902. As a result, the facility located between the current position and the destination can be preferentially set as the target. Hereinafter, steps 905 to 909 are the same as steps 404 to 408 of the operation procedure of the first embodiment.

In the fourth embodiment, instead of using the distance between the current position and the straight line connecting the destination as a reference, the distance from the current position to the optimal route from the destination may be used as the reference.
In that case, it is necessary to add a route search means to the configuration of the apparatus of the fourth embodiment, and after inputting the destination in step 903, find the optimum route from the current position to the destination. Further, in step 904, when selecting a check target facility from the candidates for the target, the check is performed in ascending order of the distance from the current position to the optimal route from the current position to the destination.

As described above, in the fourth embodiment of the present invention, the facility located between the current position and the destination is preferentially set as the target, so that the facility can be easily seen when going to the destination. We can aim at facility which it is easy to recognize.

(Fifth Embodiment) A destination guiding apparatus according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention has the same configuration as the apparatus according to the fourth embodiment.

In the apparatuses from the first embodiment to the fourth embodiment, the vicinity areas in four directions of the front direction, the back direction, and the both side directions are obtained as the vicinity areas of the facility.
Here, the front is one that is stored in advance in the map information storage means as an attribute of the facility. But,
When the front direction of the target is unknown, the position of the destination cannot be grasped unless the user goes close to the target. Therefore, if the current position is known, the destination guidance can be more easily understood if the user can refer to directions such as right, left, front and back when viewing the target from the current position. Thus, in the fifth embodiment, the rightward, leftward, frontward, and rearward neighboring regions viewed from the current position are obtained.

FIG. 10 shows the operation procedure of the fifth embodiment. When obtaining the neighborhood area of the facility in step 1005,
Right and left directions of the check target facility from the current position,
The front direction and the back direction are determined, and the facility vicinity area is obtained for each direction. FIG. 11 shows an example of each neighboring area. The facility 1101 represents a destination, and the facility 1102 represents a check target facility. The point 1103 represents the current position. The four arrows of the check target facility 1102 indicate four directions for calculating the facility vicinity area that are determined in advance. Area 11
Reference numeral 04 denotes an area near the check target facility.
Similarly, an area 1105, an area 1106, and an area 1107 are a right neighboring area, a left neighboring area,
This represents the area near the back. In step 1006, it is checked whether the destination is included in any of the facility vicinity areas. At this time, the front, back, and
In each direction on both sides, right direction, left direction from the current position,
Check the eight directions including the front and back directions. However, if the direction viewed from the current position is the same as the direction predetermined for the target, for example, if the front direction and the front direction overlap, only four directions will be examined.
In step 1009, the relationship between the target and the destination, for example, an expression such as "Restaurant A is in front of S department store" or an expression such as "Restaurant A is in the back of S department store" or "Restaurant A is from there" Look to the right of S department store. " If the direction viewed from the current position is the same as the direction predetermined for the target, a destination guidance expression viewed from the current position is output.

As described above, in the fifth embodiment, since the destination is guided using the positional relationship based on the current position, the position of the destination can be grasped even if the front of the target is unknown. can do.

(Embodiment 6) A destination guidance apparatus according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention includes user data management means for storing characteristics of facilities for each user. Other configurations may take any of the configurations of the first to fifth embodiments.

The destination guidance devices of the first to fifth embodiments use a general recognition value as an attribute in order to indicate the ease of recognition of a target facility. I had memorized. However, the ease of recognizing facilities often differs for each user. Therefore, in the apparatus according to the sixth embodiment, the user data management means manages the user characteristics for each individual user, and when selecting the check target facility from the candidates for the target, the user data management means is not required. Priority is given to facilities according to their characteristics.

The user characteristics managed by the user data management means include, for example, a facility type well known to the user. For users who do not know the location even if the department store is the target, but are familiar with famous brand shops, use the facility type of the famous brand shop as characteristic data and give priority to other facilities. If you select the target, you can select a target that is more easily recognized by the user. Examples of other characteristic data include the age and occupation of the user. Other than this, any data representing the characteristics of the user may be used.

Hereinafter, an example will be described in which a facility type well known to the user is used as the user characteristic. The map information storage means stores the type of facility such as "department store", "restaurant", or "railroad station" as the attribute of the facility. The user data management means memorizes the facility type specified by the user, and when selecting a check target facility from candidate landmarks, first, a facility having a facility type that the user is familiar with is selected. Select and determine the check target facilities from those facilities according to the distance and the degree of recognition. The facility type stored in the user data management means may be one type or a plurality of types.

As described above, the apparatus according to the sixth embodiment preferentially determines a facility according to the characteristics of the user as a target, and therefore uses a target that is more easily recognized according to the user. Guide you to your destination.

(Embodiment 7) A destination guidance apparatus according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention is provided with a switch for re-determining a target. Other configurations may take any of the configurations of the first to sixth embodiments.

The destination guidance devices according to the first to sixth embodiments select a facility that first satisfies the condition that the area near the facility includes the destination from among the candidates for the target. It is decided as a thing. However, the chosen landmark is not always the most obvious to the user. Therefore, in the seventh embodiment, if the destination guidance expression output is difficult to understand, the user operates the switch to repeat the steps after the determination of the target.

FIG. 12 shows an operation in the case where a destination guidance device according to the seventh embodiment has a configuration in which a switch for re-determining a target is added to the configuration of the device according to the first embodiment. The procedure is shown. Steps 1201 to 1208 are the same as steps 401 to 408 of the operation procedure of the first embodiment shown in FIG. In step 1209, if the user instructs the switch to redo the decision of the target,
Proceed to 7 to delete the check target facility from the target candidate,
The process further proceeds to step 1203 to determine a new target. For example, if the expression "Restaurant A is in front of S station" is not easy for the user to understand, and by re-determining the target, the user will receive another message that "Restaurant A is in front of S department store." Expression can be obtained.

As described above, in the seventh embodiment, even if it is difficult to understand the destination guidance, the destination is determined again by operating the switch, and the destination guidance using the target more easily recognized by the user is provided. Can be changed.

(Embodiment 8) A destination guiding apparatus according to an eighth embodiment of the present invention is similar to the first to seventh embodiments.
Any configuration up to may be taken. The apparatus according to the eighth embodiment is configured such that, when the natural language output unit outputs the positional relationship as a natural language, the line connecting the destination and the target and the direction used for calculating the facility vicinity area including the target. And outputting a natural language expression corresponding to the angle.

The operation of the natural language output means according to the eighth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. Reference numeral 1301 denotes a target, and an area 1302 denotes the vicinity of the target 1301 in front of the facility. The arrow 1303 indicates the target 13 given in advance.
01 indicates the front direction. The angle 1304 is a preset angle for changing the destination guidance expression output by the natural language output unit. The facility near area is divided into an area within an angle 1304 from the direction used to calculate the facility near area and other areas, and a destination guidance expression is determined depending on which area includes the destination. To change. An area 1305 represents a range within an angle 1304 from the front direction 1303. Reference numeral 1306 denotes a destination. The angle 1307 indicates the angle between the line connecting the destination and the target and the front direction. Angle 1307 is angle 13
Since it is larger than 04, it is understood that the destination is not included in the area 1305. Further, since the destination exists in the clockwise direction from the front direction, in the example of FIG. 13, if the destination is restaurant A and the target is S station, the natural language output means is “restaurant A is located at S station. It is in front and on the right with S station behind. " If the destination is included in the area 1305,
An expression such as "Restaurant A is in front of S station" is output. Here, only one angle for changing the guidance expression output is set, but it is needless to say that a plurality of angles may be set to change the guidance expression more finely. In this case, for example, an expression such as "Restaurant A is located slightly to the left from the front with S station behind" is output.

As described above, in the eighth embodiment, since the guidance expression is changed depending on the position of the destination in the facility vicinity area, more accurate destination guidance can be performed.

[0069]

As described above, in the first invention, an appropriate target is selected from around the destination, and only the positional relationship between the destination and the target is output as a natural language expression. An advantageous effect is obtained that the positional relationship can be grasped using sentences as short as possible and without a map.

Further, in the second invention, since a candidate for a target is selected from facilities located in the same block as the destination, the probability of selecting a target having some positional relationship with the destination is high. An advantageous effect that the efficiency of the determination is good is obtained.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, by selecting a target from a range that can be reached within a predetermined travel time, an advantageous effect that a target that is easy to reach a destination can be obtained is obtained.

Further, in the fourth invention, the facility located between the current position and the destination is preferentially set as the target, so that the target is a facility which is actually easy to see and recognize when going to the destination. The advantageous effect that it can be obtained is obtained.

In the fifth invention, the destination is guided by using the positional relationship based on the current position, so that the position of the destination can be grasped without knowing the front of the target. The effect is obtained.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the facility according to the characteristics of the user is preferentially determined as the target, so that there is an advantageous effect that the target that can be easily recognized by each user can be referred to. Can be

Further, in the seventh aspect, by re-determining the target by operating the switch, even if it is difficult to understand the destination guidance, it is possible to change the target to a target that is more easily recognized. Is obtained.

In the eighth aspect, since the guidance expression is changed depending on the position of the destination in the area near the facility, an advantageous effect that more accurate destination guidance can be obtained is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of an area near a facility;

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a method of calculating a neighborhood area of a facility;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation procedure according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of target object selection.

FIG. 6 is a configuration diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation procedure according to the third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a configuration diagram of a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an operation procedure according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an operation procedure according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a nearby area according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an operation procedure according to a seventh embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a view for explaining the operation of the eighth embodiment of the present invention;

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 Point input means 102 Map information storage means 103 Facility near area determination means 104 Target object determination means 105 Natural language output means 201 Facilities 202, 203, 204, 205 Area 601 Point input means 602 Map information storage means 603 Facility near area determination means 604 Target object determination means 605 Natural language output means 606 Road search means 801 Point input means 802 Map information storage means 803 Facility near area determination means 804 Target object determination means 805 Natural language output means 807 Current position input means

Claims (11)

[Claims] 1. A point input means for inputting a destination, a map information storage means for storing map information to which facility information is added, and a facility for obtaining a neighborhood specific to the facility in a specified direction of an arbitrary facility. Neighboring area determination means, target object determination means for determining an appropriate facility as a target from surrounding facilities, and natural language output means for outputting the positional relationship between the two facilities using natural language. Provided, as the attribute of the facility of the map information stored in the map information storage means, a recognition degree which is an index indicating how easily people can recognize, and the directions of the front, back, and both sides of the facility. The target object determination means selects a facility located within a predetermined distance from the destination and having a higher degree of recognition than a predetermined value, and uses the facility neighborhood area determination means to select a facility. The front vicinity area, the back side vicinity area, and the both side direction vicinity area are determined. If the selected facility includes the destination in any of the neighborhood areas determined by the facility proximity area determination means, the selected facility is selected. A destination guidance device, wherein a facility is determined as a target, and the positional relationship between the target and the destination is output as a natural language using the natural language output means. 2. When the target object determining means determines a target object, the target object is selected from facilities which are within a predetermined distance from the destination and have a higher degree of recognition than a predetermined value. 2. The destination guidance device according to claim 1, wherein it is checked whether or not the destination is included in the area near the facility in order of decreasing distance from the facility. 3. When the target deciding means decides a landmark, the target is located within a predetermined distance from the destination and has a higher degree of recognition than a predetermined value. 2. The destination guidance device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not the destination is included in the area near the facility in descending order of the destination. 4. The map information storage means stores block information, and when the target determining means determines a target, the map information storage means uses a predetermined value from facilities included in the same block as the destination. The destination guidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a facility having a high degree of recognition is selected, and it is determined whether or not a destination is included in a region near the facility. 5. The map information storage means stores road network information, gives a travel time as an attribute of a link of the road network, and sets a destination designated by using the point input means as a starting point of a search for the road. Network searching means for obtaining a range that can be reached within a predetermined travel time from a destination in the road network, wherein the target determining means determines a target, 2. The destination guidance according to claim 1, wherein a facility is selected from facilities within a range obtained by the road search means in descending order of recognizability, and it is checked whether a destination is included in a region near the facility. apparatus. 6. A current position input device capable of inputting a current position, wherein the target position determining device connects the current position input by the current position input device to a destination when the target object is determined. 2. The destination guidance apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a facility located within a certain distance from the straight line is selected, and it is checked whether or not the area near the facility includes the destination. 7. A route search means for finding an optimum route between a current position and a destination, wherein when the target object determination means selects a facility, the current position and the destination obtained by the route search means are determined. 7. The destination guidance apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the facilities are selected in ascending order of the distance from the optimal route between the facilities and whether the destination is included in the area near the facility is determined. 8. When the target object determination means selects a facility and checks whether or not the destination is included in the vicinity area of the facility, the target object determination means includes not only the front area, the rear direction, and the both side area but also the vicinity area. The facility neighborhood area determination means automatically calculates each of the neighborhood areas in the right direction, left direction, depth direction, and front direction as viewed from the current position, and selects any of the computed neighborhood areas including the destination. The destination guidance device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the determined facility is determined as a target. 9. A user data management means for storing characteristics of a user for a facility, wherein the target object determination means refers to the user data management means when the target object determination means determines a target object. The destination guidance device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein a facility according to characteristics is preferentially selected and determined as a target. 10. A switch for instructing the target deciding means to redo determination of a target, and when the user operates the switch, the target deciding means redoes the determination of the target and newly sets the target. 2. The natural language output means outputs a positional relationship between a new target and a destination as a natural language.
10. The destination guidance device according to any one of claims 9 to 9. 11. When the natural language output means outputs a positional relationship as a natural language, an angle between a line connecting a destination and a target and a direction used for calculating a facility vicinity area including the destination is set. The destination guidance device according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein a corresponding natural language expression is output.