JP2001012961A - Information service system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To transmit a bearing to a portable information terminal by sensing a bearing directing the terminal without using a compass or a radio wave by an information provider, rotating a map image so that the sensed bearing becomes upside, and further directing a direction cursor on the map. SOLUTION: The information service apparatus comprises an optical signal transceiver 111 for transmitting/receiving an optical signal having directivity, and a bearing storage memory 165 for storing bearing information directing the transceiver 111. Thus, the apparatus transmits bearing information together with various type service information including map information. The apparatus further comprises a bearing calculator 166 and realizes to calculate the bearing directing the accessing terminal by utilizing the signal having the directivity, to rotate the map information to match the bearing and to transmit the information to the terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing device of an information providing station installed in a plurality of predetermined areas, and a user is provided with the information via a mobile information device (portable information terminal) used by the user. Service information specific to your area, especially map data on streets, location information, detailed information on the area (eg, shops, transportation and its routes),
Further, the present invention relates to an information providing system for providing information such as a direction of a portable information terminal used by a user to the user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional information providing apparatus is disclosed in which a receiving terminal has a built-in compass or detects a direction by a phase difference using radio waves. Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2-132392 discloses a technique of detecting a position and a direction by receiving a radio wave from an information providing device (sign post) by an in-vehicle terminal device. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 63-177003 discloses a technique in which a vehicle navigation device receives direction information from an information providing device (sign post) and corrects a geomagnetic direction detection result. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-279720 discloses a technology in which map data is received from an information providing device (sign post) by a portable receiving device, and the map is rotated and displayed so as to match an actual direction using a built-in compass. Is disclosed. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 9-252279 discloses a technique in which a remote control device using infrared rays is capable of receiving infrared rays from all directions by rotating an infrared ray receiving section. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-350539 discloses a technology for enabling a remote control light receiving device to perform stable control by rotating a light receiving unit with sunlight even if it receives disturbance light of a predetermined amount or more. It has been disclosed.

[0003]

However, the technique described above still has the following problems.

When the terminal on the receiving side has a built-in compass as in the prior art, there is a problem that the terminal on the receiving side becomes large. In addition, when the direction is detected based on the phase difference using radio waves, the terminal needs to keep moving to obtain the phase difference, and there is a problem that the use of radio waves makes the device expensive.

Further, in the above technology,
In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-132392, a position and a direction are detected by receiving a radio wave from an information providing device (sign post). However, the receiving terminal needs to move to detect the direction. JP-A-63-17701
In No. 3 publication, the direction of the road is indicated,
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-279720 discloses that an information providing device (sign post) is disclosed only for informing the moving direction of a terminal moving on a road and not for informing the direction of the terminal. , The map data is rotated from the built-in compass to display the map so that it matches the actual direction.However, the receiving terminal has a built-in compass, so the receiving terminal becomes larger. 9-252
JP-A-279-279 and JP-A-6-350539 have a problem that direction information is not transmitted to the terminal side.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a portable information terminal without a special device for detecting a direction, and for detecting a direction. Without moving your mobile device,
By communicating with the information providing device, the information providing device detects the direction the mobile information terminal is facing without using a compass or radio waves, rotates the map image so that the detected direction is upward, An object of the present invention is to provide an information providing apparatus and an information providing system including a portable information terminal capable of writing a direction cursor on a map and transmitting the information to a portable information terminal.

[0007]

An information providing system according to the present invention solves the above-mentioned problems, and comprises a database storing various service information, and a directivity in a specific direction for outputting the various service information. An information providing apparatus having a signal transmitting means for transmitting and receiving a certain signal and a communication means having a signal receiving means; a communication means having a signal transmitting means and a signal receiving means for exchanging information with the information providing apparatus; An input unit for performing data input and instruction operation, and a portable information terminal including a display unit for displaying the instruction operation or information obtained from the information providing apparatus,
An information providing system comprising: a direction storage unit that stores direction information corresponding to a direction in which the signal transmission unit is facing; and a direction stored in the direction storage unit. Control means for transmitting information by the signal transmitting means, wherein the portable information terminal receives various service information including direction information transmitted by the signal transmitting means of the information providing apparatus. And control means for controlling the display means to display various kinds of information including the direction information.

Further, in the information providing system according to the present invention, in the information providing apparatus, the signal transmitting means of the communication means is movable, and is stored in the direction storage means in accordance with the movement of the signal transmitting means. It is characterized by having a function of changing direction information.

Further, in the information providing system according to the present invention, in the information providing apparatus, the signal receiving means of the communication means receives a signal from a specific direction, and the signal from the portable information terminal which has received the direction information is transmitted to the information providing apparatus. The portable information terminal further comprises a function of transmitting the direction information by a signal transmitting unit only when the direction information is received by a signal receiving unit, wherein the signal receiving unit of the communication unit receives a signal from a specific direction, The information processing apparatus further comprises a function of displaying, on the display unit, the direction in which the vehicle is facing based on the direction information transmitted from the information providing device.

Further, in the information providing system according to the present invention, the information providing apparatus includes at least a plurality of signal receiving means of the communication means, and the direction storage means is suitable for the plurality of signal transmitting means. It is characterized by storing direction information corresponding to each direction.

Further, in the information providing system according to the present invention, the communication means of the information providing apparatus and the communication means of the portable information terminal use light or radio waves as signals having directivity in a specific direction used for transmission and reception. It is characterized by the following.

Further, in the information providing system according to the present invention, the information providing apparatus includes a map data storage unit storing map data, and the map data storage unit stores the map data together with the direction information stored in the direction storage unit. It has a function of transmitting the stored map data to the portable information terminal by the signal transmitting means of the communication means.

[0013] Further, in the information providing system of the present invention, the information providing apparatus may further include direction information based on the map data stored in the map data storage means and the direction information stored in the direction storage means. The portable information terminal further comprises means for issuing an instruction request of whether or not rotation of the map data is possible, and the information providing apparatus includes a map data creating unit that creates map data from the portable information terminal. The portable information terminal has a function of transmitting the synthetic map data created by the map data creating means from the signal transmitting means in response to a rotation permission / inhibition instruction request, and the portable information terminal transmits the combined map data sent from the information providing apparatus. It has a function of receiving map data with the signal receiving means and displaying the map data on the display means.

[0014]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of an information providing system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an information providing apparatus of an information providing system according to the present invention.

The information providing device 100 mainly includes the optical communication device 1
10, input device 120, display device 130, external storage device 110, communication device 150, information providing device controller 1
60, information is exchanged with a portable information terminal that can be used by a user. Hereinafter, a portable information terminal that can be used by a user is referred to as a portable information terminal. The information providing apparatus 100 is intended for computers including a personal computer, a workstation, and a POS, and the portable information terminal is an electronic organizer, a personal navigation terminal, a portable information tool, a mobile phone,
It is intended for those that include wearable computers such as watches.

The optical communication device 110 includes an optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 11
1 and a light intensity measuring unit 112. The optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 111 transmits / receives data to / from the portable information terminal and has at least one optical signal transmitting / receiving unit. The light intensity measuring unit 112 measures the intensity of external light entering the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 111. This optical signal transmission / reception unit is IR
Or other infrared rays.

The input device 120 is connected to the information providing device 10.
It has a function as an input means for operating 0 or inputting some data.

The display device 130 has a function as a display means for displaying an operation instructed from the input device 120, input data, a communication status with the portable information terminal, and the like. is there.

The external storage device 140 is a device comprising a storage medium storing map data on a street or the like, position information, and detailed information on the area, for example, information on shops, transportation, and routes thereof. is there. This external storage device 140
This is a kind of database, which is a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk or a hard disk, or a CD-ROM /
Disc system of optical disk such as MO / MD / DVD, IC
Cards (including memory cards) / cards such as optical cards, or mask ROM, EPROM, EEPROM
It may be a storage medium including a semiconductor memory such as an M or a flash ROM.

The communication device 150 is the information providing device 100
Is a communication device for exchanging information with a host device or a host system. This communication device 150
May have a function of connecting to the Internet or an external beta base via a public line, and thus may have either a wired communication function or a wireless communication function. Therefore, various necessary information such as map data may be obtained from the outside via the communication device 150 and stored in the external storage device 140. The communication device 150 may be a device in which the functions of the optical communication device 110 are expanded, and in this case, the communication device 150 may be a device in which the two functions are integrated.

The information providing device controller 160 comprises a buffer memory 161, a map image creation unit 162, a data conversion unit 163, an optical signal transmission / reception operation control unit 164, a direction storage memory 165, and a direction calculation unit 166. When the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 111 of the optical communication device 110 receives a signal from the portable information terminal, it controls a series of processes for processing a map image, writing a direction cursor on the map image, and transmitting the map cursor to the portable information terminal. The buffer memory 161 of the information providing device controller 160 stores the map data read from the external storage device 140. The map image creation unit 162 rotates the map image stored in the buffer memory 161 based on the direction information stored in the direction storage memory 165, and synthesizes a direction cursor. The data conversion unit 163 converts the map image data created by the map image creation unit 162 into a predetermined optical signal, and converts the map image data into a predetermined optical signal.
11 is output. The optical signal transmission / reception operation control unit 164 controls the optical signal transmission / reception unit 111 to move the light intensity to a certain value or less when the intensity of light entering the optical signal transmission / reception unit 111 exceeds a predetermined value. I do. Direction memory 1
Numeral 65 stores direction information to which the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 111 is currently facing. The direction calculation unit 166 calculates the direction in which the optical signal transmission / reception unit 111 faces according to the movement of the optical signal transmission / reception unit 111.

Next, a portable information terminal used by a user will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a portable information terminal of the information providing system according to the present invention. It should be noted that the information providing apparatus 100 actually transmits the area information such as a map and the direction information separately.

The portable information terminal 200 mainly comprises optical communication means, input means, display means, and information processing control means. The optical communication unit includes an optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 210, and the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 transmits and receives various data to and from the information providing apparatus 100. The input means is constituted by the input unit 220, and the portable information terminal 2 includes a pen, a button, or the like.
00 is provided with a function for operating 00 or inputting some data. The display means is constituted by a display device 230, and includes instructions and data input from the input unit 220 to operate the portable information terminal 200, or data transmitted from the information providing device 100, and a map image including direction information. Is provided. Note that, similarly to the information providing apparatus 100, an external storage device may be provided to own the map data. The portable information terminal controller 240 controls the display device 230 to add the direction information to the map image using the map data and the direction information received by the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 and display the map image. Portable information terminal controller 2
The buffer memory 241 of the optical signal transmission / reception unit 21
0 stores the received map data and direction information, and the map image drawing unit 242 draws the map image together with the direction cursor. The video RAM 243 stores the image drawn by the map image drawing unit 242, and the video conversion unit 244 reads the image stored in the video RAM 243, converts the read image into a predetermined video signal, and outputs the signal to the display device 230.

The information providing apparatus 100 is installed in a main building such as a station, a port, an airport, or the like or on a street, and provides a user of the portable information terminal 200 with service information specific to an area where the user is located, especially on a street. It provides map data, location information, and detailed information on the area (eg, shops, transportation, and routes thereof). When the portable information terminal 200 attempts to access the information providing apparatus 100, the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit constituting the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit of both the information providing apparatus 100 and the portable information terminal 200 has directivity, The range in which the terminal 200 can access the information providing apparatus 100 is limited. Therefore, the direction in which the portable information terminal 200 is facing can be detected from the direction information in which the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit is facing.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a mechanism for detecting the direction of the information providing apparatus of the information providing system according to the present invention. The mechanism of direction detection will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

The optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 111 in the information providing apparatus 100 has an optical signal irradiation range (communicable range) as indicated by W in FIG. Therefore, the portable information terminal 2
00 can access the information providing apparatus 100, and at the same time, as shown in FIG.
The range of directions that may be facing is also limited.
From this, the information providing apparatus 100 can calculate a rough direction in which the accessing portable information terminal 200 is facing. FIG. 3C shows an example in which the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 111 has a plurality of optical signal transmitting / receiving units. At this time, the direction storage memory 165 stores direction information corresponding to each optical signal transmitting / receiving unit. FIG. 3 (3)
, The direction A is transmitted to the portable information terminal 200 accessing the first optical signal transmitting / receiving unit, and the direction B is transmitted to the portable information terminal 200 accessing the second optical signal transmitting / receiving unit. If the access is made from just between the first optical signal transmitting / receiving unit and the second optical signal transmitting / receiving unit, the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit that has received the signal from the portable information terminal earlier is enabled or the direction C is transmitted. .

FIGS. 4 and 5 are flowcharts showing the operation of the information providing device controller of the information providing device of the information providing system according to the present invention. FIG. 6 is provided by the information providing device of the information providing system according to the present invention. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a display example of the direction information (display screen of the portable information terminal). FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which the direction of the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit of the information providing device of the information providing system according to the present invention is changed. The operation will be described with reference to these drawings.

The information providing apparatus 100 is waiting in a normal signal reception waiting state, and first determines whether or not the optical signal transmitting / receiving section 111 has received a signal from the portable information terminal 200 (step S101). When the signal is received, the map image creation unit 162 reads the map data around the own position from the external storage device 140 to the buffer memory 161 (step S102). Next, it is determined whether or not the portable information terminal 200 requests processing (rotation) of the map data (step S103). If the request has not been made, the map image creation unit 162 creates a map image by adding a direction cursor to the map data in the same direction read from the buffer memory 161 (step S105). FIG. 6A shows an example of the map data in the same direction read from the buffer memory 11, and FIG.
5, which is an example of a map image when no processing (rotation) is performed.

When the portable information terminal 200 requests the processing (rotation) of the map data, the map image creation unit 162 uses the map data read from the buffer memory 161 based on the information obtained from the direction storage memory 165. The map data is rotated so that the direction in which the portable information terminal 200 faces is upward (step S104).
Then, a map image to which a direction cursor indicating the direction in which is pointing is added is created (step S105). If there are a plurality of optical signal transmitting / receiving units, the map is rotated according to the direction of the unit that has received the signal, and a direction cursor is added. FIG. 6C shows an example of the map information generated by the processing in step S104 and processed (rotated).

Next, the data conversion section 163 converts the map image created by the map image creation section 162 into a predetermined optical signal (step S106), and transmits a signal to the portable information terminal 200 (step S107). After that, the state is again in a signal reception waiting state (step S101).

On the other hand, if the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 111 does not receive a signal from the portable information terminal 200 in step S101, the light intensity measuring unit 112 measures the intensity of external light entering the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 111 ( Step S20
1) It is determined whether or not the light intensity has exceeded a predetermined value (step S202). If it does not exceed the prescribed value,
The signal reception wait state is set again. If the light intensity exceeds the predetermined value (step S202), the optical signal transmission / reception operation control unit 164 determines the direction of the optical signal transmission / reception unit 111 until the light intensity measured by the light intensity measurement unit 112 becomes equal to or less than a certain value. Is changed (steps S203 and S204).

This changing method is described in, for example,
A method of physically rotating the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit as described in Japanese Patent No. 539 may be used. Or Figure 7
As shown in the figure, when a plurality of optical signal transmitting / receiving sections are provided in different directions, one of the installed plurality of optical signal transmitting / receiving sections is electrically enabled to enable another one. Is also good. At this time, for example, instead of the currently effective first optical signal transmitting and receiving unit as shown in FIG. 7A, the second optical signal transmitting and receiving unit as shown in FIG. 7B is made effective.

When the light intensity falls below a certain value, the direction calculation unit 166 recalculates the direction to which the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 111 faces (step S205) and stores it in the direction storage memory 165 (step S206). After step S206, the apparatus is again in a signal reception waiting state.

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the signal receiving state deteriorates due to sunlight or the like, a favorable communication state can be maintained by automatically changing the direction of the optical signal transmitting / receiving section 111, and a correct direction can be transmitted. .

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the portable information terminal controller of the portable information terminal of the information providing system according to the present invention. Hereinafter, the operation will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

After the portable information terminal 200 is turned on,
It is determined whether or not an instruction for signal transmission has been given from the input unit 220 to the information providing apparatus 100 (step S301). If there has been no instruction for signal transmission, the process waits until there is an instruction for signal transmission. If there is a signal transmission instruction, it is determined whether or not to receive after rotating the map (step S3).
02). If it is desired to receive the rotated map, the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 transmits a signal requesting the rotated map (step S303), and waits for a signal from the information providing apparatus 100. If a non-rotating map is to be received, a signal requesting a non-rotating map is transmitted from the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 (step S304), and a signal from the information providing apparatus 100 is waited for.

The optical signal transmitting / receiving section 210 is provided for
It is determined whether a signal from 0 has been received (step S3).
05) If not received, it is determined whether or not a predetermined time has passed since the reception standby state was entered (step S30).
6). If the predetermined time has not elapsed, the apparatus waits for reception, and after the predetermined time elapses, waits for a signal transmission instruction again. When the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 receives a signal from the information providing apparatus 100 within a predetermined time, the received map data and direction information are read out to the buffer memory 241 (step S307).

Next, the map image drawing section 242 stores the map data stored in the buffer memory 241 in the video RAM 243.
(Step S308). Further, step S
When a rotated map is requested in 302, the direction cursor is drawn upward in the video RAM 243. Step S3
02, when a map that is not rotated is requested, the direction cursor is rotated based on the direction information stored in the buffer memory 241 and drawn on the video RAM 243 (step S).
309).

The image drawn on the video RAM 243 is read by the video converter 244, converted into a predetermined video signal, output to the display device 230, and displayed on the screen (step S310). After the end of step S310, the process waits until there is a signal transmission instruction from the input unit 220. still,
The state processed in step S310 is a screen display example shown in FIG.

As described above, even when the portable information terminal 200 does not have a built-in compass or map, the information providing apparatus 1
By communicating with 00, it is possible to obtain information such as a map around the own position and the direction in which the vehicle is facing. In the above description (example of the screen display in FIG. 6), the map to which the direction information is added is displayed using the map image and the direction information transmitted from the information providing apparatus 100. May be transmitted, or only the direction information may be transmitted and added to the map information held by the portable information terminal 200 side.

The information providing device and the portable information terminal in the information providing system described above are each a mobile information device (portable information terminal) used by a user from an information providing device of an information providing station installed in a plurality of predetermined regions. ), Service information specific to the area where the user is located, especially map data on the street, location information, detailed information on the area (eg, shops, transportation and its routes, etc.), and further usage This is realized by a program for causing a process of providing information to a user, such as a direction of a portable information terminal used by a user, to function. This program is stored in a computer-readable recording medium.
In the present invention, it is assumed that the above-mentioned program is processed by the illustrated microcomputer.

Such a storage medium program medium is a recording medium that is configured to be separable from the main body, such as a tape system such as a magnetic tape or a cassette tape, a magnetic disk such as a floppy disk or a hard disk, or a CD-ROM.
/ MO / MD / DVD and other optical disks, I
Card system such as C card (including memory card) / optical card, or mask ROM, EPROM, EEPROM
The medium may be a medium that fixedly carries a program including a semiconductor memory such as an M or a flash ROM. Further, in the present invention, since the system configuration can be connected to a communication network including the Internet, the medium may be a medium that carries the program fluidly so that the program is downloaded from the communication network.
When the program is downloaded from the communication network as described above, the download program may be stored in the apparatus main body in advance, or may be installed from another recording medium. The content stored in the recording medium is not limited to a program, but may be data.

In the above embodiment, the exchange of information between the information providing apparatus 100 and the portable information terminal 200 has been described by communication using light. However, the communication means is not limited to light. For example, radio waves such as radio waves may be used. When using radio waves, the optical communication device 110 of FIG. 1 is a radio wave communication device that transmits and receives directional radio waves, and the optical signal transmission / reception unit 111 and the light intensity measurement unit 112 that make up the radio communication device 110 are respectively radio wave signals. The transmission / reception unit and the radio wave intensity measurement unit are provided, and the optical signal transmission / reception operation control unit 164 of the information providing device controller 160 is a radio signal transmission / reception operation control unit. The optical signal transmission / reception unit 210 as the optical communication unit in FIG. 2 is a radio signal transmission / reception unit for transmitting and receiving a directional radio wave. In this way, not only a single configuration such as light only radio waves but also a configuration having both functions and allowing the user to select them may be used, and these may be dependent on cost performance.

Based on the above description, a conventional (known) technique is to receive a radio wave from a GPS or an information providing device (sign post) while "moving", thereby enabling a person having a portable terminal device to receive the radio wave. In some cases, the direction of “moving” is displayed on the portable terminal device. However, in the present invention, the direction in which the person holding the mobile terminal device is facing is determined without using a GPS receiver or a compass in the mobile terminal device so that the direction can be recognized even in a stationary state. (Detected by communicating with (sign post)) and displayed on the portable terminal device. In fact, if the compass is built in, it can be understood even in a stationary state, but since the compass has problems in terms of cost and size, optical transmission and reception in the information provision device (sign post) is required to realize this The information providing device (sign post) is characterized in that it stores the direction in which the unit (may be directional light or radio wave) is directed, and transmits the stored direction to the portable terminal device. This is the main point of the present invention.

Therefore, the following effects are specifically obtained. -When the portable information terminal accesses the information providing apparatus, the information providing apparatus transmits the direction in which the portable information terminal is facing to the portable information terminal. This allows the portable information terminal to know the direction in which it is facing without having a large and expensive compass. -By transmitting the map image together with the direction information to the portable information terminal, self-location can be easily grasped. At this time, if the map image is rotated and displayed, the self-position grasp becomes even easier. In optical communication, by making the optical signal transmission / reception unit movable, efficient communication can be performed by avoiding direct sunlight. At this time, the direction information is recalculated according to the movement of the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit, so that the direction information can be obtained even if the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit moves. -By configuring the optical signal transmitting and receiving unit with a plurality of optical signal transmitting and receiving units, the signal transmitting and receiving range of the information providing device can be widened. If the direction information is provided only when a signal from the portable information terminal is received, useless information transmission is not required.

In summary, the object of the present invention is to provide direction information and map information from the information providing device to the portable information terminal, thereby enabling the receiving portable information terminal to use a large and expensive compass. Because it does not need to be built-in, it is downsized, and there is no need to move the portable information terminal on the receiving side.When optical communication is used, the information providing device and the portable information terminal on the receiving side use an optical unit. Can be created at low cost.

The contents of the above-described embodiments are not limited to the contents described above unless the gist of the present invention is changed.

[0049]

According to the information providing system of the present invention,
The following effects can be obtained.

Since the object of the present invention is to provide direction information and map information from the information providing device to the portable information terminal, it is necessary for the receiving portable information terminal to incorporate a large and expensive compass. Without the need to move the receiving personal digital assistant,
In addition, when optical communication is used, the information providing device and the portable information terminal on the receiving side can be produced at low cost because the optical unit is used.

Specifically, the following effects can be obtained. -When the portable information terminal accesses the information providing apparatus, the information providing apparatus transmits the direction in which the portable information terminal is facing to the portable information terminal. This allows the portable information terminal to know the direction in which it is facing without having a large and expensive compass. -By transmitting the map image together with the direction information to the portable information terminal, self-location can be easily grasped. At this time, if the map image is rotated and displayed, the self-position grasp becomes even easier. In optical communication, by making the optical signal transmission / reception unit movable, efficient communication can be performed by avoiding direct sunlight. At this time, the direction information is recalculated according to the movement of the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit, so that the direction information can be obtained even if the optical signal transmitting / receiving unit moves. -By configuring the optical signal transmitting and receiving unit with a plurality of optical signal transmitting and receiving units, the signal transmitting and receiving range of the information providing device can be widened. If the direction information is provided only when a signal from the portable information terminal is received, useless information transmission is not required.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an information providing device of an information providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a portable information terminal of the information providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a mechanism for detecting a direction of an information providing device of the information providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation 1 of an information providing device controller of the information providing device of the information providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation 2 of the information providing apparatus controller of the information providing apparatus of the information providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a display example of direction information provided by the information providing device of the information providing system according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing an example in which the direction of an optical signal transmitting / receiving unit of the information providing device of the information providing system according to the present invention is changed.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the operation of the portable information terminal controller of the portable information terminal of the information providing system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100 information providing device 110 optical communication device 111 optical signal transmitting / receiving unit 112 light intensity measuring unit 120 input device 130 display device 140 external storage device 150 communication device 160 information providing device controller 161 buffer memory 162 map image creating unit 163 data converting unit 164 light Signal transmission / reception operation control unit 165 Direction storage memory 166 Direction calculation unit 200 Portable information terminal 210 Optical signal transmission / reception unit 220 Input unit 230 Display device 240 Portable information terminal controller 241 Buffer memory 242 Map image drawing unit 243 Video RAM 244 Video conversion unit

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page F term (reference) 2F029 AA02 AA07 AB13 AC02 AC13 AC16 AD08 5B075 ND07 PQ02 PQ20 UU14 5B089 GA25 HA11 HA14 KA02 KA11 LB17 5H180 AA01 AA21 BB02 BB05 BB12 BB13 CC01 FF13 FF22

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An information providing apparatus comprising: a database storing various service information; and a communication unit having a signal transmitting unit for transmitting and receiving a signal having a directivity in a specific direction for outputting the various service information, and a communication unit having a signal receiving unit. Communication means having a signal transmitting means and a signal receiving means for exchanging information with the information providing apparatus, an input means for performing data input and an instruction operation, and obtaining from the instruction operation or the information providing apparatus An information providing system comprising: a portable information terminal having a display unit for displaying the information that has been set, wherein the information providing device stores direction information corresponding to a direction in which the signal transmitting unit is facing. Direction control means for transmitting the direction information stored in the direction storage means by the signal transmission means. The information terminal, wherein the communication unit receives various service information including the direction information transmitted by the signal transmission unit of the information providing device, and controls the display unit to display the various information including the direction information. An information providing system comprising means. 2. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the signal transmission unit of the communication unit is movable, and has a function of changing the direction information stored in the direction storage unit in accordance with the movement of the signal transmission unit. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the signal receiving unit of the communication unit receives a signal from a specific direction, and the signal from the portable information terminal that receives the direction information is received by the signal receiving unit. Only the direction information is provided by a signal transmitting unit, and the portable information terminal has a direction in which the signal receiving unit of the communication unit receives a signal from a specific direction and is transmitted from the information providing device. 2. The information providing system according to claim 1, further comprising a function of displaying, on said display means, a direction in which the player is facing based on the information. 4. The information providing device includes at least a plurality of signal receiving units of the communication unit, and the direction storage unit stores direction information corresponding to respective directions to which the plurality of signal transmitting units are directed. The information providing system according to claim 1, wherein the information is stored. 5. The communication means of the information providing device and the communication means of the portable information terminal use light or radio waves as signals having directivity in a specific direction used for transmission and reception. 4. The information providing system according to any one of 4. 6. The information providing apparatus includes a map data storage unit that stores map data, and communicates the map data stored in the map data storage unit together with the direction information stored in the direction storage unit. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising a function of transmitting to the portable information terminal by means of the signal transmitting means. 7. The map for creating synthetic map data including direction information from the map data stored in the map data storage unit and the direction information stored in the direction storage unit. The portable information terminal further includes means for requesting whether or not rotation of map data is possible, and the information providing device is configured to respond to an instruction request for whether or not rotation of map data is possible from the portable information terminal. The portable information terminal has a function of transmitting the synthetic map data created by the map data creating means from the signal transmitting means, and the portable information terminal receives the synthetic map data sent from the information providing device by the signal receiving means. 7. The information providing system according to claim 6, further comprising a function of displaying on said display means.