JP2001249023A - Information processing apparatus and method and record medium having software recorded for processing information - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing art for drawing a cursor to a proper position by elaborately specifying drawing conditions. SOLUTION: Conditions of an object to be drawn are selected from among candidates by a condition setting part 11. A map display part 12 displays a map. A cursor moving part 13 moves a cursor on the map according to the operation inputted. A drawing part 14 draws the cursor to the object when the cursor is placed within a predetermined drawing distance from the object matching conditions selected by the condition setting part 11. A candidate table 16 has candidates stored for conditions of the object to be selected by the condition setting part 11 and several each of the candidates are previously prepared separately for the type of roads, the type of equipment and the type purposes. A candidate addition part 17 adds a candidate to the candidate table 16. A drawing ON/OFF part 18 makes a selection on whether the drawing is done or not.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an improvement in information processing technology for displaying a map, and is particularly suitable for improving the operability of on-vehicle equipment typified by car navigation.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, with the development of computer technology,
2. Description of the Related Art A technique for displaying a map on a screen based on digital information recorded on a CD-ROM or the like has become widespread. A typical example of such a technology is an in-vehicle route guidance device, that is, a car navigation system. The car navigation system searches for an optimal route to a given destination based on road data recorded on a CD-ROM or the like, and displays the own vehicle position and a surrounding map, and determines a right / left turn point. The route is guided by screen display or synthesized voice.

Further, landmarks such as gas stations and family restaurants along each road are recorded in route guidance map data, and these landmarks are also displayed on a peripheral map displayed during route guidance. .

[0004]

However, in the above prior art, in order to set a destination on a map displayed on the screen, the cursor is required to reach a target point. It is necessary to move and perform positioning, and there is a problem that the operation is complicated. Especially, in the case of in-vehicle route guidance equipment, the size of the keyboard is often small due to the limitation of the housing size, and the limit of the input device such that the moving amount of the cursor is fixed or can only be adjusted in a stepwise manner. The precise operation of the cursor was particularly difficult. In addition, this point is the same for passengers, and improvement of the user interface has been potentially expected.

As a technique for improving a user interface in information processing, attraction is known. In the pull-in operation, when an appropriate position is designated by a cursor or the like, the cursor position is moved to a certain point near the position. For example, an example is known in which a cursor is pulled to the nearest intersection when a finger is released from a cursor movement switch (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-1).
29891, JP-A-8-184454, JP-A-8-19
0343, JP-A-9-273937).

[0006] However, the intersection is not of a nature regarded as the actual destination of the drive. In particular, the intersection is often not optimal as the destination of the route search due to the structure of roads and traffic regulations. For example, if it is not possible to cross the opposite lane to a facility along a road that is slightly distant from the intersection, it is necessary to proceed from the opposite lane instead of from the intersection side.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been proposed to solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and its object is to provide an information processing for finely specifying a pull-in condition to draw a cursor to an appropriate position. It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus and method, and a recording medium on which information processing software is recorded.

[0008]

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to claim 1 includes means for selecting a condition to be drawn in from candidates, means for displaying a map, and moving a cursor on the map. Means for moving, and means for pulling the cursor into the target when the cursor is placed within a predetermined pull-in distance from a target meeting the selected condition. According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the information processing method according to the first aspect of the present invention, wherein a step of selecting a pull-in target condition from candidates, a step of displaying a map, and moving a cursor on the map are performed. And a step of, when the cursor is placed within a predetermined retraction distance from a target meeting the selected condition, pulling the cursor to the target. According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, the invention according to the first and seventh aspects is viewed from the viewpoint of a machine-readable recording medium on which computer software is recorded, and information processing software for processing information by controlling the computer. In the recording medium on which the software is recorded, the software causes the computer to accept an operation of selecting a condition of a pull-in target from the candidates, display a map, move a cursor on the map according to the given operation, and When the cursor is placed within a predetermined pull-in distance from a target meeting a condition, the cursor is drawn into the target. In the present invention, when a cursor moved on a map displayed on the screen is placed near a predetermined point in setting a destination at the time of route guidance, the screen is automatically retracted, and the screen can be easily operated. The cursor can be easily adjusted to an arbitrary point above. In particular, it is easy to draw the cursor to an appropriate position by letting the user specify in advance the conditions for what kind of object the user wants to draw. Note that the present invention is not limited to the navigation device, and is applied to, for example, a screen display of a map on a personal computer or the like. However, the operability of an in-vehicle device having a limited input device can be particularly effectively improved.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the candidates are prepared in advance for at least one of a road type, a facility type, and a target type. . The invention of claim 8 captures the invention of claim 2 from the viewpoint of a method, and in the information processing method of claim 7, the candidate is at least one of a road type, a facility type, and a purpose type. One of them is prepared in advance. According to the second and eighth aspects of the present invention, the types of objects to be drawn-in are classified by road types such as national roads, prefectural roads, and toll roads, by facilities such as gas stations, hospitals, stations, and city halls, and by purposes such as sightseeing, shopping, and meals. By selecting from, detailed specification according to the purpose and situation of the drive becomes possible, and usability is improved.

A third aspect of the present invention is the information processing apparatus according to the first or second aspect, further comprising means for adding the candidate. The invention of claim 9 captures the invention of claim 3 from the viewpoint of a method, and claims 7 or 8
The information processing method according to claim 1, further comprising a step of adding the candidate. According to the third and ninth aspects of the present invention, in addition to the candidates prepared in advance, the type of points to be newly drawn in can be added by the user, so that superior usability is realized for each individual user. For example, if a gas station or a family restaurant is prepared in advance as a facility-specific candidate, for example, by adding a bookstore or a convenience store, they will be newly selected as candidates that can be selected on the menu screen for selecting the pull-in point. Will be added.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the information processing apparatus is configured to combine a plurality of the conditions relating to the pull-in target. According to the invention of claim 4, according to the type of road,
For each condition such as by facility, purpose, user designation, etc., A
By specifying a combination in the form of a logical operation such as ND or OR, a priority order, or the like, a higher degree of attraction can be achieved in accordance with the purpose of use.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, the information processing apparatus further comprises means for setting the pull-in distance. According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the information processing method according to any one of the seventh to ninth aspects, wherein the step of setting the pull-in distance is included. It is characterized by. According to the fifth and tenth aspects of the present invention, the range of how close the cursor is to be pulled in for a selected type of object is, for example, 1
Since it can be set at a distance of, for example, 00 m, 500 m, or 1 km, it is possible to respond to more various uses and users.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the information processing apparatus further comprises means for selecting whether to perform the pull-in. According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in the information processing method according to any one of the seventh to tenth aspects, a step of selecting whether or not to perform the pull-in is included. According to the sixth and eleventh aspects of the present invention, the user can select whether or not to permit automatic retraction according to the user's preference and the like, so that it is possible to cope with more users and applications.

[0014]

Next, embodiments of the present invention (hereinafter, referred to as "embodiments") will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. Note that the portion related to information processing in the present embodiment is typically realized by controlling a computer with software. The software in this case realizes the operation and effect of the present invention by physically utilizing the hardware of the computer, and the conventional technology is applied to the common parts with the conventional technology. However, in this case, since the types and configurations of hardware and software, the range of processing by software, and the like can be variously changed, a virtual circuit block that realizes each function of the present invention and the embodiment will be used in the following description. .

[1. Configuration of Embodiment] In the present embodiment, in a car navigation system which is an in-vehicle device, a process related to cursor pull-in and a configuration therefor will be mainly described. First, as shown in the overall configuration diagram of FIG. 1, the car navigation system according to the present embodiment includes a keyboard 4 for inputting cursor movement and the like.
A display device 5 using an LCD or the like, a voice reading device 6 using synthesized voice, and a CD-RO for reading road data and the like.
An M drive 7, a gyro sensor and a vehicle speed pulse sensor sensor 8 for autonomous navigation, a GPS receiver 9 for GPS navigation, and an IC 10 for peripheral device interface are provided.

In this embodiment, the CPU 1, the program ROM 2, and the work RAM 3 function as an information processing section as shown in the conceptual diagram of FIG. The information processing unit shown in FIG. 2 includes a condition setting unit 11, a map display unit 12, a cursor moving unit 13, a pull-in unit 14, a route setting unit 15, a candidate table 16, a candidate adding unit 17, Retract ON /
And an OFF unit 18.

The condition setting section 11 is a means for selecting a condition to be drawn in from candidates. The map display unit 12 is a means for displaying a map, and performs, for example, processing such as scrolling the map according to the movement of the cursor. The cursor moving unit 13 is a means for moving the cursor on the map according to an operation input from the keyboard 4 (FIG. 1) or the like.

The pull-in unit 14 is provided with a condition setting unit 11
Means for pulling the cursor into the target when the cursor is placed within a predetermined pull-in distance from the target meeting the condition selected by the user. Also, a route setting unit 1
Numeral 5 is a means for searching for an optimum route to a destination specified on the map by the position of the drawn cursor in accordance with road data read by the CD-ROM drive 7 (FIG. 1). This is an example of use of information on a designated point.

The candidate table 16 stores the condition setting unit 1
1 is a table storing candidates for the conditions of the pull-in target selected by 1. In the present embodiment, some candidates are prepared in advance for each of the type of road, the type of facility, and the type of purpose. The candidate adding unit 17 is a unit for adding a candidate to the candidate table 16.

The condition setting section 11 is configured to be able to combine a plurality of conditions relating to a pull-in target, and is also configured to receive the setting of the pull-in distance which is triggered by the pull-in section 14. ing. Further, the pull-in ON / OFF unit 18 is means for selecting whether to perform pull-in.

[2. Operation of Embodiment] The present embodiment configured as described above operates as follows. [2-1. Setting of Attraction Condition] First, prior to setting a destination for route guidance, for example, the user selects an attraction target condition from the candidates in the candidate table 16 by the operation of the condition setting unit 11. Also, the condition setting unit 11
In, it is possible to combine a plurality of conditions of the pull-in target and set the pull-in distance. In addition, pull-in ON / OFF
By the operation of the section 18, it is possible to select whether or not to perform retraction.

Here, FIG. 3 shows a display example of a screen for selecting such conditions of the pull-in target. On this screen, switching buttons B1 to B8 and selection columns S1 to S6 are displayed,
These graphical user interfaces (G.U.
I. By operating the parts, the following selections can be made.

(1) Whether or not to permit automatic retraction Whether the automatic retraction is permitted (ON) by pressing the "automatic retraction ON" button B1 or "automatic retraction OFF" B2 (OFF) is alternatively selected.

(2) Road Type If the button B3 of "set by road" is pressed once, the condition according to the type of road becomes valid, and the button B3 is highlighted. The type of the road is switched and selected from among the candidates in the selection field S1 using the up and down cursor keys or the like. Candidates are "national roads", "prefectural roads", "toll roads", "expressways", and the like. When the button B3 of "set by road" is pressed again, the condition according to the type of road is invalidated, and the highlighting of the button B3 is also released.

(3) Type of Facility When the button "facility setting" button B4 is pressed once, the condition according to the type of facility becomes valid, and the button B4 is highlighted. The type of facility is switched and selected from among the candidates in the selection field S2 using the up and down cursor keys or the like. Candidates are "gas station", "restaurant", "hospital", "station" and the like. When the button B4 of "Facility setting" is pressed again, the condition according to the type of facility is invalidated, and the highlighting of the button B4 is also released.

(4) User Setting When the user setting button B5 is pressed, the conditions set by the user become effective, and the button B5 is highlighted. Candidates such as facilities set by the user can be added to the candidate table 16 by the action of the candidate adding unit 17 (FIG. 2), and the candidates set by the user are displayed in the selection column S3, and the up and down cursor keys and the like are selected from among the candidates. To select. For example, in FIG. 3, a gas station or a family restaurant is prepared in advance in the selection field S2 as a candidate for each facility, but in the selection field S3, for example, a bookstore or a convenience store is additionally displayed.

(5) Purpose Type When the button B6 for "purpose setting" is pressed once, the condition according to the purpose type becomes valid, and the button B6 is highlighted. The target type is switched and selected from among the candidates in the selection field S4 using the up and down cursor keys or the like. Candidates are "sightseeing spots"
“Meal”, “shopping”, etc. When the button B6 of "setting by purpose" is pressed again, the condition according to the type of purpose becomes invalid, and the highlighting of the button B6 is also released.

(6) Retraction distance This is a selection of how far from the object the cursor is placed when the cursor is placed. The selection distance is selected in the selection field S5 displayed on the right side of the title display T1 of “SET REtraction Distance”. Switch and select from among the candidates using the up / down cursor keys. Candidates are “100 m”, “500 m”, “1 km”, and the like.

(7) Combination of Conditions When a plurality of conditions such as "setting by road" and "setting by facility" are valid, the relation between the conditions is determined by a logical operation such as "AND" or "OR" or by "priority by purpose". ”,“ Facility priority ”,“ user setting priority ”, etc. In the example of FIG. 3, the selection is made by using the up and down cursor keys or the like from among the candidates in the selection field S6 displayed on the right side of the title display T2 of "condition combination". Candidates are “AND”, “OR”, etc.

[2-2. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure relating to the pull-in based on the conditions set as described above. For example, in the destination setting, the cursor moving unit 13 moves the cursor on a map displayed by the map display unit 12 according to an operation input from the keyboard 4 (FIG. 1) or the like (step 1). Then, when the cursor key is released (step 2), the coordinates of the cursor where the cursor is placed are detected (step 3), and a database search is performed based on preset conditions (step 4), so that the pull-in target is determined. To detect.

Here, the search target is, for example, map data for route guidance. That is, it is a known fact that information indicating a location such as a gas station, a station, or a national road name is added to or linked to the route guidance map data, and in the present embodiment, The search target can be determined by searching for an item that satisfies a preset condition. .

It is conceivable that the database search condition at this time is determined by narrowing down based on the following information. (1) Map screen display range (2) Pull-in distance (3) Road-specific selection is valid (4) Facility-specific selection is valid (5) Object-specific selection is valid (6) Is there additional user information (7) ) Are there any combinations or priorities described above?

As a result of such a search, if there is data such as a facility that matches the pull-in target (step 5),
The pull-in unit 14 performs a process of forcibly pulling the cursor to a location such as a facility represented by such matching data (step 6).

For example, as shown in FIG. 5, when the current setting is “automatic pull-in ON”, the type of road is “national road”, the type of facility is “restaurant”, the pull-in distance is “500 m”, and the condition combination is “AND” Since the pull-in target is within “500 m” from the point where the user puts the cursor and along “National Highway” and “Restaurant”, for example, not Restaurant R1 along Prefectural Road but Restaurant R2 along National Highway Retraction is performed and the destination is set.

Then, the position coordinates of the destination specified in this way are passed to, for example, the route setting unit 15. In this case, the route setting unit 15 determines the destination specified on the map by the position of the drawn cursor. The optimal route to CD-
Searching is performed according to road data and the like read by the ROM drive 7 (FIG. 1), and the route is searched.

[3. Effect of Embodiment] As described above, in the present embodiment, when the cursor moved on the map displayed on the screen is placed near a predetermined point in setting the destination at the time of route guidance, the pull-in unit By automatically performing the pull-in by the operation of 14, the cursor can be easily adjusted to an arbitrary point on the screen by a simple operation.

In particular, the operation of the condition setting section 11 allows the user to finely specify in advance the conditions for what kind of object the user wants to pull in, thereby making it easy to draw the cursor to an appropriate position. Note that the present invention is not limited to the navigation device, and is applied to, for example, a screen display of a map on a personal computer or the like. However, the operability of an in-vehicle device having a limited input device can be particularly effectively improved.

In particular, in the present embodiment, by the operation of the condition setting section 11 and the candidate table 16, each type of road such as a national road, a prefectural road, and a toll road, each facility such as a gas station, a hospital, a station, and a city hall, and sightseeing and shopping are provided.・ By purpose such as meal,
By allowing the type of the pull-in target to be selected from the candidates, it is possible to specify finely according to the purpose and situation of the drive, and the usability is improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, the type of the point to be newly drawn in can be added by the user in addition to the candidates prepared in advance by the operation of the candidate adding unit 17, so that the superiority can be improved for each individual user. Usability is realized.

In the present embodiment, the condition setting unit 11 operates on conditions such as road type, facility, purpose, and user specification in the form of logical operations such as AND, OR, and priorities. By specifying a combination, a more sophisticated attraction can be achieved in accordance with the purpose of use.

In this embodiment, the operation of the condition setting section 11 determines how close the cursor is to be pulled in for a selected type of object.
For example, the distance can be set to 100 m, 500 m, 1 km, or the like, so that it is possible to respond to more various uses and users.

In the present embodiment, the pull-in ON / O
The operation of the FF unit 18 allows the user to select whether or not to allow automatic retraction according to the user's preference and the like, so that it is possible to respond to more users and applications.

[4. Other Embodiments] The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, but includes other embodiments as exemplified below. For example, it is possible to apply a pull-in condition other than the above, and it is also possible to apply the candidate addition unit 17 and the pull-in ON / OF shown in FIG.
The F section can be omitted. Further, the title display T1, T2 shown in FIG. 3 may be a switching button for switching between validity and invalidity such as setting of a pull-in distance. In this case,
When the setting is not valid, an appropriate default value may be applied.

[0044]

As described above, according to the present invention,
By finely specifying the pull-in condition, it is possible to provide an information processing technique for pulling a cursor to an appropriate position, that is, an information processing apparatus and method, and a recording medium on which information processing software is recorded. The operation in information processing is made more efficient.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a car navigation system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing unit according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a view showing a display example of a setting screen of a pull-in condition in the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure relating to cursor movement and pull-in according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of pulling a cursor in the embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... CPU 2 ... Program ROM 3 ... Work RAM 4 ... Keyboard 5 ... Display device 6 ... Speech-to-speech device 7 ... CD-ROM drive 8 ... Gyro sensor and vehicle speed pulse sensor 9 ... GPS receiver 11 ... Condition setting unit 12 ... Map display unit 13 Cursor moving unit 14 Pull-in unit 15 Route setting unit 16 Candidate table 17 Candidate adding unit 18 Pull-in ON / OFF unit B1 to B6 Switching buttons S1 to S4 Selection fields T1, T2 Title Display R1, R2… Restaurant

Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat II (reference) 9A001 F term (reference) 2F029 AA02 AB09 AC02 AC14 AC16 5B050 BA17 CA07 FA02 FA09 FA16 5B087 AA10 AC02 AE00 DD06 DE07 5E501 AA23 AC03 AC37 BA05 CA02 CB07 DA02 DA15 EA09 EA14 EB06 FA02 FB13 FB43 5H180 BB13 FF04 FF05 FF22 9A001 DD13 JJ11 JJ72 JJ77 KK56

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A means for selecting a condition to be drawn from candidates, a means for displaying a map, a means for moving a cursor on a map, and a means for moving a cursor on a map within a predetermined drawing distance from a target meeting the selected condition. Means for pulling the cursor into the target when the cursor is placed. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the candidates are prepared in advance for at least one of a road type, a facility type, and a purpose type. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for adding the candidate. 4. The system according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of conditions relating to the pull-in target are combined.
4. The information processing apparatus according to any one of items 1 to 3. 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for setting the pull-in distance. 6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising means for selecting whether to perform the pull-in. 7. A step of selecting a pull-in target condition from candidates, a step of displaying a map, a step of moving a cursor on the map, and a step of moving a cursor on the map within a predetermined pull-in distance from a target meeting the selected condition. When the cursor is placed, pulling the cursor to the object. 8. The information processing method according to claim 7, wherein the candidates are prepared in advance for at least one of a road type, a facility type, and a purpose type. 9. The information processing method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of adding the candidate. 10. The information processing method according to claim 7, further comprising the step of setting the pull-in distance. 11. The information processing method according to claim 7, further comprising a step of selecting whether to perform the pull-in. 12. A recording medium in which information processing software for processing information by controlling a computer is recorded. The software causes the computer to accept an operation of selecting a condition to be drawn in from candidates and display a map. Moving the cursor on the map according to the given operation, and, when the cursor is placed within a predetermined retraction distance from a target meeting the selected condition, drawing the cursor into the target. A recording medium on which information processing software is recorded.