JP2002005675A - Acoustic navigation apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent courses which are not easy to understand from being guided at intersections, etc. SOLUTION: Based on the present position information and route information, navigation is executed by controlling to position a sound source to a prescribed distance from the present position while sequentially updating a navigation point, e.g. the intersection or the like. A navigation control part 2 calculates a distance D from the present position to the present navigation point (step S6 in Fig. 7). When the calculated distance is smaller than a predetermined threshold ('NO' in S7), the position of the sound source is moved toward a next navigation point from the present navigation point (S9). A head rotation angle-detecting part 13 detects a head rotation angle Z in the advance direction of the head of a human user 100, with a headphone 14 fitted for outputting acoustic signals of the sound source to both ears 101 and 102, and the navigation control part 2 makes corrections, on the basis of the detected head rotation angle Z the position of the sound source to be moved (S5).

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an acoustic navigation device for performing navigation using an acoustic signal of a sound source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A conventional pedestrian navigation system displays a map on a portable terminal to show a user a route to a destination. However, if navigation is performed by this method, the user will not be able to stay empty because he or she keeps holding the mobile terminal, and the user must frequently look at the map. As a solution, a method of reading out navigation information aloud has been proposed. However, the conventional voice navigation system expresses a distance and a direction to a destination in a language and converts it into a voice. Therefore, the instruction to the user is read out of the sentence, and it is difficult to sense the sense of distance and direction.

In order to solve this problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-103
In Japanese Patent No. 781 (hereinafter, referred to as a conventional example), a virtual sound source is moved in a direction away from the vehicle along a predetermined route from the position of the vehicle on which the user has boarded, and the route guidance is performed on three-dimensional sound. I have to. Specifically, after determining the course from the current position to the destination, the virtual sound source is set at a plurality of points on the course, and the sound output is controlled so as to move in the traveling direction along the virtual sound source. I have. The driver, who is the user, travels in a manner following the moving sound source, and has an effect that natural and reliable route guidance without a sense of incongruity is performed.

[0004]

However, in the prior art, the position of the sound source for navigating with the user is separated by a certain distance or more. Therefore, as shown in FIGS. When turning at 200, the sound source was ahead and the sound source was turning at the intersection earlier than the listener. As a result, when a building is located at the corner of an intersection or the like, a sound in which the sound image is localized from the direction in which the building is located can be heard, so that there is a problem that route guidance that is extremely difficult for the user to understand is made.

[0005] In addition, when an acoustic signal from an acoustic navigation device is output through headphones mounted on the user, there is a problem that the position of the sound source is shifted from the direction in which the sound should travel due to the rotation of the user's head. .

A first object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide an acoustic navigation device capable of preventing unintelligible route guidance at an intersection or the like.

A second object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and to provide an acoustic navigation device capable of preventing the position of a sound source from deviating from the direction in which the sound should travel due to the rotation of the user's head. To provide.

[0008]

An acoustic navigation device according to the present invention controls a sound source to be located at a predetermined distance from a current position while sequentially updating a navigation point based on current position information and route information. In an acoustic navigation device that performs navigation by means of: a calculating means for calculating a distance between a current position and a current navigation point, and when the calculated distance is less than a predetermined threshold value, Control means for moving the position of the sound source so as to proceed to the navigation point.

In the acoustic navigation device, preferably, a headphone for outputting the sound signal of the sound source to both ears of a human and a rotation angle of a head of the human wearing the headphone with respect to a traveling direction are detected. Detecting means, wherein the control means corrects the position of the moving sound source based on the detected rotation angle.

[0010] Further, in the acoustic navigation device, preferably, the navigation point includes an intersection.

[0011]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an acoustic navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the acoustic signal generation circuit 4 of FIG. The acoustic navigation device according to this embodiment controls navigation so that the sound source is located at a predetermined distance from the current position while sequentially updating, for example, a navigation point such as an intersection based on the current position information and the route information. In the acoustic navigation device to be performed, the navigation control unit 2 calculates a distance D between the current position and the current navigation point to be advanced next (step S6 in FIG. 7), and the calculated distance is determined by a predetermined threshold value. If it is less than (N in step S7)
O), the position of the sound source is moved so as to proceed from the current navigation point to the next navigation point (step S9). Further, in the acoustic navigation device, the head rotation angle detection unit 13 moves the head of the user 100 equipped with the headphones 14 that outputs the sound signal of the sound source to both ears 101 and 102 of the human user 100. The head rotation angle Z with respect to the direction is detected, and the navigation control unit 2 corrects the position of the sound source to be moved based on the detected head rotation angle Z (step S5).

In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a user 100 who is a human has headphones 1 on both ears.
4 (provided with a left side portion 14A and a right side portion 14B) to listen to an acoustic signal of a sound source for navigation.

In FIG. 1, a keyboard 11 is an input device for inputting information such as destination information and outputting the information to the navigation information generator 1. For the destination information, for example, the navigation information generation unit 1 refers to the map information in the map information memory 5 and displays the image information on the liquid crystal display 6, and the pen input device or the mouse (not shown) is displayed on the screen. The destination information may be input by instructing the destination by using (D.). Further, the position information detecting unit 12
Detects the current position by a known method using a global positioning system (GPS system) or by using a PHS telephone to identify the nearest base station, and detects the detected current position information using the navigation information generating unit 1 and the navigation system. Output to the control unit 2. further,
The head rotation angle detection unit 13 detects the shortest distance from the left shoulder of the user 100 in FIG. 3 to the left portion 14A of the headphones 14 using a known laser distance detection method, and detects the headphone 14 from the right shoulder of the user 100. While detecting the shortest distance to the right side portion 14B, the rotation direction of the head (clockwise or counterclockwise when viewed from above) is detected using a sensor attached near the base of the head, and the two detected Based on the shortest distance and the rotation direction of the head, the head rotation angle Z is calculated by calculating the head rotation angle Z with respect to the traveling direction in which the user 100 travels (the forward / backward direction of the body of the user 100, which is a human). The angle Z data is output to the navigation control unit 2.

The navigation information generating unit 1 is composed of, for example, a digital computer. The navigation information generating unit 1 refers to the map information in the map information memory 5 based on the inputted destination information and the current position information, and calculates the distance from the current position to the destination. The route information (including one or more navigation points such as an intersection) is generated and output to the navigation control unit 2.
In the present embodiment, the information of the navigation point of the destination information, the current position information, and the route information is represented by, for example, the position information of the latitude and the longitude, and the calculation described later is performed. Also, the route information may include a navigation direction.

The navigation controller 2 is composed of, for example, a digital computer, and temporarily stores the route information input from the navigation information generator 1 in the processing memory 3 as information for navigating at each navigation point. While the current position information is input from the detection unit 12, the head rotation angle Z data is input from the head rotation angle detection unit 13. The traveling direction P in which the user 100 travels is obtained by acquiring the position moved during the short time Δt from the position information detecting unit 12 and determining the traveling direction P by obtaining two pieces of positional information (latitude and longitude). can do. The navigation control unit 2 has route information for navigating at each point, and furthermore,
The current position information is always obtained from the position information detection unit 12 and the head rotation angle Z of the user 100 is obtained from the head rotation angle detection unit 13. In the present embodiment, the navigation control unit 2
The acquired current position information is compared with the navigation route information stored and held in the processing memory 3, and at that point, what kind of acoustic signal is to be generated, that is, up to the azimuth angle X data for localizing the sound image and the sound source G Is determined and output to the acoustic signal generation circuit 4. Here, sound source G
The distance d between the current position and the current navigation point to proceed next is determined by a predetermined threshold value Dt.
h (e.g., 10 m) or more, the distance is a fixed distance, e.g., 3 m. However, when D <Dth, in order to prevent unintelligible route guidance at an intersection or the like, The distance d and the azimuth angle X are changed so as to move the position of the sound source so as to move from the navigation point to the next navigation point (step S9 in FIG. 7).

Here, the user 100 is traveling in the traveling direction P, and the navigation direction is such that the sound source G can be heard from the direction in which the sound source G is located, that is, from the direction of the angle Y with respect to the traveling direction P. The following describes a case in which this is performed. When the user 100 is facing the front with respect to the traveling direction P, as shown in FIG. 5, the direction angle X at which the sound image G is localized to be output to the headphones 14 of the user 100 is Y. However, when the head of the user 100 is oriented in a direction rotated by the head rotation angle Z with respect to the traveling direction P, the direction angle X for localizing the sound image G is YZ as shown in FIG. It is. As described above, the direction angle X at which the sound image G is localized is specified, and the direction angle X data is output to the acoustic signal generation circuit 4.

The acoustic signal generation circuit 4 includes a transfer function calculation circuit 21, a processing memory 22, a sound source signal generator 23, a sound image signal generator 23, and a sound image signal generation circuit 24. The transfer function calculation circuit 21 and the sound image signal generation circuit 24 are constituted by, for example, a digital computer. The sound source signal generator 23 generates a sound source signal of the sound source G such as a single sine wave signal or a music signal including a plurality of frequencies, and outputs the signal to the sound image signal generation circuit 24.

In the acoustic signal generation circuit 4, the headphones 14 are set so that the sound source G can be heard from the designated direction angle X.
In order to localize the sound source G of the acoustic signal to be output to FIG.
As shown in FIG. 5, the left ear 1 of the user 100 is determined from a plurality of positions (specified by the distance d to the sound source G and the azimuth angle X) of the sound source G covering substantially all positions at the time of navigation.
The transfer function H _L up to 01 and the transfer function H _R up to the right ear 102
Is measured in advance and stored in the processing memory 22, and when a sound signal is input to the headphones 14, the sound signal is output from the headphones 14 and the sound pressure of the sound signal is input to the left ear 101 or the right ear 102. The transfer function H _H of the fixed value up to is measured in advance and stored in the processing memory 22.
Accordingly, the transfer function calculation circuit 21 reads the transfer function H _H from the processing memory 22 and also sets the distance d to the sound source G and the azimuth X
The transfer functions H _L and H _R at the position of the sound source G to be localized or moved are read out with reference to the data in the processing memory 22 based on the data of the left and right control filters in the sound image signal generation circuit 24. and it outputs the data to the sound signal generating circuit 24 the transfer function F _L and F _R of calculated by the following equation.

[0020]

## EQU1 ## _FL = _HL / _HH

## EQU2 ## F _R = H _R / H _H

The sound image signal generating circuit 24 is provided with a two-channel control filter capable of changing a transfer function. The sound source signal from the sound source signal generator 23 is calculated by the transfer function calculating circuit 21. and outputs to generate a sound signal S _L for the left channel to the left portion 14A of the headphones 14 by passing through a control filter having a transfer function F _L of the left channel and, the source signal, the transfer function calculating circuit 21 By passing through a control filter having the calculated transfer function F _R of the right channel, a sound image signal S _R of the right channel is generated and output to the right side portion 14B of the headphones 14. Thus, the user 100 can listen to the sound source signal of the sound source G at the position specified by the navigation control unit 2 through the headphones 14. Here, a method of generating a sound image signal by the transfer function calculation circuit 21 and the sound image signal generation circuit 24 is publicly known as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 2945634.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a navigation control process executed by the navigation control unit 2 of FIG.

In FIG. 7, in step S1, a navigation point NP closest to the route information from the navigation information generating unit 1 and the current position information from the position information detecting unit 12 is selected, and the current navigation to proceed to the next is performed. At step S2, the traveling direction P and the sound source azimuth Y from the current position to the current navigation point (currently going there) are calculated at step S2 based on the route information and the current position information. Next, in step S3, it is determined whether or not the head rotation angle Z = 0, and if YES, the azimuth Y is set as the azimuth X in step S4, and step S6 is performed.
Proceed to. If NO in step S3, step S3
In step 5, the azimuth subtraction value (YZ) is set as the azimuth X, and the flow advances to step S6.

Next, in step S6, a distance D between the current position and the current navigation point is calculated.
It is determined whether or not the distance D calculated in step S7 ≧ the distance threshold Dth (for example, 10 m). If YES, the data of the azimuth angle X and the constant distance d (for example, 3 m) Is output to the acoustic signal generation circuit 4 and the process proceeds to step S10. On the other hand, if NO in step S7, while changing the azimuth X and the distance d to the sound source G so as to move the position of the sound source G from the current navigation point to the next navigation point, The data of the distance d is output to the acoustic signal generation circuit 4, and the process proceeds to step S10. Note that the process of step S9 is controlled so as to be repeatedly executed at a predetermined cycle in a loop process when NO is obtained in step S10.

In step S10, it is determined whether or not the current navigation point NP has been reached.
If the determination is NO, the process returns to step S2, while if the determination is YES, the process proceeds to step S11. In step S11, it is determined whether or not the vehicle has arrived at the destination. If NO, the next navigation point NP is selected in step S12, and the selected navigation point NP is set as the current navigation point NO to proceed to next step S12.
Return to 2. On the other hand, if YES in step S11, the navigation control process ends.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to perform navigation from the current position of the user 100 to the destination by using the directionality of the sound. The direction from which the vehicle should travel can be intuitively sensed by the sound output from the headphones 14, and a three-dimensional navigation can be provided.

[0027]

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the operation of the acoustic navigation device of FIG. The feature of this embodiment is that, as described above, even at the time of detouring at an intersection, the listener can correctly locate the sound image in the direction in which the listener should proceed and perform navigation. Now, the place where the user 100 changes course is the navigation point NP which is the intersection 300.

As shown in FIG. 8, when the distance D between the point where the user 100 is located and the navigation point NP is more than a predetermined distance such as 10 m, the sound source G
The sound image is localized such that the position is ahead of the user 100 by a certain distance (time t1; step S8 in FIG. 7).
If the user 100 approaches the navigation point NP less than a certain distance (N in step S7 of FIG. 7)
O), the sound image is moved so that the sound source G can be heard as proceeding in the traveling direction from the navigation point NP to the next navigation point NP (time t2; FIG. 7).
Step S9). This sound image is heard until the user 100 passes the next navigation point NP (time t3 and t4). If the user 100 has reached the navigation point NP and has not reached the destination (FIG. 7
YES in step S10 and N in step S11
O), the next navigation point NP is set (FIG. 7)
Step S12), the same operation is repeated (time t
5).

With the above operation, there is an advantage that the direction in which the sound source G can be heard when the intersection 300 turns is not obstructed by the building or the like, and a sense of security can be obtained for pedestrians.

As described above, according to the acoustic navigation device according to the present embodiment, the navigation point such as an intersection is sequentially updated on the basis of the current position information and the route information while maintaining a predetermined distance from the current position. In the acoustic navigation device that performs navigation by controlling the sound source to be located, the navigation control unit 2 calculates the distance D between the current position and the current navigation point to go to the next (step S6 in FIG. 7),
If the calculated distance is less than the predetermined threshold (NO in step S7), the position of the sound source is moved so as to proceed from the current navigation point to the next navigation point (step S9). Therefore, it is possible to prevent an incomprehensible route guidance at an intersection or the like.

Further, according to the acoustic navigation apparatus, the head rotation angle detecting unit 13 of the user 100 equipped with the headphones 14 for outputting the acoustic signal of the sound source to both ears 101 and 102 of the human user 100 The head rotation angle Z of the head with respect to the traveling direction is detected, and the navigation control unit 2 corrects the position of the moving sound source based on the detected head rotation angle Z (step S5). Therefore, it is possible to prevent the position of the sound source from deviating from the direction in which the sound should travel due to the rotation of the user's head.

<Modification> It is said that the fact that a sound is deviated left or right is a phase difference between sound signals.
Therefore, since the phase characteristics (time difference between left and right) are exactly the same between the front and the rear, especially the front and the rear, it is easy to mistake the front and the rear when determining the position of the sound source. In other words, there is a problem that it is difficult to distinguish, for example, an instruction of “diagonally right front” and “diagonally right back” when performing navigation with a sound image. Therefore, the following means may be provided to solve this problem. (A) In the frequency characteristics of a sound, a high frequency range is attenuated in the rearward region as compared with the normal region. By increasing or decreasing the frequency component, the front and the rear are distinguished. (B) The headphone 14 has four channels so that the front and rear can be easily distinguished. That is, in the headphone 14 in which the arm portion of the headphone 14 is located behind the head, four channels can be reproduced by mounting a small speaker on the arm portion. In the case of four channels, the method of creating the sound image localization is the same as that of the two channels. Any one of the above two means may be used, or both may be used. Thereby, the perception in the front-back direction can be made possible.

When it is impossible to specify the current position by GPS, such as when the user 100 is in the shadow of a building or inside a building, the correction may be made by the following method. (A) The user 100 inputs the following items, and specifies the position by referring to a database in a server device connected to the navigation information control unit 1 via a communication line, for example. (I) Branch names of nearby stores (convenience stores, fast food, family restaurants, gas stations, post offices, banks, etc.). (II) Display of traffic lights and intersections at intersections. (III) The pole number of the pole. (B) The user 100 inputs all the stores (here, the stores refer to the stores described above) that are visible from the current location,
The current position is specified by referring to the database. For example, around Fujisawa Station, you can have multiple inputs such as "XX convenience store", "XX gas station" and "XX family restaurant". Identify.

[0034]

As described above in detail, according to the acoustic navigation device of the present invention, a navigation point such as an intersection is updated successively based on the current position information and the route information while a predetermined distance from the current position is maintained. An acoustic navigation device that performs navigation by controlling the sound source to be located at a position where the distance between the current position and the current navigation point is calculated, and when the calculated distance is less than a predetermined threshold value. Comprises control means for moving the position of the sound source so as to proceed from the current navigation point to the next navigation point. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent unintelligible route guidance at an intersection or the like.

In the acoustic navigation device, preferably, a headphone for outputting the sound signal of the sound source to both ears of a human and a rotation angle of a head of the human wearing the headphone with respect to a traveling direction are detected. Detecting means, wherein the control means corrects the position of the moving sound source based on the detected rotation angle. Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to prevent the position of the sound source from deviating from the direction in which the sound should travel due to the rotation of the user's head.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an acoustic signal generation circuit 4 of FIG.

3 is a diagram illustrating a transfer function H _L from a sound source G to a left ear 101, which is used in the acoustic navigation device of FIG.
And a transfer function H _R from the sound source G to the right ear 102 and a transfer function H from the left side portion 14A of the headphones to the left ear 101.
And _H, is a plan view showing the transfer function H _H from the right side portion 14B of the headphones to the right ear 102.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a relationship between a traveling direction P of a user 100 and a head rotation angle Z in the acoustic navigation device of FIG.

5 is a plan view showing a relationship between a traveling direction P when a head rotation angle Z = 0 and an azimuth X to a sound source G in the acoustic navigation device of FIG.

6 is a plan view showing a relationship between a traveling direction P when a head rotation angle Z ≠ 0 and an azimuth X to a sound source G in the acoustic navigation device of FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a navigation control process executed by the navigation control unit 2 of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 8A and 8B are plan views showing one embodiment of the operation of the acoustic navigation device of FIG. 1, wherein FIG. 8A is a plan view at time t = t1, and FIG. 8B is a plan view at time t = t2. (C) is a plan view at time t = t3, (d) is a plan view at time t = t4,
(E) is a plan view at the time t = t5.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing an example of the operation of the acoustic navigation device of the related art, where (a) is a plan view at time t = t11 and (b) is a plan view at time t = t12. It is a figure, (c) is a top view at the time t = t13, and (d) is a plan view at the time t = t14.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Navigation information generation part, 2 ... Navigation control part, 3 ... Processing memory, 4 ... Sound signal generation circuit, 5 ... Map information memory, 6 ... Liquid crystal display, 11 ... Keyboard, 12 ... Position information detection part, 13 ... Head Unit rotation angle detection unit, 14: headphone, 14A: left side of headphone, 14B: right side of headphone, 21: transfer function calculation circuit, 22: processing memory, 23: sound source signal generator, 24: sound image signal generation circuit, 100: user, 101: left ear, 102: right ear, G: sound source.

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuing from the front page (72) Inventor Noriko Hagiwara 1006 Kazuma Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture F-term (reference) 2F029 AA02 AA07 AB05 AB07 AB11 AC14 AC18 5D062 CC13 5H180 AA01 AA21 BB05 CC12 FF05 FF07 in Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. FF22 FF25 FF27 FF33

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. An acoustic navigation device that performs navigation by controlling a sound source to be located at a predetermined distance from a current position while sequentially updating a navigation point based on current position information and route information. Calculating means for calculating the distance to the navigation point, and when the calculated distance is less than a predetermined threshold value, moving the position of the sound source so as to proceed from the current navigation point to the next navigation point An acoustic navigation device, comprising: control means for causing the acoustic navigation device to perform the control. 2. A control device comprising: headphones for outputting the sound signal of the sound source to both ears of a human; and detecting means for detecting a rotation angle of a human head to which the headphones are mounted with respect to a traveling direction. 2. The acoustic navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the position corrects the position of the moving sound source based on the detected rotation angle. 3. The acoustic navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation point includes an intersection.