JP2003035550A - Navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce troublesome feeling of a driver when a virtual sound source is presented audibly, and to accurately present the position of a guidance route to the driver. SOLUTION: The system is provided with sound output means 4, 8 and 7 which output sound, a current position detecting section 1 which detects current position information representing the current position of an own vehicle, an input section 2 which inputs destination information representing the destination of the own vehicle, a course determining/detecting section 11 which searches the guidance route through which the own vehicle reaches the destination being input in the input section 2 from the current position being input in the input section 2, a target spot determining section 12 which determines a spot to be targeted for the driver as a target spot in the guidance route searched by the course determining/detecting section 11, and a virtual sound source signal outputting/judging section 13 and a virtual sound source signal generating section 14 which calculate a relative position between the target spot being determined in the target spot determining section 12 and the current position being input in the input section 2, fix and set at least one virtual sound source at the target spot being determined in the target spot determining section 12, and generate/output a virtual sound source signal presenting the guidance route to the driver from the virtual sound source on the basis of the relative position.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a navigation device that searches for a guide route along which a vehicle travels and guides the route using a virtual sound source when the vehicle is traveling.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a navigation device which sets a virtual sound source at a position a predetermined distance away in front of the vehicle when a vehicle guide route is instructed by voice.
It is known from Japanese Patent No. 781. This navigation device forms a virtual sound source by moving and setting the sound source to a position that is a predetermined distance away from the position of the vehicle on the guide route,
The speaker system in the vehicle forms a three-dimensional sound field to guide the route.

As described above, in the conventional navigation device, the sound source is set on the guide route ahead of the vehicle by a predetermined distance, and the driver presents the voice so that the driver can track the sound source. It was presented to the driver.

[0004]

However, in the above-described conventional navigation device, the driver is made to track the sound source when presenting the guide route, and therefore the driver always hears the sound from the sound source. Need to hear and can be annoying.

Further, in the conventional navigation device, as shown in FIG. 7, when the vehicle 101 makes a right turn from the road 102 along the preliminarily searched guidance route 111 and travels on the road 103, the vehicle 101 approaches the road 103. Parallel roads 104
Even if there is, the virtual sound source 112 is set at a position on the road 103 that is a predetermined distance away from the vehicle 101. In such a case, although the virtual sound source 112 is set on the road 103, it may be difficult for the driver to recognize the sense of distance due to the sound field, and the virtual sound source 112 ′ is set on the road 104. There is a problem in that it may be recognized, and the vehicle runs off the guided road 111.

Therefore, the present invention has been proposed in view of the above-mentioned circumstances, and reduces the annoyance of the driver when presenting the guidance route by voice, and accurately positions the virtual sound source to the driver. A navigation device that can be presented is provided.

[0007]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a sound output means for outputting a sound and a current position detection means for detecting the current position of the host vehicle are provided. Destination input means for inputting destination information indicating the destination of the own vehicle and guidance from the current position of the own vehicle detected by the current position detection means to the destination input by the destination input means Route search means for searching a route,
In the guide route searched by the route searching means, a target point determining means for determining a target point of the driver as a target point, a target point determined by the target value determining means, and the current position detecting means are detected. Relative position calculation means for calculating the relative position with respect to the present position, and one or more virtual sound sources fixedly set at the target point determined by the target point determination means, and the relative position calculated by the relative position calculation means And a virtual sound source signal generation unit that controls the virtual sound source to generate a virtual sound source signal that presents a guide route to the driver based on the above, and to output the virtual sound source signal from the sound output unit.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the first aspect, the virtual sound source signal generating means is a virtual sound source with respect to the driver position and the distance between the set virtual sound source position and the driver position. A virtual sound source signal is generated based on the position angle.

According to a third aspect of the invention, there is provided the navigation device according to the first or second aspect, wherein the virtual sound source signal generating means changes the virtual driver position by the virtual sound source position and the driver. The virtual sound source signal is changed based on the change in the distance from the position and the change in the angle of the virtual sound source position with respect to the driver position.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the navigation device according to any one of the first to third aspects,
The virtual sound source signal generation means generates a virtual sound source signal when the target position calculated by the relative position calculation means and the current position are within a predetermined distance.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided the navigation device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects,
The target point determining means determines a target point at a branch point in the guide route, and the virtual sound source signal generating means is set at a road entrance forming a branch point at which the target point is determined by the target point determining means. Of the virtual sound source signals for the virtual sound source, the contents of the virtual sound source signal for the virtual sound source set at the road entrance on the guide route and the virtual sound source signal for the virtual sound source set at the road entrance off the guide path. Different from the content.

According to a sixth aspect of the invention, there is provided the navigation device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects,
The target point determining means determines a target point at a branch point in the guide route, and the virtual sound source signal generating means is set at a road entrance forming a branch point at which the target point is determined by the target point determining means. Of the virtual sound source signals for the virtual sound source, the output time of the virtual sound source signal for the virtual sound source set at the road entrance on the guide route and the virtual sound source signal for the virtual sound source set at the road entrance outside the guide route Output time is different.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the navigation device according to the fifth or sixth aspect, the target point determining means determines a target point at a branch point in the guide route to generate the virtual sound source signal. The means is based on the current position information detected by the current position detecting means, and is virtual when the road on the guide route is traveled among the roads forming the branch point where the target point is determined by the target point determining means. Stop generating sound source signals.

The invention according to claim 8 is the navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 7.
The target point determination means determines a target point at a branch point in the guide route, and the virtual sound source signal generation means fixes and sets one or a plurality of virtual sound sources at a position visible to the driver.

[0015]

According to the invention of claim 1, one or a plurality of virtual sound sources are fixed and set by the virtual sound source signal generating means at the target point determined by the target point determining means, and the relative position calculating means is used. A virtual sound source signal for presenting the guide route to the driver is generated from the virtual sound source based on the calculated relative position, and is controlled so as to be output from the sound output means. Therefore, a fixed target point is set on the guide route. By setting one or more virtual sound sources near the target point, the virtual sound source does not move even when the vehicle is being guided and running, and the virtual sound source on the guidance route is accurately determined to determine the target point. It is possible to accurately recognize it, reduce the annoyance of the driver due to the movement of the virtual sound source, and accurately present the position of the virtual sound source to the driver.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the virtual sound source signal is generated based on the set distance between the virtual sound source position and the driver position and the angle of the virtual sound source position with respect to the driver position. Can be output according to the position of the virtual sound source that relatively changes as the vehicle moves, and the driver can be made aware that the virtual sound source always exists at a fixed position.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the virtual sound source signal is changed based on the change in the distance between the virtual sound source position and the driver position and the change in the angle of the virtual sound source position with respect to the driver position. Even if the vehicle travels and the driver's position changes, the driver can be made aware that the virtual sound source always exists at a fixed position.

According to the fourth aspect of the invention, since the virtual sound source signal is generated when the target position calculated by the relative position calculating means and the current position are within a predetermined distance, the vehicle runs off the guide route. Even in this case, it is possible to drive the virtual sound source whose position is fixed.
Therefore, according to this navigation device, unless the vehicle is significantly separated from the target point, it is possible to return the vehicle to the guide route with the virtual sound source as the target without the need to recalculate and present the guide route. The processing load when guiding the vehicle can be reduced.

According to the invention of claim 5, the contents of the virtual sound source signal about the virtual sound source set at the road entrance on the guide route and the virtual sound source about the virtual sound source set at the road entrance outside the guide route. Since the contents of the sound source signal are different, the guidance route can be clearly presented to the driver.

According to the invention of claim 6, the output time of the virtual sound source signal about the virtual sound source set at the road entrance on the guide route and the virtual sound source set at the road entrance off the guide route. Since the output time of the virtual sound source signal is different, the guide route can be clearly presented to the driver.

According to the seventh aspect of the invention, based on the current position information input by the position inputting means, on the guide route among the roads forming the branch point where the target point is determined by the target point determining means. Since the generation of the virtual sound source signal is stopped when the vehicle travels on the road, it is possible to clearly indicate that the vehicle has passed the guide route.

According to the invention of claim 8, the target point determining means determines the target point at the branch point in the guide route,
Since one or more virtual sound sources are fixed and set at a position visible to the driver, the driver can be clearly presented with the guide route.

[0023]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

The present invention is applied to a navigation device configured as shown in FIG. 1, for example.

[Construction of Navigation Device] This navigation device is mounted on a vehicle and detects a current position of the vehicle, a current position detection unit 1, an input unit 2 operated by a driver, and a storage unit 3 for storing various information. , A sound output unit 4 for outputting a virtual sound source signal to be presented to the driver, a display unit 5 for presenting various contents to the driver are connected to and controlled by the arithmetic unit 6, and a plurality of speaker devices 7a, ... , 7n (hereinafter,
When collectively referred to, they are simply referred to as "speaker device 7". ), A plurality of speaker driving units 8a, ...
8n (hereinafter, simply referred to as “speaker drive unit 8” when collectively referred to).

The current position detecting section 1 is composed of a GPS receiving device and the like, is wirelessly connected to a GPS satellite, receives a signal indicating the position of the own vehicle, and detects the current position information of the own vehicle.
The current position detector 1 outputs the detected current position information to the calculator 6.

The input unit 2 is provided with an operating mechanism operated by a driver, and by operating the operating mechanism, destination information indicating the destination of the host vehicle and a waypoint from the current position to the destination are reached. Is generated and output to the calculation unit 6. The input unit 2 includes, for example, a touch panel, a keyboard, a voice input mechanism, a jog dial, a switch, etc., individually or in combination.

The storage unit 3 has a function of temporarily or semi-permanently storing information, and stores map information showing a map of roads, intersections, etc., intersection information about intersections where roads intersect, and all information about roads. The road information shown, the registration information in which various contents operated by the driver are registered, and the like are stored. As the storage unit 3, for example, a cache memory, a main memory, a disk memory or the like can be used alone or in combination.

The sound output unit 4 receives a virtual sound source signal, which will be described later, from the calculation unit 6, and based on the input virtual sound source signal,
Different virtual sound source signals are output to the respective speaker driving units 8 to drive the plurality of speaker devices 7.

The speaker device 7 forms a sound field for setting a virtual sound source in the vehicle by being driven in accordance with the drive signal from the speaker drive unit 8.

The speaker drive section 8 generates and outputs a drive signal emitted from the speaker device 7 in accordance with the virtual sound source signal from the sound output section 4.

The display unit 5 receives the map information from the calculation unit 6 read from the storage unit 3 as an input, displays a map according to the input map information, a guide route of the vehicle, etc. on the screen, and also displays the calculation unit. By inputting various information obtained by the calculation in 6, the calculation result by the calculation unit 6 is presented to the driver.

The calculation unit 6 receives various information input from the current position detection unit 1, the input unit 2 and the storage unit 3 as input, performs various calculation processes, and outputs the results calculated by the sound output unit 4 and the display unit 5 to each other. The output provides the driver with the guidance route.

"Functional Configuration of Arithmetic Unit 6" The arithmetic unit 6 is
As shown in the functional configuration in FIG. 2, the route determination detection unit 1 that receives the current position information from the current position detection unit 1 as an input
1, target point determination unit 12, virtual sound source signal output determination unit 1
3. It has a virtual sound source signal generation unit 14. This calculation unit 6
Are the route determination detection unit 11, the target point determination unit 12,
Virtual sound source signal output determination unit 13, virtual sound source signal generation unit 14
The processing performed by is programmed, and the processing results are presented to the driver by performing processing according to the contents programmed in the program by inputting various information.

The route determination detection unit 11 receives the destination information and the waypoint information from the input unit 2, the current position information from the current position detection unit 1, and the destination information and the waypoint information. Using the current position information at the time of
Guidance route information indicating a guidance route which is an optimum route for the vehicle to reach the destination from the current position via the designated stopover is calculated. At this time, the route determination detection unit 11
Based on current location information, destination information and waypoint information,
The guide route information is generated by reading and calculating the map information, the intersection information, and the road information stored in the storage unit 3. Then, the route determination detection unit 11 outputs the guide route information obtained by the calculation to the target point determination unit 12.

The target point determination unit 12 is a route determination detection unit 1
The guide route information from 1 is input, the target point on the guide route designated by the input guide route information is determined, and the virtual sound source position associated with each target point is set. The target point determination unit 12 sets the determined target point as target point information and sets the set virtual sound source position as virtual sound source position information.

The target point determined by the target point determining unit 12 indicates a point which should be the target of the guide route when the vehicle is in operation, and examples thereof include branch points such as intersections and buildings serving as landmarks. The target point determination unit 12 refers to the map information, the intersection information, and the road information included in the guide route information, and determines the intersection or the building as a fixed target point.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 3, the target point determination unit 12 exists along the guide route 22 when the vehicle 21 travels along the guide route 22 and guides to the destination 31. The building 23 to be fixed is fixed at the target point M1 and determined, and the intersection 24, 25, 2 at which the vehicle 21 turns right
6 is fixed to the target points M2, M3, M4 and determined. After determining the target points M1 to M4, the target point determination unit 12 fixes and determines one or a plurality of virtual sound source positions (indicated by ● in the figure) associated with each target point M. In the case shown in FIG. 3, the virtual sound source position sets one virtual sound source A1-1 for the target point M1, three virtual sound sources for the target point M2, and three virtual sound sources A3 for the target point M3. -1, A3-2, A
3-3 is set, and three virtual sound sources are set for the target point M4.

The virtual sound source signal output determination unit 13 receives the target point information determined by the target point determination unit 12 as an input, and the target point indicated by the input target point information and the current position input from the current position detection unit 1 at any time. The distance L from the current position indicated by the information is calculated. The virtual sound source signal output determination unit 13
When the calculated distance L becomes equal to or less than the predetermined distance, the processing of the virtual sound source signal generation unit 14 is started, and the current position information and the virtual sound source position information are output to the virtual sound source signal generation unit 14.

The virtual sound source signal generation unit 14 uses the current position of the vehicle indicated by the current position information to indicate the driver's head position and the virtual sound source position information from the virtual sound source signal output determination unit 13. From a virtual sound source position, a virtual sound source signal that generates a sound field in which a driver can hear a sound that guides the vehicle is generated and stored.

When generating this virtual sound source signal, the virtual sound source signal generating unit 14 may be, for example, "Multi-channel sound field system considering the movement of the listener's head: The Virtual Reality Society of Japan, Volume 5, Vol. No. 3, pp. 957
-964 (2000-9) "and the like, a vehicle is provided with a sound field in which sound is generated from the virtual sound source position without being affected by the orientation of the driver's head. Form inside.

[Operation of Navigation Device] “Route Guidance Process” FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of a route guidance process for presenting a guidance route to the driver by the navigation device described above and guiding the route. In the explanation of this route guidance processing, as shown in FIG.
The processing contents of the calculation unit 6 when the vehicle passes the target point M will also be described.

The navigation device starts the process of step S1 by operating the input unit 2 by the driver, sets the destination and the waypoint according to the operation contents, and generates the destination information and the waypoint information. Then, the data is input to the calculation unit 6, and the process proceeds to step S2.

In steps S2 and S3,
The route determination detection unit 11 of the calculation unit 6 calculates the guide route information using the destination information and the waypoint information input in step S1 and the current position information detected by the current position detection unit 1.

Next, the target point determining section 12 determines the target points in the order of the route from the current position to the destination.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5A, the target point Mn is set at a substantially central position of the intersection 41 where the host vehicle 21 travels. The point for setting the target point is not limited to a branch road such as an intersection, but may be provided for confirmation of a passing point on a long straight road, and a virtual sound source may be arranged.

Next, the target point determination unit 12 determines the virtual sound source position for each target point from the current position to the destination. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5B, the virtual sound source An-1 and the virtual sound source An- at the target point Mn.
2. Determine a virtual sound source An-3. At this time, the virtual sound source is set to the branch road 43 other than the intersection approach road 42 of the own vehicle 21.
Set near the entrance of a, 43b, 43c.

As a result, the target point determining unit 12 generates a target point list in which the target point information arranged in order of the route from the beginning and the virtual sound source position information are associated with each other, and the process proceeds to step S4.

In step S2, the target point may be automatically set by the target point determination unit 12, but when the driver operates the input unit 2 to specify the target point, the driver can In order to increase the degree of freedom of the above, a process of setting a virtual sound source position for a designated target point and including it in the target point list may be performed.

In step S2, it is determined that the driver cannot visually recognize the entrance of the branch road 43c on the guide route, for example, the set position of the virtual sound source An-3 on the guide route due to the presence of an obstacle or the like. In this case, the target point determination unit 12 may perform the process of setting the position of the virtual sound source An-3 in front of the entrance of the branch road 43c.

Whether or not the set position of the virtual sound source A can be visually recognized by the driver is determined by the position of the own vehicle detected by the image using the map information, the radar, the sensor, the camera and the position of the obstacle. The position is relative to. Then, when the host vehicle 21 is traveling and the entrance of the guidance route, in this case, the entrance of the branch road 43c is visible, it is desirable to move the virtual sound source An-3 to the entrance of the branch road 43c.

In step S4, the current position detector 1
The current position information is detected by the virtual sound source signal output determination unit 13, and the distance L between the target position stored at the head of the target position list, that is, the target position closest to the current position of the vehicle and the current position of the vehicle is calculated. Then, the process proceeds to step S5, and the calculated distance L and the threshold value L0 are compared to determine whether or not the distance L is smaller than the threshold value L0. When the virtual sound source signal output determination unit 13 determines that the distance L is smaller than the threshold value L0, step S6
If it is determined that the size is not small, the process returns to step S4.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5A, when the distance L between the vehicle 21 and the target point Mn is larger than the threshold value L0, the process of step S4 is repeated,
As shown in (b), when the host vehicle 21 advances toward the target point Mn and the distance L reaches a position smaller than the threshold value L0 in step S5, the process proceeds to step S6.

Here, the threshold value L0 is the speaker device 7
Is a value indicating the timing of presenting the sound indicating the route guidance from the virtual sound source to the driver, and is a value for instructing the route guidance when the own vehicle 21 and the target point Mn reach a predetermined distance.

In step S6, the virtual sound source signal generation unit 14 performs a process of generating a virtual sound source signal.

At this time, based on the current position information, FIG.
The head position D of the driver is calculated, and the distances r1 to r3 between the calculated head position D and the virtual sound source position corresponding to the target point stored at the beginning of the target point list are calculated as virtual sound source signal generation unit. 14. Also, the virtual sound source signal generation unit 1
4, the front of the median plane with respect to the absolute position of the intersection 41 where the target point Mn is present is detected by referring to the current position information and the map information, and the vehicle position and the vehicle direction with respect to the detected front of the median plane are detected. Then, the virtual sound sources An-1, An-2, An-3 with respect to the front position 51 on the midplane of the host vehicle 21.
The angles θ1, θ2, and θ3 of are calculated. Then, the distance r1
Using the transfer characteristics based on r3 and the angles θ1 to θ3, virtual sound source signals in which sound images are localized in the virtual sound sources An-1, An-2, An-3 are calculated for each speaker device 7, and processed in step S7. Is output to the sound output unit 4 to drive each speaker driving unit 8 to emit a sound from each speaker device 7, and the process proceeds to step S8.

Further, in step S6, FIG.
As shown in, the virtual sound source An-3 (○ in the figure) set at the entrance of the branch path 43c on the guide path and the virtual sound source set at the entrance of the branch paths 43a and 43b outside the guide path. In some cases, the driver may be presented with different sound content between An-1 and An-2 (● in the figure). At this time, the virtual sound source signal may be generated by the virtual sound source signal generation unit 14 so that the sound content is different. For example, the virtual sound source An-3 set on the guide path outputs a sound such as "beep and pop", and the virtual sound source A set off the guide path.
For n-1, the virtual sound source An-2, a sound such as "bubbing" is output. Thereby, the guide route can be clearly presented to the driver.

Further, in step S6, even if the virtual sound source signals to be presented to the driver are generated by the virtual sound source signal generation unit 14 by adding time differences to the sounds from the respective virtual sound sources presented to the driver from a plurality of directions. good. Thereby, the guide route can be clearly presented to the driver.

In step S8, it is determined whether the vehicle 21 has passed the correct point according to the presentation of the acoustically guided route. Here, the correct answer point is a virtual sound source position set on the guide route in the virtual sound source position information included in the target point list. That is, step S8
Then, in FIG. 5, it is determined whether or not the vehicle 21 has passed over the virtual sound source An-3 according to the current position information.
In the state of FIGS. 5A to 5D, the host vehicle 21 has not yet passed the virtual sound source An-3, and the process returns to step S4. In the state of FIG. Sound source An
-3 has been passed, and the process proceeds to step S9.

In step S9, the target point information stored at the head of the target point list and the virtual sound source position information corresponding to the target point are deleted when the host vehicle 21 has passed the correct point, The process proceeds to S10 to determine whether or not the target point information remains in the target point list. When the target point information remains in the target point list in step S10, it is determined that the host vehicle 21 has not reached the destination yet, and the process returns to step S4, and the target point information remains in the target point list. If not, the process of determining that the host vehicle 21 has reached the destination ends.

When the own vehicle 21 travels by emitting sound from each speaker device 7 in step S7, as shown in FIG.
5 (b) (t = t1), as shown in FIG. 5 (c), the distance L becomes smaller than the threshold value L0, and the virtual sound source An-1 around the front of the host vehicle 21. , An-
2, An-3 are arranged so that the sound image is localized (t = t2). Then, when the own vehicle 21 further travels (t = t3), as shown in FIG.
3 is located in front of the driver, the virtual sound source An-2 is located at the left rear of the driver, and the virtual sound source An-1 is located at the rear of the driver. When the host vehicle 21 further travels and passes the virtual sound source An-3, it is determined in step S8 that the vehicle has passed the correct answer point.

As described above, when the host vehicle 21 travels sequentially as shown in FIGS. 5 (a) to 5 (e), the distance r and the angle θ change in accordance with the sequential changes of the distance r and the angle θ. And the transfer characteristic based on the angle θ is updated, and the virtual sound source signal is recalculated.

[Effects of the Embodiment] As described above in detail, according to the navigation device of the embodiment of the present invention, the target point determining unit 12 fixes the target point to an intersection or a building on the guide route. Since the target point is set and one or more virtual sound sources are set near the target point, the virtual sound source does not move even when the vehicle is being guided and run, and the virtual sound source on the guidance route can be accurately detected. Therefore, it is possible to accurately recognize the target point, reduce the annoyance of the driver due to the movement of the virtual sound source, and accurately present the position of the virtual sound source to the driver.

According to this navigation device,
For example, when the host vehicle 21 sequentially travels as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5E, the transfer characteristic based on the distance r and the angle θ is updated, and the virtual sound source signal is recalculated. Therefore, the virtual sound source can be output in accordance with the virtual sound source position that relatively changes as the vehicle 21 moves, and the driver can be made aware that the virtual sound source always exists at a fixed position.

Further, according to this navigation device,
The virtual sound source is generated and output only when the distance L between the target point and the host vehicle becomes smaller than the threshold value L0, that is, when the host vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the target point, the vehicle outputs Even when the vehicle travels off the guide route, the vehicle can travel toward the virtual sound source whose position is fixed. Therefore, according to this navigation device, unless the vehicle is significantly separated from the target point,
The vehicle can be returned to the guide route with the virtual sound source as a target without the need to recalculate and present the guide route, and further, the processing load when the vehicle is guided can be reduced.

Furthermore, this navigation device determines a target point at a branch road on the guide route, and at the branch road, sets virtual sound source positions at the entrance of the road along the guide route and the entrance of the road deviating from the guide route. It can be set so that the sound presentation content is different depending on the virtual sound source position at the road entrance along the guide route and the virtual sound source position at the road entrance outside the guide route, and the guide route is set to a complicated branch road. Even if it is, the vehicle can be guided to the correct course.

Furthermore, according to this navigation device, when the virtual sound source is set at the road entrance forming the branch road on the guide route, when the vehicle travels on the correct route on the guide route, the virtual sound source Since the presentation is stopped, it can be confirmed that the vehicle is traveling on the guidance route.

The above embodiment is an example of the present invention. For this reason, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and other than this embodiment, as long as it does not deviate from the technical idea of the present invention, various types according to the design etc. Of course, it is possible to change.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a calculation unit constituting a navigation device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a guide route along which a vehicle travels, a target point fixedly determined on the guide route, and a virtual sound source position set around the target point.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of route guidance processing by the navigation device to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining the content of processing performed by the vehicle sequentially traveling toward a target point, (a)
Is a distance L larger than the threshold L0, (b) is a distance L smaller than the threshold L0, and (c) is a distance L.
Is much smaller than the threshold value L0, (d) is the case where the host vehicle passes the target point determined as the intersection,
(E) is a case where the vehicle has passed the correct answer point.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining that a virtual sound source signal is generated based on a transfer characteristic based on a distance r between a head position and a virtual sound source and an angle θ of each virtual sound source with respect to a front position on the median plane.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a position at which a virtual sound source is set by a conventional navigation device.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Current position detector 2 Input section 3 storage 4 sound output section 5 Display 6 computing unit 7 speaker device 8 speaker drive 11 Path determination detector 12 Target point determination section 13 Virtual sound source signal output determination unit 14 Virtual sound source signal generator

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. Sound output means for outputting a sound, current position detection means for detecting the current position of the host vehicle, destination input means for inputting destination information indicating the destination of the host vehicle, and own vehicle From the current position detected by the current position detection means, a route search means for searching a guide route to reach the destination input by the destination input means, and in the guide route searched by the route search means, Target point determining means for determining the driver's target point as the target point, and relative position for calculating the relative position between the target point determined by the target value determining means and the current position detected by the current position detecting means. One or a plurality of virtual sound sources are fixed and set at the target point determined by the calculation means and the target point determination means, and a guide route is provided to the driver from the virtual sound source based on the relative position calculated by the relative position calculation means. A navigation apparatus, comprising: a virtual sound source signal generation unit configured to generate a virtual sound source signal to be presented and control the sound output unit to output the sound source. 2. The virtual sound source signal generating means generates a virtual sound source signal based on the set distance between the virtual sound source position and the driver position and the angle of the virtual sound source position with respect to the driver position. The navigation device according to claim 1. 3. The virtual sound source signal generation means is based on a change in the distance between the virtual sound source position and the driver position and a change in the angle of the virtual sound source position with respect to the driver position due to the change in the driver position. 3. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the virtual sound source signal is changed. 4. The virtual sound source signal generation means generates a virtual sound source signal when the target position calculated by the relative position calculation means and the current position are within a predetermined distance. The navigation device according to claim 3. 5. The road constituting the branch point where the target point determination means determines a target point at a branch point in the guide route, and the virtual sound source signal generation means configures the branch point where the target point is determined by the target point determination means. Of the virtual sound source signals for the virtual sound source set at the entrance,
The content of the virtual sound source signal about the virtual sound source set at the road entrance on the guide route is different from the content of the virtual sound source signal about the virtual sound source set at the road entrance outside the guide path. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. 6. The road constituting the branch point where the target point is determined by the target point determining means and the virtual sound source signal generating means is determined by the target point determining means. Of the virtual sound source signals for the virtual sound source set at the entrance,
The output time of the virtual sound source signal about the virtual sound source set at the road entrance on the guide route and the output time of the virtual sound source signal about the virtual sound source set at the road entrance off the guide route are different. The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation device is a navigation device. 7. The target point determining means determines a target point at a branch point in the guide route, and the virtual sound source signal generating means determines the target point based on the current position information detected by the current position detecting means. 7. The generation of the virtual sound source signal is stopped when the vehicle travels on a road on the guide route among the roads forming the branch point whose target point has been determined by the determining means, according to claim 5 or claim 6. Navigation device. 8. The target point determining means determines a target point at a branch point in the guide route, and the virtual sound source signal generating means fixes one or a plurality of virtual sound sources at a position visible to a driver. It sets, The navigation apparatus in any one of Claims 1-7 characterized by the above-mentioned.