JP2004085496A - Facility retrieval system and navigation system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To easily retrieve a facility where a special favor is prepared for a specified member. <P>SOLUTION: In this navigation system 100, a user assigns a credit card or the like of the member which the user belongs to, inputs a prescribed retrieval condition, and transmits a prescribed retrieval request to a service center 200. In the service center 200, the facility satisfying the retrieval condition is retrieved to send back, to the navigation system 100, a retrieved result added with the presence of the special favor for the member and a content of the special favor corresponding to the each facility. In the navigation system 100, a facility list as the retrieved result is displayed to show the presence of the special favor for the member. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a facility search system and a navigation device for searching for a facility that satisfies a predetermined search condition and searching for a travel route to a facility extracted by the search.
[0002]
[Prior art]
In general, an in-vehicle navigation device has a facility search function for searching for a specific facility based on search conditions specified by a user, and a route for searching for a travel route to a destination or a stopover point specified by a user. It has a search function, a route guidance function for guiding a vehicle along a traveling route obtained by a route search, and the like. By using the facility search function, the user can search for a desired facility, for example, a restaurant that he or she wants to drop in at noon.
[0003]
Recently, as one of means for securing customers, there is a case where a privilege such as a discount is given to a specific member at a specific facility. For example, if you become a member of a credit card issued by a specific company, presenting and using this credit card will allow you to receive discounts on food and beverages at specific restaurants and admission fees at specific movie theaters Discount service. Therefore, by using the facility search function, the route search function, and the route guidance function of the navigation device described above, a restaurant or a movie theater that can receive these discount services and the like is searched and a vehicle is guided, so that a specific member can be obtained. It is possible to make effective use of discount services and the like provided for customers.
[0004]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
By the way, facilities targeted for special services such as discount services provided for specific members are notified to each member, for example, on the space of a member magazine or on an Internet screen, and each member looks at these papers and screens, You need to memorize the facilities you want to use, write them down on paper, or carry the member magazine itself. As described above, in order to use a privilege such as a discount service for a specific member, it is necessary for the user (member) to specify a facility he or she wants to use, and there is a problem that the search becomes complicated. In particular, when the user himself / herself does not remember the facilities that are the targets of such benefits such as discount services, and does not carry member magazines or papers with the names of these facilities etc. Even if the facility search function of the navigation device is used, it is difficult to find a specific facility that can receive the privilege, and as a result, it is not possible to receive the privilege that can be originally received.
[0005]
The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide a facility search system and a navigation device that can easily search for a facility having a privilege for a specific member. .
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to solve the above-described problem, the facility search system of the present invention stores input means for inputting a specific member and facility information in which privilege information relating to a privilege provided to the specific member is associated. And a facility search unit for searching for a facility that satisfies a predetermined search condition based on the facility information stored in the database, and the facilities searched by the facility search means, together with privilege information corresponding to each facility. Search result display means for performing the search. By including the privilege information of each facility in the display of the search result, it is possible to easily search for a facility having a privilege for a specific member.
[0007]
In addition, the facility search system of the present invention includes an input unit for inputting that the user is a specific member, a database storing facility information in which privilege information relating to a privilege provided to the specific member is stored, and a database stored in the database. Based on the obtained facility information, a facility search means for searching for a facility that satisfies a predetermined search condition and allows a specific member to enjoy a privilege, and a search result display means for displaying the facility searched by the facility search means. Have. As described above, it is possible to specify a privilege for a specific member when searching, so that it is possible to easily search for a facility having a privilege for a specific member.
[0008]
In addition, the input means described above can input that the user is a specific member by selecting a member of which the user is a member from options indicating a plurality of types of members displayed on the screen. desirable. As a result, it is possible to reduce the trouble of inputting when specifying the type of the representative specific member.
[0009]
In addition, it is desirable that the input means described above inputs a specific member by inputting the name of a company in which the user is registered as an employee in an input frame displayed on the screen. This makes it easy to search only such facilities when there is a facility that gives some benefits to employees of a specific company.
[0010]
In addition, the above-mentioned benefit is a discount service of a price for a service provided in the facility, and the search result display means, when the user is a plurality of specific members, in order of the discount rate of the discount service, It is desirable to display a plurality of types of specific members. It is thought that discount services such as products are the most awarded at each facility, but in such a case, by displaying the type of specific member in the descending order of the discount rate, the benefit that is the most profitable for the user Can be selected. For example, in a case where a plurality of credit cards are owned and a discount rate in a store or the like is different for each credit card, it is easy to determine which credit card is used most by the user. You will understand.
[0011]
Further, a navigation device according to the present invention includes at least the input means and the search result display means described above, and further includes a destination designation means for designating any of the facilities displayed by the search result display means as a destination. And a route searching means for searching for a traveling route to the destination designated by the destination designating means, and a route guiding means for guiding traveling of the vehicle along the traveling route searched by the route searching means. I have. As a result, it is possible to reduce the trouble of the user from searching for the facility to which the privilege is given to going to the facility.
[0012]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, a facility search system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a facility search system according to an embodiment. The facility search system shown in FIG. 1 includes a navigation device 100 mounted on each vehicle, and a service center 200 that searches for a facility that satisfies a search condition specified using the navigation device 100. The navigation device 100 and the service center 200 are connected via a predetermined network 300. The network 300 according to the present embodiment includes a mobile telephone network, and connects the navigation device 100 mounted on a moving vehicle and the service center 200 to each other. The navigation device 100 and the network 300 are connected using a mobile phone (not shown) provided in the vehicle.
[0013]
Next, a detailed configuration of the navigation device 100 will be described. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a detailed configuration of the navigation device 100. The navigation device 100 shown in FIG. 2 includes a navigation controller 1, a DVD 2, a disk reader 3, a remote control (remote control) unit 4, a vehicle position detector 5, a display device 6, and an audio unit 7.
[0014]
The navigation controller 1 controls the entire navigation device. The function of the navigation controller 1 is realized by executing a predetermined operation program using a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like.
The DVD 2 is an information recording medium storing map data necessary for performing various navigation operations such as map display and route search. The map data includes map image data required for map display and road data required for route search. The DVD 2 stores map data in units of rectangular figures divided into appropriate sizes by longitude and latitude. The map data of each leaf is specified by specifying the leaf number and can be read out.
[0015]
The disk reader 3 can load one or a plurality of DVDs 2 and reads map data from any one of the DVDs 2 under the control of the navigation controller 1. Note that the disc to be loaded is not necessarily a DVD, but may be a CD. Alternatively, both a DVD and a CD may be selectively loaded.
[0016]
The remote control unit 4 includes a joystick for designating directions such as up, down, left, and right, and various operation keys such as a numeric keypad for inputting numbers and a "decision key" for confirming various settings. A signal is output to the navigation controller 1. In this embodiment, when requesting a search from the service center 200, search conditions are specified, and the credit card of which the user is a member (owned) is specified. This is performed using the remote control unit 4.
[0017]
The vehicle position detector 5 includes, for example, a GPS receiver, a direction sensor, a distance sensor, and the like, detects a vehicle position (longitude, latitude) at a predetermined timing, and outputs detection data.
The display device 6 displays various images such as a map image around the position of the vehicle and a search result of a peripheral facility based on the drawing data output from the navigation controller 1. The audio unit 7 outputs a guidance voice or the like generated based on a voice signal input from the navigation controller 1 into the vehicle interior.
[0018]
As shown in FIG. 2, the navigation controller 1 includes a map buffer 10, a map reading control unit 12, a map drawing unit 14, a vehicle position calculation unit 20, a route search processing unit 22, a guidance route drawing unit 24, a voice It is configured to include a guide unit 26, a facility search unit 30, a facility information drawing unit 32, a communication processing unit 34, an input processing unit 40, and a display processing unit 50.
[0019]
The map buffer 10 temporarily stores map data read from the DVD 2 by the disk reader 3. The map reading control unit 12 outputs a read request for map data in a predetermined range to the disk reading device 3 according to the vehicle position calculated by the vehicle position calculating unit 20 and an instruction from the input processing unit 40. The map drawing unit 14 performs a drawing process necessary for displaying a map image based on the map data stored in the map buffer 10 to create map image drawing data.
[0020]
The vehicle position calculation unit 20 calculates the own vehicle position based on the detection data output from the vehicle position detection unit 5 and, when the calculated own vehicle position is not on the map road, determines the road shape of the map and the travel. A map matching process for correcting the own vehicle position based on the trajectory is performed.
[0021]
The route search processing unit 22 searches for a traveling route that connects the departure place and the destination according to a predetermined search condition as a guidance route. The guidance route drawing unit 24 generates guidance route drawing data for displaying the guidance route obtained by the search processing by the route search processing unit 22 in a superimposed manner on a map. The voice guidance unit 26 generates a voice signal such as an intersection guidance necessary for guiding the vehicle along the guidance route obtained by the search processing by the route search processing unit 22.
[0022]
When the service center 200 searches for a facility that satisfies the search condition specified by the user and sends the search result, the facility search unit 30 selects one facility included therein. The facility information drawing unit 32 performs drawing processing necessary to display the received search result and further detailed information of one of the facilities, and creates facility information drawing data.
[0023]
The communication processing unit 34 performs processing necessary for the navigation device 100 to perform various data communications such as search conditions and search results with the service center 200 via the network 300. A mobile phone (not shown) is externally attached to the communication processing unit 34.
[0024]
The input processing unit 40 outputs a command for performing an operation corresponding to various operation instructions input from the remote control unit 4 to each unit in the navigation controller 1. The display processing unit 50 receives map image drawing data generated by the map drawing unit 14 and displays a map image in a predetermined range on the screen of the display device 6 based on the drawing data. When the facility information drawing data generated by the facility information drawing unit 32 and the guide route drawing data generated by the guide route drawing unit 24 are input, the display processing unit 50 superimposes the drawing data on the map image. To display on the screen of the display device 6.
[0025]
Next, a detailed configuration of the service center 200 will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the service center 200. As shown in FIG. 3, the service center 200 includes a center control unit 210, a facility DB (database) 220, a privilege DB 230, and a communication processing unit 240.
[0026]
The center control unit 210 controls the entire service center 200 to send search results to the navigation device 100, and includes a facility search unit 212 and a privilege extraction unit 214. The center control unit 210 has a configuration as a computer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like, and performs a predetermined control operation by executing a predetermined program stored in the ROM or the RAM.
[0027]
The facility search unit 212 searches for a facility that satisfies the search conditions sent from the navigation device 100. The privilege extracting unit 214 extracts a privilege given to the user by the facility in parallel with or after the search by the facility searching unit 212. Regarding how to associate this privilege with a search operation, there are mainly two cases. As one case, it is conceivable that a search for a facility that satisfies the search condition is performed irrespective of the presence or absence of the privilege, and the presence or absence of the privilege at each facility is added to the list of facilities obtained as a search result. In the remaining cases, when searching for a facility that satisfies the search conditions, a case may be considered in which the search is further performed taking into account the condition of “a facility that provides some benefit to the user”. In any case, when the user views the facility list as a search result, the user can select a facility having some privilege.
[0028]
The facility DB 220 stores detailed facility information of each facility necessary for searching for the facility. This facility information includes the name of each facility, the category to which each facility belongs, the location, the telephone number, and the like. The privilege DB 230 stores detailed privilege information corresponding to each facility. For example, in the present embodiment, a credit card member and an employee of a specific company are considered as specific members to which a privilege is given at each facility, and the privilege information includes the privilege given to these specific members at each facility. Presence and contents are included.
[0029]
The communication processing unit 240 performs processing necessary for the service center 200 to perform data communication with the navigation device 100 via the network 300. By the way, the contents of the benefits corresponding to each facility are periodically reviewed and changed as appropriate, and therefore, it is desirable that the benefit information stored in the privilege DB 230 always maintain the latest contents. For this purpose, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the service center 200 and credit card companies (V company, M company, A company, etc.) are connected via a network 310 such as the Internet. The contents of the privilege DB 230 in the service center 200 are updated based on the latest information of each company.
[0030]
The remote control unit 4 and the input processing unit 40 described above serve as input means, the facility DB 220 and the privilege DB 230 serve as databases, the facility search unit 212 and the benefit extraction unit 214 serve as facility search means, and the facility information drawing unit 32 and the display processing unit 50 use the facility search unit. Each corresponds to search result display means. In addition, the remote control unit 4, the input processing unit 40, and the facility search unit 30 correspond to the destination designation unit, the route search processing unit 22 corresponds to the route search unit, the route guidance drawing unit 24, and the voice guidance unit 26 correspond to the route guidance unit, respectively. I do.
[0031]
The facility search system of the present embodiment has such a configuration, and its operation will be described next.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of a member setting screen for inputting a credit card of which a user is a member and a company name (company name) in which the user is an employee. As shown in FIG. 4, in the upper half area of the member setting screen of the present embodiment, "VXXX" which is a representative credit card is displayed with "Please check the credit card you have." , “MXXX”, “AXXX”,... Are provided with check columns. The user operates the remote control unit 4 to check the check box of the credit card owned by the user (for example, presses the “OK” key while the corresponding check box is selected).
[0032]
In the lower half area of the member setting screen, an input box for inputting a company name is provided along with a character string "Please enter the name of the company in which you are registered." The user directly inputs the name of the company in which he / she is enrolled in this input box. The input of the company name can be performed using, for example, a kana-kanji conversion screen including a kana input key, a kanji conversion key, a determination key, and the like, which are displayed on the member setting screen.
[0033]
Member information input using the above-described member setting screen is stored in a storage device (not shown) such as a nonvolatile memory in the navigation device 100.
Operation of Navigation Apparatus FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the navigation apparatus 100, in order to search for a facility that can receive a certain privilege when the user is a member such as a credit card. The operation procedure of the navigation device 100 necessary for the navigation is shown.
[0034]
In parallel with the display processing of the map image around the own vehicle position and the like, the facility search unit 30 determines whether or not a search instruction has been issued (step 100), and makes a negative determination until the search instruction is issued. Repeat the judgment. When the user operates the remote control unit 4 to give a predetermined search instruction, the facility search unit 30 makes an affirmative determination in the determination of step 100 and performs a search condition input process (step 101). For example, the user operates the remote control unit 4 to select a genre of the facility to be extracted by the search from the genre list, thereby performing a search condition input process.
[0035]
Next, the facility search unit 30 reads the member information that has already been input using the member setting screen shown in FIG. 4, and transmits a predetermined search request added to the search condition input in step 101 to the communication processing. The data is transmitted to the service center 200 via the unit 34 (step 102). When the transmission process is completed, the facility search unit 30 determines whether or not the search result sent from the service center 200 has been received (step 103). If not, a negative determination is made. The determination process is repeated.
[0036]
When the search result sent from the service center 200 is received via the communication processing unit 34, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 103, and the facility information drawing unit 32 displays the received search result (step S103). 104). For example, as a search result, a plurality of facilities that satisfy the search condition are displayed in the form of a list. In addition, the list includes not only the names of a plurality of facilities and the distances to the facilities, but also a symbol or the like that indicates that a privilege is given at each facility. For example, in addition to the facility name and the distance, if a privilege is given to each member of the credit card “VXXX”, “MXXX”, “AXXX”, the letters V, M, and A and symbols corresponding to these are displayed. When a privilege is given to an employee of a company having a company name input using the member setting screen shown in FIG. 4, the letter K and a symbol corresponding thereto are displayed. Also, the order of displaying these characters, symbols, and the like (order of arrangement) is desirably displayed such that the credit card with the highest discount rate is the leftmost (or right) in consideration of the discount service. . By setting the arrangement order in this way, a user who owns a plurality of credit cards can easily understand which credit card is used most when only using the arrangement order. . Furthermore, in addition to the case where only a company that has some kind of benefit is included in such a list of search results, a company that satisfies the search condition is included so that there is a benefit among them, regardless of the presence or absence of the benefit. In some cases, a company may be provided with a symbol or the like that indicates this.
[0037]
Next, the facility search unit 30 determines whether to change the search condition (Step 105). When the user instructs to change the search condition, an affirmative determination is made, and the process returns to step 101 to repeat the search condition input process and thereafter. Further, when the change of the search condition is not instructed, a negative determination is made in the determination of step 105, and then the facility search unit 30 determines whether the detailed display has been instructed for one facility included in the search result list. It is determined whether or not it is (step 106). When the user operates the remote control unit 4 to instruct detailed display of one facility, an affirmative determination is made, and then the facility information drawing unit 32 displays detailed information of the designated one facility. (Step 107). For example, when a transmission request for the detailed information of one designated facility is sent to the service center 200 via the communication processing unit 34, the corresponding facility information is read out from the facility DB 220 and the privilege DB 230 and returned. . The facility information drawing section 32 draws and displays the contents of the facility information. In addition to this facility information, in addition to the detailed contents of the facility itself, the contents of the privilege given to the user at this facility (a discount rate or discount amount in the case of a discount service, specific information in the case of other services). Content) is included.
[0038]
After the detailed display is performed, or when the detailed display is not instructed, after the negative determination is made in the determination of step 106, the route search processing unit 22 determines whether one facility is set as the destination of the route search. It is determined whether or not there is (Step 108). If not set, a negative determination is made, and then the facility search unit 30 determines whether or not the search has been completed (step 109). If the facility search is to be continued, a negative determination is made, and the process returns to step 105 to repeat the search condition change determination process and thereafter. When the user operates the remote control unit 4 to instruct the end of the search processing, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 109, and a series of facility search processing ends.
[0039]
Further, in a state where one facility included in the search result list is selected, or in a state where detailed display of one facility is performed, the user operates the remote control unit 4 to instruct a destination setting. In this case, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 108, and then the route search processing unit 22 searches for an optimal travel route to the set destination using the current vehicle position as a departure point (step 110). ). The traveling route obtained by this search is displayed by being superimposed on the map image by the guidance route drawing unit 24 (step 111), and then the route guidance by the voice guidance unit 26 is started (step 112).
[0040]
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the service center 200, and shows an operation procedure when a facility search is performed in response to a search request from the navigation device 100.
The facility search unit 212 determines whether or not a search request sent from the navigation device 100 has been received (step 200), performs a negative determination until a search request is received, and repeats this determination. In addition, when there is a search request, an affirmative determination is made in the determination of step 200, and then the facility search unit 212 searches for a facility that satisfies the search condition based on the facility information stored in the facility DB 220 (step 201). ).
[0041]
Next, based on the privilege information stored in the privilege DB 230, the privilege extracting unit 214 determines whether or not there is any privilege for the member user for each of the facilities searched in step 201. (Step 202). If there is any privilege, an affirmative determination is made, and the specific extracting unit 214 reads the content of the privilege from the privilege DB 230 (step 203).
[0042]
After the reading of the privilege contents is completed, or when there is no privilege corresponding to the facility extracted by the search, after making a negative determination in step 202, the facility search unit 212 searches the facility extracted by the search. The privilege information corresponding to each facility (if there is no privilege information, only the facility list) is transmitted as a search result to the navigation device 100 via the communication processing unit 240 (step 204). ).
[0043]
As described above, in the present embodiment, when displaying the list of facilities as a search result in the navigation device 100, whether the user is a member of a specific credit card or the like indicates whether or not any privilege can be obtained. Or a facility with a privilege can be searched, so that a facility with a privilege for members can be easily selected.
[0044]
Note that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the facility search is performed in the service center 200, but the facility search processing may be performed in the navigation device 100. In this case, various types of information stored in the facility DB 220 and the privilege DB 230 provided in the service center 200 may be stored in the DVD 2 and transferred to the map buffer 10 as needed.
[0045]
Further, in the above-described embodiment, a case has been described in which, when the user owns a plurality of credit cards, the display order of the plurality of credit cards to which the benefit is given is the order in which the discount rate is high. In addition, the user may designate a priority order, or, when various point services are provided, give priority to displaying a credit card having the highest number of points acquired at that time.
[0046]
Also, in the above-described embodiment, a search is made for a facility to which a certain privilege is given to members of various credit cards and employees of a specific company. The members are not limited to the members, and may be other types of members. For example, any member, such as a member of a card issued for each sales series of gasoline or the like, a specific union member, or any member to which a certain privilege is to be granted (name does not matter, such as an employee of a company) may be used.
[0047]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, by including the privilege information of each facility in the display of the search result, it is possible to easily search for the facility having the privilege for the specific member.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a facility search system according to an embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a navigation device.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of a service center.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific example of a member setting screen for inputting a credit card in which a user is a member and a company name in which the user is an employee.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of the navigation device.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation procedure of a service center.
[Explanation of symbols]
Reference Signs List 1 navigation controller 4 remote control unit 6 display device 10 map buffer 12 map reading control unit 14 map drawing unit 30 facility search unit 32 facility information drawing unit 34, 240 communication processing unit 40 input processing unit 50 display processing unit 100 navigation device 200 service center 210 Center control unit 212 Facility search unit 214 Privilege extraction unit 220 Facility DB (database)
230 privilege DB
300, 310 network

Claims (6)

Input means for inputting that the user is a specific member;
A database storing facility information associated with the privilege information related to the privilege provided to the specific member,
Facility search means for searching for a facility satisfying a predetermined search condition based on the facility information stored in the database;
Search result display means for displaying the facilities searched by the facility search means together with the privilege information corresponding to each facility;
A facility search system comprising: Input means for inputting that the user is a specific member;
A database storing facility information associated with the privilege information related to the privilege provided to the specific member,
Facility search means for searching for a facility that satisfies a predetermined search condition based on the facility information stored in the database and in which the specific member can enjoy the privilege,
Search result display means for displaying the facilities searched by the facility search means,
A facility search system comprising: In claim 1 or 2,
The input unit may input the fact that the user is a specific member by selecting a member of which the user is a member from options indicating a plurality of types of members displayed on a screen. Facility search system. In any one of claims 1 to 3,
The facility input, wherein the input means inputs the name of the company in which the user is registered as an employee in the input box displayed on the screen, thereby inputting that the user is the specific member. system. In claim 2,
The privilege is a discount service of consideration for services provided in the facility,
The facility search system, wherein when the user is a plurality of specific members, the search result display means displays the types of the plurality of specific members in order of decreasing discount rate of the discount service. In any one of claims 1 to 5,
An in-vehicle navigation device including at least the input unit and the search result display unit,
Destination designating means for designating any of the facilities displayed by the search result display means as a destination,
Route search means for searching for a travel route to the destination specified by the destination specification means;
A route guidance unit that guides the vehicle to travel along the travel route searched by the route search unit;
A navigation device comprising:

Images