JP2005030800A - Navigation apparatus and scrolling display method of map - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to recognize excellently the position relation between the range of a display map and the present position, even when the display map is scrolled up to a range not including the present position. <P>SOLUTION: The distance on the map between a cursor 210 and the present position is calculated, and the thickness of a link line 410 and a display color are determined corresponding to the calculated distance. In a GUI control part 108, the link line 410 extending toward the present position direction from the cursor display position to a boundary of a navigation image and having the determined thickness and the display color is displayed on the navigation image together with the calculated distance. The thickness of the link line 410 is determined to be thicker as the calculated distance is shorter, and the display color of the link is determined to be deeper as the calculated distance is shorter. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a map scroll display technique suitable for a navigation device that presents a current position on a map to a user.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As a technology for guiding a user's travel on a map in a navigation device mounted on an automobile, conventionally, a technology for displaying a map in a range including the current position together with a mark indicating the current position, or a purpose from the user on the map A technology is widely used that accepts the setting of the ground, sets a guidance route to the accepted destination, and guides traveling along the set guidance route.
[0003]
Further, as a technique related to map display in such a navigation device, a map that displays a map in response to a cursor movement operation or a map scroll operation from a user in a state where a map in a range including the current position is displayed. There is known a technique for changing (scrolling) the range (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 2000-292194 and 2002-81942). The technique for changing the range of the map to be displayed is, for example, for setting the destination after scrolling the range of the map to be displayed until the range of the point that the user wants to set as the destination is displayed. It is used for etc.
[0004]
Prior art document information relating to the invention of this application includes the following.
[0005]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2000-292194
[Patent Document 2]
JP 2002-81942 A
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
According to the conventional technique for scrolling the range of the map to be displayed, if the range of the map to be displayed is changed to a range not including the current position according to the user's operation, the mark indicating the current position on the displayed map Disappears. For this reason, as the user scrolls the map range displayed, the user loses sight of the positional relationship between the currently displayed map range and the current position, and where the displayed map is. There is a problem that it may become difficult to know if there is.
[0008]
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to enable the user to recognize the positional relationship between the range of the display map and the current position even when the display map is scrolled to a range not including the current position.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a map display means for displaying a map within a display range, which is a geographical range to be displayed, as a guide map on a navigation device that guides the current position of a user on a map. When the current position is included in the display range, a current position display means for displaying a current position mark indicating the current position on the map on the guide map and a cursor are displayed on the guide map. Cursor display means, scroll means for scrolling the display range in response to a user's scroll operation input, and a graphic extending from the cursor toward the current position on the guide map on the guide map. The graphic display means for displaying, and the mode of the graphic corresponding to the distance between the display range and the current position or the display position of the cursor It is provided with a a graphic mode control means for changing according to the distance between the current position and the position of the point on the map.
[0010]
According to such a navigation device, even if the current position is not included in the display range and the current position mark is not displayed on the guidance map, the user can set the current direction as the extending direction of the graphic displayed on the guidance map. You can know the direction of the position. Also, from this graphic form, it is possible to intuitively know the approximate distance between the cursor and the display range of the currently displayed guidance map and the current position.
[0011]
More specifically, in the graphic display means, for example, as the graphic, a linear graphic extending from the cursor to the boundary of the guide map in the current position direction on the guide map is displayed, and the graphic mode control means The shape of the graphic may be changed so that the thickness of the graphic becomes thinner as the distance increases. For example, in the graphic form control means, the graphic form may be changed so that the graphic display becomes weaker as the distance increases.
[0012]
In the above navigation apparatus, it is preferable that the graphic display means erases the graphic display at least during a period when the user does not input a scroll operation.
By doing in this way, when a user stops scrolling and examines a guidance map in detail, visual recognition of a user's guidance map can be prevented from being hindered by displaying graphics.
In addition, the above navigation device further moves the display range gradually in the direction of the current position until at least the current position is included in the display range in response to a user's predetermined return operation. It is also preferable to provide display range returning means.
[0013]
By doing so, the user can automatically scroll the map until the current position is included in the display range in the current position direction by simply performing a return operation, and the currently displayed guidance map and the current map are displayed. It will be possible to confirm the appearance between the positions.
[0014]
It should be noted that the invention of the map scroll display described above can be similarly applied to the map scroll display in any device other than the navigation device. In this case, the present invention of scroll display may be applied using a user-specified point or any other point as a reference point instead of the current position.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
First, the first embodiment will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a navigation device according to the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, the navigation device includes a control device 1, a recording medium drive 2 for accessing a storage medium 21 such as a DVD-ROM or hard disk storing map data, a GPS receiver 3, an angular acceleration sensor, or a vehicle speed sensor. The vehicle includes a traveling state sensor 4 that detects the traveling state of the vehicle, a remote controller 5 (remote controller) that receives input from the user, and a display device 6.
[0016]
Further, the control device 1 includes a map data buffer 101, a map data read processing unit 102, a current state calculation unit 103, a route search unit 104, a navigation image generation unit 105, a parameter memory 106, a main control unit 107, and a GUI control unit 108. It has. Here, a dotted line 121 inside the control device 1 in FIG. 1 indicates an access path of each part to map data stored in the map data buffer 101, and a thick line 122 indicates a path of control information between each part and each part of various data. A thin line connected to the GUI control unit 108 indicates a route of operation information and image information input / output with the user using the remote controller 5 or the display device 6.
[0017]
However, the control device 1 described above may be a CPU circuit having a general configuration including peripheral devices such as a microprocessor, a memory, and other graphic processors and geometric processors in terms of hardware. In this case, each unit of the control device 1 described above may be realized as a process embodied by a microprocessor executing a program prepared in advance. In this case, such a program may be provided to the control device 1 via the storage medium 21 or an appropriate communication path.
[0018]
In such a configuration, the map data read processing unit 102 reads the required range of map data from the storage medium 21 via the recording medium drive 2 and stores it in the map data buffer 101 under the control of the main control unit 107.
Further, the current state calculation unit 103 repeatedly performs the following processing.
That is, the current state calculation unit 103 matches the current position estimated from the output of the traveling state sensor 4 or the GPS receiver 3 with the map around the current position previously determined read from the map data buffer 101. Processing is performed to calculate the current position and the current traveling direction, and store them in the parameter memory 106.
[0019]
Further, the main control unit 107 receives a destination setting from the user via the remote controller 5 and the GUI control unit 108 and sets the received destination in the parameter memory 106.
Then, the route search unit 104 is searched for a guidance route from the current position to the destination. The route search unit 104 reads road data of road units in the necessary geographical area from the map data buffer 101, calculates a route from the current position indicated by the parameter memory 106 to the destination based on a predetermined cost model, and guide route The guide route data indicating the route of the guide route is stored in the parameter memory.
[0020]
The main control unit 107 repeats the following navigation image generation process.
That is, the main control unit 107 determines that the parameter memory 106 displays the direction according to the current traveling direction as the display direction, determines the map scale according to the user setting or initial setting made in advance, A geographical range having a predetermined size determined according to the determined display orientation and the determined map scale is determined as the display range. Here, the display direction is calculated so that the current traveling direction is always on.
[0021]
The navigation image generating unit 105 then draws a map based on the map data in the determined display range, and presents the current position mark of the current position mark facing the direction corresponding to the direction indicated by the current traveling direction data. The drawing at the position corresponding to the position is performed with the azimuth indicated by the determined display azimuth as the top. In addition, when the guide route data is set, the main control unit 107 causes the navigation image generation unit 105 to display a guide route on the destination side from the current position indicated by the guide route data in the determined display range. The guide route figure to be represented is drawn with the orientation indicated by the determined display orientation as the top. Further, the main control unit 107 causes the navigation image generation unit 105 to draw a destination mark indicating the position of the destination when the route is being guided and is included in the destination or the display range.
[0022]
The navigation image generation unit 105 generates the navigation image by performing each drawing described above under the control of the main control unit 107 and displays it on the display device 6 via the GUI control unit 108.
FIG. 2 a shows an example of the navigation image displayed in this way. As shown in the figure, the navigation image is a map image 201 on which a current position mark 202 is represented. When the guide route data is set, as shown in FIG. 2b, a guide route graphic 203 is further displayed together with the destination mark 204 when the destination is included in the display range. The route guidance by will be performed.
[0023]
However, in the map scroll processing described later, if the display range determined by the main control unit 107 does not include the current position, the current position mark 202 is not included in the navigation image. Become a thing.
Now, during the route guidance as described above, the main control unit 107 monitors whether the distance between the current position indicated by the parameter memory 106 and the destination is a predetermined distance (for example, several tens of meters) or less. If the distance is less than or equal to the distance, it is assumed that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, the guidance route data and the destination in the parameter memory 106 are cleared, and the route guidance is terminated.
[0024]
In such a navigation apparatus, when the main control unit 107 receives a predetermined cursor call operation from the user via the remote controller 5 and the GUI control unit 108, the main control unit 107 also performs the map scroll processing described below.
That is, in this process, first, as shown in FIG. 2c, the cursor 210 is displayed at the center position of the map of the navigation image displayed on the display device 6 via the GUI control unit 108 (step 302). .
Then, it is determined whether or not a cursor movement operation by operating a direction key provided on the remote controller 5 is received from the user via the remote controller 5 or the GUI control unit 108 (step 304). Then, the map display range of the navigation image is changed so that the center position of the display range moves by a predetermined scroll unit distance in the direction in which the cursor movement operation is accepted (step 306). That is, the display range is changed so that the display position of the cursor 210 does not change and the position of the cursor 210 on the map advances in a predetermined scroll unit distance in the direction in which the cursor movement operation is accepted. Then, the navigation image generation unit 105 updates the navigation image displayed on the display device 6 to the navigation image based on the changed display range.
[0025]
Then, the geographical coordinates corresponding to the display position of the cursor 210, that is, the geographical coordinates of the point on the map of the navigation image where the cursor 210 is located are acquired as the cursor corresponding coordinates (step 308). Next, a distance between the coordinates corresponding to the cursor and the current position indicated by the parameter memory 106 is calculated (step 310), and a value obtained by multiplying the calculated distance by the map scale currently displayed, that is, the cursor 210 on the display, The thickness of the link line and the display color are determined according to the distance from the current position (step 312). Then, the GUI control unit 108 displays a link line with the determined thickness and display color that extends in the direction of the current position from the cursor display position to the boundary of the navigation image on the navigation image along with the calculated distance ( Step 314), returning to step 304, the above processing is repeated.
[0026]
Here, the thickness of the link line is determined so as to increase as the calculated distance decreases, and the display color of the link is determined so as to become darker as the calculated distance decreases.
As a result, for example, as shown in FIG. 4, the thickness of the link line 410 displayed on the display device 6 gradually decreases as the distance from the current position of the display range increases. Further, the display color of the link line 410 displayed on the display device 6 gradually becomes lighter as the distance to the current table position increases.
[0027]
4b, d, and c show display examples of the display device 6 when the ranges 401, 402, and 403 shown in FIG. 4a are set as display ranges, respectively. In order, as the distance to the current position 411 at the center of the corresponding display range 401, 402, 403 increases, the thickness of the link line 410 displayed on the display device 6 becomes thinner, and the display color of the link line 410 becomes lighter. It has become. Also, on the upper right of the cursor 210, a cursor corresponding coordinate, that is, a distance 412 between the center position of the displayed map and the current position is displayed. In this example, each link line 410 is made translucent so that the user can visually recognize the map below the link line 410 to some extent.
[0028]
The direction in which the link line 410 extends as viewed from the cursor 210 represents the direction of the current position.
Therefore, the user can know the direction of the current position with respect to the currently displayed map range from the display of the link line 410 on the display map. In addition, as the rubber cord 413 that connects the cursor 210 and the current position as shown in FIG. 4A, the longer the distance between the cursor-corresponding coordinates and the current position, the more intuitively it becomes than the display of the link line 410 that becomes thinner and thinner. , You can know the approximate distance between the currently displayed map range and the current position.
[0029]
Returning to FIG. 3, if it is determined in step 304 that the cursor movement operation has not been received from the user, that is, if it is determined that the user has stopped the cursor 210, first, the link line 410 is first displayed. If displayed, the GUI control unit 108 is caused to delete the display of the link line 410 (step 316). However, the display of the link line 410 may be deleted only when the user stops the cursor 210 for a predetermined period or longer. FIG. 6a shows that the display of the link line 410 is erased when the cursor 210 is stopped by the user in the display state of FIG. 4d. When the cursor 210 is stopped in this way, the link is displayed. By erasing the display of the line 410, when the user stops the cursor 210 and examines the map of the currently displayed display range in detail, the display of the link line 410 does not prevent the user from viewing the map. Can be.
[0030]
Returning to FIG. 3, the main control unit 107 next checks whether a return operation has been received from the user via the remote controller 5 or the GUI control unit 108 (step 318). If not, the main control unit 107 returns to step 304.
On the other hand, when a return operation is received from the user, first, the cursor corresponding coordinates are acquired (step 320). Then, the distance between the cursor corresponding coordinates and the current position indicated by the parameter memory 106 is calculated (step 322), and it is determined whether or not the calculated distance is within the predetermined distance (step 324). The range is returned to the display range before the start of scrolling based on the current position shown in FIG. 2c (step 332). And it returns to step 304 and repeats the above process.
[0031]
On the other hand, if the calculated distance is not within the predetermined distance, the display range is changed so that the display position of the cursor 210 does not change and the position of the cursor 210 on the map advances in the current position direction. Change (step 326).
Then, the thickness of the link line 410 and the display color are determined according to the value obtained by multiplying the calculated distance by the currently displayed map scale, that is, the distance between the cursor 210 on the display and the current position (step 328). . Further, the GUI control unit 108 causes the link line 410 with the determined thickness and display color extending from the cursor display position to the boundary of the navigation image in the current position direction to be displayed on the navigation image together with the calculated distance. (Step 330). Then, returning to step 324, the processing from step 326 to 330 is repeated until the distance between the cursor corresponding coordinates and the current position indicated by the parameter memory 106 is within the predetermined distance, and the cursor corresponding coordinates and the parameter memory 106 indicate. When the distance from the current position becomes the predetermined distance, the display range before the start of scrolling based on the current position shown in FIG. 2c is restored (step 332). And it returns to step 304 and repeats the above process.
[0032]
According to the above processing according to the return operation of the user, for example, when the user performs the return operation when the range 501 shown in FIG. . . . , 503,. . . , And so on, and the display on the display device 6 is also displayed in the direction of the current position 411 in FIG. . . , D,. . . , C,. . . It changes in order. Finally, the display returns to the display range 504 including the current position 411 based on the current position before the start of scrolling. Therefore, when the user finds a desired point while performing scroll display, by performing a return operation, the display map is automatically scrolled sequentially from the point to the current position, and from the point to the current position. You will be able to confirm the appearance. In addition, the link lines 410 displayed at this time are sequentially thicker and the display color becomes darker. Therefore, the user can intuitively know the direction of the current position and the approximate distance to the current position at each time point from the display of the link line 410 as described above. Further, according to the display of such a link line 410, the elastic cord 413 that connects the cursor 210 and the current position is contracted as shown in FIG. 4A, and becomes thicker and thicker. It is possible to produce an interesting feeling that is pulled to the current position by the rubber string.
[0033]
The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
In parallel with the above-described map scrolling process, a process of receiving the cursor corresponding coordinates as a destination according to a user operation is also performed. Moreover, the above map scroll process is complete | finished according to a user's predetermined operation (For example, operation request | requirement of another process, setting operation as a destination of a cursor corresponding coordinate, etc.).
[0034]
By the way, in the above embodiment, you may make it perform the scale display 601 by the measure showing a map scale on the link line 410 as shown in FIG. 6b.
Further, as the link line 410, a figure other than the line-shaped figure shown above may be used, and as a mode of changing the link line 410 according to the distance between the cursor corresponding coordinates and the current position, Aspects other than changes in thickness and display color shade as described above may be used, for example, aspects due to changes in arbitrary display attributes and shapes such as changes in transparency. That is, for example, as shown in FIGS. 6c and 6d, the link line 410 has a shape simulating a spring, and the shape increases as the distance increases according to the distance between the cursor corresponding coordinates and the current position. You may make it change so that it may become a shape showing the spring with big quantity. 6d shows a case where the distance between the cursor-corresponding coordinates and the current position is larger than that in FIG. 6c. Therefore, the shape of the spring represented by the link line 410 in FIG. 6d is the spring represented by the link line 410 in FIG. 6c. The shape of the spring is longer than the shape of.
[0035]
In the above embodiment, when the return operation is received from the user, the map display range is linearly scrolled from the display range at that time to the current position direction. As shown in FIG. 7a, the display range of the map is scrolled from the display range 701 at that time point to the current position 401 sequentially through the setting points 702 set by the user before the return operation. May be. In this case, the coordinates corresponding to the cursor are received and stored as the setting point 702 according to the user operation, and when the return operation is performed, the setting point 702 is stored in the reverse order of the order in which the settings are received. Then, the display range may be moved in step 326 of the map scroll process so as to go to the current position 401.
[0036]
In the above embodiment, the direction accepted by the cursor movement operation may be switched between the X direction and the Y direction, and the r direction and the θ direction according to a predetermined operation by the user. That is, when the X direction and the Y direction are accepted, the display range is moved in the horizontal direction on the map display according to the user's cursor movement operation in the X direction, and the map display is performed according to the cursor movement operation in the Y direction. Move the display range up and down. On the other hand, when the r direction and the θ direction are accepted, as shown in FIG. 7B, the display range 711 is set in the direction of the line segment connecting the cursor position 710 and the current position 411 in accordance with the cursor movement operation in the r direction by the user. The display range 711 is moved in the circumferential direction of a circle whose radius is a line segment connecting the cursor position 710 and the current position 411 according to the cursor movement operation in the θ direction by the user.
[0037]
Note that the map scroll display technique using the link line 410 according to the above-described embodiment can be similarly applied to the map scroll display in any device other than the navigation device. In this case, the map scroll display technique using the link line 410 may be applied using a user designated point or any other point as a reference point instead of the current position.
[0038]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, even when the display map is scrolled to a range that does not include the current position, the user can recognize the positional relationship between the range of the display map and the current position. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of the navigation device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a procedure of map scroll processing according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display range and a display screen when scrolling a map according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a display range and a display screen during a return operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 6 is a view showing another example of the display screen at the time of scrolling the map according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a transition of a display range and a scroll direction control example during a return operation according to the embodiment of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Control apparatus, 2 ... Recording medium drive, 3 ... GPS receiver, 4 ... Running state sensor, 5 ... Remote control, 6 ... Display apparatus, 21 ... Storage medium, 101 ... Map data buffer, 102 ... Map data reading process part , 103 ... current state calculation unit, 104 ... route search unit, 105 ... navigate image generation unit, 106 ... parameter memory, 107 ... main control unit, 108 ... GUI control unit, 201 ... map image, 202 ... current position mark, 203 ... guide route graphic, 204 ... destination mark, 210 ... cursor, 410 ... link line.

Claims (7)

A navigation device for guiding a user's current position on a map,
Map display means for displaying a map within a display range, which is a geographical range to be displayed, as a guide map;
When the current position is included in the display range, current position display means for displaying a current position mark indicating the current position on the map on the guide map;
Cursor display means for displaying a cursor on the guide map;
Scroll means for scrolling the display range in response to an input of a user scroll operation;
A graphic display means for displaying on the guide map a graphic extending from the cursor toward the current position on the guide map;
A graphic mode control means for changing the mode of the graphic according to the distance between the display range and the current position or the distance between the position of the point on the guide map corresponding to the display position of the cursor and the current position; A navigation device comprising: The navigation device according to claim 1,
The graphic display means displays, as the graphic, a linear graphic extending from the cursor to the boundary of the guide map in the current position direction on the guide map,
The navigation apparatus characterized in that the graphic form control means changes the graphic form so that the thickness of the graphic becomes thinner as the distance increases. The navigation device according to claim 1 or 2,
The navigation apparatus characterized in that the graphic form control means changes the graphic form so that the graphic display becomes weaker as the distance increases. The navigation device according to claim 1, 2, or 3,
The navigation apparatus characterized in that the graphic display means erases the graphic display at least during a period when the user does not input a scroll operation. The navigation device according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4,
In accordance with a user's predetermined return operation, there is provided display range return means that gradually moves the display range in the direction of the current position until at least the display range includes the current position. Navigation device. A map scroll display method for displaying a map in a display range together with a cursor as a display map while changing a display range that is a geographical range to be displayed in accordance with a user scroll operation,
A display mode of a graphic extending from the cursor in a direction on the display map of a predetermined reference point, the display mode corresponding to a distance between the display range and the reference point or a display position of the cursor Determining to change according to the distance between the position of the upper point and the reference point;
Displaying the figure on the display map in the determined manner. A computer program that is read and executed by a computer,
Displaying a map in the display range together with a cursor as a display map while changing a display range that is a geographical range to be displayed in response to a user's scrolling operation;
A display mode of a graphic extending from the cursor in a direction on the display map of a predetermined reference point, the display mode corresponding to a distance between the display range and the reference point or a display position of the cursor Determining to change according to the distance between the position of the upper point and the reference point;
And displaying the graphic on the display map in the determined manner.

Images