JP2007257208A - Facility retrieval device, method, and program therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a facility retrieval technology for distinctively displaying retrieved facilities according to their type in different colors for preventing setting error without setting destination and the like. <P>SOLUTION: This facility retrieval device is provided with storage means such as an HDD control part 5 and a memory storing facility names and colors corresponding to a genre of the facilities in association with each other, a remote control unit 8 inputting information for retrieving a desired facility name, an input means such as a microphone 9, a facility retrieval part 46 retrieving the storage means for the corresponding facility name based on the information inputted from the input means, and a display 6 for displaying the facility name retrieved by the facility retrieval part 46 in association with the color corresponding to the facility. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to, for example, a facility search technique for searching for a desired facility in a navigation device, and more particularly to a facility search device, a search method, and a search program for improving display of information related to a searched facility. Is.

  2. Description of the Related Art Navigation devices are widely used as electronic devices that automatically guide the current position of a moving body represented by an automobile or the like and a route to a destination. This navigation device receives radio waves from an artificial satellite with a GPS receiver or uses a gyro sensor or the like to calculate the current position and current date and time of a mobile object equipped with the device, and prepares a road map prepared in advance. Based on the data, while displaying the current position and the surrounding map, a route guidance such as where to turn next is performed on a screen display or synthesized voice.

As a destination designation method in such a navigation device, for example, the name of a facility is input from an input means such as a remote control, a touch panel, a microphone, etc., and the name entered from the facility database recorded in the device is used. There is a method of searching for a corresponding facility and selecting a desired facility from a list displayed by searching (see Patent Document 1).
JP 2003-114134 A

  By the way, when the facility name as described above is input and searched, if there are a plurality of facilities having the same name, all of them are displayed in a list. For example, when searching by entering “Nagoyajo”, as shown in FIG. 5, in addition to Nagoya Castle, which is a historic site, a plurality of facility names such as stores named “Nagoya Castle” are displayed. Is done.

  As described above, when there are a plurality of facilities having the same name when searching for a destination by using characters as keys, the user cannot distinguish which facility is the desired facility by visual observation. Accordingly, it is necessary to select each name and display an address, display a genre name, and read and confirm the name, and it takes time and effort to find a facility that is really intended. There was also the possibility that the wrong facility would be the destination.

  The present invention solves the problems of the prior art as described above, and its purpose is to display the name of the facility to be searched for by color depending on the type, so that it takes time and effort to set the destination. The object is to provide a facility search apparatus, a facility search method, and a facility search program that can prevent setting errors.

  In order to achieve the above object, the facility retrieval apparatus of the invention of claim 1 is a facility information storage means for storing a facility and a color corresponding to the type of the facility in association with each other, and information for retrieving a desired facility. Based on the information input from the input means, the facility search means for searching for the relevant facility from the facility information storage means, and the facility name searched by the facility search means Display means for displaying in association with the color corresponding to. The present invention can also be understood as a method for realizing the functions of the respective means and a program for causing a computer to execute the process of each means.

  In the invention as described above, since the user can immediately determine the type of facility from the displayed facility name and its color, the user does not need to search for the target facility and selects another facility by mistake. The possibility of being lost can be reduced.

  The invention according to claim 2 is the facility search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of identical or similar facility names are displayed simultaneously. The present invention can also be understood as a method for realizing this function and a program for causing a computer to execute the processing of each means.

  In the invention as described above, even if it is confusing when multiple facilities with the same or similar names are searched and displayed at the same time, they are color-coded according to their type, so check what each facility is Can be omitted and erroneous selection can be prevented.

  The invention according to claim 3 is the facility search device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the facility information storage means stores an address corresponding to the stored facility in association with the facility, It has a facility selection means for selecting a facility searched by the facility search means, and an address display means for displaying an address corresponding to the facility selected by the facility selection means. The present invention can also be understood as a method for realizing the functions of the respective means and a program for causing a computer to execute the process of each means.

  In the invention as described above, when one of the searched facilities is selected, the address of the facility is displayed, so that the user can confirm that the facility is not an incorrect facility.

  According to the present invention as described above, a facility search device and a facility that can prevent setting mistakes by not requiring troubles such as setting a destination by displaying the name of the facility to be searched by color according to type. A search method and a facility search program can be provided.

  Next, the best mode for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “embodiment”) will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. In addition, although this embodiment is realizable by controlling the computer provided with the peripheral device by the program, the implementation | achievement aspect of the hardware and program in this case can be variously changed. The present invention can also be understood as a program as described above and a computer-readable storage medium storing such a program. Therefore, in the following description, virtual circuit blocks that realize the functions of the present invention and the present embodiment are used.

[Constitution]
First, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, the navigation device N has a facility search function for searching for a facility for setting a destination or waypoint or displaying a map of a desired point. is there. First, the navigation device N performs the general route searching and guidance functions as described below, so that the absolute position / direction detection unit 1, the relative direction detection unit 2, the vehicle speed detection unit 3, and the HDD control unit 5 are as follows. Etc.

  The HDD control unit 5 is a means for reading various data such as navigation data recorded on a hard disk (mass storage device) from a database, for road map data representing a network structure of roads or road sections in advance, for facility search. The facility information such as the facility name, type, address, etc. is stored. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, the facility information is configured as a table in which the facility name is associated with a type such as a genre corresponding to the facility name. A CD / DVD-ROM controller (not shown) is also provided so that the same information recorded on a CD or DVD can be used.

  The main CPU and its peripheral circuit 4 are parts that serve as a control circuit that controls the entire navigation device N. In addition, although various memory means, such as various ROM and RAM, are provided as various memory | storage means required for operation | movement of the navigation apparatus N, since it is common sense, illustration is abbreviate | omitted. In such a memory, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a table in which display colors corresponding to types such as genres are associated is stored. In the present embodiment, the facility information storage means described in the claims is configured by the HDD, the memory, and the like, but the storage medium used for which data is not limited.

  The display 6 is means for displaying various information such as a map and an operation menu on the screen. In particular, in this embodiment, a search character string input screen and a list display screen of searched facility names are displayed. The speaker 7 is a means for performing voice guidance by voice output. The remote control unit 8 is an input means for a user to input various operations. The microphone 9 is an input means for the user to input voice. The voice recognition unit 10 is an input unit that converts the voice input from the microphone 9 into an information format that can be processed by the navigation apparatus N and inputs the information to the main CPU and its peripheral circuit 4. The display 6 also has a function as a touch panel. A remote control unit 8, a microphone 9, a display (touch panel) 6, a switch (not shown) provided on the front panel, etc. function as input means according to the claims, and input commands, character strings, etc., menus, items The selection or determination of the name etc. can be entered.

  Further, the main CPU and its peripheral circuit 4 are configured to realize the roles as the following parts shown in FIG. 1 by the action of the program as described above. That is, the current position detection unit 40 is means for sequentially calculating the own vehicle position. The destination setting unit 41 is a means for setting a destination by searching for facilities from a database in which the road map data is recorded or by specifying a cursor on the map.

  As will be described later, the navigation device N can set a destination by selecting one of the searched facility names and determining it as a destination. The route setting unit 42 calculates a route from the current position detected by the current position detection unit 40 to the destination set by the destination setting unit 41 based on the road map data, and as a result It is a means for setting the obtained route.

  In addition, the display control unit 44 displays the own vehicle position on the surrounding map and at least a part of the route on the display 6 based on the calculated own vehicle position and the road map data, or other three-dimensional display. It is a means to display in the aspect. The guidance control unit 43 processes various information for executing navigation.

  Further, the main CPU and its peripheral circuit 4 include a text processing unit 45, a facility searching unit 46, a type determining unit 47, a color determining unit 48, a display information determining unit 49, a facility selecting unit 50, an address searching unit 51, and the like. ing. The text processing unit 45 is a means for converting information input from the input means into data necessary for the search. The facility search unit 46 is a means for searching for facility information corresponding to the input facility name. The type determination unit 47 is means for determining the type of the found facility. The color determination unit 48 is a means for determining a color corresponding to the type of facility found.

  The display information determination unit 49 is a means for determining a facility name, color, address, and the like to be displayed as a search result. The facility selection unit 50 is a unit that selects a facility designated by the input unit from among the facility names displayed in the list. The address search unit 51 is a means for searching for the address of the facility selected by the facility selection unit 50.

[Action]
An example of the search processing according to the present embodiment as described above will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, from a search character string input screen displayed on the display 6, the user inputs a character string using input means such as the remote control unit 8, the touch panel, or the microphone 9 (step 201). The input character string is processed in the text processing unit 45, and the facility search unit 46 searches for a facility name corresponding to the character string (step 202).

  The type determination unit 47 determines the type (for example, genre) of the facility corresponding to the searched facility name from the table shown in FIG. 3 (step 203). Moreover, the color determination part 48 determines the color corresponding to a genre from the table shown in FIG. 3 (step 204). Then, the display information determination unit 49 determines the facility name (text), color (color code), etc. to be displayed on the display 6, and the display control unit 44 displays the facility name on the display 6 by color according to this (Step). 205).

  For example, when “Nagoya Jo” is entered, as shown in FIG. 4, when there are a plurality of facility names such as stores with the same name in addition to Nagoya Castle, which is a historic site, a plurality of names are displayed. Items are displayed in multiple colors. In FIG. 4, for the sake of convenience, the area is distinguished by hatching. For example, “Nagoya Castle”, a famous place / historic site, is pink as “sightseeing point”, “Nagoya Castle”, a restaurant, is light blue as “eat”, “Museum” "Nagoya Castle" is displayed in yellow.

  Among the names displayed as described above, when the user selects the name by placing the cursor on one of the names using the input means (step 206), the address search unit 51 responds to the selected facility name. The address to be searched is searched (step 207). The retrieved address is displayed on the display 6 (step 208). For example, as shown in FIG. 4, an address is displayed in a column set at the top of the screen. Here, when the user inputs determination of the facility name using the input means (step 209), the destination setting unit 41 sets the selected facility as the destination (step 210). Then, route guidance to the set destination is performed.

[effect]
According to the present embodiment as described above, when a plurality of facilities having the same name are searched, it is possible to intuitively distinguish which facility is the desired facility by color-coded display. There is no need to search for a facility, and the wrong facility can be prevented from being the destination. In addition, when the cursor is set on the basis of the color, the address can be displayed immediately, so that the destination can be determined more reliably.

[Other Embodiments]
The present invention is not limited to the embodiment as described above. For example, since the name of the facility to be searched includes everything that can be specified as a point on the map, it is not limited to an artificial facility but may be a natural object. The present invention is also effective when a plurality of similar facility names including the same character string as well as the same facility name are displayed. Moreover, in said embodiment, although the color and the facility name were linked | related with the separate table, you may use the table which set the color directly with respect to each facility name. Further, the address search may be performed simultaneously with the facility search.

  In addition, regarding the color setting for the type of facility, for example, when there are hierarchically wide items such as large genres, medium genres, and small genres, the genres included in the same level hierarchy are mutually connected. It is conceivable to set as a distinction color. In this case, it may be set for all hierarchies or only for necessary hierarchies.

  Further, the color-coded display may be performed only when a plurality of the same or similar facility names are searched. The layout setting of the display including the number of facility name searches, the number of displays, the address display, etc., the type of color and its assignment can be freely set, and are not limited to those exemplified in the above embodiment.

  The present invention is also applicable to a so-called off-board type navigation system that can receive the latest data via a wireless communication network, rather than a so-called on-board type that places navigation data in a vehicle. is there. In this case, a server outside the vehicle connected via the communication network can perform all or part of the above processing, and the processing result is reduced by the in-vehicle computer to acquire the processing result. be able to.

  In addition, the present invention is not limited to in-vehicle use but can be applied to other moving means and portable navigation devices. Furthermore, the device to which the present invention is applied is not limited to a navigation device, and can be widely applied as a facility search technique for searching for a desired facility on a map by a computer.

It is a functional block diagram which shows an example of a structure of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the process sequence of the navigation apparatus in embodiment of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows an example of the search table in embodiment of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a screen display of the search result in embodiment of FIG. It is explanatory drawing which shows the example of a screen display of the search result by the conventional facility search.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Absolute position and direction detection part 2 ... Relative direction detection part 3 ... Vehicle speed detection part 4 ... Main CPU and its peripheral circuit 5 ... HDD control part 6 ... Display 7 ... Speaker 8 ... Remote control unit 9 ... Microphone 10 ... Voice recognition part 40 ... Current position detection unit 41 ... Destination setting unit 42 ... Route setting unit 43 ... Guidance control unit 44 ... Display control unit 45 ... Text processing unit 46 ... Facility search unit 47 ... Type determination unit 48 ... Color determination unit 49 ... Display Information determination unit 50 ... Facility selection unit 51 ... Address search unit

Claims (9)

Facility information storage means for storing the facility name and the color corresponding to the type of the facility in association with each other;
An input means for inputting information for searching for a desired facility name;
Based on the information input from the input means, facility search means for searching for a corresponding facility name from the facility information storage means,
Display means for displaying the facility name searched by the facility search means in association with the color corresponding to the facility;
The facility search device characterized by having.   The facility search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display unit displays a plurality of the same or similar facility names simultaneously. In the facility information storage means, an address corresponding to the stored facility is stored in association with the facility,
Facility selection means for selecting the facility searched by the facility search means;
An address display means for displaying an address corresponding to the facility selected by the facility selection means;
The facility retrieval apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the facility retrieval apparatus includes: In a facility search method for performing facility search by a computer having facility information storage means, input means, facility search means and display means,
The facility information storage means stores the facility name and the color corresponding to the type of the facility in association with each other,
The input means inputs information for searching for a desired facility name,
The facility search means searches for the corresponding facility name from the facility information storage means based on the information input from the input means,
The facility search method, wherein the display means displays the facility name searched by the facility search means in association with a color corresponding to the facility.   5. The facility search method according to claim 4, wherein the display means simultaneously displays a plurality of identical or similar facility names. The computer has facility selection means and address display means,
In the facility information storage means, an address corresponding to the stored facility is stored in association with the facility,
The facility selecting means selects the facility searched by the facility searching means;
6. The facility search method according to claim 4, wherein the address display means displays an address corresponding to the facility selected by the facility selection means. In a facility search program that allows a facility search to be performed by a computer,
In the computer,
Store the facility name and the color corresponding to the facility type in association with each other.
Enter information to search for the desired facility name,
Based on the information entered, search the corresponding facility name,
A facility search program that displays a searched facility name in association with a color corresponding to the facility. In the computer,
8. The facility search program according to claim 7, wherein a plurality of identical or similar facility names are displayed simultaneously. In the computer,
The address corresponding to the stored facility is stored in association with the facility,
Select the found facility,
9. The facility search program according to claim 7, wherein an address corresponding to the selected facility is displayed.

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