JP2008309720A - Information retrieval terminal device, information retrieval technique, information retrieval program, and memory medium - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To collect useful information to many people from users of unspecified majority based on retrieval processing performed on a terminal device. <P>SOLUTION: In an information retrieval terminal device, geographical facility information of is memorized in a memory section. When a user specifies search conditions, facility information furnishing conditions is retrieved from the memory unit. A search point, a genre of a facility, and the like are included as search conditions. The search point is a point used as a criterion of search and, for example, the current position in a navigator, a specific location and the like designated by user correspond to the point. The search conditions and retrieved results are transmitted to a server device as search information. The server device accumulates search information to utilize for various purposes. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for collecting and using the results of a search performed by a user.

  A car navigation device, a map providing application using the Internet, and the like have a function called peripheral search or facility search. This is a function for searching for facilities existing near the current position. In general, whether or not there is a facility of a target genre within a predetermined distance around the current position of a vehicle equipped with a car navigation device or a position designated by a user is used as a reference.

  An example of a navigation device having such a search function is described in Patent Document 1. In Patent Literature 1, the user's interests and driving tendency are detected based on the history information of the search results executed by the user in his navigation device, and transmitted to the information distribution center. The information distribution center can provide advertisements, peripheral information, and the like to each user based on the collected user's interests and driving tendency.

JP 2004-2011149 A

  The method of Patent Document 1 collects the specific interests and preferences of individual users, and the collected information is useful information only for that user. Therefore, based on the collected information, for example, land use and store opening cannot be used to be useful to an unspecified number of people.

  The above-mentioned thing is mentioned as an example as a subject which the present invention tends to solve. It is an object of the present invention to provide a technique capable of collecting information useful for many people from an unspecified number of users based on a search process executed on a terminal device.

  The invention according to claim 1 is an information search terminal device capable of communicating with a server device, and receives a storage unit for storing geographical facility information, and specification of a search condition including search point and facility type specifying information. A condition specifying unit; a search unit that searches the storage unit for facility information that includes the search condition; and a transmission unit that transmits the search condition and a search result by the search unit as search information to the server device. It is characterized by that.

  In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, an information search terminal device capable of communicating with a server device has a storage unit for storing geographical facility information, and a condition specification for receiving specification of a search condition including a search point and facility type specifying information Means, search means for searching for facility information having the search condition from the storage unit, and transmission means for transmitting the search condition and a search result by the search means to the server apparatus as search information.

  The information search terminal device is, for example, a navigation device that searches for facilities, a terminal device such as a PC, a portable terminal device such as a mobile phone, a PDA, or a game machine. Geographic facility information is stored in the storage unit. When the user designates a search condition, facility information having the search condition is retrieved from the storage unit. Search conditions include search points and facility type identification information. The search point is a point serving as a reference for search, and corresponds to, for example, the current position in the navigation device, a specific place designated by the user, or the like. The facility type specifying information is information for specifying the type of facility. Search conditions and search results are sent to the server device as search information. The server device accumulates search information and uses it for various purposes.

  In one aspect of the information search terminal device, the search result includes the number of facility information extracted by the search. By storing the number of facility information obtained by the search, it is possible to know the degree of concentration of the facility for each region.

  In another aspect of the information search terminal device, the search information includes identification information of an information search device that has executed the search. By storing the identification information of the information search device, the server device can specify which user's search information is used, and prevents the bias of the information provider in using the search results. You can also.

  In a preferred example, the facility type specifying information is information for specifying the type of facility, and specifically includes the genre of the facility and the specific name of the facility associated with the genre. In addition, when the name of the facility is specified as the facility type specifying information, the search means can specify the genre to which the facility belongs and include the genre in the search information.

  In another aspect of the information search terminal device, the transmission means transmits the search information at a predetermined frequency or less. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent only information from a specific terminal device from being stored in the server device, and it is possible to collect information from a large number of unspecified users with less bias due to personal preference.

  In a preferred example, the information search terminal device is mounted on a mobile object, and the search point is the position of the mobile object. In another preferred example, the search point is a designated predetermined point.

  In another preferable example, information indicating the version of the facility information used in the search can be included in the search information.

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[Information collection system]
FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of an information collection system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As illustrated, the information collection system includes an information collection server 100, a navigation device 200, and a terminal device 250. In the example of FIG. 1, two navigation devices 200 and one terminal device 250 are illustrated for convenience, but in reality, a large number of navigation devices 200 and a large number of terminal devices 250 are used.

  The navigation device 200 is generally often mounted on a vehicle, and transmits and receives information to and from the information collection server 100 by wireless communication. Note that the navigation device 200 is not limited to a device mounted on a vehicle, but a variety of devices such as a portable device carried by a person, a device that realizes a navigation function using a mobile phone, a game machine, and the like are used. be able to.

  The information terminal 200 is a personal computer, for example, and connects to the information collection server 100 using the network 201. A preferred example of the network 201 is the Internet. The information terminal 200 collects information using, for example, a map providing application.

[Navigation device]
FIG. 2 shows a configuration of the navigation device 200. As shown in FIG. 2, the navigation device 200 includes a self-supporting positioning device 10, a GPS receiver 18, a system controller 20, a disk drive 31, a data storage unit 36, a communication interface 37, a communication device 38, a display unit 40, and a voice output. A unit 50 and an input device 60 are provided.

  The autonomous positioning device 10 includes an acceleration sensor 11, an angular velocity sensor 12, and a distance sensor 13. The acceleration sensor 11 is made of, for example, a piezoelectric element, detects vehicle acceleration, and outputs acceleration data. The angular velocity sensor 12 is composed of, for example, a vibrating gyroscope, detects the angular velocity of the vehicle when the direction of the vehicle is changed, and outputs angular velocity data and relative azimuth data. The distance sensor 13 measures a vehicle speed pulse composed of a pulse signal generated with the rotation of the vehicle wheel.

  The GPS receiver 18 receives radio waves 19 carrying downlink data including positioning data from a plurality of GPS satellites. The positioning data is used to detect the absolute position of the vehicle from latitude and longitude information.

  The system controller 20 includes an interface 21, a CPU 22, a ROM 23, and a RAM 24, and controls the entire navigation device 200.

  The interface 21 performs an interface operation with the acceleration sensor 11, the angular velocity sensor 12, the distance sensor 13, and the GPS receiver 18. From these, vehicle speed pulses, acceleration data, relative azimuth data, angular velocity data, GPS positioning data, absolute azimuth data, and the like are input to the system controller 20. The CPU 22 controls the entire system controller 20. The ROM 23 includes a nonvolatile memory (not shown) in which a control program for controlling the system controller 20 is stored. The RAM 24 stores various data such as route data preset by the user via the input device 60 so as to be readable, and provides a working area to the CPU 22.

  A system controller 20, a disk drive 31 such as a CD-ROM drive or a DVD-ROM drive, a data storage unit 36, a communication interface 37, a display unit 40, an audio output unit 50, and an input device 60 are mutually connected via a bus line 30. It is connected to the.

  The disk drive 31 reads and outputs content data such as music data and video data from a disk 33 such as a CD or DVD under the control of the system controller 20. The disk drive 31 may be either a CD-ROM drive or a DVD-ROM drive, or may be a CD and DVD compatible drive.

  The data storage unit 36 is composed of, for example, an HDD and stores various data used for navigation processing such as map data and facility data.

  The communication device 38 includes, for example, an FM tuner, a beacon receiver, a mobile phone, a dedicated communication card, and the like, and traffic congestion and traffic information distributed from a VICS (Vehicle Information Communication System) center via the communication interface 37, etc. Receive road traffic information and other information. In the present embodiment, the navigation device 200 transmits information such as search results to the information collection server 100 using the communication device 38.

  The display unit 40 displays various display data on a display device such as a display under the control of the system controller 20. Specifically, the system controller 20 reads map data from the data storage unit 36. The display unit 40 displays the map data read from the data storage unit 36 by the system controller 20 on a display screen such as a display. The display unit 40 includes a graphic controller 41 that controls the entire display unit 40 based on control data sent from the CPU 22 via the bus line 30 and a memory such as a VRAM (Video RAM), and can display image information that can be displayed immediately. A buffer memory 42 that temporarily stores, a display control unit 43 that controls display of a display 44 such as a liquid crystal display or a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) based on image data output from the graphic controller 41, and a display 44 are provided. . The display 44 is composed of, for example, a liquid crystal display device having a diagonal of about 5 to 10 inches, and is mounted near the front panel in the vehicle.

  The audio output unit 50 is a D / A converter that performs D / A conversion of audio digital data sent from the CD-ROM drive 31, DVD-ROM 32, RAM 24, or the like via the bus line 30 under the control of the system controller 20. 51, an amplifier (AMP) 52 that amplifies the audio analog signal output from the D / A converter 51, and a speaker 53 that converts the amplified audio analog signal into sound and outputs the sound into the vehicle. Yes.

  The input device 60 includes keys, switches, buttons, a remote controller, a voice input device, and the like for inputting various commands and data. The input device 60 is disposed around the front panel and the display 44 of the main body of the in-vehicle electronic system mounted in the vehicle. When the display 44 is a touch panel system, the touch panel provided on the display screen of the display 44 also functions as the input device 60.

  The CPU 22 functions as a search means of the present invention by executing an information search program stored in advance in the ROM 23 or the like. Further, the input device 60 functions as condition specifying means of the present invention, and the data storage unit 36 functions as a storage unit in the present invention.

[Function configuration]
FIG. 3A shows a functional configuration of the information collection server 100. The information collection server 100 collects search information in a search executed in the devices from the plurality of navigation devices 200 and the terminal device 250. Here, the search information includes a search condition and a search result. Then, the information collection server 100 uses the collected search information for various purposes. In this embodiment, the information collection server 100 uses the collected search information to create a facility distribution map as described later.

  Specifically, the information collection server 100 includes an input unit 11, a distribution map creation unit 12, a transmission / reception unit 13, and a search information database (DB) 14. The input unit 11 is a keyboard, mouse, or other input device used by an operator who operates the information collection server 100. The distribution map creation unit 12 creates a distribution map of a specific facility in a specific area based on the search information stored in the search information DB 14. An example of creating a distribution map will be described later. The transmission / reception unit 13 communicates with the plurality of navigation devices 200 and the terminal device 250 using wireless communication or network communication.

  FIG. 3B shows a functional configuration of elements related to the present embodiment in the navigation device 200. In the present embodiment, the navigation device 200 performs a search such as a peripheral search in accordance with a user operation, and transmits search information obtained by the search to the information collection server 100.

  Specifically, the input unit 151 includes the input device 60 shown in FIG. 2, and is used for inputting a search execution instruction by the user, inputting search conditions, and the like. The search unit 152 is realized by the CPU 22 in the system controller 20 executing a program prepared in advance, and executes a search instructed by the user. The transmission / reception unit 153 is configured by the communication device 38 and is used when transmitting search information obtained by the search to the information collection server 100.

  The facility information DB 154 includes a data storage unit 36 and stores geographical facility information. Specifically, facility information and position information are stored in association with each other for a large number of facilities. In addition to the specific name of the facility, the genre name of the facility is stored in the facility information. For example, for a convenience store (hereinafter also referred to as “convenience store”), a genre name “convenience store” is registered in addition to the name “ABC store”. This facility information is included as a part of map data in a general navigation device or the like.

  In general, the map data used in the navigation device is periodically upgraded, so that the facility information stored in the facility information DB may be an old version depending on the navigation device. For this reason, the search information may include version information of the facility information used in the search. The version information of the facility information can be, for example, a date and time indicating the date and time when the facility information was created, a version number such as “version #” or “VerX”. If the version information of the facility information is stored in the facility information DB and the version information of the facility information is included in the search information, the new facility information can be used preferentially when using the search information. Specifically, in this embodiment, if a facility distribution map is created with priority given to new facility information based on the version information of the facility information, a more reliable distribution map can be created.

  The search information DB 155 is configured by the RAM 24 or the data storage unit 36, and stores search information related to searches performed by the user. Specifically, when the user performs a peripheral search by specifying a search point and a genre, the search point and genre are stored as a search condition. Further, the facility information obtained by the search is stored as a search result. These search conditions and search results are transmitted to the information collection server 100 as the search information.

  The control unit 156 acquires a user operation after the search is completed through the input unit 151 and stores it in the search information DB 155. The user operation after the search is, for example, an operation in which the user designates one of a plurality of candidate facilities obtained by the search as a destination.

  FIG. 3B shows the functional configuration of the navigation device 200, but in the present embodiment, the terminal device 250 basically has the same configuration. That is, in a personal computer or an information terminal device, an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse constitutes the input unit 151, and the search unit 152 and the control unit 156 are configured by the CPU executing a program, and the communication unit is the transmission / reception unit 153. The facility information DB 154 and the search result DB 156 are configured by the memory, RAM, and the like.

[Information collection process]
Next, information collection processing according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of the information collection process. First, in the navigation device 200, the user inputs a search condition through the input unit 151, and the navigation device 200 receives this (step S101). As the search condition, at least the position information of the search reference point and the genre are input. In the navigation apparatus 200, generally, the current position of a vehicle or the like is often used as a search reference point, but the user can also specify a search point other than the current position.

  The search unit 152 temporarily stores the search condition in the search information DB 155 (step S102), performs a search with reference to the facility information DB 154 according to the search condition, and stores the result in the search information DB 155 (step S103). .

  Next, the control unit 156 stores subsequent user operations in the search information DB 155 (step S104). And the navigation apparatus 200 transmits search information to the information collection server 100 through the transmission / reception part 153 (step S105).

  The information collection server 100 receives the search information from the navigation device 200 (step S106) and stores it in the search information DB 14 (step S107). Thus, the information collection server collects search information from the plurality of navigation devices 200. Although the information collecting process using the navigation device 200 has been described here, the information collecting process using the terminal device 250 is basically executed in the same steps.

  FIG. 5 shows an example of the search information collected in this way. This search information indicates a state stored in the search information DB 14 of the information collection server 100.

  In the example of FIG. 5, the search information includes the terminal ID, the search type, the latitude and longitude of the search reference point, the genre, the search date and the number of hits. The “terminal ID” is an ID for identifying the navigation device 200 or the terminal device 250 that has been searched, and the “search type” indicates the type of search. In addition to the peripheral search, for example, a name search that directly specifies a facility name, a keyword search that inputs a keyword, and the like can be given. In addition, instead of designating a facility by name, it is also possible to specify and search by address, telephone number, or the like.

  “Latitude / longitude of search reference point” and “genre” are information input and designated as search conditions by the user. “Search date and time” indicates the date and time when the search was actually performed, and “Hit number” indicates the number of results (facility) obtained as matching the search condition.

  In the present embodiment, the search information includes a terminal ID that identifies the terminal device for which the search has been performed. Therefore, the information collection server 100 can know which terminal device has executed each search information. Note that “no information” for the terminal ID corresponds to a case where the user of the terminal device does not agree to provide the terminal ID. Normally, the user can arbitrarily select whether or not to transmit the terminal ID by setting on the terminal device.

  As described above, in this embodiment, by collecting terminal IDs as search information, it is possible to generate data with less bias by an unspecified number of users. Specifically, the information collection server 100 can perform weighting according to the frequency with which the search information is transmitted when the search information is used. In other words, when information that is not biased by an unspecified number of users is required rather than information that is biased to the personal preferences of a certain user, the importance of the information of users who frequently send information is reduced. Information can be used.

  Alternatively, the search information transmission frequency may be managed on the navigation device 200 or the terminal device 250 side, and the search information may not be transmitted more than a certain frequency. For example, even if a frequent search is performed, the search is not performed for a search within a predetermined time from the previous transmission of search information. The search information can be prevented from being transmitted more frequently than necessary from the apparatus. Thereby, the communication cost by unnecessary communication can also be reduced.

  Although not shown in FIG. 5, information related to the operation performed by the user after the search is completed, such as when the user designates one of the facilities listed as the search result as the destination as described above. Can also be stored in the search information.

  In addition to the surrounding search, the search type has been described as a search that directly specifies a facility name, a keyword search, and the like. In such a case, the search unit 152 refers to the facility information DB 154 to search for it. It is preferable to specify the genre to which the facility belongs and include it in the search information. As a result, even when the user performs a search without specifying a genre, the genre can be included in the search information transmitted to the information collection server 100, and the utility value of the collected information can be increased.

  Next, a usage example of search information collected in the information collection server 100 will be described. In this embodiment, the collected search information is used for examining the store opening area. For example, if there are a large number of peripheral searches for the genre “convenience store” in a certain area, it can be assumed that there are few convenience stores in that area and that the user thinks that it is convenient if there is a convenience store in that area. Therefore, by designating a region and a genre and creating a distribution map, it is possible to examine which genre of stores should be developed in which region. In the following, the distribution map creation process will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the distribution map creation process. This process is executed by the distribution map creation unit 12 of the information collection server 100 as shown in FIG.

  First, a user inputs creation conditions, and the information collection server 100 acquires the created creation conditions (step S201). Here, the creation condition includes at least designation of a region and a genre. Next, the distribution map creating unit 12 determines whether or not the processing for all the records in the search information DB 14 has been completed (step S202).

  When the processing for all the records has not been completed (step S202; No), the distribution map creation unit 12 acquires a search reference point for one record in the search information DB 14 (step S203), and the search reference point is It is determined whether or not the area is specified by the creation condition (step S204). When it is within the designated area (step S204; Yes), the distribution map creation unit 12 acquires the genre of the record and determines whether or not it matches the genre designated by the creation condition (step S206). If the genre matches the specified genre (step S206; Yes), the distribution map creation unit 12 determines that the record should be placed on the distribution map, plots the data on the map, and sets the number of searches to one. Count up. The number of searches is the number of records that meet the creation conditions in the distribution map creation process, that is, the number of times the designated genre is searched in the designated area.

  When the process is completed for one record in this way, the process returns to step S202, and steps S202 to S207 are repeated until the process for all records is completed. In this way, when the processing is completed for all the records (step S202; Yes), the distribution map creation process ends and the distribution map is completed.

  An example of the created distribution chart is shown in FIG. The example of FIG. 7 is an example in which the region “XX town” and the genre “convenience store” are specified as the creation conditions, and the records included in the search information on the map around the specified region XX town A mark P corresponding to is displayed. A region indicated by a broken-line circle is a region where the marks P are concentrated. Further, the total number of searches is displayed at the lower right of the display image of FIG. That is, there are 22 convenience store searches in this area.

  In the distribution diagram, the mark P indicates that a search for a convenience store has been performed at the location, so it can be estimated that the location where the mark P is concentrated has higher needs for the convenience store.

  Further, in addition to the creation of the distribution map, for example, by using the date and time information in the search information, it is possible to consider the day of the week and the time suitable for opening the store. In addition, it is possible to determine how many competitive facilities exist by using the number of hits in the search information.

[Modification]
In the above embodiment, an example is shown in which the search information collected by the information collection server 100 is used to create a distribution map for analyzing the store development location, but the use of the search information is not limited to this.

  In the above embodiment, the information transmitted to the information collection server as search information is fixed, but a part of the information may be arbitrarily selected by the user.

  In addition, the search information is not limited to the case of searching for a facility of a specific genre from a certain point, but the search information is transmitted to the information collection server as search information. can do. As a result, on the information collection server side, it may be possible to organize the information by sorting out whether “when searching for facilities around a certain point” or “when searching for other facilities”.

  Further, in the case of keyword search or the like, information that a plurality of specific keywords are searched in a certain prefecture can be collected. In this case, for example, if the terminal device used at that time is a car navigation device, it is possible to know information on how many people are heading to the ground by car, and the effectiveness of constructing a parking lot or a restaurant nearby. It can be used for information to judge.

1 shows a schematic configuration of an information collection system according to an embodiment. The structure of a navigation apparatus is shown. The function structure of an information collection server and a navigation apparatus is shown. It is a flowchart of an information collection process. It is an example of the search information accumulate | stored in an information collection server. It is a flowchart of a distribution map creation process. An example of a distribution map is shown.

Explanation of symbols

10 Independent positioning device 18 GPS receiver 20 System controller 22 CPU
36 Data storage unit 40 Display unit 60 Input device 100 Information collection server 200 Navigation device 250 Terminal device

Claims (10)

An information search terminal device capable of communicating with a server device,
A storage unit for storing geographical facility information;
A condition specifying means for receiving specification of a search condition including search point and facility type specifying information;
Search means for searching for facility information having the search condition from the storage unit;
An information search terminal device comprising: a transmission unit that transmits the search condition and a search result obtained by the search unit as search information to the server device.   The information search terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the search result includes the number of facility information extracted by the search.   The information search terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the search information includes identification information of an information search device that has executed the search.   The information search terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the facility type specifying information includes a genre of the facility.   The information search terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the facility type specifying information includes a facility name associated with a facility genre.   The said search means, when the name of the said facility is designated as the said facility classification specific information, specifies the genre to which the said facility belongs, and includes the said genre in the said search information. Information retrieval terminal device.   The information search terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit transmits the search information at a predetermined frequency or less.   The information search terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the information search terminal device is mounted on a mobile body, and the search point is a position of the mobile body.   The information search terminal device according to claim 1, wherein the search point is a designated predetermined point.   The information search terminal device according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the search information includes information indicating a version of facility information used in the search.

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