JP2009063534A - Navigator and path presentation method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigator which supports setting of a path including facilities of a plurality of genres. <P>SOLUTION: The navigator 1 comprises a geographical close proximity DB 58 which memorizes the geographical close proximity obtained based on a position of a facility contained in a genre, in the geographical close proximity between genres showing the attribute of the facility, a genre input part 12 receiving the genre input, a close proximity genre calculation part 14 which asks for the close proximity genre which approaches a first genre input by the genre input part 12 more than predetermined threshold based on an information memorized by the geographical close proximate DB 58, a genre display 16 which displays the close proximate genre, a facility of the first genre, a path retrieving part 18 which searches for the path including the facility of a second genre which was chosen from the close proximity genres and input by the genre input part 12, and a path display part 20 which presents a driver the path which the path retrieving part retrieved. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation device that supports setting of a destination, and more particularly, to a route presentation method for presenting a route including a facility of a specified genre.

  Conventionally, a navigation apparatus having a genre search function that supports setting of a destination is known. Genre search is a function as follows. For example, when a driver selects a desired destination genre from among genres such as meal, play, and sightseeing, the navigation device displays the names of a plurality of facilities and shops that belong to the specified genre and region. To display. As a result, the driver can select a desired facility from the displayed facilities and shops.

In the genre search, the driver needs to set a desired genre. However, Patent Document 1 has a function called “automatic navigation mode” that can support a destination without the driver setting a genre. A navigation device is disclosed. In the automatic navigation mode, the driver searches for various facilities such as a scenic spot and amusement park where the navigation device can turn within the set travel distance or time by setting the total travel distance or time. And display it on the display screen.
JP 2004-132984 A

  As described above, in the navigation apparatus, various functions for supporting the setting of the destination have been proposed. However, the conventional navigation device does not have a function for supporting the creation of a drive plan having a plurality of travel purposes such as skis and hot springs, that is, a drive plan including facilities of a plurality of genres desired by the driver. It was.

  The conventional genre search function can search facilities of the genre specified by the driver, but when searching for facilities of different genres using this function, it is necessary to search for each genre. Because there was, operation was troublesome. Also, even if you search for each facility included in different genres by multiple genre searches, the search process is independent once, so the searched facilities are far apart, and the drive plan May not be created. For example, when a facility searched for in the genre of skiing is in Niigata and a facility searched for in the genre of hot springs is in Izu, it is difficult to set a drive route including both facilities. Even if it is not extremely far away as in this example, there is a possibility that the drive plan becomes inefficient because of including geographically separated facilities. Conversely, if you narrow down the area you want to go first, you may not be able to find the facility of the genre that the driver wants.

  In the automatic navigation mode described in Patent Document 1, an appropriate facility is selected from facilities in the vicinity and a drive plan is presented. However, since the presented plan is not based on the driver's wishes, the desired drive plan cannot be obtained, and there is a possibility that the conditions must be changed and repeated over and over.

  In view of the above background, an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device that supports the creation of a drive plan including facilities of a plurality of genres desired by a driver.

  The navigation device according to the present invention stores the geographical proximity between the genres indicating the attributes of the facilities and the geographical proximity determined based on the positions of the facilities included in the genre. Based on the information stored in the storage unit, the genre input unit that receives the input of the genre, and the information stored in the geographical proximity storage unit, the first genre input by the genre input unit is close to a predetermined threshold or more. A proximity genre calculation unit for obtaining a proximity genre, a proximity genre display unit for displaying the proximity genre, a facility of the first genre, and a second selected from the proximity genre and input by the genre input unit A route search unit for obtaining a route including facilities of the genre, and a route presenting unit for presenting the route searched by the route search unit to the driver.

  With this configuration, the navigation device displays the proximity genre that is geographically close to the first genre input by the driver, and causes the driver to select the second genre from the proximity genres. Therefore, the navigation device can search for a route including facilities of the first genre and the second genre that are geographically close to each other. As a result, an appropriate route including facilities of the genre desired by the driver, that is, a route that is not difficult in terms of distance, can be presented to the driver. In addition, since the genre that is semantically close to the first genre is displayed instead of the genre that is geographically close, it is possible to provide a new viewpoint that was not in the driver's previous preferences.

  In the navigation device of the present invention, the proximity genre display unit may display the node indicating the first genre and the node indicating the proximity genre with an overlap corresponding to the proximity degree, or the proximity degree May be displayed with a distance corresponding to each other.

  With this configuration, the degree of proximity between the first genre and the proximity genre can be sensed. When nodes are arranged apart from each other, the nodes may be connected by a link.

  In the navigation device of the present invention, the proximity genre display unit may display the nodes indicating the proximity genre in an aligned manner according to the order of proximity to the first genre.

  Thus, by arranging and displaying the nodes indicating the proximity genres in accordance with the order of proximity, the order of proximity can be easily grasped.

  In the navigation device of the present invention, the proximity genre display unit includes a node indicating the first genre in a shape corresponding to a geographical distribution of facilities included in each of the first genre and the proximity genre, and the You may display the node of a near genre.

  With this configuration, in addition to geographical proximity, the geographical distribution of facilities can be grasped. For example, in the screen display that combines the top, bottom, left, and right of the screen and the east, west, north, and south, it is possible to grasp whether the facilities are distributed from north to south or from east to west depending on the shape of the node. Further, in the screen display with the traveling direction of the vehicle on the top, it is possible to grasp whether the facilities are distributed on the left and right or the front and rear with respect to the traveling direction, depending on the shape of the node.

  In the navigation device of the present invention, the proximity genre display unit displays a node indicating the first genre and the proximity genre in a size corresponding to the number of facilities included in each of the first genre and the proximity genre. The indicated node may be displayed.

  With this configuration, in addition to geographical proximity, the number of facilities included in the genre can be grasped. As a result, the driver can know whether the displayed facility of the nearby genre is a facility that is anywhere or an unusual facility.

  In the navigation device of the present invention, the proximity genre display unit has a first axis indicating the geographical proximity and a second axis indicating a semantic relevance between the first genre. In addition, a node indicating the proximity genre may be displayed. The proximity genre display unit is centered on a node indicating the first genre, indicates the geographical proximity by a radial distance, and indicates a semantic relevance with the first genre. You may display the node which shows the said proximity genre on the radar chart shown by the angle of a direction.

  With this configuration, it is possible to grasp the geographical proximity and the semantic relevance with a graph that expresses two parameters, so the driver can determine the proximity based on the balance between the geographical proximity and the semantic relevance. A genre can be selected.

  In the navigation device of the present invention, the proximity genre display unit may display a node indicating the proximity genre with a color according to a semantic relevance with the first genre.

  In this way, by using a color that is an expression technique different from the arrangement of the nodes on the screen representing the geographical proximity, the semantic relevance of the node indicating the genre can be obtained regardless of the arrangement of the nodes. It can be easily grasped. For example, even when the number of displayed nodes is large, it is possible to easily distinguish between nodes having high semantic relevance and nodes having low semantic relevance.

  The navigation device of the present invention includes a facility information storage unit that stores the location and genre of a facility, all facilities included in one genre, and other genres based on information stored in the facility information storage unit. A geographical proximity calculation unit that calculates distances for all combinations with all facilities and calculates a geographical proximity between one genre and another genre based on the determined distances. The geographical proximity obtained by the calculation unit may be stored in the geographical proximity storage unit.

  With this configuration, the distance between different genres can be defined. Based on the distance between the genres, the geographical proximity between the genres can be determined appropriately.

  The navigation apparatus according to the present invention includes a facility information storage unit that stores the location and genre of a facility, and a map that is divided into a plurality of sections, and a genre that exists in each section based on information stored in the facility information storage unit. A geographical proximity calculating unit for determining a geographical proximity by determining a correlation of the combinations of the two, and the geographical proximity calculated by the geographical proximity calculating unit as the geographical proximity storing unit May be stored.

  With this configuration, it is possible to determine whether or not the combination of genres has a high probability of being present in one section according to the high correlation between the combinations of genres, and appropriately determine the geographical proximity between genres. be able to.

  The navigation device according to the present invention includes a genre classification information storage unit that stores genre classification information obtained by classifying genres into hierarchies, and groups that are compared in the same genre based on information stored in the genre classification information storage unit. You may provide the semantic relevance calculation part which calculates | requires the semantic relevance between genres by calculating | requiring the hierarchy classified.

  Genre classification information includes, for example, large classifications such as “eat” and “play”, “outdoor” and “indoor” in “play”, “trekking” “skiing” and “surfing” in “outdoors”. This is information obtained by classifying genres into hierarchies such as a small classification such as. In the present invention, the semantic relevance is obtained by using this genre classification information. For example, the degree of relevance is “1” when included in the same group in the small classification, for example, the degree of relevance “0” when included in the same group in the middle classification “outdoor” such as “skiing” and “trekking”. .5 ”, for example, in the case of being included in the same group in a large classification of“ playing ”such as“ game center ”and“ skiing ”, the level of relevance is“ 0.25 ”. The semantic relevance can be determined appropriately based on the classification.

  The navigation apparatus according to the present invention obtains a similarity between a facility data acquisition unit that acquires document data describing a facility, a facility document data included in one genre, and a facility document data included in another genre. Thus, a semantic relevance calculating unit for obtaining a semantic relevance between genres is provided.

  With this configuration, the semantic relevance can be obtained appropriately. By adopting a configuration in which document data is acquired from a website, for example, the website data is updated sequentially, so that the degree of semantic relevance can be updated according to the fashion.

  The navigation device according to another aspect of the present invention stores the geographical proximity between genres indicating the attributes of a facility, which is obtained based on the positions of the facilities included in the genre. Based on the geographical proximity between the genres stored in the geographical proximity storage unit and the genre proximity storage unit, a genre calculation for obtaining a genre that is close to the genre by a predetermined threshold or more for each genre A genre display unit that displays a node indicating each genre and a node indicating a genre that is close to the genre by a predetermined threshold or more according to the degree of proximity, a genre input unit that receives an input of a genre, A route including a facility of the genre selected from the genres displayed in the genre display unit and input in the genre input unit. Comprising a Mel route searching unit, and a route presenting portion for presenting the searched route by the route search unit to the driver.

  The navigation device according to another aspect of the present invention stores the geographical proximity between genres indicating the attributes of a facility, which is obtained based on the positions of the facilities included in the genre. Based on the geographical proximity between the genres stored in the geographical proximity storage unit and the genre proximity storage unit, a genre calculation for obtaining a genre that is close to the genre by a predetermined threshold or more for each genre A genre display unit that connects a node indicating each genre and a node indicating a genre adjacent to the genre with a link having a length corresponding to the proximity degree, and a genre input unit that receives an input of the genre The route including the facility of the genre selected from the genres displayed in the genre display unit and input in the genre input unit is obtained. Comprising a road searching unit, and a route presenting portion for presenting the searched route by the route search unit to the driver.

  By displaying adjacent genres with overlap, or by connecting adjacent genres with a link with a length corresponding to the degree of proximity, you can grasp the geographical positional relationship between genres, The driver can select adjacent genres. Thereby, the navigation apparatus can search for a route including a facility selected from a geographically close genre, and can present a route including a facility of a genre desired by the driver to the driver.

  A navigation device according to another aspect of the present invention includes a genre input unit that receives an input of a genre, and a close genre display that displays close genres that are close to a first threshold input by the genre input unit by a predetermined threshold or more. A route search unit for obtaining a route including a facility, a facility of the first genre, and a facility of the second genre selected from the proximity genres and input by the genre input unit, and the route search unit And a route presentation unit that presents the route searched for to the driver.

  With this configuration, the navigation device displays the proximity genre that is geographically close to the first genre input by the driver, and causes the driver to select the second genre from the proximity genres. Therefore, the navigation device can search for a route including the facilities of the first genre and the second genre that are geographically close to each other, and presents an appropriate route including the facility of the genre desired by the driver to the driver. it can.

  The route presenting method of the present invention is based on the step of receiving the input of the first genre and the information on the geographical proximity between genres indicating the attributes of the facilities stored in the geographical proximity storage unit. Obtaining a proximity genre that is close to a first genre by a predetermined threshold or more; displaying the proximity genre; receiving an input of a second genre selected from the proximity genres; and the first genre A step of obtaining a route including the facility of the genre and the facility of the second genre, and a step of presenting the searched route to the driver.

  With this configuration, the proximity genre that is geographically close to the first genre input by the driver is displayed, and the driver is allowed to select the second genre from the proximity genres. Therefore, the navigation device can search for a route including the facilities of the first genre and the second genre that are geographically close to each other, and presents an appropriate route including the facility of the genre desired by the driver to the driver. it can. Various configurations of the navigation device of the present invention can be applied to the route presentation method of the present invention.

  The program of the present invention is a program for presenting a route by specifying a genre, and shows a step of receiving an input of a first genre in a computer and an attribute of a facility stored in a geographical proximity storage unit. Based on information on the geographical proximity between genres, a step of obtaining a proximity genre that is close to the first genre by a predetermined threshold or more, a step of displaying the proximity genre, and a selection of the proximity genre Receiving the input of the second genre, obtaining a route including the facility of the first genre and the facility of the second genre, and presenting the searched route to the driver. .

  With this configuration, the proximity genre that is geographically close to the first genre input by the driver is displayed, and the driver is allowed to select the second genre from the proximity genres. Therefore, the navigation device can search for a route including the facilities of the first genre and the second genre that are geographically close to each other, and presents an appropriate route including the facility of the genre desired by the driver to the driver. it can. Various configurations of the navigation device of the present invention can be applied to the program of the present invention.

  According to the present invention, since the proximity genre that is geographically close to the first genre input by the driver is displayed, the second genre that is close to the first genre is selected. Thus, the route including the facilities of the first genre and the facility of the second genre is searched, and an appropriate route including the facility of the genre desired by the driver can be presented.

Hereinafter, a navigation device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[Configuration of navigation device]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the navigation device 1. As shown in the figure, the navigation device 1 includes a control device 10, a position detection device 26 that detects the position of the vehicle, an output unit 36 that outputs information to the driver, and an input unit that receives input from the driver. 42, a map database (hereinafter referred to as “map DB”) 52 storing a road map, an external memory 54, and a VICS receiver 56.

  The position detection device 26 includes a geomagnetic sensor 28, a gyroscope 30, a distance sensor 32, and a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver 34. Since these sensors have detection errors of different properties, the position detection device 26 can perform highly accurate position detection while correcting the detection errors by combining these sensors. It should be noted that depending on the required detection accuracy level, it is not necessary to provide all sensors, and a configuration can be adopted in which necessary sensors are appropriately selected and provided. In addition to the sensors described above, the position detection device 26 may be configured by combining a steering rotation sensor, a wheel sensor that detects the rotation of each tire, and the like.

  The output unit 36 includes a display device 38 and a sound generation device 40. The display device 38 includes a full-color liquid crystal display as a display screen for displaying map data, characters or symbols, and the transparent touch panel 46 is pasted on the surface of the liquid crystal display. .

  The input unit 42 includes an operation switch group 44, the touch panel 46 described above, and a remote control sensor 48. The remote control sensor 48 has a configuration that receives an input signal transmitted from the remote control 50 and transmits the received input signal to the control device 10. The operation switch group 44, the touch panel 46, and the remote controller 50 are used for inputting data and inputting setting items. The operation switch group 44 includes, for example, push button switches provided around the liquid crystal display.

  The map DB 52 stores map data to be displayed on the liquid crystal display of the display device 38. The roads on the map are divided by nodes indicating inflection points such as intersections, branch points, junctions, and curves of a predetermined angle or more. Map data is configured by defining links between nodes and connecting the links. Therefore, the map DB 52 stores link and node data. The link data includes attribute information such as the link unique ID, the link length indicating the length of the link (road), the coordinates of the start and end of the link, the road width of the link, and the road type (highway, etc.) for each link. Have.

  The map DB 52 includes an information recording medium such as a DVD-ROM and a reading device that reads data from the information recording medium. The map data is read from the information recording medium by the reading device and input to the control device 10. Here, the data included in the map DB 52 includes map data, map matching data, data for guiding a route by voice, map index data for searching a position on a map from a place name, a facility name, and the like. Data (hereinafter referred to as “facility data”).

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of facility data stored in the map DB 52. As shown in FIG. 2, the facility data is composed of a facility ID, facility position data, and data indicating a genre. Since the genre is stored in association with the facility ID in this way, it is possible to search for facilities using the genre as a key. In this embodiment, the example in which the facility data is stored in the map DB 52 has been described. However, a dedicated database storing the facility data may be provided.

  The VICS receiver 56 receives road traffic information transmitted from the external information source VICS and inputs it to the control device 10. The control device 10 detects a traffic regulation point, a congested road, a congested section, and the like based on road traffic information input from the VICS receiver 56.

  The control device 10 has a function of controlling the overall operation of the navigation device 1 and is mainly composed of a microcomputer. The control device 10 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O, a bus that connects these, and the like (all not shown). Of these, an execution program for operating the navigation device 1 is stored in the ROM, and temporary data at the time of program execution, map data acquired from the map DB 52, information acquired from the VICS receiver 56, etc. are temporarily stored in the RAM. Stored in

  The control device 10 has a display control function, calculates the current position of the vehicle based on information input from the position detection device 26, and displays a road map around the current position on the display device 38 and displays it. A pointer indicating the current position and traveling direction of the automobile is displayed on the road map. The scale of the road map displayed on the screen can be changed by operating the operation switch group 44.

  The control device 10 has a function of setting a guide route to the destination, and a travel guide function of instructing a direction in which the vehicle should travel according to the guide route with a voice output from the voice generator 40. When a destination or waypoint is set by operating the operation switch group 44, the touch panel 46 or the remote controller 50, the optimum route from the current position to the destination is automatically set as a guide route, and the set guide route is displayed on the display device 38. It is displayed in a color different from the normal road color on the displayed road map. The control device 10 guides the traveling direction of the automobile by voice or the like according to the guidance route. The Dijkstra method or the like is used as a method for setting the optimum route.

  The navigation apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment has a geographical proximity database (hereinafter referred to as “geographic proximity DB”) 58 as a configuration that supports creation of a drive plan including facilities of the genre input by the driver, and a meaning. A relevance degree database 60 (hereinafter referred to as “semantic relevance degree DB”). In addition, the control device 10 has a function of prompting the driver to select a genre using these databases and presenting a route including facilities of the selected genre. That is, the control device 10 includes a genre input unit 12, a proximity genre calculation unit 14, a genre display unit 16, a route search unit 18, and a route display unit 20. In addition, the control device 10 includes a geographical proximity calculation unit 22 that calculates data stored in the geographical proximity DB 58 and a semantic relevance calculation unit 24 that calculates data stored in the semantic relevance DB 60. is doing. In the case where the data is stored in advance in the geographical proximity DB 58 and the semantic relevance DB 60, the geographical proximity calculation unit 22 and the semantic relevance calculation unit 24 may be omitted. Each component of the control device 10 is realized by executing a program stored in a ROM (not shown). In addition, the program which implement | achieves each function of the control apparatus 10 is also contained in the scope of the present invention.

  3A is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in the geographical proximity DB 58, and FIG. 3B is a diagram illustrating an example of data stored in the semantic relevance DB 60. As illustrated in FIG. The geographical proximity DB 58 stores data indicating the geographical proximity between genres. The geographical proximity between genres is an index indicating how close the facilities included in different genres exist. In this Embodiment, as shown to Fig.3 (a), the geographical proximity is shown in the range of 0-1. The geographical proximity of the same genre is set to “1”, and a value close to “0” is set as the geographical proximity decreases. The data stored in the geographic proximity DB 58 is obtained by the geographic proximity calculation unit 22.

  As one method for obtaining the geographical proximity, there is a method for obtaining the distance between facilities for all combinations of all facilities included in each of different genres. For example, if there are 10 facilities included in genre A and 10 facilities included in genre B, distances between facilities are calculated for all 10 × 10 = 100 combinations. Based on the distance between facilities of each genre obtained by this calculation, the geographical proximity between genres is obtained. As another method for obtaining the geographical proximity, the map is divided into a plurality of sections in units such as administrative sections, and the geographical proximity is determined based on the correlation of genre combinations existing in each section. There is a way. For example, if the combination of genre A and genre B exists in many sections and the correlation is high, it can be determined that the geographical proximity of genre A and genre B is high. In addition, although the example which divides a map in the unit of an administrative division is demonstrated here, when dividing a map, it is not necessarily necessary to make an administrative division into a unit, for example, dividing into a grid form simply. Also good. As mentioned above, although the example of the method of calculating | requiring geographical proximity was demonstrated, the above is an example of the method of calculating | requiring geographical proximity, and it is also possible to employ | adopt another method.

  As shown in FIG. 3B, the semantic relevance DB 60 stores data indicating the semantic relevance between genres. In the present embodiment, the semantic relevance is shown in a range of 0 to 1. The semantic relevance level of the same genre is “1”, and a value close to “0” is set as the semantic relevance level decreases. The data stored in the semantic relevance DB 60 is obtained by the semantic relevance calculation unit 24.

One method of obtaining the semantic relevance is a method of obtaining using genre classification information.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of genre classification information. This information may be stored in a ROM (not shown). As shown in FIG. 4, the genres are classified in each of the major classification, middle classification, and minor classification. In the present embodiment, the genre of the facility data (see FIG. 2) corresponds to the genre indicated by the small classification. Using this genre classification information, the degree of relevance is obtained based on which hierarchy the compared genres are classified into the same group. In the example shown in FIG. 4, both “skiing” and “surfing” are included in the middle category “outdoors”, and “skiing” and “museum” are both included in the major category “playing”. In this way, by determining in which hierarchy the genre is included in the same group, the semantic relevance between genres can be obtained. For example, a genre included in the same group in the large classification is a relevance level “0.25”, a relevance level “0.5” is included in the same group in the middle classification, When the genres coincide with each other, the semantic relevance DB 60 shown in FIG. 3B can be generated by digitizing the relevance “1”.

  As another method for obtaining the semantic relevance level, there is a method of comparing document data describing facilities included in a genre. Document data of facilities is collected from websites, for example, the similarity between documents is obtained using the cosine similarity of the vector space model between documents, and the semantic relevance between genres is obtained by this similarity. it can.

  With reference to FIG. 1 again, the function of the control device 10 will be described. The genre input unit 12 has a function of receiving genre input from the input unit 42. The proximity genre calculation unit 14 has a function of obtaining a genre that is close to a predetermined genre. Hereinafter, a genre that is a target for which adjacent genres are obtained is referred to as “target genre”, and a genre that is close to the target genre is referred to as “proximity genre”. The proximity genre calculation unit 14 obtains a genre whose proximity to the target genre is a predetermined threshold or more as the proximity genre. For example, the proximity genre calculation unit 14 refers to data stored in the geographic proximity DB 58 illustrated in FIG. 3A and obtains a genre having a proximity of “0.8” or more as the proximity genre. Note that in the case of a genre with a proximity of “1”, since it is the target genre itself, it is not determined as a proximity genre.

  The genre display unit 16 has a function of visually displaying the degree to which the genres are geographically close based on the result of calculating the proximity genre by the proximity genre calculation unit 14. The genre display unit 16 can also display the target genre and its adjacent genres, or can display a plurality of genres together with the geographical proximity without determining the target genre. The relationship diagram of genres displayed like the latter is called “genre map”. In the present embodiment, the genre display unit 16 also visually displays the degree to which genres are semantically related. As a result, it is possible to grasp the semantic relevance as well as the geographical proximity. Various ways of displaying the genre by the genre display unit 16 can be considered. The display mode of the genre by the genre display unit 16 will be described in detail later.

  The route search unit 18 has a function of searching for a route including facilities of the genre input from the driver. When a plurality of genres are input by the driver, the route search unit 18 searches for a route including facilities of all input genres. The route display unit 20 presents the route searched for by the route search unit 18 to the driver.

[Operation of navigation device]
FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B are flowcharts showing the operation of the navigation device 1 of the present embodiment. Below, two examples of displaying genres that are geographically close and selecting a genre will be described. The first example is an example in which a genre close to the first genre input from the driver is displayed, and the second genre is selected from the displayed genres. The second example is a genre in which a genre map is displayed. This is an example in which a driver selects a genre from a map.

  FIG. 5A is a flowchart showing a first example of the operation of the navigation device 1. In the first example, the navigation device 1 prompts the driver to input the first genre, which is the main purpose of the drive, and receives the input of the first genre from the driver (S10). The navigation device 1 obtains a proximity genre that is close to the first genre (S12), and displays the proximity genre together with the first genre (S14).

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display example of proximity genres. In FIG. 6, “skiing” is the first genre, and “hot spring”, “camping”, and “ranch” are the proximity genres of “skiing”. The overlap size of each node indicates the degree of proximity, and the size of each node indicates the number of facilities included in the genre. Each node is given a color corresponding to the degree of semantic relevance to the first genre. The color given to each node is shown in parentheses in the drawing. When the semantic relevance with the first genre is high, a color close to the color assigned to the first genre is attached, and when the semantic relevance is low, a color far from the color attached to the first genre is selected. It is attached. In this example, it is understood that the “ski” shown in red and the “hot spring” shown in light blue have a low degree of semantic relevance. In this way, the navigation device 1 displays the genre's geographical proximity and the degree of semantic relevance so that the driver can select the genre. Further, the navigation device 1 displays a genre that is closer to the adjacent genre, such as “villa resort” or “product store”. As a result, a drive plan can be made with a genre close to the close genre in mind.

  When the second genre that is the sub-purpose of the drive is input from the displayed adjacent genres (S16), the navigation device 1 selects the facility of the first genre and the facility of the second genre as the destination or A route including the stoppage is searched (S18), and the searched route is displayed (S20). The navigation device 1 waits for an input as to whether or not to set the route as the drive plan, and when an input for setting the route as the drive plan is made (S22), the navigation device 1 guides the route according to the set route. I do.

  FIG. 5B is a flowchart showing a second example of the operation of the navigation device 1. In the second example, the navigation device 1 obtains a genre that is closer than a predetermined threshold for each genre based on the data stored in the geographical proximity DB 58 (S30). Next, the navigation device 1 displays a genre map generated by overlapping genres according to the degree of geographical proximity (S32).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a genre map. The overlap and size of each node is the same as the display example of the proximity genre shown in FIG. 6, except that the first genre does not exist in the genre map shown in FIG. As shown in FIG. 7, the genre map allows the driver to list the geographical proximity of each genre.

  When the driver selects a plurality of genres from the displayed genre map and the navigation apparatus 1 accepts the input of the selected genres (S34), each facility of the input genres is designated as a destination or a stopover Is searched for (S36), and the searched route is displayed (S38). The navigation device 1 waits for an input as to whether or not the presented route is to be set as a drive plan, and when an input is made to set a route as the drive plan (S40), the navigation device 1 guides the route according to the set route. I do.

  In the second example, it is up to the driver to select which genre from the genre map, but if a nearby genre is selected, an appropriate route including facilities of the selected genre may be searched. Is expensive. It is also possible to adopt a configuration that restricts the selection of genres so that genres that are geographically distant cannot be selected. For example, when one genre is selected from the genre map, only a genre close to the one genre may be selected.

  The navigation device according to the present embodiment displays the proximity genre that is geographically close to the first genre input by the driver, and causes the driver to select the second genre from the proximity genres. Alternatively, a genre map is displayed and a plurality of adjacent genres are selected from the genre map. Therefore, the navigation apparatus can search for a route that is suitable for distance including facilities of a plurality of genres that are geographically close to each other, and can present an appropriate route that includes facilities of a genre desired by the driver to the driver.

  The navigation device according to the present embodiment displays a genre that is close to the first genre, rather than a genre that is semantically close to the first genre. Can provide perspective. Moreover, since the genre is displayed based on the geographical overlap, knowledge about the genre increases.

[Display example]
Next, display examples of proximity genres and genre maps will be described. The display examples described below exemplify the display modes of the proximity genre and the genre map, and the present invention is not limited to the display examples described below. The present invention may adopt any configuration as long as it is configured to display so that the geographical proximity between genres can be easily grasped.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display example of proximity genres. In the display example shown in FIG. 8, the adjacent genres are arranged and displayed in the order of geographical proximity to the first genre “ski”. In the example shown in FIG. 8, “snowboard” has the highest geographical proximity, followed by “hot spring”, “camp”, and “surfing”. Further, in the display example shown in FIG. 8, each node is colored according to the semantic relevance. As described above, the geographical proximity and the semantic relevance can be grasped at a glance by arranging according to the rank of the geographical proximity and adding a color according to the semantic relevance. Displaying the semantic relevance is useful, for example, when selecting a genre that is different from the first genre from among geographically close genres. In addition, when it is not necessary to display a semantic relevance degree, it is good also as a structure which does not attach a color to each node.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display example of proximity genres. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the proximity genres of the first genre “ski” are arranged and displayed on a two-dimensional plane. The position in the vertical axis direction indicates the degree of geographical proximity to the first genre, and the position in the horizontal axis direction indicates the level of semantic relevance for the first genre. That is, the smaller the distance from the first genre in the vertical axis direction, the closer the first genre and the adjacent genre are, and the smaller the distance from the first genre in the horizontal axis direction, The genre of 1 and the proximity genre have a high degree of semantic relevance. In the example shown in FIG. 9, it is understood that “snowboard” has a high degree of geographical proximity and a high degree of semantic relevance with respect to the first genre “ski”. It can be seen that “hot spring” has a low degree of semantic relevance to the first genre “ski” but has a high geographical proximity.

  Further, in the display example shown in FIG. 9, each node is colored according to the high degree of semantic relevance with the first genre. As a result, it is possible to grasp the semantic relevance not only by the distance in the horizontal axis direction but also by the color.

  FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a display example of proximity genres. In the example shown in FIG. 10, genres are arranged on a two-dimensional plane, the vertical axis indicates the geographical proximity, and the horizontal axis indicates the semantic relevance. Each node is displayed three-dimensionally, and the vertical axis direction appears to have a depth. This allows you to sensibly grasp that the nodes are geographically farther away as they are placed on the top, so you can display the content without having to remember the rules of the display screen that go farther geographically as you go upward. Understandable. In the example shown in FIG. 10, genres having high semantic relevance to the first genre “ski” are listed in the horizontal axis direction, and from the genres having high geographical proximity to each listed genre. They are aligned in the vertical axis direction in order. According to this display example, the second genre can be determined while confirming the semantically related genre. Note that the genre in the vertical axis direction may be selected, and the proximity genre calculation may be performed again using the selected genre as the first genre.

  FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a display example of proximity genres. In the example shown in FIG. 11, the geographical proximity to the first genre and the semantic relevance are displayed by the radar chart. Place the first genre “ski” in the center of the radar chart, indicate geographical proximity by the distance from the center, and the semantic relevance by the angle from the x-axis (axis extending rightward from the center). Show. In the display example shown in FIG. 11, each node is colored according to the degree of semantic relevance with the first genre. Thereby, it is possible to grasp the semantic relevance level not only by the angle but also by the color.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating a display example of proximity genres. In the example shown in FIG. 12, the geographical proximity to the first genre and the semantic relevance are displayed by the radar chart. The first genre “ski” is arranged at the center of the radar chart, and the geographical proximity is indicated by the distance from the center, which is the same as the example shown in FIG. In the example illustrated in FIG. 12, the semantic relevance is indicated by an angle from the y-axis (axis extending upward from the center). In the example shown in FIG. 12, the nodes indicating each genre are displayed in a shape along the circumference. Each node is colored according to the degree of semantic relevance with the first genre.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a genre map. The genre map shown in FIG. 13 indicates the geographical proximity between genres depending on the length of the link connecting each genre. Each node is colored according to the semantic relevance. Thereby, it is possible to easily grasp the geographical proximity and the semantic relevance between genres. When the semantic relevance level is expressed in color, it is possible to grasp the semantic relevance levels of all displayed genres. As a simpler display method than the display example of FIG. 13 that displays colors according to the mutual relevance levels of all genres, a configuration that shows the semantic relevance levels between adjacent genres may be adopted. In this case, for example, the thickness of the link connecting the genres can be changed according to the semantic relevance between two genres that are geographically close to each other. Further, the size and shape of the node may be changed according to the number of facilities and the distribution included in the genre.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating a display example of a genre map. The genre map shown in FIG. 14 represents the geographical proximity between genres by the size of the overlap between the nodes as in the genre map shown in FIG. A map of Japan is superimposed on the background of the screen. Each node is arranged at a position corresponding to the distribution of facilities included in the genre and has a shape corresponding to the distribution. For example, since the node indicating “hot spring” is arranged on the upper side of the screen, it can be seen that the node is distributed toward the north as compared with facilities of other genres. For example, since the node indicating “camp” has a long oval shape from east to west, it can be seen that the “camp” facilities are distributed from east to west. In the display example shown in FIG. 14, the background map of Japan and each node do not directly correlate with each other, but by overlapping each node with the background map of Japan, the position and shape of the node indicating each genre can be changed. Can understand sensuously that it corresponds to the distribution of facilities included in the genre.

  The configuration and operation of the navigation device of the present invention and the display example of the genre have been described in detail with reference to the embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment.

  In the above-described embodiments and genre display examples, examples have been described in which a node is colored according to the semantic relevance of the genre, but a configuration in which a node is not colored is also possible. If the geographical proximity of the node can be grasped, the driver can select a genre that is close to the driver.

  In the above-described embodiment, an example in which the navigation device 1 has the geographical proximity DB 58 and the proximity genre is calculated by the control device 10 of the navigation device 1 has been described. A genre display service may be provided. For example, a system in which a navigation device and an information center are connected by a network is configured. The navigation device transmits the input information of the first genre to the information center, and the information center that has received the information obtains a proximity genre that is close to the first genre and returns the information to the navigation device. By adopting such a configuration, the proximity genre can be displayed on the navigation device. Further, according to this configuration, the geographical proximity DB and the semantic relevance DB can be collectively managed by the information center, so that the geographical proximity DB and the semantic relevance DB can be easily updated.

  Further, for example, genres such as skiing and swimming have seasonal factors, so that the genres may be displayed in consideration of seasonal factors. For example, the navigation device prepares a database that associates genres with seasonal factors. After obtaining the proximity genre, the navigation device may refer to the database, select a genre corresponding to the current season, and display the selected genre. Accordingly, for example, when a driving plan is made in winter, genres such as sea bathing and surfing are excluded from the beginning, so that the genre to be driven can be efficiently selected.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the navigation device can search for an appropriate route including the selected genre and present it to the driver by causing the driver to select an appropriate genre. It is useful as a navigation device having a function of supporting destination setting.

It is a figure which shows the structure of the navigation apparatus of embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the facility data memorize | stored in map DB. (A) It is a figure which shows the example of the data memorize | stored in geographical proximity DB. (B) It is a figure which shows the example of the data memorize | stored in semantic relevance DB. It is a figure which shows the example of the classification information of a genre. (A) It is a figure which shows the 1st example of operation | movement of a navigation apparatus. (B) It is a figure which shows the 2nd example of operation | movement of a navigation apparatus. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a proximity genre. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a genre map. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a proximity genre. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a proximity genre. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a proximity genre. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a proximity genre. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a proximity genre. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a genre map. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a genre map.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Navigation apparatus 10 Control apparatus 12 Genre input part 14 Proximity genre calculation part 16 Genre display part 18 Route search part 20 Route display part 22 Geographic proximity calculation part 24 Semantic relevance calculation part 26 Position detection apparatus 28 Geomagnetic sensor 30 Gyro Scope 32 Distance sensor 34 GPS receiver 36 Output unit 38 Sound generator 40 Display unit 42 Input unit 44 Operation switch group 46 Touch panel 48 Remote control sensor 50 Remote control 52 Map DB
54 External memory 56 VICS receiver 58 Geographic proximity DB
60 Semantic relevance DB

Claims (18)

A geographical proximity storage unit that stores the geographical proximity between genres that indicate the attributes of the facility and that is obtained based on the location of the facility included in the genre;
A genre input unit that accepts genre input;
A proximity genre calculation unit that obtains a proximity genre that is close to a first threshold that is input by the genre input unit based on information stored in the geographic proximity storage unit by a predetermined threshold or more;
A proximity genre display unit for displaying the proximity genre;
A route search unit for obtaining a route including the facility of the first genre and the facility of the second genre selected from the proximity genres and input by the genre input unit;
A route presentation unit for presenting the route searched by the route search unit to the driver;
A navigation device comprising:   The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the proximity genre display unit displays a node indicating the first genre and a node indicating the proximity genre with an overlap according to the degree of proximity.   The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the proximity genre display unit displays the node indicating the first genre and the node indicating the proximity genre at a distance corresponding to the degree of proximity.   The navigation device according to claim 1, wherein the proximity genre display unit arranges and displays nodes indicating the proximity genres in accordance with an order of proximity to the first genre.   The proximity genre display unit displays a node indicating the first genre and a node indicating the proximity genre in a shape corresponding to a geographical distribution of facilities included in each of the first genre and the proximity genre. The navigation device according to any one of claims 2 to 4.   The proximity genre display unit displays a node indicating the first genre and a node indicating the proximity genre in a size according to the number of facilities included in each of the first genre and the proximity genre. The navigation apparatus in any one of 2-5.   The proximity genre display unit indicates the proximity genre on a graph having a first axis indicating the geographical proximity and a second axis indicating a semantic relevance with the first genre. The navigation device according to claim 3 or 4, wherein the node is displayed.   The proximity genre display unit is centered on a node indicating the first genre, indicates the geographical proximity by a radial distance, and indicates a semantic relevance with the first genre in a circumferential direction. The navigation device according to claim 3, wherein a node indicating the proximity genre is displayed on a radar chart indicated by an angle.   The navigation device according to claim 2, wherein the proximity genre display unit displays a color indicating a node indicating the proximity genre according to a semantic relevance with the first genre. . A facility information storage unit storing the location and genre of the facility;
Based on the information stored in the facility information storage unit, distances are calculated for all combinations of all facilities included in one genre and all facilities included in other genres, and one based on the determined distance. A geographical proximity calculation unit for determining the geographical proximity between a genre and another genre,
The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the geographical proximity calculated by the geographical proximity calculation unit is stored in the geographical proximity storage unit. A facility information storage unit storing the location and genre of the facility;
Geographic proximity calculation for determining geographical proximity by dividing a map into a plurality of sections and calculating correlations of combinations of genres existing in each section based on information stored in the facility information storage unit With
The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the geographical proximity calculated by the geographical proximity calculation unit is stored in the geographical proximity storage unit. A genre classification information storage unit storing genre classification information obtained by classifying genres by hierarchy;
Based on the information stored in the genre classification information storage unit, a semantic relevance calculating unit that obtains a semantic relevance between genres by obtaining a hierarchy in which genres to be compared are classified into the same group;
A navigation device according to any one of claims 7 to 9. A facility data acquisition unit that acquires document data describing the facility;
A semantic relevance calculating unit for obtaining a semantic relevance between genres by obtaining a similarity between the document data of a facility included in one genre and the document data of a facility included in another genre;
A navigation device according to any one of claims 7 to 9. A geographical proximity storage unit that stores the geographical proximity between genres that indicate the attributes of the facility and that is obtained based on the location of the facility included in the genre;
A proximity genre calculation unit that obtains a genre that is close to the genre by a predetermined threshold or more for each genre based on the geographical proximity between genres stored in the geographical proximity storage unit;
A genre display unit for displaying a node indicating each genre and a node indicating a genre adjacent to the genre with an overlap according to the proximity degree;
A genre input unit that accepts genre input;
A route search unit for obtaining a route including facilities of the genre selected from the genres displayed in the genre display unit and input in the genre input unit;
A route presentation unit for presenting the route searched by the route search unit to the driver;
A navigation device comprising: A geographical proximity storage unit that stores the geographical proximity between genres that indicate the attributes of the facility and that is obtained based on the location of the facility included in the genre;
A proximity genre calculation unit that obtains a genre that is close to the genre by a predetermined threshold or more for each genre based on the geographical proximity between genres stored in the geographical proximity storage unit;
A genre display unit for displaying a node indicating each genre and a node indicating a genre adjacent to the genre by a link having a length corresponding to the degree of proximity;
A genre input unit that accepts genre input;
A route search unit for obtaining a route including a facility of a genre selected from the genres displayed in the genre display unit and input in the genre input unit;
A route presentation unit for presenting the route searched by the route search unit to the driver;
A navigation device comprising: A genre input unit that accepts genre input;
A proximity genre display unit that displays a proximity genre that is close to a first threshold value input by the genre input unit by a predetermined threshold or more;
A route search unit for obtaining a route including the facility of the first genre and the facility of the second genre selected from the proximity genres and input by the genre input unit;
A route presentation unit for presenting the route searched by the route search unit to the driver;
A navigation device comprising: Receiving an input of a first genre;
Obtaining a proximity genre that is close to the first genre by a predetermined threshold or more based on information on the geographical proximity between genres indicating the facility attributes stored in the geographical proximity storage unit;
Displaying the proximity genre;
Receiving an input of a second genre selected from the proximity genres;
Obtaining a route including the facility of the first genre and the facility of the second genre;
Presenting the searched route to the driver;
A route presentation method comprising: A program for presenting a route including facilities of a specified genre,
Receiving an input of a first genre;
Obtaining a proximity genre that is close to the first genre by a predetermined threshold or more based on information on the geographical proximity between genres indicating the facility attributes stored in the geographical proximity storage unit;
Displaying the proximity genre;
Receiving an input of a second genre selected from the proximity genres;
Obtaining a route including the facility of the first genre and the facility of the second genre;
Presenting the searched route to the driver;
A program that executes

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