JP2009257964A - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a navigation device capable of performing intelligible guide of a crossing in correspondence with the line of sight of a driver, and reducing an information amount to be displayed on a screen in comparison with a navigation device displaying the whole image of the crossing. <P>SOLUTION: This navigation device for performing guide at a crossing to a driver driving a vehicle, based on facility information in the periphery of the crossing existing in the traveling direction of the vehicle, has a line-of-sight direction detection means for detecting a direction of the line of sight of the driver; an attention facility specification means for specifying a facility to which the driver pays attention, based on the direction of the line of sight detected by the line-of-sight direction detection means and on the facility information; and a crossing guide means for performing guide at the crossing by using information on a facility specified by the attention facility specification means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology for performing route guidance at intersections, and relates to a technology for performing route guidance using a facility that a driver pays attention during traveling as a landmark.

Conventionally, in a navigation device, a technique for selecting and displaying only facility information near an intersection in the viewpoint direction in order to display necessary traffic information in an easy-to-understand manner without displaying more information than necessary. Published (Patent Document 1).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-14382

  However, in the above technique, when the navigation device provides route guidance, when the facility displayed as a landmark is not actually visible when instructing an intersection to make a right or left turn, or the facility displayed as the landmark is displayed. However, there is a problem that it may be different from the facility that the driver is paying attention to.

  Therefore, in the present invention, in view of the above problems, it is possible to guide an easy-to-understand intersection according to the driver's line of sight, and to display an information amount on the screen as compared with a navigation device that displays all images of the intersection. An object of the present invention is to provide a navigation device capable of reducing the above.

  A navigation device according to the present invention is a navigation device that provides guidance to a driver who drives a vehicle at the intersection based on facility information relating to the vicinity of the intersection in the traveling direction of the vehicle, the direction of the driver's line of sight Gaze direction detection means for detecting the gaze direction, gaze direction detected by the gaze direction detection means and the facility information of interest, and the facility of interest identification means for identifying the facility to be noticed by the driver. And intersection guide means for performing guidance at the intersection using information on the facility.

  Further, in one form of the navigation device according to the present invention, the facility-of-interest specifying means is based on the direction of the line of sight detected by the line-of-sight direction detecting means and the map information about the intersection around the traveling direction of the vehicle. It is characterized by identifying the facility to be operated.

  In one form of the navigation device according to the present invention, facility information storage means for storing information related to the facility specified by the facility of interest specifying means and storing information related to the facility to which the driver pays attention when passing the intersection. And the intersection guide means uses information on the facility stored in the facility information storage means.

  Moreover, in one form of the navigation apparatus according to the present invention, the intersection guide means is information related to the facility specified by the facility of interest specifying means, and information related to the facility that the driver pays attention at the time when guidance is provided by the intersection guide means. It is characterized by using.

  Therefore, according to the present invention, it is possible to guide an easy-to-understand intersection according to the driver's line of sight, and to reduce the amount of information displayed on the screen as compared with a navigation device that displays all the images of the intersection. A navigation device can be provided.

  In the present invention, a navigation device that can guide an easy-to-understand intersection according to the driver's line of sight and can reduce the amount of information displayed on the screen as compared with a navigation device that displays all images of the intersection. Can be provided.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Operational principle of navigation device according to this embodiment)
The operation principle of the navigation device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an outline of the navigation device 100 according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an operation principle of the navigation device 100. And FIG. 3 is a figure explaining the example of installation of the vehicle-mounted camera 250. FIG.

  The navigation apparatus 100 according to the present invention is an apparatus for guiding a route to a destination for a driver 310 of a vehicle 300, and is particularly characterized by guidance at an intersection. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, it is assumed that the driver 310 operates the vehicle 300 and turns left at the intersection in the traveling direction of the vehicle 300.

  In the guidance at the intersection, it may be difficult for the driver 310 to grasp an appropriate route at a complicated intersection or the like simply by guiding the distance to the intersection or the direction of the turn. Further, even if an enlarged map of the intersection is displayed and the facility is displayed as a mark for turning right or left, the driver 310 may not be able to confirm the facility, which is insufficient as guidance for the intersection.

  Therefore, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, when the vehicle 300 approaches the intersection to some extent, the direction of the line of sight of the driver 310 is detected. Then, the facility 320 in the direction of the line of sight is specified, and the facility 320 is used as a landmark to perform guidance at the intersection. The facility 320 may be a facility that has been noticed with high frequency when the driver 310 has passed through the intersection in the past, or the facility that the driver 310 is just paying attention to when passing the intersection guidance. There may be.

  Due to the above features, the present invention provides a navigation device that can provide easy-to-understand intersection guidance according to the driver's line of sight and reduce the amount of information presented to the driver in the intersection plan guidance. Can be provided.

  The navigation device 100 includes a driver authentication unit 110, a line-of-sight determination unit 120, a route guidance function unit 130, an intersection guide unit 140, a storage device 230, an in-vehicle camera 250, a display device 260, and an authentication device 280. However, the storage device 230 may be installed outside the navigation device 100.

  The authentication device 280 is a device that acquires authentication information for authenticating the driver 310. For example, the authentication device 280 may be in the form of a sensor that acquires a personal identification ID by receiving a weak radio wave transmitted from an ignition key for starting the engine of the vehicle 300, or may be personally specified to the driver 310. It may be in the form of a keyboard that directly inputs the business ID. In this case, the authentication information is an individual identification ID. The authentication device 280 may be in the form of a sensor that acquires a driver's vein pattern. In this case, the authentication information is a vein pattern for each individual.

  The in-vehicle camera 250 is a device that acquires image data of the head of the driver 310 in order to detect the direction of the line of sight of the driver 310. For example, the in-vehicle camera 250 is installed on the driver side dashboard of the vehicle 300 as shown in FIG. 3 and images the head of the driver 310. The display device 260 is a device for displaying an enlarged map or the like around the intersection when the navigation device 100 provides guidance at the intersection.

  The storage device 230 includes an authentication information DB (DataBase) 232 for specifying the driver 310 by collating authentication information such as an individual identification ID acquired from the authentication device 280.

  The storage device 230 has a map information DB 234 used for route guidance to the destination. The map information DB 234 is also used for guidance at intersections, and the map information DB 234 includes information about facilities that can serve as guides for guidance at intersections. For example, the lot number and the facility name may be linked and held, or information regarding the number of floors in which the facility is located may be held.

  In addition, the storage device 230 includes an attention facility history information DB 236. Here, the facility-of-interest history information DB 236 is a database of history information related to facilities that the driver 310 has paid attention to each time the vehicle passes through an intersection, and includes information about the number of times the driver 310 has focused on the facilities. . The history information includes information such as the date and time when the vehicle 300 passed the intersection (or recorded in the noticed facility history information DB 236), weather, noticed facility name, noticed time, and the like.

  The driver authentication unit 110 is connected to the authentication device 280, and authenticates the driver 310 by comparing the authentication information acquired by the authentication device 280 with the authentication information DB 232 included in the storage device 230. Here, the reason for authenticating the driver 310 is to guide the intersection using an appropriate mark for each driver.

  The driver authentication unit 110 includes an authentication device connection unit 112 and a driver identification unit 114. The authentication device connection unit 112 acquires authentication information such as an individual identification ID from the authentication device 280 and notifies the driver identification unit 114 of the authentication information.

  The driver identification unit 114 compares the authentication information notified from the authentication device connection unit 112 with the authentication information DB 232 stored in the storage device 230 to authenticate the driver 310.

  In addition, the driver identification unit 114 stores information on the driver 310 that has been authenticated in the authentication information DB 232. Here, the information regarding the driver 310 includes information indicating that the driver 310 has been authenticated and specified.

  The line-of-sight determination unit 120 detects the direction of the line of sight of the driver 310 based on the image data of the head of the driver 310 acquired by the in-vehicle camera 250, and further, based on the direction of the line of sight and the map information, the driver The facility 310 is focused on is identified. The line-of-sight determination unit 120 includes a line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122 and an attention facility identification unit 124.

  The line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122 acquires, for example, image data relating to the head of the driver 310 photographed by the in-vehicle camera 250 installed as shown in FIG. Then, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122 performs image recognition processing on the image data to detect the direction of the line of sight of the driver 310.

  For example, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122 detects the positions of the left and right nostrils of the driver 310 from the image data, and detects the positions of the left and right eyes based on the detected positions of the nostrils. Subsequently, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122 may be configured to detect the direction of the line of sight of the driver 310 based on the position of the black eye in the white eye. The line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122 may be configured to detect the vertical angle of the line of sight of the driver 310 in addition to the line-of-sight direction as described above.

  Then, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122 notifies the facility-of-interest identification unit 124 of information related to the direction of the line of sight of the driver 310. The line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122 performs processing in the line-of-sight direction detection unit in the claims.

  The facility-of-interest specifying unit 124 is noticed by the driver 310 based on the information on the current position of the vehicle 300, the map information DB 234, and the information on the direction of the line of sight of the driver 310 notified from the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122. Identify the facilities. Here, the information on the current position may be acquired from a position detection device 240 described later.

  For example, in the case of the positional relationship as shown in FIG. 1, the facility-of-interest specifying unit 124 specifies the facility 320 as a result of searching for the facility in the direction of the driver's 310 line of sight from the own vehicle position on the map. To do.

  Then, the facility-of-interest specifying unit 124 notifies the intersection guide unit 140 of information related to the facility that the driver 310 is paying attention to. Here, the notification to the intersection guide unit 140 may be notified in response to a request for notification of the information from the intersection guide unit 140. On the other hand, after specifying the facility of interest, the notification is automatically performed. It is good also as a form which performs the said notification. The facility-of-interest specifying unit 124 performs processing in the facility-of-interest specifying means in the claims.

  In addition, in addition to the information related to the building that the driver 310 is paying attention to, the attention facility specifying unit 124 considers the vertical angle of the line of sight of the driver 310 and specifies the number of floors that the driver 310 pays attention to. Also good. Then, the facility-of-interest specifying unit 124 may specify the facility that the driver 310 is interested in based on the result of specifying the floor number and the map information DB 232.

  The route guidance function unit 130 provides route guidance to the driver 310 to the destination based on the information on the vehicle position acquired from the position detection device 240 described later and the map information DB 234. When the route guidance function unit 130 approaches the intersection as shown in FIG. 1, the route guidance function unit 130 notifies the intersection guidance unit 140 that guidance should be provided at the intersection.

  The intersection guide unit 140 provides guidance at the intersection based on the map information DB 234. Moreover, the intersection guide part 140 performs the process by the intersection guide means in a claim. The intersection guide unit 140 includes a history facility determination unit 142, an attention facility determination unit 144, an intersection guide creation unit 146, and an intersection guide output unit 148.

  The history facility determination unit 142 receives a notification from the route guidance function unit 130 that guidance should be provided at the intersection where the vehicle 300 approaches. In addition, the history facility determination unit 142 acquires, from the attention facility history information DB 236, the history information of the facility that the driver 310 has focused on in the past regarding the intersection notified by the route guidance function unit 130.

  Then, the history facility determination unit 142 receives the number of times of attention for each facility, the number of times that the intersection has been passed in the past, the elapsed time since the passage, the date and time when the passage has passed in the past, the direction of entering the intersection, etc. Based on the above, it is determined whether or not there is a facility that the driver 310 noticed with high frequency when passing through the intersection, and whether or not the facility can be used for guidance at the intersection. Here, it is determined whether or not there is a facility that has been noted with high frequency by comparing the number of times of attention for each facility with a predetermined threshold value. The information regarding the predetermined threshold may be included in the facility-of-interest history information DB 236.

  In the above determination, not only the number of times the facility is noticed, but also whether the time when the intersection guidance is close to the time when the facility is noticed in the past, the weather at the time when the intersection guidance is given and the facility in the past Information such as whether or not the weather at the time of attention is similar is also an element of determination. This is because, depending on the time and weather, the appearance of the facility used as a landmark for the intersection guidance changes, so that the intersection guidance is performed using a facility suitable at each time point.

  For example, if there is a facility whose number of times of attention when passing through the intersection is a certain number or more and the time when the intersection in the history information is similar to the current time, the history facility determination unit 142 Is determined to be effective as a guide for intersection guidance. In addition, for example, if the facility has been noticed many times in the past, but a certain period has passed since the most recent passage date and time, the facility is determined to be invalid as a guide for intersection guidance.

  The facility-of-interest determination unit 144 acquires information related to the facility notified by the facility-of-interest identification unit 124. Then, the facility-of-interest determination unit 144 determines whether the facility can be used for guidance at an intersection based on the map information DB 234. For example, when the driver 310 performs a side-view driving or the like and does not see a facility that is a landmark near the intersection, the facility-of-interest determination unit 144 determines that the facility cannot be used for guidance at the intersection.

  Further, the facility-of-interest determination unit 144 stores information on the driver 310 in the facility-of-interest history information DB 236, with information on the intersection name, the approach direction of the intersection, the date and weather when passing the intersection, and the facility notified from the facility of interest identifying unit 124 Record with.

  The intersection guide creation unit 146 creates guidance at the intersection based on the map information DB 234 to provide to the driver 310. In addition, the intersection guidance creation unit 146 creates intersection guidance by using information regarding facilities that are determined to be valid as landmarks in intersection guidance by the history facility determination unit 142. In addition, the intersection guidance creation unit 146 creates intersection guidance by using information on facilities that are determined to be valid as landmarks in intersection guidance by the facility-of-interest determination unit 144.

  Here, the intersection guidance using a specific facility is considered to be a form in which the specific facility is highlighted and guided in a map related to the intersection, or a form in which only the specific facility is displayed and guided. It is done. In addition, the intersection guidance using a specific facility may be combined with guidance by map information and guidance by voice.

  The intersection guidance output unit 148 displays the intersection guidance created by the intersection guidance creation unit 146 on the display device 260, and when the intersection guidance includes voice guidance, outputs the voice guidance from the speaker.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the navigation device 100 has the storage device 230 and has been described as specifying the facility to which the driver pays attention using the map information DB 234 stored in the storage device 230. However, it is good also as a form which acquires the facility information or map information regarding an intersection periphery by road-to-vehicle communication, center communication, etc., and specifies the facility which a driver | operator pays attention using the said facility information or map information.

  Below, the flow of processing of the navigation device 100 will be described. The authentication information acquisition unit 112 acquires authentication information for identifying the driver 310 from the authentication device 280 and notifies the driver identification unit 114 of the authentication information. And if the driver specific | specification part 114 compares the authentication information notified by the authentication information acquisition part 112 with the authentication information DB232 memorize | stored in the memory | storage device 230, if the driver | operator 310 can be authenticated, the specified driving | operation will be performed. Information related to the person 310 is stored in the authentication information DB 232.

  On the other hand, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122 acquires image data regarding the head of the driver 310 acquired by the in-vehicle camera 250 and detects the direction of the line of sight of the driver 310 based on the image data. And the facility 310 which the driver 310 is paying attention to based on the information regarding the direction of the line of sight of the driver 310 acquired from the line-of-sight information acquiring unit 122, the map information DB 234, and the information regarding the current position. And the intersection guide unit 140 is notified of information related to the facility.

  On the other hand, the route guidance function unit 130 notifies the intersection guidance unit 140 that the driver 310 should be guided regarding the intersection where the vehicle 300 will pass soon. Then, when the history facility determination unit 142 receives the notification from the route guidance function unit 130, the history facility determination unit 142 acquires history information at the intersection regarding the notification from the attention facility history information DB 326. Subsequently, the history facility determination unit 142 determines whether or not the facility relating to the history information acquired above can be used as a mark for intersection guidance at this intersection.

  When the history facility determination unit 142 determines that there is a facility that has attracted attention at a high frequency at this intersection and can be used for intersection guidance, the intersection guidance creation unit 146 uses the facility to determine the intersection. The intersection guidance output unit 148 displays the created guidance on the display device 260.

  If the history facility determination unit 142 determines that there is no facility that can be used for intersection guidance at this intersection, the facility of interest determination unit 144 determines whether the facility notified by the facility of interest identification unit 124 can be used for intersection guidance. Determine whether or not. Then, when the facility of interest determination unit 144 determines that the facility can be used for intersection guidance, the intersection guidance creation unit 146 creates guidance for the intersection using the facility, and outputs it to the intersection guidance output unit 148. Displays the created guidance on the display device 260.

  When the facility-of-interest determination unit 144 determines that the facility that the driver 310 is paying attention to cannot be used as intersection guidance, the intersection guidance creation unit 146 creates intersection guidance according to the initial setting, and Is displayed on the display device 260 by the intersection guidance output unit 148.

  In the present invention, by performing the processing as described above, it is possible to guide an easy-to-understand intersection according to the driver's line of sight, and display it on the screen as compared with a navigation device that displays all images of the intersection. A navigation device capable of reducing the amount of information can be provided.

(Hardware configuration of navigation device according to the present embodiment)
The hardware configuration of the navigation device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the navigation device 100 according to the present embodiment. The navigation device 100 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 200, a ROM (Read-Only Memory) 210, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 220, a HDD (Hard Disc Drive) 230, a position detection device 240, an in-vehicle camera 250, and a display device 260. A speaker 270 and an authentication device 280.

  The CPU 200 is a device that executes a program stored in the ROM 210, and performs arithmetic processing on the data expanded (loaded) in the RAM 220 in accordance with the instructions of the program to control the entire navigation device 100. The ROM 210 stores programs executed by the CPU 200 and data. When the program stored in the ROM 210 is executed by the CPU 200 by the CPU 200, the program and data to be executed are expanded (loaded), and the RAM 220 temporarily holds the operation data during the operation.

  The HDD 230 is a device that stores an OS (Operating System) that is basic software, an application program according to the present embodiment, a plug-in for function expansion, and the like together with related data. In the present embodiment, the HDD 230 has an authentication information DB 232 for authenticating the driver 310, a map information DB 234 used for route guidance to the destination, and a history about the facility that the driver 310 noted when passing the intersection. An attention facility history information DB 236 that is information is stored.

  The position detection device 240 is a device that measures the current position of the vehicle, and includes a vehicle speed sensor that detects a moving distance, an angular velocity sensor that detects a moving direction, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, a CPU for position calculation, and the like. Yes. The in-vehicle camera 250 is installed on the driver side dashboard of the vehicle 300, for example, as shown in FIG. The in-vehicle camera 250 captures the head of the driver 310 and outputs image data that is a capturing result. Here, the in-vehicle camera 250 may be a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera or a CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) camera. Moreover, the camera of another form may be sufficient.

  The display device 260 includes a key switch using hard keys and an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and functions as a user interface when the user uses the functions of the navigation device 100 or when performing various settings. is there. In the present embodiment, the display device 260 displays a map used for route guidance to a destination, an enlarged map used for intersection guidance, and the like. The speaker 270 is a device that generates electric sounds such as music and voice by changing electrical signals into physical vibrations. In the present embodiment, when the route guidance to the destination is given to the driver 310, voice guidance flows from the speaker 270 in linkage with the map displayed on the display device 260.

  The authentication device 280 is a device for acquiring an ID for authenticating the driver 310. For example, with respect to the form for acquiring the ID for authentication, the form for acquiring the ID by receiving a weak radio wave transmitted from a key for starting the engine of the vehicle 300 or the driver 310 from an input device such as a keyboard. The form which acquires the said input ID is considered.

  Each process of the navigation device 100 according to the present embodiment may be realized by the CPU 200 executing a program corresponding to each process stored in the ROM 210 or the HDD 230, and each process may be performed by hardware. It is good also as a form implement | achieved by.

(About processing of driver authentication department)
The process of the driver authentication unit according to the present embodiment will be described using FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a processing example of the driver authentication unit 110 according to the present embodiment. Here, it is assumed that when the driver 310 starts the engine of the vehicle 300, a process for authenticating the driver 310 is performed. In addition, the authentication ID for specifying the driver 310 is acquired from a radio wave transmitted from the ignition key of the vehicle 300.

  In S10, the driver authentication unit 110 starts processing. When the driver 310 inserts the ignition key into the keyhole and starts the engine in S12, the authentication device 280 acquires the authentication ID of the driver 310 from the ignition key.

  Next, in S12, the authentication information acquisition unit 112 acquires the authentication ID of the driver 310 from the authentication device 280. Then, the authentication information acquisition unit 112 notifies the driver identification unit 114 of the acquired authentication ID. In S14, the driver identification unit 114 compares the authentication ID received from the authentication information acquisition unit 112 with the authentication information DB 232, and identifies the driver 310.

  If the authentication ID compared in S14 matches the driver ID in S16 and the driver 310 can be identified (Yes in S16), the driver identification unit 114 can identify the driver in S18. The information of the driver 310 is stored in the authentication information DB 232, and the driver authentication unit 110 ends the process in S20. If the driver identification unit 114 does not match the authentication IDs compared in S14 in S16 and the driver 310 cannot be identified (No in S16), the driver authentication unit 110 ends the process in S20.

  By specifying the driver 310 as described above, even when the facility to be noted at the intersection is different for each driver, the intersection guidance can be performed using the facility suitable for each driver.

(About the processing of the line-of-sight determination unit)
The process of the line-of-sight determination unit according to the present embodiment will be described using FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing example of the line-of-sight determination unit 120 according to the present embodiment. Here, as shown in FIG. 1, a process for performing intersection guidance for the driver 310 when the vehicle 300 approaches the intersection will be described.

  In step S30, the line-of-sight determination unit 120 starts processing. The vehicle-mounted camera 250 installed as shown in FIG. 3 in S32 images the driver 310 from the front, and acquires image data of the head of the driver 310. In step S <b> 32, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122 acquires the image data captured by the in-vehicle camera 250, performs image recognition processing on the image data, and detects the position of the driver's eyes. Further, in S32, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 124 performs further image recognition processing on the detected image around the eye position, and specifies the direction of the line of sight of the driver 310 based on the position of the black eye in the white eye. To do. Then, the line-of-sight information acquisition unit 122 notifies the facility-of-interest identification unit 124 of information regarding the identified line-of-sight direction.

  In S34, the facility-of-interest specifying unit 124 determines the driver based on the information on the direction of the driver's line of sight, the map information on the map information DB 234, and the information on the current position of the vehicle 300 detected by the position detection device 240. The process which specifies the facility 320 which 310 is paying attention to is performed. Here, the attention facility specifying unit 124 searches the facility in order from the current position of the vehicle 300 in the direction of the line of sight on the map shown in FIG. The facility 320 is identified.

  If the facility of interest identification unit 124 can identify the facility that the driver 310 is paying attention to in S36 (Yes in S36), the facility of interest identification unit 124 sends information on the facility 320 to the intersection guidance unit 140 in S38. In step S40, the line-of-sight determination unit 120 ends the process. If the facility-of-interest specifying unit 124 cannot identify the facility that the driver 310 is paying attention to in S36 (No in S36), the line-of-sight determination unit 120 ends the process in S40.

  By performing the processing as described above, it is possible to perform intersection guidance using a facility that the driver pays attention to when performing intersection guidance. In addition, by identifying a facility to be noticed when the driver passes the intersection and storing information on the facility as a history, the facility is used as a mark for intersection guidance that is performed when the driver passes the intersection again. be able to.

  Further, in the present embodiment, the navigation device 100 has the storage device 230 and has been described as specifying the facility to which the driver pays attention using the map information DB 234 stored in the storage device 230. However, it is good also as a form which acquires the facility information or map information regarding an intersection periphery by road-to-vehicle communication, center communication, etc., and specifies the facility which a driver | operator pays attention using the said facility information or map information.

(About the process of the intersection guide part which concerns on this Embodiment)
The process of the intersection guide part which concerns on this Embodiment is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing example of the intersection guide unit 140 according to the present embodiment. Here, as shown in FIG. 1, a process for performing intersection guidance for the driver 310 when the vehicle 300 approaches the intersection will be described. Further, it is assumed that the driver 310 is paying attention to the facility 320 as shown in FIG.

  In S50, the intersection guide unit 140 starts processing. In S52, the history facility determination unit 142 receives a notification that the intersection guidance notified from the route guidance function unit 130 should be created. In S <b> 54, the history facility determination unit 142 acquires history information regarding the intersection notified from the route guidance function unit 130 from the attention facility history information DB 236. Then, in S54, the history facility determination unit 142 determines whether or not there is a facility that is frequently observed when the driver 310 passes the intersection based on the acquired history information.

  When the history facility determination unit 142 determines in S56 that there is a facility that is noticed at a high frequency when the driver 310 passes through the intersection (Yes in S56), the history facility determination unit 142 determines that there is the facility Information on the facility is notified to the intersection guidance creation unit 146. In step S58, the intersection guidance creation unit 146 creates an enlarged intersection map and voice guidance using the facility based on the information about the facility notified from the history facility determination unit 142 and the map information around the facility. .

  When the history facility determination unit 142 determines in S56 that there is no facility that has been noticed with high frequency when the driver 310 passes through the intersection (in the case of No in S56), the attention facility determination unit 142 receives attention in S60. Information on the facility 320 to which the driver 310 noticed from the facility specifying unit 124 is focused is acquired.

  In S62, the facility-of-interest determination unit 144 determines whether the facility 320 that the driver 310 pays attention to is a facility that can be used for intersection guidance. When the facility-of-interest determination unit 144 determines in S64 that the facility 320 can be used for intersection guidance (Yes in S64), the facility-of-interest determination unit 144 determines the name of the intersection, the current date and time, and information about the facility 320 in S66. Are stored in the noted facility history information DB 236.

  In S70, the intersection guidance creation unit 146 creates an enlarged intersection map and voice guidance using the facility 320 based on the information about the facility 320 notified from the facility-of-interest determination unit 142 and the map information around the facility 320.

  When the facility-of-interest determination unit 144 determines in S64 that the facility 320 cannot be used for intersection guidance (No in S64), the intersection guidance creation unit 146 creates an enlarged intersection map or voice guidance according to the initial settings in S68. .

  In S72, the intersection guidance creation unit 146 transfers the created intersection guidance to the intersection guidance output unit 148, and the intersection guidance output unit 148 displays the enlarged intersection map regarding the received intersection guidance on the display device 260, and relates to the intersection guidance. Voice guidance is output from the speaker 270.

  By performing the processing as described above, the intersection guidance can be performed using the facility that the driver has focused on in the past. Further, by performing the above-described processing, it is possible to perform intersection guidance using the facility that the driver is paying attention to at the time of intersection guidance.

(Summary)
In the present invention, a navigation device that can guide an easy-to-understand intersection according to the driver's line of sight and can reduce the amount of information displayed on the screen as compared with a navigation device that displays all images of the intersection. Can be provided.
Although the embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiment, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the gist of the present invention described in the claims.・ Change is possible.

It is a figure explaining the outline | summary of the navigation apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the principle of operation of the navigation device concerning this embodiment. It is a figure explaining the example of installation of the vehicle-mounted camera which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the navigation apparatus concerning this Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process example of the driver | operator authentication part which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process example of the gaze determination part which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the process example of the intersection guide part which concerns on this Embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Navigation apparatus 110 Driver authentication part 112 Authentication information acquisition part 114 Driver specific part 120 Gaze judgment part 122 Gaze information acquisition part 124 Attention facility specification part 130 Route guidance function part 140 Intersection guide part 142 History facility determination part 144 Attention facility determination Unit 146 Intersection guide creation unit 148 Intersection guide output unit 200 CPU
210 ROM
220 RAM
230 HDD
240 Position detection device 250 Car-mounted camera 260 Display device 270 Speaker 280 Authentication device 300 Vehicle 310 Driver 320 Facility where driver pays attention at intersection

Claims (4)

A navigation device that provides guidance at the intersection based on facility information related to the vicinity of an intersection in the traveling direction of the vehicle for a driver driving the vehicle,
Gaze direction detection means for detecting the direction of the gaze of the driver;
Based on the direction of the line of sight detected by the line-of-sight direction detection unit and the facility information, the facility-of-interest specifying unit that specifies the facility that the driver is interested in
A navigation apparatus comprising: an intersection guidance unit that performs guidance at the intersection using information on the facility identified by the facility of interest identification unit.   The facility-of-interest specifying means specifies the facility to which the driver pays attention based on the direction of the line of sight detected by the line-of-sight direction detecting unit and map information about an intersection in the traveling direction of the vehicle. The navigation device according to claim 1. It has information about the facility specified by the facility of interest specifying means, and has facility information storage means for storing information about the facility to be noted when the driver passes the intersection,
The navigation apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the intersection guidance unit uses information on the facility stored in the facility information storage unit.   The intersection guidance means uses information related to the facility specified by the noted facility specification means, and uses information related to the facility that the driver pays attention to when the guidance is performed by the intersection guidance means. The navigation device according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

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