JP2009258583A - Map display device and map display method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a map display device enabling a user to comprehend, even when there are a lot of features in an area, what features are present in the area. <P>SOLUTION: The map display device 100 is constituted mainly of: a database 140 serving as an information storage section; a map display section 130 displaying a map and display icons; an overlap decision section 110 deciding whether an icon overlaps another icon; and an icon creating section 120 creating display icons. When a plurality of leaf node icons decided by the overlap decision section 110 to be overlapping have a plurality of attributes, the icon creating section 120 creates, as a display icon, an inner node icon which shows the attribute lower than the upper attribute that includes all of the plurality of attributes and higher than the attribute that the plurality of leaf icons have. The map display section 130 displays the display icon at the position corresponding to an overlapping icon group on a map, that is, at the position where the overlapping icon is to be displayed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a map display device that displays an icon indicating the presence of a feature on a map.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a map display device that displays a map on a computer screen, a configuration is known in which an icon is displayed for each feature in order to allow a user to recognize the feature existing on the map. The icon is an image indicating the position and content of the feature on the map. In this configuration, when a map is divided into a plurality of areas and there are many icons to be displayed in the area, icons representing all the features are displayed at the center of the area (Patent Document 1).
JP 2004-066951 A

  However, if icons representing all the features are displayed, the range represented by the displayed icons becomes too large, and it becomes difficult for the user to understand what features exist.

  According to the present invention, even if a large number of features are present in a certain area, the user can grasp what features are present.

  The map display device according to the first invention of the present application displays the map using the map information and the information storage unit that stores the map information used for displaying the map and the feature information that is information about the feature, and When displaying a map display unit displaying icons indicating the position and contents of features on the map according to the feature information and a plurality of leaf node icons corresponding to each of the plurality of features on the map display unit, When a leaf node icon having a different attribute is included in a superimposition determination unit that determines whether or not a plurality of leaf node icons are to be superimposed and a plurality of leaf node icons to be superimposed, all the different attributes are included. Icon creation that creates an internal node icon as a display icon that is lower than the higher attribute and that indicates the higher attribute than the attributes of the leaf node icons. And a section, the map display unit, and displaying the icon at a position corresponding to the superposition icon group.

  Preferably, each icon has a priority, and the icon creation unit creates the internal node icon having the highest priority among the internal node icons as a display icon.

  The icon creation unit may create a display indicating the number of features included in the attribute of the display icon together with the display icon.

  The indication display is preferably a numerical value, a color, or a bar graph.

  Further, the icon creation unit includes a node classified into a root node icon positioned at the top, a leaf node icon positioned at the bottom, and an internal node icon positioned between the root node icon and the leaf node icon. According to the configured tree structure, the number of display icons, which is the number of display icons to be displayed on the map display unit, is determined in advance, and an internal node icon indicating a lower attribute is created as a display icon according to the number of display icons. Good.

  The icon creation unit may divide the map displayed on the map display unit into a plurality of areas, and may create a display icon on the assumption that a plurality of display icons displayed in one area are superimposed. .

  The map display unit displays a path that is a route that humans can pass or that can pass through transportation as a map, and the icon creation unit divides the path displayed on the map display unit into an arbitrary range, A display icon may be created on the assumption that a plurality of display icons displayed in one range are superimposed.

  The icon creation unit may create a display icon for each side of the path of the path.

  The icon creation unit may create a display icon representing a building town when buildings having a predetermined height or more exist in an arbitrary range at a certain ratio or more.

  The map display unit displays a display icon on the feature corresponding to the plurality of leaf node icons in the map, and the icon creation unit is a feature other than the feature on which the display icon is displayed, the display icon and A reduced icon smaller than the display icon is created for the feature having the same attribute, and the map display unit is a feature other than the feature on which the display icon is displayed and has the same attribute as the display icon. It is preferable to display a reduction icon on the object.

  The reduction icon is preferably a circle or a rectangle.

  The icon creation unit is composed of nodes classified into a root node icon located at the top, a leaf node icon located at the bottom, and an internal node icon located between the root node icon and the leaf node icon. The number of display icons to be displayed on the map display unit is determined in advance according to a tree structure having a weight corresponding to the number of all nodes belonging to the node under the node, and the display icon is displayed on the root node icon. When the number of child nodes whose weight is not 0 among the child nodes of the node to which the number of display icons is assigned is equal to or less than the number of assigned display icons, the number of display icons is assigned according to the weight of the child node, When the number of child nodes whose weight is not 0 is greater than the number of assigned display icons, the number of display icons is assigned. It is preferable to create an icon representing the nodes as a display icon.

  The icon creation unit divides the map displayed on the map display unit into a plurality of regions, regards a plurality of display icons displayed in one region as superimposed, and displays icons according to the area of the region. A number may be determined.

  A map display server according to a second invention of the present application includes an information storage unit that stores map information used for displaying a map on a map display unit provided in a client and feature information that is information about the feature, and a plurality of features When a plurality of leaf node icons corresponding to each of the objects are displayed on the map display unit, a superimposition determination unit that determines whether or not the plurality of leaf node icons are superimposed, and a superposition composed of the plurality of leaf node icons to be superimposed When a leaf node icon having different attributes is included in the icon group, an internal node icon that is lower than the upper attribute that includes all the different attributes and that indicates an attribute higher than the attribute of the plurality of leaf node icons is displayed. An icon creation unit created as a display icon, and the map display unit displays the display icon at a position where the superimposed icon group should be displayed. And features.

  A map display system according to a third invention of the present application displays a map using the map display server and map information, and displays an icon indicating the position and content of the feature on the map according to the feature information. And a client having a display unit.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a map display method comprising: reading out map information used for displaying a map on a map display unit and feature information which is information relating to the feature from the information storage unit; and When displaying a plurality of leaf node icons corresponding to, on the map display unit, a step for determining whether or not the plurality of leaf node icons are superimposed, and a different attribute for the superimposed icon group composed of the plurality of leaf node icons to be superimposed If a leaf node icon having “” is included, an internal node icon that is lower than an upper attribute that includes all different attributes and that is higher than an attribute of a plurality of leaf node icons is created as a display icon. A step of displaying a map on the map display unit using the map information, and a display icon at a position where the superimposed icon group is to be displayed. Characterized in that it comprises a step of displaying the.

  Preferably, the map display method further includes a step of assigning priority to each icon, and the icon creation unit further includes a step of using the internal node icon having the highest priority among the internal node icons as a display icon.

  Further, the map display method includes a node classified into a root node icon positioned at the top, a leaf node icon positioned at the bottom, and an internal node icon positioned between the root node icon and the leaf node icon. A step for preparing a tree structure to be configured, a step for determining the number of display icons of a display icon to be created, a step for giving a weight to a node according to the number of all nodes belonging to itself, and a display for a root node icon When assigning the number of icons, and when the number of child nodes whose weight is not 0 among the child nodes of the node to which the number of display icons is assigned is equal to or less than the number of assigned display icons, the number of display icons according to the weight of the child node And the number of display icons to which the number of child nodes whose weight is not 0 is assigned Big time may comprise the steps of the display icon on the icon representing the node number display icon is assigned.

  A program according to a fifth invention of the present application is a program for causing a map display device to execute the map display method.

  As described above, according to the present invention, there is obtained a map display device that allows a user to grasp what features are present even when there are many features in a certain region.

  Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating a map display device 100 according to the present embodiment.

  The map display device 100 includes a database 140 that is an information storage unit, a map display unit 130 that displays a map and a display icon, a superimposition determination unit 110 that determines whether or not the icon is superimposed, and an icon that creates a display icon It is mainly composed of the creation unit 120.

  The database 140 stores map information used for displaying a map, landmark information which is information about landmarks, icon tree information, icon node information, superimposition information, and area information.

  A landmark is a feature that can be used as a landmark by a user among features displayed on a map. The landmark information includes a landmark name, a position coordinate of the landmark, and an icon name indicating an icon corresponding to the landmark.

  The icon tree is composed of icon nodes classified into a root icon node located at the top, a leaf icon node located at the bottom, and an internal icon node located between the root icon node and the leaf icon node. This is a tree structure. Each icon node has a corresponding icon, and the icon tree indicates the inclusion relationship of landmarks indicated by each icon by a tree structure. The icon tree information is composed of names of icon nodes constituting the icon tree and data indicating connection relations between the icon nodes (see FIG. 6).

  The icon node information includes the name of the icon corresponding to the icon node, the image name of the icon, the number of appearances, and the priority (see FIG. 26). When the icon node is positioned at the lowest position in the leaf node, that is, the icon tree, the name of the landmark is stored in the icon name. The number of appearances is a value indicating the number of icon nodes corresponding to the landmark displayed on the map among the icon nodes positioned below the icon node indicated by the icon node information. The priority is determined for each icon node in three stages of high, medium, and low, and is used in processing that will be described later.

  In addition, the user can set a priority for each icon node. When the user sets an attribute of the landmark to be searched, the priority of the icon node corresponding to the attribute is changed. A high priority is set for the landmark to be searched. For example, when the user searches for a restaurant, the priority of the icon node having the restaurant attribute is set to high. In addition, the priority of an icon node close to a restaurant, for example, having a fast food attribute is set to medium. The priority of an icon node having a distant relationship with a restaurant, for example, an attribute of a clothes store is set to low. The number of appearances and the priority are displayed on the right side of each icon node in FIG.

  Superimposition information is information that defines the position and range of a superimposed icon group consisting of a plurality of icons to be superimposed or a plurality of icons existing in one area on the map screen, and includes an icon name included in the superimposed icon group, And center coordinates for determining the center position of the superimposed icon group, and range values for determining the shape and range. The area information is information that defines the position and range of the area, and includes center coordinates that define the center position of the area and range values that define the shape and range of the area. The area includes, for example, an area obtained by dividing a map into a plurality of rectangular areas, administrative divisions, and a certain range from a road (shopping district, office district, etc.).

  The icon is an image indicating the position and content of the landmark on the map according to the landmark information. The contents of the landmark are the name and attribute of the landmark, such as a landmark store name, a franchise name, a clothes store, and a store. The leaf node icon is an icon corresponding to each of a plurality of landmarks located on the bottom side of the icon tree. The superimposition determination unit 110 determines whether or not a plurality of leaf node icons are superimposed when a plurality of leaf node icons are displayed on the map display unit 130, and registers the superimposition information in the database 140.

  The display icon is an icon displayed on the map display unit 130. When the plurality of leaf node icons determined to be superimposed by the superimposition determination unit 110 have a plurality of attributes, the icon creation unit 120 is lower than the upper attribute that includes all the plurality of attributes, and the plurality of leaf nodes An internal node icon indicating an attribute higher than the attribute of the icon is created as a display icon.

  The map display unit 130 displays a display icon at a position corresponding to the superimposed icon group on the map, that is, a position where the superimposed icon is to be displayed.

  Next, a first icon drawing process for drawing an icon on a map will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 does not show the map display unit 130 that actually displays a map, but shows the map display unit 130 that virtually displays icons for explanation. The first icon drawing process is executed after the map is displayed on the map display unit 130.

  First, in step S201, the superimposition determination unit 110 determines whether icons displayed on the landmarks overlap each other. The superimposition determination unit 110 determines whether or not to superimpose from the scale of the displayed map, the position coordinates of the landmark, and the size of the icon on the map display unit without displaying the icon on the map. If it is determined to be superimposed, the process proceeds to step S202. If it is determined not to be superimposed, the first icon drawing process ends. As shown in FIG. 5, leaf node icons 511, 512, and 513 constitute a superimposed icon group 510.

  The icon creation unit 120 executes the processes from step S202 to S210. In step S202, the landmark information set L of landmarks corresponding to the icons included in the superimposed icon group 510 and the number of landmarks corresponding to the icons included in each superimposed icon group 510 are obtained.

  In the next steps S203 to S210, a superposition loop is executed. In the weight loop, the processes of steps S204 to S209 are performed on each of the plurality of superimposed icon groups 510.

  In step S204, a tree creation process to be described later is executed. In the tree creation process, an icon node that is an ancestor of all landmarks included in the superimposed icon group 510 is extracted, and a subtree T having the icon node as a vertex is created. Referring to the icon tree 600 shown in FIG. 6, the icon node that is an ancestor of all the landmarks A, B, and C included in the superimposed icon group 510 is an internal node 641. Therefore, a subtree T671 having the internal node 641 as a vertex is obtained.

  In step S205, the sum of the number of all leaf nodes included in the subtree T is obtained. This number is the number O of appearances of leaf nodes. Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, leaf node icons A, B, and C indicating landmarks exist in the region 501 and the subtree T671. That is, the appearance number O is 3.

  In step S206, the internal node Nmax having the highest priority in the subtree T is obtained. In the subtree T671, the priority “high” is assigned to the internal node 631, the priority “medium” is assigned to the internal node 641, and the priority “low” is assigned to the other internal nodes. Yes. That is, the internal node Nmax having the highest priority is the internal node 631 (see FIG. 6).

  In step S207, the internal node Nmax is set as the highest level, and a subtree T ′ including all the lower nodes is obtained. That is, the subtree T ′ 672 is a subtree T ′ with the internal node 631 as the highest level (see FIG. 6).

  In step S208, the sum of the number of all leaf nodes included in the subtree T 'is obtained. This sum is the number of occurrences O ′. Referring to FIG. 6, sub-tree T ′ 672 includes leaf node icons A and B. Therefore, the appearance number O ′ is 2.

  In step S209, a first icon display process to be described later is executed. By the icon execution process, the display icon 701 is displayed at a position corresponding to the superimposed icon group 510, that is, a position where the superimposed icon group 510 is to be displayed (see FIG. 7).

  Next, the tree creation process will be described with reference to FIGS. The tree creation process is executed by the icon creation unit 120. In FIG. 6, the number of appearances corresponding to each icon node is displayed on the right side of each icon node.

  In steps S301 to S304, a landmark loop is executed. In the landmark loop, steps S302 to S303 are executed for each of the plurality of landmark information.

  In step S302, the number of appearances of the leaf node Nj corresponding to the landmark information is increased by 1. That is, the number of appearances of the leaf node icons 611, 612, and 613 is 1. The number of appearances of the other leaf node icons 614 and 615 is not increased and remains 0.

  In step S303, the number of appearances of all icon nodes above the leaf node Nj is increased by one. As a result, the number of appearances of the internal node icons 621, 622, and 623 having the leaf node icons 611, 612, and 613 in the lower order is 1. Then, the number of appearances of the internal node icon 631 having the internal node icons 621 and 622 in the lower order becomes 2 by adding the number of appearances of the internal node icons 621 and 622. The number of appearances of the internal node icon 632 having the internal node icon 623 in the lower order is 1 in response to the number of appearances of the internal node icon 623.

  When this is executed for a higher-level internal node icon and root node icon, the number of appearances of the internal node icon 641 is obtained by adding the number of appearances of the internal icon 631 (appearance number 2) and the internal icon 632 (appearance number 1). Therefore, it becomes 3. Similarly, the number of appearances of the internal node icon 651 is 3, the number of appearances of the internal node icons 624, 625, 633, 634, and 652 is 0, and the number of appearances of the root node icon 661 is 3.

  When the landmark loop is repeatedly executed with respect to all landmark information, the landmark loop ends, and the process proceeds to step S305.

  In step S305, a set M of nodes whose appearance numbers are not 0 among the leaf nodes is calculated. That is, the set M includes leaf nodes 611, 612, and 613.

  In step S306, the highest node Na among the nodes that are higher than all the nodes that are elements of the set M is obtained. Referring to FIG. 6, the node Na is an internal node 641 that is a higher rank of all the leaf nodes 611, 612, and 613.

  In step S307, a subtree T composed of the node Na and all of its subordinate nodes is obtained. Therefore, the subtree T is a subtree T671 having the internal node 641 as a vertex.

  Then, the process returns to step S205 of the first icon drawing process.

  Next, the first icon display process will be described with reference to FIG. The icon display unit 120 executes the icon display process.

  In step S401, the icon image Pmax indicated by the icon image name of the node Nmax is acquired from the database 140.

  In step S402, a display indicating the sum O 'is drawn on the lower left of the icon image Pmax. In FIG. 6, since O ′ is 2, a bar graph 711 indicating 2 is drawn on the lower left of the icon image Pmax (see FIG. 7).

  In step S403, a display indicating (sum O-sum O ') is drawn on the lower right of the icon image Pmax. In FIG. 6, since the sum O is 3 (sum O-sum O ') is 1, a bar graph 712 indicating 1 is drawn on the lower right of the icon image Pmax (see FIG. 7).

  In step S404, an icon image Pmax (icon 701) is drawn at the center of the position where the superimposed icon group 510 is to be displayed (see FIG. 7).

  According to the present embodiment, by displaying a plurality of landmarks that are displayed in a lump together with a single display icon, the total number of icons displayed on the map display unit is reduced, and overlapping is eliminated. Users can easily check each icon.

  In addition, since a plurality of landmarks that are displayed in a superimposed manner are displayed together with a single display icon that semantically includes the plurality of landmarks, it is easy for the user to intuitively grasp the image of the area. To do.

  Further, by determining the representative icon according to the priority set by the user, it is possible to display icons according to the user's interest. For example, when three restaurants C, restaurant B, and convenience store D are displayed together, when the priority of the restaurant is set high, it indicates that there are two restaurants and one other landmark. One icon is displayed, and when the convenience store priority is set high, it is possible to display one icon indicating that there is one convenience store and two other landmarks.

  In step S402 of the icon display process, a numerical value representing the sum O may be drawn on the lower left of the icon image Pmax instead of the display of the reading. In step S403, a numerical value may be drawn in the lower left corner of the icon image Pmax instead of the indication display, and the numerical value or the indication display indicating the sum O instead of (sum O−sum O ′) may be displayed on the icon image Pmax. You may draw on top.

  Next, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 5 to 8. The description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is omitted.

  The configuration of the map display device 100 is configured by substantially the same elements as in the first embodiment. When the map display unit 130 is divided into a plurality of regions and a plurality of leaf node icons are displayed, the superimposition determination unit 110 determines whether or not a plurality of leaf node icons are displayed in one region. When a plurality of leaf node icons are displayed in one area, it is determined that the leaf node icons are superimposed. The area is, for example, an area obtained by dividing a map into a plurality of rectangular areas, administrative divisions, or a certain range from a road (shopping district, office district, etc.). In the present embodiment, description will be made assuming that the map displayed on the map display unit is divided into 5 × 5 areas.

  Next, a second icon drawing process for drawing an icon on the map will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 does not show the map display unit 130 that actually displays a map, but shows the map display unit 130 that virtually displays icons for explanation. The second icon drawing process is executed after the map is displayed on the map display unit 130.

  First, in step S201, when the map display unit 130 is divided into a plurality of areas and a plurality of leaf node icons are displayed, it is determined whether or not a plurality of leaf node icons are displayed in one area. Judgment. The superimposition determination unit 110 reads out area information from the database 140 and performs determination. When a plurality of leaf node icons are displayed in one area, it is considered that the leaf node icons are superimposed, and the process proceeds to step S202. When a plurality of leaf node icons are not displayed in one area, the second icon drawing process ends. As shown in FIG. 8, leaf node icons 811, 812, and 813 located in the area 801 constitute a superimposed icon group 810.

  Since the processing from step S202 to S210 is the same as that of the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  Thereby, the display icon 701 is displayed at the position where the superimposed icon group 810 is to be displayed (see FIG. 7).

  Since the tree creation process and the icon display process are the same as those in the first embodiment, description thereof is omitted.

  Next, a third embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is omitted. In addition, since the structure of the map display apparatus 100 is the same structure as 1st Embodiment, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The database 140 stores reduced icon information corresponding to each icon image. The reduced icon information includes a corresponding icon image name and a reduced icon image name. The reduced icon image is determined in shape and color according to the landmark corresponding to the icon image.

  A third icon drawing process for drawing an icon on the map will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 15 does not show the map display unit 130 that actually displays a map, but shows the map display unit 130 that virtually displays an icon for explanation. The third icon drawing process is executed after the map is displayed on the map display unit 130.

  Since the processes up to steps S901 and S902 are the same as steps S201 and S202 in the first icon process, description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIG. 15, leaf node icons 1511, 1512, 1513, and 1514 constitute a superimposed icon group 1510.

  The superimposition determination unit 110 executes step S901, and the icon creation unit 120 executes processing from steps S902 to S910.

  In steps S903 to S907, a superposition loop is executed. In the weight loop, the processes of steps S904 to S906 are executed for a plurality of superimposed icon groups. Hereinafter, the superimposed icon group 1510 in FIG. 15 and the icon tree in FIG. 16 will be described as examples.

  In step S904, a tree creation process to be described later is executed. The tree creation process is the same as step S204 in the first embodiment. As a result, a subtree T1671 having the internal node 1651 as a vertex is obtained.

  In step S905, a display icon determination process, which will be described later, is executed with the highest node Na in the subtree as the check node N. Check node N is an internal icon node 1651. When the display icon determination process is executed, a set H of display icons to be displayed on the map is obtained.

  In step S906, a second icon display process to be described later is executed using the display icon set H.

  As a result, a desired number of display icons can be displayed for one superimposed icon group (see FIG. 17).

  Next, the display icon determination process will be described with reference to FIGS. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 15 and 16, the number of display icons displayed for the superimposed icon group 1510, that is, the display icon number A is 2.

  In step S1001, a child node Nc whose appearance number is not 0 is selected from the child nodes of the check node N. As described above, since the vertex of the subtree T1671 is the internal node 1651, the check node N is the internal node 1651. Referring to FIG. 16, the child nodes of the check node N1651 are internal icon nodes 1641, 1633, and 1634. The internal icon node 1641 includes internal icon nodes 1631 and 1632 as child nodes.

  On the other hand, the internal icon node 1631 includes internal icon nodes 1621 and 1622 as child nodes. The internal icon node 1621 includes a leaf icon node 1611, and the internal icon node 1622 includes a leaf icon node 1612. The number of appearances of the leaf icon nodes 1611 and 1612 is 1 respectively. Therefore, the number of appearances of the internal icon nodes 1621 and 1622 is 1. The number of appearances of internal icon nodes 1631 that are higher than the internal icon nodes 1621 and 1622 is two.

  The internal icon node 1632 includes an internal icon node 1623, and the internal icon node 1623 includes a leaf icon node 1613. The number of appearances of the leaf icon node 1613 is 1. Therefore, the number of appearances of the internal icon node 1623 is 1, and the number of appearances of the internal icon node 1632 that is higher than the internal icon node 1623 is also 1. Furthermore, the number of appearances of internal icon nodes 1641 that are higher than the internal icon nodes 1631 and 1623 is three.

  The internal icon node 1633 includes an internal icon node 1624 and a leaf icon node 1625 as child nodes. The internal icon node 1624 includes leaf icon nodes 1614 and 1615. The number of appearances of leaf icon node 1614 is 1, and the number of appearances of 1615 is 0. Therefore, the number of appearances of the internal icon node 1624 is 1. On the other hand, the number of appearances of the leaf icon node 1625 is zero. Therefore, the number of appearances of the internal icon node 1633 is 1.

  The internal icon node 1634 has no child nodes. Therefore, the number of appearances of the internal icon node 1634 is zero.

  From the above, the internal icon nodes 1641 and 1633 are selected as the node Nc.

  In step S1002, it is determined whether or not the check node N1651 is a leaf node. Since the check node N1651 is not a leaf node, the process proceeds to step S1003.

  In step S1003, it is determined whether or not the display icon number A is equal to or greater than the number of nodes Nc. If the display icon number A is equal to or greater than the number of nodes Nc, the process proceeds to step S1004. If the display icon number A is smaller than the number of nodes Nc, the process proceeds to step S1007. As described above, since the number A of display icons is 2 and the number of nodes Nc is 2, the process proceeds to step S1004.

  In steps S1004 to S1006, an extraction loop is executed. In the extraction loop, in step S1005, a value obtained by dividing the number of display icons A by the number of nodes Nc is substituted for the number of display icons A, and display icon determination processing is executed using the node Nc as a check node. If the display icon number A is not divisible by the number of nodes Nc, the remainder is discarded. That is, in steps S1004 to S1006, the display icon number A is set to 1, and display icon determination processing is executed for each of the nodes Nc1641 and 1633.

  In step S1007, the check node N is registered in the display icon node set H. The display icon node set H is a set of display icons displayed on the map.

  Then, the display icon determination process ends.

  Next, the display icon determination process executed for the node Nc1641 in step S1005 will be described. As described above, the check node N is the node Nc1641, and the display icon number A is two.

  In step S1001, a child node Nc whose appearance number is not 0 is selected from the child nodes of the check node N1641. As described above, the internal icon node 1641 includes the internal icon nodes 1631 and 1632 as child nodes, the number of appearances of the internal icon node 1631 is 2, and the number of appearances of the internal node icon 1632 is 1. 1632 is selected as the node Nc. Therefore, the number of nodes Nc is two.

  In step S1002, it is determined whether or not the check node N1641 is a leaf node. Since the check node N1641 is not a leaf node, the process proceeds to step S1003.

  In step S1003, as described above, the display icon number A is 1 and the number of nodes Nc is 2, so the process advances to step S1007.

  In step S1007, the check node N1641 is registered in the display icon node set H.

  Next, the display icon determination process executed for the node Nc 1633 in step S1005 will be described. As described above, the check node N is the node Nc1633, and the display icon number A is two.

  In step S1001, a child node Nc whose appearance number is not 0 is selected from the child nodes of the check node N1633. As described above, the internal icon node 1633 includes the internal icon nodes 1624 and 1625 as child nodes, the number of appearances of the internal icon node 1624 is 1, and the number of appearances of the internal node icon 1625 is 0. Selected as node Nc. Therefore, the number of nodes Nc is 1.

  In step S1002, it is determined whether or not the check node N1633 is a leaf node. Since the check node N1633 is not a leaf node, the process proceeds to step S1003.

  In step S1003, as described above, the number A of display icons is 1 and the number of nodes Nc is 1. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S1004.

  In steps S1004 to S1006, an extraction loop is executed. That is, in steps S1004 to S1006, the display icon number A is set to 1, and display icon determination processing is executed for the node Nc 1624.

  Next, the display icon determination process executed for the node Nc 1624 in step S1005 will be described. As described above, the check node N is the node Nc 1624 and the display icon number A is 1.

  In step S1001, a child node Nc whose appearance number is not 0 is selected from the child nodes of the check node N1624. As described above, the internal icon node 1624 includes the internal icon nodes 1614 and 1615 as child nodes, the number of appearances of the internal icon node 1614 is 1, and the number of appearances of the internal node icon 1615 is 0. Selected as node Nc. Therefore, the number of nodes Nc is 1.

  In step S1002, it is determined whether or not the check node N1614 is a leaf node. Since the check node N1614 is a leaf node, the process proceeds to step S1007.

  In step S1007, the check node N1614 is registered in the display icon node set H.

  From the above, the display icon node set H includes the internal icon nodes 1641 and 1614 as elements.

  Thereby, all the display icon determination processes are completed.

  Next, the second icon display process will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in step S1101, an icon distribution process to be described later is executed. As a result, for all landmarks included in the superimposed icon group 1510, the icon names of the internal icon nodes are input to the icon name field of the landmark information corresponding to those landmarks.

  Next, in step S1102, a gravity center calculation process is executed. Thereby, the center of gravity of the superimposed icon group 1510 on the map is obtained.

  In step S1103, a proximity landmark calculation process for calculating the landmark closest to the center of gravity is executed.

  Thereafter, a display icon loop is executed in steps S1104 to S1111 and the processing from steps S1105 to S1110 is repeatedly executed for the number of display icons displayed in the area 1501.

  In steps S1105 to S1110, a landmark coordinate loop is executed, and the processing from steps S1106 to S1109 is repeatedly executed for the number of landmarks existing in the area 1501.

  In step S1106, it is determined whether or not the landmark icon name input in the icon distribution process is the same as the icon name of the display icon node. If they are the same, the process proceeds to the next step S1107, and if they are different, the process returns to step S1105 and is compared with the icon name of the next landmark. When the comparison with all landmarks is completed, the process proceeds to step S1107.

  In step S1107, it is determined whether the landmark selected in the landmark coordinate loop is closest to the center of gravity. This is determined by comparing the center of gravity calculated in the proximity landmark calculation process with the nearest landmark.

  If the landmark selected in the landmark coordinate loop is closest to the center of gravity, the icon images 1701 and 1702 indicated by the display icon node are displayed at the position coordinates of the selected landmark in step S1108.

  If the landmark is not closest to the center of gravity, the reduced icon images 1703 and 1704 are displayed at the position coordinates of the selected landmark according to the reduced icon information corresponding to the icon image included in the landmark information in step S1109. (See FIG. 17). In this embodiment, a circular point is used as the reduced icon image.

  By executing these processes for all display icons and landmarks, the second icon display process is completed.

  Next, icon distribution processing will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in steps S1201 to S1206, a display icon loop is executed, and the processing from steps S1202 to S1205 is repeatedly executed by the number of display icons displayed in the area 1501.

  In the next steps S1202 to S1205, a landmark coordinate loop is executed, and the processing from steps S1203 to S1204 is repeatedly executed by the number of landmarks existing in the area 1501.

  In step S1203, it is determined whether or not an icon node having the same name as the landmark selected in the landmark coordinate loop exists as a descendant of the internal icon node. If it does not exist, the process returns to step S1202. If it exists, the process proceeds to step S1204.

  In step S1204, for all landmarks included in the superimposed icon group 1510, the icon name of the internal icon node is input to the icon name field of landmark information corresponding to the landmark selected in the landmark coordinate loop.

  Thereby, the icon distribution process ends.

  Next, the center of gravity calculation process will be described with reference to FIG. The center of gravity is calculated using an XY coordinate system with the center of the map display unit 130 as the origin. This XY coordinate system has a one-to-one correspondence with latitude and longitude, and is converted into latitude and longitude by a function provided for each map scale.

  First, in steps S1301 to S1310, a display icon loop is executed, and the processing from steps S1301 to S1310 is repeatedly executed by the number of display icons displayed in the area 1501.

  In step S1302, variables X, Y, and T are initialized. Variables X and Y are used to add the X and Y coordinates of all icons belonging to the superimposed icon group, respectively. The variable T is used for calculating the number of icons belonging to the superimposed icon group.

  In the next steps S1303 to S1308, a landmark coordinate loop is executed. In this loop, the processes from step S1304 to S1307 are repeatedly executed for the number of landmarks included in the superimposed icon group 1510.

  In step S1304, it is determined whether the landmark and icon node selected in the landmark coordinate loop have the same name. If they are different, the process returns to step S1303. If they are the same, the process proceeds to step S1305.

  In step S1305, the X coordinate of the landmark selected in the landmark coordinate loop is added to the variable X.

  In step S1306, the Y coordinate of the landmark selected in the landmark coordinate loop is added to the variable Y.

  In step S1307, 1 is added to the variable T, and the number of icons is counted. As a result, the landmark coordinate loop ends in step S1308.

  In the next step S1309, the coordinates of the center of gravity G of the superimposed icon group 1510 are calculated. The X coordinate of the center of gravity G is calculated by dividing the variable X by the variable T and the Y coordinate by dividing the variable Y by the variable T.

  In step S1310, the display icon loop ends.

  Next, the proximity landmark calculation process will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, in steps S1401 to S1410, a display icon loop is executed, and the processing from steps S1402 to S1409 is repeatedly executed by the number of display icons displayed in the area 1501.

  In step S1402, variables Dmin and Ln are initialized. The variable Dmin is a variable for obtaining the minimum distance between the landmark selected in the landmark coordinate loop and the center of gravity. A sufficiently large value is input as the initial value. For example, the diagonal length of the map display screen is used as the initial value. The variable Ln is a variable for obtaining the nearest landmark from the center of gravity. Null is used as an initial value.

  In the next steps S1403 to S1408, a landmark coordinate loop is executed. In this loop, the processes from step S1404 to S1407 are repeatedly executed for the number of landmarks included in the superimposed icon group 1510.

  In step S1404, it is determined whether the landmark and icon node selected in the landmark coordinate loop have the same name. If they are different, the process returns to step S1403. If they are the same, the process proceeds to step S1405.

  In step S1405, it is determined whether the distance between the landmark selected in the landmark coordinate loop and the center of gravity is smaller than the minimum distance Dmin. If it is smaller, the process proceeds to step S1406, and if it is greater than or equal to the minimum distance Dmin, the process returns to step S1403.

  In step S1406, the distance between the landmark and the center of gravity is substituted for the minimum distance Dmin.

  In step S1407, the landmark selected in the landmark coordinate loop is substituted into the nearest landmark variable Ln. Thereby, the landmark coordinate loop ends in step S1408.

  By repeating the processes from step S1404 to S1407 for the number of landmarks, the landmark closest to the center of gravity and the distance between the landmark and the center of gravity are obtained.

  In step S1409, a landmark variable Ln indicating a landmark closest to the center of gravity of the superimposed icon group 1510 is substituted into the variable Lnear. The variable Lnear is a variable given for each display icon.

  By repeating the processing from step S1402 to S1409 by the number of display icons, a landmark closest to the center of gravity is obtained for each display icon.

  When the display icon loop is completed through step S1410, the proximity landmark calculation process ends.

  According to the present embodiment, an intermediate icon can be displayed instead of the icon that is the highest rank with respect to the superimposed icon. Thereby, the user can grasp | ascertain the landmark on a map exactly.

  In addition, when there are many icons of the same type in the vicinity, the number of icons to be drawn can be reduced by displaying some icons as dots and assigning correspondences by colors. Thereby, the map concealed by the icon is reduced, the visibility of the map is improved, and the user can easily grasp the image of the region intuitively. For example, it is possible to intuitively grasp the image of a region with many restaurants, a region with many convenience stores, a region with many parking lots, and the like.

  Note that the map display device 100 in the present embodiment may have the same configuration as in the second embodiment. When a plurality of leaf node icons 1811, 1812, 1813, and 1814 are displayed in one of the regions obtained by dividing the map display unit 130 (see FIG. 18), the leaf node icons displayed in the region 1501 Display icons 1701 and 1702 are displayed in the region (see FIG. 17). At this time, the number of display icons is obtained by multiplying a predetermined icon density by the area of the region. The icon density is the number of icons to be displayed in a unit pixel (1 pixel × 1 pixel) area. That is, the number of display icons is determined according to the area of the region 1501 on the map display unit 130. When the area of the region increases on the map display unit 130, the number of display icons increases, and the region on the map display unit 130 increases. When the area becomes smaller, the number of displayed icons is reduced.

  The display icon may be determined according to the priority of the internal icon node. By determining the representative icon according to the priority set by the user, it is possible to display an icon according to the user's interest.

  Next, a fourth embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. The description of the same configuration as that of the first embodiment is omitted. In addition, since the structure of the map display apparatus 100 is the same structure as 1st Embodiment, description is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the present embodiment, a display icon is displayed for an icon displayed within a certain range in the path. Hereinafter, a road is used as an example of a path, and a certain range on the road will be described as a road range.

  A fourth icon drawing process for drawing an icon on the map will be described. FIG. 20 conceptually shows the map display unit 130 that virtually displays icons for the sake of explanation, not the map display unit 130 that actually displays a map. As illustrated in FIG. 20, leaf node icons 2011 to 2020 located within the road range 2001 constitute a superimposed icon group 2010.

  In steps S1901 to S1909, a pass loop is executed, and the processing from steps S1902 to S1908 is repeatedly executed by the number of all road areas existing on the map display screen.

  In step S1902, the landmark set L corresponding to the icons included in the superimposed icon group 2010 in the road range 2001 and the number of icons included in the superimposed icon group 2010 are obtained.

  In the next steps S1903 to S1906, a landmark coordinate loop is executed. In the landmark coordinate loop, the processes of steps S1904 to S1905 are executed for each of the landmarks included in the superimposed icon group 2010.

  In step S1904, it is determined whether the height of the landmark is greater than a height threshold Hg. The height threshold Hg is a preset height, for example, 30 meters. If it is larger, the process proceeds to step S1905. If it is equal to or lower than the height threshold Hg, the process returns to step S1903, and a landmark coordinate loop is executed for the next landmark.

  In step S1905, the number H of high-rise buildings is increased by one. In step S1906, the landmark coordinate loop ends.

  By repeating the processing from step S1903 to S1906 by the number of landmarks, the number of landmarks that are higher than the height threshold Hg can be calculated.

  In the next step S1907, it is determined whether or not the number H of high-rise buildings is greater than or equal to the building threshold Ng. If it is greater than or equal to the building threshold value Ng, the process proceeds to step S1908. If it is smaller than the building threshold value Ng, the process proceeds to step S1909, and a road loop is executed for the next road range.

  In step S1908, the building city icon 2101 indicating the building city is displayed at the center of gravity of the road range (see FIG. 21).

  And if a road loop is completed through step S1909, a 4th icon drawing process will be complete | finished.

  According to the present embodiment, the height of landmarks existing around the path can be indicated using the display icon. Thereby, the user can grasp | ascertain the condition of the building around a pass and a landmark exactly.

  In step S1907, whether or not buildings exist at an average interval of 10 meters or less may be used as a condition. At this time, the condition is whether or not L / Ng ≦ 10 is satisfied for the road range of the road length L. If this condition is met, the process proceeds to step S1908. If not, the process proceeds to step S1909, and a road loop is executed for the next road range.

A plurality of height thresholds may be provided, and different display icons may be displayed for each building height.
Further, instead of determining the display icon based on the height of the building, the display icon may be displayed according to the attribute of the main tenant who moves into the building. Thereby, for example, display icons such as “government street” and “shopping street” can be displayed.

  The road range may be divided with the road as a boundary. Thereby, display icons can be displayed on both sides of the road.

  A road range may be used as a region in the second embodiment, and a plurality of landmarks 2211 to 2214 existing in the road range 2201 as shown in FIG. 22 may be displayed with one display icon 2311 (see FIG. 23). . In addition, an area obtained by dividing a road range with a road as a boundary may be used as an area in the second embodiment. Display icons 2411 and 2412 are displayed on both sides of the road (see FIG. 24).

  The path does not have to be a road, and may be any route that can be traveled by humans, such as railroads, bridges, and rivers, or that can be traveled using transportation.

  In addition, the database 140 as the information storage unit, the superimposition determination unit 110, and the icon creation unit 120 are provided in the server 2510, the map display unit 2521 is provided in the client 2520, and the server 2510 and the client 2520 are connected via a network, A display system may be configured (see FIG. 25). As a result, the user can refer to the landmark on the map via the network.

  In addition, in any embodiment, although the structure which displays a landmark using an icon was demonstrated, you may display a feature.

It is a block diagram of the map display device by a 1st embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the 1st icon drawing process. It is the flowchart which showed the tree creation process. It is the flowchart which showed the 1st icon display process. It is a figure which shows the map display part which displayed the icon virtually for description. It is the figure which showed the icon tree. It is a figure which shows the map display part which displayed the display icon. It is a figure which shows the map display part which displayed the icon virtually for description. It is the flowchart which showed the 3rd icon drawing process. It is the flowchart which showed the display icon determination process. It is the flowchart which showed the 2nd icon display process. It is the flowchart which showed the icon distribution process. It is the flowchart which showed the gravity center calculation process. It is the flowchart which showed the proximity landmark calculation process. It is a figure which shows the map display part which displayed the icon virtually for description. It is the figure which showed the icon tree. It is a figure which shows the map display part which displayed the display icon. It is a figure which shows the map display part which displayed the icon virtually for description. It is the flowchart which showed the 4th icon drawing process. It is a figure which shows the map display part which displayed the icon virtually for description. It is a figure which shows the map display part which displayed the display icon. It is a figure which shows the map display part which displayed the icon virtually for description. It is a figure which shows the map display part which displayed the display icon. It is a figure which shows the map display part which displayed the display icon. It is a block diagram of a map display system. It is the figure which showed the data structure of icon node information.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 Map display apparatus 110 Superimposition determination part 120 Icon preparation part 130 Map display part

Claims (19)

An information storage unit that stores map information used for displaying a map and feature information that is information about the feature;
A map display unit for displaying a map using the map information, and displaying an icon indicating a position and content of the feature on the map according to the feature information;
A superimposition determination unit that determines whether or not the plurality of leaf node icons are superimposed when a plurality of leaf node icons corresponding to each of a plurality of features are displayed on the map display unit;
When a superposed icon group consisting of a plurality of superposed leaf node icons includes a leaf node icon having different attributes, the attributes of the plurality of leaf node icons are lower than the superordinate attribute that includes all the different attributes. An icon creation unit that creates an internal node icon indicating a higher-level attribute as a display icon,
The map display unit displays the display icon at a position corresponding to the superimposed icon group. The icons each have a priority,
The map display device according to claim 1, wherein the icon creation unit creates an internal node icon having the highest priority among internal node icons as a display icon.   The map display device according to claim 1, wherein the icon creating unit creates a display indicating the number of features included in the attribute of the display icon together with the display icon.   The map display device according to claim 3, wherein the indication display is a numerical value, a color, or a bar graph. The icon creation unit
A tree structure composed of nodes classified into a root node icon located at the top, a leaf node icon located at the bottom, and an internal node icon located between the root node icon and the leaf node icon According to
A predetermined number of display icons, which is the number of display icons to be displayed on the map display unit,
The map display device according to claim 1, wherein an internal node icon indicating a lower attribute is created as a display icon according to the number of display icons.   The icon creating unit divides the map displayed on the map display unit into a plurality of areas, creates a display icon on the assumption that a plurality of display icons displayed in one area are superimposed. Item 2. The map display device according to Item 1. The map display unit displays, as a map, a path that is a route that humans can pass or that can pass through transportation means,
The icon creation unit divides a path displayed on the map display unit into an arbitrary range, creates a display icon by regarding that a plurality of display icons displayed in one range are superimposed. Item 7. The map display device according to item 6.   The map display device according to claim 7, wherein the icon creating unit creates a display icon for each side of the path of the path.   The map display device according to claim 7, wherein the icon creation unit creates a display icon representing a building street when buildings of a predetermined height or more exist in a certain ratio or more in the arbitrary range. The map display unit displays the display icon on a feature corresponding to the plurality of leaf node icons in the map,
The icon creation unit creates a reduced icon smaller than the display icon for a feature other than the feature on which the display icon is displayed and has the same attribute as the display icon,
The map display according to claim 1, wherein the map display unit displays the reduced icon on a feature other than the feature on which the display icon is displayed and has the same attribute as the display icon. apparatus.   The map display device according to claim 10, wherein the reduction icon is circular or rectangular. The icon creation unit
A root node icon positioned at the top, a leaf node icon positioned at the bottom, and an internal node icon positioned between the root node icon and the leaf node icon; and According to a tree structure with weights according to the number of all nodes belonging to the node,
A predetermined number of display icons, which is the number of display icons to be displayed on the map display unit,
Assign the number of display icons to the root node icon,
When the number of child nodes whose weight is not 0 among the child nodes of the node to which the number of display icons is assigned is equal to or less than the number of assigned display icons, the number of display icons is assigned according to the weight of the child node,
The map display device according to claim 1, wherein when the number of child nodes whose weight is not 0 is larger than the assigned display icon number, an icon representing the node assigned the display icon number is created as a display icon. The icon creation unit
The map displayed on the map display unit is divided into a plurality of areas, and a plurality of display icons displayed in one area are regarded as being superimposed,
The map display device according to claim 12, wherein the number of display icons is determined according to an area of the region. An information storage unit that stores map information used for displaying a map on a map display unit provided in the client and feature information that is information about the feature;
A superimposition determination unit that determines whether or not the plurality of leaf node icons are superimposed when a plurality of leaf node icons corresponding to each of a plurality of features are displayed on the map display unit;
When a leaf node icon having different attributes is included in the superimposed icon group composed of a plurality of leaf node icons to be superimposed, the attributes of the plurality of leaf node icons are lower than the upper attribute including all the different attributes. An icon creation unit that creates an internal node icon indicating a higher-level attribute as a display icon,
The map display unit is a map display server that displays the display icon at a position where the superimposed icon group is to be displayed. The map display server according to claim 14,
A map display system comprising: a client having a map display unit for displaying a map using the map information and displaying an icon indicating a position and content of the feature on the map according to the feature information. Reading out feature information, which is information about the map information and features used to display the map on the map display unit, from the information storage unit;
Determining whether or not the plurality of leaf node icons are superimposed when a plurality of leaf node icons corresponding to each of a plurality of features are displayed on the map display unit;
When a leaf node icon having different attributes is included in the superimposed icon group composed of a plurality of leaf node icons to be superimposed, the attributes of the plurality of leaf node icons are lower than the upper attribute including all the different attributes. Creating an internal node icon indicating a higher-level attribute as a display icon,
Displaying a map on the map display unit using the map information;
A map display method comprising: displaying the display icon at a position where the superimposed icon group is to be displayed. Giving each of the icons a priority;
The map display method according to claim 16, wherein the icon creation unit further includes a step of using an internal node icon having the highest priority among internal node icons as a display icon. A tree structure composed of nodes classified into a root node icon located at the top, a leaf node icon located at the bottom, and an internal node icon located between the root node icon and the leaf node icon Steps to prepare,
Determining the number of display icons of the display icon to be created;
Giving the node a weight according to the number of all nodes belonging to it;
Assigning the number of display icons to the root node icon;
Assigning the number of display icons according to the weight of the child node when the number of child nodes having a weight other than 0 among the child nodes of the node to which the number of display icons is assigned is less than or equal to the number of assigned display icons When,
The map according to claim 16, further comprising a step of using, as a display icon, an icon representing a node to which the number of display icons is assigned when the number of child nodes having a weight not equal to 0 is larger than the number of display icons assigned. Display method.   A program for causing a map display device to execute the map display method according to claim 16.