JP2010117317A - Server, method and system for managing position information of a plurality of moving users - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a server, a method and a system enabling a user existing on a different position to acquire the state of another user. <P>SOLUTION: A jogging state-sharing server 1 includes: a position information updating means 12 for calculating an absolute distance showing a moving distance of a user relative to each of a plurality of users based on position information received from each of a plurality of user's terminals 30 connected communicably, and calculating a relative distance showing a difference of the absolute distance between different users; a voice mixing means 13 for adjusting a sound volume of a voice received from a user's terminal 30 corresponding to a relative distance between a user's terminal 30 transmitting the voice and another user's terminal 30; and a transmission means 15 for transmitting the voice with an adjusted sound volume to another user's terminal 30. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a server, a method, and a system for managing position information of a plurality of moving users. In particular, the present invention relates to a server, a method, and a system for managing changes in position information of a plurality of users existing at different locations.

  In recent years, mobile communication terminals such as mobile phones equipped with location information acquisition means using a GPS (Global Positioning System) or PHS (Personal Handyphone System) base station network have become widespread, and the location information of the user's current location Various services based on have come to be provided.

For example, Patent Document 1 uses a GPS of a mobile terminal device provided with a display unit to detect whether or not the user's travel time to the current location is deviated from a predetermined scheduled time, and has deviated. In some cases, a management system capable of automatically correcting a scheduled time at a subsequent arrival point is disclosed.
JP 2007-286065 A

  However, in the management system as described above, only the individual user can grasp the change in the position information of the individual user, and different users cannot grasp the change in the position information of the user.

  By the way, with the development of the network, it is considered that a plurality of users existing in different places share one exercise (for example, jogging). It is preferable to be able to grasp.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a server, a method, and a system that allow a user existing in a different place to grasp the status of another user.

  The present invention provides the following solutions.

(1) A server that manages position information of a plurality of users who move,
Based on the position information received from each of a plurality of user terminals that are communicably connected, the distance traveled by the user is periodically extracted, and a relative distance indicating the difference in distance between different users is calculated. Location information updating means;
Volume adjustment means for adjusting the volume of audio received from the user terminal according to the relative distance between the user terminal and another user terminal;
And a transmission unit that mixes the volume-adjusted sound for each user terminal and transmits the mixed sound to each user terminal.

  According to the configuration as in (1), the server adjusts the volume of the voice uttered by the user based on the relative distance that is the difference in the distance traveled by the plurality of users, and this voice is sent to other users with the adjusted volume. Tell. Therefore, even if the user exists in a different place, the situation of the other user, that is, the user can grasp the difference in moving speed between the user and the other user. In this case, since the situation of another user can be audibly grasped by voice, the user can easily grasp the situation of the other user while performing exercise (for example, jogging).

(2) It further includes narration generation means for generating notification information for notifying that in response to the change in the relative distance,
The server according to (1), wherein the transmission unit transmits the generated notification information to the user terminal.

  According to such a configuration, the situation of the other user can be grasped not only by the volume but also by the notification information, so that the situation of the other user can be grasped more clearly.

  (3) The server according to (2), wherein the transmission unit transmits the notification information to a user terminal whose relative distance between users has changed.

  According to such a configuration, since only information related to the user is transmitted to the user, for example, the user does not feel bothered while performing an exercise such as jogging.

(4) A method for managing position information of a plurality of moving users,
Based on the position information received from each of a plurality of user terminals that are communicably connected, the absolute distance indicating the distance the user has moved is calculated for each of the plurality of users, and the absolute distance between different users is calculated. Calculating a relative distance indicative of the difference;
Adjusting the volume of the voice received from the user terminal according to the relative distance between the user terminal that transmitted the voice and the other user terminal;
Transmitting the audio to the other user terminal at an adjusted volume;
A method comprising the steps of:

(5) A system for managing position information of a plurality of moving users,
A server and a plurality of user terminals are communicably connected,
Based on the user location information transmitted from each of the plurality of user terminals to the server, the absolute distance indicating the distance the user has moved is calculated for each of the plurality of users, and the difference in the absolute distance between different users Position information updating means for calculating a relative distance indicating:
A sound mixing means for adjusting the volume of sound transmitted from the user terminal to the server according to the relative distance between the user terminal that transmitted the sound and the other user terminal;
Transmitting means for transmitting the sound from the server to the other user terminal at a volume adjusted;
A system comprising:

  According to the configuration as in (4) or (5), the same effect as the configuration as in (1) can be achieved.

  According to the present invention, even a user who exists in a different place can easily grasp the movement status of other users while exercising.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the embodiment of the present invention, as a change in position information of a plurality of users, a change in position information in a situation where a plurality of users are jogging at different locations will be described as an example. In the following, “jogging” refers to running slowly in a state where conversation is possible, for example, running at a slow speed of about 10.3 km per hour.

[Overall configuration of system including jogging situation sharing server 1]
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a jogging situation sharing system 100 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The jogging situation sharing system 100 according to the present embodiment is configured by connecting a plurality of user terminals 30 and the jogging situation sharing server 1 so as to communicate with each other.

  The user terminal 30 is a device owned by each of a plurality of users jogging in different places, and includes an earphone and a microphone. By using these earphones and microphones, jogging users can communicate with each other even if they are jogging in different places.

  Further, the user terminal 30 receives radio waves for position detection from a plurality of GPS satellites 2. Here, only one GPS satellite 2 is shown in FIG. 1, but as is well known, radio waves from at least three, usually four or more GPS satellites 2 are received in order to specify the position. There is a need to. The radio wave transmitted from the GPS satellite 2 includes various orbit information and very accurate time data by an atomic clock. In order to obtain easy-to-handle position data such as the latitude and longitude of the current position from these pieces of information, it is necessary to cause the user terminal 30 to hold orbit information and additional information of the GPS satellite 2 and to perform complicated positioning calculations. Therefore, the position information acquisition server 5 normally connected via a network performs these positioning calculations, and transmits the obtained result to the user terminal 30 as position data (latitude, longitude, altitude if possible). The method is used. Here, in this Embodiment, since the user terminal 30 communicates with the positional information acquisition server 5 with a fixed period, the user terminal 30 can acquire own position data with a fixed period. In this embodiment, the position data is acquired at a cycle of about 1 second. However, this cycle can be arbitrarily set as long as accuracy can be guaranteed.

  Each time the user terminal 30 acquires its own position data such as latitude and longitude, the user terminal 30 transmits this position data to the jogging situation sharing server 1. In addition, the user terminal 30 transmits the voice data input via the microphone to the jogging status sharing server 1. The user terminal 30 may transmit a signal notifying the start / end of jogging to the jogging status sharing server 1. Further, the user terminal 30 may receive a signal notifying the start / end of jogging from the jogging situation sharing server 1.

  The jogging situation sharing server 1 includes a reception unit 11, a position information update unit 12, a voice mixing unit 13, a narration generation unit 14, a transmission unit 15, a volume level setting table 16, and a narration setting table 17. Prepare.

  The receiving unit 11 receives position data and audio data transmitted from the user terminal 30. The position data may be the coordinates of the user terminal 30 specified by the GPS. Here, since the position data is transmitted every time the user terminal 30 acquires the position data at a constant cycle, the receiving unit acquires the position data at a fixed cycle.

  When the position data is received, the position information updating unit 12 updates the position information of the user (terminal). Therefore, the position information update unit 12 updates the position information at regular intervals (periodically). Here, in the present embodiment, at least “absolute distance” and “relative distance” are included as position information to be updated. “Absolute distance” refers to the distance that the user has moved since jogging started, and “relative distance” refers to the difference in absolute distance between the two users. Note that the distance traveled by the user can be calculated by a change in coordinates of the user terminal 30.

  The audio mixing unit 13 adjusts the received audio data according to the relative distance. Specifically, the volume of audio data transmitted to a user with a large relative distance is adjusted to be small, and the volume of audio data transmitted to a user with a small relative distance is adjusted to be large.

  The narration generation means 14 generates a narration that conveys the current jogging situation to the user. Here, the types of narration generated by the narration generation means 14 include, for example, a change in the relative distance between users, a distance jogged by the user (that is, an absolute distance for each user), a time after starting jogging, Information such as jogging speed is included.

  The transmission means 15 transmits the audio data adjusted according to the relative distance to a user terminal 30 different from the user terminal 30 that transmitted the audio data. The transmission unit 15 transmits the generated voice data of the narration to the user terminal 30 in the jogging situation corresponding to the narration. The transmission unit 15 may transmit the generated voice data of the narration to the user terminal 30 that does not support narration.

[Volume level setting table 16]
Next, the volume level setting table 16 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The volume level setting table 16 is used when adjusting the volume of the voice uttered by the user according to the relative distance between the users, and defines volume level information corresponding to the relative distance. Here, in the present embodiment, a high volume level means that the actual volume is high. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the voice uttered by the user is transmitted to other users at a higher volume as the relative distance is smaller, and is transmitted to the other users at a lower volume as the relative distance is larger.

  In this way, users can hear the voices of other users at a volume that depends on the relative distance to other users, so they share the sensation of users jogging together at different locations. can do.

[Narration setting table 17]
Next, the narration setting table 17 will be described with reference to FIG.

  The narration setting table 17 is used when the narration generation unit 14 generates a narration, and defines the content (line) of the ration corresponding to the jogging situation. The narration setting table 17 in FIG. 3 shows the narration setting table 17 corresponding to a change in the relative distance between users, which is an example of a jogging situation.

  In the narration according to the change in the relative distance between users, a different narration can be generated for each user. Specifically, when the relative distance is changed from “10 m” to the relative distance “5 m”, a narration “Mr. A user who is behind in the distance can generate a narration “I approached Mr. X 5 m”.

  Here, FIG. 3 illustrates the narration setting table 17 according to the change in the relative distance between users, but information such as the distance jogged by the user, the time since jogging started, the jogging speed, etc. It is also possible to provide a narration setting table corresponding to the above. In the case where narration is generated according to the time since the start of jogging or the speed of jogging, the jogging status sharing server can be provided with means for measuring the time since the start of jogging.

  Further, the volume level of the generated narration may be constant or may be changed. Specifically, the narration volume level may be changed according to a change in relative distance, and the narration volume level may be changed according to a jogging speed. That is, the volume level of the generated narration may be changed according to the jogging situation.

  The narration setting table 17 may be arbitrarily set by the user. For example, the user may be set to receive a narration about a change in absolute distance, but not receive a narration about a change in relative distance.

[Hardware configuration diagram of jogging situation sharing server 1]
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the jogging situation sharing server 1 according to the present embodiment. The server in which the present invention is implemented may be a standard server, and an example of the configuration is shown below.

  The jogging situation sharing server 1 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 1010 (a plurality of CPUs such as a CPU 1012 may be added in a multiprocessor configuration), a bus line 1005, a communication I / F (I / F). Interface) 1040, main memory 1050, BIOS (Basic Input Output System) 1060, display device 1022, I / O controller 1070, input device 1100 such as a keyboard and mouse, hard disk 1074, optical disk drive 1076, and semiconductor memory 1078 . The hard disk 1074, the optical disk drive 1076, and the semiconductor memory 1078 are collectively referred to as the storage unit 20.

  The control unit 10 is a part that controls the jogging situation sharing server 1 in an integrated manner, and by appropriately reading and executing various programs stored in the hard disk 1074, the control unit 10 cooperates with the hardware described above, and relates to the present invention. Various functions are realized.

  The communication I / F 1040 is a network adapter when the jogging situation sharing server 1 transmits / receives information to / from the user terminal 30 via the communication network. The communication I / F 1040 may include a modem, a cable modem, and an Ethernet (registered trademark) adapter.

  The BIOS 1060 records a boot program executed by the CPU 1010 when the jogging situation sharing server 1 is started, a program depending on the hardware of the jogging situation sharing server 1, and the like.

  The display device 1022 includes a display device such as a cathode ray tube display device (CRT) or a liquid crystal display device (LCD).

  The I / O controller 1070 can be connected to a storage unit 20 that is a storage device such as a hard disk 1074, an optical disk drive 1076, and a semiconductor memory 1078.

  The input device 1100 is for accepting input by an administrator of the jogging situation sharing server 1.

  The hard disk 1074 stores various programs for causing the hardware to function as the jogging status sharing server 1, programs for executing the functions of the present invention, and DB tables and records to be described later. The jogging situation sharing server 1 can also use a hard disk (not shown) separately provided as an external storage device.

  As the optical disc drive 1076, for example, a DVD-ROM drive, a CD-ROM drive, a DVD-RAM drive, or a CD-RAM drive can be used. In this case, the optical disk 1077 corresponding to each drive is used. A program or data may be read from the optical disk 1077 by the optical disk drive 1076 and provided to the main memory 1050 or the hard disk 1074 via the I / O controller 1070.

  The computer in the present invention refers to an information processing device including a storage device, a control unit, etc., and the jogging status sharing server 1 is configured by an information processing device including a storage unit 20, a control unit 10, etc. This information processing apparatus is included in the concept of the computer of the present invention.

[Basic processing of jogging situation sharing server 1]
5 and 6 are flowcharts showing details of the processing flow in the jogging status sharing server 1. FIG. FIG. 5 shows a situation data update process for generating a narration according to the jogging situation that is constantly updated, and FIG. 6 shows a voice mixing process for transmitting a voice uttered by a certain user to another user.

  The status data update process will be described with reference to FIG.

  S1: The receiving unit 11 receives a signal from the user terminal 30 to start jogging. This signal includes information for specifying the user terminal 30 of the user participating in the jogging in addition to the information indicating that the jogging is started. The transmission means 15 transmits a signal to start jogging to the user terminals 30 of all users participating in jogging. In this way, a plurality of users start jogging simultaneously. Note that this processing is performed to simultaneously start jogging among a plurality of users, and may be realized by other methods as long as a plurality of users can start jogging at the same time.

  S2: The receiving unit 11 receives the position information from the user terminal 30 and acquires the position information of each user.

  S3: The control unit 10 (position information update unit 12) updates the jogging status of each user. For example, the control unit 10 updates the absolute distance of each user and the relative distance between users based on the acquired position information. Moreover, the control part 10 is good also as updating the time after starting jogging and the user's jogging speed.

  S4: The control unit 10 determines whether or not the updated jogging situation is a situation defined in the narration setting table 17. For example, the control unit 10 determines whether the relative distance between users has changed.

  S5: The control unit 10 (narration generation means 14) generates a corresponding narration by referring to the narration setting table 17 when a prescribed situation is reached.

  S6: The transmission means 15 transmits the generated voice data of the narration to the user terminal 30 in the jogging situation corresponding to the narration.

  Thus, since the jogging status is transmitted to the user terminal, the user can grasp the jogging status changing every moment. In particular, since the user can arbitrarily set the narration setting table 17, the information desired by the user can be accurately grasped.

  The transmission unit 15 may transmit the generated voice data of the narration to the user terminal 30 in a jogging situation that does not correspond to the narration. By doing in this way, the user can grasp the jogging situation of other users.

  Next, the audio mixing process will be described with reference to FIG.

  S <b> 11: The receiving unit 11 receives voice data of a voice uttered by the user from the user terminal 30.

  S12: The control unit 10 (audio mixing unit 13) refers to the volume level setting table 16 and adjusts the volume of the received audio data based on the relative distance between users updated in S2. That is, voice data between users with a small relative distance is adjusted to a high volume, and voice data between users with a large relative distance is adjusted to a low volume.

  S13: The transmission means 15 transmits the audio | voice data which adjusted the sound volume to the user terminal 30 of the user different from the user terminal 30 of the user who emitted the sound according to the relative distance of both users.

[Specific examples of sharing jogging status]
Next, with reference to FIG. 7, a state in which a jogging situation is shared among a plurality of users by jogging situation sharing system 100 in the present embodiment will be described.

  In FIG. 7, three users, user A, user B, and user C, are jogging at different places. In FIG. 7, 20 minutes have elapsed since the start of jogging, the absolute distance of user A is “1210 m”, the absolute distance of user B is “1200 m”, and the absolute distance of user C is “1195 m”. Yes. The relative distance between the users is “10 m” between the users A and B, “15 m” between the users A and C, and “5 m” between the users B and C. As a result, from user A, user C is farther away than user B.

  In the present embodiment, the voice uttered by the user B is transmitted to the user A at the volume level 8, and the voice uttered by the user C is transmitted at the volume level 7 smaller than the voice uttered by the user B. That is, the voice of user C, who is farther away, is transmitted to user A at a lower volume than the voice of user B who is closer. Similarly, in the users B and C, the sound is transmitted at a volume corresponding to the relative distance from other users.

  Thereby, in this Embodiment, the user who jogs can recognize the distance between other users from the sound volume of another user's audio | voice. Therefore, when the volume of the other user's voice decreases, the user can adjust his / her jogging pace to shorten the distance to the other user, and as a result, the pace with other users jogging in different places. Can be jogged together. Therefore, according to jogging situation sharing system 100 in the present embodiment, it is possible to give a plurality of users jogging at different places a feeling of jogging at the same pace as other users.

  Here, the user can recognize the difference in pace with other users not only by the sound volume of other users' voices but also by narration transmitted from the jogging situation sharing server 1. Therefore, the user can more accurately keep pace with other users.

  Also, since the relative distance changes depending on the relationship between the user's own pace and the pace of another user and the sound volume changes, the pace of other users jogging in different places is managed while existing in a remote place. be able to.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described, this invention is not restricted to embodiment mentioned above. In other words, although “jogging” has been described as an example in the above-described embodiment, the present invention is not limited to “jogging” as long as it can move while talking. Further, the position data of the user terminal 30 is calculated by the position information acquisition server 5, but if the user terminal 30 is equipped with a positioning calculation function, the position data is directly acquired without communication with the position information acquisition server 5. It is also possible to do. The effects described in the embodiments of the present invention only list the most preferable effects resulting from the present invention, and the effects of the present invention are not limited to those described in the embodiments of the present invention. .

It is the figure which showed the outline of the jogging condition sharing system which concerns on this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the volume level setting table which concerns on this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the narration setting table which concerns on this embodiment. It is the figure which showed the hardware constitutions of the jogging condition sharing server which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the status data update process which concerns on this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the audio | voice mixing process which concerns on this embodiment. It is the figure which showed a mode that a jogging condition was shared by the jogging condition sharing system which concerns on this embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Jogging condition sharing server 10 Control part 11 Receiving means 12 Position information update means 13 Audio | voice mixing means 15 Transmission means 16 Volume level setting table 30 User terminal

Claims (5)

A server that manages location information of a plurality of users who move.
Based on the position information received from each of a plurality of user terminals that are communicably connected, the distance traveled by the user is periodically extracted, and a relative distance indicating the difference in distance between different users is calculated. Location information updating means;
Volume adjustment means for adjusting the volume of audio received from the user terminal according to the relative distance between the user terminal and another user terminal;
And a transmission unit that mixes the volume-adjusted sound for each user terminal and transmits the mixed sound to each user terminal. In response to a change in the relative distance, further comprising narration generation means for generating notification information to notify that,
The server according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit transmits the generated notification information to the user terminal.   The server according to claim 2, wherein the transmission unit transmits the notification information to a user terminal whose relative distance between users has changed. A method for managing positional information of a plurality of users moving,
Based on the position information received from each of a plurality of user terminals that are communicably connected, the distance traveled by the user is periodically extracted, and a relative distance indicating the difference in distance between different users is calculated. Steps,
Adjusting the volume of the sound received from the user terminal according to the relative distance between the user terminal and another user terminal;
Mixing the volume-adjusted voice for each user terminal and transmitting to each user terminal;
A method comprising the steps of: A system for managing position information of a plurality of moving users,
A server and a plurality of user terminals are communicably connected,
A position for periodically extracting the distance traveled by the user based on the position information of the user transmitted from each of a plurality of user terminals to the server, and calculating a relative distance indicating the difference in the distance between different users Information updating means;
Volume adjustment means for adjusting the volume of the sound transmitted from the user terminal to the server according to the relative distance between the user terminal and another user terminal;
Transmitting means for mixing the volume-adjusted sound for each user terminal, and transmitting from the server to each user terminal;
A system comprising:

Images