JP2010237393A - Map display device, map display method, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a map display device capable of preventing POI icons from being overlapped and displaying its contents in an easy-to-see manner. <P>SOLUTION: The map display device 10 includes a map data storage part 21 storing map data, a POI data storage part 22 storing POI data useful in finding a specific position from the map data stored in the map data storage part 21, a map display control part 11 displaying specific map data corresponding to user's conditions for giving instructions among map data stored in the map data storage part 21, a determining part 15 determining whether any two specific POI data or more corresponding to the user's conditions for giving instructions among the POI data stored in the POI data storage part 22 are displayed while they are overlapped at a predetermined position on the specific map data or not, and a POI icon display control part 12 displaying the specific POI data which are determined that they are displayed while being overlapped at the predetermined position on the specific displayed map data while rotating. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a map display device, a map display method, and a program. In particular, it relates to the display of information useful for finding a specific location from an electronic map.

  In recent years, as an example of position expression data useful for finding a specific position from an electronic map for the convenience of users, for example, a technique for marking a point of interest (POI) such as a landmark on a map has been put into practical use. ing. In such an electronic map, as shown in FIG. 12, there may be a portion where the density of the POI to be displayed is high. At this crowded point, a plurality of POI icons are overlapped. For this reason, the subject that the content of the POI icon which overlapped becomes difficult to distinguish and the subject which becomes difficult to specify the POI icon to select from the POI icon which overlapped arises. For this problem, the techniques shown in Patent Documents 1 to 7 have already been proposed.

  For example, in the methods described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, a representative POI icon is displayed instead of a plurality of overlapping POI icons as shown in FIG. In FIG. 13, the number of icons is expressed by the number of circles such as a double circle and a triple circle. At this time, the shape of the representative POI icon is changed in accordance with the attributes and the number of the overlapping POI icons, and the original plurality of POIs can be found only by looking at the representative POI icon.

  In the method described in Patent Document 3, the map in the state of FIG. 12 is divided into a plurality of sections as shown in FIG. 14, and the number of POIs included in each section is set as a POI icon. Display instead of.

  In the method described in Patent Document 4, as shown in FIG. 15, the map in the state of FIG. 12 displays the density of POI when the scale of the map is small, and displays each POI icon when the scale is large. indicate.

  In the method described in Patent Document 5 and Patent Document 6, the map in the state of FIG. 12 is classified into POIs into categories, and as shown in FIG. Only display the POI icon.

  In the method described in Patent Document 7, as shown in FIG. 17, the state of FIG. 12 is displayed, and as shown in FIG. Display in the foreground in order.

JP 2001-125702 A JP 2007-278807 A JP 2004-191218 A JP 2008-26001 A JP-A-2005-37144 JP 2002-098544 A JP 2001-317955 A

  However, in the method described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2 (FIG. 13), the position of the original POI cannot be accurately read from the representative POI icon. Also. When the number of attributes and overlapping combinations increase, the representative POI icon shape will be displayed in a pattern corresponding to it, and the user will instantly accurately read and understand the POI icon shape pattern. In particular, since it is necessary for the user to distinguish the shape including the color of the icon, it is difficult for a user with a visual impairment to identify and inferior in accessibility.

  In the method described in Patent Document 3 (FIG. 14), since the POI icon is not displayed, there is no problem due to the increase in the feature pattern of the representative POI icon in the prior arts of Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2. The position of the original POI is not understood more than the methods described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2.

  In the method described in Patent Document 4 (FIG. 15), in order to see the position and contents of each POI, a portion displayed at a density is selected in a display state with a small scale, and the scale is increased. Since the contents are unknown, there is a problem with the listability compared to other methods.

  In the method described in Patent Document 5 and Patent Document 6 (FIG. 16), since POI icons other than a specific category are not displayed, the category is not set appropriately, or the category that the user desires and is conscious of There is a high possibility that information is unintentionally overlooked because the category provided by the system does not match.

  The method described in Patent Document 7 (FIG. 17) is superior to the methods of Patent Documents 1 to 6 in that the position and contents of the original POI can be seen. However, since the POI icons are exchanged while overlapping, there is a problem that the point (actual position) pointed to by the POI icon is difficult to see in the pattern of the back POI icon or the background map is always hidden behind the POI icon. .

  In view of the above problems, the present invention eliminates the overlapping of the position expression data even when the position expression data useful for finding a specific position from the map data is dense, displays the contents easily, and selects the position to be selected. It is an object of the present invention to provide a map display device, a map display method, and a program thereof excellent in accessibility to expression data.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to an aspect of the present invention, a map data storage unit that stores map data, and a position expression that is useful for finding a specific position from the map data stored in the map data storage unit A position representation data storage unit for storing data, a map display control unit for displaying specific map data according to a condition instructed by a user among the map data stored in the map data storage unit, and the position When there are a plurality of specific position expression data corresponding to the condition instructed by the user among the position expression data stored in the expression data storage unit, any two or more of the plurality of position expression data are specified. A determination unit that determines whether or not two or more pieces of position expression data are overlapped and displayed by the determination unit. A position expression display control unit that displays two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in a superimposed manner while rotating them to a predetermined position on the displayed specific map data; A map display device is provided.

  In order to solve the above problems, according to another aspect of the present invention, a map data storage unit that stores map data, and a position that is useful for finding a specific position from the map data stored in the map data storage unit A position expression data storage unit for storing expression data; a map display control unit for displaying specific map data according to a condition instructed by a user among the map data stored in the map data storage unit; Of the position representation data stored in the position representation data storage unit, when there are a plurality of specific position representation data according to the condition instructed by the user, any two or more of the plurality of position representation data are A determination unit that determines whether or not the images are displayed overlapping each other at a predetermined position on specific map data, and the determination unit determines that two or more pieces of position expression data are displayed overlapping each other The two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are displayed on the enlarged map data while enlarging the vicinity of the predetermined position of the displayed specific map data. There is provided a map display device having a position expression display control unit.

  According to such a configuration, the specific position expression data according to the condition instructed by the user is instructed by the user when the determination unit determines that two or more position expression data are displayed in an overlapping manner. It is displayed while being rotated to a predetermined position on the specific map data. Alternatively, the specific position representation data corresponding to the condition instructed by the user is the specific map instructed by the user when it is determined by the determination unit that two or more position expression data are displayed overlapping each other. The data is displayed on the enlarged map data while enlarging the vicinity of the predetermined position of the data. Thereby, even if it is a part where several position expression data are crowded, it can avoid that each position expression data overlaps.

  As a result, even when the position expression data is dense, the contents of each position expression data can be displayed in an easy-to-see manner. This makes it easier for users to find a specific location from map data and click on the location expression data to obtain the information they want to know, thereby increasing accessibility to the necessary data. Can do.

  When the position expression display control unit rotates and displays two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner, each of the two or more position expression data is in turn in a predetermined cycle. You may rotate so that it may be displayed on the front.

  The position expression display control unit may control the angular velocity of each position expression data to be lower as the display angle of each of the two or more position expression data approaches 90 degrees with respect to the viewing direction of the user. Good.

  The position expression display control unit, when the display angle of each of the two or more position expression data is substantially equal to the angle displayed in front with respect to the viewing direction of the user, the angular velocity of each position expression data May be rotated while temporarily setting “0” to “0”.

  The position expression display control unit may display the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner at a predetermined position on the enlarged map data without being enlarged.

  The position expression display control unit calculates an enlargement ratio based on a size of the two or more position expression data and a distance between adjacent position expression data, and a predetermined position of the specific map data according to the enlargement ratio The surrounding area may be enlarged.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, specific map data corresponding to a condition instructed by a user is specified and displayed from a map data storage unit that stores map data in advance. A step of specifying specific position expression data according to a condition instructed by a user from a position expression data storage unit that stores in advance position expression data useful for finding a specific position from map data; When there are a plurality of specific location expression data, determining whether any two or more of the plurality of location expression data are displayed overlapping at a predetermined position on the specific map data; When it is determined that two or more position expression data are displayed in an overlapping manner, the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are displayed. And displaying while being rotated in a predetermined position on the constant of the map data, the map display method comprising is provided.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, specific map data corresponding to a condition instructed by a user is specified and displayed from a map data storage unit that stores map data in advance. Processing, and processing for specifying specific position expression data according to conditions instructed by the user from a position expression data storage unit that stores in advance position expression data useful for finding a specific position from map data; When there are a plurality of specific position expression data, a process for determining whether or not any two or more of the plurality of position expression data are overlapped and displayed at a predetermined position on the specific map data; When it is determined that two or more position expression data are displayed in an overlapping manner, the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are used as the specific map data being displayed. Program for executing a processing for displaying while being rotated in a predetermined position on the data, to the computer is provided.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, specific map data corresponding to a condition instructed by a user is specified and displayed from a map data storage unit that stores map data in advance. A step of specifying specific position expression data according to a condition instructed by a user from a position expression data storage unit that stores in advance position expression data useful for finding a specific position from map data; When there are a plurality of specific location expression data, determining whether any two or more of the plurality of location expression data are displayed overlapping at a predetermined position on the specific map data; When it is determined that two or more position expression data are displayed in an overlapping manner, the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are displayed. While a larger place near constant of map data, and displaying to the enlarged on the map data, the map display method comprising is provided.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, according to another aspect of the present invention, specific map data corresponding to a condition instructed by a user is specified and displayed from a map data storage unit that stores map data in advance. Processing, and processing for specifying specific position expression data according to conditions instructed by the user from a position expression data storage unit that stores in advance position expression data useful for finding a specific position from map data; When there are a plurality of specific position expression data, a process for determining whether or not any two or more of the plurality of position expression data are overlapped and displayed at a predetermined position on the specific map data; When it is determined that two or more position expression data are displayed in an overlapping manner, the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are used as the specific map data being displayed. While a larger place neighborhood data, the program for executing processing for displaying on said enlarged on the map data, to the computer is provided.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the overlapping of the position expression data, display the contents in an easy-to-see manner, and improve the accessibility to the position expression data to be selected.

It is a functional block diagram of the map display device concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention. It is the flowchart which showed operation | movement of the map display apparatus which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the figure which showed an example of the display period of each icon which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the operation example of the icon display which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the example of rotation operation | movement of the icon display which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the rotation operation | movement of the icon display which concerns on 1st Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed operation | movement of the map display apparatus which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is a figure for demonstrating the calculation method of the expansion factor which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is the figure which showed an example of the format of the storage data of the POI icon display control table 14 which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the operation example of POI icon display which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. It is the figure which showed the case where the internet is used for collection of POI data. It is a figure for demonstrating a prior art. It is a figure for demonstrating a prior art. It is a figure for demonstrating a prior art. It is a figure for demonstrating a prior art. It is a figure for demonstrating a prior art. It is a figure for demonstrating a prior art.

  Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in this specification and drawing, about the component which has the substantially same function structure, duplication description is abbreviate | omitted by attaching | subjecting the same code | symbol.

  In the drawings referred to in the following embodiments, a symbol is written for each POI icon, but this is for explanation. In actual use, when any icon is pointed, It is only necessary to perform the following operation in accordance with the icon, and the user does not need to identify the symbol and does not need to include the symbol in the icon.

<First Embodiment>
First, the functional configuration of the map display device 10 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Functional structure of map display device)
FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a map display device 10 according to the present embodiment. The map display device 10 according to the present embodiment includes a map display control unit 11, a POI icon display control unit 12, a POI icon drawing unit 13, a POI icon display control table 14, and a determination unit 15. The map display device 10 displays a desired electronic map by using the data stored in the map data storage unit 21, the data stored in the POI data storage unit 22, and the data input by the display condition input unit 30. At the same time, a POI icon is displayed at a specific position on the map.

  A POI (Point of Interest) icon is an example of position expression data useful for finding a specific position such as a landmark from an electronic map. For example, in FIG. 12, POI icons a to g are shown on the map Map for the convenience of the user. Thus, the user can quickly find a specific position on the map Map using the POI icons a to g as clues.

  The map data storage unit 21 stores map data. Specifically, the map data storage unit 21 stores data for drawing a map related to general map information (mountain rivers, roads, railways) and the like. The stored data includes, for example, a name and coordinate information.

  The POI data storage unit 22 is a part that stores data for drawing a POI (Point of Interest) on a map, and the data includes at least coordinate information for each POI. The POI data storage unit 22 is an example of a position expression data storage unit that stores position expression data useful for finding a specific position from the map data stored in the map data storage unit 21.

  The map data storage unit 21 and the POI data storage unit 22 are realized by hardware resources including storage devices such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and a ROM (Read Only Memory).

  The display condition input unit 30 is a part for inputting information relating to map display conditions such as a range to be displayed as numerical data such as latitude / longitude, scale, display range, etc., and receiving a keyboard, a mouse, and a GPS (Global Positioning system). It is realized by hardware resources including input devices such as a machine. The display condition input unit 30 is one of means for the user to input conditions relating to map display to the map display device 10.

  The map display control unit 11 displays specific map data according to the conditions instructed by the user among the map data stored in the map data storage unit 21. That is, the map display control unit 11 acquires necessary data from the map data storage unit 21 according to the conditions input by the display condition input unit 30, creates a map image using the data, and writes it to the display memory 40. .

  The POI icon display control unit 12 acquires necessary data from the POI data storage unit 22 in accordance with the conditions input by the display condition input unit 30, and follows the procedure described in the following description of “Operation of Map Display Device”. Display control information for displaying the POI icon is written in the POI icon display control table 14.

  The POI icon display control unit 12 according to the present embodiment displays the specific position expression data corresponding to the condition instructed by the user among the position expression data stored in the POI data storage unit 22. It corresponds to a position expression display control unit that displays while rotating to a predetermined position on specific map data.

  The POI icon drawing unit 13 determines an icon to be displayed using the display control information of the POI icon drawn in the POI icon display control table 14 and writes the icon image in the display memory 40.

  The determination unit 15 determines whether or not there are a plurality of specific POI icons, and any two or more of these POI icons are displayed overlapping at a predetermined position on specific map data. As a result of this determination, when it is determined that the POI icons are displayed in an overlapping manner, the POI icon display control unit 12 displays two or more POI icons that are determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner while being rotated.

  As an example of the rotation method, there is a method in which each of the two or more POI icons is rotated so as to be displayed on the front surface in order at predetermined intervals. As the display angle of each of the two or more POI icons approaches the angle displayed in front of the user's viewing direction, each POI icon may be rotated at a lower angular velocity. Alternatively, when the display angle of each of the two or more POI icons becomes substantially equal to the angle displayed in front of the user's viewing direction, the angular velocity of each POI icon may be rotated while being paused. . The rotation method will be described in detail later.

  Each block (map display control unit 11 to determination unit 15) shown in the map display device 10 is realized by a dedicated electronic control device, or a program processor for executing a computer program and its program. It is realized by hardware resources including a storage device such as a program executed by the processor and a RAM (Random Access Memory), a ROM (Read Only Memory), and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) for storing data to be used.

  The display memory 40 is a part for storing image data determined to be displayed under the control of the map display control unit 11 and the POI icon drawing unit 13, and is a hardware resource including a storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory). Realized.

  The image display control unit 50 is a part that sends a drawing signal to the image output unit using the image data stored in the display memory 40, and is realized by hardware resources including a drawing signal generation LSI and the like.

  The image output unit 60 is a part that displays an image according to a drawing signal, and is realized by hardware resources including a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) or a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube).

  The map display device 10 is realized by, for example, a server or other computer, and is provided with a display provided on the map display device 10, a display such as a digital television that can communicate with the map display device 10, or receiving or recording. The desired map data and the POI icon are displayed on a display such as a mobile phone / PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) that can reproduce the content related to the map.

(Operation of map display device)
Next, the operation of the map display device 10 will be described. Here, operations of the POI icon display control unit 12 and the determination unit 15 which are also mainly features of the present apparatus will be mainly described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 2 to 4.

  The operation in FIG. 2 is started when a display condition is input from the display condition input unit 30 to the POI icon display control unit 12 in accordance with a user input operation. First, the POI icon display control unit 12 acquires, from the POI data storage unit 22, for example, POI data within a specified display range that matches the display conditions sent from the display condition input unit 30 (S200).

  Although not shown, similarly, the map display control unit 11 acquires, for example, specified map data that matches the display condition sent from the display condition input unit 30 from the map data storage unit 21.

  Next, when the acquired POI data is displayed as a POI icon, the determination unit 15 determines whether or not the POI icons are overlapped and displayed at a crowded point. Whether or not the POI icons are displayed overlapping each other is determined based on the calculation result using the display position of the POI icon and the icon size.

  As a result, when it is determined that the POI icons do not overlap (that is, in the case of “No” in S210), the POI icon display control unit 12 displays the POI icons so that all the POI icons are always displayed. The display control table 14 is updated (S220). Accordingly, all the POI icons are displayed on specific map data so as not to overlap.

  On the other hand, when it is determined that the POI icons overlap (ie, “Yes” in S210), the determination unit 15 obtains the number of overlapping POI icons (S205). When this value is obtained by taking FIG. 12 as an example, the number of overlaps at the dense point of the POI icons a, b, c is “3”, and the number of overlaps at the dense point of the POI icons e, f is “2”.

  The POI icon display control unit 12 determines the display period of the icons at each crowded spot from the number of overlapping icons at each crowded spot (S215), and based on the result, the overlapping POI icons are displayed in order with periodicity. The POI icon display control table 14 is updated (S220).

  As a method for determining the display cycle, for example, the least common multiple of the number of overlapping spots is obtained, and one cycle T is divided by the least common multiple, and the display cycle is set so that each icon is displayed in order at each crowded point. The determination method can be adopted.

  Referring to FIG. 12 as an example, the number of overlapping icons at a crowded point of POI icons a, b, c is “3”, and the number of overlapping icons at a crowded point of POI icons e, f is “2”. Since the others are “1”, the least common multiple is 6. Therefore, the display period may be determined so that one period T is divided into six parts between tl and t6 and each icon is displayed in order for each crowded spot. This result is stored in the POI icon display control table 14.

  An example of the result in the case of FIG. 12 is shown in FIG. In FIG. 12, a circle indicates that an icon is displayed. That is, the icons a, b, and c are sequentially displayed at the dense points of the POI icons a, b, and c, and the icons e and f are sequentially displayed at the dense points of the POI icons e and f. POI icons d and g are always displayed at a place that is not crowded.

  FIG. 4 is an operation example of POI icon display when the POI icon display control table 14 is updated as described above. At the crowded point, the POI icon a and the POI icon e circled at the time t1 in FIG. 3 are displayed for the time tl. Similarly, at the next time t2, the POI icon b and the POI icon f are displayed. At the next time t3, the POI icon c and the POI icon e are displayed. The POI icon d and the POI icon g are always displayed outside the crowded spot. Although explanation of time t4-t6 is omitted, it is the same.

  Here, the times tl to t6 may all be the same time or not. Furthermore, the display of one icon may be continued between times tl to t6. For example, in consideration of the importance of POI, it is possible to lengthen one of the times tl to t6, or to display some highly important ones for a long time by displaying some continuously. Become.

  In addition to simply switching between display and non-display states, switching between icon display and non-display can also be performed by animation processing such as fade-in and fade-out or rotation.

(Rotation animation)
When the display / non-display state of the POI icon is switched by rotation, the angular velocity of the POI icon does not have to be constant at all display cycles. For example, a POI icon in a display state (for example, a POI icon with a circle at each time t1 to t6 in FIG. 3) is stopped in a state of facing the front, or rotated at a low speed, and is directed to the front at the time of switching. If the angle is rapidly rotated to an angle close to 90 degrees, the time during which the POI icon is difficult to identify can be reduced. As a result, the user can easily identify the rotating POI icon.

  According to this, among the rotation states S1 to S4 of the icons shown in FIG. 5, in the states S1 and S4 and a state close thereto, the icon f or the icon e is in a state of facing the front, so the display time is lengthened. To do. On the other hand, in the states S2 and S3 and a state close thereto, the display time is shortened because there is no front-facing icon.

  The animation operation of the rotation can be controlled by the icon display angle. For example, the icon display is considered to be a zero-thickness plate and disappears when rotated 90 degrees from the full-screen display state.

  In FIG. 5, the viewing direction of the user is a direction perpendicular to the paper surface from the front side to the back side of the paper surface. When the icon is visible in the front, the angle of the icon is rotated 90 degrees with respect to the viewing direction of the user. For example, in the state S1 of FIG. 5, the POI icon f has been rotated to a position that is substantially perpendicular to the viewing direction of the user.

  On the other hand, when the icon is not visible, the angle of the icon is rotated by 0 degrees with respect to the direction of viewing by the user, that is, the direction of viewing of the user and the icon are parallel. For example, in the state S4 of FIG. 5, the POI icon f is in a state rotated to a position substantially parallel to the user's viewing direction.

  The rotation state of the icon f in FIG. 5 is shown in FIG. FIG. 6 is a top view of the icon shown in FIG. The lower part of the circle is the front of the display, and the upper part of the circle is the back of the display. 6A corresponds to the rotation state S1 in FIG. 5, FIG. 6B corresponds to the rotation states S2 and S3 in FIG. 5, and FIG. 6C corresponds to the rotation state S4 in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, when the icon f is rotated to an angle of approximately 90 degrees with respect to the direction of viewing by the user, the icon f appears in front. As described above, when the angle of the icon f is close to 90 degrees with respect to the viewing direction of the user, the icon f becomes almost the same as or close to the state where the icon f is visible on the entire surface. It becomes easy.

  As shown in FIG. 6B, as the angle of the icon f with respect to the viewing direction of the user decreases, the icon f transitions from a state where it is seen in front to a state where it is inclined. For example, when the icon f is rotated up to 75 degrees with respect to the viewing direction of the user, the icon f is displayed tilted as in the state S2 in FIG. Further, when the icon f is rotated up to 15 degrees with respect to the viewing direction by the user, the icon f is further tilted and displayed as in the state S3 in FIG. Thus, as the display angle of the icon f becomes smaller with respect to the direction in which the user sees, the icon f becomes less visible to the user.

  As shown in FIG. 6C, when the icon f is rotated to an angle of almost 0 degrees with respect to the direction of viewing by the user, the icon f is a plate having a thickness of 0, so that it is completely visible to the user. Disappear. Therefore, rather than making the angular speed of the icon constant, when the angle of the icon f is approximately 90 degrees with respect to the direction of viewing by the user, the angular speed of the icon is controlled to be low, and the angle of the icon is changed from 90 degrees to a predetermined angle. If the distance is more than (for example, 15 degrees or more), the angular velocity may be controlled to be rapidly increased. According to this, it is possible to provide a user-friendly display and improve user accessibility.

  In addition, the object can be achieved by increasing the transmissivity by translucent processing instead of hiding the icon 100%. By using these methods, the load of image processing is somewhat increased, but it is possible to enhance the entertainment characteristics of the map display.

  According to this embodiment, overlapping POI icons are displayed periodically. Each icon is displayed periodically without overlapping other icons by repeating the display method that hides or rotates while controlling the angular velocity of the icon in consideration of user visibility. be able to. Therefore, since the plurality of POI icons overlap each other at a portion where the density of the POIs to be displayed is high as in the conventional case, it is difficult to understand the contents of the overlapping POI icons, and the POIs that overlap. The problem that it becomes difficult to specify the POI icon to be selected from the icons can be solved.

  Furthermore, as in Patent Documents 1 to 5 of the conventional technique examples, since individual POIs are collected, information on each original POI is lost, and as a result, the position and content of each POI are not known. The problem of disappearing does not occur. Further, as in Patent Document 6 of the conventional technique example, the point (actual position) pointed to by the POI icon is difficult to see due to the pattern of the back POI icon, or the background map is always hidden behind the POI icon and difficult to see. The problem does not occur. Further, since it is not necessary to distinguish between mobile phones including the color of the POI icon, it is possible to realize a display method that is superior in accessibility compared to Patent Documents 1 and 2 of the conventional technique examples.

<Second Embodiment>
Next, the map display device 10 according to the second embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
(Functional structure of map display device)
The functional configuration of the map display device 10 according to the present embodiment is the same as the functional configuration of the map display device 10 according to the first embodiment shown in FIG. However, while the first embodiment performs control to periodically display, hide or rotate the overlapping POI icons around the attention point, in this embodiment, the POI icons in the corresponding range are displayed. The difference is that the range including the POI icon is enlarged so that it can be displayed without overlapping. The format of the stored data in the POI icon display control table 14 is different. Therefore, the map display device 10 according to the present embodiment will be described focusing on the differences between the POI icon display control unit 12 and the POI icon display control table 14.

  Specifically, the format of the stored data in the POI icon display control table 14 stores a point of interest, an enlargement radius, and a magnification, as shown in FIG.

  The POI icon display control unit 12 expands the specific POI data according to the condition instructed by the user from the POI data stored in the POI data storage unit 22 around the predetermined position of the specific map data. , Display on the enlarged map data.

  For example, when the determination unit 15 determines that the POI data is displayed in an overlapping manner, the POI icon display control unit 12 determines that the POI icon display control unit 12 is displayed while overlapping around a predetermined position of specific map data. Two or more POI data are displayed on the enlarged map data. At this time, two or more POI data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are displayed at a predetermined position on the enlarged map data without being enlarged.

  At that time, the POI icon display control unit 12 calculates an enlargement rate based on the size of two or more POI data and the distance between adjacent POI data, and according to the enlargement rate, around a predetermined position of specific map data Magnify and display.

(Operation of map display device)
Next, the operation of the map display device 10 will be described. Here, operations of the POI icon display control unit 12 and the determination unit 15 which are also mainly features of the present apparatus will be mainly described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 7 to 10.

  During the operation of FIG. 7, the first POI data acquisition process of S600 and the determination process of whether or not the POI icons overlap in S605 are the same as in the first embodiment, and are omitted here.

  If the POI icon closest to the point of interest obtained in step S605 is displayed as the POI icon in step S610, and there is another POI icon that overlaps with this POI icon, step S615 is performed. Then, the enlargement ratio for preventing the icon closest to the attention point from overlapping with another icon is calculated using the icon display position and the icon size.

  In step S620, the POI icon display control table 14 is updated with the result. Taking FIG. 8 as an example, if the radius of the POI content display portion of the icon is r and the distance between adjacent POI icons is d, an enlargement ratio m satisfying md ≧ 2r may be obtained. However, the distance d here is not the actual distance between the corresponding two points but the distance on the screen, and the unit is the same as the one representing the radius r of the icon. When there are a plurality of overlapping icons, m is obtained for each, and the largest m is adopted. Alternatively, the smallest d is obtained, and m satisfying the above conditional expression is obtained. This result is stored in the POI icon display control table 14 in the format shown in FIG.

  FIG. 10 is an operation example of POI icon display when the POI icon display control table 14 is updated as described above. The vicinity of the POI icons a, b, and c around the attention point indicated by a cross is displayed in an enlarged manner. At this time, the POI icon itself is not enlarged.

  If the enlarged display area does not fit on the display screen or the ratio is very high because the required enlargement range or enlargement ratio is large, the size of the enlarged display area should be limited and scrolled or dragged. You may make it the inside of an enlarged display part scroll.

  Also in the present embodiment, the same effects as those in the first embodiment can be achieved for the POI icon around the attention point. Since POI icons other than those around the point of interest remain overlapped, the listability is somewhat inferior to that of the first embodiment, but the POI icon does not blink or rotate, so the flicker usually felt by the user There is an advantage that it is easy to see as much as it does not feel. Further, there is an advantage that the load on the POI icon drawing unit 13 is smaller than that in the first embodiment.

  As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described in detail, referring an accompanying drawing, it cannot be overemphasized that this invention is not limited to this example. It is obvious that a person having ordinary knowledge in the technical field to which the present invention pertains can come up with various changes or modifications within the scope of the technical idea described in the claims. Of course, it is understood that these also belong to the technical scope of the present invention.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the operations of the respective parts constituting the map display device are related to each other, and can be replaced as a series of operations and a series of processes in consideration of the mutual relations. Thereby, embodiment of a map display apparatus can be made into embodiment of the program for making a computer implement | achieve the embodiment of a map display method and the function of a map display apparatus.

  Further, in the present specification, the steps described in the flowcharts are executed in parallel or individually even if they are not necessarily processed in time series, as well as processes performed in time series in the described order. Including processing to be performed. Further, it goes without saying that the order can be appropriately changed even in the steps processed in time series.

  The configuration described in each embodiment is described by function as an example of the configuration, and the physical configuration of the hardware hardware to be realized must be clearly separated for each functional unit described here and prepared separately. There is no. For example, in the map display device according to the present invention, the processor, RAM, and ROM that realize part or all of the map display control unit 11 to the determination unit 15 may be common and non-separable. A part of a device that realizes another function may be used. Moreover, you may arrange | position a part of part which comprises this apparatus in the other place connected by the computer network.

  In the above embodiment, the overlapping of POI icons has been described. However, the map display device according to the present invention can be similarly applied to overlapping text such as map symbols and names on the electronic map. That is, the map display device according to the present invention can be applied to eliminate overlapping display when displaying at least one of map symbols, character strings, and POI icons as position expression data. .

  In the above-described embodiment, it has been described that the times tl to t6 are displayed longer or continuously depending on the importance. On the other hand, in the map display apparatus according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 11, in a system in which POI data is collected and updated via the Internet 300 by the content collection unit 200, the importance is shown. It can be determined using the collection date. In this way, the POI to which the fresh content belongs can be made more conspicuous, and as a result, it becomes easy to select the fresh content. In addition, the importance can be determined using the number of contents collected in the same system. In this way, it becomes easy to select a POI with a large amount of information.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Map display apparatus 11 Map display control part 12 POI icon display control part 13 POI icon drawing part 14 POI icon display control table 15 Judgment part 21 Map data storage part 22 POI data storage part 30 Display condition input part 40 Display memory 50 Image Display control unit 60 Image output unit

Claims (10)

A map data storage unit for storing map data;
A position expression data storage section for storing position expression data useful for finding a specific position from the map data stored in the map data storage section;
Of the map data stored in the map data storage unit, a map display control unit that displays specific map data according to conditions instructed by the user,
Of the position representation data stored in the position representation data storage unit, when there are a plurality of specific position representation data corresponding to the condition instructed by the user, any two or more of the plurality of position representation data are A determination unit for determining whether or not to be displayed in a predetermined position on the specific map data;
When the determination unit determines that two or more position expression data are displayed in an overlapping manner, the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are displayed on the specific map being displayed. A position expression display control unit for displaying while rotating to a predetermined position on the data;
A map display device comprising: A map data storage unit for storing map data;
A position expression data storage section for storing position expression data useful for finding a specific position from the map data stored in the map data storage section;
Of the map data stored in the map data storage unit, a map display control unit that displays specific map data according to conditions instructed by the user,
Of the position representation data stored in the position representation data storage unit, when there are a plurality of specific position representation data corresponding to the condition instructed by the user, any two or more of the plurality of position representation data are A determination unit for determining whether or not to be displayed in a predetermined position on the specific map data;
When the determination unit determines that two or more position expression data are displayed in an overlapping manner, the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are displayed as the specific map being displayed. A position expression display control unit for displaying on the enlarged map data while enlarging the periphery of the predetermined position of the data;
A map display device comprising: The position expression display control unit
When two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are displayed while being rotated, each of the two or more position expression data is displayed in front in order at predetermined intervals. The map display device according to claim 1, wherein the map display device is rotated. The position expression display control unit
The map display device according to claim 3, wherein the angular velocity of each position expression data is controlled to be lower as the display angle of each of the two or more position expression data approaches 90 degrees with respect to the viewing direction of the user. The position expression display control unit
The map display device according to claim 2, wherein the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are displayed at a predetermined position on the enlarged map data without being enlarged. The position expression display control unit
The enlargement ratio is calculated based on the size of the two or more position expression data and the distance between the adjacent position expression data, and the vicinity of the predetermined position of the specific map data is enlarged according to the enlargement ratio. The map display device according to any one of 5. Identifying and displaying specific map data according to conditions instructed by the user from a map data storage unit that stores map data in advance;
Identifying specific position expression data according to a condition instructed by a user from a position expression data storage unit that stores in advance position expression data useful for finding a specific position from map data;
When there are a plurality of the specific position expression data, determining whether any two or more of the plurality of position expression data are overlapped and displayed at a predetermined position on the specific map data;
When it is determined that the two or more position expression data are displayed in an overlapping manner, the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are displayed on the specific map data being displayed. Displaying while rotating to a predetermined position;
Map display method including A process of specifying and displaying specific map data according to conditions instructed by the user from a map data storage unit that stores map data in advance,
A process of specifying specific position expression data according to a condition instructed by a user from a position expression data storage unit that stores in advance position expression data useful for finding a specific position from map data;
When there are a plurality of the specific position expression data, a process of determining whether any two or more of the plurality of position expression data are displayed overlapping at a predetermined position on the specific map data;
When it is determined that the two or more position expression data are displayed in an overlapping manner, the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are displayed on the specific map data being displayed. Processing to display while rotating to a predetermined position;
A program that causes a computer to execute. Identifying and displaying specific map data according to conditions instructed by the user from a map data storage unit that stores map data in advance;
Identifying specific position expression data according to a condition instructed by a user from a position expression data storage unit that stores in advance position expression data useful for finding a specific position from map data;
When there are a plurality of the specific position expression data, determining whether any two or more of the plurality of position expression data are overlapped and displayed at a predetermined position on the specific map data;
When it is determined that the two or more position expression data are displayed in an overlapping manner, the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are determined as predetermined predetermined map data displayed. Displaying on the enlarged map data while enlarging the periphery of the position;
Map display method including A process of specifying and displaying specific map data according to conditions instructed by the user from a map data storage unit that stores map data in advance,
A process of specifying specific position expression data according to a condition instructed by a user from a position expression data storage unit that stores in advance position expression data useful for finding a specific position from map data;
When there are a plurality of the specific position expression data, a process of determining whether any two or more of the plurality of position expression data are displayed overlapping at a predetermined position on the specific map data;
When it is determined that the two or more position expression data are displayed in an overlapping manner, the two or more position expression data determined to be displayed in an overlapping manner are determined as predetermined predetermined map data displayed. Processing to display on the enlarged map data while enlarging the vicinity of the position;
A program that causes a computer to execute.

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