JP2011180086A - Device, method and program for specifying feature - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a technique for selecting a feature which serves as a reference in route guidance and is suitable for an individual user. <P>SOLUTION: Common information shared by members of a group to which the user belongs is acquired, and the feature relating to the shared information which serves as the reference in the route guidance to the destination for the user is specified. According to this constitution wherein the route guidance is performed with the specified feature presented, it is possible to perform the route guidance in the condition that the feature to serve as the reference has high possibility of being recognized by the user. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a feature specifying device, a method, and a program.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for guiding an intersection using a feature existing around the intersection as a landmark is known. For example, in Patent Document 1, it is difficult to understand if a driver who travels on a road on which a plurality of lanes is present is guided to a feature far from the traveling lane as a landmark. Guidance is performed using landmarks near the lane in which the vehicle is traveling. In selecting such features, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which famous features existing around intersections are used as landmarks.

JP 2006-275721 A

In the above-described prior art, it is considered that many users can recognize a feature having a high level of general recognition, such as a convenience store, and the feature having a high level of recognition is used as a landmark. However, not all users can recognize features that are generally highly recognized, and recognition varies greatly depending on the country or region. In addition, since a plurality of general features having a high degree of recognition can exist in a narrow area, in this case, it becomes inappropriate as a landmark.
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a technique for selecting a feature suitable for an individual user, which is a reference feature for guiding a route.

  In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, a feature related to shared information shared by members of a group to which the user belongs is used as a reference when a route to the destination is guided to the user. Identify as a feature. That is, since the user is a member of the group to which the user belongs, the feature related to the shared information shared by the member is selected based on general recognition not related to the individual user. It is more likely that the user will recognize the feature than the feature. Therefore, by specifying the feature related to the shared information as a feature that serves as a reference when guiding the route to the destination to the user, the feature that becomes the reference when guiding the route, It is possible to select features suitable for individual users. In addition, by configuring the route guidance to present the identified features, it is possible to configure the route guidance in a state where there is a high possibility that the feature will be recognized by the user. is there.

  The shared information acquisition unit only needs to be able to acquire shared information shared by members of the group to which the user belongs, and may acquire shared information associated with the user in advance. In addition, the group and the member to which the user belongs are specified, the common information associated with each member is identified from the information associated with each member, and the common information is It may be regarded as shared information. Furthermore, the shared information may be associated with a group.

  The feature specifying means may be a feature that serves as a reference when guiding the route to the destination to the user and can specify the feature related to the shared information. Here, the features used as a reference when guiding a route are features for facilitating the specification of the route (for example, features existing on or around the route), and the features constituting the route itself. An object (for example, a specific road) can be assumed.

  The route may be specified in advance or may be acquired by searching. That is, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which route information is specified in advance and the feature specifying device acquires the route information. Further, in this case, features that can serve as a reference (landmark) when guiding the route, such as an intersection or a target direction, are identified on the route or around the route based on the route information.

  In addition, when obtaining a route by searching, information indicating the user's departure location (or current location) and destination (which may include a transit location) is obtained, and from the departure location (or current location) to the destination Search for a route. If there is a transit point, the route to the transit point is searched, and the route from the transit point to the destination is searched. In this case, the feature serving as a reference for guiding the route may be specified after the route search, or may be specified before the route search and used for the route search. That is, a specific road or a road of a specific road type is specified as a feature related to the shared information, and a route including the specific road or a road of a specific road type is searched. In this case, guiding the searched road itself guides the reference for guiding the route, and simultaneously guides the feature related to the shared information.

  The route may be a route that should be traveled by the vehicle, a route that should be followed by walking, a route that should be followed by other travel methods, or a plurality of travel methods. It may be a route to be followed.

  Furthermore, the feature relevant to shared information should just be able to be specified based on shared information. For example, information indicating the feature itself or the type of the feature is associated in advance with each piece of information (for example, information indicating hobbies, preferences, etc.) that can be shared by the group members, and When shared shared information is specified, it is possible to adopt a configuration that specifies the feature or feature type associated with the shared information. In addition, when various types of attribute information are associated with the feature, when the shared information and the attribute information match or relate to each other, the member recognizes the feature associated with the corresponding or related attribute information. You may employ | adopt the structure specified as a feature to perform.

  Furthermore, the present invention may be applied when the user's destination is a common destination for the members. That is, if the shared information is used, it is possible to easily identify the feature that is likely to be recognized by each member. Therefore, when each member goes to the same destination, the feature related to the shared information is selected. If the feature is used as a reference when guiding the route to the destination, it is possible to identify the feature that allows each member to easily reach the destination. In addition, when the destination is a common destination for the members, information indicating the destination may be acquired as shared information. In this configuration, since the feature related to the destination becomes a reference feature when guiding the route to the destination to the user, each constituent member recognizes the reference feature. The possibility is extremely high.

  Furthermore, the shared information only needs to be shared by the members, and can be acquired by various methods. For example, personal information for each of a plurality of items may be associated with a member in advance, and personal information common to the member may be acquired as shared information. According to this configuration, it is possible to easily specify shared information with reference to a database in which personal information of users is recorded. The personal information can be composed of various information related to each member, for example, information indicating a hobby and preference of each member, a frequently visited facility, a community to which the member belongs, and the like.

  Furthermore, when the feature is a reference feature for guiding the route and the feature related to the shared information may not be identified, the route related to the feature related to the shared information is guided as much as possible. It is good also as a structure specified as the feature used as a standard at the time. For example, if there is a feature related to the shared information around the intersection on the route, the feature used as a reference when guiding the route to the destination of the feature related to the shared information to the user As specified. On the other hand, when there is no feature related to the shared information around the intersection on the route, the route to the destination is guided to the user with the feature having a relatively high degree of recognition. Identified as a feature that becomes the basis of the occasion.

  In other words, the exit direction such as going straight or turning left and right is optional at the intersection, and it is necessary to make an important decision in order to accurately follow the route. Therefore, present the feature as a reference and guide the route at the intersection. Is preferred. Such route guidance at the intersection is realized by presenting features around the intersection as a reference for indicating the position of the intersection, the exit direction at the intersection, and the like. Therefore, when there is a feature related to the shared information, a feature suitable for an individual user is selected by configuring the reference feature with the feature related to the shared information. . On the other hand, if there is no feature related to the shared information, it is not possible to select a feature suitable for an individual user, but a feature with a relatively high level of recognition from the features around the intersection. By selecting and presenting, it is possible to select a feature that is highly likely to be recognized by a general user as a reference feature.

  Furthermore, the method of specifying the feature related to the shared information as the feature serving as a reference for route guidance as in the present invention can be applied as a method or a program. In addition, the apparatus, method, and program as described above may be implemented as a single apparatus or may be implemented using components shared with other apparatuses, and include various aspects. For example, it is possible to provide a portable terminal, a navigation device, a method, and a program that include the above devices. Further, some changes may be made as appropriate, such as a part of software and a part of hardware. Furthermore, the invention is also established as a recording medium for a program for controlling the apparatus. Of course, the software recording medium may be a magnetic recording medium, a magneto-optical recording medium, or any recording medium to be developed in the future.

It is a block diagram of a system including a feature identifying device. It is a figure which shows the identification of the feature used as the reference | standard of route guidance. It is a flowchart which shows a navigation process. It is a flowchart which shows route information transmission processing. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a user I / F part.

Here, embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order.
(1) System configuration including feature identification device:
(1-1) Configuration of mobile terminal:
(1-2) Configuration of route information providing device:
(1-3) Route guidance processing:
(2) Other embodiments:

(1) System configuration including feature identification device:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a system including a feature identifying device. In the present embodiment, the mobile terminal 100 is a device that provides route guidance to a destination to a user. The route information providing device 10 is a device that provides route information indicating a route to be guided to the mobile terminal 100. The route information providing apparatus 10 provides the mobile terminal 100 with reference feature information indicating a feature (hereinafter referred to as a reference feature) that serves as a reference when guiding a route together with the route information. That is, in this embodiment, the route information providing device 10 includes the feature specifying device according to the present invention.

(1-1) Configuration of mobile terminal:
The portable terminal 100 includes a control unit 200 including a CPU, RAM, ROM, and the like, a recording medium 300, a GPS receiving unit 410, a user I / F unit 420, and a communication unit 220, and is stored in the recording medium 300 and ROM. Can be executed by the control unit 200. In the present embodiment, as one of the programs, a navigation program 210 that guides the route to the destination for the user can be executed.

  The GPS receiving unit 410 receives radio waves from GPS satellites and outputs information for calculating the current location of the mobile terminal 100 via an interface (not shown). The control unit 200 acquires this signal and acquires the current location of the mobile terminal. The user I / F unit 420 is an interface unit for a user to input an instruction or provide various kinds of information to the user, and includes a display unit, buttons, speakers, and the like (not shown). Furthermore, ID information 300 a indicating a number for identifying a user who uses the mobile terminal 100 is recorded on the recording medium 300. The communication unit 220 is a device that transmits and receives information to and from an external communication device by wireless communication.

  The present embodiment is used in a state where a user belongs to a group composed of a plurality of members in advance using a social networking service and the destination is shared by the members of the group. In this state, the navigation program 210 causes the control unit 200 to perform a route guidance function. That is, the control unit 200 can transmit the ID information 300a and information indicating the current location through the communication unit 220 by the processing of the navigation program 210. The route information providing apparatus 10 is configured to return route information and reference feature information to the mobile terminal 100 that has transmitted the ID information 300a and information indicating the current location. The control unit 200 can receive the route information and the reference feature information via the communication unit 220 and execute route guidance.

(1-2) Configuration of route information providing device:
The route information providing apparatus 10 includes a control unit 20 including a CPU, RAM, ROM, and the like, a recording medium 30, and a communication unit 22, and the control unit 20 executes a program stored in the recording medium 30 and the ROM. be able to. In this embodiment, the control unit 20 can execute the route information transmission program 21 as one of the programs, and the control unit 20 receives the ID information 300a and information indicating the current location by the processing of the route information transmission program 21. Then, the route information and the reference feature information are generated, and the route information and the reference feature information are transmitted via the communication unit 22. The communication unit 22 is a device that transmits and receives information by wireless communication with an external communication device.

  In this embodiment, personal information 30a and map information 30b are recorded in advance on the recording medium 30, and the control unit 20 refers to the personal information 30a and map information 30b by the processing of the route information transmission program 21. To generate reference feature information and route information. In the present embodiment, the personal information 30a is personal information of each member registered by the members of the social networking service, and can be constituted by information shown in FIG. 2, for example. In the example of the personal information 30a shown in FIG. 2, information indicating the hobby, age, and community to which each user is associated with each ID number that identifies the user. Here, the ID is a number for identifying the user of the mobile terminal 100, and one of the IDs included in the personal information 30a matches the number indicated by the ID information 300a.

  The map information 30b includes node data indicating nodes set on the road, shape interpolation data for specifying the shape of the road between the nodes, link data indicating connection between nodes, and a reference for destinations and route guidance. The feature data indicating the feature to be obtained is included. Further, each link data is associated with cost data indicating a cost specified based on a distance, time, etc. necessary for following a road section corresponding to each link. The feature data includes attribute information indicating the attributes of each feature as well as information indicating the location of each feature. The attribute information can be configured by the information shown in FIG. 2, for example, information indicating the type of feature (sporting goods store, retail store, hospital in the example shown in FIG. 2) and general recognition of each feature. It is composed of information indicating degrees (three levels of low, medium and high in the example shown in FIG. 2).

  The route information transmission program 21 includes a shared information acquisition unit 21a, a feature identification unit 21b, and a route information acquisition unit 21c. The shared information acquisition unit 21a is a module that causes the control unit 20 to realize a function of acquiring shared information shared by members of the group to which the user belongs. In other words, the control unit 20 refers to the personal information 30a by the process of the shared information acquisition unit 21a, and identifies the group to which the user who has requested the transmission of the route information and the reference feature information by the mobile terminal 100 belongs. Furthermore, the control unit 20 refers to the personal information 30a and identifies shared information shared by the members of the group.

  For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, when the user of ID number 1 makes a transmission request for route information and reference feature information using the mobile terminal 100, the control unit 20 determines that the user of ID number 1 is the ID It is considered that they belong to the community associated with number 1, and the users with ID numbers 8 and 9 and ID number 1 associated with the same community AA are regarded as belonging to the same group. Furthermore, the control unit 20 extracts common personal information from the personal information 30a associated with the ID numbers 1, 8, and 9. In the example shown in FIG. 2, ID numbers 1, 8, and 9 are associated with information indicating that the hobby is sports in common. Therefore, in this case, the control unit 20 specifies information indicating that the hobby is sports as shared information.

  The feature specifying unit 21b is a module that causes the control unit 20 to realize a function of specifying a feature related to shared information, which serves as a reference when guiding a route to a destination to a user. That is, the control unit 20 first specifies information indicating a feature for facilitating the specification of a route by indicating that it is a reference by the processing of the feature specifying unit 21b. Further, when there is a feature related to the shared information among the features for facilitating the specification of the route, the control unit 20 preferentially specifies the feature related to the shared information. Use as a reference feature. In addition, when there is no feature related to the shared information among the features for facilitating the specification of the route, the control unit 20 is determined in advance among the features for facilitating the specification of the route. A feature whose degree of recognition is relatively higher than other features is set as a reference feature.

  In the present embodiment, the reference feature indicates the position of the intersection when guiding the exit direction at the intersection on the route in the route to the destination specified by the processing of the route information acquisition unit 21c described later. This is a standard feature for showing. In other words, the control unit 20 refers to the route information and the map information 30b by the processing of the feature specifying unit 21b, specifies intersections on the route, and specifies features existing within a predetermined distance around each intersection. To do. And the control part 20 specifies the reference | standard feature according to whether the feature relevant to shared information exists with reference to the attribute information of the specified feature. For example, in FIG. 2, there are two intersections (intersection 1 and intersection 2) on the route, and features 1 to 3 within a predetermined distance around the intersection 1 and features within a predetermined distance around the intersection 2. 4 and 5 are present.

  In this example, the information indicating that the hobby is sports is shared information. In this example, the control unit 20 refers to the attribute information of the features 1 to 3 with respect to the intersection 1, and sports equipment related to sports. A feature 1 associated with information indicating a store is set as a reference feature. On the other hand, the control unit 20 refers to the attribute information of the features 4 and 5 regarding the intersection 2, determines that there is no feature associated with the attribute information related to the sport, and selects the feature 5 having a high degree of recognition. Use as a reference feature.

  When the reference feature is specified as described above, the control unit 20 generates reference feature information indicating the reference feature together with its position by the processing of the feature specifying unit 21b, and via the communication unit 22 The reference feature information is transmitted. As described above, the control unit 20 functions as a device for specifying the reference feature by the processing of the shared information acquisition unit 21a and the feature specifying unit 21b. Therefore, in this embodiment, the route information transmission program 21 includes a feature specifying program that specifies a reference feature, and the route information providing apparatus 10 includes a feature specifying device that specifies a reference feature.

  On the other hand, the route information acquisition unit 21c is a module that causes the control unit 20 to realize a function of acquiring route information indicating a route to the destination. That is, the control unit 20 acquires information indicating the current location of the mobile terminal 100 through the communication unit 22 through the processing of the route information acquisition unit 21c, acquires the user's destination, and refers to the map information 30b. A route search from the current location to the destination is performed. As described above, the present embodiment is used in a state where the destination is shared by the members of the group to which the user belongs. In the example shown in FIG. 2, the members belonging to the community AA. The destination is set in advance as the feature G, and information indicating the feature G is associated with the community AA. Therefore, the control unit 20 can identify the group to which the user belongs by referring to the personal information 30a as described above, and can identify the destination of the user. The route search is realized by a known algorithm such as a Dijkstra method using cost data or the like. When the route information is specified as described above, the control unit 20 transmits the route information via the communication unit 22 by the processing of the route information acquisition unit 21c.

  In the present embodiment, the route information includes information for displaying a map together with the route on the user I / F unit 420, and information indicating the positions of intersections and destinations on the route. When the control unit 200 of the mobile terminal 100 acquires the route information via the communication unit 220, the control unit 200 outputs a control signal to the user I / F unit 420 and displays a map together with the route. Further, in the present embodiment, the control unit 200 outputs a control signal to the user I / F unit 420, and displays the current location of the mobile terminal 100 identified based on the output signal of the GPS receiving unit 410 on a map. . Further, the control unit 200 outputs a control signal to the user I / F unit 420 when the distance between the current location of the mobile terminal 100 specified based on the output signal of the GPS receiving unit 410 and the intersection is equal to or less than a predetermined distance. Then, information (sound and image) for guiding the exit direction at the intersection along with the reference feature is output.

  Therefore, the user of the mobile terminal 100 can reach the destination based on the guidance. In the present embodiment, when there is a feature related to the shared information around the intersection, the feature related to the shared information is the reference feature, and thus the feature related to the shared information. Is used to guide the exit direction at the intersection. Here, the user is a member of the group to which the user belongs, and the feature related to the shared information shared by the member is highly likely to be recognized by the user. Therefore, the feature suitable for the individual user is selected as the reference feature, and the route guidance is performed with a high possibility that the reference feature is recognized by the user.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the destination is a common destination for the members making up the group, and there is a possibility that each member will recognize the reference feature serving as a reference for route guidance to the destination. High features are selected. Therefore, it is possible to easily make each member who goes to the common destination reach the destination. Furthermore, when there is no feature related to shared information around the intersection, a feature with relatively high recognition is selected from the features around the intersection, so that it is recognized by general users. It is possible to perform route guidance by selecting a feature having a high probability of being selected as a reference feature.

  In addition, it is optional in the exit direction such as going straight or turning left and right at the intersection, and it is necessary to make an important judgment to accurately follow the route, so present the feature as a reference and guide the route at the intersection Is preferred. Such route guidance at the intersection is realized by presenting features around the intersection as a reference for indicating the position of the intersection, the exit direction at the intersection, and the like. In this embodiment, when selecting the reference feature at the intersection, the feature related to the shared information is preferentially selected as the reference feature, so that it is possible to suppress the possibility of the user getting lost.

(1-3) Route guidance processing:
Next, the route guidance process will be described in detail. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing navigation processing executed by the control unit 200 of the portable terminal 100, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing route information transmission processing executed by the control unit 20 of the route information providing apparatus 10. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of the user I / F unit 420. When the user executes the navigation program 210 in the mobile terminal 100, the control unit 200 refers to the recording medium 300 to acquire the ID information 300a, and indicates the current location of the mobile terminal 100 based on the output signal of the GPS receiving unit 410. Information is acquired (step S100). Further, the control unit 200 transmits the ID information 300a and information indicating the current location of the mobile terminal 100 to the route information providing apparatus 10 via the communication unit 220 (step S105). Transmission of the ID information 300a and information indicating the current location of the mobile terminal 100 is a request for transmission of reference feature information and route information to the route information providing apparatus 10.

  The route information providing apparatus 10 stands by in a state of waiting for reception of information by the communication unit 22, and when receiving the ID information 300a and information indicating the current location of the mobile terminal 100 in step S200 shown in FIG. The subsequent processing is executed.

  When acquiring the ID information 300a and the information indicating the current location of the mobile terminal 100, the control unit 20 refers to the personal information 30a by the process of the shared information acquisition unit 21a, and the user belongs based on the ID indicated by the ID information 300a. A group is specified (step S205). For example, when the ID indicated by the ID information 300a in the example of FIG. 2 is 1, it is specified that the user belongs to the group of the community AA.

  Next, the control unit 20 refers to the personal information 30a by the process of the shared information acquisition unit 21a, and specifies the shared information shared by the members of the group (step S210). That is, the personal information common to each member of the group to which the user of the mobile terminal 100 that has output the transmission request belongs is specified as shared information. In the example of FIG. 2, information indicating that the hobby is sports is shared information.

  Next, the control unit 20 refers to the personal information 30a by the processing of the route information acquisition unit 21c, and specifies a common destination for the members of the group (step S215). In the example of FIG. 2, the personal information 30a is referred to, and the destination G associated with the community AA to which the user of the mobile terminal 100 that has output the transmission request belongs is specified.

  Next, the control unit 20 searches for a route from the current location of the mobile terminal 100 to the destination with reference to the map information 30b by the processing of the route information acquisition unit 21c (step S220). That is, the control unit 20 specifies the current location of the mobile terminal 100 based on the information indicating the current location received in step S200, and reaches the destination specified in step S215 from the current location using an algorithm such as the Dijkstra method. Search for a route to do. When the route is searched, information for displaying a map together with the route is generated in the user I / F unit 420, and the route information is determined by the generated information and information indicating the position of the intersection and the destination on the route. Composed.

  Next, the control part 20 specifies the feature which exists around the intersection on the path | route which route information shows by the process of the feature specific | specification part 21b (step S225). That is, the control unit 20 refers to the route information and the map information 30b, identifies the position of the intersection on the route, and identifies the feature existing within a predetermined range around each intersection based on the feature data. For example, in the example of FIG. 2 [i1], there are two intersections (intersection 1 and intersection 2) on the route, and the features 1 to 3 and the predetermined area around the intersection 2 are within a predetermined distance around the intersection 1. An example in which the features 4 and 5 exist within the distance is shown in a rectangle at the bottom of the drawing. In this example, the control unit 20 specifies that the intersection 1 and the intersection 2 exist on the route from the current location of the mobile terminal 100 to the destination G, and the features 1 to 3 exist around the intersection 1. Then, it is specified that the features 4 and 5 exist around the intersection 2.

  Next, the control unit 20 determines whether or not there is a feature related to the shared information around the intersection to be determined by the processing of the feature specifying unit 21b (step S230). In other words, the control unit 20 is configured to specify the reference features existing around the intersection with the intersections on the route being sequentially determined, and in step S230, the control unit 20 is configured to determine the intersection to be determined. It is determined whether or not there is a feature associated with the attribute information related to the shared information specified in step S210 by referring to the attribute information of the feature specified with respect to. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 2, when the determination target is the intersection 1, it is determined that there is a sporting goods store (feature 1) related to sports that is shared information around the intersection 1. When the determination target is the intersection 2, it is not determined that there are sports-related features around the intersection 2.

  If it is determined in step S230 that there is a feature related to the shared information around the intersection to be determined, the control unit 20 identifies the feature related to the shared information as a reference feature (step S235). . For example, the example shown in FIG. 2 shows an intersection 1 where the features 1 to 3 exist around the intersection and an intersection 2 where the features 4 and 5 exist around the intersection. When 1 is a determination target, the control unit 20 specifies a sporting goods store (feature 1) related to sports as a reference feature. On the other hand, in step S230, when it is not determined that there is a feature related to the shared information around the intersection to be determined, the control unit 20 specifies a feature with a relatively high degree of recognition as a reference feature ( Step S240). For example, the example shown in FIG. 2 shows an intersection 1 where the features 1 to 3 exist around the intersection and an intersection 2 where the features 4 and 5 exist around the intersection. When 2 is the determination target, the control unit 20 specifies the feature 5 having a higher degree of recognition than the feature 4 as the reference feature. When the reference feature is specified in steps S235 and S240, information indicating the position of the reference feature is associated with the information indicating the reference feature, and the reference feature information is obtained.

  Next, the control unit 20 determines whether or not the determination process in step S230 has been performed for all intersections on the route (step S245). If it is not determined in step S245 that the determination process in step S230 has been performed for all intersections on the route, the control unit 20 repeats the processes in and after step S230 with an undecided intersection as a new determination target. On the other hand, when it is determined in step S245 that the determination process of step S230 has been performed for all intersections on the route, the control unit 20 transmits the reference feature information and the route information to the mobile terminal 100 via the communication unit 22. (Step S250).

  On the other hand, in step S105 shown in FIG. 3, the mobile terminal 100 waits for reception of information by the communication unit 220, and the reference feature information and route information transmitted by the route information providing apparatus 10 are received. If it receives in step S110, the process after step S115 will be started again.

  That is, when receiving the reference feature information and the route information, the control unit 200 performs route guidance (step S115). Specifically, the control unit 200 outputs a control signal to the user I / F unit 420 to display a map including a route. Further, the current location of the mobile terminal 100 is specified based on the output signal of the GPS receiving unit 410, and a control signal is output to the user I / F unit 420 to display information indicating the current location. The displayed current location is updated every time the current location of the mobile terminal 100 changes, and the current location of the user is always displayed on the user I / F unit 420. Therefore, the user only needs to move so that the current location of the user moves along the route displayed on the user I / F unit 420, and route guidance is provided to the user.

FIG. 5 is a display example of a map including a route. In the example shown in FIG. 5, a road is indicated by a thin curve and a route is indicated by a thick curve. Further, I ₁ is an intersection 1 and I ₂ is an intersection 2, and the rectangles shown around the intersection 1 and the intersection 2 indicate features, and one of the features 1 to 5 shown in FIG. It is shown that. Further, in FIG. 5, the current location of the mobile terminal 100 is indicated by a circle and a triangle in the circle, and the destination G is indicated by a circle and a letter G in the circle.

  In such a route guidance state, the control unit 200 determines whether the current location of the mobile terminal 100 is within a predetermined distance to the intersection (step S120). That is, the control unit 200 determines that the distance between the intersection position and the current location of the mobile terminal 100 is within a predetermined distance based on the information indicating the location of the intersection included in the route information and the information indicating the current location of the mobile terminal 100. It is determined whether or not. If it is determined in step S120 that the current location of the mobile terminal 100 is within a predetermined distance to the intersection, the control unit 200 identifies the reference feature related to the intersection based on the reference feature information, and together with the reference feature The exit direction of the intersection is guided (step S125).

That is, the control unit 200 outputs a control signal to the user I / F unit 420 to output a sound indicating the reference feature and a sound indicating the exit direction of the intersection. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 5, the reference feature at the intersection I ₁ is the feature 1 and the reference feature at the intersection I ₂ is the feature 5 as in the example shown in FIG. In this example, when the user approaches the intersection I ₁ and the current location of the mobile terminal 100 is within a predetermined distance from the intersection I ₁ , the control unit 200 causes the user I / F unit 420 to output a voice, and the user Guides that the vehicle should go straight at the intersection I ₁ where the feature 1 visible on the left side of is located. Further, when the user approaches the intersection I ₂ and the current location of the mobile terminal 100 is within a predetermined distance from the intersection I ₂ , the control unit 200 outputs a voice from the user I / F unit 420, and the left side of the user Guide the user to turn right at the intersection I ₂ where the visible feature 5 exists.

  On the other hand, if it is not determined in step S120 that the current location of the mobile terminal 100 is within a predetermined distance to the intersection, step S125 is skipped. When it is not determined in step S120 that the current location of the mobile terminal 100 is within a predetermined distance to the intersection, and after execution of step S125, the control unit 200 determines whether or not the destination has arrived (step S130). That is, it is determined whether or not the distance between the information indicating the position of the destination included in the route information and the current location of the mobile terminal 100 is within a predetermined distance.

  If it is not determined in step S130 that the vehicle has arrived at the destination, the processes in and after step S115 are repeated. On the other hand, if it is determined in step S130 that the destination has been reached, the navigation process is terminated. According to the above processing, guidance is performed in a state in which a feature that is likely to be recognized by the user when guiding a route is preferentially selected as a reference feature. Therefore, it is possible to perform route guidance using features appropriate for each user.

(2) Other embodiments:
The above embodiment is an example for carrying out the present invention, and various other embodiments can be adopted as long as the feature related to the shared information is specified as the reference feature for route guidance. For example, the shared information may be acquired as information shared by the members of the group to which the user belongs, may acquire shared information previously associated with the user, or may be associated with the group. You may acquire shared information. As the former, in the example shown in FIG. 2, it is possible to adopt a configuration that associates information indicating that the shared information is a sport with the ID, and the latter corresponds to information indicating the group to which the ID is associated. In addition, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which information indicating the affiliated group is regarded as shared information. The shared information only needs to be shared by the members, and various types of information can be shared information. For example, when the destination is a common destination for the members, information indicating the destination may be acquired as shared information. In this configuration, since the feature related to the destination becomes a reference feature when guiding the route to the destination to the user, each constituent member recognizes the reference feature. The possibility is extremely high. Of course, a configuration in which the destination is not shared is also possible. In this case, the user inputs the destination using the user I / F unit 420.

  Further, the reference feature may be a feature that serves as a reference when guiding the route to the destination to the user, and may be a feature related to the shared information. Here, as a reference feature when guiding a route, a feature for facilitating the specification of the route, a feature constituting the route itself, or the like can be assumed. The former is not limited to the feature existing around the intersection, and may be a feature present on the route or around the route. For example, it is possible to use a feature that serves as a reference for specifying a road to go straight as a reference feature so that a route can be easily specified from parallel roads. As the latter, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which a specific road constituting a route or a specific road type is used as a reference feature. For example, if a route in which a specific road recognized by the user becomes a route is searched and the route is guided, the route can be clearly guided to the user.

  The route may be specified by searching as described above, but may be specified in advance. That is, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which route information indicating a route is specified in advance by, for example, a user using a social networking service, and the feature specifying device acquires the route information. Further, the route may be a route to be traveled by the vehicle, a route to be traced by another travel method, or a route to be traced by using a plurality of travel methods.

  Furthermore, as the method for specifying the feature related to the shared information, various configurations can be adopted in addition to the configuration for analyzing the coincidence or the relationship between the shared information and the attribute information as in the above-described embodiment. For example, it is possible to adopt a configuration in which information indicating the feature itself or the feature type is associated with the shared information in advance, and the feature or feature type associated with the shared information is specified. In the example shown in FIG. 2, this configuration can be realized by previously associating the type of the feature 1 or the sporting goods store with the shared information called sports.

  Furthermore, the above-described personal information 30a can be composed of various types of information in addition to the information shown in FIG. For example, it can be configured by information such as preference of each member, facility having a high visit frequency, residential area, road type having a high travel frequency, and the like.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the mobile terminal 100 communicates with the route information providing device 10, but a configuration in which a car navigation device used by the user communicates with the route information providing device 10 may be used. In addition, the mobile terminal 100 and the car navigation device may include a feature specifying device. In other words, the portable terminal 100 or the car navigation device may be configured to acquire route information and specify the reference feature, and may be configured to present the reference feature for route guidance based on the acquired route information.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Route information provision apparatus, 20 ... Control part, 21 ... Route information transmission program, 21a ... Shared information acquisition part, 21b ... Feature identification part, 21c ... Path information acquisition part, 22 ... Communication part, 30 ... Recording medium, 30 ... Personal information, 30b ... Map information, 100 ... Mobile terminal, 200 ... Control unit, 210 ... Navigation program, 220 ... Communication unit, 300 ... Recording medium, 300a ... ID information, 410 ... GPS receiving unit, 420 ... User I / F part

Claims (6)

Shared information acquisition means for acquiring shared information shared by members of the group to which the user belongs;
A feature specifying means for specifying a feature related to the shared information which is a reference when guiding a route to the destination to the user;
A feature identification device comprising: The destination is a common destination of the members;
The feature specifying apparatus according to claim 1. Personal information is previously associated with the members for each of a plurality of items,
The shared information acquisition means acquires the personal information common to the members as the shared information.
The feature specifying apparatus according to claim 1 or 2. The feature specifying means includes:
When the feature related to the shared information exists around an intersection on the route, a reference for guiding the user to the route to the destination of the feature related to the shared information Identified as a feature
When the feature related to the shared information does not exist around the intersection on the route, the route to the destination is guided to the user through a feature having a relatively high degree of recognition. Identify it as a standard feature
The feature specifying apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 3. A shared information acquisition step of acquiring shared information shared by members of the group to which the user belongs;
A feature identifying step for identifying a feature related to the shared information which is a reference when guiding a route to a destination to the user;
Feature identification method including A shared information acquisition function for acquiring shared information shared by members of the group to which the user belongs;
A feature specifying function for specifying a feature related to the shared information which is a reference when guiding a route to the destination to the user;
A feature identification program that enables a computer to realize

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