JP2013128221A - Program, information terminal, and information system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide opportunity to interact with a person in the neighborhood.SOLUTION: To provide a program for making an information terminal 100 function as: a first position acquisition part for acquiring first position information showing a position of the information terminal 100; a second position acquisition part for acquiring second position information showing a position of an external terminal 200 except for the information terminal 100; a position calculation part for calculating a distance between the information terminal 100 and the external information terminal 200 and a direction of the position of the external terminal 200 to the position of the information terminal 100, on the basis of the first and second position information; a display control part for displaying a diagram showing the position of the external terminal 200 on a position display part of the information terminal 100; a range acquisition part for acquiring information for designating a range in which the external terminal 200 to be displayed by the display control part is positioned; a message acquisition part for acquiring a transmission message to the external terminal 200; and a transmission part for transmitting the transmission message.

Description

  The present invention relates to a program for operating an information terminal, an information terminal for reading and executing the program, and an information system including the information terminal.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is known a map display device that displays a current position of another vehicle that is traveling in a group with the host vehicle (see, for example, Patent Document 1). Specifically, the map display device acquires position information from a predetermined other vehicle, and displays a map of a range including a position where the other vehicle is traveling on the monitor based on the acquired position information. can do.

  A method of communicating with members in a group located within a predetermined distance range is also known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

JP 2006-177721 A JP 2006-081184 A

  However, since the conventional method displays a map of the area where the other party is located, a person who is near you while visually checking the relationship between the position of the person near you and your position It was difficult to exchange messages with. For example, when the number of people included in the group is large, it is difficult to extract people who are easy to meet and interact with.

  Further, when a message is transmitted only to a person in a group set by the user in advance, there is also a problem that it is impossible to interact with a person outside the group. Therefore, for example, even if the store manager wants to send a message introducing the store to a person nearby, it is difficult to send the message to a person other than the registered person.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of these points, and by making it possible to visually recognize the relationship between the position of a person near you and your position, you can interact with those near you. Or provide an opportunity to send a message to someone nearby.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, in the first aspect of the present invention, while displaying so that the relationship between the position of another person near the user of the information terminal and his / her position can be visually grasped A program for causing an information terminal to function so that a message can be transmitted to a displayed person is provided.

  That is, in the first aspect of the present invention, the information terminal includes a first position acquisition unit that acquires first position information indicating the position of the information terminal, and second position information that indicates the position of an external terminal different from the information terminal. A second position acquisition unit to acquire, a display control unit that displays a graphic indicating the position of the external terminal on the position display unit of the information terminal, and information that specifies a range in which the external terminal to be displayed by the display control unit is located Provided is a program that functions as a range acquisition unit, a message acquisition unit that acquires a transmission message to an external terminal, and a transmission unit that transmits a transmission message.

  The display control unit includes a position corresponding to the first position information and a second position in a direction corresponding to the orientation of the position corresponding to the second position information with respect to the position of the information terminal corresponding to the first position information in the position display unit. The figure corresponding to the external terminal existing in the above range is displayed at a position separated by a length corresponding to the distance between the position corresponding to the position information, and the transmission part is displayed by the display control part. A transmission message is transmitted to the external terminal corresponding to.

  For example, the transmission unit transmits information indicating a validity period during which the transmission message is displayed on the external terminal. The transmission unit may transmit the transmission message when the number of external terminals existing within the range exceeds a predetermined number.

  The program described above calculates the distance between the information terminal and the external terminal and the orientation of the position of the external terminal with respect to the position of the information terminal based on the first position information and the second position information. You may make it function further as a calculation part. The program may further cause the information terminal to function as a receiving unit that receives a received message from an external terminal. The display control unit may display the received message on the message operation unit of the information terminal from when the received message is received until the validity period of the received message specified by the external terminal elapses.

  Furthermore, the program may further cause the information terminal to function as an information acquisition unit that acquires profile information associated with an external terminal, and an information comparison unit that compares predetermined information with profile information. A transmission part may transmit a transmission message with respect to the external terminal corresponding to the profile information containing predetermined information. A display control part may display a figure in a different mode according to profile information. The display control unit may display the profile information of the external terminal corresponding to the selected graphic in association with the graphic.

  The above program includes an information display unit that displays a list of a plurality of profile information corresponding to a plurality of external terminals, and an information selection that receives selection of at least one profile information from the plurality of profile information displayed in a list You may make it function further as a part. The display control unit may display the graphic corresponding to the selected profile information in a different form from the graphic corresponding to the profile information not selected.

  As an example, the range acquisition unit acquires the radius of the circle centered on the position of the information terminal as information specifying the range, and the display control unit centers on the position of the information terminal in the position display unit. The figure is displayed in a circle whose radius is the length corresponding to the size of the radius.

  The above program may further cause the information terminal to function as an orientation detection unit that detects the orientation of the information terminal. The display control unit may determine a position for displaying the graphic based on the orientation of the information terminal and the orientation of the position of the external terminal with respect to the position of the information terminal.

  In a second aspect of the present invention, an information terminal that reads and executes the above program is provided. The information terminal may read the program at the manufacturing stage and store it in the memory of the information terminal, or may read the program from an external storage medium after manufacturing and store it in the memory. The information terminal may read the program downloaded from the communication line.

  In the third aspect of the present invention, an information terminal that reads and executes the above program, an external terminal that reads and executes the above program, and the information terminal and the external terminal are connected via a communication line. An information system including a server is provided. A server in the information system includes a message receiving unit that receives a transmission message from an information terminal, and a message transmission unit that transmits a reception message including information included in the transmission message to an external terminal. The external terminal displays the received message received from the server.

  In the above information system, the server includes an effective period storage unit that stores information indicating an effective period from when the message receiving unit receives the transmission message until the display of the received message on the external terminal is deleted, and the message receiving unit And a period measuring unit that measures an elapsed period after receiving the transmission message, and the message transmission unit stops displaying the received message on the external terminal when the elapsed period becomes longer than the valid period of the message. May be.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an opportunity to interact with a nearby person by making it easy to recognize a person nearby.

1 shows a configuration of an information system according to a first embodiment. The structure of the information terminal of 1st Embodiment is shown. The operation | movement flowchart of the information terminal of 1st Embodiment is shown. An example of the external appearance of the information terminal of 1st Embodiment is shown. The communication sequence between the information terminal of 1st Embodiment, an external terminal, and a server is shown. The structure of the information terminal of 2nd Embodiment is shown. The operation | movement flowchart of the information terminal of 3rd Embodiment is shown. The structure of the information terminal of 4th Embodiment is shown. The structure of the information terminal of 5th Embodiment is shown. An example of the external appearance of the information terminal of 5th Embodiment is shown. An example of the appearance of the information terminal of a 6th embodiment is shown. The structure of the information terminal of 7th Embodiment is shown. An example of the appearance of the information terminal of a 7th embodiment is shown. An example of the appearance of the information terminal of an 8th embodiment is shown. The structure of the information terminal of 9th Embodiment is shown. An example of the appearance of the information terminal of a 9th embodiment is shown. The structure of the computer which implement | achieves the information terminal which concerns on said embodiment is shown.

<First Embodiment>
[Configuration of Information System 10]
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an information system 10 according to the first embodiment. The information system 10 includes an information terminal 100, an external terminal 200 (external terminal 200-1 to external terminal 200-n, where n is a natural number of 2 or more) and a server 400. The information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 transmit / receive data to / from the server 400 via the Internet 300.

  The information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 are, for example, portable information communication terminals. The information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 are terminals having equivalent functions. In this specification, an information terminal other than the information terminal 100 that can communicate with the information terminal 100 is referred to as an external terminal 200.

  For example, the server 400 includes an SNS server 402, a location information acquisition server 404, and a message server 406. The SNS server 402 manages login information to a social networking service such as Facebook (registered trademark) and profile information of a user who uses the service. Here, the profile information is information indicating the characteristics of the user such as the user's name, age, gender, birthplace, and field of interest.

  The information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 transmit login information registered in the SNS server 402 to the SNS server 402 in advance, so that the user of the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 logs in to a service managed by the SNS server 402. be able to. In this embodiment, the user of the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 can send and receive messages to and from a user near the place where the logged-in user is logged in by logging into the SNS server 402. Support services can be used.

  The location information acquisition server 404 acquires and manages location information of the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200. The information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 acquire information indicating the position of each terminal. For example, the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 have a GPS receiver, and acquire latitude / longitude information of the terminal itself. The information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 transmit the acquired location information of the own terminal to the location information acquisition server 404. The information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 can acquire the position information of other information terminals logged into the SNS server 402 from the position information acquisition server 404.

  In order to prevent other users from knowing the location even though the users of the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 do not want the location information acquisition server 404, until a predetermined period elapses after the location information is transmitted The position information of the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 whose position information is not updated may be deleted.

  The message server 406 manages messages exchanged between the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200. For example, the message server 406 includes a message receiving unit that receives a message transmitted from the information terminal 100 to the external terminal 200. In addition, the message server 406 includes a message transmission unit that distributes a reception message including a transmission message received from the information terminal 100 to the external terminal 200.

  The message server 406 may distribute the broadcast message to a plurality of external terminals 200. The message server 406 may distribute a message transmitted from the external terminal 200 to the information terminal 100 to the information terminal 100. The message server 406 may also manage the transmission and reception of messages between the external terminal 200-1 and the external terminal 200-n.

  Specifically, the message server 406 provides a real-time push communication service. More specifically, when the message server 406 receives an HTTP request from the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 and then receives a message addressed to the information terminal 100 or the external terminal 200 that has transmitted the HTTP request, the message server 406 displays the message. The information is immediately transmitted to the information terminal 100 or the external terminal 200.

  As an example, the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 transmit an Ajax request message generated in the Ajax layer to the message server 406. Comet is implemented in the message server 406. When an Ajax request message is received, the message server 406 stands by with an HTTP session opened. When the message server 406 receives a message addressed to the terminal that has transmitted the Ajax request message after receiving the Ajax request message from the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200, the message server 406 transmits the message to the terminal.

[Configuration of Information Terminal 100]
FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the information terminal 100 of the first embodiment. The external terminal 200 has the same configuration as the information terminal 100. FIG. 3 shows an operation flowchart of the information terminal 100. Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of the information terminal 100 will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

  The information terminal 100 includes a first position acquisition unit 102, a second position acquisition unit 104, a display control unit 106, a range acquisition unit 108, and a message acquisition unit 110.

  The first position acquisition unit 102 acquires first position information indicating the position of the information terminal 100 itself (S102). For example, the first position acquisition unit 102 includes a GPS receiver, and the latitude / longitude calculated based on radio waves from a GPS satellite is used as the first position information. If the first position acquisition unit 102 has an acceleration sensor and cannot receive radio waves from a satellite, the first position acquisition unit 102 calculates a position based on position information acquired in the past and motion vector information detected by the acceleration sensor. Also good. The first position acquisition unit 102 may store the acquired first position information in a storage element such as a memory.

  The second position acquisition unit 104 acquires second position information indicating the position of the external terminal 200 other than the information terminal 100 (S104). Specifically, the second position acquisition unit 104 acquires the position information of the external terminal 200 by transmitting a message requesting position information to the position information acquisition server 404. The second position acquisition unit 104 may store the acquired second position information in a storage element such as a memory.

  The second position information is information indicating the latitude / longitude of the external terminal 200, for example. The second position information may be information indicating a relative positional relationship of the external terminal 200 with respect to the position of the information terminal 100. The second position information may be coordinate data used by the information terminal 100 to display the position of the external terminal 200.

  The display control unit 106 displays a graphic indicating the position of the external terminal 200 corresponding to the second position information on the position display unit 150 of the information terminal 100 (S106). The position display unit 150 is a partial region of the liquid crystal display screen on the information terminal 100, for example.

  As an example, the display control unit 106 acquires information indicating the distance from the position information acquisition server 404 to the external terminal 200 and the orientation of the external terminal 200, and displays a graphic indicating the position of the external terminal 200 based on the acquired information. indicate. The information terminal 100 may acquire and display an image generated based on the second position information from the position information acquisition server 404.

  The range acquisition unit 108 acquires information specifying a range in which the external terminal 200 to be displayed by the position display unit 150 is located. Specifically, the range acquisition unit 108 acquires the size of the radius of a circle centered on the position of the information terminal 100 as information specifying the range. The display control unit 106 displays a graphic corresponding to the external terminal 200 in a circle whose radius is a length corresponding to the size of the radius centered on the position of the information terminal 100 in the position display unit 150.

  The message acquisition unit 110 acquires a transmission message for the external terminal 200 (S108). For example, the message acquisition unit 110 acquires a message created using the liquid crystal display unit of the information terminal 100.

  The transmission unit 112 transmits a transmission message to the external terminal 200 corresponding to the graphic displayed by the display control unit 106 (S110). The external terminal 200 displayed by the display control unit 106 is a terminal within the range specified by the user with respect to the position of the information terminal 100. Therefore, the transmission part 112 can transmit a transmission message with respect to the external terminal 200 which the person who is in the distance which the user of the information terminal 100 can meet has.

[Example of operation screen of information terminal 100]
FIG. 4 shows an example of the appearance of the information terminal 100. The information terminal 100 includes a position display unit 150 and a message operation unit 160. The position display unit 150 has a circular position display area, and lines indicating the north-south direction and the east-west direction are drawn in the circle. The center position of a circle included in the position display unit 150 corresponds to the position of the information terminal 100. The display control unit 106 may display a graphic corresponding to the information terminal 100 at the center position of the circle. The radius of the position display area in the position display unit 150 is a size corresponding to the range where the external terminal 200 to be displayed is acquired, which is acquired by the range acquisition unit 108.

  The range acquisition unit 108 acquires a range in which the external terminal 200 is to be displayed through an operation in the display range input unit 152 in FIG. For example, the user of the information terminal 100 clicks with the cursor placed on the position of a number displayed on the display range input unit 152. The range acquisition unit 108 sets the distance corresponding to the number where the cursor is located as the radius of the display range. The range acquisition unit 108 may use the distance corresponding to the number touched by the user as the radius of the display range. In FIG. 4, since the cursor is at the position of 100, the radius of the position display area in the position display unit 150 is 100 m.

  The display control unit 106 associates a predetermined reference position in the position display unit 150 with the position of the information terminal 100, and corresponds to the distance in the direction corresponding to the direction with respect to the position of the information terminal 100 in the position display unit 150. A graphic corresponding to the external terminal 200 existing within the range is displayed at a position far away. In FIG. 4, a white circular figure A corresponds to the position of the information terminal 100. The black circular figure B corresponds to the position of the external terminal 200-1, the figure C corresponds to the position of the external terminal 200-2, and the figure D corresponds to the position of the external terminal 200-3.

  For example, the display control unit 106 displays the graphic B at the position shown in FIG. 4 when the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200-1 are separated by 50 m in the east-west direction. That is, the display control unit 106 displays the graphic B in the right direction by half the radius of the circle displayed on the position display unit 150 from the center of the position display unit 150 corresponding to the position of the information terminal 100.

  As an example, the display control unit 106 does not display map information for the user to grasp the exact position of the displayed external terminal 200 on the position display unit 150. The display control unit 106 displays only information on the position display unit 150 to the extent that the outline of the distance and direction with respect to the position of the information terminal 100 can be grasped, so that the user of the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 can safely perform this service. Can be used.

  The message operation unit 160 includes a message input area 161, an input message display area 162, a transmission execution key 163, and a valid period key 164. The message input area 161 functions as a user interface for the message acquisition unit 110 to acquire a transmission message. The input message display area 162 functions as a user interface for confirming the content of the transmission message input by the user.

  The transmission execution key 163 functions as a user interface for inputting an instruction for the transmission unit 112 to transmit the input transmission message. The effective period key 164 functions as a user interface for setting an effective period in which a message transmitted by the transmission unit 112 can be displayed on the external terminal 200. As an example, the transmission execution key 163 and the validity period key 164 are images displayed on a liquid crystal screen with a touch panel, and detect a user's operation when the user touches the displayed image.

  When the transmission execution key 163 is pressed, the transmission unit 112 transmits the message displayed in the input message display area 162. The transmitting unit 112 may further transmit valid period information indicating the valid period set by the valid period key 164. As an example, the transmission unit 112 transmits validity period information together with the transmission message to the message server 406. The transmission unit 112 may transmit the validity period information to the external terminal 200 via the mobile phone communication network without using the message server 406.

  For example, the message server 406 stores an effective period storage for storing information indicating an effective period from when the message transmission unit receives a transmission message transmitted by the information terminal 100 until the display of the received message on the external terminal 200 is deleted. Part. Upon receiving the validity period information from the information terminal 100, the message server 406 stores the received validity period information in the validity period storage unit.

  In addition, the message server 406 includes a period measurement unit that measures an elapsed period after the message reception unit transmits the transmission message transmitted by the information terminal 100 to the external terminal. When the elapsed time measured by the period measurement unit becomes longer than the valid period stored in the valid period storage unit, the message transmission unit stops the display of the received message on the external terminal 200. For example, the message server 406 transmits a delete message including an instruction for causing the external terminal 200 to delete the received message. When receiving the delete message, the external terminal 200 deletes the transmission message specified by the information in the delete message.

  For example, the user of the information terminal 100 sets the validity period of the transmission message to 2 hours, and sends the validity period information together with a message “20% discount for 2 hours from now”. When the message is transmitted, the message is displayed on the external terminal 200. When two hours have elapsed since the message was transmitted, the external terminal 200 receives the delete message from the message server 406 and stops displaying the message.

  The message server 406 may delete, from the message server 406, a message whose elapsed time since reception has exceeded the valid period among the messages received from the information terminal 100. In addition, even if the message server 406 receives an Ajax request message from the external terminal 200 in a state where the message addressed to the external terminal 200 is received from the information terminal 100, the elapsed period after receiving the message from the information terminal 100 is valid. When the period is exceeded, the message may not be transmitted to the external terminal 200.

  The message server 406 may analyze the message transmitted from the information terminal 100 and automatically recognize the validity period of the message. For example, when a predetermined character related to a time such as “hour” or “minute” is added to a number in the message, the message server 406 sets an effective period based on the number and the predetermined character. recognize.

  The message server 406 may record the number or type of messages transmitted from the information terminal 100 and calculate the amount charged to the user of the information terminal 100 based on the number or type of messages transmitted. The message server 406 records the number of transmission messages with a valid period set, and may calculate a higher amount for a transmission message with a valid period set than a transmission message with no valid period set. Good.

  As described above, the user of the information terminal 100 can transmit a message with a validity period. The user of the information terminal 100 can transmit a coupon with a valid period, for example, by using this function. Therefore, for example, when the restaurant manager uses the above-described function, an effect that the customer can be attracted in a time zone that the customer wants to visit is produced. In particular, when combined with the transmission destination narrowing function based on the profile information of the user of the external terminal 200 described above, a greater effect is produced.

[Description of communication sequence]
FIG. 5 shows a communication sequence between the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 and the server 400. First, the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 transmit a login message to the SNS server 402. When the SNS server 402 receives the login message, authentication processing is performed between the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200. When the authentication process is completed, the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 can receive a service provided by the server 400.

  Subsequently, the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 transmit the respective position information to the position information acquisition server 404. The information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 transmit the position information to the position information acquisition server 404 at a predetermined interval. The location information acquisition server 404 stores the received location information in association with the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200.

  When the information terminal 100 activates the application for this service, the information terminal 100 transmits a position information request message requesting the position information of the external terminal 200 to the position information acquisition server 404. For example, the information terminal 100 transmits a position information request message including information indicating the distance between the external terminal 200 that is the target of acquiring position information and the information terminal 100.

  Specifically, when the information terminal 100 is in a default state when an application is started in the information terminal 100 and is in a mode for displaying the external terminal 200 within 100 m from the information terminal 100, the information terminal 100 The position information acquisition server 404 is requested for the position information of the external terminal 200 within a radius of 100 m. When the user of the information terminal 100 operates the display range input unit 152 to change the display range, the information terminal 100 transmits information corresponding to the changed display range in a position information request message and transmits it to the position information acquisition server 404. .

  When the location information acquisition server 404 receives the location information request message from the information terminal 100, the distance from the information terminal 100 among the logged-in external terminals 200 is within the range specified by the location information request message. The position information of the external terminal 200 is extracted. The location information acquisition server 404 transmits the extracted location information of the external terminal 200 to the information terminal 100. The information terminal 100 displays a graphic corresponding to the external terminal 200 based on the positional information of the information terminal 100 itself and the received positional information of the external terminal 200.

  Next, a communication sequence at the time of message transmission / reception will be described. When a message transmission / reception application is activated in the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200, the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 transmit an Ajax request message to the message server 406. When the message server 406 receives the transmission message 1 from the information terminal 100 to the external terminal 200 after receiving the Ajax request message, the message server 406 generates the reception message 1 including the content of the transmission message 1 and transmits it to the external terminal 200. In this way, the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 logged in to the service can send and receive messages to and from each other.

  Here, when the transmission message 1 includes information indicating the validity period, the message server 406 deletes the message from the external terminal 200 after the validity period has elapsed since the transmission message 1 was received. Send a message. When receiving the delete message, the external terminal 200 deletes the received message 1.

  The information terminal 100 may give an instruction to the message server 406 to set the validity period of the transmission message in advance. The message server 406 may transmit a deletion message to the external terminal 200 when a preset valid period has elapsed since the transmission message received from the information terminal 100 was transmitted to the external terminal 200.

  The information terminal 100 transmits a deletion message including information for identifying the transmission message to be deleted to the message server 406 after the time corresponding to the valid period has elapsed since the transmission message was transmitted to the external terminal 200. May be. When the message server 406 receives the deletion message from the information terminal 100, the message server 406 transmits the deletion message to the external terminal 200. When receiving the delete message, the external terminal 200 deletes the message received from the information terminal 100.

  As described above, by using the information terminal 100 of the first embodiment, the user of the information terminal 100 can visually grasp the relationship between the position of another person nearby and his / her position, and is displayed. The effect is that it is possible to send a message to a person. In particular, when the information terminal 100 transmits a message with a validity period, there is an unexpected effect that a high advertising effect can be obtained.

<Second Embodiment>
[Calculate distance and direction in information terminal 100]
FIG. 6 shows the configuration of the information terminal 100 of the second embodiment. The information terminal 100 shown in FIG. 6 is different from the information terminal 100 shown in FIG.

  The position calculation unit 114 calculates the distance between the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 and the orientation of the position of the external terminal 200 with respect to the position of the information terminal 100 based on the first position information and the second position information. . Specifically, the position calculation unit 114 determines whether the information terminal 100 and the external information are based on the difference between the latitude / longitude information of the information terminal 100 indicated by the first position information and the latitude / longitude information of the external terminal 200 indicated by the second position information. The distance to the terminal 200 and the orientation of the position of the external terminal 200 with respect to the position of the information terminal 100 are calculated.

More specifically, the position calculation unit 114 calculates the distance a in the latitude direction based on the difference between the latitude indicated by the first position information and the latitude indicated by the second position information, and the longitude and second indicated by the first position information. The distance b in the longitude direction is calculated based on the difference from the longitude indicated by the position information. Subsequently, the position calculation unit 114 can calculate the distance between the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 by calculating the square root of a ² + b ² .

  Since the information terminal 100 includes the position calculation unit 114, when the information terminal 100 moves, the position display unit 150 does not wait until information indicating the distance and direction is transmitted from the position information acquisition server 404 in real time. The position of can be updated. That is, when the relative position between the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 changes with the movement of the information terminal 100, the display control unit 106 notifies the position information acquisition server 404 of the position of the moved information terminal 100. Without changing, the position of the external terminal 200 can be quickly changed and displayed in accordance with the change of the relative position.

<Third Embodiment>
FIG. 7 shows an operation flowchart of the information terminal 100 of the third embodiment. In the information terminal 100 according to the present embodiment, the transmission unit 112 transmits a transmission message when the number of external terminals 200 existing within a range to be displayed on the position display unit 150 exceeds a predetermined number. This is different from the operation of the information terminal 100 of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

  After the message acquisition unit 110 acquires the transmission message (S108), the information terminal 100, when the number of external terminals 200 within the range displayed on the position display unit 150 exceeds a predetermined threshold (S202), A transmission message is transmitted to the external terminal 200 within the display range (S204). When the number of external terminals 200 within the range displayed on the position display unit 150 does not exceed a predetermined threshold, the information terminal 100 transmits a message to the external terminals 200 within the range displayed on the position display unit 150 (S206).

  The information terminal 100 uses, for example, the number input by the user as the threshold value. The information terminal 100 may determine the threshold based on the radius of the range to be displayed. For example, the information terminal 100 increases the threshold value as the radius of the display range increases. The information terminal 100 may determine whether to transmit with a different threshold according to the time when the transmission message is acquired.

  The information terminal 100 has profile information that satisfies a predetermined condition, and when the number of external terminals 200 of users within the range displayed on the position display unit 150 exceeds a predetermined threshold, A transmission message may be transmitted to the user's external terminal 200 having profile information that satisfies the conditions.

  Since the transmission message can be transmitted to a larger number of people by transmitting the transmission message when the number of external terminals 200 within the display range exceeds the threshold as in the present embodiment, the advertising effect is improved. Rise.

<Fourth Embodiment>
FIG. 8 shows the configuration of the information terminal 100 of the fourth embodiment. The information terminal 100 shown in the figure is different from the information terminal 100 shown in FIG. 2 in that it further includes a receiving unit 116 and a message operation unit 160.

  The receiving unit 116 receives a received message from the external terminal 200. The receiving unit 116 may receive a received message including a transmission message transmitted from the external terminal 200 via the message server 406. Further, the receiving unit 116 may receive information indicating a period for displaying the received message. For example, the display control unit 106 stops displaying the received message after displaying the received message on the message operation unit 160 from the time the received message is received until the period specified by the external terminal 200 elapses.

  The display control unit 106 may display the remaining time for displaying the received message together with the received message. For example, when the received message is a coupon ticket with a valid period, when the remaining time displayed by the display control unit 106 is displayed, the user of the information terminal 100 can easily grasp the remaining time during which the coupon ticket can be used. The display control unit 106 may change the display mode such as the color or pattern for displaying the received message as the remaining time for displaying the received message decreases.

  As an example, the information terminal 100 periodically transmits an Ajax request message to the message server 406, and the message server 406 transmits, to the information terminal 100, messages having different display modes over time according to the Ajax request message. . The information terminal 100 transmits an Ajax request message to the message server 406 within a predetermined time (for example, 1 second) after receiving the message including the remaining time, and the message server 406 transmits the message at intervals of 1 second. Also good.

  When the information terminal 100 performs the above control, the information terminal 100 can display a coupon ticket with a valid period in which the remaining time changes every second. By displaying the remaining time on a message that can be used as a coupon, the information terminal 100 has an effect that the user can be motivated to use the coupon early.

<Fifth Embodiment>
[Form using profile information]
FIG. 9 shows the configuration of the information terminal 100 of the fifth embodiment. The information terminal 100 shown in the figure is different from the information terminal 100 shown in FIG. 1 in that it further includes an information acquisition unit 118 and an information comparison unit 120. The information acquisition unit 118 acquires profile information associated with the external terminal 200 from the SNS server 402, for example. The information comparison unit 120 compares information preset by the user with profile information.

  FIG. 10 shows an appearance of the information terminal 100 according to the fifth embodiment. 4 is different from the information terminal 100 shown in FIG. 4 in that a transmission destination selection key 165 is provided in the message operation unit 160. The user of the information terminal 100 can select the transmission destination of the transmission message using the transmission destination selection key 165. For example, when the user presses the transmission destination selection key 165, the information acquisition unit 118 transmits a message requesting the profile information of the user of the external terminal 200 displayed on the position display unit 150 to the SNS server 402.

  When the user presses the transmission destination selection key 165, the display control unit 106 displays a search screen for narrowing down transmission destinations based on the profile information. When the search screen is displayed, the user inputs conditions for narrowing down transmission destinations based on information that characterizes individuals such as age, gender, birthplace, and field of interest. The information comparison unit 120 compares the input information with the profile information, and extracts profile information that matches the comparison result.

  Specifically, when the user inputs “20s” as a condition of “age” and “gourmet” as a condition of “field of interest”, the transmission unit 112 includes a profile including the input information. A transmission message to the external terminal 200 corresponding to the information is transmitted. For example, the transmission unit 112 transmits a message to a partner who is interested in gourmet in his 20s.

  The display control unit 106 may display a graphic in a different manner depending on the content of the profile information of the external terminal 200. For example, the display control unit 106 displays the graphic of the partner external terminal 200 having profile information that matches the result of comparison between the condition input by the information comparison unit 120 and the profile information, as the graphic B and graphic C in FIG. In this way, the image is displayed in a shape different from other shapes. The display control unit 106 may display only the graphic corresponding to the external terminal 200 selected according to the content of the profile information.

  When the message server 406 charges the user of the information terminal 100 according to the number or type of messages transmitted from the information terminal 100, the message server 406 is transmitted after the destination is narrowed down based on the profile information. For a message, a higher amount may be calculated than for a message transmitted without narrowing down the destination.

  As described above, in the information terminal 100 according to the present embodiment, since a message can be transmitted to a person who satisfies a specific condition among those close to the information terminal 100, interest to the user of the information terminal 100 is obtained. Real-time communication can be realized for high-skilled people. For example, by using the above-mentioned function, a restaurant manager can send an advertisement message such as a coupon to a person who is interested in cooking provided at the restaurant among those near the restaurant. So you can make efficient advertising.

  For the person who receives the message, there is an effect that information that he / she is interested in can be acquired. For example, for those who are looking for a restaurant, if a coupon is sent from a nearby restaurant, the trouble of searching for a restaurant can be saved and the coupon can be used to receive a service at a low price. Occurs.

<Sixth Embodiment>
[Display profile information of selected device]
FIG. 11 shows an appearance of the information terminal 100 according to the sixth embodiment. In the information terminal 100 in the figure, the profile information can be displayed in the position display unit 150 in association with the external terminal 200 displayed in the position display unit 150. It is different from the appearance. The display control unit 106 may display the profile information of the external terminal 200 corresponding to the selected graphic in association with the graphic.

  For example, when the user of the information terminal 100 touches a graphic, the display control unit 106 displays the profile information of the external terminal 200 corresponding to the graphic in a balloon graphic that is in contact with the graphic. The display control unit 106 may display a cursor that moves in response to an operation of the information terminal 100 and display profile information of the external terminal 200 corresponding to the graphic displayed at the same position as the cursor.

  When the graphic displayed on the position display unit 150 is pressed while the transmission destination selection key 165 is pressed to enter the transmission destination selection mode, the transmission unit 112 transmits the external terminal 200 corresponding to the pressed graphic to the transmission destination. It may be a destination. Since the information terminal 100 has such a configuration, the user can select a transmission destination while viewing the profile information corresponding to the external terminal 200 selected by the cursor.

<Seventh Embodiment>
[List display of profile information]
FIG. 12 shows the configuration of the information terminal 100 of the seventh embodiment. FIG. 13 shows an appearance of the information terminal 100 according to the seventh embodiment. The information terminal 100 illustrated in FIG. 12 is different from the information terminal 100 illustrated in FIG. 9 in that the information terminal 100 includes an information display unit 122 and an information selection unit 124.

  The information display unit 122 displays a plurality of profile information 171 corresponding to the plurality of external terminals 200 in a list. The information selection unit 124 receives selection of at least one profile information from a plurality of profile information displayed in a list. The transmission unit 112 transmits a message to the external terminal 200 corresponding to the selected profile information.

  Specifically, the information display unit 122 displays a list of profile information on the message operation unit 160 shown in FIG. The information display unit 122 may display more detailed profile information when any of the listed profile information is pressed by the user.

  The information selection unit 124 selects profile information for which the selection key 172 has been pressed. The display control unit 106 may display a graphic corresponding to the selected profile information in a manner different from the graphic corresponding to the profile information that is not selected. The transmitting unit 112 may transmit a message to the external terminal 200 corresponding to the selected profile information.

  In this way, the information terminal 100 displays a list of profile information, and by changing the shape of the graphic displayed in conjunction with the selected profile information, the user can determine where the person corresponding to the selected profile information is located. It can be easily grasped. Therefore, the user can realize suitable real-time communication such as individually sending a message or going to a meeting based on the profile information and the position of the person corresponding to the profile information.

<Eighth Embodiment>
FIG. 14 shows the appearance of the information terminal 100 according to the eighth embodiment. In the information terminal 100 in the figure, the size of the display range is set to a size different from the size of the display range in FIG. Specifically, the radius of the circle to be displayed is set to 500 m.

  The display control unit 106 may change the size of the graphic corresponding to the external terminal 200 displayed on the position display unit 150 based on the size of the display range acquired by the range acquisition unit 108. The larger the display range, the greater the number of external terminals 200 within the display range. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 14, the display control unit 106 may reduce the size of the figure corresponding to the external terminal 200 to be displayed when the display range is increased.

  The display control unit 106 changes the size of the graphic according to the display range, so that the user can easily recognize each graphic even if the number of graphics to be displayed increases. In addition, there is an effect that the user can easily grasp the size of the display range based on the size of the figure.

<Ninth Embodiment>
FIG. 15 shows the configuration of the information terminal 100 according to the ninth embodiment. FIG. 16 shows an example of the appearance of the information terminal 100 according to the ninth embodiment. The information terminal 100 shown in FIG. 15 is different from the information terminal 100 shown in FIG.

  The direction detection unit 126 detects the direction of the information terminal 100. For example, the direction detection unit 126 detects the direction of the information terminal 100 based on a signal output from a geomagnetic sensor included in the information terminal 100. The display control unit 106 determines a position for displaying a graphic based on the orientation of the information terminal 100 and the orientation of the position of the external terminal 200 with respect to the position of the information terminal 100.

  For example, when the user of the information terminal 100 is facing north, the display control unit 106 displays the orientation on the position display unit 150 so that north is at the top of the information terminal 100 as shown in FIG. To do. On the other hand, when the user of the information terminal 100 changes the direction to the northwest direction, the position display unit 150 is rotated and displayed in such a direction that the northwest position is at the top of the information terminal 100 as shown in FIG. . The display control unit 106 also changes the display position of the external terminal 200 in accordance with the rotation of the azimuth display on the position display unit 150.

  As described above, by changing the orientation of the position display unit 150 and the display position of the external terminal 200 according to the orientation of the user of the information terminal 100, the external terminal 200 actually It is possible to display according to the direction of the position.

<Tenth Embodiment>
FIG. 17 shows a configuration of a computer 1000 that implements the information terminal 100 according to the above embodiment. The computer 1000 includes a CPU 500, a ROM 510, a RAM 520, a graphic controller 530, a display device 540, a communication interface 560, and a communication controller 550. The computer 1000 functions as the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 when the CPU 500 reads out and executes a program stored in the ROM 510.

  The computer 1000 may include a storage medium access unit that reads a program stored in an external storage medium. For example, the computer 1000 has a USB interface that reads a program stored in a USB memory. The computer 1000 may cause the computer 1000 to function as the information terminal 100 and the external terminal 200 by reading a program stored in an external storage medium, storing the program in the RAM 520, and reading and executing the program stored in the RAM 520. Good.

  Specifically, the CPU 500 executes a program to execute a first position acquisition unit 102, a second position acquisition unit 104, a position calculation unit 114, a display control unit 106, a range acquisition unit 108, a message acquisition unit 110, and a transmission. Functions as a unit 112, a reception unit 116, an information acquisition unit 118, an information comparison unit 120, an information display unit 122, an information selection unit 124, and an orientation detection unit 126. The CPU 500 transmits / receives information such as login information, position information, and a message to / from the SNS server 402, the position information acquisition server 404, and the message server 406 via the communication controller 550, the communication interface 560, and the Internet 300.

  The CPU 500 may temporarily store, in the RAM 520, information transmitted to and received from the SNS server 402, the position information acquisition server 404, and the message server 406 and information displayed on the position display unit 150. As an example, when communication is performed between the computer 1000 and an external computer, the CPU 500 executes a program and performs communication processing on the communication controller 550 based on the processing content described in the program. To instruct. The communication controller 550 may store data exchanged with the SNS server 402, the position information acquisition server 404, and the message server 406 in the RAM 520 under the control of the CPU 500.

  As mentioned above, although this invention was demonstrated using embodiment, the technical scope of this invention is not limited to the range as described in the said embodiment. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be added to the above-described embodiment. It is apparent from the scope of the claims that the embodiments added with such changes or improvements can be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

  The order of execution of each process in the methods shown in the claims, the description, and the drawings is not clearly indicated as “before”, “in advance”, etc., and the output of the previous process is not followed. It should be noted that it can be realized in an arbitrary order unless it is used in the process. Concerning the operation flow in the claims and the description, even if it is described using “first”, “next”, etc. for convenience, it does not mean that it is essential to implement in this order. .

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Information system, 100 ... Information terminal, 102 ... 1st position acquisition part, 104 ... 2nd position acquisition part, 106 ... Display control part, 108 ... Range acquisition part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 ... Message acquisition part, 112 ... Transmission part, 114 ... Position calculation part, 116 ... Reception part, 118 ... Information acquisition part, 120 ... Information comparison part, 122 ... Information display unit 124 ... Information selection unit 126 ... Direction detection unit 150 ... Position display unit 152 ... Display range input unit 160 ... Message operation unit 161 ... Message Input area 162 ... Input message display area 163 ... Transmission execution key 164 ... Validity period key 171 ... Profile information 172 ... Selection key 200 ... External terminal 300 ... Internet DOO, 400 ... server, 402 ... SNS server 404 ... position information acquisition server 406 ... message server

Claims (14)

Information terminal
A first position acquisition unit that acquires first position information indicating a position of the information terminal;
A second position acquisition unit for acquiring second position information indicating a position of an external terminal different from the information terminal;
A display control unit for displaying a figure indicating a position corresponding to the second position information on a position display unit of the information terminal;
A range acquisition unit that acquires information specifying a range in which the external terminal to be displayed is displayed by the position display unit;
A message acquisition unit for acquiring a transmission message to the external terminal; and
Function as a transmission unit for transmitting the transmission message;
The display control unit has a position corresponding to the first position information and a position corresponding to the orientation of the position corresponding to the second position information with respect to the position corresponding to the first position information in the position display unit. 2 The graphic corresponding to the external terminal present in the range is displayed at a position separated by a length corresponding to the distance between the position corresponding to the position information,
The transmission unit is a program for transmitting the transmission message to the external terminal corresponding to the graphic displayed by the display control unit.   The program according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit transmits information indicating a validity period during which the transmission message is displayed on the external terminal.   The program according to claim 1, wherein the transmission unit transmits the transmission message when the number of the external terminals existing in the range exceeds a predetermined number.   Based on the first position information and the second position information, the information terminal calculates a distance between the information terminal and the external terminal, and an orientation of the position of the external terminal with respect to the position of the information terminal The program as described in any one of Claim 1 to 3 further functioned as a position calculation part to perform. Causing the information terminal to further function as a receiving unit that receives a received message from the external terminal;
The display control unit displays the received message on a message operation unit of the information terminal from when the received message is received until a validity period of the received message specified by the external terminal elapses. The program according to any one of 1 to 4. The information terminal,
An information acquisition unit for acquiring profile information associated with the external terminal; and
Further function as an information comparison unit for comparing predetermined information with the profile information,
The program according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the transmission unit transmits the transmission message to the external terminal corresponding to the profile information including the predetermined information.   The program according to claim 6, wherein the display control unit displays the graphic in a different mode according to the profile information.   The program according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the display control unit displays the profile information of the external terminal corresponding to the selected graphic in association with the graphic. The information terminal,
An information display unit for displaying a list of a plurality of profile information corresponding to a plurality of the external terminals; and
Further functioning as an information selection unit that receives a selection of at least one of the plurality of profile information displayed in the list,
The program according to claim 8, wherein the display control unit displays the graphic corresponding to the selected profile information in a different form from the graphic corresponding to the profile information not selected. The range acquisition unit acquires a radius of a circle centered on the position of the information terminal as information for specifying the range,
10. The display control unit according to claim 1, wherein the display control unit displays the figure in a circle whose radius is a length corresponding to the size of the radius around the position of the information terminal in the position display unit. The program according to one item. Further causing the information terminal to function as an orientation detection unit that detects the orientation of the information terminal;
The said display control part is a program of Claim 10 which determines the position which displays the said figure based on the azimuth | direction of the said information terminal, and the azimuth | direction of the position of the said external terminal with respect to the position of the said information terminal.   An information terminal that reads and executes the program according to any one of claims 1 to 11. An information system comprising the information terminal according to claim 12, the external terminal, and the server connected to the information terminal and the external terminal via a communication line,
The server
A message receiver for receiving the transmission message from the information terminal;
A message transmission unit that transmits a reception message including information included in the transmission message to the external terminal;
The information terminal transmits the transmission message to the server;
The information system in which the external terminal displays the received message received from the server. The server
An effective period storage unit that stores information indicating an effective period from when the message receiving unit receives the transmission message until the display of the received message in the external terminal is deleted;
A period measuring unit that measures an elapsed period since the message receiving unit received the transmission message; and
The information system according to claim 13, wherein the message transmission unit stops displaying the received message on the external terminal when the elapsed period becomes longer than the valid period.

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