JP2015219225A - Support system, and support device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To appropriately obtain the use frequency of a search word.SOLUTION: A search system 1 having functions for storing the character string of a search word D1a used for the search of POI information D2a as area information related to an area in association with an object area as a search object in a search word database 70, and for extracting the character string of the search word D1a associated with a designated area, and for supporting the input of the search word D1a includes: a voice input part 13 for inputting the voice of the search word D1a to be used for search; a search word text conversion part 45 for converting the voice of the search word D1a into a character string; and a search word determination part 47 for confirming the character string converted by the search word text conversion part 45 to the input source of the voice of the search word D1a, therein the character string of the search word D1a confirmed by the search word confirmation part 47 is stored in the search word database 70.

Description

  The present invention relates to a support system and a support apparatus.

  As a background art in this technical field, there is JP 2012-47703 A (Patent Document 1). This publication describes a search support system for a navigation system that supports input of search conditions when searching for nearby facilities based on a search condition input by a user, and includes setting items related to a destination or / and a route. A place name extracting means for extracting a place name based on (an arbitrary point on the route to the destination, etc.) and an input assist means for allowing the user to input the place name extracted by the place name extracting means as a search condition; It is characterized by that. "

JP 2012-47703 A

  The search word used for the search by another user is stored in association with the area, and the user is provided with a search word that is frequently used around the area specified by the user. Can be considered. However, for example, considering that a search word having a homonym is received by the user's voice, there is a possibility that the search is performed with a search word that the user does not want. In this case, as a result, there is a problem that the use frequency of the search word cannot be calculated properly.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a support system and a support apparatus that can appropriately determine the use frequency of a search word.

  In order to achieve the above object, a search word used for searching for region information related to a region is stored in the storage unit in association with the target region to be searched, and a search word associated with the specified region is stored. A support system that supports the input of the search word extracted from the storage unit, the voice input unit that inputs the voice of the search word used for the search, and the conversion unit that converts the voice of the search word into a character string; A confirmation unit that confirms the character string after conversion by the conversion unit with a voice input source of the search word, and the storage unit stores the character string of the search word confirmed by the confirmation unit It is characterized by.

  According to the present invention, the frequency of use of search words can be determined appropriately.

It is the schematic which shows the structure of the search system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of area search request data. It is explanatory drawing of search result data. It is a figure which shows the functional structure of a relay server. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the example of conversion of the search word from a digital audio | voice signal to a character string. It is explanatory drawing of search word management data. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement sequence which concerns on the area search of a search system. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement sequence which concerns on the input assistance of a search system.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a search system 1 according to the present embodiment.
This search system 1 searches the area information regarding the area based on the search word D1a (FIG. 2) input by the user, and further presents search word candidates for the target area to the user. It has a support function that supports input by the user of the search word D1a.
Specifically, as shown in FIG. 1, the search system 1 includes a POI search server 2, an in-vehicle device 3, and a relay server 4, and these perform data communication via an electric communication line 8.

  The POI search server 2 is a server computer that plays a role of a search execution function for area information related to an area. The POI search server 2 receives an input of an area to be searched and a search key from another computer, and is linked to the area to be searched. The POI information D2a (FIG. 3) is searched based on the search key, and the corresponding information is extracted and transmitted to the input source. The POI information D2a is one mode of regional information, and details thereof will be described later.

The vehicle-mounted device 3 is a vehicle-mounted device mounted on the vehicle 9. In this search system 1, a vehicle-mounted navigation device is used as the vehicle-mounted device 3, and the vehicle-mounted device 3 includes a navigation function unit 10, a display unit 12, an operation unit 11, a voice input unit 13, and a region search unit 14. And a communication unit 16.
The navigation function unit 10 has a route guidance function to the current position and destination, and a route search function from the current position to the destination. The vehicle position detection unit 21, the map database 22, and the route search unit 24 and a route guide unit 25.
The own vehicle position detection unit 21 detects the current position of the vehicle 9 and includes a GPS, a gyro sensor, and the like.
The map database 22 stores map data used for route search and route guidance. The map data can be updated using data recorded on a recording medium such as a CD or DVD, or data downloaded from an external server terminal via the telecommunication line 8.
The route search unit 24 searches the route from the current location or the user-designated location to the destination based on the map data for a route with a low route cost. Arbitrary parameters such as distance, time, and fee are used for the route cost.
The route guide unit 25 guides the route by displaying the route searched by the route search unit 24 and the current position on the map on the display unit 12.

The display unit 12 displays various information of the vehicle-mounted device 3 and includes a display device such as a liquid crystal display. The display unit 12 includes a touch panel and is configured as a touch operation unit that accepts a user's touch operation. Like the operation unit 11, the display unit 12 is used as an input interface for various settings such as a destination.
The operation unit 11 receives a user operation, includes a plurality of operation elements, and is used for various inputs such as a destination.

The voice input unit 13 acquires the voice spoken by the user and outputs the voice to the area search unit 14. The sound input unit 13 includes, for example, a sound collecting device that collects sound and outputs an analog sound signal, a processor that digitizes the anal sound signal in a predetermined encoding format, and outputs a digital sound signal. Yes.
The area search unit 14 transmits area search request data D1 for requesting area search for the target area to the relay server 4, receives search result data D2 including the result of area search from the relay server 4, and performs area search. The result is displayed on a display unit (not shown).

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the area search request data D1.
As shown in FIG. 2, the area search request data D1 includes a search word D1a, target area specifying auxiliary information D1b, and other vehicle information D1c.
The search word D1a is a digital voice signal of speech voice input from the voice input unit. The search word D1a includes a word serving as a search key for area search and a word indicating the target area. The word indicating the target area includes, for example, a word indirectly indicating a unique point such as “current location” or “destination” in addition to the place name.
The target area specifying auxiliary information D1b is auxiliary information that may be necessary for specifying the target area based on the search word D1a, and includes current position information and target position information. The current position information is information indicating the current position of the vehicle 9, and the target position information is information indicating a point set as a destination for route guidance. When the words “current location” and “destination” are included in the search word D1a, they are replaced with the current location of the vehicle 9 and the destination of route guidance, respectively.
The other vehicle information D1c is information on the vehicle 9 that can be acquired by the vehicle-mounted device 3 in addition to the current position and the destination, and is information that can be used for narrowing down the region search and search conditions.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of the search result data D2.
The search result data D2 includes POI information D2a and POI position information D2b as shown in FIG.
The POI information D2a is an example of regional information related to a region, and is information representing names of various POIs (Point of Interest) existing on the map. The POI is information regarding various facilities. The search result data D2 includes a plurality of POI information D2a and POI position information D2b corresponding to the number of POIs corresponding to the search.

  A plurality of attribute information is assigned to the POI information D2a. For example, a name, a facility category, and a telephone number are assigned as attribute information. In addition, the category includes a category indicating a commercial facility such as an accommodation facility, a restaurant, a gas station, and a convenience store, and a category indicating a public facility such as a city hall.

The POI position information D2b is information indicating the position where the POI indicated by the POI information D2a is present. For example, longitude and latitude such as “135 degrees east longitude × second × north latitude 36 degrees × minute × second” are used.
When the search result data D2 is received by the region search unit 14, the region search unit 14 maps the searched POI on the map of the target region based on the POI information D2a and the POI position information D2b. indicate.

Returning to FIG. 1, the communication unit 16 of the vehicle-mounted device 3 performs data communication with the relay server 4. The communication unit 16 is connected for communication with the smartphone 28 and performs data communication with the relay server 4 via the smartphone 28 and the electric communication line 8.
The smartphone 28 is a multi-function mobile phone, and is connected to the communication unit 16 using short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark), for example, and relays via the telecommunication line 8 under the control of the communication unit 16. Data communication is performed with the server 4.
Of course, the communication unit 16 may directly perform data communication with the relay server 4 via the electric communication line 8 without using the smartphone 28.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the relay server 4.
The relay server 4 plays a role of mediating regional search using the POI search server 2 by the vehicle-mounted device 3 and is configured by a so-called server computer having a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, a storage device, and the like.
Specifically, the relay server 4 receives the area search request data D1 transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 3, and generates search data D3 that matches the specifications of the POI search server 2 based on the area search request data D1. To do. The relay server 4 transmits the search data D3 to the POI search server 2 to execute the PO area search, receives the search result data D2 that is the search result, and transmits the search result data D1 of the area search request data D1. It transmits to the onboard equipment 3.
In addition, the relay server 4 supports search word input by the user by presenting search word candidates for the target area.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, the relay server 4 includes a communication unit 40, a search data generation unit 41, a search proxy request unit 42, and a search word input support unit 43.
The communication unit 40 performs data communication with nodes connected to the telecommunication line 8 such as the smartphone 28 and the POI search server 2.
The search data generation unit 41 generates a search data D3 by specifying a region search target region and a search key based on the region search request data D1 received from the in-vehicle device 3, and generates search data D3. A conversion unit 45, a search word determination unit 47, a target area specifying unit 48, and a search key specifying unit 49 are provided.

  The search word text conversion unit 45 performs voice recognition processing and natural language processing on the digital voice signal of the search word D1a included in the region search request data D1, and converts the digital voice signal into a text data format character string. The search word decision unit 47 outputs the result. Hereinafter, the search word D1a converted into a text string is referred to as “search word text data E”.

In this search system 1, in order to process speech recognition and natural language processing of the search word D1a with high accuracy and high speed, as shown in FIG. 1, the search system 1 plays a role of speech recognition processing and natural language processing. The VR server 50 is provided separately from the relay server 4, and the search word text conversion unit 45 uses this VR server 50 to convert the search word D 1 a into a character string.
The VR server 50 receives the digital voice signal of the search word D1a from the relay server 4 through the telecommunication line 8, and performs voice recognition processing and natural language processing to convert it into a character string. Text data of this character string Is transmitted to the relay server 4. This character string is acquired as search word text data E by the search word text conversion unit 45 and output to the search word determination unit 47.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of conversion of a search word from a digital voice signal into a character string.
As shown in the drawing, when the user utters “Okubo's delicious ramen” as the search word D1a, the VR server 50 performs voice recognition processing on the digital voice signal of the uttered voice, and for each single syllable. Converted to text data written in romaji. Next, the text data is subjected to natural language processing based on morphological analysis, syntax analysis, and the like, and is converted into character string data by being divided into word units. When the utterance language is Japanese, kana-kanji conversion processing is performed for each word in natural language processing, and search word text data E is generated. At this time, a plurality of character string data is generated when the word is not uniquely identified because the word includes a homonym (also referred to as a homonym).
Hereinafter, a plurality of character strings (possibly correct) that are candidates for conversion from speech to character strings are referred to as confirmed candidate character strings C.
Note that FIG. 5 illustrates the case where the language of the utterance is Japanese, but the language used for the utterance may be other than Japanese. In this case, in natural language processing, processing that matches the language is appropriately performed so that kana-kanji conversion processing is performed on Japanese.

Returning to FIG. 4, the search word confirmation unit 47 confirms the search word text data E obtained by the search word text conversion unit 45 with the user and confirms it as necessary.
More specifically, in the input of the search word D1a using speech recognition, conversion is performed due to the accuracy of speech recognition processing and natural language processing in the search word text conversion unit 45 (more precisely, the VR server 50). Errors may occur in later words. The search word determination unit 47 eliminates such an error and determines the character string of the search word D1a as intended by the user, and includes a confirmation necessity determination unit 60 and a user confirmation processing unit 61. ing.

  The confirmation necessity determination unit 60 determines whether it is necessary to confirm with the user whether the character string of the search word text data E specified through the voice recognition process and the natural language process is correct. That is, the confirmation necessity determination unit 60 determines that the correctness confirmation is necessary for the search word text data E when a plurality of confirmed candidate character strings C (FIG. 5) are obtained. The data is output to the processing unit 61.

  In general, in speech recognition processing and natural language processing, since an index value (also referred to as a score) indicating the reliability of the processing result is calculated, based on the accuracy of the processing result indicated by this index value, The confirmation necessity determination unit 60 may determine necessity. In this case, even if a plurality of confirmed candidate character strings C are obtained as the search word text data E, when it is determined that confirmation is not necessary based on the index value, the confirmed candidate character string C with the highest accuracy is retrieved. Determined as word text data E.

  The user confirmation processing unit 61 sends the search word confirmation data D4 including the plurality of confirmed candidate character strings C to the vehicle-mounted device 3 when the confirmation necessity determination unit 60 determines that it is necessary to confirm whether the word is correct or not. It transmits through the communication unit 40.

In the vehicle-mounted device 3, when the search word confirmation data D4 is received, the confirmed candidate character string C of the search word D1a is displayed on the display unit 12 and selected by the user. At the time of this selection, when the candidate candidate character string C of the search word D1a does not include what the user intended, the user operates the operation unit 11 to input a correct character string for the search word D1a. You may make it do.
Of the plurality of confirmed candidate character strings C for the search word D1a, the text data of the confirmed candidate character string C selected by the user is transmitted as the confirmed search word character string data D5 from the vehicle-mounted device 3 to the relay server 4, and the above search Input to the word determination unit 47.

The search word determination unit 47 outputs the search word text data E to the target area specifying unit 48 and the search key specifying unit 49. This search word text data E is data converted by the search word text conversion unit 45 when it is determined that the user confirmation is unnecessary, and when the user confirmation is necessary, the search word text data E This is text data indicated by D5.
In addition, the search word determination unit 47 outputs the search word determined to be used for the area search to the search word input support unit 43 in order to accumulate the search word.

  The target area specifying unit 48 specifies a word indicating the area as a target area from among the words included in the search word text data E. As described above, the word indicating the region includes a place name such as “XX city” and other words indicating a unique point such as “present location” and “destination”. When the words “current location” and “destination” are included in the search word text data E, the target area specifying unit 48 sets the current position of the vehicle 9 and the destination of the route guidance, respectively. The area is replaced and specified as the target area, and is output to the search proxy request unit 42.

Here, the place name may change, and if the user includes the place name before the change in the search word D1a, an unintended area may be searched. In order to solve this problem, the target area specifying unit 48 is provided with a place name conversion database 53.
In the place name conversion database 53, place names before and after the change are recorded for place names that have changed in addition to place names throughout the country.
The target area specifying unit 48 specifies a word indicating a place name based on the place name conversion database 53, and if the place name is before change, replaces it with the place name after change.
Thus, even when the user inputs the place name before the change in the search word D1a, the place name is replaced with the place name in accordance with the current state, and the search for the area intended by the user is performed.

  The process of replacing the place name before the change with the place name after the change may be performed by the search word text conversion unit 45. However, when the search word text data E including the place name replaced by the search word text conversion section 45 is requested by the search word determination section 47, the user can recognize that the place name has been replaced. It is desirable to make it. This prevents the user from misidentifying that the place name has been automatically replaced as erroneous conversion.

  The search key specifying unit 49 specifies each word excluding the word indicating the target area from each word included in the search word text data E as a search key, and outputs the search key to the search proxy request unit 42. When a plurality of words are specified as a search key, these words are used for a multiple word search (AND search).

The search proxy request unit 42 generates search data D3 based on the target region and the search key input from the target region specifying unit 48 and the search key specifying unit 49, and transmits the search data D3 to the POI search server 2. And requests execution of area search on behalf of the vehicle-mounted device 3. As the data structure of the search data D3, an appropriate one according to the specification of the POI search server 2 is used.
When the search proxy request unit 42 receives the search result data D2 for the region search execution request from the POI search server 2, the search proxy request unit 42 transmits the search result data D2 to the requesting vehicle-mounted device 3 via the communication unit 40.

  The search word input support unit 43 extracts a search word candidate for the target area in response to a request from the on-vehicle device 3, and transmits the search word candidate to the on-vehicle device 3 via the communication unit 40. Is provided with a search word database 70, a storage management unit 71, and a candidate extraction unit 72.

The search word database 70 is a database for managing the search word text data E (that is, the character string of the search word D1a) determined by the search word determination unit 47, and one record includes as shown in FIG. , A search word character string 63 and additional information 64 are included.
The search word character string 63 is a character string indicated by the search word text data E determined by the search word determination unit 47.
The additional information 64 is meta information (also referred to as metadata) associated with the search word character string 63, and includes at least regional information 64A, genre information 64B, and search count information 64C.

The area information 64A is information indicating the place name of the target area that is the target of the area search. Specifically, the area information 64A is managed by subdividing the administrative divisions. In the example of FIG. 6, the prefecture 64A1 indicating the prefecture and the municipalities indicating the municipalities subdivided by the prefecture are shown. 64A2 and other 64A3 indicating a place name (such as a building name) that does not belong to the name of the administrative division.
The genre information 64B is genre information associated with the search key included in the search word D1a, and corresponds to the genre of the POI information.
The search count information 64C indicates the number of searches (the number of search requests made to the POI search server 2) by the character string of the search word character string 63, and this count is a barometer of the popularity (usage frequency) of the search word D1a. Used as

The accumulation management unit 71 acquires the search word character string, the target region, and the search key from each of the search word determination unit 47, the target area specifying unit 48, and the search key specifying unit 49, and registers / updates the search word database 70. .
That is, when the storage management unit 71 acquires new search word text data E that is not registered in the search word database 70, the storage management unit 71 adds a new record to the search word database 70. At this time, the character string of the search word text data E is stored in the search word character string 63, and the target area is stored in the area information 64A. The genre is specified based on the search key and stored in the genre information 64B.
On the other hand, when acquiring the search word text data E registered in the search word database 70, the accumulation management unit 71 adds and updates the number of times stored in the search number information 64C by “1”. At this time, if the search key included in the search word text data E includes new information that has not been added to the area information 64A or the genre information 64B, the information is added to the area information 64A or the genre information 64B. It is done together.

  The additional information 64 of the search word database 70 is not limited to the example of FIG. 6, and can include arbitrary information that can be associated with the search word text data E.

The candidate extraction unit 72 receives a request from the vehicle-mounted device 3 and extracts a character string of the search word text data E suitable for presentation to the user of the vehicle-mounted device 3 from the search word database 70 as a search word candidate F. It is included in the candidate data D6 and transmitted.
More specifically, when the region search unit 14 (FIG. 1) of the vehicle-mounted device 3 receives a search word candidate F presentation request from the user by the operation of the operation unit 11, the search word candidate presentation request data D 7 is sent to the relay server 4. The search word candidate presentation request data D7 is input to the candidate extraction unit 72.

When the search word candidate presentation request data D7 is input, the candidate extraction unit 72 searches the search word database 70 using a predetermined area as a search key, extracts the corresponding search word character string 63, and extracts them as search word candidates. F is included in the search word candidate data D6 and transmitted to the vehicle-mounted device 3.
For example, in a predetermined area as a search key of the search word database 70, for example, the target area obtained from the area search request data D1 transmitted from the vehicle-mounted device 3 that has transmitted the search word candidate presentation request data D7 most recently, The current position of the device 3 and the destination set for the route guidance of the vehicle-mounted device 3 are used. As the current position and the destination, the target area specifying auxiliary information D1b of the area search request data D1 can be used.
Further, when extracting the search word character string 63 corresponding to the search, the candidate extraction unit 72 extracts the search word character string 63 in descending order of the number of searches (usage frequency). In order to narrow down the extraction, when the user of the vehicle-mounted device 3 transmits the search word candidate presentation request data D7, the search word candidate including the search terms that can be used for narrowing down is transmitted. 72 may perform a refinement search.

When receiving the search word candidate data D6, the vehicle-mounted device 3 displays the search word candidate F on the display unit 12 and presents it to the user so that either one can be selected. As a result, search word input support is provided to the user.
When any search word candidate F is selected, the vehicle-mounted device 3 transmits the area search request data D1 to the relay server 4 using the search word candidate F as the search word D1a. At this time, as the search word D1a included in the area search request data D1, text data of a character string is used instead of digital voice data.

  In the relay server 4, when the search word D1a receives the area search request data D1 of the text data, the speech recognition process and the natural language process for the search word D1a are not necessary. Therefore, the search word D1a of the area search request data D1 is The search word text conversion unit 45 and the search word determination unit 47 are skipped and input to the target area specifying unit 48 and the search key specifying unit 49.

Note that each functional unit of the relay server 4 illustrated in FIG. 4 is realized by loading a predetermined program stored in a ROM or a storage device into the RAM and executing it by the CPU, for example.
FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the functional configuration of the relay server 4 classified according to main processing contents in order to facilitate understanding of the present invention. The configuration of the relay server 4 corresponds to the processing content. Thus, it can be classified into more components. Moreover, it can also classify | categorize so that one component may perform more processes. Further, the processing of each component may be executed by one hardware or may be executed by a plurality of hardware. Further, the processing of each component may be realized by one program or may be realized by a plurality of programs. The same applies to the vehicle-mounted device 3 in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an operation sequence related to area search of the search system 1.
When the user performs a region search, the vehicle-mounted device 3 accepts the speech input of the search word D1a by the user from the voice input unit 13 (step Sa1). And the onboard equipment 3 produces | generates the area search request data D1 based on the search word D1a, the present position, and the destination, and transmits to the relay server 4 (step Sa2).

When the relay server 4 receives the area search request data D1 (step Sa3), the relay server 4 performs voice recognition processing, natural language processing, etc., converts the digital voice data of the search word D1a into a character string, and searches for the search word in the text data format. Text data E is generated (step Sa4), and it is determined whether or not the user needs to confirm the converted search word text data E (step Sa5).
When confirmation by the user is necessary (step Sa5: Yes), the relay server 4 transmits the search word confirmation data D4 to the vehicle-mounted device 3 (step Sa6). As described above, the search word confirmation data D4 includes a plurality of confirmed candidate character strings C that require the user to confirm as converted character strings of the search word D1a.

Upon receiving the search word confirmation data D4 (step Sa7), the vehicle-mounted device 3 displays each of the confirmed candidate character strings C on the display unit 12 to allow the user to select a confirmed candidate character string C that suits the intention, or Then, the user is made to input the search word D1a according to the intention (step Sa8). By such processing, user confirmation is performed on the character string after conversion of the search word D1a input by the user, and as a result of this confirmation, the character string after conversion of the search word D1a is determined as intended by the user.
And the onboard equipment 3 produces | generates finalized search word character string data D5 based on this selection or input, and transmits to the relay server 4 (step Sa9).

When the relay server 4 receives the confirmed search word character string data D5 (step Sa10), the relay server 4 confirms the search word text data E based on the confirmed search word character string data D5, and sends it to the search word database 70 for input support. Are registered and updated (step Sa11).
On the other hand, when the user's confirmation for the search word text data E is not required in step Sa5 (step Sa5: No), the relay server 4 advances the processing procedure to the above step Sa11 and converts the search word text after conversion. Registration and update to the search word database 70 are performed based on the data E (step Sa11).

Next, the relay server 4 specifies the target area and the search key based on the search word text data E (step Sa12), generates search data D3, and transmits it to the POI search server 2 (step Sa13). The target area is identified with reference to the place name conversion database 53, and when the place name before the change is specified as the target area, the place name after the change is replaced.
When the POI search server 2 receives the search data D3 (step Sa14), the POI search server 2 searches the POI information (region information) associated with the target region based on the search key (step Sa15), and relays the result. It transmits to the server 4 (step Sa16).

  When the relay server 4 receives the search result from the POI search server 2 (step Sa17), the relay server 4 generates search result data D2 based on the result and transmits it to the vehicle-mounted device 3 (step Sa18).

  When receiving the search result data D2 (step Sa19), the vehicle-mounted device 3 displays a map of the target area on the display unit 12, and displays the POI information superimposed on the map (step Sa20). Thereby, POI information is presented for the target area requested by the user.

  When the user is not satisfied with the presentation result of the POI information and tries to search with another search word D1a, the user uses the input support function of the search system 1 and requests the search word candidate F for the target area. Can do. When the user uses the input support function, the user inputs an instruction to the in-vehicle device 3 by operating the operation unit 11 of the in-vehicle device 3.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an operation sequence related to the input support function of the search system 1.
When the in-vehicle device 3 receives an instruction to use the input support function by a user operation (step Sb1), the on-vehicle device 3 transmits search word candidate presentation request data D7 to the relay server 4 (step Sb2).

When the relay server 4 receives the search word candidate presentation request data D7 (step Sb3), the relay server 4 specifies a target area where the search word candidate F is presented (step Sb4), and searches the search word database 70 using this target area as a search key. Then, the corresponding search word character string 63 is extracted (step Sb5). And the relay server 4 produces | generates the search word candidate data D6 which contains these search word character strings 63 as the search word candidate F, and transmits to the onboard equipment 3 (step Sb6).
In this relay server 4, the target area specified in step Sa <b> 12 in FIG. 7 is used as the target area to be presented with the search word candidate F, and the user of the vehicle-mounted device 3 inputs the target area again. Time is saved.

The in-vehicle device 3 includes information specifying the target area in the search word candidate presentation request data D7 and transmits it to the relay server 4. The relay server 4 selects the search word candidate F using the target area as a search key. You may search.
In this case, the vehicle-mounted device 3 may be configured to receive the input of the target area to be included in the search word candidate presentation request data D7 from the voice input unit 13 in addition to the configuration of receiving from the operation unit 11. When the in-vehicle device 3 receives the input of the target area by voice, the on-vehicle device 3 includes the digital voice data in the search word candidate presentation request data D7 and transmits it to the relay server 4. On the other hand, when the target area included in the search word candidate presentation request data D7 is digital voice data, the relay server 4 converts the voice into a character string using the search word text conversion unit 45, and the target area specifying unit The target area is specified by 48.

When receiving the search word candidate data D6 (step Sb7), the vehicle-mounted device 3 displays the search word candidate F on the display unit 12 based on the search word candidate data D6 and presents it to the user (step Sb8). Wait for selection. By presenting the search word candidate F, the search word input support for the user is performed.
When any search word candidate F is selected by the user's operation (step Sb9), the vehicle-mounted device 3 generates the area search request data D1 using the search word candidate F as the search word D1a and sends it to the relay server 4. Transmit (step Sb10). As described above, the search word D1a included in the area search request data D1 is not text data but text data of a character string.

  When the relay server 4 receives the area search request data D1 (step Sb11), the relay server 4 executes a process for searching for the area based on the search word D1a included in the area search request data D1. This process is the same as the operation described in FIG. 7 except for the following points. That is, in the area search request data D1 received in step Sb11, the search word D1a is already a character string data. Therefore, the search word D1a is converted to a character string by speech recognition processing or natural language processing (FIG. 7: step Sa4). And the user confirmation necessity determination (step Sa5) are unnecessary.

  Therefore, when the search word D1a is already text data of a character string, the relay server 4 updates the search word database 70 based on the character string of the search word D1a included in the area search request data D1 (additional update of the number of searches). (Step Sb12), the target area and the search key are specified (Step Sb13), and the search data D3 is transmitted to the POI search server 2 (Step Sb14).

When the POI search server 2 receives the search data D3 (step Sb15), the POI search server 2 searches the POI information (region information) associated with the target region based on the search key (step Sb16), and the result is relay server. 4 (step Sb17).
When the relay server 4 receives the search result from the POI search server 2 (step Sb18), the relay server 4 generates search result data D2 based on the result and transmits it to the vehicle-mounted device 3 (step Sb19).
When receiving the search result data D2 (step Sb20), the vehicle-mounted device 3 displays a map of the target area on the display unit 12, and displays the POI information superimposed on the map (step Sb21). Thereby, the POI information searched by the search word D1a input by the user using the input support is presented.

  Note that the processing units in the sequence diagrams of FIG. 7 and FIG. 8 are divided according to the main processing contents in order to facilitate understanding of the processing related to area search and input support. The present invention is not limited by the way of dividing the processing unit or the name. That is, the process related to the area search and the input support can be divided into more processing units according to the processing contents. Moreover, it can also divide | segment so that one process unit may contain many processes. Further, the processing order of the above flowchart is not limited to the illustrated example.

As described above, according to the search system 1 of the present embodiment, since the search word D1a used for the search is input from the voice input unit 13, the user hands-free the search word D1a even while the vehicle 9 is driving. Can be entered.
In addition, in this embodiment, the character string after conversion of the search word D1a is confirmed with the user of the vehicle-mounted device 3 (that is, the voice input source of the search word D1a), and the character string of the confirmed search word D1a is searched. The word database 70 is stored and accumulated.
According to this configuration, the accurate search word D1a as intended by the user is stored in the search word database 70 regardless of the accuracy of the speech recognition process and natural language processing for the search word D1a. As a result, the use frequency of the search word D1a can be properly obtained, and the input of the accurate search word candidate F with high use frequency can be presented to the user. Then, the user can obtain the latest relevant POI information D2a by requesting a search using the search word candidate F.

Further, according to the present embodiment, when a homonym is included in the character string obtained by converting the speech of the search word D1a, the confirmed candidate character string C is determined as the user of the vehicle-mounted device 3 (that is, the speech input source of the search word D1a). ) To confirm the correct one.
This prevents a search unintended by the user from being performed due to the homonyms included in the search word D1a.

Further, according to the present embodiment, it is configured to determine whether or not the user confirmation for the converted character string is necessary according to the index value indicating the reliability of the character string obtained by converting the speech of the search word D1a. .
According to this configuration, when the reliability is high, the user is not required to confirm, the operation burden on the user is reduced, and the convenience is improved.

Further, according to the present embodiment, the additional information 64 (tag information) is generated based on the search word D1a and is stored in the search word database 70 in association with the character string of the search word D1a.
Thereby, the search word candidate F can be extracted by various search keys corresponding to the additional information 64 and provided to the user.

Moreover, according to this embodiment, since the place name included in the character string of the search word D1a is specified as the area to be searched, it is possible to save the user from inputting the area to be searched separately. .
In particular, in this embodiment, when the place name included in the character string of the search word D1a is an old place name with respect to the current place name, the user is informed that the place name has changed because the place name is replaced with the current place name. Even if it is not, the search can be executed for the area intended by the user.
Further, since the character string of the search word D1a is stored in the search word database 70 in association with the current region after replacement, the number of searches of the search word D1a for the place name is appropriate regardless of whether the place name is new or old. And can be provided as a search word candidate F to the user.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, since the current position of the vehicle-mounted device 3 that is the input source of the search word D1a is set as the search target area, for example, a user traveling in the vehicle 9 Even if it is not possible to grasp, etc., it is possible to easily perform a region search for the current position.

  The above-described embodiment is merely an example of the present invention, and can be arbitrarily modified and applied without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the POI information D2a is exemplified as the area information regarding the area. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and any information that can be managed in association with the area can be used as the area information.

  In the embodiment described above, the number of words included in the search word D1a is arbitrary. Specifically, it is sufficient that at least one word serving as a search key is included. In this case, the current position included in the target area specifying auxiliary information D1b is used as the search target area.

  In the above-described embodiment, the on-board device 3 mounted on the vehicle 9 receives the voice input of the search word D1a as the search system 1. However, instead of the on-vehicle device 3, a portable navigation device or a mobile phone A portable information terminal or a stationary information terminal may be used.

1 Search system (support system)
2 POI search server 3 On-board device (input source)
4 Relay server (support server, support device)
8 Telecommunications line 9 Vehicle 13 Voice input unit 41 Search data generation unit 43 Search word input support unit 45 Search word text conversion unit (conversion unit)
47 Search word confirmation part (confirmation part)
48 Target area specifying part 50 VR server 53 Place name conversion database 63 Search word character string 64 Additional information (tag information)
70 Search word database (storage unit)
72 Candidate Extraction Unit C Fixed Candidate Character String D1a Search Word D2a POI Information (Regional Information)
E Search word text data F Search word candidates

Claims (10)

A search word used to search for region information related to a region is stored in the storage unit in association with the target region to be searched, and the search word associated with the specified region is extracted from the storage unit and the search is performed. A support system that supports word input,
A voice input unit for inputting a voice of a search word used for the search;
A conversion unit for converting the speech of the search word into a character string;
A confirmation unit that confirms the character string after conversion by the conversion unit with the input source of the search word voice;
The said storage part memorize | stores the character string of the search word confirmed by the said confirmation part. The assistance system characterized by the above-mentioned.   2. The support system according to claim 1, wherein the confirmation unit confirms a correct word at a sound input source of the search word when a homonym is included in the search word.   The support system according to claim 1, wherein the confirmation unit determines whether or not confirmation is necessary according to an index value indicating reliability of a conversion result obtained by the conversion unit. Tag information is generated based on the search word, linked to the search word and stored in the storage unit,
2. The support system according to claim 1, wherein the search word is extracted from the storage unit based on the designated area and the tag information, and input is supported. A target area specifying unit that specifies a place name included in the character string of the search word as the search target area;
The support system according to claim 1, wherein the storage unit stores a character string of the search word in association with a search target area specified by the target area specification.   6. The support system according to claim 5, wherein the target area specifying unit replaces the current place name with the current place name when the place name included in the character string of the search word is an old place name with respect to the current place name. .   The support system according to claim 1, wherein a current position of an input source of the search word voice is set as the search target area. It has a navigation device that guides the route to the destination,
The navigation device includes the voice input unit;
The support system according to claim 1, wherein the destination set in the navigation device or the current position of the navigation device is set as the search target region. A navigation device for guiding a route;
A search word used to search for region information related to the region is stored in the storage unit in association with the target region to be searched, and a search word associated with the region specified by the navigation device is extracted from the storage unit. And a support server that transmits to the navigation device and supports input of the search word,
The navigation device
A voice input unit for inputting a voice of a search word used for the search;
A transmission unit for transmitting voice data of the search word to the support server,
The support server
A conversion unit that converts voice of the search word transmitted from the navigation device into a character string;
A confirmation unit that confirms the character string after conversion by the conversion unit with the navigation device,
A character string of a search word confirmed by the confirmation unit is stored in the storage unit. A search word used to search for region information related to a region is stored in the storage unit in association with the target region to be searched, and the search word associated with the specified region is extracted from the storage unit and the search is performed. In a support device that supports word input,
A receiving unit that receives voice data of a search word used for the search;
A conversion unit that converts voice data of the search word into a character string;
A confirmation unit that confirms the character string after conversion by the conversion unit with the transmission source of the voice data of the search word,
The said storage part memorize | stores the character string of the search word confirmed by the said confirmation part. The assistance apparatus characterized by the above-mentioned.

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