JP2016091254A - Map retrieval device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a map retrieval device capable of retrieving a map that meets a user's image.SOLUTION: According to this invention, a map retrieval device 1 includes a map information storage part 2 for storing map information, a feature drawing part 3 for specifying positional relations of a plurality of features on a screen by an operation of the user, a consistency determination part 4 for comparing feature information being information about the features specified by the feature drawing part 3 with map information stored in the map information storage part 2 to determine consistency, and a display part 5 for displaying a map including the plurality of features specified by the feature drawing part 3 in the case that the consistency determination part 4 determines that there is consistency.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a map search device for searching a map.

  Conventionally, when a map of an arbitrary place is searched using a map information system, a place name (for example, Itami City, Hyogo Prefecture) indicating a place to be searched or a keyword indicating a type of a feature existing in the place ( For example, there is a method of searching a map including a place to be searched by inputting text of a restaurant. There is also a method of searching a place to be searched from within the search range by displaying a map as a search range on the screen and inputting text indicating a type of the feature. However, since such a search method uses a keyword necessary for the search as a search condition, there is a problem that a result intended by the user cannot be obtained when an appropriate keyword cannot be conceived.

  A technique for searching for a desired location based on ambiguous information on the assumption that a keyword necessary for searching cannot be conceived with respect to the above problem has been disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 1). In Patent Document 1, in order to search a map of an arbitrary place, as ambiguous information that can draw a place to be searched, a category table in which nouns and attributes associated with the place are hierarchized in advance, and a category table And an information index database to which indexes are assigned. Moreover, in order to search fuzzy information, fuzzy information input means, information analysis means, area search means, and area display means are provided.

Japanese Patent No. 5444458

  As described above, in a map search using a geographic information system, a map of the place is searched using a keyword indicating a place to be searched as a search condition. This search method can come up with a keyword indicating the location when the location that the user wants to search is clearly determined, but the memory regarding the location to be searched becomes ambiguous. If there is a keyword indicating a location to be searched, or if an appropriate keyword is not found, there is a problem that a search result intended by the user cannot be obtained. That is, when the user places a keyword in a desired place imaged in the head and searches for the desired place based on the keyword, there is a problem that the user may not be able to come up with an appropriate keyword.

  With respect to the above problem, Patent Document 1 assumes that the user cannot come up with an appropriate keyword, and searches for a map including a place desired by the user based on an ambiguous image (ambiguous information). The purpose is that. In Patent Document 1, in order to search for an arbitrary place, information such as a noun (for example, place name) and attributes (for example, population) associated with the place is created as a keyword for specifying the place, and the created information is Each category is managed separately, and the location on the map is searched using such information.

  However, since Patent Literature 1 uses a keyword intended by the system developer, not the user, there is a possibility that it does not match the user's image (that is, the keyword that the user can come up with). There is also a problem from the viewpoint of whether the keyword created for specifying the location appropriately indicates the location.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a map search apparatus capable of searching a map that matches a user's image.

  In order to solve the above problems, a map search device according to the present invention includes a map information storage unit that stores map information, and a feature drawing unit that specifies the positional relationship of a plurality of features on a screen by a user operation. A consistency determination unit that determines consistency by comparing feature information that is information related to the feature specified by the feature drawing unit and map information stored in the map information storage unit, and consistency And a display unit that displays a map including a plurality of features specified by the feature drawing unit on the screen when the determination unit determines that there is consistency.

  According to the present invention, a map search device includes a map information storage unit that stores map information, a feature drawing unit that specifies a positional relationship of a plurality of features on a screen by a user operation, and a feature drawing unit. Consistency is determined by the consistency determination unit that compares the feature information that is information related to the identified feature and the map information stored in the map information storage unit, and determines consistency. And a display unit that displays a map including a plurality of features specified by the feature drawing unit on the screen, it is possible to search for a map that matches the user's image. .

It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the map search apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the hardware constitutions of the map search apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the data structure of the map information in the map information storage part by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the geometric information by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the list | wrist of the geometric information by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the phase information by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the list | wrist of attribute information by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a sequence diagram which shows an example of operation | movement of the map search apparatus by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement of the feature drawing part by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display in the case of performing the feature drawing part by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the display in the case of performing the feature drawing part by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of operation | movement of the consistency determination part by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of operation | movement of the consistency determination part by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display in the display part by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen which sets the search range by Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display in the case of performing the feature drawing part by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the display in the case of performing the feature drawing part by Embodiment 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display in the case of performing the feature drawing part by Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the correlation table between the layers by Embodiment 3 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of a structure of the map search apparatus by Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the display in the case of performing the feature drawing part by Embodiment 4 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the layer parent-child table by Embodiment 5 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an example of the layer priority table by Embodiment 5 of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

<Embodiment 1>
First, the configuration of the map search device according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the map search apparatus 1 according to the first embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the map search device 1 includes a map information storage unit 2, a feature drawing unit 3, a consistency determination unit 4, and a display unit 5.

  The map information storage unit 2 stores and manages map information. Map information is classified and managed for each type of features that make up the map (hereinafter also referred to as layers), and the map information is divided into rectangular units on the map to facilitate data access, or map information Is managed with a spatial index. Here, as the map information storage unit 2, for example, a storage device (HDD: Hard Disk Drive) having a magnetic disk or the like, an external storage such as a CD (Compact Disk) or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) that can be played back by the drive device. Examples thereof include a medium and a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory capable of reading and writing data via a predetermined input / output interface.

  The feature drawing unit 3 specifies, on the screen of the display unit 5, a positional relationship between desired features (features present at a place to be searched that is imaged by the user) by a user operation. Specifically, a user draws a feature on the screen of the display unit 5 while visually confirming using an input device (input device 11 in FIG. 2) which is a user interface such as a mouse or a keyboard. Next, a feature (described later) represented by a point, a line, or a surface is drawn.

  The consistency determination unit 4 compares the feature drawn by the feature drawing unit 3 with the map information stored in the map information storage unit 2, and specifies a desired location imaged by the user. The feature drawn by the user in the feature drawing unit 3 includes a coordinate array indicating the shape of the feature, an attribute (feature name, area, type, etc.) indicating the feature of the feature, and a feature drawing unit. Includes information related to other features (eg, 5 minutes away, 400 meters away, etc.) when multiple features are rendered in 3 (hereinafter referred to as feature information) It is. Note that the map information stored in the map information storage unit 2 includes the same information as the feature information of the feature drawn by the feature drawing unit 3 (details will be described later). The consistency determination unit 4 compares the coordinate arrangement or the attribute of the feature information drawn by the feature drawing unit 3 with the map information stored in the map information storage unit 2. Thus, the consistency (whether or not they are matched) between the feature drawn by the feature drawing unit 3 and the map information is determined.

  The display unit 5 displays the map determined to be consistent by the consistency determination unit 4 on the screen. When there are a plurality of results determined by the consistency determination unit 4, when the user selects an arbitrary result, a map corresponding to the selected result is displayed on the screen. In the map displayed on the screen, the actual position corresponding to the feature drawn by the user in the feature drawing unit 3 (that is, the feature set as the map search condition) is emphasized. Specifically, when a feature is represented by a point, an icon indicating the feature is displayed superimposed on the map. In addition, when a feature is represented by a line, the feature line is displayed thick. When a feature is represented by a surface, the outer edge line of the feature or the color within the surface is highlighted.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the map search apparatus 1. Examples of the map search device 1 include information terminals such as a personal computer, a smartphone, a mobile phone, or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

  The external storage device 6 executes a desired function using a data access program for accessing the map DB (database, map DB 13 in FIG. 3) in the map information storage unit 2 and the map data (map information) in the map DB. An application program to be used, data used in application processing, and the like are stored. Each program is expanded from the external storage device 6 to the memory 7 and executed by a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 8. The application program is a program for realizing various functions executed by the map search device 1, for example, a program for realizing a function for determining consistency by the consistency determination unit 4.

  The external storage device 6 stores data via a hard disk device (HDD) mounted on the map search device 1, an external storage medium such as a CD or DVD that can be played back by a drive device, or a predetermined input / output interface. It can be constructed in a readable / writable USB memory or the like.

  The calculation result by the CPU 8 is output to the display device 9 via the bus 12 and displayed on the screen.

  The display device 9 corresponds to the display unit 5 in FIG. 1 and is realized by, for example, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) monitor, a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, or the like.

  The communication device 10 is a device that communicates with an external device (not shown). For example, the communication device 10 receives a GPS signal or an FM radio wave transmitted from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite, or uses the Internet or an intranet. Used when acquiring external information managed by other connected servers.

  The input device 11 is a device that receives an operation input from the outside, and is realized by a keyboard, a mouse, an operation switch, or a touch panel combined with the display device 9. For example, when the feature drawing unit 3 is executed, the user draws the feature using the input device 11. Specifically, the CPU 8 performs a coordinate calculation based on the coordinate value instructed by the user using the input device 11 and performs processing so as to draw on the display device 9. In order to improve drawing performance, drawing processing may be performed using a video card (also referred to as a graphic card, for example, a GPU (Graphic Processor Unit)).

  Next, the data structure of the map information according to the first embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a data structure of map information in the map information storage unit 2.

  The map information stored in the map information storage unit 2 is managed using a relational database or a file system. Below, the data structure of map information is demonstrated by taking map DB which manages map information using a relational database as an example.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the map information storage unit 2 has a map DB 13, and the map DB 13 is composed of a set of features 21 that are constituent elements of the map.

  The feature 21 includes geometric information 15 in which coordinates indicating position information including latitude and longitude representing the shape of the feature are arranged (hereinafter referred to as a coordinate arrangement), attribute information 16 indicating features of the feature, It consists of phase information 17 indicating the connection between things. The geometric information 15, the attribute information 16, and the phase information 17 can be arbitrarily combined. For example, phase information 17 and attribute information 16 are combined when indicating a road network, and geometric information 15 and attribute information 16 are combined when indicating a road shape. Each of the geometric information 15 and the phase information 17 is managed as an array and is associated with the attribute information 16.

  Hereinafter, the association between the geometric information 15 and the attribute information 16 will be described. The same applies to the association between the phase information 17 and the attribute information 16.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the geometric information 15.

  As shown in FIG. 4, as the main type (geometric information type) of the geometric information 15, point (point) data representing a representative point of a city name or a place name, a river, a bus route, a contour line, etc. There are polyline (line) data representing a line of the image and polygon (surface) data representing a closed space such as a house plan, a park, or a lake. The geometric information 15 includes a coordinate array that represents the shape of the feature. Here, the coordinates are expressed by numerical information defined by latitude and longitude, or a plane rectangular coordinate system.

  In order to express the characteristics of the geometric information 15 described above, for example, when the geometric information 15 indicates a road, the road type, road width, road name, etc. such as a national road, a prefectural road, and a municipal road are defined as attribute information. Is done.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a list of geometric information 15 (a set of geometric information 15), in which geometric information 15 of a plurality of features 21 is listed.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the geometric information 15 may be managed together with a geometric information type or a feature ID for uniquely identifying a feature, in addition to the coordinate array indicating the geometric information 15. In addition, depending on the characteristics of the map information, the coordinate arrangement may be expressed by being encrypted or compressed for security reasons.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining the phase information 17.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the phase information 17 represents the connection between features by nodes (for example, nodes 1 to 3) and links (for example, links 1 and 2). The phase information 17 manages network data such as a road network or a railway network. Here, a node is a nodal point constituting a network such as an intersection, and a link is a line connecting a start node and an end node.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of a list of attribute information 16 (a set of attribute information 16), in which the attribute information 16 of a plurality of features 21 is listed.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the attribute information 16 includes a feature ID that uniquely identifies a feature and a plurality of types of attributes that indicate the features of the feature. Here, as the types of attributes, various information characterizing features such as numerical values, character strings, images, and the like can be cited.

  The map information described above is stored in the map information storage unit 2 for each type of data such as road data, background map data, road network data, or POI (Point Of Interest) data constituting the map information.

  Next, the overall operation of the map search apparatus 1 will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the operation of the map search apparatus 1.

  In step S101, the feature drawing unit 3 draws the feature on the screen of the display unit 5 in accordance with a user operation.

  In step S102, the feature drawing unit 3 converts the feature information including the geometric information including the coordinate arrangement of the feature drawn in step S101 and the attribute information associated with the feature into the consistency determining unit 4. Send to.

  In step S <b> 103, the consistency determination unit 4 receives the feature information from the feature drawing unit 3.

  In step S <b> 104, the consistency determination unit 4 requests the map information storage unit 2 to search for the feature using the received feature information as a search condition with the coordinate arrangement or the attribute information.

  In step S <b> 105, the map information storage unit 2 searches for corresponding features from the map information stored in the map information storage unit 2 based on the search conditions received from the consistency determination unit 4. Specifically, the map information storage unit 2 searches the map DB 13 (see FIG. 3) for features that satisfy the search condition.

  In step S <b> 106, the map information storage unit 2 transmits the feature searched in step S <b> 105 (hereinafter referred to as “searched feature”) to the consistency determination unit 4. At this time, if there are a plurality of features drawn by the feature drawing unit 3, a plurality of features in a place satisfying the search condition are transmitted to the consistency determination unit 4 as the search features.

  In step S107, the consistency determination unit 4 compares the feature information received in step S103 with the search feature transmitted in step S106.

  In step S108, the consistency determination unit 4 determines the similarity between the feature information and the map information based on the comparison result in step S107 (that is, determines the consistency between the feature information and the map information). ). Specifically, the similarity between the features constituting the feature information (if there are a plurality of features drawn by the feature drawing unit 3) and the search features included in the map information is determined. The determination is made based on each coordinate value or attribute. Thereby, a map satisfying the search condition is searched.

  In step S109, the consistency determination unit 4 rearranges the search results so that the similarity calculated in step S108 is in descending order, and transmits the results to the display unit 5.

  In step S <b> 110, the display unit 5 receives the search result from the consistency determination unit 4.

  In step S111, the display unit 5 displays a map corresponding to the search result selected by the user among the search results received in step S110 on the screen.

  The processes of steps S101 to S111 are sequentially executed every time one feature is drawn by the feature drawing unit 3. That is, when the first feature is rendered in step S101, a location including the one feature is obtained as a search result, and when the second feature is rendered in step S101, 2 A location including one feature is obtained as a search result.

  Next, the operation of the feature drawing unit 3 will be described.

  FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the feature drawing unit 3. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the screen of the display unit 5 when the processing of the feature drawing unit 3 is executed.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the screen of the display unit 5 draws a layer tree screen portion 18 on which a layer tree (layer list) indicating the type of feature is displayed, and a feature 21 defined in the layer tree. It is composed of a canvas screen portion 19 that is an area and a search result display screen portion 20 on which a determination result (search result) by the consistency determination unit 4 is displayed.

  In the search result display screen portion 20, the number of search results and the contents of each search result are displayed as the search results. For example, if the number of search results is so large that the search result display screen part 20 cannot be displayed, a scroll bar is provided to expand the display area, or an upper limit is set for the number of search results that can be displayed at one time. Various display patterns are assumed, such as displaying the search results. The search results are sorted and displayed in descending order of consistency.

  In the example of FIG. 10, three screen parts are arranged side by side, but each screen part is arranged side by side, and each screen part is divided into tabs for display. For example, the display layout may be rearranged.

  In FIG. 9, when the feature drawing unit 3 starts operating, the screen shown in FIG. 10 is displayed on the display unit 5. The user operates the screen displayed on the display unit 5.

  In step S <b> 201, the user selects a target feature from the layer tree displayed on the layer tree screen portion 18.

  In step S <b> 202, the user uses the input device 11 to draw a feature on the canvas screen portion 19. Specifically, as described above, various features such as points, lines, or planes can be drawn. When drawing a feature with dots, it is plotted at an arbitrary position on the canvas screen portion 19. When a feature is drawn with a line, a line is drawn at an arbitrary location on the canvas screen portion 19. When drawing a feature with a surface, the surface of the closed region is drawn at an arbitrary position of the canvas screen portion 19.

  In step S <b> 203, the feature drawing unit 3 sets attribute information as a search condition for the feature drawn on the canvas screen portion 19. The attribute information includes a negative condition indicating that the drawn feature does not exist at the desired location, or the name of the feature. The negative condition can be set by the user using the input device 11. Note that the feature attribute information need not be set. In this case, the process of step S203 is omitted.

  Here, the negative condition which is the attribute information of the feature will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 11, when setting a negative condition as attribute information, the user plots a negative feature 22 on the canvas screen portion 19. An exclamation point is given to the negative feature 22 (the icon indicating the school in the example of FIG. 11), and this is NOT, that is, negative information that the school does not exist in a desired place is set as a negative condition. Means.

  Returning to FIG. 9, in step S <b> 204, the feature drawing unit 3 determines at least one piece of information from the geometric information of the feature drawn in step S <b> 202 and the attribute information of the feature set in step S <b> 203. Is transmitted to the consistency determination unit 4 as feature information.

  Next, the operation of the consistency determination unit 4 will be described.

  FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an outline of the operation of the consistency determination unit 4.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the consistency determination unit 4 compares the feature information of the feature drawn by the feature drawing unit 3 with the map information including the feature information acquired from the map information storage unit 2. Then, the coordinate value of the map including the feature information or individual feature information is transmitted to the display unit 5 as a map search result. In the display unit 5, the search result is displayed on the screen.

  FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the consistency determination unit 4.

  In step S301, the consistency determination unit 4 receives the feature information transmitted from the feature drawing unit 3 in step S204 of FIG.

  In step S <b> 302, the consistency determination unit 4 disassembles the feature information received in step S <b> 301 into the feature layer, geometric information, and attribute information, and transmits them to the map information storage unit 2. If the feature information received in step S301 does not include attribute information, the feature layer and geometric information are transmitted to the map information storage unit 2.

  The map information storage unit 2 searches the map information stored in the map information storage unit 2 for features satisfying the search condition using the feature layer and attribute information received from the consistency determination unit 4 as search conditions. If the feature information received in step S301 does not include attribute information, only the feature layer is searched for as a search condition.

  In step S <b> 303, the consistency determination unit 4 receives the search feature from the map information storage unit 2.

  In step S304, the consistency determination unit 4 caches the search feature received from the map information storage unit 2 in a memory (for example, the memory 7 in FIG. 2). This is because the cache is reused at the next feature search.

  In step S305, the consistency determining unit 4 determines whether or not there are three or more types of layers of search features cached in the memory. If there are three or more search feature layers, the process proceeds to step S306. On the other hand, if there are two or less layers of search features, the process proceeds to step S310.

  When there are two types of search feature layers, the combination of the features of the two layers is the search result. That is, for example, when there are three layer A search features and two layer B search features, there are six combinations. Further, when there is one type of search feature layer, the search feature of one layer becomes the search result.

  In step S306, the consistency determination unit 4 determines a combination of search features of three or more types of layers. For example, if there are three layer A search features, two layer B search features, and two layer C search features, there are 12 patterns of combinations.

  In step S307, the consistency determination unit 4 acquires the coordinate values of the search feature of the combination determined in step S306 and includes the coordinate value and the geometric information received from the feature drawing unit 3 in step S302. Based on the coordinate information, the shape composed of the arrangement position of the search feature and the shape composed of the arrangement position of the feature drawn by the feature drawing unit 3 are compared to calculate the similarity.

Specifically, the consistency determination unit 4 calculates the difference (Euclidean distance) between the coordinate value of each feature drawn by the feature drawing unit 3 and the coordinate value of each search feature corresponding to the feature. It is determined that the similarity is higher as the total value of the calculated differences between the coordinate values is smaller. Here, the Euclidean distance L is calculated by the following equation (1) when there are two points, for example, p = (p1, p2) and q = (q1, q2).
L = √ (p1-q1) ² + (p2-q2) ² (1)

  In step S308, the consistency determination unit 4 rearranges the search results in order from the combination of search features having a high degree of similarity calculated in step S307. At this time, the consistency determination unit 4 determines that a search feature having a degree of similarity higher than a predetermined similarity is consistent.

  In step S309, the consistency determination unit 4 determines whether or not the processing in steps S307 and S308 for all combinations of search features has been completed. When the processing for all combinations of search features is completed, the process proceeds to step S310. On the other hand, if the processing for all combinations of search features has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S307, and the processing of steps S307 and S308 is performed for the combination of other search features.

  In step S <b> 310, the consistency determination unit 4 transmits the search result to the display unit 5.

  When the display unit 5 receives the search result from the consistency determination unit 4, the display unit 5 displays the search result on the search result display screen portion 20, for example, as shown in FIG. 10. When the user selects one of the search results, the display unit 5 displays a map 23 as shown in FIG. In the map 23, the feature 21 (see FIG. 10) drawn by the feature drawing unit 3 is displayed superimposed on the position of the search feature corresponding to the feature 21. At this time, for the search feature having a particularly high degree of similarity, the feature 21 may be highlighted and displayed.

  Note that when performing the operation shown in FIG. 13 described above, if there are many search targets and it takes time to search, the search range may be limited in advance. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an example of a screen for setting a search range, and the screen is displayed on the display unit 5.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the screen displayed on the display unit 5 is a map on the map using the search range designation screen portion 24 indicating guide information for setting the search range and the input device 11 (here, a mouse). The search range setting screen portion 25 is set by indicating the range to be searched by the circumscribed rectangle 27, and the search range coordinate display screen portion 26 indicates the coordinate value of the set circumscribed rectangle 27. Thus, the coordinate value of the circumscribed rectangle 27 set by the user is used as the search range. The search range setting as shown in FIG. 15 is executed before step S101 in FIG.

  Further, when the operation shown in FIG. 13 is performed, if there are many search results, it takes time to display all the search results on the search result display screen portion 20 (see FIG. 10). It can be a problem. In addition, since the search process also takes time, it takes time until the search result is displayed on the search result display screen portion 20, and the search processing load increases. As a countermeasure against such a problem, an upper limit may be set on the number of search results, and subsequent searches may not be executed when the search results reach the upper limit. In this case, the upper limit value of the search result may be set in a definition file (not shown), and the definition file may be stored in the external storage device 6 (see FIG. 2). The upper limit value of the search result is used when searching for a feature from the map information storage unit 2 in step S105 of FIG. 8 so that a feature having an upper limit value or more is not searched.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, it is possible to draw a feature existing at a desired place that the user has come up with, and to search a map using the drawn feature as a search condition. In this way, by comparing a feature drawn based on the user's intuitive image with an actual map and searching for a similar place, the user's search can be performed more easily than a conventional search method using text. A map suitable for the image can be searched, and the operability for the user can be improved.

  Further, by setting the search range in advance, the processing load related to the search process can be reduced and the processing time can be shortened.

  Also, by setting an upper limit on the number of search results, the load on the search process can be reduced and the processing time can be shortened.

<Embodiment 2>
In the first embodiment, a case has been described in which the user draws the feature 21 on the canvas screen portion 19 (FIG. 10) without a mark that makes the user aware of the sense of direction or distance. This is because a user usually does not consider a sense of direction or distance when imaging a place. However, without the above landmarks, the image may be vague and it may be difficult to match the actual map. In order to solve such a problem, in the second embodiment of the present invention, a case will be described in which a mark that makes the user aware of the direction or the sense of distance is provided. Note that the configuration and the operation related to the search according to the second embodiment are the same as those in the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an example of the screen of the display unit 5 when the feature drawing unit 3 is executed.

  As shown in FIG. 16, the screen of the display unit 5 includes a layer tree screen portion 18, a landmark canvas screen portion 28, and a search result display screen portion 20. Since the layer tree screen portion 18 and the search result display screen portion 20 are the same as those in the first embodiment (see FIG. 10), description thereof is omitted here.

  The mark canvas screen portion 28 is provided with a square mesh 29 composed of a plurality of grid lines, and one side of each mesh 29 corresponds to a distance of 1 km (that is, the grid lines indicate the distance). . The mesh size (here 1 km) is defined in advance in a definition file (not shown), and the feature drawing unit 3 refers to the mesh size defined in the definition file and provides the mesh 29 on the map. You may do it.

  FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating another example of the screen of the display unit 5 when the feature drawing unit 3 is executed.

  As shown in FIG. 17, the screen of the display unit 5 includes a layer tree screen portion 18, a direction indication canvas screen portion 30, and a search result display screen portion 20. Since the layer tree screen portion 18 and the search result display screen portion 20 are the same as those in the first embodiment (see FIG. 10), description thereof is omitted here.

  The direction indicating canvas screen portion 30 is provided with a cross line (direction line) including a north-south line 31 and an east-west line 32 indicating the direction. In the example of FIG. 17, the upper side of the screen is set to the north, but the direction in the direction indicating canvas screen portion 30 can be rotated using the input device 11.

  From the above, according to the second embodiment, by displaying a mesh or a cross line indicating the direction on the screen, the user can feel the distance between the features and the direction relationship when drawing the features. It becomes possible to specify concretely. Therefore, the consistency between the feature drawn by the user and the actual map is improved, and the map of the place intended by the user can be retrieved.

<Embodiment 3>
In Embodiment 3 of the present invention, a case where the relationship between features is used as a search condition will be described. Here, as the relationship between features, the distance between features or the time required to move between features (movement time) may be mentioned. Note that the configuration according to the third embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted here.

  FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the screen of the display unit 5 when the feature drawing unit 3 is executed, and shows a case where the movement time is set.

  As shown in FIG. 18, a plurality of features including a school feature 33 indicating a school and a station feature 34 indicating a station are drawn on the canvas screen portion 19.

  For example, when the user selects the school feature 33 and the station feature 34, an association line 35 indicating that the school feature 33 and the station feature 34 are associated is shown. Next, the user selects a moving means (walking in the example of FIG. 18), and calculates the time required for walking between the school feature 33 and the station feature 34 (10 minutes in the example of FIG. 18). Input using the input device 11. The moving means and the required time are displayed in the moving time display area 36.

  By setting the moving means and the required time as described above, based on the required time and the average walking speed of the person, between the features (between the school feature 33 and the station feature 34 in the example of FIG. 18). Approximate distance can be estimated. For example, when the average walking speed of a person is 100 meters per minute and the required time is 10 minutes, the distance between features can be calculated to be 1000 meters.

  Although FIG. 18 shows a case where the means for moving between features is walking, other means of transportation such as a car or a bus may be set. Alternatively, a plurality of transportation means may be described in a setting file (not shown) or the like, and the user may select any transportation means from the plurality of transportation means.

  Further, as shown in FIG. 19, a correlation table (correlation between predetermined feature types) is provided to show the correlation between feature layers, and the relationship between feature layers is defined. Also good. Here, the correlation between feature layers means that there is a possibility that another specific feature exists near a certain feature, for example, “There is a convenience store near the station”. It is shown.

  The correlation table is stored and managed in the external storage device 6 (see FIG. 2). In the correlation table shown in FIG. 19, layer A and layer B show a strong correlation (0.8). On the other hand, layer C and layer D show a weak correlation (0.1). In this way, by using the correlation rule based on the correlation table, for example, when the feature belonging to the layer A is drawn on the canvas screen part 19, the feature drawing unit 3 presents the layer B having a strong correlation with the layer A ( It is possible to perform drawing without depending on the user's operation.

  From the above, according to the third embodiment, the relationship between features can be clearly shown using the required time or distance. Therefore, the consistency between the feature drawn by the user and the actual map is improved, and the map of the place intended by the user can be retrieved.

  In addition, by defining the correlation between feature layers, it is possible to perform a prefetch search of the feature and improve usability.

<Embodiment 4>
In Embodiment 4 of the present invention, a case will be described in which a place where a plurality of features of the same type of layer are collected is defined as the same area, and the same area is used as a search condition.

  FIG. 20 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of the map search device 37 according to the fourth embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 20, the map search device 37 includes an external information storage unit 38. Other configurations and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted here.

  The external information storage unit 38 stores a place where a plurality of features of the same type of layer are gathered as the same area. The number and range of features (region range) necessary for defining the same region are calculated in advance by a predetermined calculation and stored in the external information storage unit 38.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating an example of the screen of the display unit 5 when the feature drawing unit 3 is executed.

  As shown in FIG. 21, a plurality of features 21 and a restaurant street 39 are drawn on the canvas screen portion 19. The restaurant street 39 is defined in the layer as an area where a plurality of restaurants are gathered. The user can select a restaurant street layer from the layer tree of the layer tree screen portion 18 and draw it on the canvas screen portion 19.

  The consistency determination unit 4 determines the consistency of the drawn restaurant street 39 with the restaurant street stored in the external information storage unit 38. Specifically, the consistency is determined based on the number of restaurants included in the restaurant street or the range of the restaurant street. This determination is performed in step S307 in FIG.

  As described above, according to the fourth embodiment, since a place where a plurality of features are gathered can be searched as the same area, a map can be searched under a more ambiguous search condition.

<Embodiment 5>
Since the configuration according to the fifth embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the description thereof is omitted here.

  FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an example of the layer parent-child table. Here, the layer parent-child table defines a parent-child relationship of feature layers. The layer parent-child table is stored in the map information storage unit 2.

  As illustrated in FIG. 22, the layer X viewed from the layer A is a child layer, and the layer A viewed from the layer X is a parent layer. A search is performed in consideration of the layer parent-child table defining such a parent-child relationship.

  Specifically, when a map of a location that matches the feature drawn by the user is not found, for example, the search condition is expanded to the parent layer and the search is performed. For example, when an elementary school feature is drawn but not searched, the search condition is expanded to a school that is a parent layer of the elementary school feature, and the search is performed. The school layer includes features related to a school such as a junior high school, a high school, and a university in addition to an elementary school, and these features are also searched as a search target.

  Although FIG. 22 shows one set of parent-child relationships, parent-child relationships for a plurality of layers (layers of a plurality of hierarchies) may be defined.

  FIG. 23 is a diagram illustrating an example of a layer priority table. Here, the layer priority table defines layer priorities. The layer priority table is stored in the map information storage unit 2.

  As shown in FIG. 23, the priority of layer A is 0.7, the priority of layer B is 0.3, and the priority of layer C is 0.5. In this case, the priority is Layer A, layer C, and layer B in descending order.

  For example, a station is defined as layer A, a convenience store is defined as layer B, and a school is defined as layer C. At this time, considering the usefulness as a landmark of the user's spatial image, for example, the convenience store of layer B has a high frequency of store changes, so the usefulness as a landmark is the other two (layers A and C). From the viewpoint of lower than that, it is conceivable to set the priority order of layer B to be lower (lower priority). In this case, it is possible to increase the number of search results by excluding the features of the lower priority layer from the search target and performing the search only on the other higher priority layers.

  From the above, according to the fifth embodiment, the user's memory is ambiguous, so even if a feature with a different memory is drawn, an alternative search result is obtained by widening the search condition. Can be presented.

  It should be noted that the present invention can be freely combined with each other within the scope of the invention, and each embodiment can be appropriately modified or omitted.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Map search device, 2 Map information storage part, 3 Feature drawing part, 4 Consistency determination part, 5 Display part, 6 External storage device, 7 Memory, 8 CPU, 9 Display apparatus, 10 Communication apparatus, 11 Input device, 12 buses, 13 map DBs, 14 feature information, 15 geometric information, 16 attribute information, 17 phase information, 18 layer tree screen part, 19 canvas screen part, 20 search result display screen part, 21 feature, 22 negative feature , 23 Map, 24 Search range specification screen portion, 25 Search range setting screen portion, 26 Search range coordinate display screen portion, 27 circumscribed rectangle, 28 mark canvas screen portion, 29 mesh, 30 direction indication canvas screen portion, 31 north-south line, 32 Tozai Line, 33 School features, 34 Station features, 35 Related lines, 36 Travel time display area, 37 Map search device, 38 External information storage unit, 39 Restaurant street.

Claims (11)

A map information storage unit for storing map information;
A feature drawing unit that specifies a positional relationship of a plurality of features on a screen by a user operation;
A consistency determination unit that determines consistency by comparing feature information that is information about the feature specified by the feature drawing unit and the map information stored in the map information storage unit; ,
When it is determined that the consistency is determined by the consistency determination unit, a display unit that displays a map including a plurality of the features specified by the feature drawing unit on the screen;
A map search device comprising:   The consistency determination unit determines the consistency between the map information in the search range and the feature information based on a search range on a map preset by the user. The map search device according to claim 1.   The map search device according to claim 1, wherein the feature drawing unit provides a grid line indicating a distance on the screen.   The map search device according to claim 1, wherein the feature drawing unit provides a direction line indicating a direction on the screen.   The consistency determining unit determines the consistency between the map information and the feature information based on a distance between the features obtained based on a user input. The map search device according to any one of 1 to 4.   The feature drawing unit displays other types of features correlated with the feature type specified by the user operation based on a correlation between predetermined feature types. The map search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the map search apparatus draws the map.   In the specification of the positional relationship of the feature in the feature drawing unit, the specification includes not only the specification of one feature but also the specification of a region where a plurality of features of the same type exist. Item 7. The map search device according to any one of items 1 to 6. Pre-set parent-child relationship for each type of feature,
The consistency determination unit determines that there is no consistency based on the feature information of the feature that is a child based on the parent-child relationship of the feature specified by the feature drawing unit and the map information. In this case, the consistency is determined again based on the feature information of the feature that is the parent of the child feature based on the parent-child relationship and the map information. The map search device according to any one of 1 to 6. Preset priorities for each feature type,
The said consistency determination part makes the said feature whose priority is smaller than a predetermined priority excluded the object of the determination of the said consistency, The any one of Claim 1 to 6 characterized by the above-mentioned. The map search device described in 1.   The consistency determination unit, based on the coordinate value of the feature included in the map information and the coordinate information of the feature specified by the feature drawing unit, of the feature included in the map information Comparing the shape composed of the arrangement position with the shape composed of the arrangement position of the feature specified by the feature drawing unit, the similarity is calculated, and the map information higher than the predetermined similarity is calculated. The map search apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a feature included is determined to have the consistency.   The map information storage unit classifies the map information according to the type of the feature, and manages the map information by dividing the map information in units of rectangles on the map or assigning a spatial index to the map information. The map search device according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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