JP3501122B2 - Information provision device - Google Patents

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information providing device for providing information on a destination to which a user should move,
In particular, the present invention relates to an information providing apparatus suitable as an apparatus for providing information about a destination when a plurality of users move as a group.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, JP-A-10-1856.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 04-04, there is known a navigation device that performs a route search that matches the preference of a vehicle driver. Generally, a vehicle driver wants to travel on a route to a destination, for example, in a relaxed driving environment,
There are various intentions or circumstances such as wanting to take a route that allows high-speed driving, arriving at the destination anyway soon, or taking a route where the scenery from the inside of the vehicle can be enjoyed even if it is a detour. Therefore, in the conventional navigation device, the intention of the vehicle driver regarding the traveling environment is input and set, so that the route closest to the traveling environment intended by the vehicle driver is selected from the current position of the own vehicle. Search for a route to your destination. Therefore, according to the above-described conventional navigation device, it is possible to perform route guidance with a high degree of satisfaction for the vehicle driver.

[0003]

By the way, there are cases where a passenger other than the vehicle driver is present in the vehicle when the route guidance is performed by the navigation device in the vehicle, for example. In such a case, if the route search according to the preference of one vehicle driver is performed as in the conventional navigation device, the result of the search may not reflect the passenger's intention at all. In this respect, the above-mentioned conventional navigation device does not provide route guidance that is highly satisfactory for all vehicle occupants.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and provides an information providing apparatus capable of providing guidance information about a destination that reflects the experiences and tastes of all people who act together. The purpose is to do.

[0005]

The above-mentioned object is defined in claim 1.
As described in, an information providing device that provides information about a destination to which a user should move, which is a place where a plurality of users who move in a group have visited before or
Is about the personal information acquisition means for acquiring each personal information including the visit history of the district and the facilities on the map that the user is interested in
The genre acquisition means for acquiring the genre, and the personal information of the plurality of users acquired by the personal information acquiring means, Jean acquired by the genre acquisition means
Based on the
Using the stored facility information, a destination search means for searching a point or district that the plurality of users have not visited in the acquired genre as a destination to which the plurality of users should move. And an information providing apparatus including:

In the above information providing device, the destination search means includes individual personal information including visit histories of a plurality of users moving in a group acquired by the personal information acquisition means.
And the genre about the facility on the map that the user is interested in
Based on the bets, rated by distinguishing the genre on a predetermined recording medium
Genre of the user's interest using the paid facility information
Have not been visited by multiple users before.
The search for the destination had. Therefore, the plurality of users who act together are provided with the destination information that is related to each other.

[0007] By the way, if a point or district that has not been visited by all the users who act together is provided as a destination, all the users can be given a fresh taste about the destination.

[0008]

[0009] In addition, in the above-mentioned information providing apparatus, eye
The target location search means may search the destination in consideration of at least one of the number of visits to the previously visited place of the user, the season visited, and the period from the previous visit to the present. .

Further, when a road which has not been traveled by all of a plurality of users working together is provided as the whole or a part of the route to the destination, the route is refreshed to all the users. be able to.

Therefore, as described in claim 2, an information providing apparatus for providing route information to a destination to which a user should move, wherein the plurality of users who move as a group have previously passed. Personal information acquisition means for acquiring each personal information including the traffic history of roads that have been used, and the destination
The route within a predetermined range is extracted from the shortest distance or the fastest route in
The personal information acquisition means
Based on the personal information of a plurality of users, the extracted
That the multiple users have previously traveled on the route
By preferentially selecting those with a high percentage of roads
To the destination where the multiple users should move.
And a route search unit that searches for a route .

[0012] In this case , as described in claim 3, in the information providing apparatus according to claim 2, the route search means further takes into consideration the points existing on the road .
The user may select a route to the destination to move .

By the way, a plurality of users who act together at a certain point of time do not always act together, and may act with another user at another point of time. Therefore, in order to accurately reflect the experiences and tastes of all people who act together, at the time of searching for information about the destination, the points that have been visited in the past or the roads that have been traveled by are classified by each user. It is necessary to accumulate personal information such as.

Therefore, as described in claim 4, in the information providing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , the personal information acquisition means is a storage means for accumulating personal information of each user supplied from an external terminal. The personal information of each of the plurality of users may be acquired.

[0015]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a navigation system equipped with an information providing device for providing information about a user's destination according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the navigation system of this embodiment is
It is composed of a navigation unit 20 mounted on a vehicle in which users board, a service center 22 that stores information about destinations for each user, and a mobile terminal 24 that can be carried by each user.

In this embodiment, the navigation unit 20 has a control unit 30. The control unit 30 includes
The input unit 32 and the position detection unit 34 are connected. The input unit 32 is provided in the passenger compartment and, for example, identifies each vehicle occupant I instructing a search for a route to a destination.
It is operated by a vehicle occupant in order to perform various inputs to the navigation unit 20, such as entering a D code. The position detector 34 has a GPS receiver and a self-contained navigation sensor (both not shown), and outputs a signal according to the current position of the vehicle on the basis of radio signals from GPS satellites and output signals of the self-contained navigation sensor. Output. The input unit 32 supplies a signal according to the operation of the vehicle occupant, and the position detection unit 34 supplies a signal according to the current position of the vehicle to the control unit 30. The control unit 30 includes an input unit 32 and a position detection unit 34.
The operation by the vehicle occupant and the current position of the vehicle are detected based on the output signal of the vehicle.

A destination setting processor 36 and a POI search processor 38 are also connected to the controller 30. The destination setting processing unit 36 specifies the destination to be reached by the vehicle set by the vehicle occupant operating the input unit 32,
CD-ROM or D included in the navigation unit 20
The route to the destination is searched based on the map stored in the recording medium such as VD. Further, the POI search processing unit 38
Is a detailed facility classified by genre (tourist attraction, hot spring, golf course, ski resort, amusement park, campsite, etc.) about main facilities on the map stored in the recording medium by operation of the input unit 32 by a vehicle occupant. Information (facility overview / available time /
Perform processing to search for usage fees, facility appearance photos, maps, telephone numbers, etc.).

The navigation unit 20 also has a C
It has a data storage unit 40 composed of a recording medium such as a D-ROM or a DVD. The control unit 30 detects the detection result of the position detection unit 34 and the destination setting processing unit 36 and P.
The processing result of the OI search processing unit 38 is stored in the data storage unit 40. The data storage unit 40 includes a destination set by a vehicle occupant, a transit point (a transit road, a transit point, a stop point, etc.) through which the vehicle actually travels to the destination, the transit time, and all vehicle occupants. The identification ID code of, and the POI search facility are stored.

The navigation unit 20 further includes a transmitting / receiving section 42. Navigation unit 20
The transmission / reception unit 42 is configured to bidirectionally perform wireless communication with the service center 22 and the mobile terminal 24 described above. Therefore, the navigation unit 20 can transmit the information acquired by itself (that is, the information stored in the data storage unit 40) to the service center 22 and the mobile terminal 24, and the service center 22 and It is possible to receive the information transmitted by the mobile terminal 24.

Control unit 30 of navigation unit 20
Further, a video output unit 44, which is arranged in the passenger compartment and is visible to a vehicle occupant, is connected to the vehicle. The control unit 30 reads the map data around the position stored in the recording medium based on the current position of the vehicle detected by the position detection unit 34, and marks the current position of the vehicle with a predetermined mark on the display screen. The image output unit 44 is controlled so that the map image is drawn on the display screen in a size according to the reduction scale while fixing the position. Then, as the current position of the vehicle changes, the map image is scrolled on the display screen. In addition, the control unit 3
Based on the route data to the destination provided from the service center 22 as will be described later, 0 controls the video output unit 44 so as to display the route superimposed on the map image.
Further, the control unit 30 causes the video output unit 44 to display the contents at the time of POI search and to display the spot or area to be visited by the vehicle occupant provided from the service center 22 at the time of the vehicle occupant's request. Supply a command signal.

Further, the service center 22 includes a transmitting / receiving unit 5
0 and a user authentication unit 52. The transmission / reception unit 50 of the service center 22 is configured to bidirectionally perform wireless communication with the navigation unit 20 and the mobile terminal 24. Therefore, the service center 22 can transmit the information acquired by itself to the navigation unit 20 and the mobile terminal 24, and can receive the information transmitted by the navigation unit 20 and the mobile terminal 24. Has become. In addition, the user authentication unit 52 authenticates / identifies the providers of the information received by the transmission / reception unit 50 (that is, all vehicle occupants) from the identification ID code included in the information.

The service center 22 is a CD-ROM or D
It has a history data storage unit 54 for visiting places etc. and a POI search history data storage unit 56 as a database composed of a read-only or writable recording medium such as a VD or a hard disk. Service center 22
Stores the information provided from the navigation unit 20 and the mobile terminal 24 in the visited place history data storage unit 54 and the POI search history data storage unit 56. The history data storage unit 54 such as a visited place is the navigation unit 2
0 and destination data provided by the mobile terminal 24, transit points and passage times thereof, and data such as visited sites such as user names that acted together are stored as a history for each user. Also, PO
The I search history data storage unit 56 stores POI search data provided by the navigation unit 20 for the POI search facility for each user as a history for each user.

The service center 22 also includes a user preference determination unit 58 and a recording medium (not shown) that stores the latest map and information about main facilities on the map. The user preference determination unit 58 follows the instruction data from the navigation unit 20 by the vehicle occupant, such as a visited place history data storage unit 54 and a POI search history data storage unit 56.
Based on the information for each user stored in, as will be described in detail later, while searching for a spot or area as a destination to be visited by the vehicle occupant, it is optimal for the vehicle occupant as a route to the destination on the map. To search for suitable roads.
The service center 22 sends the search result of the user preference judging section 58 to the navigation unit 20 via the transmitting / receiving section 50.
Send / Provide to

Further, the portable terminal 24 has a control section 70. A position detector 72 is connected to the controller 70. The position detection unit 72 is used for the navigation unit 20.
Has the same configuration as the position detection unit 34 of
A signal corresponding to the current position of the mobile terminal 24 is output based on the signal from the PS satellite. The control unit 70 detects the current position of the mobile terminal 24 based on the output signal of the position detection unit 72.

The mobile terminal 24 has a data storage section 74 formed of a predetermined recording medium. Mobile terminal 24
The control unit 70 causes the data storage unit 74 to store the detection result obtained by the position detection unit 72. The data storage unit 74 stores the position where the user of the mobile terminal 24 passes and the date and time. The mobile terminal 24 also includes a transmission / reception unit 76. The transmission / reception unit 76 of the mobile terminal 24 is configured to bidirectionally perform wireless communication with the navigation unit 20 and the service center 22. Therefore, the mobile terminal 2
4 is the navigation unit 2 which uses the information acquired by itself.
0 and the service center 22, and it is possible to receive the information transmitted by the navigation unit 20 and the service center 22.

In the present embodiment, the navigation unit 20 records the history of visited places and transit points with respect to the portable terminal 24 carried by the vehicle occupant immediately before the accessory switch of the vehicle is changed from the on state to the off state. Command signal (hereinafter, referred to as history saving command signal) for requesting to save the data. When the mobile terminal 24 receives the history storage command signal from the navigation unit 20, the mobile terminal 24 then detects the visit point or waypoint of the vehicle occupant using its own position detection section 72 and stores the data in the data storage section 74. I will do it.

Then, when the accessory switch of the vehicle changes from the off state to the on state after the vehicle occupant returns to the vehicle from the visited place, the navigation unit 20 sends the data to the portable terminal 24 of the occupant riding in the vehicle. A command signal for requesting to transmit the data stored in the storage unit 74 (hereinafter referred to as a data transmission command signal) is supplied, and the current position detected by the position detection unit 34 is used as a stop point for a vehicle occupant. Memorize as. Then, when the mobile terminal 24 receives the data transmission command signal from the navigation unit 20, the mobile terminal 24 transmits the data stored in the data storage unit 74 toward the navigation unit 20. When the navigation unit 20 receives the data from the mobile terminal 24, the navigation unit 20 stores the data in the data storage unit 40 and transmits it to the service center 22 together with the data collected by the navigation unit 20 at an appropriate timing.

Next, the operation of the system of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS.

First, with reference to FIG. 2 to FIG. 4, a process of accumulating data such as a visited place and POI search data in the service center 22 will be described.

FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of an example of a control routine executed by the navigation unit 20 and the service center 22 in order to store data such as visited places in the service center 22 in the system of this embodiment. Figure 2
The routine shown in is a routine that is repeatedly started every time a destination is set in the navigation unit 20. When the routine shown in FIG. 2 is started, the process of step 100 is first executed. In addition, step 100-
The processing of 110 is performed by the navigation unit 20.
Further, the processing of steps 112 to 120 is performed in the service center 22, respectively.

In step 100, the process of setting the destination to which the vehicle occupant should head is executed. It should be noted that this setting includes a setting made by an input to the input unit 32 by the vehicle occupant, a POI
The setting by search and the setting as the destination of the spot or area provided by the service center 22 are included. When the processing of this step 100 is completed, the processing of step 102 is then executed.

In step 102, a process of acquiring the respective identification ID codes of all vehicle occupants boarding the vehicle is executed. This acquisition is performed by the vehicle occupant's input unit 34.
Alternatively, the navigation unit 20 may be realized by manual input to the mobile terminal 24 or by the radio communication with the mobile terminal 24 carried by each occupant of the vehicle.

In step 104, the position detecting section 34 is used to acquire the transit point that the vehicle actually passed through while traveling to the destination, and the data storing section 40 stores the transit point and the transit time. To be executed. In addition, this acquisition is
The process may be performed at regular intervals in the course of the vehicle traveling to the destination, or may be performed each time the vehicle enters any of the branch roads.

In step 106, the above step 100
It is determined whether or not the vehicle has arrived near the destination set in. As a result, when a negative determination is made, the processing of step 104 is repeatedly executed, and the transit point through which the vehicle actually passes is acquired. On the other hand, if an affirmative decision is made, then the processing of step 108 is executed. Then, in step 108, a process of reading each data stored in the data storage unit 40 is executed.

In step 110, the process of transmitting from the transceiver 42 the destination visited by the vehicle occupant, the transit point that the vehicle passed through when traveling to the destination and the transit time thereof, and the identification ID codes of all vehicle occupants. To be executed. When the processing of step 110 is executed, the data storage section 40 of the navigation unit 20 is cleared thereafter,
The processing in the navigation unit 20 ends.
The information transmitted from the navigation unit 20 is received by the service center 22.

In step 112, the destination visited by the vehicle occupant, the transit point and the passing time when the vehicle travels to the destination, and the identification ID codes of all the vehicle occupants are transmitted by the navigation unit 20. The receiving / transmitting unit 50 executes the process of receiving. Then, in step 114, in the user authentication unit 52,
Based on the identification ID codes of all the vehicle occupants received in step 112, a process of identifying all the users who have arrived at a certain destination as a group is executed.

In step 116, a process of reading the history data of visited places etc. stored for each user for all the users specified in step 114 from the history data storage part 54 of visited places etc. is executed. In step 118, the destination received in step 112 above,
Waypoints and their transit times, and passenger I in the vehicle
The process of adding the D code to the historical data such as the visited place for each user is executed. Then, in step 120, a process of storing the history data of visited places etc. to which the respective information is added in step 118 in the history data storage part 54 of visited places etc. of the service center 22 is executed. This step 120
When this process ends, this routine ends.

According to the routine shown in FIG. 2, after the destination to be headed by the vehicle occupant has been set, the route points that the vehicle has passed through while traveling to the destination are stored in the in-vehicle navigation unit 20, respectively. , Navigation unit 2 when the vehicle arrives near the destination
The data such as destinations and transit points stored in 0 are provided to the service center 22, and the service center 2 is provided for each vehicle occupant.
2 can be stored. Therefore, every time a vehicle for which a destination has been set arrives at the destination, it becomes possible to accumulate information about the destination in the service center 22 as a history for each user boarding the vehicle.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of an example of a control routine executed by the mobile terminal 24 and the service center 22 in order to store data such as visited sites in the service center 22 in the system of this embodiment. The routine shown in FIG. 3 is a routine that is repeatedly started each time the processing is completed. When the routine shown in FIG. 3 is started, the process of step 140 is first executed. Incidentally, step 14
The processes of 0 to 144 are performed by the mobile terminal 24, and the processes of steps 146 to 154 are performed by the service center 22.

In step 140, it is determined whether or not the position where the user of the portable terminal 24 is currently passing should be provided to the service center 22. The affirmative determination in step 140 is realized by the user performing a predetermined operation on the mobile terminal 24 when the user arrives at the destination or when the user wants to register as a transit point in the service center 22. . The process of step 140 is repeatedly executed until an affirmative determination is made, that is, until it is determined that the user has performed an operation. As a result, if an affirmative determination is made, then the process of step 142 is executed.

In step 142, a process of acquiring the current position of the portable terminal 24 using the position detecting section 72 is executed. Then, in step 144, a process of transmitting the current position acquired in step 142 from the transmitting / receiving unit 76 together with its own identification ID code is executed. When the processing of this step 144 ends, the processing in the mobile terminal 24 ends. The information transmitted from the mobile terminal 24 is received by the service center 22.

In step 146, a process of receiving the current position of the portable terminal 24 and the identification ID code in the transmitting / receiving section 50 is executed. In step 148, the user authentication unit 52 executes the process of identifying the user of the identification ID code. In step 150, a process of reading the historical data such as the visited place of the user specified in step 148 from the visited place historical data storage unit 54 is executed. In step 152, a process of adding the current position received in step 146 together with the time to the history data of the user's visited place read in step 150 as history is executed. Then, in step 154, a process of storing the history data of visited places, etc. to which the current position has been added in step 152 in the visited place history data storage unit 54 is executed. When the processing of this step 154 ends, the routine of this time is ended.

According to the routine shown in FIG. 3, if the user carries the portable terminal 24 even when the user arrives at the destination by a vehicle not equipped with the navigation unit 20 or a transportation means other than the vehicle, The service center 2 is the destination and the transit point that has passed through the process of moving to the destination.
2 can be stored. Therefore, even when the user operates the mobile terminal 24, it becomes possible to accumulate the information about the destination and the stopover in the service center 22 as a history.

FIG. 4 shows the navigation unit 20 and the service center 2 in order to store the POI search data in the service center 22 in the system of this embodiment.
2 shows a flowchart of an example of a control routine executed by No. 2. The routine shown in FIG.
0 is a routine that is repeatedly activated each time a POI search is performed. When the routine shown in FIG. 4 is started, the process of step 160 is first executed. The processing of steps 160 to 168 is performed by the navigation unit 2.
0, and the processing of steps 170 to 178 is performed in the service center 22.

At step 160, a process for searching for a POI is performed by the operation of the vehicle occupant. Step 162
Then, similarly to step 102, the process of acquiring each identification ID code of all vehicle occupants is executed. Then, in step 164, the vehicle occupant determines the POI.
The video output unit 4 displays the facilities obtained by the genre search.
When confirmed on the display screen of 4, the POI search data including the current position of the vehicle, the date and time, the search genre, the search facility, and the identification ID codes of all the vehicle occupants is generated and stored in the data storage unit 40. The process is executed.

After the processing of step 164 is executed, the processing of step 166 is executed thereafter at an appropriate timing (for example, immediately before the predetermined information is transmitted in step 110 in the routine shown in FIG. 2). It In step 166, a process of reading the POI search data stored in the data storage unit 40 is executed. Then, in step 168, a process of transmitting the POI search data from the transmitting / receiving unit 42 is executed. When the processing of this step 168 is executed, the processing in the navigation unit 20 thereafter ends.

In step 170, a process of receiving the POI search data transmitted by the navigation unit 20 in the transceiver 50 is executed. In step 172, the user authentication unit 52 executes a process of identifying all users based on the identification ID codes of all vehicle occupants in the POI search data received in step 170.

In step 174, the POI search history data storage unit 56 executes a process of reading the POI search history data stored for each user for all the users identified in step 172. In step 176, the PO received in step 170 is received.
The I search data, specifically, the search position, the search date and time, the search genre, the search facility, and the fellow passenger ID code in the vehicle are added to the POI search history data for each user. Then, in step 178, a process of storing the POI search history data to which each information is added in step 176 in the POI search history data storage unit 56 is executed. When the processing of this step 178 ends,
This routine ends.

According to the routine shown in FIG. 4, when the vehicle occupant performs the POI search, the POI search data is stored in the vehicle-mounted navigation unit 20, and
The POI search data stored in the navigation unit 20 can be provided to the service center 22 at an appropriate timing, and can be stored in the service center 22 as a history for each vehicle occupant. Therefore, it becomes possible to accumulate information regarding the POI search performed by the vehicle occupants as a history in the service center 22 for each vehicle occupant.

As described above, according to the routines shown in FIGS. 2 to 4, the information about the visited destination and the information about the genre of interest are stored in the service center 22 as a history for each user. You can

Next, referring to FIG. 5 to FIG. 9, the service center 22 sends the navigation unit 20 the information obtained by using the history data of the visited place and the POI search history data, thereby transmitting the information to the vehicle occupant. The process of providing the will be described.

In FIG. 5, in the system of this embodiment, the navigation unit 20 and the service center 22 execute in order to provide the vehicle occupants with unvisited spots that none of the vehicle occupants have visited according to the request of the vehicle occupants. The flowchart of an example of the control routine to perform is shown. Figure 5
The routine indicated by is a routine that is repeatedly started in the navigation unit 20 every time a request is made by a vehicle occupant who desires to receive a destination from the service center 22. When the routine shown in FIG. 5 is started, the process of step 200 is first executed. still,
The processing of steps 200 to 204 and 216 and 218 is performed in the navigation unit 20, and the processing of steps 206 to 214 is performed in the service center.

In step 200, a process of setting a genre such as a tourist attraction, a hot spring, etc., which the vehicle occupant wants to visit as a destination at the present time by operating the input unit 32, is executed. In step 202, the above-mentioned step 10
Similar to 2, each identification I of all vehicle occupants boarding the vehicle
The process of acquiring each D code is executed. Then, in step 204, a process of transmitting the data of the genre set in step 200, the identification ID codes of all vehicle occupants, and the current vehicle position from the transmitting / receiving unit 42 is executed. The information transmitted from the navigation unit 20 is received by the service center 22.

In step 206, a process of receiving the set genre, the identification ID codes of all vehicle occupants, and the current position of the vehicle transmitted by the navigation unit 20 in the transmitting / receiving section 50 is executed. And
In step 208, the user authentication unit 52 uses the identification IDs of all the vehicle occupants received in step 206.
The process of identifying all users is executed based on the code.

At step 210, a process of reading the historical data of visited places etc. stored for each user for all the users specified in step 208 is executed from the visited place historical data storage section 54. Then, in step 212, based on the relationship between the set genre and the historical data such as the visited locations of all vehicle occupants read in step 210, none of the vehicle occupants have visited the unvisited spots. Is executed.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of identifying an unvisited spot which has not been visited by any of the vehicle occupants until now, based on the historical data such as the visited place, in the service center 22 of this embodiment. The figure is shown. Note that FIG. 6 shows a case where two vehicle occupants get on the vehicle.

First, for each vehicle occupant, as shown in FIG. 6 (A), among the spots belonging to the above-mentioned set genre, which are some distances from the current position, based on the historical data such as visited sites, A set of visited spots having a visit history (function F (u (user name), j (set genre), p (current position))) is obtained. And FIG.
By taking the union of the visited spots for each vehicle occupant u1 and u2 as shown in (B), the visited spots that any of the vehicle occupants have visited so far are shown in FIG. 6 (C). , G (F (u1, ...), F (u
2, ...))). Then, in the set SPOT (j, p) of spots which are within a certain distance from the current position among the spots belonging to the above-mentioned set genre, FIG.
As shown in (D), the complementary set H (G (F)) (= reversed G) of the set G (F) of visited spots of all vehicle occupants.
(F)).

According to the above-mentioned method, it is possible to identify, from the genres set by the vehicle occupants, the unvisited spots which are close to the current position to some extent and have not been visited by any of the vehicle occupants. Is possible.

Therefore, in step 212 in the routine shown in FIG. 5, the unvisited spots to which none of the vehicle occupants have visited so far are specified by referring to the method shown in FIG. Then, in step 214, the data of the unvisited spot identified in step 212 is sent from the transmitting / receiving unit 50 to the service center 22 related to the information received in step 206 by the vehicle occupant who requests the provision of the destination. The process of transmitting to the navigation unit 20 of the vehicle is executed. When the processing of this step 214 is executed, the processing at the service center 22 thereafter ends. The information transmitted from the service center 20 is received by the navigation unit 22.

In step 216, the process of receiving the data of the unvisited spots transmitted by the service center 22 in response to the request of the vehicle occupant in the transmission / reception section 42 is executed. Then, in step 218, the above step 216 is performed.
The process of displaying on the display screen of the video output unit 44 is performed so that the unvisited spot received in step 1 is provided to the vehicle occupant. At this time, for the convenience of the vehicle occupants, a list of unvisited spots may be displayed on the display screen of the video output unit 44, for example, in the order of being closer to the current position or in the order of shorter required time. When the process of step 218 is completed, the routine of this time is ended.

According to the routine shown in FIG. 5, the service center 22 searches the genre set by the vehicle occupant for an unvisited spot that none of the vehicle occupants has visited, and sends it to the navigation unit 20. Send
Can be provided. Therefore, according to the system of the present embodiment, all the vehicle occupants can be provided with freshness regarding the destination.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the information transmitted from the service center 22 to the navigation unit 20 is added with the information regarding the destination of the fellow passenger who is acting together other than the vehicle driver. That is, in response to a request from a vehicle occupant, an unvisited spot that reflects not only the driver's but also the passenger's history is provided. Therefore, according to the system of the present embodiment, it is possible to provide information regarding the destination which is highly satisfactory for the entire vehicle occupant.

In the method of identifying unvisited spots shown in FIG. 6 above, if there is a spot where the vehicle occupant has a history of visits near different set genres, the unvisited spot is designated as the vehicle occupant. It may be excluded from the unvisited spots provided to. In this case, a fresher unvisited spot is provided to the vehicle occupant, so that it is possible for the vehicle occupant to obtain information regarding the destination with higher satisfaction.

FIG. 7 shows that, in the system of this embodiment, the navigation unit 20 and the service center 22 are provided in order to provide a vehicle occupant with an optimum road as a route to the destination set by the vehicle occupant. The flowchart of an example of the control routine to perform is shown. The routine shown in FIG. 7 is a routine that is repeatedly started each time a destination is set in the navigation unit 20. When the routine shown in FIG. 7 is started, the process of step 240 is first executed. Incidentally, steps 240 to 24
4 and 256 and 258 are performed in the navigation unit 20, and the processes of steps 246 to 254 are performed in the service center 22.

In step 240, the above-mentioned step 1
Similar to 00, the process of setting the destination to which the vehicle occupant should head is executed. In step 242, similarly to step 102 described above, a process of acquiring each identification ID code of all vehicle occupants is executed. Then, in step 244, a process of transmitting each data of the destination set in step 240, the identification ID codes of all vehicle occupants, and the current position of the vehicle from the transmitting / receiving unit 42 is executed.

At step 246, the identification IDs of all the destinations and vehicle occupants transmitted by the navigation unit 20.
The code and each data of the current position of the vehicle are transmitted and received by the transmitting and receiving unit 5
The process received at 0 is executed. Then, in step 248, the user authentication unit 52 executes a process of identifying all the users based on the identification ID codes of all the vehicle occupants received in step 246.

In step 250, a process of reading the history data of visited places etc. stored for each user for all the users specified in step 248 is executed from the visited place history data storage section 54. Then, in step 252, a process for identifying the optimum road for the vehicle occupant as the route to the destination is executed based on the historical data such as the visited places of all the vehicle occupants read in step 250.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a method of identifying an optimum road for a vehicle occupant as a route from the current position P to the destination G on the basis of historical data such as a visited place in the service center 22 of this embodiment. The figure is shown.

First, for example, on the road indicated by the solid line in FIG. 8A, it is determined whether or not there is a history of visits to the destination G set for each vehicle occupant based on history data such as the locations of visits. It is determined whether or not there is a road having a traffic history between the position P and the destination G. Then, as a result, if any of the vehicle occupants has a visit history or a passage history, all the routes (indicated by broken lines in FIG. 8A) to the destination G traveled at that time are specified. still,
Hereinafter, for example, it is assumed that two routes are identified as shown in FIG. 9A, and these routes are identified by the specific routes TK1 and TK2.
In addition, when collectively referring to those specific routes, simply T
This will be described as K.

Further, the difference in running distance (or difference in running time) is within a predetermined range with respect to the shortest route (or the fastest route) from the current position P to the destination G (indicated by a thick solid line in FIG. 8B). All routes (other than the shortest route are shown by broken lines in FIG. 8B) are extracted. In the following description, it is assumed that, for example, four routes are extracted as shown in FIG. 7B, and these routes are extracted routes CK0, CK1, CK2, CK3.
In addition, when the extraction paths are collectively referred to as C,
This will be described as K.

Then, the extraction route CK and the specific route TK are compared, and as a result, the specific route T of the extraction routes CK is compared.
If the same route as K exists, specifically, if the extracted route CK0 and the specific route TK1 match, the extracted route CK0 is excluded as a route to be provided to the vehicle occupants. Then, for each of the remaining extraction routes CK1 to CK3, and as shown in (D), the ratio of roads that the vehicle occupant has traveled to the entire route (hereinafter referred to as freshness) and, for example, on the route, It is determined whether or not there is a spot such as a tourist attraction such as a castle or a place with a beautiful scenery (hereinafter referred to as the degree of attraction), and the extraction routes CK1 to CK3 are comprehensively evaluated based on the determination result. .

Specifically, for example, the extraction paths CK1 to CK
3 has a freshness of "0.
6 ”,“ 0.8 ”,“ 0.3 ”, and the presence of the“ castle ”as the highlight point means that the extraction route CK1 has a“ 1.0 ”degree of attraction and When the extraction routes CK2 and CK3 are not present and the attraction degree is "0", the freshness degree and the attraction degree are added to obtain the total evaluation points of the extraction routes CK1 to CK3. As a result, the route CK1 (indicated by a thick solid line in FIG. 8E), which has the highest overall evaluation score and which gives the vehicle occupants a freshness and highlights comprehensively, is specified as the route to the destination provided to the vehicle occupants. .

According to the above-mentioned method, it is possible to comprehensively search and specify the optimum road for the vehicle occupant as a route to a certain set destination based on the historical data such as the visited locations of all the vehicle occupants. Becomes

Therefore, in step 252 in the routine shown in FIG. 7, the optimum road for the vehicle occupant is specified as the route to the destination by referring to the method shown in FIG. Then, in step 254, in step 2 above.
Navigation of the vehicle on which the vehicle occupant who has made a route provision request from the transmission / reception unit 50 to the service center 22 relating to the information received in step 246 from the data of the optimum road as the route to the destination specified in 52 The process of transmitting to the unit 20 is executed. Step 25
When the processing of No. 4 is executed, the processing of the service center 22 thereafter ends.

In step 256, the transmitting / receiving unit 42 receives the optimum road data transmitted by the service center 22 in response to the vehicle occupant's route provision request. Then, in step 258, the above step 2
Processing for displaying on the display screen of the video output unit 44 is executed so that the optimum road received at 56 is provided to the vehicle occupants as a route to the destination. When the process of this step 258 ends, the routine of this time is ended.

According to the routine shown in FIG. 7, the service center 22 can search for the optimum route for the entire vehicle occupant in response to the route provision request of the vehicle occupant, and can transmit and provide the route to the navigation unit 20. At this time, the search for the optimum route is performed while taking into consideration the road having a high degree of freshness, so that the freshness of the route is given to all the vehicle occupants who receive the route.

As described above, in the present embodiment, the optimum road data transmitted from the service center 22 to the navigation unit 20 takes into account the traffic history around the destinations of all vehicle occupants acting together. That is, in response to the route provision request of the vehicle occupant, the route in which not only the driver but also the history of the fellow passenger is reflected is provided. Therefore, according to the system of the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a route that is highly satisfactory for the entire vehicle occupant.

FIG. 9 shows a navigation unit 20 and a service in order to provide the vehicle occupant with a spot reflecting the taste of the vehicle occupant as a destination without setting the genre that the vehicle occupant wants to visit in the system of this embodiment. The flowchart of an example of the control routine which the center 22 performs is shown. The routine shown in FIG. 9 is a routine that is repeatedly started in the navigation unit 20 every time a request is made by a vehicle occupant desiring to receive a destination from the service center 22. When the routine shown in FIG. 9 is started, the process of step 280 is first executed. Note that steps 280, 282, 298,
And 300 processing is performed in the navigation unit 20, and the processing of steps 284-296 is performed in the service center.

In step 280, the above-mentioned step 1
Similarly to 02, a process of acquiring each identification ID code of all vehicle occupants who board the vehicle is executed. Then, in step 282, a process of transmitting the identification ID codes of all the vehicle occupants and each data of the current position of the vehicle from the transmitting / receiving unit 42 is executed.

In step 284, the transmitting / receiving section 50 receives the identification ID codes of all vehicle occupants and the respective data of the current vehicle position transmitted by the navigation unit 20. Then, in step 286, the user authentication unit 52 executes a process of identifying all the users based on the identification ID codes of all the vehicle occupants received in step 284.

In step 288, a process of reading the POI search history data stored for each user for all the users specified in step 286 from the POI search history data storage unit 56 is executed. Then, in step 290, a process of identifying a genre that is likely to be of interest to the entire vehicle occupant is executed based on the POI search history data of all vehicle occupants read in step 288. Specifically, in this step 290, first, for each vehicle occupant, the number of times that the vehicle occupant has performed a POI search is calculated for each genre of the facility from the POI search history data, and the POI search is performed a certain number of times or more. The performed genre is recognized as the genre of interest of the vehicle occupant. Then, the genre with the largest number of vehicle occupants recognized as the genre of interest is specified as the genre of most interest for the entire vehicle occupant.

In step 292, a process of reading the history data of visited places etc. stored for each user for all the users specified in step 286 is executed from the visited place history data storage section 54. In step 294, with reference to the method shown in FIG. 6, the genre identified in step 290 and the step 29
Based on the relationship with the historical data such as the visited locations of all vehicle occupants read in step 2, a process is executed to identify an unvisited spot that none of the vehicle occupants have visited so far. Then, in step 296, the above step 2
The data of the unvisited spot identified in 94 is transmitted / received by the transmitting / receiving unit 50.
Processing is executed from the service center 22 to the navigation unit 20 of the vehicle on which the vehicle occupant who has requested the provision of the destination. When the processing of this step 296 is executed, the processing at the service center 22 thereafter ends.

In step 298, a process of receiving the data of the unvisited spots transmitted by the service center 22 in response to the request from the vehicle occupant in the transmission / reception section 42 is executed. Then, in step 300, the above step 298 is performed.
The process of displaying on the display screen of the video output unit 44 is performed so that the unvisited spot received in step 1 is provided to the vehicle occupant. When the processing of this step 300 ends, the routine of this time is ended.

According to the routine shown in FIG. 9, the service center 22 specifies a genre of interest for the entire vehicle occupant from the POI search history data, so that the vehicle occupant does not have to set a desired genre. An unvisited spot that has not been visited by any of the vehicle occupants can be searched for and provided to the navigation unit 20. Therefore, also in this case, all the vehicle occupants can be provided with freshness with respect to the destination.

As described above, in this embodiment, the POI search history data of all vehicle occupants are taken into consideration when the genre of interest for the entire vehicle occupant is specified, and the vehicle is searched when an unvisited spot is searched. Historical data, such as the locations of all crew members, will be added. Therefore, according to the system of the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a vehicle occupant with an unvisited spot that reflects not only the driver's history but also the passenger's history. Therefore, according to the system of the present embodiment, it is possible to provide information regarding the destination which is highly satisfactory for the entire vehicle occupant.

By the way, the navigation unit 20
Is mounted on the vehicle, it cannot perform its function after the accessory switch of the vehicle changes from the on state to the off state. Further, when the vehicle occupant gets off the vehicle, it becomes impossible to detect which place the vehicle occupant has traveled through and which place the vehicle occupant has visited.

On the other hand, in the present embodiment, as described above, the navigation unit 20 supplies the history save command signal to the portable terminal 24 immediately before the accessory switch of the vehicle changes from the on state to the off state. As a result, the mobile terminal 24 stores the visited location of the vehicle occupant.
Then, the mobile terminal 24 transmits the data in accordance with the request of the navigation unit 20, so that the navigation unit stores, in the data storage unit 40, the visited place after the vehicle occupant has left the vehicle.

Therefore, according to the present embodiment, by providing the service center 22 with the visited place after the vehicle occupant has left the vehicle, detailed information can be stored in the service center 22. . Therefore, according to the system of the present embodiment, it becomes possible for the service center 22 to properly search for an unvisited spot to be transmitted / provided in response to a request from the navigation unit 20 side or an optimum route for a vehicle occupant, As a result, the navigation unit 2
It is possible to make the information provided from 0 to the vehicle occupants more satisfying.

In the above embodiment, the service center 22 executes the processing of step 210, 250, 288, or 292, so that the "personal information acquisition means" described in the claims is Step 21 above
The "destination information search means" described in the claims is realized by executing the processing of 2, 252, 290, or 294, and the history data storage unit 54 and the POI search of the visited location etc. are realized. History data storage unit 56
Corresponds to the “storage unit” described in the claims, and the navigation unit 20 and the mobile terminal 24 correspond to the “external terminal” described in the claims.

By the way, in the above-mentioned embodiment, each of the transit points which the vehicle passed through in the course of traveling to the destination after the destination is set is stored in the vehicle-mounted navigation unit 20, and then the vehicle is near the destination. When the vehicle arrives at the service center 22, the data such as destinations and transit points stored in the navigation unit 20 are collected.
However, the method of transmitting such data to the service center 22 is not limited to this, and may be transmitted to the service center 22 as needed each time the vehicle acquires a stopover in the course of traveling to the destination. Good.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the visiting location of the vehicle occupant after the accessory switch of the vehicle is changed from the ON state to the OFF state is stored in the mobile terminal 24, and then the navigation unit 20 is operated from the mobile terminal 24. Although it is supposed to be transmitted to the service center 22 via
The mobile terminal 24 may directly transmit to the service center 22.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, the unvisited spots that none of the vehicle occupants have visited have been specified and provided to the vehicle occupants according to the request of the vehicle occupants, but the present invention is not limited to this. Even if the spot has been visited by one of the vehicle occupants, for example, the number of previous visits, the season, the period from the previous visit to the present, the spot has a history of visits. The number of vehicle occupants and the like may be taken into consideration, and the weight may be weighted to identify a spot to be visited, and the spot may be provided to the vehicle occupant.

Further, in the above embodiment, according to the request of the vehicle occupant, an unvisited spot (point) that none of the vehicle occupants has visited is specified and provided to the vehicle occupant. The present invention is not limited to this, and an area (region) that has not been visited by any vehicle occupant, for example, an area or region such as Izu or Nikko where there are many tourist spots may be specified and provided.

Further, in the above embodiment, the optimum route for the entire vehicle occupant is decided by comprehensively judging the freshness and the degree of interest as shown in FIG. 8, but the following method is used. It may be that.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a method of identifying an optimum road for a vehicle occupant as a route from the current position P to the destination G based on historical data such as visited places in the modification of this embodiment. Indicates. First, for example, in FIG.
On the road shown by the solid line in (A), whether or not there is a visit history to the destination G set for each vehicle occupant based on the history data such as the visited place, and the current position P and the destination G It is determined whether or not there is a road with a passage history. As a result, if any of the vehicle occupants has a visit history or a passage history, the destination G traveled at that time
Identify all routes to.

Assuming that three routes TK11, TK12, TK13 are specified as shown in FIG. 8A, extraction routes CK0 to CK3 shown by thick solid lines and broken lines in FIG. Weighting is performed on the portion overlapping with the three specific paths TK. This weighting increases as the number of overlapping parts in the route increases,
Further, the weight is increased as the number of times of duplication in the same portion increases. As a result, the route CK1 (indicated by a thick solid line in FIG. 10B) that has the smallest weight and gives freshness to the entire vehicle occupant is identified as the route to the destination provided to the vehicle occupant.

Also in this method, it is possible to comprehensively search and specify the optimum road for the vehicle occupant as a route to a certain set destination based on the historical data such as the visited locations of all the vehicle occupants. . In this case as well, the search for the optimum route is performed so that there are many overlapping portions with the roads that the vehicle occupants have already passed, and routes with a large number of overlaps are not selected. It will give a fresh taste.

Further, in the above embodiment, the navigation unit 20 mounted on the vehicle is provided with the information regarding the destination to the vehicle occupants, but the means for providing the information regarding the destination is not limited to this. Instead of a vehicle-mounted navigation unit 20,
It can also be applied to a configuration using a mobile phone with an information display function or a personal computer with a communication function.

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to provide the guide information about the destination which reflects the experiences and tastes of the people who act together.

According to the invention as set forth in claim 1 , the point or district which has not been visited by any of the people who act together is provided as a destination, so that everyone can enjoy a fresh taste. Can be given.

According to the second and third aspects of the present invention, a road which has not been traveled by any of the people who act together has priority over other roads as the whole or part of the route to the destination. Selection can add freshness to the route.

According to the invention as set forth in claim 4, it is possible to provide guidance information about a destination in which the experiences and tastes of people who act together are accurately reflected.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a system configuration diagram of a navigation system including an information providing device that provides information about a destination of a user according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example of a control routine executed by the navigation unit and the service center in order to store data such as a visited place in the service center in the system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of an example of a control routine executed by the mobile terminal and the service center in order to store data such as a visited place in the service center in the system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an example of a control routine executed by the navigation unit and the service center in order to store the POI search data in the service center in the system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a control executed by the navigation unit and the service center in order to provide an unvisited spot, which has not been visited by any of the vehicle occupants, to the vehicle occupant as a destination in the system of the present embodiment in accordance with the request of the vehicle occupant. It is a flow chart of an example of a routine.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a method of identifying an unvisited spot that no vehicle occupant has ever visited based on historical data such as visited locations in the system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 7: To provide a vehicle occupant with an optimum road as a route to the destination set by the vehicle occupant,
It is a flow chart of an example of a control routine which a navigation unit and a service center perform.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining a method of identifying an optimum road for a vehicle occupant as a route to a destination based on historical data such as a visited place in the system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of an example of a control routine executed by a navigation unit and a service center in order to provide a vehicle occupant with a spot reflecting a vehicle occupant's taste as a destination in the system of the present embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining a method of identifying an optimum road for a vehicle occupant as a route to a destination based on historical data such as visited places in the system of the modified example of the present embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

20 navigation unit 22 Service Center 24 Mobile terminal 54 History data storage area such as visited places 56 POI search history data storage

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (56) Reference JP 2000-11047 (JP, A) JP 11-134407 (JP, A) JP 10-307038 (JP, A) JP 2002-140402 ( JP, A) JP 9-245097 (JP, A) JP 2002-8195 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G09B 29/00-29/14 G01C 21/00 G08G 1/137

Claims (4)

(57) [Claims] 1. An information providing device for providing information on a destination to which a user should move, which has been previously visited by a plurality of users moving in a group .
By the personal information acquisition means for acquiring each personal information including the visit history of a certain point or district, the genre acquisition means for acquiring the genre of the facility on the map in which the user is interested, and the personal information acquisition means The personal information of each of the plurality of users acquired and the information acquired by the genre acquisition unit.
Based on the genre and
Using the facility information stored separately,
A destination search means for searching, as a destination to which the plurality of users should move, a point or a district that the plurality of users have not visited before in a different genre. Information providing device. 2. An information providing device for providing route information to a destination to which a user should move, which has been used by a plurality of users who move in a group .
Within a predetermined range from the personal information acquisition means that acquires each personal information including the traffic history of a certain road, and the shortest distance or the fastest route to the destination.
After extracting the route of
Based on the obtained personal information of each of the plurality of users,
In the extracted route, the plurality of users previously communicated.
Priority is given to those with a high percentage of roads that have never been visited
The eyes to be moved by the plurality of users.
An information providing apparatus comprising: a route search unit that searches for a route to a target location. 3. The information providing device according to claim 2,
The route search means further considers the points existing on the road to reach the destination to which the plurality of users should move.
An information providing device characterized by selecting a route . 4. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the personal information acquisition means stores each of the plurality of users from a storage means for accumulating personal information of each user supplied from an external terminal. An information providing device characterized by acquiring personal information.