JP4231507B2 - Navigation system, portable information terminal device, server, and navigation method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a navigation system, a portable information terminal device, a server, and a navigation method, and more specifically, a navigation system in which a user can specify a specific position and control an operation based on the position, and the system Relates to a portable information terminal device, a server, and a navigation method.

  Conventionally, navigation devices such as a car navigation device mounted on a moving body such as a vehicle, a pedestrian navigation device used as an application of a PDA (small information terminal) device, and a mobile phone device are known. These navigation devices can automatically search for a recommended route from the starting point of the moving body to a desired target point, or display a map of a desired position on the screen. In order to designate a desired position to the navigation device, the user can input characters and numbers by voice input, remote control, touch panel, buttons arranged on the navigation device, etc. input. And a navigation apparatus searches a position based on the input information, displays a map, or searches for a recommended route.

However, in the position designation method described above, it is necessary for the user to store information for specifying a position such as an address or a telephone number, or to write down such information in a memo or the like. Furthermore, when an address or a facility name is specified by the above-described specification method, the operation becomes complicated, so that a user who is not familiar with the operation of the navigation device cannot easily specify the position . There is a navigation device for eliminating the complexity of the position designation operation such as this (for example, see Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2). In the navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1 , an Internet homepage displayed on a display screen of the device is analyzed, a character string specifying the position of an address or the like displayed there is extracted, and a recommended route A technique for setting the target point is disclosed. In addition, in the navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 2 , the device is equipped with a scanner, a character string specifying the position of an address or the like described in an arbitrary medium is taken in, and a identifiable position candidate is displayed on the screen. A technique for displaying and allowing a user to make a selection is disclosed.
JP 2001-255160 A JP 2003-202234 A

However, the navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1 can specify only a desired position found while browsing a homepage on the Internet. That is, in the case of a navigation device that is generally used by a user or has no Internet homepage browsing function, the complexity of specifying the position by the user cannot be wiped out.

In addition, the navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 2 needs to include a new device called a scanner, which causes an increase in the price of the device itself. In addition, when there are multiple candidates for specifying the position, the screen display capability is poor, such as an arrow navigation device that performs intersection guidance only with an arrow or a voice navigation device that performs only with voice, for selection on the screen. Or it cannot cope with the case where a display screen is not provided.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a navigation system, a portable information terminal device, a server, and a navigation method capable of easily and reliably specifying a user's desired position such as a target point of a recommended route. .

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention adopts the following configuration. Note that the reference numerals in parentheses, step numbers, and the like indicate correspondence relationships with embodiments described later in order to help understanding of the present invention, and do not limit the scope of the present invention.

The navigation system of the present invention includes a server (5-7) connected to a predetermined network (4), a portable information terminal device (1) capable of data communication with the server via the network, and a portable information terminal device. A navigation device (2) capable of data communication between them. The portable information terminal device includes data transmission / reception units (15, 16) that perform data communication with the server and the navigation device, and an imaging unit (12) that captures an image of an arbitrary subject and generates image data. The server recognizes character strings included in the image data transmitted from the portable information terminal device and the data transmission / reception units (52, 62, 73) that perform data communication with the portable information terminal device, and converts these character strings into character data. An image recognition conversion unit (51) for conversion and a character string whose geographical position can be specified from the character data converted by the image recognition conversion unit is classified into any of address, telephone number, postal code, and facility name. location searching unit position specific character extracting section (61), which strings using the character string extracted are classified by location specific character extracting unit for extracting from the character data to search for geographical position respectively (71) and a result narrowing unit (72) for narrowing down to a single position that is commonly indicated by a plurality of character strings classified into different categories when a plurality of different positions are searched by the position search unit. The navigation device includes a data transmission / reception unit (20) that performs data communication with the portable information terminal device. The geographical location information (location search result) obtained by the server is output to the navigation device via the portable information terminal device.

  Specifically, the portable information terminal device is a mobile phone device including an imaging unit and a data transmission / reception unit.

  The portable information terminal device may further include a display unit (10) for displaying information received by the data transmitting / receiving unit of the portable information terminal device, and an input unit for inputting an instruction in response to a user operation. Absent. In this case, when the portable information terminal device receives the geographical position information obtained by the server (S56), the portable information terminal device displays the position information on the display unit (S57), and responds to the user instruction input from the input unit. In response (S58), the position information is output to the navigation device (S59).

For example, results narrowing part narrows down a single position as the coordinate data, the name of the position corresponding to a single position, address, telephone number, and from the group consisting of map image near the at least one selected Information and coordinate data may be output as position information. In addition, the portable information terminal device may further include a connection point determination unit (14) that determines a geographical position connected to the network. In this case, the result narrowing unit narrows down to a single position within a certain distance from the geographical position determined by the connection point determination unit when the position search unit searches for a plurality of different positions (S52).

  Specifically, the navigation device and the portable information terminal device are mounted on the same mobile body. In this case, the navigation device further obtains a current route deriving unit (212) for deriving the current position of the moving body and a recommended route from the starting point of the moving body with the position information output from the portable information terminal device as the destination. A route search unit (211) for deriving, a route guidance unit (214) for analyzing the relationship between the current position derived by the current position deriving unit and the recommended route derived by the route search unit, and guiding a route to the destination; Is provided.

  Various examples of data communication between the data transmission / reception unit of the portable information terminal device and the data transmission / reception unit of the navigation device can be considered below. In the first example, data communication between the data transmission / reception unit of the portable information terminal device and the data transmission / reception unit of the navigation device is performed by communication by wireless connection. In the second example, data communication between the data transmission / reception unit of the portable information terminal device and the data transmission / reception unit of the navigation device is performed by communication by wired connection. In the third example, data communication between the data transmission / reception unit of the portable information terminal device and the data transmission / reception unit of the navigation device is performed via a memory card device incorporating a nonvolatile memory.

  For example, the network is an Internet network.

The portable information terminal device of the present invention is capable of data communication with a server via a predetermined network. The portable information terminal device includes a data transmission / reception unit that performs data communication with a server, an imaging unit that captures an image of an arbitrary subject and generates image data, and a display unit that displays information received by the data transmission / reception unit. The data transmission / reception unit transmits the image data generated by the imaging unit to the server, then receives the geographical position information indicated by the character string included in the image data from the server, and the display unit receives the data transmission / reception unit. Display received location information. The location information received from the server by the data transmitter / receiver is classified into one of address, telephone number, postal code, and facility name by the character string that can specify the geographical location from the image data transmitted to the server. A plurality of character strings extracted and classified into different sections when there are a plurality of geographical positions indicated by the character strings include at least coordinate data searched by narrowing down to a single position indicated in common .

  For example, the portable information terminal device is a mobile phone device including a data transmission / reception unit, an imaging unit, and a display unit.

  The portable information terminal device may further include an input unit that inputs an instruction in response to a user operation. Further, the data transmission / reception unit may be capable of data communication with the navigation device. In this case, when the data transmission / reception unit receives the position information, the position information is displayed on the display unit, and the position information is output to the navigation device in accordance with a user instruction input from the input unit.

Also, position information data transceiver receives from the server, further comprising at least one information selected name of a position corresponding to a single position, address, from the group consisting of telephone numbers, and a map of the image But it doesn't matter. The portable information terminal device may further include a connection point determination unit that determines a geographical position to be connected to the network. In this case, the coordinate data included in the position information received by the data transmission / reception unit from the server uses the geographical position determined by the connection point determination unit and the character string extracted by classification, and the geographical data indicated by the character string. When there are a plurality of positions, the search is performed by narrowing down to a single position within a certain distance from the geographical position determined by the connection point determination unit.

The navigation method of the present invention includes an imaging step (S1) for imaging an arbitrary subject to generate image data, and an image recognition conversion step for recognizing character strings included in the image data and converting those character strings into character data. (S2) and character strings that can specify a geographical position from the character data converted in the image recognition conversion step are classified into any one of address, telephone number, postal code, and facility name, and the character data is a position specifying character extraction step of extracting (S3), the position search step of their strings using the character string extracted are classified to obtain the position information by searching the geographical position respectively at the position specified character extraction step and (S4), a single position commonly indicated differently classified plurality of string segment when searching a plurality of different positions by the position search step Results for obtaining positional information indicating the single position amplicon and a narrowing step (S44~S53).

  Further, a current position deriving step (S61) for deriving the current position, a route searching step (S63) for deriving a recommended route with the position information obtained in the position search step or the result narrowing step as a destination, A route guidance step (S64 to S66) for analyzing the relationship with the recommended route and guiding the route to the destination may be included. Further, a display step (S57) for displaying the position information obtained in the position search step or the result narrowing step and an input step (S58) for inputting the instruction in response to the user operation may be further included. In this case, when the display step displays the position information and an instruction in response to the user's predetermined operation is input by the input step, the position information is adopted as the destination used in the route search step (S59).

Also, results are narrowed down in at least one information selected a single position refinement as coordinate data, a position of the name corresponding to a single position, address, from the group consisting of telephone numbers, and a map of the image And coordinate data may be obtained as position information. The result narrowing step may narrow down to a single position within a certain distance from the current position when a plurality of different positions are searched in the position search step (S52).

The server of the present invention is capable of data communication with a portable information terminal device via a predetermined network. The server includes a data transmission / reception unit, an image recognition conversion unit, a position specifying character extraction unit, a position search unit, and a result narrowing unit. The data transmitter / receiver performs data communication with the portable information terminal device. The image recognition conversion unit recognizes a character string included in the image data transmitted from the portable information terminal device, and converts the character string into character data. The position specifying character extraction unit classifies the character string that can specify a geographical position from the character data converted by the image recognition conversion unit into any one of an address, a telephone number, a zip code, and a facility name, and Extract from the data . The position search unit searches for a geographical position indicated by each character string using the character strings classified and extracted by the position specifying character extraction unit. The result narrowing unit narrows down to a single position that is commonly indicated by a plurality of character strings classified into different sections when a plurality of positions are searched by the position search unit. The data transmitter / receiver receives the image data transmitted from the portable information terminal device, and transmits geographical position information indicating a single position corresponding to the image data to the portable information terminal device.

For example, results narrowing part narrows down a single position as the coordinate data, the name of the position corresponding to a single position, address, telephone number, and from the group consisting of map image near the at least one selected Information and coordinate data may be output as position information.

  According to the navigation system of the present invention, a user can perform a magazine, a travel guidebook, a business card, and a signboard without having to perform complicated operations by capturing an image of a character whose position can be specified by an imaging unit built in the portable information terminal device. For example, the position information indicated by the subject can be output to the navigation device only by imaging the subject whose desired position can be specified. In addition, the location such as an address or facility name written in Chinese characters that cannot be read by the user can also be output to the navigation device. Furthermore, since processing such as image recognition conversion, position-specific character extraction, and position search is performed by a server on the network, the processing is less than that performed by a portable information terminal device or navigation device that has a lower processing capacity than the server. The processing can be performed with higher accuracy. Here, when searching for a position with a general navigation device, the position search data held by the device is, for example, fresh data that matches the current data unless the storage unit is updated by replacing the latest map DVDROM. Don't be. That is, the search result in such a navigation device may deviate from the current situation. On the other hand, in the present invention, since the server can always update to the latest data, the search result by the navigation system is very unlikely to deviate from the current situation.

  Further, when the portable information terminal device is composed of a mobile phone device with a built-in camera, it is not necessary to provide a new device, and an increase in price can be suppressed. Further, since the mobile phone device possessed by the user can be used, it is not necessary to attach a new device around the navigation device.

  Further, in a navigation device with poor screen display or no display unit, if an incorrect place is searched, there is no means for confirming the fact that the user has searched for an incorrect place. When the display unit is provided in the apparatus, the user can easily check the search result by using the display unit.

  In addition, when character strings whose geographical position can be specified are classified into address, telephone number, postal code, and facility name and extracted from character data, for example, the place name or the name of the facility with the same name in the whole country. Even if there is a name, it can be narrowed down without requiring a new selection operation by the user based on the postal code or address. Moreover, an appropriate position search can be performed by performing processing according to the classification. Even if some character strings are unclear and cannot be recognized, they can be narrowed down with other character strings, so that more accurate and reliable position search can be performed.

  In addition, when the connection point determination unit is provided, the approximate position can be calculated by performing triangulation on the position of the connection point based on the position of the mobile phone relay antenna and the radio wave intensity. Thereby, even if there is a place name or facility name with the same name in the whole country, it is possible to narrow down without requiring a new selection operation by the user. For example, even if there is a place name or facility name with the same name in the whole country, it is possible to exclude those located far away from a predetermined range.

  Further, by configuring the network with the Internet, it is not necessary to construct a new network, and an increase in the price of the navigation system can be suppressed.

  According to the portable information terminal device and the server of the present invention, the effects of the navigation system described above can be similarly obtained by being included in the navigation system described above. Further, according to the navigation method of the present invention, the effects of the navigation system described above can be obtained in the same manner.

  A navigation system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The navigation system includes a portable information terminal device, a navigation device, and a server. Hereinafter, a mobile phone device will be described as an example of the portable information terminal device, but it can also be realized by a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) or the like. First, with reference to FIG. 1, the hardware configuration of the mobile phone device 1 and the navigation device 2 included in the navigation system will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of the mobile phone device 1 and the navigation device 2 included in the navigation system.

  In FIG. 1, a mobile phone device 1 and a navigation device 2 included in the navigation system are installed on a moving body such as a vehicle. The mobile phone device 1 and the navigation device 2 can perform data communication with each other wirelessly or by wire. The cellular phone device 1 includes a display unit 10, an antenna 11, and an imaging unit 12. The navigation device 2 includes a data communication unit 20, a CPU 21, an input unit 22, an interface (I / F) 23, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving unit 24 including an antenna 241, a self-contained navigation unit 25, a storage unit 26, a ROM 27, A RAM 28, an audio output control unit 29 to which a speaker 291 is connected, and a bus line 30 are provided.

  The CPU 21 controls the operation of each part constituting the navigation device 2. The input unit 22 is used to input data to the navigation device 2 in response to a user operation, such as a remote controller.

  A GPS receiver 24 and a self-contained navigation unit 25 are connected to the I / F 23. The GPS receiving unit 24 receives radio waves from an artificial satellite accommodated in a positioning system typified by GPS via the antenna 241 and outputs position information indicating the current position of the moving body to the I / F 23. The self-contained navigation unit 25 typically includes an acceleration sensor and an angular velocity sensor provided on the moving body, and the acceleration information and the angular velocity information representing the acceleration and angular velocity of the moving body detected thereby are stored in the I / F 23. Output. The I / F 23 transfers the input position information, acceleration information, and angular velocity information to the CPU 21.

  The storage unit 26 typically includes a recording medium 262 represented by a DVD-ROM and a drive unit 261 thereof. The recording medium 262 stores map data necessary for navigation. The drive unit 261 reads out necessary map data from the recording medium 262 and transfers it to the RAM 28. Note that other media of the recording medium 262 include a CD-ROM, a hard disk drive, a memory card, a ROM, and the like.

  The ROM 27 stores at least a computer program 271 that defines the operation of the navigation device 2. The RAM 28 stores information transferred from each unit of the navigation device 2 and erases the information as necessary. The audio output control unit 29 controls audio output to the speaker 291.

  The data communication unit 20 typically includes a transmission / reception unit 201 typified by infrared communication, and transmits / receives data to / from the mobile phone device 1. The data communication unit 20 sends the information generated by the CPU 21 to the external network (see FIG. 2) via the mobile phone device 1 or the information sent from the network via the mobile phone device 1 to the RAM 28. Or transfer. Examples of other communication means of the transmission / reception unit 201 include communication using radio waves, communication using a wired connection using a modem, data transfer via a memory card, and the like. Bus line 30 connects each part of navigation device 2 so that communication is possible.

  The mobile phone device 1 includes an imaging unit 12 such as a digital camera, and includes a display unit 10 and an antenna 11. The display unit 10 has a display screen on the surface of the casing of the mobile phone device 1 for allowing the user to visually recognize information according to an instruction from a CPU (not shown), and the display screen is configured by a liquid crystal display or the like. Is done. The imaging unit 12 images an arbitrary subject by the user. The antenna 11 connects an external network (see FIG. 2) and the mobile phone device 1 and transmits / receives information to / from the network.

  Next, the configuration of the network used in the navigation system will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a network used in the navigation system.

  In FIG. 2, the network includes a computer network 4, an image recognition conversion server 5, a position-specific character extraction server 6, a position search server 7, and a mobile phone device 1. The computer network 4 is typically a network represented by the Internet. Although the mobile phone network and the computer network 4 are configured separately, for the sake of simplicity, the description will be made with the mobile phone network omitted from the illustration, assuming that the mobile phone network is included in the computer network 4. An image recognition conversion server 5, a position-specific character extraction server 6, a position search server 7, and a mobile phone device 1 are connected to each other via a computer network 4 so that data communication is possible.

  The image recognition conversion server 5 receives digital image data transmitted from the mobile phone device 1 via the computer network 4. The image recognition conversion server 5 recognizes characters from the image indicated by the received digital image data, converts the characters into digital character data composed of a single or a plurality of character strings, and transmits the digital character data to the position-specific character extraction server 6. To do.

  The position specifying character extraction server 6 extracts one or more character strings (position specifying character strings) whose positions can be specified from the digital character data transmitted from the image recognition conversion server 5 via the computer network 4. Then, the position specifying character extraction server 6 classifies the extracted position specifying character strings by position attributes (address, telephone number, etc.) and transmits them to the position search server 7 together with the position attributes.

  The position search server 7 performs a position search from one or more position-identifiable character strings transmitted from the position-specific character extraction server 6 via the computer network 4. Then, the location search server 7 transmits the location search result to the mobile phone device 1 via the computer network 4.

  In addition, although the image recognition conversion server 5, the position specific character extraction server 6, and the position search server 7 have been described as being configured by different servers, they may be configured by one server. When the image recognition conversion server 5, the position-specific character extraction server 6, and the position search server 7 are configured by one server having each function, the server and the mobile phone device 1 perform data communication via the computer network 4. Connected as possible.

  Next, main functional configurations of the mobile phone device 1 and the navigation device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing main functional configurations of the mobile phone device 1 and the navigation device 2.

  In FIG. 3, the main functions of the mobile phone device 1 and the navigation device 2 are realized by the CPU (not shown) and the CPU 21 of the mobile phone device 1 executing a computer program 271, respectively. Note that the computer program 271 executed by the CPU of the mobile phone device 1 may be transferred from the navigation device 2 via the data communication unit 20 or stored in advance in a storage unit (not shown) of the mobile phone device 1. It does not matter. Further, the computer program executed by the CPU and the CPU 21 of the mobile phone device 1 may be separate independent programs.

  The CPU 21 of the navigation device 2 includes a route searching unit 211, a current position deriving unit 212, a current position determining unit 213, and a route guiding unit 214. In addition, the mobile phone device 1 includes a digital imaging unit 121, an image transfer unit 13, a connection point determination unit 14, a connection unit 15, and an information transmission unit 16.

  The digital imaging unit 121 captures an arbitrary subject including a character whose position can be specified by a user, and stores the captured image data as digital image data. Specifically, the user uses the digital imaging unit 121 (imaging unit 12) to image a subject in which information whose position is desired to be specified with respect to the navigation device 2 is expressed as characters. Examples of the subject include business cards, magazines, travel guide books, signboards, and the like in which information indicating the position is expressed in characters such as addresses, telephone numbers, facility names, and postal codes.

  The image transfer unit 13 transfers and outputs the digital image data captured by the digital imaging unit 121 to the connection unit 15, and requests the connection unit 15 to transmit to the image recognition conversion server 5 via the computer network 4. The connection point determination unit 14 determines the current position of the mobile phone device 1 using mobile phone relay antenna information of a mobile phone network (not shown) to which the connection unit 15 is connected. Specifically, the connection point determination unit 14 uses the position information transmitted from the mobile phone relay antenna and the triangulation result based on the radio field strengths of a plurality of connected mobile phone relay antennas to carry the mobile phone. The approximate position of the telephone device 1 can be determined.

  The connection unit 15 performs data communication with the image recognition conversion server 5, the position specific character extraction server 6, and the position search server 7 via the computer network 4. The connection unit 15 recognizes the current position information determined by the connection point determination unit 14 and the digital image data captured by the digital imaging unit 121 based on a transmission request from the image transfer unit 13 via the computer network 4. It transmits to the conversion server 5. The connection unit 15 receives information transmitted from any of the image recognition conversion server 5, the position-specific character extraction server 6, and the position search server 7 via the computer network 4.

  Information transmitted from any of the image recognition conversion server 5, the position-specific character extraction server 6, and the position search server 7 and received by the connection unit 15 is displayed on the display unit 10. In addition, the information transmission unit 16 transmits the information transmitted to the connection unit 15 to the transmission / reception unit 201 of the navigation device 2 in accordance with a user instruction.

  The transmission / reception unit 201 receives information transmitted from the information transmission unit 16. The current position deriving unit 212 periodically derives the current position of the moving object. Specifically, the current position deriving unit 212 acquires position information including the current position of the moving body from the GPS receiving unit 24 via the I / F 23 when radio waves can be received from a GPS artificial satellite. When the radio wave from the artificial satellite cannot be received, the current position deriving unit 212 receives the acceleration information and the angular velocity information from the self-contained navigation unit 25 via the I / F 23, and uses these information to The current position is derived.

  The route search unit 211 uses the position indicated by the information received by the transmission / reception unit 201 as the destination and the current position derived by the current position derivation unit 212 as a starting point, and reads the recommended route from the starting point to the destination into the RAM 28. Derived using the map data. Then, the route search unit 211 stores the derived recommended route in the RAM 28. The route search unit 211 may use a position set by the user operating the input unit 22 as a starting point.

  The current position determining unit 213 determines the positional relationship between the current position derived by the current position deriving unit 212 and the recommended route stored in the RAM 28. For example, the current position determination unit 213 determines whether or not the moving body is moving along the recommended route.

  The route guidance unit 214 guides the recommended route to the user based on the determination by the current position determination unit 213. Specifically, when the current position determination unit 213 determines that the moving body is moving along the recommended route, and the recommended route from the current position to the destination turns at an intersection within a certain distance from the current position. The route guidance unit 214 instructs the voice output control unit 29 to output a voice guidance output from the speaker 291 to bend the intersection in either direction.

  Next, main functional configurations of the image recognition conversion server 5, the position specifying character extraction server 6, and the position search server 7 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the main functional configurations of the image recognition conversion server 5, the position-specific character extraction server 6, and the position search server 7.

  In FIG. 4, the image recognition conversion server 5 includes an image recognition conversion unit 51 and an information transmission / reception unit 52. The position-specific character extraction server 6 includes a position-specific character extraction unit 61 and an information transmission / reception unit 62. The position search server 7 includes a position search unit 71, a result narrowing unit 72, and an information transmission / reception unit 73. The connection unit 15 of the cellular phone device 1, the information transmission / reception unit 52 of the image recognition conversion server 5, the information transmission / reception unit 62 of the position-specific character extraction server 6, and the information transmission / reception unit 73 of the position search server 7 are respectively connected via the computer network 4. Connected.

  The information transmission / reception unit 52 of the image recognition conversion server 5 receives the digital image data and the current position information transmitted from the mobile phone device 1 via the computer network 4. Then, the information transmission / reception unit 52 outputs the digital image data to the image recognition conversion unit 51. The image recognition conversion unit 51 recognizes characters existing in the digital image data sent from the mobile phone device 1 and converts the characters into digital character data composed of a single character string or a plurality of character strings. Data is output to the information transmitting / receiving unit 52. Then, the information transmitting / receiving unit 52 transmits the digital character data and the current position information to the position specifying character extraction server 6 via the computer network 4.

  The information transmitting / receiving unit 62 of the position specifying character extraction server 6 receives the digital character data and the current position information transmitted from the information transmitting / receiving unit 52 of the image recognition conversion server 5. Then, the information transmission / reception unit 62 outputs the digital character data to the position specifying character extraction unit 61. The position specifying character extraction unit 61 extracts a character string whose position can be specified from the output digital character data. Specifically, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 extracts a character string representing an address, a character string representing a postal code, a character string representing a telephone number, and a character string representing a facility name. A positional attribute is assigned to each of the extracted character strings. The location attribute distinguishes the extracted character string. By referring to the assigned location attribute, it distinguishes whether it is a character string indicating an address, postal code, telephone number, or facility name. Can do. The position specifying character extraction unit 61 outputs the character string data to which the position attribute is assigned to the information transmission / reception unit 62. Then, the information transmitting / receiving unit 62 transmits the character string data and the current position information to the position search server 7 via the computer network 4.

  The information transmitting / receiving unit 73 of the position search server 7 receives the character string data and the current position information transmitted from the information transmitting / receiving unit 62 of the position-specific character extraction server 6 via the computer network 4. Then, the information transmitting / receiving unit 73 outputs the character string data and the current position information to the position search unit 71 and the result narrowing unit 72. The position search unit 71 uses the output character string data to perform a position search corresponding to the position attribute assigned to each. Specifically, the position search unit 71 performs an address search if the assigned position attribute is an address, a postal code search if it is a postal code, a telephone number search if it is a telephone number, and a facility name. A facility name search is performed for each character string data, and the search result is output as coordinate data. Then, the position search unit 71 analyzes each piece of coordinate data, and adopts one of those that have the same position search result (that is, the same coordinate data). In addition, when the search result of the position search unit 71 indicates a plurality of positions, the result narrowing unit 72 narrows down to any one coordinate data that can be expressed by pinpoints from those positions. Then, the information transmitting / receiving unit 62 uses the coordinate data, the address and name of the position corresponding to the coordinate data, and the attached information such as the surrounding map as position search result information to the mobile phone device 1 via the computer network 4. Send.

  Next, operations of the navigation system shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the navigation system, and FIGS. 6 to 11 are subroutines showing the detailed operation of each step shown in FIG.

  In the flowchart shown in FIG. 5, as an example of the overall operation of the navigation system, the user designates the destination on the recommended route using the mobile phone device 1 and instructs the navigation device 2 on the destination. The process from the position to the route guidance to the destination is shown. First, the user operates the mobile phone device 1 to acquire image data including characters indicating the destination and current position information, and the mobile phone device 1 outputs the information to the computer network 4. Perform (step S1). Then, image recognition conversion processing by the image recognition conversion server 5 (step S2), position specific character extraction processing by the position specific character extraction server 6 (step S3), and position search processing by the position search server 7 (step S4) are performed. The position search result information is transmitted to the mobile phone device 1. Next, the mobile phone device 1 acquires the received position search result information (step S5), and outputs the position search result information to the navigation device 2. And the navigation apparatus 2 performs a route guidance process (step S6) based on the received position search result information. Hereinafter, detailed operations in each step will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the information acquisition process in step S1 performed by the mobile phone device 1. In FIG. 6, in response to the user operating the cellular phone device 1, the digital imaging unit 121 images the subject (step S11). Specifically, the user uses the digital imaging unit 121 (imaging unit 12) to image a subject including characters that can specify a position (destination) to be instructed to the navigation device 2 as a subject. The digital image data captured by the digital imaging unit 121 is output to the image transfer unit 13.

  Next, the connection point determination unit 14 calculates the current position of the mobile phone device 1 using the mobile phone relay antenna information of the mobile phone network to which the mobile phone device 1 is connected as described above (Step S1). S12). Then, the current position information calculated by the connection point determination unit 14 is output to the connection unit 15.

  Next, the image transfer unit 13 requests the connection unit 15 to transmit the digital image data output from the digital imaging unit 121 to the image recognition conversion server 5 installed on the computer network 4. Then, the connection unit 15 transmits the digital image data and the current position information output from the connection point determination unit 14 to the image recognition conversion server 5 (step S13), and ends the processing by the subroutine.

  FIG. 7 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the image recognition conversion process in step S2 performed by the image recognition conversion server 5. In FIG. 7, the information transmitting / receiving unit 52 of the image recognition conversion server 5 receives the digital image data and the current position information transmitted from the mobile phone device 1 (step S21). Then, the information transmitting / receiving unit 52 outputs the digital image data to the image recognition conversion unit 51.

  Next, the image recognition conversion unit 51 recognizes characters present in the output digital image data and converts them into digital character data composed of a single or a plurality of character strings (step S22). Then, the image recognition conversion unit 51 determines whether or not the conversion in step S22 has been successful (step S23).

  If the conversion is successful in step S23, the image recognition conversion unit 51 outputs the converted digital character data to the information transmission / reception unit 52, and the digital character data and the current position information are extracted from the information transmission / reception unit 52. The data is transmitted to the server 6 (step S24), and the processing by the subroutine is finished. On the other hand, if the conversion fails in step S23, the image recognition conversion unit 51 notifies the information transmission / reception unit 52 that the conversion has failed, and information indicating the conversion failure is sent from the information transmission / reception unit 52 to the mobile phone device 1. It is transmitted (step S25), and the processing by the subroutine is finished.

  FIG. 8 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the position-specific character extraction process in step S3 performed by the position-specific character extraction server 6. In FIG. 8, the information transmitting / receiving unit 62 of the position-specific character extraction server 6 receives the digital character data and the current position information transmitted from the image recognition conversion server 5 (step S31). Then, the information transmitting / receiving unit 62 outputs the digital character data to the position specifying character extracting unit 61. Next, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 extracts a character string whose position can be specified from the output digital character data (step S32). Hereinafter, an example of the character string extraction method performed in step S32 will be described in detail.

  First, in order to correctly extract a character string whose position can be specified from the digital character data, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 is not related to a geographical position such as an e-mail address, URL, business hours, and charges. Excludes obvious strings.

  Next, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 adds a character “#” and a symbol “−” to “####-# following the character string described as“ 〒 ”or“ zip code ”in the digital character data. ## ”, or when the numbers“ # ”and the symbol“ − ”are singly arranged as“ ####-#### ”, the character string has a position attribute. It is extracted as a character string candidate that is a zip code (hereinafter referred to as a zip code attribute character string). However, a single number “###-####” without “〒” or “postal code” is extracted as a postal code attribute character string when an address attribute character string described later follows. The

  Next, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 indicates that the sequence of the numbers “#” and symbols “−” starting with the number “0” in the digital character data is “0 #-#####-####”. , "0 ##-##-####", "0 ##-##-####", "0 ##-#-####", "0 ##" #-##-#### "or" 0 ####-#### ", the character string is a candidate character string whose position attribute is a telephone number (hereinafter referred to as a telephone number attribute character string). To be extracted). In addition, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 arranges 1 to 6 digits, a symbol “-”, and 4 digits following a character string described as “Tel” or “TEL” in the digital character data. In this case, the character string is extracted as a telephone number attribute character string whose position attribute is a telephone number. The position specifying character extraction unit 61 similarly extracts the symbol “(” “)” instead of the symbol “−” as a telephone number attribute character string.

  Next, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 refers to a database (not shown) that stores the names of prefectures, cities, towns and villages throughout the country, and selects any name stored in the database in the digital character data. If there is a matching character, a character string candidate whose position attribute is an address (hereinafter referred to as an address attribute character string) is extracted from the matched character to the character that can be determined as the end of the character string. The location-specific character extraction unit 61 can determine that the end is a punctuation mark, a boundary with a character string that has already been excluded or extracted, a number, a “number”, a “number”, and a character character of the address stop character for each region. A space or a line feed after (for example, “upper” in Kyoto).

  Next, when there is a character string other than the postal code attribute character string, the telephone number attribute character string, and the address attribute character string in the digital character data, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 uses the position attribute as the facility name. As a character string candidate (hereinafter referred to as a facility name attribute character string). Here, when the subject imaged by the user includes characters different from the facility name, these character strings are also extracted as facility name attribute character strings. For example, the name and department name when a user images a business card, the menu of a restaurant when a signboard is imaged, the medical treatment subject of a hospital, the name of a road in a schematic map, the explanatory text when a guidebook is imaged, etc. This corresponds to a character different from the facility name. However, in the position search process to be described later, these character strings different from the facility names are automatically shaken off because they are character strings that do not exist in the database for facility name search. Thus, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 extracts the postal code attribute character string, the telephone number attribute character string, the address attribute character string, and the facility name attribute character string as the position specifying character string from the digital character data. Note that the character string extraction determination method described above is an example, and another determination method may be used as long as a character string whose position can be specified can be extracted.

  Here, with reference to FIG. 12, the specific example which extracts the position specific character string performed by said step S32 is demonstrated. In this specific example, it is assumed that the user shoots a business card, FIG. 12A shows a business card imaged by the user with the digital imaging unit 121, and FIG. 12B shows the business card in FIG. The extracted position specifying character string and its position attribute are shown.

  In FIG. 12, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 excludes a character string “http://panasonic.jp/” that is clearly unrelated to the geographical position using “http: //” as a keyword. Next, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 extracts a postal code attribute character string “57105050” using “” as a keyword. Next, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 tries to extract the telephone number attribute character string, but since the business card shown in FIG. 12A has no character string corresponding to the telephone number attribute character string, nothing is extracted. do not do. Next, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 extracts the address attribute character string “1006 Kadoma, Kadoma City, Kadoma 100” using “Kadoma City” as a keyword. Finally, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 extracts the facility name attribute character strings “Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.”, “Panasonic”, and “Takahashi_Ken” as character strings other than the already extracted character strings.

  Returning to FIG. 8, the position specifying character extraction unit 61 determines whether or not any position specifying character string in step S32 has been successfully extracted (step S33). The position specifying character extraction unit 61 assigns a position attribute to the position specifying character data indicating the position specifying character string extracted by the information transmitting / receiving unit 62 when any of the position specifying character strings is successfully extracted in step S33. The position specifying character data and the current position information are transmitted from the information transmitting / receiving unit 62 to the position search server 7 (step S34), and the processing by the subroutine is terminated. On the other hand, if the location specific character extraction unit 61 fails in the extraction in step S33, the location specifying character extraction unit 61 notifies the information transmission / reception unit 62 that the extraction has failed, and information indicating the extraction failure is received from the information transmission / reception unit 62. (Step S35), and the processing according to the subroutine ends.

  FIG. 9 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the position search process in step S4 performed by the position search server 7. In FIG. 9, the information transmitting / receiving unit 73 of the position search server 7 receives the position specifying character data and the current position information output from the position specifying character extraction server 6 (step S41). Then, the information transmitting / receiving unit 73 outputs the position specifying character data and the current position information to the position search unit 71 and the result narrowing unit 72.

  Next, the position search unit 71 uses the output position specifying character data to perform a position search corresponding to each assigned position attribute (step S42). Here, the position search is to obtain the geographical position indicated by the position specifying character data as the coordinate data. When the position search unit 71 receives a plurality of position specifying character data, the position search in step S42 is performed for each of them. Perform a search. The position search unit 71 also receives position specifying character data indicating a character string different from the facility name in the position search for the facility name, and when the position search using the position specifying character data fails, the character string It is determined that is not a facility name and processing continues.

  Next, the position search unit 71 determines whether there is position specifying character data that has been successfully searched for the position in step S42 (step S43). If any position search is successful in step S42, the position search unit 71 outputs the coordinate data to the result narrowing unit 72 and advances the process to the next step S44. On the other hand, if all the position searches have failed in step S42, the position search unit 71 advances the process to the next step S54.

  In step S44, the result narrowing unit 72 determines whether or not there are a plurality of coordinate data succeeded in step S42. Then, if there is only one coordinate data, the result narrowing unit 72 does not need to narrow down the result, so the process proceeds to the next step S55. On the other hand, when there are a plurality of coordinate data, the result narrowing unit 72 advances the process to the next step S45.

  In step S45, the result narrowing unit 72 determines whether or not the position search using the position specifying character data indicating the telephone number attribute character string is valid. If the position search using the position specifying character data indicating the telephone number attribute character string is valid, the result narrowing unit 72 narrows down to one coordinate data (step S46), and the process is performed to the next step S55. Proceed to On the other hand, if the position search using the position specifying character data indicating the telephone number attribute character string is invalid, the result narrowing unit 72 advances the process to the next step S47.

  In step S47, the result narrowing unit 72 determines whether or not the position search using the position specifying character data indicating the address attribute character string is valid. If the position search using the position specifying character data indicating the address attribute character string is valid, the result narrowing unit 72 narrows down to one coordinate data (step S48), and the process goes to the next step S55. Proceed. On the other hand, when the position search using the position specifying character data indicating the address attribute character string is invalid, the result narrowing unit 72 advances the process to the next step S49.

  In step S49, the result narrowing unit 72 determines whether or not the position search using the position specifying character data respectively indicating the facility name attribute character string and the zip code attribute character string is valid. Then, the result narrowing unit 72, when the position search using the position specifying character data indicating the facility name attribute character string and the zip code attribute character string is both effective, the mail out of the facilities indicated by the facility name attribute character string. Narrow down to the coordinate data of the facilities existing in the area indicated by the number attribute character string (step S50), and proceed to the next step S51. This means that if there are a plurality of character strings extracted as facility name attribute character strings or there are a plurality of facilities having the same name, the facilities are narrowed down to facilities in the area indicated by the postal code. On the other hand, if at least one of the position searches using the position specifying character data indicating the facility name attribute character string and the zip code attribute character string is invalid, the result narrowing unit 72 proceeds directly to the next step S51. .

  Note that the narrowing-down process in step S50 is also effective in the case where it is not possible to narrow down to one place with only the address attribute character string in step S48. For example, when there is no prefecture name in the address attribute character string and only “Akasaka 1-chome”, and the postal code attribute character string is “107-0052”, “Akasaka 1-chome, Minato-ku, Tokyo”, “810 -0042 ”can be narrowed down to“ Akasaka 1-chome, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka City ”.

  In step S51, the result narrowing unit 72 determines whether there are a plurality of coordinate data remaining after the narrowing process up to the present. Then, when there are a plurality of remaining coordinate data, the result narrowing unit 72 has one coordinate data within a certain distance (for example, within 5 km) from the geographical position indicated by the current position information transmitted from the mobile phone device 1. (Step S52), and the process proceeds to the next step S53. This is a case where a plurality of position searches have only facility name attribute character strings, for example, assuming that the facility is near the current position, for example, when a user captures a signboard or the like on which only the facility name is written. Yes. On the other hand, if there are no remaining coordinate data, the result narrowing unit 72 proceeds to the next step S53 as it is.

  In step S <b> 53, the result narrowing unit 72 determines whether there is one coordinate data remaining after the narrowing processing up to now. Then, when the number of remaining coordinate data is one, the result narrowing unit 72 advances the processing to the next step S55. On the other hand, when the remaining coordinate data is not one, the result narrowing unit 72 proceeds to the next step S54.

  The position search unit 71 performs the process of step S54 when all the position searches have failed in step S42. Further, the result narrowing unit 72 performs the process of step S54 when the number of coordinate data remaining in step S53 is not one (that is, the coordinate data is plural or zero). In step S54, the position search unit 71 or the result narrowing unit 72 notifies the information transmission / reception unit 73 that the search has failed, and information indicating the search failure is transmitted from the information transmission / reception unit 73 to the mobile phone device 1. The processing by the subroutine is finished. On the other hand, in step S55, the position search unit 71 outputs the coordinate data narrowed down to one to the information transmission / reception unit 73. From the information transmission / reception unit 73, the address and name of the position corresponding to the coordinate data and the coordinate data, Attached information such as a surrounding map is transmitted as position search result information to the mobile phone device 1 via the computer network 4, and the processing according to the subroutine ends.

  FIG. 10 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the position search result acquisition process in step S5 performed by the mobile phone device 1. In FIG. 10, the connection unit 15 receives the position search result information transmitted from the position search server 7 (step S56), and outputs the position search result information to the display unit 10. Then, the display unit 10 displays the position search result information on the display screen (step S57). At this time, the display unit 10 displays the address, telephone number, name, and surrounding map of the search point included in the position search result information. The user can easily recognize the geographical situation. In addition, when a processing failure occurs in any of the processes of the image recognition conversion unit 51, the position specifying character extraction unit 61, the position search unit 71, and the result narrowing unit 72, the display unit 10 displays that fact.

  Next, the user visually recognizes the position search result information displayed on the display unit 10, and determines whether to transmit the position search result to the navigation device 2 (step S58). When transmitting the position search result to the navigation device 2, the user operates the input unit 22 to transmit the position search result information to the transmission / reception unit 201 (step S59), and the processing by the subroutine ends. In addition, when the position search result is not transmitted to the navigation device 2, information is not transmitted.

  FIG. 11 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the route guidance process in step S6 performed by the navigation device 2. In FIG. 11, the current position deriving unit 212 derives the current position of the moving object (step S61). Next, position search result information is received from the transmission / reception unit 201 (step S62). Then, the route search unit 211 derives a recommended route from the current position derived in step S61, using the position search result information acquired in step S62 as a destination (step S63).

  Next, in order to guide the recommended route to the user, the current position deriving unit 212 derives the current position of the moving object (step S64). Next, the current position determination unit 213 determines whether or not the moving body is moving along the recommended route derived in step S63 (step S65). If the moving body is moving along the recommended route, the route guide unit 214 performs route guidance (step S66), and the process proceeds to the next step S67. On the other hand, when the moving body is not moving along the recommended route, the route guide unit 214 does not guide the route and proceeds to the next step S67 as it is.

  In step S67, the navigation device 2 determines whether or not to continue the route guidance process. Then, when continuing the route guidance process, the navigation device 2 returns to step S64 to continue the process, and when ending the route guidance process, the process by the subroutine is terminated.

  As described above, according to the navigation system of the present invention, a user can perform a magazine, a travel guidebook, and the like without having to perform complicated operations by capturing an image of a character whose position can be specified by an imaging unit built in the mobile phone device. It is possible to specify the destination of the recommended route, the position of the display screen, and the like simply by imaging a subject such as a business card or a sign that can specify a desired position. In addition, the location such as an address or facility name written in Chinese characters that cannot be read by the user can also be output to the navigation device. Furthermore, since processing such as image recognition conversion, position-specific character extraction, and position search is performed by a server on a computer network, these processes are performed rather than by a mobile phone device or a navigation device having a processing capacity lower than that of the server. The processing can be performed with higher accuracy. Further, in a navigation device with poor screen display or no display unit, when an incorrect place is searched, there is no means for confirming the fact that the user has searched for an incorrect place. The search result can be easily confirmed by using the display unit included in. In addition, by performing imaging of a subject with a mobile phone device with a built-in digital camera, the navigation device does not need to be equipped with a new device, and an increase in price can be suppressed. Further, since the mobile phone device possessed by the user is used, it is not necessary to attach a new device around the navigation device. Here, when searching for a position with a general navigation device, the position search data held by the device is, for example, fresh data that matches the current data unless the storage unit is updated by replacing the latest map DVDROM. Don't be. That is, the search result in such a navigation device may deviate from the current situation. On the other hand, in the present invention, since the server can always update to the latest data, the search result by the navigation system is very unlikely to deviate from the current situation.

  In the above description, the navigation device 2 does not have a display unit such as a display screen, but may have a display unit. In addition, the mobile phone device 1 is separate from the navigation device 2. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the navigation device 2 may be provided with an imaging unit, or the mobile phone device 1 may be provided with a navigation function. Good.

  In the above description, the image recognition conversion unit, the position specific character extraction unit, and the position search unit are provided on the computer network. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the image recognition conversion unit, the position specific character extraction unit are included in the navigation device. A position search unit may be provided. In this case, the navigation device 2 preferably has a display unit such as a display screen. For example, in each process of step S25 of FIG. 7, step S35 of FIG. 8, and step S54 of FIG. 9, instead of transmitting the failure, the contents of the failure of each process are displayed on the display unit of the navigation device 2 itself, Notify the user. Furthermore, in step S57 in FIG. 10, the position search result is displayed on the display unit of the navigation device 2 itself. When the user determines that the displayed position may be set as the destination, the user operates the operation unit of the navigation device 2 to set the destination (step S58), whereby the position search result is converted into the route guidance process. (Step S59). In addition, the image recognition conversion server 5, the position specifying character extraction server 6, and the position search server 7 have been described as being configured by different servers, but as described above, these may be configured by one server. Absent. In this case, it goes without saying that the operation of performing data communication between the servers becomes unnecessary.

  In the above description, the position searched for is used as the destination of the recommended route. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is used for specifying a display position, specifying a registration point, searching for facilities existing around the specified position, and the like. May be.

  In the above description, the image recognition conversion server 5, the position-specific character extraction server 6, the position search server 7, and the mobile phone device 1 connected to a network network typified by the Internet have been described. It does not matter in the form. For example, these servers and the mobile phone device 1 may be connected so as to be communicable with each other by an in-vehicle LAN constructed in a vehicle in which the navigation device 2 is installed. In this case, a means for updating the information stored in the server to the latest information is required for each vehicle. For example, the user periodically reads a recording medium such as an optical disk in which the latest information is stored into each server. Update.

  A navigation system, a portable information terminal device, a server, and a navigation method according to the present invention input position information to in-vehicle and pedestrian navigation devices that require a user to specify a position without performing complicated operations. It can also be applied to other uses.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a hardware configuration of a mobile phone device 1 and a navigation device 2 included in a navigation system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the network used in the navigation system according to one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing main functional configurations of the mobile phone device 1 and the navigation device 2 of FIG. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing main functional configurations of the image recognition conversion server 5, the position specifying character extraction server 6, and the position search server 7 of FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an overall operation in the navigation system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the information acquisition process in step S1 of FIG. FIG. 7 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the image recognition conversion process in step S2 of FIG. FIG. 8 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the position specifying character extraction process in step S3 of FIG. FIG. 9 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the position search process in step S4 of FIG. FIG. 10 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the position search result acquisition process in step S5 of FIG. FIG. 11 is a subroutine showing the detailed operation of the route guidance process in step S6 of FIG. FIG. 12 is a diagram for explaining a specific example of extracting the position specifying character string performed in step S32 of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Cell-phone apparatus 10 ... Display part 11, 241 ... Antenna 12 ... Imaging part 121 ... Digital imaging part 13 ... Image transfer part 14 ... Connection point judgment part 15 ... Connection part 16 ... Information transmission part 2 ... Navigation apparatus 20 ... Data Communication unit 201 ... transmission / reception unit 21 ... CPU
211 ... route search unit 212 ... current position derivation unit 213 ... current position determination unit 214 ... route guidance unit 22 ... input unit 23 ... I / F
24 ... GPS receiver 25 ... self-contained navigation unit 26 ... storage unit 261 ... drive unit 262 ... recording medium 27 ... ROM
271: Computer program 28: RAM
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 29 ... Audio | voice output control part 291 ... Speaker 30 ... Bus line 4 ... Computer network 5 ... Image recognition conversion server 51 ... Image recognition conversion part 52, 62, 73 ... Information transmission / reception part 6 ... Position specific character extraction server 61 ... Position specific character Extraction unit 7 ... position search server 71 ... position search unit 72 ... result narrowing unit

Claims (22)

A navigation system including a server connected to a predetermined network, a portable information terminal device capable of data communication with the server via the network, and a navigation device capable of data communication with the portable information terminal device. And
The portable information terminal device
A data transmission / reception unit that performs data communication with the server and the navigation device;
An imaging unit that images an arbitrary subject and generates image data;
The server
A data transmitting / receiving unit for performing data communication with the portable information terminal device;
An image recognition conversion unit that recognizes a character string included in the image data transmitted from the portable information terminal device, and converts the character string into character data;
A position specification in which character strings whose geographical position can be specified from the character data converted by the image recognition conversion unit are classified into address, telephone number, postal code, and facility name and extracted from the character data. A character extractor;
A position search unit for searching for a geographical position indicated by each of the character strings using the character strings classified and extracted by the position-specific character extraction unit;
A result narrowing-down unit that narrows down to a single position that a plurality of character strings classified into different categories when searching for a plurality of different positions by the position search unit,
The navigation device includes a data transmission / reception unit that performs data communication with the portable information terminal device,
The geographical position information obtained by the server is output to the navigation device via the portable information terminal device.   The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the portable information terminal device is a cellular phone device including the imaging unit and the data transmission / reception unit. The portable information terminal device further includes a display unit for displaying information received by the data transmitting / receiving unit of the portable information terminal device;
An input unit for inputting an instruction in response to a user operation,
When the portable information terminal device receives the geographical position information obtained by the server, the portable information terminal device displays the position information on the display unit, and the position information according to a user instruction input from the input unit The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein: is output to the navigation device. The result narrowing-down unit narrows down the single position as coordinate data, and at least one piece of information selected from the group consisting of a position name, an address, a telephone number, and a surrounding map image according to the single position The navigation system according to claim 1 , wherein the coordinate data is output as the position information. The portable information terminal device further includes a connection point determination unit that determines a geographical position to be connected to the network,
The result narrowing unit narrows down to a single position within a certain distance from the geographical position determined by the connection point determination unit when the position search unit searches for a plurality of different positions. The navigation system according to claim 1 . The navigation device and the portable information terminal device are mounted on the same mobile body,
The navigation device further includes a current position deriving unit for deriving a current position of the moving body;
A route search unit for deriving a recommended route from the departure point of the mobile object with the position information output from the portable information terminal device as a destination;
The route guide unit for analyzing the relationship between the current position derived by the current position deriving unit and the recommended route derived by the route search unit, and guiding a route to the destination. The navigation system according to 1.   The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein data communication between the data transmission / reception unit of the portable information terminal device and the data transmission / reception unit of the navigation device is performed by communication by wireless connection.   The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein data communication between the data transmission / reception unit of the portable information terminal device and the data transmission / reception unit of the navigation device is performed by communication by wired connection.   The data communication between the data transmission / reception unit of the portable information terminal device and the data transmission / reception unit of the navigation device is performed via a memory card device incorporating a nonvolatile memory. Navigation system.   The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the network is an Internet network. A portable information terminal device capable of data communication with a server via a predetermined network,
A data transmitter / receiver for data communication with the server;
An imaging unit for imaging an arbitrary subject and generating image data;
A display unit for displaying information received by the data transceiver unit;
The data transmitting / receiving unit receives the geographical position information indicated by the character string included in the image data from the server after transmitting the image data generated by the imaging unit to the server,
The display unit displays position information received by the data transmitting / receiving unit,
The position information received from the server by the data transmitter / receiver is classified into any of an address, a telephone number, a postal code, and a facility name as a character string that can specify a geographical position from image data transmitted to the server. It is to extract, that geographical location indicated by the string contains at least a plurality of time a plurality of different character strings which are classified in Category coordinate data retrieved narrow to a single position commonly indicated A portable information terminal device. The portable information terminal device according to claim 11 , wherein the portable information terminal device is a portable telephone device including the data transmitting / receiving unit, the imaging unit, and the display unit. The portable information terminal device further includes an input unit that inputs an instruction in response to a user operation,
The data transmitter / receiver is further capable of data communication with a navigation device,
When the data transmitting / receiving unit receives the position information, the position information is displayed on the display unit, and the position information is output to the navigation device in accordance with a user instruction input from the input unit. The portable information terminal device according to claim 11 . The position information received from the server by the data transmitting / receiving unit further includes at least one information selected from the group consisting of a position name, an address, a telephone number, and a surrounding map image corresponding to the single position. The portable information terminal device according to claim 11 , wherein: The portable information terminal device further includes a connection point determination unit that determines a geographical position to be connected to the network,
The coordinate data included in the position information received by the data transmission / reception unit from the server uses the geographical position determined by the connection point determination unit and the character string extracted by classification and indicated by the character string. The portable information terminal device according to claim 11 , wherein the search is performed by narrowing down to a single position within a certain distance from the geographical position determined by the connection point determination unit when there are a plurality of specific positions. . An imaging step of imaging an arbitrary subject to generate image data;
An image recognition conversion step of recognizing a character string included in the image data and converting the character string into character data;
A position specification for extracting a character string whose geographical position can be specified from the character data converted in the image recognition conversion step into one of an address, a telephone number, a postal code, and a facility name and extracting the character string from the character data A character extraction step;
A position retrieving step of obtaining the location information the character string is searched for geographic position shown their respective using the character string extracted are classified by the position specifying character extraction step,
When searching for a plurality of different positions in the position search step , the result is narrowed down to a single position indicated in common by a plurality of character strings classified into different sections, and the result information is obtained to indicate the single position. A navigation method including steps. A current position deriving step for deriving a current position;
A route search step for deriving a recommended route with the location information obtained in the location search step or the result narrowing step as a destination;
The navigation method according to claim 16 , further comprising: a route guidance step of analyzing a relationship between the current position and the recommended route and guiding a route to the destination. A display step for displaying position information obtained in the position search step or the result narrowing step;
And an input step for inputting the instruction in response to a user operation,
The display step displays the position information, and when an instruction in response to a user's predetermined operation is input by the input step, the position information is adopted as a destination used in the route search step. The navigation method according to claim 17 . In the result narrowing-down step, the single position is narrowed down as coordinate data, and at least one information selected from the group consisting of a position name, an address, a telephone number, and a surrounding map image corresponding to the single position. The navigation method according to claim 16 , wherein the coordinate data is obtained as the position information. The navigation method according to claim 16 , wherein the result narrowing step narrows down to a single position within a certain distance from the current position when a plurality of different positions are searched in the position search step. A server capable of data communication with a portable information terminal device via a predetermined network,
A data transmitting / receiving unit for performing data communication with the portable information terminal device;
An image recognition conversion unit that recognizes a character string included in the image data transmitted from the portable information terminal device, and converts the character string into character data;
A position specification in which character strings whose geographical position can be specified from the character data converted by the image recognition conversion unit are classified into address, telephone number, postal code, and facility name and extracted from the character data. A character extractor;
A position search unit for searching for a geographical position indicated by each of the character strings using the character strings classified and extracted by the position-specific character extraction unit;
A result narrowing-down unit that narrows down to a single position that a plurality of character strings classified into different categories when searching for a plurality of different positions by the position search unit,
The data transmission / reception unit receives image data transmitted from the portable information terminal device, and transmits geographical position information indicating a single position corresponding to the image data to the portable information terminal device. And the server. The result narrowing-down unit narrows down the single position as coordinate data, and at least one piece of information selected from the group consisting of a position name, an address, a telephone number, and a surrounding map image according to the single position The server according to claim 21 , wherein the coordinate data is output as the position information.

Images