JP4476607B2 - Navigation system and contact support method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology for supporting contact with the outside of a user in a navigation system that provides route guidance to a destination for the user.

In the navigation system that guides the route to the destination for the user, as a technique for supporting contact with the outside of the user, for example, navigation is performed within emergency contacts registered in advance when an emergency occurs. A technique is known in which a call is automatically made to an emergency contact existing near the current position calculated in the system and a user can make a call between the emergency contact near the current position (for example, Patent Document 1). .
In addition, an electronic telephone book in which the correspondence between the telephone number and the name of the person or organization that uses the telephone number as a contact is registered in advance and corresponds to the name selected from the telephone book by the user. A technique for calling a telephone number is also widely used in various telephone devices such as a mobile telephone.
JP-A-10-262125

Now, according to the technique using the above-described phone book, when a large number of people or organizations are registered in the phone book, it becomes difficult to quickly select a desired contact address.
On the other hand, the technique of automatically contacting a partner existing near the current position as in Patent Document 1 described above is suitable for emergency contact with an emergency facility, but is suitable for daily contact selection. Absent. This is because the correlation between the current position of the user and the contact information desired by the user is generally considered to be low.

  Then, this invention makes it a subject to assist so that a user can perform the contact to the contact address suitable for a user more easily.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention sets a recommended route that is a route to a destination, and provides a navigation system that performs route guidance according to the set recommended route, a wireless communication device, and a plurality of contacts A memory storing address book information describing a point associated with a contact and communication destination specifying information which is contact identification information on a communication network connectable via communication by the wireless communication device A contact candidate selecting means for selecting a contact associated with the point corresponding to the destination as a contact candidate in the address book information, and for the contact candidate selected by the contact candidate selecting means, the address book information A communication channel opening operator that establishes a communication channel with the contact candidate through communication by the wireless communication device using the communication destination specifying information described in It is those with a door.

  Generally speaking, when you are in contact with the outside when you are heading to a destination, you often contact people at that destination. According to this navigation system, each contact is associated with a point in advance, and the contact associated with the destination point is automatically selected as a contact candidate for opening a communication path. When the user has an intention to contact a person at the destination, the user can easily make a contact according to the intention.

  Here, a list of contact candidates selected by the contact candidate selecting means is further presented to such a navigation system, and the contact candidate selected by the user from the list of contact candidates presented is contacted. A contact candidate presenting means that is accepted as an execution destination is provided, and the communication path establishment means uses the communication destination specifying information described in the address book information for the contact execution destination accepted by the contact candidate presenting means. You may make it open the communication path between the said contact execution destinations via communication by a communication apparatus.

  In this way, the user can have the navigation system present only the contacts associated with the destination, and select the contact that he / she wants to actually contact from among the presented contacts. With this simple operation, you can get in touch with that contact. Therefore, even when a large number of contacts are registered in the address book information, when the user intends to contact a person at the destination, the contact is made according to such intention. Can be easily performed.

  Further, these navigation systems are further provided with an estimated arrival time calculating means for calculating an estimated arrival time at the destination, and the storage means stores schedule data in which a user's schedule is described, and the communication The candidate selection means may select the contact candidate when a schedule at the destination is described in the schedule data and a delay from the estimated arrival time to the schedule at the destination is estimated. Good.

In this way, when the user is predicted to be late at the destination, the user is prompted to contact the contact at the destination, and the user Can be easily contacted.
In order to achieve the above object, the present invention sets a recommended route that is a route to a destination and provides a navigation system that performs route guidance according to the set recommended route, a wireless communication device, and a plurality of For each contact, address book information describing a point associated with the contact and communication destination specifying information which is contact identification information on a communication network connectable via communication by the wireless communication device is stored. A storage candidate, a contact candidate selection unit that selects a contact associated with a point near the recommended route as a contact candidate in the address book information, and a list of contact candidates selected by the contact candidate selection unit A contact candidate presenting means for accepting a contact candidate selected by the user from the list of contact candidates presented as a contact execution destination; Using the communication destination specifying information described in the address book information for the contact execution destination accepted by the supplementary presentation means, a communication path is established with the contact execution destination via communication by the wireless communication device. And communication channel opening means.

  When traveling to the destination according to the recommended route, there may be a case where an acquaintance living near the recommended route or a facility near the recommended route is considered to stop. According to this navigation system, each contact is associated with a point in advance, and a contact associated with a point in the vicinity of the recommended route is automatically selected as a contact candidate for establishing a communication path. If you intend to contact an acquaintance near the recommended route for such a stop, or if you intend to contact a facility near the recommended route to make a reservation, you will be informed. It can be done easily.

  Here, the above navigation system records in the storage means icon specifying information for specifying an icon assigned to each contact registered in the address book information, and the contact candidate presenting means records the contact information. As a list of candidates, a list of icons assigned to the contact candidate may be displayed in the icon specifying information, and a contact candidate corresponding to the icon selected by the user may be accepted as a contact execution destination.

By doing so, the user can intuitively grasp each contact candidate from the display of the icon, and selects a contact to be actually contacted from among the contact candidates by a simple operation simply by selecting the icon. Will be able to.
In the above navigation system, the wireless communication device may be a mobile telephone terminal, and in this case, the telephone number of the contact is used as the communication destination specifying information.
Alternatively, in the above navigation system, the communication path established by the communication path establishment means may be a voice chat communication path using a voice chat server. In this case, the contact candidate presenting means accesses the voice chat server via the wireless communication device, investigates whether or not each contact candidate is connected to the voice chat server, and contacts the contact. In the list of candidates, the contact candidates may be presented in a different form depending on whether or not the voice chat server is connected. Alternatively, in the contact candidate presenting means, the voice chat server is accessed via the wireless communication device, and the presence or absence of connection of each contact candidate to the voice chat server is investigated. Of the contact candidates, only contact candidates connected to the voice chat server may be presented.

By doing so, it is possible to display a contact candidate capable of voice chat and a contact candidate that is not so distinguishable, or display only a contact candidate capable of voice chat.
Here, in the above navigation system, when displaying a list of icons as a list of contact candidates, a guidance image that displays a guidance image representing the current position, the destination, and the recommended route on the map on the navigation system. Display means is provided, and the contact candidate presenting means displays the icon at a position on the guide image corresponding to a point where the contact candidate corresponding to the icon is associated in the address book information. Also good. In this case, the contact candidate presenting means changes the scale of the map represented by the guide image to a scale that fits the recommended route from the current position to the destination in the guide image. The icon may be displayed.

  As described above, according to the present invention, the user can more easily make contact with the intended contact.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a communication system according to the present embodiment.
As shown in the figure, the communication system includes an in-vehicle system 1 installed in each vehicle, a WAN 2 such as the Internet that the in-vehicle system 1 can access via wireless communication, a voice chat server 3 connected to the WAN 2, and a connection to the WAN 2. Voice chat terminal 4.
And the voice chat server 3 is for the user status management part 31 which manages the state of the user of each vehicle-mounted system 1, and for voice chat between the vehicle-mounted system 1 or between the vehicle-mounted system 1 and the voice chat terminal 4, or between the voice chat terminals 4. And a user management table 33 in which various information of users of each in-vehicle system 1 and the voice chat terminal 4 are registered.

The voice chat terminal 4 includes a fixed voice chat client 41, a communication device 42 for connecting to the WAN 2, a microphone 43 and a speaker 44 for inputting / outputting audio to / from the user.
Next, the configuration of the in-vehicle system 1 is shown in FIG.
As shown in the figure, the in-vehicle system 1 includes a navigation device 11, a wireless communication device 12 for connecting to the WAN 2, a GPS receiver 13, a running state sensor 14, a storage device such as a DVD drive or HDD that stores map data. An external storage device 15, an input device 16, a display device 17, a touch panel 18 that is a transparent pressure-sensitive input device 16 disposed on the display surface of the display device 17, a speaker 19, and a microphone 20.

  The navigation device 11 includes a current state calculation unit 111, a route search unit 112, a navigation image generation unit 113, a voice chat client 114, a voice recognition unit 115, a memory 116, a main control unit 117, and a user interface control unit 118. Have. Here, the running state sensor 14 is a sensor group that detects a vehicle state such as an azimuth sensor such as an angular acceleration sensor or a geomagnetic sensor, or a vehicle speed sensor such as a vehicle speed pulse sensor.

  The user interface control unit 118 controls a graphical user interface using the display device 17, the input device 16, and the touch panel 18, and a voice user interface using the speaker 19 and the microphone 20. The interface also includes a voice input process that recognizes the input voice content from the microphone 20 using the voice recognition unit 115 and receives a command corresponding to the recognized input voice content as an input command.

  Note that the voice chat server 3, the voice chat terminal 4, and the navigation device 11 described above generally have peripheral devices such as a CPU, a memory 116, an external storage device 15, and a communication device 42 in terms of hardware. In this case, each unit of the voice chat server 3, the voice chat terminal 4, and the navigation device 11 described above is realized by the CPU executing a program prepared in advance. It may be realized as a process. In this case, the program of each device may be provided to the device via an appropriate storage medium or communication path.

Hereinafter, the operation of such a communication system will be described.
First, the route guidance operation performed in each in-vehicle system 1 will be described.
The current state calculation unit 111 performs map matching processing on the current position estimated from the output of the traveling state sensor 14 and the GPS receiver 13 and a map around the current position determined last time read from the external storage device 15. To repeat the process of calculating the current position and the traveling direction of the vehicle.

  When the user is instructed to start route guidance via the user interface control unit 118, the main control unit 117 accepts the destination setting from the user, and the route search unit 112 receives the setting up to the destination. The route from the current position calculated by the current position calculation unit is searched and set as a recommended route.

  In addition, the navigation image generation unit sets the current position calculated by the current state calculation unit 111, the destination that received the setting from the user, and the route search unit 112 set on the road map stored in the map data recording unit. A guide image representing the recommended route is generated and displayed on the display device 17 via the user interface control unit 118. However, the destination and the recommended route are included in the guide image only when the destination and the recommended route are set.

  FIG. 3b shows an example of the guide image 310 when the recommended route 303 from the current position 301 to the destination 302 is set as shown in FIG. 3a. The guide image 310 is represented by map data. On the map image 311 of the current position peripheral range 304, a current position mark 312 indicating the current position calculated by the current state calculation unit 111 on the map, and a route graphic 313 representing the route set by searching by the route search unit 112 are displayed. It will be represented. As shown in FIG. 7b, when the destination is further included in the display range of the map image 311, a destination mark 314 indicating the destination is also displayed.

  In addition, when the recommended route is set, the main control unit 117 calculates the distance from the current position to the destination and the estimated arrival time on the basis of the map data and the traveling speed of the vehicle, As shown in FIG. 3b, the user interface control unit 118 also performs processing for displaying in the information display area 320 provided below the guide image 310.

Then, when the calculated current position reaches the vicinity of the destination, the main control unit 117 invalidates the recommended route and the destination.
The route guidance operation in the in-vehicle system 1 has been described above.
Next, voice chat performed on the communication system will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 4 a, the user management table 33 of the voice chat server 3 has entries for each user of the in-vehicle system 1 and the voice chat terminal 4. In each entry, a user address, a screen name, and a password are registered in advance. The screen name is a self name used by the user in the voice chat. The address is an identifier of the user, and as the address, for example, an instant message address or an e-mail address of the user can be used.

  In the user management table 33, “connected” and “disconnected” are registered as the status of each user. “Connecting” indicates that the user is in a state where he / she can participate in voice chat, and “disconnected” indicates that the user cannot participate in voice chat. In the entry of the connected user in the user management table 33, the address on the WAN 2 of the voice chat terminal 4 or the in-vehicle system 1 used by the user at that time is registered as a WAN address.

  Next, when the fixed voice chat client 41 of the voice chat terminal 4 and the voice chat client 114 of the navigation device 11 are activated or when a server connection operation is received from the user, the communication device 42 or the wireless communication device 12 is used. Then, a connection request including an address, a screen name, and a password that have been preset by the user or received at that time is issued to the voice chat server 3. Upon receiving this connection request, the user status management unit 31 of the voice chat server 3 refers to the user management table 33, and there is an entry in which the combination of the address, screen name, and password included in the connection request is registered. , The status of the entry is set during connection, and the WAN address of the connection request issuing source is registered in the entry. Then, the connection request acceptance is returned to the fixed voice chat client 41 or the voice chat client 114 of the connection request issue source. The fixed voice chat client 41 or the voice chat client 114 that has received this response manages its own state as being connected to the server.

  In addition, the fixed voice chat client 41 of the voice chat terminal 4 and the voice chat client 114 of the navigation device 11 are stopped via the communication device 42 or the wireless communication device 12 when the operation is stopped or when the server disconnection operation is received from the user. Then, the voice chat server 3 is disconnected by issuing a disconnection request including its own address, screen name, and password to the voice chat server 3, and its own state is managed as being disconnected. Upon receiving this disconnection request, the user status management unit 31 of the voice chat server 3 is disconnecting the status of the entry in the user management table 33 in which the combination of the address, screen name, and password included in the connection request is being disconnected. Set.

  In addition, the user status management unit 31 periodically makes a connection maintenance inquiry to the fixed voice chat client 41 or the voice chat client 114 of the WAN address registered in the entry of the user whose status is set to disconnected. For the user of the fixed voice chat client 41 or voice chat client 114 for which the connection maintenance request has not been answered, the status of the corresponding entry in the user management table 33 is set to disconnected. On the other hand, if the fixed voice chat client 41 or the voice chat client 114 connected to the server receives a connection maintenance inquiry from the user status management unit 31, it responds with a connection maintenance request. However, this is because the fixed voice chat client 41 or the voice chat client 114 that is connected to the server periodically issues a connection maintenance request, and the user status management unit 31 has not received the connection maintenance request for a certain period of time. For the user of the voice chat client 41 or the voice chat client 114, the status of the corresponding entry in the user management table 33 may be set to disconnected.

  In addition, the user status management unit 31 designates one or a plurality of other users to be inquired by the screen name and address from the fixed voice chat client 41 or the voice chat client 114 or by other conditions. In response to the status inquiry, processing for notifying the server connection status of each specified other user is performed. That is, the user status management unit 31 responds to each user who is the subject of the inquiry that the status of the entry in the user management table 33 of the user is connected, and is disconnected if not. Notify that.

  Next, the connection service unit 32 of the voice chat server 3 makes a call using the screen name and address from the fixed voice chat client 41 or the voice chat client 114 of the user whose status is set in the entry of the user management table 33. When a voice chat start request specifying the other user is received, it is checked whether the status of the other user is connected with reference to the user management table 33, and if it is connected, the voice chat start request issue source is fixed. A voice chat connection is set between the voice chat client 41 or the voice chat client 114 and the fixed voice chat client 41 or the voice chat client 114 of the other party user. In this connection setting method, the connection service unit 32 sets a connection between itself and two fixed voice chat clients 41 or voice chat clients 114 that perform voice chat, and the connection is received by one connection. The voice data is relayed to the other connection, and the connection service unit 32 sends the voice chat start request issuing source fixed voice chat client 41 or voice chat client 114 to the other party's fixed voice chat client 41 or voice chat. The WAN address of the client 114 is notified, and in the fixed voice chat client 41 or the voice chat client 114 that has received the notification of the WAN address, the notified WAN address is notified. Using a scan, it sets the direct connection between the fixed voice chat client 41 or voice chat client 114 of the other party, may take the form of transmitting and receiving voice data by using the connection set.

  Now, in the voice chat client 114 in which the connection for voice chat is set in this way, the voice input from the microphone 20 via the user interface control unit 118 is captured, encoded into voice data of a predetermined format, and set. The voice data received from the set connection is decoded and output to the speaker 19 via the user interface control unit 118. Similarly, in the fixed voice chat client 41 to which the connection for voice chat is set, the voice input from the microphone 43 provided in the voice chat terminal 4 is taken and encoded into voice data of a predetermined format and set. The voice data received from the set connection is decoded and output to the fixed speaker 44 provided in the voice chat terminal 4.

And in such a structure, the main control part 117 of the navigation apparatus 11 of the vehicle-mounted system 1 also performs the process which assists selection of the other party of a voice chat of a user.
In the following, a process for supporting selection of the other party of the voice chat will be described.
First, the buddy list, schedule data, facility list, and address conversion table stored in the external storage device 15 or the memory 116 in the present embodiment will be described.
The buddy list is a phone book in the voice chat system, and the user can register an acquaintance who is a user of the contact system as a buddy. As shown in FIG. 4b, in the buddy list, buddies can be classified and registered in categories such as family and workplace. The entry provided for each buddy includes a buddy name that is arbitrarily given by the user to other buddies, a buddy icon indicating the type of icon selected by the user as an icon representing the buddy, and the address of the buddy. User information indicating the screen name of the voice chat server 3, buddy address, buddy phone number, and the like can be registered. Here, the address of the buddy registered in the user information is the same as the address of the other user who is the buddy registered in the user management table 33 of the voice chat server 3.

  Next, the schedule data is a user's electronic schedule book, and an entry for each schedule is provided as shown in FIG. Each entry has a schedule date and time describing the start time and end time of the schedule, a visit destination describing the name of the visit if the schedule is a visit to any, and a schedule visit to either In this case, a visit address describing the visit address, a schedule title describing an outline of the schedule, a memo of the schedule, and the like are included.

  In the facility list, as shown in FIG. 4d, various facilities can be registered by being classified into categories such as restaurants and hotels. The entry provided for each facility includes the name of the facility, the facility icon indicating the type of icon representing the facility, the facility user information indicating the facility reception address and the screen name of the voice chat server 3, and the facility address. You can register the phone number of the facility. Here, the address registered in the facility user information is the same as the address registered in the user management table 33 of the voice chat server 3.

Finally, the address conversion table is a conversion table that indicates correspondence between addresses and coordinates on the map.
Next, communication processing performed by the main control unit 117 of the navigation device 11 will be described.
FIG. 5 shows the procedure of the contact process.
As shown in the figure, during the route guidance by the recommended route described above (step 502), a related destination contact request is input by a predetermined operation of the input device 16 or a predetermined voice input from the microphone 20 from the user. Wait (step 504).
Then, if a related contact request is input from the user during route guidance, first, the currently set destination is acquired (step 506), and the address corresponding to the acquired destination is registered in the buddy list. The buddy corresponding to the extracted entry is set as the related buddy (step 508). The address corresponding to the destination is obtained by referring to the address conversion table described above.

  Then, the voice chat client 114 is controlled to notify the server connection status between the emergency contact buddy, which is a specific buddy (for example, a family member or secretary) previously determined as an emergency contact, and each related buddy. The voice chat server 3 is inquired by issuing a connection state inquiry including the screen name and address registered in the buddy list of the previous buddy and each related buddy via the wireless communication device 12 (step 510).

As described above, the user status management unit 31 of the voice chat server 3 is connected to or disconnected from the voice chat server 3 of the user of the voice chat server 3 that is each designated buddy in response to this connection status inquiry. Reply status.
If this response is received via the voice chat client 114, the main control unit 117 connects an icon representing the buddy to each buddy of the emergency contact buddy and each related buddy, and connects the buddy to the voice chat server 3 of the buddy. The information is displayed on the display device 17 through the user interface control unit 118 in a form corresponding to the status of cutting or cutting (step 512). Here, the icon representing each buddy is an icon of the type indicated by the buddy icon of the buddy list entry of the buddy.

  FIG. 3c shows an example of presentation of such an emergency contact buddy and each related buddy. In this example, the user's workplace is registered as the destination, and the navigation apparatus 11 provides route guidance guidance using the recommended route to the workplace. Buddy A, who is a boss, and Buddy B, who is a colleague, are registered in the buddy list as buddies whose work address is the destination, and buddy C, the user's wife, is set as the emergency contact. It shall be.

  In this case, if the statuses of all buddies A, B, and C are connected to the voice chat server 3, as shown in the figure, the buddy A icon 331 and the buddy B icon are displayed in the information display area 320. 332 and a buddy C icon 333 are displayed. Also, if the status of Buddy B and Buddy C is disconnected from Voice Chat Server 3, as shown in FIG. 3d, Buddy B and Buddy B being disconnected are displayed rather than Buddy A icon 331 being connected. C icons 332 and 333 are displayed in a weak tone. However, the icon of the buddy that is being disconnected may not be displayed.

  Next, the main control unit 117 generates a cancel instruction by a predetermined operation of the input device 16 from the user or a predetermined voice input from the microphone 20 (step 514), and an operation of selecting an icon of a buddy whose status is connected. (Step 516) is monitored. Here, the icon selection operation is accepted by the user interface control unit 118 by a position input within the icon display range of the user's touch panel 18 and notified to the main control unit 117.

If a cancel instruction is generated (step 514), the displayed buddy icon is deleted, and the display on the display device 17 is returned to the original display of FIG. 3b before the icon display (step 524). Return to processing.
On the other hand, when the selection operation of the connected buddy icon occurs (step 516), the screen name and address are acquired from the entry of the selected buddy in the buddy list, and are acquired by controlling the voice chat client 114. A voice chat start request is issued to the connection service unit 32 of the voice chat server 3 and the connection service provided by the connection service unit 32 is received. Thus, a voice chat connection is established with the selected user (step 518).

  Thereafter, the voice chat client 114 takes in the voice input from the microphone 20 via the user interface control unit 118, encodes it into voice data of a predetermined format, transmits it to the established connection, and receives it from the set connection. The voice chat processing is performed to decode the voice data and output it to the speaker 19 via the user interface control unit 118 (step 520), thereby enabling voice chat between the user and the other party.

  Thereafter, if the user instructs the end of the voice chat (step 522), the voice chat connection is disconnected, the displayed buddy icon is deleted, and the display on the display device 17 is displayed as shown in FIG. Is returned to the original display (step 524), and the process returns to step 502.

The contact process has been described above.
Note that the emergency contact buddy that is unconditionally displayed as an icon display target in the above contact processing may not be set. That is, only the related buddy may be displayed with its icon and accepting selection as a call partner.
If only one related buddy whose status is connected is extracted in step 508, the process may proceed to step 518 as it is to start a voice chat with the related buddy unconditionally.
Well, generally speaking, when heading to a destination, there are many opportunities to contact people at that destination. According to this contact process, the buddy associated with the destination point is automatically selected and presented as a contact candidate, and the user contacts the person at the destination. When there is an intention, it is possible to easily communicate with the intention.

Next, the late contact process performed by the main control unit 117 of the navigation device 11 will be described.
FIG. 6 shows a procedure for late contact processing.
As shown in the figure, in the late contact processing, first, it is checked whether or not route guidance based on the currently recommended route is currently being conducted (step 602).
On the other hand, if the route is currently being guided, first, the above-described schedule data and destination are acquired (steps 604 and 606).
In the schedule data, an address corresponding to the acquired destination is registered in the visited address, and the scheduled start time indicated by the scheduled date and time of the entry is within a predetermined time after the current time (for example, from the present time It is checked whether or not an entry (within 1 hour and a half) exists (step 608), and if it does not exist, the process returns to step 602. The address corresponding to the destination is obtained by referring to the address conversion table described above.

  On the other hand, when the address corresponding to the acquired destination is registered in the visited address and there is an entry in the schedule data where the scheduled start time is registered with the scheduled date and time within a predetermined time after the current time (step 608), the estimated arrival time of the destination is acquired, and it is checked whether or not the existing entry includes an entry whose scheduled start time indicated by the scheduled date and time of the entry is earlier than the estimated arrival time of the destination (step 610). If the entry whose scheduled start time is earlier than the expected arrival time is not included, the process returns to step 602.

On the other hand, when an entry whose scheduled start time is earlier than the estimated arrival time at the destination is included, an entry whose address corresponding to the destination is registered in the buddy list is extracted, and the buddy corresponding to the extracted entry is extracted. Are related buddies (step 612).
Then, the server connection status of each related buddy is acquired by issuing a connection status inquiry including the screen name and address registered in the buddy list of each related buddy to the voice chat server 3 via the wireless communication device 12. (Step 614).
Then, for each related buddy, an icon representing the buddy is displayed on the display device 17 via the user interface control unit 118 in a form corresponding to the status of the buddy connected to the voice chat server 3 and being disconnected (step 1). 616). Here, the icon representing each buddy is an icon of the type indicated by the buddy icon of the buddy list entry of the buddy. In addition, an address corresponding to the destination is set as the destination address in the schedule data, and the scheduled start time indicated by the scheduled date and time is within a predetermined period after the current time and is scheduled before the expected arrival time at the destination. A message that a late arrival is expected is displayed together with the title and the difference between the scheduled start time and the predicted destination arrival time.

  FIG. 7a shows a presentation example of each related buddy and a late message. In this example, the user's workplace is registered as the destination, and the navigation apparatus 11 provides route guidance guidance using the recommended route to the workplace, and the schedule “monthly meeting” registered as schedule data. The estimated time of arrival at the work is 15 minutes later than the start time of. In addition, a case where a buddy A who is a superior and a buddy B who is a colleague are registered in a buddy list as a buddy whose address is a workplace as a destination.

  In this case, if the statuses of all buddies A and B are connected to the voice chat server 3, the buddy A icon 331 and the buddy B icon 332 are displayed in the information display area 320 as shown in the figure. Are displayed together with a late message 701 indicating that a late arrival is expected. If the status of the buddy B is disconnected from the voice chat server 3, the buddy B icon 332 being disconnected is displayed in a weaker tone than the buddy A icon 331 being connected. Become. However, the icon of the buddy that is being disconnected may not be displayed.

  Next, the main control unit 117 generates a cancel instruction by a predetermined operation of the input device 16 from the user or a predetermined voice input from the microphone 20 (step 618), and an operation of selecting an icon of a buddy whose status is connected. Is monitored (step 620). Here, the icon selection operation is accepted by the user interface control unit 118 by a position input within the icon display range of the user's touch panel 18 and notified to the main control unit 117.

If a cancel instruction is generated (step 618), the displayed buddy icon is deleted, the display of the display device 17 is returned to the original display of FIG. 3b before the icon display (step 628), and the process proceeds to step 630. .
On the other hand, when the selection operation of the connected buddy icon occurs (step 620), the screen name and address are acquired from the entry of the selected buddy in the buddy list, and are acquired by controlling the voice chat client 114. A voice chat start request is issued to the connection service unit 32 of the voice chat server 3 and the connection service provided by the connection service unit 32 is received. Thus, a voice chat connection is established with the selected user (step 622).

  Thereafter, the voice chat client 114 takes in the voice input from the microphone 20 via the user interface control unit 118, encodes it into voice data of a predetermined format, transmits it to the established connection, and receives it from the set connection. The voice chat processing is performed to decode the voice data and output it to the speaker 19 via the user interface control unit 118 (step 624), thereby enabling voice chat between the user and the other party.

  Thereafter, if the user instructs the end of the voice chat (step 626), the voice chat connection is disconnected, the displayed buddy icon is deleted, and the display on the display device 17 is displayed before the icon is displayed. (Step 628), the process proceeds to step 630.

  In step 630 and step 632, it is monitored that the destination arrival time has changed in the delay direction for 20 minutes or more after obtaining the destination arrival predicted time in step 610, and the end of route guidance is completed. If this is the case (step 632), the process returns to the first step 602 and the above processing is performed. If the destination arrival time has changed in the delay direction for more than 20 minutes after obtaining the destination arrival prediction time in step 610, (Step 630), the processing from Step 606 is performed again.

This completes the description of the late contact process.
Thus, according to this late contact processing, when the user is predicted to be late at the destination, the user is prompted to contact the contact person at the destination, and the user Can be easily contacted with the contact.
By the way, in the above contact processing and late contact processing, a buddy icon is displayed in the information display area 320 provided separately from the guide image 310, and the selection of the buddy of the other party of the voice chat is accepted according to the operation of this icon. However, the buddy icon may be displayed in the vicinity of the destination on the guide image 310, and the selection of the buddy of the voice chat partner may be accepted in accordance with the operation of this icon.

  That is, for example, in step 512 of the contact process and step 616 of the late contact process, as shown in FIG. 7B, the geographical range corresponding to the map image 311 displayed as the guide image 310 includes both the current position and the destination. A window 710 having a form of a balloon from the destination is set on the guide image 310, and icons 331 and 332 of the respective buddies are displayed in the window 710 according to the operation of the displayed icon. You may accept the selection of the buddy of the voice chat partner. In this case, in step 524 of the contact processing and step 628 of the late contact processing, the window 710 and the icon are deleted, and the geographical range corresponding to the map image 311 displayed as the guide image 310 is displayed in the contact processing. In step 512 or the late contact processing step 616, processing for returning the geographical range to the original range before changing is performed.

Alternatively, the buddy icon display and the selection of the icon in the above contact processing and late contact processing may be performed as follows.
That is, among the icons displayed in the information display area 320 in the above contact processing and late contact processing, the icons of the buddies whose status is connected are displayed one by one on the display device 17 in order for a certain period, and In conjunction with the display, the buddy name of the icon is output from the speaker 19 by voice. Then, the icon displayed when the user performs a predetermined selection operation is set as the selected icon, and the buddy of the icon is set as the buddy of the voice chat call partner. Alternatively, without displaying icons, the buddy names of the buddies whose statuses are currently connected among the buddies whose icons are displayed in the information display area 320 in the above-described contact processing or late contact processing are sequentially voiced one by one. The buddy of the buddy name output from the speaker 19 and outputting the voice during the period corresponding to the timing when the user performs a predetermined selection operation may be used as the buddy of the voice chat partner.

In the embodiment described above, the main control unit 117 may further perform a route alongside buddy communication process described below.
In other words, in this route buddy contact process, if a route along buddy contact request is input from the user during route guidance, the shortest distance to any point on the currently recommended route is within a predetermined distance. The buddy whose address corresponding to is registered in the buddy list is extracted as a related buddy.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 7c, the geographical range corresponding to the map image 311 displayed as the guide image 310 is set to a range including all of the recommended routes from the current position to the destination, and the guide image 310 is also included. Above, a window 720 having a form of a balloon from a point corresponding to the address of each extracted related buddy is set, and an icon 721 of the related buddy whose address is the point corresponding to the window is displayed in each window 720. Depending on the operation of the displayed icon 721, the selection of the buddy of the voice chat partner may be accepted.

  Now, when traveling to the destination according to the recommended route, there is a case where it is considered to stop by the knowledge house living near the recommended route. And, according to the buddy contact process along the route, buddy associated with a point near the recommended route is automatically selected as a contact candidate, so I would like to contact such acquaintances near the recommended route. When it is intended, it will be possible to easily make contact with such intention. In addition, since an icon representing a buddy that is an acquaintance is displayed at a position corresponding to the position of each acquaintance's house on the guide image 310, the relationship between each acquaintance's house and the recommended route is taken into account. You will be able to select acquaintances to visit or visit.

In the embodiment described above, the main control unit 117 may further perform a route along facility contact process described below.
That is, in this route along facility contact processing, if a route along facility contact request specifying a facility category is input from the user during route guidance, the shortest distance to any point on the currently set recommended route As a facility address, an address corresponding to a point within a predetermined distance is extracted as a related facility.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 7d, the geographical range corresponding to the map image 311 displayed as the guide image 310 is set to a range including all of the recommended routes from the current position to the destination, and the guide image 310 is also included. A window 730 having a form of a balloon from a point corresponding to the facility address of each extracted Seki facility is set above, and an icon of the related facility having the point corresponding to the window as the facility address is set in each window 730. The facility user of the entry of the facility whose icon is selected as the other party of voice chat in response to the operation of the displayed icon 731 is displayed according to the operation of the displayed icon 731. The user of the voice chat server 3 indicated by the information may be selected. That is, in this case, the main control unit 117 controls the voice chat client 114 to start the voice chat in which the calling party user is specified by the screen name and address described as the facility user information in the facility entry whose icon is selected. By issuing a request to the connection service unit 32 of the voice chat server 3 and receiving the connection setting service of the connection service unit 32 described above, a voice chat connection with the selected user is established.

  Now, when traveling along the recommended route toward the destination, there are cases where it is desired to use facilities near the recommended route, such as eating at a restaurant near the recommended route. And according to the above facility contact processing along the route, the facility associated with the point near the recommended route in the facility of the category specified by the user is automatically selected as a contact candidate. When it is intended to contact the facility for reservation of a facility that is a restaurant, it is possible to easily make contact according to such intention. In addition, since an icon representing the facility is displayed at a position corresponding to the position of each facility on the guide image 310, it is possible to select a facility to be used in consideration of the relationship between each facility position and the recommended route. become able to.

  Further, in the above embodiment, each buddy is indicated by an icon, but as shown in FIG. 7e, this displays a buddy name list 740 instead of the icon, and according to the selection of the buddy name in the list, You may make it accept the buddy who makes the other party. Alternatively, depending on the state of the vehicle that is obtained from the traveling state sensor 14 while the vehicle is traveling, the buddy is displayed with the icon as described above while the vehicle is traveling, and the buddy that is the other party is selected according to the selection of the icon. When the vehicle is stopped, as shown in FIG. 7e, a buddy name list 740 is displayed instead of an icon, and a buddy to be called is accepted according to the selection of the buddy name in the list. It may be.

By the way, although the above embodiment demonstrated the case where it communicates using a voice chat, this embodiment is applicable similarly when the case where it communicates by a mobile telephone and other communication means.
That is, for example, when making a contact using a mobile phone, the in-vehicle system 1 is provided with a mobile phone instead of the wireless communication device 12. Then, the main control unit 117 performs a telephone number registered in a buddy list entry of a buddy accepted as a call partner according to a user selection operation for the displayed icon or a user selection operation for the displayed icon. In response, the mobile phone is caused to make a call to the telephone number registered in the facility list of the facility that has been accepted as the call partner. In this case, the operation of the icon display mode according to the status of the buddy being connected or disconnected is not performed.

  The above embodiment is a so-called communication-type navigation apparatus that receives services such as provision of map data and setting of recommended routes from a predetermined server via wireless communication as needed without regularly providing map data. The same applies to the same.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the contact system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the vehicle-mounted system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the various data used by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the vehicle-mounted system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the contact processing of the vehicle-mounted system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the late contact process of the vehicle-mounted system which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the vehicle-mounted system which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... In-vehicle system, 2 ... WAN, 3 ... Voice chat server, 4 ... Voice chat terminal, 11 ... Navigation apparatus, 12 ... Wireless communication apparatus, 13 ... GPS receiver, 14 ... Running condition sensor, 15 ... External storage device, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 16 ... Input device, 17 ... Display apparatus, 18 ... Touch panel, 19 ... Speaker, 20 ... Microphone, 31 ... User status management part, 32 ... Connection service part, 33 ... User management table, 41 ... Fixed voice chat client, 42 ... Communication device 43 ... Microphone 44 ... Speaker 111 ... Current state calculation unit 112 ... Route search unit 113 ... Navigation image generation unit 114 ... Voice chat client 115 ... Voice recognition unit 116 ... Memory 117 ... Main control unit 118... User interface control unit.

Claims (14)

A navigation system that sets a recommended route that is a route to a destination and performs route guidance according to the set recommended route,
A wireless communication device;
For each of a plurality of contacts, address book information describing a point associated with the contact and communication destination specifying information which is contact identification information on a communication network connectable via communication by the wireless communication device Storage means for storing
In response to a user request during a period of performing route guidance according to the recommended route, the address book information is associated with a point corresponding to the destination of the recommended route performing the route guidance. Contact candidate selection means for selecting a contact as a contact candidate,
For the contact candidate selected by the contact candidate selecting means, a communication path is established between the contact candidate through communication by the wireless communication device, using the communication destination specifying information described in the address book information. navigation system, comprising a communication path establishment means for. A navigation system that sets a recommended route that is a route to a destination and performs route guidance according to the set recommended route,
A wireless communication device;
For each of a plurality of contacts, address book information describing a point associated with the contact and communication destination specifying information which is contact identification information on a communication network connectable via communication by the wireless communication device Storage means for storing schedule data in which a user's schedule is described;
An estimated arrival time calculating means for calculating an estimated arrival time of the destination;
The schedule at the destination is described in the schedule data during the period of route guidance according to the recommended route, and the delay to the schedule at the destination is estimated from the estimated arrival time. A contact candidate selection means for selecting, as a contact candidate, a contact address associated with a point corresponding to a destination of the recommended route performing the route guidance in the address book information;
For the contact candidate selected by the contact candidate selecting means, a communication path is established between the contact candidate through communication by the wireless communication device, using the communication destination specifying information described in the address book information. navigation system, comprising a communication path establishment means for. The navigation system according to claim 1 or 2,
A contact candidate presenting means for presenting a list of contact candidates selected by the contact candidate selecting means to the user and accepting a contact candidate selected by the user from the list of presented contact candidates as a contact execution destination;
The communication path establishment means uses the communication destination specifying information described in the address book information for the contact execution destination accepted by the contact candidate presentation means, and the contact execution destination via communication by the wireless communication device A navigation system characterized by opening a communication channel between A navigation system that sets a recommended route that is a route to a destination and performs route guidance according to the set recommended route,
A wireless communication device;
For each of a plurality of contacts, address book information describing a point associated with the contact and communication destination specifying information which is contact identification information on a communication network connectable via communication by the wireless communication device Storage means for storing
A contact candidate that selects a contact associated with a point near the recommended route in the address book information as a contact candidate in response to a user's request during a period of route guidance according to the recommended route. Selection means,
A contact candidate presenting means for presenting a list of contact candidates selected by the contact candidate selecting means to the user and accepting a contact candidate selected by the user from the list of presented contact candidates as a contact execution destination;
Using the communication destination specifying information described in the address book information for the contact execution destination accepted by the contact candidate presenting means, a communication path with the contact execution destination via communication by the wireless communication device is established. A navigation system comprising: a communication path establishment means to be established. The navigation system according to claim 3 or 4,
In the storage means, icon specifying information for specifying an icon assigned to each contact registered in the address book information is recorded,
The contact candidate presenting means displays a list of icons assigned to the contact candidate in the icon specifying information as the contact candidate list, and executes the contact candidate corresponding to the icon selected by the user. A navigation system characterized by receiving as a destination. The navigation system according to claim 1, 2, or 4,
The wireless communication device is a mobile telephone terminal;
The navigation system characterized in that the communication destination specifying information is a telephone number of the contact. The navigation system according to claim 3 or 4,
The communication path established by the communication path establishment means is a communication path for voice chat using a voice chat server,
The contact candidate presenting means accesses the voice chat server via the wireless communication device, investigates whether each contact candidate is connected to the voice chat server, and in the list of contact candidates, A navigation system, characterized in that candidates are presented in a different form depending on whether or not the voice chat server is connected. The navigation system according to claim 3 or 4,
The communication path established by the communication path establishment means is a communication path for voice chat using a voice chat server,
The contact candidate presenting means accesses the voice chat server via the wireless communication device, investigates whether or not each contact candidate is connected to the voice chat server, and in the list of contact candidates, the contact candidate A navigation system that presents only contact candidates connected to the voice chat server. The navigation system according to claim 5, wherein
On the map, there is a guide image display means for displaying a guide image representing the current position, the destination, and the recommended route,
The navigation system according to claim 1, wherein the contact candidate presenting means displays the icon at a position on the guide image corresponding to a point where a contact candidate corresponding to the icon is associated in the address book information. The navigation system according to claim 9, wherein
The contact candidate presenting means displays the icon after changing the scale of the map represented by the guide image to a scale that fits the recommended route from the current position to the destination in the guide image. A navigation system characterized by that. A contact support method for supporting contact with the outside of a user in a navigation system to which a wireless communication device is connected, which sets a recommended route that is a route to a destination and performs route guidance according to the set recommended route. Because
In response to a user request during a period of route guidance according to the recommended route, each of a plurality of contacts is connected to a point associated with the contact via communication by the wireless communication device In address book information describing communication destination specifying information which is identification information of a contact on a possible communication network, a contact address associated with a point corresponding to a destination of the recommended route performing the route guidance is displayed. Selecting a contact candidate;
For the selected contact candidate, using the communication destination specifying information described in the address book information, opening a communication path with the contact candidate through communication by the wireless communication device A contact support method characterized by A contact support method for supporting contact with the outside of a user in a navigation system to which a wireless communication device is connected, which sets a recommended route that is a route to a destination and performs route guidance according to the set recommended route. Because
In response to a user request during a period of route guidance according to the recommended route, each of a plurality of contacts is connected to a point associated with the contact via communication by the wireless communication device In address book information describing communication destination specifying information which is identification information of a contact on a possible communication network, a contact address associated with a point corresponding to a destination of the recommended route performing the route guidance is displayed. Selecting a contact candidate;
Presenting a list of selected contact candidates to the user, and accepting a contact candidate selected by the user from the presented list of contact candidates as a contact execution destination;
Using the communication destination specifying information described in the address book information for the received contact execution destination, and establishing a communication path with the contact execution destination via communication by the wireless communication device. A contact support method characterized by that. A computer program that is read and executed by a computer,
The computer program is stored in the computer.
Setting a recommended route that is a route to the destination and performing route guidance according to the set recommended route;
A communication network that can connect via wireless communication to a point associated with a contact for each of a plurality of contacts in response to a user request during a period of route guidance according to the recommended route. In the address book information describing the communication destination specifying information that is the contact identification information above, the contact associated with the point corresponding to the destination of the recommended route performing the route guidance is selected as a contact candidate. And steps to
A step of opening a communication path between the selected contact candidate and the contact candidate by wireless communication using the communication destination specifying information described in the address book information. program. A computer program that is read and executed by a computer,
The computer program is stored in the computer.
Setting a recommended route that is a route to the destination and performing route guidance according to the set recommended route;
A communication network that can connect via wireless communication to a point associated with a contact for each of a plurality of contacts in response to a user request during a period of route guidance according to the recommended route. In the address book information describing the communication destination specifying information that is the contact identification information above, the contact associated with the point corresponding to the destination of the recommended route performing the route guidance is selected as a contact candidate. And steps to
Presenting a list of selected contact candidates to the user, and accepting a contact candidate selected by the user from the presented list of contact candidates as a contact execution destination;
Using the communication destination specifying information described in the address book information for the received contact execution destination, and executing a step of establishing a communication path with the contact execution destination by wireless communication. Computer program.

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