JP4780226B2 - Navigation device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a navigation device capable of always providing rich information to a user without the information becoming vapid. <P>SOLUTION: The navigation device includes: an information acquisition means 11 for acquiring information; an information conversion means 13 for converting acquired information into display information; a rectangular region determination means 17 for determining contents of display information in a plurality of rectangular regions in the display region; an information adding means 18 for adding information suitable for the determined rectangular region; and an output means 19 for outputting information including the additional information. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention belongs to the field of information display devices that display information, and particularly relates to an information display device that displays map information in a navigation system mounted on a moving body.

  As an example of a conventional information display device, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-99666 includes a region where the hue and brightness of an image displayed on the display device do not change by a predetermined value or a region where there is no image having a predetermined spatial frequency or higher. An in-vehicle navigation device is disclosed, which extracts and displays new information superimposed or replaced with original information in the extracted region when the size of the extracted region is equal to or larger than a predetermined value. .

  According to this, a display area with a very low amount of information is extracted from the map information displayed on the screen of the display device, and when the area is a somewhat large area, by displaying new information in the area, The amount of information to be displayed can be increased, and a vehicle-mounted navigation device in which the user is less likely to have a feeling of jealousy can be provided.

JP 2001-99666 A

  However, in such a conventional information display device, because the amount of change in the hue and luminance of the display image and the area where the spatial frequency is a predetermined value or less are defined as a display area where the amount of information is extremely low, it is extracted. For example, if a vehicle equipped with this device travels along a coastline where the curve continues, a mountainous area, or a large park, there are frequent areas where the amount of change in hue and brightness near the coastline and green boundary on the map display screen is less than a specified value. Therefore, there is a problem that it is not possible to efficiently extract an area where new additional information is to be displayed.

  Furthermore, for example, when the river and the sea are displayed in the same blue color on the map display screen, a method for selecting new information based on the hue is, for example, a tanker in the sea and a canoe in the river. There is a problem that it is not possible to select different additional information depending on the situation.

  Furthermore, in the method of extracting a region based on the hue / luminance change amount or spatial frequency of the display image, it is difficult to accurately determine the size of the display region having the same display attribute and low information amount. There is a problem that it is not possible to select new additional information according to the size.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-described problems, and provides an information display device that can always provide abundant information to a user without the information becoming tasteless and dry. The purpose is that.

In the navigation device according to the present invention, map information acquisition means for acquiring map information, map information read from the map information acquisition means is converted into display information, and the display information is edited to fit the display screen, The display area of the edited display information is divided into a plurality of rectangular areas, and rectangular area determination means for determining the attributes of the polygons included in the map information for each rectangular area, and the polygons included in the determined rectangular areas On the basis of the attribute, voice information adding means for adding additional voice information and a voice output device for outputting the additional voice information from the voice information adding means are provided.

  Since the present invention is configured as described above, there are the following effects.

  According to the information display device of the present invention, information acquisition means for acquiring information, information conversion means for converting the acquired information into display information, and contents of display information in a plurality of rectangular areas in the display area of the display information A rectangular area determining means for determining the information, an information adding means for adding additional information suitable for the determined rectangular area, and an output means for outputting information including the additional information. There is an effect that an information display device that can always provide rich information to the user can be obtained.

  In addition, according to the information display device of the present invention, since the information is map information, the map information does not become tasteless and can always provide rich map information to the user. There is an effect that can be done.

  Further, according to the information display device according to the present invention, the rectangular area determination means divides the display area of the display information into a plurality of rectangular areas and determines the type of display information of each rectangular area; Since the rectangular range determining means for determining the range of the rectangular area of the same type and the rectangular integrating means for integrating the rectangular areas of the same type are provided, it is possible to easily determine the content of the rectangular area information and its range. There is an effect that can be done.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, the information adding means adds display information or audio information as additional information, so that it is possible to provide richer information to the user. is there.

  Also, according to the information display device of the present invention, the information adding means is provided with the additional information selecting means for selecting additional information, so that it is possible to output optimum additional information.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, the additional information selection means selects the additional information based on the range of the rectangular area, so that it is possible to output additional information suitable for the range of the rectangular area. There is an effect that can be done.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, the additional information selection means selects the additional information based on the presence / absence of the display information of the rectangular area, so that the additional information suitable for the content of the display information of the rectangular area There is an effect that information can be output.

  According to the information display device of the present invention, since the additional information selection means selects the additional information based on the display mode of the display information, the additional information suitable for the display mode can be output. There is an effect.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, the additional information selecting means selects the additional information based on the polygon attribute included in the display information of the rectangular area, so that the additional information suitable for the polygon attribute is selected. There is an effect that information can be output.

  According to the information display device of the present invention, since the polygon attribute is one of the water system, the green space system, and the facility system in the map information, additional information suitable for the polygon attribute in the map information is output. There is an effect that can be done.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, the additional information selection means, when the attribute of the polygon is a water system, is the display information related to ships, fish, etc., or the whistle sound of the ships, the sound of the river noise, the sea Since the sound information such as the waving sound of the lake is selected as the additional information, there is an effect that the additional information suitable for the water system polygon in the map information can be output.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, the additional information selection means, when the polygon attribute is a green space system, the display information on trees, birds, insects, fountains, etc., or wind noise of trees -Since voice information such as the sound of birds and insects and fountain sounds is selected as additional information, it is possible to output additional information suitable for green space-based polygons in map information.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, the additional information selection means selects the display information related to the facility or the audio information related to the facility as the additional information when the attribute of the polygon is the facility system. Therefore, there is an effect that additional information suitable for the facility system polygon in the map information can be output.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, the additional information selection means selects the additional information that adds a visual height difference in the vicinity of the polygon outline based on the attribute of the polygon. There is an effect that the visibility of polygons in map information can be improved.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, the additional information selection means selects the additional information that visually appears lower than the surroundings in the vicinity of the polygon outline when the attribute of the polygon is aqueous. There is an effect that the visibility of the water-based polygon in the map information can be improved.

  According to the information display device of the present invention, the additional information selection means selects additional information that visually appears higher than the periphery in the vicinity of the polygon outline when the attribute of the polygon is green. Therefore, there is an effect that the visibility of the green space-based polygon in the map information can be improved.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, the additional information selection means is any one or any of the information regarding the current season, date, time, weather, area, and usage duration obtained from the information acquisition means. Since the additional information is selected based on the combination, it is possible to output additional information suitable for the current season, date, time, weather, region, and use duration.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, since the additional information selection means selects the background information of the display information, there is an effect that rich background information can be provided to the user.

  According to the information display device of the present invention, since the background information is background information in the map information displayed in the bird's eye view, it is possible to provide rich background information in the map information displayed in the bird's eye view. effective.

  Further, according to the information display device according to the present invention, the additional information selection means selects the display information representing either the cityscape or the mountain range as the background information based on the presence or absence of the display information of the rectangular area. Therefore, there is an effect that richer background information can be provided in the map information displayed in the bird's eye view.

  In addition, according to the information display device of the present invention, since the additional information output switching means for switching the presence / absence of the output of additional information is provided, there is an effect that the presence / absence of the output of additional information can be switched according to the user's preference. is there.

  In addition, according to the information display device of the present invention, since the additional information specifying means for specifying the additional information is provided, there is an effect that the additional information can be specified according to the user's preference.

  Further, according to the information display device of the present invention, since the additional information input means for inputting the additional information from the outside is provided, there is an effect that the additional information can be input from the outside according to the user's preference. .

  In addition, according to the information display device of the present invention, since the additional information storage means for storing the additional information input from the outside is provided, the additional information input from the outside can be reused. There is.

  In addition, according to the information display device of the present invention, since the information display device is mounted on a mobile body and applied to display of map information in the navigation system, the map information in the navigation system does not become dry. There is an effect that rich map information can be always provided to a user who has boarded a mobile object.

It is a block diagram which shows the function structure of the information display apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the apparatus structure of the information display apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows schematic operation | movement of the information display apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed operation | movement of the rectangle classification determination means 14 of the information display apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows detailed operation | movement of the rectangular range determination means 15 of the information display apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed operation | movement of the rectangle integration means 16 of the information display apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the detailed operation | movement of the information addition means 18 and the output means 19 of the information display apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the operation | movement on the display screen of the information display apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of a display screen of the information display apparatus in Embodiment 1 of this invention.

Embodiment 1 FIG.
1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an information display apparatus according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Here, an example in the case of using for a navigation system mounted on a vehicle as a moving body is shown.

  11 is information acquisition means for acquiring information such as map information from a storage medium or from the outside, 12 is position detection means for detecting the current position of the vehicle, and 13 is information conversion means for converting the acquired information into display information. Reference numeral 14 denotes a rectangular type determination unit that divides the display area of the display information into a plurality of rectangular areas and determines the type of display information of each rectangular area. Reference numeral 15 denotes a rectangular range determination unit that determines the range of rectangular areas of the same type. , 16 are rectangular integration means for integrating rectangular areas of the same type, and these constitute rectangular area determination means 17. Reference numeral 18 denotes information adding means for adding additional information suitable for the determined rectangular area, and 19 denotes output means for outputting information including the additional information.

  The position detecting means 12 uses a GPS (Global Positioning System) that detects the absolute position and moving direction of the vehicle, a gyro as an azimuth sensor, a vehicle speed sensor as a distance sensor, and the like. The map matching process is performed from the map information obtained from the information acquisition means 11 and the approximate position, and the accurate current position of the vehicle is determined.

  When the information conversion means 13 obtains the vehicle position from the position detection means 12, the information conversion means 13 reads out map information around the vehicle corresponding to a certain scale from the information acquisition means 11 and converts it into display information so as to fit the display screen. In addition to editing the display information, the display information is passed to the rectangle type determination means 14. The display information created here is superimposed on the display screen output by the output means 19 together with additional information added later by the information adding means 18.

  The rectangle type determining unit 14 divides the display area of the display information into predetermined rectangular areas, determines the type of display information that overlaps each rectangular area, and the rectangle range determining unit 15 includes all the rectangular areas to which type. Notify

  The rectangular range determination unit 15 determines whether or not there is a large free space in which additional information can be displayed based on the type of display information of each rectangular area, and notifies the rectangle integration unit 16 of the result.

  The rectangle integration unit 16 integrates the rectangular areas for each rectangle type according to the amount of free space, and notifies the information addition unit 18 of the integration result, the center position, the polygon attribute included in the display information, and the like.

  The information addition means 18 includes additional information selection means (not shown) for selecting additional information, and draws the background information of the 3D (Three-Dimensional, three-dimensional) bird's eye view map according to the amount of free space. Depending on the center position, size, polygon attribute, etc. of the integrated rectangular area, predetermined display information is drawn in an empty space, or sound corresponding to the polygon attribute is output.

  The output means 19 includes a display monitor that displays a display screen, a speaker that outputs sound, and the like.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a device configuration of the information display apparatus according to the first embodiment, and illustrates a specific device configuration that implements the functional configuration illustrated in FIG. 1.

  Reference numeral 21 denotes a drive for reading map information from an information storage medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc-Read Only Memory) or a DVD-ROM (Digital Versatile Disk-Read Only Memory), and corresponds to the information acquisition means 11 in FIG. is doing.

  22 is a GPS receiver that is a sensor that detects the absolute position and moving direction, 23 is a gyro that detects the angular velocity when the vehicle is turning, 24 is a vehicle speed pulse signal that detects the travel speed and travel distance of the vehicle, and detects the vehicle speed every predetermined travel distance. These are vehicle speed sensors that correspond to a part of the position detecting means 12 in FIG.

  Information such as map information read from the drive 21, absolute position and moving direction notified from the GPS receiver 22, vehicle speed pulse signal from the vehicle speed sensor 24, angular velocity from the gyro 23, etc. is an I / F (Interface) circuit. 25 is input to a navigation ECU (Electronic Control Unit) 26.

  The navigation ECU 26 determines the position detection means 12, the information conversion means 13, the rectangular type determination means 14, the rectangular range determination means in FIG. 1 based on the map information, the absolute position, the moving direction, the vehicle speed pulse signal, the angular speed, and the like. 15. Information processing for realizing the functions of the rectangle integration unit 16 and the information addition unit 18 is performed. Reference numeral 27 denotes an external memory as storage means for storing the processing program and processing data at this time.

  Reference numeral 28 denotes a display monitor for displaying and outputting display information on the screen, and 29 is a speaker for outputting sound. These correspond to the output means 19 in FIG.

  Next, the operation of the information display apparatus according to Embodiment 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2 and FIGS. 3 to 9 described below.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the information display device, and FIGS. 4 to 7 are flowcharts showing detailed operations of the rectangle type determination unit 14, the rectangle range determination unit 15, the rectangle integration unit 16, and the information addition unit 18, respectively. is there. FIG. 8 is an explanatory view showing the operation on the display screen of the information display device, and FIG. 9 is a view showing an example of the display screen.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a schematic operation of the information display apparatus in the first embodiment.

  In step S31, the rectangle type determination unit 14 divides the display area of the display information into a plurality of rectangular areas, and determines the type of display information of each rectangular area. For example, the display area is divided into a predetermined plurality of rectangular areas such as 12 in the horizontal direction and 8 in the vertical direction in the vertical and horizontal directions, and road lines, place names, and polygons included in the drawn map information, The overlap with each rectangular area is determined, and the type of each rectangular area is determined.

  As the details of the type of rectangular area, a rectangular area overlapping with a road line or a place name is determined as a navigation rectangle, and other than the navigation rectangle, for example, a water system polygon such as sea, river, lake, pond, swamp, mountain stream, park A rectangular area in which only green-based polygons such as mountains, forests, forests, golf courses, gardens, and temples are drawn is determined as a polygon rectangle, and a rectangular area that does not belong to either the navigation rectangle or the polygon rectangle is defined as a mapless rectangle. judge.

  In step S <b> 32, the rectangular range determination unit 15 determines the range of rectangular areas of the same type. For example, if the number of navigation rectangles is greater than or equal to a predetermined number (for example, one) in each of the upper right, lower right, upper left, and lower left areas obtained by dividing the display area into two vertically and horizontally, the amount of map information It is determined that there is a small amount of free space in which additional information can be displayed in the urban area mode where there is a large amount of map information.

  In step S33, the rectangle integration unit 16 integrates rectangular regions of the same type. For example, if it is determined that the suburban mode is selected, the rectangular area is integrated for each rectangle without a map or for each polygon rectangle with the same attribute, and the midpoint of the integrated rectangular area is obtained to identify an area where additional information can be displayed. To do.

  In step S34, the information adding means 18 adds specific display information suitable for the rectangular area to the position of the middle point of the integrated rectangular area, or adds audio information suitable for the type of the rectangular area. Furthermore, for example, if the map is displayed in 3D, display information that expresses the cityscape such as a building street is added in the background in the city mode, and display information that expresses the mountain range in the background is added in the suburban mode. To do. Finally, the output means 19 outputs information including these additional information by display or sound.

  The above is the schematic operation of the information display apparatus in the first embodiment. Next, detailed operations of each of the rectangle type determination unit 14, the rectangular range determination unit 15, and the rectangle integration unit 16 constituting the rectangular area determination unit 17 in FIG. 1 will be described.

  FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a detailed operation of the rectangle type determination means 14 of the information display device in the first embodiment.

  In step S401, the information conversion means 13 obtains line coordinates such as road lines and railway lines, position coordinates such as place names and mark display, polygon position coordinates and attributes, etc. included in the map information for performing map display, The display area is divided into a plurality of predetermined rectangular areas, for example, divided into 12 in the horizontal direction and 8 in the vertical direction, and initialization is performed with each of the rectangular areas as a mapless rectangle.

  In step S402, it is checked whether or not each side of each rectangular area intersects with a line segment having line coordinates such as a road line and a railway line. If so, the process proceeds to step S403, and the type of the rectangular area is determined as a navigation rectangle. The process proceeds to step S408.

  On the other hand, in step S402, if each side of each rectangular area does not intersect with a line segment having line coordinates such as a road line or a railway line, the process proceeds to step S404.

  In step S404, it is checked whether or not there is position data indicating dot coordinates such as a place name or a mark in each rectangular area. If there is, the process proceeds to step S405, the type of the rectangular area is determined to be a navigation rectangle, and the process proceeds to step S408.

  On the other hand, in step S404, if there is no position data indicating dot coordinates such as a place name or a mark in each rectangular area, the process proceeds to step S406.

  In step S406, it is checked whether or not each side of each rectangular area intersects with a line segment having the dot coordinates of the polygon. If they intersect, the polygon attribute is acquired and the process proceeds to step S407, and the type of the rectangular area is set to polygon rectangle. And the process proceeds to step S408.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step S406 that each side of each rectangular area does not intersect with the line segment having the dot coordinates of the polygon, the process proceeds to step S408.

  In step S408, it is checked whether or not the types have been determined for all the rectangular areas. If the types have not been determined for all the rectangular areas, the process proceeds to step S409 and the next rectangular area to be determined is obtained. Returning to S402, the same processing as described above is performed, and if not, the process returns.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the detailed operation of the rectangular range determination unit 15 of the information display apparatus according to the first embodiment, and uses the number of navigation rectangles included in the output result from the rectangle type determination unit 14 shown in FIG. This indicates how to determine whether there is a free space where additional information can be displayed.

  In step S501, the type information of each rectangular area obtained by dividing the display area into predetermined areas is obtained from the rectangle type determining means 14, and the upper right and lower right areas are divided into two arbitrary areas of the display area, for example, the display area vertically and horizontally. Clear the number of navigation rectangles in the upper left and lower left areas to 0, and initialize the display area state as the suburban mode.

  In step S502, if the navigation rectangle to be determined is in the upper right area of the display area, the process proceeds to step S503, +1 is added to the number of navigation rectangles in the upper right area of the display area, and the process proceeds to step S510. If so, the process proceeds to step S504.

  In step S504, if the navigation rectangle to be determined is in the lower right area of the display area, the process proceeds to step S505, and +1 is added to the number of navigation rectangles in the lower right area of the display area, and the process proceeds to step S510. Otherwise, the process proceeds to step S506.

  In step S506, if the navigation rectangle to be determined is in the upper left area of the display area, the process proceeds to step S507, +1 is added to the number of navigation rectangles in the upper left area of the display area, and the process proceeds to step S510. If so, the process proceeds to step S508.

  If the navigation rectangle to be determined is in the lower left area of the display area in step S508, the process proceeds to step S509, and +1 is added to the number of navigation rectangles in the lower left area of the display area, and then the process proceeds to step S510. If so, the process proceeds to step S510.

  In step S510, if the number of navigation rectangles in each of the upper right, lower right, upper left, and lower left areas of the display area is a predetermined number or more, for example, one or more, the process proceeds to step S511, and the state of the display area is changed to the information amount of map information It is determined that there is not enough free space to display additional information because it is an urban area mode with a lot of information, and returns, otherwise, the display area is in a suburban mode with a small amount of map information and additional information can be displayed It is determined that there is a lot of free space and the process proceeds to step S512.

  In step S512, it is checked whether or not the areas have been determined for all the navigation rectangles. If the areas have not been determined for all the navigation rectangles, the process proceeds to step S513, and the navigation rectangle to be determined next is obtained, and then the process proceeds to step S502. Return Perform the same process as above, otherwise return.

  FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the detailed operation of the rectangle integration means 16 of the information display device in the first embodiment, where the display area is in the suburban mode with a small amount of map information, and is free to display additional information. When there is a lot of space, for example, a process of integrating the polygon rectangles having the same polygon attribute included in the display information in the rectangular area and obtaining the center position, size, etc. of the integrated rectangular area is shown. .

  In step S601, based on the result of the rectangular range determination means 15, if the city mode is selected, the process returns. If the suburban mode is selected, the size of the integrated frame of the rectangular area is set to the maximum value.

  Here, the integrated frame of the rectangular area is a rectangular area for which the type of navigation rectangle, polygon rectangle, or non-map rectangle is determined, for example, three types of vertical and horizontal directions, which are doubled, tripled and quadrupled, respectively. Yes, and includes each rectangular area.

  In step S602, it is checked whether the rectangular areas in a certain integrated frame are all polygon rectangles having the same polygon attribute, and all these polygon rectangles are not yet integrated. If YES, the process advances to step S603. If NO, the process proceeds to step S604.

  In step S603, the center position of the integrated frame is obtained as the additional information display position, and the additional information drawing range corresponding to the integrated frame of the rectangular area is determined. Further, in the case of a polygon rectangle, the polygon attribute is extracted and the drawing range of additional information corresponding to the polygon attribute is determined. Further, after all the rectangular areas in the integrated frame have been integrated, the process proceeds to step S605.

  In step S604, it is checked whether the rectangular areas in the integrated frame are all unintegrated rectangles without a map. If YES, the process proceeds to step S603, and the same processing as described above is performed. If NO, the process proceeds to step S605.

  In step S605, it is checked whether all integrated frames have been confirmed. If NO, the process proceeds to step S606, and if YES, the process proceeds to step S607.

  In step S606, after the integrated frame is updated to the next one, the process returns to step S602, and the same processing as described above is performed to determine whether or not the rectangular areas are integrated.

  In step S607, it is checked whether or not the integrated frame is minimum. If not, the size of the integrated frame is reduced by one, the process returns to step S602, and the same processing as described above is performed again to determine whether the rectangular areas are integrated. . On the other hand, if the integrated frame is minimum, the process returns.

  Here, the reason why the integrated frame is changed from a larger one to a smaller one is that a larger integrated frame can display a larger amount of additional information.

  The detailed operation of the rectangular area determination unit 17 of the information display device in the first embodiment has been described above. Next, detailed operations of the information adding unit 18 and the output unit 19 in FIG. 1 will be described.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing detailed operations of the information adding unit 18 and the output unit 19 of the information display apparatus according to the first embodiment. Based on the output result of the rectangle integrating unit 16, display information and audio information to be added are displayed. The process of selecting and outputting is shown.

  First, in step S701, the information adding means 18 checks whether the display area is a display other than 2D (two-dimensional, two-dimensional) planar display such as a city mode and a 3D bird's-eye view. If YES, the process proceeds to step S702. The process advances to step S707 after adding display information expressing the cityscape of a group of buildings to the background of the 3D display map. On the other hand, if NO, the process proceeds to step S703.

  In step S703, it is checked whether it is suburban mode and 3D display. If YES, the process proceeds to step S704, and display information expressing mountain ranges is added to the background of the 3D display map, and the process proceeds to step S705. On the other hand, if NO, the process proceeds to step S706.

  In step S705, from the information for 3D display, in the case of a polygon rectangle, additional information corresponding to the polygon attribute and the position and range of the rectangular area to be drawn is selected. In the case of a rectangle without a map, the position and range of the rectangular area to be drawn are selected. Is selected, and the process proceeds to step S707.

  In step S706, from the information for 2D display, in the case of a polygon rectangle, additional information corresponding to the polygon attribute and the position and range of the rectangular area to be drawn is selected. In the case of a rectangle without a map, the position and range of the rectangular area to be drawn are selected. Is selected, and the process proceeds to step S707.

  In step S707, the output means 19 displays display information in which the selected additional information is drawn at a predetermined position, and sound information corresponding to the attribute of the polygon located closest to the screen center position is generated.

  The above is the detailed operation of the information display apparatus in the first embodiment. Next, operations of the rectangular area determination unit 17, the information addition unit 18, and the output unit 19 on the display screen will be described. FIG. 8 is an explanatory diagram showing an operation on the display screen of the information display device.

  On the display screen, there is a road line that curves around the center of the screen and extends in the vertical direction. As a polygon displayed in the filled area on the right side, the polygon with the river attribute is on the top and the polygon with the sea attribute is on the bottom. There are A river and B coast as their names.

  In addition, an arrow mark as a vehicle mark indicating the vehicle position on the map is displayed at the center of the screen. This vehicle mark is not used for determining the navigation rectangle in the rectangle type determination means 14.

  As described above, the example of FIG. 8 shows the case of a display area that is very small as the amount of map information corresponding to the navigation rectangle, and shows an example of a display screen suitable for displaying additional information. ing.

  First, the rectangle type determination unit 14 divides the display area into a plurality of rectangular areas 801. FIG. 8 shows an example in which the horizontal direction is divided into 12 parts and the vertical direction is divided into 8 parts.

  Next, the rectangle type determination unit 14 determines a navigation rectangle, a polygon rectangle, and a mapless rectangle as the types of these rectangular areas 801. Here, 802 is a polygon rectangle, 803 is a rectangle without a map, and the other rectangular area is a navigation rectangle.

  Next, the rectangular range determination means 15 determines the number of empty spaces that can display additional information based on the number of navigation rectangles in each of the upper right, lower right, upper left, and lower left areas 804 obtained by dividing the vertical and horizontal display areas into two. Determine presence or absence. In the example of FIG. 8, since there is no navigation rectangle in the upper left and lower left areas 804, the display area is in a suburban mode with a small amount of map information, and it is determined that there is an empty space where additional information can be displayed. Become.

  Next, the rectangular integration means 16 has integrated frames 805, 806, and 807 shown in the descending order in FIG. The rectangular regions of the polygon rectangle 802 and the non-map rectangle 803 are integrated to obtain the center positions of the integrated frames 805, 806, and 807 as additional information display positions 808, 809, 810, and 811, and the integrated frame 805 , 806, and 807, the drawing range of additional information is determined.

  Next, the information adding unit 18 selects additional information suitable for the rectangular areas of the polygon rectangle 802 and the mapless rectangle 803 integrated by the integrated frames 805, 806, and 807. That is, in the case of the polygon rectangle 802, additional information corresponding to the polygon attribute and the position and range of the rectangular area to be drawn is selected, and in the case of the non-map rectangle 803, additional information corresponding to the position and range of the rectangular area to be drawn is selected. To do. Since the polygon attribute at the additional information display position 811 of the rectangular area of the polygon rectangle 802 closest to the screen center position is sea, the sea wave sound 812 is selected.

  Finally, the output means 19 displays and outputs the additional information selected by the information adding means 18 at each of the additional information display positions 808, 809, 810, and 811, and outputs the selected sea wave sound 812 as a sound. To do.

  Next, an example of a display screen by the output unit 19 of the information display device in Embodiment 1 will be described. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a display screen example of the information display device according to the first embodiment.

  FIG. 9A is an example of a normal display screen corresponding to the suburban mode, and FIG. 9B is an example of a display screen to which the present invention is applied. In FIG. 9B, 901 is an example in which additional information representing a skier is displayed in a polygonal rectangular area of the ski resort attribute, 902 is an example in which arbitrary additional information is displayed in a rectangular area without a map, and 903 is a sea area. This is an example in which additional information representing a yacht is displayed in the polygon rectangular area of the attribute.

  Thus, it can be seen that the display screen of FIG. 9B to which the present invention is applied is not as dry as the display screen of FIG. 9A to which the present invention is not applied, and is a rich display screen. .

  Next, an example of selecting additional information based on the attribute of the polygon in the information adding means 18 of the first embodiment will be described. Polygon attributes in the map information of the first embodiment include water systems, green space systems, facility systems, and the like.

  The water system is an attribute of the sea, river, lake, pond, swamp, mountain stream, etc. As the additional information, for example, display information on ships, fish, etc. is selected for each attribute, and the whistle sound of ships is selected.・ Select voice information such as river noises, sea and lake swells.

  The green space system has attributes such as parks, mountains, forests, forests, golf courses, gardens, temples, etc. As additional information, for example, display information on trees, birds, insects, fountains, etc. for each attribute. In addition, sound information such as wind sound of trees, sound of birds and insects, sound of fountain, and “nice shot” for golf courses are selected.

  The facility system is an attribute of a factory, an amusement park, a zoo, etc. As additional information, for example, display information about facilities such as a factory chimney is selected for each attribute, and the amusement park's lively sound, etc. Select the audio information related to the facilities.

  As described above, according to the first embodiment, the information acquisition unit 11 that acquires information, the information conversion unit 13 that converts the acquired information into display information, and the display of a plurality of rectangular areas in the display area of the display information Since the rectangular area determining means 17 for determining the content of the information, the information adding means 18 for adding additional information suitable for the determined rectangular area, and the output means 19 for outputting information including the additional information are provided. An information display device that can always provide abundant information to the user without causing the information to become tasteless and dry is obtained.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, since the information is map information, the map information does not become tasteless and can always provide rich map information to the user.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the rectangular area determination unit 17 is the same as the rectangular type determination unit 14 that divides the display area of the display information into a plurality of rectangular areas and determines the type of display information of each rectangular area. Since the rectangular range determining means 15 for determining the range of the rectangular area of the type and the rectangular integrating means 16 for integrating the rectangular areas of the same type are provided, it is possible to easily determine the contents of the rectangular area information and its range. Can do.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the information adding means 18 adds display information or audio information as additional information, so that richer information can be provided to the user.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the information adding unit 18 includes the additional information selecting unit that selects the additional information, so that the optimum additional information can be output.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the additional information selection unit selects the additional information based on the range of the rectangular area, and therefore can output additional information suitable for the range of the rectangular area.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the additional information selection unit selects the additional information based on the presence / absence of the display information of the rectangular area, and therefore outputs additional information suitable for the content of the display information of the rectangular area. can do.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the additional information selection unit selects the additional information based on the display mode of the display information, and therefore can output additional information suitable for the display mode.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the additional information selection means selects the additional information based on the polygon attribute included in the display information of the rectangular area, so that the additional information suitable for the polygon attribute is output. can do.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, since the polygon attribute is any one of the water system, the green space system, and the facility system in the map information, it is possible to output additional information suitable for the polygon attribute in the map information. it can.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the additional information selection means, when the attribute of the polygon is aquatic, is the display information related to the ships / fishes, etc., or the whistle sound of the ships, the noise of the river, the sea and the lake Since voice information such as waving sound is selected as additional information, additional information suitable for water-based polygons in map information can be output.

  In addition, according to the first embodiment, the additional information selection means, when the attribute of the polygon is a green space system, the display information on trees, birds, insects, fountains, etc., or the wind noise of the trees, birds, Since voice information such as insect sounds and fountain sounds is selected as additional information, it is possible to output additional information suitable for green space polygons in map information.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, when the polygon attribute is the facility system, the additional information selection unit selects the display information related to the facility or the audio information related to the facility as the additional information. Additional information suitable for facility-related polygons in map information can be output.

  In addition, according to the first embodiment, the additional information selection unit selects the background information of the display information, so that rich background information can be provided to the user.

  Further, according to the first embodiment, the background information is the background information in the map information displayed in the bird's-eye view, so that rich background information can be provided in the map information displayed in the bird's-eye view.

  In addition, according to the first embodiment, the additional information selection unit selects the display information representing either the cityscape or the mountain range as the background information based on the presence or absence of the display information of the rectangular area. It is possible to provide richer background information in the map information displayed in.

  Moreover, according to Embodiment 1, since it was mounted in the vehicle and applied to the display of the map information in the navigation system, the map information in the navigation system does not become tasteless and boarded in the vehicle. It is possible to always provide rich map information to the user who has done this.

Embodiment 2. FIG.
As Embodiment 2, in the configuration of FIG. 1, the additional information selection unit is any one or any of the information regarding the current season, date, time, weather, region, and usage duration obtained from the information acquisition unit 11. Additional information may be selected on the basis of the combination.

  In the rectangular area without map of the first embodiment, for example, when the weather is clear, select bright and conspicuous display information. For example, if the weather is rainy, select rain sound or the like as audio information. Also good.

  According to this, it is possible to output additional information suitable for the current season, date, time, weather, region, and usage duration.

Embodiment 3 FIG.
As a third embodiment, in the configuration of FIG. 1, additional information output switching means (not shown) for switching whether or not additional information is output may be provided.

  For example, the user may be configured to set the display output of additional information and the ON / OFF switching of the audio output by operating a menu or the like using a remote controller or a touch panel.

  According to this, the output presence / absence of additional information can be switched according to the user's preference.

Embodiment 4 FIG.
As Embodiment 4, in the configuration of FIG. 1, the additional information selection unit may select additional information that adds a visual height difference in the vicinity of the outline of the polygon based on the attribute of the polygon.

  For example, the boundary between the polygon and the other display area is displayed by shifting the water-based polygon to the lower side of the predetermined dot, and shifting the green-sided polygon to the upper side of the predetermined dot and displaying the difference with the surroundings. You may make it clear or reduce the area of a tasteless dry polygon rectangle or a non-map rectangle.

  According to this, the visibility of the polygon of each attribute in the map information can be improved.

Embodiment 5 FIG.
As the fifth embodiment, additional information specifying means (not shown) for specifying additional information may be provided in the configuration of FIG.

  For example, it may be configured such that the user can directly specify additional information by an operation such as a menu using a remote controller or a touch panel.

  According to this, additional information can be designated by a user preference.

Embodiment 6 FIG.
As Embodiment 6, in the configuration of FIG. 1, additional information input means (not shown) for inputting additional information from the outside and additional information storage means (not shown) for storing additional information input from the outside are provided. You may make it prepare.

  For example, it is configured so that new additional information can be input by reading an external storage medium using the information acquisition unit 11 in FIG. 1 or communicating with an external information server or the like. You may comprise so that it may memorize | store in the writable storage medium inserted in the drive 21 in FIG.

  According to this, additional information can be input from the outside according to the user's preference, and the input additional information can be reused.

  In the embodiment, an example in which a gyro 23, a vehicle speed sensor 24, a GPS receiver 22, a map matching, and the like are used as the position detection unit 12 is shown, but other than an optical fiber gyro, a vibration gyro, an acceleration sensor, and the like. It is also possible to use a wireless network such as a position information service in sensors, D-GPS (Differential GPS), PHS (Personal Handyphone System), and mobile phones.

  In the embodiment, the information acquisition unit 11 uses a drive 21 that reads map information stored in an information storage medium such as a CD-ROM or a DVD-ROM, and stores a processing program or processing data. However, the present invention is not limited to these, but other memory ICs (Integrated Circuit) such as a flash memory, CD-R (Recordable), DVD -R, CD-RW (Rewritable), DVD-RW, DVD-RAM (Random Access Memory), MD (Mini Disk) and other optical disks, flexible disks, magnetic disks such as hard disks, IC memory cards, magnetic Memory cards such as memory cards and optical memory cards, magnetic tapes such as cassette tapes, and other read / write Such may be used a non-volatile storage medium.

  Further, the drive 21 and the external memory 27 may share any one of these storage media, thereby simplifying the apparatus.

  In addition, it is configured to be able to perform data communication with an external information server or the like wirelessly, and obtains map information, additional information, and other information from the outside using the Internet, etc. The determination process of the rectangular area and the output process of the additional information may be performed externally, and the processing result may be received and used, thereby further simplifying the apparatus.

  In the embodiment, an example in which an input device such as a remote control or a touch panel is used as the additional information output switching unit or the additional information designating unit has been described. However, the operation switch, the touch pen, the mouse, the trackball, the operation pad, and the voice recognition device. Other input devices such as may be used.

  Moreover, although the example in the case of acquiring the map information in a navigation system as information which the information acquisition means 11 acquires was shown in embodiment, it is not limited to these, Other image information, video information, photograph It may be information, document information, character information, program information, or the like.

  Further, in the embodiment, an example in which audio information such as map-related display information and natural sounds is added as information added by the information adding unit 18 is not limited to these. It may be other display information such as moving images, characters, characters, etc., or other voice information such as human voice, voice synthesis sound, music, instrument sound.

  In the embodiment, 3D bird's-eye view display and 2D display of map information are described as separate display modes. However, when displaying a 3D bird's-eye view, after adding additional information on the 2D display screen, the 3D bird's-eye view is displayed. You may make it display.

  In the embodiment, an example in which a display device such as a display monitor 28 and an audio output device such as a speaker 29 are used as the output means 19 has been shown. However, a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) display, LCD (Liquid Crystal) Display, liquid crystal display) display, plasma display, EL (electro luminescence) display, LED (light emitting diode) display, VFD (vacuum fluorescent display) display, projection display, head-up Various other display monitors such as a display, a head mounted display, a portable display terminal, a voice output device such as a headphone, an earphone, and a voice synthesizer, and another output device such as a printer may be used.

  Moreover, although the example at the time of assuming the navigation system mainly mounted in a vehicle was shown in embodiment, this invention is not limited to this, Other mobile bodies, such as a train, a ship, and an airplane The present invention may be applied to a navigation system mounted on the mobile phone or a portable information terminal device carried by a person such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). Furthermore, the present invention is not limited to the device mounted on the mobile body, and may be applied to an information display device fixedly installed in an office or the like. Even in such a case, the same effect can be obtained.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Information acquisition means, 12 Position detection means, 13 Information conversion means, 14 Rectangular type determination means, 15 Rectangular range determination means, 16 Rectangular integration means, 17 Rectangular area determination means, 18 Information addition means, 19 Output means, 21 Drive, 22 GPS receiver, 23 gyro, 24 vehicle speed sensor, 25 I / F circuit, 26 navigation ECU, 27 external memory, 28 display monitor, 29 speaker.

Claims (9)

Map information acquisition means for acquiring map information;
The map information read from the map information acquisition means is converted into display information, the display information is edited so as to fit the display screen, the display area of the edited display information is divided into a plurality of rectangular areas, and each rectangular area is Rectangular area determination means for determining the attribute of the polygon included in the map information ;
Audio information adding means for adding additional audio information based on the attribute of the polygon included in the determined rectangular area;
An audio output device for outputting additional audio information from the audio information adding means;
A navigation device characterized by comprising:   The voice information adding means adds, as additional voice information, any one of a whistle sound of a ship, a rustling sound of a river, and a rippling sound of a sea or a lake based on an attribute of a polygon. Navigation device.   The voice information adding means adds, as additional voice information, any one of a wind sound of trees, a cry of birds and insects, and a fountain sound based on the attribute of the polygon. Navigation device.   The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the voice information adding means adds voice information related to facilities as additional voice information based on the attribute of the polygon. The voice information adding means selects the additional voice information based on any one or a combination of information on the current season, date, time, weather, region, and usage duration. 5. The navigation device according to any one of items 4 to 4.   6. The navigation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising additional voice information output switching means for switching presence / absence of output of additional voice information.   The navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, further comprising additional voice information designation means for designating additional voice information.   The navigation apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising additional voice information input means for inputting additional voice information from outside.   9. The navigation apparatus according to claim 8, further comprising additional voice information storage means for storing additional voice information input from outside.

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