JP4952750B2 - Car navigation apparatus, car navigation method and program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a car navigation device, a car navigation method, and a program for presenting useful meal information to a user.

  In a conventional car navigation device, a user displays a map that includes a destination and is sufficiently enlarged on a monitor, or inputs a town page telephone number and displays a map corresponding to the telephone number on the monitor. After that, the cursor is moved to the destination on the map to determine the destination, which takes time and effort for the operation.

  In the car navigation device disclosed in Patent Document 1, the call from the car navigation device to the user (eg, paragraphs 0063 and 0082 “Driving continuously for 2 hours. Where do you take a break?”) Even if the user does not give a specific answer (for example, paragraph 0063 “Nice to be good” and paragraph 0082 “Yoshinani”, the car navigation device presents an appropriate resting place based on the user's running history data. Further, a route to the resting place is calculated based on an instruction to the user.

  Patent Document 2 describes that when a car approaches a tourist point (eg, a famous temple), the tourist information of the tourist point (eg, the time when the temple was built, the person who built it, the main Buddha statues, paintings, sculptures, Disclosed is a car navigation device that automatically performs dictation of an established era or the like.

JP 2001-12963 A JP 2001-183153 A

  A car navigation device user may want to eat a special dish or shop for a special product (including souvenirs) in a tourist area that is not familiar with geography by driving, but scrolls the map on the monitor However, it takes time and effort to find a specialty product store or a specialty restaurant, and to set a destination by placing the cursor on a specialty product store or a specialty restaurant on the map.

  In the car navigation device of Patent Document 1, the user can omit the trouble of searching for a rest place one by one. However, since the user is not a rest place that has been visited once, it is not presented as a search result. It cannot be used to search for a specialty store or a specialty restaurant.

  In the car navigation device of Patent Document 2, the user can notice the historical sites that are inadvertently overlooked by the tourist guide, but only the sufficiently close historical sites are noticed and widely distributed in the tourist area. It does not search for a local specialty store or a local restaurant by skipping a user operation or automatically guide a route to a destination.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a car navigation device, a car navigation method, and a program for presenting a specialty restaurant to a user at an appropriate timing while taking care not to present unnecessary and troublesome information to the user.

The car navigation apparatus of the present invention has the following means.
3a determining means for performing the determination of 3a as to whether or not the current location is at least a predetermined distance from the home;
3b determining means for performing the determination in 3b as to whether or not the number of visits in the past predetermined period from the present to the predetermined area including the current location is less than a predetermined value;
3c determining means for performing the determination of 3c as to whether or not the present time is a meal time zone,
When all of the determinations of 3a to 3c are positive, a specialty restaurant search means for searching for a specialty restaurant that provides specialty dishes related to the predetermined area in a predetermined area including the current location, and a result of the search, A specialty restaurant information presentation means for presenting information relating to the found specialty restaurant to the user as specialty restaurant information.

The car navigation method of the present invention includes the following steps.
A determination step of 3a for performing the determination of 3a on whether or not the current location is at least a predetermined distance from the home;
A 3b determination step for performing a determination of 3b as to whether or not the number of visits in the past predetermined period from the present to the predetermined area including the current position is less than a predetermined value;
3c determination step for performing the determination of 3c whether or not the present time is a meal time zone,
A specialty restaurant search step for searching for a specialty restaurant that provides specialty dishes related to the predetermined area in a predetermined area including the current location when all of the determinations of the third to third c are positive;
As a result of the search, a specialty restaurant information presentation step for presenting information related to the found specialty restaurant to the user as specialty restaurant information,
A route in which a user searches for a recommended route to a destination via a guidance-requested specialty restaurant, by calling the specialty-requested specialty restaurant where the user requested guidance based on the presented specialty restaurant information. A search step; and a route guidance step for performing route guidance based on the recommended route.

  The present invention includes a program for causing a computer to function as each means of the above-described car navigation apparatus.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to avoid the presentation of a specialty restaurant in a region close to the user's home or a region where the user visits frequently, and when it is a meal time zone in a place appropriately away from the home and where the number of visits is small It is possible to present useful special food information at an appropriate timing.

It is a functional block diagram of a car navigation apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the database for corresponding sightseeing related facility name search according to destination. It is a figure which shows a part of corresponding | compatible tourism related facility name search database according to a municipality. It is a figure which shows the specific example of the tourism related facility in the case of visually displaying tourism related facility information. It is a functional block diagram of another car navigation apparatus. It is a functional block diagram of another car navigation device. It is a flowchart of a car navigation method. It is a flowchart of another car navigation method. It is a flowchart of another car navigation method. It is a flowchart of the 1st Example about the car navigation method of FIG. It is a flowchart of the 2nd Example about the car navigation method of FIG. It is a flowchart of the Example about the car navigation method of FIG. It is a figure which shows the change part of the flowchart which changed the car navigation method of FIG.10 and FIG.11 partially. It is a flowchart of the Example about the car navigation method of FIG. It is a hardware block diagram of a car navigation apparatus. It is a detailed block diagram of an agent system. It is a relationship diagram between recognized words and categories.

  FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of the car navigation apparatus 10. For example, the car navigation device 10 performs information presentation on the outbound route from the home to the sightseeing spot, and when the user goes from the sightseeing spot to a sightseeing spot different from the sightseeing spot, It can also be used for information presentation. The car navigation device 10 includes a tourism related facility search unit 11 and a tourism related facility information presentation unit 12. The tourism related facility searching means 11 searches for a tourism related facility related to the set destination. The tourism related facility information presenting means 12 presents information related to the tourism related facility to the user as the tourism related facility information if the tourism related facility is found as a result of the search by the tourism related facility searching means 11.

  Specific examples of searching for tourism-related facilities related to the destination will be described later with reference to FIGS. The tourism-related facility is, for example, a specialty product store and / or a specialty restaurant, but is not limited thereto. If the user sets a representative sight / historic site of a predetermined tourist area as a destination, the tourist-related facility may include a sight / historic spot that is likely to be overlooked in the tourist area. Specialties include souvenirs. Souvenirs are gifts for gifts other than yourself, but special products include things that you use or eat at home. If the current time is detected, if the current time is a meal time zone, only the specialty restaurant information is presented as tourism related facility information, and if the current time is other time zone, the local products are sold as tourism related facility information. Only store information may be presented. The information presentation mode by the tourism related facility information presentation means 12 is, for example, visual display from the monitor 163 (FIG. 15) and / or auditory display from the speaker 126 (FIG. 10).

  FIG. 2 exemplifies a part of the database for searching for corresponding tourism-related facility names by destination. Each record has fields for destination name, genre, location information, business hours, tourist destination flag, and tourist-related facility name. 2 to 4 are all fictitious for convenience of explanation of the present invention. The tourism related facility search means 11 searches the database of FIG. 2 using, for example, the destination as a search key, finds a record corresponding to the destination, and extracts the tourism related facility name of the record. For example, when the destination is “Musashino Kofun”, tourism related facilities named “Yamada Souvenir Shop” and “Soba Watanabe” are found as tourism related facilities related to “Musashino Kofun”. The tourism related facility information presenting means 12 presents information relating to these “Yamada souvenir shops” and “Soba Watanabe” to the user.

  FIG. 3 exemplifies a part of a database for searching for corresponding tourism-related facility names by municipality. Each record has fields of a municipality name, a special product 1, a special product 2, and a special dish 1. In another specific example, the tourism-related facility search means 11 detects that the genre of the record corresponding to the destination is a famous place / historic site in the corresponding tourism-related facility name search database for each destination in FIG. Next, a municipality as a sightseeing area to which the destination belongs is examined, and a record of the municipality found by the search is searched from the database shown in FIG. 3 to detect a special product and a special dish of the record. In the example of FIG. 3, A1 city has pottery and apples as special products, soba is a special dish, A3 village has buns and kokeshi as special products, and □ beef is a special dish (example: Matsuzaka beef). In addition, it can be seen that A2 town has neither special products nor special dishes. Therefore, even if it is determined that the destination is a famous place / historic site from the database of FIG. 2, when the destination is in A2 town, the tourist-related facility search means 11 As a result, the tourist-related facility information is not presented by the tourist-related facility information presentation means 12.

  FIG. 4 shows a specific example of the tourism-related facility when the tourism-related facility information is visually displayed. In FIG. 4, special product or special dish and business hours are presented as tourism related facility information. Each national specialty store and specialty restaurant has one record, and each record has a national database that stores the store name, municipality, special product or special dish, and business hours as fields. When the facility search means 11 detects from the database in FIG. 3 that there is a specialty product store and a specialty dish in the municipality to which the destination belongs, then the facility search means 11 sells the specialty product and the specialty product for sale. Search the national database for specialty stores and specialty restaurants in the municipality where the destination belongs to the store and specialty restaurant, and find the store name, special product or specialty dish, and business hours of the corresponding record. These are detected, and are displayed as shown in FIG. FIG. 4 exemplifies tourism-related facility information when the municipality to which the destination belongs is A1 city in FIG. 3, that is, when the local specialty store and the local restaurant to which the destination belongs are pottery, apples and soba is doing.

  The setting of the destination may be performed by performing voice recognition on the destination spoken by the user, in addition to the key operation by the user. The voice recognition will be described later with reference to FIGS. A specific example of an interaction between the agent A and the user U in the car navigation device 10 will be described as an interaction example 1. Information presentation from the car navigation device 10 (agent) to the user is typically performed by both sound from the speaker 126 (FIG. 10) and video on the monitor 163 (FIG. 15). Suppose that it is possible to schedule information only for presentation and video.

[Dialogue example 1]
A: Set the destination.
U: □ Tumulus.
A: □ Soba and apples are famous in the Kofun area. Do you want to show the store you are dealing with?
U: I want to eat soba.
A: There is soba △.
U: Tell me about that too.
A: Then, route guidance will be made using □ Tomb and Soba △ as destinations.

  In the dialogue example 1, when the user verbally sets the destination, the tourist related facility information is presented immediately (in this case, by voice presentation), but when the tourist related facility information is presented, This may be done after the user's car is appropriately close to the destination. Further, the time when the destination is set, the time when the tourism related facility information is presented, and the time when it is decided to go to the tourism related facility may be shifted instead of simultaneously. For example, tourist-related facility information is presented before and after a user proceeds appropriately toward the destination, exits the interchange near the destination, and reaches the destination within a predetermined distance or at the destination. Until the remaining time falls within a predetermined value.

  In this way, the user can receive the presentation of the tourism related facility information without additional operation only by setting the destination.

  The car navigation device 10 can appropriately add a plurality of functions described below in an arbitrary combination. Each function to be added is achieved by one or a plurality of means. For each additional function, a means may be newly added, or a function of an existing means may be embodied. Hereinafter, each additional function will be described.

  The tourism related facility searching means 11 searches for a tourism related facility in the tourism area using a predetermined area including the destination as a tourism area.

  For example, when creating a map database, the tourist area registers data related to the border of the tourist area nationwide, and a point inside the border of the tourist area may be a tourist area. Typically, the range of the tourist area is, for example, an area range in which a specialty product or a specialty restaurant including almost the same name exists as one tourist area, but is not limited thereto. The size of the tourist area is left to the creator of the map database. The tourist area can be within a predetermined distance from the center, the municipality where the set destination exists, or the neighboring municipalities can be included (eg, the tourist area of Kusatsu Onsen is The area may be within a predetermined distance from the hot spring, or the entire Kusatsu Town, Gunma Prefecture.) In addition, a single point may belong to multiple tourist areas (eg, Mt. Shirane is set to overlap the tourist area of Kusatsu Onsen and the tourist area of Manza Onsen. Both related tourism-related facilities and tourism-related facilities related to Manza Onsen are searched.)

  The car navigation device 10 includes a 1a determination unit 15 and a tourism-related facility search unit 11 for function addition. There is a database in which a travel destination genre for a destination is defined in association with the name of the destination. The 1a determination means 15 refers to the travel destination genre in the database for the destination, and the destination It is determined in step 1a whether or not it is related to a sightseeing trip purpose. When the determination of 1a is positive, the tourism related facility searching means 11 searches for a tourism related facility in the tourism area using the predetermined area including the destination as the tourism area.

  The database having the travel purpose genre is, for example, that of FIG. In that case, when the determination of 1a is positive, the tourism-related facility search means 11 searches for the local specialties and special dishes of the municipality to which the destination belongs from the database of FIG. The store name, the special product, the special dish, etc. which are the basis of the display of FIG. 4 are extracted.

  The car navigation apparatus 10 further includes a 1b determination unit 17 and a tourism-related facility search unit 11 for adding functions. The 1b determination means 17 performs the 1b determination as to whether or not the destination is a predetermined distance away from the home. The tourism-related facility search means 11 stops the search when the determination of 1b is negative.

  When the user purchases the car navigation device 10 and uses it for the first time, the location of the user is set and stored in a predetermined storage device. Therefore, it can be detected from the stored data. When the destination is close to home, even if the destination is in the tourist area, this drive is not for tourist purposes or the user is familiar with the destination tourist area and needs tourist area information There is a high possibility of not. In such a case, the determination of 1b becomes no and the presentation of the tourism related facility information to the user can be stopped.

  The car navigation apparatus 10 includes a 1c determination unit 19 and a tourism-related facility search unit 11 for adding functions. The 1c determination means 19 checks the number of times that a point included in the same tourist area as the current destination is set as the destination within the predetermined period in the past as the number of destination setting times, and the number of times of destination setting is a predetermined value. The 1st determination of whether it is less than is implemented. The tourism related facility searching means 11 stops the search when the determination of 1c is negative.

  In order to carry out the determination of 1c, the travel history needs to be stored in the storage device. When the user frequently visits the sightseeing area for purposes other than sightseeing, such as business trips or homecoming, there is a high possibility that the presentation of tourism-related facility information in the sightseeing area to the user is unnecessary. Therefore, when the determination of 1c is negative, the tourism related facility information is not presented to the user.

  The car navigation apparatus 10 includes route search means 22 and route guidance means 23 for adding functions. The route search means 22 refers to the tourism-related facility that the user requested for guidance based on the presented tourism-related facility information as the guidance-requested tourism-related facility, and the route from the current location to the guidance-requested tourism-related facility is tourism-related. Search as a facility route. The route guidance means 23 performs route guidance to the guidance requesting tourism related facility based on the tourism related facility route.

  The guidance request to the tourism related facility by the user based on the tourism related facility information is performed by selecting a predetermined line from the tourism related facility information of FIG. 4, for example. The guidance request is typically implemented by the user speaking to the tourist-related facility information presented to the user audibly and / or visually, but the key operation or the tourist-related facility information screen is displayed. It may be implemented by touch. The user may issue a guidance request to a plurality of sightseeing areas. The tourism-related facility route is typically a route having a destination and a guide-requested tourist-related facility as a final destination and a transit point, respectively. When the guidance-required tourism-related facility is ahead of the destination with respect to the current location, the tourism-related facility route may be a route that reaches the guidance-requested tourism-related facility via the destination. For example, the route guidance to the tourism-related facility displays a map of a predetermined scale for the area including the current location on the monitor 163 (FIG. 15) of the car navigation device 10 as in the case of the route guidance to the destination. The facility route is displayed on a map so that it can be seen as a recommended route, and the speaker 126 (FIG. 10) instructs the guidance intersection on the tourist-related facility route to make a turn as appropriate. Sounds out.

  In this way, the user can receive route guidance to a desired tourism-related facility only by issuing a guidance request for the presented tourism-related facility information.

  The car navigation apparatus 10 further includes a transmission unit 25, a reception unit 26, and a tourism related facility information presentation unit 12 for adding functions. The transmission means 25 transmits the user's evaluation of the guidance request tourism-related facility used by the user to a predetermined evaluation aggregation server 27. The receiving unit 26 receives the aggregation result information from the evaluation aggregation server 27 that aggregates the evaluations of a plurality of users for each tourism-related facility and creates the aggregation result information. The tourism related facility information presentation means 12 presents tourism related facility information based on the total result information.

  A specific dialogue example between the agent A and the user U when the car navigation device 10 collects the user's evaluation of the guidance-required tourism-related facility used by the user from the user is shown as a dialogue example 2 below. For example, the user's car arrives at the guidance-requested tourism-related facility according to the route guidance to the guidance-requested tourism-related facility, and the ignition switch of the car is turned off. Then, a predetermined time elapses, and thereafter, the ignition switch of the automobile is turned on.

[Dialogue Example 2]
A: How was the soba △?
U: It was delicious.
A: Can I give information to other people?
U: Yes

  The car navigation device 10 is equipped with a mobile communication device 169 (FIG. 15) as hardware, and the mobile communication device 169 can communicate data and voice wirelessly with a nearby mobile phone base station. The mobile phone base station is connected to the evaluation tabulation server 27 via the Internet. The transmission unit 25 and the reception unit 26 can communicate with the evaluation totaling server 27 using the mobile communication device 169. The evaluation aggregation server 27 typically provides information only to a predetermined member, and provides the aggregation result information as one service to the member. The tourism-related facility information based on the total result information presented by the tourism-related facility information presentation means 12 is, for example, an information list of tourism-related facilities that excludes tourist-related facilities with low evaluation, For example, an information list indicating the evaluation rank of each tourism-related facility.

  The car navigation apparatus 10 includes a route search means 22 and a time zone information notification means 30 for adding functions. The route search means 22 calls the specialty restaurant as a guidance request specialty restaurant when the guidance requested tourism related facility is a specialty restaurant, and stops at the guidance request specialty restaurant before arrival at the destination. The tourism related facility route is searched as a temporary tourist related facility route. The time zone information notifying means 30 notifies the user of information related to the time zone of the stop-off time at the guidance request specialty restaurant relating to the temporary sightseeing related facility route. If the user does not wish to change the stop time to another time zone and does not wish, the route search means 22 sets the temporary tourism related facility route as the tourism related facility route, When desired, a route for a tourism related facility in which the arrival order of the destination and the guidance request specialty restaurant is switched is searched.

  The time zone of the stop at the specialty restaurant is, for example, a meal time zone or a non-meal time zone (the lunch meal time zone is, for example, 11: 00-13: 00), and the specialty restaurant is a customer. Whether it is a busy hour or a busy hour. The meal time may be different from the time when the specialty restaurant is crowded with customers. For example, 11: 00-11: 30 is a meal time zone, but a specialty restaurant is a relatively vacant time zone. In addition, the meal time zone may be configured so that the user can change the meal time zone set as default in the car navigation device 10 in advance as appropriate. Depending on the user, 10: 00-11: 30 may be set. It may be set as a lunch time. Although the user wants to eat a special dish at the meal time, the usual recommended route is that the arrival order is the stop and destination, and the arrival time at the special restaurant is non-meal. It may be a time zone. If the user wishes to change the arrival time at a specialty restaurant that deviates from his / her desire, a route for a tourism-related facility in which the arrival order of the destination and the specialty restaurant is switched is searched, and the user's Can respond to hope.

  FIG. 5 is a functional block diagram of another car navigation device 40. The car navigation device 40 performs information presentation, for example, on a return trip from a sightseeing spot to a home. However, when going from a starting sightseeing area to another sightseeing area, information on the starting sightseeing area is provided. It can be used for presentation, etc., and for information presentation in the intermediate tourism area when going from the starting tourism area to the final tourism area via the intermediate tourism area. The car navigation apparatus 40 includes a 2a determination unit 41, a 2b determination unit 42, a specialty product dealer search unit 43, a 2c determination unit 44, and a specialty product store information presentation unit 45. The second-a determination means 41 performs the second-a determination as to whether or not the destination is outside the first tourism area by calling the tourism area to which the current location belongs as the first tourism area. The second-b determination means 42 performs the second-b determination as to whether or not the user has stopped at a specialty product store in the first tourist area within the past predetermined time from the present time. The specialty product dealer search means 43 searches for a specialty product dealer in the first sightseeing area if the determinations of 2a and 2b are positive and negative, respectively. As a result of the search by the specialty product dealer search means 43, the 2c determination means 44 refers to the specialty product dealer found as a specialty product dealer for presentation, and if the specialty product dealer for presentation exists. Then, the user is inquired about the purchase desire of the special product in the first sightseeing area, and the second determination is made as to whether or not the user's answer to the inquiry is a purchase request. If the determination of 2c is positive, the specialty product dealer information presenting means 45 presents information relating to the specialty product dealer for presentation to the user as the specialty product dealer information.

  For example, it is assumed that the current location is Nikko Toshogu and the home is set as the destination. The car navigation device 40 provides guidance so as not to forget to buy souvenirs. If the destination is within a predetermined distance from Nikko Toshogu (the same sightseeing area as the one where Nikko Toshogu is located), for example, if the destination is a frosty plateau (no judgment of 2a), it is necessary to immediately guide the souvenir shop It is not considered. Of course, if the destination is a souvenir shop, there is no need to provide guidance. Furthermore, if the customer stops at a souvenir shop within a predetermined period in the past (for example, 2 days or 1 week) (the determination in 2b is positive), the souvenir is considered purchased and no guidance is provided. If the destination is Utsunomiya (different sightseeing area) (the determination in 2a is positive), souvenirs from Nikko cannot be purchased, and guidance is provided.

  The second determination of whether or not the customer stops at a specialty store in the first sightseeing area is performed based on detection that the user's car is parked at the specialty store in the first tourism area. . Parking can be detected, for example, when the ignition switch is turned on after the ignition switch is turned off and after a predetermined time has elapsed.

  The inquiry about the desire to purchase a special product in the first sightseeing area is made to the user in the 2c determination means 44 after the determinations 2a and 2b are made. This is because if a purchase request inquiry is made before the determinations of 2a and 2b, the purchase request inquiry to the user is made every time the destination is set, which is bothersome for the user. By making a purchase request inquiry after the determinations of 2a and 2b, the purchase request inquiry is made after the accuracy of the user's purchase request is increased to some extent.

  Thus, when the user is going out of the first tourist area and is not expected to purchase a special product in the first tourist area, the user is concerned with a specialty restaurant in the first tourist area. Information is presented to the user, who can recall the specialty.

  The car navigation apparatus 40 further includes a 2d determination means 48 and a route guidance means 49 for adding functions. The 2d determination means 48 performs a 2d determination as to whether or not the user has a guidance request to the specialty product dealer regarding the presented specialty product dealer information. If the determination of 2d is positive, the route guidance means 49 sets the special product sales store requested by the user as the guidance request special product sales store, and performs route guidance to the guidance request special product sales store.

  Thus, the user can receive route guidance to a desired specialty product dealer only by issuing a guidance request for the presented specialty product dealer information.

  The car navigation apparatus 40 further includes second e determination means 51 and specialty product store information presentation means 45 for function addition. The 2e determination means 51 searches for a recommended route from the current location to the destination on the assumption that the product does not stop at a specialty store in the first sightseeing area, and the recommended route includes an ordinary road including the current location. A second e determination is made as to whether or not the highway following the general road is included. If the determination of 2e is positive, the specialty product dealer information presentation means 45 relates only to the specialty product dealer for presentation along the recommended route until entering the expressway among the specialty products dealers for presentation. Information is presented to the user as specialty store information.

  This makes it possible to avoid route guidance to a specialty store that requires a detour when it is scheduled to enter the highway first.

  FIG. 6 is a functional block diagram of still another car navigation device 55. The car navigation device 55 provides the user with information on the specialty restaurant for the drive that passes through the region of the specialty dish between the departure point and the destination. The car navigation device 55 includes 3a determination means 56, 3b determination means 57, 3c determination means 58, specialty restaurant search means 59, and specialty restaurant information presentation means 60. The third-a determining means 56 performs the third-a determination as to whether or not the current location is a predetermined distance or more from the home. The third-b determination means 57 performs the third-b determination as to whether or not the number of visits within a past predetermined period from the present to a predetermined area including the current location is less than a predetermined value. The 3c determining means 58 performs the 3c determination as to whether or not the present time is a meal time zone. When all the determinations of 3a to 3c are positive, the specialty restaurant search means 59 searches for a specialty restaurant that provides specialty dishes related to the predetermined area in the predetermined area including the current location. The specialty restaurant information presentation means 60 presents information related to the specialty restaurant found as a result of the search to the user as specialty restaurant information.

A specific dialogue example between the agent A and the user U in the car navigation device 55 is shown as a dialogue example 3.
[Dialogue example 3]
A: Would you like to have a meal soon?
U: Good.
A: The city that is currently running is famous for soba noodles. How about soba noodles?
U: Good.
A: There is soba △ near here. Although it is a little far away, Japanese restaurant O is famous for duck seiro. Japanese restaurant ○ is highly evaluated by those who used it.
U: Soba △ is fine.
A: I understand. I will show you the soba △.

  In the judgment of 3a, the condition that the current location is a predetermined distance away from the home is that the information on the specialty restaurant related to the departure area such as the home is excluded, and the special product related to the area other than the destination This is because it is limited to restaurant information. Visits within a predetermined period from the present to the predetermined area including the current position in the determination of 3b are not only visits as destinations (eg, Osaka when going from Tokyo to Osaka), but also transits on the way to the destination (Such as Nagoya when going from Tokyo to Osaka). The number of visits can be measured by setting a counter that increments when entering the predetermined area. The judgment of 3b is presumed that the same specialty restaurant information has been repeatedly provided to the user in the past and in a region where the number of visits within a predetermined period is large, and the same specialty restaurant information is provided to the user by this drive. It is because there is no significance even if it presents to. This is because the determination of 3c is not meaningful even if it is not a meal time zone, and it is not meaningful to present special restaurant information to the user. Even if the previous destination and departure place are the same as the current destination and departure place, the region where the meals were served may differ between the previous drive and the current drive. The restaurant information will be different. The meal time zone is not limited to the lunch time zone. Includes dinner and breakfast hours. The meal time zone can be set by default, or the user can set it in advance at an appropriate time.

  As a result, it is possible to receive presentation of information on specialty restaurants in the passage area simply by passing through a region where the specialty restaurant is located during the meal time zone.

  The car navigation device 55 further includes route search means 64 and route guidance means 65 for adding functions. The route search means 64 refers to the specialty restaurant where the user has requested guidance based on the presented specialty restaurant information as the guidance request specialty restaurant, and to the destination that uses the guidance request specialty restaurant as a stopover. Search for recommended routes. The route guidance means 65 performs route guidance based on the recommended route.

  The user can receive route guidance to a desired specialty restaurant simply by issuing a guidance request for the presented specialty restaurant information.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart of the car navigation method. The car navigation method corresponds to the function of the car navigation device 10 described above. In S71 (tourism-related facility search step), a tourism-related facility related to the destination is searched for the set destination. In S72 (tourism-related facility information presentation step), if a tourism-related facility is found as a result of the search in the tourism-related facility search step, information related to the tourism-related facility is presented to the user as tourism-related facility information. In S73 (route search step), the user refers to the tourism-related facility for which guidance is requested based on the presented tourism-related facility information as the guidance-requested tourism-related facility, and travels the route from the current location to the guidance-requested tourism-related facility. Search as a related facility route. In S74 (route guidance step), route guidance to the guidance-requested tourism-related facility is carried out based on the tourism-related facility route.

  When the user drives for sightseeing, when the destination is specified, the tourist related facility information related to the destination sightseeing is presented, and the user can select a desired destination for the tourist related facility information. It is possible to receive route guidance to the tourism-related facility simply by issuing a route guidance request to the tourism-related facility.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart of another car navigation method. The car navigation method corresponds to the function of the car navigation device 40 described above. In S84 (determination step 2a), the tourist area to which the current location belongs is called the first tourist area, and the second judgment of whether or not the destination is outside the first tourist area is performed. In S85 (determination step 2b), the determination of 2b is performed as to whether or not the user has stopped at a specialty product store in the first sightseeing area within the past predetermined time from the present. In S86 (specialty product dealer search step), if the determinations of 2a and 2b are respectively positive and negative, a special product dealer in the first sightseeing area is searched. In S87 (judgment step 2c), the specialty product dealer found as a result of the search in the specialty product dealer search step is referred to as a specialty product dealer for presentation, and if there is a specialty product dealer for presentation. For example, the user is inquired about the desire to purchase a special product in the first sightseeing area, and the second determination of whether or not the user's answer to the inquiry indicates that there is a purchase request is performed. In S88 (specialty product dealer information presentation step), if the determination in 2c is positive, information relating to the special product dealer for presentation is presented to the user as the special product dealer information. In S89 (2d determination step), the user performs the 2d determination as to whether or not there is a guidance request to the specialty product dealer related to the presented specialty product dealer information. In S90 (route guidance step), if the determination of 2d is positive, the specialty product dealer that the user requested to guide is set as the guidance requested specialty product dealer, and the route guidance to the guidance requested specialty product dealer is performed. . As a result, when the user leaves the predetermined sightseeing area, the user can obtain information on the specialty product dealer in the tourist area without forgetting and can receive route guidance to the specialty commodity dealer.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of another car navigation method. The car navigation method corresponds to the function of the car navigation device 55 described above. S93 In (decision of the 3a), their destinations and departure implements a determination of whether the first 3a apart first and second predetermined distance or more from the current position. In S94 (3b determination step), a 3b determination is made as to whether or not the number of times that the destination has been set as the destination within a predetermined period in the past is less than a predetermined value. In S95 (3c determination step), a 3c determination is made as to whether or not the present time is a meal time zone. In S96 (specialty restaurant search step), when all the determinations of 3a to 3c are positive, a special restaurant that provides a special dish related to the predetermined region is searched in the predetermined region including the current location. In S97 (specialty restaurant information presentation step), information relating to the special restaurant found as a result of the search is presented to the user as special restaurant information. In S98 (route search step), the user requests the specialty restaurant where the user requested guidance based on the presented specialty restaurant information as the guidance request specialty restaurant, and the destination is via the guidance request specialty restaurant. Search for recommended routes to. In S99 (route guidance step), route guidance is performed based on the recommended route. As a result, when the user is traveling to the destination and the meal time zone is reached in the middle of the area, the user automatically receives the guidance of the specialty restaurant in the area and the route guidance to the specialty restaurant. be able to.

  The present invention is implemented as a program for causing a computer to function as each means of each car navigation device 10, 40, 55. The present invention can also be implemented as a program for causing a computer to execute the steps of the car navigation method of FIGS. The present invention includes a computer-readable recording medium in which these programs are recorded.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart of the first embodiment of the car navigation method of FIG. The embodiment of FIGS. 10 to 14 is a routine that starts execution when a destination is set by the user. In S110, it is determined whether or not the destination genre is tourism-related. If it is positive, the process proceeds to S111. If not, the process proceeds to S112 (normal route search and route guidance). As described in FIG. 2, when the genre is a famous place / historic spot, the genre is considered to be tourism-related. The genre to be included in the database and the name of the genre are appropriately determined by the database designer, and what genre is assigned as the tourism-related genre is also appropriately determined by the database designer. In S110, the determination result can be determined by a sightseeing flag (FIG. 2) instead of the genre. That is, when the tourism flag is set and reset, respectively, the determination result of S110 is positive and negative, respectively.

  In the normal route search and route guidance in S112, a recommended route from the current location to the destination is searched. The recommended route is, for example, a route that is the shortest route from the current location to the destination, or a route that can be reached in the minimum time. It is possible to search for a recommended route by stopping the use of an expressway or a toll road or by stopping the use of a road having a predetermined width or less according to a user's request.

  In S111, a specialty product store in the tourist area including the destination is searched. In S113, it is determined whether or not a specialty store has been found as a result of the search. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S114 and S112, respectively. In S114, information relating to the found specialty store is visually displayed on the monitor 163 (FIG. 15). In S115, it is determined whether or not the user has instructed to stop at a predetermined specialty store in response to the information presentation in S114. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S116 and S112, respectively. In S116, a recommended route to the destination is searched for using a specialty store where the user has instructed to stop. In S117, route guidance is performed to a specialty product store as a stop-by location based on the recommended route searched in S116.

  FIG. 11 is a flowchart of the second embodiment of the car navigation method of FIG. In the flowchart of FIG. 11, steps that are the same as the steps of the flowchart of FIG. 10 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those of the flowchart of FIG. 10, and description thereof is omitted. Further, in the flowchart of FIG. 11, the step of merely mechanically replacing “specialty store” in the step of the flowchart of FIG. 10 is added as a subscript to the reference numeral of the step of the flowchart of FIG. 10. b is added. Only the other differences will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In S118, in the recommended route where the special restaurant where the stop instruction is given is a stop, that is, the recommended route for visiting the special restaurant before the destination, information on the arrival time of the special restaurant is displayed to the user. Notify The information is, for example, information that the time to stop at a specialty restaurant becomes a non-mealing time zone, or that the parking lot of a specialty restaurant is crowded when proceeding as it is. . In S119, whether or not the user desires to change is detected for the time zone arriving at the specialty restaurant, and the recommended route is maintained or re-searched based on this. In the re-search, for example, the arrival order of the destination and the specialty restaurant is changed. Thereby, in the recommended route after the most searched, the stop time at the specialty restaurant is the time zone desired by the user.

  Specific examples of S118 and S119 will be described in detail. Suppose that the first destination set is “Nikko Toshogu”, and “Soba-Kusa” (a fictional name) is selected by the user as a store where you can eat special products. As a route including these two points, (a) departure point → Nikko Tosho-gu → Soba-Kusan, and (b) departure point → Soba-Kusan → Nikko Tosho-gu are considered. In a normal recommended route search, as in the route (b), the arrival order is the order of soba noodles as a stopover and the order of Nikko Toshogu as a destination.

  The relationship between the arrival time at a specialty restaurant and the meal time zone will be described. If it is a time suitable for a meal when it goes directly to the buckwheat noodle on the route (b), the route (b) is adopted as it is. For example, the agent of the car navigation system asks the user, “Soba soba is about noon, but do you eat with soba soba before going to Toshogu?” On the other hand, in the route (b), when the arrival time at the specialty restaurant is not suitable for meals, the route (a) is adopted. “Would you like to go to Toshogu first?”, The agent of the car navigation system inquired of the user, and if the user wanted it, the route of (a) was adopted and guidance was carried out based on the route. .

  Data on time spent at specialty restaurants, sights and historic sites may be in the database. If there is data such as an average staying time of 3 hours at Nikko Toshogu and a staying time of 30 minutes for soba soup (you may have time as a genre of soba restaurant), you can set more details. For example, in the case of (a) departure place → Nikko Toshogu shrimp soba, (b) departure place → soba soup → Nikko Toshogu, the time spent at Nikko Toshogu is also added by the route (a). Time can be calculated. Therefore, the time to arrive at the buckwheat soup can be compared with (a) and (b) to guide the time suitable for meal. Note that the user may set the stay time and the time suitable for the meal.

  The case where the information of the vacant time of a specialty restaurant can be obtained will be described. Instead of the above-mentioned time periods suitable for meals, if available information on the free time of a specialty restaurant is available, it can also be used. For example, if you go directly to Soba Kusanagi, it seems to be around 3 o'clock. How about a relatively empty shop during this time? The car navigation device agent asks the user. Or if the time zone suitable for a meal is set to 11: 00-13: 00 in the daytime, and if the time zone in which the store is vacant is 10: 00-11: 30, 13: 30-17: 00 A method is also conceivable in which the agent makes an inquiry when it reaches 11:00 to 11:30. It is also possible to assign a vacant time zone to a tourist attraction and place importance on this. For example, “Nikko Toshogu Shrine is empty around 10:00. Would you like to go to Toshogu Shrine first?”

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the car navigation method of FIG. This embodiment is used, for example, in a sightseeing area when returning home from a sightseeing area. As a typical example, it is assumed that the user stays at an appropriate inn in the sightseeing area on the first day of the trip schedule on Saturdays and Sundays, and on the second day, finishes appropriate sightseeing in the sightseeing area and returns home. In this case, it is assumed that today is the second day of the travel schedule. In S120, it is determined whether or not the current location is a sightseeing area. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S121 and S112, respectively. In S121, it is determined whether or not the user's car is parked at a place set as a tourism-related genre in the database within the tourism area (= tourism area of S120) within the past predetermined period from the present, If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S122 and S112, respectively. The tourism-related genres are, for example, the “sights / historic sites” genre, the “amusement park” genre, the “ski resort” genre, and the “hotel / inn” genre. The “specialty store” genre is not included in the tourism-related genre here. Convenience stores are set in genres such as “convenience stores”, which are different from tourism-related genres. For example, when a user parks at a convenience store, the user is presented with information on specialty store stores in the tourism area. Is excluded. The past predetermined period is, for example, the past two days. Thereby, in the above-mentioned travel schedule for two days and one night, the entire period after the user enters the sightseeing area is included in the past predetermined period. In the above-described typical example, since parking is performed at an inn, the determination in S121 is positive. A ryokan in a sightseeing area may have a store selling special products, but in this embodiment, it is assumed that the user does not purchase a special product at the ryokan. For a specific inn, its genre can be included in the tourism related genre. By S121, when the user has already purchased a special product at a special product store in the sightseeing area, it is possible to exclude the process from proceeding to S122.

  In S122, it is determined whether or not the destination is a predetermined distance or more away from the sightseeing area. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S123 and S112, respectively. When the user is visiting the tourist area far away from home, the determination in S122 is positive. In some cases, the user's home may be present in the tourist area. In such a case, the user does not need to purchase a special product at this time. In the determination of S122, it is determined whether or not the next stop place (in the case of stopping all stop places) is a predetermined distance or more away from the tourist area instead of the simple destination. For example, a user's car may specify a route from a hotel (in Nikko National Park) → a convenience store → Nikko Toshogu → a hotel as a departure place at home to a home as a destination. In this case, after departing from Nikko Toshogu Shrine at the last stopover, the process proceeds to S123 and thereafter.

  In S123, it is determined whether or not the user (the car) has stopped at a specialty store in the tourist area in the past predetermined period. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S112 and S124, respectively. If the user has stopped at a specialty store in the tourist area, it is considered that the special product has already been purchased, and no guidance to the specialty restaurant is necessary. In such a case, the determination of S123 is made. Become positive. In S121 and S123, the user checks for a stop at a place other than a specialty product store and a stop at a special product store. It is assumed that it is troublesome for the user to present information related to the purchase of a special product, regardless of whether he / she does not stop or stay overnight. The predetermined period of S123 is typically the same as the predetermined period of S121, but may be different. The predetermined period of S123 may be limited to the same day, for example.

  In S124, a specialty store in the tourist area is searched, and it is determined whether or not a specialty store has been found as a result of the search. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S125 and S112, respectively. In S125, the user is visually and / or audibly inquired whether or not to purchase a special product, and whether or not the user's answer is to purchase the special product is determined. If the determination is positive or negative. If so, the process proceeds to S126 and S112, respectively. If S125 is executed before S120, the user is inquired whether or not he / she wants to purchase a special product from the car navigation device even when driving for non-tourist purposes. On the other hand, if S125 is executed after S124, the user is inquired about whether or not he / she wishes to purchase a special product only when it is considered that there is a sufficient probability that the user wants the purchase information of the special product. Therefore, useless information presentation can be reduced.

  In S126, a recommended route to a destination that does not consider a specialty store is searched. In S130, it is determined whether or not an expressway is included in front of the current location in the recommended route. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S131 and S132, respectively. In S132, the specialty stores found in the search of S124 are narrowed down to specialty stores along the recommended route before entering the expressway, and they are presented in order from the current location. In S132, the specialty product dealers found by the search in S124 are presented in order from the current location. The presentation of the specialty product dealers in S131 and S132 is a visual display showing the location of each specialty product dealer on the map of the monitor 163 (FIG. 15), or the name, business hours, It may be a visual display of a list showing specific product names.

  In S133, it is determined whether or not there is a stop instruction from the user to the specialty product dealer in response to the presentation of the specialty product dealer in S131 or S132. If the determination is positive or negative, S134 is performed. And it progresses to S112. The user may issue a stop instruction to a plurality of specialty product stores. Different local specialty stores may have different specific local products (for example, one local specialty store is a bun shop and the other local specialty store is a craft store). This is because there is a time when a special product is purchased. In S134, route guidance is provided to a specialty product store where the user has issued a stop instruction.

  FIG. 13 shows a change part of the flowchart in which the car navigation method of FIGS. 10 and 11 is partially changed. The changed part is that S139 and S140 are added before S110. In S139, it is determined whether or not the current location is a predetermined distance or more from the home. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S140 and S112, respectively. There is a case where the user's home is located in the tourist area, and the determination in S139 prevents the special product and the special food guide from being presented in such a case. In S140, the number of times that the destination (= the set destination) is set as the destination within the past predetermined period (eg, June) from the present is detected, and the number of times is set to a predetermined value (eg, 1). ), And if the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S110 and S112, respectively. In some cases, the user's place of work is in a tourist area, or the user has recently traveled frequently in a tourist area. In such a case, the determination in S140 is negative, and the specialty product and You can cancel information on special dishes.

  FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an embodiment of the car navigation method of FIG. This embodiment is used, for example, when a business trip is made from Tokyo to Osaka by car and it is time for lunch or dinner in Nagoya. In S145, it is determined whether or not the current location is a predetermined distance or more from the starting point and the destination. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S146 and S112, respectively. In S146, it is detected from the history of the storage device how many times the destination (currently set destination) has been set as the destination within the predetermined period in the past, and whether the destination setting count is less than the predetermined value. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S147 and S112, respectively. The user frequently visits his / her destination from home or work for reasons such as business trips, and in such a case, it is not necessary to eat special dishes at this time in areas such as Nagoya. Serves to eliminate such cases. In S147, it is determined whether or not it is currently a meal time zone. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S148 and S112, respectively. The determination in S147 is such that guidance to a specialty restaurant is not performed unless it is a meal time zone.

  In S148, a specialty restaurant in the area where the current location is located is searched, and it is determined whether or not a specialty restaurant is found as a result of the search. If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S149 and S112, respectively. In S 149, it is determined whether or not the number of times of guidance (= the number of times of execution of the routine of FIG. 14) of the specialty product dealer in the area (area where the destination exists) within the past predetermined period is less than a predetermined value, If the determination is positive or negative, the process proceeds to S150 and S112, respectively. In S150, a route search to a specialty restaurant found by the search in S148 is performed. If there are a plurality of specialty restaurants found by the search in S148, prior to the execution of S150, information relating to the plurality of specialty restaurants is presented, and one specialty restaurant among them is presented by the user. In S150, a route search to the selected specialty restaurant can be performed. In S151, the user is guided to a specialty restaurant based on the route searched in S150.

  FIG. 15 is a hardware configuration diagram of the car navigation apparatus 10. The car navigation devices 40 and 55 described above also use the same hardware as the car navigation device 10. The GPS module 151 detects the position of the vehicle based on radio waves from GPS satellites. A VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System) module 152 receives road congestion information from FM multiplex broadcasting or the like. The TV tuner 153 outputs video and audio signals related to TV broadcast radio waves such as VHF and UHF. The hard disk device 154 includes a map database 155 and can freely write and read music data dubbed from a CD or the like. The CD / DVD drive 158 can read data for the map database 155 from a predetermined CD-ROM, and can read data for reproducing music and movies from a music CD or DVD. The processing and control device 160 includes a CPU, receives data and signals from the GPS module 151, the VICS module 152, the TV tuner 153, the hard disk device 154, and the CD / DVD drive 158, and executes various processes. The image generator 162 generates an image display signal based on the data input from the processing and control device 160 and outputs it to the monitor 163. The D / A converter 165 receives the digital audio signal from the processing and control device 160, converts it into an analog audio signal, and outputs it to the speaker 166. The car navigation apparatus 10 sets a music CD in the CD / DVD drive 158, reproduces music recorded on the music CD, emits sound from the speaker 166, and plays a movie DVD on the CD / DVD drive 158. The movie recorded on the movie DVD is reproduced, the video is displayed on the monitor 163, and the sound is emitted from the speaker 166. The car navigation device 10 is further equipped with a mobile communication device 169 and a microphone 170. The mobile communication device 169 may be a mobile phone with a display, and the user can carry the mobile communication device 169 separately from the car navigation device 10 when leaving the car. Yes. The microphone 170 converts the user's speech into an electrical signal and sends it to the processing and control device 160.

  The processing and control device 160 is equipped with a NAVI board for the navigation unit 231 (FIG. 16) and an agent system 200 (FIG. 16) for voice recognition and dialogue. The route guidance in the navigation unit 231 is, for example, when a map of a predetermined scale including the marked current location and a recommended route are visually displayed on the monitor 163 and the recommended route is overlapped with the route guidance point. It is implemented by voice guidance of course changes.

  FIG. 16 is a detailed configuration diagram of the agent system 200. The agent system 200 includes a voice input unit 201, a voice recognition unit 202, a natural language analysis unit 203, an agent processing unit 207, a voice synthesis processing unit 220, a voice output unit 226, and an input / output target device group 230. The basic operations of the agent in the agent system 200 are: (a) Recognizing the input speech: (voice recognition processing), (b) Determine the operation (question to the user, device control, etc.) based on the recognized words: (Agent processing), and (c) Execution of response operation (speech output, device control) to the user (speech synthesis + α). First, the speech of speech recognition and speech synthesis will be schematically described, and then the role of the agent system 200 in the car navigation device 10 will be described.

  In the voice input unit 201, voice by the user is input. The voice recognition unit 202 recognizes the user's utterance by voice recognition. At this time, the input speech is recognized in cooperation with the word D / B (D / B: database) 212 of the agent processing unit 207. There are various voice recognition methods, for example, as follows.

  The degree of matching between the waveform of the input speech and the waveform of each word in the word D / B 212 is calculated. The calculation result is output as a likelihood (score). At this time, the word having the maximum score may be recognized as a word of the input speech, or all words having a predetermined score or more may be processed as candidates.

  For example, the natural language analysis unit 203 extracts predetermined parts of speech (for example, only nouns and verbs) from the input speech. As a result, even if the input voice is made by the user's natural utterance (for example, “Ah-I’m hungry”), only the keywords necessary for the process are extracted.

  The agent processing unit 207 performs control such as asking the user based on the predetermined part of speech input from the natural language analysis unit 203. For example, the user utterance “I am hungry” → Agent “Do you want to eat?” Specifically, the category to which the recognized word belongs is identified, and the conversation flow of the identified category is entered. FIG. 17 is a relationship diagram between recognized words and categories. When the above-mentioned “I am hungry” is input, the “hungry” and “sit” are recognized and sorted by the speech recognition unit 202 and the natural language analysis unit 203, and the agent processing unit 207 that receives them is Identify which category these words belong to. From the above relationship diagram, since it is identified that both “abdomen” and “sui” belong to the category of meals, the conversation flow related to “meal” is entered based on this.

  For example, when a “meal” flow trigger is applied, a voice synthesis of “going to a meal?” Is performed (to be described later), and the user is asked a question. Then, the conversation flow proceeds according to the user's response. Until a transition is made to a predetermined step, for example, “meal place navigation setting”, the voice input by the user of the voice input unit 201, the user's utterance recognition of the voice recognition unit 202, and the input voice in the natural language analysis unit 203 Control (including speech synthesis) such as part-of-speech extraction and inquiry to the user in the agent processing unit 207 is repeated.

  The speech synthesis in the speech synthesis processing unit 220 is basically speech synthesis by “sound piece synthesis D / B 221”. A sound piece is a set of speech composed of a predetermined length, specifically, one or more phonemes. For example, by recording “for meals” and “do you want to go?” And having them in the speech synthesis D / B 221 as words for speech synthesis, connecting them together will say “Do you want to go to meals”? Speech synthesis of very natural speech is possible. However, in some cases, there is a case where the word to be synthesized does not exist in the sound piece synthesizing D / B 221. In that case, a word is created by machine synthesis from the phoneme synthesis D / B 222. Naturally, the speech synthesis is not as smooth as the speech synthesis D / B 221, but it is a mechanical synthesis called a robot voice, so synthesis using the phoneme synthesis D / B 222 complements the synthesis of the speech synthesis. It will be used in the meaning.

  More specifically, when a word to be synthesized is determined, a “prosodic prediction” process is performed. Prosodic prediction is the prediction of intonation of words from the sequence of words. In a simple example, the question word is raised. Actually, the prediction is made in more detail. There are various inflections within one word, so this is predicted individually. For example, the words “Minami Urawa” and “Urawa Minami” are the same “Minami” and “Urawa”, but the intonation differs depending on how they are used. Then, each of the sound pieces having the prosody closest to the predicted prosody is selected from the sound piece synthesis D / B 221, and these are connected to determine the voice to be synthesized. In addition, utterance speed (whether to say slowly or quickly) can also be added to the index of sound piece selection.

  Next, a specific role of the agent system 200 in the car navigation device 10 will be described. The audio input unit 201 includes, for example, a microphone 86, an AF (Audio Frequency) amplifier, a sampler, an A / D (Analog-to-Digital) converter, and the like. The sound input unit 201 amplifies a sound signal representing sound collected by its own microphone / microphone 86, samples and A / D-converts, thereby generating sound data in digital format representing the sound. Then, this voice data is supplied to the voice recognition unit 202.

  The speech recognition unit 202, the natural language analysis unit 203, the speech synthesis processing unit 220, and the agent processing unit 207 each include, for example, a processor including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and a hard disk device that stores a program executed by the processor. And a volatile memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) having a storage area as a work area of the processor.

  Note that a part of or all of the functions of the speech recognition unit 202, the natural language analysis unit 203, the speech synthesis processing unit 220, and the agent processing unit 207 are performed by a single processor, a single nonvolatile memory, or a single volatile memory. You may make it perform.

  When the voice recognition unit 202 is supplied with voice data from the voice input unit 201, for example, after performing processing for removing noise included in the voice data, the voice recognition unit 202 reads a word D / B in the agent processing unit 207 described later. Referring to this speech data, a speech recognition process is performed on the speech data to identify all word candidates that can be represented by the speech data and the likelihood (score) of the candidates.

  Specifically, the speech recognition unit 202 calculates, for example, the degree of matching between the input speech and all the words registered in the word D / B, that is, the likelihood (score). Recognize which is the highest. For example, the voice data representing a voice that expresses the sentence “Huh?” Has been reduced, but the part of “???” can be recognized as “abdomen” or “grave”. When supplied, for the “???” part, the score for each word is calculated such that the score for the word “belly” is 80%, the score for the word “grave” is 65%, and so on. Then, “the stomach” showing the highest value is selected as the word represented by the part “???”. Then, the speech recognition unit 202 generates a text character string (or word ID (IDentifier)) indicating a recognition result “Eh, I am hungry” and supplies it to the natural language analysis unit 203.

  Note that the speech recognition method performed by the speech recognition unit 202 is arbitrary. Further, a word whose score value is lower than a predetermined value may not be selected as a candidate. In addition, a plurality of word candidates may be specified for one voice input (in this case, instead of selecting one word “belly” as described above, selecting “belly” and “grave”) Are sent to the natural language analysis unit 203). Then, data indicating the identified candidate and the score of the candidate (hereinafter referred to as word data) is generated and supplied to the natural language analysis unit 203.

  Note that the word data may include the word information itself and the score, but in reality, it is advantageous in handling the data to include the word ID and the score.

  The natural language analysis unit 203 classifies the words represented by the word data for each part of speech by performing a process of performing morphological analysis on the word data (or text data) supplied from the speech recognition unit 202. Data indicating the classification result is attached to the word data and supplied to the agent processing unit 207. The classification method performed by the natural language analysis unit 203 is arbitrary. For example, “ChaSen”, which is a Japanese morphological analysis method developed at Nara Institute of Science and Technology, may be used.

  The non-volatile memory of the speech synthesis processing unit 220 further stores a speech segment synthesis D / B that stores data representing the waveform of a word and a phoneme synthesis D / B that stores data representing the waveform of a phoneme. To do. Then, the speech synthesis processing unit 220 uses the data stored in the sound piece D / B or the phoneme D / B, and the text data supplied from the agent processing unit 207 by a recording editing method or a rule synthesis method. To generate voice data in a digital format representing the voice to read out. Then, the generated audio data is supplied to the audio output unit 226.

  The audio output unit 226 includes, for example, a D / A (Digital-to-Analog) converter, an AF amplifier, a speaker, and the like. The audio output unit 226 reproduces the audio represented by the audio data by D / A converting and amplifying the audio data supplied from the audio synthesis processing unit 220 and driving the speaker using the obtained analog signal. To do.

  The input / output target device group 230 includes, for example, a navigation unit 231 and a clock 232. The navigation unit 231 is the NAVI board NAVI board 81 shown in FIG. 9, and includes a GPS (Global Positioning System) mobile station, a display device such as a liquid crystal display, and a known car navigation system using a processor. . The navigation unit 231 stores map information representing a map, detects the current position of the vehicle in accordance with a control signal supplied by the agent processing unit 207, and generates data indicating which position on the map the detected current position corresponds to. Then, the information is supplied to the agent processing unit 207 together with the map information representing the map near the current position. In addition, a map near the current position is displayed together with a graphic indicating the current position.

  The clock 232 is composed of, for example, a crystal oscillator or a counter circuit, and continuously generates data indicating the current time and supplies the data to the agent processing unit 207. Note that time information obtained from the GPS may be supplied via the navigation unit 231.

  Returning to the agent processing unit 207, the agent processing unit 207 further includes a communication control device 208 including a modem, a packet communication terminal, and the like, and is connected to an external network via the communication control device 208.

  Further, the non-volatile memory of the agent processing unit 207 further stores the word D / B 212. The word D / B 212 is a D / B that stores data indicating a word and a category dictionary 211 for indicating under what concept or category the word is grouped.

  The category dictionary 211 has a data structure shown in FIG. 17, for example. That is, the category dictionary 211 stores data indicating a word and data indicating a category to which the word belongs in association with each other. For example, in the example illustrated in FIG. 17, the word “decreased” is associated with the category “meal”. One word may belong to a plurality of categories. (For example, in the example shown in FIG. 17, the word “abdomen” is associated with the categories “meal” and “hospital”.)

  Then, when a plurality of words are included in the same sentence, the agent system 200 treats only the category to which these words belong in common as the category to which these words belong, so that these words are It is possible to grasp the intentions spoken according to the context. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 17, when a set of word data constituting the sentence “I am hungry” is supplied from the natural language analysis unit 203 to the agent processing unit 207, the agent processing unit 207 determines that the word “abdomen”. In addition, only the category to which “decreased” belongs, that is, “meal”, can be treated as the category to which the words “abdomen” and “decreased” belong, as long as the processing related to the sentence is performed. Similarly, if the set of word data represents the user's utterance “I want to go to a meal”, only the category “meal” to which the words “meal” and “I want to go” belong in common is written in the sentence “Meal”. As long as the process related to “I want to go to” is performed, it can be treated as a category to which the words “meal” and “want to go” belong.

  In addition, the agent processing unit 207 uses only the word data supplied from the natural language analysis unit 203 that represents a specific part of speech (for example, only nouns and verbs) for subsequent processing performed by the agent processing unit 207. Also good.

  Note that the category to which a word belongs does not necessarily need to be specified from a combination of a plurality of words. For example, since the word “sui” is associated only with the category “meal”, when word data representing the word “sui” is supplied, the agent processing unit 207 performs a discrimination process in combination with other words. The word data may be handled as belonging to the category “meal” without needing to be performed.

  The non-volatile memory of the agent processing unit 207 appropriately stores place names D / B, specialty products D / B, and specialty dishes D / B (not shown).

55: Car navigation apparatus, 56: 3a determination means, 57: 3b determination means, 57: 3c determination means, 59: specialty restaurant search means, 60: specialty restaurant information presentation means, 64: route Search means, 65: route guidance means.

Claims (3)

3a determining means for performing the determination of 3a as to whether or not the current location is at least a predetermined distance from the home;
3b determining means for performing the determination in 3b as to whether or not the number of visits in the past predetermined period from the present to the predetermined area including the current location is less than a predetermined value;
3c determining means for performing the determination of 3c as to whether or not the present time is a meal time zone,
When all of the determinations of 3a to 3c are positive, a specialty restaurant search means for searching for a specialty restaurant that provides specialty dishes related to the predetermined area in a predetermined area including the current location, and a result of the search, A specialty restaurant information presentation means for presenting information relating to the found specialty restaurant to the user as specialty restaurant information,
A car navigation device characterized by comprising: A determination step of 3a for performing the determination of 3a on whether or not the current location is at least a predetermined distance from the home;
A 3b determination step for performing a determination of 3b as to whether or not the number of visits in the past predetermined period from the present to the predetermined area including the current position is less than a predetermined value;
3c determination step for performing the determination of 3c whether or not the present time is a meal time zone,
A specialty restaurant search step for searching for a specialty restaurant that provides specialty dishes related to the predetermined area in a predetermined area including the current location when all of the determinations of the third to third c are positive;
As a result of the search, a specialty restaurant information presentation step for presenting information related to the found specialty restaurant to the user as specialty restaurant information,
A route in which a user searches for a recommended route to a destination via a guidance-requested specialty restaurant, by calling the specialty-requested specialty restaurant where the user requested guidance based on the presented specialty restaurant information. A search step, and a route guidance step for performing route guidance based on the recommended route,
A car navigation method characterized by comprising:   The program for functioning a computer as each means of the car navigation apparatus of Claim 1.

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