JP5293571B2 - Information providing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device for providing information, which provides users even with insignificant information according to the significance of information to the users. <P>SOLUTION: The information providing device includes: a significance application means 122 for applying the significance of various types of information presented to a user to each information; a serious consideration level setting means 210 for setting the level of serious consideration showing how it is seriously considered by the user to each information with respect to the various types of information; a priority setting means 113 for setting the priority of the various types of information to each information based on the set level of serious consideration and the applied significance; a priority selection means 113 for, when the various types of information can be output, comparing the priority of the various types of information, and for preferentially selecting the information whose priority is high; and a threshold excess determination means 112 for determining whether the significance of the information presented by the information presentation means exceeds an output threshold as the lower limit of significance which can be presented to the user, and for changing the output threshold of each information according to the level of serious consideration of each information set by the serious consideration level setting means. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&amp;INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus and method.

  As a conventional technique, for example, an in-vehicle information providing apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is known. In this in-vehicle information providing apparatus, a technology that uses voice and display, increases the provision time of information that is set to a high degree of importance among a plurality of acquired information, and accelerates the presentation timing Is described.

JP 2005-4372 A

  However, in the information providing apparatus and method described in Patent Document 1, in order to increase the provision time of information with high importance or to advance the timing of presentation, information with high importance for the user has importance. If it is low, there is a possibility that it cannot be presented to the user.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an information providing apparatus and method capable of presenting information having high importance to the user to the user even when the importance is low.

  The information providing apparatus according to the present invention includes an importance level assigning unit that assigns importance levels of a plurality of types of information presented to a user to each information, and an importance level that indicates a level of importance of the user with respect to the multiple types of information. A priority setting means for setting each information, a priority setting means for setting the priority of a plurality of types of information to each information based on the set importance and the assigned importance, and a plurality of types When information can be output, the priority of multiple types of information is compared, priority selection means for preferentially selecting information with high priority, and the importance of information presented by the information presentation means is presented to the user It is determined whether or not an output threshold that is a lower limit of possible importance is exceeded, and the output threshold of each information is changed according to the importance for each information set by the importance setting means. And a thresholds excess determination means.

  According to the present invention, importance is given to information to be output, and the priority of information can be set comprehensively based on the importance of the user and the importance of the information. Even so, if the importance of information is high, it can be preferentially output. In addition, it is determined whether the importance of the information to be presented exceeds the output threshold which is the lower limit of the importance that can be presented to the user, and the output threshold of each information is set according to the importance for each set information. Since the information is changed, information with high importance for the user can be presented to the user even when the importance is low.

It is a block diagram of the information provision apparatus of Example 1 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an importance input device. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of the information providing apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a basic operation of the information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of the importance of each information. It is a block diagram of the information provision apparatus of Example 2 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of information presentation including importance assignment | providing and threshold excess determination. It is a figure which shows the importance setting apparatus for every category. It is a block diagram of the information provision apparatus of Example 3 of this invention. It is a figure which shows an importance degree pattern selection apparatus. It is a figure which shows the importance level pattern for every scene. It is a figure which shows the importance level pattern for every character. It is a figure which shows the importance level pattern for every user profile. It is a figure which shows the profile for the importance level pattern default value for every user. It is a figure which shows the importance level pattern for every user state. It is a figure which shows required passage time and the frequency | count of occurrence. It is a figure which shows the example of the importance which changes with the time until event occurrence. It is a figure which shows the example of the importance which falls with time progress from event occurrence. It is a block diagram of the information provision apparatus of Example 4 of this invention. It is a block diagram of the information provision apparatus of Example 5 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example which determines allocation of information presentation time by making travel time into the unit of information presentation. It is a figure which shows the change of the information presentation cycle by the unit time change of information presentation. It is a block diagram of the information provision apparatus of Example 6 of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation | movement of the information presentation using an information presentation schedule. It is a figure which shows new information addition to an information presentation stack. It is a figure which shows the information output in an information presentation stack. It is a figure which shows the example of the information from which a priority changes with time, and the information which does not change.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  First, the configuration of the information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Example 1 describes a basic configuration of an information providing apparatus in which a user sets importance levels of information presented from a plurality of types of information presentation apparatuses, and information to be output is determined according to priority changed according to the importance levels. .

  The importance setting method, the priority assignment method, and the priority comparison method shown in the first embodiment are not limited to only the combination of the embodiments shown here, and the importance assignment method or the importance shown in the other embodiments, respectively. The degree setting method and the importance level pattern selection method, the priority assignment method, the priority comparison method, and the information presentation amount adjustment method can be replaced with other methods, and the importance setting method, the threshold excess determination method, and information Combination with the presentation amount adjustment method is also possible.

  The information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 is mounted on a vehicle and presents various information to the driver during the driving of the vehicle. The information providing device includes a main control device 110, an importance setting device 210, an information display device 220, an audio output device 230, and a plurality of information presentation devices 310 to 330. Main controller 110 is composed of a CPU. The importance level setting device 210 includes a touch panel or a switch. The information display device 220 includes a display. The audio output device 230 includes a speaker.

  The traffic information presentation unit 311 included in the information presentation device 310 acquires traffic congestion information from the VICS information receiver 250, and the route information presentation unit 321 included in the information presentation device 320 acquires route information from the navigation device 240. A music selection unit 331 included in the information presentation device 330 selects, reads, and plays music stored in the hard disk 260. The main controller 110 includes an importance level table 111, a priority comparison unit 113, and an information output control unit 114.

(Importance level setting method 1)
The importance level setting device 210 is an equalizer type input device composed of a plurality of lever type switches, or an equalizer type input device displayed on a display, and sets importance levels of a plurality of types of information. An example of the importance level setting device 210 is shown in FIG. The importance level setting device 210 illustrated in FIG. 2 sets importance levels for route guidance, traffic jam information, facility information, music, and news. In the example of FIG. 2, the importance level is expressed by a numerical value 211 from 1 to 10, and the importance level 213 of each information can be changed by moving the lever 212 prepared for each information up and down.

  The importance level of each piece of information set by the importance level setting device 210 is stored in the importance level table 111 including a memory. FIG. 5 shows an example of the importance level of each information stored in the importance level table 11. The importance level is set for each type of information output by each of the information presentation devices 310 to 330, and is stored in the importance level table 111 as information types D511 to D515 and respective importance levels D521 to D525.

  The information presenting device 310 presents VICS traffic jam information obtained from the VICS receiver 250, the information presenting device 320 presents route guidance information of the car navigation system 240, and the information presenting device 330 selects and reproduces music in the HDD 266. Present. Other information presentation devices include news reading devices that read news on the Internet, facility information presentation devices that present information on nearby tourist facilities, maintenance information presentation devices that present vehicle maintenance information, and fuel consumption status There are a fuel consumption information presenting device to be presented, a mail reading device for reading out a mail on a mobile phone or the Internet, and the like, but not limited to the information presenting devices 310 to 330 listed here.

  Next, the operation in the first embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 3 (operation of the main control device) and the flowchart of FIG. 4 (operation of each information presentation device 310 to 330).

  Each information presentation device 310-330 transmits an output request message to inform main controller 110 that it is ready to present information at the timing (S401) determined to be necessary in each device by the output trigger (S402). Then, an output permission waiting state is entered (S403).

  The main controller 110 receives the output request message from each of the information presentation devices 310 to 330 (S301). When receiving the output request message (S301) from each of the information presentation devices 310 to 330, the main control device 110 checks whether there is information waiting for output completion (S302). If there is no output completion waiting information, the output permission information is stored in the priority comparison unit 113 as the output information together with the priority (S306), and the output permission is given to the new information that has received the output request. (S307).

(Priority assignment method 1)
As for the priority, the importance specified by the user using the importance setting device 210 is set as the priority. This is referred to as a priority assignment method 1.

(Priority comparison method 1)
The information presentation devices 310 to 330 that have transmitted the output request message receive the output permission / non-permission message (S404), check whether this message is output permission (S405), and output information if permitted. (S406). When the output is completed, the information presentation devices 310 to 330 transmit an output completion message to the main control device 110 (S407), and the process ends.

  The priority comparison unit 113 in the main controller 110 receives the output request message (S301) from each of the information presentation devices 310 to 330, and checks whether there is information waiting for output completion (S302). If there is information, the priority of the information waiting for output completion (in-output information) stored in S306 is compared with the priority of information (new information) for which a new output request has been issued (S303).

  If the priority of the new information is higher than the priority of the information being output, the output of the information being output is stopped (S304), and the priority of the new information is saved as the priority of the information being output (S306). An output permission is given to the new information (S307).

  As a result of comparing the priority of the new information with the priority of the information being output (S303), if the priority of the new information is lower than the priority of the information being output, an output non-permission message is sent to the new information. Transmit (S305).

  When the importance shown in FIG. 5 is registered, when music (D514) with priority 2 (D524) is being played back, new information is output even when there is a new output request from any other information. The During the traffic jam information (D512) guidance, since the priority is 6 (D522), the traffic jam information is displayed only when there is a request for output of the route guidance (D511) having a higher priority of 8 (D521). The route guidance is output after being interrupted, but if there is an output request for other information, these are rejected, and an output non-permission message is sent to the information presenting apparatus that made the output request (S305).

  As described above, the priority of the information being output is compared with the priority of the new information, and the output of the new information is permitted only when the priority of the new information is higher than the priority of the information being output. The method is priority comparison method 1.

  When the main control device 110 receives an output completion message from the information presentation devices 310 to 330 (S308), it deletes the priority of the information being output saved in S306 (S309), ends the processing, and each information presentation device The output request message from 310 to 330 is awaited.

  As described above, according to the information providing apparatus of the first embodiment, since the ease of outputting each information changes according to the importance (priority) of the plurality of information set by the user, the user can output a plurality of information. It is possible to control information that is preferentially output when in a waiting state.

  Next, the configuration of the information providing apparatus according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the configuration diagram of FIG. The second embodiment shows an example in which importance is set for each category of information, an example in which importance is assigned to each output information, and an importance changes priority, and an example in which output is determined based on an output threshold.

  The importance level setting method, the importance level pattern selection method, the importance level assignment method, the threshold setting method, the priority level assignment method, the priority level comparison method, and the presentation information amount adjustment method according to the second embodiment are limited to only combinations of the second embodiment. Can be replaced with the importance setting method or importance setting method and importance pattern selection method, threshold setting method, priority assignment method, priority comparison method, information presentation amount adjustment method shown in other embodiments It is. Further, it is possible to adopt a configuration that does not have any or all of the importance setting device 210 and the threshold excess determination unit 112.

  The information providing apparatus according to the second embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 is different from the information providing apparatus according to the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1 in that the main control further includes an importance level table 121, an importance level assigning unit 122, and a threshold excess determination unit 112. The device 110a is different.

(Importance level setting method 2)
An example of the importance level setting device 210 is shown in FIG. The importance level setting device 210 shown in FIG. 8 sets the importance levels of route guidance, traffic jam information, facility information, music, and news. In the example of FIG. 8, the importance (D805-2) of each information can be changed by moving the lever (D805-1) prepared for each information up and down. In the example of FIG. 8, the importance level can be adjusted collectively for the importance levels of a plurality of similar information. In the example of FIG. 8, when the detail button of each category is pressed, the importance level of each information in the category is displayed.

  For example, when the route guidance detail button (D801-3) is pressed, information on the route guidance category, such as right / left turn guidance, straight travel guidance, arrival time guidance, road regulation information, and importance on the road shape are individually set. A possible route guidance category importance setting screen (D810) is displayed.

  For example, if the importance level of a news category is changed from 3 to 6, the importance level of news, politics, economy, entertainment, domestic and overseas news, which is information in the news category, is linked to the change in the importance level of the news category. 3 is added. The importance degree interlocking method may change the importance degree of each information according to the ratio (3/6) = 50% of the change value 3 occupying the value 6 before the change. In this case, if the importance level before the change is as small as 1, the value after the change is 1.5 by adding 50%, and the fluctuation range is small, and if the importance level before the change is relatively large as 6, the value after the change is 9 The fluctuation range becomes large. The importance level may be set for each category and individually. In this way, the method of setting the importance level for each category is referred to as importance level setting method 2.

  In this way, multiple items of information are classified into categories, and those classified into the same category can set the importance level by a single input. Therefore, even when there are many types of information, the number of user's priority level individual setting operations Can be suppressed within a certain number of times.

(Importance method 1)
Next, the importance will be described. The importance level table 121 determines the importance level for each output information of the information presentation devices 310 to 330. The importance level assigning unit 122 refers to the importance level table 121, and when there is an information output request from each of the information presentation devices 310 to 330, gives the importance level of these pieces of information. As in the second embodiment, a method of assigning importance, which is a fixed value registered in the importance table 121, as importance of each information is referred to as importance assigning method 1.

  Each information presentation device 310 to 330 makes an information output request to the main control device 110a together with the importance of the information at a timing when it is determined that information presentation is necessary. The threshold excess determination unit 112 determines whether the importance of each information exceeds the lowest level of importance (= threshold) that can be output, and it is necessary to actually perform the output requested from each of the information presentation devices 310 to 330. Determine if there is any.

(Threshold setting method 1)
The threshold excess determination unit 112 sets a threshold in advance according to the importance level held in the importance level table 111. Here, since information with high importance set is output even when the importance is low, a low threshold is set, and information with low importance set can be output only when the importance is high. Set a high threshold to The set threshold is updated when the importance is changed. As in this example, a threshold setting method in which the output threshold is determined only by the importance level is referred to as threshold setting method 1.

  Next, the operation of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, when the main control device 110a receives an output request (S701) from each of the information presentation devices 310 to 330, the importance level assigning unit 122 refers to the importance level table 121 and outputs an output request from each of the information presentation devices 310 to 330. Importance is assigned to (S702). The threshold excess determining unit 112 determines whether or not the importance given by the importance assigning unit 122 of the information requested to be output from each information presentation device 310 to 330 exceeds the output threshold. If the importance is less than or equal to the output threshold, the information output request is rejected, and an output non-permission message is transmitted to the information presentation device that has made the output request (S710).

(Priority assignment method 2)
If the importance of the new information exceeds the output threshold, an output request is passed to the priority comparison unit 113, and the priority comparison unit 113 gives priority to the new information (S704). The priority is a value obtained by correcting the importance assigned by the importance assigning unit 112 with the importance stored in the importance table 111.

  For example, when the importance level of the route guidance information given by the importance level giving unit 122 is 8 and the importance level of the route guidance information held in the importance level table 111 is 3, 24 times these values are multiplied. Is the priority. When the importance level of the music given by the importance level assigning unit is 3 and the importance level of the music held in the importance level table is 9, the priority of music is multiplied by the importance level 3 and the importance level 9 27.

  As a result, route guidance is set to 8 for route guidance and music is set to 3 for music, and route guidance is higher than for music. However, the importance set by user input is much higher for music than for route guidance. Music has a higher priority than route guidance. A method of setting a priority by a value obtained by multiplying the importance and the importance in this manner is referred to as a priority assignment method 2.

  In this way, the information providing apparatus gives importance to the information to be output, and since the priority of the information is determined according to the importance set by the user and the importance of each information, the user has low importance Even if it is the type of information for which the degree is set, particularly important information can be preferentially output.

Further, only when the importance of the information presented by the information presentation device exceeds the output threshold of the threshold excess determination unit 112, the information is output, and the output threshold changes according to the importance set by the user Therefore, the user can receive only information having a necessary importance level or higher.

(Priority comparison method 1)
Next, the priority comparison unit 113 checks whether there is information waiting for output completion (S705). If there is no output completion waiting information, the information indicating the output permission is stored in the priority comparison unit 113 together with the priority given as the outputting information (S708), and the output permission is given to the new information received the output request. (S709).

  When the priority comparison unit 113 determines whether there is output completion waiting information (S705), if there is output completion waiting information, the priority of the information being output is compared with the priority of the new information ( S706).

  When the priority of the new information is higher than the priority being output, the output of the information being output is stopped (S707), and the priority of the new information is saved as the priority of the information being output (S708). Output permission is given to the new information (S709).

  As a result of comparing the priority of the new information with the priority during output (S706), if the priority of the new information is lower than the priority during output, an output non-permission message is transmitted for the new information. (S710).

  Next, the configuration of the information providing apparatus according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the configuration diagram of FIG. Example 3 is an example in which a plurality of combinations of importance levels can be registered, an example in which a default pattern is set for the combination of importance levels, an example in which an optimum pattern for the current situation is automatically selected from a plurality of importance level patterns, An example of classification of importance levels in various patterns will be shown.

  Next, an example in which each information presentation device individually sets importance for each information, an example in which the information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 adjusts the presentation amount of information output according to priority, and information to be presented among them An example of adjusting the number of characters of the character information to be presented in the case of the character information, an example of adjusting the number of themes of the information to be presented, and an example of adjusting the information presented by the load that the information presentation gives to the user are shown.

  The importance level setting method, the importance level pattern selection method, the importance level assignment method, the threshold setting method, the priority level assignment method, the priority level comparison method, and the presentation information amount adjustment method according to the third embodiment are limited to the combinations according to the third embodiment. It is possible to replace the importance setting method or importance setting method and importance pattern selection method, threshold setting method, priority assignment method, priority comparison method, and information presentation amount adjustment method shown in the other embodiments. is there. Moreover, it is also possible to employ a configuration that does not have any or all of the importance setting device 210, the threshold excess determination unit 112, and the information presentation amount adjustment unit 116.

  The information providing apparatus according to the third embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9 is different from the information providing apparatus according to the second embodiment illustrated in FIG. 6 in that a main control device 110b having an information presentation amount adjustment unit 116, an importance level pattern selecting device 290, and the like. A plurality of information presentation devices 310a to 340a are provided.

(Importance level setting method 3)
The importance level setting device 210 sets a plurality of importance level patterns. The importance level pattern selection device 290 selects one importance level pattern from a plurality of importance level patterns by a user operation. The importance level pattern selection device 290 is a menu selection type or radio button type interface or exclusive type button switch displayed on the display. An example of the menu selection type importance level pattern selection device 290 on the display is shown in FIG. Importance levels of a plurality of importance level patterns are registered in the importance level table 111. When an importance level pattern is selected on the importance level pattern selection screen, an importance level setting screen for the selected importance level pattern is displayed. The degree can be set.

  In this way, a combination of importance levels of a plurality of information can be registered for each scene, and when the scene is detected, information is presented by a combination of importance levels suitable for the scene. Information that suits the scene can be received without an operation of changing the combination pattern of importance. In addition, since the combination pattern of importance is set for each scene, information can be presented with different priorities for each scene.

  An example of a plurality of importance level patterns is shown in FIG. In the examples of FIGS. 10 and 11, the importance level pattern is set for each scene using the information presenting apparatus. When, for example, the scene “shopping” D1012 is selected from the importance level pattern selection screen (D1000), the importance level pattern D1120 for the “shopping” scene is displayed from the importance level pattern D1100 for each scene. Items for setting the importance level registered in the plurality of importance level patterns may be different for each pattern. For example, in the emphasis level pattern for commuting scenes, information on facilities can be collectively set as “facility information” D1113, but in the emphasis level pattern for shopping scenes, “sale” D1113, The importance level of information related to the “coupon” D1114 can be set individually.

  The combination pattern of importance is not limited to registration for each scene. FIG. 12 shows an example in which an importance level pattern is set for each character. In the example of FIG. 12, an importance pattern can be set for each occupation of the character, such as an announcer D1210, a musician D1220, a popular actor D1220, and a sports player D1220. Fictitious character name.

  As described above, since the combination pattern of importance is set for each user profile, information suitable for each user profile can be received even when a plurality of users use it.

  FIG. 13 shows an example of setting for each user profile as another example of setting method of the combination pattern of importance levels. Since the importance level pattern can be registered for each user, each importance level pattern can be set even when a plurality of users share the same information presentation apparatus.

  FIG. 15 shows an example in which a combination pattern of importance is set for each user state. Here, importance level patterns can be registered for each mood such as “I want to sleep” D1510, “I hurry” D1520, “Happy” D1530, and “Sad” D1540. In this way, a method of setting a plurality of importance levels is referred to as an importance level setting method 3. Thus, since the combination pattern of importance is set for each state of the user, the user can receive information presentation suitable for the state. Since combinations of importance levels of multiple information can be registered in multiple patterns, users need to register the combination patterns of importance levels in advance without changing the importance levels of individual information according to the situation. By simply calling a simple combination pattern, it is possible to receive automatic information presentation suitable for the situation.

(Importance level setting method 4)
In the importance level setting method 3, the user can set the importance levels of a plurality of patterns, but the user does not set the individual importance levels in a plurality of importance levels, but the system sets the default values as default values. An example in which importance is set in advance will be shown.

  When the importance level is set for each scene as in the example of FIG. 11, the importance level of information that is estimated to be important in each scene due to the purpose and destination in the scene, the size of time constraints, etc. Set the importance of information that is high and not considered very important low. For example, in the morning commuting scene, traffic information and news are presumed to be important. In the shopping scene, information related to sales and coupons related to the purpose of shopping is presumed to be important. The default value for degrees is high.

  When the default value is set in the importance level combination pattern for each character in FIG. 12, when the character is a profession, the importance level of information deeply related to the profession is high, and the importance level of information having low relation is set. Set low.

  For example, in the case of “announcer” D1210, since the news-related importance level default value is high and the music importance level default value is set low, information related to news is often presented and music is presented with little information. In the case of a famous or celebrity person, the default value of the importance is determined by the occupation and image of the person.

  When the default value of the importance combination pattern is set for each user profile in FIG. 13, this profile is estimated from these information so that the user can input age D1411, gender D1412, hobby 1413, occupation 1414, etc. other than the name. High importance is set on information important to the user.

  For example, from the profile of Taro D1410, a 47-year-old man in FIG. 14 who enjoys listening to music and whose occupation is a civil servant, it is presumed that he is particularly interested in news related to hobby music and public works. Therefore, the default value of the degree of importance regarding music and news is set high.

  The relationship between the profile and the importance level pattern is obtained by calculating the correlation between the profile of many users and the priority level pattern set by each user and the important items obtained from questionnaires. Can also be set.

  For example, if a male in his 40s has a strong tendency to emphasize news over facility information, and the profile D1410 of Taro whose profile is 47 years old and gender is male is set, the default emphasis on news is high, Set the default emphasis of facility information low.

  As in the example of FIG. 15, when the default value of the importance level pattern is set for each user state, the importance level is determined by the directionality that needs to lead the user state. For example, the presentation of information in D1510 in a situation where the user's arousal level is low is effective in increasing the user's arousal level.

  Also, in the hurry situation D1520, in order to concentrate on driving and arrive at the destination as soon as possible, the default emphasis on route guidance and traffic jam information is high, and information such as facility information that is not related to the destination The default emphasis level is set low.

  Moreover, in the mood D1530 in which the user is happy, the default importance of information that makes the mood more enjoyable, such as bright music, is high, and in the frustrated mood D1540, the default importance of information presentation for relieving stress, such as healing music. Make it high. The default values of these importance levels may be partially changed by the user depending on the situation. In this way, the method of setting the importance level using the default value is referred to as the importance level setting method 4.

  In this way, since the default value is set for the combination pattern of the importance level, the user can call the necessary combination pattern automatically without setting the individual importance level for each pattern, and automatically Information can be received.

(Importance level pattern selection method 1)
Next, a method of selecting an importance level pattern most suitable for each situation from a combination of importance levels having a plurality of patterns will be described. The importance level combination pattern is selected by the user using the importance level pattern selection device 290. The importance level pattern selection device 290 is a menu selection type or radio button type interface or exclusive type button switch displayed on the display. The exclusive button switch may be an icon such as a character representing the selected importance level pattern. An example of the menu selection type importance level pattern selection device 290 on the display is shown in FIG. When the importance level pattern is selected by the importance level pattern selection device 290, the importance level pattern becomes effective. In this way, a method in which the user explicitly selects from a plurality of importance combination patterns is referred to as importance pattern selection method 1.

(Importance method 2)
Next, a method for assigning importance will be described. The information presentation devices 310a and 320a according to the third embodiment include importance level assigning units 312 and 322 that individually set the importance level of information. An example in which the importance of the information presenting device 310a with respect to the traffic jam information is given according to the occurrence probability will be described with reference to FIG.

  The graph of FIG. 16 represents the required passing time required for the vehicle to pass from a certain point A to the point B in a certain time zone and the number of days that the vehicle has passed in the required passing time. VICS probe data and the like can be used for the section passage time.

  From this graph, the number of cases where the required transit time was 30 minutes or more and less than 45 minutes was the most frequent, 16 times, and the next number of cases was 45 minutes or more and less than 60 minutes, followed by 11 times. Cases of less than 30 minutes are 4 times, and cases of 60 minutes or more are the least. That is, it can be seen that the required transit time from point A to point B often takes about 30 to 60 minutes, rarely passes within 30 minutes or less, and rarely takes more than 60 minutes. The amount of information related to the expected transit time at the time of information presentation is obtained from the high possibility of passing through the point that is each required transit time.

Assuming that the probability of occurrence of an event E is P (E), the information amount I (E) of the fact that the event E has occurred is obtained by Equation 1.

  According to the graph of FIG. 16, the occurrence probability for each required passing time from point A to point B is as follows.

Less than 30 minutes ... 4/32 = 1/8
30 minutes or more and less than 45 minutes ... 16/32 = 1/2
45 minutes or more and less than 60 minutes ... 11/32
More than 60 minutes ... 1/32
Therefore, for example, the information amount of the information that “the expected transit time is 30 minutes or more and less than 45 minutes” is obtained as follows.

Further, the information amount of the information “the expected transit time is 60 minutes or more” is obtained as follows.

  The amount of information obtained here is set as the importance. That is, for example, when the expected passage time is 40 minutes, the importance given to this information is 1, and when the expected passage time is 70 minutes, the importance given to this information is 5, and the occurrence probability is The lower the information, the higher the importance. In this way, even if the information is output by the same information presentation device, the importance assigning method 2 is a method of individually assigning different importance depending on the amount of information obtained from the information occurrence probability.

  As described above, since the importance of the information presented by the information presentation devices 310 to 330 changes depending on the occurrence probability of the information to be presented, even when the same type of information rarely occurs. Can be preferentially presented.

(Importance method 3)
Next, an example of an importance level assigning method for changing the importance level of information to be given according to the timing of presenting information will be described with reference to FIGS. 17 and 18. FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating a temporal change in importance of right / left turn guidance information when the information presentation device 320a performs left / right turn guidance, for example. Assuming that the timing for starting the right / left turn is the event occurrence time, the closer the event occurrence time is to t1700, the higher the importance of the information for guiding the right / left turn. For example, the importance of the left / right turn guidance at time t1701 is 5, while the importance at time t1702 after this is 9.

  On the other hand, FIG. 18 shows a temporal change in the importance of the usage fee guide information that informs the usage fee when passing through the ETC, for example. If the ETC usage is the event occurrence time, the importance of the ETC usage fee guide information at the event occurrence time t1800 is 5, but the importance decreases as time passes. The importance level at time t1801 is 4, and the importance level at time t1802 when time has elapsed is 2. As in the example of FIGS. 17 and 18, a method of assigning importance of information whose importance changes depending on the information presentation time is referred to as importance assigning method 3.

  Thus, since the importance which the information which calculates | requires a user's action has becomes so high that the time to a user's action time is short, information with high urgency can be presented preferentially. Also, since the importance of the information reporting the past situation is higher if the elapsed time from the time when the past situation occurs is shorter and lower if the elapsed time is longer, immediately after the past situation occurs It is easy to report, and it becomes difficult to report after the user's interest shifts to others by presenting other information.

(Importance method 4)
In Example 3 of FIG. 9, the information presentation device 310a that presents traffic jam information, the information presentation device 320a that presents route guidance information, and the information presentation device 340a that presents news individually have importance level assignment units 312, 322, and 342. The information presentation device 330 that selects and reproduces music does not have an importance level assigning unit. The importance level assigning unit 122 of the main control device 110b uses this value as it is when the importance level is given to the information from each of the information presentation devices 310a to 340a, and is important for the information from the information presentation devices 310a to 340a. When the degree is not given, the importance degree is given with reference to the importance degree table 121.

  As described above, the importance providing method in which each of the information presentation devices 310a to 340a and the main control device 110b has the importance level assigning unit and the importance level giving unit 122 of the main control device 110b determines the final importance level. The importance level assigning method 4 is used.

  Each of the information presentation devices 310a to 340a makes an information output request to the main control device 110b together with the importance of the information at the timing when it is determined that the information presentation is necessary. The threshold setting by the threshold excess determination unit 112 is based on the threshold setting method 1 described above.

  In the example of FIG. 9, there are a plurality of importance level combination patterns held in the importance level table 111, and the importance level combination patterns selected by the importance level pattern selection device 290 are valid. The threshold excess determination unit 112 selects the importance level of the information requested to be output from the information presentation devices 310a to 340a from the effective importance level combination patterns selected by the importance level pattern selection device 290, and sets the output threshold. Set.

  The operation of the third embodiment of the present invention is the same as the processing of the flowchart of FIG. The priority assignment method is the same as the priority assignment method 2 described above, and a value obtained by multiplying the importance level and the importance level is set as the priority level. The priority comparison method is the same as the priority comparison method 1.

(Information presentation amount adjustment method 1)
The information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 included in the main control device 110b adjusts the amount of information to be output according to the priority set by the priority comparison unit 113, for example, adjusts the number of output characters of the information to be output. When the information permitted to be output by the priority comparison unit 113 is the news presented by the news presentation unit 341 included in the information presentation device 340a, the information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 provides the news provided by the priority comparison unit 113. The number of news output characters is determined with reference to the priority.

  The simplest method for adjusting the amount of information presented is that when the information presentation device 340a can output news in three stages: summary, text, and related news, the priority is divided into three stages according to the priority. Decide whether to read summary only, summary and body, summary, body, or related news. For example, when the priority of 10 levels is 1 to 3, only the summary is read, when 4 to 7, the summary and the text are read out.

The information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 may reconstruct the information itself by means such as summarization. For the summary of the sentence, means such as Reference 1 can be used. [Reference 1: Mochizuki source, Manabu Okumura, Extraction of important parts considering improvement of readability and elimination of redundancy, Natural language processing 139-3, 2000.9.21]
When adjusting the number of characters of news presented by the method of Reference Document 1, it is possible to create a summary sentence by designating a summary rate for the original sentence. Using this, for example, the summarization rate is determined according to priority, and the summarization news is summarized at a low summarization rate when the priority is high, and at a high summarization rate when the priority is low. . Therefore, since the summarization rate is high when the priority is low, the generated news is short, and when the priority is high, the summarization rate is low, and the generated news is high. A method for adjusting the number of characters of information to be presented in this way is referred to as information presentation amount adjustment method 1.

  In this way, the information presentation amount adjustment unit adjusts the presentation amount of each piece of information to be output, so that information with higher importance is presented more. Since the amount of presentation of character information is defined by the number of characters included in the character information, information with higher importance is more likely to be output with a detailed description.

(Information presentation amount adjustment method 2)
The information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 may adjust the number of subjects included in the news. The number of themes may simply be the number of news items. Thus, for example, when the priority of news is high, the number of items read out increases, and when the priority is low, the number of items of news read out decreases. A method for adjusting the number of themes of information to be presented in this way is referred to as information presentation amount adjustment method 2. The information adjusted in this way is output to the information display device 220 and the audio output device 230 by the information output control unit 114.

  Thus, since the amount of information to be presented is defined by the number of subjects included in the information to be presented, information with high importance is detailed including related information, and information with low importance is easy only for the information. It becomes easy to be presented.

  The importance level pattern setting method is a method of setting the importance level for each character, and while the importance level pattern set for each character is selected by the importance level pattern selection device 290, the character is displayed, or When the information to be output is character information, it is easy to understand which importance level pattern is currently selected by reading it out with the voice quality of the character. For example, while the importance level pattern D1210 assigned to the announcer in FIG. 12 is selected, the announcer character D1211 is displayed on the screen, and the information is output as information presented by the selected character. That is, since the combination pattern of importance level is set for each character expressing the pattern, it is easy to estimate the combination pattern of importance level when selecting a pattern from a plurality of combination patterns, and it is easy to select the combination pattern of importance level become.

  Next, the configuration of the information providing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The fourth embodiment shows an example in which the information providing apparatus sets the importance according to the user state and an example in which the optimum pattern for the current situation is automatically selected from a plurality of importance patterns.

  The importance level setting method, the importance level pattern selection method, the importance level assignment method, the threshold setting method, the priority level assignment method, the priority comparison method, and the presentation information amount adjustment method according to the fourth embodiment are limited to the combinations according to the fourth embodiment. It is possible to replace the importance setting method or importance setting method and importance pattern selection method, threshold setting method, priority assignment method, priority comparison method, and information presentation amount adjustment method shown in the other embodiments. is there. Moreover, it is also possible to employ a configuration that does not have any or all of the importance setting device 210, the threshold excess determination unit 112, and the information presentation amount adjustment unit 116.

  The information presentation apparatus according to the fourth embodiment illustrated in FIG. 19 is different from the information providing apparatus according to the third embodiment illustrated in FIG. 9 in that a main control device 110c having a scene estimation unit 115 and a driver state estimation unit 117, a vehicle interior camera 280, An information presentation device 340b having a driver state estimation unit 335 is provided. The vehicle interior camera 280 captures a user's face image, and the driver estimation unit 117 estimates driver determination and driver status based on the captured user's face image. The scene estimation unit 115 acquires information on the destination and the current position from the navigation device 240 and performs scene estimation. The vehicle interior camera 280 is also used for driver state estimation in the information presentation devices 310 to 330.

  Note that the importance setting method by the importance setting device 210 is the same as the importance setting method 4 described above, and a description thereof will be omitted.

(Importance level pattern selection method 2)
Next, a method of selecting an importance level pattern most suitable for each situation from a combination of importance levels having a plurality of patterns will be described. In the fourth embodiment, the main controller 110c estimates the current situation based on the scene estimation performed by the scene estimation unit 115 and the driver state estimation performed by the driver state estimation unit 117, and the emphasis most suitable for the current situation based on the estimation result. A combination pattern of degrees is selected from the importance level table 111.

  A method for automatically selecting an importance level pattern by estimating a scene will be described with reference to FIG. The scene estimation unit 115 estimates the current scene based on the destination and departure point information set in the navigation device 240. For example, when starting from the vicinity of the house and the company is the destination, this is determined as a commuting scene, and the commuting importance level pattern D1110 is selected. When the destination is a supermarket or the like, the shopping importance level pattern D1120 is selected.

  Next, a method for automatically selecting an importance level pattern by determining a user will be described with reference to FIG. As a determination method of the user, there are a method of determining from the face image of the user using the in-vehicle camera 280, a method of determining based on an ID registered in a vehicle key, and the like. When a user is determined by these methods, an importance pattern for the user is automatically selected. For example, when the user is determined to be Taro by user determination using the vehicle interior camera 280, Taro's importance level pattern D1310 is automatically selected.

  Finally, a method for determining the user's state and automatically selecting the importance level pattern will be described with reference to FIG. The driver state estimation unit 117 determines the emotion from the driver's face image captured by the vehicle interior camera 280. The driver's emotion is classified into “normal”, “sleepy”, “fun”, “anger”, etc., and a pattern of importance according to the determined emotion is automatically selected. For example, when the driver state estimation unit 117 detects a decrease in the arousal level based on the eye opening rate, the user state is determined to be “I want to sleep”, and the importance level pattern D1510 for increasing the arousal level when I want to sleep is selected. In this way, a method of determining the user state and automatically selecting an optimum combination pattern from a plurality of importance combination patterns is referred to as importance pattern selection method 2.

  Thus, since the importance of the information presented by the information presentation devices 310 to 340 changes according to the user's state, when the information is determined to be important by estimating from the current user state, It can be preferentially presented.

(Importance method 5)
In Example 4 of FIG. 19, the information presentation device 310 a that presents traffic jam information, the information presentation device 320 a that presents route guidance information, and the information presentation device 340 b that selects and reproduces music include importance level assigning units 312, 322, and 332. The main controller 110c does not have an importance level assigning unit.

  The information presentation device 330b that selects and reproduces music includes a driver state estimation unit 335 that estimates a driver state from a driver's face image captured by the vehicle interior camera 280. High importance is given to music that matches the driver state estimated by the driver state estimation unit 335.

  For example, when it is estimated from the face image that the user is frustrated, high importance is given to music for calming down. On the other hand, when it is determined from the face image that the user's arousal level is lowered, a high importance is given to the uptempo music.

  Since the importance of the information presented by the information presenting apparatuses 310a to 340b changes according to the user's state, when the information is determined to be important as estimated from the current user state, the information is preferentially presented. it can.

  In this way, the importance level assigning method 5 having the importance level assigning units 312, 322, and 332 in each of the information presentation devices 310 to 330 and the main control device 110c is referred to as an importance level giving method 5. The individual importance assigning method in the information presenting apparatus is not limited to the fourth embodiment, and an individual importance assigning method in another embodiment may be used.

  Each of the information presentation devices 310 to 330 makes an information output request to the main control device 110c together with the importance of the information at a timing when it is determined that the information presentation is necessary. The threshold setting method by the threshold excess determination unit 112 is the same as the threshold setting method 1 described above.

  In the example of FIG. 19, there are a plurality of importance level combination patterns held in the importance level table 111, scene estimation by the scene estimation unit 115, driver state estimation by the driver state estimation unit 117, driver determination based on face images, keys, and the like. The combination pattern having the optimum importance level is selected by the situation determination such as, and is effective. The threshold excess determination unit 112 selects the importance level of the information requested to be output from the information presentation devices 310a to 340b from the effective importance level combination patterns, and sets the output threshold.

  The operation in the fourth embodiment of the present invention is the same as the processing of the flowchart of FIG. 7, the priority assignment method is the same as the priority assignment method 2 described above, and the priority comparison method is the priority comparison method described above. Since they are the same as 1, their description is omitted.

(Information presentation amount adjustment method 3)
The information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 according to the fourth embodiment illustrated in FIG. 19 changes the amount of information to be output according to the priority set by the priority comparison unit 113, for example, adjusts the load that the output information may give To do.

  For example, left / right turn guidance, which is information for requesting a user's reaction, and driving advice are considered to have a high load on the user. The next highest load is text information such as news and traffic jam information, and the lowest load is information that does not include language information such as music. In order to keep the load given to the user within a unit time by the information presentation, the load that the information output from a certain time before the current time will not be output continuously so that information with high load will not be output continuously. The amount of information to be presented next is adjusted according to the total amount.

  The method for adjusting the amount of presentation information according to the load applied to the user in this way is referred to as information presentation amount adjustment method 3. The information adjusted in this way is output from the information display device 220 and the audio output device 230 by the information output control unit 114.

  Next, the configuration of the information providing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the configuration diagram of FIG. In the embodiment, an example in which the information providing apparatus sets the importance according to the situation, an example in which the information providing apparatus sets the importance according to the user's preference, and the information providing apparatus causes the user to act by presenting the information An example in which importance is set according to possibility is shown. An example in which the amount of information presented is adjusted according to the output time, an example in which the amount of information presented is determined based on the time ratio for outputting the information within a predetermined time, and the proportion of the information presentation time in the total driving time by the information presentation amount adjustment unit An example in which a certain time is set as the expected total operation time, an example in which the certain time is changed according to the situation, and an example in which the certain time is changed according to the user state are shown.

  The importance level setting method, the importance level pattern selection method, the importance level assigning method, the threshold value setting method, the priority level assigning method, the priority level comparing method, and the presentation information amount adjusting method shown in the fifth example are only combined in the fifth example. There is no limitation, and the importance level setting method or importance level setting method and importance level pattern selection method, threshold setting method, priority assignment method, priority comparison method, information presentation amount adjustment method shown in other embodiments may be replaced. Is possible. Moreover, it is also possible to employ a configuration that does not have any or all of the importance setting device 210, the threshold excess determination unit 112, and the information presentation amount adjustment unit 116.

  20, the information providing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention is different from the information providing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment illustrated in FIG. 19 in that the main control device 110d, the skip input device 270, and the behavior prediction unit in which the scene estimation unit 115 is deleted. Information presentation devices 310b and 320b having presentation information user action histories 314 and 324, and an information presentation device 330b having a preference estimation unit 336.

  When the user feels that the information output from the information providing devices 310b to 330b is unnecessary by the skip input device 270, the skip input device 270 stops outputting this information by skipping. The stop of the information output by the skip input device 270 is used to adjust the importance when the same information is output next as the user's preference regarding the information. The importance setting method by the importance setting device 210 is the same as the importance setting method 1 described above, and a description thereof will be omitted.

(Importance method 6)
The information presentation devices 310b to 330b have importance level assigning units 312, 322, and 332, and the main control device 110d does not have an importance level giving unit. An information presentation device 310b for presenting traffic jam information and an information presentation device 320b for presenting route information record the presented information and whether the user actually acted based on the presented information, presentation information / user behavior history 314, 324. The navigation device 240 has a function of searching for a traffic jam avoidance route when a traffic jam occurs on the planned route. At this time, the information presentation device 310b for traffic jam information indicates the expected operation time when the route is traveled as it is and the expected operation time when the traffic congestion avoidance route is selected.

  Whether the route actually selected by the user is a route that does not avoid traffic congestion, using the difference between the expected operation time when the user has traveled the planned route as it is and the estimated operation time when the traffic jam avoidance route is selected as the shortened time due to traffic jam avoidance It is stored as presentation information / user action history 314 together with whether it is a traffic jam avoidance route.

  Based on this history 314, the behavior prediction unit 313 reduces the time required for avoiding traffic congestion when the route actually selected by the user is a route that does not avoid traffic jam, and the route actually selected by the user is a route that avoids traffic jam The distribution of shortening time due to avoiding traffic jams is calculated. Thereby, the possibility of whether or not the user actually changes the route in the shortened time due to traffic jam avoidance is obtained. When the behavior predicting unit 313 estimates that the possibility that the user actually changes the route is high from the time shortened by the traffic jam avoiding route when the traffic jam occurs, the importance level assigning unit 312 has a high importance level. If the possibility of changing the route is low, a low importance level is assigned.

  The behavior prediction unit 323 predicts the possibility of lane change based on the timing of left / right turn guidance on a multi-lane road. The presentation information / user action history 324 holds the travel time to the right / left turn point after performing the right / left turn guidance on the multi-lane road and the timing of actually changing the lane for the right / left turn. Thereby, the action prediction unit 323 predicts the possibility of changing the lane at the information presentation timing. The importance level assigning unit 322 gives a higher importance level as it is closer to the timing when the lane change is more likely.

  As described above, the information that is more likely to change the behavior of the user in the future has a higher degree of importance. Therefore, the information that needs to be acted is more likely to be presented earlier.

  The preference estimation unit 336 estimates the user's preference from the output permitted and output from the reproduced music and the main control device 110d, but the output is canceled by the user's stop instruction by the skip input device 270. To do. Since the importance of the information presented by the information presentation device changes according to the user's preference, the information estimated to be more preferred by the user can be presented with priority.

  The preference estimation unit 336 estimates that the music, the artist, or the album for which the stop command is issued by the skip input device 270 does not match the user's preference. The importance level assigning unit 332 gives low importance level to music that does not match the preference. Alternatively, the estimated preference is reflected in the music selection criteria of the music selection unit 331.

  The presentation information / user action history 314, 324 and the user's preference shown here are stored for each scene, and the user in the matching scene may actually take action together with the scene estimation unit 115 that estimates the current scene. It may be used as a criterion for assigning importance as the height of the user or the preference of the user.

  In this way, the information presentation devices 310b to 330b assign importance, and the main control device 110d uses the importance presented by the information presentation devices 310b to 330b as it is as the importance assignment method 6. Note that the individual importance assignment method in the information presentation devices 310b to 330b is not limited to the fifth embodiment, and may take the individual importance assignment method in other embodiments.

  Each of the information presentation devices 310b to 330b makes an information output request to the main control device 110d together with the importance of the information at the timing when it is determined that the information presentation is necessary. The threshold setting method by the threshold excess determination unit 112 is the same as the threshold setting method 1 described above.

  In the example of FIG. 20, a combination pattern of importance levels is held in the importance level table 111. The threshold excess determination unit 112 selects the importance level of the information requested to be output from the information presentation devices 310b to 330b from the importance level combination pattern, and sets the output threshold. The operation in the fifth embodiment of the present invention is the same as the processing of the flowchart of FIG. The priority comparison unit 113 performs the processes of the priority assignment method 2 and the priority comparison method 1 described above.

(Information presentation amount adjustment method 4)
The information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 adjusts each information presentation amount according to the driver state estimated by the driver state estimation unit 117. The driver state estimation unit 117 determines the driver's arousal level based on, for example, a face image obtained from the vehicle interior camera 280. When the driver's awakening level is low, the content switching time is quickened by setting the information presentation time of one content short. The aim is to increase the arousal level by speeding up content switching when the arousal level is low. Thus, the method of adjusting the presentation information amount according to the user's state is referred to as the information presentation amount adjustment method 4.

  As described above, the time until the output of a plurality of pieces of information varies depending on the user state estimated by the driver state estimation unit 117. Therefore, the content is frequently switched when the user is tired of the same content being continued. Thus, in a situation where the arousal level is raised and the user concentrates on other work, the interruption of the other work can be avoided by not switching the content frequently.

(Information presentation amount adjustment method 5)
Next, an example will be shown in which the information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 divides the information presentation unit into a certain time and adjusts the amount of information presented within the certain time. Based on the estimated total travel time obtained from the navigation device 240, the output time of one content is determined. FIG. 21 shows a method for determining the ratio of the information presentation time to the total movement time. When the priority of the music and news set by the priority comparison unit 113 is 5 and 7 in 10 levels, the highest priority music is 7 in 10 levels. The ratio of music and news presentation time to the time Tmax is 70% of the expected travel time. Therefore, for example, when the estimated travel time Tmax is 60 minutes, the presentation time of the news and music is 42 minutes.

  The ratio of music and news presentation time to the expected travel time Tmax is 12/20, which is obtained by dividing the value 12 obtained by adding these two priorities by 20 obtained by adding 10 when these two priorities are maximum. (= 60%) may be used.

  Next, the ratio of music and news to the total information presentation time is determined. Again, using the respective priorities, the news priority is 5 and the music priority is 7, so the news and music presentation ratio is 5 to 7. Here, the ratio of the news presentation time to the total travel time is (7/10) × (5/12) = 7/24, and the ratio of the music presentation time to the total travel time is (7/10) × (7 / 12) = 49/120.

  Thus, for example, if the estimated travel time Tmax is 60 minutes, the news presentation time is 60 minutes × (7/24), 17 minutes 30 seconds, and the music presentation time is 60 minutes × (49/120). 24 minutes and 30 seconds.

  Thus, when presenting information that is output for a long time, such as music or news, the total output time is determined and output is started. Since the amount of information to be presented is defined by the information output time, information with higher importance is more likely to be output for a longer time. If there is a request to output other information with higher priority, such as route guidance or traffic jam information, the output of these music and news will be stopped once, but the output of other information with higher priority will be completed. If so, output of music and news is resumed. Thus, the information presentation amount adjustment method 5 that adjusts the ratio of the information presentation time to the total travel time is referred to as the information presentation amount adjustment method 5.

(Information presentation amount adjustment method 6)
Next, a different example will be described in which the information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 divides the information presentation unit into a predetermined time and adjusts the amount of information presented within the predetermined time. At that time, the time distribution of the output time of one content in a predetermined time is determined. In addition, the predetermined time is changed according to the situation. FIG. 22 shows a method for determining the ratio of the information presentation time to the total travel time. In the example of FIG. 22, the predetermined time is changed depending on the current position obtained from the navigation device. D2210 is an example of information presentation time distribution while traveling on a highway. During highway driving, a certain time is set to Th, and information presentation time distribution in the certain time Th is determined by priority. The method for determining the presentation time of each information within a fixed time is the method shown in the information presentation method 5.

  On the other hand, the fixed time during traveling in the city is set to Tt, which is shorter than the fixed time Th during traveling on the expressway. Thus, for example, traffic information is output once per hour during traveling on an expressway, whereas traffic information is output once every 40 minutes while traveling in an urban area.

  Further, these fixed times may be changed according to the driver state obtained by the driver state estimating unit 117. For example, when the driver state estimation unit 117 determines that the driver's arousal level is low, shortening this fixed time speeds up the switching of the content and aims to increase the driver's arousal level.

  In this way, the information presentation amount adjustment method 6 that adjusts the ratio of the information presentation time to the fixed time and changes the fixed time according to the situation is referred to as the information presentation amount adjustment method 6. The information adjusted in this way is output from the information display device 220 and the audio output device 230 by the information output control unit 114.

  In this way, the information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 adjusts the ratio of the presentation amount of each information to the presentation amount of all the presentation information presented within a certain time, and therefore, all the highly important information is all within a certain time. You can finish the output.

  Moreover, since the importance which the information presented by the information presentation devices 310b to 330b has varies depending on the situation, even if the information is the same, it can be preferentially presented when the information is determined to be important. In addition, since the time until the output of multiple pieces of information varies depending on the situation, in a situation where a lot of new information needs to be presented, all the necessary information can be output by outputting each piece of information in a short time. In monotonous situations, such as when driving on the road, one piece of information can be output in detail without frequently switching the source.

  The information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 adjusts the ratio of the presentation amount of each information to the presentation amount of all the presentation information presented within the total information presentation time. Therefore, when the total information presentation time is long, the information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 is highly important. Information is presented in detail, and even when the total information presentation time is short, the output time of each piece of information can be shortened to output all highly important information.

  The configuration of the voice interactive apparatus according to the sixth embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. In the sixth embodiment, the threshold excess determination unit changes the information output threshold according to the user load (claim 10), and the default importance is changed by determining the user preference (claim). Item 19), an example of adjusting the amount of information presented by the driving load of the driver (Claim 25), an example of determining information to be output according to current and future priorities of each information (Claim 30), An example of selecting information having a higher priority in the future when certain information is expected to have a priority higher than a certain value before completion of output of other higher priority information (claim 31); An example of adjusting the output time of information with high current priority when certain information is expected to have a priority higher than a predetermined value before completion of output of information with higher priority of other information (claim 32). Show.

  The importance level setting method, the importance level pattern selection method, the importance level assignment method, the threshold setting method, the priority level assignment method, the priority level comparison method, and the presentation information amount adjustment method shown in the sixth embodiment are limited to the combination of the sixth embodiment. Can be replaced with the importance setting method or importance setting method and importance pattern selection method, threshold setting method, priority assignment method, priority comparison method, information presentation amount adjustment method shown in other embodiments It is. Moreover, it is also possible to employ a configuration that does not have any or all of the importance setting device 210, the threshold excess determination unit 112, and the information presentation amount adjustment unit 116.

  The information providing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment illustrated in FIG. 23 includes a main control device 110e having a preference estimation unit 119, a driving load estimation unit 118, and an information provision schedule 120, a skip input device 270, and a vehicle signal acquisition device 280. And The cancellation of information output by the skip input device 270 is used for adjustment of the default importance setting as a user preference regarding information. Since the degree of importance of information presented by the information presentation device increases as it matches the user's preference, information that matches the user's preference is displayed even in a category or scene in which the user does not set the degree of importance. Precise output is possible.

  The driving load estimation unit 118 estimates the driving load based on the vehicle signal acquired by the vehicle signal acquisition device 280, and uses it for the threshold excess determination and the information presentation amount adjustment. Since the information presentation amount is changed according to the user load estimated by the load estimation unit 118, the information presentation amount can be reduced when the load is large.

  The importance level pattern setting method by the importance level setting device 210 is the same as the importance level pattern setting method 4 described above, and the importance level pattern selection method by the importance level pattern selecting device 290 is the same as the importance level pattern selection method 1 described above. Therefore, the description thereof is omitted.

(Importance assignment method 7)
In Example 6 of FIG. 23, the information presentation devices 310a to 340a have importance level assigning units 312 to 342, and the main control device 110e does not have an importance level giving unit. A news presentation unit 341 that presents news simultaneously outputs a plurality of pieces of information together with importance. For example, importance is assigned to a plurality of news items updated at a certain time every day. At that time, the news is given importance by the degree of attention such as the number of related news and the number of references. In this way, the method of assigning importance to the information presenting apparatuses 310a to 340a and assigning different degrees of importance to a plurality of pieces of information to the main controller 110e at the same time is referred to as importance degree assigning method 7.

  The importance assigning method by the importance assigning units 312 to 342 is the same as the importance assigning method 3 described above, and the description thereof is omitted.

  The operation of the main controller 110e according to the sixth embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 24 and the flowchart of the information presentation apparatus of FIG.

  Each of the information presentation devices 310a to 340a makes an information output request to the main control device 110e together with the importance of the information at a timing when it is determined that information presentation is necessary. The main control device 110e receives the output request message from each of the information presentation devices 310a to 340a (S2401). The priority comparison unit 113 has a presentation information stack, and output requests from the information presentation devices 310a to 340a are once accumulated in the presentation information stack. An example of the presentation information stack is shown in FIG. Next, the threshold excess determination unit 112 checks whether or not the information requested to be output exceeds the lowest level of importance (= threshold) that can be output (S2402), and outputs requested from each of the information presentation devices 310a to 340a. To determine whether it is actually necessary.

(Threshold setting method 2)
The threshold excess determination unit 112 sets a threshold in advance according to the importance level held in the importance level table 111. Set a low threshold to output information with a high importance level even when the importance level is low, and set a high threshold so that information with a low priority level can be output only when the importance level is high Set the threshold.

  The driving load estimation unit 118 estimates the user's load based on the current location information obtained from the driving signal acquisition device 280 or the navigation device 240, and the threshold excess determination unit 112 adjusts the threshold based on the estimated load. For example, it is determined that the user load is high in a situation where there are many driving operations or during traveling in an urban area, and it is determined that the driving load is low when there is little need for driving operations such as traveling on a highway at a constant speed. In order to increase the overall threshold when the operating load is high, the threshold excess determining unit 112 in the sixth embodiment further increases the threshold set by the importance level by a factor of 1.2, and when the operating load is low, the overall threshold is increased. In order to lower the threshold, the threshold set by the importance is multiplied by 0.8.

  The set threshold is updated when the importance is changed and when the driving load is changed. Thus, the method of changing the threshold according to the operating load is referred to as threshold setting method 2.

  As described above, when the user load is high, the output threshold is high. Therefore, when the user load is low, a large amount of information can be presented, and when the user load is high, only important information can be presented.

  In the example of FIG. 23, there are a plurality of importance level combination patterns held in the importance level table 111, and the importance level combination patterns selected by the importance level pattern selection device 290 are valid. The threshold excess determination unit 112 selects the importance level of the information requested to be output from the information presenting apparatus from the effective importance level combination patterns selected by the importance level pattern selection device 290, and sets the output threshold.

  If the degree of importance is equal to or lower than the output threshold based on the threshold excess determination (S2402), the information output request is rejected, and an output non-permission message is transmitted to the information presenting apparatus that made the output request (S2413). Since the priority assignment method is the same as the priority assignment method 2, the description thereof is omitted.

(Priority comparison method 2)
Next, the priority comparison unit 113 checks whether there is information waiting for output completion in the information presentation stack (S2404). If there is no output completion waiting information, new information is added to the top of the information presentation stack together with the priority (S2407). As for the priority, the importance specified by the user by the importance setting device 210 is set as the priority. In the example of FIG. 25, music (D2511) is added to the information presentation stack D2510 as new information together with priority 1 (D2512).

  When new information is added to the top of the presentation information stack (S2407), the information output control unit 114 in the main control device 110e gives an output permission to the information presentation device that presents the top information of the presentation information stack (S2412). ). The information presentation device that has transmitted the output request message receives the output permission (S404), and outputs the information (S405).

  In FIG. 25, the output permission message that has been received and being output is shown in gray, and the output permission message waiting information is shown in white. In D2510, the music presentation permission is given to the information presentation apparatus 330a that selects and plays the music (D2511) at the top of the stack, and the music is being played back.

  If information waiting for output completion is found in the information presentation stack in S2404, the priority of the information for which a new output request has been issued is compared with the priority of information waiting for output completion (S2405).

  If the priority of the information for which the output request is newly issued is higher than the priority of the output completion waiting information, the output completion waiting information is stopped (S2406), and the new information is added to the head of the presentation information stack. (S2407). Then, output permission is given to the new information which is the top information of the presentation information stack (S2412). In the example of FIG. 25, when the D2510 priority D (D2512) music D2511 is loaded on the stack and a priority 3 route guidance output request is made, the route guidance priority is the music priority. Since the priority is higher than the priority, the music being played is stopped, and the route guidance D2521 having the priority 3 (D2522) is loaded on the stack and the route guidance is performed D2520.

  As a result of comparing the priority of the information newly requested for output with the priority of the information waiting for output completion (S2402), the priority of the information newly requested for output is the priority of the information waiting for output completion. If it is lower, new information is added to the presentation information stack (S2408). At that time, the priority comparison unit 113 compares the priority of the information already in the stack with the priority of the new information, and arranges the information in the stack in order of priority. In the example of FIG. 25, when there is a request for output of traffic information of priority 2 in a state where route guidance D2521 of priority 3 (D2522) and music D2511 of priority 1 (D2512) are stacked on the stack in D2520. The traffic jam information is stored between the music D2511 and the route guidance D2521, and the presentation information stack is in the state of D2530.

  On the other hand, when each information presentation device completes the information output (S405), it sends an output completion message to the main control device (S406), and the main control device 110e receives it (S2409). When receiving the output completion message from each information presentation device, main controller 110e deletes the information that has received the output completion message from the presentation information stack (S2410).

  After that, it is checked whether or not the information to be output next is in the presentation information stack (S2411). If the presentation information is found, an output permission message is output to the top information of the presentation information stack (S2412). If there is no information to be output on the presentation information stack, the processing is terminated as it is, and then it waits until there is an information output request from each information presentation device (S2414).

  FIG. 26 shows how information that has been output is deleted from the presentation information stack. In FIG. 26, traffic information D2621 and route guidance D2611 are stacked in the presentation information stack at D2610, and route guidance having a priority 3D2612 higher than the priority 1 (D2622) of the traffic information is being output. When the route guidance is completed (S405), the route information presentation device 320a transmits an output completion message to the main control device 110e (S406). When main controller 110e receives the output completion message from the route information presentation device (S2407), route information D2611 and its priority D2612 are deleted from presentation information stack D2610 (S2408).

  Since the congestion information D2621 is stored in the presentation information stack D2620 after the route information is deleted, the main control device 110e gives an output permission to the congestion information presentation device 310a (S2410). Upon receiving the output permission, the traffic jam information presentation device 310a starts outputting the traffic jam information (S405), and transmits an output completion message to the main control device 110e when the output is completed (S406). The information presentation stack used here is an information presentation schedule 120 for determining an output order for presenting information in the future. A priority comparison method using such an information presentation schedule is referred to as a priority comparison method 2.

  In this way, the priority comparison unit 113 schedules information output according to the current and future priorities of each information, and therefore outputs the highest priority information and then outputs the next highest priority information. Thus, priority comparison may be performed only when a new information output request is received from the information presentation unit.

(Priority comparison method 3)
In the priority comparison methods so far, the priority that is a fixed value is directly compared and the one with the higher priority is output. However, as in the examples shown in FIGS. In the information that changes depending on the priority, the priority also changes with time in conjunction with the importance. Therefore, it is necessary to consider this time change when comparing priorities. FIG. 27 shows the priorities of information whose priority changes with time and information whose time does not change.

  D2710 is the priority of information output from the information presentation device 340a for news. D2720 is the priority of the left / right turn guidance information output from the information presentation device 320a for route guidance. The priority of the right / left turn guidance information D2720 changes with time, but the priority of the news D2710 does not change. Each priority at time t2702 is 2 for the left / right turn guidance, 4 for news, and the news is higher. However, as the right / left turn point t2700 approaches, the right / left turn guidance information has a higher priority, and the priority at t2701 is 6 for the right / left turn guidance, which is higher than the news. Thus, when the priority of the left / right turn guidance information exceeds the priority of the news within 10 seconds, for example, the right / left turn guidance is given priority, the right / left turn guidance is placed at the top of the presentation information stack, and the right / left turn guidance is provided. To do.

  Alternatively, since the priority of the left / right turn guidance exceeds the news priority after 10 seconds, the information presentation schedule is performed so that the news output is kept within 10 seconds. That is, in the information presentation schedule, the output possible time is held together with the priority, and the information output is finished before the priority of other information becomes high.

  The priority comparison considering the time change of the priority due to the time change of the importance is set as the priority comparison method 3. As described above, when information A has a higher priority at the time of priority comparison and information B has a lower priority at the time of priority comparison, but the priority greatly exceeds the priority of information A before finishing the output of information A. Since the information B is output preferentially, the information whose importance is predicted to increase rapidly can be output without being obstructed by the output of other information.

  Also, if there is information B that has a higher priority than the priority of information A before the output of information A is completed before the output of information A is completed, priority is given to information A having a higher priority at the time of priority comparison. By finishing the output of A before the priority of the information B becomes high, even if the priority changes with time, information with a high priority can be output preferentially at each time point.

(Information presentation amount adjustment method 7)
The information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 adjusts the amount of information to be output in accordance with the information presentation schedule 120 set by the priority comparison unit 113, and the amount of information to be output next. The information presentation amount adjustment unit 116 adjusts each information presentation amount according to the driver state estimated by the driving load estimation unit 118. The driver state estimation unit 118 estimates the driving load of the user from the current location information obtained from the driving signal acquisition device 280 or the navigation device 240.

  For example, it is determined that the user load is high in a situation where there are many driving operations or during traveling in an urban area, and it is determined that the driving load is low when there is little need for driving operations such as traveling on a highway at a constant speed. When the driving load is high, the information presentation speed is slowed down, or the information presentation time of one content is lengthened to reduce the switching frequency. By this, it aims at reducing the load which information presentation gives to a user. In this way, a method of adjusting the presentation information amount according to the driving load of the user is referred to as an information presentation amount adjustment method 7. The information adjusted in this way is output from the information display device 220 and the audio output device 230 by the information output control unit 114.

  The correspondence between each part of the claims and each part of the information providing apparatus of each embodiment will be described. The information presentation means corresponds to the information presentation devices 310 to 340, and the importance level giving means corresponds to the importance level giving units 312, 322, 332, and 342. The importance level setting means corresponds to the importance level setting device 210. The priority setting unit and the priority selection unit correspond to the priority comparison unit 113. The user state estimation unit corresponds to the driver state estimation unit 117.

  The present invention is applicable to an in-vehicle information providing apparatus and the like.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 110 ... Main control apparatus, 111 ... Importance degree table, 112 ... Threshold excess determination part, 113 ... Priority comparison part, 114 ... Information output control part, 115 ... Scene estimation part, 116 ... Information presentation amount adjustment part, 117 ... Driver State estimation unit 118. Driving load estimation unit 119 Preference estimation unit 120 Information presentation schedule 121 Importance table 122 Importance assigning unit 210 Importance level setting device 211 Importance level scale 212 ··· Lever, 213 · Importance, 220, 320, 330, 340 · Information display device · 230 · Audio output device · 240 · Navigation device · 250 · VICS receiver · 260 · Hard disk · 270 · Skip input device · 280 · Car Indoor camera, 290... Importance pattern selection device, 310... Information display device, 311. 312, 322, 332, 342... Importance assignment unit, 313, 323... User behavior prediction unit, 314, 324... Traffic information presentation result and user behavior history, 321. Driver estimation unit, 341 News presentation unit.

Claims (9)

An information presentation means for presenting a plurality of types of information to the user;
Importance assigning means for assigning importance of the plurality of types of information to each information;
A degree-of-importance setting unit that sets, in each piece of information, a degree of importance representing the degree of importance of the user with respect to the plurality of types of information;
Priority setting means for setting the priority of the plurality of types of information to each information based on the importance set by the importance setting means and the importance given by the importance assigning means;
When the plurality of types of information can be output, priority selection means for comparing the priorities of the plurality of types of information and preferentially selecting high priority information;
It is determined whether the importance of the information presented by the information presenting means exceeds an output threshold that is the lower limit of the importance that can be presented to the user, and the importance for each information set by the importance setting means A threshold excess judging means for changing the output threshold of each information according to
An information presentation apparatus having   The information presentation apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a user load estimation unit, wherein a threshold used by the threshold excess determination unit to determine whether or not to output information changes according to a user load.   The information presentation apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the importance level setting unit sets a plurality of importance level patterns.   4. The information according to claim 3, wherein the plurality of importance patterns include a plurality of default patterns, and include importance level pattern selection means for selecting any one of the plurality of importance patterns. Presentation device.   5. The information according to claim 1, further comprising an information presentation amount adjusting unit that adjusts a presentation amount of a plurality of pieces of information and determines a presentation amount of information to be output according to priority. Presentation device.   2. The information presenting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the priority selection means schedules information output according to a current priority and a future priority of each information.   The priority selection means includes a plurality of pieces of information exceeding an output threshold at the time of priority comparison, and information having a lower priority than other information is information having a higher priority than information having the lower priority. When it is predicted that the priority is higher than a priority of the information having the high priority by a predetermined value before the output is finished, the information having a low priority is preferentially output when the priority is compared. The information presentation apparatus according to claim 6.   The priority selection means includes a plurality of pieces of information exceeding an output threshold at the time of priority comparison, and information having a lower priority than other information is information having a higher priority than information having the lower priority. If it is predicted that a priority higher than a priority of information having a high priority by a predetermined value before output is finished, information having a low priority at the time of priority comparison The information presentation apparatus according to claim 6, wherein an output time of the high priority information is adjusted so that the output can be finished before the priority of the high priority information exceeds a predetermined value or more.   The plurality of types of information based on the importance given to each of the plurality of types of information presented to the user and the importance indicating the degree of importance of the user set for each of the plurality of types of information If the plurality of types of information can be output, the priorities of the plurality of types of information are compared, information having a high priority is preferentially selected and presented Information presentation that determines whether the importance of information exceeds the output threshold that is the lower limit of importance that can be presented to the user, and changes the output threshold of each information according to the importance for each set information Method.

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