JP5351554B2 - Map display system and map display method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a map display system and a map display method for displaying a marker indicating the direction of a landmark existing outside a display area in a superimposed manner on a map.

  Conventionally, a technique for displaying a marker indicating the direction of a landmark existing outside a map display area is known. For example, Patent Literature 1 below describes a direction display method for displaying the name of a municipality in accordance with the direction of the municipality outside the display area. In this method, a reference unit rectangular area divided for each town is set in advance, and an adjacent unit rectangular area adjacent to a predetermined direction as viewed from the reference unit rectangular area including the current position is read to determine the direction display. Displays the name of the unit rectangular area within a certain distance from the part. In this method, a rectangular marker on which a town name is displayed is used, but a method of displaying an arrow or a pin-shaped figure not including a character as a marker is also known. There is also known a method of displaying a marker indicating a scenic spot or a facility instead of a municipality.

JP-A-2005-140928

  For example, when there are many landmarks outside the display area, or when a plurality of landmarks are close to each other, markers (direction indications) may be displayed overlapping each other. As a result, the user may not be able to obtain information regarding landmarks outside the display area. In addition, when the markers can be selected by a click operation or the like, if the markers are displayed in an overlapping manner, it becomes difficult for the user to correctly specify the markers.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a map display system and a map display method capable of displaying a marker indicating a landmark existing outside the display area in an easy-to-understand manner for the user. Objective.

  The map display system of the present invention includes an acquisition means for acquiring map data from a map database, a map drawing means for drawing a map in a display area based on the map data acquired by the acquisition means, and a predetermined reference in the display area. Calculation means for calculating the drawing position of one or more markers indicating the direction of each landmark based on the points and the positions of one or more landmarks located outside the display area; A determination unit that determines whether or not a plurality of markers overlap when a marker is drawn based on the display area calculated for each of the plurality of markers when the determination unit determines that the plurality of markers overlap Based on the magnitude relationship of the distance to the landmark corresponding to the marker and the degree of overlap between the markers, the plurality of markers should not overlap. It comprises a correcting means for correcting the drawing position of each marker, on the basis of the correction result of the calculation result and the correction means by the calculation means, and a marker drawing means for drawing in the display area one or more markers, the.

  Further, the map display method of the present invention is a map display method executed by a map display system, an acquisition step for acquiring map data from a map database, and a map display based on the map data acquired in the acquisition step. One or more indicating the direction of each landmark based on a map drawing step for drawing in the area, a predetermined reference point in the display area, and the position of one or more landmarks located outside the display area A calculation step for calculating the drawing position of the marker, a determination step for determining whether or not a plurality of markers overlap when the marker is drawn based on the calculation in the calculation step, and a case in which the determination step determines that the plurality of markers overlap And a landmark corresponding to the marker from the display area calculated for each of the plurality of markers. Correction step for correcting the drawing position of each marker so that the plurality of markers do not overlap based on the magnitude relationship between the distances in FIG. And a marker drawing step of drawing one or a plurality of markers in the display area based on the correction result.

  According to such a map display system and map display method, when the drawing position of the marker indicating the direction of the landmark is calculated, it is determined whether or not a plurality of markers overlap when the marker is drawn based on the position. Determined. When the marker overlap occurs, the marker drawing position once determined is corrected based on the relationship between the distances to the landmarks and the degree of overlap between the markers. And it draws so that a marker may not overlap based on the corrected drawing position. As a result, the marker can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner for the user.

  In the map display system of the present invention, the correction means is based on the value indicating the magnitude relationship between the distance from the display area to the landmark corresponding to the marker and the length of the overlapping portion of the overlapping markers than the marker having a shorter distance. It is preferable to correct the drawing position of each marker by increasing the correction amount of the marker having a long distance.

  In this case, when correcting the position of the overlapping marker, the marker far from the reference point moves more greatly than the marker near the reference point. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the display angle of the marker close to the display area from changing greatly, and to realize marker display that is easier for the user to understand.

  In the map display system of the present invention, the marker drawing means includes an arrangement order of one or more landmarks located outside the display area and an arrangement of one or more marker orders corresponding to the one or more landmarks. When they do not match, it is preferable to match the order of the markers with the order of the landmarks.

  In this case, since the markers are displayed in the order in which the landmarks are arranged, it is possible to realize marker display that is easier for the user to understand.

  In the map display system of the present invention, the calculating means compares the number of markers that can be displayed in the display area with the number of landmarks located outside the display area, and if the number of landmarks is larger Until the number of landmarks to be displayed is equal to or less than the number of markers that can be displayed, it is preferable that the landmarks farthest from the reference point are sequentially excluded from the drawing objects.

  In this case, when the number of landmarks is large, the markers are displayed by narrowing down to those close to the reference point, so that information on landmarks located relatively close can be presented to the user in an easy-to-understand manner.

  In the map display system of the present invention, when a plurality of markers are overlapped even if the correction unit repeats the correction a predetermined number of times, the correction means determines that the display area has more than the reduction degree of the marker corresponding to the landmark close to the display area. It is preferable to eliminate overlapping of the plurality of markers by reducing the size of each overlapping marker so that the degree of reduction of the marker corresponding to the distant landmark increases.

  In this case, if the overlapping of the markers cannot be eliminated only by correcting the drawing position, the process of reducing each overlapping marker is executed, so that the overlapping of the markers can be more reliably eliminated. Also, by determining the degree of reduction of the marker according to the distance to the landmark, the sense of distance to the landmark can be visually transmitted to the user.

  In the map display system of the present invention, for a landmark that is more than a predetermined distance from the reference point, the calculation means groups landmarks that exist within a predetermined range, and calculates a marker drawing position indicating the group. It is preferable to do.

  In this case, landmarks far from the reference point are grouped and expressed by one marker. Thus, by displaying a plurality of landmarks together with one marker, it is possible to show more landmarks that exist outside the display area to the user.

  In the map display system of the present invention, when the marker drawn by the marker drawing unit is selected, the acquisition unit acquires new map data centered on the landmark indicated by the selected marker, and draws the map. It is preferable that the means, the calculation means, the determination means, the correction means, and the marker drawing means execute processing for new map data.

  In this case, when a marker is selected, a map centered on the landmark indicated by the marker is drawn, and a series of processes for drawing a marker indicating a landmark outside the display area is executed. As a result, the user can obtain map information around a desired landmark simply by selecting a marker.

  According to such a map display system and map display method, marker overlap is canceled by correcting the drawing position of the marker based on the length of the marker overlap portion and the relationship between the distances to the plurality of landmarks. Therefore, the marker can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner for the user.

It is a figure which shows the function structure of the map display system which concerns on embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware constitutions of the mobile terminal shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows typically the process of the calculation part shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of the calculated positional relationship of the marker, (a) is when a marker does not overlap, (b) is a case where a marker overlaps. It is a figure which shows the rearrangement process of the intersection in the marker drawing part shown in FIG. 1, (a) has shown the state before rearrangement, (b) has each shown the state after rearrangement. It is a figure which shows the example of a marker, (a) is a marker containing the image of a landmark, (b) is a marker which added distance information further. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the map display system shown in FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the detail of the marker drawing process shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the marker reduction process which concerns on a modification, (a) has shown the state before reduction processing, (b) has each shown the state after reduction processing. It is a figure explaining clustering of the landmark which concerns on a modification. It is a figure explaining clustering of the landmark which concerns on a modification. It is a figure which shows the example of the marker which shows the grouped landmark.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same or equivalent elements are denoted by the same reference numerals, and redundant description is omitted.

  First, the function and configuration of the map display system 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a functional configuration of the map display system 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the mobile terminal 10. FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically illustrating the processing of the calculation unit 13a. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of the calculated marker positional relationship. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the process of rearranging the intersections in the marker drawing unit 13d. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a marker.

  The map display system 1 includes a mobile terminal 10 having a display screen and a map server 20 that provides map data to the mobile terminal 10. The mobile terminal 10 and the map server 20 can communicate with each other via a network (not shown).

  The mobile terminal 10 is a device that acquires map data from the map server 20 when a user inputs a search condition or changes a display part of a map, and displays the data on a screen. Examples of the mobile terminal 10 include a mobile phone, a car navigation system, and a personal computer, but the type of terminal is not limited. Further, the present invention may be applied to a fixed terminal having a map display function.

  The map server 20 is a computer that provides map data in response to a request from the mobile terminal 10. The map server 20 includes a map database 21 and a search unit 22. The map database 21 is a part that stores map data including location information of landmarks. The search unit 22 is a part that reads out map data from the map database 21 based on a request from the mobile terminal 10 and location information of landmarks that satisfy a specified search condition and transmits them to the mobile terminal 10. Here, a landmark is a place that can be a target, such as a building or a scenic spot.

  Next, the functional configuration of the mobile terminal 10 will be described. As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile terminal 10 includes a map acquisition unit (acquisition unit) 11, a map drawing unit (map drawing unit) 12, and a marker control unit 13 as functional components.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 10 includes a CPU 101 that executes an operating system, application programs, and the like, a main storage unit 102 that includes a ROM and a RAM, an auxiliary storage unit 103 that includes a memory, and a network. A communication control unit 104 that performs data communication via a network, a display unit 105 that includes a liquid crystal monitor, and an operation unit 106 that includes input keys and a touch panel. Each function of the mobile terminal 10 shown in FIG. 1 reads predetermined software on the CPU 101 and the main storage unit 102, operates the communication control unit 104 under the control of the CPU 101, and operates the main storage unit 102 and auxiliary storage. This is realized by reading / writing data from / to the unit 103.

  The map acquisition unit 11 is a part that acquires map data and landmark position information from the map server 20. The map acquisition unit 11 transmits the landmark search condition and the current position information to the map server 20 in response to the input of the search condition by the user or the change of the display portion of the map. Thereafter, the map acquisition unit 11 receives the map data sent from the map server 20 and outputs it to the map drawing unit 12. At this time, the map acquisition part 11 acquires not only the map data of the part to display but the map data of the periphery (map data outside a display area).

  The map drawing unit 12 is a part that draws a map in a display area (entire or part of the screen) based on the map data acquired by the map acquisition unit 11. The map drawing unit 12 draws a part of the input map data, and at that time, draws a pin-shaped figure (hereinafter simply referred to as “pin”) indicating the position of the landmark existing in the display area. . Thereafter, the map drawing unit 12 outputs map data and information indicating the drawing area to the marker control unit 13.

  The marker control unit 13 is a part that executes a drawing process of a marker indicating the direction of a landmark located outside the display area. The marker control unit 13 includes a calculation unit (calculation unit) 13a, a determination unit (determination unit) 13b, a correction unit (correction unit) 13c, and a marker drawing unit (marker drawing unit) 13d.

  The calculation unit 13a determines the drawing position of one or more markers indicating the direction of each landmark based on a predetermined reference point in the display area and the position of one or more landmarks located outside the display area. This is the part to calculate.

  The function of the calculation unit 13a will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 3, the range of the input map data is represented by M, and the display area is represented by D. In FIG. 3, only the landmarks P <b> 1 to P <b> 6 above the map data M are shown for ease of explanation, but the landmarks can naturally exist over the entire area of the map data M and the display area D.

  First, the calculation unit 13a places the marker position reference lines L1 to L4 set near the edge of the display area D and a pin indicating a landmark in the display area (for example, the reference line L1 and the pin N in FIG. 3). The place Q6) where and overlap is calculated. And the calculation part 13a calculates the number Xa of such a place for every marker position reference line L1-L4.

  Subsequently, the calculation unit 13 a rearranges the landmarks outside the display area D in order from the reference point (the center point of the display area D) A. In the example of FIG. 3, the calculation unit 13a ranks the landmarks in the order of P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5. In addition, the calculation unit 13a calculates the number Xb of landmarks outside the display area D for each of the marker position reference lines L1 to L4. Here, the landmark corresponding to the marker position reference line L1 means that a line segment connecting the landmark and the reference point A intersects the reference line L1. Similarly, the landmark corresponding to the marker position reference line L2 means that such a line segment intersects with the reference line L2. Corresponding landmarks are similarly determined for the marker position reference lines L3 and L4. In the example of FIG. 3, the number Xb with respect to the marker position reference line L1 is 5.

  Subsequently, the calculation unit 13a determines the number of markers to be displayed on each of the marker position reference lines L1 to L4. Therefore, the calculation unit 13a holds display upper limit numbers K1 to K4 that are determined in advance for each of the marker position reference lines L1 to L4, and whether the value (Xa + Xb) is less than or equal to the display upper limit number for each marker position reference line. Determine whether or not. At this time, if Xa + Xb> Kn (n = 1 to 4), the calculation unit 13a reduces the marker display target region toward the reference point A in order to reduce the number of markers to be displayed on the marker position reference line. In the example of FIG. 3, the calculation unit 13a reduces the marker display target area for the reference line L1 to a fan-shaped area surrounded by broken lines H1, H2, and H3 in order to reduce the number of markers displayed on the marker position reference line L1. The landmark P5 farthest from the reference point A is excluded from the marker display target.

  For the marker position reference line L1, the calculation unit 13a stores a distance D1 from the reference point A to the broken line H3 when the number of markers to be displayed satisfies the display upper limit number. The calculation unit 13a similarly calculates distances D2 to D4 for the marker position reference lines L2 to L3. Then, the calculation unit 13a determines the minimum value of the distances D1 to D4 as the marker display upper limit distance DL, and determines a circular area centered on the reference point A and having a radius DL as the marker display target area. In FIG. 3, the circular area having the radius D1 indicated by the broken line H3 is used as the marker display target area DA, but the marker display target area may be smaller depending on the size relationship between the distances D1 to D4.

  That is, the calculation unit 13a compares the number of markers that can be displayed in the display area with the number of landmarks located outside the display area. When the number of landmarks is larger, the calculation unit 13a starts from the drawing target in order from the landmark farthest from the reference point until the number of landmarks to be displayed is equal to or less than the number of markers that can be displayed. exclude.

  Subsequently, the calculation unit 13a calculates the intersection of the reference point A and the line connecting the landmarks and the marker position reference line for each of the landmarks within the marker display target area DA and outside the display area D. This intersection is the temporarily determined marker drawing position. In the example of FIG. 3, the calculation unit 13a calculates intersections Q1 to Q4 for the landmarks P1 to P4. Subsequently, the calculating unit 13a assigns identification numbers to the intersection points on the reference line in order of increasing distance from the reference point A for each of the marker position reference lines L1 to L4. In the example of FIG. 3, the calculation unit 13a sets the identification numbers of the intersections Q1 to Q4 as 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively. Then, the calculation unit 13a outputs information (position and identification number) regarding the intersection point of the marker and the position information of the landmark corresponding to the marker to the determination unit 13b.

  The determination unit 13b is a part that determines whether or not a plurality of markers overlap when a marker is drawn based on the calculation by the calculation unit 13a. The determination unit 13b may execute the same determination based on intersection information input from the correction unit 13c described later. The determination unit 13b determines which marker overlaps another marker based on the input position information of the intersection and the previously stored marker graphic information. For example, in the case of FIG. 4A, the determination unit 13b determines that the markers Ra to Rc do not overlap with other markers. On the other hand, in the case of FIG. 4B, the determination unit 13b determines that the markers Ra and Rb overlap and the markers Rb and Rc overlap.

  When the marker overlap occurs, the determination unit 13b outputs the intersection point information and the information related to the marker overlap to the correction unit 13c as a determination result. On the other hand, when there is no overlap, the determination unit 13b outputs the intersection information and the landmark position information to the marker drawing unit 13d.

  When the determination unit 13b determines that the plurality of markers overlap, the correction unit 13c is calculated for each of the plurality of markers, and the magnitude relationship of the distances from the display area to the landmark corresponding to the marker, This is a portion for correcting the drawing position of each marker so that the plurality of markers do not overlap based on the degree of overlapping of the markers.

When it is determined that the marker Ri corresponding to the intersection point Qi and the marker Rj corresponding to the intersection point Qj overlap, the correction unit 13c first calculates the length of the overlapping portion of the two markers. Subsequently, the correction unit 13c calculates movement amounts (correction amounts) Vi and Vj of the intersection points Qi and Qj (markers Ri and Rj) by the following formula.
Vi = (length of overlapped portion) / (identification number of intersection Qi + identification number of intersection Qj)
× (identification number of intersection Qi)
Vj = (length of overlapped portion) / (identification number of intersection Qi + identification number of intersection Qj)
× (identification number of intersection Qj)

  Then, the correction unit 13c moves the intersection point Qi by Vi and moves the intersection point Qj by Vj so that the intersection points Qi and Qj are separated from each other. The identification number represents the relationship between the distance from the reference point to the landmark, and a larger value is set as the distance is longer. Therefore, the movement amount of the marker indicating the landmark farther from the reference point is larger. In FIG. 3, when it is assumed that the marker R1 corresponding to the intersection point Q1 and the marker R4 corresponding to the intersection point Q4 overlap, the identification numbers of the intersection points Q1 and Q4 are 1, 4, respectively. It moves to the left by an amount four times Q1.

  The correction unit 13c executes the above correction process for the number of markers that are superimposed, and when the correction is completed, outputs the corrected intersection information to the determination unit 13b. This is because there is a possibility that a new overlap occurs due to the correction.

  The marker drawing unit 13d is a part that draws one or a plurality of markers in the display area based on the calculation result by the calculation unit 13a and the correction result by the correction unit 13c. The marker drawing unit 13d draws a marker on the marker position reference line so as to indicate the landmark direction based on the intersection information and the landmark position information input from the determination unit 13b. Thereby, the user who has seen the display screen can know the direction of the landmark outside the displayed map.

  When drawing the marker, the marker drawing unit 13d determines whether or not the arrangement order of the landmarks outside the display area matches the arrangement order of the markers corresponding to the landmarks. Rearrange the markers according to the landmark order. This is because the relative positional relationship between the intersections may be changed by the processing by the correction unit 13c. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, when the intersection point Q3 and the intersection point Q4 are switched on the left and right by the correction process, the landmark array P2, P1, P4, P3 and the intersection array Q2, Q1, Q3 and Q4 do not match. In this case, the marker drawing unit 13d interchanges the intersections Q3 and Q4 as shown in FIG.

  The marker drawing method is not limited. For example, a landmark image may be drawn inside the marker as shown in FIG. 6A, or a distance to the landmark may be added as shown in FIG. 6B. When the distance is displayed, the calculation unit 13a or the marker control unit 13 may calculate the distance based on the landmark position information and the current position information used by the map acquisition unit 11. In FIG. 6, the marker is shown as a pin-shaped figure, but the shape of the marker may be arbitrarily determined.

  When the user selects a marker, the map acquisition unit 11 acquires a predetermined range of map data centered on the landmark corresponding to the marker, and then the map drawing unit 12 and the marker control unit 13 create a new map. The above process is executed based on the data. Thereby, a map centering on the selected landmark and a new pin and marker are drawn in the display area. The marker selection method can be arbitrarily determined. For example, if a touch panel is used, it may be determined that the marker is selected when the user touches the marker on the panel with a finger. If the touch panel is not a touch panel, it may be determined that the marker is selected when the user designates the marker with the cross key or the numeric keypad.

  Next, the operation of the map display system 1 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. 7 and 8, and the map display method according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the map display system 1. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing details of the marker drawing process.

  When an instruction to display the map or change the display range is received, the map acquisition unit 11 transmits the landmark search condition and the current position information to the map server 20, thereby obtaining the map data and the designated search condition. The position information of the landmark to be satisfied is acquired (step S1, acquisition step). Subsequently, the map drawing unit 12 draws a map and a pin in the display area based on the map data and the landmark position information (step S2, map drawing step). Subsequently, the marker control unit 13 draws a marker in the display area (step S3).

  The marker drawing process is executed in the following procedure. First, the calculation unit 13a calculates the location of the pin displayed on the marker position reference line (step S301). Subsequently, the calculation unit 13a rearranges the landmarks outside the display area in order from the reference point (center point) within the display area (step S302).

  Subsequently, the calculation unit 13a determines a marker display target area (step S303). Specifically, for each marker position reference line provided on each side of the display area, the calculation unit 13a determines that the sum of the number of pins calculated in step S301 and the number of markers displayed on the reference line is the display upper limit. Determine the marker display target area so that it is less than the number. Then, one circular marker display target region is determined in accordance with the region having the smallest distance from the reference point to the outer edge portion among the plurality of determined marker display target regions.

  Subsequently, the calculation unit 13a calculates, for each landmark in the marker display target area, an intersection point between the reference point and the line connecting the landmarks and the marker position reference line, and for each intersection point from the reference point. Identification numbers are assigned in ascending order from the shortest distance (step S304). Steps S301 to S304 correspond to calculation steps.

  Subsequently, the determination unit 13b determines whether or not the markers overlap (step S305, determination step). If there are overlapping markers (step S305; YES), the correction unit 13c corrects the marker drawing position based on the length of the overlapping portion of the marker and the identification number (step S306, correction step). Thereafter, the process returns to step S305.

  When the overlap between the markers does not exist or is eliminated (step S305; NO), the marker drawing unit 13d displays the marker in the display area (step S307, marker drawing step). At this time, the marker drawing unit 13d executes the rearrangement of the intersections as necessary. Thereby, a map and a marker are displayed in the display area.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, when the drawing position of the marker is calculated, it is determined whether or not a plurality of markers overlap when the marker is drawn based on the position. When marker overlap occurs, the marker drawing once determined based on the identification number (the relationship between the distance to the landmark) and the length of the overlapped portion (the degree of overlap between the markers) The position is corrected. And it draws so that a marker may not overlap based on the corrected drawing position. As a result, the marker can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner for the user. By displaying the markers without overlapping, the user can clearly know the direction of the landmark outside the screen and easily select the marker. In other words, the user can search and acquire map information efficiently.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when correcting the position of the overlapping marker, the marker far from the reference point moves more greatly than the marker near the reference point. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the display angle of the marker close to the display area from changing greatly, and to realize marker display that is easier for the user to understand.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, since the markers are displayed together in the order of landmarks, it is possible to realize marker display that is easier for the user to understand.

  Further, according to the present embodiment, when the number of landmarks is large, the markers are displayed by narrowing down to those close to the reference point, so that information on landmarks located relatively close is presented to the user in an easy-to-understand manner. be able to.

  In addition, according to the present embodiment, when a marker is selected, a map centered on the landmark indicated by the marker is drawn, and a series of processes for drawing a marker indicating a landmark outside the display area Is executed. As a result, the user can obtain map information around a desired landmark simply by selecting a marker.

  The present invention has been described in detail based on the embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. The present invention can be modified in various ways as described below without departing from the scope of the invention.

  If the overlapping of the markers cannot be eliminated simply by correcting the drawing position of the markers, the map display system may be configured to reduce the size of the markers. For example, when the marker overlap is generated even after the correction process by the correction unit is repeated n times, the determination unit determines to reduce the size of the marker to be displayed. Then, based on this determination, the correction means changes the size of each marker.

  Specifically, the correction means reduces the marker size so that the reduction degree of the landmark marker far from the reference point is larger than the reduction degree of the landmark marker near the reference point. To eliminate the overlap. At this time, the size of the landmark marker near the reference point may not be changed. For example, when the correction process is repeated n times but the markers overlap as shown in FIG. 9A, the correction means maintains the size of the marker Re as shown in FIG. 9B. Markers Rd and Rf are reduced.

  By reducing the size of the marker in this way, it is possible to more reliably eliminate marker overlap. Further, by determining the degree of reduction of the marker according to the distance to the landmark, it is possible to visually convey the sense of distance to the landmark outside the display area to the user.

  In the above embodiment, a marker is displayed for each landmark. However, a plurality of landmarks may be displayed with one marker (landmark clustering).

  For example, as shown in FIG. 10, in addition to the marker display target area DA, the calculation means sets a cluster marker display target area DB outside thereof. And about area | region DB, a calculation means groups the some landmark which exists in a predetermined range (cluster range), and calculates the drawing position of the marker which shows the group. In the example of FIG. 10, the calculation means sets landmark groups (clusters) C1, C2, and C3, and calculates intersections QC1, QC2, and QC3 corresponding to these clusters. Here, the intersection of the clusters is a place where the line segment connecting the reference point A and the center point of the cluster intersects the marker position reference line. The cluster range may be determined dynamically according to the degree of landmark density, or may be fixed (for example, a range corresponding to a circle with a radius of 1 km).

  Further, the calculation means may set the cluster radius small for an area close to the reference point in the display area, and set the cluster radius larger as the distance from the reference point A increases. For example, as shown in FIG. 11, for the landmark close to the reference point A, the calculation unit sets clusters C11 and C12 that include only the landmark, and sets the clustering range as the distance from the reference point A increases. Increase (clusters C13 to C17). The method for calculating the intersection is the same as the method for obtaining the intersections QC1 to QC3 in FIG.

  Note that for a cluster calculated by the method shown in FIGS. 10 and 11, for example, as shown in FIG. 12, a marker displaying the number of landmarks in the cluster may be used. In this case, the distance to the cluster center may be added as in the example shown in FIG.

  Thus, by displaying a plurality of landmarks together with one marker, it is possible to show more landmarks that exist outside the display area to the user. Further, by increasing the cluster radius as the distance from the reference point in the display area increases, the information can be provided to the user step by step according to the position of the landmark. That is, detailed information can be provided for landmarks in the vicinity, and rough information can be provided for landmarks in the distance.

  In the above embodiment, the marker drawing unit 13d changes the arrangement order of the markers as necessary, but this processing may be omitted. In the above embodiment, the marker display target area is set in order to suppress the number of markers displayed by the calculation unit 13a. However, this processing is omitted, and markers are drawn for all landmarks on the acquired map data. May be.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Map display system, 10 ... Mobile terminal, 11 ... Map acquisition part (acquisition means), 12 ... Map drawing part (map drawing means), 13 ... Marker control part, 13a ... Calculation part (calculation means), 13b ... Determination Part (determination means), 13c ... correction part (correction means), 13d ... marker drawing part (marker drawing means), 20 ... map server, 21 ... map database, 22 ... search part, D ... display area, A ... reference point .

Claims (8)

An acquisition means for acquiring map data from a map database;
Map drawing means for drawing a map in a display area based on the map data acquired by the acquisition means;
Calculation for calculating the drawing position of one or more markers indicating the direction of each landmark based on a predetermined reference point in the display area and the position of one or more landmarks located outside the display area Means,
Determining means for determining whether or not a plurality of markers overlap when the marker is drawn based on the calculation by the calculating means;
When the determination unit determines that a plurality of markers overlap, the magnitude relationship of the distance from the display area to the landmark corresponding to the marker calculated for each of the plurality of markers, and the overlapping of the markers Correction means for correcting the drawing position of each marker so that the plurality of markers do not overlap based on the degree of
Marker drawing means for drawing the one or more markers in the display area based on the calculation result by the calculation means and the correction result by the correction means;
A map display system comprising: Based on the value indicating the magnitude relationship between the display area and the landmark corresponding to the marker, and the length of the overlapping portion of the overlapping markers, the correcting means is longer than the marker having a shorter distance. Correct the marker drawing position by increasing the marker correction amount.
The map display system according to claim 1. When the marker drawing means does not match the arrangement order of one or more landmarks located outside the display area and the arrangement of one or more marker orders corresponding to the one or more landmarks, Match the order of the markers to the order of the landmarks.
The map display system according to claim 1 or 2. The calculation means compares the number of markers that can be displayed in the display area with the number of landmarks located outside the display area, and if the number of landmarks is larger, the landmark to be displayed Until the number of markers is equal to or less than the number of markers that can be displayed, the landmarks farthest from the reference point are excluded from the drawing target in order.
The map display system as described in any one of Claims 1-3. When the correction unit repeats the correction a predetermined number of times and a plurality of markers are overlapped, it corresponds to a landmark farther from the display area than the reduction degree of the marker corresponding to the landmark close to the display area. The overlapping of the plurality of markers is eliminated by reducing the size of each overlapping marker so that the reduction degree of the marker to be increased is increased.
The map display system as described in any one of Claims 1-4. For the landmarks that are separated from the reference point by a predetermined distance or more, the calculation means groups landmarks that exist within a predetermined range, and calculates a drawing position of a marker indicating the group.
The map display system as described in any one of Claims 1-5. When the marker drawn by the marker drawing unit is selected, the acquisition unit acquires new map data centered on the landmark indicated by the selected marker;
The map drawing means, the calculation means, the determination means, the correction means, and the marker drawing means execute processing for the new map data;
The map display system as described in any one of Claims 1-6. A map display method executed by a map display system,
An acquisition step of acquiring map data from a map database;
A map drawing step of drawing a map in a display area based on the map data acquired in the acquisition step;
Calculation for calculating the drawing position of one or more markers indicating the direction of each landmark based on a predetermined reference point in the display area and the position of one or more landmarks located outside the display area Steps,
A determination step of determining whether or not a plurality of markers overlap when the marker is drawn based on the calculation in the calculation step;
When it is determined in the determination step that a plurality of markers overlap, the magnitude relationship of the distance from the display area to the landmark corresponding to the marker calculated for each of the plurality of markers, and the overlapping of the markers A correction step for correcting the drawing position of each marker so that the plurality of markers do not overlap based on the degree of
Based on the calculation result in the calculation step and the correction result in the correction step, a marker drawing step for drawing the one or more markers in the display area;
Map display method including

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