JP5436067B2 - Information providing apparatus and information providing program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and a program for providing information to a terminal device such as a PC (personal computer), a mobile phone, and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant).

  There is a weather information providing service as an information providing service provided by a portal site on the Internet. In this service, when the user selects “weather” from various menus on the top page displayed on the display of the terminal device, a weather information provision page is displayed. On this weather information providing page, the user can know the weather today, tomorrow's weather, weekly weather, etc., for any area in Japan by a selection operation on the screen. Note that “weather” disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a system capable of acquiring weather information in an arbitrary area and day at an arbitrary time at an arbitrary place from a server on the Internet using such a terminal device. There is a forecast system.

  However, since the above weather information providing service only provides weather information, when a user searches for something related to the weather information acquired for the area after acquiring the weather information of the area, Separately, it takes time to operate the terminal device.

JP 2002-342502 A

  The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and its purpose is to save time and effort for searching for an area related to the acquired weather information when the weather information of the area is acquired. It is to reduce.

The first information providing device of the present invention is an information providing device that transmits weather information and related information to the terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device, the related information database storing the related information, The terminal position information acquisition means for acquiring the current position information of the terminal device, the area of weather information to be transmitted to the terminal device, the distance between the area and the current position of the terminal device, and the date or time zone A distance information acquisition means for obtaining a calculated distance between a search item list including a plurality of items, a current position of the terminal device, and an area of weather information requested from the terminal device; distance and based on by day or time period requested by the terminal device, as well as selecting the search item from the select list, in accordance with the selected item, weather information / related information A related information obtaining means for obtaining related information stored in the table from the related information database, the information providing apparatus characterized by having a means for transmitting the acquired related information to the terminal device.
The second information providing apparatus of the present invention, characterized in that the first information providing apparatus of the present invention, the weather / additional information stored in the table are those corresponding to the contents of the weather information It is an information providing device.
The information providing program of the present invention is a program for causing a computer to function as each means of the first or second information providing apparatus of the present invention.

[Action]
In the present invention, when the terminal device requests the information providing device to transmit the weather information in an arbitrary area, the information providing device transmits the weather information of the requested area, and the current position of the terminal device is requested. According to the distance to the area of the meteorological information, the search item list is referred to, the related information corresponding to the position classified according to the distance is acquired from the related information database, and transmitted to the terminal device.
In addition, when the terminal device requests the information providing device to provide weather information for a predetermined day or time in an arbitrary area, the information providing device transmits the requested area and the weather information for the day or time. In addition, according to the distance between the current position of the terminal device and the area of the requested weather information, and the date or time zone of the requested weather information, the search item list is referred to and classified according to the distance. The related information corresponding to the selected position and the requested date is acquired from the related information database and transmitted to the terminal device.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, when the weather information of a certain area is acquired, the effort for searching about the area in relation to the acquired weather information can be reduced.

It is a figure which shows the information provision system of embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the information provision apparatus and terminal device in the information provision system of embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the database built in the information provision apparatus in the information provision system of embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the information provision system of embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
<Configuration of information provision system>
As shown in FIG. 1, an information search providing system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a network 1 such as the Internet, an information providing device 2 connected to the network 1, a terminal device 3, and a weather information distribution server 4.

  The information providing apparatus 2 is a computer or the like installed in a company or the like that operates an information search service, and periodically acquires weather information from the weather information distribution server 4 via the network 1 and includes a built-in weather information DB ( Database) and an information providing service using a Web page via the network 1 is executed.

  The terminal device 3 includes a mobile phone 3a, a PDA 3b, a PC 3c, and the like, and displays a web page of the information providing device 2 and makes an information provision request by an application (hereinafter referred to as an application) stored in a built-in ROM. can do. In addition, a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver is built in, and has a function of transmitting its current position information measured using the receiver to the information providing apparatus 2.

  The weather information distribution server 4 is a computer possessed by, for example, the Japan Meteorological Agency or a private weather information-related company, and regularly distributes the weather information for one week on the current day, the next day, the next day, and the next day, throughout the country via the network 1.

<Configuration of Information Providing Device 2 and Terminal Device 3>
As shown in FIG. 2A, the information providing apparatus 2 includes a control unit 21, a communication unit 22 and a storage unit 23 each connected to the control unit 21.

  The control unit 21 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and a clock (not shown), and controls the information providing apparatus 2 as a whole. The communication unit 22 communicates with the terminal device 3 and the weather information providing server 4 via the network 1. The storage unit 23 includes an HDD (hard disk device), and stores a weather information DB 231, a related information DB 232, a map information DB 233, and a weather information / related information table 234. Although not shown, the storage unit 23 stores information on the top page of the web and various service pages (such as a weather information provision page and a route search service provision page).

  As illustrated in FIG. 2B, the terminal device 3 includes a control unit 31, a communication unit 32, an input unit 33, a display unit 34, a storage unit 35, and a GPS reception unit 36 each connected to the control unit 31. .

  The control unit 31 includes a CPU, a ROM, and a RAM, and controls the terminal device 3 as a whole. The communication unit 32 communicates with the information providing apparatus 2 via the network 1. The input unit 33 includes a keyboard, a mouse, and the like for the user to operate the terminal device 3. The display unit 34 is composed of an LCD or the like for displaying the operating state of the terminal device 3, information input from the input unit 33, and the like. The storage unit 35 includes a flash memory and an HDD. The GPS receiver 36 has a function of receiving radio waves from GPS satellites and generating current position information.

<Information stored in the storage unit 23>
In the weather information DB 231, weather information of each region in Japan such as the day, the next day, the day after next, and the week, which are periodically acquired from the weather information distribution server 4, is stored. The related information DB 232 stores related information to be transmitted to the terminal device 3. Among the related information, facilities (hotels, restaurants, theme parks, etc.) existing in a specific area are associated with position information in the map information DB 233. In the map information DB 233, image data of maps in Japan and position information (longitude information, latitude information) are stored in association with each other. The meteorological information / related information table 234 includes attributes of weather information to be transmitted in response to a request from the terminal device 3 (area, current day, next day, week) and related information to be transmitted to the terminal device 3 (search item list). The correspondence with is saved.

  FIG. 3 shows an example of the weather information / related information table 234. The vertical direction of this table indicates when the weather information provided by the information providing device 2 to the terminal device 3 is the current time (today, tomorrow, week), and the time zone provided for the current weather information ( It indicates whether the time zone that the user is watching is in the morning, noon, evening, or night. Further, the horizontal direction of this table indicates the distance between the current position of the terminal device 3 (here, home) and the area of weather information provided to the terminal device 3 (current position = distance 0, 100 km). Less than 100 km or more). In addition, what is described in () above the related information is the reason why the user requests the provision of weather information (motivation for viewing the weather forecast). That is, the current position and the area of weather information are divided for each predetermined distance as described above, items are set, and related information is provided for each item. The related information provided by the weather information / related information table 234 may differ depending on the weather (sunny, cloudy, rain, snow, etc.), season, temperature, weather location being viewed, and the like. This is because, for example, Okinawa and Hokkaido require different information even if the season is the same.

<Operation of information provision system>
The operation of the information providing system having the above configuration will be described using the flowchart shown in FIG. In this flowchart, the processing of the terminal device and the information providing device is performed by the CPU in each of the control units 31 and 21 executing a program stored in the ROM.

  First, the user of the terminal device 3 performs an operation for starting an application for using the information providing device 2. In response to this operation, the terminal device 3 transmits a connection request signal to the information providing device 2 (step S1). This connection request signal includes the current position information generated by the GPS receiver 36 of the terminal device 3.

  In the information providing apparatus 2, the communication unit 22 receives the connection request signal and sends it to the control unit 21. The control unit 21 starts processing in response to reception of the connection request signal, acquires current position information in the connection request signal, and stores it in the RAM (step S11). Next, the information providing device 2 reads the top page from the storage unit 23 and transmits it to the terminal device 3 (step S12).

  The terminal device 3 receives the top page and displays it on the display unit 34 (step S2). Various menus are arranged on the top page. When the user selects “weather” from various menus, the terminal device 3 requests the information providing device 2 to transmit a weather information providing page (step S3).

  The information providing device 2 reads the weather information providing page from the storage unit 23 in response to the request for transmitting the weather information providing page, and transmits it to the terminal device 3 (step S13).

  The terminal device 3 receives the weather information provision page and displays it on the display unit 34 (step S4). On this weather information providing page, the user can specify (select) the area and date of the weather information that the user wants to receive. Here, you can specify areas (Kanto, Kansai, Kyushu, etc.), prefectures, parts of prefectures (eastern, western, etc.), counties, municipalities, etc. The next day and week can be specified. When the user designates an area and a date, the terminal device 3 transmits a transmission request for weather information on the designated area and the designated date to the information providing device 2 (step S5).

  The information providing device 2 stores the specified area information, the specified date information, and the current time information in the RAM in response to the request for transmitting the weather information of the specified area and the specified date, and also stores the specified area and the specified date from the weather information DB 231. The weather information is read out and transmitted to the terminal device 3 (step S14). The terminal device 3 receives the weather information of the designated area and the designated date and displays it on the display unit 34 (step S6).

  Next, the information providing apparatus 2 calculates the distance between the current position of the terminal device 3 and the designated area from the current position information of the terminal device 3 held in step S11 and the designated area information held in step S14 (step S15). ). Then, based on the calculated distance information and the specified date information held, the weather information / related information table 234 is referred to, the relevant information on the relevant position and day is specified, and read from the related information DB 232 and acquired. (Step S16).

  Here, the details of step S16 and the weather information / related information table 234 will be described. For example, when the specified date is “today”, the specified area is “current position (here home)”, and the time zone of the current time is “morning”, “cleaning shop information” near the home is read. This is information provided on the assumption that the laundry does not dry due to rain when looking at the weather forecast of the day to check whether it can be washed at home in the morning.

  When the designated date is “today”, the designated area is “current position”, and the time zone of the current time is “daytime”, “sale information” of a store near the home is read. This is information provision on the assumption of going shopping.

  When the specified date is “Today”, the distance to the specified area is “less than 100 km”, and the current time zone is “morning”, the weather forecast is checked to see if a court or umbrella is required before going to work. Coordinate information will be provided.

  When the specified date is “Today”, the distance to the specified area is “100 km or more”, and the current time zone is “morning” or “noon”, the weather forecast is checked to check the temperature and weather of the business trip destination. We provide gourmet information, accommodation facility information, traffic information, etc.

  For the other designated date, designated area, and current time (only in the case of today's weather), the information in () above the related information in FIG.

  The information providing device 2 transmits to the terminal device 3 relevant information for the designated date, the calculated distance between the designated area and the current position, and the time zone of the current time (step S16), and the terminal device 3 sends the relevant information. It is received and displayed on the display unit 34 together with the weather information (step S7). As a display form in the display unit 34, for example, it is conceivable to display weather information on the center and left of the screen and display related information on the right. When the user of the terminal device 3 selects related information on the screen, a Web page linked to the related information is displayed.

  In FIG. 4, weather information and related information are transmitted in different steps (meteorological information is S14 and related information is S16), but they may be transmitted in the same step. Also, the map information of the area where the weather forecast is viewed can be transmitted, and the map, weather, and related information can be displayed simultaneously.

  As described above, according to the information providing system of the present embodiment, when the user of the terminal device 3 requests the information providing device 2 to provide weather information by designating the area and date, the information providing device 2 Provides the meteorological information as well as the pre-stored information related to the distance between the designated area and the terminal device 3, the designated date, and the current time zone (if the designated date is the current day) Is transmitted to the terminal device 3, it is possible to reduce the user's trouble of examining information related to weather information.

The present invention can be applied not only to a portal site but also to a weather information providing site. In addition, the present invention can be modified as described in (1) to (5) below.
(1) In the case where the terminal device 3 is a mobile terminal device that does not include the GPS receiving unit 36, a wireless base station (not shown) sends the location registration information of the mobile terminal device to the information providing device 2, whereby the information providing device 2 acquires the current position information of the mobile terminal device.

  (2) When the terminal device 3 is a PC that does not include the GPS receiver 36, an ISP (Internet Service Provider) that assigns an IP address to a wired or wireless router (not shown) connected to the PC is information. By sending the location information of the router to the providing device 2, the information providing device 2 acquires the current location information (home location information) of the PC.

  (3) When the terminal device 3 is a portable terminal device or a PC that does not include the GPS receiving unit 36, the information providing device 2 obtains the current position information of the terminal device 3 by inputting the current location when receiving the information providing service. get.

  (4) In the case of the membership service, the information providing apparatus 2 allows the user of the terminal apparatus 3 that does not include the GPS receiving unit 36 to input the current position information (home position, etc.) when performing member registration. The current position information of the terminal device 3 is acquired.

(5) The weather information / related information table 234 is created in the following procedures a and b.
a: Member registration for using the information providing apparatus 2 is performed. At this time, age, sex, occupation, etc. are registered as member attribute information.
b: Accumulation request of weather information by each member and the result of the information provision request immediately after that are accumulated as information provision history data, and statistical processing is performed, so it is highly possible to search when weather information is provided Information is extracted and used as related information.
In this case, the information provision service is also provided to users who do not register as members. However, for users who have registered as members, by considering the attributes of the users, relevant information that is likely to be searched by the users is displayed. You can expect to send.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Network, 2 ... Information provision apparatus, 3 ... Terminal device, 21 ... Control part, 231 ... Weather information database, 232 ... Related information database, 234 ... Weather information / Related information table.

Claims (3)

An information providing device that transmits weather information and related information to the terminal device in response to a request from the terminal device,
A related information database for storing the related information;
Terminal location information acquisition means for acquiring current location information of the terminal device;
An area of weather information to be transmitted to the terminal device, a search item list consisting of a plurality of items divided by distance and date or time zone between the area and the current position of the terminal device,
Distance information acquisition means for obtaining a calculated distance between the current position of the terminal device and the area of weather information requested from the terminal device;
Based on the calculated distance and the date or time zone requested from the terminal device, a search item is selected from the search item list , and stored in the weather information / related information table according to the selected item . Related information acquisition means for acquiring related information from the related information database;
Means for transmitting the acquired related information to the terminal device;
An information providing apparatus comprising: In the information provision apparatus described in Claim 1 ,
The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the related information stored in the weather information / related information table corresponds to the content of the weather information. The information provision program for functioning a computer as each means of the information provision apparatus described in Claim 1 or 2 .

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