JP6696146B2 - Location information notification system - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a position information notification system, and more particularly to a system for notifying members who belong to the same group of mutual position information.

  Various systems have been conventionally used to satisfy the requirement that members who belong to the same group mutually know the whereabouts of each other. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a technique of displaying the location of each member on the screen of a personal computer by using a system for managing entry and exit by an IC card provided as an employee ID card. In Patent Document 2, an IC card provided as an employee ID card is used to authenticate the electronic devices installed at various locations, and the location of each member is displayed on the screen of a personal computer. Display technology is disclosed. Further, Patent Document 3 discloses a technique of performing location detection using an RFID carried by each employee and performing similar location notification.

  On the other hand, Patent Document 4 discloses a technique of notifying the searcher of the location of the search target person by e-mail using the location information transmitted from the base station of the mobile phone. Further, Patent Document 5 discloses a technique of displaying the location of the search target person on a map by performing location detection using GPS. Further, Patent Document 6 discloses a technique of notifying the position information of a specific mobile phone by e-mail by detecting a position using GPS, and Patent Document 7 discloses a place using GPS. A technique is disclosed in which the position information of a specific communication terminal is notified to another specific communication terminal by performing detection.

JP, 2011-210279, A JP, 2008-016007, A JP, 2007-094988, A JP, 2003-163958, A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-251069 JP, 2003-047039, A JP, 2004-208183, A

  The systems disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Documents 1 to 3 are developed for the purpose of mutually sharing whereabouts information among members who belong to the same company, and the destination of each member is in the company. The system is based on the assumption that it is a facility. Therefore, the IC card type employee ID card is used to detect the whereabouts of each member and display it on the screen of the in-house terminal device. Therefore, it is suitable for limited use such as reporting location information to employees in a closed space such as an in-house facility, but in general reporting location information about any location for any member. Cannot be used for specific purposes.

  On the other hand, the systems disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Documents 4 to 7 adopt a method of detecting the whereabouts of each member by using the position information of the base station of the mobile phone and the position information acquired by GPS. Therefore, it becomes possible to notify the position information about any place to any member. However, in order to receive the notification of the position information, it is necessary to register in advance a specific mail address or a specific terminal device as the notification destination in the system. In other words, the system needs to handle personal information such as email addresses and telephone numbers.

  However, in recent years, people who handle this personal information tend to have a very serious social responsibility, and it is necessary to take careful and sufficient measures to prevent a scandal of information leakage. There is. Therefore, in order to operate the location information notification service using a system that handles personal information such as email addresses and telephone numbers, a great deal of management cost and a great deal of labor are required.

  Therefore, the present invention is suitable for general use for notifying location information about an arbitrary location to any member, and does not need to handle personal information such as an email address or a telephone number. The purpose is to provide.

(1) A first aspect of the present invention is a position information notification system for notifying members of the same group of mutual position information,
A plurality of terminal devices and a management device having a function of communicating with each of the plurality of terminal devices are provided.
In the terminal device,
A medium identification information reading unit that reads medium identification information from a portable information recording medium carried by each member,
A current position recognition unit that recognizes the current position of the terminal device itself,
A predetermined communication session is established with the management device for communication, and the medium identification information read by the medium identification information reading unit and the current position recognized by the current position recognition unit are used as self-position report information as the management device. A self-location report information transmission unit for transmitting to
During the same communication session as the communication session in which the transmission of the self-position report information is performed, the other person position notification information receiving unit that receives the other person position notification information transmitted from the management device,
Another person's position notification information presenting section for presenting the received other person's position notification information,
Is provided
The management device includes
For each member belonging to the same group, medium identification information of the portable information recording medium carried by each member, at least member identification information for identifying each member in the group, and the current position of each member, A group information storage unit that stores group information in which
A basic information registration unit that registers medium identification information and member identification information in association with each other for each member belonging to each group in the group information storage unit,
During the communication session established with the terminal device, when the self-position report information transmitting unit transmits the self-position report information, the current position included in the transmitted self-position report information is transmitted. A location report information registration unit that registers in the group information storage unit in association with the medium identification information included in the self-location report information
The medium identification information included in the transmitted self-position report information is registered by searching the group information in the group information storage unit during the same communication session as the communication session in which the self-position report information is transmitted. Recognizing a group as an inquiry target group, the member identification information registered for each member belonging to the inquiry target group and the current position registered in association with this are used as other person position notification information. A position notification information transmitting unit that transmits to another person position notification information receiving unit,
Is provided.

(2) A second aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the first aspect described above,
At least part of the terminal device is configured by a stationary terminal device that is installed at a specific installation location, and the current position recognition unit of this stationary terminal device holds the installation location information indicating the installation location of the stationary terminal device. The present position is recognized based on this installation location information.

(3) A third aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the first aspect described above,
At least a part of the terminal devices is configured by a mobile type mobile terminal device, and the current position recognizing unit of the mobile type mobile terminal device uses a position recognizing system using GPS, or a wireless LAN base station or a mobile phone in communication. It has a position recognition system using the position information of the base station, and recognizes its own position recognized by the position recognition system as the current position.

(4) A fourth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the first aspect described above,
At least a part of the terminal devices is configured by a smartphone equipped with a computer that operates under the control of a predetermined OS program, a tablet type terminal device, or a portable personal computer, and a dedicated application program is incorporated in the computer. Executes the application program to perform the function as the terminal device.

(5) A fifth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the above-mentioned first aspect,
At least a part of the terminal devices is configured by a smartphone, a tablet type terminal device, or a portable personal computer equipped with a computer that operates under the control of a predetermined OS program, and the computer has a web browser program and the web browser program assists the computer. Include an auxiliary program that adds functions,
The management device is provided with a web server that provides a predetermined web page,
The computer functions as the terminal device by accessing a web page using a web browser program and executing an auxiliary program.

(6) A sixth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the first to fifth aspects described above,
The medium identification information reading unit reads the medium identification information recorded as digital data on the portable information recording medium including an IC card or an IC tag, and records it as magnetic data on the portable information recording medium including a magnetic card. A magnetic reading device for reading the stored medium identification information, a code reading device for reading the medium identification information recorded as a barcode or QR code (registered trademark) on the portable information recording medium, or a character on the portable information recording medium. , An OCR device for photographing and recognizing an image of medium identification information recorded as numbers or symbols.

(7) A seventh aspect of the present invention is a position information notification system for notifying members of the same group of their mutual position information,
A plurality of portable mobile terminal devices carried by each member and a management device having a function of communicating with each of the plurality of portable mobile terminal devices are provided.
Portable mobile terminal devices include
A medium identification information storage unit that stores predetermined medium identification information,
A current position recognition unit that recognizes the current position of the portable mobile terminal device itself,
A predetermined communication session is established with the management device for communication, and the medium identification information stored in the medium identification information storage unit and the current position recognized by the current position recognition unit are used as self-position report information. A self-location report information transmission unit for transmitting to the management device,
During the same communication session as the communication session in which the transmission of the self-position report information is performed, the other person position notification information receiving unit that receives the other person position notification information transmitted from the management device,
Another person's position notification information presenting section for presenting the received other person's position notification information,
Is provided
The management device includes
For individual members belonging to the same group, medium identification information stored in the portable mobile terminal device carried by each member, member identification information for identifying each member in at least the group, and each member's identification information A group information storage unit that stores group information in which the current position and the current position are associated with each other,
A basic information registration unit that registers medium identification information and member identification information in association with each other in each group in the group information storage unit,
During the communication session established with the portable mobile terminal device, when the self-position report information transmitting unit transmits the self-position report information, the current position included in the transmitted self-position report information is displayed. A position report information registration unit that registers in the group information storage unit in association with the medium identification information included in the transmitted self-position report information,
The medium identification information included in the transmitted self-position report information is registered by searching the group information in the group information storage unit during the same communication session as the communication session in which the self-position report information is transmitted. Recognizing a group as an inquiry target group, the member identification information registered for each member belonging to the inquiry target group and the current position registered in association with this are used as other person position notification information. A position notification information transmitting unit that transmits to another person position notification information receiving unit,
Is provided.

(8) An eighth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the seventh aspect described above,
The current position recognizing unit has a position recognizing system using GPS or a position recognizing system using position information of a wireless LAN base station or a mobile phone base station in communication, and is recognized by the position recognizing system. It recognizes one's own position as the current position.

(9) A ninth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the seventh aspect described above,
The portable mobile terminal device is configured by a smartphone, a tablet terminal device, or a portable personal computer equipped with a computer that operates under the control of a predetermined OS program, and a dedicated application program is incorporated in the computer so that the computer By executing the application program, the function as the portable mobile terminal device is fulfilled.

(10) A tenth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the seventh aspect described above,
The portable mobile terminal device is configured by a smartphone, a tablet terminal device, or a portable personal computer equipped with a computer that operates under the control of a predetermined OS program, and the computer has a web browser program and an auxiliary function of the web browser program. I tried to install an auxiliary program that adds
The management device is provided with a web server that provides a predetermined web page,
The computer accesses the web page using the web browser program and executes the auxiliary program, so that the computer functions as the portable mobile terminal device.

(11) An eleventh aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the first to tenth aspects described above,
The terminal device acquires, for a specific group, individual medium identification information and individual member identification information corresponding thereto based on a user operation, and transmits the acquired information as basic information to the management device. It further has a basic information setting section,
Based on this basic information, the basic information registration unit in the management device performs processing for registering the medium identification information and the member identification information in association with each member belonging to each group.

(12) A twelfth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the eleventh aspect described above,
If the basic information registration unit has already registered the same medium identification information as the medium identification information included in the transmitted basic information in the group information storage unit, it is included in the transmitted basic information. It has a function of rejecting registration of the relevant medium identification information and member identification information corresponding thereto, and notifying the basic information setting unit that the registration has been rejected.
The basic information setting unit has a function of notifying the user of the fact that the registration has been refused.

(13) A thirteenth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the eleventh or twelfth aspect described above,
If the basic information registration unit has already registered the same member identification information as the member identification information included in the transmitted basic information for the specific group to be registered, it has been transmitted. It has a function of rejecting registration of the member identification information included in the basic information and medium identification information corresponding thereto, and notifying the basic information setting unit that the registration has been rejected.
The basic information setting unit has a function of notifying the user of the fact that the registration is rejected.

(14) A fourteenth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the eleventh or twelfth aspect described above,
The basic information registration unit has a function of registering a plurality of medium identification information in association with the same member identification information belonging to a specific group based on the basic information transmitted from the basic information setting unit. ,
If there is a current position associated with each of the plurality of medium identification information corresponding to the same member identification information, the position notification information transmission unit uses the newly registered current position as the same member identification information. The information is transmitted as the corresponding current position.

(15) A fifteenth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the eleventh to fourteenth aspects described above,
The basic information setting unit or the basic information registration unit holds a predetermined nonconformity criterion that should be nonconforming to register as the medium identification information in the data string composed of letters, numbers, symbols, or a combination thereof. When the medium identification information acquired based on the user's operation satisfies this nonconformity criterion, the transmission or registration of the medium identification information is rejected.

(16) A sixteenth aspect of the present invention is to provide the position information notification system according to the above eleventh to fifteenth aspects,
The basic information setting unit has a function of inputting a group name for a specific group based on a user operation, and transmitting the input group name to the management device,
The basic information registration unit checks whether the transmitted group name is unregistered or already registered. If the group name is not registered, the basic information registration unit stores the group name in the group information storage unit. Register as a group name for the group Perform the group name registration process, notify the basic information setting section that the group name registration has been performed, and reject the group name registration process if it has already been registered. Has a function to notify the basic information setting section that name registration has been rejected,
The basic information setting unit has a function of notifying the user whether the group name registration processing has been performed or rejected, and if the group name registration has been performed, then the basic information registration unit is notified to the basic information registration unit. When the information is transmitted, the group name input by the user is transmitted to identify the group to be registered.

(17) A seventeenth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the sixteenth aspect described above,
The basic information registration unit has a function of generating a unique group code corresponding to the group name when performing the group name registration process and notifying the basic information setting unit of the generated group code,
The basic information setting unit has a function of notifying the user of the fact that the group name registration processing has been performed, and also notifies the user of the generated group code, and if the group name registration has been performed, then When the basic information is transmitted to the basic information registration unit, the group name or the group code input by the user is transmitted to specify the group to be registered.

(18) An eighteenth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the first to seventeenth aspects described above,
The group information storage unit has a function of storing, as group information, the current position of each member and the reporting time of the current position,
When the location report information registration unit transmits the self location report information from the self location report information transmission unit, the location report information registration unit associates the self location report information with the current position included in the transmitted self location report information, It has a function to register the transmission time or the reception time as a report time in the group information storage unit,
The position notification information transmitting unit has a function of transmitting to the other person position notification information receiving unit, together with the current position, the other person position notification information including the report time registered in association with the current position,
The other person position notification information receiving unit has a function of receiving the other person position notification information including the reporting time,
The other person position notification information presenting section has a function of presenting the other person position notification information including the reporting time.

(19) A nineteenth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the above-described first to eighteenth aspects,
The self-location report information transmission unit has a function of inputting an arbitrary message based on a user operation, and transmitting self-position report information including the input message to the management device,
The group information storage unit has a function of storing a message from each member together with the current position of each member as group information,
When the position report information registration unit transmits the self position report information from the self position report information transmission unit, the position report information registration unit associates the self position report information with the current position included in the transmitted self position report information, It has a function to register the included message in the group information storage unit,
The position notification information transmitting unit has a function of transmitting the other person's position notification information including the message registered in association with the current position to the other person's position notification information receiving unit,
The other person position notification information receiving unit has a function of receiving the other person position notification information including a message,
The other person position notification information presenting unit has a function of presenting the other person position notification information including a message.

(20) A twentieth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the nineteenth aspect described above,
The self-position report information transmission unit has a function of inputting the user's evaluation information regarding the current position as a message based on the user's operation.

(21) A twenty-first aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the first to twentieth aspects described above,
The other person position notification information presenting section displays the member identification information of each member at the corresponding position on the map based on the current position of each member included in the other person position notification information.

(22) A twenty-second aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the above-mentioned first to twenty-first aspects,
The management device establishes the second communication session with the second terminal device during the first communication session with the first terminal device, and the inquiry target group for the first terminal device And the inquiry target group for the second terminal device are the same, the result of the self-location report information registered based on the second communication session with the second terminal device is set to the first The other-person position notification information is transmitted to the first terminal device in the communication session.

(23) A twenty-third aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the above-described first to twenty-second aspects,
The management device is further provided with a statistic creation unit that creates statistics on the behavior of each member based on the group information stored in the group information storage unit.

(24) A twenty-fourth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the above-described first to twenty-third aspects,
The group information storage unit is configured to perform a process of deleting a part or all of individual group information at a predetermined timing.

(25) A twenty-fifth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the above-described first to twenty-fourth aspects,
When the predetermined inquiry timing arrives, the other person position notification information receiving unit automatically sends an information inquiry request including specific medium identification information to the position notification information transmitting unit, and a reply is sent in response to this information inquiry request. Has the function of receiving other person's position notification information,
The other person position notification information presenting unit has a function of presenting the received other person position notification information,
The position notification information transmission unit, in response to the information inquiry request, searches the group information in the group information storage unit, recognizes the group in which the medium identification information included in the information inquiry request is registered, as the inquiry target group, The member identification information registered for each member belonging to the group to be inquired and the current position registered in association with the member identification information are transmitted to the other person position notification information receiving unit as other person position notification information. It has a function of sending back a reply.

(26) A twenty-sixth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the above-described first to twenty-fourth aspects,
The self-location report information transmission unit has a function of automatically transmitting self-location report information to the location report information registration unit when a predetermined inquiry timing comes.

(27) A 27th aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the 25th or the 26th aspect described above,
The terminal device has a function of storing the specific medium identification information transmitted to the management device, and transmits the stored specific medium identification information when a predetermined inquiry timing comes. Is.

(28) A twenty-eighth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the seventh to tenth aspects described above,
When the predetermined inquiry timing arrives, the other person position notification information receiving unit automatically reads the medium identification information stored in the medium identification information storage unit, and sends the information inquiry request including the read medium identification information. It has a function of automatically transmitting to the notification information transmission unit and receiving the other person position notification information returned in response to this information inquiry request,
The other person position notification information presenting unit has a function of presenting the received other person position notification information,
The position notification information transmission unit, in response to the information inquiry request, searches the group information in the group information storage unit, recognizes the group in which the medium identification information included in the information inquiry request is registered, as the inquiry target group, The member identification information registered for each member belonging to the group to be inquired and the current position registered in association with the member identification information are transmitted to the other person position notification information receiving unit as other person position notification information. It has a function of sending back a reply.

(29) A twenty-ninth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the seventh to tenth aspects described above,
When the predetermined inquiry timing arrives, the self-location report information transmission unit automatically reads the medium identification information stored in the medium identification information storage unit and locates the self-position report information including the read medium identification information. It has a function of automatically transmitting to the report information registration unit.

(30) A thirtieth aspect of the present invention is the position information notification system according to the twenty-fifth to twenty-ninth aspects described above,
The timing that periodically arrives at a predetermined cycle φ is set as the inquiry timing, or a preset specific inquiry time is set as the inquiry timing.

  (31) A thirty-first aspect of the present invention configures a terminal device that can be used in the position information notification system according to the above-described first to thirtieth aspects.

  (32) A thirty-second aspect of the present invention configures a management device that can be used in the position information notification system according to the first to thirtieth aspects described above.

  (33) According to a thirty-third aspect of the present invention, the terminal device according to the thirty-first aspect described above or the management device according to the thirty-second aspect described above is configured by incorporating a program into a computer.

  (34) A thirty-fourth aspect of the present invention is a safety confirmation system configured by using the position information notification system according to the first to thirtieth aspects described above.

  In the position information notification system according to the present invention, medium identification information and member identification information recorded in advance on a medium carried by each member are registered. Here, the member identification information need only be information that can identify each member within a certain group, and thus need not be personal information such as a mail address or a telephone number. The current position of each member is reported to the management device side when the member voluntarily accesses the management device from the terminal device, and in the same communication session, the management device notifies the terminal device of the other members. The current position is notified. In other words, the position information of other members is not voluntarily distributed from the management device side to each member's terminal device, but when the terminal device side reports the current position, It is transmitted from the management device side to the terminal device using the communication session. Therefore, it is not necessary to prepare personal information such as an email address and a telephone number for accessing each member in the system. Therefore, it provides a location information notification system suitable for general purpose of notifying location information about any location to any member, and without needing to handle personal information such as email address and telephone number. It will be possible.

It is a block diagram showing the whole composition of the position information notification system concerning a basic embodiment of the present invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structure of the position information notification system which concerns on the basic embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen during a basic information setting operation by the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing another example of the display screen during the basic information setting work by the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a state in which an operation of reading medium identification information MID from the portable information recording medium M is being performed by the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2. It is a figure which shows the relationship between the five members m11-m15 which belong to the same group, and the portable information recording media M11-M16 which each has. It is a figure which shows the transition of the group information I (G1) stored in the management apparatus 200 at the time of performing basic information setting work about five members m11-m15 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the process in which the member m13 (Hanako) shown in FIG. 6 performs a whereabouts work to the terminal device 100 installed in "Ginza". A group stored in the management device 200 when the five members m11 to m15 illustrated in FIG. 6 sequentially perform the location notification work for the terminal devices 100 installed at predetermined locations, respectively. It is a 1st figure which shows the transition of information I (G1). A group stored in the management device 200 when the five members m11 to m15 illustrated in FIG. 6 sequentially perform the location notification work for the terminal devices 100 installed at predetermined locations, respectively. It is a 2nd figure which shows the transition of information I (G1). A group stored in the management device 200 when the five members m11 to m15 illustrated in FIG. 6 sequentially perform the location notification work for the terminal devices 100 installed at predetermined locations, respectively. It is a 3rd figure which shows the transition of information I (G1). The five members m11 to m15 shown in FIG. 6 are displayed on the screen of the terminal device 100 when the location notification work is sequentially performed on the terminal device 100 installed in a predetermined place. It is a figure which shows person position notification information. It is a figure which shows the specific example which comprises the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2 using a smart phone. It is a block diagram which shows the modification of the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of a display using the map of other person position notification information on the screen of the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the screen of the modification which receives the input of a message at the time of the work of notification of whereabouts. It is a figure which shows the modification which receives the input of the evaluation information of a store at the time of the work of notifying a whereabouts. It is a figure which shows an example of the statistical data produced in the modification which had the function which produces the statistics regarding the action of each member based on group information.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on illustrated embodiments.

<<<< §1. Configuration of system according to basic embodiment >>>
<1-1. Overall configuration of location information notification system>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a position information notification system according to a basic embodiment of the present invention. This position information notifying system is a system having a function of notifying members who belong to the same group of mutual position information, and as shown in the drawing, a plurality of terminal devices 100A, 100B, 100C and these terminal devices. The management device 200 has a function of communicating with each of 100A, 100B, and 100C.

  As illustrated, the terminal devices 100A, 100B, 100C and the management device 200 are connected to each other via the network 300. Practically, it is preferable to use the Internet as the network 300. In the case of the basic embodiment described in this §1, each terminal device 100A, 100B, 100C is a stationary terminal device that is generally installed at a specific installation place called a "KIOSK terminal", such as a station or airport. It will be installed in public facilities and stores. Here, it is assumed that the installation locations of the terminal devices 100A, 100B, 100C are positions Pa, Pb, Pc, respectively.

  Although only three terminal devices 100A, 100B, and 100C are illustrated in FIG. 1 for convenience, in reality, a larger number of terminal devices 100 are installed in various places over a wide range. Become. Note that, in §1 and §2, for convenience, an example in which each terminal device 100 is a stationary terminal device will be described, but as described in §3, the terminal device in the present invention does not necessarily have to be a stationary device. Alternatively, it may be a portable mobile terminal device.

  On the other hand, the management device 200 accepts access from each of the terminal devices 100A, 100B, 100C via the network 300, receives self-location report information from each member, and sends other-member location notification information to each member. Perform the process of sending.

  Each user who uses the position information notification system according to the present invention can be notified of position information about other members belonging to the same group by becoming a member of a predetermined group. An example in which three groups G1, G2, and G3 are set is shown in the upper part of FIG. 1, and a more detailed member configuration is illustrated for the group G1 among them. Of course, in reality, a larger number of groups are set, and a plurality of members are set as members in each group.

  In the case of the example shown in FIG. 1, the group G1 is composed of five members m11 to m15, and these members m11 to m15 carry portable information recording media M11 to M15, respectively. Further, medium identification information MID11 to MID15 are recorded on these portable information recording media M11 to M15, respectively. As described above, in the basic embodiment shown here, each member m carries the unique portable information recording medium M, and the medium identification information MID is recorded in each individual information recording medium M. It is a prerequisite. Then, the medium identification information MID is used as information for distinguishing the individual members m from each other.

  Group information I is stored in the management device 200 for each individual group. The group information I is information for indicating the current position of each member belonging to each group. FIG. 1 shows a state in which group information I (G1), I (G2), I (G3) is stored for each of the three groups G1, G2, G3.

  When each member m visits a certain place, the member m performs the whereabouts notification work using the terminal device 100 installed in the place. In the location notification work, first, an operation of reading the medium identification information MID from the information recording medium M carried by the member m is performed. The terminal device 100 transmits the read medium identification information MID and the current position of the terminal device 100 itself to the management device 200 as self-position report information.

  The management device 200 receives the self-position report information and registers the reported current position in the group information I to which the member m belongs in association with the medium identification information MID of the member m. To do. For the terminal device 100 that has transmitted the self-position report information, the current position information of other members registered in the group information I to which the member m belongs is used as the other-person position notification information. Perform reply processing. Thus, the terminal device 100 that the member m is operating is presented with the current positions of other members.

  In FIG. 1, the member m13 belonging to the group G1 uses the terminal device 100B installed at the position Pb to read out the medium identification information MID13 recorded in the information recording medium M13 being carried (location notification work). ) Is indicated by a dashed arrow. The terminal device 100B transmits the read medium identification information MID13 and its own current position Pb to the management device 200 as self-position report information. This self-location report information indicates the fact that “the member m13 belonging to the group G1 linked to the medium identification information MID13 is currently performing the location notification work at the position Pb”, and the management device 200 When the self-position report information is received, a process of registering the current position Pb in the group information I (G1) in association with the medium identification information MID13 is performed.

  In addition, when the management device 200 receives the self-location report information, the management device 200 registers other members (in the example shown in the figure, members) registered as group information I (G1) with respect to the terminal device 100B which is the transmission source. (m11, m12, m14, m15) current position is returned as other person position notification information. The terminal device 100B that has received the reply performs the process of presenting the current position of the other member that has been returned as the other person position notification information. Eventually, the member m13 can be notified of the current positions of other members by performing the whereabouts notification work of reporting the position of the member m13.

  In this way, the member m13 can receive information distribution regarding the current positions of other members using the terminal device 100B. Such information distribution is a so-called "pull-type" distribution form, and is a form in which information is pulled from the management device 200 by the member m13 actively performing the location notification work using the terminal device 100B. It can be said that information is obtained.

  In the present invention, it is premised that such "pull type" distribution is performed when the position information of other members is obtained. If this "pull-type" distribution is adopted, the management device 200 only needs to carry out necessary information distribution in accordance with the access from the terminal device 100 side, so that the personal information such as the mail address of the member m13 is known. It is not necessary, and it is not necessary to specify which terminal device the member m13 uses to access. Regardless of which terminal device the access from the member m13 is performed, the management device 200 only needs to perform a process of returning necessary information to the terminal device of the access source in response to the access.

  On the other hand, the conventional position information notification systems disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Documents 4 to 7 adopt a so-called "push type" distribution form, and do not assume active work by the user. , The target information will be delivered automatically. For that purpose, it is necessary to register a specific mail address or a specific terminal device to be notified to the system in advance, and handling of personal information cannot be avoided. In such a system that requires the handling of personal information, it is necessary to take careful and sufficient measures so that the scandal of information leakage does not occur, resulting in a large management cost and a large amount of labor. This is as already mentioned.

  Since the position information notification system according to the present invention is premised on "pull-type" distribution as described above, the personal information of each member is unnecessary. Of course, the management device 200 stores the medium identification information MID read from the portable information recording medium M carried by each member, but the medium identification information MID itself indicates each member. Since it is not personal information that is directly specified, even if an information leak occurs, it will not develop into a serious social problem. In other words, the cost and labor of information management are significantly reduced as compared with a system that handles personal information such as an email address.

  As described above, in the case of the embodiment shown here, each terminal device 100 is a stationary terminal device installed in a public facility such as a station / airport or a store, and is practically installed in a wide variety of places. be able to. Therefore, it is suitable for a general purpose of notifying position information about an arbitrary place to an arbitrary member. Moreover, since it is not necessary to handle personal information such as an email address and a telephone number, the cost and labor of information management can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional system. Further, since the position information of each member is notified only to members who belong to the same preset group, it is possible to provide a safe system from the viewpoint of privacy protection.

<1-2. Detailed configuration of location information notification system>
Subsequently, a more detailed configuration of the position information notification system according to the basic embodiment described in §1.1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed configuration of the position information notification system shown in FIG.

  As described above, this position information notification system has a plurality of terminal devices. However, for convenience, the detailed configuration of one of the terminal devices 100 is shown in the upper part of FIG. A detailed configuration of the management device 200 will be shown. Further, at the top of FIG. 2, a portable information recording medium M carried by a member is illustrated for convenience of explanation. Although the communication between the terminal device 100 and the management device 200 is actually performed via the network (Internet) 300, the network 300 is not shown in FIG.

  As illustrated, the terminal device 100 includes a medium identification information reading unit 110, a current position recognition unit 120, a self-position report information transmission unit 130, another person position notification information presentation unit 140, and another person position notification information reception unit. It has 150, a basic information setting unit 160, and a processing control unit 170. As will be described later, this terminal device 100 can be actually configured by incorporating a predetermined program in a computer, and each of the above-described components is actually a computer incorporating a program for performing individual processing. Is realized by

  On the other hand, the management device 200 has a position report information registration unit 210, a basic information registration unit 220, a position notification information transmission unit 230, and a group information storage unit 240. This management device 200 can also be configured by actually incorporating a predetermined program into a computer (server device), and each of the above-described components is actually a computer incorporating a program that performs individual processing. Will be realized.

  The processing performed by the position information notification system according to the present invention is roughly classified into processing in the preparation stage and processing in the use stage. The process of the preparation stage is a process of registering each user as a member who belongs to a predetermined group, and the process of the use stage is a process of notifying the position information of the registered members to each other for each group. is there. Here, for convenience, the components used in the process of the preparation stage will be described first, and then the components used in the process of the use stage will be described.

  The process of the preparation stage is executed by the medium identification information reading unit 110, the basic information setting unit 160, the basic information registration unit 220, and the group information storage unit 240. The purpose of this process is to register the medium identification information and the member identification information for each member belonging to the specific group as a part of the group information I in the group information storage unit 240.

  For example, in the case of the illustrated example, the content of the group information I (G1) stored in the group information storage unit 240 is specifically illustrated. This group information I (G1) is information about the group G1, and includes medium identification information MID, member identification information mid, current position P, and report time t for each of the five members m11 to m15 shown in FIG. It is the associated information. In the process of the preparation stage, the medium identification information MID and the member identification information mid are registered. The remaining current position P and the reporting time t will be sequentially registered in the process of the utilization stage.

  The medium identification information MID is information recorded in the portable information recording media M11 to M15 carried by the individual members m11 to m15 belonging to the group G1, as shown in the upper part of FIG. It must be unique within the location information notification system. In other words, the medium identification information MID without duplication is registered through all the group information stored in the group information storage unit 240.

  The medium identification information reading unit 110 is a component that reads out the medium identification information MID from the portable information recording medium M carried by each member m. An actual example of the portable information recording medium M will be described in detail later in §2. For example, when an IC card is used as the portable information recording medium M, the medium identification information reading unit 110 digitally stores the information in the IC card. It can be configured by a reader / writer device having a function of reading the medium identification information MID recorded as data (for example, the serial number of the CPU incorporated in the IC card).

  The basic information setting unit 160 inputs the individual medium identification information MID and the individual member identification information m corresponding thereto for a specific group based on the user's operation, and inputs the input information to the management device 200. Then, it is a component having a function of transmitting it as basic information to be registered for the specific group. In the case of the example shown in FIG. 2, the medium identification information MID11 to MID15 is read by the medium identification information reading unit 110 from the portable information recording medium M11 to M15 carried by each member m11 to m15 belonging to the specific group G1. It is the information that was provided.

  On the other hand, the member identification information mid11 to mid15 is information added to identify the individual members m11 to m15 in the group G1. As described above, the medium identification information MID needs to be unique information in this position information notification system, but the member identification information mid needs only to identify each member in at least the same group. .. Therefore, in the illustrated example, the member identification information mid11 to mid15 may be duplicated and used in another group as long as the information is unique within the group G1.

  The member identification information mid is input to the basic information setting unit 160 by a user input operation. For example, in order to register the member m11 as a member of the group G1, the user (may be the member m11 himself or another person) may carry the portable information recording medium which the member m11 intends to carry. The medium identification information MID11 recorded in M11 may be read by the medium identification information reading unit 110, and the member identification information mid11 to be given to the member m11 may be input to the basic information setting unit 160. .. The basic information setting unit 160 transmits the medium identification information MID11 and the member identification information mid11 thus input to the management apparatus 200 as basic information to be registered in the group G1.

  The basic information registration unit 220 stores the medium identification information MID for each member belonging to each group in the group information storage unit 240 based on the thus transmitted basic information (medium identification information MID11 and member identification information mid11). And the member identification information mid is associated and registered. In the case of the above example, the medium identification information MID11 and the member identification information mid11 are stored in the group information storage unit 240 as information forming the group information I (G1). As described above, in the process of the preparation stage, the medium identification information MID11 to MID15 and the member identification information mid11 to mid15 are included in the group information I (G1) for each of the five members m11 to m15 belonging to the group G1. It is registered in the group information storage unit 240 as a copy. Of course, similar registrations are made in the group information storage unit 240 for the other groups G2, G3, etc. in the process of the preparation stage.

  Next, the components used in the processing of the use stage will be described. First, the current position recognition unit 120 is a component that recognizes the current position P of the terminal device 100 itself. As the current position P, for example, data indicating latitude / longitude or data indicating an address can be used. Alternatively, data indicating facility names such as Tokyo Station and Haneda Airport may be used, or place names having a certain size such as Ginza and Asakusa may be used.

  This current position P is the source of the position information notified to each member, so in this position information notification system, in consideration of the form in which the position information is notified, the data in an appropriate form is sent. It should be used. In practice, however, data indicating latitude and longitude is used as the current position P recognized by the current position recognition unit 120, and as will be described later, after transmitting this to the management device 200, the management device 200 side It is preferable that the data indicating the latitude and longitude are converted into an address, a facility name, a place name, etc. and stored as necessary.

  Since the basic embodiment described here is a stationary terminal device (so-called “KIOSK terminal”) that is installed in a specific installation location as the terminal device 100, the current position of the terminal device 100 remains unchanged as the installation location. Is. Therefore, in the case of this example, the current position recognition unit 120 holds the installation location information indicating the installation location of the terminal device 100 (stationary terminal device), and recognizes the current location based on the installation location information. It will be. Specifically, when the terminal device 100 is installed in a specific installation location, information indicating the latitude and longitude of the installation location and the like is set in the current position recognition unit 120 as data indicating the current position P. Good. The current position recognition unit 120 always recognizes the set data as the current position P.

  The self-location report information transmitting unit 130 establishes a predetermined communication session with the management device 200 via the network 300 to communicate with each other, and the medium identification information MID read by the medium identification information reading unit 110 and the current state. It is a component that transmits the current position P recognized by the position recognition unit to the management device 200 as self-position report information R.

  The process of transmitting the self-location report information R is executed by each member performing work for notifying whereabouts. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, when the member m13 who has visited the installation location of the terminal device 100B performs the work location notification work, the medium identification information MID13 recorded in the information recording medium M13 being carried is used as the medium identification information. The read unit 110 may read the self-position report information and the self-position report information transmission unit 130 may be instructed to transmit the self-position report information R. In this case, the self-position report information transmitting unit 130 may read the read medium identification information MID13 and the current position Pb recognized by the current position recognizing unit 120 (as described above, the terminal device 100B has a latitude indicating its installation location). The longitude data Pb and the like are set in advance) as self-position report information R to the management device 200.

  On the other hand, the position report information registration unit 210 has been transmitted when the self position report information transmission unit 130 has transmitted the self position report information R during the communication session established with the terminal device 100. It is a component that registers the current position P included in the self-position report information R in the group information storage unit 240 in association with the medium identification information MID included in the transmitted self-position report information R.

  In the case of the above example, since the medium identification information MID13 and the current position Pb are transmitted as the self-position report information R, the position report information registration unit 210 searches each group information I in the group information storage unit 240. Then, the medium identification information MID13 is searched for, and the current position Pb is registered as the information of the current position corresponding thereto. As described above, the member identification information mid may not necessarily be unique information in the group information storage unit 240, but the medium identification information MID is unique information in the group information storage unit 240. It is possible to specify the unique medium identification information MID13.

  After all, for the individual members m belonging to the same group G, the group information storage unit 240 stores the medium identification information MID of the portable information recording medium M carried by each member m and at least each member m in the group G. It plays a role of storing group information in which the member identification information mid for identifying and the current position P of each member are associated with each other.

  In addition, in the case of the embodiment shown here, the group information storage unit 240 has a function of storing, as the group information I, the current position P of each member m and the reporting time t of the current position P. For example, in the case of the illustrated example, a state in which the medium identification information MID13, the member identification information mid13, the current position Pb, and the report time 13:18 are registered for the member m13 is shown. Here, the reporting time 13:18 indicates the time at which the current position Pb was reported. As the report time, the transmission time of the self-location report information R (the time transmitted by the self-location report information transmission unit 130) may be used, or the reception time of the self-location report information R (received by the location report information registration unit 210). Time) may be used.

  The term "time" used in the present application is a concept indicating a specific position on the time axis, and actually expressed in arbitrary units such as "year, month, day, hour, minute, second". You can Therefore, for example, data such as “February 14, 2015 13:26:52” can be used as the “report time”. However, in the embodiment described here, for convenience of description, an example in which data in the format of “hour: minute” is used as the reporting time will be shown.

  As described above, in the case of the embodiment shown here, the position report information registration unit 210 receives the self-position report information R from the self-position report information transmission unit 130. It has a function of registering the transmission time or the reception time of the self-position report information R in the group information storage unit 240 as the report time t in association with the current position P included in.

  The example in the case where the member m13 performs the location notification work has been described above, but the same applies when another member performs the location notification work. As described above, the information of the current position P and the reporting time t in the group information I is information registered when each member m performs the whereabouts notification work, and is blank until the whereabouts notification work is performed. Become. In addition, when the location notification work is performed for the second time and thereafter, the latest information is sequentially updated.

  The example shown in FIG. 2 shows the latest state when the member m13 performs the location notification work at 13:18. At this point, the current positions of the members m11 and m12 are Pa, the current positions of the members m13 and m14 are Pb, and the current position of the member m15 is Pc. A feature of the position information notification system according to the present invention is that when the member m13 performs the location notification work at 13:18, the latest position information of each member belonging to the same group G1 is notified during the same communication session. There is a point.

  Therefore, the position notification information transmission unit 230 searches for the group information I in the group information storage unit 240 during the same communication session as the communication session in which the self-position report information R is transmitted, and the transmitted self information is transmitted. The group G in which the medium identification information MID included in the position report information R is registered is recognized as an inquiry target group, and the member specifying information mid registered for each member m belonging to the inquiry target group G and A process of transmitting the current position P associated with and registered as the other person position notification information N to the other person position notification information receiving unit 150 is executed.

  In the case of the embodiment shown here, the position notification information transmitting unit 230 receives the other position notification information including the current position P and the report time t registered in association with the current position P from the other position notification information receiving unit 150. Send to. Further, in the case of the embodiment shown here, for convenience, information about all members (including all members who have reported their own positions) belonging to the inquiry target group G is transmitted. Of course, the transmission of the current position P and the reporting time t regarding the member who has reported the self position may be omitted.

  For example, in the case of the above example, when the member m13 performs the location notification work at 13:18, the position notification information transmission unit 230 registers all five members m11 to m15 including the member m13 at that time. The latest member identification information mid, the current position P, and the reporting time t are transmitted to the other-person position notification information receiving unit 150 as the other-person position notification information N. Since the transmission processing of the other person position notification information N is performed in the same communication session as the reception processing of the self-position report information R, personal information such as a mail address for specifying the transmission destination is unnecessary.

  Note that the "same communication session" in the present application does not necessarily mean that "communication between the terminal device and the management device is continuously performed". That is, even if the communication between the two is temporarily interrupted, if the communication is resumed in the state where the communication state before the interruption is taken over, the communication sessions before and after the interruption are the same as those in the present application. Communication session ".

  For example, when the terminal device 100 uses a web browser application program to start communication in a format for accessing the web server in the management device 200, the HTTP used for web access does not originally have a concept of session, and therefore the web server side Then, the process of recognizing the session with the Web browser is performed using a mechanism called “session management”. Specifically, the web server side that has received the access from the web browser issues a "session ID" and deposits it in the web browser. Actually, there are a method of transmitting the "session ID" as a cookie to the web browser, a method of adding the "session ID" to the URL embedded in the web page, a method of embedding the "session ID" in the form data in the HTML data, and the like. It's being used.

  If "session management" using this "session ID" is performed, even if the communication between the web browser and the web server is temporarily interrupted, the communication from the web browser to the web server is the same as before the interruption when the communication is restarted. By transmitting the “session ID”, it can be recognized that the session is the same as that before the interruption even after the interruption. Therefore, even if the Web browser makes an access over a plurality of Web pages, a series of communication in page units can be recognized as "the same session". The “same communication session” as used in the present application includes a session recognized as “same” by such “session management”.

  The other person position notification information receiving unit 150 is a component that receives the other person position notification information N transmitted from the management device 200 during the same communication session as the communication session in which the self position report information R is transmitted. Is. In the case of the embodiment shown here, the other person position notification information N includes the member identification information mid, the current position P, and the reporting time t, and the other person position notification information presenting unit 140 notifies the user of the other person position information. Presented. In the case of the above example, when the member m13 uses the terminal device 100B installed at the position Pb to perform the location notification work at 13:18, the current position P and the current position P of all members m11 to m15 including himself / herself. The reporting time t will be displayed on the screen.

  The processing control unit 170 is a component that plays a role of centrally controlling the components 110 to 160 in the terminal device 100. Specifically, it plays a role of presenting a menu screen to the user, inputting an instruction from the user, and giving an instruction to a predetermined component so that a process according to the instruction is executed.

  For example, when the user gives an instruction to perform the basic information setting work, the processing control unit 170 gives an instruction to the medium identification information reading unit 110 to read the medium identification information MID, and The information setting unit 160 is instructed to perform processing for basic information setting. Further, when the user gives an instruction to perform the location notification work, the processing control unit 170 gives an instruction to the medium identification information reading unit 110 to read the medium identification information MID, and also the self-position The report information transmitting unit 130 is instructed to perform the transmission process of the self-location report information R, and further the other person position notification information receiving unit 150 is performed to receive the other person position notification information N. An instruction is given to the other-person position notification information presenting unit 140 to present the received other-person position notification information N.

  The above is the detailed configuration and operation of the position information notification system according to the basic embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. In carrying out the present invention, it is not essential to register the reporting time t together with the current position P, but in practice it is preferable to register the reporting time t as well. In this way, if the reporting time t is presented together with the current position P, it is possible to accurately grasp the time at which each member performs the location notification work at the position P, and the behavior of other members will be described in more detail. You will be able to recognize.

<<<< §2. Operation example of system according to basic embodiment >>>
Here, the processing operation of the position information notification system according to the basic embodiment described in §1 will be described in more detail using a concrete example. Specifically, the five members m11 to m15 shown in the upper part of FIG. 1 are members of a family living in Akita Prefecture and use the location information notification system according to the present invention when visiting Tokyo for sightseeing purposes. The following description will be given based on the scenario.

  As described above, the processing performed by the position information notification system according to the present invention is roughly divided into the processing of the preparation stage and the processing of the usage stage. Hereinafter, the processing of each of these stages will be sequentially described according to an actual example.

<2-1. Example of preparatory process (Part 1: Group management)>
In the process of the preparation stage, the work of registering each of the five members m11 to m15 as members belonging to the same group is performed. Here, out of the five members m11 to m15, four members except the member m14 move to Tokyo together on the Shinkansen and use the terminal device 100 installed at Tokyo Station to register members (basic information setting work). Think about when you do. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen during the basic information setting work.

  FIG. 3A is a diagram showing an example of an initial screen of the terminal device 100. Such an initial screen is displayed by the processing control unit 170. In the case of this example, a title "Location Information Notification System Menu" is displayed at the top of the screen, and three buttons "Group Management", "Member Management", and "Location Notification" are displayed below it. In the process of the preparation stage, the user presses the "group management" button to register a new group, and then presses the "member management" button to register each member in the group. If a touch panel is prepared as the display of the terminal device 100, the user can perform an operation of pressing the button by touching each button on the screen.

  When the user presses the “group management” button, the processing control unit 170 instructs the basic information setting unit 160 to perform basic information setting processing regarding the group. As a result, a screen for "group management" as shown in FIG. 3 (b) is displayed. On this screen, an input window indicated by a thick frame in the figure is displayed, and the user performs an operation of inputting an arbitrary group name in this input window. Actually, when performing such character input, a character input screen by the character input interface is displayed, but in the present application, description of such a character input screen is omitted.

  FIG. 3 (b) shows an example in which the name "Skytree" is entered as the group name. As described above, the basic information setting unit 160 has a function of inputting a group name for a specific group based on a user operation, and transmitting the input group name to the management apparatus 200. On the other hand, the basic information registration unit 220 checks whether the transmitted group name “Skytree” is unregistered or already registered. That is, it is only necessary to search the inside of the group information storage unit 240 and confirm whether or not the group name "Skytree" exists.

  Here, if the group name “Sky Tree” is not registered, the basic information registration unit 220 registers the group name “Sky Tree” in the group information storage unit 240 as the group name for the specific group. A group name registration process is performed, and the basic information setting unit 160 is notified that the group name has been registered. On the other hand, if the group name “Sky Tree” has already been registered, the basic information registration unit 220 rejects the group name registration process and informs the basic information setting unit 160 that the group name registration has been rejected. Notice.

  Based on the notification from the basic information registration unit 220, the basic information setting unit 160 notifies the user whether the group name registration process has been performed or rejected. For example, if the group name "Skytree" has already been registered, the screen shown in Fig. 3 (c) is presented to the user, and then the group name shown in Fig. 3 (d) is displayed. The input screen of is displayed again. Similar to Fig. 3 (b), Fig. 3 (d) is a screen for entering an arbitrary group name. In the case of the illustrated example, a new group name "Akita no Satoyama" has been entered. The status is shown. The new group name “Akita no Satoyama” is retransmitted by the basic information setting unit 160 to the management device 200.

  Here, it is assumed that the group name "Akita no Satoyama" has not been registered. In this case, the basic information registration unit 220 performs a group name registration process of registering the group name “Akita no Satoyama” in the group information storage unit 240 as the group name for the group G1. Specifically, a storage location for storing the group information I (G1) having the group name “Akita no Satoyama” is prepared in the group information storage unit 240. In addition, the basic information registration unit 220 notifies the basic information setting unit 160 that the group name “Akita no Satoyama” has been registered.

  In the embodiment shown here, the basic information registration unit 220 generates a unique group code corresponding to the group name when performing the group name registration process, and the generated group code is used as the basic information setting unit 160. It has a function to notify. Here, it is assumed that a group code “123456” is generated for the group name “Akita no Satoyama” (for example, a serial number that is sequentially assigned each time the group name is registered) is generated. ..

  The basic information setting unit 160 has a function of also notifying the user of the fact that the group name registration process of “Akita no Satoyama” has been performed, together with the group code “123456”. FIG. 3 (e) shows an example of a screen display for making such a notification to the user. The user who sees such a display confirms that the new group has been registered with the group name "Akita no Satoyama" without any trouble, and the group code is added to the group name "Akita no Satoyama". It can be recognized that “123456” has been added.

<2-2. Example of processing at the preparatory stage (Part 2: Member management)>
Thus, when the registration of the new group is completed, the screen of the terminal device 100 returns to the initial screen as shown in FIG. 3 (a) again. Therefore, the user presses the “member management” button to perform the work of registering each member in the group “Akita no Satoyama”. That is, a process of transmitting the basic information (medium identification information MID and member identification information mid) from the basic information setting unit 160 to the basic information registration unit 220 is performed.

  When the user presses the “member management” button, the processing control unit 170 instructs the basic information setting unit 160 to perform the basic information setting process for each member. As a result, first, a screen for "member management" as shown in FIG. 3 (f) is displayed. This screen is an input screen for designating a group for which basic information is to be set, and two input windows indicated by thick frames in the figure are displayed. The user performs an operation of inputting information designating a group in these input windows.

  The first input window shown in FIG. 3 (f) is a window for inputting a group name, and the figure shows a state in which the group name "Akita no Satoyama" has been input. The second input window is a window for inputting a group code, and the figure shows a state in which a group code "123456" has been input. Actually, it is not necessary to enter both the group name and the group code, and it is sufficient to enter either one. That is, the basic information setting unit 160 registers the group name or the group code input by the user when transmitting the basic information to the basic information registration unit 220 after the group name registration is completed. The target group can be specified.

  In this way, when the group name “Akita no Satoyama” or the group code “123456” is transmitted to the basic information registration unit 220, the basic information registration unit 220 searches the group information storage unit 240 and finds the corresponding group. It confirms that the registration has been made, and sends the result to the basic information setting unit 160. When the result indicating that the corresponding group is not registered is transmitted, the basic information setting unit 160 displays some error message and the result indicating that the corresponding group is registered is transmitted. In this case, a screen for managing members for the relevant group is displayed. Of course, in order to prevent mischief, both the group name and the group code may be input, and only when both match, it is possible to proceed to the member management work described below.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a screen for member management displayed by the basic information setting unit 160. Fig. 4 (a) is the initial screen of the member management work that is displayed according to the input operation shown in Fig. 3 (f). For the group "Akita no Satoyama", "Register new member" or "Confirm member information" The button for performing the work of "is displayed.

  When the user presses the "Register new member" button here, the screen switches to the state shown in Fig. 4 (b), and the name of the newly registered member (member newly registered in the "Akita no Satoyama" group) is displayed. You will be prompted for input. Here, first, the operation of newly registering the member m11 will be described. FIG. 4 (b) shows a state in which a nickname "Daddy" is entered in the input window indicated by a thick frame. The nickname entered here is the same as the member identification information mid11 described above. Nothing else. As described above, it is sufficient that the member identification information mid can identify at least each member in the group, so that it is not a problem that the member identification information mid11 “papa” is already registered in another group. ..

  In this way, when the nickname "daddy" (member identification information mid11) for the member m11 is input, the screen switches to the state shown in FIG. 4 (c), prompting the member "daddy" to read the information from the medium carried by the member. Be done. Therefore, the user prepares the information recording medium M11 and presses the "start reading" button shown in FIG. 4C to perform an operation of reading the medium identification information MID11 from the information recording medium M11. For example, when the information recording medium M11 is a non-contact type IC card, the read operation may be performed by bringing the information recording medium M11 close to the medium identification information reading unit 110 of the terminal device 100.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a state in which the terminal device 100 is performing an operation of reading the medium identification information MID from the portable information recording medium M. As shown in FIG. 5A, in the case of this example, a touch panel type display is provided on the front of the terminal device 100, and necessary information is displayed to the user on this display, and The operation input from is performed. Then, the medium identification information reading unit 110 is embedded in a portion where "touch" is displayed below the display.

  The illustrated example is an example assuming that a non-contact type IC card is used as the portable information recording medium M, and the medium identification information reading unit 110 is a reader / writer capable of reading data from the non-contact type IC card. It is composed of devices. Therefore, when the user presses the "start reading" button displayed on the display and then brings the portable information recording medium M close to the portion displayed as "touch", as shown in FIG. 5 (b). , The read operation sound “beep” sounds, and the medium identification information MID recorded in the portable information recording medium M is read by the medium identification information reading unit 110.

  In the case of the above example, the medium identification information MID11 is read from the portable information recording medium M11 carried by the member m11. When the user performs such a read operation, the read medium identification information MID11 and the input member identification information mid11 (character data “papa”) are used as basic information from the basic information setting unit 160. It is transmitted to the basic information registration unit 220 and registered in the group information I (G1).

  FIG. 4D is a screen showing that such registration processing is completed. The user can recognize that a new member named “Daddy” has been registered in the group “Akita no Satoyama”.

  Note that, as described above, the medium identification information MID needs to be unique information within this position information notification system, and the medium identification information MID is obtained through all the group information stored in the group information storage unit 240. It is necessary to prevent duplicate registration.

  Therefore, in the case of the embodiment shown here, the basic information registration unit 220 has already registered in the group information storage unit 240 the same medium identification information MID as the medium identification information MID included in the transmitted basic information. If so, the registration of the medium identification information MID and the member identification information mid corresponding to the medium identification information MID included in the transmitted basic information is rejected, and the basic information setting unit 160 indicates that the registration is rejected. It has a function to notify. When the basic information setting unit 160 receives the notification that the registration has been rejected, the information recording medium M that is the target of the read operation has already been registered, and therefore a message stating that duplicate registration cannot be performed is displayed on the screen of the display. Display and notify the user. In this case, the user needs to redo the member registration work using another information recording medium M.

  On the other hand, the member identification information mid does not need to be unique among all the group information stored in the group information storage unit 240, and if one member in the same group can be identified, it is duplicated in another group. It doesn't matter even if it is used. For example, in the case of the above example, there is no problem even if the nickname "daddy" is registered in duplicate for different groups. However, in the same "Akita no Satoyama" group, duplicate registration as different member names will cause problems. For example, if the same name "papa" is registered for the members m11 and m12, it becomes impossible to determine which member they are pointing to.

  In this way, it is necessary to avoid duplicate registration of the same member identification information mid for different members in the same group. In order to avoid such duplicate registration, the basic information registration unit 220 determines that the member identification information mid that is the same as the member identification information mid included in the transmitted basic information is already associated with the specific group to be registered. If it has already been registered, registration of the member identification information mid included in the transmitted basic information and the medium identification information MID corresponding thereto may be rejected. In this case, the fact that the registration has been rejected is notified to the basic information setting unit 160, and the basic information setting unit 160 that has received the notification indicates that the input member identification information mid has already been registered in the same group. A message indicating that duplicate registration cannot be performed is displayed on the screen of the display to inform the user. In this case, the user needs to redo the member registration work using another member identification information mid.

  For example, in the case of the above example, when the member m11 inputs the member identification information "mid11" "papa" using the information recording medium M11 carried by the member m11 and performs registration work, the medium identification information MID11 and the member identification information. Basic information that is a combination with mid11 “papa” is registered. After that, if the member m12 uses the information recording medium M12 carried by the member m12 to input the member specifying information mid12 including the same character string "Daddy" and performs registration work, the character string "Daddy" Since the member identification information mid11 consisting of is already registered, the registration will be rejected. Therefore, the member m12 needs to perform the registration work again by inputting the member identification information mid12 composed of a character string “Mama”, for example.

  In the case of the example described here, since the group “Akita no Satoyama” is composed of members of a family of five, both the members m11 and m12 use the member identification information consisting of the same character string “daddy”. While it may not be possible for a member to register as a member, for example, in the case of a group consisting of members on a company trip, duplicate registration using member identification information consisting of the same string "Suzuki" May be done. Assuming such a case, it is useful to provide a mechanism for rejecting duplicate registration as described above.

  However, it is necessary to avoid duplicate registration of the same member identification information mid for different members in the same group, but duplicate registration of different medium identification information MID for the same member is not a problem. For example, if the member m11 carries two information recording media M11 and M16, the two may be registered as their own media. If two sheets are registered, any medium can be used in the processing at the use stage described later.

  For example, the member m11 performs the read operation using the first information recording medium M11 in the first registration work, and obtains the basic information including the combination of the medium identification information MID11 and the member identification information mid11 “daddy”. After the registration, subsequently, in the second registration work, a read operation using the second information recording medium M16 is performed, and the basic information including the combination of the medium identification information MID16 and the member identification information mid11 “daddy” is displayed. Just register. In this case, MID11 and MID16 are redundantly registered as medium identification information corresponding to the member identification information mid11 “daddy”. In the processing at the use stage described later, the medium identification information MID11 and MID16 are both treated as medium identification information associated with the member identified by the member identification information mid that is "daddy".

  In short, the basic information registration unit 220 registers a plurality of medium identification information MIDs in association with the same member identification information mid belonging to a specific group based on the basic information transmitted from the basic information setting unit 160. Should be done.

  In this case, when the basic information setting unit 160 sets the basic information, some ingenuity is required. For example, in the case of the above example, the basic information consisting of the combination of the medium identification information MID11 and the member identification information mid11 “daddy” is registered as the group information I (G1) by the first registration work of the member m11. Therefore, if the operation of rejecting all duplicate registrations of the same member identification information mid for the same group is adopted, the second registration work will be rejected. That is, since the member identification information "Daddy" has already been registered by the first registration work, if the above operation is adopted, the second registration work using the member identification information "Daddy" is rejected. Will be lost.

  Therefore, when allowing the same member to register different medium identification information MIDs in duplicate, the member identification information mid included in the basic information has already been registered for the particular group to be registered. In this case, instead of uniformly rejecting the duplicate registration, a message for confirming whether to perform the duplicate registration may be presented to the user.

  For example, when the basic information including the combination of the medium identification information MID11 and the member identification information mid11 “daddy” is registered as the group information I (G1) by the first registration work of the member m11, another medium It is assumed that the basic information consisting of a combination of the identification information MID16 and the member identification information mid11 “papa” has been registered. In this case, the basic information registration unit 220 recognizes that the member identification information mid11 “daddy” has already been registered in the group information I (G1), notifies the basic information setting unit 160 of this, and notifies the notification. The received basic information setting unit 160 may perform a process of displaying a confirmation message as illustrated in FIG. 4 (e), for example.

  The user, after seeing the confirmation message shown in FIG. 4 (e), presses the "Yes" button if he / she intends to duplicately register another medium for the nickname "Daddy", and makes a mistaken registration work. If yes, just press the "No" button. If the "Yes" button is pressed, duplicate registration is performed as it is, and if the "No" button is pressed, the registration work is stopped.

  The method of sequentially registering a plurality of information recording media M for the same member has been described above, but it goes without saying that a plurality of information recording media M can be registered collectively at one time. But it doesn't matter. In this case, it suffices to prepare an interface capable of continuously executing the required number of read operations illustrated in FIG. 5B.

  In addition, when additionally registering a new information recording medium M for the same member, a read operation of the already registered information recording medium M can be performed instead of the input operation of the member specifying information mid. For example, in the state where the registration of the first information recording medium M11 has already been completed by using the nickname “papa” (member identification information), the same nickname “papa” is used for the second piece of information. When registering the recording medium M16, a read operation is performed on the registered information recording medium M11, instead of inputting the nickname (member identification information) "Daddy" on the nickname input screen shown in FIG. 4 (b). You may do it.

  In this case, the basic information transmitted to the basic information registration unit 220 is not the combination of the member identification information mid11 “papa” and the medium identification information MID16, but the combination of the medium identification information MID11 and the medium identification information MID16. By searching the group information storage unit 240, it is possible to recognize that the medium identification information MID11 is associated with the member identification information mid11 “papa”. Therefore, regarding the new medium identification information MID16 as well, It is possible to register the member identification information “mid11” in association with each other.

  When registering a plurality of information recording media M for the same member, some arrangement is required when the position notification information transmission unit 230 transmits the other person position notification information. For example, in the case of the above example, the member m11 performs the whereabouts notification work using the first information recording medium M11 and the whereabouts notification work using the second information recording medium M16 in the use stage processing. In this case, two kinds of current positions P are registered in the group information storage unit 240. Therefore, if there is a current position P associated with each of the plurality of medium identification information MIDs corresponding to the same member identification information mid, the position notification information transmission unit 230 determines the newly registered current position P as the current position P. The current position P corresponding to the same member identification information mid may be transmitted.

  In this way, the user can perform member registration (basic information setting work) for each member as a process of the preparation stage. The above example is a scenario in which out of the five members m11 to m15, four members excluding the member m14 move to Tokyo together on the Shinkansen and perform member registration using the terminal device 100 installed at Tokyo Station. Therefore, the same terminal device 100 is used to register the four members m11, m12, m13, and m15. Of course, since the registration work of each member may be performed, for example, the member m11 can perform the registration work for four members as a representative. Alternatively, the guide staff may perform the registration work on behalf of the tourist guide window.

  The member registration status for each group can be confirmed by pressing the "Member information confirmation" button on the initial screen of the member management work shown in FIG. 4 (a). When the "confirm member information" button is pressed, the basic information setting unit 160 performs a process for inquiring of the basic information registration unit 220 about member information for the group name "Akita no Satoyama". Upon receiving the inquiry, the basic information registration unit 220 searches the group information storage unit 240 for the group information I (G1) with the group name “Akita no Satoyama”, and the registered contents at that time (for example, each (Member identification information about a member) is returned to the basic information setting unit 160.

  FIG. 4F shows an example in which the basic information setting unit 160 displays a list of member identification information (call name) registered in the group name “Akita no Satoyama” based on such an answer. If necessary, the user can delete the registration for a specific member by pressing the delete button (the basic information setting unit 160 sends a deletion instruction to the basic information registration unit 220). ).

  The example shown in Fig. 4 (f) is an example in which four members who came to Tokyo together on the Shinkansen were registered, but after that, the remaining members m14 are also registered in the same way. Become. Of course, since the member registration work can be performed from any terminal device 100, the member m14 does not necessarily have to be registered using the terminal device 100 installed in Tokyo Station.

  Here, for convenience, the five members m11 to m15 belonging to the group G1 with the group name “Akita no Satoyama” have portable information recording media M11 to M16 as shown in FIG. 6, respectively. The following description will be given by taking as an example the case where each member is given a nickname (member identification information mid11 to mid15) as shown in parentheses in FIG. Further, it is assumed that the medium recording information MID11 to MID16 as shown in the drawing is recorded on each of the information recording media M11 to M16.

  Specifically, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 6, the member m11 is a member to which the member identification information mid11 “Daddy” is added, and the information recording medium M11 forming the employee ID and the information forming the license. The recording medium M16 is possessed, the member m12 is a member to which the member identification information mid12 “mama” is added, and the information recording medium M12 constituting a credit card is possessed. Similarly, the member m13 is a member to which the member identification information mid13 “Hanako” is attached, and possesses the information recording medium M13 that constitutes a transportation card, and the member m14 is the member identification “Hiro-chan”. The member who is provided with the information mid14 has the information recording medium M14 that constitutes the student ID card, and the member m15 is the member who is provided with the member identification information mid15 that is "aunt" and constitutes the medical examination ticket. Possesses an information recording medium M15 for

  FIG. 7A shows an information recording medium M11, M12, M13, M15 and member identification information mid (call name) for each of the four members m11, m12, m13, m15 shown in the example of FIG. It is a figure which shows the content of the group information I (G1) stored in the group information storage part 240 at the time of registering. “11111”, “22222”, “33333”, ... Registered as medium identification information are data read from the information recording media M11, M12, M13 ,. “Papa,” “Mama,” “Hanako,” registered as are the “name” of each member input from the terminal device. The member information confirmation screen shown in FIG. 4 (f) shows the contents of the group information I (G1) shown in FIG. 7 (a).

  FIG. 7B is a diagram showing the contents of the group information I (G1) at the time of additionally registering the second information recording medium M16 for the member m11. For the member m11, the combination of the medium identification information “11111” and the member identification information “daddy” has already been registered. Further, the medium identification information “66666” and the member identification information “daddy” are registered. The combination is additionally registered. As a result, the member m11 can use this position information notification system by using either the information recording medium M11 or M16.

  FIG. 7C is a diagram showing the contents of the group information I (G1) at the time when the registration of the member m14 is completed. For example, suppose that member m14 (Hiro-chan) is a college student who lives in Tokyo. In this case, when the family of four arrives at Tokyo Station, it is not possible to register the member m14 who is absent in the field together, but the family of four can say “Akita no Satoyama” by phone or email. If you tell the member m14 that you have registered in the group G1 using the group name "," the member m14 will become "Akita no Satoyama" by using another terminal device installed at the nearest station or the like. By inputting the group name, it is possible to register the combination of the medium identification information "44444" and the member identification information "Hiro-chan" in the same group G1 using the information recording medium M14 carried by the user.

  In the case of the embodiment shown here, as illustrated in FIG. 3E, when a new group is registered, a group code “123456” is issued. Therefore, the member m14 should be informed of this group code “123456”. You can As shown in FIG. 3 (f), the member m14 can also register with the group G1 using the group code “123456” instead of the group name “Akita no Satoyama”. Of course, in order to prevent tampering, it is possible to perform an operation that requires both inputs.

  The example in which each member is registered with respect to the same group G1 has been described above, but member registration can be performed with respect to groups in which the same person is different, if necessary. For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 6, the member m11 (daddy) performs member registration for the same group G1 by using the two information recording media M11 and M16 possessed by the member m11. As described above, the group G1 is a family group having five family members.

  On the other hand, for example, the member m11 (daddy) can be registered as a member m21 (manager) for another group G2 (for example, a corporate group). However, since duplicate registration using the same medium identification information is not possible, it is necessary to prepare another information recording medium M17 in order to register this different group G2. In this way, when registration is performed for a plurality of groups, if the location notification work is performed using the information recording media M11 and M16 used for registration of the family group G1, the family members who are members of the family group G1 When the current position is notified and the location notification work is performed using the information recording medium M17 used for registration of the company group G2, the current position of the employee who is each member of the company group G2 is notified.

<2-3. Example of processing at the usage stage>
Subsequently, the processing of the preparatory stage (basic information setting processing) described in §2-1 and §2-2 is completed, and the group information I (as shown in FIG. 7C) is stored in the group information storage unit 240. Assuming that G1) is ready, a practical example of processing in the use stage will be described.

  In the use stage, each member uses the terminal device 100 installed at each visiting place to notify the whereabouts. As described in §1, this whereabouts notification operation is an operation for transmitting the self-location report information R for reporting the current location of the self to the management device 200, and the information recording medium M carried by the user is used. It is executed by the operation that was performed. Moreover, when the self-location report information R is transmitted to the management apparatus 200 by this location notification work, the other-person location notification information N at that time is transmitted from the management apparatus 200 during the same communication session. , You can check the current position of other members.

  Here, as described above, it is assumed that the four members arriving at Tokyo Station head for the sightseeing destinations after completing the preparation process. In order for each member to perform the whereabouts notification work at the visited place, it is sufficient to give an instruction to the nearest terminal device 100 to notify the whereabouts. FIG. 8A is a diagram showing a state in which the terminal device 100 is displaying the initial screen (display contents are the same as the screen shown in FIG. 3A). When performing the location notification work, the user may press the "location notification" button displayed on the initial screen. Then, the screen switches as shown in FIG. 8 (b), so prepare the information recording medium M you are carrying, press the "Read Start" button, and carry the portable information on the part where "Touch" is displayed. When the recording medium M is approached, as shown in FIG. 8 (c), a read operation sound "pip" sounds and the medium identification information MID recorded on the portable information recording medium M is the medium identification information. It is read by the reading unit 110.

  The illustrated example is an example in which "Hanako" (member m13: hereinafter, each member will be referred to by a name) who has arrived in Ginza at 10:32 has executed the location notification work. That is, “Hanako” has performed the read operation on the information recording medium M13 using the terminal device 100 installed in Ginza. As a result, the read medium identification information MID13 and the information indicating the current position “Ginza” are transmitted from the self-position report information transmission unit 130 to the management device 200. Note that, in practice, data indicating the latitude and longitude is used as the information indicating the current position transmitted from the self-position report information transmitting unit 130, but here, for convenience, the character indicating the place name indicates the current position. An example used as information will be described.

  On the management device 200 side, the self-position report information R thus transmitted is registered in the group information I (G1) in the group information storage unit 240 together with the report time “10:32”. Specifically, the position report information registration unit 210 searches the medium identification information MID13 from the group information storage unit 240, and in association with this medium identification information MID13, the current position "Ginza" and the report time "10:32". Will be registered.

  On the other hand, the member notification information, the current position, and the report time registered as the group information I (G1) by the position notification information transmitting unit 230 are used as the other person position notification information N in the terminal device 100 (“Hanako”). Is transmitted to the terminal device installed in Ginza which is being operated), and the content thereof is displayed by the other person position notification information presenting section 140. FIG. 8D shows a state where such a display is made. As shown in the figure, at this point in time, only the member who has performed the location notification work is "Hanako", so the display of the current position and the reporting time is only for "Hanako". In other words, “Hanako” executed the work of notifying whereabouts, but at this time, it was not possible to know the current positions of other members.

  Of course, if each member executes the whereabouts notification work at each visiting place, the group information I (G1) in the group information storage unit 240 is sequentially updated. 9 to 11 show the management device 200 in the case where the five members m11 to m15 shown in FIG. 6 sequentially perform the location notification work on the terminal devices 100 respectively installed at predetermined locations. It is a figure which shows the transition of the group information I (G1) stored in. The process of this transition will be briefly described below.

  As described above, FIG. 9A is a table showing the state of the group information I (G1) immediately after "Hanako" who visited "Ginza" performed the location notification work at "10:32." The asterisk on the right side of the table shows the registration column of the member who was updated at that time. At this point, the current positions of other members have not been reported, and the terminal device 100 that is operating the “Hanako” who has performed the location notification work will notify the other person position notification information as shown in FIG. 8 (d). Will be displayed.

  FIG. 9 (b) shows group information I (G1) immediately after "Hiro-chan" who left the boarding house performed the location notification work using the terminal device 100 installed in "Shibuya" at "10:45". ) Is a table showing states. As indicated by the star on the right side of the table, the information in the registration field for "Hiro-chan" has been updated. Therefore, the information "Hanako / Ginza / 10: 32" and the information "Hiro-chan / Shibuya / 10: 45" are displayed on the terminal device 100 in Shibuya where "Hiro-chan" is operating. , "Hiro-chan" can know that the current position of "Hanako" at "10:32" is "Ginza".

  FIG. 9 (c) shows immediately after "papa" and "mom" heading from Tokyo station to Asakusa, perform location notification work using the terminal device 100 installed in "Asakusa" at "10:51". 3 is a table showing the state of group information I (G1) of FIG. As indicated by the star on the right side of the table, the information in the registration fields for "Daddy" and "Mom" has been updated. Therefore, the current position of "Hanako" and "Hiro-chan" will be displayed on the terminal device 100 of Asakusa where "Daddy" or "Mom" is operating, along with their current position.

  FIG. 10 (a) shows group information immediately after the "aunt" heading from Tokyo station to Sugamo, using the terminal device 100 installed in "Sugamo" at "11:07" to perform whereabouts notification. It is a table which shows the state of I (G1). As indicated by the star on the right side of the table, the information in the "Aunt" registration column has been updated. Therefore, on Sugamo's terminal device 100 in which the "aunt" is operating, the current positions of all the members of the family of five are displayed.

  In FIG. 10B, the group information I immediately after “Hiro-chan” who moved from Shibuya to Harajuku performed the location notification work using the terminal device 100 installed in “Harajuku” at “11:08”. It is a table showing a state of (G1). As indicated by the star on the right side of the table, the information in the registration field for "Hiro-chan" has been updated. On the terminal device 100 in Harajuku where "Hiro-chan" is operating, the latest current positions of all five members of the family will be displayed.

  In FIG. 10 (c), “Papa” who has moved from Asakusa to Skytree alone is immediately after performing the location notification work using the terminal device 100 installed in “Skytree” at “12:30”. It is a table showing the state of group information I (G1). At this time, the “daddy” uses the second information recording medium M16 instead of the first information recording medium M11 to perform the location notification work. Therefore, as indicated by an asterisk on the right side of the table, the information in the “papa” registration field corresponding to the medium identification information “66666” is updated instead of the “papa” registration field corresponding to the medium identification information “11111”. ing.

  As described above, in the case of the embodiment shown here, the position notification information transmitting unit 230 determines that the current position P associated with each of the plurality of medium identification information MIDs corresponding to the same member identification information mid is present. , The newly registered current position P is transmitted as the current position P corresponding to the same member identification information mid. Therefore, based on the group information I (G1) shown in FIG. 10 (c), the latest current positions of all five members of the family are displayed on the Skytree terminal device 100 in which "daddy" is operating. However, at this time, for "Daddy", instead of "Daddy / Asakusa / 10: 51", the information "Daddy / Skytree / 12: 30" (newer registered information) is displayed. It will be.

  In FIG. 11A, the group information I immediately after “Hanako” who is staying in Ginza executes the location notification work at “13:43” using the terminal device 100 installed in “Ginza” again. It is a table showing a state of (G1). As shown by the star on the right side of the table, the information in the "Hanako" registration column has been updated. The current position of "Hanako" remains "Ginza", but the reporting time has been updated to "13:43". Therefore, the latest current positions of all five members of the family are displayed on the terminal device 100 in Ginza where "Hanako" is operating.

  In other words, “Hanako” uses the same terminal device 100 installed in Ginza to execute the first location notification work at “10:32” and the second location information at “13:43”. Notification work has been executed. The current position of "Hanako" remains the same at Ginza, so the second work of notifying whereabouts is an unnecessary work from the viewpoint of "purpose of reporting self-position". However, while the other person's position notification information obtained by the execution of the first whereabouts work includes only the current position of the user as shown in FIG. 8 (d), the second place notification is made. As shown in the group information I (G1) shown in FIG. 11 (a), the other person position notification information obtained by the execution of the work includes the latest current positions of all the members of the family of five. The second work of notifying the whereabouts is a useful work from the viewpoint of "the purpose of receiving the notification of the position of another person".

  FIG. 11B shows the group information I immediately after “Hiro-chan” who moved from Harajuku to Shinjuku performed the whereabouts work using the terminal device 100 installed in “Shinjuku” at “15:04”. It is a table showing a state of (G1). As indicated by the star on the right side of the table, the information in the registration field for "Hiro-chan" has been updated. On the terminal device 100 in Shinjuku where "Hiro-chan" is operating, the latest current positions of all five members of the family will be displayed.

  Finally, in Fig. 11 (c), "Papa" who finished the tour of Skytree and "Mama" who finished the tour of Asakusa joined in Ueno, and the terminal device was installed in "Ueno" at "16:28". 10 is a table showing a state of group information I (G1) immediately after executing the location notification work using 100. As indicated by the star on the right side of the table, the information in the registration fields for "Daddy" and "Mom" has been updated.

  Eventually, "Hiro-chan" moves from Shibuya to Harajuku to Shinjuku, and performs the location notification work each time, so in the group information I (G1) stored in the management device 200, " The current location of "Hiro-chan" is frequently updated from Shibuya → Harajuku → Shinjuku. Similarly, the current positions of "daddy" and "mom" are also updated as appropriate. However, such update status is not immediately delivered to other members.

  For example, “Aunta” arrives at Sugamo at “11:07”, executes the location notification work, and then stays in Sugamo all the time. For this reason, after that, the location notification work is neglected, and the only information known as the current positions of other members is the other person position notification information based on the group information I (G1) shown in FIG. 10 (a). is there. Therefore, the current position of "Hiro-chan" which "Aunt" grasps remains "Shibuya" until the evening.

  Thus, in the present invention, when obtaining the position information of other members, since it is premised that "pull type" delivery is performed, unless individual members voluntarily perform whereabouts work, The latest location information cannot be obtained. This is a big difference from the conventional system that adopts the "push type" distribution form.

  Of course, from the viewpoint of information immediacy, the "push-type" distribution form is superior. For example, in the case of the above example, if the "push type" distribution form is adopted, every time the current position of "Hiro-chan" is updated from Shibuya → Harajuku → Shinjuku, the new current position is notified to other members. It will be possible. However, if the "push-type" distribution form is adopted, it is necessary to handle personal information such as the mail address of the distribution destination. As a matter of course, it cannot be delivered to any terminal device installed on the street like the above example.

  Therefore, the position information notification system according to the present invention is inferior to the conventional system in terms of the immediacy of the information, but it is general to notify the position information of any place to any member. The advantage is that it is suitable for use, and the handling of personal information such as email addresses and telephone numbers is not required. This advantage becomes a great advantage nowadays when the case of leakage of personal information has become a big social problem.

  In fact, even if the group information I (G1) as shown in FIG. 11 (c) is leaked, the leaked information is a general name with anonymity such as "Daddy", "Mama", and "Hanako". (A nickname that can identify the person only within the group), some code such as "11111", "22222", and "33333", a place, and a time are associated with each other, which is a clue to identify the individual. As a result, the information is very poor. Therefore, even if an information leak occurs, it will not develop into a serious social problem. As described above, according to the present invention, the cost and labor of information management are significantly reduced.

  Of course, members who attach importance to the immediacy of information may frequently perform voluntary location notification work. For example, in the case of the above example, “Hanako” continues to stay in Ginza, so from the perspective of “the purpose of reporting her / his position”, the work of notifying whereabouts in the same Ginza would be unnecessary work. If you frequently do whereabouts work in Ginza, you can get the latest location information of other members each time, and you can use it with some emphasis on immediacy.

  FIG. 12 shows a screen of the terminal device 100 when the five members m11 to m15 shown in FIG. 6 sequentially perform the location notification work on the terminal device 100 installed in a predetermined place. It is a figure which shows the other person position notification information displayed, and shows the other person position notification information corresponding to the transition of the group information I (G1) explained so far with reference to FIGS. 9 to 11.

  First, FIG. 12 (a) shows other person position notification information obtained when “Hanako” arrives at “Ginza” and performs whereabouts work. In FIG. 12 (b), “Hiro-chan” shows “Shibuya”. Other location notification information obtained when arriving at “” and performing whereabouts notification work. Figure 12 (c) shows when “daddy” and “mom” arrive at “Asakusa” and performing whereabouts work work. It is the other person position notification information obtained in. By looking at the transition of these other person position notification information, it can be seen that the position information of each member gradually gathers.

  Next, Fig. 12 (d) shows other person position notification information obtained when "Aunt" arrives at "Sugamo" and performs whereabouts work, and Fig. 12 (e) shows "Hiro-chan" in "Harajuku". Other location notification information obtained when the user moves to “” and performs whereabouts work. Figure 12 (f) is obtained when “Daddy” moves to “Skytree” and performs whereabouts work. This is the other person position notification information. Further, FIG. 12 (g) shows another person's position notification information obtained when "Hanako" staying in "Ginza" performs another location notification work to confirm the other person's position. 12 (h) shows other person position notification information obtained when "Hiro-chan" moved to "Shinjuku" and performed whereabouts work. In Fig. 12 (i), "daddy" and "mama" show " It is the other person position notification information obtained when the user arrives at "Ueno" and performs the work of notifying the whereabouts.

  Note that the presentation of the other person's position notification information by the other person's position notification information presenting unit 140 does not necessarily have to be presented as visually comprehensible information on a screen such as a display. For example, it is possible to read the information by voice. It is also possible to present it as information that can be grasped auditorily.

<<<< §3. Variations of terminal equipment >>>
In the basic embodiments described in §1 and §2, as the terminal device 100, the example in which the stationary terminal device generally called “KIOSK terminal” is used is described. If such a stationary terminal device is used, each user can use this position information notification system if he / she carries some information recording medium M. However, the service can be used only at the place where the stationary terminal device is installed. Here, as a variation of the terminal device 100, an example will be described in which a portable mobile terminal device carried by each user himself is used instead of a stationary terminal device.

<3-1. Terminal devices using smartphones, etc.>
Currently, smartphones, tablet terminal devices, portable personal computers, and the like are widely used as portable mobile terminal devices. Here, an example in which these portable mobile terminal devices are used as the terminal device 100 will be described. Of course, in the position information notification system according to the present invention, some of the terminal devices 100 may be configured as stationary type terminal devices and some of the terminal devices 100 may be configured as portable mobile terminal devices. A user who owns the mobile mobile terminal device may use the mobile mobile terminal device as the terminal device 100 to receive the service of the system according to the present invention. It suffices to use the portable terminal device as the terminal device 100 to receive the service of the system according to the present invention.

  Mobile type mobile terminal devices such as smart phones, tablet type terminal devices, and portable personal computers, which are currently widespread, are usually equipped with a position recognition system that recognizes the current position of the user. For example, a device having a built-in GPS can acquire its own latitude and longitude information by a position recognition system using GPS. Further, in the case of a device having a wireless LAN function, it is possible to acquire rough position information of itself from the position information of the wireless LAN base station in communication. Similarly, in the case of a device having a mobile phone function, it is possible to acquire rough position information of itself from the position information of the mobile phone base station in communication.

  Therefore, when a general mobile type mobile terminal device is used as the terminal device 100, the current position recognizing unit 120 uses the position recognizing system using GPS, or the wireless LAN base station or the mobile phone base station in communication. The position recognized by the position recognition system using the position information may be the current position of the user.

  FIG. 13: is a figure which shows the specific example which comprised the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2 using the smart phone. The substance of a general mobile terminal device such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal device, and a portable personal computer is a device equipped with a computer that operates under the control of a predetermined OS program. Therefore, as shown in the balloon in the upper part of FIG. 13, if a dedicated application program is incorporated in this computer, the portable mobile terminal device can function as the terminal device 100 according to the present invention. it can.

  That is, the computer executes the dedicated application program under the control of the OS program, thereby fulfilling the function as the terminal device 100 described in §1 and §2. Here, for communication with the management apparatus 200 via the network 300, the communication function (communication function using a mobile phone line or wireless LAN) provided in the mobile terminal device can be used as it is. .. Further, as the medium identification information reading unit 110, the information reading function provided in the portable mobile terminal device (for example, a data reading function by NFC if the information in the IC card is read) can be used as it is. it can.

  As another approach, as shown in the balloon in the lower part of FIG. 13, a method of using a Web browser application originally installed in this computer can be used. Web browser applications are usually installed in general portable mobile terminal devices such as smartphones, tablet terminal devices, and portable personal computers that are currently on the market. Therefore, it is also possible to use a general portable mobile terminal device as the terminal device 100 according to the present invention by using the Web browser application incorporated in this standard.

  However, since a general Web browser application does not have a function of reading the medium identification information MID from the portable information recording medium M as a standard function, in practice, an auxiliary function is added to this Web browser program. A necessary processing function can be added by incorporating an additional auxiliary program (for example, a plug-in program that operates in cooperation with the Web browser program). For example, if a plug-in program having a function of mediating between a Web browser program and a program for performing data reading processing by NFC provided in the mobile mobile terminal device is incorporated, the function realized by the Web browser program is obtained. A function as the medium identification information reading unit 110 can be added.

  In this way, when the approach of realizing the function as the terminal device 100 by using the web browser application is adopted, the management device 200 side is provided with a web server that provides a predetermined web page. Specifically, the communication interface with the terminal device 100 in the position report information registration unit 210, the basic information registration unit 220, and the position notification information transmission unit 230 shown in FIG. 2 may be configured by a Web server.

  Then, the computer configuring the terminal device 100 accesses a predetermined URL by using a Web browser program, accesses the Web page, and executes an incorporated auxiliary program (plug-in program), The function as the terminal device 100 can be achieved. In this case, the display screens illustrated in FIGS. 3, 4, and 12 are presented as web pages provided by the web server (management device 200).

  In any case, if the portable mobile terminal device such as a smartphone carried by the user is used as the terminal device 100 instead of the stationary terminal device, the user can use the portable mobile terminal device as a network. Any place where the management device 200 can be accessed via 300 (that is, within the communication area of the base station of the mobile phone or the base station of the wireless LAN), the process of the preparation stage (basic information setting work) and the use stage Processing (location notification work) can be performed.

<3-2. Variations of portable information recording media>
Here, a variation of the portable information recording medium that can be used in the position information notification system according to the present invention and a variation of the medium identification information reading unit 110 corresponding to the variation will be described.

  In FIG. 6, as portable information recording media M11 to M16 carried by five members m11 to m15, cards used for applications such as employee ID cards, credit cards, transportation cards, student ID cards, medical examination tickets, and licenses. Was illustrated. As such a card-type information recording medium M, for example, a non-contact type IC card is widely used. However, the information recording medium M used in the present invention does not necessarily have to be a card-type medium, and for example, an IC tag may be used. IC tags have become widespread as small-sized information recording media, and recently, a type of tag called a laundry tag that is attached to clothes or accessories is also used. As described above, when a medium including an IC card or an IC tag is used as the portable information recording medium M, the medium identification information reading unit 110 stores the medium identification information recorded as digital data in the IC card or the IC tag. A reader / writer device for reading may be used.

  Of course, a magnetic card can be used as the portable information recording medium M. In this case, as the medium identification information reading unit 110, a magnetic reading device that reads the medium identification information recorded as magnetic data on the portable information recording medium composed of a magnetic card may be used.

  Further, the medium identification information MID used in the present invention does not necessarily have to be recorded in the medium as electronic or magnetic digital data, and may be recorded in an optically readable form. Therefore, as the portable information recording medium M, it is also possible to use a printed matter on which a barcode or a QR code (registered trademark) is printed. In this case, as the medium identification information reading unit 110, a code reading device that reads the medium identification information recorded as a barcode or a QR code (registered trademark) on the portable information recording medium may be used.

  For example, many smartphones and tablet type terminal devices have a function of capturing a barcode or a QR code (registered trademark) using a built-in camera. Furthermore, by analyzing a captured image, the barcode or QR code can be analyzed. A function for reading the code (registered trademark) as digital data is also incorporated. By using such a function, it is possible to use a business card having a barcode or a QR code (registered trademark) printed thereon as the portable information recording medium M.

  Of course, since the built-in camera of the smartphone or the tablet terminal device can take an arbitrary image, the medium identification information MID may be recorded as visually observable characters, numbers, or symbols on the medium. Absent. Therefore, as the portable information recording medium M, it is also possible to use a printed matter on which letters, numbers, or symbols are printed. In this case, as the medium identification information reading unit 110, an OCR device that captures an image of the medium identification information MID printed on the medium as characters, numbers, or symbols and recognizes it as digital data may be used.

  As described above, the portable information recording medium M used in the position information notification system according to the present invention is not subject to any restrictions on its physical form or recording method of the medium identification information MID. Any medium may be physically used as long as the medium identification information MID is recorded in a manner that can be read by the medium identification information reading unit 110 in the terminal device 100.

  However, since it is necessary to register unique medium identification information MID in the group information storage unit 240 of the management device 200, the medium identification information MID is duplicated even when many users use this position information notification system. In order to prevent this, in practice, it is preferable to use a medium in which the unique medium identification information MID is recorded.

  For example, currently used IC cards and IC tags record medium identification information MID that is unique on a global scale. For example, in the case of an IC card, if the serial number of the built-in CPU is used as the medium identification information MID, the medium identification information MID that is unique on a global scale is recorded. In the case of a credit card, if the credit card number is used as the medium identification information MID, the medium identification information MID that is unique on a global scale is also recorded. Therefore, these media are suitable for use as the portable information recording medium M in the present invention.

  On the other hand, the JAN code, which is used as a common product code in Japan, and the ISBN code, which is used as a universal book code in the world, have the same code system but have the same code. Since there are a large number of products sold, they are not necessarily suitable for use as the portable information recording medium M in the present invention.

  For example, the board chocolate in which the JAN code is printed as a barcode on the wrapping paper is physically a portable information recording medium in which the medium identification information (JAN code) is recorded, and thus the medium in the terminal device 100. If the identification information reading unit 110 has a function of reading a barcode, it can be used as the portable information recording medium M in the position information notification system according to the present invention. However, since the same board chocolate is sold in large numbers, there will be problems if multiple users who use the system perform member registration using the same board chocolate (actually, the second and subsequent member registrations are not possible. Will be rejected by the system on the grounds that it has already been registered.)

  Of course, personal information such as address, name + date of birth, telephone number, and e-mail address is usually almost unique on a global scale. Therefore, this information is used as the location information notification system according to the present invention. The use as the medium identification information MID does not cause any problem in the operation of the system.

  For example, using one's own business card as the portable information recording medium M and using personal information such as the address, telephone number, and mail address printed on this business card as the medium identification information MID causes a problem in the operation of the system. Absent. If the medium identification information reading unit 110 in the terminal device 100 is provided with a function of capturing a business card image and converting the captured image into digital data by OCR, a medium such as an address, a telephone number, or a mail address from the business card. It is possible to read the identification information MID and use this to register the member in the group information storage unit 240.

  However, it is preferable to avoid using personal information such as an address, a telephone number, and an email address as the medium identification information MID for practical use from the viewpoint of burdening information management on the system side. In the first place, an important effect of the present invention is that it is possible to notify location information about any place to any member without handling personal information such as an email address and a telephone number. It is possible to reduce the management cost and labor required for. Therefore, using personal information such as an address, a telephone number, and a mail address as the medium identification information MID is contrary to the basic technical idea of the invention.

  Therefore, in practicing the present invention, a code such as a JAN code or an ISBN code that may be duplicated is used as the medium identification information MID, or personal information such as an address, a telephone number, or a mail address is used as the medium identification information MID. It is preferable to avoid using it. After all, practically, for example, as shown in FIG. 6, an IC card or an IC tag used for an employee ID card, a credit card, a transportation card, a student ID card, a medical examination ticket, a driver's license, etc. can be recorded as portable information. It is preferable to use it as the medium M and use the medium serial number recorded in the IC card or IC tag as the medium identification information MID.

  In the case where the medium identification information MID is a flexible operation mode including data recorded as a bar code or QR code (registered trademark) and data printed as characters, numbers, or symbols, If the user tries to register inappropriate information such as JAN code, ISBN code, personal information such as address, telephone number, e-mail address, etc. as medium identification information MID, a mechanism for rejecting this will be provided. It is preferable to provide it.

  Specifically, in the position information notification system shown in FIG. 2, the medium identification information MID in the basic information setting unit 160 or the basic information registration unit 220 among the data strings composed of letters, numbers, symbols or a combination thereof. If a predetermined nonconformance criterion that should be unconformable for registration as is stored, and the medium identification information MID input based on the user's operation satisfies this nonconformance criterion, the medium identification information MID is transmitted. Alternatively, the registration may be rejected.

  The nonconformance criteria include, for example, the format of a numeric string that constitutes a JAN code or ISBN code, the information of a character string that can be recognized as a part of an address, the format of a numeric string that can be recognized as a telephone number, and the mail address that can be recognized. A character string format (for example, a format including the character "@" in the middle) can be set. When the medium identification information reading unit 110 reads the information satisfying the nonconformity criteria as in the above example, the basic information setting unit 160 refuses to transmit the information to the management device 200, or The basic information registration unit 220 may reject the registration of the information.

<3-3. A terminal device that uses its own medium identification information>
In the position information notification system according to the basic embodiment described so far, the terminal device 100 transmits the medium identification information MID read from the portable information recording medium M to the management device 200, and the management device 200 side causes the medium to be transmitted. The method of identifying the member based on the identification information MID is adopted. On the other hand, in the modified example described here, a method in which the terminal device directly transmits some identification information recorded in itself to the management device 200 as the medium identification information MID is used.

  In other words, since the portable mobile terminal device such as the smartphone, the tablet type terminal device, the portable personal computer, etc. is nothing but the portable information recording medium M on which some identification information is recorded, it is recorded by itself. It is possible to read out and use any of the identification information that is being used as the medium identification information MID. In this case, the user can perform the process in the preparation stage (basic information setting work for registering the user as a member) and the process in the use stage (location notification work) using only the mobile mobile terminal device.

  FIG. 14 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a terminal device 100 ′ according to a modified example of the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. The terminal device 100 ′ shown here is actually configured by a smartphone, but of course, it may be configured by using a portable mobile terminal device such as a tablet type terminal device or a portable personal computer. The difference between the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2 and the terminal device 100 ′ shown in FIG. 14 is that the former medium identification information reading unit 110 is replaced with the medium identification information storage unit 180. The difference will be described below.

  The medium identification information reading unit 110 shown in FIG. 2 is a component having a function of reading the medium identification information MID from a physically separate portable information recording medium M. For example, the medium identification information reading unit 110 is not a portable information recording medium M. When a contact type IC card or IC tag is used, it is configured by a device that reads data using the NFC communication standard. On the other hand, the medium identification information storage unit 180 shown in FIG. 14 should be called an information recording medium incorporated in the terminal device 100 ′, and for example, a built-in memory of a smartphone or a SIM card attached to the smartphone. Composed of etc.

  The medium identification information storage unit 180 stores some medium identification information MID that is different for each terminal device 100 ′ (“medium” here means the terminal device 100 ′ itself). .. Specifically, the serial number of the smartphone or the ID number recorded on the SIM card can be used as the medium identification information MID. Therefore, the self-location report information transmission unit 130 and the basic information setting unit 160 directly transmit the medium identification information MID stored in the medium identification information storage unit 180 to the management device 200.

  Of course, the current position recognizing unit 120 has a function of recognizing the current position of the portable mobile terminal device 100 'itself. That is, the current position recognizing unit 120 has a position recognizing system using GPS or a position recognizing system using position information of a wireless LAN base station or a mobile phone base station in communication. Recognize your own position as recognized as the current position.

  Other components shown in FIG. 14, that is, the self-location report information transmitting unit 130, the other-person position notification information presenting unit 140, the other-person position notification information receiving unit 150, the basic information setting unit 160, the processing control unit 170. 2 is the same as the function of each corresponding constituent element shown in FIG. 2, the description thereof will be omitted here.

  The terminal device 100 'shown in FIG. 14 can actually be configured by incorporating a predetermined program into a portable mobile terminal device containing a computer as shown in FIG. That is, the terminal device 100 'can be configured by a smartphone, a tablet terminal device, or a portable personal computer equipped with a computer that operates under the control of a predetermined OS program. If a dedicated application program is installed in the computer, the computer can execute the application program to function as the terminal device 100 '.

  Further, by incorporating a Web browser program and an auxiliary program for adding an auxiliary function to the Web browser program into the computer, and providing the management apparatus 200 with a Web server for providing a predetermined Web page, The computer can function as the terminal device 100 ′ by accessing the web page using the web browser program and executing the auxiliary program.

  When the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2 is used, whether it is a stationary terminal device or a portable mobile terminal device, each member is associated with each portable information recording medium M. It will be. In other words, each member does not need to select the terminal device 100 to be used regardless of whether the preparatory process (basic information setting work) or the utilization process (location notification work) is performed. It does not matter which terminal device 100 is used to perform the work.

  On the other hand, when the portable mobile terminal device 100 'shown in FIG. 14 is used, since each member is linked to each portable mobile terminal device 100', the process of the preparation stage (corresponding to It is not necessary to separately prepare the portable information recording medium M for carrying out the basic information setting work for members) or for the processing at the use stage (working place notification work), but the mobile terminal device 100 'carried by each is carried out. Need to work with.

  For example, in the examples shown in FIG. 12 (c) and FIG. 12 (i), while "Papa" and "Mom" are acting together, "Asakusa" and "Ueno" are performing work location notification work. As described above, when a plurality of members are carrying out accompanying activities, one representative of them uses the portable mobile terminal device 100 carried by himself to perform the location notification work for all accompanying members. be able to. In the case of the above example, the “daddy” can perform the whereabouts notification work using his own information recording medium M11 and can also perform the whereabouts notification work using the “mama” information recording medium M12. At this time, since any terminal device may be used as the terminal device 100 for performing the location notification work, only the portable mobile terminal device 100 carried by the “daddy” is used to identify “papa” and “mama”. Whereabouts work can be performed.

  However, when the portable mobile terminal device “papa” is carrying is the terminal device 100 ′ shown in FIG. 14, the medium identification information MID (“papa”) stored in the medium identification information storage unit 180 is stored. Since it is only possible to send (associated information), it is impossible to notify the location of "mama". As described above, the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2 and the terminal device 100 'shown in FIG. 14 each have advantages and disadvantages.

  Of course, in carrying out the present invention, the stationary terminal device 100 described in §1 and §2, the portable mobile terminal device 100 described in §3-1, and the portable mobile terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 'Can be mixed. Each user may use the position information notification system according to the present invention by using the terminal device most suitable for himself / herself.

  As described above, the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2 and the terminal device 100 ′ shown in FIG. 14 are practically used as predetermined mobile terminal devices such as smartphones, tablet type terminal devices, and portable personal computers. Since it can be realized by incorporating a program, it is also possible to incorporate a program that realizes both functions of the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2 and the terminal device 100 'shown in FIG. In this case, it can be used as the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2 and can also be used as the terminal device 100 ′ shown in FIG. 14, which is a combined type terminal device (the medium identification information reading unit 110 and the medium identification information storage unit). It is possible to configure an apparatus including both the unit 180 and the unit 180.

  In the case of the above example, if the “daddy” carries a dual-purpose terminal device, the work location notification work for the “daddy” itself transmits the medium identification information MID11 stored in the medium identification information storage unit 180. The location notification work for "mama" is performed by reading the medium identification information MID12 recorded in the portable information recording medium M12 borrowed from "mama" by the medium identification information reading unit 110 and transmitting it. It can be carried out.

<<<< §4. Various modifications >>>
Finally, some modifications that can be applied to the above-described embodiments will be described.

<4-1. Modified example of displaying position on map>
In the embodiments described so far, for example, as illustrated in FIGS. 12 (a) to 12 (i), the present position and report of each member belonging to the same group is used as the presentation form by the other person position notification information presenting unit 140. Although the character indicating the time is represented in the table format, the presentation form of the other person position notification information is not limited to the table format.

  For example, the other person's position notification information presenting section 140 adopts a presentation form in which the member identification information of each member is displayed at the corresponding position on the map based on the current position of each member included in the other person's position notification information. It is also possible. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a display example using such a map.

  Currently used mobile mobile terminal devices such as smartphones, tablet type terminal devices, and portable personal computers usually have a map display function (generally, map data required for display from a server device is displayed). The type that is downloaded and displayed via the network is widespread). Therefore, if the information including the latitude and longitude is used as the information of the current position, the current position can be displayed on the map illustrated in FIG.

  The display shown in FIG. 15 is created based on the current position information of the display shown in FIG. 12 (i), and the content of the information presented regarding the current position of each member remains unchanged. However, if the map-type display shown in FIG. 15 is adopted instead of the table-type display shown in FIG. 12 (i), there is an advantage that the geographical position of each member can be intuitively grasped. ..

<4-2. Modification of accepting message input>
In the above-described embodiments, the user does not need to particularly input information when performing the location notification work. For example, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 8, the user presses the “location notification” button in the menu screen shown in FIG. 8 (a) displayed on the terminal device 100, and in the location notification screen shown in FIG. 8 (b). After pressing “Read”, as shown in FIG. 8 (c), the location notification work can be executed by simply touching the carried information recording medium M13. As a result, as shown in FIG. The other person position notification information as shown in 8 (d) can be acquired.

  In the example shown in FIG. 8 (d), the member's name, current location, and reporting time are displayed on the screen as other-person location notification information. These pieces of information are the information entered by the user at the time of location notification work. Instead, it is the information automatically acquired by the location information notification system. In the modification shown here, the user is allowed to input an arbitrary message at the time of location notification work, and an additional function of transmitting the arbitrary message to other members is provided.

  Specifically, an arbitrary message is input to the self-location report information transmitting unit 130 shown in FIG. 2 or FIG. 14 based on the user's operation, and the self-location report information R including the input message is sent to the management device 200. To have a function to send. On the other hand, the group information storage unit 240 of the management apparatus 200 has a function of storing the message from each member as the group information I (G1) together with the current position P of each member and the reporting time t.

  Then, when the position report information registration unit 210 has transmitted the self position report information R from the self position report information transmission unit 130, the current position P and the report time t included in the transmitted self position report information R. The message included in the self-location report information R is also registered in the group information storage unit 240 in association with. Further, the position notification information transmitting unit 230 sends the other position notification information N including the current position P and the reporting time t and the message registered in association with the current position P to the other position notification information receiving unit 150. Try to send.

  On the other hand, the other person position notification information receiving unit 150 has a function of receiving the other person position notification information N including a message, and the other person position notification information presenting unit 140 causes the other person position notification information presenting unit 140 to receive the other person position notification information N. The function of presenting the notification information N is provided. Then, the message input by the specific member when performing the location notification work will be notified to the other members.

  FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a screen of a modified example that receives an input of a message at the time of the work of notifying whereabouts. In this modification, the whereabouts screen shown in FIG. 16A is displayed instead of the whereabouts screen shown in FIG. 8B. A message input field is added to the screen, and the user can enter an arbitrary character string in the message input field if necessary. In the figure, an example is shown in which the character string "I eat lunch here" is entered in this message input field. Of course, since the content of the message to be input is arbitrary, it is possible to input a message including detailed position information such as "I am in restaurant A on the 3rd floor of XX building".

  When the user (in this example, "Hanako") inputs a message and presses the "start reading" button to perform a read operation using the information recording medium M13, the read medium identification information MID13 and the current position Along with the information indicating “Ginza”, the message is transmitted to the management device 200 as the self-location report information R and registered as the group information I (G1). On the other hand, since the other person's position notification information N returned from the management device 200 also includes the message, the display screen of the other person's position notification information N is as shown in FIG. 16 (b). Become. Of course, the screen shown in FIG. 16 (b) is a screen presented to “Hanako” itself, so at this point, the message of “Hanako” has not been transmitted to other members. If the person performs the location notification work, the message “Hanako” will be displayed on the screen presented to the other members.

  FIG. 16 (b) shows an example in which a message is displayed instead of the report time, but it goes without saying that the call name, the current position, the report time, and the message may all be displayed. Also, when handling long messages, a "message" button is displayed in the table shown in the figure, and when the button is pressed, the message display screen is opened and the long message is displayed. May be displayed.

  Note that the message does not necessarily have to be a character string, and may be some symbol or numerical value. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing a modified example in which the input of the evaluation information of the store is received when the work of notifying the whereabouts is performed. In this modification, the whereabouts screen shown in FIG. 17A is displayed instead of the whereabouts screen shown in FIG. 8B. An evaluation input field is added to the screen, and the user can enter the evaluation information in the evaluation input field if necessary. In short, the self-position report information transmission unit 130 inputs the user's evaluation information regarding the current position as a message based on the user's operation.

  In the illustrated example, the evaluation information is displayed as the number of stars (0 to 5), and the number of stars is 0 → 1 → 2 → 3 → 4 each time the user taps the evaluation input field on the screen. It adopts an input interface that changes cyclically from → 5 → 0.

  When the user (“Hanako” in this example) inputs the desired number of stars in the evaluation input field and presses the “start reading” button to perform the reading operation using the information recording medium M13, the reading is performed. In addition to the medium identification information MID13 and the information indicating the current position, the evaluation information (for example, a numerical value according to the number of stars) is transmitted to the management device 200 as the self-position report information R. The evaluation information composed of the numerical values of 0 to 5 is handled as the above-mentioned message. In this case, the display screen of the other person position notification information N is as shown in FIG. 17B, and the evaluation information input by "Hanako" is displayed as the number of stars.

  In addition, in the example shown in FIG. 17 (b), the character string "Restaurant A" is displayed as the current position, but this uses the stationary terminal device 100 in which "Hanako" is installed in the restaurant A. 17 (a) and 17 (b) are the display screens of the stationary terminal device 100 installed in the restaurant A). As described above, in the case of the stationary terminal device 100, since the information indicating the installation location can be set in advance in the current position recognition unit 120, the character string “Restaurant A” is set as the information indicating the current position. If so, the character string is displayed as the current position. After all, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 17B, the information that “Hanako” in “Restaurant A” has evaluated “4 stars” is transmitted to other members.

  As described above, when the stationary terminal device installed in each store is used as the terminal device 100, detailed location information including the address and the store name of the store can be notified, and the evaluation input by the user can be performed. It becomes clear that the information shows the evaluation of the store.

<4-3. Modified example of creating statistics about the behavior of members>
When the service for notifying the user of the mutual position information of the members is provided by using the position information notification system according to the present invention, the information about the behavior of each member in the group information storage unit 240, that is, Information will be gathered about who was when and where. In addition, in the modified example that enables the transmission of the evaluation information as described above, the evaluation information about each place is also collected.

  Therefore, if the management device 200 is further provided with a statistic creation unit that creates the statistic relating to the behavior of each member based on the group information I stored in the group information storage unit 240, valuable statistics are provided. Data can be obtained. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of such statistical data. In this example, the facts of which member of which group, when, where, and what kind of evaluation information was input are statistically collected. In particular, the illustrated example is the data collected by using the stationary terminal device installed in each store, and thus the specific store name is displayed as the position information in the location column. Such statistical data is very useful information for doing business and has high commercial utility value.

  However, it has been pointed out that using such a conventional general position information notification system to arbitrarily create such statistical data may violate the privacy of individuals. For this reason, in practice, it was inevitable to collect data only for users who indicated their intention to actively cooperate in the creation of statistical data.

  On the other hand, in the position information notification system according to the present invention, since it is not necessary to handle personal information that directly identifies each member, even if statistical data as illustrated in FIG. 18 is created. , There is no problem of invading individual privacy. In fact, in the example shown in FIG. 18, a member “Hanako” who belongs to the group “Akita no Satoyama” visited Restaurant A on October 15, 2014 at 13:45 and was evaluated as “4 stars”. Although the facts such as "giving" have been collected, information such as "Akita no Satoyama" and "Hanako" is not personal information that directly indicates a specific individual, so there is no problem of invading the privacy of a specific individual. .. In this respect, the position information notification system according to the present invention is also suitable for use in creating statistics on the behavior of members.

<4-4. Modified example of delivery while maintaining session>
As described in §1, the conventional position information notification system adopts the “push type” distribution mode, whereas the position information notification system according to the present invention adopts the “pull type” distribution mode. ing. Therefore, when there is active access from an individual user, the management device 200 only needs to deliver the other person position notification information according to the access, and the individual user uses it from the management device 200 side. It is not necessary to actively access the terminal device 100. Therefore, the management device 200 side does not need to handle individual information such as the mail address of each user, and there is an advantage that the great management cost and the great effort required for handling the personal information become unnecessary.

  However, if such a "pull-type" distribution form is adopted, even if the group information is updated on the management device 200 side, as long as the user does not actively access the management device 200 by the location notification work, I cannot receive the updated other-person location notification information.

  For example, FIG. 12 (d) shows the other person position notification information returned from the management device 200 when the "aunt" arrives at "Sugamo" at 11:07 and performs the location notification work. However, the content is only the content of the group information at the time of 11:07. Therefore, when "Hiro-chan" moves to "Harajuku" at 11:08 and the content of the group information is updated, "Hiro-chan" is notified of the updated content shown in FIG. 12 (e). However, the "aunt" is not actively notified of the updated contents.

  In this example, the work of notifying the whereabouts of "Aunta" is performed at 11:07 and the work of notifying whereabouts of "Hiro-chan" is performed at 11:08, which is a difference of only 1 minute. The other-person position notification information returned in response to the whereabouts work of “” is as shown in FIG. 12D, and the other-person position notification information returned in response to the whereabouts work of “Hiro-chan” is shown in FIG. It will be as shown in (e). Here, if the communication session with the terminal device of "Hiro-chan" starts after the communication session with the terminal device of "Aunta" has ended, the update contents regarding the current position of "Hiro-chan" Cannot be actively transmitted to the "aunt". This is because the communication session with the terminal device of the "aunt" has already ended, and the management device 200 side cannot actively access the "aunt".

  In other words, the state in which the communication session with the terminal device of the "aunt" is maintained (as described above, the state in which the same communication session is judged to be continued by the "session management" or the like). If a communication session with the terminal device of “Hiro-chan” is established, the update contents regarding the current position of “Hiro-chan” will be sent to “Aunt” via the maintained communication session. Will be able to communicate.

  Specifically, in the case of the above example, a communication session with the terminal device of "aunt" is established at 11:07, and as shown in FIG. Suppose that another person's position notification information is transmitted, and then 11:08 while the termination process of the communication session is being executed, and a communication session with the terminal device of "Hiro-chan" is established. Let's try. In this case, since the group information is updated in the state where the communication session with the "aunt" terminal device is maintained, it is possible to use the maintained communication session to The updated other person position notification information as shown in FIG. 12 (e) can be transmitted to the terminal device of "Baba".

  If such an operation is adopted, the other-person position notification information shown in FIG. 12 (d) is displayed on the "aunt" terminal device at 11:07, but at 11:08, The updated other person position notification information shown in FIG. 12 (e) will be displayed again.

  Of course, the communication session with the management device 200 is not limited to the communication session based on the location notification work, and may be the communication session based on the basic information setting work. For example, in the above example, while performing the basic information setting work to add the sixth member to the "Akita no Satoyama" group, another member executes the location notification work and When there is an update of group information for the group "Satoyama", the updated other person position notification information is sent to the member who is performing the basic information setting work using the maintained communication session. be able to.

  In this case, although the member management screens illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4F are displayed on the terminal device 100 of the member who is performing the basic information setting work, just before the end of the communication session. The latest other person position notification information will be displayed.

  After all, in the modification described here, the management device 200 has the second communication session with the second terminal device 100-2 during the first communication session with the first terminal device 100-1. Is established, and the inquiry target group for the first terminal device 100-1 and the inquiry target group for the second terminal device 100-2 are the same, the second terminal device 100-2 and Additional function of transmitting the result of the self-location report information registered based on the second communication session between the first and second terminal devices 100-1 during the first communication session as the other-person location notification information. It can be said that it is a modified example provided with.

<4-5. Modified example of deleting and resetting group information>
In §2, an example in which a family who moved from Akita to Tokyo to see Tokyo uses the position information notification system according to the present invention has been described. As described above, when the position information notification system according to the present invention is operated as a system temporarily used by a traveler, a part or all of individual group information is stored in the group information storage unit 240 at a predetermined timing. It is preferable to have a function of performing a reset process of deleting.

  For example, if it becomes possible to automatically delete the current position and report time information in the group information at 24:00 every day, the current position of all members will be set the next morning. And the report time information is reset and becomes blank. Normally, at night, all the members are expected to return to the accommodations such as hotels and gather, so if you delete this information automatically, the next day, it will be reset (create a new group). You can use this system again from the initial state when you registered.

  Alternatively, when a predetermined period (for example, one month) elapses after newly registering a group, all group information about the group may be automatically deleted. Usually, if one month has passed, the trip will have ended, so there will be no problem if all group information is deleted when one month has passed since the initial registration. Alternatively, the user may be allowed to set a predetermined effective period when newly registering a group. In this case, the group information storage unit 240 may perform a process of deleting all the group information when the valid period has elapsed. Of course, when the system is used again after all the group information is deleted, the basic information setting work for creating and registering the group may be performed again.

  As described above, the group information stored in the group information storage unit 240 is not the personal information that directly identifies each member, so even if a leak accident should occur, not much serious damage will occur. .. However, from an individual user's point of view, even though they have anonymity, it is not pleasant that their behavior content is leaked to the outside. Therefore, if a reset process of deleting a part or all of the individual group information at a predetermined timing is performed, it is possible to give each user a sense of security.

<4-6. Modified example in which the basic information setting unit 160 is omitted>
The terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2 and the terminal device 100 ′ shown in FIG. 14 are provided with a basic information setting unit 160. The basic information setting unit 160 inputs, for a specific group, individual medium identification information and individual member identification information corresponding thereto based on a user's operation, and inputs the input information to the management device 200. It is a component that plays a role of transmitting as basic information, and is used for performing the group management and member management work illustrated in FIGS. 3 and 4. However, since this group management and member management work is performed by only the group representative, it is not always necessary to provide the basic information setting unit 160 in all terminal devices.

  The basic information registration unit 220 on the management device 200 side performs a process of registering medium identification information and member identification information in association with each other based on the basic information transmitted from the basic information setting unit 160. If basic information is transmitted from the terminal device operated by the representative of the group, group management and member management can be performed.

  Further, it is also possible to entrust the task of group management and member management to a specialized operator who is in charge of maintenance of the management device 200, instead of entrusting it to the user. For example, if you set up an application window for using this location information notification system at a station, etc., and if you want to use the system, you can submit an application form to this window. 3. The group management and member management work (basic information setting work) illustrated in FIG. 4 can be entrusted to a specialized operator who is resident at this window. In this case, it is not necessary to provide the basic information setting unit 160 in the terminal device 100 used by each user.

  For example, if the usage application form is filled in with the group name and the name (member identification information) of each member and submitted to the counter, a specialized operator directly accesses the basic information registration unit 220 in the management device 200. Then, the basic information setting work can be performed. When such an operation is adopted, the terminal device 100 operated by the user is sufficient as long as it has a function of notifying whereabouts, and therefore it is not necessary to include the basic information setting unit 160.

<4-7. Automatic transmission at predetermined inquiry timing>
As described above, an important feature of the system according to the present invention is that the terminal device 100 accesses the management device 200 instead of actively distributing the position information of each member from the management device 200 side. At this time, the communication session is used to transmit the position information of each member to the terminal device 100 that has accessed.

  Then, in the embodiments described so far, the access timing from the terminal device 100 to the management device 200 is defined as “the time when each user intentionally performs the location notification work in order to report his / her position”. I gave an example. Specifically, in the case of the example shown in FIG. 2, when a member performs the location notification work, the self-location report information transmission unit 130 transmits the self-location report information R to the location report information registration unit 210. In response to this, the other person's position notification information N is returned from the position notification information transmitting section 230 to the other person's position notification information receiving section 150.

  However, when carrying out the present invention, the access timing from the terminal device 100 to the management device 200 does not necessarily have to be limited to the time when the location notification work by the user is performed. Of course, in order to register the current position of each member on the management device 200 side, it is necessary to notify whereabouts, but in order to obtain the current positions of other members, it is not always necessary to report their own current position. There is no. From this point of view, the modified example described here provides a means for automatically obtaining the other-person position notification information N without the user intentionally performing the location notification work.

  Specifically, in the case of the modified example described here, a function of automatically transmitting an information inquiry request is added to the other person's position notification information receiving unit 150 shown in FIG. In the case of the embodiments described so far, when the user performs the location notification work, the self-position report information transmission unit 130 transmits the self-position direction information R to the position report information registration unit 210, and as a reply thereto, The other person position notification information N is transmitted from the position notification information transmission unit 230 to the other person position notification information reception unit 150. Therefore, the other person's position notification information receiving unit 150 only has a function of passively receiving the other person's position notification information N.

  In the modified example shown here, a function of actively requesting the other person position notification information N is added to the other person position notification information receiving unit 150. That is, the other person position notification information receiving unit 150 automatically transmits an information inquiry request including specific medium identification information to the position notification information transmitting unit 230 when a predetermined inquiry timing arrives, and responds to the information inquiry request. It has an additional function of receiving the other-person position notification information N sent back as a reply. Of course, the other-person position notification information N thus received is presented by the other-person position notification information presentation unit 140.

  On the other hand, when the information inquiry request is transmitted from the other person position notification information receiving unit 150, the position notification information transmitting unit 230 searches the group information in the group information storage unit 240 according to the information inquiry request. However, the group in which the medium identification information included in the information inquiry request is registered is recognized as the inquiry target group, and the member identification information registered for each member belonging to the inquiry target group and the It has a function of returning the current position registered in association with the other person position notification information N as the other person position notification information N to the other person position notification information receiving unit 150.

  In other words, when the self-location report information R is transmitted from the terminal device 100, the management device 200 not only returns the other-person location notification information N in response thereto, but also inquires information from the terminal device 100. Even when the request is transmitted, the process of returning the other-person position notification information N during the same communication session is performed accordingly.

  However, this information inquiry request needs to include specific medium identification information. The position notification information transmission unit 230 searches the group information in the group information storage unit 240 based on the specific medium identification information, and recognizes the group to be inquired. For example, in the case of the illustrated example, if the information inquiry request includes the medium identification information “MID11”, the position notification information transmission unit 230 recognizes the group information I (G1) as the inquiry target group, It is possible to return the other person position notification information N for the group “Akita no Satoyama”.

  However, when the member intentionally performs the location notification work, the medium identification information MID can be read from the portable information recording medium M possessed by the member, as in the embodiments described above. When the other person position notification information receiving unit 150 automatically transmits the information inquiry request, the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2 cannot read the medium identification information MID from the portable information recording medium M.

  Therefore, in order to apply this modified example to the terminal device 100 shown in FIG. 2, when the terminal device 100 transmits the self-location report information R to the management device 200, it is included in the self-location report information R. The stored medium identification information MID (that is, the information read from the portable information recording medium M) may be stored somewhere in the terminal device 100 (for example, once in the medium identification information reading unit 110). It should have a function of storing the read medium identification information MID). Then, when the other person's position notification information receiving unit 150 automatically transmits the information inquiry request at the time when a predetermined inquiry timing comes thereafter, the stored specific medium identification information MID is stored. , It can be automatically sent by including it in the information inquiry request.

  On the other hand, in order to apply this modification to the terminal device 100 ′ shown in FIG. 14, the other person position notification information receiving unit 150 is stored in the medium identification information storage unit 180 at the time when a predetermined inquiry timing comes. The medium identification information MID that has been read is automatically read, an information inquiry request including the read medium identification information MID is automatically transmitted to the position notification information transmission unit 230, and the other person position notification returned in response to this information inquiry request is sent. The information N may be received. In the case of the terminal device 100 ′, the medium identification information MID stored in the internal medium identification information storage unit 180 can be used instead of the external portable information recording medium M, so that the other person position notification information is used. The receiver 150 can use the medium identification information MID to send an information inquiry request when necessary.

  It should be noted that the "inquiry timing" at which the other person position notification information receiving unit 150 transmits the information inquiry request may be set to an arbitrary timing in advance. For example, if the timing that periodically arrives at the predetermined period φ is set as the inquiry timing, the other person position notification information receiving unit 150 can periodically transmit the information inquiry request at the period φ. Specifically, if φ is set to 1 hour, the information inquiry request is automatically transmitted every hour, and the other person position notification information N can be automatically obtained every hour. Alternatively, if a specific inquiry time is set as the inquiry timing, the other person position notification information N can be obtained at that time. Specifically, if 7 o'clock, 12 o'clock, 18 o'clock, and 22:00 are set as the inquiry timing, the other person position notification information N can be automatically obtained when these inquiry times arrive. it can. Of course, the inquiry time may be a combination of hours, minutes, seconds, and dates.

  As described above, in the modified example described above, the information inquiry request is automatically transmitted at the preset predetermined inquiry timing, and the other person position notification information N at that time can be automatically obtained. The user can obtain the latest other person position notification information N without intentionally performing the location notification work.

  This modification is particularly effective when a smartphone or the like is used as the terminal device 100 ', as shown in FIG. For example, if the information inquiry request is automatically transmitted every hour, the latest other person position notification information N is delivered to the terminal device 100 'every hour. If a function of notifying the user of the arrival of the new other person position notification information N by sounding or vibrating is added, the user is notified at the time of sounding or vibrating, if necessary. It is possible to perform the work of confirming the content of the other person position notification information N.

  Furthermore, it is possible to make a notification by sounding or vibrating only when the content of the other-person position notification information N that has arrived last time is different from the content of the other-person position notification information N that has arrived this time. . By doing so, the user can be notified by ringing sound or vibration only when new whereabouts information about other members comes in. Therefore, for example, if the predetermined period φ is set to a short time such as 1 minute, the present system can be used with a feeling of use as if a “push type” distribution form is adopted. Of course, in reality, since the terminal device side sends the information inquiry request to the management device, the distribution form is "pull type" and there is no need to handle personal information such as email address and telephone number. It's still a system.

  As described above, when transmitting the information inquiry request to the management device 200, it is not necessary to report the current position P recognized by the current position recognition unit 120, but of course, the current position P should be reported. But it doesn't matter. When the operation of reporting the current position P is adopted, instead of providing the other person position notification information receiving unit 150 with the function of transmitting the information inquiry request, the self-position report information transmitting unit 130 is automatically operated at a predetermined inquiry timing. The function of transmitting the self-location report information R may be provided.

  For example, if the self-location report information transmitting unit 130 automatically transmits the self-location report information R every one hour (when the predetermined period φ = 1 hour is set) (when the medium identification information MID cannot be read). For example, the medium identification information MID used in the past may be used as in the example described above.) Even if the intentional location notification work by the user is not performed, the other person position notification information receiving unit 150 can The other person position notification information N will be delivered.

<4-8. Use as a safety confirmation system>
Up to now, the specific example of the position information notification system according to the present invention has been described with the user being a tourist. However, of course, the users who can use the present invention are limited to tourists. It is not a thing, but it can also be used, for example, when general business people form a team to perform work. In short, the system according to the present invention is a position information notification system having a function of notifying the mutual position information of some members belonging to the same group, and any system that can benefit from such a system can be used. It is a useful system for users.

  In particular, the position information notification system according to the present invention is optimal for use as a safety confirmation system. In recent years, various natural disasters have occurred in various parts of Japan, and a system for easily confirming the safety of a missing family is desired. The position information notification system according to the present invention described so far can be directly used as a safety confirmation system.

  For example, if the members m11 to m15 of the five-member family illustrated in FIG. 6 perform the basic information setting work in normal time and register with a group name of “Akita no Satoyama”, each member will have a The location of other members confirmed at that time can be recognized only by performing the location notification work. If the Internet is used as the network 300, it is possible to perform a location notification work anywhere in the world and to confirm the safety of other members.

  As illustrated in FIG. 6, the portable information recording medium M usable in the present invention includes an IC card such as an employee ID card, a credit card, a transportation card, a student ID card, a medical examination ticket, and a license, and is called a laundry tag. There are a wide variety of IC tags that can be attached to existing clothes and jewelry, and printed materials on which barcodes and QR codes (registered trademark) are recorded. Therefore, if each member registers a plurality of portable information recording media M during normal times, at least one of the registered portable information recording media M can be carried when a disaster occurs. If you are, you can do whereabouts work.

  In particular, since the laundry tag is attached to clothes and accessories, there is a high possibility that the laundry tag will be worn even when the user does not carry any portable items such as bags and bags, and the portable information recording medium M used in the event of a disaster Is useful as In addition, even if the person is unconscious or has died, the person who was rescued will notify other members of the whereabouts of the person by performing the location notification work on behalf of the person. can do. In the case of adopting the modified example that accepts the input of the message described in §4-2, a message such as "right arm injury" can be added when notifying the whereabouts of the person.

  Conventionally proposed general safety confirmation system adopts a "push type" distribution form, and therefore, in the event of a disaster, a large amount of safety confirmation information circulates through the communication network. Therefore, the traffic of the communication network increases rapidly, and there is a concern that a failure may occur. On the other hand, since the safety confirmation system using the position information notification system according to the present invention adopts the “pull type” distribution mode, the user who feels the need actively performs the location notification work. Communication occurs only when Therefore, there is an advantage that the traffic of the communication network can be minimized.

  It should be noted that this safety confirmation system is not necessarily limited to use in the event of a disaster, but can be used in normal times. For example, recently, there has been a social problem that a wandering old man suffering from dementia is missing, but it is possible to notify the whereabouts of a missing wandering old man by using a laundry tag. Is. As a system for grasping the whereabouts of dementia patients, a system using a transmitter with a built-in GPS has been put into practical use, but if a missing person does not wear the transmitter, information on whereabouts is obtained. It is not possible.

  In the safety confirmation system using the present invention, a missing person wears a portable information recording medium M such as a laundry tag, and a guardian who protects the missing person uses the portable information recording medium M. As long as it can be used to notify whereabouts, the family can be notified of whereabouts of the missing person. In addition, since the other person position notification information indicating the whereabouts of the family is displayed according to the work of notifying whereabouts, the guardian who protected the missing person can obtain a clue to contact the family.

  Of course, even when the present invention is used as a safety confirmation system, it can be used for a general purpose of notifying location information about an arbitrary location to arbitrary members, and can also be used for e-mail addresses and telephone numbers. Since there is no need to handle personal information, it is possible to reduce the management cost and labor required for handling personal information.

  Further, as described in §4-7, if a modification that automatically obtains the other-person position notification information N is adopted at a predetermined inquiry timing, in reality, it is a "pull-type" delivery form. However, since the user can be provided with a feeling of use as if the “push-type” distribution form is adopted, the family member can be notified when the missing person's whereabouts work is performed. The location of the missing person will be notified to the terminal device without delay (at a predetermined inquiry timing) in a form similar to the "push type" delivery form.

100, 100 ': Terminal devices 100A, 100B, 100C: Terminal device 110: Medium identification information reading unit 120: Current position recognition unit 130: Self position report information transmission unit 140: Other person position notification information presentation unit 150: Other person position Notification information receiving unit 160: Basic information setting unit 170: Processing control unit 180: Medium identification information storage unit 200: Management device 210: Position report information registration unit 220: Basic information registration unit 230: Position notification information transmission unit 240: Group information Storage unit 300: Network (Internet)
G1 to G3: Group I: Group information I (G1): Group information I (G2) of group G1: Group information I (G3) of group G2: Group information M, M11 to M16 of group G3: carried by each member Portable information recording medium MID: Medium identification information MID11 to MID16 recorded on portable information recording medium M: Medium identification information recorded on portable information recording medium M11 to M16 m: Individual members m11 to m15: Each member belonging to the same group mid: Member identification information mid11 to mid15: Member identification information of each member belonging to the same group N: Other person position notification information P, Pa to Pc: Current position of the terminal device 100, 100A to 100C R: Self-location report information t: Report time

Claims (32)

A position information notification system that notifies members of the same group of mutual position information,
A plurality of terminal devices, and a management device having a function of communicating with each of the plurality of terminal devices,
The terminal device,
A medium identification information reading unit that reads medium identification information from a portable information recording medium carried by each member,
A current position recognition unit that recognizes the current position of the terminal device itself,
A predetermined communication session is established with the management device for communication, and the medium identification information read by the medium identification information reading unit and the current position recognized by the current position recognizing unit are recorded as self-position report information. A self-location report information transmission unit for transmitting to the management device as
During the same communication session as the communication session in which the transmission of the self-location report information is performed, another person position notification information receiving unit that receives the other person position notification information transmitted from the management device,
Another person position notification information presenting section for presenting the received other person position notification information,
Have
The management device is
For each member belonging to the same group, medium identification information of the portable information recording medium carried by each member, at least member identification information for identifying each member in the group, and the current position of each member, A group information storage unit that stores group information in which
A basic information registration unit that registers medium identification information and member identification information in association with each other for each member belonging to each group in the group information storage unit;
During a communication session established with the terminal device, when there is a transmission of self-position report information from the self-position report information transmission unit, the current position included in the transmitted self-position report information, A position report information registration unit that registers in the group information storage unit in association with the medium identification information included in the transmitted self-position report information,
During the same communication session as the communication session in which the self-location report information is transmitted, the group information in the group information storage unit is searched, and the medium identification information included in the transmitted self-location report information is registered. Recognize the specified group as the inquiry target group, and notify the member identification information registered for each member belonging to the inquiry target group and the current position registered in association with this, to the other person position notification. Information is transmitted to the other person position notification information receiving unit , and when the group information is updated while the communication session is maintained, the other person position notification information after the update is transmitted . A location notification information transmitter,
Based on the group information stored in the group information storage unit, the member identification information of each member of each group, the location based on the position information of each member, the time when the location was located, and the evaluation information about the location were associated with each other. A statistics creation unit that creates statistical data,
A position information notification system comprising: In the position information notification system according to claim 1,
At least some of the terminal devices are stationary type terminal devices that are installed in a specific installation place, and the current position recognition unit of this stationary type terminal device holds the installation place information indicating the installation place of the stationary type terminal device. In addition, the position information notification system is characterized in that the present position is recognized based on the installation place information. In the position information notification system according to claim 1,
At least a part of the terminal devices is a portable mobile terminal device, and the current position recognizing unit of the portable mobile terminal device is a position recognition system using GPS, or a wireless LAN base station or a mobile phone base station in communication. A position information notification system having a position recognition system using position information of a station, and recognizing one's own position recognized by the position recognition system as a current position. In the position information notification system according to claim 1,
At least a part of the terminal devices is a smartphone equipped with a computer that operates under the control of a predetermined OS program, a tablet terminal device, or a portable personal computer, and a dedicated application program is incorporated in the computer, A position information notification system, wherein the computer functions as the terminal device by executing the application program. In the position information notification system according to claim 1,
At least a part of the terminal devices is a smartphone, a tablet terminal device, or a portable personal computer equipped with a computer that operates under the control of a predetermined OS program, and the computer includes a web browser program and a supplement to the web browser program. It has a built-in auxiliary program that adds functions,
The management device has a web server that provides a predetermined web page,
A location information notification system, wherein the computer functions as the terminal device by accessing the Web page using the Web browser program and executing the auxiliary program. In the position information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The medium identification information reading unit reads the medium identification information recorded as digital data on the portable information recording medium including an IC card or an IC tag, and records it as magnetic data on the portable information recording medium including a magnetic card. A magnetic reading device for reading the stored medium identification information, a code reading device for reading the medium identification information recorded as a barcode or QR code (registered trademark) on the portable information recording medium, or a character on the portable information recording medium. , A position information notification system having an OCR device for photographing and recognizing an image of medium identification information recorded as numbers or symbols. A position information notification system that notifies members of the same group of mutual position information,
A plurality of portable mobile terminal devices carried by each member, and a management device having a function of communicating with each of the plurality of portable mobile terminal devices,
The portable mobile terminal device,
A medium identification information storage unit that stores predetermined medium identification information,
A current position recognition unit that recognizes the current position of the portable mobile terminal device itself,
A predetermined communication session is established with the management device to communicate with each other, and the medium identification information stored in the medium identification information storage unit and the current position recognized by the current position recognition unit are compared with each other. A self-location report information transmission unit for transmitting to the management device as report information,
During the same communication session as the communication session in which the transmission of the self-location report information is performed, another person position notification information receiving unit that receives the other person position notification information transmitted from the management device,
Another person position notification information presenting section for presenting the received other person position notification information,
Have
The management device is
For individual members belonging to the same group, medium identification information stored in the portable mobile terminal device carried by each member, member identification information for identifying each member in at least the group, and each member's identification information A group information storage unit that stores group information in which the current position and the current position are associated with each other,
A basic information registration unit that registers medium identification information and member identification information in association with each other for each member belonging to each group in the group information storage unit;
During the communication session established with the portable mobile terminal device, when the self-location report information is transmitted from the self-location report information transmitting unit, the current self-location report information included in the transmitted self-location report information is transmitted. A position report information registration unit that registers the position in the group information storage unit in association with the medium identification information included in the transmitted self-position report information,
During the same communication session as the communication session in which the self-location report information is transmitted, the group information in the group information storage unit is searched, and the medium identification information included in the transmitted self-location report information is registered. Recognize the existing group as the inquiry target group, and notify the member identification information registered for each member belonging to the inquiry target group and the current position registered in association with this, to the other person position notification. Information is transmitted to the other person position notification information receiving unit , and when the group information is updated while the communication session is maintained, the other person position notification information after the update is transmitted . A location notification information transmitter,
Based on the group information stored in the group information storage unit, the member identification information of each member of each group, the place based on the position information of each member, the time when the place was located, and the evaluation information about the place are associated with each other. A statistics creation section that creates statistical data,
A position information notification system comprising: In the position information notification system according to claim 7,
The current position recognizing unit has a position recognizing system using GPS or a position recognizing system using position information of a wireless LAN base station or a mobile phone base station in communication, and is recognized by the position recognizing system. A position information notification system characterized by recognizing one's own position as the current position. In the position information notification system according to claim 7,
The portable mobile terminal device is a smartphone equipped with a computer that operates under the control of a predetermined OS program, a tablet type terminal device, or a portable personal computer, and a dedicated application program is incorporated in the computer. A position information notification system characterized in that a computer functions as the mobile terminal device by executing the application program. In the position information notification system according to claim 7,
The portable mobile terminal device is a smartphone, a tablet terminal device, or a portable personal computer equipped with a computer that operates under the control of a predetermined OS program, and the computer has a web browser program and an auxiliary function for the web browser program. It has a built-in auxiliary program that adds
The management device has a web server that provides a predetermined web page,
A position information notification system, wherein the computer functions as the portable mobile terminal device by accessing the Web page using the Web browser program and executing the auxiliary program. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The terminal device acquires, for a specific group, individual medium identification information and individual member identification information corresponding thereto based on a user operation, and transmits the acquired information as basic information to the management device. It further has a basic information setting section,
Position information notification, characterized in that the basic information registration unit in the management device performs processing for registering medium identification information and member identification information in association with each member belonging to each group based on the basic information. system. The position information notification system according to claim 11,
If the basic information registration unit has already registered the same medium identification information as the medium identification information included in the transmitted basic information in the group information storage unit, it is included in the transmitted basic information. It has a function of rejecting registration of the relevant medium identification information and member identification information corresponding thereto, and notifying the basic information setting unit that the registration has been rejected.
The position information notification system, wherein the basic information setting unit has a function of notifying the user of the notification that the registration has been rejected. The position information notification system according to claim 11 or 12,
If the basic information registration unit has already registered the same member identification information as the member identification information included in the transmitted basic information for the specific group to be registered, it has been transmitted. It has a function of rejecting registration of the member identification information included in the basic information and medium identification information corresponding thereto, and notifying the basic information setting unit that the registration has been rejected.
The position information notification system, wherein the basic information setting unit has a function of notifying the user of the fact that the registration is rejected. The position information notification system according to claim 11 or 12,
The basic information registration unit has a function of registering a plurality of medium identification information in association with the same member identification information belonging to a specific group based on the basic information transmitted from the basic information setting unit. ,
If there is a current position associated with each of the plurality of medium identification information corresponding to the same member identification information, the position notification information transmission unit uses the newly registered current position as the same member identification information. A position information notification system characterized by transmitting as a corresponding current position. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 11 to 14,
The basic information setting unit or the basic information registration unit holds a predetermined nonconformity criterion that should be nonconforming to register as the medium identification information in the data string composed of letters, numbers, symbols, or a combination thereof. A position information notification system, characterized in that, when the medium identification information acquired based on a user's operation satisfies the nonconformance criterion, transmission or registration of the medium identification information is rejected. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 11 to 15,
The basic information setting unit has a function of inputting a group name for a specific group based on a user operation, and transmitting the input group name to the management device,
The basic information registration unit checks whether the transmitted group name is unregistered or already registered. If the group name is not registered, the basic information registration unit stores the group name in the group information storage unit. Performs a group name registration process of registering as a group name for a group, notifies the basic information setting unit that the group name registration has been performed, and rejects the group name registration process if already registered, Has a function of notifying the basic information setting unit that the group name registration has been rejected,
The basic information setting unit has a function of notifying the user whether the group name registration process has been performed or rejected, and if the group name registration has been performed, then the basic information setting unit A position information notification system characterized in that a group to be registered is specified by transmitting a group name input by a user when transmitting basic information. The position information notification system according to claim 16,
The basic information registration unit has a function of generating a unique group code corresponding to the group name when performing the group name registration process and notifying the basic information setting unit of the generated group code,
When the basic information setting unit has a function of notifying the user of the fact that the group name registration process has been performed, the group code is also notified, and when the group name registration is performed, After that, when transmitting the basic information to the basic information registration unit, the position information notification system characterized in that the group to be registered is specified by transmitting the group name or group code input by the user. .. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 17,
The group information storage unit has a function of storing, as group information, the current position of each member and the reporting time of the current position,
When the location report information registration unit transmits the self location report information from the self location report information transmission unit, the location report information registration unit associates the self location report information with the current position included in the transmitted self location report information, Has a function of registering the transmission time or the reception time as a report time in the group information storage unit,
The position notification information transmitting unit has a function of transmitting to the other person position notification information receiving unit, together with the current position, the other person position notification information including the report time registered in association with the current position,
The other person position notification information receiving unit has a function of receiving the other person position notification information including the reporting time,
A position information notification system, wherein the other person position notification information presenting unit has a function of presenting the other person position notification information including the reporting time. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 18,
The self-location report information transmission unit has a function of inputting an arbitrary message based on a user operation, and transmitting self-position report information including the input message to the management device,
The group information storage unit has a function of storing a message from each member together with the current position of each member as group information,
When the position report information registration unit transmits the self position report information from the self position report information transmission unit, the position report information registration unit associates the self position report information with the current position included in the transmitted self position report information, Has a function of registering the included message together with the group information storage unit,
The position notification information transmitting unit has a function of transmitting the other person's position notification information including the message registered in association with the current position to the other person's position notification information receiving unit,
The other person position notification information receiving unit has a function of receiving the other person position notification information including a message,
A position information notification system, wherein the other person position notification information presenting section has a function of presenting another person position notification information including a message. The position information notification system according to claim 19,
A position information notification system, wherein the self-position report information transmission unit has a function of inputting user evaluation information regarding the current position as a message based on a user operation. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 20,
Position information characterized in that the other person position notification information presenting section displays the member identification information of each member at the corresponding position on the map based on the current position of each member included in the other person position notification information. Notification system. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 21,
A management device establishes a second communication session with a second terminal device during a first communication session with the first terminal device, and is an inquiry target for the first terminal device. When the group and the inquiry target group for the second terminal device are the same, the result of the self-location report information registered based on the second communication session with the second terminal device is displayed. A position information notification system, wherein the position information notification system transmits the other person position notification information to the first terminal device in the first communication session. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 22,
A position information notification system, wherein the group information storage unit performs a process of deleting a part or all of individual group information at a predetermined timing. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 23,
When the predetermined inquiry timing arrives, the other person position notification information receiving unit automatically transmits an information inquiry request including specific medium identification information to the position notification information transmitting unit, and a reply is sent in response to the information inquiry request. Has the function of receiving other person's position notification information,
The other person position notification information presenting section has a function of presenting the received other person position notification information,
The position notification information transmission unit searches the group information in the group information storage unit in response to the information inquiry request, and recognizes the group in which the medium identification information included in the information inquiry request is registered as the inquiry target group. Then, the member identification information registered for each member belonging to the reference group and the current position registered in association with the member identification information are received as the other person position notification information. A position information notification system having a function of replying to a department. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 1 to 23,
A position information notification system, wherein the self-position report information transmitting unit has a function of automatically transmitting self-position report information to the position report information registration unit when a predetermined inquiry timing arrives. In the position information notification system according to claim 24 or 25,
The terminal device has a function of storing the specific medium identification information transmitted to the management device, and transmits the stored specific medium identification information when a predetermined inquiry timing comes. Location information notification system. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 7 to 10,
When the predetermined inquiry timing arrives, the other person position notification information receiving unit automatically reads the medium identification information stored in the medium identification information storage unit, and sends the information inquiry request including the read medium identification information. It has a function of automatically transmitting to the notification information transmitting unit and receiving the other person position notification information returned in response to the information inquiry request,
The other person position notification information presenting section has a function of presenting the received other person position notification information,
The position notification information transmission unit searches the group information in the group information storage unit in response to the information inquiry request, and recognizes the group in which the medium identification information included in the information inquiry request is registered as the inquiry target group. Then, the member identification information registered for each member belonging to the reference group and the current position registered in association with the member identification information are received as the other person position notification information. A position information notification system having a function of replying to a department. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 7 to 10,
When the predetermined inquiry timing arrives, the self-location report information transmission unit automatically reads the medium identification information stored in the medium identification information storage unit and locates the self-position report information including the read medium identification information. A position information notification system having a function of automatically transmitting to a report information registration unit. The position information notification system according to any one of claims 24 to 28,
A position information notification system, characterized in that a timing that periodically arrives at a predetermined cycle φ is used as an inquiry timing, or a preset specific inquiry time is used as an inquiry timing.   A management device which is a constituent element of the position information notification system according to claim 1. Program for causing a computer to function as management device of claim 30.   A safety confirmation system comprising the position information notification system according to claim 1.

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