JPH10197277A - Direction indicator, direction indicating method, road guide system and road guide method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a small and inexpensive terminal suitable for guiding a user to a goal. SOLUTION: A radio wave positioning section 16 acquires first positional information indicative of a current position using GPS, a section 51 sets second positional information indicative of a goal using the function of a service server through a data communication section 17, a section 52 derives a direction for guiding a goal from the first and second positional information and a section 18 detects the azimuth of an LCD 13. A section 53 determines the direction of the goal relative to the orientation of a user and notifies the direction to a user by means of an arrow mark or a voice delivered from a direction output section. Since the direction of the goal is indicated without using a large volume of map information, a navigation system can be configured using a small and inexpensive user terminal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a direction indicating device for indicating a moving direction, a pointing method, a road guidance system using the direction pointing device, and a road guidance method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Several products have been developed which apply a system capable of detecting their own position by receiving radio waves from a plurality of satellites. For example, a GPS (Global Positioning System) has been developed.
Car navigation using ystem) is used by many users. By using GPS or DGPS (differential GPS) corrected using difference information, it is possible to easily acquire position information such as longitude, latitude and altitude indicating the current position, and the car navigation system uses this position information as a system. The driver can be instructed on the route by matching the road information on the map mounted on the vehicle.

[0003]

In recent years, a personal navigation system using a GPS other than a vehicle-mounted type has been developed, and GPS-based route guidance is possible in fields other than driving. However, a personal navigation system requires a display large enough to display a map, and further requires an external storage medium with a large storage capacity such as a CD-ROM to store map information. There is. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce the size of the personal navigation system, and the price is high. For this reason, a navigation system that can be easily used by anyone for personal use has not yet been provided.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a portable terminal that can be reduced in size and weight, can be easily carried by anyone, and can constitute a navigation system. A further object of the present invention is to provide a route guidance system capable of performing navigation using a portable terminal that can be supplied at low cost.

[0005]

Therefore, in the present invention, there is provided a direction indicating device which can guide a user by instructing the direction of the destination, instead of guiding the user to the destination using a map. By using the direction indicating device as a terminal, a personal navigation system can be constructed. In addition, when indicating the direction of the destination using arrows, front, rear, left and right,
The orientation of the user, such as the orientation of the user or the orientation of the display device, is detected using orientation detection means such as a gyroscope or electronic compass. To be able to communicate.

That is, the direction indicating apparatus of the present invention comprises: positioning means capable of acquiring first position information indicating a current position by radio wave positioning; setting means capable of setting second position information indicating a destination; Direction detecting means capable of ascertaining the reference direction of the user, means for deriving a guidance direction indicating the direction of the destination from the current position based on the first and second position information, and further, a pointing direction indicating the guidance direction with respect to the reference direction is provided by the user. And transmission means for transmitting to the Also, the direction indicating method of the present invention includes a first step of acquiring first position information indicating a current position by radio wave positioning, a second step of grasping a reference direction of a user, a first position information and a purpose. The second position information indicating the ground also includes a third step of deriving a guidance direction indicating the direction of the destination from the current position, and a fourth step of transmitting the indication direction indicating the guidance direction with respect to the reference direction to the user. It is characterized by:

[0007] As the transmitting means, it is possible to use a display means capable of displaying the indicated direction, and the azimuth detecting means grasps the direction of the display means as a reference azimuth, and displays the relative directions by displaying arrows, front, rear, left and right. The pointing direction can be indicated. It is also possible to employ a means for transmitting the indicated direction by voice as the transmitting means. In this case, it is desirable that the direction detecting means grasp the direction of the user's body as the reference direction. The ability to convey the indicated direction by voice can suggest the direction of movement to visually impaired users, and it is also safer to know the direction of movement without looking at the display. Can build a navigation system.

According to the direction indicating apparatus and the direction indicating method of the present invention, since the user can be guided to the destination without using the map information, the display device can be downsized.
Further, it is possible to guide the user by voice.
In addition, since it is not necessary to hold map information, a large-capacity storage device is not required, and a terminal for a personal use navigation system which is inexpensive and practically portable can be provided. Furthermore, in the conventional navigation system in which the destination is displayed in the map information, the state indicated from the sky is instructed, so that the user can think about the direction to move in the head,
Alternatively, it is necessary to determine the direction of movement with respect to a target such as a store. On the other hand, by using the direction indicating device and the direction indicating method of the present invention, the user can instruct the moving direction that can be intuitively grasped.
It is possible to guide the user to the destination more safely and reliably.

Further, by using the direction indicating apparatus and the direction indicating method of the present invention, an appropriate destination is set,
You can always know the direction to the destination.
Therefore, it can be used as a compass indicating a specific place other than north and south, and can also be used as an amusement device for a game of a game or an exploration game.

In the direction indicating apparatus and the direction indicating method of the present invention, it is of course possible to manually set the second position information of the destination. However, a communication means capable of transmitting and receiving data is provided. It is also possible to obtain the second position information via the communication means. By providing communication means, for example, it is also possible to determine a destination in advance using a car navigation system capable of displaying a map or a desktop personal computer at home, and set the position information in the direction indicating device of the present invention. It is. Furthermore, by making the first and second location information exchangeable with a specific information processing device via a public communication network such as a telephone, wireless, or a computer communication network such as the Internet as a communication means, The second position information indicating the destination can be obtained even while moving. For example, it is possible to select a specific store stored in the information processing device as a destination by using a menu display such as a restaurant or a souvenir store, and acquire the position information of the store by the communication means. In the direction indicating apparatus and the direction indicating method of the present invention, if the position information of the destination can be obtained, the direction can always be indicated, so that the user can be accurately guided to the destination. Further, since the data exchanged via the communication means is positional information such as longitude, latitude and altitude, the amount of information may be small unlike map information. Therefore, the communication time and cost for acquiring the destination can be reduced.

In addition, since the destination can be obtained from the information processing device at any time, a procedure for acquiring an appropriate destination in accordance with the route to the final destination and leading the user to the next destination when the destination is reached is obtained. It is possible to guide the user to the final destination according to a predetermined route without showing the map information. That is, the present invention provides a route guidance system and a route guidance method for providing a route guidance to a user terminal using the user terminal of the present invention, which can grasp the current location by radio wave positioning and indicate the direction of the destination with respect to the current location. Is possible. Therefore, the route guidance system of the present invention includes a means for setting the final destination of the user, a means for grasping the user's current location based on the first position information obtained by the radio positioning of the user terminal, Means for deriving a guidance route up to; means for deriving second position information indicating a first destination closest to the current position according to the guidance route; means for transmitting second position information to the user terminal; Means for transmitting, to the user terminal, second position information indicating a second destination closest to the first destination when the first position information matches the second position information. In addition, the method for guiding a route according to the present invention includes a step of setting a final destination of the user, a step of grasping the current location of the user based on first position information obtained by radio positioning of the user terminal, and a step of determining the final destination from the current location. Deriving a guidance route up to, a step of deriving second position information indicating a first destination closest to the current position according to the guidance route, a step of transmitting the second position information to the user terminal, Transmitting the second position information indicating the second destination closest to the first destination to the user terminal when the first position information matches the second position information.

In the route guidance system and method of the present invention, the main information for communicating with the user terminal may be only the position information. Therefore, it is not necessary to always connect the route guidance system to the user terminal, and the communication time may be short. Furthermore, since complicated operations such as setting a route can all be performed on the side of the route guidance system except for the user terminal, the processing time of the user terminal can be reduced.
Then, since the appropriate pointing direction is transmitted to the user in real time, it is possible to reliably reach the destination in a short time.

The direction indicating method and the road guidance method of the present invention can be provided as software. It is also possible to add-on software provided with a step of the direction indicating method to the portable information processing terminal to add a function as a direction indicating apparatus according to the present invention. Further, it is possible to provide the guide system of the present invention by running application software having the steps of the guide method of the present invention on a computer having a high processing capability such as a workstation. Such software can be provided in the form of a storage medium readable by a computer or CPU, such as a magnetic disk or ROM, and can be stored in a fixed hard disk or ROM and loaded as necessary. And the function can be exhibited.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an example in which a navigation system 1 is configured using a user terminal having a direction indicating function according to the present invention. Details will be described later,
The user terminal having the direction indicating function according to the present invention can be realized as a wristwatch type 10, a wallet type 20, an earphone type 30, or the like.
Receiving the radio wave from PS satellite 2 and the longitude of its current location,
Position information such as latitude and altitude (first position information) can be acquired. Further, these user terminals 10, 20 and 30 can be connected to a computer network (Internet 3) by a method such as dial-up IP connection, and the location information of the destination (second information) via the Internet 3 It can be connected to a navigation server (service server) 40 that provides location information).

FIG. 2 shows a wristwatch type user terminal 10.
Is shown. The user terminal 10 of the present embodiment includes a disk-shaped main body 11 and a belt 12 for attaching the main body 11 to a user's arm 9, and a liquid crystal panel (LCD) 13 serving as a display means is provided on the main body 11. Have been. The user terminal 10 of this example has a direction indicating function,
The watch has a function, a communication function, and the like, and these functions can be switched and used. FIG.
Shows an example of a display on the LCD 13 in a state where the direction indicating function is selected, the upper part 13a displays coordinates (latitude and longitude) of the current position measured using the GPS function, and the lower part 13b shows The altitude and the distance to the destination are displayed. Then, an arrow 5 indicating the direction of the destination is displayed at the center 13c of the LCD 13.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the outline of the wallet type user terminal 20. FIG. The user terminal 20 of this example includes a housing 21 having a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and an LCD 13 is installed at the center of the housing 21. The user terminal 20 of the present example is also a user terminal equipped with various functions such as a communication function and a schedule management function in addition to the direction instruction function, and can operate these functions by switching or multitasking. 3 and 4
Shows a state in which the screen of the direction instruction function is displayed on the LCD 13, and, like the wristwatch type user terminal 10, the position information 2 of the current location acquired by the GPS function.
In addition to the arrow 2, an arrow 5 indicating the direction of the destination is displayed.

FIGS. 3 and 4 show the user 8 in the same position.
3 shows a state in which the arrow 13 is displayed with the LCD 13 facing upward (FIG. 3), and a state in which the user 8 displays the arrow 5 with the LCD 13 facing downward above the head (FIG. 4). In this example, the direction of the destination is diagonally forward of the right hand of the user 8, and the arrow 5 points to the upper right direction of the housing 21 in the state shown in FIG. 21 shows the lower left direction. Arrow 5 like this
More specifically, referring to FIG.
Is the user's current location and point B is the destination, and if the user rotates the user terminal 20 by 360 degrees at the point A, the arrow 5 always indicates the point B regardless of the direction of the user terminal 20. It turns to the direction. In addition, in the display of the LCD 13 shown in FIG. 5, a mark 6 indicating the north is displayed in addition to the arrow 5, and the mark 6 always points to the north.

As described above, the user terminals 10 and 20 of the present embodiment can automatically grasp the direction (azimuth) of the LCD 13 even if the user terminals 10 and 20 turn the LCD 13 up and down or rotate 360 degrees. The arrow 5 accurately indicates the direction of the destination. Therefore, regardless of which direction the user terminals 10 and 20 are oriented, the direction in which the user terminal 10 is oriented, that is, the direction of the destination (pointing direction) with respect to the reference direction as the reference to which the user is oriented is indicated by the arrow. Can be found at For this reason,
Users can intuitively grasp the direction of the destination, translate and understand the location on the map and the direction of movement in the head, and move the target on the map against the actual target It is possible to quickly and reliably move toward the destination without performing a troublesome operation such as determining a direction.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic hardware configuration relating to the direction indicating function of the user terminals 10, 20, and 30 of the present embodiment. User terminals 10, 20, and 3 of this example
Since the configuration relating to the direction indicating function of 0 is almost the same, the description will be focused on the wristwatch type user terminal 10. The user terminal 10 of the present embodiment receives a radio wave from a GPS satellite and obtains the coordinates of the current location (first position information), and a data communication unit 17 that can connect to the Internet using a wireless telephone function. , A liquid crystal display panel 13 as a display device, an azimuth detecting unit 18 capable of grasping the orientation of the liquid crystal display panel 13, and a CPU 14 connected to these processing units by a bus 14a to perform general control and data processing.
And Further, the user terminal 10 of the present example
An input device 15 capable of selecting functions and inputting coordinate data of the destination manually, and a program for temporarily storing the coordinate data of the destination and the coordinate data of the current position and for giving a direction instruction are stored. And an internal storage device (memory) 19, which is also connected to the bus 14a.

The radio positioning unit 16 includes an antenna unit 16a for receiving radio waves from GPS satellites, a GPS receiver 16b, and a G for calculating the coordinates of the current location from the received data.
A PS calculation unit 16c is provided. It is of course possible to use the function of the CPU 14 as the GPS calculation unit 16. The data communication unit 17 includes a communication antenna unit 17a and a data communication device 17b having a function of converting data such as position information for communication and transmitting and receiving the data. Data communication unit 17 of this example
Can access the Internet, which is a computer network spread almost all over the world, by means of wireless telephone or PHS, and exchange data with a specific service server 40 from almost any place in the world. be able to.

The azimuth detecting unit 18 of the present embodiment obtains the azimuth and angle of the LCD 13 using the electronic compass 18a and the horizontal sensor 18b. The configuration of the azimuth detecting unit 18 is not limited to this example,
For example, the azimuth and angle of the LCD 13 can be obtained using a gyroscope.

In the wallet type user terminal 20 having a larger capacity of the housing 21 than the wristwatch type user terminal 10, it is possible to add an external storage device 25 such as a hard disk unit or a floppy disk unit. . Then, it is possible to store software (program) for realizing the direction indicating function in the external storage device 25 or to store position information (coordinates) of the destination. Further, since it is possible to employ the LCD 13 which is larger in size than the wristwatch type user terminal 10, it is also possible to indicate the direction of the destination by notation such as right and left front and rear instead of or in addition to the arrow 5. It is also possible to display a map using a simple figure.

The earphone type user terminal 30 is provided with a voice transmission device (speaker) 35 for instructing the direction of the destination by voice. Further, the direction detection unit 18 can detect the direction of the body, for example, the face by being attached to the body of the user instead of the direction of the LCD. It can be derived.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the user terminals 10, 20, and 30 of the present embodiment. The functional configurations are also the user terminals 10, 20, and 30
Are almost the same, and therefore the description will focus on the wristwatch-type user terminal 10. The user terminal 10 of this example obtains the position data of the destination from the service server 40 via the data communication unit 15 and sets the position data (second position information) in the position storage area 19 a of the memory 19. Part 51
And a guidance direction deriving unit 52 that derives a guidance direction indicating a destination from the position data (first position information) of the current position measured by the radio wave positioning unit 16 and the second position information stored in the position storage area 19a. And the direction of the LCD 13 detected by the direction detecting unit 18 and the guidance direction are compared.
Pointing direction deriving unit 53 that determines a pointing direction to be displayed in D13
The pointing direction is converted into an arrow shape by the pointing direction output unit 54 and is displayed on the LCD 13. In the user terminal 10 of the present example, the functions of these processing units 51, 52, 53, and 54 are realized by the CPU 14 operating while loading a predetermined program.

The earphone type user terminal 3
In the case of 0, in the pointing direction output unit 54 which is a transmitting means,
The pointing direction is converted into a voice, and the voice can be heard by the user via the speaker 35.

As described above, the user terminals 10 and 2 of this embodiment
0 and 30 indicate the first position information indicating the current position by GPS
Obtained by receiving radio waves from a satellite, determine the direction of the destination from the first position information and the second position information indicating the destination, and instruct the user to that direction using arrows 5 and voice. (Communication). Further, when transmitting the direction of the destination to the user, the user terminals 10, 20, and 30 of the present example detect the orientation of the LCD 13 or the orientation of the user's body (reference orientation), and The direction of the earth is indicated. As described above, the user terminals 10 and 2 of this example
0 and 30 do not indicate the direction of the destination using an indication indicating an absolute direction irrelevant to the user's orientation, such as an azimuth angle, but rather a relative orientation that is intuitive to the user. The direction of the destination is indicated. Therefore, the user can immediately know the direction of the destination, and can surely reach the destination by proceeding in that direction.

As described above, the user terminals 10 and 2 of this embodiment
By using 0 and 30, it is possible to construct a navigation system that guides the user to a predetermined destination by transmitting the indicated direction by the arrow 5 or voice. In this navigation system, navigation is performed by a simple process of calculating the guidance information by calculating the position information of the current location and the location information of the destination, and further obtaining an instruction direction from the guidance direction and converting it into an arrow. There is no need for complicated processing such as moving the map each time the user moves or moving the current location on the map. Furthermore, since the user can be instructed in the direction of travel without showing the map information, there is no need for the user terminal to have map information of the area to be navigated,
It is not necessary to provide a large-capacity storage device such as a CD-ROM in the user terminal. Therefore, it is possible to navigate the user with simple processing, and the inexpensive user terminal 1
Using 0, 20, and 30, it is possible to construct a navigation system that is easy for the user to understand and has a high performance to reliably reach the destination.

In the user terminals 10, 20, and 30 of the present embodiment, it is of course possible for the user to input location information such as longitude, latitude or height to set a destination. , The location information indicating the destination is acquired from the service server 40 via the Internet, and the user can be guided to the destination. At this time, the information to be received by the user terminals 10, 20, and 30 of the present example via the Internet may be only the location information (longitude, latitude, and altitude if necessary) of the destination. Accordingly, communication with the service server 40 is short, and connection costs are low. On the other hand, a conventional navigation system that displays map information can be connected to the Internet, and a map of a predetermined area can be downloaded and used. However, it is necessary to exchange enormous amount of map information with the service server, and much time and money are spent for communication. Furthermore, much of the memory of the user terminal and most of the processing time are spent displaying the map information obtained through the communication. On the other hand, the user terminals 10 and 2 of this example
In the cases of 0 and 30, the user can be guided only by the location information without using the map information, so that the communication of the service server can be shortened, and the information stocked on the user terminal side is reduced, and the load on the memory and CPU is reduced. Can also be significantly reduced. For example, the location information of the destination can be sent from the service server to the user terminal in a format such as Internet mail.

When acquiring the location information of the destination from the service server 40, the home page of the service server 40 is displayed using the browser function of the user terminals 10, 20, and 30, and the location information of the destination is displayed using a menu or the like. Can be obtained. For example, when a user wants to go to a restaurant at a travel destination, a system that connects to a homepage of the service server 40 provided with information on the area, and specifies the name of the restaurant to go to, sends the position information by e-mail. Can be adopted. Alternatively, a service is possible in which a user selects a favorite dish using a menu screen that displays the type of restaurant, and location information of a restaurant recommended in the field is sent by e-mail. By acquiring the location information of the destination in this way, it is possible to guide the user to the destination without displaying the map at all.

On the other hand, the user terminals 10, 20, and 30 of the present embodiment are connected to an information processing device capable of displaying a map such as a car navigation system or a home desktop personal computer before departure, and the purpose on the displayed map is displayed. It is also possible to select a place and set its location information in the memory 19 before departure.

It is also possible to set a route until the user reaches the destination by using the service server 40, and to navigate the user with an arrow or voice according to the route. Hereinafter, this road guidance system will be described in more detail.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a service server 40 having a route guidance function. The service server 40 of the present example acquires an input / output interface 41 connectable to the Internet, and position information indicating the current location of the user terminal 10, 20, or 30 via the input / output interface 41, and obtains a destination (hereinafter, a destination). A position information processing unit 42 for selecting a final destination and setting the position information, a route setting unit 43 for setting a route for guiding from the current position to the final destination, and a route storage unit 44 for storing the set route. And a position information supply unit 45 for transmitting the stored position information of the main destination in the middle of the route to the user terminal via the input / output interface 41. The route setting unit 43 is accompanied by a database 46 in which information necessary for setting a route such as map information and transportation is attached. For example, when a distant destination is set, a train is used, The user can choose whether to use a bus or not. The route storage unit 44 stores route information, turn points, location information of destinations on the route such as train stations and bus stops, and departure and arrival times of trains and buses. When the vehicle arrives, the position information of the next destination is supplied via the supply unit 45 so that the direction in which the user successively travels can be specified on the user terminal. Therefore, it is not necessary to perform the route setting on the user terminal 10, 20, or 30 side, and the load when performing navigation using the user terminal 10, 20, or 30 can be significantly reduced.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing an outline of the processing of the user terminals 10, 20, and 30 and the service server 40 in the road guidance system. First,
In the user terminals 10, 20, and 30, radio wave positioning is performed using the radio wave positioning unit 16 in step 61, and the coordinates of the current location (first position information) are obtained. Then, in step 62, it is selected whether or not to perform a process of setting a destination. If the destination is to be set, the process proceeds to step 63. In step 63, the service server 40 accesses the Internet 3 using the data communication unit 17.
Open homepage for destination setting of. Thus, the service server 40 starts the position information acquisition processing for setting the route in step 71. In this process, first, in step 72, the user terminal 1
The position information of the current position of 0, 20, or 30 is acquired, and at step 73, the user is caused to select the final destination and the position information is set. Next, in step 74, a guidance route is derived using the route setting unit 43,
If there is an item to select in the process, the user terminal 1
Communicate with 0, 20, or 30 to allow the user to select.
When a guidance route to the final destination is set, the storage unit 44
In step 75, the position information of the first destination is returned to the user terminal 10, 20, or 30.

In the user terminal 10, 20, or 30, the location information (second location information) of the destination sent from the service server 40 is stored in the memory 19a, and the setting of the destination is completed. Next, the first position information indicating the current position and the second position information indicating the first destination are stored in step 6.
In step 4, a comparison is made to determine whether the current position is equal to the destination or within a predetermined range. If the current position is different from the destination, in step 66 a guidance direction indicating the direction of the destination is derived from the current position, and before or after this, a reference direction indicating the direction of the LCD 13 or the user's body is detected in step 67. Then, in step 68, the designated direction indicating the guidance direction with respect to the reference direction is derived and transmitted to the user via the LCD 13 or the speaker 35. In this way, since the direction of the destination from the current position is indicated in a direction relative to the direction that the user is based on, the user can easily reach the first destination by proceeding in that direction.

When the user arrives at the first destination, the process proceeds from step 64 to step 65, and the service server 40 is called via the Internet 3. On the service server 40 side, the user is identified from the user terminal or the user ID, and the route storage unit 44 is first identified.
Is selected as the location information of the next destination. Then, in step 76, the position information of the next destination is transferred to the user terminal 10, 20, or 30. On the side of the user terminal 10, 20, or 30, the position information set in step 65 is set again as the next destination, the pointing direction is provided to the user, and the user is navigated to the next destination. By repeating such a procedure, when the user reaches the final destination, the service of the route guidance system using the service server 40 is terminated.

As described above, by using the user terminals 10, 20, and 30 having the direction indicating function of the present embodiment, the user can reliably reach the final destination only by instructing the user to the direction of the destination. Can be. Therefore, there is no need to display map information or to have map information on the user terminal side.
Alternatively, it is possible to construct a navigation system using a small information processing terminal smaller than that. further,
The information exchanged with the service server via the Internet is almost sufficient only with the position information, and there is no need to exchange map information, so that the amount of information exchanged via the communication means can be very small. Therefore, P which will be used by many users in the future
By mounting the direction indicating device or the direction indicating method of the present invention as an add-on or plug-in function of a portable processing terminal such as a DA, it is possible to provide a small and inexpensive terminal for a navigation system that can be used by anyone. .

In the present embodiment, an example in which the service server is connected to the Internet via the Internet is described. However, a data communication network that can be directly linked to the service server by a PHS or a wireless telephone may be used. Of course it is possible. In addition, amusement games such as exploration games where multiple user terminals equipped with direction indicators can exchange location information and play a game, or show only a target direction and compete for a route selection method. System services can also be provided by using the direction indicating apparatus and the direction indicating method of the present invention.

[0038]

As described above, in the direction indicating apparatus and the direction indicating method of the present invention, it is possible to indicate the direction of the destination as a relative direction with respect to the reference azimuth which is set by the user. Therefore, it is possible to supply navigation information that is easy for the user to understand and does not make a mistake. Further, in the direction indicating device and the direction indicating method of the present invention, the user can be instructed in the direction to proceed by the position information of the current position and the position information of the destination. There is no need to stock and handle vast amounts of information, such as directions. Therefore, by adopting the direction indicating apparatus and the direction indicating method of the present invention, it is possible to construct a navigation system that can be provided at a low cost with a simple configuration.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a system for performing navigation using a user terminal having a direction indicating function according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which a wristwatch-type user terminal is worn on a user's arm.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state where the user terminal has a wallet type user terminal;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a state where a wallet-type user terminal is held upward;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing how the display of an arrow indicating a destination displayed on the LCD of the user terminal changes.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of a user terminal.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a user terminal.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of a service server.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing processing in a user terminal and a service server.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1. Navigation system 2. GPS satellites 3. Internet 5. Arrows indicating destination directions 10, 20, 30. User terminals 13. LCD (display device) 16. Radio positioning unit 17. Data communication unit 18 Azimuth detection unit 35 Speaker (voice output device) 40 Service server 42 Position information processing unit 43 Route setting unit 44 Route storage unit 45 Location information supply unit 51 ..Setting part 52..Guiding direction deriving part 53..Pointing direction deriving part 54.Pointing direction outputting part

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A positioning means capable of acquiring first position information indicating a current position by radio positioning, a setting means capable of setting second position information indicating a destination, and an azimuth capable of grasping a reference azimuth of a user. Detection means; means for deriving a guidance direction indicating the direction of the destination from the current location based on the first and second position information; and transmission for transmitting the indication direction indicating the guidance direction with respect to the reference direction to the user. Means for indicating a direction. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting means is a display means capable of displaying said designated direction, and said azimuth detecting means is capable of grasping the direction of said display means as said reference azimuth. Direction indicating device to do. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said transmitting means is means for transmitting said designated direction by voice, and said azimuth detecting means is capable of grasping an orientation of said user's body as said reference azimuth. Direction indicating device to do. 4. The direction indicating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising communication means capable of transmitting and receiving data, wherein said setting means is capable of acquiring said second position information via said communication means. . 5. The direction indicating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein said communication means is capable of exchanging said first and second position information with a specific information processing apparatus via a public communication network. 6. A first step of acquiring first position information indicating a current position by radio positioning, a second step of grasping a reference direction of a user, and a second step of indicating the first position information and a destination. A third step of deriving a guidance direction indicating the direction of the destination from the current location based on the position information of step 2, and a fourth step of transmitting an instruction direction indicating the guidance direction with respect to the reference direction to the user. A direction indicating method, characterized in that: 7. The direction instruction method according to claim 6, further comprising a fifth step of acquiring the second position information via a public communication network capable of transmitting and receiving data. 8. A route guidance system for providing a user terminal capable of grasping a current position by radio positioning and indicating a direction of a destination with respect to the current position, comprising: means for setting a final destination of a user; Means for grasping the current location of the user based on first position information obtained by radio positioning of the user terminal; means for deriving a guidance route from the current location to a final destination; Means for deriving second position information indicating the closest first destination; means for transmitting the second position information to the user terminal; and wherein the first position information corresponds to the second position information. Means for transmitting, to the user terminal, the second location information indicating a second destination closest to the first destination when the two destinations match. Guidance system. 9. The current position can be grasped by the radio positioning stage,
A method for providing a user terminal capable of indicating a direction of a destination with respect to the current position, comprising: a step of setting a final destination of a user; and a first terminal obtained by radio positioning of the user terminal. Grasping the current location of the user based on the location information; deriving a guidance route from the current location to the final destination; and a second location indicating a first destination closest to the current location according to the guidance route. Deriving information; transmitting the second location information to the user terminal; and providing the second location closest to the first destination when the first location information matches the second location information. Transmitting the second location information indicating the destination to the user terminal.