JP3266215B2 - Destination guidance method and device - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a destination guidance apparatus for providing information on the location of a destination to a user who wants to know how to reach a specific destination.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, computer mapping systems for handling maps with computers have been developed. When visiting the other party, you may not even know the nearest station,
It would be convenient if such a system could be used to provide a guide map or the like. For example, if you need to go to a specific place for work or other reasons, you can use a different transportation method to get to the nearest station, or go to a post office near you from your current location in a strange land This is convenient when you want to do something like

[0003]

In the above-mentioned conventional computer mapping system, only the person who owns the system can see the vicinity of the destination through the display. In addition, information on the guidance from the nearest station is individually collected. It cannot be used unless it is created. That is, these conventional computer mapping system technologies have two disadvantages as described below.

First, since it requires an expensive display device (a personal computer, dedicated software, map data, etc.), it is not at a general use level.

[0005] Second, when a service is to be provided to a wide area, an enormous amount of work is required to construct a database for the service. For example, if a voice message is used to register a message for guiding a route in association with a target for each destination, a large number of man-hours are required for a voice input operation, and a large amount of data is stored.

On the other hand, at present, there is a method of accumulating messages in the form of text and guiding them by synthetic voice. However, the man-hour for inputting the text of the message for each destination is large, and the voice quality is extremely high. In addition, there is a drawback that information is not immediately responsive.

[0007] An object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism for simplifying the work of creating information for transmitting a way to a destination by telephone, and as information for guiding a way to a destination, Creates messages by automatically extracting information that should be guided by the nearest station information or the relative distance from a target such as the nearest public institution (post office, police station, hospital, gymnasium and public hall) or a famous building The purpose of the present invention is to provide a destination guidance device that can guide a user in a destination.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A destination guidance method according to the present invention comprises the steps of: registering a telephone number and a telephone location of the telephone number, that is, map coordinates of the destination in a telephone number-map database; Registering the name of a target that can be a target in the map database, that is, the name of the target and the map coordinates of the target in the target database, and the name of the target and the directions to the target by voice; / Accumulating in the file of the route voice database, storing the fixed phrase necessary for the destination guidance in the file of the fixed phrase voice database by voice, and storing the telephone number-map database by the telephone number received from the user. Extracting the map coordinates of the destination with reference to the target object database by referring to the map coordinates of the destination. Calculating the distance between the map coordinates of the destination and the map coordinates of the landmark, and determining the landmark closest to the destination as the nearest landmark; and the name and purpose of the landmark. Creating a text message for guiding a user according to the distance between the ground and the nearest landmark, and referring to the landmark name / driving database based on the text message, A voice file corresponding to a target name and a route which is a component of a message, and a voice file corresponding to a standard sentence which is also a component is obtained by referring to the fixed phrase voice database, and a voice as guidance information is obtained. Creating a message and transmitting it to the user.

The destination guidance apparatus of the present invention can be a target in a telephone number-map database comprising a telephone number and a telephone location of the telephone number, that is, a map coordinate of the destination, and a target in the telephone number-map database. A landmark database comprising the name of the property, that is, the landmark and the map coordinates of the landmark; a landmark name / road voice database in which the landmark name and the directions to the landmark are stored in a file by voice; A database search unit including a fixed form voice database in which fixed forms necessary for guidance are stored in a file by voice, a telephone number of a destination is received, and the telephone number is used for the telephone number-map database via the database search unit. A telephone number-map coordinate conversion unit for extracting map coordinates of the destination with reference to the The map coordinates of the destination are received from the number-map coordinate conversion unit, and the distance between the map coordinates of the destination and the map coordinates of the target is referenced by referring to the target database through the database search unit. Calculating the nearest target to the destination as the nearest target, the nearest target extractor, the name of the nearest target determined by the nearest target extractor, the destination and the nearest target. Receiving a distance between the destination and the nearest landmark to the user, receiving a text message created by the guidance information message creation unit for creating a text message, and receiving the text message created by the guidance information message creation unit. And referring to the landmark name / route database through the database conversion unit, the landmark name and the route, which are components of the text message. A guidance voice synthesis for obtaining a corresponding voice file and a voice file corresponding to a standard sentence which is also a constituent element by referring to the standard sentence voice database, creating a voice message as destination guidance information, and outputting it. And a part.

[0010] The destination guidance apparatus of the present invention, when a user accesses via a telephone, a line control unit for transferring a destination telephone number input by the user to a telephone number-map coordinate conversion unit; A guidance voice control unit that transmits the voice message output by the guidance voice synthesis unit to the user by telephone via the line control unit.

[0011]

The telephone number-map database and other databases are referenced to extract data and voice files, and the destination information of the received telephone number and the guide information indicating the name and route of the nearest landmark are transmitted by voice message. It does not require a lot of man-hours for voice input work, does not need to store a large amount of data, and it is easy to update stored information.
A destination guidance message with good voice quality can be provided to a user accessing by telephone.

[0012]

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

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the construction of an embodiment of a destination guiding apparatus according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the nearest target extracting unit 6 shown in FIG.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation example of the destination guidance device of FIG.

The destination guidance device 13 comprises a line control unit 1, a database search unit 2, a guidance information creation unit 3, and a guidance voice control unit 4. The guidance information creation unit 3 further includes a telephone number-map coordinate conversion unit 5 and a nearest location. It comprises a target object extracting section 6, a guide information message creating section 7, and a guide voice synthesizing section 8.

The database search unit 2 includes a telephone number-map database 9, a target database 10, and a target name /
Directions voice database 11 and fixed phrase voice database 1
2 is provided. Here, a telephone number-map database 9 in which a telephone number is associated with a coordinate value of a location of the telephone on a map is registered, and a target object database 10 is registered.
Of the telephone number-map database 9, information on a target property from the map database, that is, the name of the target and its map coordinates are registered. The target name / road sound database 11 accumulates the names of the respective targets in the target database 10 and the directions from the nearest station to the target by voice, and the fixed phrase voice database 12 guides the location. In this case, a standard sentence normally used is stored in voice.

A telephone 14 is connected to the line control unit 1. When the user accesses the telephone via the telephone 14, the interface with the user is controlled, and the telephone number of the destination is input to the user. The telephone number is passed to the telephone number-map coordinate conversion unit 5. The telephone number-map coordinate conversion unit 5 uses the telephone number received from the line control unit 1
With reference to the telephone number-map database 9 via the database search unit 2, the location where the telephone of the telephone number is located, that is, the map coordinates of the destination, is extracted and delivered to the nearest target extracting unit 6. The nearest target object extraction unit 6 outputs the telephone number −
When the map coordinates of the destination are taken from the map coordinate conversion unit 5,
By referring to the target database 10 via the database retrieval unit 2 based on the map coordinates of the picked-up destination, the name of the target closest to the destination and the distance between the two points of the destination and the nearest target are provided as guide information. Deliver the message to the message creation unit 7. Here, the procedure will be described based on the processing flow of FIG. When the processing is accepted from the telephone number-map coordinate conversion unit 5 to the nearest target extraction unit 6, and the map coordinates of the destination are received (step 21), the target information is acquired from the target database 10 (step 22). A linear distance between the destination map coordinates and the target map coordinates is obtained and set as X (step 23). It is determined whether the data is the first target data (step 24). If the data is the first target data, X is substituted for the shortest distance (Min), and the first target is set as the nearest target and the process proceeds to step 26. If it is not the first target data at step 24, the value of Min is compared with the value of X (step 26). If Min is larger than X, X is substituted for the shortest distance Min and the nearest target is extracted at that time. (Step 27). Next, if there is target data to be calculated for the distance, the process returns to step 22 to acquire the next target data and repeats the previous procedure. If there is no more target data to calculate the distance in step 28,
The procedure for determining the nearest landmark is determined, and the name of the nearest landmark and the straight-line distance between the two points between the destination and the nearest landmark are passed to the guidance information message creating section 7 (step 29).

Based on the name of the nearest landmark received and the distance between two points between the destination and the nearest landmark, the guide information message creating unit 7 determines how long a direct distance from the nearest landmark to the destination is. For example, a message for guiding the user to the user is created, and the message is delivered to the guidance voice synthesis unit 8. The message here is a text message, and includes a target name, a fixed phrase, and the like.

The guidance voice synthesizing unit 8 converts the received text message into a voice message via the database search unit 2 and outputs a voice file corresponding to a target name, a route, and a fixed phrase which are components of the text message. To each target name / Route sound database 1
1. The system obtains guidance information as a voice message from the fixed phrase voice database 12, and delivers the voice message to the guidance voice control unit 4.

The guidance voice control unit 4 transmits the received voice message to the user via the telephone 14 via the line control unit 1.

Next, an operation example of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 shows an example of a telephone response when a user accesses the destination guidance device of the present embodiment.

In this case, the destination guide device 13 prepares in this case the target objects as stations, station exits, public institutions (post offices, police stations, hospitals, gymnasiums and public halls), famous buildings, their names and their maps. A target database 10 is created by extracting coordinates from an existing map database. The name of the target and the route from the nearest station to the target are stored in the form of voice, and a target name / road sound database 11 is created.

When a user accesses the destination guidance device, an example of a telephone response as shown in FIG. 3 is possible. That is, when the user makes a telephone call to the destination guidance device 13 (step 31), the destination guidance device 13 sends a message to input the telephone number of the destination to visit (step 32). When the user enters the destination's telephone number "03-3131-1111" (step 33), the user's phone will indicate "Destination XX is 50 meters southeast of the department store." The department store exits from Exit A3 of Hibiya Station on the Chiyoda Line, walk straight down the street and cross the second intersection to the left.

In this way, the user can find out which station exits which station at which station, in what direction and at what distance, and what distances there are from famous buildings and public institutions nearby. You can easily find out about things over the phone.

The sound file created by the destination guidance device is of a level that can be sufficiently heard by humans, and solves the problem that the sound quality is degraded.
In addition, when registering a message that guides the destination by associating a target with each destination, recording all using voice recording requires a lot of man-hours for voice input work and a large amount of data to be stored. Therefore, only the name of the target and the standard sentence need only be input by voice, so that the number of steps and the amount of data are small.

The destination guidance apparatus of this embodiment calculates the linear distance between the coordinates on the map of the location of the telephone number of the destination and the coordinate values of the target on the map, and determines the closest linear distance to the target. Not only does voice quality not deteriorate, but also the number of pieces of information that must be input by voice can be reduced. Build possible services.

[0026]

As described above, according to the present invention, guidance information for an unspecified destination is created by creating only information on a specific target for an unspecified destination and registering the information in each database. Has a small number of steps, is inexpensive, can be created quickly and can be updated, and can be provided to users with satisfactory voice quality through an inexpensive and popular medium such as a telephone.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of a destination guiding device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a process of a nearest target object extraction unit 6 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an operation example of the destination guidance device of FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Line control part 2 Database search part 3 Guidance information creation part 4 Guidance voice control part 5 Phone number-map coordinate conversion part 6 Nearest target object extraction part 7 Guidance information message creation part 8 Guidance voice synthesis part 9 Telephone number-map database 10 Landmark Database 11 Landmark Name / Driving Directions Voice Database 12 Standard Speech Database 13 Destination Guidance Device 14 Telephone

(56) References JP-A-62-292561 (JP, A) (58) Fields investigated (Int. Cl. ⁷ , DB name) H04M 11/00-11/10

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A destination guidance method for providing, by voice message, a route to a telephone location of a telephone number based on the telephone number of the destination, the telephone number and the telephone location of the telephone number. In other words, registering the map coordinates of the destination in the telephone number-map database, and registering the name of the property that can be a target in the telephone number-map database, namely the name of the target, and the map coordinates of the target in the target database. And storing the name of the target and the route to the target in a file of the target name / route voice database by voice, and storing the fixed phrase required for the destination guidance by voice in the fixed phrase voice database. Storing in a file and referring to the telephone number-map database based on the telephone number received from the user, Extracting coordinates, referring to the target database based on the map coordinates of the destination, calculating a distance between the map coordinate values of the destination and the map coordinates of the target, Determining a nearby landmark as a nearest landmark; creating a text message for guiding a user according to the name of the nearest landmark and the distance between the destination and the landmark; Based on the text message, refer to the target name / route database, refer to the audio file corresponding to the target name and the route which are the components of the text message, and refer to the fixed phrase audio database; Obtaining a voice file corresponding to the fixed phrase, which is also a component, creating a voice message as guidance information, and transmitting it to the user. Destination guide how. 2. A telephone number-map database comprising a telephone number and the location of the telephone of the telephone number, that is, a map coordinate of a destination, and a name and a name of an object or a target which can be a target in the telephone number-map database. A landmark database including map coordinates of the landmarks, a landmark name / road voice database in which the names of the landmarks and directions to the landmarks are stored in a file by voice, and a fixed phrase required for destination guidance. A database search unit having a fixed-speech voice database stored in a file by voice, receiving a telephone number of the destination, and referring to the telephone number-map database via the database search unit by the telephone number, A telephone number-map coordinate conversion unit for extracting map coordinates of the ground; and the telephone number-map coordinate conversion unit. Receiving the map coordinates of the destination, referring to the target database via the database search unit, calculating the distance between the map coordinate values of the destination and the map coordinates of the target, The nearest target extractor that determines the nearest target to the nearest target, and the name of the nearest target determined by the nearest target extractor, and the distance between the destination and the nearest target. A guide information message creating unit for creating a text message for guiding a user regarding the destination and the nearest landmark, and a text message created by the guide information message creating unit. Then, referring to the landmark name / route database, a sound file corresponding to the landmark name and the route, which are components of the text message, is stored. A guidance voice synthesizer for referring to the fixed phrase voice database, obtaining voice files corresponding to the fixed phrases, which are the same components, and creating and outputting a voice message as destination guidance information. Ground guidance device. 3. A line control unit for passing a destination telephone number input by the user to the telephone number-map coordinate conversion unit when the user accesses the terminal via a telephone, and an output from the guidance voice synthesis unit. 3. A destination guidance device according to claim 2, further comprising: a guidance voice control unit for transmitting said voice message to said user by said telephone through said line control unit.