JP6356030B2 - Information providing apparatus and control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information providing apparatus that provides information related to a specific place to a user.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique has been developed that specifies a user's position and provides information corresponding to the position (for example, information on user behavior trends such as local accident information, traffic jam information, route guidance). As this technique, for example, Patent Document 1 is cited. The information providing device of Patent Literature 1 is based on a plurality of pieces of position information indicating the position of the user, for each region having a specific area divided according to the region width on the map determined by the input from the user. The degree of relationship between the area and the user is obtained as intimacy. And the information according to the said familiarity is provided.

Japanese Patent No. 3559150 (registered on May 28, 2004)

  In the information providing apparatus, the number of times of passage is obtained by identifying the user's entry and exit from each region from a large number of position information, and the familiarity is obtained from the number of times of passage. However, since it is necessary to obtain a large number of passes using longitude and latitude, the calculation amount may be enormous. That is, there is a possibility that high processing capability is required in calculating the familiarity.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to determine whether or not the user's current location is a place that is intimate to the user with a smaller processing amount than before. It is to provide an information providing apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, an information providing apparatus according to an aspect of the present invention is an information providing apparatus that provides a user with information related to a specific location, and the current location of the user and a predetermined amount from the current location. A weight value corresponding to the past visit position is obtained by weighting the past visit position by using the distance from the past visit position that is a place where the user has visited in the past that exists in the range of By comparing the weight value calculated by the weight value calculating means and the weight value obtained by the weight value calculating means with a predetermined threshold value, it is determined whether or not the current location is in a daily space that is a space close to the user. Intimacy determination means for determining.

  According to one aspect of the present invention, it is possible to determine whether or not the current location of the user is a location that is close to the user with a smaller processing amount than in the past.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an information providing apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of a positional information history table. It is a figure which shows an example of a weight value table. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the process in the said information provision apparatus. (A)-(c) is a figure for demonstrating visually the specific example of the said process. (A) And (b) is a figure for demonstrating a rounding-down process. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the weight value calculation method. It is a figure for demonstrating how to set a threshold value. It is a figure for demonstrating the information provision apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 2, (a) And (b) is a figure which shows the specific example of the weight value table in a certain point. It is a block diagram which shows the structural example of the information provision apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 3. FIG. It is a figure for demonstrating the information provision apparatus which concerns on Embodiment 4, and is a figure which shows an example of the setting screen which can set a predetermined range and a threshold value.

Embodiment 1
An information providing apparatus 1 and a control method thereof according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, a configuration example of the information providing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIG. The information providing apparatus 1 provides information related to a specific place to a user, and is mounted on a mobile terminal such as a smartphone or a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant), a car navigation apparatus, or the like. In particular, the information providing apparatus 1 uses the position information (past visit position information) indicating the past visit position, which is the place where the user has visited in the past, which is estimated to be “the user knows about”, It is determined whether the current position (current location) is a location where the user has stayed frequently in the past, that is, whether the current location is a “location known by the user”. Then, based on the determination result, information (function or service) provided to the user is switched. The past visit position is a target point for making the determination, and can be said to be a history of positions stored in the information providing apparatus 1. Further, the position information may be a position information string including a plurality of position information.

  <Structure> As shown in FIG. 1, the information providing apparatus 1 includes a position information detection unit 11, a control unit 12, a storage unit 13, and a display unit 14. The position information detection unit 11 detects position information (current position information) indicating the current location of the user or past visit position information. For example, the position information detection unit 11 is compatible with GPS (Global Positioning System), receives radio waves transmitted from artificial satellites, and measures the longitude and latitude of the current location or past visit positions, thereby detecting these positions. Detect information. The control unit 12 controls the information providing apparatus 1 in an integrated manner. The storage unit 13 stores, for example, map data, a position information history table T1, a weight value table T2, various control programs executed by the control unit 12, and a nonvolatile storage such as a hard disk or a flash memory. Configured by the device. The display unit 14 displays various images, and is composed of, for example, an LCD (Liquid crystal display). Moreover, the information provision apparatus 1 may be provided with the operation part (for example, touch panel) (not shown) which can acquire user operation.

  Next, details of the control unit 12 will be described. The control unit 12 mainly includes a position information management unit 21, an everyday space determination processing unit 20, and a display processing unit 24.

  The location information management unit 21 manages current location information and past visit location information detected by the location information detection unit 11. For example, the past visit position information is stored in the position information history table T1. The position information history table T1 manages all past visit position information acquired by the information providing apparatus 1 in the past. As shown in FIG. 2, in the position information history table T1, for example, past visit position information (longitude and latitude indicating the past visit position) and the time when the past visit position information was acquired are given to these pieces of information. Stored in association with the ID number. That is, the position information history table T1 may be any database that can determine how many times a user has existed at a location indicated by a certain longitude and latitude. The past visit position information may be acquired at a predetermined time interval, or may be acquired at any one time of the stay time when the stay time is longer than the predetermined time. The current position information may be, for example, position information acquired when a presentation request for information related to the current location is received. Further, for example, past visit position information within a predetermined period from the acquisition of the current position information (for example, past visit position information acquired within six months from the acquisition time) may be acquired.

  Further, the acquisition (storage) of position information by the position information management unit 21 may be performed manually. In this case, not only the location where the user actually visited (or visited), but also the location specified by the user as the current location or past visit location can be acquired as current location information or past visit location information. In other words, the current location includes a specific location on the map where the user has requested to present information related to a specific location, and the past visit location includes a related location that is relevant to the user. Also good.

  The daily space determination processing unit 20 uses the distance between the user's current location and the past visit position to determine whether or not the current location exists in an everyday space (daily life area) that is a highly intimate space for the user. It mainly includes a weight value calculation unit 22 (weight value calculation unit) and a closeness determination unit 23 (closeness determination unit). The daily space determination processing unit 20 is the main configuration of the information providing device 1, and the information providing device 1 does not necessarily have a configuration other than the daily space determination processing unit 20. For example, a configuration other than the daily space determination processing unit 20 may be provided in another device that can communicate with the information providing device 1.

  The weight value calculation unit 22 weights the past visit position by using the distance (inter-point distance) between the current location of the user and the past visit position existing within a predetermined range from the current location. A weight value corresponding to the past visit position is obtained. Specifically, the weight value calculation unit 22 obtains the reciprocal of the distance between the current location and the past visit position as a weight value. In addition, when there are a plurality of past visit positions within a predetermined range, the weight value calculation unit 22 obtains a weight value for each of the plurality of past visit positions and obtains a total value of the weight values.

  The predetermined range is a predetermined range (specified range, specified region) for acquiring past visit position information used for determining whether or not the current location exists in the daily space. The predetermined range is defined on the map so that the current location is the center when the location information management unit 21 acquires the current location information, for example. Although the shape of the predetermined range of this embodiment is a rectangle, it is not restricted to this, For example, other shapes, such as circular, may be sufficient. In the case of a rectangle, for example, the length of one side of the rectangle is prescribed in advance, and in the case of a circle, for example, the length of a diameter is prescribed in advance.

  Specifically, the weight value calculation unit 22 refers to the position information history table T1, defines a predetermined range on the map so that the current location is the center, and the past visit position exists within the predetermined range. It is determined whether or not to do. When past visit position information exists within a predetermined range, the past visit position information indicating the past visit position is read from the position information history table T1, and a weight value for the past visit position and a total value thereof are obtained. Ask. Then, the obtained weight value and total value are stored in, for example, the weight value table T2. As shown in FIG. 3, the weight value table T2 includes, for example, past visit position information (latitude and longitude) within a predetermined range, weight values, and total values as ID numbers assigned to these pieces of information. Correspondingly stored. In the “point distance”, a distance (unit: m) between the current location and the past visit position is stored in association with the past visit position information. Since the weight value calculation unit 22 calculates the reciprocal of the distance as the weight value, in this case, the distance need not be stored in the weight value table T2 (a “point distance” is provided). When the weight value is calculated by a calculation method described later with reference to FIG. 7, the distance is stored in “point distance”. On the other hand, when the past visit position information does not exist within the predetermined range, the display processing unit 24 is notified to display that fact on the display unit 14.

  The familiarity determination unit 23 determines whether or not the current location is in the daily space by comparing the weight value obtained by the weight value calculation unit 22 with a threshold value (predetermined threshold value). When the weight value calculation unit 22 calculates the total value of the weight values, the total value is compared with a threshold value. In the present embodiment, when the weight value or the total value is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the closeness determination unit 23 determines that the current location is in the daily space (the current location is a location known to the user). On the other hand, when it is less than the threshold value, it is determined that the current location is not in the daily space (the current location is a location unknown to the user).

  The display processing unit 24 displays various images on the display screen of the display unit 14. The display unit 14 displays, for example, a map, information related to a specific place (current location or past visit position, etc.), various setting screens, and the like. In particular, information related to the current location based on the determination result of the closeness determination unit 23 is displayed. Further, the determination result itself may be displayed. Such information presentation may be performed by an output from a member different from the display unit 14 such as a speaker (not shown).

  <Processing Flow> An example of processing of the information providing apparatus 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the position information detection unit 11 detects current position information according to a user operation indicating a request for presenting information related to the current location, and transmits the current position information to the position information management unit 21. The location information management unit 21 acquires current location information from the location information detection unit 11 and stores it in the storage unit 13 (S1). In addition, the weight value calculation unit 22 is notified that the current position information has been acquired.

  When the weight value calculation unit 22 receives the notification, the weight value calculation unit 22 defines a predetermined range centering on the current location, and specifies past visit position information existing within the predetermined range by referring to the position information history table T1. (Extract) (S2). Further, the weight value calculation unit 22 creates the weight value table T2 by assigning an ID number to the past visit position information. At this stage, there is no value input for “weight” and “total weight” in the weight value table T2. Next, the weight value calculation unit 22 obtains a weight value for one past visit position information among the specified past visit position information, and stores it in the weight value table T2 (S3; weight value calculation step). The weight value calculation unit 22 notifies the closeness determination unit 23 that the weight value has been obtained.

  When receiving the notification, the closeness determination unit 23 refers to the weight value table T2 and determines whether or not the total value of the weight values is equal to or greater than a threshold value (S4; closeness determination step). In the case of the weight value obtained first, since the weight value = the total value of the weight values, the weight value is compared with the threshold value after all. The same applies to the case where the specified past visit position information is one. If the closeness determination unit 23 determines YES in S4, the closeness determination unit 23 determines that the current location is in the daily space, and notifies the display processing unit 24 of the determination result (S5). Upon receiving the determination result, the display processing unit 24 causes the display unit 14 to display daily information related to the current location, such as information associated with daily user actions, as information related to the current location. .

  On the other hand, in the case of NO in S4, the closeness determination unit 23 refers to the weight value table T2 and determines whether or not there is remaining past visit position information (S6). In the case of YES in S6, the weight value for the next past visit position information is obtained, and the total value of the weight values obtained so far is obtained and stored in the weight value table T2 (S3). For example, when the weight value for the past visit position information with the ID number “1” is obtained in S3, and after the process of S4 and it is determined YES in S6, the next past visit position information (ID number “2”) is determined in S3. ) And a total value of the weight values of ID numbers “1” and “2”. The weight value and the total value are stored in the weight value table T2 in association with the ID number “2”. Thereafter, the process of S4 is performed. Similarly, if YES is further determined in S6, a weight value for ID number “3” is obtained in S3, and a total value of the weight values of ID numbers “1” to “3” is obtained. The weight value and the total value are stored in the weight value table T2 in association with the ID number “3”, and then the process of S4 is performed. Thus, in the case of NO in S4, weight values and total values for all past visit position information existing within a predetermined range are calculated, and the total value is compared with a threshold value. If the closeness determination unit 23 determines that there is no remaining past visit position information (NO in S6), it determines that the current location is in the extraordinary space, and displays the determination result in the display processing unit 24. (S7). Upon receiving the determination result, the display processing unit 24 causes the display unit 14 to display extraordinary information related to the current location, such as information related to a business trip or a travel destination, as information related to the current location. Thus, by performing the determination of S4, based on the determination result, it is possible to select daily information or extraordinary information as information related to the current location and present it to the user.

  In the example of FIG. 3, consider a case where the threshold is set to “10”. In S2, eleven pieces of past visit position information are extracted. In S3, the weight value (total value) of the ID number “1” is first obtained as 0.995. Since this value is smaller than the threshold value, NO is obtained in S4, and since ID numbers “2” to “11” are present, YES is obtained in S6. Returning to S3, the weight value 0.8835 of the ID number “2” and the total value 1.883 of the ID numbers “1” and “2” are obtained. Since this total value is also smaller than the threshold value, NO is obtained in S4, and since ID numbers “3” to “11” are present, YES is obtained in S6. This process is repeated until the threshold value is exceeded (10 or more). In FIG. 3, the total value does not exceed the threshold value until the ID number “10”, but the total value of the ID number “11” is calculated as 10.025, which is equal to or more than the threshold value. Therefore, as a result of the determination with respect to the ID number “11”, YES is obtained in S4, and it is determined that the current location is in the daily space (S5). In FIG. 3, when the past visit position information within a predetermined range is 10 (the ID number “11” does not exist), the ID number “10” does not exceed the threshold value. As a result, it is determined that the current location is not in the everyday space (is in the extraordinary space) (S7).

  Here, the processes of S2 and S3 will be described from a visual aspect with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 5A, as a result of S2, the past visit position V that can be displayed together with the displayed map is displayed among the past visit positions indicated by the past visit position information stored in the position information history table T1. , Suppose that it is displayed with pin S. In S3, as shown in FIG. 5B, the weight value calculation unit 22 is surrounded by a predetermined range A (double line in the figure) so that the current location P (star in the figure) is the center. A rectangle having a certain area), and past visit positions Va, Vb, Vc, Vd (points surrounded by circles in the figure) existing within a predetermined range A are used as weight value calculation target points. Identify. Then, as shown in FIG. 5C, the weight value calculation unit 22 calculates distances Da, Db, Dc, and Dd between the current location P and the past visit positions Va, Vb, Vc, and Vd, respectively. Reciprocals 1 / Da, 1 / Db, 1 / Dc, and 1 / Dd of the distances Da, Db, Dc, and Dd are obtained as weight values for the past visited positions Va, Vb, Vc, and Vd, respectively.

  <Modification of Weight Value Calculation Process> A modification of the calculation process in the weight value calculation unit 22 will be described with reference to FIGS. First, a process of rounding a plurality of past visit positions as the same past visit position will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 6, it is assumed that the current location P and the past visit positions Vp, Vq, Vr, and Vs are included in a predetermined range.

  In the above-described weight value calculation process, when there are a plurality of past visit positions within a predetermined range, the distance between the current location and the past visit position is obtained. In the example of FIG. 6A, distances Dp, Dq, Dr, and Ds between the current location and the past visit positions Vp, Vq, Vr, and Vs are obtained. However, in order to obtain the actual distance by taking the difference of longitude and latitude, complicated calculation processing is required. Therefore, if the number of past visit positions increases, the control unit 12 is burdened accordingly. Therefore, a plurality of past visit position information included in a predetermined area may be rounded up as if the same past visit position exists a plurality of times. That is, the weight value calculation unit 22 regards a plurality of past visit positions existing in a predetermined area as one past visit position, and the past visit positions included in the predetermined area with respect to the one past visit position. Weighting may be carried out by the number of. In this case, the calculation of the distance is only once, and the load can be reduced by caching and reusing the calculation result of the one time. The predetermined area only needs to be defined to have such a size that the influence on the determination result of whether or not the current location is in the daily space is small even if the above rounding is performed. May be, for example, about several hundred m square.

  Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6B, a plurality of past visit positions Vp, Vq, Vr, and Vs are included in a predetermined area B (a rectangle having a certain area surrounded by a dotted line in the figure). Existing. In this case, the weight value calculation unit 22 regards the plurality of past visit positions Vp, Vq, Vr, and Vs as one (identical) past visit position Vre (X in the figure). Then, the distance Dre between the current location P and the past visit position Vre is obtained, and the reciprocal 1 / Dre of the distance Dre is obtained as a weight value of the past visit positions Vp, Vq, Vr, Vs. Although the center position in the predetermined area B is regarded as the past visit position Vre, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, one of the past visit positions Vp, Vq, Vr, Vs is set as one past visit position. The average longitude and latitude of past visit positions Vp, Vq, Vr, and Vs may be obtained, and the position of the longitude and latitude may be set as one past visit position. Further, the shape of the predetermined region B is not limited to a rectangle, but may be another shape such as a circle.

  Next, an example of a weight value calculation process for calculating a value other than the reciprocal of the distance as a weight value will be described with reference to FIG. The weight value calculation unit 22 obtains the weight value using a calculation formula in which the weight value of the past visit position farthest from the current location approaches 0 as much as possible, and the weight value of the closest past visit position approaches 1 as much as possible. May be. Specifically, the weight value calculation unit 22 calculates “1- (distance between points) / (maximum distance)” as the weight value. As shown in FIG. 7, the maximum distance is a distance Dm from the current location P within the predetermined range A to the position farthest from the current location P, and the inter-point distance is the current location P and the past visit positions Va, Vb, The distances Da, Db, Dc, and Dd from Vc and Vd, respectively. In the weight value table T <b> 2 of FIG. 3, the weight value calculation unit 22 stores the obtained distance between points in “point distance”. FIG. 3 shows a weight value calculation result when the distance Dm is 2000 m. For example, since the distance between points of the ID number “1” is 1 m, the weight value is calculated as 1-1 / 2000 = 0.9995. Since the distance between points of the ID number “4” is 2000 m, the weight value is obtained as 1−2000 / 2000 = 0.

  <Threshold Setting Example> A threshold setting example will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 8, the inner area X conceptually shows the size of the defined daily space when the threshold is set to “10”, and the area Y including the inner area X is the threshold This is a conceptual illustration of the size of the defined daily space when is set to “5”. As shown in FIG. 8, the larger the threshold value, the smaller the defined daily space. That is, as the threshold value is set larger, a past visit position with a higher weight (closer distance from the current location) is required, and the area that is determined to be an everyday space becomes narrower. Therefore, the larger the threshold value is set, the more difficult it is to determine that the current location is in the daily space. In addition, as the number of past visit positions for which weight values are calculated increases, it becomes easier to determine that the current location exists in the daily space. Therefore, the magnitude of the threshold value may be set according to a method for acquiring past visit position information (such as a period for acquiring past visit position information). In consideration of these points, it is preferable that the threshold value is set.

  <Effect> By using the accumulated past visit position information, it is possible to accurately determine whether or not the current location is a “known location”. Moreover, since the daily space determination processing unit 20 performs the above determination by weighting the past visit position using the distance between the current location and the past visit position within a predetermined range, the processing cost can be reduced. it can.

  In addition, when the above determination is performed using information (route information) on a continuous position where the user has moved, it is necessary to continuously operate the GPS. According to the information providing apparatus 1, since the past visit position information used for the determination may be a discrete value (a list of point information), the continuous operation is not necessary. For this reason, it is possible to perform the determination with less power than when using route information.

[Embodiment 2]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIG. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted as appropriate. In the information providing apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, a plurality of threshold values are set, and the threshold value is associated with a familiarity level indicating the degree of familiarity of the user with respect to the daily space. The closeness determination unit 23 specifies the closeness level according to which of the plurality of thresholds the weight value (or total value) is equal to or higher than.

  For example, the first threshold value and the second threshold value are set in ascending order of values, and the familiarity levels “No”, “Weak”, and “High” are set in association with the first and second threshold values. “No” indicates that the intimacy level is the lowest and the current location is in an extraordinary space. “Strong” indicates that the intimacy level is the highest, the current location is in the everyday space, and the location in the everyday space is the most intimate for the user. “Weak” indicates that the intimacy level is lower than “strong” and the current location is in everyday space, but the intimacy is lower than “strong”. The intimacy determination unit 23 determines that the intimacy level is “No” if it is less than the first threshold, the intimacy level “weak” if it is greater than or equal to the first threshold and less than the second threshold, and the intimacy level “if less than the second threshold. It is determined as “strong”.

  For example, FIG. 9A is an example of the weight value table T2 at a certain point Pa (current location), and FIG. 9B is an example of the weight value table T2 at a point Pb (current location) different from the point Pa. It is an example. Eleven past visit positions are identified for the point Pa, and eight past visit positions are identified for the point Pb. When the first threshold value is “5” and the second threshold value is “10”, since the total value of the point Pa is 10 or more at the ID number “11”, it is determined that the point is the second threshold value or more. Space: Determined as “strong”. On the other hand, regarding the point Pb, the ID number “8” is less than the second threshold “10”, but is greater than or equal to the first threshold “5”, so it is determined that the daily space is “weak”.

  In addition, information related to the current location is set in association with each intimacy level. For example, the lowest familiarity level is associated with extraordinary information related to the current location. For other intimacy levels, daily information related to the current location is associated, and as the level is higher, for example, more detailed information related to the current location is associated.

  Three or more threshold values may be set, and the familiarity level may be set according to the number of threshold values. For example, when four threshold values (first to fourth threshold values) are set, the familiarity levels 0 to 4 may be set stepwise in association with the threshold values. In this case, if it is less than the first threshold, the familiarity level is 0 (the current location is in an extraordinary space), and if it is greater than or equal to the fourth threshold, the familiarity level is 4 (where the current location is the most familiar). Yes).

  <Effect> A finer determination result can be obtained by specifying the intimacy level as a result of the threshold determination. Moreover, since the information regarding the specific place corresponding to the intimacy level can be provided to the user, the convenience can be further improved.

[Embodiment 3]
The following will describe another embodiment of the present invention with reference to FIG. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted as appropriate. The information providing apparatus 1a of the present embodiment acquires past visit position information from the server 2 (external storage device) or USB (Universal Serial Bus) 3 (external storage medium) instead of the storage unit 33. As a storage medium, various disks can be used in addition to the USB 3.

  Specifically, the information providing apparatus 1a is configured to be able to communicate with the server 2 or the USB 3 in which the position information history table T1 is stored. The location information management unit 41 (information acquisition unit) of the control unit 32 transmits the acquired past visit location information to the server 2 or the USB 3. The past visit position information is managed in the position information history table T1 of the server 2 or USB3. The weight value calculation unit 22 extracts past visit position information existing within a predetermined range from the server 2 or the USB 3 via the position information management unit 41, creates a weight value table T 2, and stores it in the storage unit 33. .

  <Effect> Since the amount of information stored in the information providing apparatus 1 can be reduced, the storage space of the information providing apparatus 1 can be expanded. Further, when communication with a plurality of servers 2 is possible, each server 2 can manage past visit position information for each type of past visit position information (public organization, theme park, station, etc.) or for each acquired area. . Then, by changing the server 2 that acquires the information, it is determined whether the current location is in the daily space using different past visit position information (for example, different types of past visit position information). Can do. The same applies when a plurality of USBs 3 are used. Further, the weight value table T2 may be managed by the server 2 or the USB 3. In this case, the storage space can be further expanded.

[Embodiment 4]
Another embodiment of the present invention is described below with reference to FIG. For convenience of explanation, members having the same functions as those described in the embodiment are given the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted as appropriate. The predetermined range and threshold value may be set by the user, and in this embodiment, an example of the setting screen will be described.

  In the example of FIG. 11, the display unit 14 displays a setting screen including a rectangular range setting area 141 in which a user can change a predetermined range and a threshold setting area 142 in which a threshold can be changed. For example, a minimum value is taken at one end L of the slide bar in each region, and a maximum value is taken at the other end R. The rectangular range setting area 141 is for setting a value of one side of the rectangle (or its diameter in the case of a circle). The information providing apparatuses 1 and 1a acquire user operations for moving the positions of the circles in the rectangular range setting area 141 and the threshold setting area 142, respectively, thereby obtaining the length of one side of the rectangle respectively associated with the position, And set the threshold. In addition to the setting screen of FIG. 11, a configuration in which each value can be directly input may be used.

  <Effect> It becomes easier to determine that the current location is in the daily space as the predetermined range that defines the past visit position as the weight value calculation target is increased. In addition, as the threshold value that is a reference for comparison with the weight value or the total value is increased, it is difficult to determine that the current location is in the daily space. By making it possible for the user to change the predetermined range and threshold value having such properties, it is possible to adjust the criteria for the determination according to his / her behavior pattern.

[Example of software implementation]
The control blocks (especially each unit of the control unit 12) of the information providing devices 1 and 1a may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) formed in an integrated circuit (IC chip) or the like, or a CPU (Central Processing Unit). It may be realized by software using

  In the latter case, the information providing apparatuses 1 and 1a include a CPU that executes instructions of a program that is software that realizes each function, and a ROM (Read Only) in which the program and various data are recorded so as to be readable by the computer (or CPU). Memory) or a storage device (these are referred to as “recording media”), a RAM (Random Access Memory) for expanding the program, and the like. And the objective of this invention is achieved when a computer (or CPU) reads the said program from the said recording medium and runs it. As the recording medium, a “non-temporary tangible medium” such as a tape, a disk, a card, a semiconductor memory, a programmable logic circuit, or the like can be used. The program may be supplied to the computer via an arbitrary transmission medium (such as a communication network or a broadcast wave) that can transmit the program. The present invention can also be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission.

[Summary]
An information providing apparatus (1, 1a) according to aspect 1 of the present invention is an information providing apparatus that provides a user with information related to a specific place, and the user's current location (P, point Pa, Pb), Distances (Da to Dd, Dp to Ds) with the past visit positions (V, Va to Vd, Vp to Vs, Vre) that exist in the predetermined range (A) from the current location and that the user has visited in the past. , Dre) to weight the past visit position, thereby obtaining a weight value calculation means (daily space determination processing unit 20, weight value calculation unit 22) for obtaining a weight value corresponding to the past visit position. Intimacy determination for determining whether or not the current location is in a daily space, which is a highly intimate space for the user, by comparing the weight value obtained by the weight value calculation means with a predetermined threshold value Means (daily space judgment Processing section 20, and a closeness determination unit 23), the. According to the configuration, by performing the determination based on the weight value using the distance, for example, the load of processing related to the determination is reduced as compared to a method of performing the determination by continuously acquiring longitude and latitude. it can. That is, the determination process can be performed with a small processing amount (with a small processing cost). Therefore, according to the above configuration, it is possible to determine whether or not the current location is a location that is close to the user with a smaller processing amount than in the past.

  Further, in the information providing apparatus according to aspect 2 of the present invention, in aspect 1, when there are a plurality of the past visit positions within the predetermined range, the weight value calculating means The weight value is calculated for the weight value, the total value of the weight values is calculated, and the closeness determination means compares the weight value calculated by the weight value calculation means with the predetermined threshold value. Thus, it may be determined whether or not the current location is in the daily space. According to this configuration, when there are a plurality of past visit positions, the determination is performed by comparing the total value of the weight values with a predetermined threshold value. Therefore, even when there are a plurality of past visit positions, the determination can be performed with a smaller processing amount than in the past.

  Furthermore, in the information providing apparatus according to aspect 3 of the present invention, in aspect 2, the weight value calculation means determines that there are a plurality of the past visit positions in the predetermined area (B) within the predetermined range. In this case, the plurality of past visit positions are regarded as one past visit position, and the one past visit position is weighted by the number of the past visit positions included in the predetermined area. Also good. According to the said structure, the calculation amount when calculating | requiring the said distance can be reduced by considering several past visit positions as one past visit position. Therefore, the determination can be performed with a smaller processing amount.

  Furthermore, in the information providing apparatus according to aspect 4 of the present invention, in any one of aspects 1 to 3, the weight value calculating means obtains the reciprocal of the distance between the current location and the past visited position as the weight value. Also good. According to this configuration, the weight value can be obtained by a simple method.

  Furthermore, in the information providing apparatus according to aspect 5 of the present invention, in any one of aspects 1 to 4, the weight value calculating means maximizes the distance to the position farthest from the current location within the predetermined range. When the distance (Dm) is used and the distance between the current location and the past visited position is the distance between points, 1- (distance between points) / (maximum distance) may be obtained as the weight value. According to the said structure, while being able to obtain | require a weight value with a comparatively simple method, the precision of the said determination can be improved.

  Furthermore, in the information providing apparatus according to aspect 6 of the present invention, in any one of aspects 1 to 5, a plurality of the predetermined threshold values are set, and the predetermined threshold value includes the user's familiarity with the daily space. The intimacy level indicating the degree of the incompatibility is associated, and the intimacy level determination means may identify the intimacy level according to which of the predetermined threshold values the weight value is greater than or equal to Good. According to this configuration, the degree of closeness can be output as the determination result of the closeness determination means, so that the user can obtain a finer determination result.

  Furthermore, in the information providing device (1a) according to aspect 7 of the present invention, in any one of aspects 1 to 6, the past visit position information indicating the past visit position is stored in an external storage device (server 2) or storage medium ( Information acquisition means (position information management unit 21) that acquires from USB 3) may be provided. According to the said structure, the memory space of an information provision apparatus can be expanded by memorize | storing past visit position information in an external memory | storage device or a storage medium.

  Furthermore, in the information providing apparatus according to aspect 8 of the present invention, in any one of aspects 1 to 7, the predetermined range and the predetermined threshold may be set by a user. According to the said structure, the reference | standard of the said determination can be adjusted according to a user's own action pattern.

  Furthermore, the control method of the information providing apparatus according to the ninth aspect of the present invention is a control method of the information providing apparatus that provides the user with information related to a specific location, and the user's current location A weight for obtaining a weight value corresponding to the past visit position by weighting the past visit position using a distance from the past visit position that is a place where the user has visited in the past, which is within the range. By comparing the weight value obtained in the value calculation step and the weight value calculation step with a predetermined threshold value, it is determined whether or not the current location is in a daily space that is a space close to the user. An intimacy determination step for determining. According to the said structure, there exists an effect similar to the aspect 1. FIG.

  The information providing apparatus according to each aspect of the present invention may be realized by a computer. In this case, the information providing apparatus is realized by the computer by causing the computer to operate as each unit included in the information providing apparatus. A control program for the information providing apparatus and a computer-readable recording medium on which the control program is recorded also fall within the scope of the present invention.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope shown in the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining technical means disclosed in different embodiments. Is also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Furthermore, a new technical feature can be formed by combining the technical means disclosed in each embodiment.

  INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY The present invention can be used for an information providing device that provides a user with information related to a specific place, and can be suitably used for a mobile terminal, a car navigation device, and the like.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 1a Information provision apparatus, 2 Server (storage device), 3 USB (storage medium), 20 Daily space determination processing part (weight value calculation means, closeness determination means), 22 Weight value calculation part (weight value calculation means) , 23 Intimacy determination unit (intimacy determination unit), 41 Location information management unit (information acquisition unit), P current location, Pa, Pb point (current location), A predetermined range, B predetermined region, Da to Dd, Dp ~ Ds, Dre distance (distance between points), Dm maximum distance, V, Va ~ Vd, Vp ~ Vs, Vre Past visit position

Claims (5)

An information providing apparatus that provides information related to a specific place to a user,
By using the distance between the user's current location and the past visit location that is within a predetermined range from the current location and the user has visited in the past, the past visit location is weighted, A weight value calculating means for obtaining a weight value corresponding to the visited position;
Intimacy determination means for determining whether or not the current location is in a daily space, which is a highly intimate space for the user, by comparing the weight value obtained by the weight value calculation means with a predetermined threshold. and, with a,
The past visit position is a position indicated by the position information, in which the acquired position information of the user is stored as a history . When there are a plurality of past visit positions within the predetermined range,
The weight value calculation means obtains the weight value for each of the plurality of past visit positions and obtains a total value of the weight values,
The closeness determination means determines whether the current location is in the daily space by comparing the total value of the weight values obtained by the weight value calculation means with the predetermined threshold value. The information providing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein The weight value calculating means includes:
When it is determined that there are a plurality of the past visit positions in a predetermined area within the predetermined range, the plurality of past visit positions are regarded as one past visit position,
The information providing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein weighting is performed on the one past visit position by the number of the past visit positions included in the predetermined area. A plurality of the predetermined threshold values are set,
The predetermined threshold is associated with a familiarity level indicating the degree of familiarity of the user with respect to the daily space,
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the intimacy determination unit specifies the intimacy level according to which of the predetermined thresholds the weight value is greater than or equal to. The information providing apparatus according to the description.   A control program for operating the information providing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the control program causes a computer to function as each of the means.

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