JP7225673B2 - Guidance sentence generation device, guidance system, guidance sentence generation method and program - Google Patents

Description

Application of Article 30, Paragraph 2 of the Patent Act Announced on September 5, 2018 in Human Interface Symposium 2018 Proceedings, pp. 294-305 February 6, 2018, https://labevent. ecl. ntt. co. jp/forum2018/elements/pdf_jpn/A12_j. Presented in pdf Presented on May 10, 2018 at the demonstration "Navigation for the Visually Impaired" at Chubu International Airport Co., Ltd. On October 5th, 2018, at the demonstration "Navigation for the Visually Impaired" at Kanagawa Prefectural Tama High School Presented at

The present invention relates to a guidance sentence generation device, a guidance system, a guidance sentence generation method, and a program.

Currently, in order for visually impaired people to walk indoors and outdoors to reach their destination, they need to be accompanied by a sighted person, assisted by a guide dog, or have a guidance system using a mobile phone or smartphone that can acquire location information. For example, in Patent Document 1, a visually impaired person carries a camera such as a video camera and a voice communication terminal. describes a system that provides voice guidance. In addition, Non-Patent Document 1 describes a system that presents voice guidance in real time to a visually impaired person using a smartphone.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-128149

"Voice navigation system for indoor and outdoor guidance", Internet <URL: https://www.ibm.com/think/jp-ja/watson/navcog/>, retrieved on November 2, 2017

The technique described in Non-Patent Document 1 adopts a method of presenting a route to a destination in real time by voice to a visually impaired person when approaching a fork. Therefore, you should always have your speakers on or wear earphones/headphones (including bone conduction headphones) so that you can always hear the audio.

However, if the speaker is always on, the voice guidance can be heard in the surroundings, which can be annoying. Also, if you wear earphones all the time, you may not be able to hear the surrounding sounds and walk safely. Furthermore, even if bone conduction headphones are used to hear the surrounding sounds, it is difficult for visually impaired people to pay attention to both the surrounding sounds and the unpredictable voice guidance when walking. cognitive load and potentially dangerous for

The problem that the cognitive load for guidance increases is not limited to voice guidance for visually impaired people, but also occurs in guidance for a target person who has a lower degree of freedom in walking than a healthy person. In general, on the route to the destination, there are places that are dangerous for walking, such as stairs and steps, and places that are easy to recognize, such as escalators emitting voices and operating sounds. An object of the present invention is to reduce the cognitive load on pedestrians by appropriately guiding them to such things on the route.

A guidance message generation device according to one aspect of the present invention includes:
A guidance message generating device for generating guidance messages for pedestrians,
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
a route generator that generates a route containing
a guidance text generation unit that generates guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
The guidance sentence generation unit
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
If L (L is an integer of 2 or more) pieces of danger information are not grouped into one set from the side closest to the starting node on the route connecting the nodes, and L is a predetermined number P (P is is an integer equal to or greater than 2) is 1 or more, the Q pieces of danger information are used to generate guidance text at the node serving as the starting point, and the remaining adjacent pieces of danger information are divided into P pieces. It is characterized by generating a group-based guidance message that is grouped into one group, and setting a notification point for notifying the group-based guidance message.
In addition, a guidance sentence generation device according to one aspect of the present invention includes:
A guidance message generating device for generating guidance messages for pedestrians,
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
a route generator that generates a route containing
a guidance text generation unit that generates guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
The guidance sentence generation unit
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
As a guidance message for a node that is a starting point on a route that connects nodes, a guidance message is generated using the danger information closest to the node that is the starting point. It is characterized by generating a group-based guidance message and setting a notification point for notifying the group-based guidance message.

A guidance system according to one aspect of the present invention includes:
A guidance system including a guidance sentence generation device that generates guidance sentences for pedestrians and a guidance sentence output device that outputs guidance sentences to the pedestrians,
The guidance sentence generation device is
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
a route generator that generates a route containing
a guidance text generation unit that generates guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
The guidance sentence output device is
a current location acquisition unit that acquires the current location of the pedestrian;
an orientation acquisition unit that acquires the orientation of the pedestrian;
a notification determination unit that acquires the route generated by the guidance message generation device and determines the timing of notifying the guidance message based on the acquired route, the acquired current location and direction;
an output unit that outputs a notification to the pedestrian at the timing of notifying the guidance message and outputs the guidance message generated by the guidance message generation device;
including
The guidance message generation unit of the guidance message generation device,
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
If L (L is an integer of 2 or more) pieces of danger information are not grouped into one set from the side closest to the starting node on the route connecting the nodes, and L is a predetermined number P (P is is an integer equal to or greater than 2) is 1 or more, the Q pieces of danger information are used to generate guidance text at the node serving as the starting point, and the remaining adjacent pieces of danger information are divided into P pieces. It is characterized by generating a group-based guidance message that is grouped into one group, and setting a notification point for notifying the group-based guidance message.
Further, a guidance system according to one aspect of the present invention includes:
A guidance system including a guidance sentence generation device that generates guidance sentences for pedestrians and a guidance sentence output device that outputs guidance sentences to the pedestrians,
The guidance sentence generation device is
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
a route generator that generates a route containing
a guidance text generation unit that generates guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
The guidance sentence output device is
a current location acquisition unit that acquires the current location of the pedestrian;
an orientation acquisition unit that acquires the orientation of the pedestrian;
a notification determination unit that acquires the route generated by the guidance message generation device and determines the timing of notifying the guidance message based on the acquired route, the acquired current location and direction;
an output unit that outputs a notification to the pedestrian at the timing of notifying the guidance message and outputs the guidance message generated by the guidance message generation device;
including
The guidance message generation unit of the guidance message generation device,
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
As a guidance message for a node that is a starting point on a route that connects nodes, a guidance message is generated using the danger information closest to the node that is the starting point. It is characterized by generating a group-based guidance message and setting a notification point for notifying the group-based guidance message.

A guidance message generation method according to one aspect of the present invention includes:
A guidance message generation method in a guidance message generation device for generating guidance messages for pedestrians, comprising:
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
generating a route containing
generating guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
In the step of generating the guidance message,
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
If L (L is an integer of 2 or more) pieces of danger information are not grouped into one set from the side closest to the starting node on the route connecting the nodes, and L is a predetermined number P (P is is an integer equal to or greater than 2) is 1 or more, the Q pieces of danger information are used to generate guidance text at the node serving as the starting point, and the remaining adjacent pieces of danger information are divided into P pieces. It is characterized by generating a group-based guidance message that is grouped into one group, and setting a notification point for notifying the group-based guidance message.
In addition, a guidance message generation method according to one aspect of the present invention includes:
A guidance message generation method in a guidance message generation device for generating guidance messages for pedestrians, comprising:
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
generating a route containing
generating guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
In the step of generating the guidance message,
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
As a guidance message for a node that is a starting point on a route that connects nodes, a guidance message is generated using the danger information closest to the node that is the starting point. It is characterized by generating a group-based guidance message and setting a notification point for notifying the group-based guidance message.

A program according to one aspect of the present invention comprises
It is characterized by having a computer function as each part of the guidance message generation device.

ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, it becomes possible to reduce a pedestrian's cognitive load by guiding a pedestrian appropriately about the thing on a route.

It is a figure which shows the functional structural example of the guidance apparatus in 1st embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example of the presentation sentence which a guidance apparatus produces|generates. FIG. 10 is a flowchart (part 1) showing an example of a processing procedure executed by the guidance device; FIG. It is a figure which shows the example of route information. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of geographic information; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a route generated by a route generation unit; FIG. 2 is a flowchart (part 2) showing an example of a processing procedure executed by a guidance device; 10 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure for generating a synopsis; It is a figure which shows the example of production|generation of a summary sentence. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing procedure which produces|generates a guidance sentence in 1st embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a section from node 1 to node 2 and an example of guidance sentence generation; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a section from node 2 to node 3 and a generation example of guidance text; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a section from node 3 to node 4 and a generation example of guidance sentences; FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of priority of geographic information; 10 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure for generating a peripheral information sentence; FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of generation of a section from node 1 to node 2 and a peripheral information sentence; It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing procedure which updates a guidance sentence in 1st embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a section from node 1 to node 2 and an update example of guidance text (in the case where the current location is 120 m ahead of node 1); 10 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure for updating peripheral information sentences; FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of update of a section from node 1 to node 2 and a peripheral information statement (in the case where the current location is 120 m ahead of node 1); It is a figure which shows the functional structural example of the guidance apparatus in 2nd embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing procedure which produces|generates a guidance sentence in 2nd embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example which collects danger information into 1 set. It is a figure which shows the notification point of a guidance sentence. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a section from node M to node M+1 and an example of guidance sentence generation; It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing procedure which updates a guidance sentence in 2nd embodiment. It is a figure which shows the hardware structural example of the guide apparatus in 1st embodiment and 2nd embodiment.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. In this embodiment, a guidance device that guides a visually impaired person from a starting point to a destination will be described. As an example of use cases, a visually impaired person puts a guidance device in their pocket or bag while walking and does not operate it, and only receives notifications based on location information. It is assumed that it will be presented when the device is taken out and operated by oneself. In the present embodiment, voice guidance for visually impaired people will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited to voice guidance for visually impaired people. It can be applied to any pedestrian who needs guidance to a target audience, such as the elderly and children.

(First embodiment)
<Functional configuration of guide device>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a functional configuration example of a guide device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The guidance device 100 generates presentation sentences including guidance sentences for pedestrians, notifies the visually impaired person by vibration or the like at the timing when the presentation is required, and presents voice guidance at the visually impaired person's arbitrary timing. It is a device.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a presentation sentence generated by the guidance device 100. As shown in FIG. The presentation sentence generated by the guidance device 100 may include an outline sentence and a peripheral information sentence in addition to the guidance sentence. The summary text is a text that provides an overview of the route, such as the distance from the departure point to the destination, the direction, and the number of turns. Guidance sentences are sentences that guide the distance to the next node between certain nodes, geographic information that exists up to the next node, and the like, when the departure point, the corner, and the destination are expressed as nodes. The surrounding information sentence is a sentence that provides geographical information around the current location. The geographic information includes geographic information names that indicate the names of things such as slopes and steps that exist on the route that connects nodes, and types linked to the geographic information names (details will be described later, but things that are dangerous for walking) walking support information indicating that the object supports walking, and landmark information indicating that the object can be recognized by the sensation that can be acquired while walking). The guidance text and the surrounding information text are updated according to the current location of the pedestrian.

As shown in FIG. 1, the guidance device 100 includes, as functional units, a screen input unit 101, a route generation unit 103, a presentation sentence generation unit 105, a guidance control unit 107, an output unit 109, and a storage unit. , includes a route information storage unit 151 , a geographic information storage unit 153 , a route storage unit 155 and a presentation sentence storage unit 157 . The presentation sentence generation unit 105 includes an overview sentence generation unit 105-1, a guidance sentence generation unit 105-2, and a peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3. Guidance control unit 107 includes current location acquisition unit 107-1, direction acquisition unit 107-2, and notification determination unit 107-3. Output unit 109 includes vibration output unit 109-1, presentation sentence output unit 109-2, speech synthesis unit 109-3, and speech output unit 109-4.

The screen input unit 101 always waits for an input command from a user such as a visually impaired person. When a departure point, a destination, and an instruction to start guidance are input, the route generation unit 103 is immediately sent to the route generation unit 103 with text information of the names of the departure point and the destination (hereinafter referred to as the text of the departure point name). The information is described as "departure point", and the text information of the name of the destination is described as "destination"), and an instruction to generate a route from the departure point to the destination is output as a guidance start instruction. When an instruction to end the guidance is input, an instruction to end the generation of the presentation text is immediately generated for the presentation text generation unit 105 and output as a guidance end instruction. When an instruction to read out the presentation sentence is input, an instruction to output the presentation sentence from the output unit 109 is immediately generated for the presentation sentence generation unit 105 and output as a reading instruction.

The route generation unit 103 receives a guidance start instruction from the screen input unit 101, route information from the route information storage unit 151, and geographic information from the geographic information storage unit 153, and generates a route from the departure point to the destination, Output geographic information on the route. Specifically, when a guidance start command including a departure point and a destination is input from the screen input unit 101, the route generation unit 103 includes a route information storage unit 151 that stores route information and a geographic information storage unit that stores geographical information. A route from the departure point to the destination is generated by referring to the information storage unit 153 and stored in the route storage unit 155 together with the geographic information. The route may be the route with the shortest walking distance or the route with the fewest turns. Specifically, the route storage unit 155 stores nodes from the departure point to the destination and geographic information on the route. Furthermore, the generated route is also output to the presentation sentence generation unit 105 . It is assumed that a priority order for presenting geographic information to a user is set in advance in association with a geographic information name.

The presentation sentence generation unit 105 is composed of an outline sentence generation unit 105-1, a guidance sentence generation unit 105-2, and a peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3. The presentation text generation unit 105 receives the route generated by the route generation unit 103 and geographic information on the route, and outputs a presentation text (text information) including a summary text, guidance text, and peripheral information text. Also, the presentation text generation unit 105 receives the route stored in the route storage unit 155, geographic information on the route, notification determination, current location and direction from the guidance control unit 107, and generates guidance text and peripheral information text. Update and output the updated guidance text and peripheral information text. In addition, the presentation sentence generation unit 105 receives the reading command from the screen input unit 101, acquires the presentation sentence from the presentation sentence storage unit 157, and outputs the presentation sentence. Furthermore, the presentation sentence generation unit 105 receives a guidance end command from the screen input unit 101 as an input, and ends generation of the presentation sentence. Specifically, the presentation text generation unit 105 generates an overview text and guidance text based on the route generated by the route generation unit 103, the geographic information on the route, and the preset priority of presentation of the geographic information. and a presentation sentence containing peripheral information sentences. Further, when the guidance control unit 107 determines that notification to the user is necessary, the presentation text generation unit 105 uses the current location and direction input from the guidance control unit 107 to generate the guidance text and the surrounding information text. Update.

The summary statement generation unit 105-1 receives the route generated by the route generation unit 103, and outputs a summary statement. Specifically, based on the route generated by the route generation unit 103, the summary statement generation unit 105-1 generates a summary statement including the distance from the departure point to the destination, the direction, and the number of turns. Generation of the synopsis will be described later.

Guidance statement generation unit 105-2 receives the route generated by route generation unit 103 and geographic information on the route, and outputs guidance statements. Guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 receives the route stored in route storage unit 155, geographic information on the route, notification judgment, current location and direction from guidance control unit 107, and updates the guidance sentence. , to output the updated guidance text. Specifically, the guidance message generating unit 105-2 generates the distance to the next node, the next node based on the route generated by the route generating unit 103, the geographical information on the route, and the priority of presentation of the geographical information. Generate guidance sentences that include geographic information that exists up to As will be explained in detail below, the priority of the presentation of geographic information is determined by the degree of danger to pedestrians of objects used for guidance, It is set in advance based on the easiness of auditory recognition of things. In addition, in order to set the priority of the presentation of geographic information, not only the sense of hearing, but also the senses of touch, temperature, pain, vibration, vision, smell, and vestibular sense (balance) that can be acquired during walking were evaluated. Any one or more may be used. The order of priority for the presentation of geographic information is to ensure that the minimum necessary information is always included even if the length of the guidance text is limited, and that the minimum necessary information is included when the guidance text is long. This is to ensure that is preferentially placed at the beginning of the sentence. Here, the minimum necessary information is information on things that are dangerous to pedestrians and information on things that physically support walking. In addition, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 acquires the current location and direction from the guidance control unit 107 when the guidance control unit 107, which will be described later, detects a change in the current location or direction, and updates the guidance message. The generation and update of guidance text will be described later.

The surrounding information statement generation unit 105-3 receives the route generated by the route generation unit 103 and geographic information on the route, and outputs a surrounding information statement. In addition, the peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3 receives the route stored in the route storage unit 155, geographic information on the route, notification determination, current location and direction from the guidance control unit 107, and produces a peripheral information sentence. Update and output the updated peripheral information sentence. The surrounding information statement generation unit 105-3 generates a surrounding information statement including geographic information around the current location based on the route generated by the route generation unit 103 and geographic information on the route. Further, the peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3 acquires the current location and direction from the guidance control unit 107 when the guidance control unit 107 detects a change in the current location or direction, and updates the peripheral information sentence. Generation and update of peripheral information sentences will be described later.

The presentation sentence generation unit 105 stores the generated presentation sentence in the presentation sentence storage unit 157, and when receiving the input of the notification determination from the guidance control unit 107, the presentation sentence generation unit 105 outputs the presentation sentence from the presentation sentence storage unit 157 at the time of reception. is read out and output to presentation sentence output unit 109-2. Further, when receiving a reading command from screen input unit 101, presentation sentence generation unit 105 acquires a presentation sentence from presentation sentence storage unit 157 at the time of acceptance, and outputs the presentation sentence to speech synthesis unit 109-3. Further, when receiving a guidance end command from the screen input unit 101, the presentation sentence generation unit 105 ends generation of the presentation sentence at the time of reception.

Guidance control unit 107 includes current location acquisition unit 107-1, direction acquisition unit 107-2, and notification determination unit 107-3. The guidance control unit 107 receives a guidance start command and a guidance end command from the screen input unit 101, and outputs a notification determination indicating the timing of notifying the visually impaired person's current location, direction, and guidance text. Upon receiving a guidance start command from the screen input unit 101, the guidance control unit 107 outputs the present location and direction of the visually impaired person to the presentation sentence generation unit 105 at predetermined time intervals until a guidance end command is received. At the same time, based on the route stored in the route storage unit 155 and the current location and orientation of the visually impaired person, the timing for notifying the guidance message is determined.

The current location acquisition unit 107-1 receives a guidance start command and a guidance end command from the screen input unit 101, and outputs the current location. Current location acquisition unit 107-1 acquires the current location (eg, latitude and longitude) of the visually impaired person at predetermined time intervals, and outputs it to notification determination unit 107-3. The current location acquisition unit 107-1 can acquire the current location by GPS, for example. When a change in the current location is detected, the current location is output to the presentation sentence generation unit 105 for updating the presentation sentence. Here, the predetermined time interval is, for example, every one second so that when walking at a speed of 1 m per second, the distance can be updated at intervals of 1 m. Also, "when a change in the current location is detected" is, for example, when the distance, which is the difference from the previously acquired current location, exceeds a predetermined threshold. For example, the predetermined threshold is set to 1 m so that the distance is updated at intervals of 1 m.

The direction acquisition unit 107-2 receives a guidance start command and a guidance end command from the screen input unit 101, and outputs a direction. Orientation acquisition section 107-2 acquires the orientation of the visually impaired person (for example, the orientation of the visually impaired person) and outputs it to notification determination section 107-3. The azimuth acquisition unit 107-2 can, for example, estimate the traveling direction of the visually impaired person from changes in the current location, and determine the azimuth assuming that the visually impaired person faces the traveling direction. When a change in orientation is detected, the present location is output to the presentation sentence generation unit 105 for updating the presentation sentence. “When a change in orientation is detected” is, for example, a case where the angle, which is the difference from the previously acquired orientation, exceeds a predetermined threshold. For example, the predetermined angle is assumed to be 30°, which corresponds to one hour, assuming that it is represented by the clock position (direction divided by 12 by the direction of the hands of an analog clock).

The notification determination unit 107-3 receives the current location from the current location acquisition unit 107-1, the direction from the direction acquisition unit 107-2, and the route stored in the route storage unit 155, and indicates the timing of notification of guidance text. Output notification judgment and vibration command. Notification determination unit 107-3 compares the current location of the visually impaired person acquired by current location acquisition unit 107-1 with a notification point on the route (for example, each node, a point 10 m before a node other than the departure point), It is determined whether or not the current location of the visually impaired person is at the notification point on the route, and if the visually impaired person's current location is at the notification point on the route, it is determined that the visually impaired person needs to be notified. When notification determination unit 107-3 determines that notification to the visually impaired person is necessary, notification determination unit 107-3 outputs a notification determination to presentation sentence generation unit 105, and issues a vibration command, which is an instruction to cause vibration output unit 109-1 to output vibration. Output.

The output unit 109 is composed of a vibration output unit 109-1, a presentation sentence output unit 109-2, and a speech synthesis unit 109-3. The output unit 109 receives the presentation sentence output from the presentation sentence generation unit 105, and outputs a notification of outputting the presentation sentence and the presentation sentence. When the presentation sentence generation unit 105 outputs the presentation sentence to the speech synthesis unit 109-3 in response to the reading command, the presentation sentence acquired by the speech output unit 109-4 is output by voice.

Vibration output unit 109-1 receives the vibration command from notification determination unit 107-3 and outputs vibration. Vibration output unit 109-1 outputs vibration, for example, as vibration of a smartphone, according to the vibration command output when notification determination unit 107-3 determines that notification to the visually impaired person is necessary. A visually handicapped person can recognize the timing of receiving the guidance sentence by vibration, and can input a read-aloud command to the screen input unit 101 .

The presentation sentence output unit 109-2 receives the presentation sentence from the presentation sentence generation unit 105, and outputs (displays) the presentation sentence received from the presentation sentence generation unit 105 on the screen.

The speech synthesis unit 109-3 receives the presentation sentence from the presentation sentence generation unit 105 as an input, generates a synthesized speech signal from the presentation sentence received from the presentation sentence generation unit 105 in response to the reading command, and outputs the synthesized speech signal. do.

The speech output unit 109-4 receives the synthesized speech signal from the speech synthesizing unit 109-3 and outputs synthesized speech.

<Processing procedure of guide device>
The processing procedure executed by the guidance device 100 will be further described below.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure executed by the guidance device 100. As shown in FIG. The flowchart in FIG. 3 shows the first-time processing procedure executed by the guidance device 100 when the guidance device 100 generates and stores a presentation sentence in response to a guidance start command.

In step S1, the screen input unit 101 receives the input of the name of the departure point and the destination, and the text information of the name of the departure point and the destination (hereinafter, the text information of the name of the departure point is "departure point", the name of the destination is A guidance start command, which is an instruction to generate a route from the departure point to the destination, including text information of the name is described as “destination”, is passed to the route generation unit 103 . The input method may be keyboard input, voice input (input voice is converted into text information by voice recognition), or other input methods.

In step S2, the route generation unit 103 acquires route information from the route information storage unit 151 and acquires geographic information from the geographic information storage unit 153 according to the departure point and the destination. FIG. 4 shows an example of route information, and FIG. 5 shows an example of geographic information. The route information includes a route name, a departure point, a destination, and the latitude and longitude of nodes included from the departure point to the destination. Geographic information includes a geographic information name, geographic information type, line/point, latitude/longitude, left/right, and orientation. The "type" of geographic information is a categorization used to limit the geographic information to be presented to the visually impaired. It is classified into one of walking support information indicating that it is an object, indicating that it is an object that can be recognized by a sense that can be acquired while walking, and a landmark. The senses that can be acquired during walking include hearing, touch, temperature, pain, vibration, vision, smell, and vestibular sense (balance). A "line/point" indicates whether the geographic information exists at one point on the link between nodes (corresponding to "point"), or whether it exists continuously over the entire link or a section between nodes. It is an attribute that indicates whether the Therefore, Braille blocks and the like are lines. "Latitude and longitude" is location information indicating the center of the location where geographic information exists. "Left and right" and "orientation" indicate which side (right or left) the geographic information exists when viewed from a specified direction, and which direction the gradient is. In this embodiment, it is assumed that indoor geographic information such as a station premises is used. A block or the like to which information for assisting the walking of the handicapped is added may be used as the geographic information. In step S2, the route generation unit 103 acquires from the route information storage unit 151 a route having the same starting point and destination, and acquires geographic information on the route from the latitude and longitude of the route from the geographic information storage unit 153. .

In step S3, the route generation unit 103 generates a route from the starting point, destination, route information and geographic information. FIG. 6 shows an example of a route generated by the route generation unit 103. As shown in FIG. The route includes nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, turns and destination are expressed as nodes, and geographic information along the way. The "distance to the next node", "next turning direction", "distance from the previous node", "left and right", and "direction" are calculated from the "latitude and longitude" of the node or geographic information and the traveling direction based thereon. "Distance to next node" and "Direction of next turn" are described only at node points, and "Distance from previous node", "left and right" and "direction" are described only at geographic information points. Geographic information whose distance from the previous node is "-" has the attribute of "line/point" in FIG. Do not calculate distance. A "notification point" is a point at which a visually impaired person needs to be notified. Here, it is assumed that notification is necessary at all nodes. The generated route is passed to the presentation sentence generation unit 105 by the route generation unit 103 and also stored in the route storage unit 155 .

In step S4, the presentation sentence generating unit 105 generates a presentation sentence from the root. It should be noted that the presentation sentence here is a sentence including the summary sentence, the guidance sentence, and the peripheral information sentence as a whole, as shown in FIG. FIG. 8 shows a flow chart for generating a summary sentence, FIG. 10 shows a flow chart for generating a guidance sentence, and FIG. 15 shows a flow chart for generating a peripheral information sentence. Each will be described later.

In step S5, the presentation sentence generation unit 105 passes the presentation sentence to the presentation sentence output unit 109-2 and outputs the presentation sentence. At this time, the presentation sentence is output on the screen of the smartphone or the like. Then, the presentation sentence is stored in the presentation sentence storage unit 157 . The presentation text may be directly output to the screen of a smartphone, etc. Alternatively, a button such as "speech reading" may be displayed, and the presentation text may be displayed by pressing the button (touching the position corresponding to the button on the touch panel screen). A command to read aloud may be received, or a button or the like may be displayed to receive a command to read out the presentation sentence while outputting it directly on the screen. For example, the button may be set to cover the entire presentation sentence display area on the smartphone. When an instruction to read out the presentation sentence is accepted, the same operation as when the instruction to read out the presentation sentence is input to the screen input unit 101 is performed.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure executed by the guidance device 100. As shown in FIG. After executing the process of FIG. 3, FIG. , shows the overall processing procedure executed by the guidance device 100. FIG.

In step S<b>6 , it is determined whether or not the presentation sentence generation unit 105 has received a guidance end command from the screen input unit 101 . For example, it is determined whether a guidance end button on the screen has been pressed or a guidance end command has been issued by a voice command. If the guidance end command has not been received, the process proceeds to step S7, and if the guidance end command has been received, the processing ends.

Subsequently, in step S7, the presentation sentence generation unit 105 determines whether or not it has received an instruction to read a presentation sentence from the screen input unit 101 or not. For example, it is determined whether or not the presentation sentence display area is touched on the smartphone. If the reading command has been received, the process proceeds to step S8, and if the reading command has not been received, the process proceeds to step S11.

In step S8, the presentation sentence generation unit 105 acquires the presentation sentence for which the read-out command has been received from the presentation sentence storage unit 157, and passes it to the speech synthesis unit 109-3.

In step S9, speech synthesizing section 109-3 generates a synthesized speech signal from the presentation sentence input from presentation sentence creating section 105, and passes it to speech output section 109-4. Any synthesis system may be used as the speech synthesis system.

In step S10, the speech output unit 109-4 outputs synthesized speech obtained by converting the synthesized speech signal input from the speech synthesizing unit 109-3 into sound. For example, synthetic voice is output from smartphone speakers, earphones, and headphones. Then, the process proceeds to step S11.

In step S11, current location acquisition unit 107-1 of guidance control unit 107 acquires the current location at predetermined time intervals and outputs it to notification determination unit 107-3, and direction acquisition unit 107-2 acquires the direction at predetermined time intervals. It acquires and outputs to notification determination unit 107-3.

In step S12, the guidance control unit 107 determines whether the current location or direction or both have changed. If neither has changed, the process returns to step S6, and if any has changed, the process proceeds to step S13.

In step S13, the guidance control unit 107 passes the changed current location and orientation to the presentation sentence generation unit 105, and the presentation sentence generation unit 105 updates the presentation sentence. As shown in FIG. 2, the guidance text and the peripheral information text are to be updated. FIG. 17 shows a flow chart for updating guidance text, and FIG. 19 shows a flow chart for updating peripheral information text. Each will be described later.

In step S14, presentation sentence generation unit 105 passes the updated presentation sentence to presentation sentence output unit 109-2, and outputs the presentation sentence. Then, the presentation sentence is stored in the presentation sentence storage unit 157 .

In step S15, the notification determination unit 107-3 determines whether notification to the user is necessary. Whether or not a point requires notification is determined from the latitude and longitude of the node on the route. Points that require notification are all nodes and points 10m before nodes other than the starting point. It should be noted that the distance, which is how many meters in front, can be individually set by the user, and can be arbitrarily set. Compare the current location with the point where notification is required, and if notification is required (i.e., when the user reaches any node and/or when the user reaches 10m before a node other than the starting point) The process proceeds to step S16, and returns to step S6 if notification is not required.

In step S16, notification determination section 107-3 of guidance control section 107 gives a vibration command to vibration output section 109-1, and vibration output section 109-1 outputs vibration. For example, output as a smartphone vibration. It should be noted that for persons other than the visually impaired, a sound signal may be used for children, and an optical signal may be used for hearing impaired. For example, the vibration may be stopped after a predetermined period of time, the vibration may be stopped by the visually impaired person operating the screen, or it may be detected that the visually impaired person has stopped. You may make it stop a vibration by doing. After outputting the vibration, the process returns to step S6, and the process is continued unless a guidance end command is received in step S6.

Although FIG. 7 is described as a series of flowcharts in the guidance device 100, some processes are executed in parallel. For example, the processes of steps S11 to S16 are executed simultaneously even during the execution of steps S7 to S10.

<Generation of outline text>
Next, generation of a summary sentence performed by the summary sentence generation unit 105-1 in step S4 of FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 8 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure for generating a synopsis.

First, in step S4-1-1, the synopsis generating unit 105-1 acquires the entire route from the departure point to the destination. For example, the entire route as shown in FIG. 5 is obtained.

Subsequently, in step S4-1-2, the direction to the destination, the walking distance to the destination, and the number of times of turns are calculated from the route acquired by the synopsis generating unit 105-1. For example, in the case of the route shown in FIG. 5, the route is illustrated as shown in FIG. 9, the angle from the starting point is calculated, and the closest value of the angle divided by 12 of the clock is taken as the direction of the destination. The walking distance to the destination is calculated by adding up the distances between each node. The number of turns is calculated by adding up the number of nodes excluding the origin and destination.

In step S4-1-3, summary sentence generation unit 105-1 generates a sentence using the direction of the destination, the walking distance to the destination, and the number of turns. For example, in the case of the route shown in Fig. 5, the sentence "The destination is located at a walking distance of 440 m in the direction of 1 o'clock from the starting point. There will be one turn on the way." Generate.

<Generation of guidance text>
Next, the generation of the guidance message performed by the guidance message generation unit 105-2 in step S4 of FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 10 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure for generating guidance sentences in the first embodiment.

First, in step S4-2-1, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 performs the following operations from the root, from the node 1 to the node 2, from the node 2 to the node 3, . . . , from the node M to the node M+1, . N (M<N, M is an integer equal to or greater than 1, N is an integer equal to or greater than 2), each node is divided, and N-1 sections are generated for N nodes. Here, one section means a section sandwiched between a certain node and a node adjacent to the node and one ahead in the traveling direction.

In step S4-2-2, 1 is set to a variable M representing a section for which a guidance sentence is to be generated.

In step S4-2-3, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 acquires the section from node M to node M+1. For example, when M=1, the section from node 1 to node 2 is obtained from the route in FIG. 6 as shown in FIG. Note that M is incremented in later step S4-2-16, and when M=2, the section from node 2 to node 3 is obtained as shown in FIG. 12, and when M=3, the section shown in FIG. Thus, the section from node 3 to node 4 is obtained. In the present embodiment, an example in which one section between nodes on the route is acquired will be described on the assumption that guidance text is generated for each turn. , and a plurality of sections may be acquired.

In step S4-2-4, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 refers to the distance from the previous node and determines whether or not there is geographic information with a distance of 5 m or less to the next node. If there is geographic information with a distance of 5 m or less to the next node, the process proceeds to step S4-2-5 to acquire one piece of geographic information with the shortest distance to the next node. If there is no geographic information with a distance of 5m or less to the next node, proceed to step S4-2-6. The distance to the next node is preferably around 5m, but any value less than the notification point (10m in the above example) before the node may be used. Also, the number of pieces of geographic information to be acquired is not limited to one, and a plurality of pieces of geographic information may be acquired. A plurality of pieces of geographic information may be acquired, and a guide sentence may be generated using the relationship between the pieces of geographic information, such as the distance between an elevator and stairs. In the case of FIG. 11, since there is no geographic information for which the distance to node 2 is 5 m or less, the process proceeds to step S4-2-6. In the case of FIG. 12, since the distance to the next node for "escalator" is 2 m, the process advances to step S4-2-5 to acquire information on "escalator".

Subsequently, in step S4-2-6, the guidance message generator 105-2 refers to the route type column and determines whether or not there is danger information or walking support information in the geographic information. In the case of FIG. 11, "stairs" and "pillar" are danger information, so it is determined that there is danger information.

If there is danger information or walking support information in step S4-2-6, the process advances to step S4-2-7, and the guide message generator 105-2 acquires all of the danger information and walking support information. For example, in the case of FIG. 11, "stairs" and "columns" are acquired. When all the danger information and walking support information are acquired in step S4-2-7, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 proceeds to step S4-2-10.

If there is neither danger information nor walking support information in step S4-2-6, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 proceeds to step S4-2-8 to determine whether or not there is landmark information. If the landmark information is not included, the process proceeds to step S4-2-10, and if it is included, the process proceeds to step S4-2-9. For example, in the case of FIG. 13, "wall" and "elevator" are the types of landmarks, so the process proceeds to step S4-2-9.

In step S4-2-9, the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 acquires one piece of landmark information according to the priority of presentation. Note that the number of pieces of landmark information to be acquired is not limited to one, and a plurality of pieces of landmark information may be acquired. FIG. 14 shows an example of the priority order of presentation of geographic information. Those with "-" in the priority order column are danger information or walking support information, and since they are always included in guidance text, they are not ranked, and only landmark information is ranked. If there are multiple pieces of landmark information included in the route, the one with the lowest priority number, that is, the one with the highest priority is selected. For example, in the case of Fig. 14, two landmarks, "wall" and "elevator", are included in the section on the route. , to get the "elevator" with higher priority. Note that the type of geographic information (whether it is danger information, walking support information, or landmark information) and the priority of presentation of geographic information are based on a questionnaire survey of visually impaired people in the present embodiment. I have to. If it is not possible to conduct a questionnaire, information that presents a risk of stumbling or colliding while walking is classified as danger information, information that presents road information or supports walking is classified as walking support information, and other information is classified as landmark information. In addition, the priority of the presentation of geographical information can be set based on the ease of auditory recognition of the objects used for guidance. Those that can be determined (for example, in the case of "escalator", a voice saying "It's an up escalator" or an operating sound is emitted) are given a higher priority for presentation. In addition, depending on the degree of disability of the visually impaired person using the device, the user may be able to set or change the classification of geographic information and the priority of presentation of landmarks by himself or herself in advance.

At step S4-2-10, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 generates a text using the route. First, arrange the words in the order of the distance to move → the direction to turn (the arrow indicates the order in which the words are arranged. Here, it means that the word on the left side of the arrow is placed closer to the beginning of the sentence than the word on the right side of the arrow. distance followed by direction of curvature) to generate sentences. For example, a sentence such as "Turn right after 200 meters" is generated. It should be noted that it is not always necessary for guidance message generation unit 105-2 to continuously arrange the distance to travel and the direction to turn, and a phrase may be inserted between the distance to travel and the direction to turn.

In step S4-2-11, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 determines whether or not geographical information with a distance to the next node of 5 m or less has been obtained. If it has been acquired, the process proceeds to step S4-2-12, and if it has not been acquired, the process proceeds to step S4-2-13.

In step S4-2-12, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 generates a text using geographic information indicating that the distance to the next node is 5 m or less as a turning mark. For example, a sentence is generated such as "The descending escalator is the landmark for the turn."

In step S4-2-13, it is determined whether or not the guidance message generation unit 105-2 has acquired danger information, walking support information, or landmark information. If it has been acquired, the process proceeds to step S4-2-14, and if it has not been acquired, the process proceeds to step S4-2-15.

In step S4-2-14, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 generates a text using the danger information, walking support information, or landmark information. For example, if the guidance text generation unit 105-2 has acquired danger information or walking support information, it generates a text using all of the acquired danger information or walking support information. In addition, when guidance text generation unit 105-2 has acquired one piece of landmark information based on the priority order of presentation, it generates a text using the acquired landmark information. More specifically, the guide sentence generating unit 105-2 arranges words in the order of geographic information name→location information of geographic information (that is, places the location information of geographic information after the name of geographic information) to generate sentences. For example, a sentence is generated such as "the automatic door is on the right side after 50m". It should be noted that it is not always necessary for the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 to arrange the geographic information name and the location information consecutively, and a phrase may be inserted between the geographic information name and the location information.

In step S4-2-15, it is determined whether M is equal to N-1, that is, whether guidance text generation for all sections has been completed. If there is a section for which guidance text generation has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S4-2-16.

At step S4-2-16, the value of variable M is incremented by 1 (hereinafter referred to as increment), and the process returns to step S4-2-3.

In the above flowchart, when all the danger information and walking support information are acquired in step S4-2-7, the process proceeds to step S4-2-10, but the process may proceed to step S4-2-8. However, if the procedure proceeds to step S4-2-8 to generate a guidance message based on the danger information, the walking support information, and the landmarks, the guidance message becomes long. In order to reduce the amount of guidance text to a necessary and sufficient amount from the viewpoint of reducing the user's burden when listening, if there is danger information and walking support information, generate guidance text with danger information and walking support information. is desirable.

Examples of sentence generation are shown in FIGS. 11, 12, and 13, respectively. At this time, the reason for arranging the words in the order of geographic information name → geographic location information is that when the importance of geographic information to be confirmed in advance is decided for visually impaired people, it is not a burden to select information to listen to. Because you can. For example, when a visually impaired person wants to check only information about stairs in advance, voice guidance is given in the order of geographic information location information → geographic information name (i.e., placing the geographic information name after the geographic location information). Each time it is presented, it has to memorize the location information of the geographic information that it hears first, and then confirms whether it hears the "staircase". Conversely, if the geographic information names are arranged first, it is only necessary to memorize the following position information after hearing "stairs", so it is possible to select information without burden. Also, the reason why the words are arranged in the order of the distance traveled and the direction of the turn is that it is easier to compose the overall image of the route by listening to the distance traveled.

As for other guidance text generation rules, for geographic information whose "line/point" is a line, only information about the left, right, and orientation is inserted after the geographic information name, without including the location information of the geographic information. For example, the braille block in FIG. 12 does not have the distance from the previous node because it is "line" information. Therefore, a sentence is generated without including distance information, such as "on the way, there is a braille block on the left."

Also, if multiple pieces of geographic information with the same geographic information name exist between nodes, for example, if there are "descending stairs" between one node and the next node 20m, 30m, and 40m ahead, "on the way, There are three descending stairs, 20m ahead, 30m ahead, and 40m ahead." A sentence is generated by arranging a plurality of location information and arranging the number of geographic information after the plurality of location information. It should be noted that it is not necessary for the guidance message generation unit 105-2 to arrange the geographical information name, the positional information, and the number of geographical information consecutively. A phrase may be inserted between

In addition, the amount of sentences presented at one time is based on the presentation of each corner (node), and basically the information of the range to the next corner is presented, but the distance from one node to the next node is If the distance is shorter than the distance to be notified before the corner, the information of the range up to the next corner may be presented. For example, if the distance is set to 10m when notifying before a corner, and the distance from node N to node N+1 is 5m, at the point 10m before node N, "Two guidance. 10m ahead to the right On the way, after 3m, there is a descending staircase on the right.Then, after 5m, turn left.On the way, there is a tactile block on the left." A sentence is generated using the information of the range up to the next next turn.

<Generation of Peripheral Information Statement>
Next, generation of a peripheral information sentence performed by the peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3 in step S4 of FIG. 3 will be described. FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure for generating a peripheral information sentence.

First, in step S4-3-1, the peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3 generates from the root, from node 1 to node 2, from node 2 to node 3, . . . , from node M to node M+1, . Divide each node like node N (M < N, M is an integer of 1 or more, N is an integer of 2 or more), and generate N-1 sections for N nodes . Here, one section means a section sandwiched between a certain node and a node adjacent to the node and one ahead in the traveling direction.

In step S4-3-2, 1 is set to the variable M representing the interval for which the peripheral sentence is to be generated.

In step S4-3-3, the peripheral information sentence generator 105-3 acquires the section from node M to node M+1. For example, when M=1, the section from node 1 to node 2 is obtained from the route in FIG. 6 as shown in FIG. Note that M is incremented in later step S4-3-7, and other sections are also acquired. In this embodiment, an example of generating a peripheral information sentence using geographic information existing between nodes will be described, but geographic information within a predetermined range from the current location may be acquired.

Subsequently, in step S4-3-4, all of the danger information, walking support information, and landmark information in the geographic information of the section acquired by the peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3 are acquired. For example, in the case of FIG. 16, all of "stairs", "pillars", and "automatic doors" are acquired.

In step S4-3-5, the peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3 arranges words in the order of geographic information name→location information of geographic information to generate sentences. For example, a sentence such as "automatic door: located on the right after 50 m" is generated. At that time, the geographic information is arranged in order of proximity to the front in the traveling direction. FIG. 16 shows an example of sentence generation.

In step S4-3-6, it is determined whether or not M is equal to N-1, that is, whether or not the peripheral information sentences for all sections have been generated. If there is a section for which the generation of the peripheral information sentence has not been completed, the process proceeds to step S4-3-7, and if the generation of the guidance sentence for all sections has been completed, the process ends.

At step S4-3-7, the variable M is incremented and the process returns to step S4-3-3.

<Updated information>
Next, generation of the guidance message performed by the guidance message generation unit 105-2 in step S13 of FIG. 7 will be described. FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure for updating guidance text in the first embodiment.

First, in step S13-1-1, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 acquires a section from the route from the node M immediately before the current location to the next node M+1. For example, if the current location is between node 1 and node 2, the section from node 1 to node 2 as shown in FIG. 18 is acquired from the route in FIG.

In step S13-1-2, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 refers to the distance from the previous node and determines whether or not there is geographic information with a distance of 5 m or less to the next node. If there is geographic information with a distance of 5 m or less to the next node, the process proceeds to step S13-1-3 to acquire one piece of geographic information with the shortest distance to the next node. If there is no geographic information whose distance to the next node is 5 m or less, the process proceeds to step S13-1-4. Note that any threshold other than 5m may be used as the distance to the next node. Also, the number of pieces of geographic information to be acquired is not limited to one, and a plurality of pieces of geographic information may be acquired. In the case of FIG. 18, since there is no geographic information for which the distance to node 2 is 5 m or less, the process proceeds to step S13-1-4.

Subsequently, in step S13-1-4, the guidance message generator 105-2 refers to the route type column and determines whether or not there is danger information or walking support information in the geographic information of the route after the current location. In FIG. 18, it is assumed that the current location is 120 meters ahead of node 1. In FIG. At this time, referring to the distance from the previous node reveals that the current location is between the "pillar" and the "automatic door". Therefore, in this step, it is determined whether or not there is danger information or walking support information in the geographic information after "automatic door". In the case of FIG. 18, since "automatic door" is landmark information, it is determined that danger information or walking support information is not included.

If there is danger information or walking support information in step S13-1-4, the process advances to step S13-1-5, and the guide message generator 105-2 acquires all of the danger information and walking support information. Then, the process proceeds to step S13-1-8.

If there is neither danger information nor walking support information in step S13-1-4, the process proceeds to step S13-1-6. determine whether there is If the landmark information is not included, the process proceeds to step S13-1-8, and if it is included, the process proceeds to step S13-1-7. For example, in the case of FIG. 18, since "automatic door" is included after the current location, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines that landmark information is included, and proceeds to step S13-1-7.

In step S13-1-7, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 acquires one piece of landmark information according to the priority of presentation. For example, in the case of FIG. 18, the landmark information after the current location is only "automatic door", so "automatic door" is acquired.

In step S13-1-8, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 recalculates the distance and direction from the current location and direction information. For example, in the case of Figure 18, the current location is 120m ahead of node 1, so the distance from the current location to the "automatic door" is 130m - 120m = 10m, and the distance from the current location to node 2 is 150m - 120m, which is 30m. .

In step S13-1-9, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 generates a text using the route. First, a sentence is generated by arranging words in the order of distance to move → direction to turn (that is, arranging the direction to turn after the distance to move). For example, a sentence such as "Turn right after 200 meters" is generated.

In step S13-1-10, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether or not the geographic information for the distance to the next node of 5 m or less has been acquired. If it has been acquired, the process proceeds to step S13-1-11, and if it has not been acquired, the process proceeds to step S13-1-12.

In step S13-1-11, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 generates a text using geographic information indicating that the distance to the next node is 5 m or less as a turning mark. For example, a sentence is generated such as "The descending escalator is the landmark for the turn."

In step S13-1-12, it is determined whether or not the guidance message generation unit 105-2 has obtained danger information, walking support information, or landmark information. If it has been acquired, the process proceeds to step S13-1-13, and if it has not been acquired, the process ends.

In step S13-1-13, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 generates a text using the danger information, walking support information, or landmark information. For example, if the guidance text generation unit 105-2 has acquired danger information or walking support information, it generates a text using all of the acquired danger information or walking support information. In addition, when guidance text generation unit 105-2 has acquired one piece of landmark information based on the priority order of presentation, it generates a text using the acquired landmark information. More specifically, the guide sentence generating unit 105-2 arranges words in the order of geographic information name→location information of geographic information (that is, places the location information of geographic information after the name of geographic information) to generate sentences. For example, a sentence is generated such as "the automatic door is on the right side after 50m".

<Updated peripheral information>
Next, generation of a peripheral information sentence performed by the peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3 in step S13 of FIG. 7 will be described. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure for updating peripheral information sentences.

First, in step S13-2-1, the peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3 acquires a section from the root from the node M immediately before the current location to the next node M+1. For example, if the current location is between node 1 and node 2, the section from node 1 to node 2 is obtained from the route in FIG. 6 as shown in FIG.

Subsequently, in step S13-2-2, all of the danger information, walking support information, and landmark information in the geographic information of the section acquired by the peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3 are acquired. For example, in the case of FIG. 20, all of "stairs", "pillars", and "automatic doors" are acquired. At this time, unlike the guide text, the peripheral information text covers all geographic information from node 1 to node 2, not just the geographic information after the current location.

In step S13-2-3, the peripheral information sentence generation unit 105-3 recalculates the distance and direction from the current location and direction information. For example, in the case of Figure 20, the current location is 120m ahead of node 1, so the "stairs" is 20m-120m = -100m from the current location (minus is interpreted as being behind), and the "pillar" is 100m-120m. =-20m, "automatic door" is 130m-120m=10m.

Finally, in step S13-2-4, the surrounding information sentence generation unit 105-3 arranges words in the order of geographic information name→location information of geographic information to generate sentences. For example, a sentence such as "automatic door: located on the right after 50 m" is generated. At that time, the geographic information is arranged in order of proximity to the front of the traveling direction from the current location, and then the geographical information is arranged in order of proximity to the rear in the traveling direction. FIG. 20 shows an example of sentence generation.

(Second embodiment)
In the above-described first embodiment, an example has been described in which all danger information between nodes is included in one message. However, when multiple pieces of danger information exist between nodes, including all of the danger information in one message may cause users such as those with visual impairments to not be able to remember all of the danger information. It is desirable to divide the presentation into multiple times or change it to a shorter expression. In the second embodiment of the present invention, an example will be described in which the number of pieces of danger information to be included in one message is set based on the location information and the number of pieces of danger information in consideration of the listener's load.

<Functional configuration of guide device>
FIG. 21 is a diagram showing a functional configuration example of the guidance device 100 according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

The functions of the guidance device 100 in the second embodiment are configured in the same manner as in FIG. is different. In addition, since the notification of danger information is also divided into multiple times, the notification point of the guidance sentence is input from the presentation sentence storage unit 157 to the notification determination unit 107-3, and the function of the notification determination unit 107-3 is the first execution. different from the form.

Guidance statement generation unit 105-2 receives the route generated by route generation unit 103 and geographic information on the route, and outputs guidance statements. Guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 receives the route stored in route storage unit 155, geographic information on the route, notification judgment, current location and direction from guidance control unit 107, and updates the guidance sentence. , to output the updated guidance text. Specifically, when there is a plurality of pieces of danger information up to the next node, guidance message generation unit 105-2 combines some pieces of danger information into one set based on the distance and number of locations where the danger information exists. In summary, a guidance message is generated for each set. Also, in updating the guidance text, if there is a plurality of danger information up to the next node, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 generates several danger information based on the distance and the number of locations where the danger information exists. are put together into one set, and guidance sentences are generated and updated for each set. In addition, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 sets a notification point (for example, a point 5m before the point where the first danger information of each group after the second group exists) for notifying the guidance message generated for each group. do. Note that if danger information exists at a notification point before a node (for example, a point 10 meters before a node other than the departure point), the guidance message generation unit 105-2 cancels the notification before the node (does not notify). You may perform the cancellation setting of the notification point for the purpose. The generation and update of guidance text will be described later.

Notification determination unit 107-3 obtains the current location from current location acquisition unit 107-1, the direction from direction acquisition unit 107-2, the route stored in route storage unit 155, and the guidance text stored in presentation text storage unit 157. The notification point is input, and a notification judgment indicating the timing of notification of the guidance message and a vibration command are output. The notification determination unit 107-3 includes the current location of the visually impaired person acquired by the current location acquisition unit 107-1, the notification point on the route, the notification point set by the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2, and the cancellation setting of the notification point. is compared to determine whether or not the visually impaired person's current location is at the notification point, and if the visually impaired person's current location is at the notification point, it is determined that the visually impaired person needs to be notified.

<Generation of guidance text>
Next, generation of a guidance message performed by the guidance message generation unit 105-2 in the second embodiment will be described.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure for generating guidance sentences in the second embodiment. The processing procedure shown in FIG. 22 is performed subsequent to step S4-2-7 in FIG.

In step S4-4-1, guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether or not there are two or more pieces of danger information among the information acquired in step S4-2-7. If there are two or more, the process proceeds to step S4-4-2, and if there is one or less, the process proceeds to step S4-4-10.

In step S4-4-2, guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether or not all the distances between locations with danger information are less than 10 m. If all points with danger information are adjacent to each other within 10m, proceed to step S4-4-3. , the process proceeds to step S4-4-4. In the present embodiment, an example will be described in which the standard for determining whether or not the distance between points where danger information exists is short is 10 m. Any value other than 10m may be used as the criterion, as long as it is the distance to be judged.

In step S4-4-3, guidance message generation unit 105-2 puts together all pieces of danger information to form a continuous set (hereafter, a set of pieces of danger information adjacent to each other within 10 m is referred to as a “continuous set”). group”). For example, in the section from node M to node M+1 as shown in FIG. Collect all the information into a continuous set. At this time, the distance from the first danger information to the last danger information in one continuous set may be 10 m or more. If all the danger information is collected in step S4-4-3, the process proceeds to step S4-4-10.

In step S4-4-4, guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether or not there are two pieces of danger information. In the case of two, the distance between points where danger information exists is always 10 m or more, so the process proceeds to step S4-4-10. If there are three or more, the process proceeds to step S4-4-5.

In step S4-4-5, guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether at least a portion of the distance between locations where danger information exists is less than 10 m. If at least part of the distances between locations where danger information exists is less than 10m, proceed to step S4-4-6, and the distance between locations where danger information exists for all adjacent danger information is 10m or more. If so, proceed to step S4-4-7.

In step S4-4-6, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 collects the danger information for which the distance between locations where the danger information exists is less than 10 m, and forms a continuous set. For example, in the section from node M to node M+1 as shown in FIG. However, the distance between the point where the first danger information exists and the point where the second danger information exists, and the distance between the point where the third danger information exists and the point where the fourth danger information exists If the distances are less than 10m each, then each shall be considered a continuous set. In step S4-4-6, if danger information with a distance of less than 10 m between locations where danger information exists is collected, the process proceeds to step S4-4-7.

In step S4-4-7, guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether or not an odd number of three or more pieces of danger information closer to node M form a set. That is, it is determined whether or not the number of adjacent danger information not forming a set, starting from the danger information closest to node M, is an odd number of 3 or more. If three or more odd pieces of danger information are not in one set, the process proceeds to step S4-4-8, otherwise the process proceeds to step S4-4-9.

In step S4-4-8, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 selects one danger information closest to the node M from among the three or more odd pieces of danger information closest to the node M as a single set. do. For example, as shown in FIG. 23(C), if the three pieces of danger information closest to the node M do not form a set, then the danger information closest to the node M is treated as a single set. If the dangerous information closest to the node M is regarded as a single set, the process proceeds to step S4-4-9.

In step S4-4-9, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 puts together two sets of adjacent danger information that are not in one set from the direction of travel to form one set. In other words, the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 puts together two pieces of adjacent danger information that are not in one set between the node M and the node M+1 in the direction of the node M from the one closest to the node M+1. One set for each. For example, as shown in FIG. 23(D), since the second and third pieces of danger information from node M do not form a set, Combine two of them into one set. When three or more pieces of danger information are put together in groups of two, if the number is an even number such as 6, they are grouped in order of two. There are two possibilities: two halves, or two halves and one second half. In this embodiment, by passing through step S4-4-8, in the case of an odd number, the risk information closest to the node M always forms a single set. The reason for performing such processing is to suppress the amount of information presented by the node M. In order to present the distance traveled, the direction to turn, the geographic information that exists up to the next node, etc. at node M, in order to reduce the number of danger information presented at node M as much as possible, danger information that does not form a set is an odd number of 3 or more, the number of danger information presented at the node M is set to 1. In the present embodiment, a case has been described in which two pieces of danger information are put together in consideration of the load that the user remembers at one time, but any value of three or more pieces of danger information may be used. That is, if L (L is an integer of 2 or more) pieces of danger information from the nearest node M are not grouped into one set, the number of pieces of danger information to be put together is P (P is an integer of 2 or more). , the number of risk information presented at node M is the remainder Q (Q is an integer equal to or greater than 1) obtained by dividing L by P. In addition, in order to minimize the load that the user has to memorize at one time, each piece of danger information that is not in one set may be individually set as one set (in this case, the processing of S4-4-2 to S4-4-9 is unnecessary), the number of danger information presented at the node M is always one, and the rest may be set to be a set of L pieces and Q pieces. If the adjacent danger information is set as one set, or if each piece of danger information that is not in one set is set as one set, the process proceeds to step S4-4-10.

In step S4-4-10, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 generates information that the notification point 10m before the node overlaps with the point where the danger information exists, or is in a continuous group or in a group. It is judged whether the notification point 10m in front of the node overlaps in the. In other words, the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 determines whether the location where the danger information exists overlaps with the notification location 10m before the node, or whether the location is in a continuous group or at both ends of the group. Range between points where information exists (range between points where danger information exists at both ends of a set of continuous groups or in a group of groups, that is, the first danger information in the direction of travel) and the point where the last danger information exists)) determines whether there is a notification point 10m in front of the node. As a premise of step S4-4-10, as described in the first embodiment, it is assumed that a point 10m before the node other than the departure point is set as the notification point. If they overlap, the process proceeds to step S4-4-11, and if they do not overlap, the process proceeds to step S4-4-12.

In step S4-4-11, the guidance message generating unit 105-2 determines whether the point where the danger information exists overlaps with the notification point 10m before the node, or when the point is in a continuous group or in a group. If there is a notification point 10m in front of the node in the range between the points where danger information exists on both ends of the cluster, cancel the notification setting for the notification point (10m in front of the node) (set to not notify) to). For example, as shown in FIG. 24(A), if the point where the danger information exists overlaps with the notification point 10m before node M+1, the notification setting for 10m before node M+1 is cancelled. 24(A) describes "notification off"). The reason for doing this is that if the notification is given to the person near the point where the danger information exists and the person stops walking, it may become dangerous. When the notification setting of the notification point is canceled, the process proceeds to step S4-4-12.

In step S4-4-12, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 generates a message 5m before the point where the first danger information of each group after the second group from the node M (one continuous group or each group) exists. Newly set the location as a notification location. For example, as shown in FIG. 24B, when the danger information is divided into two groups, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 generates A point 5m ahead is newly set as a notification point (in FIG. 24(B), it is described as "notification ON"). The cancellation setting of the notification point and the notification point are stored in the presentation sentence storage unit 157 together with the guidance sentence. In this embodiment, the distance to walk while being conscious of danger information should be as short as possible, and in consideration of cases where the user cannot stop immediately after the notification is presented, or where the measurement error of the location information is large, the notification point is set 5m before the notification point. However, the newly set notification point can be any point after the point where the danger information exists that is one before the point where the first danger information to be notified exists. .

Subsequently, at step S4-2-10 in FIG. 10, as described in the first embodiment, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 generates a text using the route.

After that, at step S4-2-14 in FIG. 10, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 generates a text using the danger information, walking support information, or landmark information. As for the danger information grouped into one set, the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 generates guidance sentences for each set. In the example shown in FIG. 23A, the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 generates a sentence summarizing three pieces of danger information as a guidance sentence for node M. In the example shown in FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 23(B), the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 generates a sentence summarizing the first danger information and the second danger information as the guidance sentence to be presented at the node M. In the example shown in FIG. Further, the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 generates a sentence summarizing the third danger information and the fourth danger information as a guidance sentence to be presented before the third danger information. In the example shown in FIG. 23(D), the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 generates a sentence as the guidance sentence to be presented at the node M using the first danger information. Further, the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 generates a sentence summarizing the second danger information and the third danger information as a guidance sentence to be presented before the second danger information.

In step S15 of FIG. 7, the notification determination unit 107-3 acquires the cancellation setting of the notification point and the notification point from the presentation sentence storage unit 157, and determines whether or not notification to the user is necessary. When the notification point is set by the guidance message generation unit 105-2, the output unit 109 outputs the guidance message before the notification point until the notification point is passed, and outputs the guidance message after the notification point after passing the notification point. output the guidance text.

FIG. 25 shows an example of sentence generation. In the example of FIG. 25, the guidance sentences from the node M to the node M+1 are divided into two sets, and the guidance sentences are generated for each set. From node M to 5m before the uphill, the guidance message at node M is output, and after passing 5m before the uphill, the guidance text after the uphill is output. The reason why guidance sentences are generated in group units is that if all the danger information is presented to the user at once, the user will not be able to remember it. Also, when the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 generates a set of continuous guidance sentences, the second and subsequent guidance sentences, such as "On the way, there are descending stairs and ascending stairs in succession 10m ahead." omit the location information of the danger information, and generate it with the expression "continuous". The reason for doing this is also to omit the position information and make it easier to remember. The reason for arranging words in the order of geographic information name -> location information of geographic information is that, as explained in the first embodiment, when the importance of geographic information to be confirmed in advance is decided among visually impaired people, This is because the information to be heard can be sorted out without any burden.

<Updated information>
Next, the updating of the guidance message performed by the guidance message generation unit 105-2 in the second embodiment will be described.

FIG. 26 is a flow chart showing an example of a processing procedure for updating guidance text in the second embodiment. The processing procedure shown in FIG. 26 is performed subsequent to step S13-1-5 in FIG.

In step S13-3-1, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether or not there are two or more pieces of danger information among the information acquired in step S13-1-5. If there are two or more, the process proceeds to step S13-3-2, and if there is one or less, the process proceeds to step S13-3-10.

In step S13-3-2, guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether or not all the distances between points having danger information are less than 10 m. If all points with danger information are adjacent to each other within 10m, proceed to step S13-3-3. , the process proceeds to step S13-3-4.

In step S13-3-3, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 puts together all the danger information to form a continuous set. If all the danger information is collected in step S13-3-3, the process proceeds to step S13-3-10.

In step S13-3-4, guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether or not there are two pieces of danger information. In the case of two, the distance between points where danger information exists is always 10 m or more, so the process proceeds to step S13-3-10. If there are three or more, the process proceeds to step S13-3-5.

In step S13-3-5, guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether at least a portion of the distance between locations where danger information exists is less than 10 m. If at least a part is less than 10m, proceed to step S13-3-6, and if the distance between points where danger information exists for all adjacent danger information is 10m or more, proceed to step S13-3-7. .

In step S13-3-6, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 collects the danger information for which the distance between locations where the danger information exists is less than 10 m, and forms a continuous set. When the danger information that the distance between the points where the danger information exists is less than 10 m is collected in step S13-3-6, the process proceeds to step S13-3-7.

In step S13-3-7, guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether or not an odd number of three or more pieces of danger information closer to node M form a set. If three or more odd pieces of risk information are not in one set, the process proceeds to step S13-3-8, otherwise the process proceeds to step S13-3-9.

In step S13-3-8, guidance message generation unit 105-2 selects one danger information closest to node M from among three or more odd pieces of danger information closest to node M as a single set. do. If the dangerous information closest to the node M is regarded as a single set, the process proceeds to step S13-3-9.

In step S13-3-9, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 puts together two sets of adjacent danger information that are not in one set from the direction of travel to form one set. After that, the process proceeds to step S13-3-10.

In step S3-3-10, the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 generates information that the notification point 10m before the node overlaps with the point where the danger information exists, or is in a continuous group or in a group. It is judged whether the notification point 10m in front of the node overlaps in the. If they overlap, the process proceeds to step S3-3-11, and if they do not overlap, the process proceeds to step S3-3-12.

In step S3-3-11, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 determines whether the location where the danger information exists overlaps with the notification location 10m before the node, or when the location is in a continuous group or in a group. If there is a notification point 10m in front of the node in the range between the points where danger information exists on both ends of the group, the notification setting (at the notification point 10m in front of the node) is cancelled.

In step S3-3-12, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 generates a message 5m before the point where the first danger information of each group after the second group from the node M exists (one continuous group or each group). Newly set the location as a notification location. The cancellation setting of the notification point and the notification point are stored in the presentation sentence storage unit 157 together with the guidance sentence.

Subsequently, in step S13-1-8 of FIG. 17, as described in the first embodiment, the guidance message generation unit 105-2 recalculates the distance and direction from the current location and direction information.

After that, in step S13-1-13 of FIG. 17, the guidance text generation unit 105-2 generates a text using the danger information, walking support information, or landmark information. As for the danger information grouped into one set, the guidance sentence generation unit 105-2 generates guidance sentences for each set.

<Hardware configuration of guide device>
FIG. 27 shows a hardware configuration example of the guidance device 100 in the first embodiment and the second embodiment. The guide device 100 may be a computer configured with a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 191, a memory device 192 such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory), and a storage device 193 such as a hard disk. For example, the functions and processes of the guidance device 100 are implemented by the CPU 191 executing data and programs stored in the storage device 193 or the memory device 192 . Data input to the guide device 100 may be performed from the input/output interface device 194 , and data output from the guide device 100 may be performed from the input/output interface device 194 . Note that the input/output interface device 194 may be separated from the guidance device 100 and not included in the guidance device 100 . For example, the guide device 100 may be a smart phone, a tablet computer, a notebook personal computer (PC), a desktop PC, or the like equipped with a touch screen (a touch sensor and a liquid crystal display are implemented as one piece of hardware). good.

Note that it is also possible to implement the functional units related to the generation of guidance sentences in the guidance device 100, such as the route generation unit 103 and the presentation sentence generation unit 105, as one guidance sentence generation device. The screen input unit 101, the guidance control unit 107, and the output unit 109 are realized as a client-side guidance sentence output device, and the route generation unit 103, the presentation sentence generation unit 105, etc. are realized as a server-side guidance sentence generation device. is also possible. In addition, the processing units other than the screen input unit 101, the guidance control unit 107, and the output unit 109 are realized by distributing functions and data in a plurality of devices and exchanging information between these devices through the Internet or the like. may

<Supplement>
According to the embodiment of the present invention, the visually impaired person is notified at the timing when it is necessary to present the voice guidance, and the visually impaired person can listen to the voice guidance at any timing. . Therefore, it is possible to consider sound leakage to the surroundings, reduce the cognitive load of the visually impaired person, and enable them to walk safely.

In addition, since presentation sentences are generated with content and quantity that take into account that the visually impaired person listens at intervals of about every corner, the cognitive load of the visually impaired person can be reduced.

In addition, since the presentation text is updated according to the location information of the visually impaired person, it is possible to provide voice guidance according to the current location of the visually impaired person.

In addition, when a plurality of pieces of danger information exist between nodes, the danger information is divided and presented a plurality of times, thereby reducing the burden on visually impaired listeners.

For convenience of explanation, the guide device 100 according to the present embodiment is explained using a functional block diagram, but the guide device 100 according to the present embodiment is implemented by hardware, software, or a combination thereof. may For example, the present embodiment may be realized by a program that causes a computer to implement the functions of the guidance device 100, a program that causes the computer to execute each procedure of a method in the guidance device 100, or the like. Moreover, each functional part may be combined and used as needed. Also, the methods according to the present embodiments may be performed in an order different from that described in the above description.

Although the method for reducing the cognitive load on pedestrians has been described above, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications and applications are possible within the scope of the claims.

100 guidance device 101 screen input unit 103 route generation unit 105 presentation sentence generation unit 105-1 outline sentence generation unit 105-2 guidance sentence generation unit 105-3 surrounding information sentence generation unit 107 guidance control unit 107-1 current location acquisition unit 107- 2 Direction acquisition unit 107-3 Notification determination unit 109 Output unit 109-1 Vibration output unit 109-2 Presentation sentence output unit 109-3 Speech synthesis unit 109-4 Speech output unit 151 Route information storage unit 153 Geographic information storage unit 155 Route Storage unit 157 presentation sentence storage unit

Claims (11)

A guidance message generating device for generating guidance messages for pedestrians,
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
a route generator that generates a route containing
a guidance text generation unit that generates guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
The guidance sentence generation unit
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
If L (L is an integer of 2 or more) pieces of danger information are not grouped into one set from the side closest to the starting node on the route connecting the nodes, and L is a predetermined number P (P is is an integer equal to or greater than 2) is 1 or more, the Q pieces of danger information are used to generate guidance text at the node serving as the starting point, and the remaining adjacent pieces of danger information are divided into P pieces. A guidance sentence generation device that generates guidance sentences for each group united into one group, and sets a notification point for notifying the guidance sentence for each group. A guidance message generating device for generating guidance messages for pedestrians,
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
a route generator that generates a route containing
a guidance text generation unit that generates guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
The guidance sentence generation unit
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
As a guidance message for a node that is a starting point on a route that connects nodes, a guidance message is generated using the danger information closest to the node that is the starting point. A guidance message generation device that generates a guidance message for each group and sets a notification point for notifying the guidance message for each group. 3. The guidance message generating apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the priority of presentation of said geographical information is set based on ease of auditory recognition of things used for guidance. The geographic information includes a geographic information name representing the name of an object existing on a route connecting nodes, and position information indicating the location of the object,
4. The guidance message according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the guidance message generating unit generates the guidance message in which the location information corresponding to the geographical information name is arranged after the geographical information name. generator. The geographic information includes an attribute indicating whether or not an object existing on a route connecting nodes exists continuously over the entire link or a part of the link between nodes, and position information indicating the location of the object. including
1 to 3, wherein the guidance text generation unit does not include location information in the guidance text related to geographic information including an attribute indicating continuous existence over the entire link between nodes or a partial section. 5. The guidance message generation device according to any one of 4 . The geographic information includes a geographic information name representing the name of an object existing on a route connecting nodes, and position information indicating the location of the object,
When there are multiple pieces of geographic information having the same geographic information name, the guidance text generation unit arranges a plurality of pieces of location information after the geographical information name, and arranges the number of pieces of geographic information after the plurality of pieces of location information. 6. The guidance text generating device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 , which generates A guidance system including a guidance sentence generation device that generates guidance sentences for pedestrians and a guidance sentence output device that outputs guidance sentences to the pedestrians,
The guidance sentence generation device is
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
a route generator that generates a route containing
a guidance text generation unit that generates guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
The guidance sentence output device is
a current location acquisition unit that acquires the current location of the pedestrian;
an orientation acquisition unit that acquires the orientation of the pedestrian;
a notification determination unit that acquires the route generated by the guidance message generation device and determines the timing of notifying the guidance message based on the acquired route, the acquired current location and direction;
an output unit that outputs a notification to the pedestrian at the timing of notifying the guidance message and outputs the guidance message generated by the guidance message generation device;
including
The guidance message generation unit of the guidance message generation device,
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
If L (L is an integer of 2 or more) pieces of danger information are not grouped into one set from the side closest to the starting node on the route connecting the nodes, and L is a predetermined number P (P is is an integer equal to or greater than 2) is 1 or more, the Q pieces of danger information are used to generate guidance text at the node serving as the starting point, and the remaining adjacent pieces of danger information are divided into P pieces. A guidance system that generates a group-based guidance message grouped into one group, and sets a notification point for notifying the group-based guidance message. A guidance system including a guidance sentence generation device that generates guidance sentences for pedestrians and a guidance sentence output device that outputs guidance sentences to the pedestrians,
The guidance sentence generation device is
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
a route generator that generates a route containing
a guidance text generation unit that generates guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
The guidance sentence output device is
a current location acquisition unit that acquires the current location of the pedestrian;
an orientation acquisition unit that acquires the orientation of the pedestrian;
a notification determination unit that acquires the route generated by the guidance message generation device and determines the timing of notifying the guidance message based on the acquired route, the acquired current location and direction;
an output unit that outputs a notification to the pedestrian at the timing of notifying the guidance message and outputs the guidance message generated by the guidance message generation device;
including
The guidance message generation unit of the guidance message generation device,
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
As a guidance message for a node that is a starting point on a route that connects nodes, a guidance message is generated using the danger information closest to the node that is the starting point. A guidance system that generates a group-based guidance message and sets a notification point for notifying the group-based guidance message. A guidance message generation method in a guidance message generation device for generating guidance messages for pedestrians, comprising:
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
generating a route containing
generating guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
In the step of generating the guidance message,
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
If L (L is an integer of 2 or more) pieces of danger information are not grouped into one set from the side closest to the starting node on the route connecting the nodes, and L is a predetermined number P (P is is an integer equal to or greater than 2) is 1 or more, the Q pieces of danger information are used to generate guidance text at the node serving as the starting point, and the remaining adjacent pieces of danger information are divided into P pieces. A guidance message generation method for generating a guidance message for each group grouped together, and setting a notification point for notifying the guidance message for each group. A guidance message generation method in a guidance message generation device for generating guidance messages for pedestrians, comprising:
Nodes from the starting point to the destination when the starting point, the turning point and the destination are expressed as nodes,
This is a type associated with things that exist on the route that connects nodes, and includes danger information indicating that things are dangerous for walking, walking support information indicating things that support walking, and acquisition during walking. Geographic information including any one or more types of landmark information indicating that it is a thing that can be recognized by possible senses;
generating a route containing
generating guidance text for the generated route based on the generated route, the geographic information on the generated route, and the priority of presentation of the geographic information;
including
In the step of generating the guidance message,
if there is geographic information whose distance to any node on the generated route is equal to or less than a threshold, generating a guidance text using the geographic information as a node mark;
If the geographic information on the generated route includes geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, guidance text is generated using the geographic information classified as danger information and/or walking support information. generate and
If the generated geographic information on the route does not include geographic information classified as danger information or walking support information, and if the generated geographic information on the route does not include landmark information if the landmark information contains geographical information that is classified into the landmark information, the guidance message is generated using the geographical information selected based on the priority of presentation of the geographical information,
when generating guidance text for danger information existing on a route connecting nodes, if the distance between points where the danger information exists is within a predetermined distance, group the danger information into one set;
As a guidance message for a node that is a starting point on a route that connects nodes, a guidance message is generated using the danger information closest to the node that is the starting point. A guidance message generation method for generating a guidance message for each group, and setting a notification point for notifying the guidance message for each group. A program for causing a computer to function as each unit of the guidance sentence generation device according to any one of claims 1 to 6 .

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