JP7639575B2 - Information providing device and method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information providing device and method.

In recent years, vehicles and other mobile objects have been equipped with navigation devices that guide users along a route to a destination by setting the destination. The navigation devices use technology in which a keyword specifying a genre is input, the navigation devices identify facilities corresponding to the keyword, and display a travel route from the vehicle's current position to the facilities superimposed on a road map. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a device that provides guidance to facilities of a specified genre based on their usage status.

JP 2018-128363 A

According to the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1, when using the device, the destination is decided and searched for, but when there are multiple people on board the vehicle, the destination may not be clearly decided. For example, there may be a purpose to "go eat something," but no specifics about "what to eat" or "where to go to eat." In such cases, it may be difficult to reach an agreement on the destination among all passengers.

In view of the above, the present disclosure aims to provide an information providing device and method capable of providing information about facilities based on the interest levels of multiple people.

The information providing device according to the present invention includes a reception processing unit that receives the setting of the facility genre, a terminal detection unit that detects a plurality of terminal devices capable of wireless communication as a specific group, a search history information extraction unit that extracts search history information of facility information related to the facility corresponding to the genre transmitted through the network from each of the detected terminal devices of the specific group, a weighting processing unit that performs weighting processing on the genre or facility included in the search history information based on the search history information, a facility extraction unit that extracts recommended target facilities corresponding to the genre based on the result of the weighting processing, and a presentation processing unit that performs presentation processing of the extracted recommended target facilities.

The information provision method according to the present invention includes the steps of accepting a facility genre setting, detecting a plurality of terminal devices capable of wireless communication as a specific group, extracting search history information of facility information on facilities corresponding to the genre transmitted through the network from each of the terminal devices in the specific group, performing weighting processing on the genre or facilities included in the search history information based on the search history information, extracting recommended target facilities corresponding to the genre based on the results of the weighting processing, and performing presentation processing of the extracted recommended target facilities.

The information providing device and method of the present invention can provide information about facilities based on the interest levels of multiple people.

1 is a configuration diagram of an information providing device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a weighting process performed by the information providing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, using search history information of a mobile terminal of a passenger in the vehicle. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of weighting processing using search history information of a plurality of detected mobile terminals, which is performed by the information providing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of weighting processing using search history information of a plurality of detected mobile terminals, which is performed by the information providing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process for notifying a recommended facility, which is performed by the information providing device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

The following describes the embodiments with reference to the drawings. Note that the drawings are simplified, and the technical scope of the embodiments should not be interpreted narrowly based on the descriptions in the drawings. Also, the same elements are given the same reference numerals, and duplicate explanations will be omitted.

In the following embodiments, when necessary for convenience, they will be divided into multiple sections or embodiments for explanation. However, unless otherwise specified, they are not unrelated to each other, and one is a partial or complete modification, application example, detailed explanation, supplementary explanation, etc. of the other. Furthermore, in the following embodiments, when the number of elements, etc. (including the number, numerical value, amount, range, etc.) is mentioned, it is not limited to that specific number, and may be more or less than the specific number, except when otherwise specified or when it is clearly limited in principle to a specific number.

Furthermore, in the following embodiments, the components (including operational steps, etc.) are not necessarily essential unless otherwise specified or considered to be clearly essential in principle. Similarly, in the following embodiments, when referring to the shape, positional relationship, etc. of components, etc., it is intended to include things that are substantially similar or approximate to the shape, etc., unless otherwise specified or considered to be clearly not essential in principle. The same applies to the above numbers, etc. (including numbers, numerical values, amounts, ranges, etc.).

<Embodiment 1>
The configuration of the information providing device 10 in this embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 1. Fig. 1 is a configuration diagram of the information providing device 10 in this embodiment. The information providing device 10 includes a reception processing unit 11, a terminal detection unit 12, a search history information extraction unit 13, a weighting processing unit 14, a facility extraction unit 15, a presentation processing unit 16, and a display unit 17. The information providing device 10 is capable of mutual communication with a mobile terminal 20. The information providing device 10 may also function as a navigation device that provides a destination and a travel route to a user.

The reception processing unit 11 accepts the setting of the genre of the destination facility through a selection operation by the user. The reception processing unit 11 may be equipped with a character input means using a touch-type device, or may be equipped with a voice input means using a microphone or the like.

The terminal detection unit 12 detects mobile terminals 20 of vehicle occupants that can be connected wirelessly. For wireless connection, various wireless communication means may be used, such as a means using Bluetooth (registered trademark) or a means using wireless LAN. The terminal detection unit 12 can detect multiple mobile terminals 20. The terminal detection unit 12 may recognize the detected multiple mobile terminals 20 as a specific group. The method of recognizing the specific group may be to connect each mobile terminal 20 to the information providing device 10 and register each time, or to register specific mobile terminals 20 in advance and automatically recognize the registered mobile terminals 20 as a specific group when they enter a specific area. The method of recognizing the specific group is not limited to these methods.

The search history information extraction unit 13 acquires search history information related to the genre of the facility selected by the reception processing unit 11 from the mobile terminal 20 detected by the terminal detection unit 12. The genre of the facility may be various genres, such as restaurants and tourist spots. The search history information to be extracted can be set to various times, such as within the last 12 hours of the search execution. In addition, the search history information extraction unit 13 may acquire the viewing time of facilities of the same genre or the cumulative viewing time. The viewing time may be the viewing time of a site owned by each facility or a site that provides information on multiple stores collectively, such as a gourmet search site, or the viewing time of information transmitted from an SNS server (not shown). The information transmitted from the SNS server may be various information on the facility, such as photos taken at the facility and tweets containing text related to the facility. The SNS server (not shown) may be a server provided on a network that can communicate with the mobile terminal 20, or may be a server of the official website of each facility.

The weighting processing unit 14 performs weighting processing based on the acquired search history information, the viewing time of the target facility, the depth of the viewing hierarchy, and the number of viewers. The execution of the weighting processing is explained below using the examples of Figures 2 and 3.

Figure 2 is a diagram showing an example of weighting processing using search history for the last 12 hours extracted from the mobile device 20 of occupant A who is in the vehicle. In Figure 2, for example, according to the search history for the last 12 hours on the mobile device 20 of occupant A who is in the vehicle, it is assumed that occupant A has viewed information about Italian restaurants for 30 minutes and information about French restaurants for 10 minutes. In this case, if the reception processing unit 11 selects the genre as restaurants, the weighting processing unit 14 weights Italian restaurants by 1.5 times and French restaurants by 1.2 times so that the weighting of the genre increases with the length of viewing time.

As shown in FIG. 2, according to the search history for the past 12 hours on occupant A's mobile terminal 20, occupant A viewed information about Italian restaurant E for 15 minutes and information about Italian restaurant Y for 5 minutes. In this case, the weighting processing unit 14 weights Italian restaurant E by 1.5 times and Italian restaurant Y by 1.2 times.

Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 2, according to the search history for the past 12 hours on occupant A's mobile terminal 20, occupant A has viewed each of the four levels of the Italian restaurant E website, namely, store information, menu, price, and reservation status. Also, occupant A has viewed one level of the Italian restaurant Y website, which is store information only. In this case, the weighting processing unit 14 weights Italian restaurant E by 1.5 times and Italian restaurant Y by 1.2 times. The viewed levels can be obtained from information such as page transitions and tab switching on the same homepage, for example.

The above description is an example of the weighting process performed by the weighting processing unit 14, and is not limited to this example. The weighting conditions may be a single piece of information, or a combination of multiple pieces of arbitrary information. The weighting information is not limited to the case of FIG. 2, and may be, for example, the influence level, which is the number of "likes" for the viewed SNS information, or the interest level, which is the number of repeated views of the same site or the number of clicks. In addition, the weighting information may be various information, such as the popularity level, which is a count of the number of posts containing the hashtag searched by the user, and information on whether the user has saved it to favorites.

Figure 3 is a diagram showing an example of weighting processing using the search history of multiple detected mobile terminals 20. In Figure 3, for example, according to the search history for the last 12 hours on the mobile terminal 20 of occupant A who is in the vehicle, it is assumed that the occupant has viewed information about Italian restaurants for 30 minutes and information about French restaurants for 10 minutes. Also, according to the search history for the last 12 hours on the mobile terminal 20 of occupant B who is in the vehicle, it is assumed that the occupant has viewed information about French restaurants for 10 minutes and information about Japanese restaurants for 10 minutes. In this case, when the reception processing unit 11 selects the genre as restaurant, the weighting processing unit 14 weights Italian restaurants by 1.8 times, French restaurants by 1.5 times, and Japanese restaurants by 1.2 times so that the weighting of the genre increases as the total viewing time of facilities of the same genre increases.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the search history information of occupant A indicates that occupant A viewed information related to Italian restaurants for 20 minutes and information related to French restaurants for 10 minutes. The search history information of occupant B indicates that occupant B viewed information related to French restaurants for 10 minutes and information related to Japanese restaurants for 10 minutes. In this case, the total time spent viewing information related to Italian restaurants and the total time spent viewing information related to French restaurants are the same, 20 minutes each. Therefore, the weighting of each viewing time is 1.5 times for Italian restaurants, 1.5 times for French restaurants, and 1.2 times for Japanese restaurants. Furthermore, the number of viewers is 1 person for the Italian restaurant, 2 people for the French restaurant, and 1 person for the Japanese restaurant. Therefore, the weighting of the number of viewers is 1.2 times for Italian restaurants, 1.5 times for French restaurants, and 1.2 times for Japanese restaurants. By multiplying these weightings, the overall weighting of each becomes 1.8 times for Italian restaurants, 2.25 times for French restaurants, and 1.44 times for Japanese restaurants, which can be used as the overall weighting. Note that the explanation using Figures 3 and 4 is one example of the weighting process performed by the weighting processing unit 14, and is not limited to this example.

The facility extraction unit 15 extracts recommended facilities based on the results of the weighting process performed by the weighting processing unit 14. Specifically, the facility extraction unit 15 extracts facilities of the selected genre within a specified distance from the current location, performs a weighting process, and extracts a list of recommended facilities. The presentation processing unit 16 performs a process to display the recommended facilities on the display unit 17.

The display unit 17 is a notification unit that notifies the user of the recommended facilities processed by the presentation processing unit 16. The display unit 17 may display the recommended facilities in a list. The display unit 17 may also display the current location and the recommended facilities on a map. In this case, the current location may be obtained using a positioning system such as GPS (Global Positioning System). The display unit 17 may also have a function to output audio information. In this case, the presentation processing unit 16 may generate audio information that notifies the user of the facility name determined for each specified point. The display unit 17 may be configured integrally with the reception processing unit 11.

Here, the flow of the process performed by the information providing device 10 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of the process of notifying recommended facilities performed by the information providing device 10 in this embodiment.

First, the user selects and inputs the genre of the facility to be the destination to the reception processing unit 11 (step 101). The terminal detection unit 12 detects the mobile terminal 20 of the vehicle occupant that can be connected wirelessly (step 102). The search history information extraction unit 13 acquires the search history information of the selected genre from the mobile terminal 20 detected by the terminal detection unit 12 (step 103). The weighting processing unit 14 executes weighting processing based on the browsing time of the target facility and the depth of the browsed hierarchy from the acquired search history information (step 104). Specifically, for example, a process of multiplying a weight by a search result based on the distance from the current position is performed. The facility extraction unit 15 extracts recommended target facilities based on the results of the weighting processing (step 105). The display unit 17 displays the recommended target facilities that the presentation processing unit 16 has performed display processing of the extracted target facilities (step 106).

As described above, the information providing device 10 in this embodiment acquires search history information related to the genre of the facility selected by the user from the mobile terminal 20. The information providing device 10 performs weighting processing based on the acquired information, such as the viewing time and the depth of the search, to take into account the degree of interest in the searched location. The information providing device 10 makes a list of this information and displays it to the user as recommended facilities.

Therefore, the information providing device 10 in this embodiment can provide information about facilities based on the interest levels of multiple people, based on past search history.

<Other embodiments>
The information providing device 10 of the present invention has an embodiment as an information providing method, for example. That is, the information providing method includes the steps of accepting a setting of a facility genre, detecting a plurality of terminal devices capable of wireless communication as a specific group, extracting search history information of facility information related to the facility corresponding to the genre transmitted through a network from each of the terminal devices of the specific group, performing a weighting process on the genre or facility included in the search history information based on the search history information, extracting recommended target facilities corresponding to the genre based on a result of the weighting process, and performing a presentation process of the extracted recommended target facilities.

Furthermore, the processing in the information providing device 10 can also be realized by having a CPU (Central Processing Unit) execute a computer program.

The program includes a set of instructions (or software code) that, when loaded into a computer, causes the computer to perform one or more functions described in the embodiments. The program may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable medium or a tangible storage medium. By way of example and not limitation, computer-readable media or tangible storage media include random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory or other memory technologies, and optical disk storage. The program may be transmitted on a transitory computer-readable medium or a communication medium. By way of example and not limitation, transitory computer-readable media or communication media include electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagated signals.

The above-mentioned program is an information provision program that causes a computer to execute the following processes: accepting a setting of a facility genre; detecting a plurality of terminal devices capable of wireless communication as a specific group; extracting search history information of facility information on facilities corresponding to the genre transmitted through the network from each of the detected terminal devices of the specific group; weighting the genre or facilities included in the search history information based on the search history information; extracting recommended facilities corresponding to the genre based on the results of the weighting process; and presenting the extracted recommended facilities.

The embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, but the specific configuration is not limited to the above, and various design changes are possible without departing from the spirit of the present disclosure.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 10 Information providing device 11 Reception processing unit 12 Terminal detection unit 13 Search history information extraction unit 14 Weighting processing unit 15 Facility extraction unit 16 Presentation processing unit 17 Display unit 20 Mobile terminal

Claims (5)

a reception processing unit that receives a setting of a genre of the facility;
a terminal detection unit that detects a plurality of terminal devices capable of wireless communication as a specific group;
a search history information extraction unit that extracts search history information of facility information related to a facility corresponding to the facility genre transmitted through a network from each of the detected terminal devices of the specific group;
a weighting processing unit that performs weighting processing for facilities corresponding to the genre of the facilities included in the search history information based on the search history information;
a facility extraction unit that extracts recommended facilities corresponding to the facility genre based on a result of the weighting process;
a presentation processing unit that performs a presentation process of the extracted recommended facilities;
An information providing device comprising: the weighting processing unit performs weighting processing based on a browsing time for the genre of the facility included in the search history information .
2. The information providing device according to claim 1. the weighting processing unit performs weighting processing based on a browsing time, a number of browsed floors, or a number of people who browsed, corresponding to facilities of the facility genre included in the search history information;
3. The information providing device according to claim 1 or 2. the weighting processing unit performs weighting processing based on search history information within a predetermined period of time;
4. The information providing device according to claim 1. A step of accepting a setting of a genre of the facility;
detecting a plurality of terminal devices capable of wireless communication as a specific group;
extracting search history information of facility information related to the facility genre transmitted through a network from each of the detected terminal devices of the specific group;
a step of performing a weighting process on the facilities corresponding to the genre of the facilities included in the search history information based on the search history information;
extracting recommended facilities corresponding to the facility genre based on a result of the weighting process;
performing a process for presenting the extracted recommended facilities;
A method of providing information that includes the following:

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