JP7839466B2 - Guidance system - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a guidance system.

It is common practice to guide users to recommended facilities (e.g., retail stores, restaurants, tourist attractions, amusement facilities, etc.). When recommending facilities to users, there is sometimes a need to avoid recommending facilities that are unfamiliar to the user. Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for preventing the provision of information about chain stores located in user-generated domains.

Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-71190

There is a need for technology that further reduces the situation where users are shown facilities that are not new or exciting to them.
This invention has been made in view of the above problems, and aims to reduce the possibility that users may be guided to facilities that are not new or interesting to them.

To achieve the above objective, the guidance system comprises an acquisition unit that acquires target facilities, which are the facilities to be guided to the user within the guidance area, which is the area in which facility guidance is provided; and a guidance unit that guides the user to target facilities that are different from the chain facilities originating from areas already visited by the user during a series of trips.

In other words, the guidance system will not guide users to chain establishments originating from areas they have already visited during their ongoing trip. Users experience the areas they have visited during their ongoing trip, and then continue their trip. In areas they have already visited, users may become familiar with chain establishments originating from that area by checking them out or using them. Therefore, chain establishments originating from areas already visited during a trip may become unfamiliar to the user. By preventing users from being guided to chain establishments originating from areas they have already visited during their trip, the guidance system can reduce the likelihood of them being shown unfamiliar establishments.

This is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a guidance system. Figure 2A shows an example of content data, Figure 2B shows an example of chain facility data, and Figure 2C shows an example of user data. This figure shows an example of the screen that will be displayed. This is a flowchart showing an example of a guidance process. This figure shows an example of a guide area.

Here, embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order.
(1) Configuration of the guidance system:
(2) Guidance processing:
(3) Other embodiments:

(1) Configuration of the guidance system:
Figure 1 shows the configuration of the guidance system 10 of this embodiment. In this embodiment, the guidance system 10 provides guidance to the user of the navigation system 50, which acts as a client, to facilities (for example, restaurants, shops, amusement facilities, etc.). In this embodiment, the guidance system 10 is described as providing guidance to restaurants as facilities, but it may also provide guidance to other facilities such as shops. In this embodiment, the guidance system 10 is assumed to be composed of a server computer, but it may also be composed of other devices such as a personal computer or a tablet device.

The navigation system 50, which is a client of the guidance system 10, may consist of multiple units, but Figure 1 shows one of them. In this embodiment, the content to be guided is a facility (POI (Point of Interest)) that can be set as a destination point, etc., in the navigation system 50.

In this embodiment, the guidance system 10 guides users to recommended facilities within the area of the facility during consecutive trips undertaken by a user traveling with the navigation system 50. Here, a trip is defined as travel from the starting point of travel accompanied by the navigation system 50 to the ending point of travel (the destination). Consecutive trips are multiple trips considered to have been taken consecutively by the user, such as multiple trips taken by the user on the same day, or multiple trips taken at intervals below a predetermined time threshold. Hereinafter, consecutive trips will be referred to as consecutive trips. In this embodiment, consecutive trips are multiple trips taken by the user on the same day. In consecutive trips, the endpoint of one trip becomes the starting point of the next trip. Also, the endpoint of a trip taken by the user becomes the user's destination. Therefore, the endpoint of a trip taken by the user becomes an area already visited by the user. Hereinafter, the area of the facility that is the target of the guidance will be referred to as the guidance area. In this embodiment, the guidance area is the area surrounding the user's current location, with a predetermined radius centered on the user's current location, and the area surrounding the user's target value, with a predetermined radius centered on the user's destination point. The guidance area surrounding the user's current location is an example of the first area. The guidance area surrounding the user's destination point is an example of the second area.

The guidance system 10 includes a control unit 20, a storage medium 30, and a communication unit 41.
The control unit 20 includes a processor, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), etc., and controls the guidance system 10. The storage medium 30 stores various data such as facility data 30a, chain facility data 30b, user data 30c, user movement history data 30d, and various programs such as the guidance program 21.

Facility data 30a is data in which various information about a corresponding facility is associated with the identification information (facility ID) of each of several candidate facilities that can be guided. More specifically, facility data 30a includes the facility name, location information, address, telephone number, and facility genre information associated with the facility ID. The facility genre indicates the genre to which the facility belongs when categorized. The facility genre may have a hierarchical structure. Furthermore, keywords specified by the facility may be pre-included in the content data.

Figure 2A shows an example of facility data 30a (some items such as location, address, and telephone number are not shown). The review data included in the facility data 30a is data that shows the user's impressions of the facility, and is stored as text data associated with the user ID of the user who created the review. The review data is transmitted to the guidance system 10 from the navigation system 50 and other various information terminals, associated with the user ID. The control unit 20 obtains keywords about each facility from the review data of each facility. If the review data contains a word that the user (reviewer) has designated as a keyword (for example, a word with a hashtag), the control unit 20 obtains this word as a keyword. Also, if any of the words predetermined as words that indicate the characteristics of the facility are included in the text of the review, the control unit 20 obtains this word as a keyword. Regarding keywords, keywords that have the same meaning even if the expression is different are classified in advance (for example, reasonable, low price, cheap, etc.), and keywords are obtained for each classification. The control unit 20 stores the keywords acquired in this manner by associating them with the facility ID and including them in the facility data 30a.

Furthermore, the control unit 20 counts the total number of reviews from the number of users who submitted review data, associates it with the facility ID, and stores it in the facility data 30a. The explanation continues under the assumption that one user can submit only one review per facility.

Chain facility data 30b is data that indicates a chain of facilities (hereinafter referred to as chain facilities). Chain operation refers to the operation and management of multiple facilities (franchise chain facilities, regular chain facilities, etc.) under the same brand. Figure 2B shows an example of chain facility data 30b. Chain facility data 30b is information that associates the identification information of the corresponding brand (brand ID), the ID of one or more chain facilities operated and managed by the corresponding brand (facility ID), and the region from which the chain facilities of the corresponding brand originate (origin region). A region-origin chain facility is a chain facility rooted in that region, for example, a chain facility mainly distributed in that region, or a chain facility where the main facility (e.g., headquarters such as the head office) is located in that region. Here, region refers to a divided area, for example, a place at the administrative division level such as a ward, city, town, village, prefecture, state, or province. In this embodiment, the region from which the chain facilities operated and managed by each brand originate is investigated and determined in advance. The "Region of Origin" field can take values such as "Prefecture A" indicating that the chain facility originates from Prefecture A, "Prefecture B" indicating that the chain facility originates from Prefecture B, or "Nationwide" indicating that the chain facility operates nationwide. In this embodiment, if the number of chain facilities in the region where the headquarters of the chain facility is located is greater than the number of chain facilities in other regions, this chain facility is considered to originate from that region. Furthermore, if the number of chain facilities in the region where the headquarters of the chain facility is located is less than or equal to the number of chain facilities in other regions, this chain facility is considered to operate nationwide. For example, suppose the headquarters of a certain brand of chain facilities is in "Prefecture A," and there are 50 chain facilities of this brand in "Prefecture A," while there are 10 chain facilities of this brand in other regions. In this case, since the number of chain facilities in "Prefecture A" is greater than the number of chain facilities in other regions, this brand of chain facility is considered to originate from "Prefecture A." Also, "Region of Origin" can take multiple values, such as "Prefecture A" and "Prefecture B."

User data 30c is data in which various information about the user is associated with the user ID. Specifically, user data includes interest attributes indicating the attributes the user is interested in, facilities of interest that the user is interested in, and base regions that the user is based in. Interest attributes include the user's favorite facility genres and keywords of interest. In this embodiment, interest attributes are the facility genres and keywords of interest to the user. Facilities of interest are individual facilities of interest to the user. Base regions are the regions where the user is based, such as the region where the user's address is located, or the region the user frequently visits (e.g., the region where their workplace or school is located). In this embodiment, user data 30c is pre-stored on a storage medium. Figure 2C is a diagram showing an example of user data 30c. As shown in Figure 2C, in user data 30c, the facility genres of interest, keywords of interest, facilities of interest, and base regions are stored for each user.

The user movement history data 30d is data that shows the history of trips taken by the user. The control unit 20 periodically acquires location information from the navigation system 50. From the temporal progression of the location indicated by the acquired location information, the control unit 20 identifies the user's trip history, determining when and where the user started the trip, how they moved, and when and where they arrived to end the trip. The control unit 20 stores the identified trip history information as user movement history data 30d in the storage medium 30. In this embodiment, user movement history data 30d for user trips taken before the start of processing is pre-stored in the storage medium 30 by the control unit 20.

The communication unit 41 is equipped with a circuit for communicating with external devices such as the navigation system 50. The control unit 20 can communicate with the navigation system 50 via the communication unit 41.

The navigation system 50 is a device equipped with a navigation function to a destination. In this embodiment, the navigation system 50 is configured as an in-vehicle device, but it may also be configured as a portable terminal such as a tablet or smartphone. In this embodiment, the user travels in a vehicle equipped with the navigation system 50. In this embodiment, the navigation system 50 receives the user's specification of a starting point and a destination, and performs navigation from the starting point to the destination. The navigation system 50 comprises a communication unit 50a, a GNSS receiving unit 50b, a control unit 50c, and a user I/F unit 50d. The control unit 50c includes a processor, RAM, ROM, and a storage medium, and the processor can execute various programs recorded in the ROM and storage medium.

The communication unit 50a includes a communication circuit for wireless communication with other devices such as the guidance system 10. The control unit 50c can communicate with the guidance system 10 via the communication unit 50a. The user interface unit 50d is an interface unit for the user to input instructions and to provide the user with various information. The user interface unit 50d includes a touch panel display, switches, speakers, etc. (not shown). Specifically, the user interface unit 50d includes an image and sound output unit and a user instruction input unit.

The GNSS receiver 50b is a device that receives signals from the Global Navigation Satellite System. The GNSS receiver 50b receives radio waves from the navigation satellite and outputs a signal for calculating the position of the navigation system 50 via an interface (not shown). The control unit 50c acquires this signal to obtain the position of the navigation system 50. The control unit 50c also acquires the time from a timing unit (not shown). The control unit 50c periodically measures its own position via the GNSS receiver 50b and transmits the measured position and time to the guidance system 10. The control unit 20 of the guidance system 10 acquires the periodically transmitted position and time, identifies the temporal progression of the user's position based on the acquired position and time, identifies the trips taken by the user from the identified progression, and stores the information of the identified trips as user movement history data 30d.

The control unit 20 of the guidance system 10 identifies the start of the user's movement (start of trip) and the end of the user's movement (end of trip) based on the position and time transmitted from the navigation system 50, as follows: Specifically, if the control unit 20 detects that the navigation system 50 has left a predetermined range after remaining within a predetermined range for a predetermined period of time or longer, it identifies that the trip started at the time the navigation system 50 left the range. Furthermore, if the control unit 20 detects that the navigation system 50 has remained within a predetermined range for a predetermined period of time or longer after the start of the trip, it identifies that the trip ended at the time the navigation system 50 remained within the predetermined range for the predetermined period of time or longer. However, the control unit 20 may detect the start and end of a user's trip by other means. For example, if the user has specified a departure point and a destination point in the navigation system 50, the control unit 20 may identify the start of the trip when the navigation system 50 moves from the specified departure point, or identify the end of the trip when the navigation system 50 reaches the specified destination point. Furthermore, the control unit 20 may detect the start of the trip meter when the ignition of the vehicle equipped with the navigation system 50 is turned on, or it may detect the end of the trip meter when the ignition of the vehicle equipped with the navigation system 50 is turned off. The control unit 20 may also choose not to detect the end of the trip meter when the user temporarily stops for a break during travel. For example, even if the ignition of the vehicle equipped with the navigation system 50 is turned off, the control unit 20 may choose not to detect the end of the trip meter if the period between turning the ignition off and turning it on again is less than or equal to a predetermined time threshold (e.g., 10 minutes).

Next, I will explain the functions of the guidance system 10.
The control unit 20 of the guidance system 10 functions as an acquisition unit 21a and a guidance unit 21b by executing the guidance program 21.

The acquisition unit 21a has the function of acquiring facilities that are to be guided to the user within the guidance area. Hereafter, facilities that are to be guided to the user will be referred to as target facilities.
The control unit 20 acquires a request for facility guidance from the navigation system 50 using the function of the acquisition unit 21a. In this embodiment, the control unit 50c of the navigation system 50 transmits the request for facility guidance and information of the user's destination point to the guidance system 10 based on user operations via the user I/F unit 50d.

The control unit 20 refers to the user data 30c and identifies the user's interest attributes of the navigation system 50 that sent the request for facility guidance.
The control unit 20 extracts facilities of interest of other users that have the same or similar interest attributes as the user, based on the user data 30c, as candidates for facilities to be guided. That is, the control unit 20 extracts other users that have the same interest attributes as the identified user by referring to the interest attributes of each user in the user data 30c. In this embodiment, the interest attributes include facility genres and keywords. The similarity to other facility genres is defined in advance for each facility genre, and the control unit 20 identifies predetermined types of facility genres in order of their similarity to the facility genre of interest of the user. The control unit 20 then extracts other users that have the identified facility genre as a facility genre of interest by referring to the interest attributes of each user in the user data 30c. The control unit 20 also extracts other users that have the same keywords as the keywords of interest of the user by referring to the interest attributes of each user in the user data 30c. Regarding keywords, keywords with similar meanings, even if expressed differently, are pre-classified, and the control unit 20 also extracts other users who have keywords in other expressions belonging to the same classification as the user's keyword of interest as their interest attribute. There may be multiple such other users.

The control unit 20 identifies facilities within the guidance area from among the extracted facilities of interest of other users. Specifically, the control unit 20 identifies facilities within a predetermined radius from the user's current location and within a predetermined radius from the user's destination. The control unit 20 acquires the identified facilities as target facilities.

The guidance unit 21b has the function of guiding users to target facilities that are different from the chain facilities originating from areas already visited by the user during a series of trips.
The control unit 20, using the function of the guidance unit 21b, excludes chain facilities that are part of a nationwide chain from the target facilities acquired by the acquisition unit 21a. More specifically, the control unit 20 performs the following processing for each facility included in the target facilities. That is, the control unit 20 identifies row data containing the identification information of this facility as the item value of the facility ID from the chain facility data 30b. Then, if the item value of the origin region of the identified row data is "nationwide", the control unit 20 excludes this facility from the target facilities.

Furthermore, the control unit 20 excludes chain facilities originating from the user's base from the target facilities. More specifically, the control unit 20 obtains the region where the user is based by identifying the item value of the user's base region from the user data 30c.
The control unit 20 then performs the following processing for each facility included in the target facilities. Specifically, the control unit 20 identifies row data containing the identification information of this facility as the item value of the facility ID from the chain facility data 30b. Then, if the item value of the origin region of the identified row data is not "nationwide" but a region that includes the acquired region, the control unit 20 excludes this facility from the target facilities. For example, if the region where the user is based is "City A", and the item value of the origin region of the identified row data is "Prefecture A", which includes "City A", the control unit 20 excludes this facility from the target facilities.

Furthermore, the control unit 20 identifies the frequency with which the user visits the region where the user's current location is located, based on the user movement history data 30d. More specifically, the control unit 20 determines the frequency of user visits to this region by calculating the number of trips that end in the region where the user's current location is located within a predetermined period (for example, the month immediately preceding the current time (processing time)) based on the user movement history data 30d. If the determined frequency exceeds a predetermined threshold, the control unit 20 determines that the user frequently visits this region. If the control unit 20 determines that the user frequently visits this region, it excludes chain facilities originating from this region from the target facilities.

More specifically, the control unit 20 performs the following processing for each facility included in the target facilities. Specifically, the control unit 20 identifies row data containing the facility's identification information as the facility ID field value from the chain facility data 30b. Then, if the origin region field value of the identified row data is not "nationwide" but includes a region that the user has determined to frequently visit, the control unit 20 excludes this facility from the target facilities.

Furthermore, in a series of trips undertaken by the user, if there are already visited regions and those regions do not include the user's current location, the control unit 20 excludes the chain facilities originating from the visited regions from the target facilities. More specifically, the control unit 20 identifies trips completed on the same day as the current time from the user's travel history data 30d. The control unit 20 performs the following processing for each identified trip.

In other words, the control unit 20 identifies the destination region of the specified trip from the user movement history data 30d as a region already visited by the user in a series of trips. Then, the control unit 20 performs the following processing for each facility included in the target facilities. Specifically, the control unit 20 identifies row data containing the identification information of this facility as the item value for the facility ID from the chain facility data 30b. Then, if the item value of the origin region of the identified row data is not "Nationwide," and is a region that includes the region identified as already visited, but not the region that includes the user's current location, the control unit 20 excludes this facility from the target facilities. For example, if the region the user has already visited is "Prefecture B," and the item value of the "Origin Region" of the identified row data is "Prefecture B," the control unit 20 excludes this facility from the target facilities.

The control unit 20, through the above processing, excludes facilities from the target facilities that may not be new or interesting to the user. Then, the control unit 20 guides the user to the target facilities as follows: Specifically, the control unit 20 generates an image by superimposing information of the guidance area and each target facility within the guidance area onto a map of the area surrounding the guidance area. The control unit 20 then transmits the generated image to the navigation system 50, where it is displayed on the user interface unit 50d. Figure 3 shows an example of the image displayed on the user interface unit 50d. Area R1 in Figure 3 is the guidance area around the user's current location C. Area R2 is the guidance area around the user's destination point. In the example in Figure 3, the control unit 20 indicates the target facilities within the guidance area with star-shaped objects, and displays the facility name near each star-shaped object. This allows the user to be guided to the target facilities.

As described above, with the configuration of this embodiment, the guidance system 10 excludes chain facilities originating from areas already visited by the user during a continuous trip, thereby guiding the user to facilities different from those originating from previously visited areas. During a continuous trip, the user may experience previously visited areas and become familiar with chain facilities originating from these areas by checking them out or using them. Therefore, chain stores originating from previously visited areas may become unfamiliar to the user. Thus, by preventing the guidance system 10 from guiding the user to chain facilities originating from areas already visited during a continuous trip, the possibility of being guided to unfamiliar facilities can be reduced.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the guidance system 10 does not exclude chain facilities originating from a region the user has already visited, if that region includes the user's current location. Even if a user has already visited a region, they may wish to have a region-specific experience while traveling within that region. By not excluding chain facilities originating from the user's current location from the guidance targets, the guidance system 10 can improve the likelihood that the user will have a region-specific experience that includes their current location.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the guidance system 10 excludes chain facilities that operate nationwide from its target facilities, thereby preventing them from being guided. Chain facilities that operate nationwide are likely to lack novelty for users. Therefore, by excluding nationwide chain facilities from the guidance targets, the control unit 20 can reduce the situation where users are guided to facilities that lack novelty.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the guidance system 10 excludes chain facilities originating from the user's base region from the target facilities, thereby preventing guidance to those facilities. Chain facilities originating from the user's base region are likely to be unfamiliar to the user. Therefore, by excluding chain facilities originating from the user's base region from the guidance targets, the control unit 20 can reduce the situation where the user is guided to facilities that are unfamiliar to them.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the guidance system 10 excludes chain facilities originating from areas frequently visited by the user from its target facilities, thereby preventing guidance to those facilities. Chain facilities originating from areas frequently visited by the user are likely to lack novelty for the user. Therefore, the control unit 20 can reduce the situation where users are guided to unfamiliar facilities by excluding chain facilities originating from areas frequently visited by the user from its guidance targets.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, the guidance area is defined as the area surrounding the user's current location and the area surrounding the user's destination. The guidance system 10 can show the user what facilities are available in the surrounding area by guiding them to facilities within the area surrounding the user's current location. Similarly, the guidance system 10 can show the user what facilities are available around the destination by guiding them to facilities within the area surrounding the user's destination.

(2) Guidance processing:
The guidance process performed by the guidance system 10 will be explained using Figure 4.
When the control unit 20 of the guidance system 10 receives a request for facility guidance from the navigation system 50, it starts the process shown in Figure 4 and periodically repeats the process shown in Figure 4 until it receives an instruction from the navigation system 50 to end the process.

In step S100, the control unit 20, using the functions of the acquisition unit 21a, refers to the user data 30c and identifies the interest attributes of the user of the navigation system 50 that sent the request for facility guidance. Based on the user data 30c, the control unit 20 extracts facilities of interest of other users who have the same or similar interest attributes as the user, as candidates for facilities to be guided. That is, the control unit 20 extracts other users who have the same interest attributes as the identified user, by referring to the interest attributes of each user in the user data 30c. Furthermore, the control unit 20 extracts other users who have the same keywords as the keywords of interest as the user, by referring to the interest attributes of each user in the user data 30c.

The control unit 20 identifies facilities within the guidance area from among the extracted facilities of interest of other users. More specifically, the control unit 20 identifies facilities within a predetermined radius from the user's current location and within a predetermined radius from the user's destination as target facilities. The control unit 20 acquires the identified facilities as target facilities. After completing the process in step S100, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S105.

In step S105, the control unit 20, using the function of the guidance unit 21b, excludes chain facilities that operate nationwide from the target facilities. More specifically, the control unit 20 excludes facilities where the corresponding origin region item value is "nationwide." After completing the processing in step S105, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S110.

In step S110, the control unit 20, using the function of the guidance unit 21b, excludes chain facilities originating from the user's base from the target facilities. More specifically, the control unit 20 excludes facilities whose corresponding origin region item value includes the user's base region. After completing the processing in step S110, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S115.

In step S115, the control unit 20, using the function of the guidance unit 21b, determines from the user movement history data 30d the number of trips that end in the region where the user's current location is located during a predetermined period (for example, the month immediately preceding the current time (processing time)), representing the frequency of the user visiting this region. The control unit 20 then determines whether the determined frequency is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. If the control unit 20 determines that the determined frequency is equal to or greater than the predetermined threshold, it proceeds to step S120; if it determines that the determined frequency is less than the predetermined threshold, it proceeds to step S125.

In step S120, the control unit 20, using the function of the guidance unit 21b, excludes chain facilities originating from areas that the user is determined to frequently visit in step S115 from the target facilities. More specifically, the control unit 20 excludes facilities whose corresponding origin area item value includes areas that the user is determined to frequently visit from the target facilities. After completing the processing in step S120, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S125.

In step S125, the control unit 20 determines, using the function of the guidance unit 21b, whether or not there are any areas already visited in the user's continuous trip. More specifically, the control unit 20 determines that there are areas already visited if the user movement history data 30d contains information about completed trips (in this embodiment, trips completed on the same day as the current time) in the user's continuous trip. Conversely, the control unit 20 determines that there are no areas already visited if the user movement history data 30d does not contain information about completed trips (in this embodiment, trips completed on the same day as the current time). If the control unit 20 determines that there are areas already visited in the user's continuous trip, it proceeds to step S130. If the control unit 20 determines that there are no areas already visited in the user's continuous trip, it proceeds to step S145.

In step S130, the control unit 20, using the function of the guidance unit 21b, obtains information on completed trips in the user's continuous trip from the user's movement history data 30d. Then, the control unit 20 identifies the endpoint of each completed trip (the areas visited by the user in the continuous trip) from the acquired information on completed trips. The control unit 20 determines whether or not the user's current location is included in the identified areas. If the control unit 20 determines that the user's current location is included in the identified areas, it proceeds to step S140. If the control unit 20 determines that the user's current location is not included in the identified areas, it proceeds to step S135.

In step S135, the control unit 20, using the function of the guidance unit 21b, excludes chain facilities originating from each of the regions already visited by the user in the consecutive trip identified in step S130 from the target facilities. More specifically, the control unit 20 excludes facilities from the target facilities where the corresponding origin region item value includes a region that has already been visited. After completing the processing in step S135, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S145.

In step S140, the control unit 20, using the function of the guidance unit 21b, excludes chain facilities from the target facilities that originate from regions other than the region containing the user's current location among the regions the user has visited in the consecutive trip identified in step S130. More specifically, the control unit 20 excludes facilities from the target facilities where the corresponding origin region item value includes a region that has already been visited. After completing the processing in step S135, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S145.

For example, suppose a user makes a continuous trip, consisting of a trip from Prefecture A to Prefecture B (first trip) and a trip from Prefecture B to C locations (second trip). If the user is on the second trip, the first trip is complete. Therefore, Prefecture B, the endpoint of the first trip, is a region already visited by the user in the continuous trip. If the user is moving within Prefecture B during the second trip, the visited region of Prefecture B and the Prefecture B containing the user's current location are the same. Therefore, in step S130, the control unit 20 proceeds to step S140 because the region containing the user's current location (Prefecture B) exists within the region already visited by the user in the continuous trip (Prefecture B), and does not exclude chain facilities originating from Prefecture B from the target facilities. Also, if the user is moving beyond Prefecture B during the second trip, the visited region of Prefecture B and the region containing the user's current location are different. Therefore, in step S130, the control unit 20 determines that the user's current location is not included in the regions the user has already visited (Prefecture B) during the continuous trip. Thus, it proceeds to step S135, excluding chain facilities originating from Prefecture B from the target facilities.

In step S145, the control unit 20, using the functions of the guidance unit 21b, generates an image on which information about the guidance area and each of the target facilities within the guidance area is superimposed on a map of the area surrounding the guidance area. The control unit 20 then transmits the generated image to the navigation system 50, where it is displayed on the user interface unit 50d.

(3) Other embodiments:
The above embodiments are merely examples for carrying out the present invention, and various other embodiments can be adopted. For example, the guidance system 10 may be composed of multiple devices (server, client, etc.). Also, each function of the guidance system 10 may be implemented in the navigation system 50. That is, the navigation system 50 may function as the guidance system 10. Some of the configurations of the above embodiments may be omitted, and the order of processing may be changed or omitted. For example, the control unit 20 may change the order of processing between steps S105, S110, S115 to S120, and S125 to S140.

In the above embodiment, the guidance area was defined as the area surrounding the user's current location and the area surrounding the user's destination point. However, the guidance area may be just one of the two areas.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the guidance area around the user's current location was assumed to be an area with a predetermined radius centered on the user's current location. However, the guidance area around the user's current location may be a different area. For example, the guidance area around the user's current location may be a rectangular area including the user's current location.

Furthermore, the guidance area around the user's current location may be an area in which the region in at least one direction—the direction of the user's movement and the direction of the destination point as seen from the user's current location—is larger than the region in the other direction.
For example, as shown in Figure 5A, the guidance area around the user's current location may be a combination of a semicircular area in the user's direction of travel and a smaller semicircular area in the opposite direction of travel. In Figure 5A, the area in the user's direction of travel within the guidance area around the user's current location is a semicircular area with a predetermined radius centered on the user's current location. Also in Figure 5A, the area in the opposite direction of travel within the guidance area around the user's current location is a semicircular area with a predetermined radius centered on the user's current location, and a radius smaller than the radius of the area in the user's direction of travel. In such a case, the control unit 20 identifies the user's direction of travel from the temporal change in the position of the navigation system 50, and sets a guidance area around the user's current location where the area in the identified direction of travel is larger than the areas in other directions.

Furthermore, as shown in Figure 5B, for example, the guidance area around the user's current location may be a combination of a semicircular area existing in the direction of the destination point as viewed from the user's current location, and a smaller semicircular area existing in the opposite direction. In Figure 5B, the area in the direction of the destination point within the guidance area around the user's current location is a semicircular area with a predetermined radius centered on the user's current location. Also in Figure 5B, the area in the opposite direction from the destination point within the guidance area around the user's current location is a semicircular area with a predetermined radius centered on the user's current location, and a radius smaller than the radius of the area in the user's direction of travel.

Furthermore, the guidance area around the user's current location may be a combination of the area in the user's direction of travel, a smaller area in the opposite direction, an area in the direction of the destination, and a smaller area in the opposite direction of the destination. For example, as shown in Figure 5C, the guidance area may be a superimposed area of the area shown in Figure 5A and the area shown in Figure 5B.

Furthermore, for example, the guidance area around the user's current location may be a combination of a rectangular area existing in the user's direction of travel and a smaller rectangular area existing in the opposite direction. Alternatively, for example, the guidance area around the user's current location may be a combination of a rectangular area existing in the direction of the destination point as viewed from the user's current location and a smaller rectangular area existing in the opposite direction. Furthermore, the guidance area around the user's current location may be a combination of a rectangular area existing in the user's direction of travel, a smaller rectangular area existing in the opposite direction, and a rectangular area existing in the direction of the destination point as viewed from the user's current location and a smaller rectangular area existing in the opposite direction.

Since the user is moving towards their destination, facilities located in the opposite direction of their movement, or in the opposite direction from their destination, will be difficult for them to access. The control unit 20 can achieve the following by using a guidance area where at least one of the directions—the user's direction of movement and the direction of the destination as viewed from the user's current location—is larger than the area in the other directions. In other words, the control unit 20 can reduce the likelihood of the user being guided to more difficult-to-access facilities than easily accessible ones.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the guidance area around the user's destination point was assumed to be an area with a predetermined radius centered on the user's destination point. However, the guidance area around the user's current location may be a different area. For example, the guidance area around the user's destination point may be a rectangular area containing the user's destination point.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, a consecutive trip was defined as multiple trips taken by the user within the same day. However, consecutive trips may be different trips. For example, consecutive trips may be multiple trips taken by the user at intervals of less than or equal to a predetermined time threshold. In this case, the control unit 20 may identify multiple trips taken at intervals of less than or equal to a predetermined time threshold (the difference between the start time of a trip and the end time of the previous trip), including the trip currently being taken by the user, as consecutive trips from the user movement history data 30d. The control unit 20 may then identify the destination region of a completed trip among the identified consecutive trips as a region already visited by the user in the consecutive trip.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, information about the region from which each brand's chain facilities originate is pre-stored in the storage medium 30 in the form of chain facility data 30b. However, information about the region from which each brand's chain facilities originate is not pre-stored in the storage medium 30. For example, the control unit 20 may determine, for each brand's chain facilities, whether a chain facility originates from the region where the head office is located or whether it is part of a nationwide chain network, based on whether the number of chain facilities located in the headquarters' area is greater than the number of chain facilities located in other areas.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, if the number of chain facilities located in the region where the chain facility's headquarters is located is greater than the number of chain facilities located outside that region, then this chain facility is considered to originate from that region. Also, if the number of chain facilities located in the region where the chain facility's headquarters is located is less than or equal to the number of chain facilities located outside that region, then this chain facility is considered to be a chain facility operating nationwide. A chain facility originating from a particular region and a chain facility operating nationwide may each satisfy other conditions. For example, the region from which chain facilities operated and managed by each brand originate may be a region where a predetermined threshold or higher proportion of chain facilities are concentrated. In that case, the control unit 20 may derive the region from which chain facilities operated and managed by each brand originate, for example, based on the distribution of chain facilities operated and managed by the same brand. For example, the control unit 20 may identify the distribution of chain facilities based on the location of chain facilities operated and managed by the same brand. Furthermore, if the control unit 20 determines from the identified distribution that a certain number of regions (e.g., one, two, three, etc.) or fewer regions have a concentration of facilities exceeding a certain threshold (e.g., 80%, 90%, etc.), it may define the regions from which this brand's chain facilities originate as those regions below this threshold. Alternatively, the control unit 20 may define the region where the main facilities (e.g., the head office, etc.) of chain facilities operated and managed under the same brand are located as the region from which chain facilities operated and managed under this brand originate.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 20 acquires target facilities as facilities of interest of other users who have the same or similar interest attributes as the user of the navigation system 50 that sent the facility guidance request, and which are located within the guidance area. However, the control unit 20 may acquire target facilities by other means. For example, the control unit 20 may acquire target facilities as facilities of a predetermined type of genre (e.g., "restaurants," "Italian," "French," "food stores," "clothing stores," etc.) that are located within the guidance area. Alternatively, the control unit 20 may receive a specification of the genre of the facility to be guided (e.g., "restaurants," "Italian," "French," "food stores," "clothing stores," etc.) from the navigation system 50. Then, the control unit 20 may acquire target facilities as facilities of the genre indicated by the received specification that are located within the guidance area.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 20 determines that the user's current location is included in an area frequently visited by the user, and excludes chain facilities originating from that area from the target facilities. The control unit 20 may also exclude chain facilities originating from areas frequently visited by users that are different from the area containing the user's current location. For example, the control unit 20 may identify areas from the user's movement history data 30d that the user has visited a predetermined number of times or more during a predetermined period (e.g., the month immediately preceding the current time), and that are different from the user's base area. The control unit 20 may then exclude chain facilities originating from the identified areas from the target facilities.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 20 does not exclude chain facilities originating from the region including the user's current location from the target facilities, even if those regions have already been visited during the user's continuous trip. However, the control unit 20 may exclude chain facilities originating from the region including the user's current location from the target facilities, even if those regions have already been visited during the user's continuous trip.

Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the control unit 20 excludes not only chain facilities originating from regions already visited by the user during their continuous trips, but also chain facilities operating nationwide, chain facilities originating from the user's base region, and chain facilities originating from regions frequently visited by the user. However, the control unit 20 may choose not to exclude other chain facilities, or may exclude only some of them, as long as it excludes at least those originating from regions already visited by the user during their continuous trips. The control unit 20 may also exclude other facilities from the target facilities. For example, the control unit 20 may exclude facilities visited by the user during a predetermined period immediately preceding the present (e.g., one month).

Furthermore, the method of the present invention is also applicable as a program or method. Moreover, the systems, programs, and methods described above may be implemented as standalone devices, or they may be implemented using parts shared with various components of a vehicle, encompassing a variety of embodiments. Furthermore, they can be modified as appropriate, such as being partly software and partly hardware. The invention also functions as a storage medium for a program that controls the system. Of course, this program storage medium may be a magnetic storage medium, a semiconductor memory, or any storage medium developed in the future can be considered in exactly the same way.

10…Guidance system, 20…Control unit, 21…Guidance program, 21a…Acquisition unit, 21b…Guidance unit, 30…Storage medium, 30a…Facility data, 30b…Chain facility data, 30c…User data, 30d…User movement history data, 41…Communication unit, 50…Navigation system, 50a…Communication unit, 50b…GNSS receiver unit, 50c…Control unit, 50d…User I/F unit

Claims (3)

An acquisition unit that acquires target facilities, which are the facilities that users are guided to in the guidance area, which is the area in which facility guidance is provided.
A guidance unit that guides the user to a target facility that is different from a chain facility originating from a region already visited by the user during a series of trips,
Equipped with,
The aforementioned consecutive trips are multiple trips performed by the user at intervals less than or equal to a predetermined period threshold, where the interval is the difference between the start time of the trip and the end time of the immediately preceding trip.
Guidance system. The guidance system according to claim 1, wherein the guidance area is at least one of a first area surrounding the user's current location and a second area surrounding the user's destination. The guide region includes the first region,
The guidance system according to claim 2, wherein the region in the first region in at least one direction between the user's direction of travel and the direction of the destination point as seen from the user's current location is larger than the region in the other direction in the first region.