Information providing method and information providing device

• US 20040128066A1
• Filed: 10/08/2003
• Published: 07/01/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/06/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Panasonic Intellectual Property Corporation of America (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Kudo, Takahiro, Ozawa, Jun
• Granted Patent: US 7,130,743 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/204
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3617 using user history, behaviour, conditions or preferences, e.g. predicted or inferred from previous use or current movement
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3682 output of POI information on a road map G01C21/3614, G01C21/3685 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3691 Retrieval, searching and output of information related to real-time traffic, weather, or environmental conditions arrangements for giving variable traffic instructions G08G1/09
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096811 where the route is computed offboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096838 where the user preferences are taken into account or the user selects one route out of a plurality
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096844 where the complete route is dynamically recomputed based on new data
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096861 where the immediate route instructions are output to the driver, e.g. arrow signs for next turn
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096866 where the complete route is shown to the driver
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096883 where input information is obtained using a mobile device, e.g. a mobile phone, a PDA
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096888 where input information is obtained using learning systems, e.g. history databases

Abstract

In a car navigation system (1), a position information detection means (11) detects position information on a vehicle using, for example, a GPS. A travel information history of the vehicle obtained based on the detected position information is accumulated in a travel information history means (15). When detecting an event such as start of an engine, an action prediction means (17) predicts a destination of the vehicle by referring to a route to the current time and to the accumulated travel information history. Commercial or traffic information regarding the predicted destination is acquired by an information acquisition means (18) from a server (2), and then is displayed on a screen, for example, by an information provision means (19).

Claims

1. An information providing method for providing information to an occupant of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting position information on the vehicle with information equipment installed in the vehicle;

accumulating, as a travel information history, routes of the vehicle obtained from the detected position information;

predicting a destination of the vehicle by referring to a route along which the vehicle has traveled to the current time and to the accumulated travel information history, when detecting the occurrence of a given event; and

providing information regarding the predicted destination to the occupant via the information equipment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the given event is a given action of the occupant.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the travel information history is accumulated in the manner of transition among nodes.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein at least one of the nodes is a landmark, an area or an intersection.

5. The method of claim 3, including the step of defining, as a node, an intersection which is located on the routes and through which the vehicle has passed in at least two directions.

6. The method of claim 3, including the step of defining an area including a plurality of nodes satisfying a given requirement.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein in the predicting step, a destination to which estimated required travel time exceeds a predetermined value is eliminated from being a predicted destination.

8. The method of claim 1, including the step of identifying the occupant of the vehicle,

wherein the travel information history is accumulated for every occupant, and

the predicting step is performed by referring to the travel information history accumulated for the occupant identified at the occurrence of the given event.

9. The method of claim 1, including the step of accumulating preference information regarding a place which the occupant of the vehicle prefers and the frequency with which the occupant visited the place,

wherein the predicting step and the information providing step are performed in consideration of the accumulated preference information.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein a place where the vehicle made a stop for at least a predetermined time period is determined to be the place which the occupant of the vehicle prefers.

11. The method of claim 1, including the step of accessing a scheduler to acquire a schedule of the occupant,

wherein the predicting step is performed in consideration of the acquired schedule.

12. The method of claim 1, including the steps of:

accessing a scheduler to acquire a schedule of the occupant; and

providing, when the predicted destination of the vehicle deviates from that in the acquired schedule, the occupant with a message indicating the deviation.

13. The method of claim 1, including the step of calculating estimated required time or estimated arrival time with respect to the predicted destination,

wherein in the information providing step, the estimated required time or estimated arrival time that has been calculated is provided to the occupant.

14. The method of claim 13, including the step of acquiring traffic information regarding a route to the predicted destination,

wherein the estimated required time or estimated arrival time is calculated by referring to the acquired traffic information.

15. The method of claim 13, including the steps of

accessing a scheduler to acquire a schedule of the occupant;

and

comparing the estimated required time or estimated arrival time that has been calculated with the schedule of the occupant, thereby detecting at least one of the presence or absence of idle time and the presence or absence of a possibility of being late.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein when the presence of idle time is detected, information for suggesting how to spend the idle time is provided to the occupant, in the information providing step.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein when the presence of a possibility of being late is detected, information on another route for shortening required time is provided to the occupant, in the information providing step.

18. The method of claim 13, further including the steps of:

acquiring commercial information regarding the predicted destination; and

filtering the acquired commercial information by referring to the estimated required time or estimated arrival time that has been calculated,

wherein in the information providing step, the filtered commercial information is provided to the occupant.

19. An information providing method for providing information to an occupant of a vehicle, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting position information on the vehicle with information equipment installed in the vehicle;

predicting a destination of the vehicle by referring to a route which is obtained from the detected position information and along which the vehicle has traveled to the current time and to a travel information history in which routes along which the vehicle traveled in the past are accumulated, when detecting the occurrence of a given event; and

providing information regarding the predicted destination to the occupant via the information equipment.

20. An information providing method for providing information to a person traveling, the method comprising the steps of:

detecting position information on the person with information equipment held by the person;

accumulating, as a travel information history, routes of the person obtained from the detected position information;

predicting a destination of the person by referring to a route along which the person has traveled to the current time and to the accumulated travel information history, when detecting the occurrence of a given event; and

providing information regarding the predicted destination to the person via the information equipment.

21. An information providing system installed in a vehicle and used for providing information to an occupant of the vehicle, the system comprising:

means for detecting position information on the vehicle;

means for accumulating, as a travel information history, routes of the vehicle obtained from the detected position information;

means for predicting a destination of the vehicle by referring to a route along which the vehicle has traveled to the current time and to the accumulated travel information history, when the occurrence of a given event is detected; and

means for providing information regarding the predicted destination to the occupant.

22. An information providing system held by a person and used for providing information to the person, the system comprising:

means for detecting position information on the person;

means for accumulating, as a travel information history, routes of the person obtained from the detected position information;

means for predicting a destination of the person by referring to a route along which the person has traveled to the current time and to the accumulated travel information history, when the occurrence of a given event is detected; and

means for providing information regarding the predicted destination to the person.