Assist device in designation of destination

• US 6,401,029 B1
• Filed: 03/20/2000
• Issued: 06/04/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 03/19/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kabushikikaisha Equos Research
• Original Assignee: Kabushikikaisha Equos Research
• Inventors: Adachi, Kazuhide, Hori, Koji, Kubota, Tomoki, Mazda, Manabu
• Primary Examiner(s): Zanelli, Michael J.
• Application Number:
  US09/531,437
• Time in Patent Office: 806 Days
• Field of Search: 701/201, 701/211, 340/995, 345/326, 345/978, 345/968, 345/473
• US Class Current: 701/201
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3611 using character input or menus, e.g. menus of POIs character input methods in general G06F3/0233
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/362 received from an external device or application, e.g. PDA, mobile phone or calendar application
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096827 where the route is computed onboard
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096872 where instructions are given per voice
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096894 where input is assisted by the navigation device, i.e. the user does not type the complete name of the destination, e.g. using zip codes, telephone numbers, progressively selecting from initial letters

Abstract

Disclosed is a device for assisting designation of a specific destination in a vehicle navigation system that guides a driver along a scheduled drive route from a current position of a vehicle to a designated destination. A menu selection table describes correlation between current status data (date-and-time-related data, purpose-related data, location-related data, vehicle-related data and user-related data) and “events” such as invitation to restaurants or sightseeing spots. When a specific event is determined by reference to the menu selection table, a personified agent questions the user to confirm if the detected event is to be executed. When the user inputs an affirmative answer, a specific condition to be applicable to retrieval of destination is determined by reference to a condition selection table.

Claims

1. A device for assisting designation of a specific destination in use of a vehicle navigation system that guides a user along a drive route from a current position of a vehicle detected by a current position sensor to a designated destination, comprising:

destination storing means for storing destination data;

date-and-time sensor means mounted in the vehicle for detecting current date and time;

drive purpose acquiring means for acquiring the user'"'"'s purpose of drive;

user-related data storing means for storing user-related data;

retrieval condition determining means for determining a specific combination of retrieval conditions applicable to retrieval of destinations, with reference to the current date and time detected by said date-and-time sensor means, the user'"'"'s purpose of drive acquired by said drive purpose acquiring means and the user-related data stored in said user-related data storing means;

destination candidate selection means for retrieving, from the destination data stored in said destination storing means, destinations that satisfy the specific combination of retrieval conditions determined by said retrieval condition determining means;

output means for outputting the retrieved destinations; and

final destination selection means for allowing the user to select at least one of the retrieved destinations.

2. The device according to claim 1 further comprising vehicle-related data acquiring means for acquiring vehicle-related data, said retrieval condition determining means determining said specific combination of retrieval conditions with reference to the vehicle-related data acquired by said vehicle-related data acquiring means, in addition to the current date and time, the user'"'"'s purpose of drive and the user-related data.

3. The device according to claim 1 wherein said retrieval condition determining means determines the specific combination of retrieval conditions with reference to the current position of the vehicle detected by the current position sensor, in addition to the current date and time, the user'"'"'s purpose of drive and the user-related data.

4. The device according to claim 1 wherein said destination candidate selection means selects candidates for the destination with reference to price ranks of restaurants included in said destination data.

5. The device according to claim 4 wherein said output means comprises a display on which said retrieved destinations are displayed together with said price ranks of the retrieved restaurants.

6. The device according to claim 1 further comprising a data table correlating user'"'"'s ages included in the user-related data with restaurant groups stored in said destination storing means as the destinations, wherein restaurants are classified in said restaurant groups in accordance with the types of foods served therein, said destination candidate selection means selecting candidates for the destination with reference to said data table.

7. The device according to claim 1 wherein said output means includes display means for displaying the retrieved destinations output by said output means and further comprising vehicle-related data acquiring means for acquiring vehicle-related data;

and control means for controlling activities of a personified agent appearing on said display means, with reference to the user-related data stored in said user-related data storing means and the vehicle-related data acquired by said vehicle-related data acquiring means.

8. The device according to claim 7 wherein said control means controls the activities of said personified agent to act as a part of said drive purpose acquiring means for acquiring the user'"'"'s purpose of drive.