Map image display device, map image display method and map image display program

• US 20030128211A1
• Filed: 12/27/2002
• Published: 07/10/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 01/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Nissan Motor Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Ono, Takeshi, Watanabe, Masaki, Muramatsu, Toshiro, Nakayama, Okihiko, Kuroda, Koichi, Kaminuma, Atsunobu
• Granted Patent: US 6,897,861 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 345/428
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/60 Editing figures and text; Combining figures or text

Abstract

A map image display device, a map image display method and a map image display program are disclosed. Upon determination of a map image for an objective to be displayed in response to a user'"'"'s command input, a standard surface area setting unit 21 divides a surface area of a whole area shown in the map image to be displayed into n equal divisions to assign resulting values to standard surface areas. Then, a particular designation selecting unit 16 selects n pieces of relevant particular designations of areas, whose surface areas are closer to the standard surface areas, among areas involved in the map image for the objective to be displayed. A display image preparing unit 17 prepares image data to cause the selected n pieces of the relevant particular designations to be displayed on the map image as icons, and a display control unit 18 controllably drives the display unit based on image data. This causes the map image, determined responsive to the user'"'"'s command input, to be displayed over the display unit, while enabling the n pieces of the particular designations to be displayed on the map image as the icons in a superimposed manner.

Claims

1. A map image display device comprising:

a display unit applied with a command input to provide a display of a map image in response thereto;

a memory unit storing regional surface areas of particular areas in the map image and particular designations indicative of the particular areas in a correlated relationship;

a standard surface area setting unit dividing a surface area of an entire area indicated in the map image into n (n is an integer) equal divisions, when providing a display of the map image, to provide a resulting value that is determined to be a standard surface area;

a selecting unit retrieving the regional surface areas of the areas, involved in the map image to be displayed and indicative of the particular designations, from the memory unit and selecting the particular designations of n pieces of the areas whose surface areas are closer to the standard surface area; and

a display control unit compelling the n pieces of the particular designations, selected with the selecting unit, to be displayed on the map image at appropriate locations thereof as icons, indicative of an index of the command input in a superimposed relationship.

2. The map image display device according to claim 1, wherein when applied with the command input requesting a particular designation of other area to be displayed as an icon, the selecting unit newly selects the particular designation of the other area whose regional surface area is closer to the standard surface area.

3. The map image display device according to claim 1, wherein the memory unit stores the particular designations of a plurality of assortments and regional surface areas of the relevant areas indicative of the particular designations in a correlated relationship, respectively, and is operative to change over the assortments of the particular designations to be selected in response to the command input.

4. The map image display device according to claim 1, further comprising:

a voice input recognition unit recognizing a command input made through a voice, wherein the voice input recognition unit allows the particular designation displayed on the map image as the icon to be determined as an objective to be recognized or allows the particular designation displayed on the map image as the icon to be recognized at a higher degree than those of the other designations.

5. The map image display device according to claim 4, further comprising an operation executing unit executing given operation responsive to a recognized result provided by the voice recognition unit, wherein the display control unit further allows a patterned sentence, that specifies an operational content to be executed with the operation executing unit for the particular designation and forms the objective to be recognized with the voice recognition unit, to be displayed in a navigation image at an area outside the map image in a display pattern corresponding to the icon.

6. The map image display device according to claim 4, wherein the voice recognition unit is further operative to have other sentence, different in an expression mode from the patterned sentence displayed at the area outside the map image of the navigation image, to be objective for recognition whereupon when applied with a voice input uttered for the other sentence, the display control unit allows the other sentence to be displayed, in place of the patterned sentence, on the navigation image at the area outside the map image in the display pattern corresponding to the icon when providing a subsequent display of the navigation image with the display unit.

7. A method of providing a display of a map image, comprising:

providing a display of a map image in dependence on a command input received from a user;

storing regional surface areas of particular designations in the map image and particular designations indicative of the particular designations in a correlated relationship, respectively;

setting a standard surface area by dividing a surface area of an entire area indicated in the map image into n (n is an integer) divisions, when providing a display of the map image, to provide a resulting value that is determined to be the standard surface area;

selecting the particular designations of n pieces of the areas whose surface areas are closer to the standard surface area upon retrieving the regional surface area of the area, involved in the map image to be displayed and indicative of the particular designation, from the memory unit; and

controlling a display of the n pieces of the particular designations, selected with the selecting unit, to be provided on the map image at appropriate locations thereof as icons, indicative of an index of the command input, in a superimposed relationship.

8. The method of providing the display of the map image according to claim 7, wherein the selecting step includes newly selecting the particular designation of the other area whose regional surface area is closer to the standard surface area when applied with the command input requesting a particular designation of other area to be displayed as an icon.

9. The method of providing the display of the map image according to claim 7, wherein the storing step includes storing the particular designations of a plurality of assortments and regional surface areas of the relevant areas indicative of the particular designations in a correlated relationship, respectively, and the selecting step includes changing over the assortments of the particular designations to be selected in response to the command input.

10. The method of providing the display of the map image according to claim 7, further comprising:

recognizing a command input made through a voice, wherein the voice input recognizing step includes compelling the particular designation displayed on the map image as the icon to be determined as an objective to be recognized or compelling the particular designation displayed on the map image as the icon to be recognized at a higher degree than those of the other designations.

11. The method of providing the display of the map image according to claim 10, further comprising executing a given operation responsive to a recognized result provided on recognizing step, wherein the display controlling step further allows a patterned sentence, that specifies an operational content to be executed in the operation executing step for the particular designation and forms the objective to be recognized in the voice recognizing step, to be displayed in a navigation image at an area outside the map image in a display pattern corresponding to the icon.

12. The map image display device according to claim 10, wherein the voice recognizing step further allows other sentence, different in an expression mode from the patterned sentence displayed at the area outside the map image of the navigation image, to be objective for recognition whereupon when applied with a voice input uttered for the other sentence, the display controlling step allows the other sentence to be displayed, in place of the patterned sentence, on the navigation image at the area outside the map image in the display pattern corresponding to the icon when providing a subsequent display of the navigation image.

13. A map image display program, comprising:

providing a display of a map image in dependence on a command input received from a user;

storing regional surface areas of particular designations in the map image and particular designations indicative of the particular designations in a correlated relationship, respectively;

setting a standard surface area by dividing a surface area of an entire area indicated in the map image into n (n is an integer) equal divisions, when providing a display of the map image, to provide a resulting value that is determined to be the standard surface area;

selecting the particular designations of n pieces of the areas whose surface areas are closer to the standard surface area upon retrieving the regional surface area of the area, involved in the map image to be displayed and indicative of the particular designation, from the memory unit; and

controlling a display of the n pieces of the particular designations, selected with the selecting unit, to be provided on the map image at appropriate locations thereof as icons, indicative of an index of the command input, in a superimposed relationship.

14. The map image display program according to claim 13, further comprising executing a given operation responsive to a recognized result provided on recognizing step, wherein the display controlling step further allows a patterned sentence, that specifies an operational content to be executed in the operation executing step for the particular designation and forms the objective to be recognized in the voice recognizing step, to be displayed in a navigation image at an area outside the map image in a display pattern corresponding to the icon.

15. A map image display device, comprising:

display means providing a display of a map image in dependence on a command input received from a user;

storing means storing regional surface areas of particular designations in the map image and particular designations indicative of the particular designations in a correlated relationship, respectively;

standard surface area setting means setting a standard surface area by dividing a surface area of an entire area indicated in the map image into n (n is an integer) equal divisions, when providing a display of the map image, to provide a resulting value that is determined to be the standard surface area;

selecting means selecting the particular designations of n pieces of the areas whose surface areas are closer to the standard surface area upon retrieving the regional surface area of the area, involved in the map image to be displayed and indicative of the particular designation, from the memory unit; and

display control means controlling a display of the n pieces of the particular designations, selected with the selecting unit, to be provided on the map image at appropriate locations thereof as icons, indicative of an index of the command input, in a superimposed relationship.

16. The map image display device according to claim 15, further comprising:

voice input recognizing means recognizing a command input made through a voice of a user; and

operation executing means executing a given operation responsive to a recognized result provided with the voice recognizing means;

wherein the display control means further allows a patterned sentence, that specifies an operational content to be executed with the operation executing means for the particular designation and forms the objective to be recognized with the voice recognizing means, to be displayed in a navigation image at an area outside the map image in a display pattern corresponding to the icon.