Destination prediction apparatus and destination prediction method

• US 7,419,095 B2
• Filed: 03/06/2006
• Issued: 09/02/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 10/14/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Godo Kaisha IP Bridge 1 (IP Bridge, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Matsushita Electric Industrial Company Limited (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Ozawa, Jun, Yoshioka, Mototaka
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee; Michael G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHARIFZADA, ALI R
• Application Number:
  US11/367,576
• Publication Number:
  US 20060238409A1
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: 235/375, 340/995.19, 340/995.22, 701/207, 701/209, 701/210
• US Class Current: 235/384
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/26 specially adapted for navigation in a road network
• CPC Class Codes: G01C 21/3623 using a camera or code reader, e.g. for optical or magnetic codes
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/0294 Trajectory determination or predictive filtering, e.g. target tracking or Kalman filtering
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management

Abstract

To provide a destination prediction apparatus which can predict a destination of a user by using a carried item carried by the user, the destination prediction apparatus according to the present invention includes: a position information detection unit which detects a present position of a mobile terminal; a carried item detection unit which detects the carried item of the user; a history accumulation unit which accumulates a history of date and time information detected by a clock unit, position information detected by the position information detection unit, and information of the carried item of the user detected by the carried item detection unit; a carry frequency judgment unit which calculates a frequency at which the carried item is carried; a causal relationship extraction unit which calculates an infrequently carried item and a related point; a destination prediction unit which predicts the destination using the position information, the carried item information, and a position causal relationship extracted by the causal relationship extraction unit; and the clock unit which detects the date and time information.

Claims

1. A destination prediction apparatus which predicts a destination of a user, said apparatus comprising:

a carried item detection unit operable to detect a carried item which the user carries;

an accumulation unit operable to associate at least the carried item detected by said carried item detection unit with position information, and accumulate the carried item and the position information as a history;

a causal relationship extraction unit operable to extract, from the history, a causal relationship between at least the carried item and the position information;

a destination prediction unit operable to predict the destination of the user based on the causal relationship and the carried item; and

a carry frequency judgment unit operable to perform judgment that distinguishes whether the carried item is a frequently carried item which is carried with a frequency greater than or equal to a predetermined percentage, or an infrequently carried item which is carried with a frequency lower than the predetermined percentage,

wherein said causal relationship extraction unit is operable to extract a causal relationship between the infrequently carried item and the frequently carried item.

2. The destination prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said carry frequency judgment unit is operable to judge the carried item with a percentage lower than the predetermined percentage to be the infrequently carried item, and the carried item with a percentage greater than or equal to the predetermined percentage to be the frequently carried item, using, as the predetermined percentage, a percentage at which the user carries the carried item in each of a plurality of predetermined periods.

3. The destination prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said frequency carry judgment unit is operable to judge the carried item with a percentage lower than the predetermined percentage to be the infrequently carried item, and the carried item with a percentage greater than or equal to the predetermined percentage to be the frequently carried item, using, as the predetermined percentage, a percentage at which the user carries the carried item in each of a plurality of areas obtained by dividing a travel route of the user on a map.

4. The destination prediction apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein said frequency carry judgment unit is operable to judge the carried item with a percentage lower than the predetermined percentage to be the infrequently carried item, and the carried item with a percentage greater than or equal to the predetermined percentage to be the frequently carried item, using, as the predetermined percentage, a percentage at which the carried item is present in each of a plurality of classes that are obtained by dividing a travel route into the classes.

5. The destination prediction apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising

a target area prediction unit operable to predict a target area which is the destination of the user,

wherein said causal relationship extraction unit is operable to extract a causal relationship between the infrequently carried item and the target area.

6. The destination prediction apparatus according to claim 5,

wherein said carry frequency judgment unit is further operable to judge the carried item with a percentage lower than the predetermined percentage to be the infrequently carried item, and the carried item with a percentage greater than or equal to the predetermined percentage to be the frequently carried item, using, as the predetermined percentage, a percentage at which the carried item is carried when a movement from a departure area to the target area predicted by said target area prediction unit is calculated as one movement.

7. A destination prediction apparatus which predicts a destination of a user, said apparatus comprising:

a carried item detection unit operable to detect a carried item which the user carries;

an accumulation unit operable to associate at least the carried item detected by said carried item detection unit with position information, and accumulate the carried item and the position information as a history;

a causal relationship extraction unit operable to extract, from the history, a causal relationship between at least the carried item and the position information;

a destination prediction unit operable to predict the destination of the user based on the causal relationship and the carried item;

a non-carried item isolation unit operable to isolate a non-carried item which is not carried by the user based on the casual relationship and the carried item detected by said carried item detection unit;

a non-carried item position detection unit operable to detect a position in which the non-carried item is present; and

a non-carried item position relationship judgment unit operable to judge a position relationship between the non-carried item and the user based on the position of the non-carried item detected by said non-carried item position detection unit, a position of the user and a movement direction of the user,

wherein said destination prediction unit is operable to predict, as the destination of the user, a destination corresponding to the non-carried item, in the case where said non-carried item position relationship judgment unit judges that the user is approaching the non-carried item.

8. The destination prediction apparatus according to claim 7,

wherein said destination prediction unit is further operable to predict the destination of the user excluding the destination corresponding to the non-carried item.

9. A destination prediction method for predicting a destination of a user, said method comprising:

detecting a carried item which the user carries;

associating at least the carried item detected by said carried item detection unit with position information, and accumulating the carried item and the position information as a history;

judging whether the carried item is a frequently carried item which is carried with a frequency greater than or equal to a predetermined percentage, or an infrequently carried item which is carried with a frequency lower than the predetermined percentage;

extracting, from the history, a causal relationship between at least the carried item and the predetermined position information; and

predicting the destination of the user based on the causal relationship and the carried item,

wherein said extracting comprises extracting a causal relationship between the infrequently carried item and the frequently carried item.

10. A program used in a destination prediction method for predicting a destination of a user, said program being embodied on a computer-readable medium and causing a computer to execute a method comprising the steps of:

detecting a carried item which the user carries;

associating at least the carried item detected by said carried item detection unit with position information, and accumulating the carried item and the position information as a history;

extracting, from the history, a causal relationship between at least the carried item and the position information;

judging whether the carried item is a frequently carried item which is carried with a frequency greater than or equal to a predetermined percentage, or an infrequently carried item which is carried with a frequency lower than the predetermined percentage; and

predicting the destination of the user based on the causal relationship and the carried item,

wherein said extracting comprises extracting a causal relationship between the infrequently carried item and the frequently carried item.

11. A destination prediction method for predicting a destination of a user, said method comprising:

detecting a carried item which the user carries;

associating at least the carried item detected by said carried item detection unit with position information, and accumulating the carried item and the position information as a history;

extracting, from the history, a causal relationship between at least the carried item and the position information;

predicting the destination of the user based on the causal relationship and the carried item;

isolating a non-carried item which is not carried by the user based on the casual relationship and the carried item;

detecting a position in which the non-carried item is present; and

judging a position relationship between the non-carried item and the user based on the detected position of the non-carried item, a position of the user and a movement direction of the user,

wherein said predicting comprises predicting, as the destination of the user, a destination corresponding to the non-carried item, in the case where said judging judges that the user is approaching the non-carried item.

12. A program used in a destination prediction method for predicting a destination of a user, said program being embodied on a computer-readable medium and causing a computer to execute a method comprising the steps of:

detecting a carried item which the user carries;

associating at least the carried item detected by said carried item detection unit with position information, and accumulating the carried item and the position information as a history;

extracting, from the history, a causal relationship between at least the carried item and the position information;

predicting the destination of the user based on the causal relationship and the carried item;

isolating a non-carried item which is not carried by the user based on the casual relationship and the carried item;

detecting a position in which the non-carried item is present; and

judging a position relationship between the non-carried item and the user based on the detected position of the non-carried item, a position of the user and a movement direction of the user,

wherein said predicting comprises predicting, as the destination of the user, a destination corresponding to the non-carried item, in the case where said judging judges that the user is approaching the non-carried item.