Information provision system, information provision device, information provision method, and computer program product

Abstract

The invention provides an information providing system, an information providing apparatus, an information providing method, and a computer program product. An information provision system (10) is provided with a terminal device (12) used by a user, and an information provision device (14) capable of communicating with the terminal device (12), the information provision device (14) being provided with: a group setting unit (60) for setting a group comprising a plurality of users; an information acquisition unit (62) that acquires information relating to the movement of the moving body (18) used by the users belonging to the group; the information provision unit (64) provides the information relating to the movement of the moving body (18) acquired by the information acquisition unit (62) to the terminal devices (12) used by the users belonging to the group. The present invention enables satisfactory information sharing among a plurality of users using a terminal device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information providing system, an information providing device, an information providing method and a program. Background Art

[0002] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2017-530463 discloses a system capable of sharing location information of each mobile terminal among multiple mobile terminals. Summary of the invention

[0003] A technology that can satisfactorily share information among a plurality of users using terminal devices is desired.

[0004] The purpose of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned technical problems.

[0005] The first aspect of the present invention is an information providing system, comprising a terminal device used by a user and an information providing device capable of communicating with the terminal device, the information providing device comprising a group setting unit, an information acquiring unit and an information providing unit, wherein the group setting unit sets a group consisting of a plurality of the users; the information acquiring unit acquires information related to the movement of a mobile body used by the users belonging to the group; and the information providing unit provides the information related to the movement of the mobile body acquired by the information acquiring unit to the terminal device used by the users belonging to the group.

[0006] The second embodiment of the present invention is an information providing device capable of communicating with a terminal device used by a user, comprising a group setting unit, an information acquisition unit and an information providing unit, wherein the group setting unit sets a group consisting of a plurality of the users; the information acquisition unit acquires information related to the movement of a mobile body used by the users belonging to the group; and the information providing unit provides the information related to the movement of the mobile body acquired by the information acquisition unit to the terminal device used by the users belonging to the group.

[0007] The third mode of the present invention is a step having a group setting step, an information acquisition step and an information providing step, wherein, in the group setting step, a group setting unit sets a group consisting of multiple users; in the information acquisition step, the information acquisition unit acquires information related to the movement of a mobile body used by the users belonging to the group; in the information providing step, the information providing unit provides the information related to the movement of the mobile body acquired in the information acquisition step to a terminal device used by the users belonging to the group.

[0008] A program according to a fourth aspect of the present invention causes a computer to execute the information providing method according to the third aspect.

[0009] According to the present invention, information can be satisfactorily shared among a plurality of users using terminal devices.

[0010] The above-mentioned objects, features, and advantages will be easily understood from the following description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0011] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the information provision system.

[0012] Figure 2 It is a functional block diagram of a mobile terminal.

[0013] Figure 3 This is a functional block diagram of an information providing device.

[0014] Figure 4 It is a functional block diagram of a moving object.

[0015] Figure 5 This is a flowchart of a group setting process performed by the information providing device.

[0016] Figure 6 This is a flowchart of information provision processing performed by the information provision device.

[0017] Figure 7 It is a diagram showing a display screen showing shared information.

[0018] Figure 8 It is a diagram showing a display screen showing shared information.

[0019] Fig. 9 This is a flowchart of the first additional processing performed by the information providing device.

[0020] Fig.10 This is a flowchart of the second additional processing performed by the information providing device. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] When the first user of the first mobile terminal and the second user of the second mobile terminal meet, sometimes one or both users use a mobile body such as a vehicle to go to a gathering place (destination). However, sometimes the mobile body cannot move as planned due to congestion, refueling, charging, etc. In particular, electric vehicles need to be charged frequently, and a single charge takes dozens of minutes. Due to these reasons, any user may not be able to arrive at the gathering place at the gathering time. In this case, the user who cannot arrive at the gathering place at the gathering time wants to contact the other party. However, there is a problem that users find it troublesome to contact each other over and over again. In addition, there is also the problem of difficulty in operating the mobile terminal during driving.

[0022] The information providing system according to the present invention allows a plurality of users belonging to a preset group to share information related to the movement of a mobile object. In addition, in this specification, the information related to the movement of a mobile object is also referred to as mobile object information.

[0023] [1 Configuration of Information Providing System 10] Figure 1 1 is a schematic diagram of the structure of the information providing system 10. The information providing system 10 includes a plurality of mobile terminals (terminal devices) 12 and an information providing device 14. Each mobile terminal 12 can be connected to a communication line 16 such as the Internet through wireless communication. The information providing device 14 can be connected to the communication line 16 through wired communication or wireless communication. The mobile terminal 12 and the information providing device 14 can perform two-way communication through the communication line 16.

[0024] The mobile terminal 12 is carried by the user. When the user uses the mobile body 18, the mobile terminal 12 is brought into the mobile body 18. In this specification, the mobile body 18 is an electric car driven by power supplied by a battery. In addition, the mobile body 18 may be a hybrid vehicle having an engine and a motor, or an engine vehicle. In addition, the mobile body 18 may also be a mobile body other than a vehicle.

[0025] The mobile terminal 12 is, for example, a smart phone, a tablet terminal, etc., but is not limited thereto. For example, an application software for information sharing is installed in the mobile terminal 12. In the following description, one of the plurality of mobile terminals 12 is also referred to as a first mobile terminal 12A, and a mobile terminal 12 other than the first mobile terminal 12A is also referred to as a second mobile terminal 12B. In addition, a user of the first mobile terminal 12A is also referred to as a first user, and a user of the second mobile terminal 12B is also referred to as a second user. In addition, a mobile body 18 on which the first user rides is also referred to as a first mobile body 18A, and a mobile body 18 on which the second user rides is also referred to as a second mobile body 18B.

[0026] [1-1 Configuration of Mobile Terminal 12] Figure 2 1 is a functional block diagram of the mobile terminal 12. Here, the structure of the first mobile terminal 12A in the mobile terminal 12 is described. In addition, the structure of the second mobile terminal 12B is the same as that of the first mobile terminal 12A. The first mobile terminal 12A includes an input unit 22, an output unit 24, a positioning unit 26, a first communication unit 28, a second communication unit 30, a calculation unit 32, and a storage unit 34.

[0027] The input unit 22 has a human-machine interface for the first user to input various information into the first mobile terminal 12A. For example, the input unit 22 may have a keyboard, a touch screen, or a voice input device.

[0028] The output unit 24 has a human-machine interface for outputting various information in a manner that can be confirmed by the first user. For example, the output unit 24 may have a display device, or may have a voice output device, etc.

[0029] The positioning unit 26 has a receiver for measuring the current position of the first mobile terminal 12A by satellite navigation. For example, the positioning unit 26 may also have a receiver for receiving signals from artificial satellites 20 ( Figure 1 )'s radio waves from the GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) receiver.

[0030] The first communication unit 28 has a communication unit 80 ( Figure 4 ) for wireless communication. For example, the first communication unit 28 may also include a communication module for short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (registered trademark). The first communication unit 28 is wirelessly connected to the communication unit 80 of the first mobile body 18A by pairing with the communication unit 80 of the first mobile body 18A.

[0031] The second communication unit 30 includes a communication module (integrated circuit module) for performing bidirectional communication with another communication device (information providing device 14 ) connected to the communication line 16 .

[0032] The operation unit 32 can be composed of a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). That is, the operation unit 32 can be composed of a processing circuit. At least a part of the operation unit 32 can also be implemented by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). At least a part of the operation unit 32 can also be implemented by an electronic circuit including discrete devices.

[0033] The operation unit 32 includes a battery information acquisition unit 38, a position information acquisition unit 40, a destination information acquisition unit 42, a ride information acquisition unit 44, a communication control unit 46, and an output control unit 48. The battery information acquisition unit 38, the position information acquisition unit 40, the destination information acquisition unit 42, the ride information acquisition unit 44, the communication control unit 46, and the output control unit 48 can be realized by the operation unit 32 executing a program (application software for information sharing) stored in the storage unit 34.

[0034] The battery information acquisition unit 38 receives the battery information from the battery management unit 78 ( Figure 4 ) obtains information related to the battery. The information related to the battery includes the remaining battery power such as SOC (State Of Charge), a charging recommendation threshold for recommending battery charging to the first user, and the like. The remaining battery power is mobile body information. The charging recommendation threshold can be preset by the user, but is not limited thereto.

[0035] The position information acquisition unit 40 acquires information indicating the current position of the first mobile terminal 12A from the positioning unit 26. When the first user is riding on the first moving body 18A, the current position of the first mobile terminal 12A corresponds to the current position of the first moving body 18A. The current position of the first moving body 18A (the current position of the first mobile terminal 12A) is moving body information.

[0036] The destination information acquisition unit 42 acquires information indicating the destination of the first moving body 18A from the input unit 22. When the first user rides the first moving body 18A, the first user inputs the destination to the first mobile terminal 12A by operating the input unit 22. The information indicating the destination is stored in the storage unit 34. The destination is moving body information.

[0037] The riding information acquisition unit 44 acquires information indicating whether the first user is riding on the first moving body 18A. For example, the riding information acquisition unit 44 obtains information from the speed detection unit 76 ( Figure 4 ) obtains information indicating the travel speed of the first mobile body 18A. Furthermore, the riding information acquisition unit 44 may determine whether the first user is riding on the first mobile body 18A based on the information indicating the travel speed of the first mobile body 18A and the information indicating the current position of the first mobile body 18A acquired by the position information acquisition unit 40. Specifically, when the travel speed of the first mobile body 18A is zero even though the current position of the first mobile terminal 12A is moving, the riding information acquisition unit 44 determines that the first user is not riding on the first mobile body 18A. The result of determining whether the first user is riding on the first mobile body 18A is the mobile body information.

[0038] The communication control unit 46 controls the second communication unit 30 to transmit each piece of mobile body information acquired by the battery information acquisition unit 38 , the position information acquisition unit 40 , the destination information acquisition unit 42 , and the boarding information acquisition unit 44 to the information providing device 14 .

[0039] The output control unit 48 controls the output unit 24 to output the moving object information of one or more moving objects 18 (the first moving object 18A and the second moving object 18B) provided by the information providing device 14 .

[0040] The storage unit 34 is a computer-readable storage medium. The storage unit 34 is composed of a volatile memory (not shown) and a non-volatile memory (not shown). Examples of volatile memory include RAM (Random Access Memory). Examples of non-volatile memory include ROM (Read Only Memory), flash memory, etc. Data, etc. are stored in the volatile memory, for example. Programs, tables, mappings, etc. are stored in the non-volatile memory, for example. At least a portion of the storage unit 34 may also be provided in the above-mentioned processor, integrated circuit, etc.

[0041] The storage unit 34 stores user information 50 and related person information 52. The user information 50 is information for identifying the first user and the first mobile terminal 12A. The user information 50 includes, for example, an identifier of the first user (user ID, etc.) and an identifier of the first mobile terminal 12A (individual identification number, telephone number, etc.). The related person information 52 includes an identifier of a second user who is a related person of the first user (user ID, etc.) and an identifier of the second mobile terminal 12B (individual identification number, telephone number, etc.). The related person information 52 includes information related to one or more second users.

[0042] [1-2 Configuration of Information Providing Device 14] Figure 3 2 is a functional block diagram of the information providing device 14. The information providing device 14 can be constituted by, for example, a physical server or a cloud server. The information providing device 14 includes a computing unit 56 and a storage unit 58.

[0043] The operation unit 56 can be composed of a processor such as a CPU or a GPU. That is, the operation unit 56 can be composed of a processing circuit. At least a part of the operation unit 56 can also be implemented by an integrated circuit such as an ASIC or an FPGA. At least a part of the operation unit 56 can also be implemented by an electronic circuit including discrete devices.

[0044] The operation unit 56 includes a group setting unit 60, an information acquisition unit 62, an information provision unit 64, a spare time calculation unit 66, and a search unit 68. The group setting unit 60, the information acquisition unit 62, the information provision unit 64, the spare time calculation unit 66, and the search unit 68 can be realized by the operation unit 56 executing a program stored in the storage unit 58.

[0045] The group setting unit 60 sets a group consisting of a plurality of users. The group setting unit 60 stores group information 74 related to the set group in the storage unit 58. The group information 74 includes identification information of the group, identification information of users belonging to the group, and identification information of mobile terminals 12 carried by users belonging to the group.

[0046] The information acquisition unit 62 acquires the moving body information of the moving body 18 used by the user. The information acquisition unit 62 acquires at least one of the information indicating the remaining battery power, the information indicating the current position, the information indicating the destination, and the information indicating the presence or absence of passengers from the mobile terminal 12 carried by the user. In addition, the information acquisition unit 62 estimates the expected arrival time at the destination and the expected driving route based on the traffic information, the information indicating the current position, and the information indicating the destination provided by the external device. The expected arrival time at the destination is the time when the moving body 18 is expected to arrive at the destination. The expected driving route is the route that the moving body 18 is expected to travel from the current position to the destination. The expected arrival time at the destination and the expected driving route are moving body information.

[0047] The information providing unit 64 provides the moving object information acquired by the information acquiring unit 62 to the mobile terminals 12 carried by the users belonging to the same group.

[0048] The spare time calculation unit 66 calculates the spare time. The spare time is the difference between the scheduled arrival time of one destination and the scheduled arrival time of another destination among the scheduled arrival times of the destinations of the plurality of moving bodies 18 having the same destination. For example, when the destination of the first moving body 18A among the plurality of moving bodies 18 and the destination of the second moving body 18B among the plurality of moving bodies 18 are the same, the spare time calculation unit 66 calculates the spare time based on the difference between the scheduled arrival time of the destination of the first moving body 18A and the scheduled arrival time of the destination of the second moving body 18B.

[0049] The search unit 68 searches the map information 72 for a charging station at which the first moving body 18A and the second moving body 18B can be charged together.

[0050] The storage unit 58 is a computer-readable storage medium. The storage unit 58 is composed of a volatile memory (not shown) and a non-volatile memory (not shown). Examples of volatile memory include RAM, etc. Examples of non-volatile memory include ROM, flash memory, etc. Data, etc. are stored in the volatile memory, for example. Programs, tables, mappings, etc. are stored in the non-volatile memory, for example. At least a portion of the storage unit 58 may also be provided in the above-mentioned processor, integrated circuit, etc.

[0051] The storage unit 58 stores map information 72. The map information 72 includes information on various facilities (charging stations, etc.) in addition to information on nodes and links. The information on various facilities includes information on the geographical coordinates, address, telephone number, and facility overview of the facility.

[0052] The storage unit 58 stores group information 74. As described above, the group information 74 includes identification information of the group, identification information of users belonging to the group, and identification information of mobile terminals 12 carried by users belonging to the group. The identification information of the group, the identification information of the users, and the identification information of the mobile terminals 12 carried by the users are associated with each other.

[0053] [1-3 Structure of the moving body 18] Figure 4 1 is a functional block diagram of the mobile body 18. The mobile body 18 has a speed detection unit 76, a battery management unit 78, and a communication unit 80. The speed detection unit 76 has, for example, a speed sensor. The speed sensor detects the travel speed of the mobile body 18. The battery management unit 78 has an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The battery management unit 78 calculates the remaining battery power such as SOC (State Of Charge). The communication unit 80 has a communication module (integrated circuit module) for wirelessly communicating with the first communication unit 28 of the mobile terminal 12. For example, the communication unit 80 may also have a communication module for short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth (Bluetooth: registered trademark).

[0054] [2 Operations of Information Providing System 10] [2-1 Group setting process] Figure 5 2 is a flowchart of a group setting process performed by the information providing device 14. The user operates the mobile terminal 12 to instruct the information providing device 14 to perform group setting. Figure 5 The group setting process shown is performed at the time when the information providing device 14 receives an instruction to set a group.

[0055] In step S1, the group setting unit 60 acquires group setting information. For example, the first user who wants to set a group operates the first mobile terminal 12A to select one or more second users and instructs the setting of the group. The first mobile terminal 12A sends the group setting information corresponding to the user's operation to the information providing device 14. The group setting information includes identification information of the users (the first user and one or more second users) registered in the group and identification information of the mobile terminal 12 carried by each user.

[0056] In step S2, the group setting unit 60 sets a group based on the acquired group setting information. The group setting unit 60 creates group information 74 based on the group setting information acquired in step S1. The group setting unit 60 adds identification information of an arbitrary group to the created group information 74.

[0057] [2-2 Information provision processing] Next, a process of sharing moving body information by a plurality of users belonging to the same group will be described. Each user operates an application software for information sharing on a mobile terminal 12. Each mobile terminal 12 transmits moving body information and user information 50 to the information providing device 14 at a predetermined time.

[0058] Figure 6 This is a flowchart of information provision processing performed by the information provision device 14 . Figure 6 The information provision process shown is performed at any time. Here, an example is given in which the second mobile terminal 12B carried by the second user shares the moving object information of the first moving object 18A used by the first user. The second user may be one person or multiple people.

[0059] In step S11 , the information acquisition unit 62 acquires the moving body information and the user information 50 transmitted from the first mobile terminal 12A.

[0060] In step S12, the information acquisition unit 62 estimates the estimated arrival time at the destination and the estimated travel route based on the traffic information provided by the external device, the information indicating the acquired current position, and the information indicating the acquired destination. Accordingly, the information acquisition unit 62 acquires information indicating the estimated arrival time at the destination and the estimated travel route.

[0061] In step S13, the information providing unit 64 determines the user with whom the information is shared based on the group identification information acquired by the information acquiring unit 62 and the group information 74 stored in the storage unit 58. That is, the information providing unit 64 determines the user belonging to the group in the group identification information based on the group information 74. Alternatively, the information providing unit 64 may determine the user with whom the information is shared based on the user information 50 acquired by the information acquiring unit 62 and the group information 74 stored in the storage unit 58.

[0062] In step S14, the information providing unit 64 provides the mobile terminal 12 carried by the specified user with the moving object information acquired by the information acquiring unit 62. Thus, the moving object information of the first moving object 18A used by the first user is provided to the mobile terminals 12 of the users belonging to the group.

[0063] Accordingly, the moving body information of the first moving body 18A used by the first user is shared by the users in the group to which the first user (and the second user) belongs. The information providing device 14 performs the same process on the second mobile terminal 12B. Accordingly, the moving body information of the second moving body 18B used by the second user is also shared by the users in the group to which the second user (and the first user) belongs.

[0064] As described above, the information providing device 14 acquires the moving body information of each moving body 18, and provides the acquired moving body information to each mobile terminal 12. Figure 7As shown, the output control unit 48 of each mobile terminal 12 displays shared information including mobile body information (battery remaining power, current position, destination, estimated destination arrival time, estimated travel route, etc.) of each mobile body 18 (18A, 18B) on the display screen 82.

[0065] Alternatively, the first user may be riding on the first moving body 18A, while the second user may not be riding on the moving body 18. In this case, Figure 8 As shown, the output control unit 48 of each of the first mobile terminal 12A and the second mobile terminal 12B displays shared information including mobile body information of the first mobile body 18A (remaining battery power, current location, destination, estimated arrival time at destination, estimated travel route, etc.) on the display screen 82.

[0066] According to the above-mentioned information providing process, the user belonging to the group can automatically provide the mobile body information related to the mobile body 18 to other users belonging to the group. Therefore, even if the estimated arrival time of the mobile body 18 at the destination is delayed, the user does not need to contact other users using the mobile terminal 12. Therefore, the user no longer feels troublesome to contact other users. In addition, each user can understand what other users are doing.

[0067] [2-3 First additional process (process of providing information indicating spare time)] The information providing device 14 can provide further information to each moving object 18 based on the moving object information.

[0068] Fig. 9 This is a flowchart of the first additional processing performed by the information providing device 14 . Fig. 9 The first additional processing shown is an information provision processing for users of each of the plurality of mobile bodies 18 having the same destination. The first additional processing is a processing for providing information indicating the spare time. As described above, the spare time is indicated by the difference between one of the scheduled arrival times of the plurality of mobile bodies 18 having the same destination and another of the scheduled arrival times of the plurality of mobile bodies 18 having the same destination. Fig. 9 The first additional processing shown in Figure 6 The process of step S13 of the information providing process shown is then executed.

[0069] In step S21, the spare time calculation unit 66 determines whether there is a moving body 18 with the same destination in the group. If there is a moving body 18 with the same destination (step S21: Yes), the process moves to step S22. On the other hand, if there is no moving body 18 with the same destination (step S21: No), the first additional process ends.

[0070] In step S22, the spare time calculation unit 66 selects one of the plurality of mobile bodies 18 having the same destination. For example, the mobile body 18 having the latest scheduled arrival time at the destination among the plurality of mobile bodies 18 having the same destination is selected. Then, the spare time calculation unit 66 calculates the difference (spare time) between the scheduled arrival time at the destination of the selected mobile body 18 and the scheduled arrival time at the destination of another mobile body 18 having the same destination.

[0071] In step S23, the information providing unit 64 provides information indicating the spare time calculated by the spare time calculating unit 66 to the mobile terminal 12 carried by the user who uses the mobile body 18 with the same destination. For example, when the scheduled arrival time at the destination of the first mobile body 18A is 30 minutes later than the scheduled arrival time at the destination of the second mobile body 18B, the information providing unit 64 provides information indicating the spare time of 30 minutes to the second mobile terminal 12B. Alternatively, the information providing unit 64 may provide information indicating that the scheduled arrival time at the destination of the first mobile body 18A is 30 minutes later than the scheduled arrival time at the destination of the second mobile body 18B to the first mobile terminal 12A.

[0072] According to the first additional processing described above, the user is notified of the spare time, so that the user can effectively use the spare time.

[0073] [2-4 Second additional processing (processing for providing information related to charging stations)] Fig.10 This is a flowchart of the second additional processing performed by the information providing device 14 . Fig.10 The second additional processing shown is an information provision processing for users of each of the plurality of mobile bodies 18 having the same destination. The second additional processing is a processing for providing information related to the charging station. The information related to the charging station includes information such as the geographical coordinates, address, telephone number, and facility overview of the charging station. Fig.10 The second additional processing shown in Figure 6 The process of step S13 of the information providing process shown is then executed.

[0074] In step S31, the search unit 68 determines whether there is a moving body 18 with the same destination in the group. If there is a moving body 18 with the same destination (step S31: Yes), the process moves to step S32. On the other hand, if there is no moving body 18 with the same destination (step S31: No), the second additional process ends.

[0075] In step S32, the search unit 68 determines whether all the prescribed conditions for searching for charging stations are satisfied. Here, it is assumed that the destination of the first moving body 18A and the destination of the second moving body 18B are the same. When the remaining battery power of the first moving body 18A is below the charging recommendation threshold of the first moving body 18A, the search unit 68 determines that the first prescribed condition is satisfied. When the remaining battery power of the second moving body 18B is below the charging recommendation threshold of the second moving body 18B, the search unit 68 determines that the second prescribed condition is satisfied. When the separation distance between the current position of the first moving body 18A and the current position of the second moving body 18B is below the prescribed distance, the search unit 68 determines that the third prescribed condition is satisfied. When all the prescribed conditions are satisfied (step S32: Yes), the processing is transferred to step S33. On the other hand, when any of the prescribed conditions is not satisfied (step S32: No), the second additional processing ends.

[0076] In step S33, the search unit 68 searches for a charging station. For example, the search unit 68 searches the map information 72 for a charging station that is within a predetermined distance from both the current position of the first moving body 18A and the current position of the second moving body 18B and that can charge the first moving body 18A and the second moving body 18B at the same time.

[0077] In step S34, the information providing unit 64 provides each mobile terminal 12 (the first mobile terminal 12A and the second mobile terminal 12B) with information related to the charging station retrieved by the retrieval unit 68. The information providing unit 64 may also provide each mobile terminal 12 with information related to a plurality of charging stations. The information providing unit 64 may also preferentially provide each mobile terminal 12 with information related to a charging station that is located in the traveling direction of the first mobile body 18A and the second mobile body 18B and is closest to the current position of the first mobile body 18A and the current position of the second mobile body 18B.

[0078] According to the second additional processing described above, a plurality of users can meet at the same charging station and charge each of the moving objects 18 at the same time.

[0079] In addition, a terminal device (for example, a navigation device) included in the mobile object 18 may be used instead of the mobile terminal 12 .

[0080] The computer program (computer software) of this embodiment can also be called a computer program product. Computer program products are not limited to computer programs stored in a storage medium, but also include computer programs transmitted, distributed, and downloaded via the Internet or the like.

[0081] [3 Notes] In relation to the above disclosed contents, the following additional notes are also disclosed.

[0082] (Note 1) An information providing system (10) comprises a terminal device (12, 12A, 12B) used by a user and an information providing device (14) capable of communicating with the terminal device, the information providing device comprising a group setting unit (60), an information acquiring unit (62) and an information providing unit (64), the group setting unit (60) setting a group consisting of a plurality of the users; the information acquiring unit (62) acquiring information related to the movement of a mobile body (18, 18A, 18B) used by the users belonging to the group; and the information providing unit (64) providing the information related to the movement of the mobile body acquired by the information acquiring unit to the terminal device used by the users belonging to the group.

[0083] According to the above structure, users belonging to a group can automatically provide mobile body information related to the mobile body to other users belonging to the group. Therefore, even if the estimated arrival time of the mobile body at the destination is delayed, the user does not need to contact other users using the terminal device (mobile terminal). Therefore, the user no longer feels troublesome for contacting other users. In addition, each user can understand what other users are doing.

[0084] (Note 2) In the information providing system described in Note 1, the moving body may also be an electric vehicle driven by electricity supplied by a battery, and the information related to the movement of the moving body includes at least one of the remaining battery power, the current location, the destination, the estimated arrival time at the destination, the estimated driving route, and the presence or absence of passengers.

[0085] (Note 3) In the information providing system described in Note 2, the information providing device may also include a surplus time calculation unit (66), and when the destination of a first moving body (18A) among the plurality of moving bodies and the destination of a second moving body (18B) among the plurality of moving bodies are the same, the surplus time calculation unit (66) calculates the surplus time based on the difference between the scheduled arrival time at the destination of the first moving body and the scheduled arrival time at the destination of the second moving body, the information providing unit provides information indicating the surplus time to at least either the terminal device used by the user using the first moving body or the terminal device used by the user using the second moving body.

[0086] According to the above configuration, the user is notified of the spare time, so the user can effectively use the spare time.

[0087] (Note 4) In the information providing system described in Note 2, it is also possible to pre-set a charging recommendation threshold for recommending battery charging to the user, and the information providing device has a retrieval unit (68). When the destination of a first moving body among the plurality of moving bodies and the destination of a second moving body among the plurality of moving bodies are consistent, the remaining battery power of the first moving body is below the charging recommendation threshold of the first moving body, the remaining battery power of the second moving body is below the charging recommendation threshold of the second moving body, and the distance between the current position of the first moving body and the current position of the second moving body is below a specified distance, the retrieval unit (68) retrieves a charging station where the first moving body and the second moving body can be charged together, and the information providing unit provides information related to the charging station retrieved by the retrieval unit to the terminal device used by the user using the first moving body and the terminal device used by the user using the second moving body.

[0088] According to the above configuration, a plurality of users can meet at the same charging station and charge their respective moving objects at the same time.

[0089] (Note 5) In the information providing system according to any one of Supplementary Notes 1 to 4, the terminal device may be a mobile terminal carried by the user.

[0090] (Note 6) The information providing device is an information providing device that can communicate with a terminal device used by a user, and comprises a group setting unit, an information acquiring unit and an information providing unit, wherein the group setting unit sets a group consisting of a plurality of the users; the information acquiring unit acquires information related to the movement of a mobile body used by the users belonging to the group; and the information providing unit provides the information related to the movement of the mobile body acquired by the information acquiring unit to the terminal device used by the users belonging to the group.

[0091] (Note 7) The information providing method comprises a group setting step, an information acquiring step and an information providing step, wherein in the group setting step, a group setting unit sets a group consisting of a plurality of users; in the information acquiring step, an information acquiring unit acquires information related to the movement of a mobile body used by the users belonging to the group; in the information providing step, the information providing unit provides the information related to the movement of the mobile body acquired in the information acquiring step to a terminal device used by the users belonging to the group.

[0092] (Note 8) The program causes a computer to execute the information providing method described in Supplementary Note 7.

[0093] In addition, the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned disclosure, and various structures can be adopted within the scope not departing from the gist of the present invention.

Claims

1. An information providing system comprising a terminal device used by a user and an information providing device capable of communicating with the terminal device, characterized in that: The information providing device comprises a group setting unit, an information acquiring unit and an information providing unit, wherein: The group setting unit sets a group consisting of a plurality of the users; the information acquisition unit acquires information related to movement of a mobile body used by the user belonging to the group; The information providing unit provides the information on the movement of the moving object acquired by the information acquiring unit to the terminal device used by the user belonging to the group.

2. The information providing system according to claim 1, characterized in that The mobile body is an electric car driven by electric power supplied from a battery, The information related to the movement of the mobile body includes at least one of a remaining battery charge, a current position, a destination, a scheduled arrival time at a destination, a scheduled travel route, and the presence or absence of passengers.

3. The information providing system according to claim 2, characterized in that The information providing device further comprises a surplus time calculation unit, which calculates the surplus time based on the difference between the scheduled arrival time at the destination of the first moving body and the scheduled arrival time at the destination of the second moving body when the destination of the first moving body among the plurality of moving bodies coincides with the destination of the second moving body among the plurality of moving bodies. The information providing unit provides the information indicating the spare time to at least one of the terminal device used by the user who uses the first moving body and the terminal device used by the user who uses the second moving body.

4. The information providing system according to claim 2, characterized in that: presetting a charging recommendation threshold for recommending charging of the battery to the user, The information providing device includes a retrieval unit, and when the destination of a first moving body among the plurality of moving bodies and the destination of a second moving body among the plurality of moving bodies are the same, the remaining battery power of the first moving body is below the recommended charging threshold of the first moving body, the remaining battery power of the second moving body is below the recommended charging threshold of the second moving body, and the distance between the current position of the first moving body and the current position of the second moving body is below a prescribed distance, the retrieval unit retrieves a charging station at which the first moving body and the second moving body can be charged together, The information providing unit provides the information on the charging station searched by the searching unit to the terminal device used by the user who uses the first moving body and the terminal device used by the user who uses the second moving body.

5. The information providing system according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that: The terminal device is a mobile terminal carried by the user.

6. An information providing device capable of communicating with a terminal device used by a user, characterized in that: It has a group setting unit, an information acquisition unit and an information providing unit, wherein: The group setting unit sets a group consisting of a plurality of the users; the information acquisition unit acquires information related to movement of a mobile body used by the user belonging to the group; The information providing unit provides the information on the movement of the moving object acquired by the information acquiring unit to the terminal device used by the user belonging to the group.

7. A method for providing information, characterized in that: The method comprises a group setting step, an information obtaining step and an information providing step, wherein: In the group setting step, the group setting unit sets a group consisting of a plurality of users; In the information acquisition step, the information acquisition unit acquires information related to movement of a mobile body used by the user belonging to the group; In the information providing step, an information providing unit provides the information on the movement of the mobile body acquired in the information acquiring step to a terminal device used by the user belonging to the group.

8. A computer program product, characterized in that The computer program product is used to cause a computer to execute the information providing method according to claim 7.

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