Terminal state guiding device

Abstract

To draw the attention of a user of a portable type information terminal 10 with respect to the user by displaying a state of a peripheral terminal (information terminal 10) in operation while moving.SOLUTION: An information terminal 10 notifies an administrative server 100 of positional information. The administrative server 100 determines whether or not the information terminal 10 is in a use state while moving. The administrative server notifies the information terminal 10 of a position of the information terminal 10 (peripheral terminal) in the use state while moving. The degree of congestion of the peripheral terminal in the use state while moving is calculated by the information terminal 10. According to the degree of congestion, guidance information is outputted.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a terminal status guide device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, when a user of a mobile phone terminal operates the mobile phone terminal or looks at the display while moving, the user may concentrate on the mobile phone terminal and lose attention. As a method for avoiding this, there are techniques disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2014-60481 (Patent Document 1) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-263262 (Patent Document 2).

[0003] The device in Patent Document 1 hides the display screen when the user of the mobile phone terminal is moving (walking) and keeps the display screen displayed when the user is not moving. Whether or not the user is moving (walking) is detected by acquiring the location information of the mobile phone terminal at a predetermined interval.

[0004] In the technology of Patent Document 2, when the user of a mobile terminal is moving (walking), the operation of the terminal is restricted. Whether or not the user is moving (walking) is detected by sending the terminal's location information to a server, and the server determines whether or not the terminal is moving. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2014-60481 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2010-263262 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In the conventional techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a user using a portable terminal device cannot grasp the usage status of other users in the vicinity of the user.

[0007] Therefore, one example of a problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a technique that can notify a user of a terminal device of surrounding terminal devices and the usage status of the user, etc. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] The invention described in claim 1 is a terminal status guidance device characterized by comprising an acquisition unit that acquires location information of a plurality of terminal devices and usage status information indicating the usage status of the terminal devices while on the move, a congestion detection unit that detects that terminal devices in a usage status while on the move are concentrated based on the location information and the usage status information, and an output unit that outputs guidance information based on the detection result of the congestion detection unit. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] 1 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of an information terminal according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 2 is a functional block diagram showing a configuration of a main part of a management server according to the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an outline of a communication operation between an information terminal and a management server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] 4 is a flowchart showing a main part of a control program executed by a computer in a control unit of the information terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5] 13 is a flowchart showing a main part of a control program executed by a computer in a control unit of an information terminal according to a third embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. A terminal status guidance device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an acquisition unit that acquires position information of a plurality of terminal devices and usage status information indicating the usage status of the terminal devices while moving, a congestion detection unit that detects congestion of terminal devices that are in a usage status while moving based on the position information and the usage status information, and an output unit that outputs guidance information based on a detection result of the congestion detection unit.

[0011] In addition, the output unit is a terminal status guidance device that outputs the guidance information to a terminal device in a state of use while moving, and the guidance information includes at least one of guidance information that guides a user to a point of low density, or warning information that discourages use while moving.

[0012] The guidance information is congestion area information indicating an area where terminal devices in use while moving are concentrated, and the output unit is a terminal status guidance device that outputs the congestion area information by superimposing it on map data.

[0013] The terminal status guide device has a navigation function of searching for a route from a current position to a destination and providing guidance to the destination.The terminal status guide device searches for a route that does not enter an area where terminal devices in use are concentrated while moving, and outputs the searched route as the guidance information.

[0014] The acquisition unit further acquires information on the movement direction of the plurality of terminal devices, and the congestion detection unit is a terminal state guidance device that predicts the congestion using the information on the movement direction of the terminal devices in a use state while moving.

[0015] In addition, a terminal status guidance system according to one embodiment of the present invention is a terminal status guidance system composed of a plurality of terminal devices and a management device, and is equipped with an acquisition unit that acquires position information of the plurality of terminal devices and usage status information indicating the usage status of the terminal devices while on the move, and a congestion detection unit that detects that terminal devices in a usage status while on the move are concentrated based on the position information and the usage status information, and outputs guidance information based on the detection results of the congestion detection unit.

[0016] Furthermore, a terminal status guidance method according to one embodiment of the present invention is a terminal status guidance method which acquires location information of a plurality of terminal devices and usage status information indicating the usage status of the terminal devices while on the move, detects that terminal devices in a usage status while on the move are concentrated based on the acquired location information and usage status information, and outputs guidance information based on the detection result to the terminal devices.

[0017] The above-mentioned terminal status notification method may be implemented as a program executed by a computer.

[0018] The above-mentioned program may be stored in a computer-readable recording medium. EXAMPLES

[0019] Next, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

[0020] (First embodiment) Fig. 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of a portable information terminal 10 as an example of a "terminal status guide device" in the first embodiment. Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of a management server 100 as an example of a "management device" in the first embodiment. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an overview of the communication operation between the information terminal 10 and the management server 100. Each functional block shown in Figs. 1 and 2 is a function realization means obtained by executing a control program (software) by a central processing unit (CPU) of a computer (not shown), and hardware resources such as a memory device.

[0021] The state in which the user operates the information terminal device 10 while walking, or does not operate the device but is staring at the screen display, is defined as "use while moving" or "state of use while moving". In addition, an information terminal device 10 within a certain distance (for example, a radius of 100 m) from the information terminal device 10 is also called a "peripheral terminal".

[0022] 1, an information terminal 10 is made up of a control unit 1, a storage unit 2, a communication unit 3, a GPS receiving unit 4, and a liquid crystal display unit 5 as an example of a "display unit." The control unit 1 is made up of a display control unit 11, an operation control unit 12, a communication control unit 13, an execution unit 14, a record control unit 15, an on-the-go use detection unit 16, and a congestion calculation unit 17.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 2, the management server 100 includes a control unit 101, a state management unit 102, a speed calculation unit 103, a storage unit 104, and the like.

[0024] The outline of the first embodiment is as follows. As shown in Fig. 3, first, when the information terminal 10 is being operated by a user or displaying a video or the like, it transmits its own location information to the management server 100 at regular intervals. The management server 100 manages a plurality of information terminals 10, and the control unit 101 judges whether each information terminal 10 is in a "use while moving" state or not, based on the speed calculated by the speed calculation unit 103 on the basis of the location information from the information terminal 10. The control unit 101 also notifies the status management unit 102 of the ID, speed, and location information of each information terminal 10, as well as information on peripheral terminals for each information terminal 10. Then, the control unit 101 of the management server 100 notifies each information terminal 10 of usage status information (including location information) described later of all peripheral terminals of each information terminal 10 that are in a "use while moving" state.

[0025] The information terminal device 10 calculates the density from the number of surrounding terminals in the "use while moving" state notified, and displays a display according to this density. Note that in this first embodiment, the information terminal device 10 also detects its own "use while moving" state by the use while moving detection unit 16, and displays a display, for example, encouraging the user to stop operating while walking.

[0026] In the information terminal 10, the control unit 1 mainly processes and outputs each input information, and the memory unit 2 stores information required for processing. The communication unit 3 exchanges data with the outside, and the GPS receiving unit 4 acquires location information. The liquid crystal display unit 5 (an example of a display unit) outputs information on the screen.

[0027] In the control unit 1, a display control unit 11 as an example of an "output unit" controls the information to be output on the screen, and an operation control unit 12 acquires operation information by the user. A communication control unit 13 determines the communication content, and an execution unit 14 controls the overall operation. A record control unit 15 controls writing to and reading from the memory unit 2. An on-the-go use detection unit 16 detects the state of the information terminal 10 from the information obtained via the communication control unit 13. And a density calculation unit 17 calculates the density of surrounding terminals in a on-the-go use state from the information obtained via the communication control unit 13.

[0028] Furthermore, the execution unit 14 acquires the user's operation state from the operation control unit 12, and when the user is operating or a video or the like is being displayed, transmits position information indicating the position of the information terminal 10 acquired by the GPS receiving unit 4 to the management server 100 at regular intervals via the communication unit 3. The method of acquiring the position information (latitude and longitude information) of the information terminal 10 is a well-known method using GPS or the like, and a description thereof will be omitted.

[0029] In the management server 100, the control unit 101 controls the entire management server 100. The state management unit 102 manages the state of the information terminal 10 in response to a request from the control unit 101, and records location information (latitude and longitude information) indicating the location of the information terminal 10 obtained from the information terminal 10 in the memory unit 104. The speed calculation unit 103 calculates the transition of the above-mentioned location information of the information terminal 10 obtained from the information terminal 10, and converts it into information on the moving speed and moving direction of the information terminal 10 (user). The memory unit 14 stores data used in the management server 100, etc.

[0030] In the management server 100, the status management unit 102 judges whether each information terminal 10 is in a "use while moving" state or not, based on the position information obtained from each information terminal 10 and the information on the moving speed calculated by the speed calculation unit 103. Then, the status management unit 102 stores and updates the information on whether the information terminal 10 is in a "use while moving" state or not, the position information, the moving speed and the moving direction information (which are examples of "usage status information") in association with the ID of the information terminal 10 in the storage unit 104. Then, this "usage status information" is transmitted to the information terminal 10 via the network.

[0031] The information terminal 10 notifies the communication control unit 13 of the "usage status information" received via the communication unit 3, and the record control unit 15 stores this "usage status information" in the memory of the storage unit 2. Note that the "usage status information" that the management server 100 transmits to the information terminal 10 is the "usage status information" of information terminals 10 (peripheral terminals) within a certain distance (for example, a radius of 100 m) from the destination information terminal 10.

[0032] In this way, the management server 100 accumulates (and updates) "usage status information" for all information terminal devices 10 that are subject to management. Also, in the information terminal device 10, the control unit 1, which is an example of an "acquisition unit", acquires "usage status information" (including location information, information on moving speed, and information on moving direction) of peripheral terminals (other information terminal devices 10) from the management server 100, and this acquired "usage status information" is accumulated in the memory of the storage unit 2. This allows the information terminal device 10 to detect the location of peripheral terminals that are in a "use while moving" state.

[0033] Then, the density calculation unit 17 of the information terminal device 10 calculates the density of peripheral terminals in use while on the move near the current location, using the location information of the device itself acquired by the GPS receiving unit 4 and the location information of peripheral terminals (other information terminal devices 10) in use while on the move recorded in the memory unit 2. In this embodiment, the area around the device itself is subdivided into a plurality of cells (areas each having a unit area), and the density is calculated for each cell. The density is calculated as the number of peripheral terminals in use while on the move per unit area, as shown in the following formula (1).

[0034]

number

[0035] The display control unit 11 does not provide a special notification if the density of surrounding terminals in a moving use state near the current location notified by the density calculation unit 17 is low. If the density is high, the display control unit 11 provides a notification to encourage the user to move to a nearby location with low density via the liquid crystal display unit 5. Note that the display control unit 11 also provides a notification to encourage the user to stop using the terminal while moving if the terminal is in a moving use state after acquiring the terminal's own status from the moving use detection unit 16.

[0036] 4 is a flowchart of the main part of a control program executed by the computer (its CPU) of the control unit 1 of the information terminal device 10, and in step S1, "usage state information" (location information, information on movement speed, information on movement direction) of the peripheral terminals is acquired from the management server 100. Next, in step S2, a cell for which the density is to be calculated is determined, and in step S3, the density of the peripheral terminals in that cell is calculated. Then, in step S4, it is determined whether there are any uncalculated cells, and if there are any uncalculated cells, the process returns to step S2, and if there are no uncalculated cells, the process proceeds to step S5.

[0037] In step S5, it is determined whether the density of cells in the vicinity of the own device is equal to or greater than a certain value, and if it is not equal to or greater than the certain value, the process proceeds to step S7, and if it is equal to or greater than the certain value, information (guidance information) that guides the user to a point of low density is displayed in step S6, and the process proceeds to step S7. In step S7, it is determined whether the own device is in a state of use while moving, and if it is not in a state of use while moving, the process proceeds to step S9, and if it is in a state of use while moving, a warning is displayed in step S8 to stop using the device while moving, and the process proceeds to step S9. In step S9, other processing is performed and the process returns to step S1.

[0038] (Second embodiment) The information terminal and management server of the second embodiment have the same hardware configuration as the information terminal 10 and management server 100 of the first embodiment shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2, and each function of the second embodiment will be described below. The information terminal 10 of the second embodiment stores map data in the storage unit 2, and the display control unit 11 displays a map of the current surroundings on the liquid crystal display unit 5 based on this map data. The control unit 1 also calculates the density of the surrounding terminals as in the first embodiment, and generates density range information (for example, display information in which areas with high density are color-coded) indicating the range in which the surrounding terminals in use while moving are densely concentrated. Then, the display control unit 11 (an example of an output unit) superimposes this density range information on the map data and displays (outputs) it on the liquid crystal display unit 5. This enables the user to visually confirm and determine whether or not to avoid areas with high density.

[0039] Since the function of this second embodiment requires constant communication when displaying the map, it is desirable to use it in conjunction with a mechanism that allows the display to be switched on and off, or that enables display only when there is sufficient communication capacity.

[0040] (Third embodiment) The information terminal and management server of the third embodiment have the same hardware configuration as the information terminal 10 and management server 100 of the first embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, and each function of the third embodiment will be described below.

[0041] The information terminal 10 of the third embodiment stores map data in the storage unit 2 as in the second embodiment, and the display control unit 11 displays a map of the current surroundings on the liquid crystal display unit 5 based on the map data. The control unit 1 also has a navigation function that searches for a route from the current position to a destination specified by the user and provides guidance to the destination. Furthermore, the control unit 1 calculates the density of the surrounding terminals as in the second embodiment, and generates congestion area information indicating an area where the surrounding terminals in the on-the-go use state are densely packed. Then, if at least a part of the searched route is within the congestion area indicated by the congestion area information, the control unit 11 re-searches for a route that does not fall within the congestion area. Then, the display control unit 11 (an example of an output unit) displays (outputs) the re-searched route as guidance information on the liquid crystal display unit 5. This makes it possible to provide guidance (navigation) along a route that avoids the congestion area where the surrounding terminals in the on-the-go use state are densely packed.

[0042] 5 is a flowchart of the main part of a control program executed by the computer (its CPU) of the control unit 1 of the information terminal device 10 in the third embodiment, showing the control when the navigation function is started. First, in step S11, "usage status information" (location information, information on moving speed, information on moving direction) of the surrounding terminals is acquired from the management server 100, and in step S12, candidate routes are searched for. Next, in step S13, a cell for which the density is to be calculated is determined, and in step S14, the density of the surrounding terminals in that cell is calculated. Then, in step S15, it is determined whether there are any uncalculated cells, and if there are any uncalculated cells, the process returns to step S13, and if there are no uncalculated cells, the process proceeds to step S16. This cell is the same as in the first embodiment.

[0043] In step S16, it is determined whether the density of cells on the candidate route is equal to or greater than a certain value, and if it is not equal to or greater than the certain value, the process proceeds to step S17, and if it is equal to or greater than the certain value, the process returns to step S12, a route from the current position to the destination is searched for, and steps S13 and after are repeated. If the density of cells on the candidate route is not equal to or greater than a certain value, guidance (navigation) for the candidate route is started in step S17, other processing is performed in step S18, and the process returns to step S11.

[0044] (Fourth embodiment) The information terminal and management server of the fourth embodiment have the same hardware configuration as the information terminal 10 and management server 100 of the first embodiment shown in Figures 1 and 2, and each function of the fourth embodiment will be described below.

[0045] The control unit 1 (an example of an acquisition unit) of the information terminal 10 of the fourth embodiment acquires information on the movement direction of the surrounding terminals from the management server 100. Furthermore, the density calculation unit 17 of the control unit 1 calculates the density by weighting it based on the information on the movement direction of the surrounding terminals in use while moving. Then, the degree of attention according to this density is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 5 as "guidance information".

[0046] As an example of a method for calculating the attention level as the density by weighting based on the information on the movement direction, the attention level M2 is calculated according to the following formula (2).

[0047]

number

[0048] In this way, the degree of attention can be estimated more accurately by estimating the degree of attention higher for surrounding terminals that are moving in a different direction from the user's own device, moving faster, and closer to the user's own device. That is, in the above formula (2), when calculating the degree of attention based on the density, weighting is performed not only on the number per area but also on the moving speed and moving direction of the surrounding terminals that are in use while moving. In addition, it is expected to have the effect of distinguishing users who are operating the information terminal device 10 in a slow-moving vehicle, for example.

[0049] (Terminal Status Guidance System) As described above, in each embodiment, the terminal status guidance system is configured from each information terminal 10, which is an example of the "multiple terminal devices," and the management server 100, which is an example of the "management device." The acquisition unit that acquires the location information of each information terminal 10 and the usage status information indicating the usage status of each information terminal 10 while moving is configured by the control unit 1 of the information terminal 10. The information terminal 10 also includes a density calculation unit 17 that calculates the density, which is the number of terminal devices per unit area that are in a usage status while moving, based on the location information and usage status information acquired by the control unit 1. Then, guidance information based on the density calculated by the density calculation unit 17 is output by the information terminal 10. The "acquisition unit" may be on the management server 100 (management device) side or on the information terminal 10 (terminal device). The "density calculation unit" may be on the management server 100 (management device) side or on the information terminal 10 (terminal device).

[0050] (Terminal status guidance method) As described above, each embodiment implements a terminal status guidance method which acquires location information of each information terminal device 10, which is an example of "multiple terminal devices," and usage status information indicating the usage status of each information terminal device 10 while on the move, calculates the density, which is the number of information terminal devices 10 per unit area that are in a usage status while on the move, based on the acquired location information and usage status information, and outputs guidance information based on the calculated density to the information terminal device 10.

[0051] (Program, Recording Medium) The program shown in the flowcharts of Figures 4 and 5 is for a computer to execute the terminal status notification method. This program is recorded in a computer-readable recording medium such as the memory of the storage unit 2 of the information terminal 10.

[0052] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described above in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to these embodiments, and the present invention includes design changes within the scope of the present invention. The examples shown in the above figures can be combined with each other as long as there is no particular contradiction or problem in the purpose and configuration. In addition, the contents of each figure can be independent embodiments, and the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to one embodiment obtained by combining each figure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0053] 10 Information terminal (an example of a terminal status information device) 1. Control unit (an example of an acquisition unit) 2 Storage section 5 LCD display unit (example of output unit) 11 Display control unit (an example of a display unit) 17 Density calculation part 100 Management server (an example of a management device) 101 Control section 103 Speed ​​calculation section 104 Storage section

Claims

[Claim 1] an acquisition unit that acquires location information of a plurality of terminal devices and usage status information indicating usage statuses of the terminal devices while moving; a congestion detection unit that detects congestion of terminal devices in a moving use state based on the location information and the use state information; an output unit that outputs guidance information based on a detection result of the congestion detection unit; A terminal status guide device comprising:

Images