Support control device, support control method, and program

Abstract

To appropriately predict a pedestrian's road crossing, considering the possible occurrence of unexpected road crossing.SOLUTION: A support control device comprises: an acquisition unit that acquires positional information of a plurality of user terminals; a specification unit that, on the basis of the history of the positional information of the plurality of user terminals, specifies, from the plurality of user terminals, a first user terminal and a second user terminal moving at an interval equal to or less than a predetermined value; and a support control unit that performs control related to support for traffic participants upon detection of a movement of one user terminal of the first user terminal and the second user terminal to the opposite side of the position of the other user terminal across the road.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an assistance control device, an assistance control method, and a program. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, efforts to provide access to sustainable transportation systems that take into consideration vulnerable people among transportation participants have been gaining momentum. To achieve this, we are focusing on research and development to further improve the safety and convenience of transportation through research and development of preventive safety technology. Patent documents 1-3 describe technologies related to pedestrians crossing roads and running out onto the road. [Prior art document] [Patent documents] Patent Document 1: International Publication No. 2008 / 126389 Patent Document 2: JP 2009-252022 A Patent Document 3: JP 2008-310376 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0003] However, in preventive safety technology, an issue arises when pedestrians or the like unexpectedly cross the road. The present application aims to solve the above issue by appropriately predicting road crossings, and by extension, to contribute to the development of a sustainable transportation system. [Means for solving the problem]

[0004] In a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assistance control device. The assistance control device includes an acquisition unit that acquires location information of a plurality of user terminals. The assistance control device includes an identification unit that identifies a first user terminal and a second user terminal among the plurality of user terminals that are moving at an interval equal to or less than a predetermined value based on a history of location information of the plurality of user terminals. The assistance control device includes an assistance control unit that performs control related to assistance for traffic participants when it is detected that one of the first user terminal and the second user terminal moves to the opposite side of the road with respect to the location of the other user terminal.

[0005] In the above assistance control device, the assistance control unit may perform control to output an alert to a moving object approaching a position of the second user terminal.

[0006] In any of the above assistance control devices, the acquisition unit may further acquire information indicating whether users associated with the plurality of user terminals are speaking. The identification unit may identify, among the plurality of user terminals, a first user terminal and a second user terminal that move at an interval equal to or less than a predetermined value and in which users associated with the respective user terminals are speaking alternately, based on a history of position information of the plurality of user terminals.

[0007] Any of the above assistance control devices may further include a determination unit that determines whether the current positions of the first user terminal and the second user terminal are points where the first user terminal and the second user terminal start moving in different directions based on history of position information of the first user terminal and the second user terminal. The assistance control unit may suppress assistance to traffic participants when the determination unit identifies the current positions of the first user terminal and the second user terminal as points where the first user terminal and the second user terminal start moving in different directions.

[0008] Any of the above assistance control devices may further include a human relationship information acquisition unit that acquires human relationship information indicating a degree of friendship between a plurality of users associated with the plurality of user terminals. The assistance control unit may promote assistance for the traffic participant as the degree of friendship between the user associated with the first user terminal and the user associated with the second user terminal increases.

[0009] In any of the above-mentioned assistance control devices, the human relationship information acquisition unit may acquire human relationship information indicating the degree of friendship between multiple users associated with the multiple user terminals based on a history of location information of the multiple user terminals.

[0010] Any of the above assistance control devices may further include a human relationship information acquisition unit configured to acquire human relationship information indicating human relationships among a plurality of users associated with the plurality of user terminals. The assistance control unit may determine whether to promote or suppress assistance for the traffic participant according to the human relationships between a user associated with the first user terminal and a user associated with the second user terminal.

[0011] Any of the above assistance control devices may further include a human relationship information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a parent-child relationship between a first user associated with the first user terminal and a second user associated with the second user terminal. The assistance control unit may perform control regarding assistance for traffic participants when it is determined that the user associated with one of the user terminals is a parent of the user associated with the other user terminal based on the information acquired by the human relationship information acquisition unit.

[0012] In any of the above-mentioned assistance control devices, when it is determined based on the information acquired by the human relationship information acquisition unit that the user associated with one of the user terminals is a child of the user associated with the other user terminal, the assistance control unit may suppress assistance to a traffic participant more than when it is determined that the user associated with the one user terminal is a parent of the user associated with the other user terminal.

[0013] In a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an assistance control method. The assistance control method includes a step of acquiring position information of a plurality of user terminals. The assistance control method includes a step of identifying a first user terminal and a second user terminal among the plurality of user terminals that are moving at an interval equal to or less than a predetermined value based on a history of the position information of the plurality of user terminals. The assistance control method includes a step of performing control regarding assistance for traffic participants when it is detected that one of the first user terminal and the second user terminal moves to the opposite side of the road with respect to the position of the other user terminal.

[0014] In a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program that causes a computer to function as any one of the above-mentioned assistance control devices.

[0015] The above summary of the invention does not list all of the features of the present invention. Also, subcombinations of these features may also be inventions. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0016] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates a schematic diagram of a scenario in which the support system 10 is used. [Diagram 2] A state is shown in which user 80a is about to move to the opposite side of road 90 relative to the position of user 80b. [Diagram 3] 2 shows the functional configuration of the support device 60. [Figure 4] 1 shows an example of a data structure of location history information of a user terminal 82. [Diagram 5]1 shows an example of a data structure of human relationship information. [Figure 6] 4 shows an example of a data structure of separation point information. [Figure 7] An example of an execution sequence of processes performed in the imaging device 70, the user terminal 82, the on-board processing device 40 provided in the vehicle 20, and the assistance device 60 is shown. [Figure 8] 2 shows an example of a flowchart relating to processing related to an assistance control method executed in the assistance control device 200. [Figure 9] An example of a computer 2000 is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] The present invention will be described below through embodiments of the invention, but the following embodiments do not limit the scope of the invention according to the claims. Furthermore, not all of the combinations of features described in the embodiments are necessarily essential to the solution of the invention.

[0018] 1 illustrates a typical usage scenario of the assistance system 10. The assistance system 10 includes a vehicle 20, a user terminal 82a, a user terminal 82b, an assistance device 60, and an imaging device .

[0019] The vehicle 20 includes an on-board processing device 40. The user terminal 82a is a terminal carried by a user 80a, and the user terminal 82b is a terminal carried by a user 80b. In this embodiment, the users 80a and 80b are pedestrians.

[0020] In this embodiment, the user terminal 82a and the user terminal 82b may be collectively referred to as "user terminal 82." The user 80a and the user 80b may be collectively referred to as "user 80."

[0021] The vehicle 20 is a vehicle traveling on a road 90. The vehicle 20 is an example of a moving body. The on-board processing device 40 has a function of communicating with the outside using mobile communication. The on-board processing device 40 includes sensors such as a position sensor including a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receiver, a speed sensor such as a vehicle speed sensor, and a distance measurement sensor that measures the distance from the vehicle 20 to surrounding objects. The on-board processing device 40 has a function of processing information acquired by various sensors equipped in the on-board processing device 40, and a function of communicating with the assistance device 60. The on-board processing device 40 provides an advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) function equipped in the vehicle 20.

[0022] The user terminal 82 is, for example, a mobile terminal such as a smartphone. The user terminal 82 is an example of a moving body. The user terminal 82 periodically transmits current position information of the user terminal 82 detected by a position sensor including a GNSS receiver to the assistance device 60.

[0023] The imaging device 70 is an imaging device installed on a traffic infrastructure. The imaging device 70 acquires the positions of the vehicle 20 and the user 80 that are present within the imaging range of the imaging device 70 by analyzing the captured image, and transmits the acquired positions of the vehicle 20 and the user 80 to the assistance device 60.

[0024] The assistance device 60 receives information transmitted from the in-vehicle processing device 40, the user terminal 82, and the imaging device 70 via mobile communication. The assistance device 60 may receive information transmitted from the in-vehicle processing device 40, the user terminal 82, and the imaging device 70 via mobile communication and a communication line such as the Internet or a dedicated line. The assistance device 60 provides traffic assistance to traffic participants based on the information received from the in-vehicle processing device 40, the user terminal 82, and the imaging device 70.

[0025] In this embodiment, the support device 60 assumes that the user 80a is present within a predetermined range from the position of the user terminal 82a, and assumes that the user 80b is present within a predetermined range from the position of the user terminal 82b. Based on the history of the position information of the user terminal 82a and the user terminal 82b, the support device 60 determines that the user terminal 82a and the user terminal 82b are moving at an interval equal to or less than a predetermined distance. When the user terminal 82a and the user terminal 82b are moving at an interval equal to or less than a predetermined distance, the support device 60 considers that the user 80a and the user 80b are moving in conjunction with each other. Therefore, the support device 60 performs traffic support based on the position of one of the user terminals 82a and 82b in response to the displacement of the other user terminal.

[0026] 2 shows a state in which user 80a is about to move to the opposite side of road 90 relative to the position of user 80b. When the assistance device 60 detects from the history of position information of user 80a that the user terminal 82a is moving toward the opposite side of road 90 or that the user terminal 82a has moved to the opposite side of road 90, the assistance device 60 provides traffic assistance to the vehicle 20 and / or user 80b based on the position of user terminal 82b. Traffic assistance to the vehicle 20 and / or user 80b is provided based on the position of user terminal 82b even after the user terminal 82a has reached the opposite side of road 90.

[0027] For example, the assistance device 60 determines whether or not there is a possibility that the user 80b and the vehicle 20 will approach each other when the user terminal 82b moves toward the opposite side of the road 90, based on the position information of the vehicle 20 received from the in-vehicle processing device 40, the position information of the user terminal 82b, and map information indicating the layout of the road 90. For example, the assistance device 60 assumes that the user 80b starts moving toward the road 90, predicts the positions of the user 80b and the vehicle 20 when the user 80b reaches the road 90, and determines that there is a possibility that the vehicle 20 and the user 80b will approach each other when the distance between the predicted positions of the user 80b and the vehicle 20 is shorter than a predetermined value.

[0028] If the assistance device 60 determines that there is a possibility that the user 80b and the vehicle 20 will approach each other, it decides to provide traffic assistance to the vehicle 20 and the user 80b, and instructs the in-vehicle processing device 40 and the user terminal 82b to output an alert.

[0029] The imaging device 70 acquires position information of each of the users 80a and 80b based on the captured images, and transmits the acquired position information to the support device 60. The support device 60 may provide traffic support to the traffic participants based on the position information of each of the users 80a and 80b. For example, the support device 60 may provide the traffic support described above by using the position information of the user 80a instead of the position information of the user terminal 82a described above, and using the position information of the user 80b instead of the position information of the user terminal 82b.

[0030] For example, when user 80a and user 80b are friends and walking together on a road 90, if user 80a moves to the opposite side of the road 90, user 80b may also try to move to the opposite side in a hurry. According to the assistance system 10, when user 80a tries to move to the opposite side of the road 90, traffic assistance can be provided based on the position of user 80b. In this way, appropriate traffic assistance can be provided in a situation where multiple users are moving in conjunction with each other.

[0031] 3 shows a functional configuration of the assistance device 60. The assistance device 60 includes an assistance control device 200, a communication device 290, and a storage device 280.

[0032] The communication device 290 is responsible for communication between the in-vehicle processing device 40, the imaging device 70, and the user terminal 82 and the assistance device 60 under the control of the assistance control device 200. The assistance control device 200 is realized by including a circuit such as an arithmetic processing device including a processor. The assistance control device 200 may be realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O, a bus, and the like. The storage device 280 is realized by including a non-volatile storage medium. The assistance control device 200 performs processing using information stored in the storage device 280. The storage device 280 may store map information. The map information stored in the storage device 280 may be used by the assistance control device 200.

[0033] The assistance control device 200 includes an acquisition unit 250, a specification unit 210, an assistance control unit 260, a human relationship information acquisition unit 230, and a judgment unit 220. Note that the assistance device 60 may not have some of the functions of the functional configuration shown in FIG.

[0034] The acquisition unit 250 acquires position information of the multiple user terminals 82. The identification unit 210 identifies, among the multiple user terminals 82, a first user terminal 82 and a second user terminal 82 that are moving at an interval equal to or less than a predetermined value based on the history of the position information of the multiple user terminals 82. The assistance control unit 260 performs control regarding assistance for traffic participants when it is detected that one of the first user terminal 82 and the second user terminal 82 moves to the opposite side of the road from the position of the other user terminal 82. In this embodiment, the first user terminal 82 may be a user terminal 82a, and the second user terminal 82 may be a user terminal 82b.

[0035] The assistance control unit 260 performs control to cause a moving object approaching the position of the second user terminal 82 to output an alert. For example, the assistance control unit 260 performs control to cause a vehicle 20 approaching the position of the second user terminal 82 to output an alert.

[0036] The acquiring unit 250 may further acquire information indicating whether or not users associated with the multiple user terminals 82 are speaking. Based on the history of the position information of the multiple user terminals 82, the identifying unit 210 may identify, among the multiple user terminals 82, a first user terminal 82 and a second user terminal 82 that move at an interval equal to or less than a predetermined value and in which users associated with the respective user terminals 82 are speaking alternately.

[0037] For example, each of the multiple user terminals 82 may acquire voice with a sound collecting device provided in each user terminal 82, and when it is determined that the acquired voice is the voice of a user 80 registered as a user of the user terminal 82, may transmit information that the user 80 is speaking to the support device 60. The identification unit 210 may identify a pair of a first user terminal 82 and a second user terminal 82 in which users associated with each user terminal 82 are speaking alternately, based on the history of the position information of the multiple user terminals 82.

[0038] The determination unit 220 determines whether the current positions of the first user terminal 82 and the second user terminal 82 are points where the first user terminal 82 and the second user terminal 82 start moving in different directions based on the history of the position information of the first user terminal 82 and the second user terminal 82. When the determination unit 220 identifies the current positions of the first user terminal 82 and the second user terminal 82 as points where the first user terminal 82 and the second user terminal 82 start moving in different directions, the assistance control unit 260 suppresses assistance to the traffic participants.

[0039] The human relationship information acquisition unit 250 acquires human relationship information indicating the degree of friendship between a plurality of users 80 associated with a plurality of user terminals 82. The assistance control unit 260 may promote assistance to a traffic participant as the degree of friendship between a user associated with a first user terminal 82 and a user associated with a second user terminal 82 increases.

[0040] The human relationship information acquisition section 250 may acquire human relationship information indicating the degree of friendship between the multiple users 80 associated with the multiple user terminals 82, based on the history of the position information of the multiple user terminals 82.

[0041] The human relationship information acquisition unit 230 acquires human relationship information indicating human relationships between a plurality of users 80 associated with a plurality of user terminals 82. The assistance control unit 260 determines whether to promote or suppress assistance for a traffic participant according to the human relationship between a user associated with a first user terminal 82 and a user 80 associated with the second user terminal.

[0042] The human relationship information acquisition unit 250 may acquire information indicating a parent-child relationship between a first user 80 associated with a first user terminal 82 and a second user 80 associated with a second user terminal 82. When it is determined based on the information acquired by the human relationship information acquisition unit 250 that the user 80 associated with one user terminal 82 is the parent of the user 80 associated with the other user terminal 82, the assistance control unit 260 performs control regarding assistance for the traffic participants.

[0043] When the assistance control unit 260 determines, based on the information acquired by the human relationship information acquisition unit 250, that the user 80 associated with one user terminal 82 is a child of the user 80 associated with the other user terminal 82, it suppresses assistance to the traffic participants more than when it determines that the user 80 associated with one user terminal 82 is a parent of the user 80 associated with the other user terminal 82.

[0044] 4 shows an example of the data structure of the position history information of the user terminal 82. The position history information is generated based on the position information acquired from the user terminal 82, and stored in the storage device 280. The position history information includes an ID, a time, and position information as data items.

[0045] The ID indicates identification information of the user terminal 82. The time indicates the time when the position information was acquired. The position information indicates the position information of the user terminal 82. The position information may be, for example, latitude and longitude information of the position of the user terminal 82.

[0046] 5 shows an example of the data structure of human relationship information. The human relationship information is stored in the storage device 280. The human relationship information includes a first ID, a second ID, a human relationship, and a friendship degree as data items.

[0047] The first ID and the second ID indicate identification information of the user terminal 82. The human relationship indicates a human relationship between a user 80 associated with a user terminal 82 identified by the first ID and a user 80 associated with a user terminal 82 identified by the second ID. The human relationship is, for example, parent-child, friend, etc. In the case of a parent-child relationship, the first ID may indicate identification information of a user terminal 82 associated with a parent user 80, and the second ID may indicate identification information of a user terminal 82 associated with a child user 80.

[0048] The personal relationships may be determined by receiving information on personal relationships set by the user 80. The personal relationships may be determined based on location history information. For example, the personal relationships of a user associated with a user terminal 82 located within a predetermined range at night may be determined to be family. When age information of the user 80 is associated in advance with identification information of the user terminal 82, whether or not the relationship is parent and child may be determined based on the age information associated with the identification information of the user terminal 82 of the user identified as a family member.

[0049] The friendship level indicates the degree of friendship between a user 80 associated with a user terminal 82 identified by a first ID and a user 80 associated with a user terminal 82 identified by a second ID. The friendship level may be determined based on location history information. For example, based on movement history information, the friendship level may be determined to be "high," "medium," or "low" depending on the frequency with which a user 80 associated with a user terminal 82 identified by a first ID and a user 80 associated with a user terminal 82 identified by a second ID move together. If the relationship is parent-child, the friendship level may be determined to be "highest."

[0050] 6 shows an example of a data structure of the separation point information. The separation point information is stored in the storage device 280. The separation point information includes a first ID, a second ID, a separation point, and a separation time period as data items.

[0051] The first ID and the second ID indicate identification information of the user terminal 82. The separation point indicates a point at which the user terminal 82 identified by the first ID and the user terminal 82 identified by the second ID started moving in different directions. The separation time period indicates a time period at which the user terminal 82 identified by the first ID and the user terminal 82 identified by the second ID started moving in different directions at the separation point.

[0052] For example, the determination unit 220 refers to the position history information to identify a pair of user terminals 82 that started moving in different directions after moving a predetermined distance at a predetermined interval, and identifies the position and time when the user terminals 82 started moving in the different directions. Based on the identified positions and times, the determination unit 220 determines a location and time period when the user terminals 82 started moving in different directions with a frequency exceeding a predetermined frequency in the past. The storage device 280 stores the identification information of the pair of user terminals 82 identified by the determination unit 220 as a first ID and a second ID, and the location and time period determined by the determination unit 220 as a separation point and separation time period, respectively, in association with each other, as separation point information.

[0053] When the determination unit 220 detects that the user terminal 82a is moving to the opposite side of the road 90 from the position of the user terminal 82b, the determination unit 220 refers to the separation point information stored in the storage device 280 and acquires the separation point and separation time associated with the identification information of the user terminal 82a and the identification information of the user terminal 82b. When the current position of the user terminal 82b is located within a predetermined range including the acquired separation point and the current time is within a predetermined time range including the separation time zone, the determination unit 220 determines that the user terminal 82a and the user terminal 82b are starting to move in different directions. In this case, the assistance control unit 260 suppresses assistance to the traffic participants. This makes it possible to prevent unnecessary assistance from being provided at a point where, for example, people are routinely seen off.

[0054] FIG. 7 shows an example of an execution sequence of processes performed by the imaging device 70, the user terminal 82, the in-vehicle processing device 40 provided in the vehicle 20, and the assistance device 60.

[0055] In S720, the user terminal 82a transmits location information indicating the current location of the user terminal 82a based on a signal received from a GNSS satellite together with identification information of the user terminal 82a to the support device 60. The location information and identification information are periodically transmitted from the user terminal 82a to the support device 60. The user terminal 82a may transmit information indicating whether or not the user terminal 82a is speaking to the support device 60 together with the location information.

[0056] In S721, the user terminal 82b transmits location information indicating the current location of the user terminal 82b based on a signal received from a GNSS satellite together with identification information of the user terminal 82b to the support device 60. The location information and identification information are periodically transmitted from the user terminal 82b to the support device 60. The user terminal 82b may transmit information indicating whether or not the user terminal 82b is speaking to the support device 60 together with the location information.

[0057] In S730, the imaging device 70 transmits, to the support device 60, position information indicating the position of the user 80 obtained by analyzing the image captured by the imaging device 70. The transmission of the position information of the user 80 from the imaging device 70 to the support device 60 is performed periodically.

[0058] In S700, the in-vehicle processing device 40 transmits the position information of the vehicle 20 to the support device 60. The transmission of the position information from the in-vehicle processing device 40 to the support device 60 is performed periodically.

[0059] In S714, the assistance control unit 260 of the assistance device 60 determines whether or not to provide traffic assistance to the vehicle 20 and the user terminal 82 based on the location information of the user terminal 82 acquired from the user terminal 82 and / or the location information of the user terminal 82 acquired from the imaging device 70, the location information of the vehicle 20 acquired from the in-vehicle processing device 40, and the map information.

[0060] For example, based on the history of position information of the user terminal 82 and map information, when the user terminal 82a and the user terminal 82b have moved a predetermined distance with an interval equal to or less than a predetermined distance, and then the user terminal 82b has moved to the opposite side of the road 90, the assistance control unit 260 determines to provide assistance based on the positions of the user terminal 82b and the vehicle 20. The assistance control unit 260 determines to provide assistance when it is predicted that the future position of the vehicle 20 will approach the future position of the user terminal 82b within a predetermined time.

[0061] When it is determined that assistance should be provided, in S716, the assistance control unit 260 controls the communication device 290 to transmit assistance information instructing the in-vehicle processing device 40 to output an alert. Furthermore, in S718, the assistance control unit 260 controls the communication device 290 to transmit assistance information instructing the instructing the instructing the instructing the instructing the user terminal 82b to output an alert, at least to the user terminal 82b.

[0062] When the on-vehicle processing device 40 receives the assistance information from the assistance device 60, in accordance with the assistance information, in S706, the on-vehicle processing device 40 uses an HMI (Human Machine Interface) function of the on-vehicle processing device 40 to notify the occupants of the vehicle 20 to be careful of pedestrians running out onto the road 90. The on-vehicle processing device 40 may notify the occupants of the vehicle 20 to be careful of pedestrians running out onto the road 90 by voice and by displaying on a display device provided in the vehicle 20.

[0063] When the user terminal 82b receives the assistance information from the assistance device 60, in S726, the user terminal 82b notifies the user 80b that there is a vehicle 20 approaching the user 80b by an HMI function of the user terminal 82b. The user terminal 82b may notify the user 80b by voice that there is a vehicle approaching the user 80b.

[0064] FIG. 8 shows an example of a flowchart relating to a process of the assistance control method executed in the assistance control device 200.

[0065] In S800, the acquisition unit 250 acquires position information of the user terminal 82. The acquisition unit 250 may acquire the position information transmitted from the user terminal 82. The acquisition unit 250 may acquire, as the position information of the user terminal 82, the position information of the user 80 recognized by the imaging device 70 and transmitted from the imaging device 70.

[0066] In S802, the identification unit 210 identifies a first user terminal 82 and a second user terminal 82 that are moving close to each other, based on the position information of the user terminals 82. The identification unit 210 identifies a first user terminal 82 and a second user terminal 82 that are moving for a predetermined time while maintaining a positional relationship in which the distance between them is shorter than a predetermined value. The identification unit 210 may identify a first user terminal 82 and a second user terminal 82 in which the users of the user terminals 82 are speaking alternately for a time longer than a predetermined time, based on information indicating whether or not the users are speaking, transmitted from the user terminals 82.

[0067] In S804, the human relationship information acquisition unit 230 acquires the human relationship and / or the friendship degree between the user 80 of the first user terminal 82 identified in S802 and the user of the second user terminal 82. The human relationship information acquisition unit 230 acquires the human relationship and / or the friendship degree by referring to the human relationship information stored in the storage device 280.

[0068] In S806, the assistance control unit 260 determines whether the user 80 of one of the user terminals 82 identified in S802 has crossed the road 90.

[0069] In S808, the assistance control unit 260 determines the possibility that the user 80 of the other user terminal 82 among the user terminals 82 identified in S802 will cross the road 90. For example, the assistance control unit 260 determines the crossing possibility, which is the possibility that the user 80 of the other user terminal 82 will cross the road 90, according to the human relationship between the user 80 of the other user terminal 82 and the user 80 of the one user terminal 82, based on the human relationship information acquired in S804. The assistance control unit 260 may determine the crossing possibility to be higher when the human relationship between the user 80 of the other user terminal 82 and the user 80 of the one user terminal 82 is a friend relationship. The assistance control unit 260 may determine the crossing possibility to be higher when the human relationship between the user 80 of the other user terminal 82 and the user 80 of the one user terminal 82 is a parent-child relationship. The assistance control unit 260 may determine the crossing possibility to be higher if the user 80 of the other user terminal 82 is a child of the user 80 of the one user terminal 82. The assistance control unit 260 may determine the crossing possibility to be higher as the degree of friendship between the user 80 of one user terminal 82 and the user 80 of the other user terminal 82 is higher.

[0070] The assistance control unit 260 may determine the crossing possibility by referring to the separation time point stored in the storage device 280. The assistance control unit 260 may determine the crossing possibility to be low when the current location of the other user terminal 82 is within a predetermined range including the separation location by referring to the separation location and separation time period associated with the identification information of one user terminal 82 and the identification information of the other user terminal 82. In this case, the assistance control unit 260 may determine the crossing possibility to be even lower when the current time is within a predetermined time range including the separation time period.

[0071] In S810, the assistance control unit 260 determines whether to perform assistance for the traffic participant. When the crossing possibility determined in S808 is higher than a predetermined value, the assistance control unit 260 predicts the future position of the vehicle 20 and the future position of the other user terminal 82 within a predetermined time from the present. Based on the predicted future positions of the vehicle 20 and the other user terminal 82, the assistance control unit 260 determines to perform assistance for the traffic participant when it is predicted that the vehicle 20 and the other user terminal 82 will approach each other.

[0072] In S812, the assistance control unit 260 transmits the assistance information to the vehicle 20 and / or the other user terminal 82 in accordance with the determination in S810.

[0073] According to the support system 10 described above, when users who are friends or parents and children are walking and one of the users moves to the opposite side of the road, traffic support can be provided based on the position of the other user. This makes it possible to provide appropriate traffic support in a situation where multiple users are moving in conjunction with each other.

[0074] 9 shows an example of a computer 2000 in which multiple embodiments of the present invention may be embodied in whole or in part. A program installed in the computer 2000 may cause the computer 2000 to function as an apparatus such as the support device 60 according to an embodiment or each part of the apparatus, to execute operations associated with the apparatus or each part of the apparatus, and / or to execute a process or steps of the process according to an embodiment. Such a program may be executed by the CPU 2012 to cause the computer 2000 to execute specific operations associated with some or all of the blocks of the process steps and block diagrams described herein.

[0075] The computer 2000 according to this embodiment includes a CPU 2012 and a RAM 2014, which are connected to each other by a host controller 2010. The computer 2000 also includes a ROM 2026, a flash memory 2024, a communication interface 2022, and an input / output chip 2040. The ROM 2026, the flash memory 2024, the communication interface 2022, and the input / output chip 2040 are connected to the host controller 2010 via the input / output controller 2020.

[0076] The CPU 2012 operates according to the programs stored in the ROM 2026 and RAM 2014, thereby controlling each unit.

[0077] The communication interface 2022 communicates with other electronic devices via a network. The flash memory 2024 stores programs and data used by the CPU 2012 in the computer 2000. The ROM 2026 stores a boot program and the like executed by the computer 2000 upon activation, and / or a program that depends on the hardware of the computer 2000. The input / output chip 2040 may also connect various input / output units, such as a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, to the input / output controller 2020 via input / output ports, such as a serial port, a parallel port, a keyboard port, a mouse port, a monitor port, a USB port, an HDMI port, and the like.

[0078] The programs are provided via a computer-readable storage medium such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, or a memory card, or a network. The RAM 2014, the ROM 2026, or the flash memory 2024 are examples of computer-readable storage media. The programs are installed in the flash memory 2024, the RAM 2014, or the ROM 2026, and executed by the CPU 2012. Information processing described in these programs is read by the computer 2000, and brings about cooperation between the programs and the various types of hardware resources described above. An apparatus or method may be constructed by implementing an operation or processing of information according to the use of the computer 2000.

[0079] For example, when communication is performed between the computer 2000 and an external device, the CPU 2012 may execute a communication program loaded in the RAM 2014 and instruct the communication interface 2022 to perform communication processing based on the processing described in the communication program. Under the control of the CPU 2012, the communication interface 2022 reads transmission data stored in a transmission buffer processing area provided in a recording medium such as the RAM 2014 and the flash memory 2024, transmits the read transmission data to a network, and writes reception data received from the network to a reception buffer processing area or the like provided on the recording medium.

[0080] Furthermore, the CPU 2012 may cause all or a necessary portion of a file or database stored on a recording medium such as the flash memory 2024 to be read into the RAM 2014, and perform various types of processing on the data on the RAM 2014. The CPU 2012 then writes back the processed data to the recording medium.

[0081] Various types of information, such as various types of programs, data, tables, and databases, may be stored in the recording medium and subjected to information processing. The CPU 2012 may execute various types of processing, including various types of operations, information processing, conditional judgment, conditional branching, unconditional branching, information search / replacement, etc., described herein and specified by the instruction sequence of the program, on the data read from the RAM 2014, and write back the results to the RAM 2014. The CPU 2012 may also search for information in a file, database, etc. in the recording medium. For example, when a plurality of entries each having an attribute value of a first attribute associated with an attribute value of a second attribute are stored in the recording medium, the CPU 2012 may search for an entry that matches a condition in which an attribute value of the first attribute is specified from among the plurality of entries, read the attribute value of the second attribute stored in the entry, and thereby obtain the attribute value of the second attribute associated with the first attribute that satisfies a predetermined condition.

[0082] The above-described programs or software modules may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium on the computer 2000 or in the vicinity of the computer 2000. A recording medium such as a hard disk or a RAM provided in a server system connected to a dedicated communication network or the Internet can be used as the computer-readable storage medium. The programs stored in the computer-readable storage medium may be provided to the computer 2000 via a network.

[0083] A program installed in the computer 2000 and causing the computer 2000 to function as the support device 60 may act on the CPU 2012, etc., to cause the computer 2000 to function as each part of the support device 60 (e.g., the support control device 200, etc.). When the information processing described in these programs is read into the computer 2000, it functions as each part of the support device 60, which is a specific means in which the software and the various hardware resources described above work together. These specific means then realize calculation or processing of information according to the intended use of the computer 2000 in this embodiment, thereby constructing a specific support device 60 according to the intended use.

[0084] Various embodiments have been described with reference to block diagrams or the like. In the block diagrams, each block may represent (1) a stage of a process where an operation is performed or (2) a portion of an apparatus responsible for performing an operation. Particular stages and portions may be implemented by dedicated circuitry, programmable circuitry provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium, and / or a processor provided with computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium. The dedicated circuitry may include digital and / or analog hardware circuitry and may include integrated circuits (ICs) and / or discrete circuits. The programmable circuitry may include reconfigurable hardware circuitry including logical AND, logical OR, logical XOR, logical NAND, logical NOR, and other logical operations, memory elements such as flip-flops, registers, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic arrays (PLAs), and the like.

[0085] A computer-readable storage medium may include any tangible device capable of storing instructions that are executed by a suitable device, such that a computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon constitutes at least a portion of a product that includes instructions that can be executed to provide a means for performing the operations specified in a process or block diagram. Examples of computer-readable storage media may include electronic storage media, magnetic storage media, optical storage media, electromagnetic storage media, semiconductor storage media, etc. More specific examples of computer-readable storage media may include floppy disks, diskettes, hard disks, random access memories (RAMs), read-only memories (ROMs), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs or flash memories), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), static random access memories (SRAMs), compact disk read-only memories (CD-ROMs), digital versatile disks (DVDs), Blu-ray (RTM) disks, memory sticks, integrated circuit cards, etc.

[0086] The computer readable instructions may include either assembler instructions, instruction set architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions, machine-dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions, state setting data, or source or object code written in any combination of one or more programming languages, including object-oriented programming languages ​​such as Smalltalk®, JAVA®, C++, etc., and conventional procedural programming languages ​​such as the “C” programming language or similar programming languages.

[0087] The computer readable instructions may be provided to a processor or programmable circuitry of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, either locally or over a wide area network (WAN) such as a local area network (LAN), the Internet, etc., to cause the computer readable instructions to execute means for performing operations specified in the process steps or block diagrams described. Examples of processors include computer processors, processing units, microprocessors, digital signal processors, controllers, microcontrollers, etc.

[0088] Although the present invention has been described above using the embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It is clear to those skilled in the art that various modifications and improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It is clear from the description of the claims that such modifications and improvements can also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0089] It should be noted that the order of execution of each process, such as operations, procedures, steps, and stages, in the devices, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not specifically indicated as "before," "prior to," etc., and may be realized in any order unless the output of a previous process is used in a subsequent process. Even if the operational flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is described using "first," "next," etc. for convenience, it does not mean that it is essential to perform the process in this order. [Explanation of symbols]

[0090] 10 Support System 20 Vehicles 40 On-board processing device 60 Support equipment 70 Imaging Device 80 users 82 User terminal 90 road 200 Assistance control device 210 Specific section 220 Judgment Department 230 Human Relationship Information Acquisition Department 250 Acquisition Department 260 Support control section 280 Storage device 290 Communication Equipment 2000 Computer 2010 Host Controller 2012 CPU 2014 RAM 2020 Input / Output Controller 2022 Communication Interface 2024 Flash Memory 2026 ROM 2040 Input / Output Chip

Claims

1. An acquisition unit that acquires location information of a plurality of user terminals; an identification unit that identifies a first user terminal and a second user terminal that are moving at an interval equal to or less than a predetermined value among the plurality of user terminals based on a history of location information of the plurality of user terminals; an assistance control unit that performs control related to assistance for traffic participants when it is detected that one of the first user terminal and the second user terminal moves to an opposite side of a road with respect to a position of the other user terminal; An assistance control device comprising:

2. The assistance control unit performs control to output an alarm to a moving object approaching a position of the second user terminal. The assistance control device according to claim 1 .

3. The acquisition unit further acquires information indicating whether or not a user associated with a plurality of user terminals is speaking; The identification unit identifies, among the plurality of user terminals, a first user terminal and a second user terminal that move at an interval equal to or less than a predetermined value and about which users associated with the respective user terminals are speaking alternately, based on a history of position information of the plurality of user terminals. The assistance control device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. a determination unit that determines whether or not the current positions of the first user terminal and the second user terminal are points at which the first user terminal and the second user terminal start moving in different directions based on history of position information of the first user terminal and the second user terminal; Further equipped with The assistance control unit suppresses assistance to traffic participants when the determination unit identifies the current locations of the first user terminal and the second user terminal as points where the first user terminal and the second user terminal start moving in different directions. The assistance control device according to claim 1 or 2.

5. a human relationship information acquiring unit that acquires human relationship information indicating a degree of friendship between a plurality of users associated with the plurality of user terminals; Further equipped with The assistance control unit promotes assistance to the traffic participant as the degree of friendship between the user associated with the first user terminal and the user associated with the second user terminal increases. The assistance control device according to claim 1 or 2.

6. The human relationship information acquisition unit acquires human relationship information indicating a degree of friendship between a plurality of users associated with the plurality of user terminals based on a history of location information of the plurality of user terminals. The assistance control device according to claim 5.

7. a human relationship information acquiring unit that acquires human relationship information indicating human relationships between a plurality of users associated with the plurality of user terminals; Further equipped with The assistance control unit determines whether to promote or suppress assistance for the traffic participant depending on a human relationship between a user associated with the first user terminal and a user associated with the second user terminal. The assistance control device according to claim 1 or 2.

8. a human relationship information acquisition unit that acquires information indicating a parent-child relationship between a first user associated with the first user terminal and a second user associated with the second user terminal; Further equipped with The assistance control unit performs control regarding assistance for traffic participants when it is determined that the user associated with the one user terminal is a parent of the user associated with the other user terminal based on the information acquired by the human relationship information acquisition unit. The assistance control device according to claim 1 or 2.

9. When it is determined that the user associated with the one user terminal is a child of the user associated with the other user terminal based on the information acquired by the human relationship information acquisition unit, the assistance control unit suppresses assistance to the traffic participant more than when it is determined that the user associated with the one user terminal is a parent of the user associated with the other user terminal. The assistance control device according to claim 8.

10. acquiring location information of a plurality of user terminals; Identifying a first user terminal and a second user terminal among the plurality of user terminals, the first user terminal and the second user terminal being in motion at an interval equal to or less than a predetermined value, based on a history of location information of the plurality of user terminals; performing control regarding assistance to traffic participants when it is detected that one of the first user terminal and the second user terminal moves to an opposite side of a road with respect to a position of the other user terminal; The assistance control method includes:

11. A program for causing a computer to function as the assistance control device according to claim 1 or 2.

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