Image transmission system, terminal, image transmission method, and image transmission program

Abstract

To make it possible to transmit, before reaching a required position, an image appropriate at the time of reaching the required position.SOLUTION: An image transmission device 101 includes: an acquisition part 102 for acquiring an image and location information on where the image was photographed; a recording part 103 for recording the image and the location information in association with each other; and a transmission part 104 for transmitting the image, which is associated with the location information corresponding to a predetermined position and which is adapted to a situation of the predetermined position at the time when a terminal 111 reaches the predetermined position, to the terminal 111 when acquiring, from the terminal 111, an acquisition request of the image photographed at the predetermined position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an image transmission system, a terminal, an image transmission method, and an image transmission program for transmitting a captured image to a terminal, although the use of the present invention is not limited to the image transmission system, the terminal, the image transmission method, and the image transmission program. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, a system has been proposed in which image data captured by a camera mounted on a vehicle is uploaded to a server, the server collects images, selects the most recent images for each location, such as an intersection, from the images collected by the server, and distributes the images to a terminal in the vehicle while it is moving (see, for example, Patent Document 1 below). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] International Publication No. 2008 / 047449 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] With the above-mentioned conventional technology, it is possible to obtain the latest images on a terminal, but when the user actually arrives at the location, the time may be different from the image obtained, and the traffic congestion situation and driving lane (photographed lane) may be different, making it difficult for the user to grasp the situation at the location even by looking at the image. [Means for solving the problem]

[0005] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the image transmission system of claim 1 of the present invention is characterized by having a recording means for recording an image in association with location information at which the image was taken, and a transmission means for transmitting to the terminal, when receiving a request for acquiring an image taken at a specified location from a terminal, an image that is associated with the location information corresponding to the specified location and that is suitable for the situation at the location at the time the terminal arrives at the specified location.

[0006] The terminal according to the invention of claim 5 is characterized in that it comprises a camera for taking an image, a transmitting means for transmitting the image, location information and date and time information when the image was taken, and also a request for obtaining the image associated with the date and time information corresponding to the time of reaching a specified point, a receiving means for receiving the image corresponding to the request for obtaining, and a display means for displaying the received image.

[0007] In addition, the image transmitting method implemented by the image transmitting device of the invention of claim 6 is characterized by including a recording step of recording an image in association with location information at which the image was taken, and a transmitting step of, when receiving a request to obtain an image taken at a specified location from a terminal, transmitting to the terminal an image that is associated with the location information corresponding to the specified location and that is suitable for the situation at the location at the time the terminal arrives at the specified location.

[0008] In addition, the image transmission method of the invention of claim 7 is an image transmission method implemented by a terminal, and includes a photographing step of photographing an image, a transmitting step of transmitting the image, location information and date and time information at which the image was photographed, and also transmitting an acquisition request for the image associated with the date and time information corresponding to the time of reaching a specified location, a receiving step of receiving the image corresponding to the acquisition request, and a display step of displaying the received image.

[0009] An image transmission program according to the invention of claim 8 causes a computer to execute the image transmission method according to claim 6 or 7. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example of a functional configuration of an image transmission system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a flowchart of an example of a processing procedure of the image transmission system according to the embodiment. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the navigation device. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a table showing an example of a database recorded in the image transmitting device. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a method for selecting a combination of parameters from a database when identifying an image. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a flowchart of the process from image capture to database storage according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a flowchart of a process of transmitting an image in response to a request according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed by the terminal. (Part 1) [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed by the terminal (part 2). [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of an image displayed by the terminal (part 3). [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a process from image capture to database storage according to the second embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a process of transmitting an image in response to a request according to the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0011] (Embodiment) DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of an image transmission system, a terminal, an image transmission method, and an image transmission program according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0012] 1 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of an image transmission system according to an embodiment. The image transmission system 100 according to the embodiment includes an image transmission device 101 and a terminal 111.

[0013] Image transmitting device 101 includes an acquiring unit 102, a recording unit 103, and a transmitting unit 104. In the embodiment, a single server has each of these functions. Alternatively, a configuration may be used in which multiple servers are distributed according to function, or further, a single client (terminal 111) may have the functions of image transmitting device 101 without using a server.

[0014] The acquiring unit 102 is communicatively connected to the terminal 111 via a network 121 such as the Internet, and acquires images and position information and date and time information at which the images were captured from the terminal 111. The recording unit 103 associates the images with the position information and date and time information and records them in a memory or the like (not shown). As a result, a database including a plurality of images, positions, and dates and times is created in the recording unit 103.

[0015] When the transmitting unit 104 receives a request from the terminal 111 to obtain an image taken at a specified location, the transmitting unit 104 reads from the recording unit 103 an image that is associated with location information corresponding to the specified location and with date and time information corresponding to the time when the terminal 111 will arrive at the specified location, and transmits the image to the terminal 111.

[0016] Terminal 111 includes camera 112, communication unit 113, and display unit 114. Terminal 111 is mounted on, for example, a moving body (vehicle). Camera 112 takes an image including a road while the vehicle is moving, and transmits the image to image transmitting device 101 via communication unit 113. At this time, terminal 111 transmits the image taking position (for example, latitude and longitude measured by GPS) and information on the date and time of taking the image to image transmitting device 101 together with the image.

[0017] Furthermore, the terminal 111 makes a request to the image transmitting device 101 to obtain an image taken at a desired predetermined point. The terminal 111 receives the image transmitted from the image transmitting device 101 in response to the request via the communication unit 113. The received image of the desired position is output and displayed on the display unit 114.

[0018] Here, it is assumed that the terminal 111 requests acquisition of an image of a predetermined point on a planned route along which the vehicle will travel, for example, through route search. In this case, the terminal 111 or the image transmission device 101 calculates the time when the vehicle will reach the predetermined point. Then, the transmission unit 104 transmits to the terminal 111 an image of this point at the time when the vehicle will reach the predetermined point. This enables the terminal 111 to acquire an image of the predetermined point when the terminal 111 reaches the predetermined point on the planned route before the vehicle reaches the predetermined point.

[0019] The image transmitting device 101 transmits to the terminal 111 an image of a specific point at the time when the vehicle reaches the specific point when requested by the terminal 111. The image transmitting device 101 is not limited to transmitting an image in response to such a request from the terminal 111 (user side). For example, when an event such as a sudden weather change or an unexpected accident occurs, the image transmitting device 101 may dynamically deliver a new image corresponding to the occurrence of the event to the terminal 111.

[0020] Either the terminal 111 or the image transmission device 101 may have a function of performing image analysis on the captured image. By performing image analysis on the captured image, the congestion situation at a specified point and information on the driving lane are calculated. When the terminal 111 performs image analysis, it transmits the analysis information (congestion situation, driving lane) together with the image to the image transmission device 101, and the image transmission device 101 records the image in the recording unit 103 in association with the position, date and time, and analysis information.

[0021] When the image transmitting device 101 performs image analysis, the image, position, and date and time information received from the terminal 111 are recorded in the recording unit 103 in association with analysis information obtained by the image analysis.

[0022] In addition, the terminal 111 or the image transmission device 101 may obtain weather information corresponding to the position of the image and record it in association with the image. This makes it possible to improve the accuracy of image analysis by using visibility information such as rainfall, snowfall, and thick fog indicated by the weather information, and road surface conditions such as flooding, snow accumulation, and freezing.

[0023] As a result, the weather information, together with the image and the analysis information after the image analysis, is stored in the recording unit 103. Then, the image transmitting device 101 becomes able to transmit to the terminal, together with the image, the traffic congestion situation according to the weather when the terminal 111 reaches the requested position and information on the driving lane.

[0024] 2 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing procedure of the image transmission system according to the embodiment, in which the processing of the image transmission device 101 and the processing of the terminal 111 are described.

[0025] In the process on the terminal 111 side, the vehicle performs positioning using GPS or the like while moving, and captures an image including a road with the camera 112 at a predetermined position (step S201). The position of the captured image may be periodically set at a fixed time interval, or may be set whenever the vehicle reaches a set position such as an intersection. Alternatively, the user may perform the operation at any location.

[0026] Next, the terminal 111 transmits the captured image to the image transmitting device 101 via the communication unit 113 (step S202). At this time, the captured image is transmitted to the image transmitting device 101 with the position and time of capture obtained by positioning.

[0027] On the image transmitting device 101 side, the acquiring unit 102 receives the image transmitted from the terminal 111 (step S211). The recording unit 103 records the photographing position and time of this image as an association database (step S212).

[0028] Thereafter, when terminal 111 requests image transmitting device 101 to transmit an image of a predetermined position at a predetermined time (step S203), image transmitting device 101 transmits an image of the position and time according to the request to terminal 111 (step S213).

[0029] At this time, the terminal 111 or the image transmission device 101 may calculate a position according to the request and transmit an image according to the position to the terminal 111. For example, when the vehicle of the terminal 111 is moving, the terminal 111 or the image transmission device 101 calculates the time when the terminal (vehicle) 111 moved from the current position to a predetermined position, reads out an image of the predetermined position corresponding to this time from the recording unit 103, and transmits it to the terminal 111.

[0030] The terminal 111 displays and outputs the received image (step S204). This allows the user of the terminal 111 to obtain an image of the time when the user reaches a predetermined position on the planned route. The user can predict traffic congestion conditions, etc. based on this image.

[0031] Furthermore, if the terminal 111 or image transmission device 101 is configured to perform image analysis of the captured image and record analysis information (e.g., traffic congestion conditions, driving lane) together with the image, it will be possible to transmit the image together with the analysis information to the requesting terminal 111.

[0032] Furthermore, if the terminal 111 or the image transmission device 101 is configured to record meteorological information at the time of image capture together with the image, it will be possible to transmit to the terminal 111 an image corresponding to the weather at the time when the terminal 111 reaches a specified location. This makes it possible to provide images and analysis information that are suited to the conditions when the terminal 111 actually reaches the specified location.

[0033] According to the above embodiment, the image transmitting device can create a database of images acquired from a terminal by the location and time of shooting, and can transmit images corresponding to the location and time requested by the terminal to the requesting terminal. This allows the terminal to acquire images at unreached locations and times in advance. It also makes it possible to acquire road conditions (traffic jam conditions) and weather information at unreached locations, and can provide the terminal with images and road conditions in advance that are appropriate for the situation when the terminal actually reaches a specified location. EXAMPLES

[0034] Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the first embodiment, a navigation device 300 is installed in a user's vehicle and is communicatively connected to a server. An example in which the server executes the functions of the image transmitting device 101 will be described.

[0035] (Hardware configuration of the navigation device 300) 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of a navigation device 300. In FIG. 3, the navigation device 300 includes a CPU 301, a ROM 302, a RAM 303, a magnetic disk drive 304, a magnetic disk 305, an optical disk drive 306, and an optical disk 1. The components 301 to 317 are connected to each other via a bus 320.

[0036] The CPU 301 is responsible for the overall control of the navigation device 300. The ROM 302 stores a boot program and an image transmission program. The RAM 303 is used as a work area for the CPU 301. That is, the CPU 301 is responsible for the overall control of the navigation device 300 by executing various programs stored in the ROM 302 while using the RAM 303 as a work area.

[0037] The magnetic disk drive 304 controls reading / writing of data from / to the magnetic disk 305 under the control of the CPU 301. The magnetic disk 305 records the data written under the control of the magnetic disk drive 304. As the magnetic disk 305, for example, a HD (hard disk) or a FD (flexible disk) can be used.

[0038] Further, optical disk drive 306 controls reading / writing of data from / to optical disk 307 under the control of CPU 301. Optical disk 307 is a removable recording medium from which data is read under the control of optical disk drive 306. A writable recording medium can also be used as optical disk 307. In addition to optical disk 307, MO, memory card, etc. can be used as the removable recording medium.

[0039] Examples of information recorded on the magnetic disk 305 and the optical disk 307 include map data, vehicle information, images, driving history, etc. The map data is used when searching for a route in a navigation system, and is vector data including background data representing features such as buildings, rivers, the ground surface, and energy supply facilities, and road shape data representing the shapes of roads with links, nodes, etc.

[0040] The audio I / F 308 is connected to a microphone 309 for audio input and a speaker 310 for audio output. The audio received by the microphone 309 is A / D converted within the audio I / F 308. The microphone 309 is installed, for example, on the dashboard of the vehicle, and the number of microphones may be one or more. Audio obtained by D / A converting a predetermined audio signal within the audio I / F 308 is output from the speaker 310.

[0041] Examples of the input device 311 include a remote control, a keyboard, a touch panel, etc., which are provided with a plurality of keys for inputting characters, numbers, various instructions, etc. The input device 311 may be realized in any one form of a remote control, a keyboard, or a touch panel, but may also be realized in a plurality of forms.

[0042] The video I / F 312 is connected to the display 313. Specifically, the video I / F 312 is composed of, for example, a graphic controller that controls the entire display 313, a buffer memory such as a VRAM (Video RAM) that temporarily records image information that can be displayed immediately, and a control IC that controls the display 313 based on image data output from the graphic controller.

[0043] Various data such as icons, cursors, menus, windows, characters, images, etc. are displayed on the display 313. As the display 313, for example, a TFT liquid crystal display, an organic EL display, etc. can be used.

[0044] The camera 317 captures an image of the outside of the vehicle, for example, including a road. The image may be either a still image or a video image. For example, the camera 317 captures an image of the outside of the vehicle, and the captured image is subjected to image analysis in the CPU 301 or output to a recording medium such as a magnetic disk 305 or an optical disk 307 via the video I / F 312.

[0045] The communication I / F 314 is wirelessly connected to a network and functions as an interface between the navigation device 300 and the CPU 301. Communication networks that function as networks include in-vehicle communication networks such as CAN and LIN (Local Interconnect Network), public line networks, mobile phone networks, DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication), LAN, WAN, etc. The communication I / F 314 is, for example, a public line connection module, an ETC (non-stop automatic toll payment system) unit, an FM tuner, a VICS (Vehicle Information and Communication System: registered trademark) / beacon receiver, etc.

[0046] The GPS unit 315 receives radio waves from GPS satellites and outputs information indicating the current position of the vehicle. The output information of the GPS unit 315, together with output values ​​of various sensors 316 described later, is used when the CPU 301 calculates the current position of the vehicle. The information indicating the current position is, for example, information that identifies a point on map data, such as latitude, longitude, and altitude.

[0047] Various sensors 316 output information for determining the position and behavior of the vehicle, such as a vehicle speed sensor, an acceleration sensor, an angular velocity sensor, and an inclination sensor. The output values ​​of the various sensors 316 are used by the CPU 301 to calculate the current position of the vehicle and the amount of change in speed and direction.

[0048] (Server configuration example) The server used as the image transmitting device 101 also has the same configuration as that shown in Fig. 3. Note that this server does not require the GPS unit 315, various sensors 316, camera 317, etc. shown in Fig. 3.

[0049] The image transmitting device 101 shown in Fig. 1 realizes functions such as image acquisition, image analysis, and transmission of analysis results by a CPU 301 executing a predetermined program using programs and data recorded in the ROM 302, RAM 303, magnetic disk 305, optical disk 307, etc. shown in Fig. 3. Also, the function of the communication unit 113 in Fig. 1 can be realized using the communication I / F 314 in Fig. 3.

[0050] 1 may be provided in the navigation device 300. In this case, the navigation device 300 mounted in the user's vehicle realizes the functions of the image transmission device 101, making it possible to eliminate the need for a server.

[0051] (Planned route calculation and image analysis processing) In the first embodiment, an example will be described in which a terminal 111 (navigation device 300) mounted on a vehicle calculates a planned route for travel and performs image analysis.

[0052] The navigation device 300 guides the user to the destination based on the current position of the vehicle and the setting of the destination, for example, by providing candidate routes that are short in time or distance. The user sets one of the candidate routes as a planned route based on time, distance, etc., and drives the route.

[0053] When requesting acquisition of an image of the above-mentioned predetermined position, the navigation device 300 calculates the time at which the predetermined position will be reached on the selected planned route, and transmits this to the image transmitting device 101 together with the image.

[0054] Furthermore, each time an image is captured, the navigation device 300 performs image analysis on the image to determine the road conditions (traffic jam conditions, driving lanes, etc.) of the road contained in the image. In this image analysis, an area of ​​the image that resembles a road is identified by image processing. The area of ​​the road is identified based on the color of the road surface and the lanes (lines) on the road. In addition, the driving lane and the congestion condition (degree of congestion) are identified based on the lane and the number of other vehicles in the image, the distance between vehicles, etc. At this time, by including the driving speed in the calculation, it is possible to determine that there is congestion (traffic jam) if, for example, a large number of vehicles are captured in the image when the speed is close to 0.

[0055] (Database example) 4 is a diagram showing an example of a database recorded in the image transmitting device, showing a database 400 stored in the recording unit 103. The database 400 is made up of a shooting ID 401 for each shot image, and various image information parameters 402-412.

[0056] The recording unit 103 assigns an ID 401 to each image received from the terminal 111, and records the ID 401 in the recording unit 103 in association with the latitude 402, longitude 403, road link ID 404, shooting date 405, shooting time 406, time period 407, congestion level 408, driving lane 409, weather 410, road surface condition 411, and image data 412 assigned to the image.

[0057] The latitude 402 and the longitude 403 are the location at the time of capturing the image transmitted from the terminal 111. The road link ID 404 is an identifier for each road (link) on the map data held by the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) or the image transmitting device 101 (server), and is the road link ID at the time of capturing the image.

[0058] The photographing date 405 and the photographing time 406 are the date and time when the image was photographed and transmitted from the terminal 111. The time period 407 is set to a time period within a day, such as day or night, based on the photographing time 406.

[0059] The congestion degree 408 is a part of the analysis information obtained by image analysis of the image captured by the terminal 111 or the image transmission device 101. Alternatively, congestion information at the capture position may be acquired from an external source if available, without performing image analysis. The congestion degree 408 may be set to, for example, smooth, slightly congested, moderately congested, or very congested.

[0060] The driving lane 409 is part of the analysis information obtained by image analysis of the image captured by the terminal 111 or the image transmission device 101, and for example, 1 lane, left, right, center (lane), etc. are set. In addition, if the driving lane 409 can be obtained based on the position of the vehicle on the map data without image analysis, this information may be used.

[0061] Weather 410 is set by acquiring weather information from the outside by the image transmitting device 101, and for example, weather information at the shooting position, such as sunny, cloudy, rain, heavy rain, snow, fog, etc., is set.

[0062] The road surface condition 411 is a part of the analysis information obtained by image analysis of the image captured by the terminal 111 or the image transmission device 101, and for example, normal, snowy, frozen, flooded, etc. are set. Also, if the road surface condition at the shooting position can be obtained from outside without image analysis, this information may be used. The image data 412 is set with a file path to the captured image.

[0063] Although FIG. 4 shows an example of parameters for only two images, the image transmission device 101 (server) can build the database 400 by adding each image and parameters each time an image is output from the terminal 111 (navigation device 300).

[0064] Then, the database 400 is used to search for the latitude 402 and longitude 403 as the requested predetermined position, and it is possible to search for an ID 401 whose time 406 matches these, and image data 412 of this ID 401 can be transmitted to the terminal 111. In addition, it is possible to transmit information on a plurality of other parameters 402 to 411 of the corresponding ID 401 to the terminal 111.

[0065] That is, the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) can specify and transmit the parameters 402 to 411 when requesting an image at a specific position from the image transmitting device 101, regardless of whether the image analysis is performed by the terminal 111 itself (for example, by the image transmitting device 101). This enables the image transmitting device 101 to search the database 400 for an image that matches the parameters 402 to 411 specified by the terminal 111.

[0066] (Example of sending image specification) 5 is a table for explaining a method for selecting a combination of parameters in a database when specifying an image. An example of processing in which the image transmitting device 101 (server) selects an image that matches the location and date and time requested by the terminal 111 will be explained.

[0067] The image transmitting device 101 selects from the database 400 image information whose parameters of the image information acquired for distribution match the parameters 401-411 of the image information corresponding to the image data stored in the database 400, and selects this as the image to be transmitted to the terminal 111.

[0068] If there are multiple images matching the request from the terminal 111, the image with the most recent photographing dates and times 405 and 406 among the parameters is selected and transmitted to the terminal 111.

[0069] On the other hand, if there is no image having parameters matching the request (location, date and time, etc.) of terminal 111, an image is selected and transmitted with priority given to parameters with higher value. In this example, it is assumed that terminal 111 has requested road surface condition 411, weather 410, congestion degree 408, time period 407, and driving lane 409 in addition to the time (date 405, time 406) of a specific location (latitude 402, longitude 403).

[0070] In the example shown in FIG. 5, the image transmitting device 101 uses, as the high-value parameters, the road surface condition 411, the weather 410, the congestion degree 408, the time period 407, and the driving lane 409, in descending order of priority, from those shown in FIG.

[0071] Then, as shown in FIG. 5, the image transmitting device 101 uses a priority order to determine the image (image data 412 corresponding to ID 401 in FIG. 4) to be transmitted to the terminal 111 based on whether the parameters of each image in the database 400 match or not with these high-value parameters requested by the terminal 111.

[0072] For example, as the image with the highest priority (priority 1), an image is selected that matches the parameters of road surface condition 411, weather 410, congestion level 408, time period 407, and driving lane 409 requested by terminal 111. For example, as for the parameters of priority 2, the parameters of driving lane 409, which has the lowest priority, do not match the request of terminal 111, while as for the parameters of priority 3, the parameters of time period 407, which has a higher priority than driving lane 409, do not match the request of terminal 111, and these are set as priorities 2 and 3, respectively.

[0073] Even if there is no image having parameters matching the request of terminal 111 (position, date and time, etc.), if there are multiple images with the same conditions, the image with the most recent shooting date and time 405, 406 is selected and transmitted to terminal 111.

[0074] (Example of processing from image capture to database storage in embodiment 1) 6 is a flowchart showing the process from image capture to database storage according to the embodiment 1. In the embodiment 1, the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) performs image analysis on the captured image and transmits the analysis information to the image transmission device 101.

[0075] First, the terminal 111 such as a navigation device constantly measures the current position using a GPS or the like (step S601). Then, when the vehicle moves, the terminal 111 identifies the date and time and the position (latitude and longitude) for each movement, and performs a matching process of the vehicle position with respect to the road on which the vehicle is traveling on the map data (step S602).

[0076] Then, an image including a road is captured by the camera 112 at a predetermined position (step S603). The capturing position of the captured image may be periodically set at a fixed time, may be set every time a set position such as an intersection is reached, or may be set at an arbitrary position by a user operation.

[0077] After that, the terminal 111 performs image analysis on the captured image (step S604). Through this image analysis, the terminal 111 generates analysis information on the road included in the image. For example, as described above, the terminal 111 can obtain the road surface condition 411, weather 410, congestion degree 408, time period 407, and driving lane 409 at the capture position through image analysis.

[0078] Then, the terminal 111 transmits (uploads) the analysis information together with the captured image (and date, time, and location) to the image transmitting device 101 (step S605).

[0079] The image transmitting device 101, such as a server, receives the image and analysis information transmitted from the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) (step S611). Then, the received image (and date, time, and location) is linked to the analysis information (step S612). Then, the image is stored in the database 400 (step S613), and the analysis information is stored in the database 400 (step S614).

[0080] (Example of image transmission process in the first embodiment) 7 is a flowchart showing the process of image transmission in response to a request according to the embodiment 1. For example, the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) performs route search by setting a destination, performs a process of presenting a planned route from a current location to the destination, and issues an image acquisition request to the server (image transmitting device 101) for each predetermined guide point.

[0081] First, the terminal 111 constantly measures the current position using a GPS or the like (step S701). Then, when the vehicle is moving, the terminal 111 identifies the date and time and the position (latitude and longitude) for each movement, and performs a matching process of the vehicle position with respect to the road on which the vehicle is traveling on the map data (step S702).

[0082] Then, when the destination is set by operating the terminal 111 (step S703), the terminal 111 performs a route search (step S704). In this route search, a route is calculated for multiple planned route candidates from the current position of the vehicle to the destination, and the optimal planned route is presented according to settings of time, distance, etc. During this route calculation, congestion prediction for the planned route is performed based on congestion information, etc. Also, processing is performed for prediction of passing through guidance points such as intersections on the planned route (time, etc.) and lanes to be passed on the planned route (guidance lanes).

[0083] After that, when the vehicle travels along the planned route, the terminal 111 requests the server (image transmission device 101) to acquire an image every time it reaches a guide point such as an intersection (step S705). At this time, the terminal 111 transmits to the server (image transmission device 101) information about the guide point, such as the location of the guide point, the date and time of arrival at the guide point, a traffic congestion forecast for the guide point, information about the guide lane, etc. After that, the terminal 111 waits to receive image data from the server (image transmitting device 101).

[0084] On the server (image transmitting device 101) side, when an image acquisition request is received from the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) (step S711), an inquiry is made to the database 400 (step S712). Then, image data corresponding to the information on the guide point received from the terminal 111 (location of the guide point, date and time of arrival at the guide point, traffic congestion forecast at the guide point, guide lane information, etc.) is acquired (step S713), and transmitted to the terminal 111 (step S714).

[0085] The terminal 111 acquires the image data transmitted from the server (image transmitting device 101) (step S706) and displays this image data (step S707). The image data displayed is image data corresponding to the guide point requested from the server. At this time, an image corresponding to the information on the guide point included in the request to the server, for example, an image corresponding to the location of the guide point or the date and time of arrival at the guide point, can be displayed. In addition, by transmitting to the server information such as traffic congestion prediction for the guide point, guided lanes, weather information, etc. obtained based on the route search on the terminal 111 side when requesting an image, it becomes possible to display an image that matches the actual situation when actually arriving at the desired location.

[0086] 8 to 10 are diagrams showing example images displayed by the terminals, which are display examples of images received by the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) from the server (image transmitting device 101).

[0087] The image shown in Fig. 8 is an example of an image when the road surface is normal, the weather is rainy, the congestion level is congested, the time period is daytime, and the driving lane is on the right. The image shown in Fig. 9 is an example of an image when the road surface is normal, the weather is clear, the congestion level is normal, the time period is nighttime, and the driving lane is one lane. The image shown in Fig. 10 is an example of an image when the road surface is icy, the weather is clear, the congestion level is normal, the time period is daytime, and the driving lane is one lane.

[0088] As shown in these Figures 8 to 10, the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) transmits to the server (image transmitting device 101) the requested location of the guide point, the date and time of arrival, and further information such as a traffic congestion forecast for the guide point, the guided lane, and the weather, so that the terminal 111 can receive and display from the server (image transmitting device 101) an image suited to the actual situation when the user actually arrives at the desired location.

[0089] In addition, the image transmitting device 101 obtains from the database 400 images that match parameters such as the location of the guidance point and the date and time of arrival included in the acquisition request from the terminal 111, as well as parameters such as the congestion forecast for the guidance point, the guided lane, and weather, and transmits the images to the terminal 111.

[0090] Furthermore, even if the image transmitting device 101 cannot obtain an image matching the parameters included in the acquisition request from the database 400, the image transmitting device 101 determines an image to be obtained from the database 400 based on the priority of valuable information (parameters) as shown in Fig. 5. For example, assume that there is no image matching only the driving lane requested by the terminal 111 for the image shown in Fig. 8. In this case, since the driving lane 409 shown in Fig. 5 has the lowest priority, an image with priority order 2 that matches the remaining three parameters (road surface condition 411, weather 410, time of day 407) is read from the database 400 and transmitted to the terminal 111. This enables the terminal 111 to obtain an image that is close to the situation when the desired position is reached.

[0091] According to the above-described first embodiment, the terminal can obtain an image of a desired position from the image transmission device. In particular, by specifying the position and the date and time when making a request, the terminal can obtain an image of the time when the terminal will arrive at the scheduled position before the arrival. This allows the terminal Ultimately, it will be possible to obtain an image that most closely resembles the predicted conditions at the time and date when the desired location will be passed.

[0092] Furthermore, if the terminal is configured to transmit information about the desired location to the server together with the image acquisition request, the server can transmit an image suited to the acquired information to the terminal. For example, information about traffic congestion forecasts at the guide location, guide lanes, weather at the time of arrival, etc. This allows the server to acquire an image suited to this information and with higher prediction accuracy, i.e., an image that is closer to the situation when the terminal actually reaches the requested location, before the requested location is reached. EXAMPLES

[0093] Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the image analysis process is performed by the server (image transmitting device 101). The other configurations and processes are the same as those of the first embodiment.

[0094] (Example of processing from image capture to database storage in embodiment 2) FIG. 11 is a flowchart of a process from image capture to database storage according to the second embodiment.

[0095] First, the terminal 111 such as a navigation device constantly measures the current position using a GPS or the like (step S1101). Then, when the vehicle moves, the terminal 111 identifies the date and time and the position (latitude and longitude) for each movement, and performs a matching process of the vehicle position with respect to the road on which the vehicle is traveling on the map data (step S1102).

[0096] Then, an image including a road is captured by the camera 112 at a predetermined position (step S1103). The capturing position of the captured image may be periodically set at a fixed time, may be set every time a set position such as an intersection is reached, or may be set at an arbitrary position by a user operation.

[0097] Then, the terminal 111 transmits (uploads) the captured image (and the date, time, and location) to the image transmitting device 101 (step S1104).

[0098] The image transmitting device 101, such as a server, receives the image transmitted from the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) (step S1111).

[0099] Then, the image transmitting device 101 performs image analysis on the received image (step S1102). Through this image analysis, the image transmitting device 101 generates analysis information of the road contained in the image. For example, as described above, the image transmitting device 101 can obtain the road surface condition 411, weather 410, congestion degree 408, time period 407, and driving lane 409 at the shooting position through image analysis.

[0100] Then, the image transmitting device 101 associates the received image (and date, time, and location) with the analysis information (step S1113), and stores the image in the database 400 (step S1114), and also stores the analysis information in the database 400 (step S1115).

[0101] (Example of image transmission process in the second embodiment) 12 is a flowchart showing the process of image transmission in response to a request according to the second embodiment. For example, the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) sets a destination, and the image transmission device 101 performs a route search and presents the planned route from the current location to the destination to the terminal 111. The image transmission device 101 also transmits images of each of predetermined guide points on the planned route to the terminal 111. An example of believing this will be described.

[0102] First, the terminal 111 constantly measures the current position using a GPS or the like (step S1201). Then, when the vehicle is moving, the terminal 111 identifies the date and time and the position (latitude and longitude) for each movement, and performs a matching process of the vehicle position with respect to the road on which the vehicle is traveling on the map data (step S1202).

[0103] Then, when a destination is set by a user operation or the like (step S1203), the terminal 111 requests the server (image transmitting device 101) to provide information on the planned route (and traffic congestion forecast) (step S1204). At this time, the terminal 111 notifies the image transmitting device 101 of information on the current location and the destination.

[0104] When the server (image transmitting device 101) receives a request for route guidance (and traffic congestion prediction) from the terminal 111 (step S1211), it performs route search (step S1212). In this route search, it calculates a route from multiple planned route candidates from the current position of the vehicle to the destination, and presents the optimal planned route according to settings such as time and distance. When calculating this route, it predicts congestion on the planned route based on congestion information, etc. It also processes predictions (time, etc.) of passing through guidance points such as intersections on the planned route, and lanes to be passed on the planned route (guidance lanes).

[0105] Then, the server (image transmitting device 101) generates each piece of information on route guidance for the planned route, congestion prediction, guidance points during driving, and guidance lanes, and notifies the terminal 111 (step S1213).

[0106] When the terminal 111 receives information on route guidance for the planned route, congestion prediction, guidance points during driving, and guidance lanes from the server (image transmission device 101) (step S1205), it displays the planned route for route guidance and congestion information for the planned route (step S1206).

[0107] Then, as the vehicle travels along the planned route, the terminal 111 requests the server (image transmitting device 101) to obtain an image each time it reaches a guide point such as an intersection (step S1207). At this time, the terminal 111 transmits to the server (image transmitting device 101) information about the guide point, including the location of the guide point, the date and time of arrival at the guide point, a traffic congestion forecast for the guide point, information about the guide lane, and the like. Thereafter, the terminal 111 waits to receive image data from the server (image transmitting device 101).

[0108] On the server (image transmitting device 101) side, when an image acquisition request is received from the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) (step S1214), an inquiry is made to the database 400 (step S1215). Then, image data corresponding to the information on the guide point received from the terminal 111 (location of the guide point, date and time of arrival at the guide point, predicted congestion at the guide point, guide lane information, etc.) is acquired (step S1216), and transmitted to the terminal 111 (step S1217).

[0109] The terminal 111 acquires the image data transmitted from the server (image transmitting device 101) (step S1208) and displays this image data (step S1209). The image data displayed is image data corresponding to the guide point requested from the server. At this time, an image corresponding to the information on the guide point included in the request to the server, for example, an image corresponding to the location of the guide point or the date and time of arrival at the guide point, can be displayed. Furthermore, when requesting an image, the terminal 111 can acquire information such as traffic congestion predictions for the guide point, guided lanes, weather information, etc. based on route search on the server (image transmitting device 101) side, and by transmitting this information to the server (image transmitting device 101) each time a guide point is reached, the terminal 111 can acquire and display an image from the server (image transmitting device 101) that matches the actual situation when the desired location is actually reached. .

[0110] In the above first and second embodiments, the terminal 111 (navigation device 300) searches for a route to the destination, but the present invention is not limited to this. The terminal 111 may transmit the current location and the destination to the server (image transmitting device 101), and the server may perform a process of searching for a route to the destination on map data based on the current location and the destination transmitted by the terminal 111 (vehicle).

[0111] In the above first and second embodiments, the terminal 111 is configured to transmit the location of the guide point, the date and time of arrival at the guide point, traffic congestion forecast at the guide point, information on the guide lane, etc., as information on the guide point to the server (image transmitting device 101), but this is not limited to this. The terminal 111 may be configured to transmit the location of the guide point to the server (image transmitting device 101), and the server side may obtain the date and time of arrival at the guide point, traffic congestion forecast at the guide point, information on the guide lane, weather at the guide point, etc.

[0112] According to the above-described second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, the terminal can obtain an image of a desired position from an image transmitting device, and by specifying the position and date and time at the time of request, it becomes possible to obtain an image at the time when the terminal reaches a position that it is scheduled to pass through later.

[0113] In addition, in the second embodiment, the server performs image analysis, which reduces the processing load on the terminal. Also in the second embodiment, the terminal can obtain an image that is close to the situation when the terminal actually reaches the requested position before the terminal reaches the requested position.

[0114] The function of the image transmitting device 101 in the first and second embodiments can be configured such that a specific computer device collects images from the terminal 111 and delivers the images to the terminal 111. For example, the image transmitting device 101 is not limited to a specific server, and may be configured using the above-mentioned terminal 111 (navigation device 300).

[0115] Furthermore, in the embodiment, a navigation device is used as the terminal, but other terminals such as a smartphone can also be used.

[0116] As described above, according to the present invention, the image transmission device collects images of the road and transmits the image when the requested location is reached before the vehicle arrives. This makes it possible to easily judge the road conditions when the vehicle reaches the specified location by viewing the image of the specified location before the vehicle arrives. Since the image to be distributed is the image that best matches the request among the actual images captured in the past, the road conditions when the vehicle reaches the specified location can be known in advance, and it is also possible to take preventive measures, such as changing the driving route, in advance.

[0117] In addition, if the system is configured to perform route search, images of multiple guide points, such as intersections on a planned route, can be acquired before the vehicle reaches the guide point, making it easier to judge the situation at each guide point on the planned route from the images. This makes it possible to appropriately perform route re-searches, etc.

[0118] The image transmission method described in this embodiment can be realized by executing a prepared program on a computer such as a personal computer or a workstation. This program is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a hard disk, a flexible disk, a CD-ROM, an MO, or a DVD, and is executed by being read from the recording medium by the computer. This program may also be a transmission medium that can be distributed via a network such as the Internet. [Explanation of symbols]

[0119] 100 Image Transmission System 101 Image transmission device 102 Acquisition Department 103 Recording Department 104 Transmitter 111 Terminal 112 Camera 113 Communications Department 114 Display section 121 Network 300 Navigation equipment 400 Database

Claims

[Claim 1] a recording means for recording an image and location information of the image in association with each other; a transmission means for transmitting, when receiving a request for acquiring an image taken at a specific location from a terminal, an image that is associated with the location information corresponding to the specific location and that matches the situation at the location at the time when the terminal arrives at the specific location, to the terminal; An image transmission system comprising:

Images