Information providing method and information providing system

Abstract

To provide an information providing method that enables a vehicle occupant to communicate with a vehicle occupant of another vehicle who can empathize with the vehicle occupant while the vehicle is traveling.SOLUTION: An information providing method includes: acquiring vehicle information including at least one of information regarding the driving environment of each of multiple vehicles 20 and information regarding occupants of each of the multiple vehicles 20; extracting a group of vehicles that are related to each other based on the vehicle information; and displaying information related to each vehicle 20 included in the group of vehicles on a display unit 26 of each vehicle 20 included in the group of vehicles.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information providing method and an information providing system. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 describes an information providing device that determines an event currently occurring based on sensor information acquired from sensors mounted on a vehicle, such as a GPS (Global Positioning System) and a speed sensor, and generates a message to be sent to an SNS (Social Networking Service) based on the determined event and the sensor information. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 5729257 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] The information providing device described in Patent Document 1 generates pseudo-emotions based on acquired sensor information, and modifies or modifies the generated message based on the generated pseudo-emotions, autonomously creating a message by replacing the surrounding situation with easy-to-understand words while the vehicle is traveling, and sending the message to the SNS. However, since the invention described in Patent Document 1 only has a function of autonomously generating a message while the vehicle is traveling and sending it to the SNS, it may be difficult for the vehicle occupants to gain mutual sympathy with other users on the SNS.

[0005] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above, and its object is to provide an information provision method that enables occupants of a vehicle to communicate with occupants of other vehicles who can empathize with the vehicle while the vehicle is traveling. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] An information provision method and information provision system according to one embodiment of the present invention extracts groups of vehicles that are related to each other based on vehicle information including at least one of information regarding the driving environment of each of the multiple vehicles and information regarding the occupants of each of the multiple vehicles, and displays information related to each vehicle included in the vehicle group on a display unit of each vehicle included in the vehicle group. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to one aspect of the present invention, while the vehicle is traveling, an occupant of the vehicle can communicate with an occupant of another vehicle who can empathize with the occupant. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information providing system according to an embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a first example of a method for extracting a group of vehicles and information to be displayed on a display device. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a second example of a method for extracting a group of vehicles and information displayed on a display device. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a third example of a method for extracting a group of vehicles and information displayed on a display device. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process executed by an information providing system according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the description of the drawings, the same parts are given the same reference numerals and the description will be omitted.

[0010] Fig. 1 shows an example of the configuration of an information provision system according to an embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the information provision system includes a management server 10 and a plurality of vehicles 20. The management server 10 and each of the plurality of vehicles 20 are configured to be able to communicate with each other via a network. Note that, although there are three vehicles 20 in Fig. 1, the number of vehicles 20 is not limited.

[0011] (Vehicle configuration example) First, a description will be given of an example configuration of the vehicle 20. The vehicle 20 includes an on-board camera 21, a sensor 22, an input device 23, a controller 25, a display device (display unit) 26, and a speaker 27, as shown in FIG.

[0012] The vehicle-mounted camera 21 is installed on the vehicle 20 so as to be able to capture at least an image of the periphery of the vehicle 20. The number of the vehicle-mounted cameras 21 is not particularly limited, and the vehicle-mounted camera 21 may include a camera installed on the vehicle 20 so as to be able to capture an image of the faces of the occupants of the vehicle 20.

[0013] The sensor 22 is, for example, a sensor for acquiring the state of the vehicle 20, such as vehicle speed, parking brake, turn signal, steering, etc., a sensor for acquiring the state around the vehicle 20, such as a laser sensor, and a sensor for acquiring the position of the vehicle 20, such as a position information sensor.

[0014] The input device 23 is a device that receives input from an occupant of the vehicle 20, such as a touch panel, a microphone, a camera, or the like.

[0015] The controller 25 is a general-purpose computer equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, a storage unit, an input / output unit, etc. A computer program is installed in the controller 25. By executing the computer program, the controller 25 functions as a plurality of information processing circuits.

[0016] The controller 25 includes an information acquisition unit 251 and a display control unit 252 as a plurality of information processing circuits.

[0017] The information acquisition unit 251 acquires information on the driving environment of the vehicle 20 (hereinafter referred to as driving environment information) from the in-vehicle camera 21, the sensor 22, and the input device 23. The driving environment information includes, for example, information on at least one of the position of the vehicle 20, the road conditions on which the vehicle 20 is driving, the driving route of the vehicle 20, and attributes of the vehicle 20. The information acquisition unit 251 acquires position information of the vehicle 20 from the sensor 22 as information on the position of the vehicle 20.

[0018] The information on the road conditions is, for example, information for determining whether or not the road on which the vehicle 20 is traveling is congested, whether or not the road on which the vehicle 20 is traveling is an expressway, the road surface condition of the road on which the vehicle 20 is traveling, and the like. The information acquisition unit 251 may acquire, for example, an image of the surroundings of the vehicle 20 captured by the in-vehicle camera 21, as the information on the road conditions, from the in-vehicle camera 21. The information acquisition unit 251 may acquire, as the information on the road conditions, a change in the vehicle speed of the vehicle 20 from the sensor 22. Furthermore, the information acquisition unit 251 may acquire the road conditions on which the vehicle 20 is traveling from an external server (not shown) or the like, based on the position information of the vehicle 20 acquired from the sensor 22.

[0019] The information on the travel route is, for example, information indicating the departure point and destination of each of the multiple vehicles 20. The information acquisition unit 251 may acquire, as the information on the travel route, information indicating the departure point or destination of the vehicle 20 input by a passenger of the vehicle 20 from, for example, the input device 23.

[0020] The information on the attributes is, for example, information on the vehicle type, color, etc. of each of the multiple vehicles 20. The information acquisition unit 251 may acquire, as the information on the attributes, information on the vehicle type, color, etc. of each of the multiple vehicles 20 input by an occupant of the vehicle 20 from, for example, the input device 23.

[0021] The information acquisition unit 251 acquires information about the occupants of the vehicle 20 (hereinafter referred to as occupant information) from the in-vehicle camera 21, the sensor 22, the input device 23, etc. The occupant information includes information related to at least one of, for example, the attributes of the occupants, the biometric information of the occupants, and the emotions of the occupants.

[0022] The information related to the attributes of the occupants is, for example, information such as the age, gender, occupation, hobbies, place of origin, and what the occupants are currently doing (such as picking up or dropping off, shopping, traveling, commuting, etc.) of the occupants. The information acquisition unit 251 may acquire, as information related to the attributes of the occupants, for example, information related to the attributes of the occupants input by the occupants of the vehicle 20 from the input device 23.

[0023] The information related to the biometric information of the occupants is, for example, biometric information for estimating the emotions of the occupants, such as an image of the occupants' faces captured, voice, heartbeat, and respiration. The information acquisition unit 251 may acquire, as the biometric information of the occupants, for example, an image of the faces of the occupants of the vehicle 20 captured by the in-vehicle camera 21. The information acquisition unit 251 may acquire information such as voice, heartbeat, and respiration from the sensor 22 as the biometric information of the occupants.

[0024] The information related to the emotions of the occupants is, for example, message information input or selected by the occupants of the vehicle 20 for posting on the network. The information acquisition unit 251 may acquire, as information related to the emotions of the occupants, message information input or selected by the occupants of the vehicle 20 from the input device 23. Also, the information related to the emotions of the occupants may be, for example, information indicating terms expressing the emotions of the occupants, such as "tired" and "cheerful". The information acquisition unit 251 may acquire, as information related to the emotions of the occupants, for example, information indicating terms expressing the emotions of the occupants input or selected by the occupants of the vehicle 20 from the input device 23.

[0025] The information acquisition unit 251 transmits at least one of the acquired driving environment information of the vehicle 20 and the occupant information of the vehicle 20 to the management server 10 as vehicle information.

[0026] The display control unit 252 acquires vehicle information of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group related to the host vehicle from the management server 10 described below. The display control unit 252 displays information related to each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group related to the host vehicle on the display device 26 based on the vehicle information of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group related to the host vehicle received from the management server 10. The information displayed on the display device 26 by the display control unit 252 will be described later with reference to Figs. 2 to 4. The display control unit 252 may output the vehicle information of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group related to the host vehicle by voice from the speaker 27.

[0027] (Example of management server configuration) Next, a description will be given of an example of the configuration of the management server 10. As shown in FIG.

[0028] The controller 11 is a general-purpose computer equipped with a CPU, a memory, an input / output unit, etc. A computer program is installed in the controller 11. By executing the computer program, the controller 11 functions as a plurality of information processing circuits.

[0029] Although an example is shown here in which the multiple information processing circuits provided in the controller 11 are realized by software, it is of course possible to configure the information processing circuits by preparing dedicated hardware for executing each of the information processes described below. Also, the multiple information processing circuits may be configured by individual hardware.

[0030] The controller 11 includes a vehicle information acquisition unit 111, a vehicle group extraction unit 112, and an information output unit 113 as a plurality of information processing circuits.

[0031] The vehicle information acquisition unit 111 acquires various types of information via the network. The vehicle information acquisition unit 111 acquires vehicle information including at least one of driving environment information of each of the multiple vehicles 20 and occupant information of each of the multiple vehicles 20 from each of the multiple vehicles 20. The vehicle information acquisition unit 111 stores the vehicle information acquired from each of the multiple vehicles 20 in the storage device 12 in association with identification information of each of the multiple vehicles 20.

[0032] The vehicle group extraction unit 112 extracts a vehicle group having a relationship with each other from among the plurality of vehicles 20 based on the acquired vehicle information of each of the plurality of vehicles 20. A method for extracting a vehicle group will be described later with reference to Figs. 2 to 4.

[0033] The information output unit 113 transmits vehicle information of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group extracted by the vehicle group extraction unit 112 to each vehicle included in the vehicle group, and displays information related to each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group extracted by the vehicle group extraction unit 112 on the display device 26 of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group.

[0034] (Method of extracting a group of vehicles and information to be displayed on the display unit) Next, a first and second example of a method for extracting a vehicle group and information displayed on the display device 26 will be described with reference to Figs. 2 and 3. In the example shown in Figs. 2 and 3, the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 111 of the management server 10 includes driving environment information of the vehicle 20, and the driving environment information includes an image of the surroundings of the vehicle 20 as information on road conditions. In this case, the vehicle group extraction unit 112 determines whether or not the road on which each of the multiple vehicles 20 is traveling is congested, for example, based on the image of the surroundings of each of the multiple vehicles 20. Note that the information on road conditions is not limited to the image of the surroundings of the vehicle, and may be a change in the vehicle speed of the vehicle 20. Then, the vehicle group extraction unit 112 extracts a vehicle group on which the road on which each of the multiple vehicles 20 is traveling is congested, from among the multiple vehicles 20.

[0035] Also, in the examples shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the vehicle information may further include the passenger information of each of the plurality of vehicles 20, and the passenger information may include the message information input or selected by the passengers of the vehicle 20 as information regarding the emotions of the passengers. Note that the vehicle information may not include the passenger information of each of the plurality of vehicles 20. Further, the driving environment information further includes information regarding the positions of each of the plurality of vehicles 20. In this case, the information output unit 113 transmits the vehicle information of each vehicle 20 included in the group of vehicles in which the road on which the vehicle is traveling is congested, to each of the vehicles 20 included in the group of vehicles in which the road on which the vehicle is traveling is congested. The information output unit 113 transmits, for example, the vehicle information including the message information and the information regarding the positions of each vehicle 20 included in the group of vehicles in which the road on which the vehicle is traveling is congested, to each of the vehicles 20 included in the group of vehicles in which the road on which the vehicle is traveling is congested.

[0036] The display control unit 252 of the vehicle 20 included in the group of vehicles in which the road on which the vehicle is traveling is congested receives, for example, the vehicle information including the message information and the information regarding the positions of each vehicle 20 included in the group of vehicles in which the road on which the vehicle is traveling is congested.

[0037] The display control unit 252 shows, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, on the map, the message information and the positions of each vehicle 20 located within a predetermined distance from the own vehicle, among the vehicles 20 included in the group of vehicles in which the road on which the vehicle is traveling is congested, and displays them on the display device 26. For a vehicle 20 that does not include message information in the vehicle information, only the position of the vehicle 20 may be shown on the map and displayed on the display unit 26. As in the example of FIG. 2, when a group of vehicles in which the road on which the vehicle is traveling is congested is extracted based on the driving environment information, since the passengers of the own vehicle are more likely to empathize with the passengers of the vehicles 20 located at a certain distance from the own vehicle, the predetermined distance is preferably set to a relatively short distance. Thus, the range of the predetermined distance may be set based on the type of vehicle information used when extracting the group of vehicles.

[0038] In addition to displaying the message information of each vehicle 20 and the position of each vehicle 20 on the map, the display control unit 252 may also acquire, for example, from an external server or the like, a live video indicating the traffic congestion state of the road on which the vehicle 20 is traveling, and display it on the display device 26.

[0039] Further, as shown in FIG. 3, the display control unit 252 may show the received message information of each vehicle 20 and the three-dimensional image representing each vehicle 20 in a virtual space, and display it on the display device 26. In this case, the positional relationship between the three-dimensional images of each vehicle 20 in the virtual space does not have to correspond to the actual positional relationship of each vehicle 20.

[0040] Next, a third example of the method for extracting a vehicle group and the information to be displayed on the display device 26 will be described with reference to FIG. 4. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle information acquired by the vehicle information acquisition unit 111 of the management server 10 includes the driving environment information of the vehicle 20, and the driving environment information includes, as information related to the driving route, information indicating the destination of the vehicle 20. In this case, the vehicle group extraction unit 112 extracts a vehicle group in which the destinations are the same or within a predetermined distance from among a plurality of vehicles 20.

[0041] In the example shown in FIG. 4, the vehicle information may further include the passenger information of each of the plurality of vehicles 20, and the passenger information may include, as information related to the emotions of the passengers, the message information input or selected by the passengers of the vehicle 20. Note that the vehicle information does not have to include the passenger information of each of the plurality of vehicles 20. Further, the driving environment information further includes information related to the positions of each of the plurality of vehicles 20. In this case, the information output unit transmits vehicle information including the message information and the position-related information of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group with the same or nearby destinations to each of the vehicles 20 included in the vehicle group with the same or nearby destinations.

[0042] The display control unit 252 of the vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group with the same or nearby destinations receives, for example, vehicle information including the message information and the position-related information of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group with the same or nearby destinations.

[0043] As shown in FIG. 4, for example, the display control unit 252 displays on the display device 26 the message information and the position of each vehicle 20 located within a predetermined distance from the vehicle itself among the vehicles 20 included in the vehicle group having the same or nearby destination. Note that, for a vehicle 20 whose vehicle information does not include message information, only the position of the vehicle 20 may be displayed on the map on the display device 26. Note that, as in the example of FIG. 4, when a vehicle group having the same or nearby destination is extracted based on the driving environment information, it is preferable for the occupant of the vehicle itself to see more vehicles 20 heading to the same destination, so it is preferable that the predetermined distance is set to a relatively long distance. In this way, the predetermined distance may be set based on the type of vehicle information used when the vehicle group is extracted.

[0044] In addition to displaying the message information of each vehicle 20 and the position of each vehicle 20 on the map, the display control unit 252 may also obtain information regarding the destination of the vehicle 20, for example from an external server, and display the information on the display device 26.

[0045] Furthermore, the display control unit 252 may display, in a virtual space, the received message information of each vehicle 20 and a three-dimensional image representing each vehicle 20. In this case, the positional relationship of each vehicle 20 in the virtual space does not need to correspond to the actual positional relationship of each vehicle 20.

[0046] 2 to 4, the display control unit 252 displays the position of the vehicle or a three-dimensional image representing the vehicle so that the position can be identified. For example, the display control unit 252 may display the position of the vehicle or a three-dimensional image representing the vehicle larger than the positions of the other vehicles 20, may display it in the center of the screen, or may display it in a manner different from the positions of the other vehicles 20.

[0047] In addition, in the examples of Figures 2 to 4, the occupant information is not limited to message information; for example, instead of message information, information indicating terms that express the emotions of the occupant input or selected by the occupant of vehicle 20 may be displayed.

[0048] (Processing performed by the information provision system) Next, an example of a process executed by an information provision system including the management server 10 will be described with reference to the flowchart of Fig. 2. Each of the multiple vehicles 20 starts the process of Fig. 2, for example, when it starts traveling.

[0049] First, in step S11, the information acquisition unit 251 of the vehicle 20 acquires driving environment information of the vehicle 20 from the on-board camera 21, the sensor 22, and the input device 23. The driving environment information includes, for example, information on at least one of the position of the vehicle 20, the road conditions on which the vehicle 20 is driving, the driving route of the vehicle 20, and attributes of the vehicle 20.

[0050] The process proceeds to step S12, where the information acquisition unit 251 acquires occupant information of the vehicle 20 from the in-vehicle camera 21, the sensor 22, the input device 23, etc. The occupant information includes, for example, information on at least one of the occupant's attributes, the occupant's biological information, and the occupant's emotions.

[0051] The process proceeds to step S13, where the information acquisition unit 251 transmits at least one of the acquired driving environment information of the vehicle 20 and the occupant information of the vehicle 20 to the management server 10 as vehicle information.

[0052] The process proceeds to step S14, where the vehicle information acquisition unit 111 of the management server 10 acquires vehicle information including at least one of the driving environment information of each of the multiple vehicles 20 and the occupant information of each of the multiple vehicles 20 from each of the multiple vehicles 20. The vehicle information acquisition unit 111 stores the vehicle information acquired from each of the multiple vehicles 20 in the storage device 12 in association with the identification information of each of the multiple vehicles 20.

[0053] The process proceeds to step S15, where the vehicle group extraction unit 112 extracts a group of vehicles that are related to each other from among the plurality of vehicles 20 based on the acquired vehicle information of each of the plurality of vehicles 20.

[0054] The process proceeds to step S16, where the information output unit 113 transmits the vehicle information of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group extracted by the vehicle group extraction unit 112 to each vehicle included in the vehicle group.

[0055] The process proceeds to step S17, where the display control unit 252 of the vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group acquires, from the information output unit 113 of the management server 10, the vehicle information of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group related to the vehicle itself.

[0056] The processing proceeds to step S18, and the display control unit 252 displays information related to each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group associated with the vehicle on the display device 26 based on the vehicle information of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group associated with the vehicle, and terminates the processing of Figure 5.

[0057] (Action and effect) As described above, the information provision method according to one embodiment acquires vehicle information including at least one of information on the driving environment of each of the multiple vehicles 20 and information on the occupants of each of the multiple vehicles 20. The information provision method extracts a group of vehicles that are related to each other from the multiple vehicles 20 based on the acquired vehicle information. The information provision method displays information related to each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group on the display unit (display device) 26 of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group.

[0058] An information provision method according to one embodiment can extract a group of vehicles with which at least one of the information related to the driving environment and the information related to the occupants is related to each other. Each vehicle 20 included in the extracted group of vehicles can display information related to other vehicles included in the same group of vehicles to each other. Occupants of each vehicle 20 are more likely to empathize with occupants of other vehicles with which at least one of the information related to the driving environment and the information related to the occupants is related to each other. Thus, while the vehicle 20 is traveling, the occupants of the vehicle 20 can communicate with occupants of other vehicles with whom they can empathize more.

[0059] In addition, in an information provision method according to one embodiment, the vehicle information includes information regarding the driving environment of each of the multiple vehicles 20, and the information regarding the driving environment may include information regarding at least one of the positions of each of the multiple vehicles 20, the road conditions along which each of the multiple vehicles 20 is traveling, the driving routes of each of the multiple vehicles 20, and the attributes of each of the multiple vehicles 20.

[0060] An information provision method according to an embodiment can extract a group of vehicles in which at least one of the positions, road conditions, driving routes, and attributes of the vehicles 20 is related to each other. Each vehicle 20 included in the extracted group of vehicles can display information related to other vehicles included in the same group of vehicles to each other. The occupants of each vehicle 20 can more easily empathize with the occupants of other vehicles included in the same group of vehicles. Thus, while the vehicle 20 is traveling, the occupants of the vehicle 20 can communicate with the occupants of other vehicles with whom they can more empathize.

[0061] In addition, in an information provision method according to one embodiment, the vehicle information includes information regarding the occupants of each of the multiple vehicles 20, and the information regarding the occupants may include information regarding at least one of the occupant's attributes, the occupant's biometric information, and the occupant's emotions.

[0062] An information provision method according to an embodiment can extract a group of vehicles in which at least one of the occupant's attributes, biometric information, and occupant's emotions are related to each other. Each vehicle included in the extracted group of vehicles can display information related to other vehicles included in the same group of vehicles to each other. Occupants of each vehicle 20 can more easily empathize with occupants of other vehicles included in a group of vehicles in which at least one of the occupant's attributes, biometric information, and occupant's emotions are related to each other. Thus, while the vehicle 20 is traveling, the occupants of the vehicle 20 can communicate with occupants of other vehicles with whom they can more empathize.

[0063] In addition, in the information providing method according to one embodiment, the vehicle information may include information on the driving environment of each of the plurality of vehicles and information on the passengers of each of the plurality of vehicles. In this case, the information on the driving environment includes information on the position of each of the plurality of vehicles, and the position of each vehicle included in the vehicle group and information related to the passengers of each vehicle included in the vehicle group are displayed on the display unit of each vehicle included in the vehicle group.

[0064] In the information providing method according to one embodiment, each vehicle 20 included in the extracted vehicle group can display information related to the positions of other vehicles included in the same vehicle group and the passengers of the other vehicles to each other. Thereby, while the vehicle 20 is traveling, the passengers of the vehicle 20 are more likely to empathize with the passengers of other vehicles included in the same vehicle group.

[0065] In addition, in the information providing method according to one embodiment, at least information related to the positions of each vehicle located within a predetermined distance from the first vehicle included in the vehicle group may be displayed on the display unit of the first vehicle.

[0066] In the information providing method according to one embodiment, the first vehicle included in the vehicle group can display at least information related to the positions of other vehicles within a predetermined distance from the own vehicle among the other vehicles included in the same vehicle group. Thereby, while the vehicle 20 is traveling, the passengers of the vehicle 20 are more likely to empathize with the passengers of other vehicles located within a predetermined distance from the own vehicle.

[0067] In addition, in the information providing method according to one embodiment, at least the positions of each vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group may be shown on a map or in a virtual space and displayed on the display unit.

[0068] In the information providing method according to one embodiment, while the vehicle 20 is traveling, it can display at least the positions of other vehicles included in the same vehicle group on a map or in a virtual space. Thereby, the passengers of the vehicle 20 can intuitively grasp the relevance with other vehicles included in the same vehicle group, and it becomes easier to feel a sense of unity with the passengers of other vehicles included in the same vehicle group.

[0069] In addition, in the information provision method according to one embodiment, the predetermined distance may be set based on the characteristics of the vehicle group when the vehicle group is extracted. By setting an appropriate predetermined distance based on the characteristics of the vehicle group when the vehicle group is extracted, the vehicle 20 included in the vehicle group can display information related to at least the positions of other vehicles that the vehicle 20 can more easily relate to among the other vehicles included in the vehicle group.

[0070] As described above, the embodiment of the present invention has been described, but the description and drawings forming a part of this disclosure should not be understood as limiting this invention. From this disclosure, various alternative embodiments, examples and operating techniques will become apparent to those skilled in the art.

[0071] For example, in the above-described embodiment, the information provision system includes a management server 10 and a plurality of vehicles 20, and a vehicle group extraction unit 112 provided in the controller 11 of the management server 10 performs a process of extracting a vehicle group that is related to each other from among the plurality of vehicles 20 based on vehicle information of each of the plurality of vehicles 20.

[0072] However, the process of extracting the vehicle group may be executed by the controller 25 of the vehicle 20. In this case, the vehicle information acquisition unit 111 of the management server 10 acquires vehicle information of each of the multiple vehicles 20 from each of the multiple vehicles 20, and the information output unit 113 transmits the vehicle information of each of the multiple vehicles 20 to each of the multiple vehicles 20. Then, the controller 25 of the multiple vehicles 20 extracts a vehicle group related to the host vehicle from among the multiple vehicles 20 based on the vehicle information of each of the multiple vehicles 20 received from the management server 10. Then, the controller 25 displays information related to each vehicle 20 included in the extracted vehicle group on the display device 26 of the host vehicle. [Explanation of symbols]

[0073] 10 Server (Management Server) 20 Vehicles 26 Display section (display device)

Claims

1. 1. An information providing method by an information providing system having a server capable of communicating with a plurality of vehicles, comprising: Acquire vehicle information including at least one of information regarding a driving environment of each of a plurality of vehicles and information regarding an occupant of each of the plurality of vehicles; extracting a group of vehicles that are related to each other from among the plurality of vehicles based on the vehicle information; Information related to each vehicle included in the vehicle group is displayed on a display unit of each vehicle included in the vehicle group. Information provision method.

2. The vehicle information includes information regarding the traveling environment of each of the plurality of vehicles, The information on the driving environment includes information on at least one of the positions of the plurality of vehicles, the road conditions on which the plurality of vehicles are driving, the driving routes of the plurality of vehicles, and the attributes of the plurality of vehicles. The information providing method according to claim 1 .

3. the vehicle information includes information regarding the occupants of each of the plurality of vehicles; The information about the occupant includes at least one of information about attributes of the occupant, biometric information about the occupant, and information about an emotion of the occupant.

3. The information providing method according to claim 1 or 2.

4. the vehicle information includes information regarding the traveling environment of each of the plurality of vehicles and information regarding the occupants of each of the plurality of vehicles; The information regarding the traveling environment includes information regarding the positions of each of the plurality of vehicles; Displaying information related to the position of each vehicle included in the vehicle group and the occupants of each vehicle included in the vehicle group on the display unit of each vehicle included in the vehicle group. The information providing method according to claim 1 .

5. At least information regarding the position of each vehicle included in the vehicle group that is located within a predetermined distance from a first vehicle included in the vehicle group is displayed on the display unit of the first vehicle. The information providing method according to claim 4.

6. Each vehicle included in the vehicle group is displayed on a map or in a virtual space and is displayed on the display unit. The information providing method according to claim 4.

7. The predetermined distance is set based on the type of the vehicle information used when extracting the vehicle group. The information providing method according to claim 5.

8. a vehicle information acquisition unit that acquires vehicle information including at least one of information regarding a driving environment of each of a plurality of vehicles and information regarding an occupant of each of the plurality of vehicles; a vehicle group extraction unit that extracts a vehicle group having mutual correlation from among the plurality of vehicles based on the acquired vehicle information; a display control unit that displays information related to each vehicle included in the vehicle group on a display unit of each vehicle included in the vehicle group; An information provision system comprising:

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