Information processing apparatus, information processing method, information processing program, and recording medium

Abstract

To provide an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, an information processing program, and a recording medium that can effectively assist in calling attention to a dead angle.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus 100 comprises: a sound acquisition unit 110 that acquires a sound outside a movable body 1; an image acquisition unit 120 that acquires an image outside the movable body 1; a position acquisition unit 130 that acquires the position of the movable body 1; and a storage unit 170 that, when the outside sound includes a predetermined caution sound and a source of the caution sound is not included in the outside image, stores individual caution information on the position acquired by the position acquisition unit 130 or an area including the position.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing device, an information processing method, an information processing program, and a storage medium storing an information processing program, which processes information about a moving object. [Background technology]

[0002] As an example of information processing for a moving body, a method has been proposed in which data relating to past accidents is stored and the driver is appropriately warned about the accident while the moving body is traveling based on this data (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the information processing described in Patent Document 1, the driver is warned about the accident by comparing the position and driving conditions of the moving body with past accidents. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-14474 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Even if an accident does not occur, situations often arise where a bicycle or a child suddenly appears from a blind spot, putting the driver under stress. However, attention to such blind spots is often left up to the individual driver's attention, and currently, there is no information processing system in place to effectively assist drivers in calling attention to blind spots.

[0005] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide, for example, an information processing device, an information processing method, an information processing program, and a storage medium that can effectively assist in drawing attention to blind spots. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the information processing device of the present invention is characterized by comprising a sound acquisition unit that acquires sounds outside a moving body, an image acquisition unit that acquires images outside the moving body, a position acquisition unit that acquires the position of the moving body, and a memory unit that stores warning information regarding the position acquired by the position acquisition unit or an area including the position when the external sounds include a predetermined warning sound and the source of the warning sound is not included in the external image.

[0007] In addition, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, the information processing method of the present invention is characterized by comprising a sound acquisition step of acquiring sounds outside a moving body, an image acquisition step of acquiring images outside the moving body, a position acquisition step of acquiring the position of the moving body, and a storage step of storing warning information relating to the position acquired in the position acquisition step or an area including the position when the external sounds include a predetermined warning sound and the source of the warning sound is not included in the external image.

[0008] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, an information processing program of the present invention is characterized by causing a computer to execute the above-mentioned information processing method of the present invention.

[0009] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems and achieve the object, a storage medium according to the present invention is characterized by storing the above-mentioned information processing program according to the present invention. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an information processing device according to a first embodiment, which is mounted on a moving object. [Figure 2] 2 is a schematic diagram showing the data structure of data stored in a memory of a storage unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the data structure shown in FIG. 2 in table form. [Figure 4]3 is a diagram showing an information table used for determining a caution-requiring sound in the information generating unit shown in FIG. 1. FIG. [Figure 5] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in an attention information storage process. [Figure 6] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in an attention-drawing process. [Figure 7] FIG. 10 is a schematic diagram showing a moving object and a server in a second embodiment. [Figure 8] 8 is a schematic block diagram showing information processing devices in the mobile object and the server shown in FIG. 7. FIG. [Figure 9] 9 is a schematic diagram showing the data structure of data stored in the memory of the server shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. FIG. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the data structure shown in FIG. 9 in table format. [Figure 11] 9 is a schematic diagram showing statistical processing of individual attention information performed by the data creation unit shown in FIG. 8. FIG. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in an alert information output process. [Figure 13] 10 is a flowchart showing a process flow in a data creation process. [Figure 14] 10 is a flowchart showing a processing flow in an attention-drawing process. [Figure 15] FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram showing the device configuration of each of a mobile object and a server in a third embodiment. [Figure 16] 10 is a flowchart showing a process flow in an information output process. [Figure 17] 10 is a flowchart showing a process flow in a data creation process. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. An information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a sound acquisition unit, an image acquisition unit, a position acquisition unit, and a storage unit. The sound acquisition unit acquires sounds outside the moving body. The image acquisition unit acquires images outside the moving body. The position acquisition unit acquires the position of the moving body. When the external sounds include a predetermined warning sound and the source of the warning sound is not included in the external image, the storage unit stores warning information related to the position acquired by the position acquisition unit or an area including the position.

[0012] Although a caution sound is acquired in a position or area corresponding to the above-mentioned caution information, an image of the source of the caution sound cannot be captured, which means that there is a high possibility that a blind spot in the vicinity where the source of the caution sound is hidden exists. According to the information processing device of this embodiment, caution information regarding such a position or area is stored in a storage unit. This makes it possible to, for example, alert a driver of a mobile vehicle traveling in a position or area corresponding to the caution information stored in the storage unit to be aware of the blind spot. In this way, the information processing device of this embodiment can effectively assist in calling attention to blind spots.

[0013] Here, in the information processing device of this embodiment, the sound acquisition unit acquires external sounds together with the direction from which the external sounds are reverberating.

[0014] When an external sound includes a sound requiring attention whose source cannot be captured in an image, there is a high possibility that a blind spot exists in the direction from which the external sound is resonating. According to the present embodiment, such a direction can be used as the direction in which a blind spot exists, thereby more effectively assisting in drawing attention to the blind spot.

[0015] In this embodiment, the warning information includes the above-mentioned position or area and the source of the warning sound. This information represents:

[0016] According to this embodiment, it is possible to issue a specific warning, such as that the source indicated by the warning information is likely to be hidden in a blind spot near the position or area indicated by the warning information.

[0017] In this embodiment, the warning information also indicates the direction from which the warning sound is coming.

[0018] As described above, there is a high possibility that a blind spot exists in the direction from which a warning sound is coming. According to this embodiment, this direction can be regarded as a direction in which a blind spot exists, and a specific warning can be issued.

[0019] The information processing device of this embodiment also includes a driving information acquisition unit that acquires driving information related to at least one of the behavior of the moving body and the behavior of the driver of the moving body. The storage unit omits storing the warning information when the driving information acquired by the driving information acquisition unit satisfies a predetermined condition, even if the external sound includes a predetermined warning sound and the source of the warning sound is not included in the external image.

[0020] According to this embodiment, by appropriately setting the above-mentioned predetermined condition, it is possible to reduce the processing load for storing the warning information. As the predetermined condition, for example, a condition indicating that the driver is paying attention to the blind spot, such as the moving object decelerating or the driver facing the blind spot, can be adopted.

[0021] In this embodiment, the warning information also represents the individual driver of the mobile object.

[0022] According to this embodiment, detailed warnings can be given to individual drivers about blind spots, which may be seen differently depending on the driver's physique, etc.

[0023] In this embodiment, the warning information also indicates the type of moving object.

[0024] According to this embodiment, detailed warnings can be given for each type of moving object regarding blind spots, which may be visible differently depending on the height of the moving object, etc.

[0025] In addition, in this embodiment, if a situation in which the source of a sound requiring caution is included in an external image at a position or area corresponding to the warning information stored in the memory unit is repeated a predetermined number of times, the memory unit erases the warning information from the stored contents.

[0026] If the source of the warning sound is repeatedly included in the external image at the position or area corresponding to the warning information, it is highly likely that the blind spot has been eliminated, for example, by construction work on a nearby building or road. According to this embodiment, the warning information is deleted in such a case, so the amount of information stored in the storage unit can be reduced.

[0027] In addition, the information processing device of this embodiment is equipped with a notification unit that notifies the driver of the mobile body in advance when there is a possibility that the mobile body will travel through a location or area corresponding to the warning information stored in the memory unit.

[0028] According to this embodiment, the driver of the vehicle is notified in advance of the existence of a blind spot, which can more effectively assist in drawing attention to the blind spot.

[0029] Moreover, an information processing method according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a sound acquisition step, an image acquisition step, a position acquisition step, and a storage step. The sound acquisition step is a step of acquiring sound outside the moving body. The image acquisition step is a step of acquiring an image outside the moving body. The position acquisition step is a step of acquiring the position of the moving body. The storage step is a step of storing warning information relating to the position acquired in the position acquisition step or an area including the position, when the external sound includes a predetermined warning sound and the source of the warning sound is not included in the external image.

[0030] According to the information processing method of this embodiment, warning information regarding a position or area where a blind spot is likely to exist nearby is stored in a storage unit. This makes it possible to, for example, warn a driver of a mobile vehicle traveling in a position or area corresponding to the warning information stored in the storage unit about the blind spot. In this way, the information processing method of this embodiment can effectively assist in calling attention to blind spots.

[0031] An information processing program according to the embodiment of the present invention causes a computer to execute the above-described information processing method.

[0032] According to the information processing program of this embodiment, the above-described information processing method can be executed by a computer, thereby effectively assisting in drawing attention to blind spots.

[0033] Furthermore, a storage medium according to an embodiment of the present invention stores the above-described information processing program.

[0034] According to the storage medium of the present embodiment, the stored information processing program can cause a computer to execute the above-described information processing method, thereby effectively assisting in drawing attention to blind spots. [Example]

[0035] Hereinafter, embodiments for solving the problem of effectively assisting in drawing attention to blind spots will be specifically described with reference to the drawings. First, a first embodiment will be described.

[0036] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an information processing device according to a first embodiment, which is mounted on a moving object.

[0037] 1 is a passenger car. The information processing device 100 mounted on the vehicle 1 is a device that stores data on positions and areas where the driver of the vehicle 1 should be aware of blind spots in the memory 172 of the storage unit 170, and calls the driver's attention to blind spots based on the stored contents.

[0038] In this embodiment, the components of the information processing device 100, with some exceptions, are built in a navigation device mounted on the moving body 1. In addition, the memory 172 of the storage unit 170 uses part of a storage medium provided in the navigation device.

[0039] Before describing each component of the information processing device 100, the data structure of the data stored in the memory 172 of the storage unit 170 will be described.

[0040] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing the data structure of data stored in the memory of the storage unit shown in FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the data structure shown in FIG. 2 in table format.

[0041] 2 and 3 is a data structure including the following individual attention information 173b. The individual attention information 173b is information relating to positions or areas in the road network 173a where the driver of the moving body 1 should be careful of blind spots. The positions on the road network 173a refer to nodes 173c that make up the road network 173a and points 173e on road links 173d that make up the road network 173a. The areas on the road network 173a refer to road links 173d that make up the road network 173a.

[0042] Each individual attention information 173b also includes a location or area where caution should be exercised in the blind spot, a vehicle model as a type of moving body 1, an individual driver who should be careful of the blind spot, an object of caution that is likely to be hidden in the blind spot, the direction of the blind spot, and the number of times a situation has occurred suggesting elimination of the blind spot. Here, elimination of the blind spot means that the blind spot will be eliminated by construction work on a building or road in the vicinity of the location or area in the individual attention information 173b. Although not specified here, the vehicle model may be a name of a use type such as a standard passenger car, a small cargo vehicle, a light four-wheel passenger car, etc., or a name of a body type such as a sedan, a sports car, a station wagon, etc.

[0043] 2 and 3, five pieces of individual warning information 173b are illustrated. In the first individual warning information 173b-1, the location or area where attention should be paid to a blind spot is road link L1. Furthermore, the first individual warning information 173b-1 includes information on a vehicle type Ca, a driver Da who should be careful of the blind spot, "children" and "bicycles" as objects of attention, a direction of the blind spot D11, and "0" as the number of situations. In the second individual warning information 173b-2, the location or area where attention should be paid to a blind spot is road link L2, and includes information on a vehicle type Ca, a driver Db, a "bicycle" as an object of attention, a direction of the blind spot D12, and "0" as the number of situations. In the third individual warning information 173b-3, the location or area where attention should be paid to a blind spot is point P1 on road link L3, and includes information on a vehicle type Ca, a driver Db, a "bicycle" as an object of attention, a direction of the blind spot D13, and "0" as the number of situations. In the fourth individual attention information 173b-4, the position or area where attention should be paid to the blind spot is node N1, and information including the vehicle type Ca, driver Da, "child" as the object of attention, blind spot direction D14, and the number of situations "1" is included. In the fifth individual attention information 173b-5, the position or area where attention should be paid to the blind spot is node N2, and information including the vehicle type Ca, driver Da, "skateboard" as the object of attention, blind spot direction D15, and the number of situations "4" is included.

[0044] In this embodiment, data having such a data structure 173 is stored in memory 172 of storage unit 170 shown in Fig. 1. As described above, this memory 172 is part of a storage medium provided in the navigation device mounted on mobile object 1. Note that the device for storing the above data is not limited to such a storage medium, and may be a storage medium provided separately from the navigation device or a storage device that can be written to and read from. Alternatively, it may be a well-known portable storage medium. When data is stored in a portable storage medium, the above storage unit 170 is a reader / writer device that can install and remove the portable storage medium.

[0045] In the information processing device 100 shown in FIG. 1, data to be stored in the memory 172 of the storage unit 170 is created, and a warning is issued based on the created data.

[0046] The information processing device 100 includes a sound acquisition unit 110, an image acquisition unit 120, a position acquisition unit 130, a driving information acquisition unit 140, a vehicle type storage unit 150, an individual identification unit 160, a storage unit 170, and a notification unit 180.

[0047] The sound acquisition unit 110 has a plurality of microphones installed at various locations on the moving body 1, and acquires sounds outside the moving body 1 through these microphones. The sound acquisition unit 110 also identifies the position of the microphone that acquired the acquired external sound, thereby acquiring the direction from which the external sound is reverberating.

[0048] The image acquisition unit 120 has a camera arranged on the front side of the moving body 1, and acquires an image of the outside of the moving body 1 via this camera.

[0049] The position acquisition unit 130 grasps the position of the mobile object 1 using a positioning system such as a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS). In this embodiment, a road network 173a as shown in FIG. 2 is stored in the memory 172 of the storage unit 170 in addition to the above-mentioned data. The position acquisition unit 130 compares the position grasped by the positioning system with this road network 173a to acquire the position (node ​​173c or point 173e) or area (road link 173d) of the mobile object 1 corresponding to the road network 173a.

[0050] The driving information acquisition unit 140 acquires driving information related to both the behavior of the moving object 1 and the behavior of the driver. For the behavior of the moving object 1, operation information of various devices related to driving, such as the steering wheel and brakes, is acquired, and for the behavior of the driver, information related to the line of sight of the driver is acquired using an eye tracker mounted on the moving object 1.

[0051] The acquisition of driving information is not limited to the above-mentioned acquisition method, and any specific method may be used as long as it acquires information related to the behavior of the moving object 1 and the behavior of the driver. Also, unlike this embodiment, driving information related to only one of the behavior of the moving object 1 and the behavior of the driver may be acquired.

[0052] The vehicle type storage unit 150 is a memory that stores the vehicle type of the moving object 1.

[0053] The individual identification unit 160 identifies the individual driver of the moving object 1. Although specific identification methods are not specified here, examples include a method in which the driver inputs the name or the like by keyboard, a method in which the driver is identified by fingerprint authentication, and a method in which personal authentication information is read from a smartphone or the like owned by the driver.

[0054] 2 and 3 as needed, and stores and accumulates the individual attention information 173b in the memory 172, thereby creating data having the data structure 173. The storage unit 170 includes the memory 172 and an information generation unit 171 that generates the individual attention information 173b to create data.

[0055] When generating the individual warning information 173b, the information generating unit 171 makes the following determination: First, it determines whether or not a predetermined warning sound is included in the external sound acquired by the sound acquiring unit 110. In addition to the above data, the memory 172 stores an information table to be used for this determination.

[0056] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an information table used for determining a cautionary sound in the information generating unit shown in FIG.

[0057] The information table 174 shown in Fig. 4 is a table that associates the names of sounds that require attention, which have been predetermined as sounds that drivers should pay attention to, with the extraction conditions for those sounds. In the example of Fig. 4, the names of sounds that require attention are listed as "children's voices," "bicycle sounds," and "skateboard sounds." The extraction conditions for each sound that requires attention are specified by a frequency range and sound level range that are specific to that sound.

[0058] Note that sounds requiring caution are not limited to the above-mentioned "children's voices," "bicycle sounds," and "skateboard sounds," but can be set as appropriate. Furthermore, the extraction conditions are not limited to frequency ranges and sound level ranges, and any specific condition content is not required as long as it can suffice as a condition for extracting sounds requiring caution.

[0059] The information generation unit 171 shown in FIG. 1 first performs frequency analysis on the external sounds acquired by the sound acquisition unit 110, and determines, based on the analysis results, whether or not the external sounds include any sounds requiring caution that satisfy the extraction conditions defined in the information table 174.

[0060] As described above, the sound acquisition unit 110 acquires external sounds using a plurality of microphones arranged at various locations on the mobile object. The external sound acquired by each microphone is identified by identifying the position of the microphone from which the sound was acquired, and the direction from which the external sound is reverberating is also acquired.

[0061] The information generating unit 171 determines whether the external sounds acquired by each of the multiple microphones in the sound acquiring unit 110 are warning sounds as described above. As a result, when the information generating unit 171 determines that a warning sound is included, it also determines the direction of the warning sound based on the direction of the external sound including the warning sound.

[0062] If the external sounds include a warning sound, the information generation unit 171 determines whether or not the external image acquired by the image acquisition unit 120 includes a source of the warning sound, such as a "child" or a "bicycle," which is listed as the name of the warning sound in the information table 174. This determination is performed using a known image analysis method, the details of which will not be explained here.

[0063] At this time, the information generating unit 171 grasps the direction of the warning sound as described above. When determining whether or not the source of the warning sound is included, the information generating unit 171 determines whether or not an image of the source exists in an area that coincides with the direction of the warning sound in the external image.

[0064] Then, when the external sounds include a warning sound and the source of the warning sound is not included in the external image, the information generation unit 171 generates the individual warning information 173b shown in Figures 2 and 3.

[0065] Here, when a warning sound is included in the external sounds and the source of the warning sound is not included in the external image, this means that there is a blind spot near the moving object 1 when the warning sound is acquired, and the source of the warning sound is hidden in that blind spot. An alleyway or the like that is visually hidden by a building or wall on the side of the road corresponds to the blind spot referred to here.

[0066] The individual warning information 173b includes the position or area of ​​the moving body 1 on the road network 173a acquired by the position acquisition unit 130 when the caution sound was acquired, as a location in the vicinity of such a blind spot. Whether or not an alley or the like as described above is a blind spot may vary depending on the height of the moving body 1 and the physique of the driver. Therefore, the individual warning information 173b includes the vehicle type of the moving body 1 stored in the vehicle type storage unit 150 and the personal name of the driver identified by the personal identification unit 160. Furthermore, the individual warning information 173b includes the source of the caution sound identified when determining the caution sound as a target that is likely to be hidden in a blind spot. Furthermore, the direction of the caution sound identified when determining the caution sound is included as a direction in which a blind spot exists as seen from the moving body 1.

[0067] Here, as described above, the above-mentioned blind spot may be eliminated by construction work on buildings or roads, etc. Once the blind spot stored as the individual attention information 173b is eliminated, a situation in which the source of the warning sound is included in the external image will be repeated in the position or area corresponding to the individual attention information 173b. In this state, the individual attention information 173b will lose its meaning as information on the blind spot, and therefore, in this embodiment, such individual attention information 173b is deleted by the information generating unit 171.

[0068] The individual warning information 173b includes a number of situations that is counted up by the information generating unit 171 every time a situation occurs in which the source of the warning sound is included in an external image, in order to be used as a basis for determining whether or not to delete the individual warning information 173b. When the number of situations reaches a specified number, the individual warning information 173b is deleted.

[0069] When the external sound includes a sound requiring caution and the source of the sound requiring caution is not included in the external image, the information generation unit 171 collects the various pieces of information described above to generate individual caution information 173b and stores it in the memory 172.

[0070] In this embodiment, the information generating unit 171 generates and stores the individual warning information 173b with the following exceptions based on the driving information acquired by the driving information acquiring unit 140. That is, even if the external sounds include a warning sound and the source of the warning sound is not included in the external image, the information generating unit 171 omits the generation and storage of the individual warning information 173b if the driving information satisfies the following conditions.

[0071] The condition for this omission is that the driving information indicates that the driver is aware of the existence of the blind spot and is driving with caution. Examples of driving with caution to the blind spot include driving in which the moving body 1 is decelerating when the attention-requiring sound is acquired, or driving in which the driver is facing the direction of the blind spot that is perceived as the direction of the attention-requiring sound.

[0072] The information generating unit 171 repeats the generation of such individual attention information 173b and the storage in the memory 172, thereby creating data having the data structure 173 shown in FIGS.

[0073] Then, the notification unit 180 shown in FIG. 1 uses the data stored in the memory 172 to alert the driver. The notification unit 180 notifies the driver of the moving object 1 in advance when there is a possibility that the moving object 1 will travel through a position or area corresponding to the individual attention information 173b in the data in the memory 172. The notification unit 180 first acquires, from the memory 172, the individual attention information 173b corresponding to the individual name of the driver identified by the individual identification unit 160. Then, based on the position or area acquired by the position acquisition unit 130 and the traveling direction of the moving object 1, it determines whether there is a possibility that the moving object 1 will travel through a position or area corresponding to the individual attention information 173b where attention to a blind spot is required. If there is such a possibility, the notification unit 180 notifies the driver before the moving object 1 reaches a position or area where attention to a blind spot is required.

[0074] In this embodiment, based on the individual attention information 173b, a notification is given of a position or area in a blind spot that requires attention, the direction of the blind spot, and an object of attention that is likely to be hidden in the blind spot. Although not specified here, examples of the notification method include displaying a message image or message text on the display screen of the navigation device, emitting a message voice, lighting up an indicator, etc.

[0075] Next, a description will be given of an information processing method executed by the information processing device 100 shown in Fig. 1. First, a description will be given of an attention information storage process for generating and storing the individual attention information 173b.

[0076] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the warning information storage processing.

[0077] The warning information storage process shown in this flowchart starts when the navigation device in which some of the components of the information processing device 100 are configured is powered on. When the process starts, first, an individual identification step is executed by the individual identification unit 160 (step S101). After that, a sound acquisition step (step S102) is executed by the sound acquisition unit 110, and an image acquisition step (step S103) is executed by the image acquisition unit 120, to acquire sounds and images outside the moving object 1. Furthermore, a position acquisition step (step S104) is executed by the position acquisition unit 130, and a driving information acquisition step (step S105) is executed by the driving information acquisition unit 140, to acquire the position or area of ​​the moving object 1 and driving information related to both the behavior of the moving object 1 and the behavior of the driver.

[0078] Next, the information generating unit 171 in the storage unit 170 determines whether or not the external sounds acquired in the sound acquiring step (step S102) include any of the warning sounds defined in the information table 174 of Fig. 4 (step S106). As described above, when making this determination, the direction from which the warning sound is resonating is determined.

[0079] If the external sound includes a sound requiring caution (Yes in step S106), the information generation unit 171 determines whether or not the source of the sound requiring caution included in the external sound is included in the external image acquired in the image acquisition step (step S103) (step S107). If the source of the sound requiring caution is not included in the external image (No in step S107), the information generation unit 171 determines whether or not the driving information acquired in the driving information acquisition step (step S105) satisfies the following condition (step S108). The condition here is that the driving information indicates that the driver is aware of the existence of the blind spot and is driving carefully.

[0080] If the driving information does not satisfy this condition (No in step S108), the information generating unit 171 generates individual attention information 173b based on various acquired information including the position or area acquired in the position acquiring step (step S104) (step S109). Then, when the information generating unit 171 stores the generated individual attention information 173b in the memory 172 (step S110), the process returns to step S102, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0081] If the driving information satisfies the above conditions (Yes judgment in step S108), the driver is already aware of the blind spot here, so the generation (step S109) and storage (step S110) of individual warning information 173b are omitted and the process returns to step S102.

[0082] If the external sounds do not include any sounds requiring caution (No in step S106), the process returns to step S102 since there is no blind spot nearby that requires caution.

[0083] If the external image includes the source of the sound requiring caution (Yes judgment in step S107), the information generation unit 171 judges whether the position of the source in the external image matches the direction of the sound requiring caution that was grasped at the time of the judgment in step S106 (step S111).

[0084] If the location of the source does not match the direction of the warning sound (No judgment in step S111), the source of the warning sound whose existence was confirmed in the judgment in step S106 is not captured in the external image, and the processing proceeds to the judgment in step S108.

[0085] If the position of the source coincides with the direction of the caution sound (Yes in step S111), it means that the source of the caution sound whose presence was confirmed in the determination in step S106 is not hidden in a blind spot. In this case, there are two possible patterns: either there was no blind spot near the current position of the moving object 1 to begin with, or a blind spot that once existed has been eliminated by construction or the like. Therefore, in order to determine which pattern exists, the information generation unit 171 determines whether the position or area acquired in the position acquisition step (step S104) has already been stored in the memory 172 as individual caution information 173b (step S112).

[0086] If it is not stored as the individual warning information 173b (No determination in step S112), this means that there is no blind spot from the beginning, so the process returns to step S102 and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0087] On the other hand, if it is stored as individual attention information 173b (Yes in step S112), it means that a situation has arisen in which the previous blind spot has been eliminated. In this case, the information generation unit 171 counts up the number of situations in this individual attention information 173b by "1" (step S113). Next, the information generation unit 171 determines whether the number of situations after counting up has reached a specified number (step S114).

[0088] When the number of situations reaches the specified number of times (Yes determination in step S114), the information generating unit 171 deletes the individual attention information 173b corresponding to the eliminated blind spot from the memory 172 (step S115) in order to reflect the elimination of the blind spot in the data in the memory 172. After the individual attention information 173b is deleted in step S115, the process returns to step S102, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0089] If the number of situations has not reached the specified number (No in step S114), it is determined that it is too early to delete the individual warning information 173b, and the process returns to step S102, where the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0090] The warning information storage process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 continues to be executed until the power of the navigation device is turned off.

[0091] By this warning information storage process, the individual warning information 173b is appropriately stored inside the memory 172, and the data of the data structure 173 shown in Fig. 2 and Fig. 3 is created. The data created in this way is used by the information processing device 100 in Fig. 1 to alert the driver.

[0092] The following describes the attention drawing process among the information processing methods executed by the information processing device 100.

[0093] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of the attention-calling process.

[0094] The attention calling process shown in this flowchart starts when the navigation device in which some of the components of the information processing device 100 are configured is powered on, and is executed in parallel with the attention information storage process shown in the flowchart of FIG.

[0095] When the process starts, first, an individual identification step is executed by the individual identification unit 160 (step S121). In this embodiment, the individual identification step (step S101) in the warning information storage process executed in parallel also serves as the individual identification step (step S121) in the warning process.

[0096] Next, the notification unit 180 shown in FIG. 1 executes an information acquisition step (step S122) of acquiring, from the memory 172, the individual warning information 173b corresponding to the individual name of the driver identified in the individual identification step (step S121).

[0097] Furthermore, the position acquisition unit 130 executes a position acquisition step (step S123), which also serves as the position acquisition step (step S104) in the warning information storage process.

[0098] Next, the notification unit 180 makes the following determination (step S124) based on the position or area and traveling direction of the moving object 1 acquired in the position acquisition step (step S123). That is, the notification unit 180 determines whether or not there is a possibility that the moving object 1 will travel through the position or area corresponding to the individual attention information 173b acquired in the information acquisition step (step S122).

[0099] If there is a possibility that the moving object 1 will travel through a position or area corresponding to the individual attention information 173b (Yes determination in step S124), a notification step is executed by the notification unit 180 in a preliminary stage before the moving object 1 reaches that position or area (step S125). In the notification step (step S125), based on the individual attention information 173b, notification is given of a position or area where caution should be exercised in a blind spot, the direction of the blind spot, and an object of caution that is likely to be hidden in the blind spot.

[0100] After the notification step (step S125) is completed, the process returns to step S123 and the subsequent processes are repeated. Also, if there is no possibility that the moving object 1 will travel through the position or area corresponding to the individual attention information 173b (No determination in step S124), the process returns to step S123 and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0101] The attention calling process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, together with the attention information storage process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5, continues to be executed until the power of the navigation device is turned off.

[0102] In this embodiment, an information processing program that causes a computer to execute an information processing method including the warning information storage process of Fig. 5 and the warning call process of Fig. 6 is stored in a storage medium of the navigation device or a storage medium of an in-vehicle computer device that is separate from the navigation device. Furthermore, the storage medium that stores this information processing program is not limited to the storage media of these devices, but may be a known portable storage medium or a storage medium installed in a server connected to these devices via a network.

[0103] According to the information processing device 100, information processing method, information processing program, and storage medium of the first embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained.

[0104] In the position or area corresponding to the individual attention information 173b, the caution sound is acquired, but an image of the source cannot be captured, which means that there is a high possibility that a blind spot in which the source of the caution sound is hidden exists nearby. According to the information processing device 100 of this embodiment, the individual attention information 173b relating to such a position or area is stored in the memory 172 of the storage unit 170. This makes it possible to, for example, alert the driver of the moving body 1 traveling in the position or area corresponding to the individual attention information 173b stored in the memory 172 to the blind spot. In this way, the information processing device 100 of this embodiment can effectively assist in calling attention to blind spots.

[0105] Here, in the information processing device 100 of this embodiment, the sound acquisition unit 110 grasps the position of the microphone that acquires the external sound, thereby acquiring the external sound together with the direction from which the sound is reverberating.

[0106] When a sound requiring attention whose source cannot be captured in an image is included in an external sound, there is a high possibility that a blind spot exists in the direction from which the external sound is resonating. According to this embodiment, such a direction can be used as the direction in which a blind spot exists, thereby more effectively assisting in calling attention to the blind spot.

[0107] Furthermore, the information processing device 100 of this embodiment includes a driving information acquisition unit 140 that acquires driving information related to both the behavior of the moving object 1 and the behavior of the driver of the moving object. The information generation unit 171 of the storage unit 170 omits storing the individual warning information 173b in the following cases, even if the external sound includes a predetermined warning sound and the source of the warning sound is not included in the external image. That is, the information generation unit 171 omits storing the individual warning information 173b when the driving information acquired by the driving information acquisition unit 140 satisfies the condition that the driver is paying attention to blind spots.

[0108] According to this embodiment, it is possible to reduce the processing load for storing the individual attention information 173b. As the above condition, as described above, a condition indicating that the driver is paying attention to the blind spot, such as the moving object 1 being decelerated or the driver facing the direction of the blind spot, can be adopted.

[0109] Furthermore, in this embodiment, if a situation in which the source of a sound requiring caution is included in an external image is repeated a predetermined number of times in a position or area corresponding to the individual warning information 173b stored in the memory 172, the information generating unit 171 deletes the individual warning information 173b from the stored contents.

[0110] If the source of the warning sound is repeatedly included in the external image at the position or area corresponding to the individual warning information 173b, it is highly likely that the blind spot has been eliminated by construction work on surrounding buildings or roads, for example. According to this embodiment, in such a case, the individual warning information 173b is deleted, thereby making it possible to reduce the amount of information stored in the memory 172.

[0111] Furthermore, the information processing device 100 of this embodiment includes a notification unit 180 that notifies the driver of the moving body 1 in advance when there is a possibility that the moving body 1 will travel through a position or area corresponding to the individual attention information 173b stored in the memory 172. This allows the driver of the moving body 1 to be notified in advance of the existence of a blind spot, thereby more effectively assisting in calling attention to the blind spot.

[0112] Furthermore, the data structure 173 of this embodiment shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the storage medium or storage device storing data having this data structure 173, can provide the following effects.

[0113] The data structure 173 of this embodiment is an individual data structure corresponding to the driver of a specific moving body 1. The data of this data structure 173 is used to compare the position of the specific moving body 1 with the position or area in the individual attention information 173b described above, thereby enabling the following operations. That is, when the moving body 1 is traveling through a position or area in the individual attention information 173b for alerting the driver of the specific moving body 1, the driver of the moving body 1 can be alerted to blind spots. In this way, the data structure 173 of this embodiment can effectively assist in alerting the driver to blind spots.

[0114] In the data structure 173 of this embodiment, the individual attention information 173b is information that also represents a source of a predetermined sound that requires attention and is included in external sounds. This makes it possible to issue a specific warning, such as that the source represented by the individual attention information 173b is likely to be hidden in a blind spot that requires attention in the position or area represented by the individual attention information 173b.

[0115] In this embodiment, the individual warning information 173b also indicates the direction from which the warning sound is coming.

[0116] As described above, there is a high possibility that a blind spot exists in the direction from which a warning sound is coming. According to this embodiment, this direction can be regarded as a direction in which a blind spot exists, and a specific warning can be issued.

[0117] In this embodiment, the position or area in the individual attention information 173b corresponds to the road network 173a.

[0118] According to this embodiment, the location or area where attention is drawn to blind spots is a location or area corresponding to the road network 173a on which the moving body 1 moves, so that more effective assistance can be provided in drawing attention to blind spots that matches the movement of the moving body 1.

[0119] In this embodiment, the position or area in the individual attention information 173b is the road link 173d or the node 173c that constitutes the road in the road network 173a. This makes it possible to provide detailed assistance that matches the movement of the moving object 1 to alert the driver to blind spots.

[0120] In this embodiment, the individual warning information 173b is information that indicates the position or area and the source of the sound requiring caution. This makes it possible to issue a specific warning, such as that the source indicated by the individual warning information 173b is likely to be hidden in a blind spot near the position or area indicated by the individual warning information 173b.

[0121] In this embodiment, the individual warning information 173b is information that also represents the individual driver of the moving body 1. This allows for detailed warnings to be given to each individual driver about blind spots, which may be seen differently depending on the physique of the driver, etc.

[0122] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the individual attention information 173b is information that also indicates the vehicle type as a type of the moving body 1. This allows for detailed attention to be given to each vehicle type of the moving body 1 with regard to blind spots that may be differently visible depending on the height of the moving body 1, etc.

[0123] Next, a second embodiment will be described.

[0124] In the first embodiment described above, all judgments and storage of blind spots are performed by the device mounted on the mobile body 1, whereas in the second embodiment described below, part of the processing is performed by the device mounted on the mobile body, and the other part is performed by a server device wirelessly connected to the mobile body.

[0125] FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a mobile object and a server in the second embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram showing information processing devices in the mobile object and the server shown in FIG.

[0126] In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 7, a plurality of moving bodies 2, each of which is a passenger vehicle, are wirelessly connected to one server 3. Data relating to blind spots that the driver should be aware of is stored in a memory 301 provided in the server 3. The data relating to blind spots that the driver should be aware of is stored in this memory 301 in a data structure similar to the data structure 173 shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

[0127] The mobile object information processing device 200 mounted on each mobile object 2 generates individual attention information similar to the individual attention information 173b in the data structure 173 shown in Figures 2 and 3. The mobile object information processing device 200 acquires sounds outside the mobile object 2, acquires images of the outside, acquires the position of the mobile object 2, and acquires driving information. The individual attention information is generated based on this acquired information and sent to the server 3 via wireless communication.

[0128] In the server 3, the data creation device 300 statistically creates data on positions or areas where drivers should be careful of blind spots, i.e., positions or areas where an unspecified number of drivers should be careful of blind spots, based on the individual attention information sent from each moving object 2. The created data is stored in the memory 301.

[0129] The data in this memory 301 is provided to each moving body 2 by the server 3 via wireless communication, and each moving body 2 alerts the driver to blind spots based on this data.

[0130] Before describing each component of the mobile information processing device 200 and the data creating device 300, the data structure of the data stored in the memory 301 of the server 3 will be described.

[0131] FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram showing the data structure of the data stored in the memory of the server shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, and FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the data structure shown in FIG. 9 in table format.

[0132] The data structure 302 of the second embodiment shown in Figures 9 and 10 is a data structure intended for an unspecified number of drivers, whereas the data structure 173 of the first embodiment shown in Figures 2 and 3 is a data structure intended for an individual driver of the mobile body 1.

[0133] The data structure 302 of this embodiment is a data structure that includes the following statistical warning information 302b. The statistical warning information 302b is information on positions or areas in the road network 302a where drivers of an unspecified number of moving bodies 2 should statistically be careful of blind spots. As in the first embodiment, the positions on the road network 302a refer to nodes 302c that make up the road network 302a and points 302e on road links 302d that make up the road network 302a. Furthermore, the areas on the road network 302a refer to road links 302d that make up the road network 302a.

[0134] On the other hand, each piece of statistical warning information 302b is information intended for an unspecified number of drivers, unlike in the first embodiment, and therefore does not include the name of an individual driver who should be careful of blind spots. The statistical warning information 302b includes the location or area where attention should be paid to blind spots, the vehicle type as the type of moving body 1, objects that are likely to be hidden in blind spots, the direction of the blind spots, and the number of situations that suggest eliminating blind spots.

[0135] Here, in the data structure 173 in the first embodiment, the target was the driver of a specific moving body 1, and therefore the vehicle model included in the individual attention information 173b was only one type of vehicle model, "Ca," in the examples of Figures 2 and 3. In contrast, the data structure 302 in this embodiment, as mentioned above, targets drivers of an unspecified number of moving bodies 2, and therefore includes a variety of vehicle models.

[0136] 9 and 10 illustrate five pieces of statistical warning information 302b. In the first statistical warning information 302b-1, the location or area requiring attention to a blind spot is road link L1. Furthermore, the first statistical warning information 302b-1 includes information on two types of vehicle models Cb and Cc, the objects of attention (children and bicycles), the direction of the blind spot D21, and the number of situations (0). In the second statistical warning information 302b-2, the location or area requiring attention to a blind spot is road link L2, and includes information on three types of vehicle models Ca, Cb, and Cc, the object of attention (bicycles), the direction of the blind spot D22, and the number of situations (0). In the third statistical warning information 302b-3, the location or area requiring attention to a blind spot is point P1 on road link L3, and includes information on two types of vehicle models Cb and Cc, the object of attention (bicycles), the direction of the blind spot D23, and the number of situations (0). In the fourth statistical warning information 302b-4, the location or area where attention should be paid to blind spots is node N1, and includes information on three types of vehicle models Ca, Cb, and Cc, a "child" as the object of attention, a direction of the blind spot D24, and a number of situations of "1." In the fifth statistical warning information 302b-5, the location or area where attention should be paid to blind spots is node N2, and includes information on one type of vehicle model Cc, a "skateboard" as the object of attention, a direction of the blind spot D25, and a number of situations of "4."

[0137] In this embodiment, data having such a data structure 302 is stored in memory 301 of data creation device 300 shown in Fig. 8. This memory 301 is part of a storage medium provided in data creation device 300. Note that the device for storing the above data is not limited to such a storage medium, and may be a storage medium provided separately from data creation device 300, or a storage device that can be written to and read from. Alternatively, it may be a known portable storage medium.

[0138] 8 creates individual warning information that is the source of the statistical warning information 302b in the data structure 302 shown in Figures 9 and 10, and outputs it to the server 3. The data creating device 300 generates the statistical warning information 302b based on the individual warning information from the mobile object information processing device 200 of each mobile object 2, and creates data by accumulating the statistical warning information 302b. The mobile object information processing device 200 of each mobile object 2 alerts the driver to blind spots based on the data created by the data creating device 300.

[0139] The mobile object information processing device 200 of each mobile object 2 includes a sound acquisition unit 210, an image acquisition unit 220, a position acquisition unit 230, a driving information acquisition unit 240, a vehicle type memory unit 250, an information output unit 260, a notification unit 270, and a first communication unit 280.

[0140] The sound acquisition unit 210, the image acquisition unit 220, the driving information acquisition unit 240, and the vehicle model memory unit 250 are equivalent to the sound acquisition unit 110, the image acquisition unit 120, the driving information acquisition unit 140, and the vehicle model memory unit 150 of the first embodiment shown in Figure 1.

[0141] The position acquisition unit 230 of this embodiment acquires the positioning result of the positioning system as the position of the moving body 2, whereas the position acquisition unit 130 of the first embodiment acquires the position or area corresponding to the road network 173a based on the position grasped by a positioning system such as GNSS.

[0142] The information output unit 260 generates individual attention information, which is the source of the statistical attention information 302b shown in Figures 9 and 10, as needed and outputs it to the server 3, which serves as an information collection server, and is equipped with a generation unit 261 and an output unit 262.

[0143] The generation unit 261 generates individual warning information by making the following determination: First, it is determined whether or not a predetermined warning sound is included in the external sound acquired by the sound acquisition unit 210. The generation unit 261 stores an information table equivalent to the warning sound information table 174 shown in FIG. 4 for use in this determination.

[0144] The generation unit 261 determines whether or not the external sounds acquired by the sound acquisition unit 210 include a warning sound that satisfies the extraction conditions defined in the information table.

[0145] Furthermore, the generation unit 261 determines whether an external sound acquired by each of the multiple microphones in the sound acquisition unit 210 is a warning sound. When the generation unit 261 determines that a warning sound is included, it also determines the direction of the warning sound by determining the position of the microphone that acquired the external sound including the warning sound.

[0146] If the external sounds include a warning sound, the generation unit 261 determines whether or not the source of the warning sound, such as a "child" or a "bicycle," is included in the external image acquired by the image acquisition unit 120. At this time, the generation unit 261 determines whether or not an image of the source exists in an area in the external image that matches the direction of the warning sound identified as described above. Furthermore, the direction of the warning sound is also used as the direction of a blind spot, as in the first embodiment.

[0147] Then, when the external sounds include a caution sound and the source of the caution sound is not included in the external image, the generation unit 261 generates individual caution information.

[0148] The individual attention information generated here is information substantially equivalent to the individual attention information 173b in the first embodiment shown in Figures 2 and 3. However, in the second embodiment, the individual attention information includes, as information, the position itself indicated by the positioning result in the positioning system acquired by the position acquisition unit 230.

[0149] Furthermore, this individual warning information is the source of the statistical warning information 302b shown in Figures 9 and 10, and since this statistical warning information 302b does not include the driver's personal name, the individual warning information in this embodiment also does not include the driver's personal name.

[0150] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the determination of whether a blind spot has been eliminated or not and the deletion of the statistical warning information 302b corresponding to the eliminated blind spot are performed in the server 3. For this reason, the individual warning information of this embodiment does not include the number of situations that was included in the individual warning information 173b of the first embodiment shown in Figs. 2 and 3 .

[0151] In this embodiment, when a situation occurs in which the source of a warning sound is included in an external image in a position or area corresponding to the statistical warning information 302b, suggesting elimination of a blind spot, the generation unit 261 performs the following process. In this case, the generation unit 261 requests the server 3 to count up the number of situations in the statistical warning information 302b via the first communication unit 280. In response to such a request sent from each moving object 2, the server 3 counts up the number of situations, and deletes the statistical warning information 302b when the number of situations reaches a specified number.

[0152] In this way, the individual attention information of this embodiment is the same as the individual attention information 173b of the first embodiment except for the driver's personal name and the number of situations, and includes the positioning results of the positioning system instead of the location or area of ​​the road network as the location where attention should be paid to the blind spot. That is, the individual attention information of this embodiment is information including the positioning results as the location where attention should be paid to the blind spot, the vehicle type of the moving body 2, the object of attention that is likely to be hidden in the blind spot, and the direction of the blind spot.

[0153] The generating unit 261 generates the above-described individual warning information when the external sounds include a warning sound and the source of the warning sound is not included in the external image.

[0154] In this embodiment, the generation of individual caution information by the generation unit 261 is provided with the following exceptions based on the driving information acquired by the driving information acquisition unit 240. That is, even if the external sounds include a caution sound and the source of the caution sound is not included in the external image, if the driving information satisfies the following conditions, the generation unit 261 omits the generation of individual caution information.

[0155] The condition for this omission is that the driving information indicates that the driver is aware of the existence of the blind spot and is driving with caution. Examples of driving with caution to the blind spot include driving in which the moving body 1 is decelerating when the attention-requiring sound is acquired, or driving in which the driver is facing the direction of the blind spot that is perceived as the direction of the attention-requiring sound.

[0156] The output unit 262 in the information output unit 260 sends the individual attention information generated by the generation unit 261 excluding such exceptions to the server 3 via the first communication unit 280 .

[0157] The server 3 collects the individual attention information sent from each of the plurality of moving objects 2 in this way, creates data of the data structure 302 shown in FIGS.

[0158] In the mobile object information processing device 200 of each mobile object 2, the notification unit 270 uses the data stored in the memory 301 of the server 3 to alert the driver. When there is a possibility that the mobile object 2 will travel through a position or area corresponding to the statistical warning information 302b of the data, the notification unit 270 notifies the driver of the mobile object 2 in advance. The notification unit 270 first acquires the data stored in the memory 301 from the server 3 via the first communication unit 280. Then, based on the position or area acquired by the position acquisition unit 230 and the traveling direction of the mobile object 2, it determines whether there is a possibility that the mobile object 2 will travel through a position or area where attention should be paid to a blind spot corresponding to the statistical warning information 302b of the data. When there is such a possibility, the notification unit 270 notifies the driver before the mobile object 2 reaches a position or area where attention should be paid to a blind spot.

[0159] The first communication unit 280 performs wireless communication with the server 3.

[0160] The data creation device 300 provided in the server 3 includes a memory 301 , an information collection unit 310 , a data creation unit 320 , a provision unit 330 , and a second communication unit 340 .

[0161] The information collection unit 310 collects the individual attention information sent from the plurality of moving objects 2 via the second communication unit 340.

[0162] The data creation unit 320 performs statistical processing on the individual attention information collected by the information collection unit 310, and creates data of the data structure 302 shown in Figures 9 and 10, which has statistical attention information 302b regarding positions or areas where the driver should statistically be careful of blind spots.

[0163] FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram showing statistical processing of individual attention information performed by the data creating unit shown in FIG.

[0164] FIG. 11 shows an example in which first to eleventh individual warning information 263a-1, 263a-2, ... 263a-11 are collected, and first statistical warning information 302b-1 and third statistical warning information 302b-3 are generated by statistical processing.

[0165] The first individual attention information 263a-1 is information in which a "child" is associated with a position G1 on the road link L4, which is a positioning result indicating that caution should be exercised in a blind spot, as an object of caution that is likely to be hidden in the blind spot. Although not shown in FIG. 11, the first individual attention information 263a-1 also includes the vehicle type of the moving object 2 and the direction of the blind spot. The second individual attention information 263a-2 is information in which a "bicycle," the vehicle type, and the direction of the blind spot are associated with a position G2 on the road link L4. The two positions G1 and G2 on the road link L4 are separated from each other by a predetermined distance or more.

[0166] The third individual warning information 263a-3 is information in which "child", vehicle type, and blind spot direction are associated with position G3 on road link L1, the fourth individual warning information 263a-4 is information in which "child", vehicle type, and blind spot direction are associated with position G4 on road link L1, the fifth individual warning information 263a-5 is information in which "bicycle", vehicle type, and blind spot direction are associated with position G5 on road link L1, the sixth individual warning information 263a-6 is information in which "bicycle", vehicle type, and blind spot direction are associated with position G6 on road link L1, the seventh individual warning information 263a-7 is information in which "bicycle", vehicle type, and blind spot direction are associated with position G7 on road link L1, and the eighth individual warning information 263a-8 is information in which "child", vehicle type, and blind spot direction are associated with position G8 on road link L1. The six positions G3 to G8 on the road link L1 are dispersed at a distance equal to or greater than a predetermined distance from each other.

[0167] The ninth individual warning information 263a-9 is information in which "bicycle", the type of vehicle, and the direction of the blind spot are associated with position G9 on road link L3. The tenth individual warning information 263a-10 is information in which "bicycle", the type of vehicle, and the direction of the blind spot are associated with position G10 on road link L3. The eleventh individual warning information 263a-11 is information in which "bicycle", the type of vehicle, and the direction of the blind spot are associated with position G11 on road link L3. The three positions G9 to G11 on road link L3 are concentrated within a predetermined range near point P3 on road link L3.

[0168] In this embodiment, in the statistical processing of the individual warning information 263a, first, the number of pieces of individual warning information 263a is counted within a predetermined range near node 302c, on road link 302d, and within a predetermined range near point 302e on road link 302d. Then, the caution object, vehicle type, and blind spot direction in each piece of individual warning information 263a are associated with a location where three or more pieces of individual warning information 263a exist, to generate statistical warning information 302b. At this time, the blind spot direction is determined by performing a calculation process such as vector synthesis on the slightly different blind spot directions between the three or more pieces of individual warning information 263a. The direction resulting from this calculation is associated with the statistical warning information 302b as the blind spot direction.

[0169] 11, the road link L1 having six pieces of individual warning information 263a is associated with "child" and "bicycle" as the objects of warning, vehicle types Cb and Cc, and blind spot direction D21 to generate first statistical warning information 302b-1. Also, at this generation stage, the number of situations "0" is added to the first statistical warning information 302b-1 as the number of times a situation suggesting elimination of a blind spot has occurred.

[0170] Point P3 on road link L3, where three pieces of individual warning information 263a are concentrated in the vicinity, is associated with "bicycle," vehicle types Cb and Cc, blind spot direction D23, and the number of situations "0," and third statistical warning information 302b-3 is generated.

[0171] The number of times of occurrence of a situation in each piece of statistical warning information 302b is counted up by the data creating unit 320 in FIG. 8 in response to a request from each moving object 2 after the statistical warning information 302b is generated.

[0172] The statistical processing is not limited to the processing for determining the area where there is a threshold number or more of individual attention information 263a as described above, and the specific processing content is not limited as long as it is processing for determining the area where an event that requires the driver to be careful of a blind spot occurs statistically frequently. Furthermore, even when the processing for determining the area where there is a threshold number or more of individual attention information 263a is employed, the threshold is not limited to three as described above, and the threshold can be set arbitrarily.

[0173] 8 performs the statistical processing described above to generate statistical warning information 302b every time the number of pieces of individual warning information 263a collected by the information collecting unit 310 reaches a predetermined number. The data creating unit 320 sequentially stores the generated statistical warning information 302b in the memory 301. By accumulating the statistical warning information 302b in the memory 301 in this way, the data creating unit 320 creates data of the data structure 302 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10.

[0174] In addition, the providing unit 330 shown in Figure 8 reads the data created by the data creating unit 320 from the memory 301 in response to a request from the notification unit 270 in the mobile information processing device 200 of the mobile unit 2, and provides it to the requesting mobile unit 2 via the second communication unit 340.

[0175] In this embodiment, the providing unit 330 provides data to the requesting mobile body 2 in response to a request from the notifying unit 270, but the providing method may be such that the providing unit provides data to the mobile body at regular intervals, rather than responding to a request from the mobile body. In this case, the mobile body stores the provided data in its own storage unit and reads and uses it as appropriate.

[0176] In addition, in this embodiment, the mobile object 2 to which the data is provided is the sender of the individual attention information 263a described above, but the data destination is not limited to such a mobile object. The data destination may be any mobile object that has the function of receiving the data from the server 3 wirelessly and uses the data for some kind of information processing.

[0177] The second communication unit 340 shown in FIG. 8 performs wireless communication with each moving object 2.

[0178] Next, an information processing method executed by each of the mobile object information processing device 200 and the data creation device 300 shown in Fig. 8 will be described. First, of the information processing methods executed by the mobile object information processing device 200, an attention information output process for creating individual attention information 263a and outputting it to the server 3 will be described.

[0179] FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the flow of the warning information output process.

[0180] The warning information output process shown in this flowchart starts when power is applied to a navigation device in which some of the components of the mobile object information processing device 200 are configured. When the process starts, a sound acquisition step (step S201) by the sound acquisition unit 210 and an image acquisition step (step S202) by the image acquisition unit 220 are executed to acquire sounds and images outside the mobile object 2. Furthermore, a position acquisition step (step S203) by the position acquisition unit 230 and a driving information acquisition step (step S204) by the driving information acquisition unit 240 are executed to acquire the position of the mobile object 2 and driving information related to both the behavior of the mobile object 2 and the behavior of the driver.

[0181] Next, the generation unit 261 in the information output unit 260 determines whether or not the external sounds acquired in the sound acquisition step (step S201) include a warning sound defined in an information table equivalent to the information table 174 in Fig. 4 (step S205). As described above, when making this determination, the direction from which the warning sound is resonating is determined.

[0182] If the external sound includes a sound requiring caution (Yes in step S205), the generation unit 261 determines whether or not the source of the sound requiring caution included in the external sound is included in the external image acquired in the image acquisition step (step S202) (step S206). If the source of the sound requiring caution is not included in the external image (No in step S206), the generation unit 261 determines whether or not the driving information acquired in the driving information acquisition step (step S204) satisfies the following condition (step S207). The condition here is that the driving information indicates that the driver is aware of the existence of the blind spot and is driving carefully.

[0183] If the driving information does not satisfy this condition (No determination in step S207), the generation unit 261 generates individual warning information 263a based on various acquired information including the position acquired in the position acquisition step (step S203) (step S208). In addition, the vehicle model stored in the vehicle model storage unit 250 is also added to this individual warning information 263a. Then, an information output step is executed in which the output unit 262 outputs the individual warning information 263a generated by the generation unit 261 to the server 3 via the first communication unit 280 (step S209). After this information output step (step S209), the process returns to step S201, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0184] If the driving information satisfies the above conditions (Yes judgment in step S207), the driver is already aware of the blind spot here, so the generation (step S208) and output (step S209) of the individual warning information 263a are omitted and the process returns to step S201.

[0185] If the external sounds do not include any sounds requiring caution (No in step S205), the process returns to step S201 since there is no blind spot nearby that requires caution.

[0186] If the external image includes the source of the warning sound (Yes judgment in step S206), the generation unit 261 judges whether the position of the source in the external image matches the direction of the warning sound grasped at the time of judgment in step S205 (step S210).

[0187] If the location of the source does not match the direction of the warning sound (No judgment in step S210), the source of the warning sound whose existence was confirmed in the judgment in step S206 is not captured in the external image, and the processing proceeds to the judgment in step S207.

[0188] If the position of the source coincides with the direction of the caution-requiring sound (Yes determination in step S210), it means that the source of the caution-requiring sound whose existence was confirmed in the determination in step S205 is not hidden in a blind spot. In this case, there are two possible patterns: either there was no blind spot near the current position of the moving object 2 to begin with, or a blind spot that once existed has been eliminated by construction or the like. Therefore, in order to determine which pattern it is, the generation unit 261 makes the following determination here (step S211).

[0189] That is, the generation unit 261 determines, via an inquiry to the server 3, whether or not statistical warning information 302b corresponding to the position of the moving body 2 acquired as the positioning result of the positioning system in the position acquisition process (step S203) is already stored in the memory 301.

[0190] If such statistical warning information 302b is not stored (No in step S211), this means that there was no blind spot from the beginning, so the process returns to step S201 and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0191] On the other hand, if the statistical warning information 302b is stored (Yes in step S211), it means that a situation has arisen in which the previous blind spot has been eliminated. In this case, the generation unit 261 requests the server 3 to count up the number of situations in this statistical warning information 302b by "1" (step S212). After this request, the process returns to step S201, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0192] The warning information output process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12 continues to be executed until the power of the navigation device is turned off.

[0193] By this warning information output process, the individual warning information 263a, which is the source of the data having the data structure 302 shown in Figures 9 and 10, is appropriately output to the server 3, and the data of the data structure 302 is created in the data creation device 300 of the server 3.

[0194] The data creation process, which is an information processing method executed by the data creation device 300, will be described below.

[0195] FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the data creation process.

[0196] The data creation process shown in this flowchart starts when the server 3 on which the components of the data creation device 300 are installed is powered on. When the process starts, the information collection unit 310 executes an individual attention information collection step (step S221). The information collection unit 310 also determines whether any of the moving objects 2 has issued a request to count up the number of situations for the statistical attention information 302b in the data in the memory 301 (step S222).

[0197] If a count-up request has not been issued (No in step S222), the data creation unit 320 performs the statistical processing described with reference to Fig. 11 on the individual warning information 263a acquired in the individual warning information collection step (step S221) (step S223). This statistical processing creates statistical warning information 302b, and the data creation unit 320 stores the created statistical warning information 302b in the memory 301 (step S224). After storing the statistical warning information 302b, the process returns to step S221, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0198] On the other hand, if a count-up request has been issued (Yes in step S222), the data creating unit 320 counts up by "1" the number of situations in the statistical warning information 302b corresponding to this request in the data in the memory 301 (step S225). Next, the data creating unit 320 determines whether the number of situations after the count-up has reached a specified number (step S226).

[0199] When the number of situations reaches the specified number (Yes in step S226), data creation unit 320 deletes statistical warning information 302b that is the target of the count-up request from memory 301 (step S227) to reflect the elimination of the blind spot in the data in memory 301. After the statistical warning information 302b is deleted in step S207, the process returns to step S221, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0200] If the number of situations has not reached the specified number (No in step S226), it is determined that it is too early to delete the statistical warning information 302b, and the process returns to step S221, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0201] The data creation process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 13 continues to be executed until the power of the server 3 is turned off.

[0202] This data creation process causes statistical warning information 302b to be appropriately stored in memory 301, and results in the creation of data having data structure 302 shown in Figures 9 and 10. The data created in this way is used by mobile object information processing device 200 in Figure 8 to alert the driver.

[0203] The following describes the attention-calling process among the information processing methods executed by the mobile object information processing device 200.

[0204] FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the flow of the attention-calling process.

[0205] The attention calling process shown in this flowchart starts when the navigation device is powered on, and is executed in parallel with the attention information output process shown in the flowchart of FIG.

[0206] When the process starts, first, a vehicle type acquisition step is executed in which the notification unit 270 shown in FIG. 1 acquires the vehicle type of the moving object 2 from the vehicle type storage unit 250 (step S231).

[0207] Next, the notification unit 270 executes an information acquisition step of acquiring from the memory 301 the statistical warning information 302b corresponding to the vehicle type acquired in the vehicle type acquisition step (step S231) (step S232).

[0208] Furthermore, the position acquisition unit 230 executes a position acquisition step (step S233), which also serves as the position acquisition step (step S203) in the warning information output process.

[0209] Next, the notification unit 270 makes the following determination (step S234) based on the position and traveling direction of the moving object 2 acquired in the position acquisition step (step S233). That is, the notification unit 270 determines whether or not there is a possibility that the moving object 2 will travel through the position or area corresponding to the statistical warning information 302b acquired in the information acquisition step (step S232).

[0210] If there is a possibility that the moving object 2 will travel through a position or area corresponding to the statistical warning information 302b (Yes determination in step S234), a notification step is executed by the notification unit 270 in a preliminary stage before the moving object 2 reaches that position or area (step S235). In the notification step (step S235), based on the statistical warning information 302b, notification is given of a position or area where caution should be exercised in a blind spot, the direction of the blind spot, and a warning object that is likely to be hidden in the blind spot.

[0211] After the notification step (step S235) is completed, the process returns to step S233 and the subsequent steps are repeated. Also, if there is no possibility that the moving object 2 will travel through the position or area corresponding to the statistical warning information 302b (determination of No in step S234), the process returns to step S233 and the subsequent steps are repeated.

[0212] The attention calling process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 14, together with the attention information output process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12, continues to be executed until the power of the navigation device is turned off.

[0213] In this embodiment, an information processing program that causes a computer to execute an information processing method including the warning information output process of Fig. 12 and the warning call process of Fig. 14 is stored in a storage medium of the navigation device or a storage medium of a separate in-vehicle computer device. Furthermore, the storage medium that stores this information processing program is not limited to the storage media of these devices, but may be a known portable storage medium or a storage medium installed in a server connected to these devices via a network.

[0214] The various information processing devices, various information processing methods, various information processing programs, various storage media, and the data structure 302 in FIGS. 9 and 10, and storage media or storage devices storing the data of the data structure 302 in the second embodiment described above can provide the following effects.

[0215] First, the effects of the mobile object information processing device 200 shown in FIG. 8, the information processing method executed in the warning information output process shown in FIG. 12, the information processing program, and the storage medium will be described.

[0216] At the position corresponding to the individual caution information 263a, a caution-requiring sound is acquired, but an image of the source cannot be captured, so there is a high possibility that a blind spot in which the source of the caution-requiring sound is hidden exists nearby. According to this embodiment, the individual caution information 263a relating to such a position is output to the server 3. This makes it possible to perform processing such as collecting the individual caution information 263a in the server 3, and to urge the driver of each moving body 2 to be careful of blind spots based on the processing results in the server 3. In this way, according to this embodiment, it is possible to effectively assist in calling attention to blind spots.

[0217] In this embodiment, the sound acquisition unit 210 acquires external sounds together with the direction from which the external sounds are coming.

[0218] When a warning sound whose source cannot be captured in an image is included in external sounds, there is a high possibility that a blind spot exists in the direction from which the external sound is resonating. According to this embodiment, such a direction can be included in the individual warning information 263a as a direction in which a blind spot exists, thereby more effectively assisting in calling attention to blind spots.

[0219] In this embodiment, the individual warning information 263a is information representing the position of the moving object 2 and the source of the sound requiring caution. This allows the server 3 to grasp a specific situation, such as that there is a high possibility that the source represented by the individual warning information 263a is hidden in a blind spot near the position represented by the individual warning information 263a.

[0220] In this embodiment, the individual warning information 263a also indicates the direction from which the warning sound is coming.

[0221] As described above, there is a high possibility that a blind spot exists in the direction from which a caution sound is coming. According to this embodiment, the server 3 can grasp the specific situation by regarding this direction as the direction in which a blind spot exists.

[0222] The mobile object information processing device 200 of this embodiment also includes a driving information acquisition unit 240 that acquires driving information related to both the behavior of the mobile object 2 and the behavior of the driver. Even if the external sounds include a sound requiring caution and the source of the sound is not included in the external image, the information output unit 260 omits output of the individual warning information 263a if the driving information satisfies a predetermined condition. In this embodiment, the predetermined condition is a condition indicating that the driver is paying attention to blind spots.

[0223] According to this embodiment, it is possible to reduce the processing load for generating and outputting the individual attention information 263a.

[0224] In this embodiment, the individual warning information 263a also indicates the vehicle type as the type of the moving object 2.

[0225] According to this embodiment, the server 3 can perform detailed situational understanding for each vehicle type with respect to blind spots, which may be different in visibility depending on the height of the moving object 2 or the like.

[0226] Next, the effects of the data creation device 300 shown in FIG. 8, the information processing method executed in the data creation process shown in FIG. 13, the information processing program, and the storage medium will be described.

[0227] According to this embodiment, data is created regarding positions or areas where drivers should statistically be careful of blind spots, i.e., positions or areas where blind spots for an unspecified number of drivers are likely to exist nearby. This makes it possible to, for example, alert drivers of an unspecified number of moving bodies 2 traveling in positions or areas corresponding to the created data to be careful of blind spots. In this way, according to this embodiment, data can be created to effectively assist in alerting drivers to blind spots.

[0228] In this embodiment, the data creating unit 320 performs statistical processing on the individual attention information 263 a collected by the information collecting unit 310 .

[0229] According to this embodiment, the individual attention information 263a generated by each moving body 2 is fully utilized, and data for assisting in highly accurate attention to blind spots can be created.

[0230] The data creation device of this embodiment also includes a providing unit 330 that provides the data created by the data creation unit 320 to a predetermined moving object 2 .

[0231] According to this embodiment, the created data is provided to the moving body 2, so that it is possible to more effectively assist in calling attention to blind spots.

[0232] Next, the data structure 302 shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, the storage medium that stores the data of this data structure 302, and the effects of the storage device will be described.

[0233] The data structure 302 of this embodiment is a data structure corresponding to the drivers of an unspecified number of moving bodies 2. The data of this data structure is used to compare the position of a specific moving body 2 with the position or area in the statistical warning information 302b, thereby enabling the following operations. That is, when a specific moving body 2 passes through a position or area in the statistical warning information 302b intended to alert the drivers of an unspecified number of moving bodies 2, the driver of the moving body 2 can be alerted to blind spots. In this way, the data structure 302 of this embodiment can effectively assist in alerting drivers to blind spots.

[0234] In this embodiment, the statistical warning information 302b also represents the source of a sound requiring attention that is included in external sounds. This makes it possible to issue a specific warning, such as that the source indicated by the statistical warning information 302b is likely to be hidden in a blind spot that requires attention in the position or area indicated by the statistical warning information 302b.

[0235] In this embodiment, the statistical warning information 302b also indicates the direction of a warning sound included in external sounds. This allows the direction from which the warning sound is coming to be regarded as the direction in which a blind spot exists, and makes it possible to issue a specific warning.

[0236] In this embodiment, the positions or areas in the statistical warning information 302b correspond to the road network 302a. This allows for more effective assistance in calling attention to blind spots that matches the movement of the moving object 2.

[0237] In this embodiment, the position or area in the statistical warning information 302b is the road link 302d or the node 302c that constitutes the road in the road network 302a. This allows detailed assistance that matches the movement of the moving object 2 to alert users to blind spots.

[0238] In this embodiment, the statistical warning information 302b also indicates the type of moving object 2 for which attention should be drawn by the statistical warning information 302b. This allows for detailed assistance for each type of moving object in calling attention to blind spots, which may be differently visible depending on the height of the moving object, etc.

[0239] Next, a third embodiment will be described.

[0240] The third embodiment is a modified example of the second embodiment described above. This third embodiment differs from the second embodiment described above in that the individual warning information 263a is generated by a data creation device of the server, not by a mobile object processing device. The following describes the third embodiment, focusing on the differences from the second embodiment. However, the warning process executed by the mobile object information processing device and the data structure 302 of the data created by the server are the same as those of the second embodiment, and therefore will not be described here.

[0241] Fig. 15 is a schematic block diagram showing the device configuration of each of the mobile body and the server in Example 3. In Fig. 15, components equivalent to those in Example 2 shown in Fig. 8 are denoted by the same reference numerals as in Fig. 8, and redundant explanations of these equivalent components will be omitted below.

[0242] In the third embodiment, the information output unit 410 of the mobile object information processing device 400 performs the following processing, unlike the information output unit 260 of the second embodiment. The information output unit 410 of the third embodiment outputs comprehensive information 410a relating to sounds outside the mobile object 4 acquired by the sound acquisition unit 210, external images acquired by the image acquisition unit 220, the position of the mobile object 4 acquired by the position acquisition unit 230, and driving information acquired by the driving information acquisition unit 240. The information output unit 410 also outputs the vehicle type of the mobile object 4 stored in the vehicle type storage unit 250, including the vehicle type in the comprehensive information 410a. This output is repeatedly performed at regular intervals via the first communication unit 280 to the server 5. The notification unit 270 performs the attention-calling processing in the second embodiment described above.

[0243] In the data creation device 500 of the server 5, the information collection unit 510 collects the general information 410a sent from each moving object 4.

[0244] In this embodiment, the data creation device 500 of the server 5 is provided with an information generation unit 520 that generates the individual attention information 263a shown in Fig. 11. The information generation unit 520 performs processing equivalent to that of the generation unit 261 provided in the mobile object information processing device 200 of the mobile object 2 in the second embodiment.

[0245] In this embodiment, each time comprehensive information 410a is sent from each of the plurality of moving bodies 4 at regular intervals, the information generating unit 520 repeatedly generates individual caution information 263a for each moving body 4.

[0246] Then, the data creation unit 320 equivalent to that in the second embodiment performs the above-mentioned statistical processing to generate statistical warning information 302b every time the number of pieces of individual warning information 263a generated by the information generation unit 520 reaches a predetermined number. This statistical warning information 302b is stored in the memory 301, and the data of the data structure 302 shown in Figs. 9 and 10 is created.

[0247] Next, an information processing method executed in the mobile information processing device 400 will be described.

[0248] FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the flow of the information output process.

[0249] The information output process shown in the flowchart of Fig. 16 is a process of acquiring information for creating data to be stored in the memory 301 of the server 5 and outputting the information to the server 5. This information output process starts when the navigation device of the mobile object 4 is powered on.

[0250] When the process starts, a sound acquisition step (step S301) is executed by the sound acquisition unit 210. Furthermore, an image acquisition step (step S302) is executed by the image acquisition unit 220, a position acquisition step (step S303) is executed by the position acquisition unit 230, and a driving information acquisition step (step S304) is executed by the driving information acquisition unit 240. These steps in this embodiment are equivalent to the sound acquisition step (step S201), image acquisition step (step S202), position acquisition step (step S203), and driving information acquisition step (step S204) of the second embodiment shown in FIG.

[0251] In this embodiment, following these steps, an information output step is executed by the information output unit 410 (step S305). In the information output step (step S305), comprehensive information 410a is output to the server 5, which includes the external sound, external image, position of the moving object 4, and driving information acquired in steps S301 to S304, as well as the vehicle model information stored in the vehicle model storage unit 250.

[0252] After the information output step (step S305) is completed, the process returns to step S301, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0253] The information output process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 16 continues to be executed until the navigation device is powered off.

[0254] An information processing program that causes a computer to execute the information output process of the flowchart in Fig. 16 is stored in a storage medium of the navigation device or a storage medium of an in-vehicle computer device that is separate from the navigation device. Furthermore, the storage medium that stores this information processing program is not limited to the storage media of these devices, but may be a known portable storage medium or a storage medium installed in a server connected to these devices via a network.

[0255] Next, the data creation process executed in the data creation device 500 of the server 5 will be described.

[0256] FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the flow of processing in the data creation process.

[0257] The data creation process represented by the flowchart in Figure 15 is a process of collecting comprehensive information 410a from multiple mobile bodies 4, creating data of the data structure 302a in Figures 9 and 10, and storing it in memory 301, and starts when the server 5 is powered on.

[0258] When the process starts, the information collection unit 510 executes an information collection step (step S321). In the information collection step (step S321), the information collection unit 510 collects the general information 410a from each moving object 4.

[0259] Next, the information generating unit 520 determines (step S322) whether or not the external sounds in the general information 410a collected in the information collecting step (step S321) include a warning sound. For this determination, an information table similar to the warning sound information table 174 shown in Fig. 4 is used. In this step S322, the direction of the warning sound is also determined.

[0260] If the external sound includes a sound requiring caution (Yes in step S322), the information generator 520 determines whether or not the source of the sound requiring caution included in the external sound is included in the image of the outside in the general information 410a (step S323). If the source of the sound requiring caution is not included in the image of the outside (No in step S323), the information generator 520 determines whether or not the driving information in the general information 410a satisfies the following condition (step S324). The condition here is that the driving information indicates that the driver is aware of the existence of the blind spot and is driving carefully.

[0261] If the driving information does not satisfy this condition (No in step S324), the information generation unit 520 generates individual warning information 263a based on various acquired information including the position of the moving object 4 in the general information 410a (step S325). Then, the data creation unit 320 performs the statistical processing described with reference to FIG. 11 on the individual warning information 263a generated by the information generation unit 520 (step S326). This statistical processing generates statistical warning information 302b, and the data creation unit 320 stores the generated statistical warning information 302b in the memory 301 (step S327). After storing the statistical warning information 302b, the process returns to step S321, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0262] If the driving information satisfies the above conditions (Yes in step S324), the processes in steps S325 to S327 are omitted and the process returns to step S321.

[0263] Also, if the external sounds do not include any sounds requiring caution (No in step S322), the process returns to step S321.

[0264] If the external image includes the source of the sound requiring caution (Yes judgment in step S323), the information generation unit 520 judges whether the position of the source in the external image matches the direction of the sound requiring caution that was identified at the time of the judgment in step S322 (step S328).

[0265] If the location of the source does not match the direction of the warning sound (No judgment in step S328), the source of the warning sound whose existence was confirmed in the judgment in step S322 is not captured in the external image, and the processing proceeds to the judgment in step S324.

[0266] If the position of the source coincides with the direction of the warning sound (Yes in step S328), it means that the source of the warning sound whose presence was confirmed in step S322 is not hidden in a blind spot. In this case, the information generator 520 determines whether or not statistical warning information 302b corresponding to the position of the moving object 4 in the general information 410a has already been stored in the memory 301 (step S329).

[0267] If such statistical warning information 302b is not stored (No in step S329), this means that there was no blind spot from the beginning, so the process returns to step S321 and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0268] On the other hand, if statistical warning information 302b is stored (Yes in step S329), it means that a situation has arisen in which the previous blind spot has been eliminated. In this case, data creation unit 320 counts up the number of situations in this statistical warning information 302b by "1" (step S340).

[0269] Next, the data creating unit 320 determines whether the number of situations after counting up has reached a specified number (step S341).

[0270] When the number of situations reaches the specified number (Yes in step S341), data creation unit 320 deletes statistical warning information 302b that is the target of counting up from memory 301 (step S342) in order to reflect the elimination of blind spots in the data in memory 301. After deleting statistical warning information 302b in step S342, the process returns to step S321, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0271] If the number of situations has not reached the specified number (No in step S342), it is determined that it is too early to delete the statistical warning information 302b, and the process returns to step S321, and the subsequent processes are repeated.

[0272] The data creation process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 17 continues to be executed until the server is powered off.

[0273] This data creation process causes statistical warning information 302b to be appropriately stored in memory 301, and the data of data structure 302 shown in Figures 9 and 10 is created. The data created in this way is used to alert the driver by mobile object information processing device 400 in Figure 15. The warning process executed by mobile object information processing device 400 is the same as the warning process in the second embodiment shown in the flowchart of Figure 14, so a duplicated explanation will be omitted.

[0274] The following describes the effects of the third embodiment described above, which are different from the second embodiment: First, the effects of the mobile information processing device 400 shown in Fig. 15, the information processing method for information output processing shown in Fig. 16, the information processing program, and the storage medium will be described.

[0275] According to the mobile object information processing device 400, the information processing method for information output processing, the information processing program, and the storage medium of this embodiment, various pieces of information that serve as the source of processing for statistically determining positions or areas where the driver should be careful of blind spots are output to the server 5. This makes it possible to have the server 5 execute such processing and to alert the driver of each mobile object 4 to blind spots based on the processing results of the server. In this way, according to this embodiment, it is possible to effectively assist in calling attention to blind spots.

[0276] Next, the effects of the data creation device 500 shown in FIG. 15, the information processing method for data creation processing shown in FIG. 17, the information processing program, and the storage medium will be described.

[0277] According to the data creation device 500, the information processing method for data creation processing, the information processing program, and the storage medium of this embodiment, data relating to positions or areas where drivers should pay attention to blind spots is statistically created. This makes it possible to alert drivers of an unspecified number of moving objects 4 traveling in positions or areas corresponding to the created data to their blind spots. In this way, according to this embodiment, data for effectively assisting in calling attention to blind spots can be created.

[0278] Here, the data creation device 500 of this embodiment includes an information generation unit 520 that generates individual attention information 263a related to positions where the driver of each moving body 4 should be careful of blind spots, based on information collected by the information collection unit 510. The data creation unit 320 performs statistical processing on the individual attention information 263a generated by the information generation unit 520.

[0279] According to this embodiment, statistical processing is performed after individual attention information 263a relating to positions where attention should be paid to blind spots is generated for each information source mobile object 4. This makes it possible to fully utilize the information for each mobile object 4 and create data to assist in highly accurate attention to blind spots.

[0280] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes other configurations that can achieve the object of the present invention, and the following modifications are also included in the present invention.

[0281] For example, in the first to third embodiments described above, the moving bodies 1, 2, and 4 are exemplified as passenger cars. However, the moving bodies are not limited to passenger cars, and may be motorcycles or large vehicles such as trucks and buses, and the specific type of moving body is not important.

[0282] Furthermore, in the first to third embodiments described above, as examples of information processing devices for mobile bodies, the information processing device 100 and mobile body information processing devices 200 and 400 are shown, which are provided with components constructed in navigation devices mounted on the mobile bodies 1, 2, and 4. However, the information processing device for a mobile body is not limited to these, and may be one in which the components are constructed in a computer provided separately from the navigation device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0283] 1,2,4 Mobile 3,5 Server 100 Information processing device 110,210 Sound acquisition part 120,220 Image acquisition unit 130,230 Position acquisition part 140,240 Driving information acquisition unit 150,250 Vehicle model memory section 160 Personal identification section 170 Storage section 171,520 Information generation section 172,301 memory 173,302 Data Structures 173a, 302a Road Network 173b,263a Individual warning information 173b-1, 263a-1 First Individual Caution Information 173b-2, 263a-2 Second Individual Caution Information 173b-3, 263a-3 Third Individual Caution Information 173b-4, 263a-4 Fourth Individual Caution Information 173b-5, 263a-5 Fifth Individual Caution Information 173c,302c nodes 173d,302d Road Links 173e,302e points 174 Information Table 180,270 Notification Department 200,400 Mobile information processing devices 260,410 Information output section 261 Generation part 262 Output section 263a-6 Sixth Individual Caution Information 263a-7 Seventh Individual Attention Information 263a-8 8th Individual Attention Information 263a-9 9th Individual Attention Information 263a-10 10th Individual Caution Information 263a-11 11th Individual Caution Information 280 First Communications Department 300 Data Creation Device 302b Statistical Note Information 302b-1 First statistical notice 302b-2 Second statistical notice 302b-3 Third Statistical Notice 302b-4 Fourth Statistical Notice 302b-5 Fifth Statistical Note 310,510 Information Collection Department 320 Data Creation Department 330 Provision Department 340 Second Communications Department 410a General Information

Claims

[Claim 1] a sound acquisition unit that acquires sounds outside the moving object; an image acquisition unit that acquires an image of the outside of the moving object; a position acquisition unit that acquires the position of the moving object; a storage unit that stores, when the external sound includes a predetermined warning sound and the source of the warning sound is not included in the external image, warning information related to the position acquired by the position acquisition unit or an area including the position; An information processing device comprising:

Images