Proposal System

Abstract

Providing technology that proposes POIs (Points of Interest) to users, enabling them to have new and exciting experiences. [Solution] The proposal system comprises: a POI information acquisition unit that acquires POI information associated with POIs and experiences that can be had at the POI; an activity history acquisition unit that acquires activity history indicating experiences that the target user has had; and a proposal unit that, when the target user selects to have a new experience, excludes experiences that the target user has had based on the activity history and presents experiences that the target user has not had as options, searches for POIs that can perform the experience selected by the target user from among the options based on the POI information and proposes them to the target user.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a proposal system.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, a system for proposing a place that reflects the mood of a user has been known (for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] When a user desires to have a new experience, it is desirable to propose a POI that enables a new experience for the user. The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide a technique for proposing a POI that enables a new experience for a user.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] To achieve the above object, a proposal system includes: a POI information acquisition unit that acquires POI information in which a POI and an experience that can be performed at the POI are associated; an action history acquisition unit that acquires an action history indicating an experience that a target user has had; and a proposal unit that, when the target user selects a desire for a new experience, excludes an experience that the target user has had based on the action history, presents an experience that the target user has not had as an option, searches for a POI at which the experience selected by the target user from the options can be performed based on the POI information, and proposes it to the target user.

[0006] In other words, this proposal system excludes experiences the target user has already had from the options. Therefore, the target user can be sure to select an experience they have never had before. As a result, it is possible to propose POIs (Points of Interest) to the target user that allow them to have an experience they have never had before, i.e., a new experience for the target user. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] A block diagram showing the configuration of the proposed system. [Figure 2] A diagram showing an example of POI information. [Figure 3] A diagram illustrating examples of genres. [Figure 4] A diagram illustrating moods and examples of experiences associated with those moods. [Figure 5] A screen transition diagram showing an example of specifying search criteria and displaying search results. [Figure 6] A screen transition diagram showing an example of specifying search criteria and displaying search results. [Figure 7] A flowchart for the proposal processing. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] Here, embodiments of the present invention will be described in the following order. (1) Configuration of the proposed system: (2) Proposal processing: (3) Other embodiments:

[0009] (1) Configuration of the proposed system: Figure 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the proposed system 10 according to the present invention. The proposed system 10 is a system that proposes POIs (Points of Interest) found using search conditions specified by the user to the user. The proposed system 10 can be used by multiple users, but when focusing on one user who specifies search conditions and receives POI proposals, that user will be referred to as the target user hereafter. In this embodiment, the proposed system 10 cooperates with a mobile terminal 100 used by the target user and a navigation system 200 used by the target user. The mobile terminal 100 and navigation system 200 shown in Figure 1 are devices used by the target user, but as described above, the proposed system 10 can also cooperate with mobile terminals and navigation systems of other users other than the target user (not shown in the diagram). It should be noted that there may be users who use a mobile terminal without using a navigation system, and conversely, there may be users who use a navigation system without using a mobile terminal, and the configuration of the terminal used by the user to use the proposed system 10 may vary.

[0010] The mobile terminal 100 is a portable terminal such as a smartphone. The mobile terminal 100 comprises a communication unit 140, a positioning unit 141, a UI unit 142, a recording medium 130, and a control unit 120. The communication unit 140 includes an interface for communicating with other devices. The mobile terminal 100 can wirelessly communicate with the proposed system 10 or other servers located in remote locations via the communication unit 140. The mobile terminal 100 can also wirelessly communicate with an in-vehicle navigation system 200 via the communication unit 140.

[0011] The positioning unit 141 includes a GNSS receiver. The GNSS receiver is a device that receives GNSS signals, receives radio waves from navigation satellites, and outputs a signal for calculating the position of the mobile terminal 100. The control unit 120 acquires this signal to obtain the position of the mobile terminal 100. The UI unit 142 includes a touch panel display and a speaker.

[0012] The recording medium 130 stores various programs and data. The programs stored on the recording medium 130 include the terminal-side proposed program, which is a terminal-side program for using the POI search service of the proposed system 10. The control unit 120 is equipped with a CPU, RAM, ROM, etc., and can execute various programs, including the terminal-side proposed program, that are stored in the ROM and the recording medium 130.

[0013] By executing the terminal-side suggestion program, the control unit 120 displays a search condition specification screen on the UI unit 142. When the target user specifies search conditions on the search condition specification screen, the control unit 120 sends the specified search conditions to the suggestion system 10 and requests a search. Upon receiving the display data of the search results from the suggestion system 10, the control unit 120 displays the POIs obtained from the search based on the display data on the UI unit 142. Furthermore, if the target user selects one of the POIs displayed as a search result and decides it as a destination, the control unit 120 sends the combination of the search conditions and the POI decided as a destination, along with a user ID to identify the target user, to the suggestion system 10. The operation of deciding it as a destination is, for example, an operation to transfer the selected POI from the search results as a destination to a navigation program available on the mobile terminal 100 or to the navigation system 200. The search conditions and the POI decided as a destination sent to the suggestion system 10 are recorded in the suggestion system 10 as a type of the target user's activity history 30c. Details will be described later.

[0014] Furthermore, the control unit 20 periodically acquires the current location of the mobile terminal 100 based on the output of the positioning unit 141, and transmits it to the proposed system 10 at a predetermined timing, along with the user ID, in association with the date and time the current location was acquired. The history of the current location of the mobile terminal 100 transmitted in this manner is also recorded in the proposed system 10 as a type of the target user's activity history 30c.

[0015] The navigation system 200 is a system mounted on a vehicle. The navigation system 200 includes a communication unit 240, a positioning unit 241, a UI unit 242, a recording medium 230, and a control unit 220.

[0016] The communication unit 240 includes an interface for communicating with other devices. The navigation system 200 can wirelessly communicate with the proposal system 10 and other servers located remotely via the communication unit 240. Also, the navigation system 200 can wirelessly communicate with the mobile terminal 100 brought into the vehicle via the communication unit 140.

[0017] The positioning unit 241 includes positioning sensors such as a GNSS receiver, a vehicle speed sensor, and a gyro sensor, and the control unit 220 acquires the current location of the vehicle based on the output signals of these sensors. The UI unit 242 includes a touch panel display, switches, speakers, etc. The control unit 220 displays various types of information including a map on the touch panel display and outputs guidance voice from the speaker. Also, the control unit 220 receives a user's operation on the touch panel display and switches and performs processing corresponding to the operation.

[0018] Map information and a navigation program are recorded on the recording medium 230. The map information includes node data, link data, shape interpolation point data, and facility data. The node data is data indicating the position of an intersection. The link data indicates a road section and is associated with nodes corresponding to the endpoints of the road section. That is, the link data indicates a link connecting nodes. Shape interpolation point data indicating the position of shape interpolation points for specifying the shape of the road between nodes is associated with the link data. The facility data is data indicating the name, position, and attribute (genre) of facilities existing around the road, etc.

[0019] By executing the navigation program, the control unit 220 realizes the function of searching for a route to the destination and guiding the vehicle to travel along the route. Further, the control unit 220 periodically acquires the current location of the vehicle based on the output of the positioning unit 241, associates the acquisition date and time of the current location, and transmits it to the proposal system 10 together with the user ID indicating the target user who uses the navigation system 200. When the proposal system 10 acquires the history of the current location of the navigation system 200, it records it as a kind of the behavior history 30c of the target user.

[0020] The proposal system 10 is a server that provides a POI search service. The proposal system 10 includes a control unit 20 having a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, etc., a recording medium 30, and a communication unit 40, and the control unit 20 can execute programs stored in the recording medium 30 and the ROM. In the present embodiment, a proposal program 21 can be executed as this program.

[0021] The communication unit 40 includes a circuit for communicating with other devices. In the present embodiment, the control unit 20 can communicate with client terminals of the proposal system 10, including the mobile terminal 100 and the navigation system 200, via the communication unit 40.

[0022] The POI information 30b is recorded in the recording medium 30 in advance. The POI information 30b is a database that stores information related to each POI. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the POI information 30b. In the present embodiment, each POI is identified by a POI-ID. The POI information 30b includes the name, genre, location, experience, and guidance text of the POI in association with the POI-ID. The "genre" indicates the genre to which the POI belongs. For example, as shown in FIG. 3, genres such as outdoor, gourmet, and shopping are defined in advance. Each POI is associated with one of the genres.

[0023] "Location" indicates the coordinates of each POI. Address, phone number, SNS account, etc. may also be recorded. The "Experience" associated with each POI is an experience that a user can have when visiting the POI, and is more specific than the "Genre." The "Description" is the text displayed along with the name of the POI when it is suggested as a search result. In this embodiment, in order to differentiate the description displayed according to the search conditions specified by the target user, a description is prepared according to the selection of "Mood," one of the search conditions, as will be described later. Details will be described later.

[0024] Furthermore, the recording medium 30 stores the activity history 30c of each user, and new history is accumulated during the operation process. The activity history 30c includes the target user's search operation history 30c1 on the mobile terminal 100 and the movement history 30c2 of the mobile terminal 100 and the navigation system 200. The search operation history 30c1 is a history of the combination of search conditions specified by the target user when using the search service and the POIs selected by the target user as destinations from the POIs obtained by searching with those search conditions. The movement history 30c2 is a history of the location of the target user's mobile terminal 100 and the navigation system 200. The search operation history 30c1 and the movement history 30c2 are used to identify the history of the experiences the target user has had. The movement history 30c2 is also used to identify the POIs that the target user has visited.

[0025] By executing the proposed program 21, the control unit 20 functions as a POI information acquisition unit 21a, an activity history acquisition unit 21b, and a proposal unit 21c. Through the function of the POI information acquisition unit 21a, the control unit 20 acquires POI information 30b (see Figure 2) which associates a POI with the experiences that can be had at that POI. The proposal unit 21c enables the control unit 20 to implement a function that proposes POIs according to the search conditions specified by the target user. In this embodiment, the search conditions that the target user specifies include genre, geographical range of search, mood, and experience. In this embodiment, the genre selection is set to include all genres in the search by default, and if there are genres that the target user wants to exclude, the target user can remove those genres from the search (equivalent to specifying unwanted genres).

[0026] "Mood" is a search criterion designed to narrow down the options for specific experiences based on the user's current mood, especially when the user hasn't thought of or clearly decided on a specific experience they want to have. Figure 4 shows an example of "Mood" options and specific "Experience" options that can be enjoyed for each "Mood". For example, the "Mood" options include "I want to relax," "I want to be soothed," and "I want to take it easy." For example, the "I want to be soothed" mood is pre-associated with experiences such as "playing with cats at a cat cafe," the "I want to feel refreshed" mood is pre-associated with experiences such as "surfing," and the "I want to feel excited" mood is pre-associated with experiences such as "planetarium." Note that "I want to have a new experience" is included as a "Mood" option, but the "Experiences" corresponding to the "I want to have a new experience" mood change dynamically depending on the user and their behavioral history, so no experiences are pre-associated.

[0027] Figure 5 shows an example of a search criteria specification screen and a search results display screen. In Figure 5, screens G11, G12, and G13 show examples of operations and screen transitions on user K's mobile device, while screens G21, G22, G23, and G24 show examples of operations and screen transitions on user A's mobile device. When focusing on user K, user K is the target user, and when focusing on user A, user A is the target user. Screens G11, G12, G21, and G22 show examples of the search criteria specification screen, while G13, G23, and G24 show examples of the search results display screen.

[0028] Screens G11 and G21 show examples of screens where, after specifying the genre and geographical range of the search, the user is prompted to select a mood. p1 in screens G11 and G21 shows the mood options.

[0029] As shown in screen G11, when the user selects any of the mood options p1 other than "I want to have a new experience," the control unit 20 displays the experience options associated with that mood, as shown in screen G12. In this example, "I want to be soothed" is selected from the mood options, and the experience options p2 (see Figure 4) corresponding to the "I want to be soothed" mood are displayed. Screen G12 shows that "Playing with cats at a cat cafe" is selected from the options p2.

[0030] When the mobile terminal 100 specifies the genre, geographical range of the search, mood, and experience, the control unit 20 retrieves these search conditions from the mobile terminal 100 and searches for POIs that satisfy the search conditions based on the POI information 30b. At this time, POIs in genres not desired by the target user are excluded from the search. The control unit 20 then displays the search results on the mobile terminal 100. Screen G13 is an example of a screen that displays the search results. In screen G13, multiple rectangles are displayed overlapping, with one POI obtained from the search being shown in one rectangular area. Specifically, the name of the POI and its description (see Figure 2) are included in the rectangular area. Since the POI was obtained from a search with the mood "I want to be healed" as the search condition, the description for "Cat Cafe X" in G13 displays wording corresponding to the mood "I want to be healed," as shown in Figure 2. The rectangular areas resemble cards, for example, and the user can display the next card at the top by performing operations such as tapping or swiping and view the information of the POI on that card. Through this operation, users can view information about any POI included in the search results.

[0031] The control unit 20 acquires an activity history 30c that shows the experiences the target user has had, based on the activity history acquisition unit 21b. The control unit 20 identifies the experiences the target user has had, based on the search operation history 30c1 and movement history 30c2. When the target user decides on one of the POIs presented on the search results display screen as a destination, referring to the guidance text and other information for each POI, the control unit 20 stores the POI decided on as a destination and the combination of mood and experience specified as search conditions as the search operation history 30c1.

[0032] Furthermore, the control unit 20 refers to the target user's movement history 30c2 and determines whether the target user actually visited the POI set as a destination. Specifically, if the location of the POI is included in the target user's movement history 30c2 and the target user stayed at the POI for a predetermined time or longer, the control unit 20 determines that the target user visited the POI. If the control unit 20 determines that the target user visited the POI, it determines that the target user had an experience associated with the POI in the search operation history 30c1.

[0033] Specifically, for example, as shown in screens G12 and G13 of Figure 5, if the user decides on "Cat Cafe X," one of the POIs where one can have the experience of "playing with cats at a cat cafe," as their destination, and it is determined that the user has visited Cat Cafe X, the control unit 20 considers that the user has had the experience of "playing with cats at a cat cafe." The control unit 20 also considers "Cat Cafe X" to be a POI that the user has visited before. In this way, the control unit 20 obtains, for each user, the experiences the user has had and the POIs the user has visited before, based on the user's activity history 30c.

[0034] By the way, as shown in screens G11 and G21 of Figure 5, "I want to have a new experience" is one of the mood options. Due to the function of the suggestion unit 21c, when the target user selects "I want to have a new experience," the control unit 20 excludes experiences the target user has already had based on the behavior history 30c and presents experiences the target user has not had as options. That is, the control unit 20 excludes experiences the target user has already had from all the experiences predefined in the suggestion system 10 and displays experiences the target user has not had as options on the mobile terminal 100. When the control unit 20 obtains the experience selected by the target user from the options of experiences the target user has not had from the mobile terminal 100, it searches for POIs where that experience can be had based on POI information. At this time, POIs of undesired genres are excluded from the search. The control unit 20 then proposes the POIs obtained from the search to the target user.

[0035] Screens G21 and G22 in Figure 5 show an example where, when "I want to have a new experience" is selected, experiences that the target user has not had before are displayed as options p3. As mentioned above, experiences that the target user has not had before are identified based on the target user's behavioral history 30c. When the target user selects one of the options p3 (screen G22), the control unit 20 retrieves the selected experience from the mobile terminal 100 and searches for POIs where that experience can be had from the POI information 30b. The control unit 20 displays the POI obtained from the search on the target user's mobile terminal 100. Screen G23 is an example of a screen that displays the search results. In screen G23, as in screen G13, multiple rectangles are displayed overlapping, with one POI obtained from the search shown in one rectangular area. The rectangular area displays the name of the POI and its description (see Figure 2). Since the POI was obtained from a search with the search condition "I want to have a new experience," the description for "T Science Experience Center" in G23 displays wording corresponding to the "I want to have a new experience" mood, as shown in Figure 2. In other words, the guidance text displayed for POIs (Points of Interest) picked up in a search when "I want a new experience" is selected includes sentences and phrases that inform the target user that the POI is a POI where a new experience is possible.

[0036] Thus, when a target user selects the option "I want a new experience," experiences they have already had are excluded from the choices, ensuring they can select an experience they have never had before. As a result, it becomes possible to propose POIs (Points of Interest) that offer the target user an experience they have never had before.

[0037] Furthermore, due to the function of the suggestion unit 21c, the control unit 20 extracts POIs that the target user has not visited, based on the behavior history 30c (movement history 30c2), from among the POIs where the target user can have the selected experience, and proposes the extracted POIs with priority over the POIs that were not extracted. In other words, the POIs obtained through the search include both POIs where the target user can have an experience they have not had and have not visited, and POIs where the target user can have an experience they have not had and have visited. Therefore, the control unit 20 extracts the former from the POIs obtained through the search and displays them with priority over the latter on the mobile terminal 100. Specifically, the control unit 20 refers to the target user's movement history 30c2, determines whether the POI obtained through the search has been visited by the target user, and considers POIs that have not been visited as the former and POIs that have been visited as the latter.

[0038] The display method, for example, is determined by the control unit 20, which prioritizes the display of the former over the latter. Screen G23 in Figure 5 shows that multiple cards, indicated by rectangles, are displayed in an overlapping manner. In the initial state of the search results display, the cards of the former (POIs that have not been visited) are displayed in the upper layer, and the cards of the latter (POIs that have been visited) are displayed in the lower layer. By prioritizing the display of the former over the latter in this way, the presence of POIs that are likely to give the target user a stronger impression of being a new experience can be made to the target user more readily aware of them.

[0039] By the way, in the search service provided by the proposed system 10, the target user can use the search service in cooperation with other users. In this embodiment, other users other than the target user are users who have some kind of association with the target user in the proposed system 10 (or on other social networking services). Associated users include, for example, users who follow each other in the proposed system 10 or other social networking services (or users that the target user unilaterally follows), or users who belong to the same group created in the proposed system 10 or other social networking services.

[0040] Each POI displayed on the search results screen has a "Like" button, as shown in bK and bA of Figure 5. The function of the proposal unit 21c allows the control unit 20 to acquire POIs that have been accessed by other users who have shown interest. Specifically, when a user presses the "Like" button corresponding to any POI, the control unit 20 receives notification from the user's mobile device that the user has pressed the "Like" button for that POI. By changing the display of the "Like" button, such as its color, before and after pressing the button, the user can distinguish whether or not the "Like" button has been pressed. Based on this notification, the control unit 20 considers that the user has taken an action indicating interest in the POI for which the "Like" button was pressed.

[0041] In the example shown in Figure 5, we will explain a specific example assuming that User A is the target user and User K is another user. As shown in screen G13, when the control unit 20 receives information that User K, who is another user, has pressed the "Like" button bK for "Cat Cafe X", it sends the information of the POI that User K "Liked" to User A's mobile terminal 100, which is associated with User K, and displays the name t1 of that POI (see screen G23) as a pop-up. If User K has "Liked" other POIs, a similar pop-up will be displayed on User A's mobile terminal 100 for those POIs as well.

[0042] In this embodiment, the control unit 20 notifies the target user via a pop-up display as shown in t1 of POIs that other users have "liked," regardless of whether the target user has visited the POI or has had any experiences at that POI. However, the control unit 20 identifies POIs that other users have "liked" and that offer experiences the target user has not had, based on the target user's activity history 30c, and displays a notification in the detailed display of such POIs that indicates that it is a POI where the target user can have a new experience. When user A performs an operation on their mobile device 100 to display details about a POI that another user has "liked" (for example, by tapping the name t1), the mobile device 100 displays the name of "Cat Cafe X" and detailed information including the introductory text, as shown on screen G24, based on the POI information sent from the suggestion system 10. If the experience available at "Cat Cafe X" is an experience the target user has never had before, the control unit 20 displays the introductory text for "Cat Cafe X" that corresponds to the feeling of "I want to have a new experience" (screen G24), as shown in Figure 2. In other words, when suggesting a POI that another user has "liked" to a target user who has selected the feeling of "I want to have a new experience" in their search, and the experience available at that POI is an experience the target user has never had before, the system provides an introductory text that allows the target user to recognize this fact. This introductory text (screen G24) is different from the introductory text for "Cat Cafe X" (screen G13) displayed on the mobile device of user K, who used the feeling of "I want to be healed" as a search condition.

[0043] Specifically, if user K selects the mood "I want to be soothed" and then selects "Play with cats at a cat cafe," and "Cat Cafe X" is picked up in the search results, a message will be displayed indicating that "Cat Cafe X" can provide the mood "I want to be soothed." On the other hand, if another user who has not selected "I want to have a new experience" introduces "Cat Cafe X" to the target user who has selected "I want to have a new experience," a message will be displayed indicating that a new experience can be had at "Cat Cafe X." By differentiating the wording of the messages in this way, the target user can be made aware that even POIs presented in relation to other users can offer a new experience for them.

[0044] As shown in screen G24, even on the screen that displays the details of POIs that other users have "liked," a "like" button bA for the target user corresponding to that POI is displayed. When user A presses the "like" button bA for "Cat Cafe X" on screen G24, the control unit 20 receives a notification from user A's mobile terminal 100 and determines that both user K, who is another user, and the target user have "liked" "Cat Cafe X." When user A, the target user, performs an operation on their mobile terminal 100 to display a list of POIs that both user A and other users have "liked," the control unit 20 displays a list of POIs that both the target user and other users have "liked" on the target user's mobile terminal 100, as shown in screen G25 of Figure 6. Note that screen G15 of Figure 6 is an example of a screen that displays a list of POIs that both user K and other users to user K have "liked" on user K's mobile terminal.

[0045] As described above, in this embodiment, the POIs that other users have "liked" (for example, t1 on screen G23 in Figure 5) that are notified to the target user's mobile terminal 100 are notified regardless of whether the target user has had an experience at that POI or has visited it before. Therefore, the list of POIs shown on screen G25 (Figure 6, a screen displaying a list of POIs that the target user and other users have "liked") that is displayed on the target user's mobile terminal 100 when the target user wants to have a new experience may include both POIs that offer experiences the target user has not had before and POIs that offer experiences the target user has already had. The control unit 20 therefore prioritizes displaying the former over the latter. To this end, the control unit 20 identifies POIs that offer experiences the target user has not had before from among the POIs that other users have "liked," based on the target user's activity history 30c.

[0046] The control unit 20 prioritizes displaying POIs that other users have "liked" but that the target user has not yet experienced, on the target user's mobile device 100, over POIs that other users have "liked" but that the target user has already experienced. For example, if the experience of "playing with cats at a cat cafe" at "Cat Cafe X" is an experience the target user has not yet had, the control unit 20 will initially display it above POIs that other users have "liked" but that the target user has already experienced (see screen G25 in Figure 6). Of course, the system is configured so that the target user can also view POIs that are initially in lower layers through operations such as tapping and swiping.

[0047] For target users who are in the mood for "new experiences," the proposed system 10 can make the target user aware of POIs that other users have "liked" but that offer experiences the target user has not had, as described above. By displaying POIs that other users have "liked" but that offer experiences the target user has not had, on the target user's mobile device 100 with higher priority than POIs that other users have "liked" but that offer experiences the target user has had, the system can make the target user aware of the former with higher priority than the latter.

[0048] As described above, the proposed system 10 can suggest POIs (Points of Interest) that offer new experiences to a target user when the target user is in the mood for a "new experience." In this case, by prioritizing the display of POIs that the target user has not visited over POIs that they have visited, the system can prioritize the recognition of POIs that have the potential to give the target user a stronger impression of a new experience. Furthermore, the proposed system 10 can also suggest POIs that have been searched based on the moods of other users associated with the target user. In addition, if the POI in question offers an experience that the target user has not yet had, the system can inform the target user of this fact through a notification message.

[0049] (2) Proposal processing: Next, the suggestion process performed by the control unit 20 will be explained with reference to Figure 7. The suggestion process is initiated when the target user uses the search service of the suggestion system 10 by executing the terminal-side suggestion program on the mobile terminal 100. When the suggestion process is initiated, the control unit 20 displays a search condition specification screen on the UI unit 142 of the mobile terminal 100 and prompts the target user to specify the search conditions. The control unit 20 then acquires the specified search conditions. Specifically, the control unit 20 accepts the specification of the geographical range of the search. The geographical range of the search includes, for example, the range that can be reached from a specified point by a specified means of transportation in a specified time, or within a specified administrative district.

[0050] Furthermore, based on the specified genre, the control unit 20 obtains the target user's undesired genres (step S100). Next, the control unit 20 obtains the target user's mood (step S105). That is, the control unit 20 displays a selection of mood options p1 on the mobile terminal 100 and obtains the mood indicated by the option selected by the target user.

[0051] Next, the control unit 20 determines whether the target user's mood is "I want to have a new experience" (step S110). That is, the control unit 20 determines whether the mood indicated by the options received from the mobile terminal 100 was "I want to have a new experience".

[0052] In step S110, if it is determined that the target user has selected "I want to have a new experience" (see screen G21 in Figure 5), the control unit 20 presents a list of experiences that the target user has not yet experienced based on their history, and obtains the target user's selection from among them (step S115). That is, the control unit 20 refers to the target user's activity history 30c and obtains the experiences that the target user has already experienced. Furthermore, the control unit 20 extracts all experiences defined by the proposed system 10, excluding those that the target user has already experienced (i.e., experiences that the target user has not yet experienced). The control unit 20 sends the extracted list of experiences to the mobile terminal 100 and displays them as options on the mobile terminal 100 (see screen G22 in Figure 5). When the target user selects any of the experiences on the mobile terminal 100, the control unit 20 obtains the selected experience from the mobile terminal 100.

[0053] Next, the control unit 20 searches for POIs (Points of Interest) that can be used for the experience selected by the target user (step S120). Specifically, the control unit 20 refers to the POI information 30b and searches for POIs located within the geographical range specified by the target user that are associated with the experience selected by the target user. At this time, the control unit 20 searches for POIs other than those belonging to the non-desired genre selected in step S100.

[0054] Next, the control unit 20 displays the POI obtained from the search (step S125). That is, the control unit 20 transmits information about the POI obtained from the search to the mobile terminal 100, and the mobile terminal 100 displays the POI (see screen G23 in Figure 5). The control unit 20 extracts POIs that the target user has not visited based on the activity history 30c from the POIs obtained from the search, and displays the extracted POIs on the mobile terminal 100 with priority over the POIs that were not extracted.

[0055] Next, the control unit 20 displays any POIs that other users have "liked" (step S130). For example, the control unit 20 displays the name of the POI in a pop-up window, as shown in screen G23 of Figure 5, and when t1 is tapped, it displays the details of the POI indicated by t1, as shown in screen G24. At this time, if the POI is one that allows the target user to have an experience they have not had before, the control unit 20 displays a message indicating that the target user can have an experience they have not had before.

[0056] Next, the control unit 20 stores any POIs that the target user has "liked" for notification to other users (step S135). For example, as shown in screen G24 of Figure 5, if the target user also presses the "like" button bA for a POI that another user has "liked", the control unit 20 obtains the notification from the target user's (A) mobile terminal 100 and stores it for notification to the other user's (K) terminal. Based on the stored information, the control unit 20 displays a notification to user K of the POIs that other user (A) has "liked" when processing a suggestion for user K.

[0057] Next, the control unit 20 displays a POI (Point of Interest) if both the target user and other users have "liked" it and the user requests its display (step S140). At this time, the control unit 20 prioritizes displaying POIs that the target user has not yet experienced. For example, if there are three POIs, including "Cat Cafe X," that both the target user and other users have "liked," and the target user has not yet experienced the "playing with cats" experience available at "Cat Cafe X," but has experienced the other two POIs, then in the initial state, "Cat Cafe X" will be displayed at the top level, as shown in screen G25 of Figure 6. The control unit 20 also displays a message indicating that the target user can experience something they have not yet experienced at a POI that they have not yet experienced.

[0058] Next, the control unit 20 determines whether the conditions for ending the search results display screen have been met (step S145). If the conditions are not met, it returns to step S130; if they are met, it terminates the suggestion process. Conditions for ending the search results display screen include, for example, that any POI presented on any of the search results display screens has been determined as a destination and passed to the navigation system 200, that the system has been instructed to perform a search with new conditions, or that the system has been instructed to terminate the use of the search service.

[0059] In step S110, if the target user's mood is not determined to be "I want to have a new experience," the control unit 20 displays a list of experiences associated with the mood selected by the target user (step S150). For example, as shown in screen G11 of Figure 5, if a mood other than "I want to have a new experience" is selected, a list of experiences associated with that mood is displayed as shown in screen G12.

[0060] Next, the control unit 20 searches for POIs that allow the user to have the experience selected by the target user (step S155). In this case, similar to step S120, POIs in genres not desired by the target user are excluded, and only POIs that allow the user to have the experience selected by the target user are searched for. Next, the control unit 20 displays the POIs obtained from the search (step S160). That is, the search results from step S155 are displayed, for example, as shown in screen G13 of Figure 5.

[0061] Next, the control unit 20 displays any POIs that other users have "liked" (step S165). Although not shown in Figure 5, for example, if user A "likes" "T Science Experience Center" on screen G23, the name "T Science Experience Center" will pop up on screen G13 of user K's mobile device. When user K taps the pop-up name "T Science Experience Center," the details of "T Science Experience Center" will be displayed, similar to screen G24 (not shown). In this case, if user K has not yet experienced any of the experiences available at T Science Experience Center, a message corresponding to the mood of "I want to have a new experience" as shown in Figure 2 may be displayed, or a message corresponding to the mood of "I want to be excited" may be displayed.

[0062] Next, the control unit 20 stores any POIs that the target user has "liked" for notification to other users (step S170). Step S170 is processed in the same way as step S135.

[0063] Next, the control unit 20 displays a POI that both the target user and other users have "liked" and is requested to be displayed (step S175). For example, as shown in screen G15 of Figure 6, each POI that both users have "liked" is displayed.

[0064] Next, the control unit 20 determines whether the conditions for ending the search results display screen have been met (step S180). If the conditions have not been met, it returns to step S165; otherwise, it terminates the suggestion process. The conditions for ending the search results display screen are the same as those in step S145.

[0065] (3) Other embodiments: The above embodiments are merely examples for carrying out the present invention, and various other embodiments can be adopted. For example, the proposed system 10 may be a system implemented by multiple devices (e.g., a client and a server). At least a part of the POI information acquisition unit 21a, the behavior history acquisition unit 21b, and the proposal unit 21c that constitute the proposed system may be divided among multiple devices. For example, among the functions of the proposal unit 21c, the search processing may be implemented on the server, and the display screen generation processing that displays the search results may be implemented on the client. The proposed system may also be implemented as a single device operated by the user. Of course, some of the configurations of the above embodiments may be omitted, and the order of processing may be changed or omitted.

[0066] The "mood" option also serves to narrow down the "experience" options based on "mood." In the above embodiment, an example was shown where one experience is associated with one type of mood, but one experience may be associated with multiple types of moods. For example, the "footbath cafe" experience may be associated with both the mood of "wanting to be healed" and the mood of "wanting to relax." If the target user selects the mood of "wanting to be healed" in the search operation, selects "footbath cafe," and then instructs the search to perform a search, and visits a footbath cafe store obtained through the search, the suggestion system may consider the target user to have already experienced a "footbath cafe," even if they have not visited a footbath cafe store obtained through a search by selecting "footbath cafe" via "wanting to relax."

[0067] The scenarios in which the target user utilizes the suggestion system are diverse. It could be just before the user leaves, when they meet with their travel companions, or during the travel planning stage. The user is not limited to using this search service at the same time as other users. Points of Interest (POIs) that other users have "liked" prior to the time the target user uses the search service may also be displayed on the search results screen. Furthermore, the suggestion system is not limited to users driving a vehicle; it can be used when traveling by various means of transportation, including public transport.

[0068] In the above embodiment, an example of collaboration between the target user and one other user was described, but of course, there may be two or more other users. As shown in Figure 6, when displaying POIs that have been "liked" by multiple people, including the target user and other users associated with the target user, it is also possible to display the user's icon image so that it can be determined which user "liked" it.

[0069] In the above embodiment, POIs that other users have "liked" and that the target user (who wants to have a new experience) has already experienced are also displayed to the target user (although with a low display priority). However, the system may be configured so that POIs that other users have "liked" and that the target user has already experienced are not displayed to the target user.

[0070] Furthermore, the methods of the present invention can also be applied as programs and methods. Moreover, such systems, programs, and methods may be implemented as standalone devices, or they may be implemented using parts shared with various components of a vehicle, encompassing a variety of embodiments. They can also be modified as appropriate, such as being partly software and partly hardware. Furthermore, the invention also functions as a recording medium for a program that controls the system. Of course, the recording medium for the program may be a magnetic recording medium, a semiconductor memory, or any recording medium developed in the future can be considered in exactly the same way. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0071] 10...Proposal system, 20...Control unit, 21...Proposal program, 21a...POI information acquisition unit, 21b...Action history acquisition unit, 21c...Proposal unit, 30...Recording medium, 30b...POI information, 30c...Action history, 30c1...Search operation history, 30c2...Movement history, 40...Communication unit, 100...Mobile terminal, 120...Control unit, 130...Recording medium, 140...Communication unit, 141...Positioning unit, 142...UI unit, 200...Navigation system, 220...Control unit, 230...Recording medium, 240...Communication unit, 241...Positioning unit, 242...UI unit, bK, bA..."Like" button

Claims

1. A POI information acquisition unit acquires POI information that associates a POI with the experiences that can be had at that POI. A behavioral history acquisition unit that acquires behavioral history showing experiences the target user has had, When the target user selects that they want to have a new experience, the proposal unit excludes experiences the target user has already had based on their behavioral history and presents experiences the target user has not had as options, searches for a POI from the options that allows the user to have the selected experience based on the POI information, and proposes it to the target user. A proposed system equipped with the following features.

2. The aforementioned activity history includes the history of POIs visited by the target user. The aforementioned proposal section is, From among the POIs where the target user can have the selected experience, extract the POIs that the target user has not visited based on the behavioral history. The extracted Points of Interest (POIs) will be proposed with priority over the POIs that were not extracted. The proposed system according to claim 1.

3. The aforementioned proposal section is, Based on the behavioral history, identify POIs that other users besides the target user have shown interest in, and that allow for experiences the target user has not had before. The identified POI is proposed to the target user. The proposed system according to claim 1.

4. The proposal unit displays a guidance message along with the POI indicating that the identified POI is a POI that allows the target user to have a new experience. The proposed system according to claim 3.

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