Information provision system, information provision method, and information provision program

Abstract

Provide information to each of multiple users at a time that is appropriate for them. [Solution] The information provision system includes a distance acquisition unit that acquires the distance between a first user among multiple users and all other users among multiple users, and an information provision unit that provides predetermined information to multiple users. When the first user satisfies predetermined determination conditions, the information provision unit simultaneously provides information to a second user group, which consists of some or all of the other users whose distance is less than a predetermined threshold distance, and to the first user, but does not provide information to a third user group, which consists of some or all of the other users whose distance is greater than or equal to the threshold distance.

Description

Technical Field

[0006] , ,

[0005] , , ,

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information providing system, an information providing method, and an information providing program.

Background Art

[0002] Techniques for providing information corresponding to the location information of a user are known. Patent Document 1 describes a technique for providing information to all terminals simultaneously when all or part of a group of terminals enters a predetermined area on a map. This enables information to be provided to all members of a group of multiple people at the same timing when they are acting together.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] As the information to be provided, for example, there is information for guiding within an area. When information is provided when some terminals enter the area, each owner of the other some terminals that have not entered the area may not be able to enjoy the provided information because the information is provided even if they are far from the object to be guided. Also, when information is provided when all terminals enter the area, the owner of the first terminal to enter the area may take time until the information is provided and may pass by the object to be guided, and there is a possibility of not being able to enjoy the provided information.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The present disclosure can be realized in the following forms. <00​​(1) An information provision system is provided in the form of this disclosure. This information provision system includes a distance acquisition unit that acquires the distance between a first user among a plurality of users and all other users among the plurality of users, and an information provision unit that provides predetermined information to the plurality of users. The information provision unit provides the information simultaneously to a second user group, which is some or all of the other users whose distance is less than a predetermined threshold distance, and to the first user, when the first user satisfies predetermined determination conditions, and does not provide the information to a third user group, which is some or all of the other users whose distance is greater than or equal to the threshold distance. According to this type of information provision system, when the conditions are met, information is simultaneously provided to the first user and to a second group of users who are less than a threshold distance from the first user, allowing the second group of users to share the information with the first user. Furthermore, information is not provided to a third group of users who are beyond a threshold distance from the first user, thus preventing the provision of information at times when the third group of users cannot benefit from it. Therefore, information can be provided at a timing appropriate for each of the multiple users. (2) In the above-described information provision system, the determination condition may include entering a predetermined area on the map. This configuration allows information to be provided when the first user enters a predetermined area. (3) In the above-described information provision system, the information provision unit may further provide the information to a fourth user group, which is some or all of the users from the third user group that meet the determination conditions, and to the first user, and when the distance between the first user and the fourth user group approaches the threshold distance, it may synchronize the progress of providing the information to the first user with the progress of providing the information to the fourth user group. In this configuration, the information provider synchronizes the provision of information to the first user and the provision of information to the fourth user group when the distance between the first user and the fourth user group approaches a threshold distance. Therefore, even if the first user and the fourth user group move closer together after the provision of information to the first user begins, the first user and the fourth user group can share the enjoyment of the information at the same time. (4) In the information provision system of the above form, the range may include the location of the subject of the explanation of the information. The second user group may be some or all of the other users whose distance is less than the threshold distance and which are located within a predetermined range on a map that includes the range and from which the subject of the explanation can be seen. In this configuration, the second group of users can enjoy the information provided while visually viewing the subject of the explanation of the information being offered. (5) In the above-described information provision system, the threshold distance when the road width of the road where the first user is located is a first width may be greater than the threshold distance when the road width of the road where the first user is located is smaller than the first width. This configuration allows for setting a threshold distance appropriate to the location of the first user. (6) In the above-described information provision system that provides information by sound, the system may further include a sound playback device attached to the head of each of the multiple users, which reproduces the information that has been subjected to stereophonic processing, expressing the position of the sound source, which is a virtual source of sound that is the information provided by the information provision unit, as a predetermined relative position with respect to the user wearing the sound playback device. In this configuration, the sound playback device reproduces sound that has undergone spatial audio processing. Therefore, the information provision system can deliver information to the user while giving them a sense of presence. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This is a diagram showing the configuration of the information provision system. [Figure 2]This figure shows an example of the relative positions of users. [Figure 3] This is a flowchart illustrating an example of information provision processing. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of the user's positional relationship in the second embodiment. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart illustrating an example of synchronization processing. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] A. First Embodiment: Figure 1 shows the configuration of the information provision system 10 according to this embodiment. The information provision system 10 provides guidance and explanations to three users, UA, UB, and UC, according to their distance from the first user. In this embodiment, the first user is a predetermined user, and is user UA. The information provision system 10 also provides information by sound. The information provision system 10 includes an information provision device 100, a terminal device T, and a sound playback device 200. In the following description, the case in which a user carries the terminal device T and visits tourist spots will be used as an example.

[0009] In this embodiment, the terminal device T is a smartphone. The terminal device T includes a first terminal device TA, a second terminal device TB, and a third terminal device TC. The first terminal device TA is owned by user UA. The second terminal device TB is owned by user UB. The third terminal device TC is owned by user UC.

[0010] The sound playback device 200 is a portable device that outputs sound representing a signal received from the information provision device 100 via the terminal device T. The sound playback device 200 is a device worn on the user's head, for example, earphones worn on both ears. The first sound playback device 200A is worn on the head of user UA. The second sound playback device 200B is worn on the head of user UB. The user wears the sound playback device 200 on their head and moves around the tourist area. Note that the terminal device T and the sound playback device 200 may be an integrated device.

[0011] The information providing device 100 is a device that provides one or more pieces of information to the user UA, UB, and UC. The information providing device 100 consists of a computer comprising a central processing unit (CPU 120), RAM, and ROM, and the CPU 120 executes a program pre-installed in the memory 110 of the information providing device 100 to realize the functions of the distance acquisition unit 121 and the information providing unit 122. The information providing system 10 includes an input / output interface 130 to which a communication device (not shown) for communicating with the outside via wireless communication is connected. However, some or all of the functions of these parts may be realized by hardware circuits. In this embodiment, the information providing system 10 is a server device.

[0012] Memory 110 records sound data, which is information provided to the user.

[0013] The distance acquisition unit 121 acquires the distance between the first user and all other users. In this embodiment, the distance acquisition unit 121 acquires location information including the latitude and longitude indicating the current position of each user UA, user UB, and user UC, and calculates the distance between user UA and user UB and the distance between user UA and user UC. More specifically, the distance acquisition unit 121 calculates the distance using location information detected by each terminal device T using a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) such as GPS (Global Positioning System).

[0014] The information provision unit 122 provides information by reproducing information from the sound playback device 200 via the terminal device T owned by the user UA. In this embodiment, the information provision unit 122 applies stereophonic processing to the sound. More specifically, it applies stereophonic processing to the sound so that the position of the sound source, which is a virtual source of sound provided to the user from the sound playback device 200 worn on the user's head, is perceived by the user as a predetermined relative position to the user.

[0015] Generally, stereophonic processing is a process of three-dimensionally reproducing a sound environment by incorporating at least one or more processes such as volume difference, time difference, change in frequency characteristics, change in phase, and change in reverberation into the sounds reproduced from the right ear and the left ear by the sound reproduction device 200. For stereophonic processing, for example, an algorithm for generating existing stereophonic sound is used. The information providing unit 122 performs stereophonic processing by executing, for example, a stereophonic processing program stored in the memory 110. By performing stereophonic processing on the sound information, it is possible to cause a difference in the timing and sound pressure of the sound reproduced in the right ear and the timing and sound pressure of the sound reproduced in the left ear. For example, the timing of the sound reproduced in the ear closer to the sound source is made earlier than the timing of the sound reproduced in the ear farther from the sound source, and the sound pressure of the sound reproduced in the ear closer to the sound source is made greater than the sound pressure of the sound reproduced in the ear farther from the sound source.

[0016] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the positional relationship of users. The distance L1 between the user UA and the user UB is less than a predetermined threshold distance Lth. The distance L2 between the user UA and the user UC is greater than or equal to the threshold distance Lth. Details of the threshold distance Lth will be described later. The user UA and the user UB are located within a predetermined range A1 on the map. The range A1 includes the position of the explanation target Tg of the provided information. The explanation target Tg is, for example, a historical site, a scenic spot, a work of art, etc. that are tourist attractions.

[0017] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the information providing process. The information providing process is a process in which the information providing system 10 provides information according to the position of the user. This process is repeatedly executed during the operation of the information providing system 10. For example, the information providing system 10 repeats the information providing process every 0.5 seconds. Hereinafter, the case of the positional relationship of the users shown in FIG. 2 will be described as an example.

[0018] The information providing unit 122 determines whether or not the user UA, who is the first user, satisfies the determination condition in step S100. As the determination condition, for example, any one or more of the following conditions can be adopted.

[0019] <Condition 1> Entering a predefined range on the map. <Condition 2> Performing a predefined button operation.

[0020] The predefined range in the above Condition 1 is an arbitrarily defined range, and preferably includes the position of the object to be explained of the information provided by the information providing unit 122. The above Condition 1 is determined to be satisfied, for example, when the information providing unit 122 indicates that the position information of the user UA obtained from the first terminal device TA has entered the predefined range A1 on the map.

[0021] The predefined button in the above Condition 2 is an arbitrarily defined button, and preferably is a button of the device held by the first user. The predefined button may be a physical button or a virtual button displayed on the screen. The above Condition 2 is determined to be satisfied, for example, when the information providing unit 122 receives that the predefined button of the first terminal device TA has been pressed.

[0022] Also, the above Conditions 1 and 2 and other conditions can be appropriately combined as determination conditions. In this embodiment, Condition 1 described above is adopted as the determination condition.

[0023] When the information providing unit 122 determines that the first user satisfies the determination condition, that is, when the user UA enters the range A1, the process proceeds to step S110. On the other hand, when the information providing unit 122 determines that the first user does not satisfy the determination condition, that is, when the user UA has not entered the range A1, the information providing process ends.

[0024] In step S110, the distance acquisition unit 121 executes a "distance acquisition process" for acquiring the distances between the first user and all other users. That is, the distance L1 between the user UA and the user UB and the distance L2 between the user UA and the user UC are acquired.

[0025] In step S120, the information provision unit 122 determines whether there are any users whose distance obtained in step S110 is less than a predetermined threshold distance Lth. The threshold distance Lth is the distance at which conversation is possible, for example, 5m. It is also preferable that the threshold distance Lth is smaller than the radius of range A1. The threshold distance Lth can be determined experimentally and empirically. If there are users whose distance is less than the threshold distance Lth, the information provision unit 122 proceeds to the process in step S130. On the other hand, if there are no users whose distance is less than the threshold distance Lth, the information provision unit 122 provides information only to the first user, user UA, in step S135.

[0026] In step S130, the information provision unit 122 simultaneously provides information to the first user and the second user group. In this embodiment, the second user group is some or all of the users whose distance from the first user is less than a threshold, and user UB corresponds to the "second user group" in this disclosure. That is, the information provision unit 122 provides information to user UA and user UB. Note that "simultaneous" in this disclosure does not have to be perfectly simultaneous, but includes a time difference that can be treated as simultaneous.

[0027] In steps S130 and S135, the information provision unit 122 does not provide information to the third user group. In this embodiment, the third user group is some or all of the users whose distance from the first user is greater than or equal to the threshold distance Lth, and user UC corresponds to the "third user group" in this disclosure. That is, in step S130, the information provision unit 122 does not provide information to user UC. The processing in step S130 is also called the "information provision process".

[0028] According to the information provision system 10 of this embodiment described above, when the first user, user UA, satisfies the determination conditions, the information provision unit 122 simultaneously provides information to the second user group, user UB, who is less than the threshold distance Lth from the first user, and to the first user, user UA. As a result, the second user group can share the enjoyment and surprise of receiving information with the first user. Furthermore, when the first user satisfies the determination conditions, the information provision unit 122 does not provide information to the third user group, user UC, who is at or above the threshold distance Lth from the first user. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the provision of information at a time when the third user group cannot receive the information. As a result, information can be provided at a timing appropriate for each of the multiple users.

[0029] Furthermore, the determination criterion is that the user has entered a predetermined area A1 on the map. Therefore, information can be provided when the first user enters area A1.

[0030] Furthermore, the sound playback device 200 reproduces sound that has undergone spatial audio processing. As a result, the information provision system 10 can provide information to the user while giving them a sense of presence.

[0031] B. Second Embodiment: The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the information provision unit 122 provides information to a fourth user group, which is some or all of the users in the third user group that meet the determination conditions, and synchronizes the provision of information to the first user with the provision of information to the fourth user group. The configuration of the information provision system 10 in the second embodiment is the same as the configuration of the information provision system 10 in the first embodiment, so the description of the configuration of the information provision system 10 will be omitted.

[0032] Figure 4 shows an example of the user positional relationship in the second embodiment. User UA and User UB have not moved from the state shown in Figure 2. User UC has moved within range A1. The distance L3 between User UC and User UA is less than the threshold distance Lth.

[0033] The information provision unit 122 provides information to the fourth user group, which consists of users from the third user group who have entered a predetermined area A1 on the map. In this embodiment, user UC corresponds to the "fourth user group" in this disclosure.

[0034] Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of synchronization processing. Synchronization processing is the process of synchronizing the provision of information to the first user and the provision of information to the fourth user group. This process is repeatedly executed while information is being provided to the fourth user group. In the following, we will explain as an example the case in which the users are in the positional relationship shown in Figure 4, and the information provision unit 122 provides information to user UC, as described in the first embodiment, whereas in the information provision processing the information provision unit 122 provided information to user UA and user UB simultaneously and did not provide information to user UC, as shown in Figure 2.

[0035] In step S200, the information provision unit 122 determines whether or not it is currently providing information to the first user, user UA. If it is currently providing information, that is, if the information provision is not yet complete, the information provision unit 122 proceeds to the process in step S210. On the other hand, if it is not currently providing information, that is, if the information provision is complete, the information provision unit 122 terminates the synchronization process.

[0036] In step S210, the information provision unit 122 obtains the distance between the first user and the fourth user group. That is, the information provision unit 122 obtains the distance L3 between user UA and user UC.

[0037] In step S220, the information providing unit 122 determines whether the distance L3 obtained in step S210 is less than the threshold distance Lth. If the distance L3 is less than the threshold distance Lth, the information providing unit 122 proceeds to the process in step S230. On the other hand, if the distance L3 is greater than or equal to the threshold distance Lth, the information providing unit 122 terminates the synchronization process.

[0038] In step S230, the information provision unit 122 synchronizes the provision of information to the first user and the fourth user group. Synchronization of information provision means controlling the manner in which information is provided in order to match the progress of information provision to the first user with the progress of information provision to the fourth user group. In this embodiment, the information provision unit 122 matches the progress of information provision to the first user and the second user group with the progress of information provision to the fourth user group. For example, the information provision unit 122 temporarily pauses sound playback by the first sound playback device 200A and the second sound playback device 200B. Then, when the sound playback by the third sound playback device 200C catches up with the playback by the first sound playback device 200A and the second sound playback device 200B, the information provision unit 122 resumes sound playback by the first sound playback device 200A and the second sound playback device 200B.

[0039] According to the information supply system of the second embodiment described above, the information provision unit 122 synchronizes the provision of information to the first user and the provision of information to the fourth user group when the distance L3 between the first user and the fourth user group approaches a threshold distance Lth. Therefore, even if the first user and the fourth user group approach each other after the provision of information to the first user has started, the first user and the fourth user group can share the enjoyment of information at the same time.

[0040] C. Other embodiments: (C1) In the embodiment described above, the information provided to the user is stored in the memory 110 of the information providing device 100. However, the information may also be stored on an external server.

[0041] (C2) In the embodiment described above, the first terminal device TA owned by the first user, user UA, may be the information providing device 100. Also, some or all of the terminal devices T owned by each user UA, UB, and UC may be the information providing device 100.

[0042] (C3) In the embodiment described above, the information provision system 10 is equipped with a sound playback device 200, and the information provision system 10 provides information to users UA, UB, and UC via the sound playback device 200. However, the information provision system 10 is not limited to this and does not need to be equipped with a sound playback device 200. In this case, the information provision device 100 may provide information, for example, via a terminal device T, in the form of images or text.

[0043] (C4) In the embodiment described above, the information provision system 10 provides information to three users. However, it is not limited to this, and the information provision system 10 may provide information to two users or four or more users.

[0044] (C5) In the embodiment described above, the information providing device 100 may select the information to provide according to the user's location. In this case, the memory 110 stores range information representing a predetermined range on the map, and provided information which is information provided to the user and associated with the range information. The information providing device 100 provides provided information associated with one range piece of information representing a range including the current location of the first user.

[0045] (C6) In the embodiments described above, the first user is a predetermined user among a plurality of users. However, the first user may be any user that satisfies predetermined first user conditions. For example, the first user condition may be that the user is the first to satisfy the determination condition.

[0046] (C7) In the embodiment described above, the second user group is a group of users other than the first user whose distance from the first user is less than the threshold distance Lth. However, the second user group may also be a group of users other than the first user whose distance from the first user is less than the threshold distance Lth and who also satisfy predetermined second user conditions. The second user conditions may be, for example, being located within a range that includes range A1 in the judgment conditions, where the subject Tg of the information to be explained can be seen. This allows the second user group to enjoy the information while seeing the subject Tg of the information to be explained.

[0047] (C8) In the embodiment described above, the distance acquisition unit 121 calculates the distance between the first user and all other users using the location information of each user detected by GNSS acquired from the terminal device T. However, the distance acquisition unit 121 may also acquire the distance between the first user and all other users calculated by other components of the information provision system 10. In addition, the location information may be obtained using images captured by the imaging device.

[0048] (C9) In the embodiment described above, the information providing unit 122 performs stereophonic sound processing. However, other components of the information providing system 10 may also perform stereophonic sound processing. Furthermore, the information providing system 10 may omit stereophonic sound processing.

[0049] (C10) In the embodiment described above, the threshold distance Lth is a predetermined distance. However, the threshold distance Lth may be determined by the user, and may be determined according to the width of the range A1 in the determination condition, the movement speed of the first user, and the position of the first user. For example, the information providing device 100 can set the threshold distance Lth when the road width of the road where the first user is located is the first width to be larger than the threshold distance Lth when the road width of the road where the first user is located is smaller than the first width. This makes it possible to set a threshold distance that is appropriate for the position of the first user.

[0050] (C11) In the embodiments described above, the information providing unit 122 provides information to the first user when the first user satisfies the determination conditions. However, the information providing unit 122 may also provide information to the first user when the first user satisfies the determination conditions and some or all of the other users satisfy predetermined conditions. The predetermined conditions may be the same as the determination conditions or different conditions. In this case, the information providing unit 122 may further provide information to the first user when the first user satisfies a predetermined second determination condition different from the determination conditions, regardless of whether the other users have satisfied the predetermined conditions. For example, the information providing unit 122 provides information to the first user when the first user and some of the other users enter range A1. Also, the information providing unit 122 provides information to the first user when the first user enters a predetermined range included in range A1, regardless of whether the other users have entered range A1.

[0051] (C12) In the first embodiment described above, the information provision unit 122 may provide information to a user who did not provide information at the same time as the first user if the user satisfies predetermined conditions. The predetermined conditions may be the same as the determination conditions or different conditions.

[0052] (C13) In the second embodiment described above, the fourth user group is the users from the third user group who satisfy the determination criteria. However, the fourth user group may also be the users from the third user group who satisfy conditions different from the determination criteria.

[0053] (C14) In the second embodiment described above, the information provision unit 122 synchronizes the provision of information by temporarily suspending the provision of information. However, the information provision unit 122 may, for example, control the playback speed of the first sound playback device 200A and the second sound playback device 200B to be slower than normal, and / or control the playback speed of the third sound playback device 200C to be faster than normal, in order to synchronize.

[0054] This disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented in various configurations without departing from its spirit. For example, the technical features in the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each form described in the summary of the invention can be replaced or combined as appropriate in order to solve some or all of the above-described problems, or to achieve some or all of the above-described effects. Furthermore, if a technical feature is not described as essential in this specification, it can be deleted as appropriate. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0055] 10...Information provision system, 100...Information provision device, 110...Memory, 120...CPU, 121...Distance acquisition unit, 122...Information provision unit, 130...Input / output interface, 200...Sound reproduction device, 200A...First sound reproduction device, 200B...Second sound reproduction device, 200C...Third sound reproduction device, T...Terminal device, TA...First terminal device, TB...Second terminal device, TC...Third terminal device

Claims

1. It is an information provision system, A distance acquisition unit that acquires the distance between a first user among multiple users and all other users among the multiple users, It includes an information provision unit that provides predetermined information to the aforementioned multiple users, The information provision unit will, if the first user meets the predetermined determination conditions, The information is simultaneously provided to a second group of users, which is some or all of the other users whose distance is less than a predetermined threshold distance, and to the first user. An information provision system that does not provide the information to a third user group, which is some or all of the other users whose distance is greater than or equal to the threshold distance.

2. The information provision system according to claim 1, The aforementioned determination conditions include entering a predetermined area on a map, and this is an information provision system.

3. The information provision system according to claim 2, The information providing unit further provides the information to a fourth user group, which is some or all of the users from the third user group that meet the determination conditions. An information provision system that provides the information to the first user, and synchronizes the progress of providing the information to the first user with the progress of providing the information to the fourth user group when the distance between the first user and the fourth user group approaches the threshold distance.

4. An information provision system according to claim 2 or claim 3, The aforementioned range includes the location of the subject of the explanation of the aforementioned information, The second user group is an information provision system in which some or all of the other users are located within a predetermined range on a map that includes the range and where the subject of explanation can be seen, and the distance between them is less than the threshold distance.

5. An information provision system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, An information provision system wherein the threshold distance when the road width of the road where the first user is located is a first width is greater than the threshold distance when the road width of the road where the first user is located is less than the first width.

6. An information provision system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which provides the aforementioned information by sound, further, An information provision system including a sound playback device that is attached to the head of each of the aforementioned multiple users, and which reproduces information that has been subjected to stereophonic processing, expressing the position of a sound source, which is a virtual source of sound that is the information provided by the information provision unit, as a predetermined relative position with respect to the user wearing the sound playback device.

7. A method of providing information, A distance acquisition step that acquires the distance between a first user among multiple users and all other users among the multiple users, This includes an information provision step of providing predetermined information to the aforementioned multiple users, The information provision process is performed when the first user satisfies predetermined determination conditions. A step of simultaneously providing the information to a second group of users, some or all of the users among all other users whose distance is less than a predetermined threshold distance, and to the first user, An information provision method comprising the step of not providing the information to some or all of the third user group among all other users whose distance is greater than or equal to the threshold distance.

8. It is an information provision program, A distance acquisition function that acquires the distance between the first user among multiple users and all other users among the multiple users, An information provision function that provides predetermined information to the aforementioned multiple users, and which is implemented by a computer. The aforementioned information provision function is activated when the first user meets predetermined determination conditions. The information is simultaneously provided to a portion or all of the second group of users among all other users whose distance is less than a predetermined threshold distance, and to the first user. An information provision program that has a function of not providing the information to some or all of the third user group among all other users whose distance is greater than or equal to the threshold distance.

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