Recommendation Systems

Abstract

This recommendation system comprises: an arrival time prediction unit for predicting an arrival time for a user at each of a plurality of bus boarding locations included in a boarding bus stop, which is the starting point of the user's riding segment; a retrieval unit for retrieving, as a recommended bus, a bus that operates on the riding segment, arrives at each bus boarding location at or after the boarding location arrival time for each bus boarding location, and has less than a prescribed degree of congestion, which indicates the degree of congestion of riders for each bus; and a recommendation unit for presenting recommendation information pertaining to the recommended bus on a terminal.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a recommendation system that recommends buses to a user. [Background technology]

[0002] There is known a system that provides information on buses operating in a section where a user will board, based on a preset operating schedule for buses operating in a specified operating section. There is also known a system that determines the need for passengers to transfer from a preceding bus to a following bus, based on the occupancy rate of two or more buses operating on the same route (for example, see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2007-265191 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] On the other hand, when passengers travel on a certain route, the concentration of passengers on a particular bus causes variations in the degree of congestion among the buses, disrupting the bus schedule. Also, some users wish to travel in a place that avoids crowding.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to alleviate the variation in congestion and disruption to bus schedules caused by passengers concentrating on particular buses for buses operating on specified routes. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, a recommendation system according to one embodiment of the present invention is a recommendation system that recommends buses to a user, and is capable of referring to boarding bus information related to the boarding section of the bus that the user will board, and the boarding bus information includes the boarding bus stop and the alighting bus stop, which are the starting and ending bus stops of the boarding section, and the boarding bus stop includes a plurality of bus stops which are the departure and arrival points of the bus, and the recommendation system includes an arrival time prediction unit that predicts the boarding point arrival time, which is the time the user will arrive at each bus stop, a search unit that searches for recommended buses that operate on the boarding section, arrive at each bus stop after the boarding point arrival time for each bus stop and have a congestion level on each bus that is less than a predetermined level, and a recommendation unit that causes the terminal to present recommended information related to the recommended buses.

[0007] According to the above embodiment, the arrival time at each bus stop included in the boarding bus stop of the user is predicted, and buses that arrive at each bus stop after the user's arrival time at the bus stop and have a congestion level less than a predetermined level are searched for as recommended buses, and recommended information regarding the recommended buses is displayed on the user's terminal. Therefore, by having the user board the recommended bus presented on the terminal, passenger concentration on a specific bus is alleviated. In addition, the user is able to travel by bus with a lower congestion level. Effect of the Invention

[0008] With regard to buses operating within a specific service area, it is possible to reduce variations in congestion and disruptions to service schedules caused by passengers concentrating on a particular bus. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0009] [Figure 1] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of an apparatus configuration of a recommendation system according to the present embodiment. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of a recommendation device. [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 is a hardware block diagram of a recommendation device. [Figure 4]FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of user information stored in a user information storage unit. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of bus stops and bus stops. [Figure 6] 4 is a diagram showing an example of bus stop information stored in a bus stop information storage unit; FIG. [Figure 7] 10 is a diagram showing an example of bus stop information stored in a bus stop information storage unit; FIG. [Figure 8] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the distance between a user and a bus stop and a bus stop. [Figure 9] 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a portion of bus information stored in a bus information storage unit; [Figure 10] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a screen of a terminal on which recommended information is presented. [Figure 11] 1 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a recommendation method in a recommendation system. [Figure 12] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a configuration of a recommendation program. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0010] An embodiment of a recommendation system according to the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. When possible, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and duplicated descriptions will be omitted.

[0011] 1 is a diagram showing the device configuration of a recommendation system according to the present embodiment. As shown in FIG. 1, the recommendation system 1 may include a recommendation device 10 and a terminal T configured to be able to communicate with each other via a network N.

[0012] The recommendation device 10 is a device that recommends a bus to a user to board. The terminal T is a device operated by a user who may be a bus passenger. As described in detail later, the terminal T performs operations such as acquiring the location of the terminal T, transmitting location information indicating the location to the recommendation device 10, receiving recommended information from the recommendation device 10, and presenting information regarding the recommended bus indicated in the recommended information. The device that constitutes the terminal T is not limited, and may be, for example, a mobile terminal such as a highly functional mobile phone (smartphone), a mobile phone, or a personal digital assistant (PDA). Note that, although two terminals T are shown as an example in FIG. 1, the number of terminals T is not limited to this example.

[0013] 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a functional configuration of the recommendation device 10. Functionally, the recommendation device 10 includes an approach detection unit 11, an arrival time prediction unit 12, a search unit 13, and a recommendation unit 14. Each of these functional units 11 to 14 may be configured in one device (processor, computer, etc.) or may be distributed and configured in a plurality of devices. In addition, one or more of the functional units 11 to 14 may be configured in a terminal T.

[0014] Furthermore, the recommendation device 10 is configured to be able to access storage means such as a user information storage unit 20, a bus stop information storage unit 30, and a bus information storage unit 40. The user information storage unit 20, the bus stop information storage unit 30, and the bus information storage unit 40 may be configured within the recommendation device 10, or may be configured as a separate device outside the recommendation device 10 and accessible from the recommendation system, as shown in FIG.

[0015] The block diagram shown in FIG. 2 shows functional blocks. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Furthermore, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized by using one device that is physically or logically combined, or may be realized by using two or more devices that are physically or logically separated and directly or indirectly connected (for example, by using wires, wirelessly, etc.). The functional blocks may be realized by combining the one device or the multiple devices with software.

[0016] Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, determination, judgment, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, consideration, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocation, mapping, assignment, etc. For example, a functional block (component) that performs the function of transmission is called a transmitting unit or a transmitter. In either case, as described above, there is no particular limitation on the method of realization.

[0017] For example, the recommendation device 10 in one embodiment of the present invention may function as a computer. Fig. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the recommendation device 10 according to this embodiment. The recommendation device 10 may be physically configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, and the like.

[0018] In the following description, the term "apparatus" may be replaced with a circuit, a device, a unit, etc. The hardware configuration of the recommendation apparatus 10 may be configured to include one or more of the apparatuses shown in the drawings, or may be configured to exclude some of the apparatuses.

[0019] Each function in the recommendation device 10 is realized by loading specific software (programs) onto hardware such as the processor 1001 and memory 1002, which causes the processor 1001 to perform calculations and control communications via the communication device 1004 and the reading and / or writing of data in the memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0020] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer by running, for example, an operating system. The processor 1001 may be configured as a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control device, an arithmetic unit, a register, etc. For example, each of the functional units 11 to 14 shown in FIG. 2 may be realized by the processor 1001.

[0021] Furthermore, the processor 1001 reads out a program (program code), software modules, and data from the storage 1003 and / or the communication device 1004 to the memory 1002, and executes various processes according to the programs. The programs used are those that cause a computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above-mentioned embodiments. For example, each of the functional units 11 to 14 of the recommendation device 10 may be realized by a control program stored in the memory 1002 and operated by the processor 1001. Although the above-mentioned various processes have been described as being executed by one processor 1001, they may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented in one or more chips. The programs may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunication line.

[0022] The memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be composed of at least one of, for example, a Read Only Memory (ROM), an Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), etc. The memory 1002 may be called a register, a cache, a main memory (primary storage device), etc. The memory 1002 can store a program (program code), software module, etc. that can be executed to implement a recommendation method according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be composed of at least one of, for example, an optical disk such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray® disk), a smart card, a flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy disk, a magnetic strip, and the like. Storage 1003 may be referred to as an auxiliary storage device. The above-mentioned storage medium may be, for example, a database, a server, or other suitable medium including memory 1002 and / or storage 1003.

[0024] The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmission / reception device) for communicating between computers via a wired and / or wireless network, and is also called, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, or a communication module.

[0025] The input device 1005 is an input device (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) that accepts input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (e.g., a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) that performs output to the outside. The input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated into one device (e.g., a touch panel).

[0026] Furthermore, each device such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured as a single bus, or may be configured as different buses between the devices.

[0027] The recommendation device 10 may also be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented by at least one of these pieces of hardware.

[0028] 2 again, the functional units of the recommendation device 10 will be described. The approach detection unit 11 detects that the user's terminal T has approached a bus stop that is the starting point of the boarding section of the bus that the user is boarding. For this detection, the approach detection unit 11 can refer to the user information storage unit 20 and the bus stop information storage unit 30.

[0029] 4 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of user information stored in the user information storage unit 20. The user information may constitute boarding bus information, which is information related to the boarding section of the bus that the user boards. The user information includes information such as the boarding bus stop, the boarding bus stop, the alighting bus stop, and the alighting bus stop, in association with a user ID that identifies the user. The boarding bus stop and the alighting bus stop are the starting point and the ending point of the user's boarding section.

[0030] In this embodiment, the bus stop may include one or more bus stops. The boarding bus stop is a bus stop where the user plans to board the bus among one or more stops included in the boarding bus stop. The disembarking bus stop is a bus stop where the user plans to disembark among one or more stops included in the disembarking bus stop.

[0031] As illustrated in Figure 4, a user with user ID "U10" plans to board the bus at boarding bus stop "T49," which is included in boarding bus stop "A01," and to disembark from the bus at disembarking bus stop "T13, T14," which is included in disembarking bus stop "A09."

[0032] Specifically, the approach detection unit 11 detects the approach of a user to a boarding bus stop based on terminal location information indicating the location of the terminal T and boarding bus stop location information indicating the location of the boarding bus stop. The terminal location information is acquired, for example, by a GPS device provided in the terminal T and transmitted from the terminal T to the recommendation device 10.

[0033] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a schematic example of the configuration of bus stops and bus stops. As illustrated in FIG. 5, bus stop A01 includes multiple bus stops T49, T50, and T51. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of bus stop information stored in the bus stop information storage unit 30. As shown in FIG. 6, the bus stop information includes location information indicating the location of each bus stop in association with information identifying the bus stop. The location information of the bus stop includes, for example, latitude and longitude. For example, bus stop A01 is located at a position indicated by latitude "lat_y1" and longitude "lon_x1".

[0034] The approach detection unit 11 detects that user U01 and terminal T have approached bus stop A01 when the distance between the location indicated in the location information of terminal T received from user U10's terminal T and the location (latitude "lat_y1" and longitude "lon_x1") of bus stop A01, which is the bus stop from which user U10 boards, is less than a predetermined distance.

[0035] 5, in the case of a bus stop A01 including multiple bus stops T49, T50, and T51, when the bus departing from and arriving at bus stop T49 is the bus that the user plans to board, there may be buses that depart from each bus stop T49, T50, and T51 and operate along the same section as the user's boarding section. The recommendation system 1 of this embodiment recommends to the user, among such buses operating along the same section as the user's boarding section, a bus that meets predetermined conditions related to the time required for the user to arrive at the bus stop and the degree of congestion of each bus, as a recommended bus.

[0036] In this embodiment, the approach detection unit 11 detects the approach of the user's terminal T to the boarding bus stop based on the location information of terminal T and the location information of the boarding bus stop, but is not limited to such a method, and may detect the approach based on, for example, WiFi signals and Beacon signals transmitted and received between terminal T and the boarding bus stop.

[0037] 2 again, the arrival time prediction unit 12 predicts a bus stop arrival time, which is a time when the user arrives at each bus stop included in the boarding bus stop. For example, the arrival time prediction unit 12 may predict the bus stop arrival time when the approach detection unit 11 detects the approach of the terminal T to the boarding bus stop.

[0038] Specifically, the arrival time prediction unit 12 predicts the bus stop arrival time based on terminal location information indicating the location of the terminal T and bus stop location information indicating the location of each bus stop.

[0039] Fig. 7 is a diagram showing an example of bus stop information stored in the bus stop information storage unit 30. As shown in Fig. 7, the bus stop information includes, in association with information identifying the bus stop, information indicating the bus stop to which the bus stop belongs, and location information indicating the location of the bus stop. The location information of the bus stop includes, for example, latitude and longitude. For example, bus stop T49 belongs to bus stop A01, and is located at a position indicated by latitude "lat_y4" and longitude "lon_x4".

[0040] Fig. 8 is a diagram showing a schematic diagram of the distance and positional relationship between the user and the boarding bus stop and bus stops. In the example shown in Fig. 8, similar to the example shown in Fig. 5, the bus stop A01 includes bus stops T49, T50, and T51. When the distance d0 between the user U01 and the bus stop A01 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined distance, the arrival time prediction unit 12 predicts the bus stop arrival time at which the user U01 will arrive at the bus stops T49, T50, and T51.

[0041] The arrival time prediction unit 12 calculates a distance d1 between the bus stop T49 and the terminal T of the user U01 based on, for example, the bus stop position information of the bus stop T49 (latitude "lat_y4" and longitude "lon_x4", see FIG. 7) and the position information of the terminal T of the user U01. Then, the arrival time prediction unit 12 calculates the required time to the bus stop T49 by dividing the distance d1 by the moving speed of the terminal T of the user U01, and calculates the bus stop arrival time for the bus stop T49 by adding the required time to the current time.

[0042] The moving speed of terminal T may be calculated based on the displacement per unit time of the location information of terminal T, or may be a preset constant value. Also, the arrival time prediction unit 12 may acquire the required time to the bus stop by referring to a table that stores in advance the location of terminal T or the distance from terminal T to the bus stop in association with the required time to the bus stop.

[0043] In addition, the arrival time prediction unit 12 may calculate the required time to each bus stop by adding a given margin to the time calculated by dividing the distance from the position of terminal T, calculated based on the terminal position information and the stop position information, to each bus stop by the movement speed of terminal T.

[0044] The margin time is, for example, the difference between the time required to reach the bus stop calculated in the past for each user and the time actually required to arrive at the bus stop. In this way, by appropriately setting the margin time, it is possible to correct the difference between the predicted arrival time at the bus stop and the actual arrival time at each bus stop.

[0045] As with the boarding arrival time for bus stop T49, the arrival time prediction unit 12 calculates the distance d2 between bus stop T50 and user U01's terminal T based on the boarding position information of bus stop T50 (latitude "lat_y5" and longitude "lon_x5", see Figure 7) and the position information of user U01's terminal T, calculates the required time to bus stop T50 by dividing the distance d2 by the movement speed of user U01's terminal T, and calculates the boarding arrival time for bus stop T50 by adding the required time to the current time.

[0046] Furthermore, the arrival time prediction unit 12 calculates the distance d3 between the bus stop T51 and the terminal T of the user U01 based on the bus stop position information of the bus stop T51 (latitude "lat_y6" and longitude "lon_x6", see Figure 7) and the position information of the terminal T of the user U01, calculates the required time to the bus stop T51 by dividing the distance d3 by the movement speed of the terminal T of the user U01, and calculates the arrival time at the bus stop T51 by adding the required time to the current time.

[0047] The arrival time prediction unit 12 may also predict the bus stop arrival time at each bus stop when a user inputs a predetermined instruction to the terminal T. This allows the bus stop arrival time to be predicted when a predetermined instruction is input to the terminal T, and a recommended bus is searched for and recommended information is presented to the terminal based on the predicted bus stop arrival time, so that the user can receive a recommendation of a recommended bus at any time. The arrival time prediction unit 12 may also predict the bus stop arrival time repeatedly at a predetermined time interval after the approach detection unit 11 detects the approach of the terminal T to the boarding bus stop.

[0048] Referring again to FIG. 2, the search unit 13 searches for recommended buses that operate on the user's boarding section, arrive at each bus stop after the bus stop arrival time for each bus stop, and have a congestion degree that is less than a predetermined level. The congestion degree indicates the degree of congestion of passengers on the bus. The threshold value for the congestion degree of the recommended bus can be arbitrarily set by, for example, the bus operator and the user.

[0049] Specifically, the search unit 13 extracts recommended buses from the bus information stored in the bus information storage unit 40. Fig. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a portion of the bus information stored in the bus information storage unit 40. As shown in Fig. 9, the bus information includes the next bus stop, the next bus platform, the estimated arrival time, the congestion degree, and a list of bus stops, bus stops, and estimated arrival times that the bus will stop at after the next bus stop, in association with a bus ID that identifies the bus in operation.

[0050] The next bus stop and the next bus stop in the bus information are information on the bus stop and the bus stop where the bus will next stop.

[0051] The estimated arrival time is the time when the bus is scheduled to arrive at the next bus stop. The estimated arrival time may be calculated by dividing the distance between the position indicated in the latest position information of the bus and the position indicated in the position information of the next bus stop by the average speed of the bus, and may be stored as bus information. The estimated arrival time may also be acquired based on information indicating the bus operation schedule that is set in advance. The calculation and acquisition of the estimated arrival time may be performed by the recommendation system 1, or may be performed by a system of the bus operator, manager, etc.

[0052] The degree of congestion is information indicating the degree of passenger numbers on the bus, and may be, for example, the ratio of the number of passengers to the passenger capacity or the number of passengers. The source of the degree of congestion included in the bus information is not limited, and may be, for example, acquired from a system of an operator or the like. The degree of congestion may also be calculated based on the number of mobile terminals whose location information changes along with the change in the location information of the bus.

[0053] The information on the bus stops and bus stops in the list of bus stops, bus stops, and estimated arrival times for the bus that will stop after the next bus stop may be information acquired from a system of a bus operator, etc. Also, the estimated arrival time for arriving at the bus stop after the next bus stop in the list can be calculated or acquired in the same manner as the estimated arrival time for the next bus stop described above.

[0054] The search unit 13 searches for a recommended bus by referring to the bus information exemplified in Fig. 9. In the following description of the example, it is assumed that the arrival time prediction unit 12 calculates and predicts the expected arrival times of the user U01 at bus stops T49, T50, and T51 as 9:58, 10:00, and 9:58, respectively. It is also assumed that the threshold for the congestion degree of the recommended bus is less than 4.

[0055] 9, bus V02 runs on the section where user U01 is riding, from bus stop T49 at bus stop A01 to bus stop A09. The estimated arrival time of bus V02 at bus stop T49 is 10:00, which is after the estimated arrival time of user U01 at bus stop T49 of 9:58. However, the congestion level of bus V02 is 5, which does not satisfy the condition regarding the congestion level of a recommended bus. Therefore, the search unit 13 does not search for bus V02 as a recommended bus.

[0056] Furthermore, bus V03 operates on the section where user U01 is riding, from bus stop T50 at bus stop A01 to bus stop A09. Furthermore, the congestion degree of bus V03 is 1, satisfying the condition regarding the congestion degree of a recommended bus. However, the scheduled arrival time of bus V03 at bus stop T50 is 9:58, which is before the scheduled arrival time of user U01 at bus stop T50 of 10:00. Therefore, the search unit 13 does not search for bus V03 as a recommended bus.

[0057] Furthermore, bus V04 operates on the section where user U01 is riding, from bus stop T50 at bus stop A01 to bus stop A09. The scheduled arrival time of bus V04 at bus stop T50 is 10:04, which is after the scheduled arrival time of user U01 at bus stop T50, 10:00. The congestion level of bus V04 is 2, which satisfies the condition regarding the congestion level of a recommended bus. Therefore, the search unit 13 searches for bus V04 as a recommended bus.

[0058] The search unit 13 may search for buses based on a condition that the recommended buses arrive at each bus stop within a given time after the user's arrival time at the bus stop. The given time in the search conditions can be arbitrarily set by the bus operator, the operator of the recommendation system, the user, etc.

[0059] The bus V05 operates on the user U01's boarding section from the bus stop T51 at the bus stop A01 to the bus stop A09. The estimated arrival time of the bus V05 at the bus stop T51 is 10:06, which is after the estimated arrival time of the user U01 at the bus stop T50 of 9:58. The congestion level of the bus V05 is 3, which satisfies the condition regarding the congestion level of the recommended bus. However, if the condition of the recommended bus is that the bus arrives at the bus stop within "7 minutes" after the user's arrival time at the bus stop, the bus V05 does not satisfy the recommended bus condition regarding the arrival time because the estimated arrival time of the bus V05 is 10:06, which is 8 minutes after the estimated arrival time of the user U01 at the bus stop T50 of 9:58. Therefore, the search unit 13 does not search for the bus V05 as a recommended bus. In this way, the upper limit of the time that the user waits for the arrival of the recommended bus is set, making it possible to recommend a bus that takes into account the convenience of the user.

[0060] 2 again, the recommendation unit 14 causes the terminal T to present recommended information regarding the recommended bus. Specifically, the recommendation unit 14 transmits, for example, information on the stop of the recommended bus and the time when the recommended bus will arrive at the stop to the user's terminal T as recommended information. The terminal T causes the received recommended information to be displayed, for example, on the display of the terminal T.

[0061] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a display screen of terminal T on which recommended information is presented. As exemplified in FIG. 10, the recommendation unit 14 transmits the recommended information to terminal T, thereby causing the recommended information to be displayed on a display screen D1 of terminal T. The display screen D1 displays the recommended information rb. The recommended information rb is information about a recommended bus, and includes information about the arrival time "10:04", the congestion degree "2", and the stop "T50" of bus "V04" searched for as a recommended bus. The user can recognize the information about the recommended bus by referring to the recommended information displayed on the display screen D1 of terminal T.

[0062] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing the process of the recommendation method in the recommendation device 10. As shown in FIG.

[0063] In step S1, the approach detection unit 11 judges whether or not the approach of the user's terminal T to the boarding bus stop, which is the starting point of the boarding section of the bus that the user boards, has been detected. If the approach of the user's terminal T to the boarding bus stop has been detected, the process proceeds to step S2. On the other hand, if the approach of the user's terminal T to the boarding bus stop has not been detected, the detection process of step S1 is repeated.

[0064] In step S2, the arrival time prediction unit 12 predicts a bus stop arrival time, which is the time when the user will arrive at each bus stop included in the boarding bus stop.

[0065] In step S3, the search unit 13 searches for buses that operate in the user's boarding section and arrive at each bus stop after the bus stop arrival time for each bus stop.

[0066] In step S4, the search unit 13 acquires the congestion degree of the bus searched for in step S3 by a predetermined means.

[0067] In step S5, the search unit 13 determines whether or not there is a bus whose degree of congestion is less than a predetermined level among the buses searched for in step 3. If it is determined that there is a bus whose degree of congestion is less than the predetermined level, the search unit 13 outputs that bus as a recommended bus. Then, the process proceeds to step S6. On the other hand, if it is not determined that there is a bus whose degree of congestion is less than the predetermined level, the search unit 13 outputs, for example, the bus searched for in step S3 as information on buses that the user can board. Then, the process proceeds to step S7.

[0068] In step S6, the recommendation unit 14 transmits recommendation information about the recommended buses to the terminal T, and causes the terminal T to present information about the recommended buses.

[0069] In step S7, the recommendation unit 14 transmits information about buses that are available for boarding, searched for in step S3, to the terminal T, regardless of the degree of congestion, and causes the terminal T to present information about those buses.

[0070] The recommendation process shown in the flowchart in Figure 11 is executed when it is detected that the user's terminal T has approached the boarding bus stop, but it may also be executed repeatedly, for example at predetermined time intervals, while the user's terminal T is staying within a predetermined distance from the boarding bus stop, i.e., while the user continues to approach the boarding bus stop.

[0071] Next, a recommendation program for causing a computer to function as the recommendation device 10 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

[0072] 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of the recommendation program. The recommendation program P1 includes a main module m10 that controls the recommendation process in the recommendation device 10, an approach detection module m11, an arrival time prediction module m12, a search module m13, and a recommendation module m14. The modules m11 to m14 realize the functions of the approach detection unit 11, the arrival time prediction unit 12, the search unit 13, and the recommendation unit 14.

[0073] The recommendation program P1 may be transmitted via a transmission medium such as a communication line, or may be stored in a recording medium M1 as shown in FIG.

[0074] According to the recommendation device 10, recommendation method, and recommendation program P1 of the present embodiment described above, the boarding point arrival time at each bus stop included in the boarding bus stop of the user is predicted, and buses that arrive at each bus stop after the user's boarding point arrival time and have a congestion level less than a predetermined level are searched for as recommended buses, and recommendation information regarding the recommended buses is displayed on the user's terminal. Therefore, by having the user board the recommended bus presented on the terminal, passenger concentration on a specific bus is alleviated. In addition, the user is able to travel by bus with a lower congestion level.

[0075] In addition, a recommendation system in another embodiment may further include an approach detection unit that detects the approach of a user's terminal to a boarding bus stop based on terminal location information indicating the location of the terminal and boarding bus stop location information indicating the location of the boarding bus stop, and the arrival time prediction unit may predict the arrival time at each bus stop when the approach of the terminal to the boarding bus stop is detected.

[0076] According to the above embodiment, when the approach of the user's terminal to the boarding bus stop is detected based on the terminal location information and the boarding bus stop location information, the user's arrival time at the bus stop is predicted, and based on the predicted arrival time at the bus stop, a recommended bus is searched for and the recommended information is presented to the terminal. Therefore, it is possible to recommend information on the recommended bus to the user at an appropriate time.

[0077] In addition, in a recommendation system according to another embodiment, the arrival time prediction unit may predict the arrival time at the boarding point when a predetermined instruction is input to the terminal by a user.

[0078] According to the above embodiment, the arrival time at the bus stop is predicted in response to a specific instruction input to the terminal, and recommended buses are searched for and recommended information is presented to the terminal based on the predicted arrival time at the bus stop. Therefore, the user can receive a recommendation of a recommended bus at any time.

[0079] In addition, in a recommendation system according to another embodiment, the arrival time prediction unit may predict the arrival time at the bus stop based on terminal location information indicating the location of the terminal and bus stop location information indicating the location of the bus stop.

[0080] According to the above embodiment, it is possible to calculate the distance between the user and each bus stop based on the terminal location information and the bus stop location information. Therefore, it is possible to accurately predict the bus stop arrival time when the user will arrive at each bus stop.

[0081] In addition, in another embodiment of the recommendation system, the arrival time prediction unit calculates the required time to each bus stop by adding a given margin of time to the time calculated by dividing the distance from the terminal position to each bus stop, calculated based on the terminal position information and the stop position information, by the terminal's movement speed, and calculates the arrival time at each bus stop by adding the required time to each bus stop to the current time.

[0082] According to the above embodiment, the time required to reach each bus stop is calculated by dividing the distance from the terminal's location to each bus stop by the terminal's moving speed, and the time allowance is added to the time calculated. Therefore, by appropriately setting the time allowance, the difference between the predicted arrival time at the bus stop and the actual arrival time at each bus stop can be corrected.

[0083] In addition, in a recommendation system according to another embodiment, the search unit may search for buses that will arrive at each bus stop within a given time after the bus stop arrival time.

[0084] According to the above embodiment, when a user selects to board a recommended bus, an upper limit is set for the time the user waits for the arrival of the recommended bus, thereby making it possible to recommend a bus that takes into consideration the convenience of the user.

[0085] Although the present embodiment has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present embodiment is not limited to the embodiment described in this specification. The present embodiment can be implemented as a modified or altered form without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention defined by the description of the claims. Therefore, the description in this specification is intended to be illustrative and does not have any limiting meaning on the present embodiment.

[0086] Each aspect / embodiment described herein may be applied to systems utilizing LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4G, 5G, FRA (Future Radio Access), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, UMB (Ultra Mobile Broadband), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), IEEE 802.20, UWB (Ultra-WideBand), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or other suitable systems and / or next generation systems enhanced thereon.

[0087] The steps, sequences, flow charts, etc. of each aspect / embodiment described herein may be reordered unless inconsistent, For example, the methods described herein present elements of various steps in an example order, and are not limited to the particular order presented.

[0088] The input and output information may be stored in a specific location (e.g., memory) or may be managed in a management table. The input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or added to. The output information may be deleted. The input information may be transmitted to another device.

[0089] The determination may be based on a value represented by a single bit (0 or 1), a Boolean value (true or false), or a numerical comparison (e.g., comparison with a predetermined value).

[0090] Each aspect / embodiment described in this specification may be used alone, in combination, or switched according to execution. In addition, notification of specific information (e.g., notification that "X is the case") is not limited to being done explicitly, but may be done implicitly (e.g., not notifying the specific information).

[0091] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described in the present disclosure. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative and does not have any limiting meaning on the present disclosure.

[0092] Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[0093] Additionally, software, instructions, etc. may be transmitted or received over a transmission medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using wired technologies, such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL), and / or wireless technologies, such as infrared, radio, and microwave, these wired and / or wireless technologies are included within the definition of transmission media.

[0094] The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

[0095] In addition, terms explained in this disclosure and / or terms necessary for understanding this specification may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings.

[0096] As used herein, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably.

[0097] Furthermore, the information, parameters, etc. described in this specification may be expressed as absolute values, may be expressed as relative values ​​from a predetermined value, or may be expressed as other corresponding information.

[0098] As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining" and "determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, search, inquiry (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), ascertaining, and the like. "Determining" and "determining" may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), and the like. In addition, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc., to be a "judgment" or "decision." In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering some action to be a "judgment" or "decision." In addition, "judgment" can be interpreted as "assuming," "expecting," "considering," etc.

[0099] As used in this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless expressly stated otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

[0100] When designations such as "first," "second," and the like are used herein, any reference to an element is not intended to generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used herein as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not imply that only two elements may be employed therein or that the first element must precede the second element in some way.

[0101] To the extent that the terms "include," "including," and variations thereof are used herein in the specification or claims, these terms are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising." Further, the term "or" as used herein is not intended to be an exclusive or.

[0102] In this specification, a plurality of devices is also included unless the context or the technical basis clearly indicates that only one device is present.

[0103] Throughout this disclosure, the plural is intended to be included unless the context clearly indicates the singular. [Explanation of symbols]

[0104] 1... recommendation system, 10... recommendation device, 11... approach detection unit, 12... arrival time prediction unit, 13... search unit, 14... recommendation unit, 20... user information storage unit, 30... bus stop information storage unit, 40... bus information storage unit, M1... recording medium, m10... main module, m11... approach detection module, m12... arrival time prediction module, m13... search module, m14... recommendation module, P1... recommendation program, T... terminal.

Claims

1. A recommendation system that recommends buses to a user, The user can refer to boarding bus information regarding the boarding section of the bus that he / she boards, The boarding bus information includes a boarding bus stop and an alighting bus stop, which are bus stops at the start and end of the boarding section, The boarding bus stop includes a plurality of bus stops where the bus departs and arrives, The recommendation system includes: an arrival time prediction unit that predicts a bus stop arrival time, which is a time when the user arrives at each bus stop; a search unit that searches for, as a recommended bus, a bus that operates on the boarding section, arrives at each bus stop after the bus stop arrival time for each bus stop, and has a congestion degree indicating a degree of congestion of passengers on each bus that is less than a predetermined degree; a recommendation unit that displays recommendation information regarding the recommended bus on a terminal of the user; The search unit searches for buses arriving at each bus stop within a given time after the bus stop arrival time. Recommendation system.

2. An approach detection unit that detects the approach of the user's terminal to the boarding bus stop based on terminal location information indicating a location of the terminal and boarding bus stop location information indicating a location of the boarding bus stop, the arrival time prediction unit predicts the bus stop arrival time for each bus stop when the approach of the terminal to the boarding bus stop is detected; The recommendation system according to claim 1 .

3. the arrival time prediction unit predicts the boarding arrival time when a predetermined instruction is input to the terminal by the user; The recommendation system according to claim 1 .

4. the arrival time prediction unit predicts the bus stop arrival time based on terminal location information indicating a location of the terminal and bus stop location information indicating a location of the bus stop; The recommendation system according to claim 2 or 3.

5. the arrival time prediction unit calculates a required time to each bus stop by adding a given margin to a time calculated by dividing a distance from the position of the terminal to each bus stop, which is calculated based on the terminal position information and the stop position information, by the moving speed of the terminal, and calculates an arrival time at each bus stop by adding the required time to each bus stop to a current time; The recommendation system according to claim 4 .

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