Information providing device

Abstract

To allow passengers to get out of a vehicle smoothly by a simple structure.SOLUTION: An information processor 1 is provided in a vehicle C and provides information to persons in the vehicle C. The information processor 1 includes: an acquisition unit 2 for acquiring information on a getting-off place where a passenger A gets off from the vehicle; a detection unit 3 for detecting the position of the passenger A in the vehicle C, of which position on the getting-off place has been acquired; and an information provision unit 4 for providing the passenger A with getting-off information showing that the passenger is being closer to the getting-off place on the basis of the information on the getting-off position and the position of the passenger A in the vehicle C.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information providing device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a boarding and alighting guidance system in which, when a central device receives boarding and alighting schedule information from a passenger's mobile phone, including the destination name, boarding location name, and scheduled departure and arrival times, which are entered into the passenger's mobile phone when boarding a bus, the central device searches a database and notifies the passenger via his / her mobile phone of boarding and alighting guidance information, including the bus stop name and bus name; when a passenger boards the bus, the boarding guidance information is notified to the passenger via his / her mobile phone; when the bus approaches the destination bus stop, the approaching guidance information is notified to the passenger via his / her mobile phone; and when the passenger disembarks, the disembarking guidance information is notified to the passenger via his / her mobile phone. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2002-310718 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] Meanwhile, in public transportation such as buses, it is desirable for passengers to get off the bus smoothly. In response to this, as described in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1, when the bus approaches the destination bus stop, approaching guidance information is sent to passengers via mobile phones, and passengers are informed in advance that the destination is approaching. However, in this case, it is not applicable to, for example, those who do not have mobile phones, and some kind of receiving device that passengers carry is required separately.

[0005] The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and has an object to provide an information providing device that has a simpler configuration and enables passengers to disembark smoothly. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The information providing device of the present invention is an information providing device installed in a vehicle for providing information to a person inside the vehicle, and comprises an acquisition unit that acquires information related to the person's alighting location, a detection unit that detects the position within the vehicle of the person who has acquired the information related to the alighting location, and an information providing unit that provides the person with alighting information indicating that the alighting location is approaching based on the information related to the alighting location and the person's position within the vehicle.

[0007] The information providing device according to the present invention can inform a person that the disembarking location is approaching, based on information about the disembarking location and the person's position in the vehicle, by an information providing unit provided in the vehicle. This allows information to be provided to the person using the configuration on the vehicle side. Therefore, a simpler configuration can be achieved. In addition, the position in the vehicle of the person who has acquired the information about the disembarking location can be detected, and the person can be notified in advance that the disembarking location is approaching. Therefore, passengers can disembark smoothly without the need for an action by the passenger to inform the person of their position in the vehicle.

[0008] The information providing unit may be a directional speaker. In this case, the directional speaker can selectively provide information to a specific person.

[0009] The information providing device may further include an alighting support unit that supports the person who has been provided with the alighting information to alight. In this case, the person who has been provided with the alighting information can be supported to alight. Therefore, passengers can alight more smoothly. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, passengers can disembark smoothly with a simpler configuration. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1]1 is a schematic diagram showing an information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2] 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 3] 4 is a schematic flowchart showing an operation of the information providing device according to the embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of an information providing device according to one aspect of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0013] An information providing device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the information providing device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the information providing device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] As shown in FIG. 1, an information providing device 1 is provided in a vehicle C, and provides information to a person in the vehicle C. The vehicle C is a vehicle used for public transportation such as a bus or a train. In this embodiment, the person includes, for example, a passenger A of the vehicle C or a driver B. An entrance D is provided at approximately the center in the front-rear direction of the vehicle C. The passenger A gets on the vehicle C through the entrance D. The entrance D may also serve as an exit entrance (not shown), or may be provided separately from the exit entrance. A monitor M is provided in front of the vehicle C at a position visible to the driver B. The monitor M may provide information about the inside of the vehicle C to the driver B. For example, the monitor M provides an image of the inside of the vehicle C to the driver B.

[0015] When using vehicle C, passenger A can pay fares and the like using an IC (integrated circuit) card. As shown in FIG. 1, information providing device 1 has an acquisition unit 2, a detection unit 3, and an information providing unit 4.

[0016] The acquisition unit 2 is, for example, an IC card reading device. In this embodiment, the acquisition unit 2 is disposed near the boarding gate D in the vehicle C. When passenger A boards the vehicle C, the acquisition unit 2 reads his / her IC card. As a result, the acquisition unit 2 acquires identification information related to the ID (identification) of passenger A's IC card. Furthermore, the acquisition unit 2 acquires information related to passenger A's disembarking location based on the identification information. More specifically, the acquisition unit 2 queries a server or the like and acquires information related to the disembarking location linked to the identification information.

[0017] Here, the information on the alighting place is information indicating the place where passenger A will alight. In this embodiment, the information on the alighting place is information indicating the bus stop where passenger A wishes to alight. Passenger A may set the information on the alighting place in advance, for example, by using an application on a mobile phone or the like. Passenger A may also set the information on the alighting place in advance by using a terminal or the like provided at the bus stop where the passenger will board. Alternatively, if the alighting place is decided every day, passenger A may set the alighting place for each day in advance as information on the alighting information. Passenger A may also set information on age and gender in advance in addition to information on the alighting place.

[0018] The detection unit 3 is, for example, a camera that recognizes and captures passenger A. The detection unit 3 may be, for example, a millimeter wave radar that senses the position and distance of passenger A in the vehicle C. The detection unit 3 may also identify the position and distance of a target person by a matching process or the like. The detection unit 3 detects the position in the vehicle C of passenger A who has acquired information about the disembarking place. The detection unit 3 may identify passenger A who is present near the boarding gate D at the time when the information about the disembarking place is acquired by the acquisition unit 2 as passenger A who has acquired information about the disembarking place.

[0019] In this embodiment, the detection unit 3 continues to capture the position of passenger A from the time passenger A boards until he / she disembarks. This allows the position of passenger A in the vehicle C to be accurately detected even if passenger A moves his / her seat while on the vehicle. The detection unit 3 may identify passenger A who has acquired information regarding the disembarking location from among passengers A in the vehicle C at the timing of providing disembarking information, which will be described later. Furthermore, the detection unit 3 is not limited to a unit that detects in which seat passenger A is sitting, and may also be a unit that detects in which position passenger A is standing.

[0020] The information providing unit 4 is, for example, a directional speaker. In this embodiment, the information providing unit 4 is disposed above the seats of the vehicle C. The information providing unit 4 is disposed on the ceiling of the vehicle C above each of the seats. In this embodiment, the information providing unit 4 is capable of providing information by voice to the passenger A sitting in the seat directly below. The information providing unit 4 provides the passenger A with alighting information indicating that the alighting location is approaching, based on information related to the alighting location and the position of the passenger A in the vehicle C.

[0021] The information providing unit 4 may be configured to provide the alighting information to the passenger A. Therefore, the information providing unit 4 may be, for example, a lamp arranged on the seat. In this case, the information providing unit 4 may provide the alighting information to the passenger A by blinking the lamp or the like. The information providing unit 4 may also be, for example, an air conditioning device such as an air conditioner. In this case, the information providing unit 4 may provide the alighting information to the passenger A by increasing or decreasing the air volume of the air conditioner or the like. The information providing unit 4 may also be a control device arranged on the seat. In this case, the information providing unit 4 may provide the alighting information to the passenger A by tilting or vibrating the seat. Such an information providing unit 4 is particularly effective for the passenger A who is, for example, falling asleep in the seat. The information providing unit 4 may also provide the alighting information to the passenger A by notifying a mobile phone or the like owned by the passenger A.

[0022] In the case where passenger A to whom the alighting information is to be provided is, for example, an elderly person who has difficulty hearing voices, it is preferable that the information providing unit 4 provides the alighting information by a sound having an easily audible frequency. In addition, in the case where passenger A does not get off at a place where he or she should get off, the information providing unit 4 may provide information indicating that this is the place where he or she should get off to passenger A. Here, the "place where he or she should get off" refers to, for example, the last station or a bus stop, regardless of the alighting place preset by passenger A.

[0023] 2, the information providing device 1 further includes an alighting support unit 5, a communication unit 6, a distance determination unit 7, and an alighting determination unit 8. The information providing device 1 also communicates with a server 10.

[0024] The alighting support unit 5 supports passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information to alight. In other words, the alighting support unit 5 performs a predetermined control to allow passenger A to alight smoothly. The alighting support unit 5 provides information indicating the presence of passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information to a person in vehicle C other than passenger A. More specifically, the alighting support unit 5 provides information indicating the presence of passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information to passengers A around passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information.

[0025] The alighting support unit 5 provides the driver B of the vehicle C with information indicating the presence of the passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information. In addition, when the passenger A who is getting off is in the rear of the vehicle C, the alighting support unit 5 may provide the driver B with information indicating the presence of the passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information. In this case, the driver B can more reliably know the presence of the passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information. In addition, when the passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information is not inside the vehicle C, the alighting support unit 5 allows the vehicle C to depart. In other words, the alighting support unit 5 controls the vehicle C so that it cannot start operating until all of the passengers A who have been provided with the alighting information have alighted. More specifically, the alighting support unit 5 may be an electronic control unit (ECU) that controls the vehicle C. The alighting support unit 5 performs various controls by, for example, loading a program stored in a ROM into a RAM and executing it on a CPU. The alighting support unit 5 may be configured with one electronic control unit or multiple electronic control units.

[0026] In this embodiment, the alighting support unit 5 controls the directional speaker and the monitor M constituting the information providing unit 4. That is, when alighting information is provided to passenger A in the vehicle C, the alighting support unit 5 controls the information providing unit 4. As a result, the alighting support unit 5 provides information indicating the presence of passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information to passengers A around passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information. More specifically, the alighting support unit 5 transmits a voice to passengers A around passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information, requesting cooperation, for example, to give way to the alighting exit. In addition, when alighting information is provided to passenger A who is sitting by the window of a so-called two-seater seat, the alighting support unit 5 may transmit a similar voice to passenger A who is sitting on the aisle side.

[0027] The communication unit 6 communicates with the server 10. In this embodiment, the communication unit 6 is capable of both transmitting and receiving information. The communication unit 6 transmits identification information to the server 10. The communication unit 6 also receives information related to the drop-off location from the server 10. The communication unit 6 may also receive GPS (Global Positioning System) data including information related to the current location of the vehicle C.

[0028] The distance determination unit 7 determines whether or not the vehicle C has approached the disembarking location of passenger A. The distance determination unit 7 may, for example, identify the position of the vehicle C by receiving GPS data via the communication unit 6. This allows the distance determination unit 7 to determine whether or not the vehicle C has approached the disembarking location of passenger A (e.g., a bus stop). For example, when the distance between the vehicle C and the disembarking location becomes equal to or smaller than a predetermined value, the distance determination unit 7 may determine that the vehicle C has approached the disembarking location of passenger A. The distance determination unit 7 may also perform this determination at predetermined time intervals. For example, the distance determination unit 7 may perform this determination every 30 seconds.

[0029] The alighting determination unit 8 determines whether or not passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information has alighted. For example, when passenger A who is in vehicle C and who has been provided with the alighting information cannot be detected by the detection unit 3, the alighting determination unit 8 may determine that passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information has alighted.

[0030] The server 10 has a communication unit 11 and an acquisition unit 12. The server 10 may be provided inside the vehicle C or outside the vehicle C. The communication unit 11 acquires the identification information from the communication unit 6 of the information providing device 1. The acquisition unit 12 acquires information related to the drop-off location. More specifically, the acquisition unit 12 acquires information related to the drop-off location linked to the identification information. The acquisition unit 12 may acquire information related to age and gender in addition to the information related to the drop-off location.

[0031] Next, the operation of the information providing device 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to Fig. 3. Fig. 3 is a schematic flowchart showing the operation of the information providing device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] 3, in this information providing device 1, the acquisition unit 2 acquires the identification information of the IC card of passenger A (step S01). Then, the information providing device 1 transmits the identification information to the server via the communication unit 6 (step S02).

[0033] Next, the information providing device 1 receives information about the disembarking location via the communication unit 6 (step S03). Next, the information providing device 1 detects passenger A by the detection unit 3 (step S04). More specifically, the detection unit 3 detects the position of passenger A by tracking passenger A who has acquired the information about the disembarking information.

[0034] Next, the information providing device 1 determines whether or not the vehicle C is approaching the drop-off location of passenger A using the distance determination unit 7 (step S05). If the vehicle C is not approaching the drop-off location (step S05: No), the information providing device 1 executes step S04 again. That is, the information providing device 1 continues to track passenger A using the detection unit 3. If the vehicle C is approaching the drop-off location (step S05: Yes), the information providing device 1 executes step S06.

[0035] In step S06, the information providing device 1 provides the alighting information to passenger A via the information providing unit 4. Next, the information providing device 1 notifies passengers A around passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information (step S07). More specifically, the alighting support unit 5 provides information indicating the presence of passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information to passengers A around passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information. In addition, the alighting support unit 5 may provide driver B of vehicle C with information indicating the presence of passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information.

[0036] Next, the information providing device 1 determines whether the passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information has alighted using the alighting determination unit 8 (step S08). If there are multiple passengers A who have been provided with the alighting information, the alighting determination unit 8 determines that the passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information has alighted when all of the passengers A who have been provided with the alighting information have alighted.

[0037] If passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information has not alighted (step S08: No), the information providing device 1 notifies driver B (step S09). More specifically, in step S09, the alighting support unit 5 provides information indicating the presence of passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information to driver B of vehicle C. The alighting support unit 5 may display information indicating that passenger A has not completed alighting on the monitor M. If passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information has alighted (step S08: Yes), the information providing device 1 starts operation of vehicle C (step S10). More specifically, the information providing device 1 controls the alighting support unit 5 so that operation of vehicle C can be started. After the above operations, the information providing device 1 ends the operation.

[0038] Next, the effects of the information providing device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

[0039] The information providing device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention can inform passenger A that the disembarking location is approaching, based on information about the disembarking location and passenger A's position in vehicle C, by the information providing unit 4 provided in vehicle C. This allows information to be provided to passenger A using the configuration on the vehicle C side. Therefore, a simpler configuration can be achieved. In addition, the position in vehicle C of passenger A who has acquired information about the disembarking location can be detected, and passenger A can be notified in advance that the disembarking location is approaching. Therefore, passenger A can disembark smoothly without the need for passenger A to perform an action to inform passenger A of his / her position in vehicle C.

[0040] The information providing unit 4 is a directional speaker. In this case, information can be selectively provided to a specific passenger A by the directional speaker.

[0041] The information providing device 1 further includes an alighting support unit 5 that supports alighting of the passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information. In this case, it is possible to support alighting of the passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information. Therefore, the passenger can alight more smoothly.

[0042] Furthermore, in the information providing device 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the alighting support unit 5 provides information indicating the presence of passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information to a person in vehicle C other than passenger A. More specifically, the alighting support unit 5 provides information indicating the presence of passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information to driver B of vehicle C. In this case, it is possible to inform driver B of vehicle C of the presence of passenger A who has not alighted, among passengers A who have been provided with the alighting information. This allows driver B to smoothly assist passenger A in alighting. Therefore, passengers can alight more smoothly.

[0043] Furthermore, the alighting support unit 5 provides information indicating the presence of passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information to passengers A around passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information. In this case, it is possible to notify passengers A around passenger A of the presence of passenger A who has been provided with the alighting information but has not alighted. This makes it possible to request the cooperation of passengers A around passenger A when passenger A alights. This allows passengers to alight more smoothly.

[0044] When passenger A, who has been provided with the disembarking information, is not in vehicle C, the disembarking support unit 5 may allow vehicle C to depart. In this case, vehicle C can be departed after confirming that passenger A has completed disembarking. This allows passengers to disembark smoothly.

[0045] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments.

[0046] For example, in the above embodiment, passenger A sets information about the alighting place in the server 10 in advance, thereby identifying passenger A who is getting off. However, for example, passenger A who presses the alighting button of a bus or the like may be detected by the detection unit 3, thereby identifying passenger A who is getting off and the alighting place of passenger A. In this case, the detection unit 3 also serves as the acquisition unit 2. That is, the detection unit 3 acquires the alighting place where the vehicle C will next stop as passenger A's alighting place as a result of passenger A pressing the alighting button. However, according to the information providing device 1 as described above, passenger A does not need to press the alighting button when getting off.

[0047] In addition, in the above-described embodiment, the distance determination unit 7 and the disembarkation determination unit 8 have been exemplified as making a predetermined determination, but the method, parameters, conditions, etc. used in the determination can be changed as appropriate without departing from the spirit of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 1...information providing device, 2...acquisition unit, 3...detection unit, 4...information providing unit, 5...disembarking support unit, A...passenger (person), B...driver (person), C...vehicle.

Claims

1. An information providing device that is provided in a vehicle and provides information to a person in the vehicle, An acquisition unit that acquires information regarding a drop-off location of the person; A detection unit that detects a position in the vehicle of the person who has acquired the information regarding the alighting location; and an information providing unit that provides the person with alighting information indicating that the alighting location is approaching based on information regarding the alighting location and the person's position in the vehicle.

2. The information providing device according to claim 1 , wherein the information providing unit is a directional speaker.

3. The information providing device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an alighting support unit that supports the person who has been provided with the alighting information to alight.

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