Map representation data processing device, information processing method, and program

Abstract

To enable a navigation using map representation data that is acquired using a captured map photograph.SOLUTION: A map representation data processing device comprises: a photograph reception unit that receives a map photograph from a terminal device; a determination part that searches a navigation information set containing two or more pieces of correspondence information each being a combination of coordinate information and position information in map representation data and two or more pieces of navigation information having map expression data, and determines navigation information having a relationship satisfying a first condition with the map photograph; and a navigation information transmission unit that transmits the navigation information determined by the determination unit to a terminal device H. The map representation data processing device can realize a navigation using map representation data acquired by using a captured map photograph.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 49

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a map representation data processing device that receives a map photograph, searches for one or more map representation data using the map photograph, and transmits the one or more map representation data to a terminal device. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, there has been a map information system in which users of one or more first terminal devices can register maps, such as hand-drawn maps or illustrated maps that they have created or prepared themselves, on a server device, which can then be used by users of one or more second terminal devices, and which can add geographic information, which is information about objects such as landmarks, to the maps (see Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2011-158518 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] However, in the prior art, conventional map representation data processing devices have not been able to realize navigation using map representation data acquired from photographed map photographs. In other words, in the prior art, it has not been possible to acquire map representation data that has been compiled and can be used for navigation by, for example, photographing a simplified map or the like that is abundant in town, and using the acquired map photograph, and then to use the map representation data.

[0005] Note that navigation means, for example, indicating the current position on map representation data. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] The map representation data processing device of the first invention is a map representation data processing device that includes a photo receiving unit that receives a captured map photo from a terminal device, a determination unit that searches for a navigation information set that has two or more pieces of navigation information that have map representation data and two or more pieces of correspondence information that are pairs of coordinate information and location information in map representation data that is either an illustrated map, a hand-drawn map, or a simplified map, and determines navigation information that has a relationship with the map photo that satisfies a first condition, and a navigation information transmission unit that transmits the navigation information determined by the determination unit to the terminal device.

[0007] With this configuration, navigation can be realized using map representation data acquired using a photographed map photograph.

[0008] Furthermore, in the map representation data processing device of the second invention, compared to the first invention, the determination unit is equipped with a determination means for determining map representation data that is similar to the map photograph to the extent that it satisfies the first condition, and an acquisition means for acquiring navigation information including the map representation data determined by the determination means from the navigation information set, and the navigation information transmission unit is a map representation data processing device that transmits the navigation information acquired by the acquisition means to the terminal device.

[0009] With this configuration, navigation can be realized using map representation data that is similar in image to the captured map photograph.

[0010] Furthermore, the map representation data processing device of the third invention is a map representation data processing device that, compared to the first or second invention, further includes a character string acquisition unit that acquires one or more character strings from a map photograph, and the determination unit uses each of the one or more character strings to determine navigation information that satisfies the first condition.

[0011] This configuration makes it possible to realize navigation using more appropriate map representation data.

[0012] Furthermore, in the map representation data processing device of the fourth invention, compared to the third invention, point information of points is stored in correspondence with correspondence information, and the determination unit determines whether or not each of one or more character strings matches the point information, and determines navigation information that satisfies the first condition using the determination result regarding the match between the character string and the point information.

[0013] This configuration makes it possible to realize navigation using more appropriate map representation data.

[0014] Furthermore, in the map representation data processing device of the fifth invention, compared to the third invention, area identification information that identifies an area covered by the map representation data is stored in association with navigation information, the character string acquisition unit acquires three or more character strings from the map photograph, and uses a location dictionary having one or more location location information that is information that associates location information that identifies a location with location information that identifies the position of the location, a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information that corresponds to each of the three or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit, and an area identification information acquisition unit that acquires area identification information that identifies the area covered by the map photograph using the three or more location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit, and the determination unit is a map representation data processing device that determines navigation information that corresponds to the area identification information acquired by the area identification information acquisition unit and the area identification information that satisfies a first condition.

[0015] This configuration makes it possible to realize navigation using more appropriate map representation data.

[0016] Furthermore, the map representation data processing device of the sixth invention is a map representation data processing device in which, compared to any one of the first to fifth inventions, the determination unit cuts out a map area from a map photograph, obtains a map cut image, and uses the map cut image to search for a navigation information set that has two or more pieces of navigation information that have map representation data and two or more pieces of corresponding information that are pairs of coordinate information and location information in the map representation data, and determines the navigation information to transmit.

[0017] This configuration makes it possible to realize navigation using more appropriate map representation data.

[0018] Furthermore, the map representation data processing device of the seventh invention is a map representation data processing device in which, compared to the sixth invention, the determination unit corrects a map cut image to a rectangle, obtains a corrected map image, and uses the corrected map image to search for a navigation information set having two or more pieces of navigation information each having map representation data and two or more pieces of corresponding information which are pairs of coordinate information and location information in the map representation data, and determines the navigation information to be transmitted.

[0019] This configuration makes it possible to realize navigation using more appropriate map representation data.

[0020] Furthermore, the map representation data processing device of the eighth invention is a map representation data processing device in which, compared to any one of the first to seventh inventions, the photo receiving unit also receives terminal location information that identifies the current location of the terminal device, and the determination unit, if unable to determine navigation information that satisfies the first condition, determines navigation information that includes the terminal location information and location information that indicates a position close enough to satisfy the second condition.

[0021] With this configuration, when appropriate map representation data cannot be determined using a map photograph, appropriate map representation data to use can be determined using location information.

[0022] In addition, the map representation data processing device of the ninth invention is a map representation data processing device that, compared to any one of the first to eighth inventions, further includes a selected image sending unit that, when the determination unit determines two or more pieces of navigation information, sends to the terminal device two or more selected images, which are map representation data or thumbnail images of the map representation data contained in each of the two or more pieces of navigation information, and a selection receiving unit that receives from the terminal device a selection instruction having an image identifier that identifies the selected image, and the navigation information sending unit is a map representation data processing device that sends to the terminal device two or more pieces of corresponding information that pair with the image identifier contained in the selection instruction.

[0023] With this configuration, the user can select map representation data that suits his or her preferences.

[0024] Furthermore, the map representation data processing device of the tenth invention is a map representation data processing device according to any one of the first to seventh inventions, wherein the photo receiving unit also receives terminal location information that identifies the current location of the terminal device, and further comprises a character string obtaining unit that obtains three or more character strings from the map photo, a coordinate information obtaining unit that obtains coordinate information for each of the three or more character strings, a location information obtaining unit that obtains location information corresponding to each of the three or more character strings using a location dictionary having one or more point location information that is information that associates point information that identifies a point with location information that identifies the location of the point, and a current coordinate obtaining unit that obtains current coordinate information that identifies the coordinates corresponding to the terminal location information using three or more pieces of correspondence information that are pairs of coordinate information and location information and the terminal location information, and the navigation information transmitting unit is a map representation data processing device that transmits the current coordinate information to the terminal device instead of navigation information.

[0025] With this configuration, the current location can be displayed in the map photograph.

[0026] In addition, the terminal device of the eleventh invention is a terminal device comprising a terminal photographing unit that photographs a map photo, a terminal transmitting unit that transmits the map photo to a map representation data processing device, a terminal receiving unit that receives navigation information from the map representation data processing device, a terminal position acquiring unit that acquires current position information, a terminal coordinate acquiring unit that acquires current coordinate information corresponding to the current position information using two or more pieces of correspondence information contained in the navigation information, and a terminal output unit that outputs current location-added map representation data that clearly shows the current position at the coordinate position indicated by the current coordinate information on the map representation data contained in the navigation information.

[0027] With this configuration, navigation can be realized using map representation data acquired using a photographed map photograph.

[0028] In addition, the terminal device of the twelfth invention, compared to the eleventh invention, further includes a terminal cutting unit that cuts out a map area from a map photograph and acquires a map cut image, and the terminal transmission unit is a terminal device that transmits the map cut image to the map representation data processing device instead of the map photograph.

[0029] With this configuration, navigation can be realized using map representation data acquired using a photographed map photograph.

[0030] In addition, the terminal device of the thirteenth invention, compared to the twelfth invention, further includes a terminal correction unit that corrects the map cut image to a rectangle and acquires the corrected map image, and the terminal transmission unit is a terminal device that transmits the corrected map image to the map representation data processing device instead of the map cut image.

[0031] With this configuration, navigation can be realized using map representation data acquired using a photographed map photograph. [Effects of the Invention]

[0032] The map representation data processing device according to the present invention makes it possible to realize navigation using map representation data acquired using photographed map photographs. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0033] [Figure 1] Block diagram of learning device A according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] Block diagram of Classification Device B [Figure 3] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the learning device A. [Figure 4] A flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the classification device B [Figure 5] An explanatory diagram of a specific example of the operation of the learning device A and the classification device B. [Figure 6] FIG. 10 shows an example of the learning source information. [Figure 7] Block diagram of a map representation data processing device C according to a second embodiment. [Figure 8] A flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the map representation data processing device C. [Figure 9] A flowchart illustrating an example of the grouping process [Figure 10] Flowchart illustrating an example of the region identification process [Figure 11] Flowchart illustrating an example of a process for obtaining the same direction [Figure 12] Flowchart illustrating an example of the output process [Figure 13] FIG. 10 shows an example of the map representation data. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 shows an example of the map representation data. [Figure 15] Figure showing an example of a same-location dictionary [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the correspondence information management table. [Figure 17] Block diagram of map representation data processing device D in embodiment 3 [Figure 18] A flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the map representation data processing device D [Figure 19] Block diagram of map representation data processing device E in embodiment 4 [Figure 20] A block diagram of a processing unit E3 constituting the map representation data processing device E. [Figure 21] A flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the map representation data processing device E [Figure 22] Flowchart illustrating an example of the correspondence information acquisition process [Figure 23] Flowchart illustrating an example of a process for obtaining information on the same distance [Figure 24] Flowchart illustrating an example of angle relationship information acquisition processing [Figure 25] Flowchart illustrating an example of the region identification process [Figure 26] Flowchart illustrating an example of same direction information acquisition processing [Figure 27] Flowchart illustrating an example of a same-location addition process [Figure 28] 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the output map configuration process. [Figure 29] FIG. 10 shows a specific example of processing by the map representation data processing device E. [Figure 30] FIG. 10 shows an example of the map representation data. [Figure 31] FIG. 10 shows an example of information acquired by the map representation data processing device E during processing. [Figure 32] FIG. 10 shows an example of information acquired by the map representation data processing device E during processing. [Figure 33] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of information acquired by the map representation data processing device E during processing. [Figure 34] FIG. 10 shows an example of information acquired by the map representation data processing device E during processing. [Figure 35] FIG. 10 shows an example of information acquired by the map representation data processing device E during processing. [Figure 36] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of information acquired by the map representation data processing device E during processing. [Figure 37] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of information acquired by the map representation data processing device E during processing. [Figure 38] FIG. 10 shows an example of information acquired by the map representation data processing device E during processing. [Figure 39] FIG. 10 shows an example of information acquired by the map representation data processing device E during processing. [Figure 40] FIG. 10 is an image illustrating the processing of the map representation data processing device E. [Figure 41] FIG. 10 is an image illustrating the processing of the map representation data processing device E. [Figure 42] FIG. 10 shows an example of output from the map representation data processing device E. [Figure 43] FIG. 10 is an image illustrating the processing of the map representation data processing device E. [Figure 44] FIG. 10 is an image illustrating the processing of the map representation data processing device E. [Figure 45] FIG. 10 is an image illustrating the processing of the map representation data processing device E. [Figure 46] FIG. 10 shows an example of output of accurate map information from the map representation data processing device E. [Figure 47] Conceptual diagram of information system F in embodiment 5 [Figure 48] Block diagram of Information System F [Figure 49]Block diagram of the map representation data processing device G [Figure 50] A flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the map representation data processing device G [Figure 51] A flowchart illustrating an example of the first determination process [Figure 52] A flowchart illustrating an example of the second determination process [Figure 53] A flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the terminal device H [Figure 54] A diagram showing the navigation information management table [Figure 55] A diagram showing an example of an illustrated map of the subject being photographed. [Figure 56] A diagram showing an example of the same map photo [Figure 57] Figure showing an example of a map photo that has undergone the same preprocessing [Figure 58] FIG. 10 shows an example of the selection screen. [Figure 59] Figure showing an example of the output [Figure 60] Overview of the computer system in the above embodiment [Figure 61] Block diagram of the computer system DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0034] Hereinafter, embodiments of a map representation data processing device and the like will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that components with the same reference numerals in the embodiments perform similar operations, and therefore repeated description may be omitted.

[0035] (Embodiment 1) In this embodiment, a learning device that configures a learning device by using a machine learning technique to learn two or more pieces of learning source information each having a string of characters each having two or more characters and a label for classifying the string. Note that the label is a label related to the number of times the string appears in a location dictionary, and is one of two or more types of labels. It is also preferable that the label has one of three types of appearance frequencies: 1, 0, and 2 or more. Note that using a machine learning technique is synonymous with using a machine learning algorithm.

[0036] In this embodiment, a learning device will be described in which a character string is given to a learning module character by character (a stream of character strings is given), and learning is performed, thereby forming a learning device.

[0037] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a classification device will be described that uses a learning device configured by a learning device to provide a character string to a classification module and obtain a label corresponding to the character string. Note that the classification module may also be called a prediction module.

[0038] Fig. 1 is a block diagram of a learning device A in this embodiment, and Fig. 2 is a block diagram of a classification device B in this embodiment.

[0039] The learning device A includes a storage unit A1, a receiving unit A2, a processing unit A3, and an output unit A4. The storage unit A1 includes a learning source information storage unit A11 and a learning device storage unit A12. The processing unit A3 includes a learning unit A31. The output unit A4 includes an accumulation unit A41.

[0040] The classification device B includes a storage unit B1, a reception unit B2, a processing unit B3, and an output unit B4. The storage unit B1 includes a learning device storage unit A12. The reception unit B2 includes a character string reception unit B21. The processing unit B3 includes a classification unit B31. The output unit B4 includes a label output unit B41.

[0041] Various types of information are stored in the storage unit A1 constituting the learning device A. The various types of information include, for example, learning source information, a learning device, and a learning module, which will be described later. The learning module is a program constituting the learning unit A31 and is a program for acquiring a learning device. The learning module is, for example, a function in a machine learning framework such as fastText, tinySVM, or TensorFlow, or various random forest functions.

[0042] The learning source information storage unit A11 stores two or more pieces of learning source information. The learning source information is information to be learned. The learning source information has a character string and a label. The character string has two or more characters. The label is information regarding the number of occurrences in the location dictionary described below. The label can take on any one of two or three or more types of label information.

[0043] The label is preferably one of a first label indicating that the number of times it appears in the location dictionary is 1, a second label indicating that the number of times it appears in the location dictionary is 0, and a third label indicating that the number of times it appears in the location dictionary is 2 or more. In other words, it is preferable that the label can take on any of the three pieces of information.

[0044] A location dictionary is a dictionary related to location names. The location dictionary contains, for example, two or more pieces of correspondence information each having a location name and location information that identifies the location of the place identified by the location name. Location names include, for example, place names, landscape names, names of specific locations, prefecture names, city / town / village names, names of rivers, mountains, parks, scenic spots, etc. The location dictionary contains, for example, two or more pieces of correspondence information each having a location name and information describing the location identified by the location name.

[0045] The learning device storage unit A12 stores learning devices. The learning devices may be called classifiers. The learning devices may also be called classification models, prediction models, etc. The learning devices are information acquired by a learning module that employs a machine learning technique. The machine learning technique may be deep learning, SVM, decision trees, random forests, etc. It is preferable that the machine learning technique is a technique that uses a recurrent neural network (RNN), for example. In other words, it is preferable that the learning device is an RNN.

[0046] The reception unit A2 receives various information and instructions. Here, reception means reception of user input, reception from an external device, etc. However, it is sufficient if the reception can acquire various information and instructions. The means for inputting the various information and instructions can be anything, such as a touch panel, keyboard, mouse, or menu screen.

[0047] The processing unit A3 performs various processes, such as those performed by the learning unit A31.

[0048] The learning unit A31 performs a learning process using two or more pieces of learning source information in the learning source information storage unit A11 by machine learning techniques, and acquires a learning device.

[0049] The learning unit A31, for example, sequentially provides each character constituting a string of characters contained in each of the two or more pieces of learning source information stored in the learning source information storage unit A11 to a machine learning learning module, and also provides a label paired with the string to the learning module, executes the learning module, and acquires a learner. Note that the process of sequentially providing each character constituting a string of characters to the machine learning learning module may also be considered to be, for example, a process of providing a stream of strings to the machine learning learning module. In other words, it may also be considered that the learning unit A31 learns the stream of strings contained in each of the two or more pieces of learning source information. Furthermore, the machine learning learning module is stored, for example, in the storage unit A1.

[0050] Furthermore, examples of machine learning techniques that can be used to obtain the learner include deep learning, SVR, random forest, and decision tree. Examples of machine learning learning modules include functions in machine learning frameworks such as fastText, tinySVM, and TensorFlow, as well as various random forest functions.

[0051] The learning unit A31 acquires information for outputting a label when a character string is input to a machine learning classification module. The learning unit A31 acquires information for outputting a label when, for example, characters constituting a character string are input one by one in order.

[0052] The learning unit A31 may be considered to include a learning module or not include a learning module.

[0053] The output unit A4 outputs various types of information. Examples of such information include a learning device. Here, "output" typically refers to storage on a recording medium, but it may also be considered to include display on a display, projection using a projector, printing on a printer, sound output, transmission to an external device, and delivery of processing results to other processing devices or other programs.

[0054] The accumulation unit A41 accumulates the learning devices acquired by the learning unit A31. The accumulation unit A41 usually accumulates the learning devices acquired by the learning unit A31 in the learning device storage unit A12. However, the accumulation unit A41 may transmit the learning devices acquired by the learning unit A31 to an external device (not shown).

[0055] Various types of information are stored in a storage unit B1 that constitutes the classification device B. The various types of information include, for example, a learning device, a machine learning classification module, and map information.

[0056] The machine learning technique in the machine learning classification module may be any of deep learning, SVM, decision tree, random forest, etc. The machine learning technique is preferably a technique using a recurrent neural network, for example. The classification module is a program for classifying received character strings, and may be, for example, a function in a machine learning framework such as fastText, tinySVM, or TensorFlow, or various random forest functions.

[0057] Map information is information about a map. For example, the map information is map representation data. The map representation data is information that represents a limited geographical area. It is preferable that the map representation data be associated with a map identifier that identifies the map representation data. The map identifier may be, for example, an ID, a file name containing the map representation data, or a name of the map representation data. The map representation data may be, for example, an old map, an illustrated map, a simplified map, or a hand-drawn map, but the type is not important. The map representation data is typically image data, but may also be vector data, and the data structure is not important. The map representation data is associated with one or more attribute values. The one or more attribute values ​​are attribute values ​​of the map representation data. The attribute value is information that indicates the nature and characteristics of the map representation data. The one or more attribute values ​​associated with the map representation data include area identification information. The area identification information is information that identifies the area represented by the map representation data. The area is typically rectangular, but may also be a triangle, octagon, circle, or other shape. The area represented by the map representation data may also be referred to as the area represented by the map representation data. The area identification information is, for example, a set of (latitude, longitude). The area identification information is also, for example, a set of information indicating relative coordinates from a reference point. However, the data structure of the area identification information does not matter as long as it is information that identifies an area.

[0058] The one or more attribute values ​​associated with the map representation data are, for example, static attribute values. The one or more attribute values ​​associated with the map representation data are, for example, dynamic attribute values ​​that change dynamically. The one or more attribute values ​​may include one or more static attribute values ​​and one or more dynamic attribute values. The static attribute values ​​are, for example, the scale of the map representation data as a map (simply referred to as "scale" as appropriate), the actual area of ​​the area indicated by the map representation data on the map (simply referred to as "area" as appropriate), and content information indicating the content of the map. The content information is, for example, the completeness of the map representation data, the theme of the map representation data, metadata and keywords corresponding to the map representation data, etc. The metadata and keywords are, for example, the type of map representation data, the name of a landscape or place name existing in the area of ​​the map representation data, etc. The type of map representation data is, for example, "theme park" indicating that it is a map of a theme park, "tourist map" indicating that it is a map for tourists, information indicating that it is a map of a specific area (for example, a school), etc. The one or more static attribute values ​​may be, for example, a flag indicating that the location indicated by the location identification information is clearly indicated, or a flag indicating that the location indicated by the location identification information cannot be clearly indicated, etc. The dynamic attribute values ​​may be, for example, the distance between the location indicated by the location identification information and a point representing the map representation data, or user action information regarding a user action on the map representation data.

[0059] The point that represents the map representation data is, for example, the center of gravity of the map representation data, any point on the edge of the map representation data, or any point that constitutes the boundary of the area of ​​the map representation data.

[0060] It is preferable that the map representation data be included in a file. However, the map representation data may also be data in a database, and the data format and management method are not important. When the map representation data is included in a file, the file may contain two or more map representation data. Furthermore, one piece of map representation data may be realized by two or more files. In other words, one piece of map representation data may be divided into two or more files.

[0061] In the learning device storage unit A12 included in the classification device B, the learning devices accumulated by the learning device A are stored.

[0062] The reception unit B2 receives various information and instructions. Here, reception means, for example, reception of user input, reception from an external device, etc. However, it is sufficient if the reception can acquire various information and instructions. The means for inputting the various information and instructions can be anything, such as a touch panel, keyboard, mouse, or menu screen.

[0063] The character string receiving unit B21 receives a character string. Here, "receiving" is a concept that includes, for example, receiving information input from an input device such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel, receiving information transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line, and receiving information read from a recording medium such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory.

[0064] The character string receiving unit B21 performs character recognition processing on, for example, map information, and acquires one or more character strings.

[0065] The processing unit B3 performs various processes, such as those performed by the classification unit B31.

[0066] The classification unit B31 uses the character string received by the reception unit B2 and the learning device in the learning device storage unit A12 to obtain a label corresponding to the character string by a machine learning technique.

[0067] The classification unit B31, for example, provides each of the two or more characters that make up the string accepted by the acceptance unit B2 in order for each character to a machine learning classification module, and also provides the learning device in the learning device storage unit A12 to the classification module, executes the classification module, and obtains a label.

[0068] The classification unit B31 may be considered to include a classification module or not include a classification module.

[0069] The output unit B4 outputs various information, such as the labels acquired by the classification unit B31.

[0070] The label output unit B41 outputs the labels acquired by the classification unit B31. Here, output may be considered to be a concept that includes storing in a recording medium, displaying on a display, projecting using a projector, printing on a printer, outputting as sound, transmitting to an external device, and handing over the processing results to another processing device or another program, etc.

[0071] The storage unit A1, learning source information storage unit A11, learning unit storage unit A12, storage unit B1, and learning unit storage unit A12 are preferably non-volatile recording media, but can also be realized as volatile recording media.

[0072] There is no restriction on the process by which information is stored in the storage unit A1 etc. For example, information may be stored in the storage unit A1 etc. via a recording medium, information transmitted via a communication line etc. may be stored in the storage unit A1 etc., or information input via an input device may be stored in the storage unit A1 etc.

[0073] Receiving unit A2, receiving unit B2, and character string receiving unit B21 can be realized by a device driver for an input means such as a touch panel or a keyboard, or control software for a menu screen.

[0074] The processing unit A3, learning unit A31, storage unit A41, processing unit B3, and classification unit B31 can usually be realized by an MPU, memory, etc. The processing procedures of the processing unit A3, etc. are usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, they may also be realized by hardware (dedicated circuitry).

[0075] The output unit A4, the output unit B4, and the label output unit B41 may or may not include output devices such as a display, a speaker, etc. The output unit A4, etc. may be realized by driver software for an output device, or by a combination of driver software for an output device and an output device, etc.

[0076] Next, an example of the operation of the learning device A will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0077] (Step S301) The learning unit A31 assigns 1 to a counter i.

[0078] (Step S302) The learning unit A31 determines whether the i-th learning source information exists in the learning source information storage unit A11. If the i-th learning source information exists, the process proceeds to step S303, and if the i-th learning source information does not exist, the process proceeds to step S312.

[0079] (Step S303) The learning unit A31 acquires the i-th learning source information from the learning source information storage unit A11.

[0080] (Step S304) The learning unit A31 assigns 1 to the counter j.

[0081] (Step S305) The learning unit A31 determines whether the jth character exists in the character string contained in the i-th learning source information acquired in step S303. If the jth character exists, the process proceeds to step S306, and if the jth character does not exist, the process proceeds to step S309.

[0082] (Step S306) The learning unit A31 acquires the j-th character in the character string included in the i-th learning source information acquired in step S303.

[0083] (Step S307) The learning unit A31 provides the j-th character acquired in step S306 to the learning module in the storage unit A1. Note that the process of providing a character to the learning module is broadly interpreted as, for example, providing the character as an argument to the learning module, which is a function or method, or providing the character to the learning module, which is an execution module, so that the learning module can perform learning processing using the character.

[0084] (Step S308) The learning unit A31 increments the counter j by 1. The process returns to step S305.

[0085] (Step S309) The learning unit A31 acquires the label included in the i-th learning source information acquired in step S303.

[0086] (Step S310) The learning unit A31 provides the label acquired in step S309 to the learning module in the storage unit A1. Note that the process of providing a label to a learning module is broadly interpreted as, for example, providing the label as an argument to the learning module, which is a function or method, or providing the label to the learning module, which is an execution module, so that the learning module can perform learning processing using the label.

[0087] (Step S311) The learning unit A31 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S302.

[0088] (Step S312) The learning unit A31 executes the learning module given the character stream and the label, and obtains a learning device.

[0089] (Step S313) The accumulation unit A41 accumulates the learning device acquired in step S312 in the learning device storage unit A12, and then ends the process.

[0090] Next, an example of the operation of the classification device B will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0091] (Step S401) The character string receiving unit B21 determines whether or not a character string has been received. If a character string has been received, the process proceeds to step S402, and if a character string has not been received, the process returns to step S401.

[0092] (Step S402) The classification unit B31 assigns 1 to the counter i.

[0093] (Step S403) The classification unit B31 determines whether the i-th character exists in the character string accepted in step S401. If the i-th character exists, the process proceeds to step S404, and if the i-th character does not exist, the process proceeds to step S407.

[0094] (Step S404) The classification unit B31 acquires the i-th character in the character string accepted in step S401.

[0095] (Step S405) Classification unit B31 provides the i-th character acquired in step S404 to the classification module in storage unit B1. Note that the process of providing a character to a classification module is broadly interpreted as, for example, providing the character as an argument to a classification module that is a function or method, or providing the character to a classification module that is an execution module, and as enabling the classification module to perform classification processing using the character.

[0096] (Step S406) The classification unit B31 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S403.

[0097] (Step S407) The classification unit B31 provides the learning unit in the learning unit storage unit A12 to the classification module in storage unit B1. Note that the process of providing a learning unit to a classification module is broadly interpreted as meaning, for example, providing the learning unit as an argument of the classification module which is a function or method, providing the learning unit to the classification module which is an execution module, providing link information to the learning unit as an argument of the classification module which is a function or method, providing link information to the learning unit to the classification module which is an execution module, etc., and means enabling the classification module to perform classification processing using the learning unit.

[0098] (Step S408) The classification unit B31 executes the classification module and obtains the label.

[0099] (Step S409) The label output unit B41 outputs the label acquired in step S408. The process returns to step S401.

[0100] In the flowchart of FIG. 4, the process ends when the power is turned off or an interrupt occurs to end the process.

[0101] A specific example of the operation of the learning device A and the classification device B in this embodiment will be described below with reference to Fig. 5. The processing of the learning device A is a learning phase 501. The processing of the classification device B is a classification phase 502.

[0102] Assume now that a large number of pieces of learning source information having the structure shown in Fig. 6 are stored in the learning source information storage unit A11 of the learning device A. In Fig. 6, the learning source information has a character string and a label. The label is either a first label (value "1") indicating that the number of times the word appears in the location dictionary is 1, a second label (value "0") indicating that the number of times the word appears in the location dictionary is 0, or a third label (value "2") indicating that the number of times the word appears in the location dictionary is 2 or more.

[0103] Then, in a learning phase 501, the learning device A provides a learning module in the storage unit A1 with a large amount of learning source information, including the learning source information shown in FIG. 6, to construct a learning device. Here, in the learning phase 501, the learning unit A31 provides the characters constituting the string of characters contained in the learning source information to the learning module, one character at a time in order. The learning unit A31 also provides the labels contained in the learning source information to the learning module. Then, the learning unit A31 executes the learning module and acquires a learning device. Then, the accumulation unit A41 accumulates the learning device 504 in the learning device storage unit A12. Here, the learning module is, for example, 503, which is, for example, a module using Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) of a recurrent neural network.

[0104] Next, in classification phase 502, the character string receiving unit B21 of the classification device B performs character recognition processing on the map information in the storage unit B1, for example, to acquire one or more character strings. Note that the processing of performing character recognition processing on map information, which is an image, to acquire one or more character strings is a well-known technique, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0105] The classification unit B31 then sequentially supplies the characters constituting the string to a classification module for each of one or more strings, and supplies the learning device 504 to the classification module, executes the classification module, and obtains scores corresponding to the first label, second label, and third label for each string (505). Next, the classification unit B31 obtains the label with the highest score. Next, the label output unit B41 outputs the label with the highest score in association with the string (506).

[0106] As described above, according to this embodiment, a learning device for appropriately classifying information relating to place names can be obtained.

[0107] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, information relating to place names can be appropriately classified.

[0108] The processing in this embodiment may be implemented by software. This software may be distributed by software download, etc. Furthermore, this software may be recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed. This also applies to other embodiments in this specification. The software implementing the learning device A in this embodiment is the following program. Specifically, this program causes a computer that can access a learning source information storage unit that stores two or more pieces of learning source information, each of which has a string of characters including two or more characters and a label related to the number of times the character appears in a location dictionary, to function as a learning unit that acquires a learning device and a storage unit that stores the learning device, the program providing each character constituting the string of characters included in each of the two or more pieces of learning source information stored in the learning source information storage unit in order for each character to be provided to a machine learning learning module, and providing the learning module with a label paired with the string, executing the learning module, and functioning as a learning unit that acquires a learning device and a storage unit that stores the learning device.

[0109] Furthermore, the software that realizes the classification device B in this embodiment is the following program. That is, this program causes a computer that can access a learning device storage unit in which learning devices accumulated by learning device A are stored to function as a character string receiving unit that receives a character string, a classification unit that sequentially provides each of two or more characters that make up the character string to a machine learning classification module for each character and also provides the learning device to the classification module, executes the classification module, and acquires labels, and a label output unit that outputs the labels.

[0110] (Embodiment 2) In this embodiment, we will describe a map representation data processing device that acquires one or more character strings from map representation data, acquires location information (latitude, longitude) paired with each of the one or more character strings, acquires coordinate information on the map representation data for each of the one or more character strings, and stores the coordinate information and location information for each of the one or more character strings in association with each other.

[0111] In this embodiment, a map representation data processing device is described that determines an appropriate character string from one or more character strings acquired from map representation data, and stores the appropriate character string in association with coordinate information and location information corresponding only to the appropriate character string. Note that it is preferable to use the learning device acquired by the learning device A described in embodiment 1 for the process of determining the appropriate character string. Furthermore, it is preferable to use the classification process in the classification device B described in embodiment 1 for the process of determining the appropriate character string.

[0112] In this embodiment, a map information generating device is described that acquires one or more geometric feature points such as intersections from map representation data, acquires position information paired with each of the one or more geometric feature points, acquires coordinate information corresponding to each of the one or more geometric feature points, and stores the coordinate information and position information of each of the one or more geometric feature points in association with each other. Preferably, the geometric feature points are one or more of intersections and bridges.

[0113] In addition, in this embodiment, we will describe a map representation data processing device that acquires two or more character strings from map representation data, acquires a set of location information that is close enough to each of the two or more character strings to satisfy a predetermined condition, and stores the coordinate information and location information corresponding to only the character strings that correspond to the acquired set of location information.

[0114] In this embodiment, a map representation data processing device is described that determines an area in the accurate map information that corresponds to an area in the map representation data. In this case, it is preferable to determine the area in the accurate map information by taking into consideration an outer area in the map representation data where no character strings exist.

[0115] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a map representation data processing device that acquires direction information of map representation data will be described.

[0116] 7 is a block diagram of the map representation data processing device C according to this embodiment. The map representation data processing device C includes a storage unit C1, a receiving unit C2, a processing unit C3, and an output unit C4.

[0117] The storage unit C1 includes a location dictionary storage unit C11, a map representation data storage unit C12, an accurate map information storage unit C13, a learning unit A12, and a correspondence information storage unit C14. The reception unit C2 includes a map representation data reception unit C21. The processing unit C3 includes a character string acquisition unit C31, a classification unit C32, a grouping unit C33, a characteristic location detection unit C34, a coordinate information acquisition unit C35, a position information acquisition unit C36, an area identification information acquisition unit C37, and a direction information acquisition unit C38. The area identification information acquisition unit C37 includes, for example, first area identification information acquisition means C371, an outer character string determination means C372, a size information acquisition means C373, a distance information acquisition means C374, and a second area identification information acquisition means C375. The output unit C4 includes a correspondence output unit C41, an accurate map information output unit C42, and a direction information output unit C43.

[0118] The storage unit C1 stores various types of information. The various types of information include, for example, a location dictionary (described later), map representation data (described later), accurate map information (described later), a learning device, correspondence information (described later), and a classification module. Note that the storage unit C1 does not necessarily have to include the location dictionary storage unit C11. The location dictionary storage unit C11 may be present in an external device (not shown).

[0119] The location dictionary storage unit C11 stores a location dictionary. The location dictionary has one or more items of location location information. The location location information is information that associates location information that identifies a location with location information that identifies the location of the location. The location location information is, for example, information that has location information and location information. The location location information is, for example, information that has a pointer to the location information and a pointer to the location information. However, the data structure of the location location information is not important.

[0120] The location information may be, for example, a location name or an ID that identifies the location. The location name may be, for example, a place name, a landscape name, a specific location name, a prefecture name, a city, town, village name, a river name, a mountain name, a park name, a scenic spot name, an intersection name, etc. The location information may be, for example, (latitude, longitude), but may be in other data formats. The ID that identifies the location is usually associated with the location name.

[0121] The map representation data storage unit C12 stores one or more map representation data. The map representation data is data that represents a map. The map representation data is information that represents a limited geographical area. The map representation data is not accurate map information, which will be described later. The map representation data is, for example, data that lacks accuracy as a map. The map representation data may be, for example, an old map, an illustrated map, a simplified map, a hand-drawn map, etc., but the type is not important. It is preferable that the map representation data is associated with a map identifier that identifies the map representation data. The map identifier may be, for example, an ID, a file name containing the map representation data, or the name of the map representation data.

[0122] Map representation data is usually image data, but may be vector data or the like, and the data structure is not important. Map representation data may include character strings of location information. Furthermore, when the map representation data is image data or vector data, it is usually data that expresses location information. Furthermore, it is preferable that the map representation data be included in a file. The map representation data may be a file. However, the map representation data may also be data in a database, and the data format and management method are not important. When the map representation data is included in a file, the file may contain two or more map representation data. Furthermore, one map representation data may be realized by two or more files. In other words, one map representation data may be divided into two or more files. Furthermore, it goes without saying that the map representation data may be a single file.

[0123] The accurate map information storage unit C13 stores accurate map information. The accurate map information is accurate electronic map information. The type of map indicated by the accurate map information and the data format of the map information are not important. The types of maps include, for example, topographical maps, topographical maps, geological maps, land use maps, residential maps, route maps, road maps, guide maps, aerial photographs, satellite photographs, etc. The data format of the accurate map information is, for example, raster data, vector data, KIWI format, etc.

[0124] The learning device storage unit A12 stores one or more learning devices. The learning device in the learning device storage unit A12 is preferably a learning device acquired by the learning device A. In such a case, as described above, the learning device is information acquired by providing two or more pieces of learning source information, each of which has a character string having two or more characters and a label relating to the number of times the character string appears in a location dictionary and is one of two or more types of labels, to a machine learning learning module and executing the learning module. However, the learning device may not be a learning device acquired by the learning device A, but may be a learning device obtained by learning one or more positive examples that are place name information and one or more negative examples that are not place name information using a machine learning technique.

[0125] The correspondence information storage unit C14 stores one or more pieces of correspondence information. The correspondence information is information indicating the correspondence between coordinate information and position information. The correspondence information may be a set of coordinate information and position information. The correspondence information may also be a set of a pointer to the coordinate information and a pointer to the position information. The correspondence information may be associated with place name information or may include place name information. The data structure of the correspondence information is not important. It is preferable that the correspondence information is associated with a map representation data identifier that identifies the map representation data.

[0126] The reception unit C2 receives various information and instructions. The various information and instructions are, for example, map representation data, an operation start instruction, and an output instruction. The operation start instruction is an instruction to start the operation of the map representation data processing device C to obtain corresponding information. The output instruction is an instruction to output map representation data, etc. The output instruction has, for example, a map representation data identifier that identifies the map representation data.

[0127] Here, "reception" refers to the reception of user input, reception from an external device (for example, a terminal device not shown), etc. However, it is sufficient if various information and instructions can be acquired by reception. The means for inputting various information and instructions can be anything, such as a touch panel, keyboard, mouse, or menu screen.

[0128] The map representation data receiving unit C21 receives map representation data. Here, "receiving" is a concept that includes receiving information input from an input device such as a keyboard, mouse, or touch panel, receiving information transmitted via a wired or wireless communication line, and receiving information read from a recording medium such as an optical disk, a magnetic disk, or a semiconductor memory. In other words, the map representation data receiving unit C21 may read map representation data from the map representation data storage unit C12.

[0129] The processing unit C3 performs various processes, such as those performed by a character string acquisition unit C31, a classification unit C32, a grouping unit C33, a characteristic part detection unit C34, a coordinate information acquisition unit C35, a position information acquisition unit C36, an area identification information acquisition unit C37, a direction information acquisition unit C38, a first area identification information acquisition unit C371, an outer character string determination unit C372, a size information acquisition unit C373, a distance information acquisition unit C374, and a second area identification information acquisition unit C375.

[0130] The character string acquisition unit C31 acquires one or more character strings from the map representation data accepted by the map representation data acceptance unit C21. The character string acquisition unit C31 preferably acquires three or more character strings from the map representation data. For example, the character string acquisition unit C31 acquires one or more character strings from the map representation data by character recognition processing. Note that character recognition processing is a well-known technique, and therefore detailed description thereof will be omitted. Furthermore, the character string acquisition unit C31 acquires, for example, one or more character strings included in the map representation data.

[0131] The classification unit C32 determines whether or not each of the one or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 is a character string that identifies a location.

[0132] The classification unit C32 determines whether or not each of the one or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 is a character string that identifies a location to be registered. The character string that identifies a location to be registered is, for example, location information or unique location information.

[0133] The classification unit C32 performs a classification process to determine whether each of the two or more character strings is location information or non-location information using a machine learning technique, for example, using one or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 and a learning device.

[0134] The classification unit C32 performs a learning process using machine learning techniques, for example, with one or more character strings that are each location information as positive examples and one or more character strings that are each non-location information as negative examples, and uses the acquired learning device to perform a process of determining whether each of the one or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 is location information or non-location information.

[0135] As described above, the machine learning technique may be any of deep learning, SVM, decision tree, random forest, etc. Furthermore, the learning module that performs the learning process and configures the learner is, for example, a function in a machine learning framework such as fastText, tinySVM, or TensorFlow, or various random forest functions, etc. Furthermore, the classification module that performs the process determined by the classification unit C32 is, for example, a function in a machine learning framework such as fastText, tinySVM, or TensorFlow, or various random forest functions, etc.

[0136] It is preferable that the classification unit C32 acquires a label corresponding to each of the one or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 by the same process as the classification unit B31. In this case, the classification unit C32 provides each of the two or more characters constituting the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 to a machine learning classification module in order for each character, and also provides a learner in the learner storage unit A12 to the classification module, executes the classification module, and acquires a label.

[0137] Then, it is preferable that the classification unit C32 determines, for example, only the character string corresponding to the first label as a character string that identifies a location. Alternatively, the classification unit C32 may determine, for example, the character strings that correspond to the first label and the third label as character strings that identify a location.

[0138] The grouping unit C33 determines two or more pieces of location information that indicate positions that are close enough to satisfy a predetermined condition from among the three or more pieces of location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit C36. That is, the grouping unit C33 performs processing to remove the location information of points that are unlikely to be located in the map representation data. Note that the one or more pieces of location information of points that are unlikely to be located in the map representation data are information that indicate positions that are far enough from the other pieces of location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit C36 to satisfy a predetermined condition.

[0139] The processing of the grouping unit C33 is, for example, one of the following two processes. (1) Processing using representative location information

[0140] The grouping unit C33 determines, for example, representative position information that is position information that represents three or more pieces of position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36. The representative position information is usually position information that indicates the center of the three or more pieces of position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36.

[0141] Next, the grouping unit C33 calculates the distance between each piece of position information other than the representative position information and the representative position information, and acquires the position information other than the representative position information that is close enough to satisfy a predetermined condition. The one or more pieces of position information and the representative position information are the position information determined by the grouping unit C33. Note that the position information not acquired here is the excluded position information.

[0142] Examples of the method for acquiring the representative location information are (1-1), (1-2), (1-3), and (1-4) below. (1-1) The grouping unit C33, for example, calculates the distance between three or more combinations of two of the three or more pieces of location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit C36, and acquires two representative location information that is the shortest set of two pieces of location information that corresponds to the shortest distance among the distances of the three or more combinations. (1-2) The grouping unit C33 acquires one of the shortest pairs acquired in (1-1) above as representative location information. (1-3) The grouping unit C33 may acquire, as representative position information, the center of gravity of an area including three or more pieces of position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36. (1-4) The grouping unit C33 may acquire, as representative position information, position information of a position closest to the center point of an area including three or more pieces of position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36.

[0143] The algorithm for acquiring the representative position information is not limited to the above (1-1) to (1-4). (2) Clustering process

[0144] The grouping unit C33 performs a clustering process on the location information, for example, using three or more pieces of location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit C36. Then, the grouping unit C33 acquires two or more pieces of location information acquired by the clustering process. Note that the clustering process is a well-known technique, so a detailed description will be omitted.

[0145] Note that the correspondence information corresponding to the position information determined by the grouping unit C33 is accumulated. Also, the correspondence information corresponding to the position information is, for example, correspondence information including the position information or correspondence information including a pointer to the position information.

[0146] The characteristic place detection unit C34 detects characteristic places, which are places where a predetermined characteristic design is displayed, from the map representation data. The characteristic place detection unit C34 detects characteristic places, which are places where a predetermined characteristic design is displayed, from the map representation data, for example, by using image recognition technology. It is preferable that the characteristic design is one or more types of design of an intersection or a bridge.

[0147] For example, characteristic patterns such as intersections or bridges are stored in storage unit C1, and characteristic location detection unit C34 cuts out an area from the map representation data that matches the size of the characteristic pattern, for example by shifting the starting pixel in the map representation data, calculates the similarity between the cut-out area and the characteristic pattern in storage unit C1, and detects areas where the similarity is above a threshold as characteristic locations.

[0148] The characteristic part detection unit C34 performs object recognition processing of characteristic patterns on the map representation data, for example, to detect characteristic parts. Note that the object recognition processing is a well-known technique, and therefore a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0149] The coordinate information acquisition unit C35 acquires coordinate information (usually (x, y)) that is information specifying a coordinate position corresponding to the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 and that is information specifying a relative coordinate position in the map representation data. The coordinate position corresponding to the character string is the coordinate of a point that represents the area of ​​the character string in the map representation data, and is the representative point of the character string. The representative point is the center point of the area of ​​the character string in the map representation data, the top left point of the area of ​​the character string in the map representation data, the bottom right point of the area of ​​the character string in the map representation data, etc. In other words, the coordinate position corresponding to the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 may be the coordinate position of the center point of the area in which the character string is arranged, or the coordinate position of the upper left corner of the area in which the character string is arranged, or the coordinate position of the lower right corner of the area in which the character string is arranged, etc.

[0150] The coordinate information acquisition unit C35 may acquire coordinate information that identifies the coordinate position corresponding to the character string that corresponds to the position information determined by the grouping unit C33, among the character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31. In this case, too, it can be said that the coordinate information acquisition unit C35 acquires coordinate information that identifies the coordinate position corresponding to the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31.

[0151] The coordinate information acquisition unit C35 acquires coordinate information corresponding to the characteristic pattern, and acquires information on the coordinates of the representative point of the area of ​​the characteristic pattern detected by the characteristic part detection unit C34.

[0152] The coordinate information acquisition unit C35 acquires, as a characteristic location, for example, the coordinate position of the center of gravity of a characteristic pattern area detected by the characteristic location detection unit C34. Furthermore, the coordinate information acquisition unit C35 acquires, as a characteristic location, for example, the coordinate position of the upper left point of a characteristic pattern area in the map representation data. Furthermore, the coordinate information acquisition unit C35 acquires, as a characteristic location, for example, the coordinate position of the lower right point of a characteristic pattern area in the map representation data.

[0153] The location information acquisition unit C36 uses a location dictionary to acquire location information corresponding to the location information, which is a character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31. The location information acquisition unit C36 acquires, from the location dictionary, location information that pairs with the location information, which is a character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31. Note that acquiring location information using a location dictionary usually means acquiring location information from the location dictionary.

[0154] The location information acquisition unit C36 acquires location information corresponding to location information, which is, for example, a character string corresponding to a characteristic pattern, from the location dictionary. The character string corresponding to the characteristic pattern is, for example, a character string located closest to the characteristic pattern. The character string corresponding to the characteristic pattern is, for example, a character string (e.g., "ABC") that is located closest to the characteristic pattern and a character string (e.g., "ABC intersection") that combines the character string (e.g., "ABC") located closest to the characteristic pattern and the name of the characteristic pattern (e.g., "intersection"). In other words, the location information acquisition unit C36 acquires the character string (e.g., "ABC") located closest to the characteristic pattern on the map representation data, reads the name of the characteristic pattern (e.g., "intersection") from the storage unit C1, combines the two character strings to acquire a character string (e.g., "ABC intersection"), and acquires location information paired with the character string (e.g., "ABC intersection") from the location dictionary storage unit C11. The location information acquisition unit C36 may acquire location information from the location dictionary storage unit C11 located in an external device (not shown).

[0155] The location information acquisition unit C36, for example, reads a character string corresponding to the characteristic pattern (e.g., "intersection") from the storage unit C1, acquires a character string that includes the character string and is located closest to the characteristic pattern, and acquires location information corresponding to the character string from the location dictionary storage unit C11.

[0156] The area specifying information acquisition unit C37 acquires area specifying information that specifies an area in the accurate map information, which is an area that includes the positions indicated by the two or more pieces of position information determined by the grouping unit C33.

[0157] The area specifying information acquisition unit C37 may acquire area specifying information that specifies an area in the accurate map information, which is an area including positions indicated by two or more pieces of position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36.

[0158] The area identification information acquisition unit C37 acquires area identification information, for example, by processing a first area identification information acquisition means C371, an outer character string determination means C372, a size information acquisition means C373, a distance information acquisition means C374, and a second area identification information acquisition means C375.

[0159] The first area identification information acquisition means C371 acquires first area identification information that identifies a first area, which is an area in accurate map information and includes positions indicated by two or more pieces of position information determined by the grouping unit C33. The first area identification information is, for example, position information of two points that identify a rectangle. However, the area identified by the first area identification information does not have to be rectangular, and may be a polygon, a circle, or the like.

[0160] It is preferable that the first area specification information acquisition means C371 acquires first area specification information that specifies a first area that is a rectangular area that includes all of the positions indicated by the two or more pieces of position information determined by the grouping unit C33.

[0161] The first area identification information acquisition means C371 is a rectangular area that includes all of the positions indicated by two or more pieces of position information determined by the grouping unit C33, and it is preferable to acquire first area identification information that identifies the first area with the smallest area.

[0162] The outer character string determination means C372 determines character strings corresponding to one or more pieces of outermost position information among the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36. It is preferable that the outer character string determination means C372 determines character strings corresponding to the four pieces of outermost position information in four directions (top, bottom, left, right on the map representation data). The position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36 does not have to be all of the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36. The position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36 may also be position information determined by the grouping unit C33.

[0163] The size information acquisition means C373 acquires size information that specifies the size of the map representation data outside the one or more character strings determined by the outer character string determination means C372, up to the corners of the map representation data. The size information is, for example, the number of pixels. The size information is, for example, the size on the coordinate system.

[0164] The distance information acquisition means C374 uses two or more pairs of coordinate information acquired by the coordinate information acquisition unit C35 and position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36 to acquire distance information that specifies the distance corresponding to the size information acquired by the size information acquisition means C373. The distance information is information that specifies the actual distance, the distance in the real world (information in units of m, km, etc.).

[0165] The distance information acquisition means C374 acquires unit information (e.g., m / pixel) that is information on the distance (e.g., information on the unit of m) in a unit amount of coordinate information (e.g., 1 pixel) using, for example, two or more pairs of coordinate information (e.g., (x1, y1), (x2, y2)) acquired by the coordinate information acquisition unit C35 and position information (e.g., (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2)) acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36. That is, for example, the distance information acquisition means C374 calculates the number of pixels A between (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) and the distance B between (X1, Y1) and (X2, Y2), and acquires the unit information using the arithmetic formula "unit information = distance B / number of pixels A." Then, the distance information acquisition means C374 multiplies the size information (e.g., number of pixels) acquired by the size information acquisition means C373 by the unit information (e.g., distance per pixel) to acquire distance information. It is preferable that the distance information acquisition means C374 acquires distance information in four directions, for example.

[0166] The second area identification information acquisition means C375 uses the distance information acquired by the distance information acquisition means C374 to acquire second area identification information that identifies a second area that is an area obtained by expanding the first area identified by the first area identification information. The second area identification information acquisition means C375 acquires, for example, second area identification information that identifies a second area that is an area obtained by expanding the first area identification information in each direction by the amount of distance information in each of the four directions. The second area identification information is, for example, position information of two points that identify a rectangle. However, the area identified by the first area identification information does not have to be rectangular and may be a polygon, a circle, or the like.

[0167] The direction information acquisition unit C38 acquires direction information related to the direction of the map representation data using the area identification information or the second area identification information. When the area identification information or the second area identification information is rectangular, it is preferable that the direction information acquisition unit C38 acquires direction information that is the angle between the rectangular shape that is the area identification information or the second area identification information and a reference direction (for example, true north). The direction information is, for example, an angle relative to true north (information between 0 degrees and 360 degrees, or information between 180 degrees and 180 degrees). Note that the direction information is, for example, information (for example, a vector) that specifies the direction of true north in the map representation data, or information indicating the direction directly above the center of the map representation data. The information indicating the direction directly above the center of the map representation data is, for example, an angle, and is, for example, "0 degrees" if the direction directly above the center is due north, and "-90 degrees" or "270 degrees" if the direction directly above the center is due east.

[0168] The direction information acquisition unit C38, for example, acquires a pair from the position information of two or more points acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36, and calculates a first angle, which is the angle of the two points relative to a reference direction (e.g., north), from the two pieces of position information of the pair. Then, the direction information acquisition unit C38 acquires, for example, coordinate information of the pair acquired by the coordinate information acquisition unit C35. Next, the direction information acquisition unit C38 calculates a second angle, which is an angle in the map representation data, from the two pieces of coordinate information. Next, the direction information acquisition unit C38 acquires direction information related to the direction in the map representation data using the first angle and the second angle. If the first angle is "0 degrees" (the two points are due north and due south) and the second angle is "90 degrees" (the y-axis values ​​of the coordinate information of the two points are the same), the direction information acquisition unit C38 acquires direction information of "90 degrees".

[0169] For example, if the positional relationship indicated by the position information of the pair of point 1 and point 2 indicates true north, the first angle between point 1 and point 2 is calculated to be 0 degrees. Then, the direction information acquisition unit C38 acquires, for example, the coordinate information of the pair acquired by the coordinate information acquisition unit C35. Next, the direction information acquisition unit C38 acquires direction information (for example, a vector from point 1 to point 2) indicating the direction of true north in the map representation data from the two pieces of coordinate information.

[0170] It is preferable that the direction information acquisition unit C38 acquires two or more pairs from the position information of three or more locations, performs the same process as above for each of the two or more pairs, acquires two or more pieces of direction information, and calculates a representative value (e.g., average or median) of the two or more pieces of direction information. The output unit C4 outputs various types of information. The various types of information include, for example, correspondence information, map representation data, accurate map information, and direction information.

[0171] The correspondence output unit C41 outputs the coordinate information acquired by the coordinate information acquisition unit C35 and the position information acquired by the position information acquisition unit C36 in association with each other. Outputting the coordinate information and the position information in association with each other may also mean outputting correspondence information having the coordinate information and the position information. Here, "output" typically refers to storage in a recording medium (e.g., the correspondence information storage unit C14), but may also be considered to include display on a display, projection using a projector, printing on a printer, sound output, transmission to an external device, delivery of processing results to another processing device, another program, etc. It is preferable that the correspondence output unit C41 also outputs point information that corresponds the coordinate information and the position information in association with the coordinate information and the position information.

[0172] The correspondence output unit C41 outputs the coordinate information and the position information corresponding to the character string that the classification unit C32 has determined to be a character string that identifies a location, in association with each other.

[0173] The correspondence output unit C41 outputs the coordinate information and the position information corresponding to the character string classified into the location information by the classification unit C32 in association with each other.

[0174] The correspondence output unit C41 outputs the two or more pieces of position information determined by the grouping unit C33 and the two or more pieces of coordinate information acquired by the coordinate information acquisition unit C35 in association with each other.

[0175] The accurate map information output unit C42 outputs accurate map information in a manner that makes it possible to identify the area identified by the area identification information. Here, output may be considered to be a concept that includes display on a display, projection using a projector, storage on a recording medium, printing on a printer, sound output, transmission to an external device, and delivery of processing results to another processing device or another program. Note that examples of a manner in which the area identified by the area identification information can be identified include surrounding the area identified by the area identification information with a frame, or changing the background color of the area identified by the area identification information from other areas, but the manner is not critical.

[0176] It is preferable that the accurate map information output unit C42 outputs accurate map information in a manner that makes it possible to identify the areas specified by the two-area specifying information, for example.

[0177] The direction information output unit C43 outputs the direction information acquired by the direction information acquisition unit C38. The direction information may be output in any manner. Here, output may be considered to be a concept that includes display on a display, projection using a projector, storage on a recording medium, printing on a printer, sound output, transmission to an external device, and delivery of processing results to another processing device or another program.

[0178] The storage unit C1, the location dictionary storage unit C11, the map representation data storage unit C12, the accurate map information storage unit C13, the learning unit storage unit A12, and the correspondence information storage unit C14 are preferably non-volatile recording media, but can also be realized as volatile recording media.

[0179] There is no restriction on the process by which information is stored in the storage unit C1 etc. For example, information may be stored in the storage unit C1 etc. via a recording medium, information transmitted via a communication line etc. may be stored in the storage unit C1 etc., or information input via an input device may be stored in the storage unit C1 etc.

[0180] The receiving unit C2 and the map representation data receiving unit C21 can be realized by a device driver for an input means such as a touch panel or a keyboard, or control software for a menu screen.

[0181] The processing unit C3, character string acquisition unit C31, classification unit C32, grouping unit C33, characteristic part detection unit C34, coordinate information acquisition unit C35, position information acquisition unit C36, area identification information acquisition unit C37, direction information acquisition unit C38, first area identification information acquisition means C371, outer character string determination means C372, size information acquisition means C373, distance information acquisition means C374, and second area identification information acquisition means C375 can usually be realized by an MPU, memory, etc. The processing procedures of the processing unit C3, etc. are usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, they may also be realized by hardware (dedicated circuitry).

[0182] The output unit C4, the corresponding output unit C41, the accurate map information output unit C42, and the direction information output unit C43 may or may not include output devices such as a display, a speaker, etc. The output unit C4 may be realized by driver software for an output device, or by a combination of driver software for an output device and the output device, etc.

[0183] Next, an example of the operation of the map representation data processing device C will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0184] (Step S801) The reception unit C2 determines whether or not an operation start instruction has been received. If an operation start instruction has been received, the process proceeds to step S802, and if an operation start instruction has not been received, the process proceeds to step S821.

[0185] (Step S802) The processing unit C3 assigns 1 to the counter i.

[0186] (Step S803) The processing unit C3 determines whether or not the i-th map representation data exists in the map representation data storage unit C12. If the i-th map representation data exists, the processing unit C3 proceeds to step S804, and if not, the processing unit C3 returns to step S801.

[0187] (Step S804) The map representation data receiving unit C21 acquires the i-th map representation data from the map representation data storage unit C12.

[0188] (Step S805) The character string acquisition unit C31 acquires one or more character strings appearing on the i-th map representation data acquired in step S804. The character string acquisition unit C31 acquires one or more character strings appearing on the i-th map representation data, for example, by character recognition processing.

[0189] (Step S806) The classification unit C32 assigns 1 to the counter j.

[0190] (Step S807) The classification unit C32 determines whether or not the jth character string exists among the character strings acquired in step S805. If the jth character string exists, the process proceeds to step S808, and if the jth character string does not exist, the process proceeds to step S813.

[0191] (Step S808) The classification unit C32 performs classification processing on the j-th character string and acquires a label. The classification processing is, for example, the processing of the above-mentioned classification device B, for example, the processing of steps S402 to S409 in FIG. 4.

[0192] (Step S809) The coordinate information acquisition unit C35 determines whether the j-th character string is location information that should be registered. If it is location information that should be registered, the process proceeds to step S810, and if it is not location information that should be registered, the process proceeds to step S812.

[0193] The location information to be registered is, for example, a label acquired in step S808 that indicates that the character string is a character string to be registered. Also, the label that indicates that the character string is a character string to be registered is, for example, a first label.

[0194] (Step S810) The coordinate information acquisition unit C35 acquires coordinate information of a representative point of the area above the ith map representation data, which is the area where the jth character string is located. The representative point may be the center of gravity of the area, a point in the upper left, a point in the lower right, etc. Furthermore, information on the area where the character string is located can be acquired when acquiring the character string from the map representation data.

[0195] (Step S811) The location information acquisition unit C36 acquires location information paired with the location information, which is the j-th character string, from the location dictionary storage unit C11. Then, the correspondence output unit C41 pairs the location information with the coordinate information acquired in step S810 and stores the paired location information at least temporarily in a buffer (not shown).

[0196] (Step S812) The classification unit C32 increments the counter j by 1. The process returns to step S807.

[0197] (Step S813) The grouping unit C33 performs grouping processing on the two or more pieces of location information accumulated in step S811. An example of the grouping processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0198] (Step S814) The correspondence output unit C41 assigns 1 to the counter k.

[0199] (Step S815) The correspondence output unit C41 determines whether the kth location information is present in the location information acquired in step S813. If the kth location information is present, the process proceeds to step S816, and if the kth location information is not present, the process proceeds to step S818.

[0200] (Step S816) The correspondence output unit C41 acquires coordinate information paired with the k-th location information from a buffer (not shown). Then, the correspondence output unit C41 associates the k-th location information with the acquired coordinate information and also associates it with the i-th map representation data, and stores them in the correspondence information storage unit C14.

[0201] (Step S817) The correspondence output unit C41 increments the counter k by 1. The process returns to step S807.

[0202] (Step S818) The area identification information acquisition unit C37 performs area identification processing. The area identification processing is processing for identifying an area in the accurate map information that corresponds to the area of ​​the i-th map representation data. An example of the area identification processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 10.

[0203] (Step S819) The direction information acquisition unit C38 performs direction acquisition processing. The direction acquisition processing is processing for acquiring direction information that specifies the direction of the i-th map representation data. An example of the direction acquisition processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 11.

[0204] (Step S820) The processing unit C3 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S803.

[0205] (Step S821) The reception unit C2 determines whether or not an output instruction has been received. If an output instruction has been received, the process proceeds to step S822, and if an output instruction has not been received, the process returns to step S801.

[0206] (Step S822) The output unit C4 performs output processing. Return to step S801. Note that the output processing is an instruction to output map expression data or the like corresponding to the output instruction. An example of the output processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG. 12.

[0207] In the flowchart of FIG. 8, the process ends when the power is turned off or an interrupt occurs to end the process.

[0208] Next, an example of the grouping process in step S813 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0209] (Step S901) The grouping unit C33 assigns 1 to a counter i.

[0210] (Step S902) The grouping unit C33 determines whether or not the ith pair of two pieces of location information exists from among the two or more pieces of location information acquired in step S811. If the ith pair of two pieces of location information exists, the process proceeds to step S903; if not, the process proceeds to step S905.

[0211] (Step S903) The grouping unit C33 calculates the distance between the two points specified by the i-th two pieces of position information.

[0212] (Step S904) The grouping unit C33 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S807.

[0213] (Step S905) The grouping unit C33 acquires two pieces of position information corresponding to the shortest distance among the distances between the two points calculated in step S903. Then, the grouping unit C33 acquires any one piece of position information from the two pieces of position information as representative position information.

[0214] (Step S906) The grouping unit C33 assigns 1 to the counter j.

[0215] (Step S907) The grouping unit C33 determines whether or not there is j-th location information other than the representative location information among the two or more pieces of location information acquired in step S811. If there is j-th location information, the process proceeds to step S908, and if there is no j-th location information, the process returns to the upper process.

[0216] (Step S908) The grouping unit C33 calculates the distance between each piece of position information other than the representative position information and the representative position information among the two or more pieces of position information acquired in step S811.

[0217] (Step S909) The grouping unit C33 determines whether the distance calculated in step S907 is close enough to satisfy a predetermined condition (for example, whether the distance is less than a threshold value or equal to or less than a threshold value). If the distance is close enough to satisfy the predetermined condition, the process proceeds to step S910, and if the distance is not close enough to satisfy the predetermined condition, the process proceeds to step S911.

[0218] (Step S910) The grouping unit C33 temporarily stores the j-th position information in a buffer (not shown). Note that the position information temporarily stored in the buffer is the position information acquired by the grouping unit C33.

[0219] (Step S911) The grouping unit C33 increments the counter j by 1. The process returns to step S807.

[0220] Next, an example of the area specification process in step S818 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0221] (Step S1001) The first area specifying information acquisition means C371 acquires the position information with the smallest longitude from among the position information temporarily stored in a buffer (not shown) by the grouping unit C33 in step S910.

[0222] (Step S1002) The one area specifying information acquisition means C371 acquires the position information with the largest longitude from among the position information temporarily stored in a buffer (not shown) by the grouping unit C33 in step S910.

[0223] (Step S1003) The first area specifying information acquisition means C371 acquires the position information with the smallest latitude from among the position information temporarily stored in a buffer (not shown) by the grouping unit C33 in step S910.

[0224] (Step S1004) The first area specifying information acquisition means C371 acquires the position information with the largest latitude from among the position information temporarily stored in a buffer (not shown) by the grouping unit C33 in step S910.

[0225] (Step S1005) The first area identification information acquisition means C371 acquires area identification information having position information of four corner points that identifies a rectangular area whose boundary includes the four pieces of position information acquired in steps S1001 to S1004 and which includes all of the position information acquired by the grouping unit C33. Note that it is preferable that the first area identification information acquisition means C371 acquires area identification information having position information of four corner points that identifies a rectangular area whose boundary includes the four pieces of position information acquired in steps S1001 to S1004 and which includes all of the position information acquired by the grouping unit C33 and which has the smallest area.

[0226] (Step S1006) The outer character string determination means C372 acquires the outermost character strings in the four directions (top, bottom, left, right) of the area specified by the area specification information. Then, the size information acquisition means C373 acquires size information, which is the number of pixels between each of the four outermost character strings and the outermost part of the map representation data.

[0227] (Step S1007) The distance information acquisition means C374 acquires the distance in pixel units (units of one coordinate) using two or more pairs of position information and coordinate information.

[0228] (Step S1008) The distance information acquisition means C374 multiplies the distance in pixels acquired in step S1007 by each of the four size information acquired in step S1006 to calculate the distance of expansion in each of the four directions. Note that the four directions of expansion are directions perpendicular to each of the four sides of the rectangle identified by the area identification information.

[0229] (Step S1009) The second area identification information acquisition means C375 acquires second area identification information, which is information that identifies an area obtained by expanding the width in four directions of the first area identification information by the distance acquired in step S1008. Note that the second area identification information is usually two pieces of position information that identify a rectangular area.

[0230] (Step S1010) The second area specification information acquisition means C375 stores the second area specification information acquired in step S1009 in association with the i-th map expression data, and returns to the upper level processing.

[0231] Next, an example of the direction acquisition process in step S819 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0232] (Step S1101) The direction information acquisition unit C38 acquires the second area identification information acquired by the second area identification information acquisition means C375.

[0233] (Step S1102) The direction information acquisition unit C38 acquires direction information using the four pieces of position information that make up the second area identification information.

[0234] (Step S1103) The direction information acquisition unit C38 stores the direction information acquired in step S1102 in association with the i-th map representation data, and returns to the upper level processing.

[0235] Next, an example of the output process in step S822 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0236] (Step S1201) The output unit C4 acquires the map representation data identifier included in the accepted output instruction.

[0237] (Step S1202) The output unit C4 acquires the map representation data identified by the map representation data identifier acquired in step S1201 from the map representation data storage unit C12.

[0238] (Step S1203) The output unit C4 acquires one or more pieces of coordinate information paired with the map representation data identifier acquired in step S1201 from the correspondence information storage unit C14.

[0239] (Step S1204) The output unit C4 acquires direction information paired with the map representation data acquired in step S1202.

[0240] (Step S1205) The output unit C4 constructs map representation data on the map representation data acquired in step S1202, which clearly indicates the location identified by each of one or more pieces of coordinate information, and also constructs map representation data which clearly indicates the direction information acquired in step S1204.

[0241] (Step S1206) The output unit C4 acquires second area specifying information paired with the map expression data acquired in step S1202.

[0242] (Step S1207) The output unit C4 acquires accurate map information of the area identified by the second area identification information acquired in step S1206 from the accurate map information storage unit C13.

[0243] (Step S1208) The output unit C4 acquires one or more pieces of location information paired with the map representation data identifier acquired in step S1201 from the corresponding information storage unit C14.

[0244] (Step S1209) The output unit C4 generates accurate map information that clearly indicates the locations identified by the one or more pieces of location information acquired in step S1208 on top of the accurate map information acquired in step S1207.

[0245] (Step S1210) The output unit C4 outputs the map representation data acquired in step S1205. The output unit C4 also outputs the accurate map information acquired in step S1209. The process returns to the upper level process.

[0246] In the flowchart of FIG. 12, only one of the map representation data and the accurate map information may be output.

[0247] In addition, in the flowchart of Fig. 12, the map representation data that is output may be map representation data that does not clearly indicate the location specified by one or more pieces of coordinate information. In addition, in the flowchart of Fig. 12, the map representation data that is output may be map representation data that does not clearly indicate direction information.

[0248] In addition, in the flowchart of Fig. 12, the accurate map information to be output may be map representation data that does not explicitly state the second area specifying information. In addition, in the flowchart of Fig. 12, the accurate map information to be output may be map representation data that does not explicitly state the location specified by each of the one or more pieces of location information. In addition, in the flowchart of Fig. 12, the accurate map information to be output may be map representation data that explicitly states the area specifying information.

[0249] The specific operation of the map representation data processing device C in this embodiment will now be described.

[0250] For example, suppose that map representation data of Gojo Street in Kyoto, 1301 in Fig. 13, and map representation data of Sanjo Street, 1401 in Fig. 14, are stored in the map representation data storage unit C12. The map representation data 1301 is stored in pairs with the map representation data identifier "Gojo Street," and the map representation data 1401 is stored in pairs with the map representation data identifier "Sanjo Street."

[0251] The location dictionary storage unit C11 also stores the location dictionary shown in FIG. 15. The location dictionary stores two or more records each having "location information" and "position information." The "location information" is a character string that has no meaning here, but is usually the name of a location. The "position information" here is (latitude, longitude).

[0252] Furthermore, the correspondence information storage unit C14 stores a correspondence information management table having the structure shown in FIG. 16. The correspondence information management table stores one or more records having an "ID," "map representation data identifier," "coordinate information," "location information," and "point information." The "ID" is information that identifies the record. The "map representation data identifier" is information that identifies the map representation data. The "coordinate information" is a coordinate value that indicates a relative position on the map representation data. Here, the "location information" is (latitude, longitude). The "point information" is a character string that has no meaning here, but is usually a point name.

[0253] In this situation, it is assumed that the user inputs an instruction to the map representation data processing device C to start an operation.

[0254] Then, the reception unit C2 of the map representation data processing device C receives the operation start instruction. Then, the map representation data processing device C performs the above-mentioned processing on the map representation data of "Gojo-dori" and the map representation data of "Sanjo-dori", and stores one or more pieces of correspondence information in the correspondence information management table in association with each piece of map representation data. The records stored in this way are the records of "ID=1, 2, 3,..., 38,..." in Figure 16.

[0255] Next, it is assumed that the user inputs to the map representation data processing device C an output instruction having the map representation data identifier "Gojo-dori", for example.

[0256] Then, the receiving unit C2 of the map representation data processing device C receives the output instruction. Next, the output unit C4 performs the output process described above. Then, the map representation data 1301 in FIG. 13 and the accurate map information 1302 are output. Note that 13021 in FIG. 13 is the area specified by the area specifying information. Also, 13022 is the area specified by the second area specifying information. Also, 13023 is a design that specifies the location information corresponding to the first label. Furthermore, 13024 is a design that specifies the location information corresponding to the third label or the location information removed by the grouping process.

[0257] As described above, according to this embodiment, coordinate information such as place names on map representation data can be automatically acquired in association with location information.

[0258] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, character strings such as appropriate place names on the map representation data can be extracted, and the coordinate information of the place names and the like can be automatically acquired in association with the position information.

[0259] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to extract character strings such as appropriate place names on map representation data with high accuracy, and automatically obtain the coordinate information of the place names and the like in association with the position information.

[0260] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to acquire graphic feature points on the map representation data, and automatically acquire the coordinate information of the graphic feature points in association with the position information.

[0261] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the range of accurate map information corresponding to the map representation data can be clarified.

[0262] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to clarify the appropriate range of accurate map information corresponding to the map representation data.

[0263] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, direction information relating to the direction of the map representation data can be obtained.

[0264] In this embodiment, the essential components are a location dictionary storage unit C11, a map representation data receiving unit C21, a character string acquisition unit C31, a coordinate information acquisition unit C35, a position information acquisition unit C36, and a corresponding output unit C41. The other components constituting the map representation data processing device C do not necessarily have to be present.

[0265] In this embodiment, another output example other than that shown in FIG. 13 is shown in FIG.

[0266] Furthermore, software realizing the map representation data processing device C in this embodiment is the following program. In other words, this program causes a computer that can access a location dictionary storage unit in which is stored a location dictionary having one or more types of location information that correspond between location information that identifies a location and location information that identifies the location of the location to function as: a map representation data receiving unit that receives map representation data that is one or more types of map from among an illustrated map, a handwritten map, and a simplified map; a character string acquisition unit that acquires character strings from the map representation data; a coordinate information acquisition unit that acquires coordinate information that is information that identifies coordinate positions corresponding to the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit and that identifies relative coordinate positions in the map representation data; a location information acquisition unit that uses the location dictionary to acquire location information that corresponds to the location information that is the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit; and a correspondence output unit that outputs the coordinate information acquired by the coordinate information acquisition unit in association with the location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit.

[0267] (Embodiment 3) In this embodiment, a map representation data processing device D that can clearly indicate the current position on map representation data using the correspondence information acquired in the second embodiment will be described.

[0268] FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a map representation data processing device D according to this embodiment.

[0269] The map representation data processing device D comprises a storage unit D1, a reception unit D2, a processing unit D3, and an output unit D4. The storage unit D1 comprises a map representation data storage unit C12 and a correspondence information storage unit C14.

[0270] The processing unit D3 includes a current position information acquisition unit D31, a coordinate information acquisition unit D32, and a data configuration unit D33. The output unit D4 includes a map representation data output unit D41.

[0271] The storage unit D1 stores various types of information, such as map representation data and correspondence information.

[0272] The map representation data storage unit C12 stores one or more map representation data.

[0273] The correspondence information storage unit C14 stores two or more pieces of correspondence information. It is preferable that the correspondence information is associated with the map representation data.

[0274] The reception unit D2 receives various information and instructions, such as an instruction to start an operation.

[0275] Here, "reception" refers to the reception of user input, reception from an external device (for example, a terminal device not shown), etc. However, it is sufficient if various information and instructions can be acquired by reception. The means for inputting various information and instructions can be anything, such as a touch panel, keyboard, mouse, or menu screen.

[0276] The processing unit D3 performs various processes, such as processes performed by a current position information acquisition unit D31, a coordinate information acquisition unit D32, and a data configuration unit D33.

[0277] The current location information acquisition unit D31 acquires current location information that identifies the current location. The current location information acquisition unit D31 can be realized by, for example, a GPS receiver. The current location information acquisition unit D31 is a publicly known technology, so detailed description will be omitted.

[0278] The coordinate information acquisition unit D32 acquires coordinate information corresponding to the current location information using two or more pieces of correspondence information that are paired with the target map representation data. The coordinate information is a coordinate value that specifies a relative position on the displayed map representation data.

[0279] The coordinate information acquisition unit D32 reads, for example, correspondence information 1 (coordinate information 1 (x1, y1), position information 1 (X1, Y1)) and correspondence information 2 (coordinate information 2 (x2, y2), position information 2 (X2, Y2)) that are paired with the target map representation data from the correspondence information storage unit C14. Then, the coordinate information acquisition unit D32 acquires the current position information (X3, Y3) acquired by the current position information acquisition unit D31. Next, the coordinate information acquisition unit D32 calculates (X1-X2) and (Y1-Y2) from the position information 1 (X1, Y1) and the position information 2 (X2, Y2). Furthermore, the coordinate information acquisition unit D32 calculates (x1-x2) and (y1-y2) from the coordinate information 1 (x1, y1) and the coordinate information 2 (x2, y2). Next, the coordinate information acquisition unit D32 calculates the number of pixels per unit distance (e.g., 100 m) on the x-axis from (X1-X2) and (x1-x2). The coordinate information acquisition unit D32 also calculates the number of pixels per unit distance (e.g., 100 m) on the y-axis from (Y1-Y2) and (y1-y2). The coordinate information acquisition unit D32 then calculates, for example, the number of pixels per unit distance on the x-axis from (X1-X3), and adds the number of pixels to x1 to acquire the x-coordinate (x3) for the current position information. The coordinate information acquisition unit D32 also calculates, for example, the number of pixels per unit distance on the y-axis from (Y1-Y3), and adds the number of pixels to y1 to acquire the y-coordinate (y3) for the current position information.

[0280] The data construction unit D33 constructs current location-added map representation data, which is map representation data that indicates the position indicated by the coordinate information acquired by the coordinate information acquisition unit D32, on the map representation data. Note that the manner in which the position indicated by the coordinate information is indicated does not matter. For example, the data construction unit D33 places a predetermined design at the position indicated by the coordinate information.

[0281] The output unit D4 outputs various information, such as current location-added map representation data.

[0282] The map representation data output unit D41 outputs the current location-added map representation data acquired by the data configuration unit D33.

[0283] The storage unit D1, the map representation data storage unit C12, and the correspondence information storage unit C14 are preferably non-volatile recording media, but may also be realized as volatile recording media.

[0284] There is no restriction on the process by which information is stored in the storage unit D1 etc. For example, information may be stored in the storage unit D1 etc. via a recording medium, information transmitted via a communication line etc. may be stored in the storage unit D1 etc., or information input via an input device may be stored in the storage unit D1 etc.

[0285] The reception unit D2 can be realized by a device driver for an input means such as a touch panel or a keyboard, or control software for a menu screen.

[0286] The processing unit D3, current position information acquisition unit D31, coordinate information acquisition unit D32, and data configuration unit D33 can usually be realized by an MPU, memory, etc. The processing procedure of the processing unit D3 is usually realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, it may also be realized by hardware (dedicated circuit).

[0287] The output unit D4 and the map representation data output unit D41 may or may not include output devices such as a display, a speaker, etc. The output unit D4 may be realized by driver software for an output device, or by a combination of driver software for an output device and the output device, etc.

[0288] Next, an example of the operation of the map representation data processing device D will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0289] (Step S1801) The reception unit D2 acquires map representation data to be displayed from the map representation data storage unit C12.

[0290] (Step S1802) The current location information acquisition unit D31 acquires the current location information.

[0291] (Step S1803) The coordinate information acquisition unit D32 acquires two or more pieces of correspondence information paired with the map representation data identifier that identifies the map representation data acquired in step S1801 from the correspondence information storage unit C14. Next, the coordinate information acquisition unit D32 uses the two or more pieces of correspondence information to acquire coordinate information that corresponds to the current location information.

[0292] (Step S1804) The data composing unit D33 composes current location-added map representation data, which is map representation data that clearly indicates the position indicated by the coordinate information acquired in step S1803, on the map representation data acquired in step S1801.

[0293] (Step S1805) The map representation data output unit D41 outputs the current location-added map representation data constructed in step S1804, and the process ends.

[0294] As described above, according to this embodiment, the current location can be displayed on the map representation data using two or more pieces of correspondence information that are automatically acquired.

[0295] The software for realizing the map representation data processing device D in this embodiment is the following program. That is, this program causes a computer that can access a map representation data storage unit in which map representation data is stored and a correspondence information storage unit in which two or more pieces of correspondence information, which are pairs of coordinate information output by the map representation data processing device C and location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit, to function as a current location information acquisition unit that acquires current location information that identifies a current location, a coordinate information acquisition unit that acquires coordinate information that corresponds to the current location information using the two or more pieces of correspondence information, a data construction unit that constructs current location-added map representation data, which is map representation data in which the position indicated by the coordinate information is clearly indicated on the map representation data, and a map representation data output unit that outputs the current location-added map representation data.

[0296] (Fourth embodiment) In this embodiment, we will describe a map representation data processing device that obtains three or more place names from map representation data, obtains coordinate information corresponding to each of the place names from the map representation data, obtains real location information corresponding to the place names from a place dictionary, and uses the coordinate information and location information to output corresponding information that is a pair of appropriate coordinate information and location information.

[0297] In this embodiment, a map representation data processing device is described that determines an inappropriate location based on relationship information regarding the relationship between correspondence information between two locations, and outputs two or more pieces of correspondence information that do not include inappropriate correspondence information corresponding to the inappropriate location. In this embodiment, for example, distance relationship information regarding distance and angle relationship information regarding angle are used to determine the inappropriate location. In addition, an inappropriate location is a location that corresponds to correspondence information that is thought to be incorrect.

[0298] In this embodiment, a map representation data processing device that acquires and outputs scale information of map representation data will be described.

[0299] In this embodiment, a map representation data processing device that acquires and outputs the range of map representation data will be described.

[0300] In this embodiment, a map representation data processing device that adds the names of places, etc., that fall within the range of the map representation data to the map representation data will be described.

[0301] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a map representation data processing device that obtains and outputs information relating to the direction of the map representation data will be described.

[0302] Fig. 19 is a block diagram of the map representation data processing device E according to this embodiment, and Fig. 20 is a block diagram of a processing unit E3 that constitutes the map representation data processing device E.

[0303] The map representation data processing device E comprises a storage unit C1, a reception unit C2, a processing unit E3, and an output unit E4.

[0304] The storage unit C1 includes a location dictionary storage unit C11, a map representation data storage unit C12, an accurate map information storage unit C13, a learning unit storage unit A12, and a correspondence information storage unit C14. The reception unit C2 includes a map representation data reception unit C21. The processing unit E3 includes a character string acquisition unit C31, a classification unit C32, a characteristic location detection unit C34, a coordinate information acquisition unit C35, a position information acquisition unit C36, a relationship information acquisition unit E31, a correspondence information acquisition unit E32, a scale acquisition unit E33, an area identification information acquisition unit E34, an additional location acquisition unit E35, an additional position acquisition unit E36, an additional coordinate acquisition unit E37, a location addition unit E38, and a direction information acquisition unit E39. The correspondence information acquisition unit E32 includes a determination unit E321 and a correspondence information acquisition unit E322. The output unit E4 includes a correspondence output unit E41, a scale information output unit E42, an area specification information output unit E43, and a direction information output unit E44.

[0305] The processing unit E3 performs various processes, such as processes performed by a character string acquisition unit C31, a classification unit C32, a characteristic part detection unit C34, a coordinate information acquisition unit C35, a position information acquisition unit C36, a relationship information acquisition unit E31, a correspondence information acquisition unit E32, a scale acquisition unit E33, an area identification information acquisition unit E34, an additional point acquisition unit E35, an additional position acquisition unit E36, an additional coordinate acquisition unit E37, a point addition unit E38, and a direction information acquisition unit E39.

[0306] The relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires relationship information. The relationship information is information regarding the relationship between three or more pieces of correspondence information. The relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires relationship information using three or more pieces of correspondence information. The relationship information is, for example, distance relationship information, which will be described later, and angle relationship information, which will be described later. The correspondence information is a pair of coordinate information and location information corresponding to the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31. The coordinate information corresponding to the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 is information acquired by the coordinate information acquisition unit C35. The location information corresponding to the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 from the map representation data is information acquired by the location information acquisition unit C36. The character string is usually the name of a location. The location is, for example, a station, a landscape, a scenic spot, a building, a prefecture, a city, a town, a village, an intersection, a park, etc.

[0307] It is preferable that the relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires, for each pair of two character strings, relative relationship information between correspondence information corresponding to each of two character strings out of the three or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31.

[0308] The relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires distance relationship information for each pair of two character strings, for example, using the correspondence information of each of the two character strings. The distance relationship information is information indicating the relationship between the relative distance, which is the difference in coordinate information between the two character strings, and the absolute distance, which is the difference in position information between the two character strings. Note that a pair of two character strings is a pair of two character strings out of the three or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31.

[0309] The distance relationship information is, for example, MPP. MPP is meters per pixel (m / pixel). If the correspondence information corresponding to each of two character strings is correspondence information 1 "coordinate information 1 (x1, y1) position information 1 (X1, Y1)" and correspondence information 2 "coordinate information 2 (x2, y2) position information 2 (X2, Y2)," MPP = "(distance between position information 1 and position information 2 (meters)) / (number of pixels between coordinate information 1 and coordinate information 2)." The distance relationship information is, for example, PPM. PPM is "PPM = (number of pixels between coordinate information 1 and coordinate information 2) / (distance between position information 1 and position information 2 (meters))." Note that methods for calculating the distance between position information 1 (X1, Y1) and position information 2 (X2, Y2) and methods for calculating the number of pixels between coordinate information 1 (x1, y1) and coordinate information 2 (x2, y2) are well known technologies, so their description will be omitted here.

[0310] The relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires angle relationship information for each pair of two character strings, for example, by using the correspondence information of each of the two character strings.

[0311] The angle relationship information is information that indicates the relationship between a relative angle and an absolute angle. The relative angle is the angle obtained from the coordinate information of two character strings. The relative angle is the angle of the line connecting the two coordinate information with a reference line (for example, the line on the bottom side of rectangular map representation data or the line on the right side of rectangular map representation data). The absolute angle is, for example, the angle between the line of the reference direction (for example, east or north) and the line obtained by connecting the position information of the two character strings.

[0312] The angle relationship information is, for example, information regarding the difference between the relative angle and the absolute angle (for example, "relative angle - absolute angle," "absolute angle - relative angle," or "|relative angle - absolute angle|"). The information regarding the difference between the relative angle and the absolute angle may be, for example, (cos(relative angle - absolute angle), sin(relative angle - absolute angle)), (cos(absolute angle - relative angle), sin(absolute angle - relative angle)), etc. Note that the information regarding the difference between the relative angle and the absolute angle is referred to as "Rotation" as appropriate.

[0313] The corresponding information acquisition unit E32 uses the relationship information to acquire only two or more pieces of corresponding information that correspond to the relationship information that satisfies a predetermined relationship from among the three or more pieces of corresponding information.

[0314] The correspondence information acquisition unit E32 determines whether each of the three or more pieces of distance relationship information satisfies a predetermined relationship, and from the correspondence information corresponding to each of the three or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31, removes the correspondence information corresponding to the distance relationship information that does not satisfy the predetermined relationship, and acquires only the remaining two or more pieces of correspondence information.

[0315] The correspondence information acquisition unit E32 determines whether each of the three or more pieces of angle relationship information satisfies a predetermined relationship, and from the correspondence information corresponding to each of the three or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31, removes the correspondence information corresponding to the angle relationship information that does not satisfy the predetermined relationship, and acquires only the remaining two or more pieces of correspondence information.

[0316] When both the distance relationship information and the angle relationship information satisfy a predetermined relationship, it is preferable that the correspondence information acquisition unit E32 acquires only two or more pieces of correspondence information corresponding to the distance relationship information and the angle relationship information.

[0317] The determination means E321 included in the correspondence information acquisition unit E32 groups three or more pieces of relationship information acquired by the relationship information acquisition unit E31 and determines the relationship information that does not belong to any group. For example, hierarchical agglomerative clustering (HAC) can be used as an algorithm for clustering the relationship information. For more information on HAC, see the internet URLs "http: / / pub.ist.ac.at / ~edels / Papers / 1984-J-05-HierarchicalClustering.pdf" and "http: / / citeseerx.ist.psu.edu / viewdoc / download?doi=10.1.1.299.7703&rep=rep1&type=pdf." Any algorithm can be used for clustering sets of information.

[0318] The corresponding information acquisition means E322 removes the corresponding information corresponding to the related information that does not belong to the group from the corresponding information corresponding to each of the three or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31, and acquires only the remaining two or more pieces of corresponding information.

[0319] The scale acquisition unit E33 acquires a representative value of the distance relationship information from three or more pieces of distance relationship information, and acquires scale information of the map representation data using the representative value of the distance relationship information. The representative value is, for example, an average value or a median value. For example, if the representative value of the distance relationship information (here, for example, MPP) is α, the scale acquisition unit E33 acquires scale information "α".

[0320] The area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires the relative vertical distance, which is the vertical distance between the coordinate information corresponding to the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 and each of the four sides of the map representation data, and acquires area identification information that identifies the range of the map representation data in the real world using the relative vertical distance and scale information (e.g., MPP). Note that the range in the real world is the range in the accurate map information.

[0321] The area specifying information acquisition unit E34 calculates, for example, the relative vertical distance between the coordinate information included in each of the two or more pieces of correspondence information finally acquired by the correspondence information acquisition unit E32 and each side (top side, bottom side, left side, right side) of the map representation data. Note that the technique for calculating the vertical distance between a point and a line is a publicly known technique.

[0322] Then, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires, for example, two or more representative values ​​(for example, median, average) of the relative vertical distances for each side. Next, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires, for example, position information for the point of the representative value of the relative vertical distance for each side. Next, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires, for example, the latitude or longitude of each side by multiplying the distance relationship information (MPP) by the representative value of the relative vertical distance for each side.

[0323] The additional point acquisition unit E35 acquires point information within the range indicated by the area identification information from the point dictionary. For example, the additional point acquisition unit E35 preferably acquires two or more pieces of point information within the range indicated by the area identification information from the point dictionary, and acquires point information excluding the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 from the acquired point information. The point dictionary used may be the point dictionary in the point dictionary storage unit C11, or a point dictionary stored in an external device not shown.

[0324] In addition, it is preferable that the additional point acquisition unit E35 acquires point information within the range indicated by the area identification information and one or more attribute values ​​of the point information (for example, station name, whether it is a landscape or not, intersection name, etc.), and acquires point information paired with one or more attribute values ​​that satisfy the predetermined conditions from the point dictionary.

[0325] The additional location acquisition unit E36 acquires location information corresponding to the location information acquired by the additional location acquisition unit E35 from the location dictionary.

[0326] The additional coordinate acquisition unit E37 acquires coordinate information corresponding to the position information acquired by the additional position acquisition unit E36. For example, the additional coordinate acquisition unit E37 acquires a difference between the position information included in one piece of correspondence information and the position information acquired by the additional position acquisition unit E36, acquires a difference from the coordinate information included in the piece of correspondence information using the difference in the position information and distance relationship information (MPP), and acquires coordinate information corresponding to the position information acquired by the additional position acquisition unit E36 using the difference between the coordinate information included in the piece of correspondence information and the coordinate information.

[0327] The point adding unit E38 places the point information (character string) acquired by the additional point acquiring unit E35 at the position indicated by the coordinate information acquired by the additional coordinate acquiring unit E37. Note that the point information is added onto the map representation data.

[0328] The direction information acquisition unit E39 acquires a representative value of the angle relationship information from three or more pieces of angle relationship information, and acquires direction information indicating the direction of the map representation data using the representative value of the angle relationship information.

[0329] If the angle relationship information (here, for example, "relative angle-absolute angle") is "-30", north in the real world is 30 degrees to the upper right from directly above in the map representation data, and the direction information acquisition unit E39 acquires direction information of, for example, "30 degrees". Note that the direction information here is assumed to be the angle clockwise from directly above in the map representation data. Note that the direction information may also be a design corresponding to the acquired angle.

[0330] The output unit E4 outputs various types of information. Examples of such information include correspondence information, scale information, map representation data, accurate map information, and direction information. Here, "output" typically refers to storage on a recording medium, but it may also be considered to encompass display on a display, projection using a projector, printing on a printer, sound output, transmission to an external device, and delivery of processing results to other processing devices or other programs.

[0331] The correspondence output unit E41 accumulates two or more pieces of correspondence information acquired by the correspondence information acquisition unit E32. The correspondence output unit E41 may display the two or more pieces of correspondence information or transmit them to another device.

[0332] The scale information output unit E42 outputs the scale information acquired by the scale acquisition unit E33. The output here is usually a display, but may also be storage in a recording medium, transmission to an external device, or the like.

[0333] The area identification information output unit E43 outputs the area identification information acquired by the area identification information acquisition unit E34. The output here is usually a display, but may also be storage in a recording medium, transmission to an external device, etc.

[0334] The direction information output unit E outputs the direction information acquired by the direction information acquisition unit E39. The output here is usually a display, but may also be stored in a recording medium, transmitted to an external device, or the like.

[0335] The processing unit E3, character string acquisition unit C31, classification unit C32, characteristic location detection unit C34, coordinate information acquisition unit C35, position information acquisition unit C36, relationship information acquisition unit E31, correspondence information acquisition unit E32, scale acquisition unit E33, area identification information acquisition unit E34, additional point acquisition unit E35, additional position acquisition unit E36, additional coordinate acquisition unit E37, point addition unit E38, and direction information acquisition unit E39 can typically be realized by an MPU, memory, etc. The processing procedures of the processing unit E3, etc. are typically realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, they may also be realized by hardware (dedicated circuitry).

[0336] The output unit E4, the correspondence output unit E41, the scale information output unit E42, the area identification information output unit E43, and the direction information output unit E44 may or may not include output devices such as a display, a speaker, etc. The output unit E4 etc. may be realized by driver software for an output device, or a combination of driver software for an output device and an output device, etc.

[0337] Next, an example of the operation of the map representation data processing device E will be described using the flowchart of Fig. 21. In the flowchart of Fig. 21, the description of the same steps as in the flowchart of Fig. 8 will be omitted. Note that the flowchart of Fig. 21 includes steps S804 to S812.

[0338] (Step S2101) The processing unit E3 performs corresponding information acquisition processing using the map representation data acquired in step S804. An example of the corresponding information acquisition processing will be described using the flowchart in FIG. 22. The corresponding information acquisition processing is processing for acquiring one or more pieces of stored corresponding information. The map representation data to be processed is usually map representation data in the map representation data storage unit C12, but it may also be map representation data received from an external device.

[0339] (Step S2102) The correspondence output unit E41 accumulates one or more pieces of correspondence information acquired in step S2101. The correspondence information is accumulated, for example, in the storage unit C1, but may be accumulated in another device. The correspondence output unit E41 accumulates the one or more pieces of correspondence information acquired in step S2101 in association with the map representation data acquired in step S804.

[0340] (Step S2103) The scale acquisition unit E33 acquires scale information using the representative value (e.g., MPP) of the distance relationship information acquired in step S2101, and stores the scale information in association with the map representation data acquired in step S804. The scale information is stored in, for example, the storage unit C1, but may be stored in another device.

[0341] (Step S2104) The area identification information acquisition unit E34 performs area identification processing. An example of the area identification processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 25. Note that the area identification processing is processing for acquiring information indicating an area in the real world corresponding to the map area of ​​the map representation data.

[0342] (Step S2105) The direction information acquisition unit E39 performs direction information acquisition processing. An example of the direction information acquisition processing will be described using the flowchart in Fig. 26. The direction information acquisition processing is processing for acquiring information related to the direction (or tilt) of the map representation data.

[0343] (Step S2106) The additional point acquisition unit E35 etc. performs point addition processing. An example of the point addition processing will be described using the flowchart in Fig. 27. The point addition processing is processing for adding point information (character strings) that is not described in the map representation data.

[0344] (Step S2107) The processing unit E3 performs processing to compose a map to be output. An example of such output map composition processing will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0345] (Step S2108) The output unit E4 outputs the map representation data constructed in step S2107 and the accurate map information constructed in step S2107. The process ends. Note that here, the output unit E4 may only output one of the map representation data and the accurate map information.

[0346] Next, an example of the correspondence information acquisition process in step S2101 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0347] (Step S2201) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 performs distance relationship information acquisition processing. An example of the distance relationship information acquisition processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in Fig. 23. Note that the distance relationship information acquisition processing is processing for acquiring one or more pieces of distance relationship information for two or more sets of corresponding information.

[0348] (Step S2202) The determination means E321 groups three or more pieces of distance relationship information acquired in step S2201. Then, the determination means E321 acquires one or more groups for the distance relationship information. For example, the above-mentioned HAC is used for the grouping.

[0349] (Step S2203) The correspondence information acquisition means E322 assigns 1 to the counter i.

[0350] (Step S2204) The corresponding information acquisition means E322 determines whether the i-th group acquired in step S2202 exists. If the i-th group exists, the process proceeds to step S2205, and if the i-th group does not exist, the process returns to the upper level process.

[0351] (Step S2205) The corresponding information acquisition means E322 determines whether the i-th group satisfies a predetermined condition regarding the number of locations in the group. If the condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S2206, and if the condition is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S2209. Note that the predetermined condition may be, for example, that the number of locations (which may be called character strings) corresponding to the i-th group is equal to or greater than a threshold, that the number of locations corresponding to the i-th group is greater than a threshold, that the proportion of locations corresponding to the i-th group is equal to or greater than a threshold, or that the proportion of locations corresponding to the i-th group is greater than a threshold. Note that the proportion is "the number of locations corresponding to the i-th group / the number of locations belonging to any group."

[0352] (Step S2206) The corresponding information acquisition means E322 acquires the corresponding information of two or more locations corresponding to the i-th group.

[0353] (Step S2207) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 performs angle relationship information acquisition processing on the correspondence information of two or more points acquired in step S2206. An example of the angle relationship information acquisition processing will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0354] (Step S2208) The determination means E321 groups the three or more pieces of angle relationship information acquired in step S2207. Then, the determination means E321 acquires one or more groups for the angle relationship information. Note that the grouping uses, for example, the above-mentioned HAC.

[0355] (Step S2209) The correspondence information acquisition means E322 assigns 1 to the counter j.

[0356] (Step S2210) The correspondence information acquisition means E322 determines whether or not the jth group exists among the groups acquired in step S2208. If the jth group exists, the process proceeds to step S2211, and if the jth group does not exist, the process proceeds to step S2214.

[0357] (Step S2211) The corresponding information acquisition means E322 determines whether the jth group satisfies a predetermined condition regarding the number of points in the group. If the condition is satisfied, the process proceeds to step S2212; if the condition is not satisfied, the process proceeds to step S2213. The predetermined condition may be, for example, that the number of points (which may be called character strings) corresponding to the jth group is equal to or greater than a threshold, that the number of points corresponding to the jth group is greater than a threshold, that the proportion of points corresponding to the jth group is equal to or greater than a threshold, or that the proportion of points corresponding to the jth group is greater than a threshold. The proportion is defined as "the number of points corresponding to the jth group / the number of points belonging to any group."

[0358] (Step S2212) The corresponding information acquisition means E322 acquires the corresponding information of two or more locations corresponding to the j-th group.

[0359] (Step S2213) The correspondence information acquisition means E322 increments the counter j1. Then, the process returns to step S2210.

[0360] (Step S2214) The corresponding information acquisition means E322 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S2204.

[0361] In the flowchart of FIG. 22, if multiple groups are detected in step S2202 or step S2208, the corresponding information acquisition means E322 may select only one group with the largest number of locations.

[0362] Next, an example of the distance relationship information acquisition process in step S2201 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0363] (Step S2301) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 assigns 1 to a counter i.

[0364] (Step S2302) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 determines whether or not the i-th pair of two locations exists among the three or more locations to be processed. If the i-th pair of two locations exists, the process proceeds to step S2303; if not, the process returns to the upper level process.

[0365] (Step S2303) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires the position information of each of the two points in the i-th pair, and calculates the absolute distance between the two points from the two pieces of position information.

[0366] (Step S2304) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires the coordinate information of each of the two points in the i-th pair, and calculates the relative distance between the two points from the two pieces of coordinate information.

[0367] (Step S2305) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires distance relationship information (e.g., MPP) using the absolute distance calculated in step S2303 and the relative distance calculated in step S2304, and temporarily stores the distance relationship information in association with the information of the i-th set.

[0368] (Step S2306) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S2302.

[0369] Next, an example of the angle relationship information acquisition process in step S2207 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0370] (Step S2401) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 assigns 1 to a counter i.

[0371] (Step S2402) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 determines whether or not the i-th pair of two locations exists among the three or more locations to be processed. If the i-th pair of two locations exists, the process proceeds to step S2403; if not, the process returns to the upper level process.

[0372] (Step S2403) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires the position information of each of the two points in the i-th pair, and calculates the absolute angle between the two points from the two pieces of position information.

[0373] (Step S2404) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires the coordinate information of each of the two points in the i-th pair, and calculates the relative angle between the two points from the two pieces of coordinate information.

[0374] (Step S2405) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires angle relationship information (e.g., Rotation) using the absolute angle calculated in step S2403 and the relative angle calculated in step S2404, and temporarily stores the angle relationship information in association with the information of the i-th set.

[0375] (Step S2406) The relationship information acquisition unit E31 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S2402.

[0376] Next, an example of the area specification process in step S2104 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0377] (Step S2501) The area specifying information acquisition unit E34 assigns 1 to a counter i.

[0378] (Step S2502) The area specification information acquisition unit E34 determines whether the i-th side to be processed exists. If the i-th side exists, the process proceeds to step S2503; if not, the process returns to the upper level process. Note that map representation data is usually rectangular, and the sides to be processed are usually four: top, bottom, left, and right.

[0379] (Step S2503) The area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires edge information that identifies the ith edge of the map representation data. Note that the edge information is, for example, coordinate information (x1, y1) (x2, y2) of the two endpoints that constitute the edge. Furthermore, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires coordinate information of the two endpoints of the edge of the map representation data file, for example, on the assumption that the entire map representation data (usually an image file) is map data. Furthermore, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 may, for example, perform a contour extraction process on the map representation data to acquire information on the contour between an area other than the map (for example, a blank area) and the area of ​​the map. The process of acquiring such contour information is the process of acquiring edge information.

[0380] (Step S2504) The area specification information acquisition unit E34 assigns 1 to the counter j.

[0381] (Step S2505) The area identification information acquisition unit E34 determines whether or not the j-th target information to be processed exists. If the j-th target information exists, the process proceeds to step S2506, and if the j-th target information does not exist, the process proceeds to step S2510. Note that the target information to be processed corresponds to a location.

[0382] (Step S2506) The area specifying information acquisition unit E34 acquires the j-th target information to be processed.

[0383] (Step S2507) The area identification information acquisition unit E34 calculates the straight-line distance (e.g., the number of pixels) in the map representation data between the jth point and the ith side using the coordinate information contained in the jth target information and the side information of the ith side.

[0384] (Step S2508) The area specification information acquisition unit E34 acquires position information of each of the two endpoints of the i-th side using the position information included in the j-th object information, the straight-line distance calculated in step S2507, and a representative value of the distance relationship information (for example, MPP). Note that the position information of each of the two endpoints is referred to as side information.

[0385] (Step S2509) The area specification information acquisition unit E34 increments the counter j by 1. The process returns to step S2505.

[0386] (Step S2510) The area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires a representative value (for example, median, average) of two or more pieces of side information for the i-th side. Note that this representative value is the representative side information. The representative side information is, for example, information on the middle line of two or more pieces of side information. The representative side information is, for example, the average value of each of the two end points of each of two or more pieces of side information. For example, if two pieces of side information are represented by side information 1(x 11 ,y 11 )(x 12 ,y 12 ), edge information 2(x 21 ,y 21 )(x 22 ,y 22 ), the representative edge information of the average value is ((x 11 +x 21 / 2),(y 11 +y 21 / 2))((x 12 +x 22 / 2),(y 12 +y 22 / 2)).

[0387] (Step S2511) The area specification information acquisition unit E34 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S2502.

[0388] Next, an example of the direction information acquisition process in step S2105 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0389] (Step S2601) The direction information acquisition unit E39 assigns 1 to the counter i.

[0390] (Step S2602) The direction information acquisition unit E39 determines whether or not the i-th pair of locations exists. If the i-th pair of locations exists, the process proceeds to step S2603, and if the i-th pair of locations does not exist, the process proceeds to step S2605.

[0391] (Step S2603) The direction information acquisition unit E39 acquires angle relationship information of the i-th point.

[0392] (Step S2604) The direction information acquisition unit E39 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S2602.

[0393] (Step S2605) The direction information acquisition unit E39 acquires a representative value (for example, an average value or a median value) from the two or more pieces of angle relationship information acquired in step S2603.

[0394] (Step S2606) The direction information acquisition unit E39 acquires angle information using the representative value of the angle relationship information acquired in step S2605. The process returns to the upper level process. The direction information acquisition unit E39 acquires angle information using the arithmetic expression "angle information = f (representative value of angle relationship information)". The arithmetic expression is, for example, "angle information = -1 × (representative value of angle relationship information)".

[0395] Next, an example of the location addition process in step S2106 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0396] (Step S2701) The additional point acquisition unit E35 assigns 1 to the counter i.

[0397] (Step S2702) The additional point acquisition unit E35 determines whether the i-th point position information exists in the point dictionary. If the i-th point position information exists, the process proceeds to step S2703, and if the i-th point position information does not exist, the process returns to the upper processing.

[0398] (Step S2703) The additional position acquisition unit E36 acquires the position information contained in the i-th point position information from the point dictionary.

[0399] (Step S2704) The additional point acquisition unit E35 determines whether the location information acquired in step S2703 is within the range of the area indicated by the area identification information. If it is within the range of the area, proceed to step S2705, and if it is not within the range of the area, proceed to step S2711. Note that when area identification information indicating the range of an area exists, the process of determining whether a piece of location information is location information of a point within that area is a publicly known technique.

[0400] (Step S2705) The additional coordinate acquisition unit E37 acquires coordinate information corresponding to the position information acquired in step S2703.

[0401] (Step S2706) The additional point acquisition unit E35 acquires the point information contained in the i-th point position information from the point dictionary.

[0402] (Step S2707) The additional point acquisition unit E35 determines whether or not to place the point information acquired in step S2706 in the map representation data. If it is to be placed, proceed to step S2708, and if it is not to be placed, proceed to step S2709. Note that the additional point acquisition unit E35 determines to place the point information in the map representation data if, for example, one or more attribute values ​​corresponding to the point information acquired in step S2706 satisfy a predetermined condition.

[0403] (Step S2708) The point adding unit E38 places the character string of the point information acquired in step S2706 at a position on the map representation data, which is indicated by the coordinate information acquired in step S2705.

[0404] (Step S2709) The correspondence information acquisition unit E32 composes correspondence information having the correspondence information acquired in step S2703 and the coordinate information acquired in step S2705.

[0405] (Step S2710) The correspondence output unit E41 accumulates the correspondence information constructed in step S2709.

[0406] (Step S2711) The counter i is incremented by 1. The process returns to step S2702.

[0407] Next, an example of the output map construction process in step S2107 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0408] (Step S2801) The output unit E4 acquires the map representation data to be processed. Note that it is preferable that the map representation data here is data to which points have been added by the point addition process described above.

[0409] (Step S2802) The processing unit E3 acquires current location information. The processing unit E3 may include a current location information acquisition unit D31.

[0410] (Step S2803) The processing unit E3 uses two or more pieces of correspondence information to acquire coordinate information corresponding to the current position information acquired in step S2802. The processing unit E3 may include a coordinate information acquisition unit D32.

[0411] (Step S2804) The processing unit E3 composes, on the map representation data, current location-added map representation data in which the position indicated by the coordinate information acquired in step S2803 is clearly indicated. Note that the processing unit E3 may also include a data composition unit D33.

[0412] (Step S2805) The processing unit E3 acquires the area identification information acquired by the above area identification process.

[0413] (Step S2806) The processing unit E3 acquires accurate map information including the area indicated by the area specifying information acquired in step S2805.

[0414] (Step S2807) The processing unit E3 constructs accurate map information that clearly indicates the range of the area indicated by the area specification information, and returns to the upper processing.

[0415] In the flowchart of FIG. 28, direction information and scale information may be added to the current location added map representation data.

[0416] A specific example of the operation of the map representation data processing device E in this embodiment will now be described.

[0417] In this specific example, the map representation data processing device E performs the processing shown in Fig. 29. That is, the map representation data processing device E performs the following operations in order: (1) an operation by an OCR module, (2) an operation by a machine learning module, (3) an operation by a geocoding module, (4) an operation by a clustering module, and (5) an operation by a map information extraction module. Note that in Fig. 29, the processing of (2) is optional.

[0418] Now, it is assumed that the map representation data of Fig. 30 is stored in the map representation data storage unit C12. Note that the map representation data will be referred to as an input image as appropriate.

[0419] In this situation, the map representation data receiving unit C21 reads out the input image from the map representation data storage unit C12.

[0420] The character string acquisition unit C31 performs character recognition processing (OCR) on the input image and acquires a list of character strings: "Takatsu Post Office," "Kajigaya Station," "2015," "Kawasaki Civic Plaza," "Toranomon Hospital Branch," and "Freight Terminal."

[0421] Furthermore, the coordinate information acquisition unit C35 acquires coordinate information of each character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31. This coordinate information is relative coordinates (x, y) in the input image. The coordinate information acquisition unit C35 acquires, for example, coordinate information of the center of gravity of the area in which the character string is arranged.

[0422] Next, the classification unit C32 determines whether each character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit C31 is point information by using a machine learning technique (here, LSTM Neural Network), determines that "2015" is not point information, and writes a point information flag of "-1." By the above process, for example, information shown in FIG. 31 is obtained. Note that the point information flag is a flag for determining whether a character string is point information.

[0423] Next, the location information acquisition unit C36 searches the location dictionary using each character string "Takatsu Post Office," "Kajigaya Station," "Kawasaki Civic Plaza," "Toranomon Hospital Branch," and "Cargo Terminal" as a key, and acquires location information (latitude, longitude) corresponding to each character string. Then, for example, the information shown in FIG. 32 is obtained.

[0424] Next, the relationship information acquisition unit E31 performs an inspection process using the distance relationship information as follows. That is, the relationship information acquisition unit E31 calculates, from the coordinate information of each point, the relative distance (here, the number of pixels) that is the difference in coordinate information between points belonging to each pair of two points "C1-C2," "C1-C3," "C2-C4," "C3-C4," "C3-C5," and "C4-C5" among the points C1 "Takatsu Post Office," C2 "Kajigaya Station," C3 "Kawasaki Civic Plaza," C4 "Toranomon Hospital Branch," and C5 "Cargo Terminal." In addition, the relationship information acquisition unit E31 calculates, from the position information of each point, the absolute distance (here, meters) that is the difference in position information between points belonging to each pair of two points "C1-C2," "C1-C3," "C2-C4," "C3-C4," "C3-C5," and "C4-C5." Then, the relationship information acquisition unit E31 calculates distance relationship information (here, MPP) for each pair of two points using the relative distance and the absolute distance as "absolute distance / relative distance" (see FIG. 33). As a result of this processing, the distance relationship information table of FIG. 34 is obtained.

[0425] 34, and separates it into a group of "0.45," "0.41," "0.33," "0.41," "0.37," and "0.44," and a group of "523," "470," "941," and "809."Then, the correspondence information acquisition unit E32 obtains location identifiers "C1," "C2," "C3," and "C4" corresponding to the group of "0.45," "0.41," "0.33," "0.41," "0.37," and "0.44," and location identifier "C5" corresponding to the group of "523," "470," "941," and "809."

[0426] The corresponding information acquisition unit E32 then selects location identifiers from a group with a number of location identifiers that satisfies a predetermined condition. Here, the predetermined condition may be, for example, "the largest number of location identifiers," "the number of location identifiers is equal to or greater than a threshold (e.g., 3)," or "the number of location identifiers is greater than a threshold (e.g., 5)." The corresponding information acquisition unit E32 then acquires the location identifiers "C1," "C2," "C3," and "C4." That is, the corresponding information acquisition unit E32 selects "Takatsu Post Office," "Kajigaya Station," "Kawasaki Civic Plaza," and "Toranomon Hospital Branch," and excludes (deletes) "Cargo Terminal." The above process results in the table of distance relationship information shown in FIG. 35. That is, as a result of the inspection process using the distance relationship information, "Cargo Terminal" was excluded.

[0427] Next, the relationship information acquisition unit E31 performs an inspection process using the angle relationship information as follows. That is, the relationship information acquisition unit E31 acquires the relative angle and absolute angle between points belonging to each pair of two points, "C1-C2," "C1-C3," "C2-C4," and "C3-C4," among the points C1 "Takatsu Post Office," C2 "Kajigaya Station," C3 "Kawasaki Civic Plaza," and C4 "Toranomon Hospital Branch." The relationship information acquisition unit E31 calculates the relative angle between the two points using coordinate information of the two points constituting the pair. The relationship information acquisition unit E31 also calculates the absolute angle between the two points using position information of the two points constituting the pair. 3601 in FIG. 36 is an image of the relative angle between C1 and C3 (the angle based on the base of the rectangular input image). 3602 in FIG. 36 is an image of the absolute angle between C1 and C3 (the angle based on the east-west direction in the real world). Then, the relationship information acquisition unit E31 calculates angle relationship information (Rotation) using the relative angle and the absolute angle. Note that here, the relationship information acquisition unit E31 calculates the angle relationship information by "angle relationship information = relative angle - absolute angle".

[0428] Through the above processing, the relationship information acquisition unit E31 obtains the information shown in Fig. 37. Moreover, the information shown in Fig. 37 is tabulated as shown in Fig. 38. Furthermore, the relationship information acquisition unit E31 calculates (cos(angle relationship information), sin(angle relationship information)) from the angle relationship information in Fig. 38, and calculates vector data for each pair of two points (see Fig. 39). Note that the vector data may also be considered as angle relationship information.

[0429] Next, the correspondence information acquisition unit E32 clusters the vectors in FIG. 39 into group 1 "(cos(-2), sin(-2))(cos(-1), sin(-2))" and group 2 " (cos(-40),sin(-40))(cos(-24),sin(-24))(cos(-32),sin(-32))(cos(-26),sin(-26))". The corresponding information acquisition unit E32 then obtains the location identifier "C2" corresponding to group 1 and the location identifiers "C1", "C3", and "C4" corresponding to group 2.

[0430] Then, the corresponding information acquisition unit E32 selects location identifiers from a group with a large enough number of location identifiers to satisfy a predetermined condition. The corresponding information acquisition unit E32 then acquires the location identifiers "C1," "C3," and "C4." That is, the corresponding information acquisition unit E32 selects "Takatsu Post Office," "Kawasaki Civic Plaza," and "Toranomon Hospital Branch," and excludes (deletes) "Kajigaya Station."

[0431] 40, the correspondence information acquisition unit E32 may create links between points corresponding to appropriate values ​​of group 2, such as "(cos(-40), sin(-40))(cos(-24), sin(-24))(cos(-32), sin(-32))(cos(-26), sin(-26))," and acquire the largest closed space point identifiers, "C1," "C3," and "C4." The correspondence information acquisition unit E32 may also create links between points corresponding to appropriate values ​​of group 2, and delete the point identifier "C2" that is not a closed space.

[0432] Through the above processing, the correspondence information acquisition unit E32 selects three locations, "Takatsu Post Office," "Kawasaki Civic Plaza," and "Toranomon Hospital Branch," as locations for which correspondence information is to be accumulated.The correspondence information acquisition unit E32 then acquires correspondence information (coordinate information, location information) for each of the three locations.The correspondence information may be linked to a character string (the name of the location).

[0433] Next, the correspondence output unit E41 stores the acquired three pieces of correspondence information. The correspondence information is stored, for example, in the correspondence information storage unit C14 or an external device (not shown).

[0434] Next, the corresponding information acquisition unit E32 obtains MPPs "0.41", "0.33", and "0.44" corresponding to the three points "C1", "C3", and "C4". Next, the corresponding information acquisition unit E32 calculates the representative value (here, the average value) of the three MPPs and obtains "0.39" (see FIG. 41).

[0435] Next, the scale acquisition unit E33 acquires scale information (for example, "0.39") using the representative value (MPP "0.39") of the acquired distance relationship information, and stores the information in association with the input image.

[0436] Next, the direction information acquisition unit E39 performs direction information acquisition processing as follows. That is, the direction information acquisition unit E39 acquires angle relationship information "-40," "-24," and "-26" for each pair of location identifiers "C1," "C3," and "C4." Next, the direction information acquisition unit E39 acquires a representative value (here, average value) of the angle relationship information, "-30." Next, the direction information acquisition unit E39 acquires "30 degrees" using the arithmetic formula "angle information = -1 × (representative value of angle relationship information)." Then, the direction information acquisition unit E39 acquires a design (angle information here) indicating a direction tilted 30 degrees eastward (30 degrees clockwise) from true north. Then, the direction information output unit E44 adds the design (angle information) indicating the direction to the input image and outputs it. An example of such output is shown in FIG. 42. Reference numeral 4201 in FIG. 42 is an example of angle information.

[0437] Next, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 performs area identification processing as follows. For example, first, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 uses a contour extraction technique to detect each side (30a, 30b, 30c, 30d) of the area of ​​the map in the input image in Fig. 30. Note that the technique of detecting an area using contour extraction is a publicly known technique.

[0438] Next, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires the relative distance (here, the number of pixels) "720" from the point with the point identifier "C1" to the right side 30a. The relative distance is the number of pixels on the perpendicular line from the point "C1" to the right side 30a. Next, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 calculates the absolute distance "280 m" to the right side 30a using the representative value of the MPP (0.39) and the number of pixels "720" by the operation "720 x 0.39." Next, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires the position information [35.5918, 139.6053] directly to the right of the point "C1" on the right side 30a using the position information of "C1" and the absolute distance "280 m" (see FIG. 43).

[0439] Similarly, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires "1199," the number of pixels from the point with point identifier "C3" to the right side 30a. The area identification information acquisition unit E34 then multiplies the number of pixels "1199" by the representative value of MPP (0.39) to calculate the absolute distance "468 m" from the point with point identifier "C3" to the right side 30a. The area identification information acquisition unit E34 also uses the position information of "C3" and the absolute distance "468 m" to acquire position information [35.5849, 139.6096] directly to the right of the point "C3" on the right side 30a (see FIG. 43). Similarly, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires position information directly to the right of the point "C4" on the right side 30a.

[0440] Next, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires right-side information (straight-line information) [44a, 44b, 44c] from each of the points "C1", "C3", and "C4" using the position information and direction information on the right-side corresponding to each of the points "C1", "C3", and "C4". A conceptual diagram of this is shown in FIG. 44. Next, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 acquires a representative value of the right-side (here, the median value 44c) from the three pieces of right-side information. This representative value of the right-side is determined as the boundary line of the right-side in the accurate map information. The representative value of the right-side may also be an average value.

[0441] The area identification information acquisition unit E34 performs the same process as the process for acquiring the right-side boundary line in the accurate map information to acquire information on the bottom side (45a), left side (45b), and top side (45c) boundary lines in the accurate map information. Next, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 obtains the intersection points (X1, Y1), (X2, Y2), (X3, Y3), and (X4, Y4) of the four sides (44c, 45a, 45b, 45c) (see FIG. 45). The intersection points are (latitude, longitude).

[0442] Through the above process, the area identification information acquisition unit E34 obtains area identification information that identifies an area of ​​accurate map information that corresponds to an area of ​​the map in the input image. The area identification information is, for example, information on four intersections, information on two points (X1, Y1) (X3, Y3), or information on two points (X2, Y2) (X4, Y4).

[0443] Next, the processing unit E3 reads out accurate map information including the area identified by the area identification information. Next, the processing unit E3 composes accurate map information that specifies the area identified by the area identification information in the accurate map information. Next, the output unit E4 outputs the accurate map information that specifies the area identified by the area identification information. An output example of such accurate map information is shown in Figure 46. The area is rectangular, and is designated by 4601.

[0444] Next, by processing according to the flowchart of FIG. 27, the additional point acquisition unit E35 searches the point dictionary and acquires one or more point position information that falls within the area identified by the area identification information. Next, the additional point acquisition unit E35 acquires point information contained in each of the one or more point position information. Next, the additional coordinate acquisition unit E37 acquires coordinate information corresponding to the position information contained in each of the one or more point position information. Next, the point adding unit E38 places a character string of the acquired point information on the input image at the position indicated by the acquired coordinate information for each of the point position information. By the above processing, accurate map information to be output is constructed.

[0445] Next, the output unit E4 outputs the constructed accurate map information. As described above, according to this embodiment, appropriate correspondence information that associates coordinate information such as place names on the map representation data with location information can be automatically obtained.

[0446] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to obtain the real-world range supported by the map representation data.

[0447] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, new point information can be added to the map representation data.

[0448] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, direction information of the map representation data can be obtained.

[0449] The map representation data processing device D described in the third embodiment can clearly indicate the current position on the map representation data by using one or more pieces of correspondence information automatically acquired in this embodiment.

[0450] In such a case, two or more pieces of corresponding information automatically acquired by the map representation data processing device E can be used to display the current location on the map representation data.

[0451] Furthermore, the processing in this embodiment may be realized by software. This software may be distributed by software download or the like. This software may also be recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed. This also applies to other embodiments in this specification. The software that realizes the information processing device in this embodiment is the following program. In other words, this program causes a computer to function as: a map representation data receiving unit that receives map representation data, which is one or more types of map, from an illustrated map, a hand-drawn map, or a simplified map; a character string acquisition unit that acquires three or more character strings from the map representation data; a coordinate information acquisition unit that acquires coordinate information in the map representation data, which is coordinate information corresponding to each of the three or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit; a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information corresponding to each of the three or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit, using a location dictionary having one or more location location information that associates location information that identifies a location with location information that identifies the location of the location; a relationship information acquisition unit that acquires relationship information regarding the relationship between correspondence information that is a pair of the coordinate information and the location information corresponding to each of the three or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit; a correspondence information acquisition unit that uses the relationship information to acquire only two or more pieces of correspondence information that correspond to relationship information that satisfies a predetermined relationship from the three or more pieces of correspondence information; and a correspondence output unit that accumulates the two or more pieces of correspondence information acquired by the correspondence information acquisition unit.

[0452] (Embodiment 5) In this embodiment, an information system including a map representation data processing device that receives a map photograph, searches for one or more map representation data using the map photograph, and transmits navigation information including the one or more map representation data to a terminal device will be described. The map representation data processing device searches for map representation data using one or more of the following similarity conditions: image similarity between the map photograph and the map representation data, character string similarity between a set of character strings appearing in the map photograph and a set of character strings corresponding to the map representation data, or range similarity between the range supported by the map photograph and the range supported by the map representation data. The supported range refers to the range of the map area.

[0453] In this embodiment, a first pre-processing step is described in which a map area is cut out from a map photograph to obtain a map cut image. In this embodiment, a second pre-processing step is described in which the map cut image is corrected to a rectangle to obtain a corrected map image.

[0454] In addition, in this embodiment, we will describe an information system that includes a map representation data processing device that searches for one or more map representation data using the current location information of the received terminal device if a map photo that meets the first condition is not found as a result of a search using a map photo.

[0455] In this embodiment, an information system including a map representation data processing device that transmits two or more selected images and two or more pieces of corresponding information corresponding to the selected selected images in order to select the map representation data to be used in a terminal device when two or more pieces of map representation data have been determined will be described. Note that the selected image is an image selected by the user, and is a thumbnail image of the map representation data or the map representation data.

[0456] In this embodiment, an information system including a map representation data processing device that transmits coordinate information of the current location of a terminal device instead of map representation data will be described. The coordinate information is the coordinate information in the map representation data used by the terminal device.

[0457] Furthermore, in this embodiment, a terminal device will be described that takes a map photo, transmits the map photo to a map representation data processing device, receives navigation information, and uses the navigation information to output current location-added map representation data.

[0458] FIG. 47 is a conceptual diagram of an information system F in this embodiment. The information system F includes a map representation data processing device G and one or more terminal devices H. The map representation data processing device G is a so-called server. The server may be, for example, a so-called cloud server, an ASP server, or the like, and the type does not matter. The terminal device H may be, for example, a so-called personal computer, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, or the like, and the type does not matter. The map representation data processing device G and the one or more terminal devices H can communicate with each other via a network such as the Internet.

[0459] 48 is a block diagram of an information system F in this embodiment. FIG. 49 is a block diagram of a map representation data processing device G that constitutes the information system F.

[0460] The map representation data processing device G includes a storage unit G1, a receiving unit G2, a processing unit G3, and a transmitting unit G4. The storage unit G1 includes a location dictionary storage unit C11, an accurate map information storage unit C13, a learning unit storage unit A12, and a navigation information storage unit G11. The location dictionary storage unit C11, the accurate map information storage unit C13, the learning unit storage unit A12, and the navigation information storage unit G11 may be located in external devices (not shown). The receiving unit G2 includes a photo receiving unit G21 and a selection receiving unit G22. The processing unit G3 includes a character string acquisition unit G31, a location information acquisition unit G32, an area identification information acquisition unit G33, a coordinate information acquisition unit G34, a current coordinate acquisition unit G35, and a determination unit G36. The determination unit G36 includes a cutting unit G361, a correction unit G362, a character string determination unit G363, an image determination unit G364, an area determination unit G365, a score acquisition unit G366, a determination unit G367, and an acquisition unit G368. The transmission unit G4 includes a selected image transmission unit G41 and a navigation information transmission unit G42.

[0461] Note that processing unit G3 may be able to realize the same functions as processing unit E3. That is, processing unit G3 may further include one or more of a classification unit C32, a characteristic location detection unit C34, a relationship information acquisition unit E31, a correspondence information acquisition unit E32, a scale acquisition unit E33, an additional point acquisition unit E35, an additional position acquisition unit E36, an additional coordinate acquisition unit E37, a point addition unit E38, and a direction information acquisition unit E39.

[0462] The terminal device H includes a terminal storage unit H1, a terminal reception unit H2, a terminal processing unit H3, a terminal transmission unit H4, a terminal reception unit H5, and a terminal output unit H6. The terminal processing unit H3 includes a terminal photographing unit H31, a terminal cutting unit H32, a terminal correction unit H33, a terminal position acquisition unit H34, and a terminal coordinate acquisition unit H35.

[0463] Various types of information are stored in a storage unit G1 constituting the map representation data processing device G. The various types of information include, for example, a location dictionary, a learning device table, and navigation information, which will be described later.

[0464] The navigation information storage unit G11 stores a set of navigation information. The set of navigation information has two or more pieces of navigation information. The navigation information has two or more pieces of correspondence information and map representation data. The correspondence information has coordinate information and location information. The coordinate information is information that identifies coordinates in the map representation data. The location information is, for example, (latitude, longitude).

[0465] The receiving unit G2 receives various types of information, such as a map photo (to be described later) and a selection instruction (to be described later).

[0466] The photo receiving unit G21 receives map photos from the terminal device H. The map photos are photographs of maps that have been taken. The maps are preferably illustrated maps, hand-drawn maps, or simplified maps. Examples of maps include maps painted on signs, walls, real estate, etc. in town, maps painted on signs at amusement parks, theme parks, and leisure spots, and maps painted in pamphlets and guidebooks. However, the photographed map may also be an accurate map. Furthermore, it is preferable that the map photos are photographs taken by the terminal device H. However, the map photos may also be photographs taken by another device and stored in the terminal device H. Note that the map photos are typically images. Map photos are, for example, jpeg, gif, ping, etc., but the data structure is not important.

[0467] It is preferable that the photo receiving unit G21 also receives terminal location information that specifies the current location of the terminal device H. The terminal location information may be information embedded in the map photo or may be information separate from the map photo. The photo receiving unit G21 receives the terminal location information in pairs with the map photo, for example.

[0468] The selection receiving unit G22 receives a selection instruction from the terminal device H. The selection instruction is information resulting from the selection of a selected image on the terminal device H. The selection instruction includes an image identifier that identifies the selected image.

[0469] The processing unit G3 performs various processes, such as processes performed by a character string acquisition unit G31, a position information acquisition unit G32, an area specification information acquisition unit G33, a coordinate information acquisition unit G34, a current coordinate acquisition unit G35, and a determination unit G36.

[0470] The various types of processing include, for example, processing to determine whether or not to perform preprocessing. For example, the processing unit G3 determines whether or not preprocessing has been performed on the map photo taken by the terminal device H. For example, the processing unit G3 determines whether or not a flag indicating that preprocessing is being performed has been received.

[0471] The processing unit G3 acquires, for example, one or more pieces of correspondence information from the received map photograph. The process of acquiring one or more pieces of correspondence information from the map photograph is the same as the process of acquiring correspondence information from the map representation data described in embodiment 4. In other words, the processing unit G3 acquires one or more place names (character strings) from the map photograph, acquires coordinate information corresponding to each of the place names from the map photograph, acquires real location information corresponding to the place names from a place dictionary, and configures one or more pieces of correspondence information having the coordinate information and the location information.

[0472] The character string acquisition unit G31 acquires one or more character strings from the map photograph received by the photo receiving unit G21. It is preferable that the character string acquisition unit G31 acquires three or more character strings from the map photograph. The character string acquisition unit G31 acquires one or more character strings from the map photograph, for example, by character recognition processing. The character string acquisition unit G31 may perform the same processing as the character string acquisition unit C31. It is preferable that the classification unit C32 determines whether or not the one or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit G31 are character strings that identify a location, and acquires only the character strings that identify a location.

[0473] The location information acquisition unit G32 uses a location dictionary to acquire location information corresponding to the location information, which is each of the three or more character strings acquired by the character string acquisition unit G31. The location dictionary may be stored in the storage unit G1 or in an external device (not shown). The location information acquisition unit G32 performs the same processing as the location information acquisition unit C36. It is also preferable that the above-mentioned grouping unit C33 performs processing to remove location information of locations that are unlikely to be located in the map photograph from the location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit G32.

[0474] The area specifying information acquisition unit G33 acquires area specifying information that specifies the area covered by the map photograph using three or more pieces of location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit G32. The area specifying information acquisition unit G33 performs, for example, the same processing as the area specifying information acquisition unit C37. Note that it is preferable that the three or more pieces of location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit G32 have had location information of points that are unlikely to be located in the map photograph removed by the grouping unit C33.

[0475] The coordinate information acquisition unit G34 acquires coordinate information for each of three or more character strings appearing in the map photograph. The coordinate information is information that identifies coordinates within the map photograph. The coordinate information acquisition unit G34 performs the same processing as the coordinate information acquisition unit C35.

[0476] The current coordinate acquisition unit G35 acquires current coordinate information that identifies coordinates corresponding to the terminal location information using three or more pieces of correspondence information and the received terminal location information. The current coordinate acquisition unit G35 performs the same processing as the coordinate information acquisition unit D32. Note that the correspondence information includes coordinate information and location information. The current coordinate information is information that identifies coordinates in the map photo.

[0477] The determination unit G36 searches for a set of navigation information and determines navigation information that has a relationship with the map photograph that satisfies the first condition. The set of navigation information may be stored in the navigation information storage unit G11 or in an external device (not shown).

[0478] The first condition includes one or more of an image similarity condition, a character string similarity condition, and a range similarity condition. The image similarity condition is a condition related to the degree of similarity between images.

[0479] The image similarity condition is usually a condition regarding the similarity between a map photograph, which is an image, and map representation data, which is also an image. The image similarity condition is, for example, (a) the similarity between the map photograph and two or more map representation data is the largest, (b) the similarity between the map photograph and the two images of the map representation data is equal to or greater than a threshold, (c) the similarity between the two images is greater than a threshold, or (d) a sub-score using the similarity between the two images is large enough to satisfy the condition. The sub-score is a score regarding the similarity between the two images, and may be the similarity itself or a value calculated using an increasing function with the similarity as a parameter. The process of calculating the similarity between two images is a well-known technique, and therefore, a description thereof will be omitted.

[0480] The string similarity condition is a condition regarding the degree of match between a first string set, which is one or more strings appearing in the map photograph, and a second string set, which is one or more strings corresponding to the map representation data. Examples of the string similarity condition include: (a) the number or percentage of matching strings in the first string set and the second string set corresponding to each of two or more map representation data is the largest; (b) the number or percentage of matching strings in the first string set and the second string set is equal to or greater than a threshold; and (c) a subscore using the degree of match between the strings included in the first string set and the strings included in the second string set is large enough to satisfy the condition. The subscore may be the number or percentage of matching strings between the strings included in the first string set and the strings included in the second string set, or a value calculated by an increasing function using the number or percentage as a parameter.

[0481] The second set of character strings, which are one or more character strings corresponding to the map representation data, may be one or more character strings expressed in the map representation data, or one or more character strings expressed in the map representation data and one or more point information (usually the name of a point) within the area of ​​the map representation data.

[0482] The range similarity condition is a condition regarding the relationship between a first range of the area supported by the map photograph and a second range of the area supported by the map representation data. Examples of the range similarity condition include: (a) the first range is included in the second range; (b) the proportion of the first range included in the second range is equal to or greater than a threshold; (c) the first range and the second range are identical; (d) the overlapping area between the first range and the second range is equal to or greater than a threshold; (e) the overlapping area between the first range and the second range is maximum; and (f) a subscore using information about the overlap between the first range and the second range is large enough to satisfy the condition. The subscore may be a value such as the proportion of the first range included in the second range or the area of ​​the overlapping area between the first range and the second range, or a value calculated using an increasing function using the proportion or area as a parameter.

[0483] The first condition may be a condition using subscores that indicate the degree to which two or more of the following conditions are satisfied: an image similarity condition, a string similarity condition, and a range similarity condition. A condition using subscores is, for example, that a score obtained using two or three subscores is large enough to satisfy a predetermined condition, or that all two or more subscores are greater than or equal to a threshold. The score obtained using subscores is a value calculated using an increasing function that uses the subscores as parameters, and is, for example, the sum of two or more subscores, the average of two or more subscores, or a weighted average of two or more subscores.

[0484] The determination unit G36 determines navigation information that satisfies the first condition by using, for example, one or more character strings. Using one or more character strings means using one or two of the character string similarity condition and the range similarity condition, for example.

[0485] The determination unit G36 determines whether or not each of the one or more character strings matches the location information, and determines the navigation information that satisfies the first condition using the determination result regarding the match between the character string and the location information.

[0486] The determination unit G36 determines navigation information corresponding to the area identification information acquired by the area identification information acquisition unit G33 and the area identification information that satisfies the first condition. Note that the area identification information acquisition unit G33 acquires the area identification information using the character string acquired by the character string acquisition unit G31.

[0487] It is preferable that the determination unit G36 cuts out the map area from the map photograph, obtains a map cutout image, and uses the map cutout image to search for the navigation information set and determine the navigation information to be transmitted. Note that the process of cutting out the map area from the map photograph is performed using, for example, a contour extraction technique in image processing, which is a well-known technique. The map cutout image is also an example of a map photograph.

[0488] It is preferable that the determination unit G36 corrects the map cut image to a rectangle, acquires the corrected map image, and uses the corrected map image to search for the navigation information set and determine the navigation information to be transmitted. Note that the map cut image may not be rectangular, and in such a case, the determination unit G36 performs a correction process on the map cut image to acquire a corrected map image that is rectangular (rectangle or square). Note that correcting a distorted image to a rectangular shape is a well-known technique. The corrected map image is also an example of a map photograph.

[0489] If the determination unit G36 is unable to determine navigation information that satisfies the first condition, it is preferable that the determination unit G36 determines navigation information that includes position information that indicates a position that is close enough to the received terminal position information to satisfy a second condition. The second condition may be, for example, (a) the area supported by the map representation data includes the position of the terminal position information, (b) the position information of the center point of the map representation data and the terminal position information are close enough to satisfy a predetermined condition, or (c) the area supported by the map representation data includes the position of the terminal position information and is larger than a threshold.

[0490] The cutting means G361 cuts out the map area from the map photograph to obtain a map cut image.

[0491] The correction means G362 corrects the map cut image to a rectangle and obtains a corrected map image.

[0492] The character string determination means G363 determines whether or not each of one or more character strings acquired from the map photograph by the character string acquisition unit G31 matches one or more pieces of location information paired with the map representation data. The character string determination means G363 may acquire a character string subscore, which is a score relating to the similarity of the character strings, based on the result of determining whether or not the character strings match. Note that the character string subscore typically increases as the number or percentage of matching character strings increases. The character string subscore is calculated, for example, using an increasing function that uses the number or percentage of matching character strings as a parameter.

[0493] The image determination means G364 obtains the similarity between the map photograph, which is an image, and the map representation data, which is also an image. The image determination means G364 may obtain an image sub-score, which is a score relating to the similarity of the images, using the similarity of the images. Note that the image sub-score generally becomes higher as the similarity of the images increases. The image sub-score is calculated, for example, by an increasing function using the similarity of the images as a parameter.

[0494] The area determination means G365 acquires information regarding the relationship between a first range of the area supported by the map photograph and a second range of the area supported by the map representation data. The information regarding the relationship is, for example, information indicating whether the first range is included in the second range, the proportion of the first range included in the second range, information indicating whether the first range and the second range coincide, information specifying the overlapping range between the first range and the second range, and a subscore using information regarding the overlap between the first range and the second range. Note that this subscore is a range subscore. The range subscore typically becomes higher the greater the overlapping range between the first range and the second range. The range subscore is calculated, for example, using an increasing function with the value (e.g., area) of the overlapping range between the first range and the second range as a parameter.

[0495] The score acquisition means G366 calculates the above-mentioned score using sub-scores of 2 or more. The sub-scores of 2 or more are sub-scores acquired by two or more of the character string determination means G363, the image determination means G364, and the area determination means G365.

[0496] The determination means G367 determines map representation data that is similar to the map photograph to the extent that the first condition is satisfied. Note that the similarity refers to one or more of image similarity, character string similarity, and area similarity. The first condition is, for example, that the score acquired by the score acquisition means G366 is the maximum, or that the score is equal to or greater than a threshold value. The first condition is stored, for example, in the storage unit G1. Note that determining the map representation data is the same as determining the navigation information.

[0497] The acquisition means G368 acquires the navigation information including the map representation data determined by the determination means G367 from the navigation information set.

[0498] The transmitter G4 transmits various types of information, such as a selected image, navigation information, and corresponding information.

[0499] When the determination unit G36 determines two or more pieces of navigation information, the selected image transmission unit G41 transmits two or more selected images to the terminal device H. The selected images are map representation data or thumbnail images. It is preferable that the thumbnail images are stored in advance in association with the map representation data. However, they may be dynamically configured from the map representation data when needed. The selected images are associated with an image identifier. In addition, the image identifier is usually also transmitted together.

[0500] The navigation information transmission unit G42 transmits one or more pieces of navigation information determined by the determination unit G36 to the terminal device H. The navigation information transmission unit G42 transmits, for example, one or more pieces of navigation information acquired by the acquisition means G368 to the terminal device H. The navigation information transmission unit G42 may also transmit two or more pieces of corresponding information that pair with the image identifier contained in the selection instruction to the terminal device H. In such a case, it is preferable that the navigation information transmission unit G42 not transmit map representation data. Furthermore, if only a thumbnail image has already been transmitted, the map representation data is usually also transmitted.

[0501] The navigation information transmission unit G42 may transmit to the terminal device H the navigation information corresponding to the image identifier included in the selection instruction.

[0502] The navigation information transmission unit G42 may transmit current coordinate information to the terminal device H instead of the navigation information. The current coordinate information is preferably transmitted to the terminal device instead of the navigation information when the determination unit G36 cannot determine the navigation information. The current coordinate information is transmitted to the terminal device instead of the navigation information when a map photo taken by the terminal device H is used.

[0503] The transmitted navigation information is used for navigation in the terminal device H. Navigation usually indicates the current location.

[0504] Various types of information are stored in the terminal storage unit H1 constituting the terminal device H. The various types of information include, for example, map photos, navigation information, and correspondence information.

[0505] The terminal receiving unit H2 receives various instructions, information, etc. The various instructions include, for example, an instruction to take a photo, an instruction to select, and an instruction to send. A sending instruction is an instruction to send a map photo.

[0506] The means for inputting various instructions and information may be any means, such as a touch panel, keyboard, mouse, or menu screen.

[0507] The device processing unit H3 performs various processes, such as processes performed by a device photographing unit H31, a device cut unit H32, a device correction unit H33, a terminal position acquisition unit H34, and a terminal coordinate acquisition unit H35.

[0508] The various processes are, for example, processes for storing navigation information received by the terminal receiving unit H5 in the terminal storage unit H1. The various processes are, for example, processes for constructing current location-added map representation data in which a design indicating the current location is added to the coordinate position indicated by the current coordinate information acquired on the map representation data contained in the received navigation information. The process for constructing the current location-added map representation data is the same as the process performed by the data constructing unit D33.

[0509] The terminal photographing unit H31 takes a map photograph and is realized by, for example, a camera.

[0510] The terminal cutter H32 cuts out the map area from the map photograph to obtain a map cut image. The process of the terminal cutter H32 is the same as the process of the cutter G361.

[0511] The terminal correction unit H33 corrects the map cut image to a rectangle and obtains a corrected map image. The processing of the terminal correction unit H33 is the same as the processing of the correction means G362.

[0512] The terminal position acquisition unit H34 acquires current position information. The terminal position acquisition unit H34 has, for example, a GPS receiver. The terminal position acquisition unit H34 may acquire current position information using radio waves from three or more mobile phone base stations. The process by which the terminal position acquisition unit H34 acquires the current position information is not important.

[0513] The terminal coordinate acquisition unit H35 acquires current coordinate information corresponding to the current location information by using two or more pieces of corresponding information contained in the navigation information. The processing of the terminal coordinate acquisition unit H35 is the same as the processing of the current coordinate acquisition unit G35.

[0514] The terminal transmission unit H4 transmits the map photograph to the map representation data processing device G. The map photograph may be an image taken as is, or may be a map cut image or a corrected map image.

[0515] The terminal transmission unit H4 transmits a map cut image to the map representation data processing device instead of the map photograph. Note that the map photograph in this case is the photographed image as it was photographed.

[0516] The terminal transmission unit H4 transmits the corrected map image to the map representation data processing device in place of the map cut image.

[0517] The terminal receiving unit H5 receives navigation information from the map representation data processing device G. The received navigation information is usually stored at least temporarily in the terminal storage unit H1.

[0518] The terminal output unit H6 outputs current location-added map representation data that clearly shows the current location at the coordinate position indicated by the current coordinate information on the map representation data included in the navigation information.

[0519] Here, output usually means display on a display, but it can also be thought of as a concept that includes projection using a projector, printing on a printer, sound output, transmission to an external device, storage on a recording medium, and handing over processing results to other processing devices or other programs.

[0520] The storage unit G1, the navigation information storage unit G11, and the terminal storage unit H1 are preferably non-volatile recording media, but may also be realized as volatile recording media.

[0521] There is no restriction on the process by which information is stored in the storage unit G1 etc. For example, information may be stored in the storage unit G1 etc. via a recording medium, information transmitted via a communication line etc. may be stored in the storage unit G1 etc., or information input via an input device may be stored in the storage unit G1 etc.

[0522] The receiving unit G2, the photo receiving unit G21, the selection receiving unit G22, and the terminal receiving unit H5 are usually realized by wireless or wired communication means, but may also be realized by means for receiving broadcasts.

[0523] The processing unit G3, character string acquisition unit G31, position information acquisition unit G32, area identification information acquisition unit G33, coordinate information acquisition unit G34, current coordinate acquisition unit G35, determination unit G36, cutting means G361, correction means G362, character string judgment unit G363, image judgment unit G364, area judgment unit G365, score acquisition unit G366, determination means G367, acquisition means G368, device processing unit H3, device cutting unit H32, device correction unit H33, terminal position acquisition unit H34, and terminal coordinate acquisition unit H35 are typically realized by an MPU, memory, or the like. The processing procedures of the processing unit G3, etc. are typically realized by software, and the software is recorded on a recording medium such as a ROM. However, they may also be realized by hardware (dedicated circuitry). Needless to say, other processors such as a CPU or GPU may be used instead of an MPU.

[0524] The transmission unit G4, the selected image transmission unit G41, the navigation information transmission unit G42, and the terminal transmission unit H4 are usually realized by wireless or wired communication means, but may also be realized by broadcasting means.

[0525] The terminal reception unit H2 can be realized by a device driver for an input means such as a touch panel or a keyboard, or control software for a menu screen.

[0526] The terminal output unit H6 may or may not include an output device such as a display, a speaker, etc. The terminal output unit H6 may be realized by driver software for an output device, or by a combination of driver software for an output device and the output device, etc.

[0527] Next, a description will be given of the operation of the information system F. First, an example of the operation of the map representation data processing device G will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0528] (Step S5001) The photo receiving unit G21 determines whether or not a map photo has been received. If a map photo has been received, the process proceeds to step S5002, and if a map photo has not been received, the process proceeds to step S5017.

[0529] (Step S5002) The processing unit G3 determines whether or not to perform preprocessing. If preprocessing is to be performed, the process proceeds to step S5003; if preprocessing is not to be performed, the process proceeds to step S5005. Note that, for example, if preprocessing has been performed in the terminal device H, the processing unit G3 determines not to perform preprocessing, and if preprocessing has not been performed in the terminal device H, the processing unit G3 determines to perform preprocessing. If preprocessing has been performed in the terminal device H, the photo receiving unit G21 may have received a flag indicating this. Also, information indicating that preprocessing has been performed in the terminal device H may be included in the received map photo (for example, the header section, footer section, etc.). Also, whether or not to perform preprocessing may be determined in advance.

[0530] (Step S5003) The cutting means G361 cuts out the map area from the map photograph received in step S5001, and obtains a map cut image.

[0531] (Step S5004) The correction means G362 corrects the map cut image acquired in step S5003 to a rectangle to acquire a corrected map image. Note that this corrected map image is also considered to be a map photograph. The map cut image may also be used as a map photograph without being corrected.

[0532] (Step S5005) The determination unit G36 performs a first determination process, which is a process for determining navigation information using a map photograph. An example of the first determination process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0533] (Step S5006) The determination unit G36 determines whether one piece of navigation information has been determined in step S5005. If one piece of navigation information has been determined, the process proceeds to step S5007, and if one piece of navigation information has not been determined, the process proceeds to step S5009.

[0534] (Step S5007) The determination unit G36 acquires the one piece of navigation information determined in step S5005 from the navigation information storage unit G11.

[0535] (Step S5008) The navigation information transmission unit G42 transmits the one piece of navigation information acquired by the determination unit G36 in step S5007 to the terminal device H. The process returns to step S5001.

[0536] (Step S5009) The determination unit G36 determines whether two or more pieces of navigation information have been determined in step S5005. If two or more pieces of navigation information have been determined, the process proceeds to step S5010, and if no navigation information has been determined, the process proceeds to step S5012.

[0537] (Step S5010) The determination unit G36 acquires the map representation data included in each of the two or more pieces of navigation information determined in step S5005, or a thumbnail image of the map representation data. Note that such map representation data or thumbnail image is the selected image.

[0538] (Step S5011) The selected image transmission unit G41 transmits the two or more selected images acquired in step S5010 to the terminal device H. Return to step S5001. Note that the selected image transmission unit G41 usually also transmits an image identifier associated with each of the two or more selected images to the terminal device H. The image identifier may be any information that can identify the selected image, such as the ID of the navigation information, the ID of the map representation data, or the ID of a thumbnail image.

[0539] (Step S5012) The decision unit G36 determines whether or not the received map photo should be used on the terminal device H. If the map photo should be used, the process proceeds to step S5013, and if the map photo should not be used, the process proceeds to step S5015.

[0540] (Step S5013) The processing unit G3 acquires one or more pieces of correspondence information corresponding to the map photograph.

[0541] (Step S5014) The navigation information transmission unit G42 transmits the one or more pieces of correspondence information acquired in step S5013 to the terminal device H. The process returns to step S5001.

[0542] (Step S5015) The determination unit G36 determines whether or not to determine the navigation information using the current location information. If the current location information is to be used, the process proceeds to step S5016, and if the current location information is not to be used, the process returns to step S5001. At this point, it is preferable to send an error message to the terminal device H.

[0543] (Step S5016) The determination unit G36 performs a second determination process, which is a process for determining navigation information using the current position information. An example of the second determination process will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0544] (Step S5017) The selection receiving unit G22 determines whether or not a selection instruction has been received. If a selection instruction has been received, the process proceeds to step S5018, and if a selection instruction has not been received, the process returns to step S5001.

[0545] (Step S5018) The determination unit G36 acquires the image identifier included in the selection instruction received in step S5017.

[0546] (Step S5019) The determination unit G36 acquires one or more pieces of correspondence information corresponding to the image identifier from the navigation information storage unit G11. Note that the determination unit G36 may acquire navigation information corresponding to the image identifier from the navigation information storage unit G11.

[0547] (Step S5020) The navigation information transmission unit G42 transmits the one or more pieces of correspondence information acquired in step S5019 to the terminal device H. The process returns to step S5001. Note that here, the navigation information corresponding to the image identifier may also be transmitted to the terminal device H.

[0548] In the flowchart of FIG. 50, the process ends when the power is turned off or an interrupt occurs to end the process.

[0549] Next, an example of the first determination process in step S5005 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0550] (Step S5101) The decision unit G36 determines whether the first condition includes an image similarity condition. If the image similarity condition is included, the process proceeds to step S5102, and if the image similarity condition is not included, the process proceeds to step S5106.

[0551] (Step S5102) The determination unit G36 assigns 1 to the counter i.

[0552] (Step S5103) The determination unit G36 determines whether or not the i-th map representation data exists in the navigation information storage unit G11. If the i-th map representation data exists, the process proceeds to step S5104, and if not, the process proceeds to step S5106.

[0553] (Step S5104) The determination unit G36 acquires the image similarity, which is the similarity between the map photograph as an image and the i-th map representation data as an image, and temporarily stores the image similarity in association with the i-th map representation data. Note that the image similarity may be an image sub-score.

[0554] (Step S5105) The determination unit G36 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S5103.

[0555] (Step S5106) The decision unit G36 determines whether the first condition includes a string similarity condition. If it does, the process proceeds to step S5107, and if it does not, the process proceeds to step S5113.

[0556] (Step S5107) The character string acquisition unit G31 performs character recognition processing on the map photograph to acquire a character string set that is a collection of one or more character strings. Note that here, it is preferable that the classification unit C32 determines whether or not a character string identifies a location, and acquires only the character strings that identify the location. It is also preferable that the location information acquisition unit G32 and the grouping unit C33 perform processing to remove character strings that correspond to location information of locations that are unlikely to be located in the map photograph.

[0557] (Step S5108) The determination unit G36 assigns 1 to the counter i.

[0558] (Step S5109) The decision unit G36 determines whether or not the i-th map representation data exists in the navigation information storage unit G11. If the i-th map representation data exists, the process proceeds to step S5110, and if not, the process proceeds to step S5113.

[0559] (Step S5110) The determination unit G36 acquires one or more pieces of location information paired with the i-th map representation data from the navigation information storage unit G11. Note that the one or more pieces of location information are a set of character strings in the i-th map representation data.

[0560] (Step S5111) The determination unit G36 acquires a string similarity, which is the degree of similarity between the set of strings in the map photograph and the set of strings in the i-th map representation data, and temporarily stores the string similarity in association with the i-th map representation data. Note that the string similarity may be a string subscore.

[0561] (Step S5112) The decision unit G36 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S5109.

[0562] (Step S5113) The decision unit G36 judges whether or not the first condition includes a similar range condition. If it does include a similar range condition, the process proceeds to step S5114, and if it does not include a similar range condition, the process proceeds to step S5121.

[0563] (Step S5114) The character string acquisition unit G31 performs character recognition processing on the map photograph and acquires a character string set that is a set of one or more character strings.

[0564] (Step S5115) The area specifying information acquisition unit G33 acquires area specifying information of the map photograph using the set of character strings. Such area specifying processing is, for example, the processing of FIGS.

[0565] (Step S5116) The determination unit G36 assigns 1 to the counter i.

[0566] (Step S5117) The decision unit G36 determines whether or not the i-th map representation data exists in the navigation information storage unit G11. If the i-th map representation data exists, the process proceeds to step S5118, and if not, the process proceeds to step S5121.

[0567] (Step S5118) The determination unit G36 acquires the area specifying information of the ith map expression data from the navigation information storage unit G11.

[0568] (Step S5119) The determining unit G36 acquires the similarity between the two pieces of area specification information, and temporarily stores the range similarity in association with the i-th map representation data. Note that the range similarity may be a range sub-score.

[0569] (Step S5120) The decision unit G36 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S5117.

[0570] (Step S5121) The determination unit G36 uses the image similarity, character string similarity, and range similarity associated with each map representation data to determine whether or not each map representation data satisfies the first condition, and determines navigation information that includes matching map representation data.

[0571] This may also be done in the flowcharts of Figures 1 to 3.

[0572] Next, an example of the second determination process in step S5016 will be described with reference to the flowchart in FIG.

[0573] (Step S5201) The determination unit G36 acquires the received current location information.

[0574] (Step S5202) The determination unit G36 assigns 1 to the counter i.

[0575] (Step S5203) The decision unit G36 determines whether or not the i-th navigation information exists in the navigation information storage unit G11. If the i-th navigation information exists, the process proceeds to step S5204, and if not, the process proceeds to step S5207.

[0576] (Step S5204) The determination unit G36 acquires the area specifying information corresponding to the i-th navigation information.

[0577] (Step S5205) The determination unit G36 acquires one or more feature amounts using the area identification information corresponding to the i-th navigation information and the current position information, and temporarily stores the feature amounts in association with the i-th navigation information. Note that the feature amounts may be, for example, the distance between the center point of the area identification information and the current position information, whether the position indicated by the current position information is included in the area indicated by the area identification information, the size of the area indicated by the area identification information, or coordinate information corresponding to the current position information within the area indicated by the area identification information.

[0578] (Step S5206) The determination unit G36 increments the counter i by 1. The process returns to step S5203.

[0579] (Step S5207) The determination unit G36 determines one or more pieces of navigation information for which the one or more feature amounts acquired in step S5205 match the second condition. The process returns to the upper level processing. Note that the determination unit G36 determines, for example, one or more pieces of navigation information for which the position indicated by the current position information is included in the area indicated by the area identification information and the distance between the center point of the area identification information and the current position information is less than or equal to a threshold value.

[0580] Next, an example of the operation of the terminal device H will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

[0581] (Step S5301) The terminal reception unit H2 determines whether or not a shooting instruction has been received. If a shooting instruction has been received, the process proceeds to step S5302, and if a shooting instruction has not been received, the process returns to step S5301.

[0582] (Step S5302) The terminal photographing unit H31 takes a photograph, acquires a map photograph, and temporarily stores the map photograph in a buffer.

[0583] (Step S5303) The terminal reception unit H2 determines whether or not a transmission instruction has been received. If a transmission instruction has been received, the process proceeds to step S5304, and if a transmission instruction has not been received, the process returns to step S5303.

[0584] (Step S5304) The terminal location acquisition unit H34 acquires current location information.

[0585] (Step S5305) The terminal cutter H32 cuts out the map area from the map photograph in the buffer and obtains a map cut image.

[0586] (Step S5306) The terminal correction unit H33 corrects the map cut image acquired in step S5305 into a rectangle to acquire a corrected map image. Note that this corrected map image is also a map photograph.

[0587] (Step S5307) The terminal transmission unit H4 transmits the map photo and current location information acquired in step S5306 to the map representation data processing device G. Note that the processing of steps S5305 and S5306 is optional. If the processing of steps S5305 and S5306 is not performed, the terminal transmission unit H4 transmits the map photo and current location information accumulated in the buffer in step S5302 to the map representation data processing device G.

[0588] (Step S5308) The terminal receiving unit H5 judges whether or not information has been received from the map representation data processing device G. If information has been received, the process proceeds to step S5309, and if information has not been received, the process returns to step S5308.

[0589] (Step S5309) The device processing unit H3 determines whether the information received in step S5308 is two or more selected images. If it is two or more selected images, the process proceeds to step S5310; if it is not two or more selected images, the process proceeds to step S5314.

[0590] (Step S5310) The terminal output unit H6 outputs the two or more selected images that have been received.

[0591] (Step S5311) The terminal reception unit H2 determines whether or not an instruction for one selected image has been received. If an instruction has been received, the process proceeds to step S5312, and if an instruction has not been received, the process returns to step S5311.

[0592] (Step S5312) The device processing unit H3 composes a selection instruction to be transmitted, which is an instruction including an image identifier corresponding to the instruction accepted in step S5311. The device transmitting unit H4 transmits the selection instruction including the image identifier to the map representation data processing device G.

[0593] (Step S5313) The terminal receiving unit H5 determines whether or not one piece of navigation information has been received from the map representation data processing device G. If one piece of navigation information has been received, the process proceeds to step S5314, and if one piece of navigation information has not been received, the process returns to step S5313.

[0594] (Step S5314) The terminal location acquisition unit H34 acquires current location information.

[0595] (Step S5315) The terminal coordinate acquisition unit H35 acquires current coordinate information corresponding to the current position information acquired in step S5314, using two or more pieces of corresponding information included in the navigation information received in step S5313.

[0596] (Step S5316) The terminal processing unit H3 generates current location-added map representation data by adding a design that clearly indicates the current location to the coordinate position indicated by the current coordinate information of the map representation data included in the navigation information received in step S5313.

[0597] (Step S5317) The terminal output unit H6 outputs the current location-added map representation data constructed in step S5316.

[0598] (Step S5318) The device processing unit H3 determines whether or not to end the output of the current location-added map representation data. If it is to be ended, the process returns to step S5301, and if it is not to be ended, the process returns to step S5314. Note that the process is ended normally when the terminal receiving unit H2 receives an end instruction from the user.

[0599] (Step S5319) The terminal receiving unit H5 determines whether or not one piece of navigation information has been received from the map representation data processing device G. If one piece of navigation information has been received, the process proceeds to step S5314; if one piece of navigation information has not been received, the process proceeds to step S5320.

[0600] (Step S5320) The terminal receiving unit H5 determines whether or not an error message has been received from the map representation data processing device G. If an error message has been received, the process proceeds to step S5321, and if an error message has not been received, the process returns to step S5301.

[0601] (Step S5321) The terminal output unit H6 outputs the received error message. The process returns to step S5301. The content of the error message does not matter. The error message is, for example, information that indicates that navigation information could not be acquired.

[0602] A specific example of the operation of the information system F in this embodiment will be described below. A conceptual diagram of the information system F is shown in FIG.

[0603] Now, let us assume that the navigation information management table shown in Fig. 54 is stored in the navigation information storage unit G11 of the map representation data processing device G. The navigation information management table is a table that stores two or more records each having an "ID," "navigation information," "area specifying information," and "thumbnail image." The "navigation information" has "map representation data" and two or more "corresponding information." The "corresponding information" has "coordinate information" and "position information." The "area specifying information" here is information that specifies the area supported by the map representation data, and is the position information (latitude, longitude) of the top left and the position information (latitude, longitude) of the bottom right of the rectangular map representation data. In other words, P1(X) of the record with "ID=1" is P1 ,Y P1 ) is the top left position information, and P2(X P2 ,Y P2 ) is the location information at the bottom right. The attribute value of "map representation data" is the file or file name of the map representation data. The "thumbnail image" is a thumbnail image of the map representation data, which is assumed to be stored in advance.

[0604] In this situation, the user starts the map representation data application of the terminal device H and takes a picture of the illustrated map (5501 in FIG. 55) that was installed at Buzz Tei in the tourist spot where the user is visiting, using the camera function of the terminal device H from the application. Next, the terminal photographing unit H31 of the terminal device H takes a picture and acquires the map photo (FIG. 56). In addition, the terminal position acquisition unit H34 of the terminal device H acquires the current position information (X t ,Y t ) is obtained.

[0605] Immediately after taking the photo, the application of the terminal transmission unit H4 sends the map photo (Fig. 56) and the current location information (X t ,Y t ) to the map representation data processing device G. If the terminal cut unit H32 and the terminal correction unit H33 of the terminal device H have performed preprocessing, a flag indicating that the preprocessing has been completed is also sent to the map representation data processing device G, but in this case, no preprocessing is performed.

[0606] Next, the photo receiving unit G21 of the map representation data processing device G receives the map photo of FIG. 56 and the current position information (X t ,Y t Next, processing unit G3 determines that it has not received a flag indicating that preprocessing has been completed, and decides to perform preprocessing.

[0607] Next, the cutting means G361 cuts out the map area from the map photograph of Fig. 56 to obtain a map cut image. Furthermore, the correction means G362 corrects the obtained map cut image into a rectangle to obtain the corrected map image of Fig. 57. It may be said that this corrected map image is a map photograph.

[0608] Next, the determination unit G36 performs a first determination process, which is a process of determining navigation information using the pre-processed map photo (FIG. 57), and determines three pieces of navigation information. Note that the details of the first determination process have been described above, so a description thereof will be omitted here.

[0609] Next, the determination unit G36 acquires selected images, which are thumbnail images included in each of the three determined pieces of navigation information, from the navigation information management table (FIG. 54).

[0610] Next, the processing unit G3 composes information on a selection screen including the acquired three selection images. Then, the selection image transmission unit G41 transmits the information on the selection screen to the terminal device H. Note that the information on the selection screen is written in, for example, HTML, XML, or the like.

[0611] Next, the terminal receiving unit H5 of the terminal device H receives the selection screen information. Then, the terminal processing unit H3 uses the received selection screen information to create the selection screen. Next, the terminal output unit H6 outputs the selection screen as shown in FIG.

[0612] Next, suppose that the user selects one selected image 5801 from the three selected images. Then, the terminal reception unit H2 of the terminal device H receives the selection instruction. Then, the terminal processing unit H3 composes a selection instruction having the image identifier of the selected image 5801. Next, the terminal transmission unit H4 transmits the selection instruction to the map representation data processing device G.

[0613] Next, the selection receiving unit G22 of the map representation data processing device G receives the selection instruction. Next, the determination unit G36 acquires the image identifier included in the received selection instruction. Furthermore, the determination unit G36 acquires the navigation information corresponding to the image identifier from the navigation information management table. Next, the navigation information transmitting unit G42 transmits the acquired navigation information to the terminal device H.

[0614] Next, the terminal receiving unit H5 of the terminal device H receives one piece of navigation information. Then, the terminal position acquisition unit H34 acquires current location information. Next, the terminal coordinate acquisition unit H35 acquires current coordinate information corresponding to the acquired current location information using two or more pieces of correspondence information contained in the received navigation information. Next, the terminal processing unit H3 constructs current location-added map representation data in which a design indicating the current location is added to the coordinate position indicated by the current coordinate information in the map representation data contained in the received navigation information. Next, the terminal output unit H6 outputs the constructed current location-added map representation data. An example of such output is shown in Figure 59. Also, design 5901 indicates the current location.

[0615] As described above, according to this embodiment, navigation can be realized using map representation data acquired using a photographed map picture.

[0616] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, by performing preprocessing on the photographed map photograph, it is possible to select appropriate map representation data with high accuracy.

[0617] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the user can select the map representation data of his / her choice from two or more map representation data corresponding to the photographed map photograph.

[0618] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, by automatically obtaining corresponding information corresponding to a photographed map photograph and transmitting it to the terminal device H, navigation using the photographed map photograph can be realized.

[0619] The processing in this embodiment may be implemented by software. This software may be distributed by software download or the like. Furthermore, this software may be recorded on a recording medium such as a CD-ROM and distributed. This also applies to other embodiments in this specification. The software implementing the map representation data processing device G in this embodiment is the following program. That is, this program causes a computer to function as a photo receiving unit that receives a captured map photo from a terminal device, a determination unit that searches for a navigation information set that includes two or more pieces of navigation information each having two or more pairs of correspondence information, each pair being a coordinate information and location information in map representation data that is any of an illustrated map, a hand-drawn map, or a simplified map, and map representation data, and determines navigation information that has a relationship with the map photo that satisfies a first condition, and a navigation information transmission unit that transmits the navigation information determined by the determination unit to the terminal device.

[0620] The software that realizes the terminal device H is the following program: That is, this program causes a computer to function as a terminal photographing unit that photographs a map photo, a terminal transmitting unit that transmits the map photo to the map representation data processing device, a terminal receiving unit that receives navigation information from the map representation data processing device, a terminal position acquiring unit that acquires current position information, a terminal coordinate acquiring unit that acquires current coordinate information corresponding to the current position information by using two or more pieces of correspondence information contained in the navigation information, and a terminal output unit that outputs current location-added map representation data that clearly shows the current position at the coordinate position indicated by the current coordinate information on the map representation data contained in the navigation information.

[0621] FIG. 60 shows the appearance of a computer that executes the programs described in this specification to realize the map representation data processing device C and the like of the various embodiments described above. The above-described embodiments can be realized by computer hardware and a computer program executed thereon. FIG. 60 is an overview of this computer system 300, and FIG. 61 is a block diagram of the system 300.

[0622] In FIG. 60, a computer system 300 includes a computer 301 including a CD-ROM drive, a keyboard 302, a mouse 303, and a monitor 304.

[0623] 61, computer 301 includes, in addition to CD-ROM drive 3012, MPU 3013, bus 3014 connected to CD-ROM drive 3012 etc., ROM 3015 for storing programs such as a boot-up program, RAM 3016 connected to MPU 3013 for temporarily storing instructions of application programs and providing temporary storage space, and hard disk 3017 for storing application programs, system programs, and data. Although not shown here, computer 301 may further include a network card for providing connection to a LAN.

[0624] A program that causes the computer system 300 to execute the functions of the map representation data processing device G of the above-described embodiment may be stored on a CD-ROM 3101, inserted into the CD-ROM drive 3012, and then transferred to the hard disk 3017. Alternatively, the program may be transmitted to the computer 301 via a network (not shown) and stored on the hard disk 3017. The program is loaded into the RAM 3016 when executed. The program may also be loaded directly from the CD-ROM 3101 or the network.

[0625] The program does not necessarily include an operating system (OS) or a third-party program that causes the computer 301 to execute the functions of the map representation data processing device G of the above-described embodiment. The program need only include instructions that call appropriate functions (modules) in a controlled manner to achieve the desired results. How the computer system 300 operates is well known, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

[0626] In addition, in the above program, the steps of transmitting information and receiving information do not include processing performed by hardware, such as processing performed by a modem or interface card in the transmission step (processing that can only be performed by hardware).

[0627] The computer that executes the program may be a single computer or a plurality of computers, that is, it may perform centralized processing or distributed processing.

[0628] In each of the above embodiments, two or more communication means present in one device are physically connected to one another.

[0629] In each of the above embodiments, each process may be realized by centralized processing in a single device, or may be realized by distributed processing in multiple devices. In other words, the map representation data processing device G and the like may operate as a standalone device.

[0630] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible, and it goes without saying that these modifications are also included within the scope of the present invention. [Industrial Applicability]

[0631] As described above, the map representation data processing device according to the present invention has the effect of being able to automatically acquire coordinate information such as place names on map representation data in association with location information, and is useful as a map representation data processing device, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0632] A learning device B Classifier C, D, E, G Map representation data processing device F. Information Systems H terminal equipment A1, B1, C1, D1, G1 storage area A2,B2,C2,D2 Reception Department A3, B3, C3, D3, E3, G3 processing section A4, B4, C4, D4, E4 output section G2 receiver G4 transmitter A11 Learning source information storage section A12 Learning unit storage unit A31 Learning Department A41 Storage unit B21 String Reception Section B31 Classification section B41 Label output unit C11 Location dictionary storage section C12 Map representation data storage section C13 Accurate map information storage section C14 Correspondence information storage section C21 Map Representation Data Reception Section C31,G31 String acquisition part C32 classification section C33 Grouping section C34 Feature detection section C35, G34 Coordinate information acquisition section C36,G32 Location information acquisition unit C37,G33 Area specific information acquisition unit C38 Directional Information Acquisition Unit C41 compatible output section C42 Accurate map information output unit C43 Direction information output unit C371 First area specific information acquisition means C372 Outer string determination means C373 Size information acquisition method C374 Distance information acquisition means C375 Second area specific information acquisition means D31,G35 Current location information acquisition section D32 Coordinate information acquisition section D33 Data structure section D41 Map representation data output section E31 Related information acquisition unit E32 Supported Information Acquisition Unit E33 Scale acquisition unit E34 Area specific information acquisition unit E35 Additional point acquisition part E36 Additional position acquisition part E37 Additional coordinate acquisition section E38 Location Addition Section E39 Directional Information Acquisition Unit E41 compatible output unit E42 Scale information output section E43 Area specific information output unit E44 Direction information output section E321 Judgment means E322 Corresponding information acquisition method G11 Navigation information storage section G21 Photo Receiver G22 Selective Receiver G36 decision section G41 Selected image transmission section G42 Navigation information transmitter G361 Cutting Method G362 Corrective measures G363 Character string determination method G364 Image Judgment Method G365 Area determination means G G366 Score Acquisition Method G367 Determination means G368 acquisition method H1 terminal storage compartment H2 Terminal Reception H3 Terminal processing section H4 Terminal transmitter H5 Terminal receiving unit H6 Terminal output section H31 Terminal Photography Department H32 Terminal cut part H33 Terminal Correction Unit H34 Terminal location acquisition unit H35 Terminal coordinate acquisition unit

Claims

1. a photo receiving unit that receives the captured map photo from the terminal device; a determination unit that searches for a navigation information set that includes two or more pieces of navigation information each having two or more pairs of correspondence information, each pair being a combination of coordinate information and location information in map representation data that is one of an illustrated map, a hand-drawn map, or a simplified map, and map representation data, and determines navigation information having map representation data that is similar to the map photograph to the extent that it satisfies a first condition; a navigation information transmitting unit that transmits the navigation information determined by the determining unit to the terminal device.

2. The determination unit a determining means for determining map representation data that is similar to the map photograph to the extent that the first condition is satisfied; and acquiring means for acquiring, from the set of navigation information, navigation information including the map representation data determined by the determining means, The navigation information transmission unit 2. The map representation data processing device according to claim 1, wherein the navigation information acquired by said acquisition means is transmitted to said terminal device.

3. a character string acquisition unit that acquires one or more character strings from the map photograph; The determination unit 3. The map representation data processing device according to claim 1, wherein navigation information that satisfies the first condition is determined using each of the one or more character strings.

4. Name information of the location is stored in association with the correspondence information, The determination unit 4. The map representation data processing device according to claim 3, wherein the device determines whether each of the one or more character strings matches the name information, and determines navigation information that satisfies the first condition using the determination result regarding the match between the character string and the name information.

5. Area identification information that identifies an area covered by the map representation data is stored in association with the navigation information; The character string acquisition unit three or more character strings are obtained from the map photograph; a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information corresponding to each of the three or more character strings of location information acquired by the character string acquisition unit, using a location dictionary having one or more pieces of location location information that are information that associates location information that identifies a location with location information that identifies the location of the location; an area specifying information acquisition unit that acquires area specifying information that specifies an area covered by the map photograph using the three or more pieces of location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit; The determination unit 4. The map representation data processing device according to claim 3, wherein the area specifying information acquisition unit determines navigation information corresponding to the area specifying information acquired and the area specifying information that satisfies the first condition.

6. The determination unit 6. A map representation data processing device according to claim 1, wherein a map area is cut out from the map photograph to obtain a map cut image, and the map cut image is used to search for a navigation information set having two or more pieces of navigation information each having map representation data and two or more pieces of corresponding information that are pairs of coordinate information and location information in the map representation data, and the navigation information to be transmitted is determined.

7. The determination unit 7. A map representation data processing device according to claim 6, wherein the map cut image is corrected to a rectangle, a corrected map image is obtained, and the corrected map image is used to search for a navigation information set having two or more pieces of navigation information each having map representation data and two or more pieces of corresponding information each being a set of coordinate information and position information in the map representation data, and the navigation information to be transmitted is determined.

8. a selected image transmitting unit that, when the determining unit determines two or more pieces of navigation information, transmits to the terminal device two or more selected images that are map representation data included in each of the two or more pieces of navigation information or thumbnail images of the map representation data; a selection receiving unit that receives a selection instruction having an image identifier that identifies a selected image from the terminal device; The navigation information transmission unit 8. The map representation data processing device according to claim 1, wherein two or more pieces of correspondence information paired with the image identifier included in the selection instruction are transmitted to the terminal device.

9. The photo receiving unit receiving terminal location information that identifies the current location of the terminal device; a character string acquisition unit that acquires three or more character strings from the map photograph; a coordinate information acquisition unit that acquires coordinate information of each of the three or more character strings; a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information corresponding to each of the three or more character strings using a location dictionary having one or more pieces of location location information that is information that associates location information that identifies a location with location information that identifies the location of the location; a current coordinate acquisition unit that acquires current coordinate information that identifies coordinates corresponding to the terminal location information using three or more sets of correspondence information that are pairs of the coordinate information and the location information and the terminal location information; The navigation information transmission unit 8. The map representation data processing device according to claim 1, wherein the current coordinate information is transmitted to the terminal device instead of the navigation information.

10. The first condition is:

10. A map representation data processing device according to claim 1, comprising one or more of the following conditions: an image similarity condition relating to the similarity between the map photograph and the map representation data which is an image; a string similarity condition relating to the degree of match between a first set of strings which are one or more character strings appearing in the map photograph and a second set of strings which are one or more character strings corresponding to the map representation data; and a range similarity condition relating to the relationship between a first range of an area supported by the map photograph and a second range of an area supported by the map representation data.

11. An information processing method realized by a photo receiving unit, a determination unit, and a navigation information transmitting unit, a photo receiving step in which the photo receiving unit receives a captured map photo from a terminal device; a determination step in which the determination unit searches for a navigation information set having two or more pieces of navigation information each having two or more pairs of correspondence information, each pair being a combination of coordinate information and position information in map representation data, which is any one of an illustrated map, a hand-drawn map, and a simplified map, and determines navigation information having map representation data that is similar to the map photograph to the extent that it satisfies a first condition; and a navigation information transmitting step in which the navigation information transmitting unit transmits the navigation information determined by the determining unit to the terminal device.

12. Computer, a photo receiving unit that receives the captured map photo from the terminal device; a determination unit that searches for a navigation information set that includes two or more pieces of navigation information each having two or more pairs of correspondence information, each pair being a combination of coordinate information and location information in map representation data that is one of an illustrated map, a hand-drawn map, or a simplified map, and map representation data, and determines navigation information having map representation data that is similar to the map photograph to the extent that it satisfies a first condition; a program for causing the determination unit to function as a navigation information transmitting unit that transmits the navigation information determined by the determination unit to the terminal device;

Images