Electronic devices, programs, systems, message display methods, etc.

Abstract

To provide an in-vehicle device capable of displaying an appropriate message based on information acquired by the device.SOLUTION: An electronic device provided herein comprises an acquisition unit configured to acquire message information including a message containing traffic-related information from a messaging service, and a control unit configured to provide control to output the message included in the message information to a vehicle user.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to an electronic device and the like. [Background technology]

[0002] Conventionally, devices that display various types of information in systems such as electronic devices have been known. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses an invention in which information related to traffic monitoring activities (speed enforcement points), accidents, etc. is displayed on a radar detector based on information posted by users to a posting server.

[0003] Furthermore, Patent Document 2 discloses an invention that targets opinions posted on social media and detects events (accidents, etc.) that are to be extracted.

[0004] Furthermore, Patent Document 3 discloses an invention that accurately detects events such as accidents based on information posted to social media. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 6643606 [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 5702753 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2013-168021 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] One of the objects of the present invention is to improve upon the prior art by, for example, providing an electronic device or the like that is capable of displaying an appropriate message based on information acquired by the device.

[0007] The object of the present invention is not limited to this, and the applicant intends to obtain rights for configurations that aim to achieve the effects achieved by parts of the configuration disclosed in the specification and drawings, etc., through divisional applications, amendments, etc. For example, this specification discloses problems in which the phrases "can" and "is possible" are read as "the problem is." Each problem is described as an independent problem, and the applicant intends to obtain rights for configurations that solve each problem separately through divisional applications, amendments, etc. Even if the problem is implicitly understood from the description in the specification, the applicant intends to claim part of the configuration described in this specification through amendments or divisional applications. Furthermore, the applicant has disclosed configurations that solve problems that combine these independent problems, and the applicant intends to obtain rights for them. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] (1) The electronic device may be provided with a control unit that acquires message information including a message containing information about traffic from a messaging service and controls the output of the message included in the message information to the vehicle user.

[0009] In this way, the user can receive a message containing traffic information from the messaging service on the electronic device. For example, if the in-vehicle device is equipped with a display device or an audio output device, a method of outputting the message to the user may be to display traffic information based on the message on the display device or output traffic information based on the message on the audio output device.

[0010] Here, the traffic-related information should be related to traffic events that the user should take into consideration while traveling by vehicle, and in particular, should be information related to traffic congestion, safe driving, etc. For example, the information should include keywords related to traffic congestion, such as "traffic congestion," "accident," and "under construction," as well as keywords related to safe driving, such as "police crackdown," "wrong-way driving," and "tailgating."

[0011] In particular, the messaging service may be a social networking service (SNS), and the control unit may have a function of acquiring traffic-related information from messages on the social networking service. In this way, the user can receive traffic-related information from the many messages handled by the social networking service. Furthermore, the traffic-related information may be information related to vehicle use. In this way, the user can receive information related to vehicle use. In particular, the vehicle use may be vehicle driving.

[0012] (2) The control unit may have a function of obtaining message information containing keywords related to traffic from the messaging service as the traffic-related information and controlling the output of the message information.

[0013] In this way, the user can receive messages from the messaging service that contain traffic-related keywords. The messaging service includes messages posted by other users other than the user, and it is preferable to have a function for retrieving messages that contain traffic-related keywords from messages posted by other users. It is also preferable to have a function for not retrieving messages that do not contain traffic-related keywords from the messaging service. In this way, it is possible to narrow down the messages that are output to those that contain traffic-related keywords, and the user can prevent messages that do not contain traffic-related keywords from being received from the messaging service.

[0014] Furthermore, a messaging service such as Twitter (registered trademark) may be used. On Twitter, messages posted by users are also called tweets, and are created and distributed by users using the service. The messaging service may be provided with a function for periodically retrieving messages from the messaging service via an API. It may also be possible to retrieve messages in real time. In this way, users can retrieve messages containing traffic-related keywords from the messaging service in real time.

[0015] (3) The control unit may have a function of extracting messages that contain the keyword as a word or tag in the message and controlling the output of the messages.

[0016] In this way, when a user retrieves a message from a messaging service, the user can receive messages that have been extracted based on keywords or tags contained in the message.

[0017] For example, a configuration may be adopted in which keywords or tags related to a message are acquired separately from the message itself. However, when a user of a messaging service wishes to share a topic with other users, the user may include a keyword or tag for sharing in the message, and such a message may be acquired. In this case, a configuration may be adopted in which keywords or tags related to the message are acquired separately from a predetermined topic message by using the tag. The predetermined topic may be a topic related to transportation. The messaging service may be, for example, Twitter (registered trademark), a social networking service. The tag may be a hashtag, and may be one included as part of the content of a tweet.

[0018] It is preferable to configure the system so that messages posted by other users are periodically retrieved from the messaging service. In this way, users can use the service as if they were receiving traffic information. When periodically retrieving messages, it is preferable to retrieve the messages based on tags. For example, if the traffic-related tag is "#traffic jam," messages containing "traffic jam" will be displayed periodically, allowing users to use the service as if they were receiving traffic information.

[0019] (4) The message information may include attributes related to the message, and the control unit may have a function of outputting the attributes together with the message.

[0020] In this way, the user can check not only the message but also the message attributes. The message attributes may be attributes that serve as an indicator of the importance of the message. Such attributes may be, for example, attributes related to location or attributes related to the evaluation of the message. By having the message attributes output together with the message, the user can determine the importance of the message based on the content of the message attributes that are output.

[0021] (5) The attribute may be at least one of the number of times the message has been reposted, the number of times a reply message has been attached to the message, and the number of times the message has been rated.

[0022] In this way, the user can receive at least one attribute corresponding to the message, including the number of times the message has been reposted, the number of times replies have been posted to the message, and the number of times the message has been rated, along with the message. These attributes may be displayed together with the message or output by voice along with the message. In this way, the user can grasp the number of times the message has been reposted, the number of times replies have been posted to the message, and the number of times the message has been rated as ratings related to the message.

[0023] Here, the messaging service may be, for example, Twitter, a social networking service. In this case, the number of times a message has been reposted may be the number of retweets, the number of times a message has been replied to may be the number of replies, and the number of times a message has been rated may be the number of "likes." The attributes may be acquired by accessing an API provided by the messaging service via a network.

[0024] For example, it would be good to output "X number of retweets" along with the message. In this way, the user can understand not only the message but also the number of times it has been reposted. For example, the user can infer that the more retweets and replies a message has, the more people are following it and the more reliable it is.

[0025] (6) The message information may include information about a first account that posted the message, and the control unit may have a function to output information about the first account together with the message.

[0026] In this way, the user can receive information about the first account that posted the message. The information about the first account may be information handled by the messaging service, such as information that can identify the account, such as the account name or account ID, an image associated with the account, detailed account information, and / or profile information about the account. In this way, the user can know who posted the message or information about the account owner.

[0027] (7) The control unit may have a function of changing the output mode of the message depending on information about the first account.

[0028] In this way, it is possible for a user to easily grasp information about the account that posted the message depending on the message output mode. For example, it is preferable to provide a function for displaying the message on the display unit as the message output destination, and it is preferable to change the display mode, such as the color of the message, the font size, and the font type. In this way, it is easier for a user to distinguish and grasp information about the account. Specifically, for example, in the case of an account related to the user, it is preferable to display the information in a different font color. Also, for example, it is preferable to change the size or color of the message depending on the number of accounts related to the account that posted the message (number of followings / number of followers).

[0029] Furthermore, for example, it is preferable to output audio from an audio output unit as the message output destination, and to change the output manner, such as the volume, tone, and output speed of the audio. This makes it easier for the user to understand the account information. Specifically, for example, for accounts not related to the user, a male voice may be used to output the message, and for accounts related to the user, a female voice may be used to output the message.

[0030] (8) The control unit may have a function to acquire and output any of information regarding the profile of the first account, information regarding the number of followers, and information regarding the number of followings, based on information regarding the account.

[0031] In this way, the user can receive one or more pieces of information about the account that posted the message, such as information about the profile, information about the number of followers, and information about the number of follows, and can grasp information about the first account.

[0032] For example, it is advisable to also output the profile of the user who posted the message (e.g., residential area, hobbies, favorite things). Also, information regarding the number of followers and information regarding the number of followings may be output separately, or multiple pieces of information may be output together. In this way, the user can obtain information regarding the account that posted the message.

[0033] (9) The information regarding the account may be information regarding whether the user's second account is associated with the first account that posted the message, or the number of third accounts associated with the first account that posted the message.

[0034] In this way, the user can receive information as to whether the account of the user who posted the message is associated with their own account. The messaging service may be a social networking service such as Twitter. In this way, the user can know information such as whether they are following the user who posted the message or whether they are being followed by the user. The information as to whether they are associated may be information that identifies whether the account is a friend's account or an acquaintance's account. In this way, if the user's second account is associated with the first account, the user can know that the post is not from a completely unrelated account. Therefore, the user can follow highly reliable accounts. In this case, if the account that posted the second message is an account that the user is following, the user can determine that the message was posted from a highly reliable account.

[0035] In addition, it is preferable to obtain the number of accounts associated with the first account that posted the message. The messaging service may be a social networking service such as Twitter. In this way, the user can receive the number of followers or followings of the first account.

[0036] In this way, if a large number of accounts are associated with a first account, the user can determine that the account is highly reliable. For example, when the messaging service is a social networking service such as Twitter, if the account that posted the message has more than a predetermined number of followers, the user can determine that the message was posted from a highly reliable account. Furthermore, if the user determines that the first account is an influencer account, for example, the user may determine that the message was posted from a highly reliable account.

[0037] (10) The second account of the user and the first account that posted the message may be associated with each other if the second account of the user is following the first account that posted the message.

[0038] In this way, users can know that a posted message was posted by an account they are following. Here, "following" refers to associating another person's account with another person, and is a function realized in, for example, a social networking service. Messages posted by accounts they are following can be displayed on their own timeline.

[0039] For example, the messaging service may be a social networking service such as Twitter, which allows users to know whether they are following the user who posted the message or whether they are being followed by the user.

[0040] (11) The number of third accounts associated with the first account that posted the message may be the number of followers or following of the first account.

[0041] In this way, the user can receive the number of followers or following of the account that posted the message along with the posted message. For example, the user can determine the reliability of the message or account based on the influence of the account that posted the message (e.g., the account of an influencer with a large number of followers). It is also desirable to have a function that determines the reliability of an account or a message posted by the account based on the number of followers or following of the account and outputs the result. For example, if the number of followers is greater than the number of followings by a predetermined percentage or more, it is desirable to determine the account as being highly reliable.

[0042] (12) The information regarding the account may be whether the second account of the user is associated with the first account that posted the message, and the control unit may have a function to output information regarding the first account if the second account of the user is not associated with the first account that posted the message.

[0043] In this way, if the account that posted the message is not associated with the user's account, the user can receive information about the account that posted the message. The user's account and the account that posted the message may not be associated, for example, if they are not friends or are not following each other on a social networking service. Since the account that posted the message is not associated, the user can obtain information about the account. In this way, the user can confirm the type of user who posted the message. Here, the information about the account may be, for example, the residence, birthday, hobbies, etc. of the user who posted the message.

[0044] (13) The control unit may have a function of associating or recommending associating the user's second account with the first account that posted the message if the second account and the first account that posted the message are not associated.

[0045] In this way, if the account of the user who posted the message is not associated, the user can receive information that associates or recommends associating the first account that posted the message. The user can decide whether to associate or associate the first account based on this information. For example, when the user sees a message and determines that the user has posted a useful message, the user can easily follow the first account. For example, if the social networking service is Twitter or the like, if the user is not following the second account, the second account can be recommended to be followed. Also, for example, if the user is not following the second account, the second account can be automatically followed. Furthermore, the system can be provided with a function to preferentially retrieve messages posted by accounts followed by the user or to change the output mode.

[0046] (14) It is preferable to have a function to output information about the first account that posted the message when the information about the first account that posted the message matches certain conditions.

[0047] In this way, the user can confirm that the account that posted the message matches a specific condition. Here, the specific condition may be, for example, that if the user inputs a specific keyword, the keyword is included in the profile information of the account that posted the message. The specific condition may be, for example, that the attribute value of an account (specifically, the number of followers / following, etc.) related to the related account is equal to or greater than a specific threshold. Another specific condition may be, for example, that the account is an account certified by the messaging service. By knowing that the specific condition is met, the user can determine, for example, whether to associate the account (for example, whether to follow). Furthermore, by knowing that the specific condition is met, the user can determine whether the message is highly reliable.

[0048] (15) The specific condition may be that the first account that posted the message is a designated corporate account or an official account authenticated by a messaging service.

[0049] In this way, a user can know whether the account that posted a message is a designated corporate account or an official account authenticated by the messaging service. A user can determine whether a corporate account is a more reliable message than an account owned by an individual. By outputting information indicating that the account that posted a message is a corporate account or a pre-designated corporate account, a user can determine whether the message is reliable. For example, a function that allows a user to pre-designate a corporate account is preferable, allowing the user to know that the user who posted the message is a corporate account. A corporate account is preferably an account owned by a company for promotional or public relations purposes, and may be an account officially operated by the company or one or more accounts operated by employees under the company name. A corporate account may be an account of a private company, but may also be an account of an organization or corporation, such as a national or local government office or agency, a foundation, a medical corporation, a school corporation, or a non-profit organization.

[0050] For example, it is preferable to have a database (DB) inside or outside the device where a user can register a specific account (e.g., NEXCO) as a reliable account. Also, it is preferable to identify a corporate account by analyzing the profile of the account information, for example.

[0051] Furthermore, the messaging service may use a different output format for, for example, an authenticated official account (e.g., an account with an official badge displayed on it). In this way, if a user determines that a poster's account is highly trustworthy when it is an official account, the user can use the official account information to determine the trustworthiness of the message.

[0052] (16) The control unit may have a function of changing the output format when the message is addressed to a second account of the user.

[0053] In this way, the user can receive messages addressed to him / herself in a different output format from other messages, making it easier for the user to check the messages addressed to him / her. Note that the messaging service may have a function for extracting messages addressed to the user from among messages obtained from the messaging service, or may have a function for separately obtaining only messages addressed to the user.

[0054] Here, a message addressed to the user's account may be, for example, a message that includes information about the second account, a message that includes a mention of the second account, or a message that has received a reply to a message posted from the second account.

[0055] (17) The message may be a message that mentions a second account of the user.

[0056] In this way, the user can receive a message that mentions the user's account within the message. Also, for example, it is preferable to provide a function for changing the output mode of a message that mentions the user's account within the message. In this way, the user can receive a message in which the user is mentioned. Here, a message that mentions the user's account may be, for example, a message that includes information indicating the user's account (for example, the same as the information indicating the account described above, such as an identification ID). Also, the messaging service may be, for example, Twitter, a social networking service, and a message that mentions the user's account may be a message that mentions the user.

[0057] (18) The control unit may have a function of outputting a message indicating that the poster of the message is driving when the message is posted.

[0058] In this way, when a user receives a message, the user can confirm that the message was posted while the user was driving. For example, the message may be a message about traffic congestion. If the user determines that messages posted by people who are actually driving are highly reliable, the user can check the most reliable messages from among the displayed messages about traffic congestion.

[0059] (19) The control unit may have a function of not outputting the message if the message is a reposted message.

[0060] In this way, users can avoid receiving reposted messages, thereby reducing the number of messages with duplicate content they receive. For example, it is advisable to provide a function for acquiring messages other than reposted messages. This can prevent situations in which users are unable to view messages other than reposted messages. For example, if a certain message is reposted multiple times, the reposted messages are not output, so users can prevent receiving messages with duplicate content. Furthermore, if a message is reposted by various users, the same message will be output repeatedly. Users can avoid situations in which they have to repeatedly view the same reposted messages.

[0061] The messaging service may be, for example, Twitter, a social networking service, and a reposted message may be considered a retweet message. A message containing a specific character string such as "RT" may be considered a retweet message. For example, a reposted message may include a quoted retweet. For example, a message containing other messages besides the message following "RT" or a message containing "QT" may be determined to be a quoted retweet. For example, a message portion following "RT" that is not to be output as the message may be configured not to be output as the message.

[0062] (20) The device may further include a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information of the device itself, wherein the message information includes location information of the message, and the control unit may have a function of acquiring message information that is included in a peripheral range of the location information of the device itself, and adjusting the size of the peripheral range so that the number of pieces of acquired message information is included in a predetermined range.

[0063] In this way, the user can receive messages within a predetermined range of the location information of the device itself. In addition, the device may have a function of searching a predetermined range from the location information of the device itself and acquiring messages posted from accounts within the predetermined range so that the number of messages to be output is within the predetermined range.

[0064] In this case, if the number of messages received by the device itself is large, the size of the surrounding area may be reduced.Also, if the number of messages received by the in-vehicle device is small, the size of the surrounding area may be reduced.

[0065] In this way, it is preferable to change the message acquisition range so that the number of messages displayed falls within a predetermined range. For example, the message acquisition range may be expressed as a peripheral distance centered on the target user's location. Furthermore, for example, the message acquisition range may be determined based on the account's age group or gender, the type of vehicle in which the device is installed, or message attributes.

[0066] For example, in the case of information about traffic congestion, messages near the vehicle's location may be output or may be output preferentially. Outputting preferentially may mean outputting messages in a manner that is easily perceived by the user. For example, the message to be output preferentially may be output and no other messages may be output, the message to be output preferentially may be output earlier than other messages, or the message to be output preferentially may be displayed in a more prominent position than other messages. The size of the peripheral area may be adjusted so that the number of acquired message information items falls within a predetermined range. For example, if the number of message information items is 30, a range based on the location information may be specified so that the number falls within 30. For example, if the number of acquired messages exceeds the range of 20 to 30, the size of the peripheral area may be reduced. If the number of acquired messages is less than 20 to 30, the size of the peripheral area may be increased.

[0067] The size of the peripheral range may be changed simply based on the distance from the center, or may be changed according to the direction of travel of the vehicle. In the latter case, the peripheral range in the direction of travel of the vehicle may be made wider. For example, if the vehicle is traveling north on a highway, the range on the north side, which corresponds to the direction of travel, may be enlarged. In this way, the user can obtain messages related to the direction in which they are heading.

[0068] (21) The device may further include a location information acquisition unit that acquires location information of the device itself, wherein the message information includes location information of the message, and the control unit may have a function of comparing the location information of the device itself with the location information of the message and changing the output mode of the message.

[0069] In this way, the user can confirm the relationship between the location where the message was posted and the user's location by changing the output mode of the displayed message. For example, messages posted from locations close to the device's location can be displayed in a different color, with different font size, or with symbols. This allows the user to confirm that the message content is occurring nearby. In addition to changing the output mode, or instead of changing the output mode, it is also possible to change the priority of message output. For example, it is possible to prioritize messages within a predetermined distance from the electronic device's location.

[0070] (22) The control unit may have a function of changing the output mode of messages within a predetermined distance from the location information of the device itself.

[0071] In this way, the user can confirm that the message is within a predetermined range from the user's device by checking that the message output mode has changed. Changing the output mode may be achieved, for example, by changing the color, size, or font of the message when it is displayed. Furthermore, when the message is output as audio, changing the output volume, tone of voice, or output speed may be achieved. The predetermined range may be a range within a predetermined distance from the user's device. In this case, when the user is driving, the output mode of messages within a predetermined distance from the user's device changes, allowing the user to prioritize checking messages close to the user's device.

[0072] Furthermore, the predetermined range may be a far distance range instead of or in addition to a close distance range from the device itself. For messages in the far distance range, it is preferable to change the output mode of messages that are farther or more than a predetermined distance from the user's location. Here, the close distance range may refer to, for example, a range that is equal to or less than a first threshold distance, and the far distance range may be a range that exceeds the first threshold distance. Furthermore, the far distance range may be a range that exceeds a second threshold distance that is greater than the first threshold. Furthermore, changing the output mode may include not outputting the message. For example, the message may not be displayed, or the message may not be output as audio.

[0073] (23) The control unit may have a function of identifying an address or a road name from the message, and outputting an output message containing the address or the road name in place of the acquired message.

[0074] In this way, the user can receive a message containing an address or road name instead of the acquired message. For example, each user of a messaging service posts messages with various content. The user can check the necessary information in an easy-to-understand output rather than the message posted to the messaging service as is. Here, the address may be a combination of a city, ward, town, or village name and a town name, but it is preferable to use a prefecture name and a city, ward, town, or village name. The address may also represent a region, such as an intersection name, a facility name, or a landmark name. The address may also be information indicating a region or location, such as latitude and longitude information or a map code. The road name may also be a name such as National Route X or Prefectural Route X, a road name such as Meiji Dori or Yasukuni Dori, or a name of an expressway, such as Chuo Expressway, Tomei Expressway, or Shuto Expressway.

[0075] (24) The control unit may further include a function of including keywords contained in the traffic-related information in the output message.

[0076] In this way, the user can receive a message containing information about traffic. Here, for example, the information about traffic may include information about traffic congestion such as "traffic jam," "traffic jam," "accident jam," and "construction jam," information related to traffic congestion such as "construction," "accident," and "closure," and information about safe driving such as "tailgating," "dangerous driving," "enforcement," and "patrol car." Furthermore, the information about traffic may include content that affects traffic and may include information about disasters such as "heavy rain," "flooding," "fire," and "earthquake."

[0077] (25) The control unit may further include a function of including in the output message the time that has elapsed since the acquired message was posted.

[0078] In this way, the user can check the amount of time that has passed since the message was posted. Therefore, the user can check, along with the message, when the message was posted and how far back the message is. For example, if the message indicates a traffic-related event, such as a traffic jam, it is advisable to display the amount of time that has passed along with the event. In this way, the user can know that a traffic-related event has occurred, and can also check when the event occurred and how much time has passed since the event was posted.

[0079] Here, the time that has elapsed since the message was posted may be calculated from the difference between the date and time the message was posted and the current date and time, if the date and time the message was posted is available. Alternatively, the time that has elapsed may be calculated from keywords in the message that indicate time (e.g., "yesterday," "last night," "today," "just now"). The control unit may analyze the message and, for example, output information that it is past information if it is determined to be a past sentence (e.g., a sentence in the past tense). The elapsed time may be expressed as a specific time, such as X minutes ago or X hours ago, or may be general information (e.g., "yesterday" or "before"). The output mode of the message may be changed depending on the time that has elapsed since the message was posted. For example, when displaying a message, the output mode may be changed based on the time that has elapsed since the message included in the output message was posted. For example, the longer the elapsed time, the lighter the display or the smaller the font size may be.

[0080] (26) The control unit may have a function of aggregating and outputting the messages if the messages are related messages.

[0081] In this way, the user can check related messages in an aggregated state. Related messages may be, for example, messages in a messaging service that are somehow related to one message. For example, the messaging service may be a social networking service such as Twitter, in which case replies, reposts (retweets), etc. may be used. By aggregating related messages, the user does not have to check similar messages multiple times. For example, in the case of a reposted message, similar messages are output multiple times. Therefore, for example, if the original message that was reposted is output only once, the user can check only one of the related messages.

[0082] Furthermore, "aggregated and output" here means that multiple messages may be output together. Outputting all at once may mean, for example, displaying only one representative message. Although the first message posted may be selected as the representative message, it is also preferable to generate a new message and output it.

[0083] (27) The control unit may have a function of aggregating and outputting one or more messages that are replies to one message.

[0084] In this way, the user can check messages to which replies have been sent in a consolidated state. For example, when a message is replied to (e.g., a reply) to a certain message, only the original message of the reply may be output, but it is preferable not to display the replied (e.g., replied) message. When using a messaging service, for example, when a message has been replied to, the original message often contains more important information. Therefore, it is preferable to output the original message of the reply. Also, even when messages are replied to a single message in a thread, it is preferable to aggregate them as related messages.

[0085] (28) The control unit may have a function of aggregating and outputting messages that are reposts of the message in (1).

[0086] In this way, the user can receive reposted messages in an aggregate. For example, as a reposted message (e.g., retweet) of one message, it is preferable to output only the message from the original reposter (e.g., retweeter), and in this case, the reposted message (e.g., retweet) can be made not to be displayed. Generally, a reposted (e.g., retweeted) message has almost the same content as the message from the original reposter (e.g., retweeter), so it is preferable to display the message from the original reposter (e.g., retweeter).

[0087] (29) The control unit may have a function of outputting a message including part or all of the message that is the source of aggregation.

[0088] In this way, the user can receive part or all of the original messages that are aggregated. For example, it is good to output all of the aggregated messages (for example, as is) that are the original messages, but it is also possible to output a message that includes some of the wording of the original messages. For example, when messages are aggregated, the user can check what messages have been aggregated by outputting the original messages as they are or by outputting only a part of them.

[0089] (30) The control unit may have a function of outputting the number of messages that have been aggregated together with the messages.

[0090] In this way, the user can also check the number of aggregated messages. For example, the number of times the message has been reposted (for example, retweeted) or the number of times it has been replied to (for example, the number of replies) can be output together with the message. By checking the message and the number of aggregated messages, the user can recognize that a message has received a greater response. For example, the user can recognize that a message that has received a greater response is an important message or a message with high reliability.

[0091] (31) The control unit may have a function of acquiring repost count information indicating the number of times the message has been reposted, and changing the output mode of the message depending on the repost count information.

[0092] In this way, the user can recognize how many times the message has been reposted, depending on the message output mode. For example, if the message has been reposted many times (the number of replies) the control unit may change the font type or size of the message or change the color of the text. Alternatively, the control unit may gradually change the message output mode depending on the number of times the message has been reposted (the number of replies). In this way, the user can confirm how many times the message has been reposted. For example, the text color may change from white to red as the number of reposts increases. In this case, the user can recognize that the closer the text color is to red, the more times the message has been reposted (the more replies there are).

[0093] (32) The control unit may have a function of enlarging the size of the message depending on the number of times the message has been reposted.

[0094] In this way, the user can recognize how many times a message has been reposted based on the size of the message. For example, the number of reposts may be displayed together with the message, and the size of the message may be determined by the size of the characters or the size of the display area to indicate whether the number of reposts is high or low. Furthermore, the user can recognize that a message with a high number of reposts is a message that has been shared by many people and is therefore an important message. Therefore, the more important a message is with a high number of reposts, the larger the message is displayed, allowing the user to intuitively grasp the importance of the message.

[0095] (33) The image capturing apparatus may further include a light-emitting unit, and the control unit may have a function of changing the light-emitting method of the light-emitting unit depending on the repost count information.

[0096] This allows the user to recognize how many times a message has been reposted based on the light-emitting pattern of the light-emitting unit. When the device is provided with a light-emitting unit, the light-emitting unit's light-emitting method changes depending on the number of reposts. For example, the light-emitting method may be to change the number of flashes, brightness, or color. For example, for a message that has been reposted many times, the light may be emitted more frequently. This can alert the user. Furthermore, the user can recognize the approximate number of times a message has been reposted based on the light-emitting pattern of the light-emitting unit. For example, when a message that has been reposted many times is displayed, a light-emitting pattern indicating that the message has been reposted many times can be output. This allows the user to recognize whether a message has been reposted many times without having to take the time to read the message.

[0097] (34) The control unit may have a function of outputting a consolidated message when the output message is selected.

[0098] In this way, the user can receive the aggregated messages by selecting a message. For example, when aggregated messages are displayed, the user can select the aggregated message. In this way, the messages that have been aggregated up to that point are expanded and displayed, allowing the user to check each message. As a method for outputting the aggregated messages, for example, the aggregated messages may be displayed one by one in sequence, but it is preferable to display them one by one in a thread.

[0099] (35) The control unit may have a function of outputting a two-dimensional code for displaying the aggregated message.

[0100] In this way, the user can check the aggregated messages using the two-dimensional code. For example, the user has another terminal device (such as a smartphone or tablet) read the two-dimensional code. The terminal device displays the aggregated messages based on the information (such as a URL) indicated in the two-dimensional code. Here, the two-dimensional code may include, for example, a URL that displays a list of the aggregated messages. The aggregated messages may be displayed one by one, or may be displayed in a thread. Note that an encoded image that encodes information other than the two-dimensional code may also be used.

[0101] (36) The control unit may have a function of changing a message output method depending on the number of messages acquired.

[0102] In this way, the user can recognize the number of messages that have been acquired by the message output method. For example, when the acquired messages are being scrolled, the speed of the scrolling display can be changed. Also, for example, when the acquired messages are displayed in a predetermined area, the font size or the size of the display area can be changed depending on the number of messages. Also, when the acquired messages are output as audio, the audio output speed can be changed depending on the number of messages that have been acquired. In this way, since the message output method changes depending on the number of messages, the user can recognize whether the number of acquired messages is large or small when viewing or listening to the acquired messages.

[0103] (37) The output method may be the message output speed or the number of messages.

[0104] In this way, the user can recognize the number of messages acquired based on the message output speed and the number of messages being output. For example, when the messages are being scrolled, the scrolling speed can be increased if there are many messages, and decreased if there are few messages. In this way, for example, the user can easily visually recognize whether the number of acquired messages is large or small based on the message display speed. Furthermore, when outputting messages, all acquired messages may be output, but it is also preferable to output a range according to the number of messages to be displayed. For example, if more than a predetermined number (100) have been acquired, it is also possible to output only the predetermined number of messages. In this case, the control unit can also output a message that not all acquired messages are being displayed.

[0105] Also, for example, when there are a large number of messages, it is advisable to speed up the scrolling display of the messages. This allows the user to check more messages. Also, for example, by looking at messages that are scrolled quickly, the user can not only understand that there are a large number of posts, but also get a sense of realism (for example, the impression that a lot of information is flowing). Also, when there are only a small number of messages retrieved, it is advisable to slow down the scrolling display. When the scrolling display speed is slow, the user can not only understand that there are only a small number of messages retrieved, but also find it easier to check messages and feel a sense of calm.

[0106] (38) The control unit may have a function of changing an output method for the number of acquired messages depending on the number of messages per unit time.

[0107] In this way, the user can recognize the number of messages by the message output method. For example, if the number of messages retrieved per unit time is large, the message output method can be set to output messages quickly, and if the number of messages retrieved per unit time is small, the message output method can be set to output messages slowly. In this way, if messages are output quickly, the user can tell that many messages are being retrieved per unit time. Also, if messages are output slowly, the user can tell that few messages are being retrieved per unit time. Furthermore, when changing the speed of the message output method, for example, the scrolling speed can be changed, but it is also preferable to change the display speed of the caption.

[0108] (39) The control unit may have a function of determining the reliability of the acquired message and preferentially displaying highly reliable messages or changing the output method.

[0109] In this way, the user can prioritize checking highly reliable messages. For example, messages posted to messaging services contain a mixture of correct information and incorrect information. Furthermore, for example, messages posted to messaging services contain a mixture of messages that contain only facts and messages that are the poster's impressions or unrelated messages. As such, messages posted to messaging services may contain low-reliability messages, such as messages unrelated to traffic or messages that are contrary to the facts, or so-called noise messages, such as messages that are factual but that have been posted long ago. By determining the reliability of messages, it is possible to suppress the output of noise messages or to increase the priority of non-noise messages. In this way, the user can prioritize checking messages other than noise that are necessary for the user.

[0110] (40) The control unit may have a function of determining that the message is highly reliable if the account of the poster of the message has a predetermined number of followers or more, a designated corporate account, or an official account certified by a messaging service.

[0111] In this way, users can view messages posted from accounts with a predetermined number of followers or more, designated corporate accounts, and official accounts, which are considered to be highly reliable. For example, the above-mentioned accounts are more likely to post information based on accurate information than private accounts used by individuals. Therefore, it is advisable to determine these accounts as highly reliable accounts and to determine messages posted from these accounts as highly reliable messages. In this way, users can prioritize viewing messages posted from such highly reliable accounts.

[0112] (41) The control unit may have a function of determining that the message is highly reliable if the message has been reposted a predetermined number of times or has been rated a predetermined number of times or more.

[0113] In this way, users can receive highly reliable messages determined based on the number of reposts and ratings of the message. For example, in a messaging service, messages that have received a large number of responses, such as messages that have been reposted (e.g., retweeted) a certain number of times or more, or messages that have been rated (e.g., liked) a certain number of times or more, can be determined to be highly reliable. In this way, messages that have been determined to be highly reliable can be displayed preferentially. In this way, users can receive highly reliable messages preferentially.

[0114] (42) The device may further include a voice input unit capable of voice input, and the control unit may have a function of saving the output message as a bookmark when the user performs a registration operation by voice input.

[0115] In this way, a user can save an output message as a bookmark by voice input. For example, if the user wants to check the output message again or use it later, the user can issue a command by voice indicating the content to be saved in the bookmark, and the message can be saved as a bookmark. Furthermore, since the user can perform registration operations by voice, the output message can be saved as a bookmark even in an environment where operations cannot be performed, such as while the user is driving. A bookmark can refer to saving a message as information such as a favorite. A message can be saved as a bookmark on a device, for example, or on a messaging service. A message can also be saved as a bookmark on another device connected to the device. Furthermore, the message (e.g., message information) itself can be saved as a bookmark, but identification information identifying the message (e.g., a message ID, a URL indicating the message, etc.) can also be saved.

[0116] (43) The control unit may further have a function of searching the messaging service using words that can be extracted as trends in the messaging service as search keywords, acquiring the message information, and controlling the output.

[0117] In this way, the user can receive messages containing trending words in the messaging service. For example, the messages to be acquired may be acquired by AND searching or OR searching for words that can be extracted as trends together with traffic-related information. For example, only trending messages may be acquired from traffic-related information, or messages containing trending words together with traffic-related information may be acquired. Furthermore, when displaying a message containing a trending word, it is advisable to change the output mode of the message. Furthermore, the trending word may be included as part of the message, or may be included as a tag.

[0118] (44) The system may include a memory unit that stores login information for a second account, which is a user's account, and the control unit may log in to the messaging service based on the login information for the second account, and the control unit may obtain message information based on the second account logged in from the messaging service.

[0119] In this way, the user can store the login information for the messaging service in the electronic device itself. For example, since the login information is stored in the electronic device that the user owns, the user can use the messaging service without worrying about the login information being leaked. Furthermore, for example, when using the messaging service, the user can reduce the effort of entering login information.

[0120] (45) The login information for the second account may include multiple pieces of login information, and the control unit may log in to the messaging service based on each of the multiple pieces of login information to obtain message information, and when outputting the message, may change the output mode of the message based on the account logged in when the message was obtained.

[0121] In this way, a user can store multiple pieces of login information in the electronic device and switch between them to receive messages from the messaging service. Because multiple pieces of login information can be stored in the electronic device, the user can store two pieces of login information, for example, a personal account that the user normally uses and an account that the user uses to collect traffic information on the electronic device. The control unit may use multiple pieces of stored login information together, but it is preferable to have a function for switching between them. For example, the control unit may output only messages acquired by logging in based on the first login information, or only messages acquired by logging in based on the second login information. If the user uses both login information, the control unit may log in based on both the first login information and the second login information and output messages acquired from both login information together.

[0122] (46) The control unit may have a function of logging in based on login information for multiple different accounts, and if messages obtained from each account overlap, outputting only one of the overlapping messages.

[0123] In this way, even if messages are acquired based on multiple different accounts, the user can receive only one of the duplicate messages acquired from each account. For example, when a user outputs messages acquired from different accounts together, if each user's account follows the same other user's account, the user may receive duplicate messages. Therefore, the control unit may display the duplicate messages as a single message rather than outputting them individually, thereby preventing the user from receiving the same message repeatedly. Furthermore, since duplicate messages are not output, the control unit may, for example, output another message instead. Furthermore, the control unit may, for example, change the display mode of the message when the duplicate messages are combined into one.

[0124] (47) The device may further include a display unit, and the control unit may have a function of displaying the message on the display unit as an output destination.

[0125] In this way, the user can check the received message via the display unit and visually see the message. Since the message is displayed on the display unit, for example, when changing the output mode, the electronic device may change the display mode. For example, when changing the output mode or output method, the electronic device may change the character size, font, character display color and / or background color, or display speed.

[0126] (48) A terminal device having a display unit may be connected, and the control unit may have a function of displaying the message on the display unit as an output destination.

[0127] In this way, the user can view the message via the display unit of the terminal device. For example, if the display unit of the electronic device is small and the display unit of the terminal device is large, the user can view the message displayed on the display unit of the larger terminal device. Also, for example, even if the electronic device does not have a display unit, the user can view the message via the display unit of the terminal device. As the terminal device, for example, a portable terminal device such as a smartphone or another in-vehicle display device such as a car navigation device may be used.

[0128] (49) The control unit may have a function of including emoticons displayed in the messaging service in the message and displaying them as is.

[0129] In this way, when a user reads a message, the user can also see the displayed emoji. At this time, the user can view the emoji displayed in the messaging service on the electronic device as is. The emoji may be used to express emotions or a state. Furthermore, by displaying the same emoji used by the user on the messaging service and the electronic device, the user can receive the message more easily. When displaying the emoji as is, the control unit may display emojis that are identical in appearance, or may display emojis that have different appearances but have the same meaning. For example, for a "smile" emoji, it is preferable that the character code representing the emoji is at least the same.

[0130] (50) The device may further include an audio output unit, and the control unit may have a function of outputting the message to the audio output unit as an output destination.

[0131] In this way, the user can check the message by voice. Since the user can check the message by voice, for example, even while driving, the user can check the message without staring at the electronic device. Therefore, the user can check the message safely. Changing the output mode or output method described above may be performed by changing the volume of the sound output from the audio unit, changing the tone of voice, or changing the speed at which the sound is output. Furthermore, the method of outputting the sound may be, for example, a warning sound or music.

[0132] (51) The electronic device may be connectable to a management device, and the control unit may have a function of obtaining message information from a messaging service via the management device, the message information including a message containing information about traffic.

[0133] (52) The control unit may have a function of acquiring a message from a management device that acquires message information including a message containing information about traffic from a messaging service, and outputting the message included in the message information to the user.

[0134] In this way, the management device can output a message to the user based on the message information acquired from the messaging service. For example, the management device acquires a message from the messaging service and outputs it to the electronic device. Since the necessary message is acquired from the management device, the message can be acquired and output without processing by the electronic device.

[0135] (53) It is preferable that a program be provided to a computer for realizing the functions of the control unit of the electronic device described above.

[0136] In this way, the user can receive a message containing information about traffic from the electronic device via the management device. Since the electronic device receives the message via the management device, for example, the electronic device may or may not have a function to directly connect to a messaging service.

[0137] (54) A system including an electronic device and a management device, wherein the management device is configured to acquire message information including a message containing information about traffic from a messaging service and to have a control unit that controls the transmission of the message information to the electronic device, and the electronic device is configured to receive the message information and to have a control unit that controls the output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user.

[0138] In this way, the user can receive traffic-related messages from the messaging service via the management device and the in-vehicle device, and the electronic device does not need to have the functionality to communicate with the messaging service, which simplifies the configuration.

[0139] (55) A system is provided that has a function of acquiring message information including a message containing traffic information from a messaging service and a function of controlling output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user via an electronic device, so that the user can receive the message including traffic information from the messaging service on the electronic device.

[0140] Furthermore, the functions (1) to (52) described above can be realized by the management device. That is, the functions described in (1) to (52) can be realized by the electronic device and the management device.

[0141] (56) The message output method may include an acquisition step of acquiring message information including a message containing information about traffic from a messaging service, and a step of outputting the message included in the message information to a vehicle user.

[0142] In this way, the user can receive traffic information from the messaging service. For example, if the device is equipped with a display device or an audio output device, a method of outputting a message to the user may be to display traffic information based on the message on the display device or output traffic information based on the message on the audio output device.

[0143] It is also preferable to have all the functions (1) to (53), a selection function that allows the user to select which function to execute, and a function that executes the function selected by the selection function.

[0144] The inventions described in (1) to (56) above can be arbitrarily combined. For example, it is desirable to combine all or part of the configuration of the invention described in (1) with at least part of the configuration of at least one of the inventions described in (2) and subsequent paragraphs. In particular, it is desirable to combine the invention described in (1) with at least part of the configuration of at least one of the inventions described in (2) and subsequent paragraphs. Furthermore, it is also possible to extract any configuration from the inventions described in (1) to (56) and combine the extracted configurations. The applicant of this application intends to obtain rights to inventions including these configurations. Furthermore, even if a description is made of "in the case of..." or "when...," it is not intended to describe a configuration limited to that case or time. These are merely examples of better configurations, and the applicant intends to obtain rights to configurations other than those cases or times. Furthermore, the order of the descriptions is not limited to this order. Configurations in which some parts are deleted or the order is changed are also disclosed, and the applicant intends to obtain rights to them. [Effects of the Invention]

[0145] According to the present invention, it is possible to improve upon the prior art by, for example, enabling an electronic device to post an appropriate message to a messaging service based on information acquired by the electronic device.

[0146] The effects of the present invention are not limited to these, and effects achieved by the configuration disclosed in the present specification and drawings, etc. are also disclosed, and the applicant intends to obtain rights to the configuration achieving such effects through divisional applications, amendments, etc. For example, in this specification, phrases such as "can" and "is possible" are descriptions that clearly indicate the effects achieved, and there are also parts that demonstrate effects even without the phrases "can" and "is possible." Furthermore, there are effects that can be understood from the configuration even without such phrases. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0147] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the entire system in a first embodiment. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a service in the first embodiment. [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an overview of an electronic device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the appearance of an electronic device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 5] 3A and 3B are diagrams illustrating a mounting member for the electronic device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating the functional configuration of the electronic device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the appearance of an electronic device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 8] 2 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a control unit and a storage unit of the electronic device according to the first embodiment. FIG. [Figure 9] 4 is an operational flow illustrating the overall processing in the first embodiment. [Figure 10] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the appearance of an electronic device according to a first embodiment. [Figure 11]FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the electronic device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 12] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example according to the first embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a display screen of the electronic device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 14] FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining the entire system according to the second embodiment. [Figure 15] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the configuration of a control unit and a storage unit of an electronic device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating the functional configuration of a management device according to a second embodiment. [Figure 17] 10 is an operational flow illustrating the overall processing in the second embodiment. [Figure 18] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in the second embodiment. [Figure 19] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in the second embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0148] Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the embodiment shown below is one embodiment of the present invention, and the content of the present invention should not be interpreted as being limited based on the following description. Note that although parentheses may be used in the following description, this does not necessarily mean that the parenthesized term and the term written before the parentheses have the same meaning.

[0149] Services that deliver information to terminal devices and electronic devices in real time are known. For example, information provided by the service, such as disaster feeds containing information on traffic accidents, traffic congestion, dangerous driving (tailgating, wrong-way driving), and fires, can provide useful information to users. In addition, by delivering information at any time, users can feel the benefit of real-time information being conveyed to them.

[0150] Additionally, various methods are known, such as distributing current news content and earthquake information (epicenter and seismic intensity) displayed on a map.

[0151] However, while the information provided appears useful at first glance and contains a lot of real information at the national level, there is a problem in that the amount of information is limited at the city, ward, town, village, or road level. For example, even if you use a paid information distribution service, it is fine for delivering information at the national level, but at the city, ward, town, village, or road level, the information is limited, and users may find the cost too high or unable to obtain the information they need.

[0152] Furthermore, when content related to current events is received, it is generally only possible to view it and it cannot be used as data.

[0153] Therefore, in this specification, the above-mentioned problems are solved by utilizing messaging services and social networking services (SNS).

[0154] In recent years, services that provide information posted by users, such as messaging services and social networking services, have become popular. However, these services contain a variety of messages, and not all of them are necessarily valid.

[0155] If the information obtained from these services is displayed as is on an in-vehicle device, there is a high possibility that safety issues may arise, such as an increased likelihood that the driver will stare at the display screen while driving.

[0156] Furthermore, since the content transmitted by each user varies, the appropriate content is not always output from the in-vehicle device or the like.

[0157] Taking these issues into consideration, we decided to also solve the problems that arise when using messaging services and social networking services (SNS).

[0158] By taking advantage of the name recognition and customer drawing power of the above-mentioned service, it is possible to make more people aware of products that correspond to the service (such as electronic devices), which could have the effect of stimulating the purchasing desire of young people, who are the majority users of SNS.

[0159] For example, due to the characteristics of the service, information on traffic congestion, accidents, and dangerous driving, which are the contents of messages in messaging services, can be delivered faster and with a more live feel than other information delivery services. By linking such services, it is possible to provide a system that users find "interesting." Furthermore, because information can be delivered instantly, it is possible to provide a system that is also practical and effective.

[0160] By using interfaces available in messaging services (for example, Twitter API), it is possible to search for traffic-related keywords on the service and extract messages (tweets). This makes it possible to deliver real-time information using messaging services, even if paid information delivery services or emergency earthquake alerts cannot be delivered immediately.

[0161] It is also possible to reuse the message as is, but by determining the event from the text and distributing it as a summary such as "Information on traffic jam due to accident" or "Report of aggressive driving," it is possible to provide a system that is easy for users to understand.

[0162] Furthermore, the interface of a messaging service (e.g., Twitter API) allows for automatic posting of messages (tweets). In this case, users can post or repost (RT) messages directly from their electronic devices or via a server, rather than from their smartphones, to provide other people with useful information.

[0163] Furthermore, by adding the product name of the electronic device and information about the manufacturer to the message when posting the message, it is expected that an opportunity will be created for many people to learn about the product.

[0164] The key used in the messaging service interface can be obtained in advance from the service provider, allowing messages to be retrieved, extracted, and posted (automatically posted).

[0165] The electronic device may also display information based on the acquired message. For example, if the electronic device is already capable of displaying police information or other information in caption, it may also display messages (tweets, reply messages, such as the content of Instagram comments) in caption.

[0166] Furthermore, since the electronic device already displays, as a caption, enforcement information from the local police station based on the city, ward, town, or village in which the electronic device is located, the displayed message may also be a message related to the same city, ward, town, or village as the vehicle itself.

[0167] In addition, electronic devices can identify locations by displaying the location on a map or by flashing the road, if the data can identify the location, such as an address, latitude and longitude, road name, or the name of an IC, JCT, SA, or PA.

[0168] Furthermore, if a message (tweet) or comment is quoted verbatim, it may be difficult for users to understand, and the poster may complain that it is an unauthorized display. Therefore, the content of the text may be automatically analyzed and converted to "Information about traffic jams due to accidents" or "Information about the dangers of driving the wrong way" and displayed.

[0169] Also, it can be difficult for users to determine when a message has ended, and some parts are hard to understand. Therefore, it is possible to display "X minutes ago" or "X minutes have passed" from the time of occurrence. Also, the color of the road flashing light can be made lighter as time passes, to show the deterioration of the information.

[0170] Furthermore, when electronic devices are used in vehicles, it is best to avoid manual operation as much as possible. Therefore, it is better to enable the electronic device to be operated or posted by operating the screen using voice recognition. It is also possible to recognize voice input and create a message to be posted.

[0171] An embodiment for realizing the above-described contents will be described below with reference to the drawings.

[0172] [1. First embodiment] [1.1 System Description] [1.1.1 System Overview] 1 is a diagram illustrating the entire system 1. The system 1 is configured such that an electronic device 10 that can be placed in a vehicle 50 and a service providing device 30 (a server device for providing a service) that provides a messaging service can be connected via a network NW.

[0173] As will be described later, the electronic device 10 may be directly connected to the service providing device 30 via the network NW, or may be connected to the service providing device 30 via a management device or another terminal device (for example, an information processing device such as a smartphone or tablet, or a car navigation device).

[0174] [1.1.2 Messaging Service Description] Next, a messaging service according to this embodiment will be described. A messaging service is a service that enables the exchange of messages between a user and other users. Unless otherwise specified, the messaging service according to this embodiment is assumed to be a social networking system (SNS), and in particular, a system using Twitter (registered trademark). Among messaging services, a characteristic of SNS is that messages are often exchanged between a specified number of users or an unspecified number of users, and many messages are exchanged without specifying a destination (i.e., the person the message should be read by). Among the messages exchanged, there is a mixture of messages that contain information necessary for the user and messages that do not, and the latter messages often far outnumber the others. This embodiment has been designed taking into consideration the characteristics of such messaging services, but is not intended to exclude messaging services that are not SNS.

[0175] A messaging service (service) can deliver messages posted by users or systems to each user's terminal device. Each user's terminal device can acquire messages from the messaging service and display them, for example, in chronological order, creating and displaying a so-called timeline. Furthermore, each acquired message can be displayed on a display device or output as audio from an audio output device.

[0176] Here, posting a message refers to sending message information from a terminal device or another service to a messaging service server device. The message information includes a message and attributes related to the message. In this embodiment, the message is mainly text, but also includes images (including one or both of still images and moving images) and audio. The attributes include, for example, information about the account posting the message (e.g., a user ID or account ID identifying the account, the username of the user using the account, the date and time the message was posted, etc.). The message information sent from the messaging service to the terminal device may also include other attributes. For example, the attributes may include information about messages replied to the message, information about reposts (e.g., the number of reposts, information about users who reposted), information about ratings (e.g., the number of ratings, information about users who rated), etc., as described below. The image may include information about the image, and the image itself may be included in the message, or information indicating a link to the image (e.g., a URL).

[0177] When the messaging service delivers a message, the terminal device receives the message information from the messaging service server device. The terminal device may request and obtain the message information from the server device. Alternatively, the server device may periodically transmit the message information to the terminal device.

[0178] In this embodiment, the message information will be described in terms of posting from a terminal device to a messaging service and distributing from the messaging service to a terminal device, but the contents of the message information may be different.

[0179] The functions of the messaging service will be described using the timeline in Fig. 2 as an example. The timeline in Fig. 2 displays messages acquired from the service providing device 30 in chronological order on any terminal device. For example, the timeline may be displayed on the display device of the electronic device 10 or on the display device of the mobile terminal device 40.

[0180] The receiving terminal device receives messages from the messaging service. For example, in Figure 2, four messages, MS100, MS102, MS104, and MS106, are received.

[0181] The terminal device acquires message information from the service providing device 30. The message information may include information about the user who posted the message, such as the user name, account ID, posting date and time, location information, and user icon. For example, in message MS104, the user name is displayed in area R100, the account ID in area R104, the posting date and time in area R106, and the message in area R108.

[0182] Here, the account ID corresponding to the user name is the character string following the "@" symbol. The account ID is a combination of alphanumeric characters, symbols, etc. The account ID may also include double-byte characters such as Japanese.

[0183] The user's account may also display a mark (e.g., area R130) indicating that the service provider has authenticated the user. If the user of the message is a celebrity or a company, the mark can be displayed, allowing a third party to easily verify that the message is not an impersonation.

[0184] Furthermore, user accounts can be associated. For example, a first user can associate a second user with another user to receive messages from the second user or obtain information about the second user. This association is called "following." In this case, the first user is considered a "follower" by the second user. The first user and the second user can also be called "friends."

[0185] A message is composed of a string of text, with a predetermined character limit. A message may also include images, audio, and video. A message may also include what are called "tags." For example, area R120 includes the tag "#Tomei Expressway." By using tags, users can easily find related topics.

[0186] Additionally, by including an account ID in a message, it is possible to send a message to that user. For example, message MS100 includes "@tarou" as a message related to the account ID. This means that message MS100 is sent to the account ID "@tarou."

[0187] In addition, the user can take a predetermined action for each message. In this embodiment, three functions are realized: reply, repost, and rating. The above functions will be explained in accordance with the operation buttons corresponding to these three functions.

[0188] (1) Reply (area R110) A reply is made to a message. This associates, for example, the original message and the message to which the reply is made. In this embodiment, when a reply is made to a message that is the original message, the account ID of the original message is also included in the message to create the reply. The reply function is, for example, called a reply function or a comment function.

[0189] (2) Repost (area R112) This reposts the same content as the message. This repost may be the original message as is, or may be reposted in a form that quotes it in one's own message. For example, in FIG. 2, message MS106 is a reposted message. In this case, the original message is displayed as is. Also, in area R132, an identification display is provided to indicate that the message is a repost. In area R132, an icon indicating a repost and the username of the user who reposted are displayed. The repost function is, for example, called a retweet function or a repost function.

[0190] (3) Evaluation (area R114) The user rates the message. This rating may be a positive rating such as "Like," or a function such as "Favorite." It may also be possible to provide both "Good" and "Bad" ratings. In this embodiment, when the user selects the rating function icon displayed in area R114, a rating is added to the message. It may also be possible for the user to cancel the rating of the message by selecting the rating function icon again. The rating function is, for example, a favorite function.

[0191] The buttons associated with the reply function, repost function, and rating function may be displayed as icons or text. Furthermore, each function may be executed by, for example, a gesture operation on a message (e.g., tapping or swiping on the message).

[0192] In Figure 2, buttons (icons) that can perform each function are displayed. Next to each button, the number of people who have actually performed the function is displayed.

[0193] [1.2 Configuration] [1.2.1 Configuration of electronic devices] [1.2.1.1 Overview of Electronic Devices] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an overview of an electronic device 10 according to an embodiment of an in-vehicle device of the present invention. The electronic device 10 is an electronic device (in-vehicle device) placed in a vehicle 50, and provides various information to the driver and other users. The electronic device 10 has a radar / laser detector function, and provides information that contributes to safe driving by the driver. The vehicle 50 is preferably a four-wheeled automobile, but is not limited to a four-wheeled automobile and may be, for example, a two-wheeled vehicle such as a motorcycle, or a large transport vehicle with four or more wheels.

[0194] The electronic device 10 has a notification function that notifies the user when the vehicle 50 is in a predetermined proximity relationship with a predetermined target. The predetermined proximity relationship refers to a relationship in which the vehicle 50 is approaching the target within a predetermined distance, or may further refer to a relationship in which a target exists in the direction of travel or on the path of the vehicle 50 and the vehicle 50 is approaching the target within a predetermined distance. An example of a target is a speed control point, where speed enforcement is conducted. A speed measurement device may be installed at a speed control point. The electronic device 10 receives a speed control wave emitted from the speed measurement device. The speed control wave is an electromagnetic wave for measuring the speed of a vehicle and may be referred to as a measurement wave, a speed measurement signal, or the like. The speed control point is determined taking into consideration the vehicle's driving conditions (e.g., whether a vehicle is likely to speed), the occurrence of traffic accidents (e.g., a location with a high number of accidents), and other circumstances. Examples of speed control points are located on routes (roads) on which vehicles travel, such as on general roads, straight roads, curves, or points beyond curves. There are many types of speed measurement devices, such as fixed and mobile. Mobile devices include, for example, portable types and types mounted on vehicles. The electronic device 10 is roughly divided into a main body unit 10100 and a fixing unit 10200. The main body unit 10100 is fixed to a predetermined installation position using the fixing unit 10200. In this embodiment, the installation position is the upper surface of the dashboard 51 of the vehicle 50. The fixing unit 10200 is provided below the main body unit 10100 and is a fixing member for fixing the main body unit 10100 to the predetermined installation position. The fixing unit 10200 is also called a bracket.

[0195] Fig. 4 is a diagram showing the external configuration of the main body unit 10100. Fig. 4(A) is a diagram showing the main body unit 10100 as seen from the upper right on the front side, and Fig. 4(B) is a diagram showing the main body unit 10100 as seen from the upper left on the rear side.

[0196] The main body 10100 has a housing 1011. The housing 1011 is rectangular and longer left to right than up to down, and has a relatively small thickness. The housing 1011 is formed of, for example, resin or other material. A rectangular opening that is longer left to right than up to down is provided on the front side of the housing 1011. The main body 10100 has a display unit 120 for displaying an image at the opening position and a touch sensor 152 superimposed on the display area of ​​the display unit 120. The main body 10100 has an illuminance sensor window 1201 and a light-emitting unit 180 on the left side of the display unit 120 on the front side. The light-emitting unit 180 has a light-emitting area with its longitudinal direction in the up-down direction. A storage medium insertion slot is provided on the right side of the housing 1011. A storage medium 162 is inserted into the main body 10100 through the storage medium insertion slot. The storage medium 162 is, for example, an SD card. The SD card includes any form such as an SD memory card, a miniSD card, and a microSD card.

[0197] A lens holder 1012 is provided on the rear side of the housing 1011. The lens holder 1012 has a through-hole that penetrates the housing 1011 from the inside to the outside, and holds the lens 111. The lens 111 is a lens for collecting light. In this embodiment, the lens 111 is a lens called an aspheric lens, which has an elliptical shape that is longer in the vertical direction than in the horizontal direction and has an aspherical light incident surface, but other lenses for collecting light may also be used. An attachment portion 1013 is provided near the lower end of the rear side of the housing 1011 and near the center of the housing 1011 in the horizontal direction. The attachment portion 1013 is a portion to which the fixing portion 10200 is attached. The attachment portion 1013 has a pair of grooves that extend vertically. A power switch 1221 for turning the electronic device 10 on and off and a terminal portion 172 for connecting an external device are also provided on the rear side of the housing 1011.

[0198] Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the external configuration of the fixed part 10200. Fig. 5(A) is a diagram of the fixed part 10200 seen from the upper right on the front side, and Fig. 5(B) is a diagram of the fixed part 10200 seen from the upper left on the front side.

[0199] The fixed part 10200 is fixed to an installation position using a fixing member 1021 and includes a base 1022, a socket 1023, a ball stud 1024, and an attachment member 1025. The base 1022 is fixed to the installation position (installation surface). The bottom surface of the base 1022 is attached to the installation position using a fixing member 1021 such as an adhesive sheet or double-sided tape. The base 1022 has a socket 1023 with a space opening to the front side. A ball portion of the ball stud 1024 is attached to the socket 1023. The socket 1023 and the ball stud 1024 attached to the socket 1023 form a ball joint mechanism. When an external force is applied, the ball stud 1024 changes its position up and down and left and right while attached to the socket 1023. A mounting member 1025 is provided on the front side of the ball stud 1024. The mounting member 1025 is attached to the attachment portion 1013 of the main body 10100. The mounting member 1025 has a pair of protrusions that protrude toward the front on both the left and right sides when viewed from the front. The pair of protrusions is inserted into a pair of grooves in the attachment portion 1013 of the main body 10100, thereby completing the attachment of the main body 10100 to the fixing portion 10200. When subjected to an external force, the main body 10100 can change its position up, down, left, and right while attached to the fixing portion 10200. This allows the user to use the electronic device 10 with the main body 10100 fixed in a desired position.

[0200] FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the electrical configuration of the electronic device 10. The control unit 100 controls each unit of the front camera. The control unit 100 controls each unit of the electronic device 10. The control unit 100 is a computer including, for example, a processor 101 and a memory 102. The processor 101 has, for example, at least one of a central processing unit (CPU), a micro processing unit (MPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA). The memory 102 is a main storage device having, for example, a random access memory (RAM) and a read-only memory (ROM). The processor 101 temporarily stores a program read from the ROM of the memory 102 or the storage unit 190 in the RAM. The RAM of the memory 102 provides a working area for the processor 101. The processor 101 performs various controls by temporarily storing data generated during program execution in RAM while performing arithmetic processing. The control unit 100 further includes a clock unit 103 that keeps time. The clock unit 103 is, for example, a real-time clock. The clock unit 103 may be mounted on the motherboard of the processor 101, or may be externally attached to the processor 101.

[0201] The light receiving unit 110 is a light receiving unit for receiving laser light as a traffic signal from a laser-compatible speed measurement device. The light receiving unit 110 receives light incident thereon through a lens 111 and outputs a signal corresponding to the received light to the control unit 100. The light receiving unit 110 may further include an optical element such as a filter that cuts out visible light from the laser light. The signal output by the light receiving unit 110 varies, for example, depending on the amount of light received by the light receiving unit 110. The light receiving unit 110 includes, for example, a photodiode as a light receiving element, but may also include a phototransistor or other light receiving element. The light receiving unit 110 may include two or more light receiving elements. It is preferable that the light receiving unit 110 be sensitive at least in the infrared light region. The light receiving unit 110 may further include an A / D conversion circuit or the like that converts an analog signal from the light receiving element into a digital signal.

[0202] The display unit 120 displays an image. The display unit 120 is, for example, a 3.2-inch color TFT liquid crystal display. The liquid crystal display is, for example, an IPS (In Plane Switching) type. The display unit 120 may also be an organic EL (Electro Luminescence) display or a display device of another type.

[0203] The audio output unit 130 outputs audio and includes, for example, an audio processing circuit and a speaker.

[0204] The radar receiver 140 receives radar waves as enforcement waves from a radar-compatible speed measurement device. Radar waves include, for example, specified microwaves, stealth waves that are emitted only at the moment a specified stealth enforcement device measures, normal radar waves, new radar waves compatible with K-band and X-band, and cancellation notifications. The radar receiver 140 includes, for example, an antenna and a receiving circuit.

[0205] The radio receiver 142 receives a radio signal of a predetermined frequency. This radio signal of the predetermined frequency may propagate around a speed enforcement point and is an example of a speed enforcement wave indicating the presence of a speed enforcement point. This radio signal of the predetermined frequency may be, for example, a radio signal belonging to a frequency of a speed enforcement radio, a car location radio, a digital radio, a special low-power radio, a police station activity radio, a police telephone, a police activity radio, a tow truck radio, a helicopter radio, a fire helicopter radio, a firefighting radio, an emergency radio, a highway radio, a police radio, or the like. The radio receiver 16 includes, for example, an antenna and a receiving circuit.

[0206] The location information acquisition unit 144 acquires location information indicating the location of the electronic device 10 (more specifically, the current location). The location of the electronic device 10 can be considered to be the same as the location of the vehicle 50 in which the electronic device 10 is installed and the location of the driver and other people (occupants) riding in the vehicle 50. The location information acquisition unit 144 acquires location information (latitude information and longitude information) of the electronic device 10 based on, for example, a signal from a Global Positioning System (GPS), which is one of the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS). The location information acquisition unit 17 may also use Michibiki as a Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS). The location information acquisition unit 144 may acquire location information based on signals from base station devices for 4G, 5G communication, or other purposes.

[0207] The communication unit 146 communicates with an external device. The communication unit 146 communicates wirelessly with the external device, for example, by Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or other wireless LAN (Local Area Network) communication or short-range wireless communication. The external device is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet computer, or other communication terminal in the vehicle 50. The communication unit 146 may have a communication circuit for performing communication in compliance with standards of mobile communication systems such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), 4G, and 5G.

[0208] The input unit 150 accepts information input from the user. The input unit 150 has a touch sensor 152 and a microphone 154. The touch sensor 152 accepts input of user operations. The touch sensor 152 detects the position touched by the user. The touch sensor 152 is, for example, a capacitive type. The microphone 154 converts incident sound into an electrical signal. The microphone 154 is, for example, a condenser microphone. The input unit 150 may also have physical buttons such as a volume adjustment button and a task button.

[0209] The sensor unit 155 includes various sensors. The sensor unit 155 includes, for example, at least one of an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a barometric pressure sensor, a temperature sensor, a humidity sensor, and an illuminance sensor. The acceleration sensor is, for example, a three-axis acceleration sensor that detects the acceleration of the vehicle in the front-to-back, left-to-right, and up-to-down directions. The gyro sensor is a sensor that detects the tilt of the electronic device 10. The acceleration sensor and the gyro sensor may be used to estimate the position of the vehicle 50 using autonomous navigation, for example, when signals from GNSS satellites cannot be received. The barometric pressure sensor measures barometric pressure. The barometric pressure sensor is used, for example, to detect elevation differences and determine whether the vehicle is on a highway or an ordinary road. The temperature sensor detects temperature. The humidity sensor detects humidity. The illuminance sensor is a sensor that detects illuminance, which indicates the brightness of the vehicle interior around the electronic device 10, based on light incident through the illuminance sensor window 1201. The illuminance sensor is used, for example, to adjust the display brightness of the display unit 120.

[0210] The mounting unit 160 functions as a medium holding unit that holds a storage medium 162 inserted through a recording medium insertion port. The mounting unit 160 writes data to the storage medium 162 and reads data from the storage medium 162. The mounting unit 160 may hold only one storage medium 162, but may also be configured to be able to hold two or more storage media 162 simultaneously.

[0211] The power supply control unit 170 controls the supply of power to each unit of the electronic device 10. The power supply control unit 170 has, for example, a power switch 1221 and a power supply control circuit. The power supply control unit 170 supplies power supplied from the vehicle 50 via a terminal unit 172 to each unit of the electronic device 10. The power supply control unit 22 may further have a secondary battery, a button battery, or an electric double layer capacitor (also called a supercapacitor) as a power storage means.

[0212] The terminal unit 172 is a terminal for electrically connecting to an external device. The terminal unit 172 is a terminal for receiving a supply of power from an external device. The terminal unit 172 has a terminal that complies with the miniUSB standard, for example. A connector on one end of a power cord (for example, a cigarette lighter plug cord) is connected to the terminal unit 172. The connector on the other end of the power cord is connected to a power supply terminal (for example, a cigarette lighter socket) provided on the vehicle 50, for example.

[0213] The terminal unit 172 may be connected to an OBDII adapter that can be connected to an OBDII ("II" is the Roman numeral for "2") connector of the vehicle 50. The OBDII connector is also called a fault diagnosis connector, and is connected to the vehicle's ECU (Engine Control Unit), and is a terminal that outputs various types of vehicle information at predetermined intervals (e.g., every 0.5 seconds). By connecting the terminal unit 172 to the OBDII connector using the OBDII adapter, the electronic device 10 can receive a supply of power for operation and acquire vehicle information.

[0214] The vehicle information is information relating to the state of the vehicle 50. The vehicle information may be, for example, at least one of the following: the speed of the vehicle 50 (vehicle speed), engine speed, engine load factor, throttle degree, ignition timing, percentage of remaining fuel, intake manifold pressure, intake air flow rate (MAF), injection open time, engine coolant temperature (coolant temperature), temperature of air taken into the engine (intake temperature), air temperature outside the vehicle (outside air temperature), amount of remaining fuel in the fuel tank (remaining fuel amount), fuel flow rate, instantaneous fuel consumption, accelerator opening, turn signal information (operation of left and right turn signals (ON / OFF)), brake opening, steering wheel rotation angle, gear position, and door open / close state information.

[0215] An external battery may be used as the device connected to the terminal unit 172 so that the electronic device 10 can operate even without power supply from the vehicle 50. The device connected to the terminal unit 172 may be, for example, a device having a function of assisting the user in safe driving. Examples of such devices include a device having a function of capturing an image of the driver (e.g., the face) and detecting and notifying the driver's state, such as distracted driving and drowsy driving, and a device having a function of detecting and notifying an obstacle around the vehicle 50 (e.g., a device used for vehicle detection for forward vehicle collision warning systems (FCWS)). The device connected to the terminal unit 172 may also be an in-vehicle device such as an imaging device, e.g., a drive recorder, a car navigation device, or a display device.

[0216] The light emitting unit 180 emits light of a predetermined color and includes, for example, a light emitting diode.

[0217] The storage unit 190 stores data. The storage unit 190 stores, for example, programs that the control unit 100 uses to perform various controls. The control unit 100 reads out and executes the programs from the storage unit 190. The storage unit 190 also stores map data showing a map, types of landmarks and their location information, data for notifying the presence of landmarks (for example, sound effects, background music, audio data such as voice messages, image data such as photographs and schematic diagrams, etc.), data for implementing a route guidance function when the electronic device 10 has a navigation function, data for displaying a standby screen, etc. Targets include, for example, speed measurement devices (laser type, radar type, loop coil type, H system, LH system, photocell type, mobile type, etc.), as well as locations of drowsy driving accidents, speed limit change points, enforcement areas, checkpoint areas, no-parking monitoring areas, N system, traffic monitoring systems, intersection monitoring points, red light ignorance prevention systems, police stations, accident-prone areas, areas with high rates of vehicle theft, sharp / continuous curves (expressways), branching / merging points (expressways), ETC lane advance guidance (expressways), service areas (expressways), parking areas (expressways), highway oases (expressways), smart interchanges (expressways), gas stations inside PAs / SAs (expressways), tunnels (expressways), highway radio reception areas (expressways), prefectural border announcements, roadside stations, and view point parking lots.

[0218] Information about landmarks (e.g., location information including longitude and latitude, landmark type information, etc.) is registered in the storage unit 190 when the electronic device 10 is shipped. The control unit 100 acquires information about new landmarks that are added later from the attached storage medium 162 or acquires it through communication using the communication unit 146, and stores the acquired information in the storage unit 190. In this way, it is preferable that the control unit 100 has a function of storing updated information about the information about new landmarks, etc., in the storage unit 190.

[0219] The storage unit 190 may be an auxiliary storage device implemented using various storage media such as flash memory (e.g., eMMC, SSD), etc. The storage unit 190 may also be implemented using various storage media such as optical storage media, magnetic storage media, and semiconductor storage media.

[0220] [1.2.1.2 Electronic device notification function] The notification function of the electronic device 10 is a function that notifies the user of information using the light receiving unit 110, the radar receiving unit 140, the wireless receiving unit 142, the location information acquisition unit 144, etc. The notification function is a function that notifies information about targets called POIs (Points of Interest). The notification function has, for example, the functions described below. Notification by the notification function is performed using any of a display on the display unit 120, audio output by the audio output unit 130, predetermined light emission by the light emitting unit 180, and other methods that can be perceived by humans.

[0221] The control unit 100 has a laser warning function. Specifically, the control unit 100 performs warning control to issue a warning when it determines that it has received laser light for speed measurement from a laser-based speed measurement device using the light receiving unit 110. Laser light corresponding to the laser system is a pulsed laser with a specific wavelength and a predetermined pulse width. The specific wavelength belongs to the infrared light region, for example, and the wavelength is, for example, 850 nm, 905 nm, 950 nm, or 1900 nm. The pulse width is, for example, approximately 20 ns or approximately 15 ns. The pulse interval is, for example, approximately 80 ms. The term "approximately" may be used to mean a value that is the same as a reference value or within a predetermined range that can be considered substantially the same as that value. For example, when the control unit 100 determines that laser light corresponding to the laser method has been received, it causes the display unit 120 to display a schematic diagram or photograph of a speed measuring device corresponding to the laser method stored in the memory unit 190, and reads out the audio data stored in the memory unit 190 and outputs an audio message from the audio output unit 130 saying, "Laser light has been received. Watch your speed."

[0222] The control unit 100 has a radar warning function. Specifically, the control unit 100 performs warning control to issue a warning when it determines that the radar receiver 140 has received radar waves from a speed measurement device. For example, when it determines that radar waves for speed measurement have been received, the control unit 100 causes the display unit 120 to display a schematic diagram or photo of a speed measurement device corresponding to the radar method stored in the memory unit 190, and also reads out audio data stored in the memory unit 190 and outputs an audio message such as "This is radar. Watch your speed" from the audio output unit 130.

[0223] The control unit 100 has a wireless alarm function. Specifically, the control unit 100 performs alarm control to issue an alarm when it determines that the wireless receiver 142 has received a wireless signal of a predetermined frequency. The control unit 100 scans frequencies corresponding to the various wireless signals described above. When the control unit 100 determines that a wireless signal has been received at the scanned frequency, the control unit 100 displays on the display unit 120 a schematic diagram or photograph indicating that a wireless signal corresponding to the frequency has been received, which is stored for each wireless type in the memory unit 190. The control unit 100 also reads out audio data stored for each wireless type in the memory unit 190 and outputs audio indicating the type of wireless signal from the audio output unit 130. For example, when the control unit 100 receives a traffic enforcement signal, it outputs an audio message such as "This is a traffic enforcement signal. Watch your speed."

[0224] The control unit 100 has a location warning function (generally referred to as a GPS warning). Specifically, the control unit 100 performs warning control to issue a warning based on the location information of a target stored in the storage unit 190 and the location information acquired by the location information acquisition unit 144. For example, the control unit 100 calculates the distance between the location information of the target and the location information of the electronic device 10, and performs warning control when the calculated distance reaches a predetermined approach distance. For example, while traveling on a highway, the control unit 100 performs warning control when the target is approached to within 2 km, and also performs warning control when it is determined that the target is within 1 km, 500 m, just before, or has passed. For example, with respect to a speed control point in a tunnel, while traveling on a highway, the control unit 100 performs warning control when the target is approached to within 2 km, and also performs warning control when it is determined that the target is within 1 km or 500 m. The control unit 100 displays a warning screen on the display unit 120 and outputs sounds such as sound effects, background music, and voice messages from the audio output unit 130.

[0225] Targets that can be subject to warning control using the location warning function include speed enforcement points, as well as speed trap areas, mobile speed camera areas, tracking enforcement areas, stop enforcement areas, intersection enforcement areas, other enforcement areas, seat belt checkpoints, drunk driving checkpoints, cell phone checkpoints, other checkpoints, intersection monitoring points, red light ignorance prevention systems, highway traffic police, N systems, traffic monitoring systems, police stations, accident-prone areas, service areas, parking areas, highway oases, long / continuous highway tunnels, highway radio reception areas, roadside stations, view point parking, parking lots, public toilets, etc.

[0226] Note that the control unit 100 may activate only the notification function set by the user among the multiple notification functions described above. Furthermore, a priority may be set for each of the multiple notification functions or for each of the targets to be notified, either at the design stage of the electronic device 10 or by user setting. In this case, the control unit 100 may prioritize issuing notifications with higher priority, for example, making high-priority notifications more noticeable than low-priority notifications, or, when a low-priority notification and a high-priority notification conflict, issuing only the high-priority notification.

[0227] The electronic device 10 has a function for receiving police waves and a function for issuing a notification in response to the reception of the police waves, but these functions may be installed in separate electronic devices. In the configuration shown in FIG. 7A, which is an example of this embodiment, the first electronic device 10300 has a function for receiving police waves and a function for outputting a signal corresponding to the reception result to the outside. The first electronic device 10300 is also called an antenna unit. The second electronic device 10100A has a function for acquiring a signal output from the first electronic device 10300 and issuing a notification in response to the reception of the police waves by the first electronic device 10300 based on this signal. The first electronic device 10300 and the second electronic device 10100A are connected, for example, by a wired communication path (e.g., the cable 10400 shown in FIG. 7A), but may also be connected by a wireless communication path. The notification does not have to include, for example, at least one of a visual, audible, and optical notification. In the configuration shown in FIG. 7(B), which is an example of this aspect, electronic device 10100B does not have a display unit. Electronic device 10100B outputs sound from sound emission holes 10500 provided on the front side and emits light from light-emitting unit 10600 to provide notification. Furthermore, the electronic device may be installed in a location other than on the dashboard, such as on the vehicle's windshield (e.g., near the top edge of the windshield), or on the vehicle's rearview mirror or ceiling. In the configuration shown in FIG. 7(C), which is an example of this aspect, electronic device 10100B is fixed to the windshield using mounting member 10700 instead of fixing member 10200. Mounting member 10700 is formed using, for example, a metal plate-like member. Furthermore, the electronic device may be configured to be fixed to any installation location selected by the user from a plurality of installation location options.

[0228] [1.2.1.3 Electronic device control and storage units] The configurations of the control unit 100 and storage unit 190 of the electronic device 10 will be described with reference to Fig. 8. Fig. 8 is a diagram illustrating only the different parts of the configuration described in Fig. 6.

[0229] The control unit 100 further functions as a message generation unit 104, a message posting unit 105, a message acquisition unit 106, a message output unit 107, or a timing determination unit 108. Specifically, the control unit 100 realizes each function by reading and executing a program stored in the storage unit 190.

[0230] The message generating unit 104 generates a message to be posted to the service. The message generating process will be described later. Then, the message generating unit 104 generates posted message information including the generated message.

[0231] In addition to the message itself, the posted message information can include information and attributes related to the message being posted. For example, other information and attributes included in the posted message information can include the ID of another message to which a reply should be sent. The posted message can also include location information (such as latitude and longitude information, location information such as landmarks, etc.) and information related to the content (such as the ID of the uploaded content, or the URL of the content).

[0232] Message posting unit 105 posts the message generated by message generation unit 104 to the service. Message posting unit 105 may simply send the message to the service (a server device within the service), or may send posted message information to the service. Hereinafter, "sending a message" refers not only to simply sending a message to the service, but also to sending message information as needed. Posting a message refers to a process of outputting the message information so that the message is posted to the messaging service. The destination of the message information may be, for example, a device that provides the messaging service, or another device (for example, a relay device such as a management device) that is interposed between the device that provides the messaging service and the electronic device.

[0233] The message acquisition unit 106 acquires messages from a service (a server device within the service). Specifically, the message acquisition unit 106 acquires the specified number of messages from the service by, for example, specifying the number of messages to acquire. For each message, the message acquisition unit 106 acquires information (acquired message information) including the message and information and attributes related to the message from the service.

[0234] The acquired message information includes one or more messages. Each message may also include information and attributes related to the message. The information and attributes related to the message may include, for example, an ID (message ID) that identifies the message, the account ID of the user who posted the message, the account name of the user who posted the message, the posting date and time of the message, and the posting location. The message information may also include a message ID that serves as a reply destination.

[0235] The message acquisition unit 106 can acquire messages according to conditions. For example, the message acquisition unit 106 may acquire messages based on specified keywords. The keywords may be any characters or tags contained in the message. Furthermore, attributes related to the message may include, for example, the number of times the acquired message has been replied to, reposted, or rated.

[0236] Here, the message acquisition unit 106 can acquire acquired message information (message) from an acquisition source as needed. For example, the message acquisition unit 106 may acquire a necessary message directly from a service. Alternatively, the message acquisition unit 106 may acquire a necessary message from acquired message information once stored in the message information storage area 196.

[0237] For example, the message acquisition unit 106 specifies the number (number) of pieces of acquired message information to acquire from the service and acquires the message information. At this time, necessary keywords for the service can be specified. For example, the message acquisition unit 106 can acquire messages that include the keyword "accident" by specifying the keyword "accident." Furthermore, the message acquisition unit 106 can acquire messages that include the tag "#accident" from the service by specifying the tag "#accident."

[0238] Furthermore, when only the number of messages is specified, the message acquisition unit 106 acquires only the number of messages that can be acquired. Then, the message acquisition unit 106 stores the acquired messages (acquired message information) in the message information storage area 196. Note that the message information storage area 196 may store the acquired message information temporarily, may store it for a predetermined period of time, or may store it all.

[0239] Then, the message acquiring unit 106 may acquire messages containing a predetermined keyword (for example, "accident") from the acquired message information stored in the message information storage area 196.

[0240] In this way, when the message acquisition unit 106 acquires a message, it can acquire the message directly from the service or from a message stored in the message information storage area 196, and can select the appropriate method as needed.

[0241] It is also possible to combine these two sources of acquisition. For example, messages from the previous day or earlier may be acquired from the message information storage area 196, and messages from the current day may be acquired from the service. Furthermore, if the message acquisition unit 106 cannot acquire messages from the service due to the communication environment or the like, it may acquire the messages from the message information storage area 196.

[0242] The message output unit 107 outputs the acquired message. For example, the message included in the acquired message information and information and attributes related to the message can be displayed or output as audio.

[0243] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may display each message one by one, or may display a timeline in chronological order.

[0244] Timing determination unit 108 determines the timing to post a message to a service or the timing to acquire a message from a service. For example, when timing determination unit 108 determines that it is time to post a message based on the state of the vehicle, timing determination unit 108 prompts message generation unit 104 to generate a message. Furthermore, when a message has been generated by message generation unit 104 or a message has been input by the user, timing determination unit 108 prompts message posting unit 105 to post the message.

[0245] Furthermore, the timing determination unit 108 determines the timing to post or acquire a message from the service. For example, if it is determined that it is the timing to post a message, it prompts the message generation unit 104 to generate a message. Furthermore, if it is determined that it is the timing to acquire a message from the service, the timing determination unit 108 prompts the message acquisition unit 106 to acquire a message from the service.

[0246] Here, the timing determination unit 108 determines that it is time to post a message when it detects a trigger for posting a message. For example, the timing determination unit 108 may detect a trigger when the state of the vehicle 50 changes, or may detect an operation input from the user as the trigger. The trigger may also be received from another device (such as a drive recorder). The timing determination unit 108 may determine that the state of the vehicle 50 changes when there is any change, such as when the vehicle is in a traffic jam, when an accident occurs, when the vehicle is subjected to aggressive driving, when a police radar signal is received, or when a car location radio signal is received.

[0247] The processes and operations of the message generating unit 104, message posting unit 105, message acquiring unit 106, message output unit 107 and timing determining unit 108 will be described in more detail in the following embodiments.

[0248] The storage unit 190 has an account information storage area 192, a vehicle information storage area 194, a message information storage area 196, and a setting information storage area 198 secured therein.

[0249] The account information storage area 192 stores information related to a user's account. For example, the area stores an ID (account ID) and a password related to the user's account. Furthermore, the area may also store authentication information and an access token as information related to the user's account.

[0250] The vehicle information storage area 194 stores information about the vehicle 50 acquired by the electronic device 10. The vehicle information is stored at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 5 minutes, every 10 minutes, every hour, or once a day).

[0251] Message information storage area 196 stores information related to messages, such as messages generated by message generation unit 104 (posted message information) and messages acquired from services by message acquisition unit 106 (acquired message information).

[0252] 1.2.2 Other devices The service providing device 30 is a device that provides a messaging service, and is, for example, a device that has a control unit, a communication unit, and a storage unit. The service providing device 30 is, for example, a device owned by a business that provides a messaging service. For example, the service providing device 30 may be a device owned by a business that provides a service such as Twitter (registered trademark), Facebook, Instagram, Sina Weibo, or TikTok as a social networking service, or may be a device that has a function to provide a messaging service that can be connected via a network. Hereinafter, the messaging service and the social networking service will be simply referred to as a service.

[0253] The mobile terminal device 40 is a device that is possessed by a user and is capable of processing information, and includes, for example, a control unit, a communication unit, a storage unit, a display unit, etc. Specifically, the mobile terminal device 40 is a device such as a smartphone or a tablet. Note that any terminal device may be used, and may be, for example, a device such as a car navigation system installed in a vehicle.

[0254] The electronic device 10 may communicate with the management device 20 and the service providing device 30 by using a communication function (for example, a tethering function) of the mobile terminal device 40.

[0255] [1.3 Processing flow] Next, the processing flow in this embodiment will be described.

[0256] The following describes the overall flow of the system 1. Fig. 9 is a diagram illustrating the flow of processing in this embodiment.

[0257] First, the control unit 100 determines whether it is the right time to post a message (step S102). Here, the determination of whether it is the right time to post a message is determined by determining whether it is the right time to post a message to the service or whether it is the time to post a message. These determinations may be made by the timing determination unit 108.

[0258] Then, when the control unit 100 determines that a message is to be posted (step S102; Yes), it executes a message generation process (step S104). In the message generation process, for example, the message generation unit 104 generates a message to be posted, that is, posted message information. The generated message (posted message information) may be temporarily stored in the message information storage area 196.

[0259] Next, the control unit 100 executes a message posting process (step S106). For example, the message posting unit 105 posts the message (posted message information) created by the message generating unit 104 to the service.

[0260] Furthermore, the control unit 100 determines whether it is time to acquire a message from the system (step S110). If it is time to acquire a message (step S110; Yes), the control unit 100 executes a message acquisition process (step S112). For example, the message acquisition unit 106 acquires acquired message information from the service. Then, the control unit 100 executes a message output process (step S114). For example, the message output unit 107 executes a process of displaying one or more messages included in the acquired message information on the display unit 120, or outputting sound from the sound output unit 130.

[0261] In this way, by executing the processing of this embodiment, it is possible to post a message to the service from the electronic device 10. Furthermore, the electronic device 10 can obtain and output a message from the service. In other words, information can be easily shared between users via the service.

[0262] 1.4 Working Example Examples that can be realized using this system are described below. Note that the following examples explain each implementation of this embodiment. For convenience of explanation, the examples are described separately, but multiple examples may be combined.

[0263] [1.4.1 Example of posting a message depending on the vehicle status] In this embodiment, the electronic device 10 determines a trigger for posting a message based on the vehicle status and posts the message to the service. A user can share the vehicle status with other users by posting to a messaging service. Sharing with other users can have the following effects: for example, benefits for the user, such as supporting safe driving, and benefits for the seller of the in-vehicle device, such as increased awareness and sales promotion, by appealing to young people, who are many SNS users, and expecting increased purchasing desire. The vehicle status may be the status of the vehicle itself, but may also be the status of the surroundings of the vehicle.

[0264] The vehicle state may be, for example, a state where the vehicle is encountering a predetermined traffic event, particularly an event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded. Such events may include at least one of the following: traffic congestion around the vehicle, an accident, construction work, speed enforcement, bad weather, a fire, landslide, flooding, or other disaster, and road closure or other traffic restrictions. Impeded progress of the vehicle due to an event, such as traffic congestion around the vehicle, may be identified based on the vehicle's speed. While the vehicle speed may be identified based on changes in location information acquired by a location information acquisition unit (described in detail below), the vehicle speed may also be identified by acquiring vehicle speed information from the vehicle. If the system is implemented in an in-vehicle device and information can be acquired from the vehicle, the vehicle speed may be acquired via an OBDII ("II" is the Roman numeral for "2") connector.

[0265] Here, the vehicle is preferably a motorized two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle, but may also be a vehicle that travels on a road, such as a passenger car, truck, bus, etc. The state of the vehicle is preferably acquired based on information acquired from a sensor or the like provided in the vehicle, but may particularly be determined based on information acquired by a sensor provided in the vehicle.

[0266] The sensor may be, for example, an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, a GPS module, or the like. The state of the vehicle may be determined by comparing information acquired from the sensor with pre-stored information. The state of the vehicle may be considered to be in a certain state only when the vehicle is in a predetermined state, but may also be considered to be in a state similar to the predetermined state. The state around the vehicle may be, for example, when a following vehicle is approaching abnormally close (for example, when the following vehicle is tailgating), when the vehicle has encountered dangerous driving by another vehicle, or when a vehicle is traveling in the wrong direction.

[0267] Generating message information based on the vehicle status may involve generating the message information to include a message that reflects the vehicle status. The entire message included in the message information may be automatically generated without the user having to manually input characters, or only a portion of the message may be generated. The former is advantageous in that it reduces the operational burden on users, such as drivers, involved in creating messages and allows for easier posting. The latter is advantageous in that it increases the flexibility in creating messages to be posted and enables a variety of message information to be posted. Reflecting the vehicle status may allow the user to directly or indirectly understand the vehicle status. An example of a messaging service may be Twitter (registered trademark), a social networking service. Messages created and posted by users on Twitter are also called tweets.

[0268] In the first embodiment described below, a case will be described in which a "traffic jam" is detected as an event that may cause the vehicle to be impeded from moving, as an example of the vehicle state, and a message is posted.

[0269] In this embodiment, the control unit 100 determines that it is time to post a message when the vehicle 50 is in a traffic jam. By posting a message to the service when the vehicle 50 is in a traffic jam, information can be shared with other users in almost real time.

[0270] Here, the control unit 100 may perform the following process to determine that the vehicle 50 is in a traffic jam, for example.

[0271] (1) Vehicle 50 speed The control unit 100 determines that a traffic jam is occurring when the current speed of the vehicle 50 is equal to or less than the determined speed and the time that the vehicle 50 is traveling at the determined speed or less continues for a determined time.

[0272] The determination speed and the determination time are stored in advance or as setting information set by the user in the setting information storage area 198. For example, if the determination speed is set to 10 km / h or less and the determination time is set to 3 minutes, the control unit 100 determines that a traffic jam is occurring if the vehicle continues to travel at 10 km / h or less for 3 minutes or more.

[0273] The threshold speed and the threshold time may be changed depending on the type of road. For example, the threshold speed may be stored as 10 km / h for ordinary roads and 40 km / h for expressways.

[0274] (2) Location of vehicle 50 The control unit 100 determines that there is a traffic jam when the current position of the vehicle 50 does not move from the same location or a predetermined range for a predetermined time. For example, the control unit 100 determines that there is a traffic jam when the vehicle 50 is included in a certain range even after the determination time has elapsed. The control unit 100 may also determine that there is a traffic jam when the vehicle 50 is frequently stopped.

[0275] (3) Judgment based on external information For example, if the electronic device 10 can acquire image data that can capture the outside situation, the control unit 100 may determine that a traffic jam is occurring by analyzing the image. For example, the captured image data may determine that a traffic jam is occurring if the image data changes slowly or if there is no change for a predetermined period of time. Also, it may determine that a traffic jam is occurring if the brake lights of the vehicle in front are continuously lit.

[0276] Next, the message generation unit 104 generates a message indicating that the driver is in a traffic jam. The message generation unit 104 may generate a message that is useful to other drivers. For example, the message generation unit 104 may generate a message that simply indicates that the driver is in a traffic jam, such as "I'm currently in a traffic jam." The message generation unit 104 may also generate an easy-to-understand message, such as "Oh no, it's a traffic jam. I'm getting annoyed." Such messages are created and posted as messages (articles) that are useful to those using the service (drivers).

[0277] Furthermore, the control unit 100 may include the driver's emotion or behavior in the message and send it. For example, when the control unit 100 detects from the vehicle information of the vehicle 50 that the driver is frequently braking, the control unit 100 may determine the emotion "I wish we could go faster" and include it in the message. Furthermore, when the control unit 100 detects from the vehicle information of the vehicle 50 that the driver is frequently changing lanes (for example, when the control unit 100 detects that the driver is frequently using the blinker), the control unit 100 may determine the emotion "I want to get out of traffic jam!" and include it in the message.

[0278] The control unit 100 may also include a corresponding emoticon in the message depending on the driver's emotion or behavior. For example, the control unit 100 may include a "smiling" emoticon in the message when the driver is making good progress. The control unit 100 may also include a "crying" emoticon in the message when the driver is stuck in a traffic jam.

[0279] Furthermore, the control unit 100 may change the emoji depending on the length of the traffic jam or the time spent stuck in the traffic jam. For example, the control unit 100 may include more car emojis when the traffic jam is long. For example, the control unit 100 may increase the number of emojis by one every time five minutes of time has passed since the time spent stuck in the traffic jam.

[0280] As time passes, messages are posted, allowing other users to check the traffic congestion situation in real time. For example, by periodically displaying a traffic jam on the timeline displayed on the terminal device of other users, users are not only able to get a real sense of the traffic congestion, but also to check the extent of the congestion.

[0281] Furthermore, by multiple users of the electronic device 10 posting similar messages, other users can see that many people are stuck in traffic. This makes it easier to understand that traffic is occurring, since the messages are based on the actual status of the vehicle 50, compared to general traffic congestion information.

[0282] In this way, according to this embodiment, the state of the vehicle can be shared with other users by posting to the service. For example, the state of the vehicle (for example, whether a traffic jam has occurred based on the vehicle speed) can be shared.

[0283] In addition, it is expected that there will be benefits for users, such as support for safe driving, and benefits for sellers of in-vehicle devices (an example of electronic devices), such as increased awareness and sales promotion, by appealing to young people who are many users of SNS and hoping for increased purchasing desire.

[0284] In addition, it is important to have a system for nurturing accounts so that messages appear on the timeline by posting messages regularly and increasing the number of accounts associated with the account (e.g., followers, friends), and we can provide such a system.

[0285] Furthermore, a user can share with other users, by posting a message to the messaging service, indicating that the vehicle has encountered an event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded. Events that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded are as described above. It is preferable to provide a function for posting when the vehicle is determined to have encountered an event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded. In this way, third parties can receive information about events that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded in real time through the messaging service. Furthermore, because the information is generated based on the actual vehicle status, it can be created and posted more easily than if the user had to manually create and post all of the message information. Furthermore, because the information is generated based on the actual vehicle status, the user can share more accurate information with third parties. Traffic jams, which are an event that users encounter relatively frequently and for which sharing information about them is particularly valuable, can be easily created and posted by users.

[0286] Furthermore, the user can share with other users a message generated based on detailed information about an event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded by posting the message to a messaging service. For example, the detailed information about the event may include the circumstances under which the event occurred and the time it took to actually avoid the event. In this way, third parties can not only know that an event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded has occurred, but also recognize more detailed information. If the event is a traffic jam, a message can be generated based on detailed traffic information about the traffic jam, allowing detailed information about the traffic jam to be shared.

[0287] Furthermore, a user can include emojis based on the detailed event information in a message and share the message with other users by posting it to a messaging service. The emojis used here may be emojis available in the messaging service. Furthermore, emojis included in other people's messages (tweets) may be used. Emotions or states may be expressed by using emojis. Furthermore, the emojis used by the user may be displayed in the messaging service and on the vehicle's display in the same way. In this way, the emojis displayed have the same appearance, so that the user and third parties can view messages using the same emojis on the messaging service and on the vehicle's display. While the appearance of the emojis may differ, it is preferable that the emojis have the same meaning. For example, for a "smile" emoji, the character code representing the emoji should at least be the same. If the event is a traffic jam, third parties can intuitively grasp the traffic jam situation through the emojis.

[0288] Furthermore, users can share messages with other users by posting them to messaging services, varying the number or content of emojis depending on the size of the area where an event that could potentially impede vehicle travel and / or the time it takes to pass through that area. For example, if the area where the event occurs is large, it is recommended to repeatedly display many emojis. For example, if the area where the event occurs takes a long time to pass, it is recommended to display only one emoji. For example, when changing the content of the emojis, it is recommended to change the emoji to express the user's state of mind depending on the area where the event occurs. For example, if the area where the event occurs is small, emojis expressing states of mind such as "smiling" or "expressionless" can be used, and if the area where the event occurs is large, emojis expressing states of mind such as "anger" or "sadness" can be used. In this way, third parties can easily determine the extent of the occurrence of an event that could potentially impede vehicle travel by looking at the emojis. If the event is a traffic jam, it is recommended to increase the number of emojis or change their content as the traffic jam distance increases by a predetermined distance, such as 2 km, 5 km, 8 km, etc. In this way, a third party can easily determine whether the traffic jam that has occurred is long or short by looking at the pictogram.

[0289] Furthermore, a user can include information about an image stored in a storage unit that stores the image in a message and share it with other users by posting it to a messaging service. The information about the image may be in the form of an image file. The information about the image may also be link information (e.g., a URL) indicating the image file. In this way, a third party can not only check the message through text alone, but also view the image represented by the image file, thereby obtaining information more easily understandable. The information about the image may be, for example, information useful for understanding the situation of an occurrence of an event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded. In this way, a user can easily share the situation of the occurrence with a third party with accurate content. The information about the image may be the image itself stored in the storage unit, or it may be information generated from the image stored in the storage unit. The information generated from the image may be information describing the content of the image, such as text information. For example, the text information may be generated by performing image recognition and describing the situation of the occurrence based on the recognition results.

[0290] Furthermore, a user can include information about an image captured from a display screen for assisting vehicle driving in a message and share the message with other users by posting it to a messaging service. A device displaying a display screen for assisting vehicle driving may be an information processing terminal carried by a user, such as a smartphone, but may also be a display screen of an in-vehicle device that primarily provides functions for assisting vehicle driving. Examples of in-vehicle devices include a drive recorder that provides image capture and recording functions, a navigation system that provides navigation functions such as route guidance, and a detector (e.g., a radar detector or a laser detector) that has a notification function for notifying a user that a speed control point is within a predetermined proximity. Display screens for assisting vehicle driving often display maps. Therefore, for example, a display screen including a map may be captured as a display screen for assisting vehicle driving, and a message including an image including the map may be generated. A display screen including a location (e.g., an address or a road name) may be captured, and a message including an image including the location may be generated. In this way, a third party can check the map or location of the area where an event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded is occurring from the image included in the message. The capture may be performed manually by the user, for example, by a one-touch operation. The capture may also be performed without explicit user instruction, for example, when a predetermined event occurs or periodically. The image used for posting may be selected by the user or may be selected without such instruction.

[0291] Furthermore, information about an image captured outside the vehicle can be included in a message, and the message can be shared with other users by posting it to a messaging service. The outside of the vehicle may include at least one of the front, rear, and sides of the vehicle, but particularly the front. If the image shows an incident that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded, a third party can visually confirm the extent of the situation. If the incident is a traffic jam, the outside of the vehicle, particularly the front of the vehicle, should be photographed. In this way, a third party can visually confirm the extent of the situation from the line of vehicles in the traffic jam. Here, the photographing device may be provided in the in-vehicle device, but may also be configured separately from the in-vehicle device. For example, the in-vehicle device may be provided with a camera that captures an image of the front of the vehicle. Furthermore, images from a drive recorder provided in the vehicle may be used. Furthermore, a camera provided in a smartphone or other information processing device owned by the user may be used.

[0292] Furthermore, a user can include a map based on location information in a message and share the message with other users by posting it to a messaging service. The map based on location information may be a map of the area around the location indicated by the location information, for example, a map of a range of a predetermined distance from the location. In this way, a third party can check the map to understand specifically where an event that may cause a vehicle's progress to be impeded is occurring. If the event is a traffic jam, an image of a map of the area around the location where the traffic jam is occurring may be used. In this way, a third party can easily understand the relationship between the location and the occurrence of the traffic jam. Next, an embodiment based on the above concept will be described.

[0293] [1.4.2 Example of posting detailed messages about traffic congestion] In this embodiment, when the vehicle 50 is in a traffic jam, the details of the traffic jam are included in the message.

[0294] For example, in the first embodiment, the message generating unit 104 generates a message indicating that there is a traffic jam. In this embodiment, the message further includes content indicating detailed information about the traffic jam (traffic jam detail information).

[0295] Here, the detailed traffic congestion information may include the extent of the traffic congestion and the cause of the traffic congestion. For example, the message may include information such as the start time and start position of the traffic congestion, the time and position when the vehicle 50 exited the traffic congestion, the time spent stuck in the traffic congestion (the time it took the vehicle 50 to pass through the extent of the traffic congestion), and the length (distance) of the traffic congestion.

[0296] For example, the control unit 100 detects that the state of the vehicle 50 is congested using the above-mentioned method. The control unit 100 acquires one or more of the following information about the congestion: date and time, the location of the vehicle 50 (latitude and longitude information, landmark information, mobile phone base station information, etc.), the prefecture, city, ward, town, or village where the vehicle 50 is located, the traveling direction of the vehicle 50 (direction of the road), the road name, etc.

[0297] The message generating unit 104 may then include one or more pieces of information from the acquired congestion detail information in the message. At this time, the user may select the information to be included in the message.

[0298] The cause of the traffic jam and its location may be included as tags in the message. The name of the road where the traffic jam occurs, the name of the city, ward, town, village, or landmark may also be included in the message. The name of the road, city, town, village, or landmark may also be included as tags.

[0299] The operation of the message generation unit 104 when creating the congestion detail information will be described. The control unit 100 acquires the location where the vehicle 50 entered a congestion state as a first location. Then, it acquires the location where the vehicle 50 exits the congestion state as a second location. The location where the congestion state occurred is the starting location where it was determined that the vehicle 50 entered the above-mentioned congestion state. Furthermore, when the vehicle 50 transitions from the above-mentioned congestion state to a state where it is no longer congested, the control unit 100 determines that the vehicle 50 has exited the congestion state.

[0300] This allows the message generator 104 to create a message indicating that there was a traffic jam from the first location to the second location. At this time, the message generator 104 may include in the message the time it took for the vehicle 50 to get out of the traffic jam and a distance indicating the extent of the traffic jam. The message generator 104 may also include the road on which the traffic jam is occurring (road name), the direction of the road (the direction in which the vehicle is traveling on the road), the names of landmarks near the traffic jam, etc.

[0301] For example, if the first point where vehicle 50 entered a congested state is determined to be "near the intersection of Minami-Ikebukuro 1-chome," and the second point where vehicle 50 emerged from the congested state is determined to be "near the intersection of Kami-Ikebukuro," message generation unit 104 may generate a message stating, "There was a traffic jam from Minami-Ikebukuro 1-chome to Kami-Ikebukuro."

[0302] Furthermore, the control unit 100 may generate a message saying "The traffic jam continued until it reached the vicinity of the intersection of Kami-Ikebukuro" after the traffic jam has passed (after passing the second point).

[0303] The message generator 104 may also include the name of the road where the traffic jam is occurring in the message or as a tag. For example, if the name of the road where the traffic jam is occurring is acquired as Meiji Dori, the tag "#Meiji Dori" may be added to the message.

[0304] Furthermore, the message generator 104 may generate a message including the name of a landmark included in the congested section. For example, in the case of the above section, since Ikebukuro Station is included in the congested section, the message generator 104 may generate a message saying, "There was a traffic jam near Ikebukuro Station."

[0305] The message generator 104 may also include in the message an image of a map corresponding to the congestion section. For example, the message generator 104 may change the color of the road in the image data of the map in a portion corresponding to the congestion range. The message generator 104 may also display pins at the first and second locations.

[0306] The message generation unit 104 may also include the cause of the traffic jam in the message. For example, if construction is being carried out at the second point of the traffic jam, a message may be generated to indicate that the traffic jam is caused by the construction. In this case, an image of the vicinity of the second point may be included in the message, or the user may be prompted to select the cause. The control unit 100 may also obtain the cause of the traffic jam from other information such as VICS (registered trademark).

[0307] In this way, by posting a message containing detailed information about traffic congestion to the service, more detailed information can be shared with other users. In particular, because the message is posted to the service, it becomes easier for users who are not associated with the service to search for information about traffic congestion. For example, in the case of Twitter, even users who are not following the service can share real-time traffic congestion information by searching by keyword or tag or by registering to a list. In addition, detailed traffic congestion information, such as the length of the traffic congestion and the time it takes to travel, can also be easily obtained.

[0308] Furthermore, a user can share with other users a messaging service that not only notifies them of the occurrence of an event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded, but also provides location information through a post to the messaging service. The location information may indicate the location where the vehicle encountered the event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded. This location information indicates the location where the event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded is occurring or its surroundings. In this way, the user can share a highly accurate message with a third party, knowing that the location where the event is occurring is the vehicle's current location. Furthermore, when a third party views the message, they can recognize that an event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded is occurring and the location where the event is occurring. If the event is a traffic jam, a message is generated that includes content related to the traffic jam and content based on the location information.

[0309] Furthermore, a user can share with other users a message or message posted to a messaging service that includes the cause of an event that may impede vehicle progress. This allows third parties to recognize the cause of the event. The message may include information indicating the cause, such as "accident," "construction," "landslide," "flooding," "fire," or "disaster." This allows third parties to determine whether the cause is a common or unusual event, and whether the event is likely to take a long time to resolve. It is sufficient for an event and its cause to be paired. For example, an event that may impede vehicle progress may be listed as "traffic jam" and its cause as "accident," or an event that may impede vehicle progress may be listed as "accident" and its cause as "vehicle collision." If the event is a traffic jam, a message may be generated based on detailed traffic information about the traffic jam, allowing detailed information about the traffic jam to be shared. A third party can determine whether the cause of the traffic jam is a regular or unusual one, whether it will take a long time to clear, etc. Possible causes include "accident," "construction," "landslide," "flooding," "fire," "disaster," and "vehicle collision," but if the cause is unclear, "unknown cause" may be used.

[0310] Furthermore, a user can share with other users the range of an event that may cause a vehicle's progress to be impeded by posting to a messaging service. The range of the traffic jam may be, for example, a range extending from a first point to a second point. The first point may be, for example, the start point of the event range or its vicinity. The second point may be, for example, the end point of the event range or its vicinity. A third party can check whether the event usually occurs or the distance the event occurs. In this way, the third party can make a decision, for example, to detour a route included in the range where the event occurs. If the event is a traffic jam, the range of the event may be the range from the front to the back of a line of vehicles, the length of the line of vehicles that make up the traffic jam, or the like.

[0311] Furthermore, a user can share with other users, via a messaging service, the first point where the vehicle first encounters an event that may impede the vehicle's progress and the second point where the vehicle has exited the event, as the range of the event. A third party can view the message and determine the location of the first and second points related to the start and end of the event, as well as the length of the event's range. This allows a third party to confirm the range of the event, making it easier for them to select a route that avoids the event. If the event is a traffic jam, the vehicle can share the location of the traffic jam and where the traffic jam ended, allowing a third party to verify the information based on the user's actual experience of entering and exiting the traffic jam.

[0312] Furthermore, users can share with other users, via messaging services, messages containing the range of an event that may impede vehicle travel, along with information about the distance and time of that range. Third parties who view the message can easily determine, based on the length of the event's range, whether to continue driving or to take a route that avoids the area. If the event is a traffic jam, it is recommended to post the range of the traffic jam and the estimated transit time if the vehicle enters the area. This allows third parties to see the range and transit time of the traffic jam and use this information for route selection, travel time estimation, etc.

[0313] Furthermore, when an event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded occurs on a road on which the user is traveling, the user can share a message containing the road name with other users by posting the message to a messaging service. Because the road name is included in the message, third parties can determine which road the event is occurring on. Furthermore, because the road name is included in the message, third parties can learn information about the event in a manner similar to traffic information broadcast on a news program such as radio. If the event is a traffic jam, third parties can confirm which road name the traffic jam is occurring on and can use this information to select a route when traveling by vehicle, estimate travel time, etc.

[0314] Furthermore, a user can share with other users not only the name of the road on which the vehicle is traveling but also the direction of the road where an event that may cause the vehicle's travel to be impeded by posting to a messaging service. The road direction may be the direction in which the vehicle should travel relative to the road, such as uphill / downhill, eastbound / westbound, southbound / northbound, outer loop / inner loop, etc. In this way, third parties can confirm not only the road name but also the road direction through a message. This makes it easier for users to determine whether or not a traffic jam is affecting their travel direction. If the event is a traffic jam, third parties can confirm more detailed information, such as the name of the road on which the traffic jam is occurring and the direction of the road where the traffic jam is occurring, along with the vehicle's travel status, and can use this information for route selection when traveling by vehicle, travel time estimation, etc.

[0315] Furthermore, a user can share a message with other users by posting it to a messaging service, with the message including a map based on location information and the map being highlighted based on detailed information about an event that may cause a vehicle's progress to be impeded. When a third party checks the message, they can see, for example, not only the text information but also the map highlighted based on the detailed information about the event. The map based on location information may be a map of the area surrounding the location indicated by the location information, for example, a map of a predetermined distance from the location. The highlighted state may be, for example, a highlighted display of the location where the event is occurring and the extent of the event. In this way, if a traffic jam is an event whose extent and distance can be visually determined by a third party, the third party can display detailed information about the traffic jam on the map, making it easier for the third party to understand the detailed information about the traffic jam. For example, Twitter may be used as a messaging service. On Twitter, text information is text information posted by each user and is also called a tweet. The text information may include tags, which may be hashtags. The map may be posted using a function for attaching an image file included in Twitter.

[0316] Furthermore, a user can include a tag generated based on the event detailed information in a message and share the message with other users by posting the message to a messaging service. The tag may be, for example, text information indicating an item included in the event detailed information, such as the location of an event that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded, the name of a road, or the like. In this way, a third party can easily search for detailed information by selecting the tag in the messaging service. An example of a messaging service may be Twitter. On Twitter, a tag may be included, and the tag may be a hashtag. If the event is a traffic jam, information about the traffic jam occurring around the vehicle is included in the tag and shared, so that a third party who sees the tag can more reliably receive information about the traffic jam.

[0317] Furthermore, a user can include specific location information, such as latitude and longitude information, the name of a city, ward, town, or village, the name of a landmark, and the name of an intersection, in a message that indicates the location of an event that may cause a vehicle's progress to be impeded, and then share the message with other users by posting it to a messaging service. If a third party wants to know about traffic congestion related to the event, they can search by specifying at least one of the latitude and longitude information, the name of a city, ward, town, or village, the name of a landmark, and the name of an intersection, making it easier to find the desired message.

[0318] Furthermore, a user can include a tag generated based on location information in a message and then share the message with other users by posting it to a messaging service. Tags generated based on location information can be, for example, city, ward, town, or village names, road names, or landmark names. Third parties can easily search for messages related to specific location information by using tags. For example, it can be thought of as making it easier to communicate with people who have messages from the same area. If the event is a traffic jam, a tag related to the traffic jam can be generated. In this way, third parties can search for messages related to traffic jams and location information.

[0319] Users can also share messages with other users by posting them to a messaging service, including at least one of the following: the type of event, information related to the time the event occurred, the name of the road on which the event occurred, and the address where the event occurred. Information related to the time the event occurred may include, for example, not only the time the event occurred but also the amount of time that has passed since the event occurred. The name of the road on which the event occurred may be expressed as a number, such as National Route X, or as a street name, such as "XX Street." The address where the event occurred may include, for example, the prefecture name, city, ward, town, or village name, but may also include the town name and address. Information based on the address where the event occurred may include, for example, facility names and landmark names. Facility names and landmark names may include, for example, government offices (city, ward, town, or village offices, police stations, fire stations, etc.), train stations, airports, PAs / SAs, parks, amusement parks, shopping malls, gas stations, etc.

[0320] Furthermore, when a user includes in a message the type of event that occurred, information related to the time the event occurred, the name of the road on which the event occurred, and the address where the event occurred, these can be included as tags in the message and the message can be shared with other users by posting to a messaging service. Based on the knowledge that road names and addresses are particularly likely to be used in searches using tags, these are tagged and included in the message. This makes it easier for third parties to use tags available in the messaging service to display and check messages in association with the road name and / or address.

[0321] [1.4.3 Example of posting vehicle status other than traffic congestion] In this embodiment, a message is generated and posted when the vehicle is in a state other than a traffic jam, such as when aggressive driving has occurred or when a traffic control point has been passed.

[0322] For example, the control unit 100 acquires an image captured by a drive recorder connected via the communication unit 146. Then, the control unit 100 (timing determination unit 108) analyzes the image to detect aggressive driving as a trigger. Then, the message generation unit 104 generates a message indicating that aggressive driving has occurred.

[0323] Furthermore, the control unit 100 (timing determination unit 108) may detect that a crackdown has occurred as a trigger when it receives a crackdown radar from the radar receiving unit 140. The message generating unit 104 generates a message indicating that a crackdown is taking place.

[0324] In addition, the timing determination unit 108 may detect a trigger in accordance with the state of the vehicle 50. The message generation unit 104 generates a message in accordance with the trigger. For example, when a police radio signal is received or a car location radio signal from a patrol car is received, the message generation unit 104 may generate a message indicating that fact.

[0325] The control unit 100 also acquires and analyzes images taken by a drive recorder connected via the communication unit 146. If the analysis of the images detects that a crackdown is taking place, the control unit 100 may generate a message indicating this.

[0326] In this way, according to this embodiment, information other than traffic congestion can also be easily shared with other users via the service (messaging service). In particular, by using the service, information about "currently occurring" situations such as aggressive driving can be shared instantly. For example, if you know that there is a vehicle engaging in aggressive driving, you can avoid trouble in advance by changing your driving route or stopping driving (for example, taking a break at a facility).

[0327] In addition, if a vehicle is involved in aggressive driving, a message including an image of the vehicle involved can be generated and posted to the service. Other users who view the message can avoid the vehicle in question by avoiding it if it approaches, thereby avoiding potential trouble.

[0328] For example, if you are the victim of a hit-and-run accident, you can create a message containing an image of the vehicle and post it to the service. By sharing the image on the service, other users can find the vehicle in the image or report it, which can help resolve the problem.

[0329] In this way, information about an image taken of the outside of the vehicle can be included in a message, and the message can be shared with other users by posting it to a messaging service. The outside of the vehicle may include at least one of the front, rear, and sides of the vehicle, but particularly the front. If the image shows an incident that may cause the vehicle's progress to be impeded, a third party can visually confirm the extent of the situation. If the incident is a traffic jam, the outside of the vehicle, particularly the front of the vehicle, should be photographed. In this way, a third party can visually confirm the extent of the situation from the line of vehicles in the traffic jam. Here, the photographing device may be included in the electronic device, but may also be configured separately from the electronic device. For example, the electronic device may be equipped with a camera that photographs the front of the vehicle. Alternatively, images from a drive recorder installed in the vehicle may be used. Alternatively, a camera installed in a smartphone or other information processing device owned by the user may be used.

[0330] Additionally, a user may share with other users a message indicating the type of incident that occurred, such as at least aggressive driving, police enforcement, road closure, or reckless driving, via a posting to the messaging service. The type of incident may be categorized by the type of incident that occurred.

[0331] [1.4.4 Example of posting a message combining multiple vehicle statuses] In this embodiment, the message generating unit 104 generates a message by combining the state of congestion with other states.

[0332] For example, the control unit 100 may further generate a message such as "Hmmmm, they cut in" when it detects that another vehicle has cut in front of it by analyzing images from a drive recorder or by analyzing detected acceleration. Furthermore, the message generation unit 104 may post a message including an image taken at that time (an image showing the vehicle that cut in). For example, approximately 47% of drivers have experienced aggressive driving due to irritated driving. Therefore, by deliberately posting a message explaining the situation, it is possible to restrain the driver's behavior.

[0333] In this way, as described in the above-described embodiment, it is possible to appropriately post messages to the service from the electronic device 10. Events related to traffic information, such as traffic accidents, congestion, road closures, dangerous driving (tailgating, wrong-way driving), fires, and floods, as well as events related to traffic enforcement information, such as traffic enforcement by radar, laser, police motorcycles, and undercover patrol cars, can be posted to the service from the electronic device 10.

[0334] As described in the second embodiment, a management device 20 may be included between the electronic device 10 and the service (service providing device 30). The electronic device 10 transmits character data (posting information) and image data to the management device 20 to trigger a posting. The management device 20 may generate posting message information based on the character data and image data and post the message information to the service.

[0335] The content of the message to be posted is generated within the range determined by the service provider. For example, if there is a restriction of 140 characters or less, the message is generated within 140 characters. The message posting unit 105 also posts the message so as to conform to the terms and conditions of the service provider. For example, if the service provider specifies that there must be a 10-minute interval between posts and that the same content must not be posted twice, the message will be posted in accordance with those rules.

[0336] The message generating unit 104 may also post a message in a predetermined fixed phrase, or may generate an arbitrary message based on input from the user (for example, voice input).

[0337] As described above, according to this embodiment, multiple conditions can be determined from the vehicle condition, and messages can be generated and posted. This allows other users to obtain multiple pieces of information in real time via the service. Furthermore, since messages are generated based on the conditions of one or more vehicles 50, other users can obtain the information they need by following users who post information that is necessary for them.

[0338] [1.4.5 Example of posting a message at any time] This embodiment is an embodiment in which trigger detection is performed at a timing selected by a user (for example, a driver).

[0339] For example, a physically operable operation button may be provided on main body unit 10100. For example, as shown in Fig. 10, operation button 1502 is provided on main body unit 10100. When operation button 1502 is selected by the user, timing determination unit 108 detects a trigger. This causes message generation unit 104 to generate a message, and message posting unit 105 to post the message to the service.

[0340] At this time, the message generating unit 104 may generate and post a predetermined message in response to the selection of the operation button 1502, or may generate a message according to the state of the vehicle 50 at that time.

[0341] For example, when the user selects operation button 1502, message generation unit 104 may generate a message indicating the traffic jam, such as "Currently in a traffic jam" if vehicle 50 is in a traffic jam. This allows the user to post a message to the service according to the situation by operating operation button 1502.

[0342] Furthermore, text associated with operation button 1502 may be posted to the service each time. For example, a message saying "Dangerous driving detected" may be posted to the service each time operation button 1502 is selected. In this case, control unit 100 may post a message including the state of vehicle 50 when operation button 1502 is selected. For example, the current location of vehicle 50 or an image from an external drive recorder may be transmitted each time.

[0343] Also, an operation button may be provided for each function. For example, in FIG. 10, operation button 1502 and operation button 1504 are provided. In this case, the type of message to be posted may be changed for each operation button, or the type of message to be posted may be changed. For example, in FIG. 10, when operation button 1052 is selected, message generation unit 104 generates a message regarding traffic congestion. Furthermore, when operation button 1054 is selected, an image currently being captured by a drive recorder or the like is included in the message and sent.

[0344] Furthermore, since it is difficult to send messages while driving, the above-mentioned operation buttons may be provided as an "audio tweet button," "video tweet button," and "photo tweet button." This allows users to switch between and send multiple messages with a simple operation. With such operation buttons, for example, when a user encounters an accident or fire scene, they can quickly take a photo and post a message.

[0345] Furthermore, the control unit 100 may detect a touch operation input from the touch sensor 152 as a trigger for generating a message. For example, the control unit 100 displays a software button on the display unit 120. The control unit 100 may generate a message by detecting that the software button has been touched by the touch sensor 152.

[0346] Furthermore, the control unit 100 may display one or more candidates on the display unit 120. Then, the control unit 100 may generate a message according to the candidate selected by the user.

[0347] Furthermore, the control unit 100 may detect a trigger for generating a message when a predetermined operation is detected by the touch sensor 152. For example, the control unit 100 may detect that a trigger for generating a message has been input when the touch sensor 152 is tapped three times by the user.

[0348] Furthermore, the control unit 100 may receive a trigger from the user by an input method other than an operation button. For example, the control unit 100 may detect that a trigger for generating a message has been input when there is voice input via the microphone 154. In this case, the control unit 100 may detect that a trigger has been input simply when a volume equal to or greater than a predetermined volume has been detected, or may detect that a trigger has been input when a predetermined voice command has been input.

[0349] Furthermore, when a voice input is received, the control unit 100 may include characters recognized from the voice in the message. Furthermore, when a voice input is received, the control unit 100 may attach the input voice data itself to the message to generate the message.

[0350] Furthermore, the control unit 100 may recognize a user's motion. For example, the control unit 100 may detect that a trigger for generating a message has been input when the user waves their hand in front of the electronic device 10.

[0351] In this way, according to this embodiment, a user can post a message at any time, which allows the user to share information that the user thinks is necessary with other users via the messaging service.

[0352] In the above-described embodiment, the timing for generating a message can be determined not only by touch operation but also by voice operation or gesture operation, so that a message can be generated instantly and posted to the service without interfering with driving.

[0353] Furthermore, a user can more accurately identify the type of event that actually occurred and then share a message including the type of event with other users by posting it to a messaging service. The event type options may include events that the user is likely to encounter, such as traffic jams, accidents, speed checks, etc. For example, if a user wants to post a message about an "accident" at any time, the user can select "accident" to post a message containing the word "accident."

[0354] Furthermore, when selecting an event, the user can select it using a touch panel or voice recognition, allowing the user to select an event in a simple manner. The touch panel or voice recognition device is preferably provided in an in-vehicle device installed in the vehicle. This makes it easy for the user in the vehicle to operate. In a configuration where selection is made using voice recognition, for example, when the user is driving, the user can use voice recognition to easily select an event without taking their hands off the wheel. Therefore, the user can operate the device while taking safe driving into consideration.

[0355] Furthermore, by selecting an operation button, a user can share a message about the vehicle status corresponding to that operation button with other users by posting it to a messaging service. It is preferable that this operation button be provided separately from the button for generating and posting a message. This makes it less likely for the user to get lost in the operation. It is also easier for the user to easily share information that the user determines should be shared with other users as needed with other users via the messaging service. The operation button is preferably a soft button displayed on the display screen, but may also be a physical button.

[0356] Furthermore, the user can share with other users a message about the vehicle status corresponding to each of the multiple operation buttons by posting it to a messaging service. For example, an operation button may be assigned to each event, or each message to be generated. For example, a first button may be assigned the function of generating a message simply using text, and a second button may be assigned the function of generating a message with an image (e.g., including an image of the area in front of the vehicle).

[0357] Users can also easily create messages about "accidents" and "traffic jams," which are likely to be encountered while using a vehicle, and share them with other users by posting them to messaging services.

[0358] Furthermore, a message can be generated based on a voice input from a user, and then shared with other users by posting the message to a messaging service. The voice input from a user may be a voice uttered by the user. The generation of a message may be triggered by recognition of the voice uttered by the user. For example, a message about an event may be generated and posted in association with a predetermined keyword uttered by the user (e.g., "dangerous" or "crowded"). The message may include the predetermined keyword uttered by the user itself, but generating a message that explains an event inferred from the keyword makes it easier for third parties to understand. A message may also be generated when the volume of the user's input voice is above a predetermined volume. Voice recognition may also be performed based on the input voice, and a message may be generated that includes the results of the voice recognition.

[0359] Furthermore, a user can include the audio itself in a message and then share the message with other users by posting it to a messaging service. By including the audio itself in a message, a user can post a message more easily. An example of a messaging service would be Twitter, a social networking system. Twitter has a function for posting audio messages, so this function can be used.

[0360] [1.4.6 Example of including a predetermined keyword in a message] In this embodiment, a message is generated by including a predetermined keyword in the message. The message generation unit 104 generates a message by attaching the predetermined keyword to the message, like a signature. Here, the message generation unit 104 may store the keyword to be attached to the message in the storage unit 190 as setting information.

[0361] Here, the predetermined keyword may be, for example, a user name or a vehicle name. It may also be the manufacturer name or model name of the electronic device 10. The manufacturer name or model name of the electronic device 10 may be stored in advance in the storage unit 190. The manufacturer name or model name of the electronic device 10 may also be stored in advance at the time of shipment. The manufacturer name or model name of the electronic device 10 may also be set so that it cannot be changed by the user.

[0362] For example, a message may be generated by adding "#Sent from a Yupiteru radar detector." This allows other users to recognize that the message was sent from a Yupiteru radar detector. The above-mentioned message may also be generated with a blank line (including a line feed code that creates a blank line). In other words, the name of the manufacturer of the electronic device 10 or the product name may be displayed as a specific keyword to distinguish it from other message contents.

[0363] The predetermined keyword may be added to each message or may be added to a message at predetermined intervals. For example, message generator 104 may include the predetermined keyword in the message when generating the first message, or may include the keyword in the message at certain times (e.g., every five messages), or at certain times (e.g., every hour, or at regular intervals such as morning, noon, and evening).

[0364] The predetermined keyword may also include a command. For example, <location>In this case, the message generator 104 uses the command " <location>" may be replaced with the current location of the vehicle 50 (latitude and longitude information, address, road name, etc.) to generate a message.

[0365] According to this embodiment, a predetermined keyword can be included in a message posted to the service. Therefore, for example, by using the name of your own store or company in the case of a business vehicle as a keyword, you can expect to get a promotional effect.

[0366] In addition, the name of the manufacturer and / or product name of the in-vehicle device that was posted can be made known to other users while allowing other users to know which message is about the vehicle's condition. For example, it can be expected that the seller of the in-vehicle device will benefit from increased awareness and sales promotion, such as appealing to the young generation, who are many SNS users, and increasing purchasing desire.

[0367] In this way, the user can conduct a survey of a third party through the in-vehicle device. A messaging service may be, for example, Twitter, a social networking system. Twitter has a survey function, which may be utilized. The survey function may be implemented using direct messages, etc. The survey function may be executed to conduct a survey for a third party to confirm whether a message posted by a user is correct, and the message may be evaluated through the survey. The content of the survey conducted by the survey function may be manually set by the user, or may be determined without such setting. For example, the content of the survey may be determined depending on the state of the vehicle. For example, when it is determined that a traffic jam has occurred, the survey function may be executed to survey a third party as to whether it is better to select a route that involves the traffic jam or a route that avoids the traffic jam.

[0368] Furthermore, a predetermined keyword can be included in a message, and the message can be shared with other users by posting the message to a messaging service. The predetermined keyword may be, for example, a message that includes things the user usually wants to include in messages, a greeting, or the like. The predetermined keyword may include, for example, an announcement from the user's store or a link to the user's profile page. Furthermore, if the user usually uses a specific tag, the tag may be set as a keyword in advance. The predetermined keyword may be manually specified by the user, or may be inserted without the user's specification based on a decision made by the in-vehicle device.

[0369] Note that "pre-setting" means that the same keyword is always used while the in-vehicle device is in use, rather than being input each time. Therefore, the keyword may be stored at the time of shipping from the factory, or may be stored as setting information in the in-vehicle device.

[0370] Furthermore, the manufacturer name and / or product name of the device that acquires the vehicle status can be included in the message and the message can be shared with other users by posting it to a messaging service. Third parties may believe that they can achieve the same function by using the product, which may motivate them to purchase the same product, thereby providing a promotional effect. Devices that acquire the vehicle status may be drive recorders, navigation systems, detectors (e.g., radar detectors, laser detectors), etc., as described above. The manufacturer and product name of the device that acquires the vehicle status may be inserted into each message. This can be expected to have a greater promotional effect. Furthermore, for example, since the fact that the manufacturer name and / or product name of the device is used becomes clear, third parties can recognize that the message was posted from the device and recognize the reliability of the message.

[0371] Furthermore, the name of the manufacturer and / or product name of the device used by the user can be shared with third parties through posts to the messaging service, while allowing other users to see which messages are about the vehicle's condition. For example, since many users of SNS such as Twitter, which serves as a messaging service and social networking system, are young people and those in the purchasing demographic, the seller of the device can expect to benefit from increased awareness and sales promotion by appealing to these demographics and increasing their purchasing desire.

[0372] [1.4.7 Example of outputting a message according to the received message] In this embodiment, the message output unit 107 outputs a message based on the acquired message information acquired by the message acquisition unit 106.

[0373] The message acquisition unit 106 acquires acquired message information containing one or more messages from the service, and stores the acquired message information in the message information storage area 196 .

[0374] At this time, the message acquisition unit 106 may acquire messages based on predetermined keywords. For example, the message acquisition unit 106 may acquire messages that include any "place name" and the word "accident" as keywords. The message acquisition unit 106 may also acquire messages that are likely to be related to traffic information, such as "accident traffic jam," "traffic congestion," "dangerous driving," "tailgating," "single-vehicle accident," "multiple-vehicle accident," "wrong-way driving," "#accident traffic jam," and "#traffic congestion." In other words, traffic-related keywords may be acquired.

[0375] The traffic-related information (traffic-related keywords) should be related to traffic events that users should take into consideration while traveling by vehicle, and in particular, should be information related to traffic congestion, safe driving, etc. For example, the information should include keywords related to traffic congestion, such as "traffic congestion," "accident," and "under construction," as well as keywords related to safe driving, such as "police crackdown," "wrong-way driving," and "tailgating."

[0376] In particular, the messaging service may be a social networking service (SNS), and the electronic device may have a function for acquiring traffic information from messages on the social networking service. In this way, the user can receive traffic information from the many messages handled by the social networking service. Furthermore, the traffic information may be information related to vehicle use. In this way, the user can receive information related to vehicle use. In particular, the vehicle use may be vehicle driving.

[0377] The message acquisition unit 106 may also acquire messages that include predetermined keywords as "tags." For example, messages that include tags such as "#accident" and "#Tomei Expressway" may be acquired.

[0378] For example, a configuration may be adopted in which keywords or tags related to a message are acquired separately from the message itself. However, when a user of a messaging service wishes to share a topic with other users, the user may include a keyword or tag for sharing in the message, and such a message may be acquired. In this case, a configuration may be adopted in which keywords or tags related to the message are acquired separately from a predetermined topic message by using the tag. The predetermined topic may be a topic related to transportation. The messaging service may be, for example, Twitter (registered trademark), a social networking service. The tag may be a hashtag, and may be one included as part of the content of a tweet.

[0379] It is preferable to configure the system so that messages posted by other users are periodically retrieved from the messaging service. In this way, users can use the service as if they were receiving traffic information. When periodically retrieving messages, it is preferable to retrieve the messages based on tags. For example, if the traffic-related tag is "#traffic jam," messages containing "traffic jam" will be displayed periodically, allowing users to use the service as if they were receiving traffic information.

[0380] The message acquisition unit 106 may also acquire messages based on location information. For example, messages within a predetermined distance range may be acquired based on the location information of the electronic device 10. In this case, the message acquisition unit 106 acquires messages based on the location information along with the above-mentioned keywords.

[0381] The message acquisition unit 106 may also acquire messages based on the vehicle's status. For example, the electronic device 10 acquires vehicle information via the OBDII. The message acquisition unit 106 then identifies a keyword based on the vehicle information and acquires messages containing the keyword. For example, the message acquisition unit 106 acquires the vehicle's voltage from the OBDII and identifies a keyword corresponding to the voltage. For example, the identified keyword may be a status such as "low voltage" or a voltage value such as "12.0V." In addition, the message acquisition unit 106 may also acquire keywords related to engine information such as oil temperature, turbo pressure, and water temperature, or keywords related to driving information such as idling stop time and average driving time.

[0382] Furthermore, the message acquisition unit 106 may change the range of acquisition from the location information depending on the number of acquired messages. When acquiring messages based on the location information, the message acquisition unit 106 may change the range of message acquisition based on the location information so that a predetermined number of messages is acquired. For example, if the number of acquired messages is 20 or more, the range of message acquisition based on the location information may be expanded until the number of acquired messages reaches 20 or more. For example, the distance from the current acquisition location of the location information may be expanded to 1 km, 5 km, or 10 km. Furthermore, the area may be expanded to include neighboring cities, wards, towns, villages, or prefectures.

[0383] Furthermore, if the number of acquired messages is too large, the message acquiring unit 106 may narrow the range. For example, if the message acquiring unit 106 acquires messages that are equal to or greater than a threshold (for example, 20 or more), the message acquiring unit 106 may narrow the range of location information acquisition so that the number of acquired messages is less than 20.

[0384] The message acquisition unit 106 may also change the message acquisition range so that the number of displayed messages falls within a predetermined range. For example, the message acquisition range may be expressed as a distance from the target user's location to the surrounding area. For example, the message acquisition range may include the account's age group and gender, the type of vehicle in which the device is installed, and message attributes.

[0385] For example, in the case of information about traffic congestion, messages near the vehicle's location may be output or output preferentially. Outputting preferentially may mean outputting the messages to be output preferentially in a manner that is easily perceived by the user. For example, the messages to be output preferentially may be output and not output, the messages to be output preferentially may be output earlier than other messages, or the messages to be output preferentially may be displayed in a more prominent position than other messages. The size of the peripheral range may be adjusted so that the number of acquired message information items falls within a predetermined range. For example, if the number of message information items is 30, a range based on the location information may be specified so that the number falls within 30. For example, if the number of acquired messages exceeds the range of 20 to 30, the control unit may control the size of the peripheral range to be smaller. If the number of acquired messages is less than 20 to 30, the control unit may control the size of the peripheral range to be larger.

[0386] The size of the peripheral range may be changed simply based on the distance from the center, or may be changed according to the direction of travel of the vehicle. In the latter case, the peripheral range in the direction of travel of the vehicle may be made wider. For example, if the vehicle is traveling north on a highway, the range on the north side, which corresponds to the direction of travel, may be enlarged. In this way, the user can obtain messages related to the direction in which they are heading.

[0387] Furthermore, when outputting an acquired message, the output mode may be changed. The user can confirm the relationship between the location where the message was posted and the user's location by changing the output mode of the displayed message. For example, messages posted from locations close to the device's location may be displayed in a different color, with a different font size, or with a symbol. This allows the user to confirm that the message content is occurring nearby. Furthermore, in addition to or instead of changing the output mode, the priority for message output may be changed. For example, messages within a predetermined distance from the electronic device's location may be output with priority.

[0388] Note that if the message acquisition unit 106 searches by keyword at a short interval (message acquisition interval), it may place a load on the service or violate the service provider's terms and conditions. Therefore, it is preferable to acquire messages at a certain interval. The message acquisition interval may be within a range determined by the service provider, for example.

[0389] Then, message output unit 107 outputs the message acquired by message acquisition unit 106. Specifically, message output unit 107 acquires the message and displays it on display unit 120.

[0390] For example, Fig. 11 shows an example of a display screen displayed on display unit 120. For example, as shown in Fig. 11(A), a message may be displayed in a scrolling manner in an area R100 that is a part of display screen W100. The message displayed in area R100 may be superimposed on the normally displayed display screen, or may be displayed in a separate area. Furthermore, the message in area R100 may be displayed in a horizontally scrolling manner (for example, moving from the right edge to the left edge of display screen W100).

[0391] 11(B), an area for displaying messages may be provided in an area R110 that is a part of the display screen W110. For example, area R110 may be scrolled vertically to display messages. Specifically, area R110 may display newer messages at the top of the screen, and older messages may be scrolled downward.

[0392] Furthermore, when outputting a message, the message output unit 107 may also display attributes of the message. For example, the message output unit 107 may display not only the message, the account name, the account ID, but also the number of ratings (number of likes, number of likes), the number of reposts (number of retweets), and whether or not there have been replies (number of replies). Furthermore, in the case of an official account, the message output unit 107 may also display that it is an official account.

[0393] The message output unit 107 may also display these together with pictograms or symbols. For example, when the number of likes is displayed as the number of ratings, the number of likes may be displayed together with a heart pictogram.

[0394] 11(C) and 11(D) are examples of display screens actually displayed by the electronic device 10. In FIG. 11(C), a map is displayed on the display screen, with a message displayed directly below it. The message is displayed flowing from right to left on the display screen. If the message includes emojis, the emojis may also be displayed. By displaying emojis, the user's emotions can be expressed along with the message. For example, an "angry face" may be displayed to express frustration. A "crying face" may be displayed to express distress. A "police car" emoji may be displayed to indicate that there is a crackdown, and a "construction" emoji may be displayed to indicate that construction is underway. By including emojis in a message in this way, the user can provide a message that is easy to read.

[0395] Here, the emojis displayed may be the same as those used in the service. By displaying the emojis used in the service as they are, the situation (for example, the poster's feelings) can be more easily conveyed to the user.

[0396] FIG. 11(D) shows, for example, a message generated by the electronic device 10. In this case, a display that identifies the message as having been obtained from a service may be used. For example, the color of the message may be changed to distinguish between messages obtained from a service and messages generated by the electronic device 10. As shown in FIG. 11(D), the time elapsed since the first time the event was obtained may also be displayed. As shown in FIGS. 11(C) and 11(D), the display screen may also display, for example, the vehicle speed, the current time, the address corresponding to the current location, and the name of the road on which the vehicle is traveling. Other vehicle information may also be displayed according to user settings.

[0397] Furthermore, message output unit 107 may repeatedly display messages. For example, when the acquired messages stored in message information storage area 196 are displayed as a telop (scroll display), the messages are repeatedly displayed. For example, when there are 10 acquired messages, message output unit 107 may sequentially display the oldest messages starting from the first message, and after displaying the tenth message, may display the messages starting from the first message again.

[0398] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may change the display speed depending on the number of messages to be displayed. For example, the scrolling speed may be increased when there are many messages, and decreased when there are few messages. In other words, the message output unit 107 may adjust the number of messages to be displayed per unit time.

[0399] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may change the display mode of the message depending on the state of the vehicle. For example, the message output unit 107 may acquire vehicle information by OBDII via the terminal unit 172. For example, the message output unit 107 may change the message speed depending on the vehicle speed based on the vehicle information.

[0400] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may switch the display speed between the most recent message and past messages.

[0401] The message output unit 107 may also change the output mode (display mode) depending on the attributes of the message. For example, if the number of ratings or reposts of the message is large, the display speed of the message may be slowed down, and if the number of ratings or reposts of the message is small, the display speed of the message may be fastened. Instead of changing the display speed of the message, the message output unit 107 may change the color of the message or the size or type of font. The message output unit 107 may also change the output mode of a reply message (when the user's own account is included in the reply destination), for example, as an attribute of the message.

[0402] In this way, the user can receive messages addressed to him / herself in a different output format from other messages, making it easier for the user to check the messages addressed to him / her. Note that the messaging service may have a function for extracting messages addressed to the user from among messages obtained from the messaging service, or may have a function for separately obtaining only messages addressed to the user.

[0403] Here, a message addressed to the user's account may be, for example, a message that includes information about the second account, a message that includes a mention of the second account, or a message that has received a reply to a message posted from the second account.

[0404] A user can receive a message that mentions the user's account within the message. Furthermore, for example, a function for changing the output mode of a message that mentions the user's account within the message may be provided. In this way, the user can receive a message in which the user is mentioned. Here, a message that mentions the user's account may be, for example, a message that includes information indicating the user's account (for example, the same as the information indicating the account described above, such as an identification ID). Furthermore, a messaging service such as Twitter, which is a social networking service, may be used, and a message that mentions the user's account may be a message that mentions the user.

[0405] Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the user can check not only the message but also the message attributes. The message attributes may be attributes that serve as an indicator of the importance of the message. Such attributes may be, for example, attributes related to location or attributes related to the evaluation of the message. By having the message attributes output together with the message, the user can determine the importance of the message based on the content of the message attributes that are output.

[0406] Additionally, the user can receive at least one of the following attributes associated with the message: the number of times the message has been reposted, the number of times replies have been added to the message, and the number of times the message has been rated. These attributes may be displayed together with the message, or may be output by voice together with the message. In this way, the user can grasp the number of times the message has been reposted, the number of times replies have been added to the message, and the number of times the message has been rated as ratings for the message.

[0407] Here, the messaging service may be, for example, Twitter, a social networking service. In this case, the number of times a message has been reposted may be the number of retweets, the number of times a message has been replied to may be the number of replies, and the number of times a message has been rated may be the number of "likes." The attributes may be acquired by accessing an API provided by the messaging service via a network.

[0408] For example, it would be good to output "X number of retweets" along with the message. In this way, the user can understand not only the message but also the number of times it has been reposted. For example, the user can infer that the more retweets and replies a message has, the more people are following it and the more reliable it is.

[0409] Also, for example, when there are a large number of messages, it is advisable to speed up the scrolling display of the messages. This allows the user to check more messages. Also, for example, by looking at messages that are scrolled quickly, the user can not only understand that there are a large number of posts, but also get a sense of realism (for example, the impression that a lot of information is flowing). Also, when there are only a small number of messages retrieved, it is advisable to slow down the scrolling display. When the scrolling display speed is slow, the user can not only understand that there are only a small number of messages retrieved, but also find it easier to check messages and feel a sense of calm.

[0410] Furthermore, the user can recognize the number of messages by the message output method. For example, if the number of messages retrieved per unit time is large, the message output method can be set to output messages quickly, and if the number of messages retrieved per unit time is small, the message output method can be set to output messages slowly. In this way, if messages are output quickly, the user can understand that many messages are being retrieved per unit time. If messages are output slowly, the user can understand that few messages are being retrieved per unit time. Furthermore, when changing the speed of the message output method, for example, the scrolling speed can be changed, but it is also preferable to change the display speed of the caption.

[0411] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may change the display mode when the account that posted the message is an official account or a company account.

[0412] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may change the display mode when the content of the message or the location information included in the message is close to the location of the electronic device 10.

[0413] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may switch the timing of outputting the message depending on the state of the electronic device 10. For example, the message output unit 107 may output a message (display a message) when the vehicle 50 equipped with the electronic device 10 is stopped or moving at a low speed.

[0414] Furthermore, in the case of audio output, for example, the message output unit 107 may stop audio output when music or radio is playing inside the vehicle 50. Furthermore, depending on the settings, the message output unit 107 may output the message at a volume higher than normal when the vehicle 50 is running and there is a lot of noise, for example.

[0415] As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to acquire not only messages but also messages as needed. In a service, if a simple search is performed, many messages will be extracted. Therefore, it is possible to acquire messages as needed and to display necessary messages in different display modes.

[0416] According to this embodiment, a user can receive messages from a messaging service that include traffic-related keywords. The messaging service includes messages posted by other users other than the user, and the messaging service may be provided with a function for retrieving messages that include traffic-related keywords from among the messages posted by other users. The messaging service may also be provided with a function for not retrieving messages that do not include traffic-related keywords from the messaging service. In this way, the messages that are output can be narrowed down to messages that include traffic-related keywords, and the user can avoid receiving messages that do not include traffic-related keywords from the messaging service.

[0417] Furthermore, the messaging service may be, for example, Twitter (registered trademark) or the like, which is a social networking system. On Twitter, messages posted by each user are also called tweets, and are created and distributed by users using the service. The messaging service may be provided with a function to periodically obtain messages from the messaging service via an API. It may also be possible to obtain messages in real time. In this way, users can obtain messages containing traffic-related keywords from the messaging service in real time.

[0418] The user can receive a message containing traffic information from the messaging service on the electronic device. For example, if the electronic device has a display device or an audio output device, the electronic device can output the message to the user by displaying traffic information based on the message on the display device or outputting traffic information based on the message on the audio output device.

[0419] Furthermore, according to this embodiment, the user can easily grasp information about the account that posted the message depending on the message output mode. For example, it is preferable to provide a function for displaying the message on the display unit as the message output destination, and it is preferable to change the display mode, such as the color of the message, the font size, and the font type. In this way, the user can easily distinguish and grasp information about the account. Specifically, for example, in the case of an account related to the user, it is preferable to display the information in a different font color. Also, for example, it is preferable to change the size or color of the message depending on the number of accounts related to the account that posted the message (number of followings / number of followers).

[0420] Furthermore, when a user reads a message, the user can also view the displayed emoji. At this time, the user can view the emoji displayed on the messaging service on the electronic device as is. The emoji may be used to express emotions or a state. Furthermore, by displaying the same emoji used by the user on the messaging service and the electronic device, the user can receive the message more easily. When displaying the emoji as is, the control unit may display emojis that are identical in appearance, or may display emojis that have different appearances but have the same meaning. For example, for a "smile" emoji, it is preferable that the character code representing the emoji is at least the same.

[0421] [1.4.8 Example of outputting necessary messages from acquired messages] In this embodiment, among the acquired messages, some messages are hidden as necessary. Since the acquired messages contain a lot of useless data, it is preferable to extract appropriate messages.

[0422] For example, if the message acquired based on a keyword is a reposted message, the control unit 100 (message output unit 107) may display only one of them and not display the rest.

[0423] for example, "@NEX <Road closure due to fire> Tomei Expressway, outbound lane, vehicle fire at 195.5KP. Road closed between Yoshida IC and Sagara Makinohara IC." There was a message saying, and as a repost of that message, "RT @NEX <Road closure due to fire> Tomei Expressway, outbound lane, vehicle fire at 195.5KP. Road closed between Yoshida IC and Sagara Makinohara IC." If there are multiple reposts, the message containing "RT" may be hidden. Also, if a message has many reposts, it may be determined that the message is important, and the message output unit 107 may display all the messages.

[0424] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may display the first message in a distinctive manner. For example, the message output unit 107 may change the color or font of only the first message. Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may also display the number of reposts. Furthermore, if the message output unit 107 cannot acquire the first message (a message without RTs), it may display only the oldest message among the acquired messages. Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may display reposted messages at a predetermined timing. For example, the message output unit 107 may display every five minutes, or every tenth acquired message.

[0425] The message output unit 107 may also preferentially display messages with high ratings (messages with many likes).The importance of a message may also be determined by using a learning model learned by machine learning from the message wording and attributes.

[0426] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may hide messages that are less relevant. In this case, hide keywords may be set in advance, or may be registered by the user. For example, keywords such as "public bath," "sexual intercourse," and "tasting" may be registered, and messages containing these keywords may be hidden or displayed only once.

[0427] Furthermore, message output unit 107 may hide messages that include bullet points.

[0428] Furthermore, message output unit 107 may not display messages that are not in the traveling direction. For example, assume that vehicle 50 is traveling down the Tomei Expressway from Tokyo toward Nagoya. At this time, if vehicle 50 is traveling in Shizuoka prefecture, message output unit 107 outputs information about Shizuoka prefecture and Aichi prefecture. Furthermore, message output unit 107 may not output information about Kanagawa prefecture and Tokyo.

[0429] As described above, because the service contains many messages, simply extracting them would result in outputting more messages than necessary. However, according to this embodiment, necessary messages can be displayed in an easy-to-understand manner. Furthermore, because messaging services are easily used by young people and others, they contain messages between friends and other messages that do not generally need to be displayed. In this embodiment, by excluding such messages, more necessary information can be obtained and output.

[0430] 1.4.9 Example of generating a new message from a periodically acquired message In this embodiment, the message acquisition unit 106 periodically acquires messages and generates new messages.

[0431] That is, the messages acquired by the message acquisition unit 106 are stored in the message information storage area 196. The message generation unit 104 generates a new message (posted message) from the messages stored in the message information storage area 196.

[0432] Then, this newly generated message may be posted to the service by the message posting unit 105. In addition, at this time, the control unit 100 (message generating unit 104 or message posting unit 105) may generate a message by collecting related messages among the messages acquired by the message acquiring unit 106.

[0433] Here, a related message refers to a message that the control unit 100 determines to be similar to the message, or a message that is associated in the service (for example, a reply message, or a reposted message (for example, a retweet message)).

[0434] A message being similar refers to, for example, a message containing a certain degree of the same wording. For example, the control unit determines that a message is similar if it shares the same type of event (keyword indicating the category) and location (time of occurrence of the event, road name, city, ward, town, or village). The control unit 100 may also score the inclusion of multiple words and determine that a message is similar if the score is high. For example, the control unit 100 may determine that a message is similar if the messages share the same keywords "traffic jam" and "Hakozaki" but were posted at different times. The control unit 100 may also determine that a message is similar if it contains words that are common to messages from highly reliable accounts. The control unit 100 may also determine whether a message is similar using machine learning.

[0435] For example, the control unit 100 may add a link to a newly created message so that a summary message displaying related messages can be displayed. By selecting the link, the user can check one or more original messages from which the new message was created. On the site where this summary message is displayed, related messages may be displayed as a thread, for example. In addition, a two-dimensional code of the site where this summary message can be displayed may also be displayed.

[0436] Furthermore, the newly created posted message may be output by message output unit 107. For example, the new message may be displayed on display unit 120 or output as audio by audio output unit .

[0437] Here, a mechanism by which the message acquisition unit 106 acquires messages will be described. For example, the message acquisition unit 106 periodically acquires messages from a service using a predetermined keyword. For example, the message acquisition unit 106 may perform a circular search of all messages provided by the service to acquire messages that match the keyword. Alternatively, the message acquisition unit 106 may acquire messages that match the keyword from messages (the user's timeline) of accounts related to the user's account (for example, accounts that are the user's followers or accounts registered as favorites).

[0438] For example, traffic-related keywords can be set as predefined keywords (categories) for API searches of a service. Traffic-related keywords are keywords related to traffic information and keywords that are useful when driving a car. Specifically, these keywords include "traffic congestion," "accident congestion," "vehicle road closure," "speed enforcement," and "dangerous driving," and these keywords are used as search keys for repeated searches.

[0439] Alternatively, a sentence may be constructed using a keyword (for example, "Road Closed to Vehicles"), a road name registered in advance, or a character string that matches an IC. In other words, the control unit 100 generates a new message to post.

[0440] Then, the message generator 104 acquires the event from the message and generates a message including the event.

[0441] Furthermore, it is preferable that the new message generated by message generating unit 104 includes a word or phrase related to a certain area. For example, it is preferable that the new message includes one or more words or phrases related to the area, such as the name of the city, town, or village where the event is occurring, the name of an intersection, the name of a road, the name of an IC or SA / PA, or the section where the event is occurring.

[0442] The categories corresponding to these keywords indicate the type of each event, and may be predetermined or added by the user. Furthermore, new events may be added to the categories. For example, if "pedestrian obstruction" is a hot topic in the news, the type of event "pedestrian obstruction" may be added as a new category.

[0443] An example of the message format in this case is shown in Fig. 12(A). An example of the message generated by this embodiment includes, for example, "category," "time," "road name," "address," "mention," "hashtag," and "signature."

[0444] 12(B) shows an example of the control unit 100 of this embodiment, and FIG. 12(C) shows an example of the configuration of the storage unit 190. The configuration of FIG. 12 is added to the configurations shown in FIG. 8(A) and FIG. 8(B).

[0445] Message control unit 109 generates or processes a new message from the acquired message, etc. At this time, message control unit 109 uses dictionary database (DB) 199 stored in storage unit 190 to generate the message.

[0446] In this embodiment, when the user selects or inputs a category, the message control unit 109 generates a new message based on the message acquired from the service.

[0447] Here, the user inputs the category by voice input or by selecting it by touch operation. Alternatively, the user may input the category by operating an operation button. This is because the in-vehicle electronic device 10 does not allow for typing, as is the case with a smartphone. Therefore, by selecting a category by voice or touch operation, a message (e.g., a tweet article) is automatically constructed. Furthermore, for the remaining message other than the category, the contents of each separated frame can be automatically generated using location information (e.g., GPS information from a GPS) and map information acquired by the electronic device 10.

[0448] In addition, for example, a standby screen for posting may be provided on the standby screen to make it easier for users to post. For example, by taking a screenshot of the standby screen for posting, the user can post the screenshot as a posted image. Each item shown in FIG. 12(A) will be explained below.

[0449] (1) Creating a category The category of the post should preferably be a traffic-related term. For example, it is preferable to list words that are easy to recognize by voice, such as "traffic jam," "wrong-way driving," "tailgating," and "police crackdown," as well as search terms that are frequently used in messaging services. The category may also match the keywords mentioned above.

[0450] Furthermore, when performing voice recognition, words that are likely to produce a score value may also be registered as registered words for voice recognition.

[0451] For example, for "traffic jam," "jutai" may be registered in addition to "juutai." Similarly, for "road closure," "tsuukoudome" may be registered in addition to "tsuukoudome," for "wrong way driving," "gyakusou" may be registered in addition to "gyakusou," and for "runaway," "boso" may be registered. These are stored in the category dictionary 1982 of the dictionary DB 198 stored in the storage unit 190 shown in FIG. 12(C).

[0452] Keywords corresponding to categories may also be added. In this case, keywords that are circulating or keywords that correspond to messages are extracted and used as keywords. In this case, keywords may be enclosed in parentheses to make them stand out, or in commands (e.g., HTML tags) that can be used to identify and display them later.

[0453] (2) Time The time used is the time managed by the electronic device 10. At this time, the time is automatically generated using, for example, date information from a GPS or the time managed by the clock unit 103 of the electronic device 10.

[0454] (3) Road name The road name is automatically generated, for example, by referring to the road dictionary 1988. The road dictionary 1988 stores road link data, latitude and longitude, and road names in association with each other. The control unit 100 uses the name of the road on which the vehicle 50 is currently traveling based on the acquired position information (latitude and longitude information). The road name may be automatically generated.

[0455] (4) Address The address is automatically generated, for example, by referring to the address dictionary 1986. The address dictionary 1986 stores administrative boundary polygons of a map, latitude and longitude information, and names of cities, towns, and villages. Then, the control unit 100 uses the address where the vehicle 50 is currently traveling based on the acquired position information (latitude and longitude information). The address may be automatically generated.

[0456] (5) Mention A mention includes a user account in a message so that the user who posted the message can be identified. That is, a link (sometimes called a mention) to the user account is added in the messaging service. For this user account, the account information stored in the account information storage area 192 can be used.

[0457] Additionally, by providing a link to the user's account, third parties can view the user's profile page, which helps build trust between the third party and the user who posted the content.

[0458] The person posting the message may be the account of the user using the electronic device 10, or if the message is posted via a management device or the like, may be an account associated with the management device.

[0459] Also, in the above description, a mention of the user is included to indicate that the message has been posted to the user, but the posted message may also be sent as a direct message or email.

[0460] (6) Hashtag The city, ward, town, village name or road name is included in the message as a hashtag. For example, a hashtag may be created by adding a specific character (string) to the character string of the city, ward, town, village name or road name. For example, by combining the specific character "#" with the road name "National Route 1", the hashtag "#National Route 1" is added to the message. The hashtag may be automatically generated. Note that the hashtag is an example of a tag.

[0461] (7) Signature Any character string can be added as a signature. For example, by registering the name of the manufacturer of the electronic device 10 in advance, it is possible to highlight the technological capabilities of the manufacturer of the electronic device 10. Alternatively, a character string created by the user may be added as a signature each time.

[0462] In this way, by cycling through messages and listing them together, a new message that is easier to understand is generated compared to simply displaying the message.

[0463] The user may be able to select which of the above items (1) to (7) to include in the message. For example, item (6) may not be included in the message. The order in which the messages are generated may also be changed.

[0464] Furthermore, if there are multiple related messages, the message generator 104 may include the number of messages. For example, the message generator 104 may display "There are 10 other messages regarding the XX accident."

[0465] Furthermore, when this number is displayed, this number may be the number of summary messages. In this case, when the user selects the number of messages included in the message or selects a link included in the message, a page on which the summary message can be viewed may be displayed.

[0466] Furthermore, multiple messages may be grouped by event or by region. For example, a message such as "There are x messages about accidents" or "There are x messages around Nagoya Station" may be generated. Messages related to the same event may also be grouped together. For example, a message such as "There are x messages about traffic congestion at Dangozaka SA on the Chuo Expressway" may be generated.

[0467] The newly generated message may also include a portion of the retrieved message. For example, the newly generated message may include the most recent message, a message posted by a highly reliable account, or a portion of a highly reliable message. Whether an account or a message is highly reliable will be described in another embodiment.

[0468] In this way, in this embodiment, messages can be processed as needed and displayed without being acquired as is. In particular, many messages are posted to messaging services, and there are both necessary and unnecessary messages. Furthermore, even if a message appears necessary at first glance, it may simply be a reposted message (retweet), and only part of the information is necessary. Even in such cases, by generating a new message, it is possible to post or display a message with high information value.

[0469] Furthermore, a user can post a message to a messaging service based on traffic-related keywords such as "traffic jam," "accident," or "wrong-way driving," and share the message with other users through posting to the messaging service. A new message can then be generated about traffic jam, accident, or wrong-way driving. These keywords are also considered to be highly relevant to third parties, making it easier for users to post messages that are highly relevant to third parties.

[0470] Furthermore, users can view related messages collectively as a single posted message on their electronic devices, rather than having multiple messages displayed. For example, messages scattered across a messaging service can be collectively generated and posted. This allows third parties to easily access posted messages containing necessary information by referencing the posted messages.

[0471] Furthermore, a user can include information identifying the user's account in a posted message and then share the message with other users by posting the message to a messaging service. The information identifying the user's account can be information handled by the messaging service, such as an account ID or account name. In this way, a third party can post a message and identify who the message is from, even if the account posting the message is different from the account of the poster of the retrieved message.

[0472] In addition, users can share messages with third parties by posting them to messaging services, including the account of the message poster as information identifying the account, so that third parties can easily verify who the message poster is. The user account may also be the account of the user who logs in to the management device. In this way, even if the account of the user logging in to the management device is different from the account used by the management device, the user can clearly indicate to a third party. Also, a user who posts a message using the management device can know that the message was posted by the management device.

[0473] 1.4.10 Adding an image to a message In addition to the above-described embodiments, in this embodiment, an image is posted. That is, the message control unit 109 attaches an image to the message that is generated. Then, the message posting unit 105 posts the message generated by the message control unit 109 to the service, thereby posting the message with the image. This embodiment is particularly effective when the message posting unit 105 posts the message generated by the message control unit 109 to the service.

[0474] For example, if a drive recorder is connected to the electronic device 10, the image to be posted may be acquired from the drive recorder. Alternatively, if an imaging device is provided in the electronic device 10, the image may be acquired from the imaging device. Alternatively, if the electronic device 10 is connectable to another device, for example, a terminal device such as a user's smartphone, the image may be acquired from the terminal device. Alternatively, the image may be an image captured from the display screen of the display unit 120 of the electronic device 10. Alternatively, the image may be an image showing map information that the electronic device 10 can acquire (for example, a map including the current location).

[0475] Here, the screen displayed on the display unit 120 of the electronic device 10 may be a display screen for assisting driving of the vehicle. For example, the display screen may include traffic regulations (speed limits, details of road signs). The display screen may also include vehicle information (for example, vehicle information acquired by OBDII). The display screen may also include the location of traffic enforcement and details of the traffic enforcement. The display screen may also display a combination of these pieces of information. For example, the display screen may also include a map including the current location, information about traffic regulations, and vehicle information (for example, vehicle speed).

[0476] Furthermore, the electronic device 10 may add information to the above-described image. For example, information indicating the current location acquired by the electronic device 10 (for example, a town name including a city, ward, town, or village), a road name, a state of the vehicle 50, and a date and time may be included in one or more images.

[0477] If the service imposes restrictions on image size, the image size and resolution may be converted to fit within the restrictions. For example, the image may be converted so that the maximum horizontal size is 600 pixels, the vertical size is unlimited, the aspect ratio is 16:9, the image format extension is PNG, JPG, or GIF, and the file size is 5 MB or less.

[0478] In this way, a user can include information about an image captured from a display screen for assisting driving of a vehicle in a message and share the message with other users by posting the message to a messaging service. The device for displaying the display screen for assisting driving of a vehicle may be an information processing terminal carried by a user, such as a smartphone, but it is preferable that the device be a display screen of an electronic device that primarily provides a function for assisting driving of a vehicle.

[0479] Examples of electronic devices include a drive recorder that provides image capture and recording functions, a navigation system that provides navigation functions such as route guidance, and a detector (e.g., a radar detector or laser detector) that has a notification function that notifies the driver of a speed control site when the vehicle is within a predetermined proximity. Display screens for assisting vehicle driving often display maps. Therefore, for example, a display screen including a map may be captured as a display screen for assisting vehicle driving, and a message may be generated that includes an image including the map. A display screen including a location (e.g., an address or road name) may be captured and a message may be generated that includes an image including the location. This allows a third party to check the map or location of a nearby event that may be preventing the vehicle from proceeding from the image included in the message. The capture may be manually initiated by the user, e.g., by a one-touch operation. The capture may be initiated without explicit user input, e.g., when a predetermined event occurs or periodically. The image used for posting may be selected by the user or without such instruction.

[0480] Furthermore, when posting an image, the standby screen of the electronic device 10 may be set to a posting standby state that allows "posting." For example, the electronic device 10 provides an environment in which a message including an image can be posted immediately without a voice recognition activation phrase.

[0481] When posting to a service, the message posting unit 105 may post a message within the conditions of the service's constraints. For example, if the use of an API access key for posting to a service is combined with a process for checking the 200 of the message to be acquired, the message may be posted in accordance with the service's constraints, such as setting the posting interval to 10 minutes or more. The message posting unit 105 may also impose a constraint such as not sending the same message (data) consecutively.

[0482] In this way, according to this embodiment, it is possible to post a message including an image. Generally, a screen (timeline) displaying messages of a service includes images. Therefore, when other users view a shared message, a message including an image can be created and posted that is more appealing to other users than a message containing only text.

[0483] When posting an image, a message may contain information including a link to the image, but even if the link information is included, the number of characters may be included in the terms of the service. For example, a message including the link information may be created so that it is 140 characters or less.

[0484] [1.4.11 Example of converting acquired messages into easy-to-understand format and outputting them] In this embodiment, when the message output unit 107 outputs a message, it does not output the acquired message itself, but rather converts it into a message that is easy for the user to understand and outputs it.

[0485] That is, the control unit 100 generates and outputs a new message based on the newly acquired message information.

[0486] For example, since there is a possibility that the message output unit 107 cannot use the message as is, in that case, the message output unit 107 determines the event from the message and displays the message on the display unit 120.

[0487] For example, if the message is about an "accident," the message output unit 107 displays "Information about traffic jam due to accident." Also, if the message is about "aggressive driving," the message output unit 107 displays the message "aggressive driving has been reported." In this way, the content of the text may be automatically analyzed and a converted message may be output. This is because if the message part is quoted as is, it may be included in a claim, so the expression can be changed and output. Also, if the message is displayed as is, it may contain various expressions, so original wording may be created and output.

[0488] Related messages may also be combined into one message. For example, messages about the same accident in the same area may be combined into one message. Also, messages related to a message (for example, replies) may be combined into one message.

[0489] These messages may be managed as a summary message. The summary message can be displayed as a thread. For example, a summary message may be a collection of messages related to a single related topic, such as an accident or traffic jam.

[0490] It is also possible to have a list of correspondences between word list strings and array wordings, and if a string in a message matches, to display the replaced message.

[0491] The replaced message may be posted to the service by the message posting unit 105. At this time, the posted message may further include information about the account of the user who posted the message (for example, the account name and account ID).

[0492] For example, as shown in FIG. 12(D), a search word, elapsed time, address, road name, detailed information, account, hashtag, etc. may be newly generated, and the message output unit 107 may output a message to the display unit 120.

[0493] At this time, the electronic device 10 may also display the above-mentioned message together with the existing law enforcement information. For example, when the existing law enforcement information is displayed as a caption, the above-mentioned message may be displayed consecutively or alternately.

[0494] Also, since the city, ward, town, or village is known, the message output unit 107 may display only the contents of the same city, ward, town, or village, as with existing enforcement information.

[0495] Furthermore, message output unit 107 may not simply display a message, but may also combine it with other displays. For example, if the message includes information that can identify a location, such as an address, latitude and longitude, road name, name of an IC, junction, service area, or parking area, or name of a landmark, message output unit 107 may blink or change the color of the location or road on the map, or display a pin.

[0496] The message output unit 107 may also output the elapsed time. The elapsed time may be displayed as the time elapsed since the date and time the message was posted. Alternatively, the elapsed time may be determined by identifying the time when the event in the message occurred and counting the time elapsed since the time of the event. For example, if the message includes "Accident occurred at 15:10," "15:10" may be used as the time of the event.

[0497] The message output unit 107 may also change the display mode depending on the elapsed time. For example, instead of displaying "X minutes ago" or "X minutes elapsed" from the time of occurrence or message posting, the deterioration of information may be expressed by fading the color of the blinking road or changing the brightness. The time of the displayed messages may also be limited to a specific range. For example, messages up to 10 hours after the time of occurrence or posting may be displayed.

[0498] Furthermore, if the content of the message (event) is a reference to something in the past, it may not be displayed. It may be determined whether the content of the message (event) is from the time when the event occurred or from the time when the event ended. In this case, the message output unit 107 may determine the content of the message together with the posting date and time.

[0499] For example, if a message saying "The traffic jam at Tenmabashi yesterday due to the accident was terrible" is posted today, the message output unit 107 may display the message as is if the posting date of the message is today. In this case, the posting date and time may be clearly displayed, and the message may be displayed for a predetermined period of time (for example, 10 hours).

[0500] Also, if the content (incident) of the message is from the past, it may be excluded from display. In this case, the message "The traffic jam at Tenmabashi yesterday was terrible" will be excluded from display because it contains the keyword "yesterday."

[0501] It is also possible to obtain related messages from a single piece of information and identify the date and time of the incident. For example, in the case of a message such as "The traffic jam due to the accident at Tenmabashi was terrible," new messages are obtained from the service based on the keywords "Tenmabashi" and "accident traffic jam" contained in the message. In this case, if the content of the obtained message or the posting date and time are from the past, the message may be excluded from display.

[0502] Furthermore, the search target for identifying the date and time of occurrence of an incident based on a keyword may be information from different services, news sites, weather information, traffic congestion information (VICS information), and the like.

[0503] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may analyze the contents of the message to determine whether or not to display the message. For example, if the message expression is "could not pass" rather than "cannot pass," the message may be excluded from the display targets.

[0504] Here, the message acquisition unit 106 acquires messages related to the search word, for example, by using the API of the service. The message acquisition unit 106 stores the acquired messages in the storage unit 190 in a predetermined format (for example, CSV format).

[0505] Next, a search is performed for appropriate messages by considering keywords that are likely to be caught in a search. Specifically, the keywords are stored in advance in storage unit 190, and a search is performed using the keywords. Message output unit 107 creates a message to be displayed from a message that includes the keywords.

[0506] A specific example will be described. For example, in the case of Twitter as a messaging service, created_at, user.location, user.name, user.name, user.screen_name, user.followers_count, text, etc. are output in CSV format from the extracted tweets.json. Then, the message output unit 107 extracts and analyzes data that corresponds to "date and time," "Twitter name," "account," "location of occurrence," and "tweet" from the output CSV file, and creates a message to be displayed. This allows the electronic device 10 to handle and display the data in the same way as existing public enforcement information data.

[0507] Here, the message output unit 107 analyzes the message in the following manner. First, to analyze the address data, the message output unit 107 checks the prefecture (47 items) and city / ward / town / village (1,718 items) from the message. Furthermore, since there is a possibility that a town or village may be included, the message output unit 107 adopts the terminal symbol "wait" as the name of the city / ward / town / village. Here, the address dictionary 1996 shown in FIG. 12(C) may be used.

[0508] The road data is analyzed to determine whether the message contains the names of roads throughout the country. Here, the road dictionary 1998 shown in FIG. 12(C) may be used.

[0509] Frequently used character strings may be registered in advance as a dictionary. For example, in the case of "accident traffic jam," message output unit 107 may adopt a message if it contains the character strings "single accident, multiple accident, personal injury accident, collision accident, truck accident, motorcycle accident, etc." Also, word dictionary 1994 shown in FIG. 12(C) may be used.

[0510] Note that message output unit 107 may analyze the message using message control unit 109 in FIG. 12, for example, and output the message in the format shown in FIG. 12(D).

[0511] The message output unit 107 may also display related information, such as news information acquired from a news site or weather forecast information, as a message.

[0512] According to this embodiment, the acquired message can be converted into a message in a predetermined format and posted, so that when other users check the message on the service, they can easily acquire the information because it is output in a predetermined format.

[0513] Furthermore, the user can receive a message containing an address or road name instead of the acquired message. For example, each user of a messaging service posts messages with various content. The user can check the necessary information in an easy-to-understand output rather than simply viewing the message posted to the messaging service. Here, the address may be a combination of a city, ward, town, or village name and a town name, but it is preferable to use a prefecture name and a city, ward, town, or village name. The address may also represent a region, such as an intersection name, a facility name, or a landmark name. The address may also be information indicating a region or location, such as latitude and longitude information or a map code. The road name may also be a name such as National Route X or Prefectural Route X, a road name such as Meiji Dori or Yasukuni Dori, or a name of an expressway, such as the Chuo Expressway, Tomei Expressway, or Shuto Expressway.

[0514] The user can also receive messages containing information about traffic. For example, the information about traffic may include information about traffic congestion, such as "traffic jam," "traffic jam," "accident jam," and "construction jam," information related to traffic congestion, such as "construction," "accident," and "closure," and information about safe driving, such as "tailgating," "dangerous driving," "police crackdown," and "patrol car." The information about traffic may also include information about things that affect traffic, such as disasters, such as "heavy rain," "flooding," "fires," and "earthquakes."

[0515] Additionally, users can check the amount of time that has passed since the message was posted. Therefore, along with the message, users can check when the message was posted and how far back the message is. For example, if the message indicates a traffic-related event, such as a traffic jam, it is advisable to display the amount of time that has passed along with the event. In this way, users can know that a traffic-related event has occurred, and can also check when the event occurred and how much time has passed since the event was posted.

[0516] Here, the time that has elapsed since the message was posted may be calculated from the difference between the date and time the message was posted and the current date and time, if the date and time the message was posted is available. Alternatively, the time that has elapsed may be calculated from keywords in the message that indicate time (e.g., "yesterday," "last night," "today," "just now"). The control unit may analyze the message and, for example, output information that it is past information if it is determined to be a past sentence (e.g., a sentence in the past tense). The elapsed time may be expressed as a specific time, such as X minutes ago or X hours ago, or may be general information (e.g., "yesterday" or "before"). The output mode of the message may be changed depending on the time that has elapsed since the message was posted. For example, when displaying a message, the output mode may be changed based on the time that has elapsed since the message included in the output message was posted. For example, the longer the elapsed time, the lighter the display or the smaller the font size may be.

[0517] 1.4.12 Example of determining the authenticity of a retrieved message In this embodiment, the control unit 100 determines whether the message acquired by the message acquisition unit 106 has reliable content. The control unit 100 may calculate the reliability of the message or the reliability of the account based on information that can be acquired from the message or information about the poster's account. Then, the control unit 100 may determine the reliability of the message or the reliability of the account from the calculated reliability.

[0518] For example, messages related to false reports and hoaxes may also be included in the messages acquired by the message acquisition unit 106. For example, the control unit 100 may determine whether such fake information is true by referring to the account information of the poster who posted the message.

[0519] For example, if the account that posted the message is a company account, the control unit 100 determines that the message is reliable. Also, if the account that posted the message is an influencer account (for example, if the account has 3,000 or more followers), the control unit 100 determines that the message is reliable.

[0520] These highly reliable accounts may be listed and stored in the storage unit 190. The control unit 100 determines that a message posted from one of these highly reliable accounts is influential information. The message output unit 107 displays the message if the account is highly reliable.

[0521] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may change the output mode depending on the reliability of the message. For example, the message output unit 107 may display a message in blue if the message is highly reliable, and in yellow if the message is low reliable. Additionally, the message output unit 107 may change the font density, size, or scroll speed depending on the reliability of the message.

[0522] Furthermore, if the account is an official account, the control unit 100 may determine that the account is highly reliable. In this case, the message output unit 107 may also output information indicating that the account is an official account.

[0523] Furthermore, if a message is posted from an account with relatively low account activity, the control unit 100 may determine that the message is highly reliable. For example, if information about an accident or the like is suddenly acquired from a message from an account with relatively low activity, the control unit 100 may determine that the information is more reliable than information from a person with high activity.

[0524] The control unit 100 may also determine that a message to which location information is added has high reliability. The control unit 100 may also determine that a message to which a predetermined keyword is added has high reliability. For example, the control unit 100 may determine that a message to which a signature indicating that it was output by the electronic device 10 is added has high reliability.

[0525] As described above, according to this embodiment, processing can be performed based on highly reliable messages. Because a variety of messages are included in a service, they are not necessarily highly reliable. However, according to this embodiment, the reliability based on the account and the reliability of the posted message can be determined, and processing can be limited to those determined to be highly reliable.

[0526] Alternatively, the number of accounts associated with the account that posted the message (number of followers) may simply be obtained and output. Alternatively, the number of following accounts may be obtained and output as the number of accounts associated with the account that posted the message. A social networking service such as Twitter may be used as the messaging service. In this way, the user can receive the number of followers or following of the first account.

[0527] Furthermore, if a large number of accounts are associated with the account of the user who posted the message, the user can determine that the account is highly reliable. For example, when the messaging service is a social networking service such as Twitter, if the account that posted the message has more than a predetermined number of followers, the user can determine that the message was posted from a highly reliable account. Furthermore, if the user determines that the first account is an influencer account, for example, the user may determine that the message was posted from a highly reliable account.

[0528] In this way, the user can receive the number of followers or following of the account that posted the message along with the posted message. For example, the user can determine the reliability of the message or account based on the influence of the account that posted the message (e.g., the account of an influencer with a large number of followers). It is also desirable to have a function that determines the reliability of an account or a message posted by the account based on the number of followers or following of the account and outputs the result. For example, if the number of followers is greater than the number of followings by a predetermined percentage or more, it is desirable to determine the account as being highly reliable. In this way, a user can know whether the account that posted a message is a designated corporate account or an official account authenticated by the messaging service. A user can determine whether a corporate account is a more reliable message than an account owned by an individual. By outputting information indicating that the account that posted a message is a corporate account or a pre-designated corporate account, a user can determine whether the message is reliable. For example, a function that allows a user to pre-designate a corporate account is preferable, allowing the user to know that the user who posted the message is a corporate account. A corporate account is preferably an account owned by a company for promotional or public relations purposes, and may be an account officially operated by the company or one or more accounts operated by employees under the company name. A corporate account may be an account of a private company, but may also be an account of an organization or corporation, such as a national or local government office or agency, a foundation, a medical corporation, a school corporation, or a non-profit organization.

[0529] For example, it is preferable to have a database (DB) inside or outside the device where a user can register a specific account (e.g., NEXCO) as a reliable account. Also, it is preferable to identify a corporate account by analyzing the profile of the account information, for example.

[0530] Furthermore, the messaging service may use a different output format for, for example, an authenticated official account (e.g., an account with an official badge displayed on it). In this way, if a user determines that a poster's account is highly trustworthy when it is an official account, the user can use the official account information to determine the trustworthiness of the message.

[0531] Furthermore, the user can prioritize checking highly reliable messages. For example, messages posted to messaging services contain a mixture of correct information and incorrect information. Furthermore, for example, messages posted to messaging services contain a mixture of factual information and the poster's impressions and unrelated messages. Thus, messages posted to messaging services may contain low-reliability messages, such as messages unrelated to traffic or messages that are contrary to the facts, or so-called noise messages, such as messages that are factual but have been posted long ago. By determining the reliability of messages, it is possible to suppress the output of noise messages or to prioritize non-noise messages. In this way, the user can prioritize checking messages other than noise that are necessary for the user.

[0532] [1.4.13 Example of evaluating users based on their posted messages] In this embodiment, a user (driver) is evaluated based on messages posted by the user. The control unit 100 determines the mental cycle (mental state) of the user based on the number of messages posted by the user and the timing of the messages.

[0533] For example, the message posted by the message posting unit 105 is stored in the message information storage area 196. The control unit 100 then analyzes the message, determines the possibility of a traffic accident or dangerous driving, and evaluates the driving. That is, since many of the messages posted in this embodiment are traffic-related, it is possible to determine cycles of periods when traffic accidents and dangerous driving are frequent. For example, quantitative changes may be analyzed chronologically, and it may be determined, for example, that there is a risk X minutes after driving, or the risk may be determined for each road (e.g., expressway, general road). Specifically, the control unit 100 extracts messages containing "irritation." If such messages are frequently received while driving on an expressway, a notification may be issued urging caution when driving on the expressway. This may encourage the user to take measures to prevent accidents.

[0534] The control unit 100 may also evaluate the user's activity pattern from the activity cycle based on the time when the message was posted. For example, if there are many messages posted between 6:00 and 21:00, the control unit 100 may determine that the user is active during that time. If there are many messages posted during the day, the control unit 100 may determine that the user is taking a lunch break.

[0535] In this embodiment, the control unit 100 analyzes the message posted by the message posting unit 105, but may also analyze a message acquired by, for example, the message acquisition unit 106. In this case, the analysis may be based on a message of an account in the account information stored in the electronic device 10, or may be based on another person's account.

[0536] According to this embodiment, various evaluations can be made based on the messages posted to the service, such as the user's psychological state and whether or not they are driving safely. For example, by setting multiple evaluation targets, it is possible to create a ranking of safe driving, etc. Users can also easily analyze their driving tendencies from the posted content.

[0537] [1.4.14 Example of speech recognition in conjunction with message output] This embodiment is an embodiment in which speech recognition is combined with message display. For example, when posting a message from the electronic device 10, a message can be automatically created or any message can be input. Furthermore, when outputting a message to the electronic device 10, the message can be output as speech as well as displayed.

[0538] In this case, the message posting unit 105 posts a message that the user inputs from the software keyboard of the electronic device 10 or a message that is generated based on a phrase selected from a selection list.

[0539] Furthermore, the message posting unit 105 may generate a message to be posted using voice recognition. For example, the control unit 100 may generate a message by performing voice recognition on words input as voice and converting them into a character string. The control unit 100 may also display categories such as "accident," "traffic jam," "dangerous driving," and "disaster" on the display unit 120 and create a message by selecting from a list of phrases on the screen. In this case, the control unit 100 may select a category based on the voice input by the user. In addition, if the control unit 100 recognizes the message as "There is a traffic jam at the intersection," the control unit 100 may select the category of "traffic jam" from the keyword "traffic jam."

[0540] Furthermore, when a word that could be a category and is not included in the above-mentioned phrase list is input by voice, the message posting unit 105 may recognize the voice-inputted word and select it as a new category.

[0541] Furthermore, screen transitions and the like may be performed by voice operations. For example, if the user inputs "next message" as voice input while message output unit 107 is outputting a message, the output of the current message may be interrupted and the next message may be output.

[0542] Also, during or immediately after outputting a voice message, the user may input by voice whether or not he or she wishes to be notified of a follow-up to the current message.

[0543] Furthermore, message output unit 107 may output the message as sound in addition to displaying it (for example, displaying it as a telop). The user may be able to select whether to display the message or output it as sound. Furthermore, message output unit 107 may switch between displaying the message and outputting it as sound depending on the content of the message.

[0544] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may output the posting category aloud each time the message is output aloud.

[0545] Alternatively, the voice recognition may be performed by another device. For example, if the electronic device 10 can be connected to a smartphone or the like, the voice may be inputted through the smartphone and recognized. The voice recognition result may then be transmitted from the smartphone to the electronic device 10.

[0546] As described above, according to this embodiment, not only can the electronic device 10 display information, but it can also output information by voice and perform operations by voice recognition. In particular, when the electronic device 10 is an in-vehicle device and is used by a driver, the screen that can be operated is limited. Therefore, by using voice recognition, the driver, who is the user, can operate the device without taking his or her hands off the device, which contributes to safe driving.

[0547] Furthermore, the user can check the message by voice. Since the user can check the message by voice, for example, even while driving, the user can check the message without staring at the electronic device. Therefore, the user can check the message safely. The above-mentioned output mode or output method can be changed by changing the volume of the sound output from the audio unit, changing the tone of voice, or changing the speed at which the sound is output. Furthermore, the method of outputting the sound can be, for example, a warning sound or music.

[0548] [1.4.15 Example of outputting detailed and related messages] This embodiment is an embodiment of a method in which the message output unit 107 displays more detailed messages and related messages.

[0549] For example, when the message output unit 107 outputs a message, it outputs a summary message. For example, in the case of a message about an accident that includes the hashtag "#Chuo Expressway," the control unit 100 may output a summary message such as "X accidents on Chuo Expressway."

[0550] In this case, the control unit 100 also displays the hashtag “#Chuo-do.” When the user selects a hashtag, the message output unit 107 may sequentially display the messages before they are grouped together.

[0551] Furthermore, when a message itself is selected, the control unit 100 may switch and display the original messages that form the combined message.

[0552] Furthermore, if the display area of ​​the display unit 120 is limited (narrow), the control unit 100 may enable the display on another device. For example, the control unit 100 may display a two-dimensional code including information leading to a screen that displays all the information together. The user may read this two-dimensional code on a terminal device such as a smartphone to display the details of the message.

[0553] The two-dimensional code may also include a link to display a list of summary messages. A summary message is, for example, a message that summarizes reply messages to a specific message. The two-dimensional code includes a URL that allows the summary messages to be displayed in a list.

[0554] By reading this two-dimensional code into a terminal device such as a smartphone, the summary messages can be displayed in a list on the terminal device.

[0555] Furthermore, when a new message is added to the summary message, the electronic device 10 may display that the message has been added. For example, when the message acquired by the message acquisition unit 106 is one of the summary tweets, the display unit 120 may display that the new message has been added. At this time, a two-dimensional code may also be displayed.

[0556] According to this embodiment, it is possible to group related messages together as a group message. The messaging service can group messages together by using, for example, a reply function. This embodiment makes it possible to group related messages together by utilizing the reply function.

[0557] Furthermore, users can view related messages collectively as a single posted message on their electronic devices, rather than having multiple messages displayed. For example, messages scattered across a messaging service can be collectively generated and posted. This allows third parties to easily access posted messages containing necessary information by referencing the posted messages.

[0558] Furthermore, if a user wishes to display related messages, the user can view the related messages by selecting a link. When a link is selected, the related messages can be displayed in a list. Also, the related messages can be displayed in a threaded format. In this way, the user can view the messages in a highly readable format.

[0559] Furthermore, a user can check related messages associated with a link by reading the two-dimensional code on a terminal device such as a smartphone. For example, a link included in the two-dimensional code can be used to jump to a site that displays a list of related messages, and the related messages can be displayed on the terminal device. Note that an encoded image that encodes information other than a two-dimensional code may also be used.

[0560] Furthermore, the user can check the content of the acquired message by referring to the posted message. At this time, all of the content contained in the acquired message may be included, or only a portion of the content may be included. Since the posted message includes the acquired message, the user can easily check the content of the message posted by the poster.

[0561] Furthermore, the user can view related messages in an aggregated state. Related messages may be, for example, messages in a messaging service that are somehow related to one message. For example, if the messaging service is a social networking service such as Twitter, then replies, reposts (retweets), etc. may be acceptable. By aggregating related messages, the user does not have to view similar messages multiple times. For example, in the case of a reposted message, similar messages are output multiple times. Therefore, for example, if the original reposted message is output only once, the user can view only one of the related messages.

[0562] Furthermore, "aggregated and output" here means that multiple messages may be output together. Outputting all at once may mean, for example, displaying only one representative message. Although the first message posted may be selected as the representative message, it is also preferable to generate a new message and output it.

[0563] Furthermore, users can view messages that have been replied to in response to a single message in an aggregated state. For example, when a message is replied to (e.g., a reply) to a certain message, only the original message of the reply may be output, but it is preferable not to display the reply (e.g., the reply) message. When using a messaging service, for example, when a message has been replied to, the original message often contains more important information. Therefore, it is preferable to output the original message of the reply. Furthermore, even when messages are replied to a single message in a thread, it is preferable to aggregate them as related messages.

[0564] Furthermore, users can receive reposted messages in an aggregate. For example, when a message is reposted (e.g., a retweet) for a single message, only the message from the original reposter (e.g., the retweeter) can be output, and in this case, the reposted message (e.g., the retweet) can be hidden. Generally, a reposted (e.g., a retweeted) message has almost the same content as the message from the original reposter (e.g., the retweeter), so it is best to display the message from the original reposter (e.g., the retweeter).

[0565] Furthermore, the user can receive all or part of the original message that is the aggregated message. For example, it is preferable to output the entire aggregated message (for example, as is) from among the aggregated messages, but it is also possible to output a message that includes some of the wording of the original message. For example, when messages are aggregated, the user can check what messages have been aggregated by outputting the original message as is or only part of it.

[0566] In addition, the user can also check the number of aggregated messages. For example, the number of times the message has been reposted (for example, retweeted) or the number of replies (for example, the number of replies) can be output together with the message. By checking the message and the number of aggregated messages, the user can recognize that a message has received a greater response. For example, the user can recognize that a message that has received a greater response is an important message or a message with high reliability.

[0567] Furthermore, the user can recognize how many times the message has been reposted depending on the message output mode. For example, if the message has been reposted many times (the number of replies) the control unit may change the font type or size of the message or change the color of the text. Furthermore, the output mode of the message may be gradually changed depending on the number of times the message has been reposted (the number of replies). In this way, the user can confirm how many times the message has been reposted. For example, the text color may be configured to change from white to red as the number of reposts increases. In this case, the user can recognize that the closer the text color is to red, the more times the message has been reposted (the more replies there are).

[0568] Furthermore, the user can recognize how many times a message has been reposted based on the size of the message. For example, the number of reposts may be displayed together with the message, and the size of the message may be determined by the size of the characters or the size of the display area to indicate whether the number of reposts is high or low. Furthermore, the user can recognize that a message with a high number of reposts is a message that has been shared by many people and is therefore an important message. Therefore, the more important a message is with a high number of reposts, the larger the message is displayed, allowing the user to intuitively grasp the importance of the message.

[0569] Furthermore, the user can check the aggregated messages using the two-dimensional code. For example, the user has another terminal device (such as a smartphone or tablet) read the two-dimensional code. The terminal device displays the aggregated messages based on the information (such as a URL) indicated in the two-dimensional code. Here, the two-dimensional code may include, for example, a URL that displays a list of the aggregated messages. The aggregated messages may be displayed one by one, or may be displayed in a thread. Note that an encoded image that encodes information other than the two-dimensional code may also be used.

[0570] [1.4.16 Example of switching message output method] This embodiment is an embodiment in which the output method when outputting a message is switched.

[0571] The message output unit 107 switches the output method depending on the hash tag included in the message. The acquired message may contain a hash tag of the target type for distinguishing the incident or the name of the place where the incident occurred. Here, the place name, etc. may be included only in the hash tag.

[0572] For example, messages informing users of current road conditions often use hashtags that indicate locations.

[0573] Message A: "#Traffic jam due to accident #Hanshin Expressway #Moriguchi Line" Message B: "#Osaka #Rinkai #Traffic jam due to accident #Southbound Prefectural Route 29 #Near Takaishi Bridge Message C: "#MatsumotoCity #TrafficAccident #WhatADay" Message D: "#AquaLine #Trafficjammedbyaccident" Message E: "#HimejiBypass #TrafficAccident #PeopleForgotItWasAHoliday #HolidaySaturday" For such messages, the control unit 100 performs a search with a hashtag and a search without a hashtag for the same keyword. Then, information based on a message with a hashtag and information based on a message without a hashtag may be output in different notification modes.

[0574] Furthermore, the range of posting dates and times for which the message output unit 107 outputs messages (notification targets) may be different for each type (for example, for each hashtag). This posting date and time range may be set for each type. For example, the range of messages to be acquired may be set to one day for "#accidenttraffic jam" and seven days for "#police."

[0575] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may output in a different manner a message from an account (a message from a person followed) that is related to the message poster of the electronic device 10. For example, the quality of the voice (TTS) that reads the message may be changed, the reading speed may be changed, or the volume may be changed.

[0576] Furthermore, when using the light emitting unit 180 to notify, the message output unit 107 may change the color or light emitting pattern of the emitted LED.

[0577] This allows the user to easily distinguish between messages about accidents and messages from people they follow, even while driving. Also, the user can easily pay attention to information about accidents and other such events.

[0578] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may output actions on one's own message (for example, a reply (reply tweet), a repost (retweet), or an evaluation (like)) in a different format from other actions.

[0579] Furthermore, message output unit 107 may play music (play a predetermined audio file) when the action is in response to one's own message. In this case, message output unit 107 does not need to play music when simply outputting a message.

[0580] According to this embodiment, necessary notifications can be made according to tags and actions included in messages. Many messages are posted to messaging services, and simply displaying them is likely to result in overlooking them. Therefore, for example, by making different notifications for actions addressed to oneself, it is possible to prevent actions addressed to oneself from being overlooked. Furthermore, by utilizing hashtags in messaging services, information can be quickly obtained from the service. In particular, since hashtags are likely to contain related messages, effective notifications can be made by effectively utilizing hashtags.

[0581] According to this embodiment, a user can receive information on whether the account of a user who posted a message is associated with their own account. The messaging service may be a social networking service such as Twitter. In this way, the user can know information such as whether they are following the user who posted the message or whether the user is followed by the user. The information on whether they are associated may be information that identifies the account as a friend's account or an acquaintance's account. In this way, if the user's second account and the first account are associated, the user can know that the post is not from a completely unrelated account. Therefore, the user can follow highly reliable accounts. In this case, if the account that posted the second message is an account that the user is following, the user can determine that the message was posted from a highly reliable account.

[0582] Furthermore, for example, it is preferable to output audio from an audio output unit as the message output destination, and to change the output manner, such as the volume, tone, and output speed of the audio. This makes it easier for the user to understand the account information. Specifically, for example, for accounts not related to the user, a male voice may be used to output the message, and for accounts related to the user, a female voice may be used to output the message.

[0583] Furthermore, if a posted message indicates that the message poster is currently driving, a message indicating this may be output. When a user receives a message, the user can confirm that the message was posted while the user was driving. For example, the message may be a message about traffic congestion. If the user determines that messages posted by people who are actually driving are highly reliable, the user can identify highly reliable messages from among the displayed messages about traffic congestion.

[0584] Furthermore, the user can recognize the number of messages that have been acquired by the message output method. For example, when the acquired messages are being scrolled, the speed of the scroll display can be changed. For example, when the acquired messages are being displayed in a predetermined area, the font size or the size of the display area can be changed depending on the number of messages. Furthermore, when the acquired messages are being output as audio, the audio output speed can be changed depending on the number of messages that have been acquired. In this way, since the message output method changes depending on the number of messages, the user can recognize whether the number of acquired messages is large or small when viewing or listening to the acquired messages.

[0585] Furthermore, the user can recognize the number of times a message has been reposted from the light-emitting pattern of the light-emitting unit. This means that when a light-emitting unit is provided in the device, the light-emitting unit's light-emitting method changes depending on the number of reposts. For example, the light-emitting method may be to change the number of flashes, brightness, or color. For example, for a message that has been reposted many times, the light may be emitted more frequently. This can alert the user. Furthermore, the user can recognize the approximate number of times a message has been reposted from the light-emitting unit's light-emitting pattern. For example, when a message that has been reposted many times is displayed, a light-emitting pattern indicating that the message has been reposted many times can be output. In this way, the user can recognize whether a message has been reposted many times without having to take the time to read the message.

[0586] [1.4.17 Example of an implementation where the retrieved message is a reposted message] In this embodiment, as information about an accident or the like, a message is output as is using at least a part of the original text, and a repost is not output as is.

[0587] If the acquired message information is a reposted message, the message output unit 107 may output the message as is, or may output only a part of the message. Furthermore, if the acquired message includes a quote from another user's message, the message output unit 107 may not output the message with the quoted portion, may output the message with some of the quoted portion omitted, or may output the message with a predetermined phrase substituted.

[0588] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may switch the message output method depending on the type of repost (retweet). For example, when a message about an accident or the like is reposted, the control unit 100 may output a message together with the number of reposts tallied using a predetermined method. Furthermore, the control unit 100 may tallie the number at regular time intervals.

[0589] For example, the message output unit 107 "There appears to have been an accident on Yahagi Bridge. There's a huge traffic jam and you'll be late." You could also output something like, "The earlier message about an accident at Yahagi Bridge has been reposted three times in the last five minutes."

[0590] Furthermore, after another 5 minutes, the message output unit 107 outputs the following: "The message about the accident at Yahagi Bridge has been reposted 30 times in the last 10 minutes." You can also periodically output a message like this.

[0591] Furthermore, if a message containing the same keyword (for example, a proper noun such as a place name) is found within a predetermined time range, the message may be output (announced) as a related message.

[0592] For example, after the above-mentioned notification, the message output unit 107 There was a tweet about an accident at Yahagi Bridge 12 minutes ago. "An ambulance arrived at Yahagi Bridge but they can't get to the scene and are having trouble." You can also output a message.

[0593] Furthermore, when there are a predetermined number or more new messages containing the same keyword (for example, a proper noun such as a place name) within a certain time range, the message output unit 107 may output (notify) that number as related tweets.

[0594] At this time, the user may select whether or not to repost the message or output the original message that was quoted.

[0595] For example, when a user instructs that a message be output by voice, message output unit 107 may determine that a read-out instruction has been given by the user, and output the message by voice.

[0596] For example, the control unit 100 outputs from the voice output unit 130, "There are 12 related messages for 'Accident at Yahagi Bridge' 5 minutes ago. Would you like them read out?" When the user inputs "read out" by voice operation or touch operation, the voice output unit reads out the related messages.

[0597] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may display a graph or the like showing the time transition of the number of reposted messages, related messages, etc. by type, cumulative total, etc. The message output unit 107 may display this graph when reading out a message. Furthermore, when displaying a message, the message output unit 107 may display a graph or the like together with the message to be displayed.

[0598] Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may output (notify) a reposted message or a related message in a more conspicuous manner the more times the message is posted.

[0599] For example, the message output unit 107 may enlarge the font size of the message to be displayed or increase the frequency of light emission from the light-emitting unit 180. Furthermore, the message output unit 107 may change the color of the LED of the light-emitting unit 180 from blue to yellow to red, or change the sound output from the audio output unit 130 from "Poon" to "Piroriropiroriro."

[0600] Furthermore, if the location of the posted message or the incident contained in the message is known, it is advisable to take into account the proximity to that location in addition to controlling the notification as described above, to make the notification more noticeable.

[0601] Thus, according to this embodiment, if the acquired messages are replies (reposts), the messages may be output together. In particular, in the service, a message that has been reposted many times (retweets) may be determined to be highly important. Furthermore, by outputting the message including the number of reposts, other users may be able to recognize how important the message is.

[0602] Furthermore, users can prevent the content of reposted messages from being displayed in posted messages. Generally, reposted messages contain the same content as the message that was reposted. Therefore, including reposted messages can prevent the same content from being displayed. An example of a messaging service would be Twitter, a social networking system. On Twitter, reposted messages are referred to as retweets.

[0603] Furthermore, if a message has been reposted, the user can check the number of times it has been reposted to determine how widely the message has been shared. Generally, a message with a large number of reposts can be evaluated as being highly reliable.

[0604] Furthermore, the transition in the number of times a post has been reposted is displayed in a graph, allowing the user to visually and easily grasp the transition in diffusion that has occurred.

[0605] Furthermore, users may be able to choose not to receive reposted messages, thereby reducing the number of messages with duplicate content they receive. For example, a function for acquiring messages other than reposted messages may be provided. This can prevent situations in which users are unable to view messages other than reposted messages. For example, if a certain message is reposted multiple times, the reposted messages are not output, thereby preventing users from receiving messages with duplicate content. Furthermore, if a message is reposted by various users, the same message will be output repeatedly. This can prevent users from having to repeatedly view the same reposted messages.

[0606] The messaging service may be, for example, Twitter, a social networking service, and a reposted message may be considered a retweet message. A message containing a specific character string such as "RT" may be considered a retweet message. For example, a reposted message may include a quoted retweet. For example, a message containing other messages besides the message following "RT" or a message containing "QT" may be determined to be a quoted retweet. For example, a message portion following "RT" that is not to be output as the message may be configured not to be output as the message.

[0607] [1.4.18 Example of outputting newly output messages] In this embodiment, a new message is output excluding messages that have already been output up to the previous time.

[0608] For example, the control unit 100 may output new messages at regular time intervals (for example, once a day) from among messages acquired in the service using keywords registered by the user, excluding search results that have already been output and notified up to the last time.

[0609] Furthermore, the control unit 100 may output a message that has been newly acquired between the previous time and the current time, for example, when the power of the electronic device 10 is turned on. For example, when the power is turned on, the control unit 100 may output (read aloud) the new message as voice.

[0610] Furthermore, the control unit 100 may output a preface before outputting the message. For example, it may output "Today's new message for the registered keyword 'construction congestion' will be read out."

[0611] According to this embodiment, notifications can be sent at regular intervals based on predetermined keywords. Therefore, when the vehicle is first used, traffic-related information or general news information may be sent.

[0612] [1.4.19 Example of Account Processing] In this embodiment, when a message is output, an additional message is output or processing is performed on the account depending on the poster (account) of the message to be output.

[0613] For example, if the account that posted the message to be output is not associated with the account of the user of the electronic device 10 (for example, if the account is not followed by the user's account), the text of the account's profile may be output as voice.

[0614] In addition, the control unit 100 may input an instruction to associate (follow) the account that posted the message with the user's account while the message output unit 107 is outputting the message or after the message has been output, or may automatically associate (follow) the account that posted the message with the user's account.

[0615] As a result, for example, when an acquired message is output as audio in the electronic device 10, the control unit 100 determines whether the account of the user using the electronic device 10 is following (associated with) the account that posted the message. If the control unit 100 determines that the user's account is not being followed, the control unit 100 may notify the user that the account is not being followed during or after the message is output as audio, or may output the profile of the user who is not being followed by audio. The control unit 100 may also confirm whether to follow the user who is not being followed, or may automatically follow the user. In addition, the control unit 100 may, for example, add the user who is not being followed to a list.

[0616] In addition, the method of association (following) can be changed by user settings. For example, in normal following, people often select people from whom they want to continue receiving messages, such as people who share their hobbies. Therefore, once they follow someone, they rarely unfollow them. On the other hand, there is a period when they are interested in news information such as accidents.

[0617] Therefore, the control unit 100 may extract related accounts and temporarily register them in a group (for example, a follow group or list).

[0618] That is, in addition to the association (follow) function provided by the service, the storage unit 190 may store information about related accounts.

[0619] According to this embodiment, a user can receive information about a first account that posted a message. The information about the first account may be information handled by the messaging service, such as information that can identify the account, such as the account name or account ID, an image associated with the account, detailed account information, or profile information about the account. In this way, the user can know who posted the message or information about the account owner.

[0620] Furthermore, if the account that posted the message is not associated with the user's account, the user can receive information about the account that posted the message. The user's account and the account that posted the message may not be associated, for example, if they are not friends or are not following each other on a social networking service. Since the account that posted the message is not associated, the user can obtain information about the account. In this way, the user can confirm the type of user who posted the message. Here, the information about the account may be, for example, the residence, birthday, hobbies, etc. of the user who posted the message.

[0621] In addition, the user can receive one or more pieces of information about the account that posted the message, such as information about the profile, information about the number of followers, and information about the number of followings, and can grasp information about the first account.

[0622] For example, it is advisable to also output the profile of the user who posted the message (e.g., residential area, hobbies, favorite things). Also, information regarding the number of followers and information regarding the number of followings may be output separately, or multiple pieces of information may be output together. In this way, the user can obtain information regarding the account that posted the message.

[0623] Furthermore, if the account of the user who posted the message is not associated, the user can receive information that associates or recommends associating the first account that posted the message. The user can decide whether to associate or associate the first account based on this information. For example, when the user sees a message and determines that the user has posted a useful message, the user can easily follow the first account. For example, if the social networking service is Twitter or the like, and if the user is not following the second account, the second account can be recommended to be followed. For example, if the user is not following the second account, the second account can be automatically followed. Furthermore, the system can be provided with a function to preferentially retrieve messages posted by accounts followed by the user or change the output mode.

[0624] In this way, the user can confirm that the account that posted the message matches a specific condition. Here, the specific condition may be, for example, that if the user inputs a specific keyword, the keyword is included in the profile information of the account that posted the message. The specific condition may be, for example, that the attribute value of an account (specifically, the number of followers / following, etc.) related to the related account is equal to or greater than a specific threshold. Another specific condition may be, for example, that the account is an account certified by the messaging service. By knowing that the specific condition is met, the user can determine, for example, whether to associate the account (for example, whether to follow). Furthermore, by knowing that the specific condition is met, the user can determine whether the message is highly reliable.

[0625] [1.4.20 Example of a case where multiple account information is available] This embodiment is an embodiment in which there are multiple accounts for the user who uses the electronic device 10. The account information storage area 192 can store one or multiple pieces of account information related to the user.

[0626] For example, when the message output unit 107 acquires a message from ...

Claims

1. a control unit that acquires message information including a message that includes information about traffic from a messaging service and controls output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user; The message information includes information about a first account that posted the message; The information about the account is information about whether a second account of the user is associated with the first account that posted the message, or the number of third accounts associated with the first account that posted the message; The information about the account includes whether the second account of the user is associated with the first account that posted the message, When the second account of the user is not associated with the first account that posted the message, the control unit outputs information about the first account. An electronic device characterized by:

2. a control unit that acquires message information including a message that includes information about traffic from a messaging service and controls output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user; The message information includes information about a first account that posted the message; The information about the account is information about whether a second account of the user is associated with the first account that posted the message, or the number of third accounts associated with the first account that posted the message; When the second account of the user is not associated with the first account that posted the message, the control unit associates or recommends associating the first account that posted the message. An electronic device characterized by:

3. The electronic device described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the user's second account and the first account that posted the message are associated when the user's second account is following the first account that posted the message.

4. The electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the number of third accounts associated with the first account that posted the message is the number of followers or following of the first account.

5. a control unit that acquires message information including a message that includes information about traffic from a messaging service and controls output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user; The message information includes information about a first account that posted the message; The control unit has a function of outputting information about the first account together with the message; and a function of outputting a message when information about the first account that posted the message matches a specific condition.

6. The specific condition is that the first account that posted the message is a designated company account or an official account authenticated by a messaging service.

6. The electronic device according to claim 5,

7. a control unit that acquires message information including a message that includes information about traffic from a messaging service and controls output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user; The electronic device is characterized in that the control unit changes the output mode and outputs the message if the message is addressed to a second account of the user.

8. The electronic device according to claim 7 , wherein the message refers to a second account of the user.

9. a control unit that acquires message information including a message that includes information about traffic from a messaging service and controls output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user; The electronic device is characterized in that the control unit outputs a message to the effect that the message poster is driving when the message poster is driving.

10. a control unit that acquires message information including a message that includes information about traffic from a messaging service and controls output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user; The electronic device is characterized in that the control unit does not output the message if the message is a reposted message.

11. a control unit that acquires message information including a message that includes information about traffic from a messaging service and controls output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user; The electronic device is characterized in that the control unit changes a message output method depending on the number of messages acquired.

12. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the output method is an output speed or an output number of messages.

13. The control unit determines that the acquired number of messages is the number of messages per unit time.

13. The electronic device according to claim 11, wherein an output method is changed depending on the input.

14. a control unit that acquires message information including a message that includes information about traffic from a messaging service and controls output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user; The electronic device is characterized in that the control unit determines the reliability of the acquired message, and outputs messages with high reliability preferentially or changes the output method.

15. The electronic device of claim 14, wherein the control unit determines that the message is highly reliable if the account of the poster of the message has a predetermined number of followers or more, a set corporate account, or an official account authenticated by a messaging service.

16. The electronic device according to claim 15, wherein the control unit determines that the message is highly reliable if the message has been reposted a predetermined number of times or has been rated a predetermined number of times or more.

17. a control unit that acquires message information including a message that includes information about traffic from a messaging service and controls output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user; Further, the device has a voice input unit capable of voice input, The electronic device is characterized in that the control unit saves the output message as a bookmark when a save operation is performed by a user through voice input.

18. a control unit that acquires message information including a message that includes information about traffic from a messaging service and controls output of the message included in the message information to a vehicle user; a storage unit that stores login information for a second account that is a user's account; the control unit logs in to the messaging service based on login information of the second account; The control unit acquires message information based on a second account logged in from the messaging service. An electronic device characterized by:

19. the login information of the second account includes a plurality of login information; the control unit logs in to the messaging service based on a plurality of pieces of login information and acquires message information; 19. The electronic device according to claim 18, wherein when the message is output, an output mode of the message is changed based on the account logged in when the message was acquired.

20. 20. The electronic device of claim 19, wherein the control unit logs in based on login information of a plurality of different accounts, and if messages acquired from the accounts overlap, outputs only one of the overlapping messages.

21. A program for causing a computer to realize the functions of the control unit of the electronic device according to any one of claims 1 to 20.

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