Guidance support device, guidance support method, program, and recording medium

Abstract

To provide a guide support device capable of guiding a visitor to a section appropriate for the visitor.SOLUTION: A guide support device comprises: a section information storage portion including section information containing section identification information for identifying a section in a specific area, and suitability information; a use state determination portion that acquires use state information about the section in the specific area and determines whether the section is in use or unused on the basis of the use state information; a visitor information acquisition portion that acquires visitor information on a visitor who enters the specific area; an attribute information extraction portion that extracts visitor attribute information on the visitor from the visitor information; a suitable section selection portion that selects at least one suitable section from an unused section on the basis of the visitor attribute information and section information on the unused section; a guide information generation portion that generates guide information for guiding the visitor to the suitable section; and an output portion that outputs the guide information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a guidance support device, a guidance support method, a program, and a recording medium.

Background Art

[0002] In commercial facilities and the like, a parking lot for those who come to the store by vehicle is provided. In such a parking lot, for entry / exit management, there are often fewer entry routes than the number of vehicles that can be accommodated in the parking lot, and traffic jams are likely to occur. Therefore, a system for efficiently guiding vehicles entering the parking lot is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] The technology of Patent Document 1 guides the route on the surrounding roads based on the traffic jam situation on the roads around the parking lot. However, in the parking lot in a commercial facility, not only does it cause traffic jams on the surrounding roads before entry, but it also takes time to find an empty space after entry. In addition, in the parking lot in a commercial facility, there may be spaces (sections) where vehicles with specific attributes, such as spaces for the disabled and spaces for light motor vehicles, can park preferentially. Even if an empty space is found after entry, there is a problem that if the vehicle being driven does not have the corresponding attribute, the empty section cannot be used. Such problems are the same not only in parking lots but also in various situations where it is necessary to search for unused sections from a predetermined section, such as in a restaurant or an eat-in corner of a commercial facility.

[0005] Therefore, the present invention aims to provide a guidance support device that can guide visitors to the appropriate section. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] To achieve the above objective, the guidance support device of the present invention is It includes a section information storage unit, a usage status determination unit, an entrant information acquisition unit, an attribute information extraction unit, a suitable section selection unit, a guidance information generation unit, and an output unit. The partition information storage unit includes partition information of partitions in the specified area, The said section information includes section identification information that identifies a section within the specified area, and suitability information. The usage status determination unit acquires usage status information for the section in a specific area, and determines whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information. The aforementioned visitor information acquisition unit acquires visitor information of visitors entering a specific area, The attribute information extraction unit extracts the visitor attribute information of the visitor from the visitor information, The appropriate section selection unit selects at least one appropriate section from the unused sections based on the visitor attribute information and the section information of the unused sections. The guidance information generation unit generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area. The output unit outputs the guidance information.

[0007] The guidance support method of the present invention is This process includes a usage status determination step, an entry information acquisition step, an attribute information extraction step, an appropriate area selection step, a guidance information generation step, and an output step. Using the parcel information of a specific area, The said section information includes section identification information that identifies a section within the specified area, and suitability information. The usage status determination step involves acquiring usage status information for the section in a specific area, and determining whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information. The aforementioned visitor information acquisition process acquires visitor information of visitors entering a specific area, The attribute information extraction step extracts the visitor attribute information of the visitor from the visitor information, The aforementioned suitable section selection step selects at least one suitable section from the unused sections based on the visitor attribute information and the section information of the unused sections. The guidance information generation step generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area. The output step outputs the guidance information.

[0008] The program of the present invention, This includes a procedure for determining the usage status, a procedure for acquiring visitor information, a procedure for extracting attribute information, a procedure for selecting a suitable area, a procedure for generating guidance information, and an output procedure. Using the parcel information of a specific area, The said section information includes section identification information that identifies a section within the specified area, and suitability information. The aforementioned usage status determination procedure involves acquiring usage status information for the section in a specific area, and determining whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information. The aforementioned procedure for obtaining visitor information obtains visitor information of visitors entering a specific area, The attribute information extraction procedure extracts the visitor attribute information of the visitor from the visitor information, The aforementioned appropriate section selection procedure selects at least one appropriate section from the unused sections based on the visitor attribute information and the section information of the unused sections. The guidance information generation procedure generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate section, The output procedure outputs the guidance information, This is a program that causes a computer to execute each of the aforementioned steps.

[0009] The recording medium of the present invention is a computer-readable recording medium that stores the program of the present invention. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, visitors can be guided to appropriate sections.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0011] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a guidance support device according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the guidance support device according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 3] FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an example of processing in the guidance support device according to Embodiment 1. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a parking lot where parking guidance is performed by the guidance support device according to Embodiment 1.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] In the present invention, the “specific area” is not particularly limited as long as it is a place where visitors enter sequentially and includes a plurality of sections. Specific examples of the specific area include, for example, a parking lot, a restaurant, a food court in a commercial facility, an eat-in corner, and the like. The “section” is, for example, a divided area in the specific area, and is also referred to as a space. Specific examples of the section include parking spaces in a parking lot, seats in a restaurant, a food court, and an eat-in corner.

[0013] In the present invention, the “visitor” is, for example, a person who intends to enter the specific area, and may be a person or an object other than a person. When the visitor is a person, for example, it may be a single person or a group including a plurality of people. When the visitor is an object other than a person, for example, a vehicle or the like can be cited. Specific examples of the visitor include, for example, a vehicle entering a parking lot, customers of a restaurant or a commercial facility, and the like.

[0014] Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. In the following drawings, the same parts are denoted by the same reference numerals. Furthermore, unless otherwise specified, the descriptions of each embodiment can be used interchangeably with those of the others, and unless otherwise specified, the configurations of each embodiment can be combined.

[0015] [Embodiment 1] Figure 1 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of the guidance support device 10 of this embodiment. As shown in Figure 1, the device 10 includes a section information storage unit 11, a usage status determination unit 12, an entrant information acquisition unit 13, an attribute information extraction unit 14, a suitable section selection unit 15, a guidance information generation unit 16, and an output unit 17.

[0016] The device 10 may be, for example, a single device including the aforementioned parts, or it may be a device in which each of the aforementioned parts can be connected via a communication network. Furthermore, the device 10 can be connected to an external device described later via the communication network. The communication network is not particularly limited and can use a known network, for example, it may be wired or wireless. Examples of the communication network include the Internet, WWW (World Wide Web), telephone lines, LAN (Local Area Network), SAN (Storage Area Network), DTN (Delay Tolerant Networking), LPWA (Low Power Wide Area), L5G (Local 5G), etc. Examples of wireless communication include Wi-Fi (registered trademark), Bluetooth (registered trademark), Local 5G, LPWA, etc. The wireless communication may be in the form of direct communication between devices (Ad Hoc communication), infrastructure communication, indirect communication via an access point, etc. The device 10 may be, for example, incorporated into a server as a system. Furthermore, the device 10 may be, for example, a personal computer (PC, e.g., desktop or notebook type), smartphone, tablet terminal, etc., on which the program of the present invention is installed. The device 10 may also be in the form of cloud computing or edge computing, for example, in which at least one of the above-mentioned parts is on a server and the other parts are on a terminal.

[0017] Figure 2 illustrates a block diagram of the hardware configuration of the device 10. The device 10 includes, for example, a CPU 101, memory 102, bus 103, storage device 104, input device 106, output device 107, communication device 108, etc. Each part of the device 10 is interconnected via the bus 103 through its respective interface (I / F).

[0018] The CPU 101 operates in conjunction with other components via controllers (system controller, I / O controller, etc.) and is responsible for the overall control of the device 10. In the device 10, the CPU 101 executes, for example, the program 105 of the present invention and other programs, and also reads and writes various types of information. Specifically, for example, the CPU 101 functions as a usage status determination unit 12, an entrant information acquisition unit 13, an attribute information extraction unit 14, an appropriate area selection unit 15, a guidance information generation unit 16, and an output unit 17. The device 10 is equipped with a CPU as its computing device, but it may also be equipped with other computing devices such as a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) or an APU (Accelerated Processing Unit), or a combination of the CPU and these.

[0019] Bus 103 can also be connected to external devices, for example. Examples of such external devices include emotion estimation devices such as the emotion estimation device of the present invention described later, external storage devices (external databases, etc.), printers, external input devices, external display devices, external imaging devices, etc. The device 10 can be connected to an external network (the aforementioned communication network) by a communication device 108 connected to bus 103, for example, and can also be connected to other devices via the external network.

[0020] Memory 102 may be, for example, main memory. When the central processing unit 101 performs processing, memory 102 reads various operational programs, such as the program of the present invention, stored in the storage device 104 (described later), and the central processing unit 101 receives data from memory 102 and executes the program. The main memory may be, for example, RAM (random access memory). Alternatively, memory 102 may be, for example, ROM (read-only memory).

[0021] The storage device 104 is also called an auxiliary storage device, for example, in relation to the main memory (primary memory). As described above, the storage device 104 stores an operation program 105 that includes the program of the present invention. The storage device 104 may be, for example, a combination of a recording medium and a drive that reads and writes to the recording medium. The recording medium is not particularly limited and may be internal or external, for example, an HD (hard disk), CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, MO, DVD, flash memory, memory card, etc. The storage device 104 may be, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) in which the recording medium and the drive are integrated, or a solid state drive (SSD). The storage device 104 functions, for example, as a partition information storage unit 11 and stores partition information 111, which will be described later.

[0022] In this device 10, the memory 102 and storage device 104 can also store various types of information, such as log information, information obtained from an external database (not shown) or external devices, information generated by this device 10, and information used by this device 10 when executing processing. In this case, the memory 102 and storage device 104 may store at least one piece of information selected from a group consisting of, for example, visitor information, visitor attribute information, and area usage status information, which will be described later. At least some of the information may be stored on an external server other than the memory 102 and storage device 104, or it may be stored in a distributed manner across multiple terminals using blockchain technology or the like.

[0023] The device 10 further includes, for example, an input device 106 and an output device 107. The input device 106 may include, for example, a pointing device such as a touch panel, trackpad, or mouse; a keyboard; imaging means such as a camera or scanner; a card reader such as an IC card reader or magnetic card reader; an audio input means such as a microphone; and so on. The output device 107 may include, for example, a display device such as an LED display or liquid crystal display; an audio output device such as a speaker; a printer; and so on. In this embodiment 1, the input device 106 and the output device 107 are configured separately, but the input device 106 and the output device 107 may be configured as an integrated unit, such as a touch panel display.

[0024] Next, an example of the guidance support method of this embodiment will be described based on the flowchart in Figure 3. The guidance support method of this embodiment is implemented as follows, for example, using the guidance support device 10 in Figure 1 or Figure 2. Note that the guidance support method of this embodiment is not limited to the use of the guidance support device 10 in Figure 1 or Figure 2. Furthermore, in the following description, the example will be given in which the specific area is a parking lot and the entrant is a vehicle entering the parking lot, but the present invention is not limited in any way to the following examples.

[0025] First, the section information storage unit 11 is pre-stored section identification information for sections in the specified area. The section identification information includes section identification information that identifies a section in the specified area, and suitability information. The section identification information is, for example, information that can identify each section. The section identification information may include, for example, a parking number. The suitability information is, for example, information for determining the attributes of visitors suitable for using the section. The suitability information includes, for example, visitor attribute information linked to each section identification information. The type of visitor attribute information linked to the section identification information can be set arbitrarily according to, for example, the type of the specified area, the characteristics of each section, etc., and may be one type or two or more types of information. Specifically, the case of each section in a parking lot, that is, each parking space, will be explained using Table 1 below as an example. Table 1 below is a table showing an example of suitability information for a parking space identified by parking numbers (section identification information) 1 to 6. As shown in Table 1 below, for parking spaces numbered 1 to 4, which are standard spaces, the visitor attribute information included in the suitability information is linked to the fact that the vehicle type is a regular passenger car. For parking space numbered 5, which is a space for light vehicles, the visitor attribute information included in the suitability information is linked to the fact that the vehicle is a light vehicle. For parking space numbered 6, which is a space for disabled persons, the visitor attribute information included in the suitability information is linked to the fact that the vehicle has a disability sign and that the vehicle type is a welfare vehicle. The suitability information is not limited to the examples shown in Table 1, and in addition, for example, for spaces that are relatively easy to park in for reasons such as not requiring a U-turn, attributes such as the vehicle having a novice driver sign may be set as visitor attribute information included in the suitability information.

[0026] [Table 1]

[0027] Furthermore, the section information may include, for example, section priority information. The priority information is, for example, information on the priority (indicator) for selecting a section when guiding visitors to the appropriate section. The priority can be set appropriately according to, for example, the usage rate, popularity, and congestion level of the section. Specifically, for example, in a parking lot, sections close to the store entrance are popular sections, so the closer a section is to the store entrance, the higher its priority can be set, and the further away a section is from the store entrance, the lower its priority can be set. Also, when setting the priority according to the congestion level, the usage rate around unused sections, that is, unused sections with many occupied sections among adjacent sections, can be given a lower priority, and unused sections with many unused sections among adjacent sections can be given a higher priority.

[0028] Next, the usage status determination unit 12 acquires usage status information for the section in the specific area and determines whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information (S1, usage status determination step). The usage status information is, for example, information on whether or not the section in the specific area is in use. Specific examples of the usage status information include, for example, information on whether or not a vehicle is parked in each section of a parking lot. The usage status determination unit 12 can acquire the usage status information from, for example, a device that manages the usage status of the sections in the specific area. The device that manages the usage status is not particularly limited, and for example, a suitable device can be used depending on the type of specific area. Specific examples of the device that manages the usage status include, for example, a system device that manages the occupancy status of a parking lot. The usage status determination unit 12 may also acquire the usage status information from, for example, a sensor that determines the usage status of each section in the specific area, or from a terminal of the administrator of the specific area.

[0029] Next, the visitor information acquisition unit 13 acquires visitor information for the specific area (S2, visitor information acquisition step). The visitor information is, for example, information of a visitor who intends to enter the specific area, and may include the visitor's image information, text information containing the visitor's information, etc. The visitor information acquisition unit 13 may acquire visitor information for one visitor, or it may acquire visitor information for two or more visitors, but it is preferable to acquire visitor information for multiple visitors. The visitor information acquisition unit 13 may acquire the visitor information from a terminal held by the visitor, from a terminal device provided in the specific area, or from a terminal held by a person in charge of the specific area.

[0030] The visitor information may include, for example, other information. This other information may include, for example, visitor identification information, visitor date and time information, visitor location information, etc. The visitor identification information is information that can identify the visitor, and may include, for example, the visitor's name; visitor identification number; image of the visitor; visitor's device ID; etc. If the visitor information includes the other information, it is preferable that, for example, the visitor information and the other information are linked to each other.

[0031] Next, the attribute information extraction unit 14 extracts visitor attribute information of the visitor from the visitor information (S3, attribute information extraction step). The attribute information extraction unit 14 can extract visitor attribute information using a suitable method depending on the type of visitor information acquired. If the visitor attribute information is text information, text analysis means such as morphological analysis can be used, and if the visitor attribute information is image information, image analysis means can be used. Appropriate information can be used for the visitor attribute information depending on the type of visitor. For example, if the visitor is a vehicle that is about to enter the parking lot, specific examples of the visitor attribute information include, for example, vehicle class such as segment; vehicle type such as light vehicle, regular vehicle, motorcycle, car, welfare vehicle, etc.; presence or absence of signs (marks) affixed to the vehicle, such as novice driver signs (e.g., beginner mark, young leaf mark, etc.), elderly driver signs (e.g., silver mark, elderly mark, etc.), disabled person signs, hearing impaired person signs, wheelchair marks, and other international symbols. The attribute information extraction unit 14 may, for example, extract one type of visitor attribute information for each visitor, or it may extract two or more types of visitor attribute information.

[0032] Next, the suitable area selection unit 15 selects at least one suitable area from the unused areas based on the visitor attribute information and the area information of the unused areas (S4, suitable area selection step). Specifically, the suitable area selection unit 15 compares the suitability information contained in the area information of the area determined to be an unused area in S1 with the visitor attribute information, and can select an area as the suitable area for the visitor to which at least one type of visitor attribute information of the visitor extracted in S3 is linked. The suitable area selection unit 15 may, for example, determine one area as the suitable area, or it may select two or more areas as the suitable areas.

[0033] Next, the guidance information generation unit 16 generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area (S5, guidance information generation step). The guidance information is information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area, and for example, includes area identification information that identifies the appropriate area. Furthermore, if the area information includes the priority information and there are multiple appropriate areas selected in S4, the guidance information generation unit 16 may generate guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area selected based on the priority information. In this case, the guidance information generation unit 16 may, for example, generate guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area with the highest priority among the appropriate areas, or generate guidance information to guide the visitor to an appropriate area other than the appropriate area with the lowest priority. In the former case, the guidance information generation unit 16 may, for example, generate guidance information that includes area identification information of the one appropriate area with the highest priority among the multiple appropriate areas, or generate guidance information that includes area identification information of multiple appropriate areas in order of priority, or with a priority set to be above a threshold. In the latter case, the guidance information generation unit 16 may, for example, generate guidance information that excludes the section identification information of the single most suitable section with the lowest priority among the multiple suitable sections, or it may generate guidance information that includes the section identification information of suitable sections, excluding multiple suitable sections with a priority below a threshold.

[0034] The output unit 17 then outputs the guidance information (S6, output step). The output unit 17 may, for example, output the guidance information to the visitor, or to a device installed in the specific area. In the former case, for example, the output unit 17 can output the guidance information to an in-vehicle terminal installed in the visitor's vehicle, a smartphone held by the driver of the vehicle, or other terminal. In the latter case, for example, the guidance information can be output to a parking management system installed in the parking lot. The parking management system that has received the guidance information may, for example, issue a parking ticket printed with the guidance information, display the guidance information on a display device provided in the parking management system, or notify the visitor of the guidance information using an audio output means such as a speaker.

[0035] The processing of S4 to S6 will be explained with a specific example. Figure 4 is a schematic diagram showing parking lot 1, which includes parking spaces 2 numbered 1 to 6 (No. 1 to No. 6) as shown in Table 1. Parking lot 1 includes parking spaces 2 and an entrance lane 3. In this example, as shown in Figure 4, we assume that vehicles 5a and 5b are lined up in entrance lane 3 of parking lot 1, waiting to enter. Vehicle 5a is a regular passenger car, and vehicle 5b is a welfare vehicle.

[0036] As shown in Figure 4, of the parking spaces 2 numbered 1 to 6 in Table 1, spaces 1 to 3 are occupied because vehicle 5c is present, while spaces 4 to 6 are unused. As previously mentioned, vehicle 5a is a regular passenger car, and vehicle 5b is a welfare vehicle. As shown in Table 1, among the unused spaces, parking space 4 is a regular space, so the suitability information is associated with vehicle type: regular passenger car; parking space 5 is a space for light vehicles, so the suitability information is associated with vehicle type: light vehicle; and parking space 6 is a space for disabled persons, so the suitability information is associated with vehicle type: welfare vehicle. Therefore, the suitable space selection unit 15 selects space 2 of parking space 6, which is an unused space, as the suitable space for vehicle 5b, based on the visitor attribute information of vehicle 5a (vehicle type: welfare vehicle) and the space information of parking space 6 (suitability information is associated with vehicle type: welfare vehicle). Similarly, the suitable parking space selection unit 15 selects parking space 2 of parking space 6, which is an unused space, as the suitable parking space for vehicle 5b, based on the visitor attribute information of vehicle 5b (vehicle type: welfare vehicle) and the parking space information of parking space number 6 (which is linked as suitable information to vehicle type: welfare vehicle).

[0037] Next, the guidance information generation unit 16 generates guidance information to guide vehicle 5a to parking space number 4, which is the appropriate space, and outputs the guidance information to the on-board device of vehicle 5a via the output unit 17. The guidance information generation unit 16 also generates guidance information to guide vehicle 5b to parking space number 6, which is the appropriate space, and outputs the guidance information to the on-board device of vehicle 5b via the output unit 17. In this example, there are three unused spaces, parking spaces 4 to 6, but vehicle 5a, which is a regular car, can be guided to parking space number 5, which is a normal space, and vehicle 5b, which is a welfare vehicle, can be guided to parking space number 6, which is a space for disabled persons. Therefore, with the guidance support device 10 of the present invention, guidance can be provided considering the attributes of the entrant and the characteristics of unused spaces in a specific area, and it is also possible to efficiently utilize spaces in a specific area.

[0038] In this embodiment of the guidance support method, the case in which steps S1 to S6 are executed sequentially has been described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. In the present invention, for example, steps S1 to S3 only need to be performed in a process upstream of S4, and steps S1 to S3 may be executed simultaneously or separately. In the latter case, the order in which they are executed is not particularly limited and is arbitrary.

[0039] [Example 1] Modification 1 is another example of the use of the guidance support device of the present invention. In Modification 1, the specific area is an eat-in space of a commercial facility, rather than the parking lot of Embodiment 1, and the person entering is a customer of the commercial facility who has come to the eat-in space. Modification 1 is the same as Embodiment 1 except for these points, and its explanation can be applied by reference.

[0040] First, the section information storage unit 11 is pre-stored with section identification information for the sections within the specified area. In the modified example 1, the section identification information may include, for example, a seat number. The suitability information is, for example, information for determining the attributes of an entrant suitable for using the section. Specifically, the case of each section, i.e., each seat, in the eat-in space will be explained using Table 2 below as an example. Table 2 below shows an example of suitability information for a seat identified by seat numbers (section identification information) 1 to 6. As shown in Table 2 below, for seats 1 to 4, which are table seats, the visitor attribute information included in the suitability information is linked to the fact that the number of people is 2 or more. For seat 5, which is a counter seat, the visitor attribute information included in the suitability information is linked to the fact that the number of people is 1. For seat 6, which is a table seat and also has a seat for infants, the visitor attribute information included in the suitability information is linked to the fact that the number of people is 2 or more and that the customer is accompanied by an infant. The suitability information is not limited to the examples shown in Table 2, and can be set by combining appropriate information according to the store's customer base, seat type, etc.

[0041] [Table 2]

[0042] Furthermore, the section information may include, for example, section priority information. The priority information is, for example, information on the priority (indicator) for selecting a section when guiding visitors to the appropriate section. The priority can be set appropriately according to, for example, the usage rate, popularity, and congestion level of the section. Specifically, for example, in an eat-in space, sections close to each store located in the eat-in space are popular sections, so sections closer to each store can be given a higher priority, and sections further away from the stores can be given a lower priority. In addition, for example, in an eat-in space, seats close to toilets and trash cans are less popular sections, so sections closer to toilets and trash cans can be given a lower priority, and sections further away from stores and trash cans can be given a higher priority. Furthermore, when setting the priority according to congestion level, the usage rate around unused sections, that is, unused sections with many occupied sections among adjacent sections can be given a lower priority, and unused sections with many unused sections among adjacent sections can be given a higher priority.

[0043] Next, the usage status determination unit 12 acquires usage status information for the section of the specific area and determines whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information (S1, usage status determination step). The usage status information is, for example, information on whether or not the section of the specific area is in use. A specific example of the usage status information is, for example, information on whether or not there are customers using each seat in the eat-in space. The usage status determination unit 12 can acquire the usage status information from, for example, a device that manages the usage status of the sections of the specific area. A specific example of a device that manages the usage status is, for example, a seat management system device that manages the seat usage status of restaurants, etc. Alternatively, the usage status determination unit 12 may acquire the usage status information from, for example, a sensor that determines the usage status of each section of the specific area, or it may acquire the usage status information from a terminal of the manager of the specific area (for example, a store employee).

[0044] Next, the visitor information acquisition unit 13 acquires visitor information for the specific area (S2, visitor information acquisition step). The visitor information is, for example, information of a visitor who intends to enter the specific area, and may include the visitor's image information, text information containing the visitor's information, etc. The visitor information acquisition unit 13 may acquire visitor information for one visitor, or it may acquire visitor information for two or more visitors, but it is preferable to acquire visitor information for multiple visitors. The visitor information acquisition unit 13 may acquire the visitor information from a terminal held by the visitor, from a terminal device provided in the specific area, or from a terminal held by a person in charge of the specific area.

[0045] The visitor information may include, for example, other information. This other information may include, for example, visitor identification information, visitor date and time information, visitor location information, etc. The visitor identification information is information that can identify the visitor, and may include, for example, the visitor's name; visitor identification number; image of the visitor; visitor's device ID; etc. If the visitor information includes the other information, it is preferable that, for example, the visitor information and the other information are linked to each other.

[0046] Next, the attribute information extraction unit 14 extracts visitor attribute information of visitors from the visitor information (S3, attribute information extraction step). The attribute information extraction unit 14 can extract visitor attribute information using a suitable method depending on the type of visitor information acquired. If the visitor attribute information is text information, text analysis means such as morphological analysis can be used, and if the visitor attribute information is image information, image analysis means can be used. Appropriate information can be used for the visitor attribute information depending on the type of visitor. Specific examples of the visitor attribute information include: number of people; gender; age; body type; information on accompanying persons such as children, infants, and the elderly; presence or absence of disabilities such as physical disabilities, hearing impairments, and visual impairments; presence or absence of pets or working animals such as guide dogs; etc. The attribute information extraction unit 14 may, for example, extract one type of visitor attribute information for each visitor, or it may extract two or more types of visitor attribute information. The attribute information extraction unit 14 may, for example, extract one type of visitor attribute information for each visitor, or it may extract two or more types of visitor attribute information.

[0047] Next, the suitable area selection unit 15 selects at least one suitable area from the unused areas based on the visitor attribute information and the area information of the unused areas (S4, suitable area selection step). Specifically, the suitable area selection unit 15 compares the suitability information contained in the area information of the area determined to be an unused area in S1 with the visitor attribute information, and can select an area as the suitable area for the visitor to which at least one type of visitor attribute information of the visitor extracted in S3 is linked. The suitable area selection unit 15 may, for example, determine one area as the suitable area, or it may select two or more areas as the suitable areas.

[0048] Next, the guidance information generation unit 16 generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area (S5, guidance information generation step). The guidance information is information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area, and for example, includes area identification information that identifies the appropriate area. Furthermore, if the area information includes the priority information and there are multiple appropriate areas selected in S4, the guidance information generation unit 16 may generate guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area selected based on the priority information. In this case, the guidance information generation unit 16 may, for example, generate guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area with the highest priority among the appropriate areas, or generate guidance information to guide the visitor to an appropriate area other than the appropriate area with the lowest priority. In the former case, the guidance information generation unit 16 may, for example, generate guidance information that includes area identification information of the one appropriate area with the highest priority among the multiple appropriate areas, or generate guidance information that includes area identification information of multiple appropriate areas in order of priority, or with a priority set to be above a threshold. In the latter case, the guidance information generation unit 16 may, for example, generate guidance information that excludes the section identification information of the single most suitable section with the lowest priority among the multiple suitable sections, or it may generate guidance information that includes the section identification information of suitable sections, excluding multiple suitable sections with a priority below a threshold.

[0049] The output unit 17 then outputs the priority guidance information (S6, output step). The output unit 17 may, for example, output the priority guidance information to the visitor, or to a device installed in the specific area. In the former case, for example, the output unit 17 can output the priority guidance information to a terminal such as a smartphone held by the visitor. In the latter case, for example, the priority guidance information can be output to a seat management device installed in the eat-in space. The seat management device that has received the guidance information may, for example, notify the visitor by displaying the priority guidance information on a display device provided in the seat management device, or it may notify the visitor of the priority guidance information by an audio output means such as a speaker.

[0050] According to the process of Modified Example 1, for example, when multiple groups are waiting in line in an eat-in space, the group can be guided to an appropriate seat based on their attributes (e.g., solo diners, those with children, etc.). This makes it possible to improve the efficiency of seat utilization.

[0051] [Embodiment 2] The program of this embodiment is a program that causes a computer to execute each step of the guidance support method described above. Specifically, the program of this embodiment is a program that causes a computer to execute a usage status determination procedure, an entry information acquisition procedure, an attribute information extraction procedure, an appropriate area selection procedure, a guidance information generation procedure, and an output procedure.

[0052] The program of this embodiment uses partition information of a specific area, The said section information includes section identification information that identifies a section within the specified area, and suitability information. The aforementioned usage status determination procedure involves acquiring usage status information for the section in a specific area, and determining whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information. The aforementioned procedure for obtaining visitor information obtains visitor information of visitors entering a specific area, The attribute information extraction procedure extracts the visitor attribute information of the visitor from the visitor information, The aforementioned appropriate section selection procedure selects at least one appropriate section from the unused sections based on the visitor attribute information and the section information of the unused sections. The guidance information generation procedure generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate section, The output procedure outputs the guidance information.

[0053] Furthermore, the program of this embodiment can also be described as a program that causes a computer to function as a procedure for determining the usage status, acquiring visitor information, extracting attribute information, selecting a suitable area, generating guidance information, and outputting information.

[0054] The first program of this embodiment can be derived by reference to the description in the above-mentioned guidance support device and guidance support method of the present invention. Each of the above steps can be read as, for example, "step" or "process". The program of this embodiment may also be recorded on, for example, a computer-readable recording medium. The recording medium is, for example, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The recording medium is not particularly limited and includes, for example, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), hard disk (HD), optical disk, floppy disk (FD), and the like.

[0055] Although the present invention has been described above with reference to embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments. Various modifications to the configuration and details of the present invention can be understood by those skilled in the art within the scope of the present invention.

[0056] <Note> Some or all of the above embodiments may be described as follows, but are not limited to the following: (Note 1) It includes a section information storage unit, a usage status determination unit, an entrant information acquisition unit, an attribute information extraction unit, a suitable section selection unit, a guidance information generation unit, and an output unit. The partition information storage unit includes partition information of partitions in the specified area, The said section information includes section identification information that identifies a section within the specified area, and suitability information. The usage status determination unit acquires usage status information for the section in a specific area, and determines whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information. The aforementioned visitor information acquisition unit acquires visitor information of visitors entering a specific area, The attribute information extraction unit extracts the visitor attribute information of the visitor from the visitor information, The appropriate section selection unit selects at least one appropriate section from the unused sections based on the visitor attribute information and the section information of the unused sections. The guidance information generation unit generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area. The output unit is a guidance support device that outputs the guidance information. (Note 2) The aforementioned partition information includes partition priority information, The guidance information generation unit generates guidance information to guide the visitor to a suitable section selected based on the priority information when there are multiple suitable sections, as described in Appendix 1 of the guidance support device. (Note 3) The usage status determination unit acquires the usage status information at predetermined intervals and determines whether the section is in use or unused. If there is a change in the usage status of the priority area selected by the guidance information generation unit, If there is a change in the usage status information of the selected priority area, the guidance information generation unit will select an unused area based on the latest usage status information and generate guidance information. The output unit outputs the guidance information. Guidance support device as described in Appendix 1 or 2. (Note 4) The aforementioned visitor information is image information. The attribute information extraction unit is a guidance support device according to any one of the appendices 1 to 3, which extracts attribute information of the visitor by image analysis. (Note 5) The aforementioned specific area is a parking lot. The aforementioned visitors are vehicles parked in the aforementioned parking lot. The guidance support device according to any one of the appendices 1 to 4, wherein the priority guidance information generated by the guidance information generation unit includes information for guiding the vehicle to a priority lane. (Note 6) The aforementioned specific area is a restaurant, The aforementioned visitor is a customer of the aforementioned restaurant, The guidance support device according to any one of the appendices 1 to 4, wherein the priority guidance information generated by the guidance information generation unit includes information that prioritizes guiding customers in the order they are lined up. (Note 7) This process includes a usage status determination step, an entry information acquisition step, an attribute information extraction step, an appropriate area selection step, a guidance information generation step, and an output step. Using the parcel information of a specific area, The said section information includes section identification information that identifies a section within the specified area, and suitability information. The usage status determination step involves acquiring usage status information for the section in a specific area, and determining whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information. The aforementioned visitor information acquisition process acquires visitor information of visitors entering a specific area, The attribute information extraction step extracts the visitor attribute information of the visitor from the visitor information, The aforementioned suitable section selection step selects at least one suitable section from the unused sections based on the visitor attribute information and the section information of the unused sections. The guidance information generation step generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area. The output step is a guidance support method that outputs the guidance information. (Note 8) The aforementioned partition information includes partition priority information, The guidance information generation step, when there are multiple suitable sections, generates guidance information to guide the visitor to a suitable section selected based on the priority information, as described in Appendix 7, the guidance support method. (Note 9) The aforementioned visitor information is image information. The attribute information extraction step is a guidance support method according to Appendix 7 or 8, which extracts attribute information of the visitor by image analysis. (Note 10) The aforementioned specific area is a parking lot. The aforementioned visitors are vehicles parked in the aforementioned parking lot. The guidance support method according to any one of the appendices 7 to 9, wherein the priority guidance information generated by the guidance information generation step includes information for guiding the vehicle to a priority lane. (Note 11) The aforementioned visitor information is image information. The aforementioned specific area is a restaurant, The aforementioned visitor is a customer of the aforementioned restaurant, The guidance support method according to any one of the appendices 7 to 9, wherein the priority guidance information generated by the guidance information generation step includes information that prioritizes guiding customers in the order they are lined up. (Note 12) This includes a procedure for determining the usage status, a procedure for acquiring visitor information, a procedure for extracting attribute information, a procedure for selecting a suitable area, a procedure for generating guidance information, and an output procedure. Using the parcel information of a specific area, The said section information includes section identification information that identifies a section within the specified area, and suitability information. The aforementioned usage status determination procedure involves acquiring usage status information for the section in a specific area, and determining whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information. The aforementioned procedure for obtaining visitor information obtains visitor information of visitors entering a specific area, The attribute information extraction procedure extracts the visitor attribute information of the visitor from the visitor information, The aforementioned appropriate section selection procedure selects at least one appropriate section from the unused sections based on the visitor attribute information and the section information of the unused sections. The guidance information generation procedure generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate section, The output procedure outputs the guidance information, A program that causes a computer to perform each of the above steps. (Note 13) The aforementioned partition information includes partition priority information, The guidance information generation procedure is a program as described in Appendix 12, which, when there are multiple suitable sections, generates guidance information to guide the visitor to a suitable section selected based on the priority information. (Note 14) The aforementioned visitor information is image information. The attribute information extraction procedure is a program described in Appendix 12 or 13 that extracts attribute information of the visitor by image analysis. (Note 15) The aforementioned specific area is a parking lot. The aforementioned visitors are vehicles parked in the aforementioned parking lot. A program according to any one of appendices 12 to 14, wherein the priority guidance information generated by the guidance information generation procedure includes information for guiding the vehicle to a priority lane. (Note 16) The aforementioned visitor information is image information. The aforementioned specific area is a restaurant, The aforementioned visitor is a customer of the aforementioned restaurant, The program described in any of Appendix 12 to 14, wherein the priority guidance information generated by the guidance information generation procedure includes information that prioritizes guiding customers in the order they are waiting in line. (Note 17) A computer-readable recording medium containing a program described in any of the appendices 12 to 16. [Industrial applicability]

[0057] According to the present invention, visitors can be guided to appropriate areas considering their attributes. Therefore, the present invention is widely useful in various fields where it is necessary to guide people to unused areas, such as parking guidance and seating guidance. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0058] 10 Guidance support device 11 Section Information Storage Unit 111 Lot Information 12. Usage status determination unit 13 Attendee information acquisition department 14 Attribute information extraction part 15. Suitable Lot Selection Section 16 Guidance information generation section 17 Output section 101 CPU 102 memory 103 Bus 104 Storage device 105 Programs 106 Input device 107 Output device 108 Communication Devices

Claims

1. It includes a section information storage unit, a usage status determination unit, an entrant information acquisition unit, an attribute information extraction unit, a suitable section selection unit, a guidance information generation unit, and an output unit. The partition information storage unit includes partition information for partitions in a specific area. The aforementioned specific area is a parking lot. The said section information includes section identification information that identifies a section in the specified area, and suitability information, and the usage status determination unit acquires the usage status information for the said section in the specified area, and determines whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information. The aforementioned visitor information acquisition unit acquires visitor information of visitors entering a specific area, The aforementioned visitor information includes image information, The aforementioned visitors are vehicles parked in the aforementioned parking lot. The attribute information extraction unit, From the aforementioned visitor information, the visitor attribute information of the visitor is extracted, By image analysis, at least one piece of visitor attribute information is extracted from the image information. The appropriate section selection unit selects at least one appropriate section from the unused sections based on the visitor attribute information and the section information of the unused sections. The guidance information generation unit generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area. The output unit is a guidance support device that outputs the guidance information.

2. The aforementioned partition information includes partition priority information, The guidance support device according to claim 1, wherein, when there are multiple suitable areas, the guidance information generation unit generates guidance information to guide the visitor to a suitable area selected based on the priority information.

3. The usage status determination unit acquires the usage status information at predetermined intervals and determines whether the section is in use or unused. If there is a change in the usage status of the priority area selected by the guidance information generation unit, If there is a change in the usage status information of the selected priority area, the guidance information generation unit will select an unused area based on the latest usage status information and generate guidance information. The output unit outputs the guidance information. The guidance support device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The visitor attribute information includes at least one selected from the group consisting of vehicle class, vehicle type, presence or absence of a sign, and type of the sign, The attribute information extraction unit extracts at least one selected from the group consisting of the vehicle class, vehicle type, presence or absence of a sign, and type of the sign from the image information. The aforementioned section information is such that section identification information identifies each section in the parking lot, and at least one of the visitor attribute information corresponding to the section is linked to the suitability information. The suitable section selection unit selects at least one suitable section from the unused sections that is suitable for the vehicle, based on the visitor attribute information and the suitability information of the unused section information. A guidance support device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, which generates guidance information for guiding the aforementioned visitor to the appropriate section.

5. The guidance support device according to Claim 4, wherein the attribute information extraction unit performs the following from the image: classifying the vehicle segment, determining the type of vehicle selected from the group consisting of light vehicles, regular vehicles, motorcycles, four-wheeled vehicles, or welfare vehicles, or determining the presence or absence of a novice driver sign, a disabled person sign, a hearing impaired person sign, and a wheelchair mark, and extracts the visitor attributes based on the determination result.

6. This process includes a usage status determination step, an entry information acquisition step, an attribute information extraction step, an appropriate area selection step, a guidance information generation step, and an output step. Using the parcel information of a specific area, The aforementioned specific area is a parking lot. The said section information includes section identification information that identifies a section within the specified area, and suitability information. The usage status determination step involves acquiring usage status information for the section in a specific area, and determining whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information. The aforementioned visitor information acquisition process acquires visitor information of visitors entering a specific area, The aforementioned visitor information includes image information, The aforementioned visitors are vehicles parked in the aforementioned parking lot. The attribute information extraction step is as follows: From the aforementioned visitor information, the visitor attribute information of the visitor is extracted, By image analysis, at least one piece of visitor attribute information is extracted from the image information. The aforementioned suitable section selection step selects at least one suitable section from the unused sections based on the visitor attribute information and the section information of the unused sections. The guidance information generation step generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate area. The output step is a guidance support method in which each step of outputting the guidance information is performed by a computer.

7. The aforementioned partition information includes partition priority information, The guidance support method according to claim 6, wherein, if there are multiple suitable sections, the guidance information generation step generates guidance information to guide the visitor to a suitable section selected based on the priority information.

8. This includes a procedure for determining the usage status, a procedure for acquiring visitor information, a procedure for extracting attribute information, a procedure for selecting a suitable area, a procedure for generating guidance information, and an output procedure. Using the parcel information of a specific area, The aforementioned specific area is a parking lot. The said section information includes section identification information that identifies a section within the specified area, and suitability information. The usage status determination procedure involves acquiring usage status information for the section in a specific area, and determining whether the section is in use or unused based on the usage status information. The aforementioned procedure for obtaining visitor information obtains visitor information of visitors entering a specific area, The aforementioned visitor information includes image information, The aforementioned visitors are vehicles parked in the aforementioned parking lot. The attribute information extraction procedure described above is: From the aforementioned visitor information, the visitor attribute information of the visitor is extracted, By image analysis, at least one piece of visitor attribute information is extracted from the image information. The aforementioned appropriate section selection procedure selects at least one appropriate section from the unused sections based on the visitor attribute information and the section information of the unused sections. The guidance information generation procedure generates guidance information to guide the visitor to the appropriate section, The output procedure outputs the guidance information, A program that causes a computer to perform each of the above steps.

9. A computer-readable recording medium that stores the program described in claim 8.

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