Information provision system, information provision method, and information provision program

Abstract

To reproduce the sound to which stereophonic processing has been applied based on the orientation of the head of a user.SOLUTION: An information providing system which provides information using sound includes: a position acquisition unit which acquires position information indicating a position of a user; a head orientation acquisition unit which acquires head orientation information indicating the orientation of the head of the user; a first storage unit which stores one or more pieces of sound group information, each of the one or more pieces of sound group information including range information indicating a predetermined range on a map, a sound associated with the range information, and sound source information indicating a position of a sound source that generates the sound; and a sound reproducing unit which selects one or more sounds associated with the range information indicating the range including the position indicated by the position information, by referring to the sound group information, using the position information acquired by the position acquisition unit, and reproduces the sound selected by a sound reproducer mounted on the head of the user. The sound reproducing unit reproduces the sound to which stereophonic processing has been applied in accordance with the position of the user, the orientation of the head of the user, and the position of the sound source, on the sound reproducer.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information providing system, an information providing method, and an information providing program.

Background Art

[0002] In the street or in a store, a technology for providing information by voice using a speaker or the like is known. Patent Document 1 describes a technology for playing a voice corresponding to the position information of a user based on the position information of the user.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Patent Document 2

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] There has been a desire to perform stereophonic processing on the reproduced sound based on the orientation of the user's head.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0005] The present disclosure can be realized in the following forms. According to the present disclosure, an information provision system that provides information by sound is provided. This information provision system includes: a position acquisition unit that acquires position information indicating the location of a user; a head direction acquisition unit that acquires head direction information indicating the orientation of the user's head; a first storage unit that stores one or more sound group information; each of the one or more sound group information includes range information representing a predetermined range on a map, a sound associated with the range information, and sound source information indicating the location of the sound source which is the source of the sound; a sound playback unit that uses the position information acquired by the position acquisition unit to refer to the sound group information, selects one or more of the sounds associated with the range information representing the range including the position represented by the position information, and plays the selected sound with a sound playback device attached to the user's head; and a second storage unit that stores stored information including the position information, movement information indicating the direction of movement of the user associated with the position information, and head direction information acquired by the head direction acquisition unit via a sensor of the sound playback device associated with the movement information. The sound playback unit plays the sound, which has been processed with stereophonic sound according to the user's position, the direction of the user's head, and the position of the sound source, using the sound playback device.

[0006] (1) According to the present disclosure, an information provision system is provided that provides information by sound. This information provision system includes a position acquisition unit that acquires position information indicating the position of a user, a head direction acquisition unit that acquires head direction information indicating the orientation of the user's head, a first storage unit that stores one or more sound group information, and each of the one or more sound group information includes range information representing a predetermined range on a map, a sound associated with the range information, and sound source information indicating the position of a sound source which is the source of the sound, and a sound playback unit that uses the position information acquired by the position acquisition unit to refer to the sound group information, selects one or more of the sounds associated with the range information representing the range including the position represented by the position information, and plays the selected sound with a sound playback device attached to the user's head. The sound playback unit plays the sound, which has been subjected to stereophonic sound processing according to the position of the user, the orientation of the user's head, and the position of the sound source, with the sound playback device. According to this information supply system, it is possible to reproduce sound that has been processed with 3D audio processing according to the user's position, the direction of the user's head, and the position of the sound source. (2) The information provision system of the above form may include a second storage unit that stores stored information including the location information, movement information indicating the direction of movement of the user associated with the location information, and head direction information acquired by the head direction acquisition unit via a sensor of the sound playback device associated with the movement information. This configuration allows for the association and storage of the direction of movement at each location with the orientation of the user's head. (3) In the above-described information provision system, if the sound playback device does not have the sensor, the head direction acquisition unit may use the position information and movement information acquired by the position acquisition unit, refer to the stored information, and acquire the head direction information associated with the position information and the movement information. With this configuration, even if the audio playback device does not have sensors, the sound playback unit can provide the user with sound that has undergone 3D sound processing. (4) In the above-described information provision system, the head direction acquisition unit determines the direction of movement indicated by the movement information to be the direction of the user's head when the sound playback device does not have the sensor and the stored information does not satisfy predetermined determination conditions, and the determination conditions may include at least one of the following: the number of head direction information associated with the position information and the movement information is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, and the frequency of the most frequent head direction of the user among the multiple head direction information associated with the position information and the movement information is equal to or greater than a predetermined degree. With this configuration, for example, even if the stored information is not sufficiently collected or if there is variation in the orientation of the stored users' heads, the sound playback unit can provide the user with sound that has undergone spatial audio processing. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] This is a diagram showing the configuration of the information provision system. [Figure 2] This is a diagram illustrating how to detect the user's head movements. [Figure 3] This is a flowchart illustrating an example of information provision processing. [Figure 4] This is a flowchart illustrating an example of sound playback processing. [Figure 5] This diagram shows an example of sound group information. [Figure 6] This diagram shows the positional relationship between the user and the sound source. [Figure 7] This is a diagram showing the configuration of the information provision system in the second embodiment. [Figure 8] This figure shows an example of accumulated information. [Figure 9] This diagram shows an example of head direction information. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0008] A. First Embodiment: Figure 1 shows the configuration of the information provision system 100 according to this embodiment. The information provision system 100 provides the user with information to guide and explain according to the user's location, via voice. In this embodiment, an example is described in which the information provision system 100 provides information about tourist spots to a user who is visiting a tourist area. The information provision system 100 includes a processing unit 110, a server 120, and an audio playback device 130.

[0009] The processing unit 110 is a microcomputer composed of a central processing unit (CPU), RAM, and ROM. The processing unit 110 realizes the functions of the position acquisition unit 10, the head direction acquisition unit 30, and the sound playback unit 40 by executing a pre-installed program. However, some or all of the functions of these units may be realized by hardware circuits. In this embodiment, the processing unit 110 is a smartphone owned by the user. The processing unit 110 has a program installed to provide the user with information about tourist destinations by sound. By executing the program, the user can receive information about tourist destinations from the information provision system 100. The processing unit 110 is carried by the user as they move around tourist destinations.

[0010] The position acquisition unit 10 acquires position information indicating the user's current location. This position information includes, for example, the user's latitude and longitude. The position acquisition unit 10 also acquires position information detected by a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS), such as GPS (Global Positioning System). In this embodiment, the position acquisition unit 10 acquires position information from a GPS antenna (not shown) provided by the processing unit 110.

[0011] The head direction acquisition unit 30 acquires head direction information indicating the orientation of the user's head. The "orientation of the user's head" can be represented by roll angle, pitch angle, and yaw angle. In the present embodiment, the head direction acquisition unit 30 acquires head direction information via the sensor 131 included in the audio playback device 130. More specifically, the head direction acquisition unit 30 detects the roll angle, pitch angle, and yaw angle from the measured values of acceleration and angular velocity measured by the sensor 131, and acquires the orientation of the user's head.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a method of detecting the movement of the user's head. In the present embodiment, the movement of the user's head is represented by a rotation angle. A rotation axis along the front-rear direction of the user is defined as the roll axis, a rotation axis along the left-right direction of the user is defined as the pitch axis, and a rotation axis along the gravitational direction is defined as the yaw axis. The movement of the user tilting the neck can be represented as a rotation around the roll axis. The movement of the user nodding can be represented as a rotation around the pitch axis. The movement of the user turning around can be represented as a rotation around the yaw axis.

[0013] The displacement amount of the rotation angle around the roll axis is also referred to as the roll angle, the displacement amount of the angle around the pitch axis is referred to as the pitch angle, and the displacement amount of the angle around the yaw axis is referred to as the yaw angle. When the user is standing facing forward, the range of the roll angle is from +30 degrees to -30 degrees with 0 degrees. When the user is standing facing forward, the range of the pitch angle is from +45 degrees to -45 degrees with 0 degrees. The range of the yaw angle is initially set with true north as 0 degrees and can take all values from 0 degrees to 360 degrees.

[0014] The sound reproduction unit 40 (see FIG. 1) selects and reproduces the sound associated with the user position. More specifically, the sound reproduction unit 40 refers to the sound group information described later, selects the range information representing the range including the user position, and reproduces the sound of the sound information associated with the range information by the audio reproduction device 130. The sound reproduction unit 40 reproduces the sound obtained by performing stereophonic processing on the sound information according to the user position, the direction of the user's head, and the position of the sound source. Generally, stereophonic processing is a process of stereoscopically reproducing the sound environment by incorporating at least one or more processes such as volume difference, time difference, change in frequency characteristics, change in phase, and change in reverberation into the sound reproduced from the right ear and the left ear by the audio reproduction device 130. Details of the stereophonic processing will be described later. In the present embodiment, when there is one or more pieces of range information representing the range including the user position represented by the position information acquired by the position acquisition unit 10, the sound reproduction unit 40 reproduces the sound corresponding to any one of the range information. The sound reproduction unit 40, for example, selects the sound corresponding to the range information with the largest range area among the plurality of range information.

[0015] The server 120 has a first storage unit 20. The first storage unit 20 is, for example, a RAM, a ROM, or a hard disk drive (HDD). The first storage unit 20 stores a plurality of sound group information. The sound group information is information including range information representing a predetermined range on a map, sound information representing the sound associated with the range information, and sound source information indicating the position of the sound source that is the sound generation source. The range information is information including coordinates indicating the position of the boundary of the range. When the range represented by the range information is circular, the range information may include the coordinates indicating the center and the length of the radius. The sound information represents, for example, the explanation voice of the building or history existing within the associated range, or the environmental sound. The sound source information includes, for example, the longitude and latitude indicating the position of the sound source.

[0016] The audio playback device 130 is a portable device that outputs sound represented by a signal received from the processing unit 110. The audio playback device 130 is a device worn on the user's head, for example, earphones worn on both ears. The user wears the audio playback device 130 on their head and moves around a tourist destination. In this embodiment, the audio playback device 130 has a sensor 131 that detects the movement of the user's head while wearing the audio playback device 130. The sensor 131 detects acceleration and angular velocity.

[0017] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing an example of the information provision process. The information provision process is the process by which the information provision system 100 provides information to the user by sound. This process is repeatedly executed while the information provision system 100 is operating. For example, the information provision system 100 repeats the information provision process every 2 seconds. The position acquisition unit 10 acquires position information in step S100. This process is also called the "position acquisition process". In this embodiment, the position acquisition unit 10 acquires position information indicating the coordinates of the user's position from the GPS antenna.

[0018] In step S110, the sound playback unit 40 determines whether the user position obtained in step S100 falls within the range represented by the range information contained in any of the sound group information stored in the first storage unit 20. If the user position falls within either range, the sound playback unit 40 proceeds to the process in step S120. On the other hand, if the user position does not fall within any range, the sound playback unit 40 terminates the information provision process.

[0019] In step S120, the sound playback unit 40 plays back stereophonic sound by referring to a plurality of sound group information stored in the first storage unit 20 based on the position information acquired in step S100. More specifically, the sound playback unit 40 selects and plays back a sound associated with the range determined in step S110 to include the user's position. This process is also called the "sound playback process". The processing unit 110 may also acquire sound group information, including range information representing the range including the user's position, from the first storage unit 20 in advance and store it in the storage area of ​​the processing unit 110. This process is also called the "information preparation process".

[0020] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing an example of sound playback processing. Sound playback processing is a series of processes in which the sound playback unit 40 plays sound in step S120 shown in Figure 3. In step S200, the sound playback unit 40 selects sound information associated with a single range information that includes the user's position. More specifically, the sound playback unit 40 selects a sound associated with the range that was determined to include the user's position in step S110 (see Figure 3).

[0021] In step S210 (see Figure 4), the head direction acquisition unit 30 acquires head direction information. This step is also called the "head direction acquisition step". Note that steps S200 and S210 are not limited to this order and can be performed in any order, and may be performed in parallel. In this embodiment, at the time of executing step S210, the head direction acquisition unit 30 detects the roll angle, pitch angle, and yaw angle via the sensor 131 and acquires the orientation of the user's head.

[0022] In step S220, the sound playback unit 40 applies stereophonic sound processing to the sound information selected in step S200 using the head direction information acquired in step S210. More specifically, the sound playback unit 40 performs stereophonic sound processing using the sound source position, the user position, and the user's head orientation. For example, an existing algorithm for generating stereophonic sound is used for stereophonic sound processing. The sound playback unit 40 performs stereophonic sound processing by executing, for example, a stereophonic sound processing program stored in the memory area of ​​the processing unit 110. By applying stereophonic sound processing to the sound information, it is possible to create a difference between the timing and sound pressure of the sound played to the right ear and the timing and sound pressure of the sound played to the left ear. For example, the timing of the sound played to the ear closer to the sound source is made earlier than the timing of the sound played to the ear further from the sound source, and the sound pressure of the sound played to the ear closer to the sound source is made greater than the sound pressure of the sound played to the ear further from the sound source.

[0023] In step S230, the sound playback unit 40 plays the sound that has been processed with stereophonic sound in step S220. The sound playback unit 40 may stop playing the sound information if the user's position is no longer included in the range represented by the range information associated with the sound information that was being played. The processing unit 110 may also repeatedly execute the processes in steps S210 to S230 while the sound is being played. That is, stereophonic sound processing may be performed as needed until the playback of the sound selected in step S200 is finished, and the sound that has been processed with stereophonic sound may be played.

[0024] Figure 5 shows an example of sound group information. The range information contained in the first sound group information Di1 represents range A1 and includes sound information representing sound S1 and sound source information representing the location P1 of the sound source of sound S1. Sound S1 is an audio commentary about the temple. Location P1 is the location on the map of the temple described by sound S1. The range information contained in the second sound group information Di2 represents range A2 and includes sound information representing sound S2 and sound source information representing the location P2 of the sound source of sound S2. Sound S2 is the sound of a temple bell. Location P2 is the location on the map of the temple bell of sound S2.

[0025] Figure 6 shows the positional relationship between user P and sound source SS located at position P1. Below, we will explain the case where the sound playback unit 40 applies stereophonic processing to sound S1 as an example. In Figure 6, user P and sound source SS are shown as viewed from above. First, the sound playback unit 40 reads the information of the position P1 of the sound source of the selected sound S1 from the first storage unit 20.

[0026] Next, the sound playback unit 40 determines the relative angle between the direction of the sound source SS as seen from user P and the direction of user P's head D. In the horizontal plane, the angle that the direction of the head D makes with the reference direction N is angle r1. The reference direction N is, for example, the direction facing true north. The angle that the direction of the sound source SS as seen from user P makes with the reference direction N is angle r2. The head direction acquisition unit 30 determines angle r1 from the direction of the head D and the reference direction N. The head direction acquisition unit 30 determines angle r2 from the position of the sound source SS, the position of user P, and the reference direction N. The head direction acquisition unit 30 determines angle r3, which is the difference between angle r1 and angle r2, as the relative angle between the direction of the sound source SS as seen from user P's head D. The sound reproduction unit 40 applies stereophonic processing to the sound S1 using an angle r3 and a head-related transfer function, which is a function that describes the transmission characteristics of sound waves from the time they arrive at the entrance of the user P's ear canal after reflection and diffraction from the head, body, and auricle.

[0027] As shown in Figure 6, the positional relationship between user P and sound source SS is such that the right ear Er is closer to the sound source SS than the left ear El. Therefore, the timing of the sound S1, which has undergone spatial audio processing, is earlier when the sound is played to the right ear Er than when the sound is played to the left ear El. Also, the sound pressure of the sound played to the right ear Er is greater than the sound pressure of the sound played to the left ear El. As a result, user P perceives that the spatial audio processed sound S1 is being played from the sound source SS. Since the location of the temple, which is the subject of the explanation in sound S1, is set as the location P1 of the sound source, user P, who is listening to the spatial audio processed sound S1, can perceive that the explanatory audio is being output from the temple. In this way, in this embodiment, the location of the subject being explained can be provided to the user audibly while giving them a sense of presence.

[0028] According to the information supply system of this embodiment described above, the sound playback unit 40 can reproduce sound that has undergone stereophonic processing according to the user's position, the direction of the user's head, and the position of the sound source.

[0029] B. Second Embodiment: The information provision system 100B of the second embodiment shown in Figure 7 differs from the first embodiment in that the server 120B is equipped with a second storage unit 50 and the audio playback device 130B is not equipped with a sensor 131, but the other configurations are the same.

[0030] The second storage unit 50 is, for example, RAM, ROM, or HDD. The second storage unit 50 stores stored information including location information, movement direction information indicating the user's direction of movement associated with the location information, and head direction information associated with the movement direction information. The movement direction information is, for example, information including an angle representing the user's direction of movement when true north is set to 0 degrees. The user's direction of movement is determined, for example, from the user's movement history. In this embodiment, the second storage unit 50 acquires head direction information acquired by the head direction acquisition unit 30 via a sensor 131 of the voice playback device 130 included in the configuration of the information provision system 100 shown in the first embodiment (see Figure 1), and stores it in association with the location information and movement direction information. The stored information may be acquired, for example, by simulating the movement of a person who has been fitted with the voice playback device 130 in advance, or it may be acquired from the actions of a user who actually uses the information provision system 100.

[0031] Figure 8 shows an example of stored information. In this embodiment, the stored information is such that true north is set as 0 degrees, and each movement direction is divided into 15-degree intervals in the clockwise direction, with head direction information HD1 to HD24 associated with each interval. For example, if the angle θ indicating the direction of movement is greater than 0 degrees and within the range of 15 degrees or less, head direction information HD1 is associated. Also, if the angle θ indicating the direction of movement is greater than 255 degrees and within the range of 270 degrees or less, head direction information HD18 is associated.

[0032] Figure 9 shows an example of head direction information HD18. In the graph shown in Figure 9, the horizontal axis represents the angle around the yaw axis, which is the direction of the head. This angle rotates clockwise with true north being 0 degrees. In this embodiment, head direction information HD18 does not include information on roll angle and pitch angle. The vertical axis represents frequency. Frequency is the number of head direction information entries for each angle around the yaw axis, which is the direction of the user's head. The most frequent yaw angle is angle dx. That is, in head direction information HD18, the most frequent head direction is the direction in which the face is turned slightly to the left relative to the direction of movement.

[0033] In this embodiment, the head direction acquisition unit 30 uses the position information and movement information acquired by the position acquisition unit 10, and by referring to the stored information, acquires head direction information associated with the position information and movement information. More specifically, the head direction acquisition unit 30 determines the angle dx, which is the most frequently occurring direction, as the head direction information HD18 to be the direction of the head orientation.

[0034] According to the information supply system of the second embodiment described above, the second storage unit 50 can store the direction of movement at each position in association with the orientation of the user's head.

[0035] Furthermore, the head direction acquisition unit 30 acquires head direction information by referring to stored information when the audio playback device 130 does not have a sensor 131. Therefore, even if the audio playback device 130 does not have a sensor 131, the sound playback unit 40 can provide the user with sound that has undergone stereophonic processing. In other words, even an inexpensive audio playback device 130 that does not have a sensor 131 can provide the user with audio information while conveying a sense of presence.

[0036] C. Third Embodiment: The third embodiment differs from the second embodiment in that the head direction acquisition unit 30 determines the direction of movement to be the direction of the user's head when the stored information does not satisfy predetermined determination conditions. The configuration of the information provision system 100B in the third embodiment is the same as that of the information provision system 100B in the second embodiment, so a description of the configuration of the information provision system 100B will be omitted.

[0037] The head direction acquisition unit 30 acquires head direction information associated with position information and movement information when the audio playback device 130 does not have a sensor 131, provided that the stored information satisfies the determination conditions. On the other hand, if the stored information does not satisfy the determination conditions, the unit determines the direction of movement indicated by the movement information as the direction of the user's head. For example, one or more of the following conditions can be adopted as the determination conditions.

[0038] <Condition 1> The number of head-direction information points must be above a predetermined threshold. <Condition 2> The frequency of the most frequent user head orientation must be above a predetermined level. <Condition 3> The difference between the frequency of the most frequent user's head orientation and the frequency of the second most frequent user's head orientation must be greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

[0039] Condition 1 above is determined to be true, for example, when the number of head direction information associated with the position information acquired by the position acquisition unit 10 in step S100 (see Figure 3) is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold distance.

[0040] Condition 2 above is determined to be true, for example, when the frequency of the most frequent head orientation among the head direction information associated with the position information acquired by the position acquisition unit 10 in step S100 is greater than or equal to a predetermined degree.

[0041] Condition 3 above is determined to be true, for example, when the difference between the frequency of the most frequent head orientation and the frequency of the second most frequent head orientation among the head orientation information associated with the position information acquired by the position acquisition unit 10 in step S100 is greater than or equal to a predetermined value.

[0042] Furthermore, the above conditions 1 to 3 and other conditions can be combined as appropriate to form the determination conditions. In this embodiment, the head direction acquisition unit 30 adopts the above-described conditions 1 and 2, and determines that the determination condition is met when either condition 1 or condition 2 is met.

[0043] According to the information supply system of the third embodiment described above, the head direction acquisition unit 30 acquires the direction of movement as the orientation of the user's head when the sound playback device 130 does not have a sensor 131 and the stored information does not satisfy the determination conditions. Therefore, for example, even if the stored information is not sufficiently collected or if there is variation in the stored orientation of the user's head, the sound playback unit 40 can provide the user with sound that has been processed with stereophonic sound.

[0044] D. Other embodiments: (D1) In the embodiment described above, the sound group information is stored in the server 120. However, the sound group information may also be stored in the processing unit 110. That is, the processing unit 110 may include the first storage unit 20.

[0045] (D2) In the above-described embodiment, the audio playback device 130 may include a sound playback unit 40. Alternatively, the audio playback device 130 may include a position acquisition unit 10.

[0046] (D3) In the embodiment described above, the range information may include information in the height direction. In this case, the position acquisition unit 10 acquires the user's position as position information, for example, from an altitude sensor.

[0047] (D4) In the embodiment described above, the sound reproduction unit 40 is subjected to stereophonic sound processing. However, other components of the information provision system 100 may also be subjected to stereophonic sound processing.

[0048] (D5) In the embodiment described above, the sound playback unit 40 applies stereophonic processing to the sound using the relative angle between the direction of the sound source and the direction of the user's head. However, the sound playback unit 40 may also apply stereophonic processing considering the distance between the user and the sound source. For example, the sound playback unit 40 applies stereophonic processing to reduce the volume as the user moves away from the sound source, that is, as the distance between the user and the sound source increases. In this case, the sound group information may include attenuation information that shows the relationship between the user's distance from the sound source and the volume. It is preferable that the attenuation information for the commentary voice indicates that the volume is constant regardless of the user's distance from the sound source.

[0049] (D6) In the above-described embodiment, the sound playback unit 40 may refrain from performing playback processing for range information if the user re-enters the range represented by range information within a predetermined time after leaving the range represented by range information for which playback processing is being performed. In this configuration, for example, when moving around the boundary of a certain range, it is possible to suppress the repeated playback of sound information associated with range information representing that range.

[0050] (D7) In the above-described embodiment, the sound playback unit 40 may continue playback processing for the range information for a predetermined period of time from the moment the user leaves the range information that is being played back. In this configuration, for example, even when moving around the boundary of a certain range, the sound of the sound information associated with the range information representing that range can be heard continuously without interruption.

[0051] (D8) In the embodiments described above, the position of the sound source indicated by the sound source information may be a position represented by an absolute coordinate system or a position represented by a coordinate system relative to the user. Furthermore, the position of the sound source does not have to be constant from the start to the end of the sound. For example, if the sound is an audio commentary on multiple buildings, the position of the sound source may transition to the position of each building when the commentary is given on that building.

[0052] (D9) In the second embodiment described above, the head direction acquisition unit 30 may acquire head direction information using a model that has learned the relationship between position information, movement direction information and head direction information by machine learning.

[0053] (D10) In the second embodiment described above, the stored information may include the user's movement speed. In this case, the head direction acquisition unit 30 uses the position information, movement information, and the user's movement speed to refer to the stored information and acquire head direction information associated with the position information and movement information. In this case, the head direction acquisition unit 30 calculates the user's movement speed from the user's movement history acquired by the position acquisition unit 10, and acquires head direction information by referring to the stored information stored for each predetermined range of movement speeds. The stored information may also include information indicating conditions such as season, time of day, and weather, and may also include the user's physical information such as height, age, and gender. It may also include user information such as the user's nationality, language used, and preferences.

[0054] (D11) In the second embodiment described above, the stored information is divided into 15-degree intervals in the direction of movement, and head direction information is associated with each interval. However, the direction of movement may be divided at any angle, and head direction information may be associated with each interval. Furthermore, the range of angles may be determined according to the position information. For example, if the position indicated by the position information is a position where the road width is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, the range may be larger than in the case of a position where the road width is less than the threshold or a dead end.

[0055] (D12) In the second embodiment described above, the head direction acquisition unit 30 determines the head direction to be the direction of the head direction based on the direction that is most frequently observed in the head direction information. However, the head direction may also be determined by a value obtained using statistical methods such as the average or median of each head direction in the head direction information. Alternatively, the head direction may be determined using a defined function or table.

[0056] This disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described above, and can be implemented in various configurations without departing from its spirit. For example, the technical features in the embodiments corresponding to the technical features in each form described in the summary of the invention can be replaced or combined as appropriate in order to solve some or all of the above-described problems, or to achieve some or all of the above-described effects. Furthermore, if a technical feature is not described as essential in this specification, it can be deleted as appropriate. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0057] 10...Position acquisition unit, 20...First storage unit, 30...Head direction acquisition unit, 40...Sound playback unit, 50...Second storage unit, 100, 100B...Information provision system, 110...Processing device, 120, 120B...Server, 130, 130B...Sound playback device, 131...Sensor

Claims

1. An information provision system that provides information through sound, A location acquisition unit that acquires location information indicating the user's location, A head direction acquisition unit that acquires head direction information indicating the orientation of the user's head, A first storage unit that stores one or more sound group information, and each of the one or more sound group information includes range information representing a predetermined area on a map, a sound associated with the range information, and sound source information indicating the location of the sound source that is the source of the sound, A sound playback unit uses the position information acquired by the position acquisition unit to refer to the sound group information, selects one or more sounds associated with the range information that includes the position represented by the position information, and plays the selected sounds using a sound playback device attached to the user's head. The system includes a second storage unit that stores stored information including the location information, movement information indicating the user's direction of movement associated with the location information, and head direction information acquired by the head direction acquisition unit via a sensor of the audio playback device associated with the movement information. The sound playback unit is an information provision system that plays the sound, which has been subjected to stereophonic sound processing according to the user's position, the direction of the user's head, and the position of the sound source, using the sound playback device.

2. The information provision system according to claim 1, The head direction acquisition unit is an information provision system that, when the sound playback device does not have the sensor, uses the position information and movement information acquired by the position acquisition unit to refer to the stored information and acquire the head direction information associated with the position information and movement information.

3. The information provision system according to claim 2, The head direction acquisition unit determines the direction of movement indicated by the movement information to be the direction of the user's head when the sound playback device does not have the sensor and the stored information does not satisfy predetermined determination conditions. The aforementioned determination conditions are: The number of head direction information associated with the position information and the movement information is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold, An information provision system comprising at least one of the following: the frequency of the most frequent head orientation of the user, among the multiple head orientations of the user indicated by the head orientations of the user associated with the location information and the movement information, is greater than or equal to a predetermined degree.

4. A method of providing information using sound, in which a computer carried by a user provides information, A location acquisition step to acquire location information indicating the location of the user, A head direction acquisition step that acquires head direction information indicating the orientation of the user's head, Information preparation step for preparing sound group information, which includes range information representing a predetermined area on a map, sounds associated with the range information, and sound source information indicating the location of the sound source that is the source of the sound. A sound playback step in which, using the position information obtained in the position acquisition step, the sound group information is referenced, one or more sounds are selected that are associated with the range information that includes the position represented by the position information, and the selected sounds are played back. The process includes a second information preparation step of preparing stored information which includes the location information, movement information indicating the direction of movement of the user associated with the location information, and head direction information obtained via a sensor of an audio playback device attached to the user's head, associated with the movement information. The information provision method is a process of performing a playback process, wherein the sound playback step is a step of playing back sound that has been subjected to stereophonic sound processing according to the position of the user, the orientation of the user's head, and the position of the sound source using the sound playback device.

5. An information provision program that provides information through sound, A location acquisition function that obtains location information indicating the user's location, A head direction acquisition function that acquires head direction information indicating the orientation of the user's head, An information acquisition function that acquires sound group information, including range information representing a predetermined area on a map, sounds associated with the range information, and sound source information indicating the location of the sound source that is the source of the sound. A sound playback function that uses the acquired position information to refer to the sound group information, selects one or more sounds associated with the range information that includes the position represented by the position information, and plays the selected sounds. A second information preparation function is implemented in the computer to prepare stored information including the aforementioned location information, movement information indicating the user's direction of movement which is associated with the location information, and head direction information acquired via a sensor of a voice playback device attached to the user's head which is associated with the movement information. The sound playback function is an information provision program that performs playback processing, which involves playing back sound that has been processed with stereophonic sound according to the user's position, the orientation of the user's head, and the position of the sound source using the sound playback device.

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