Information processing device

Abstract

An information processing device (100) comprises: a selection unit (102) that selects a parking lot having a parking space available for parking; a calculation unit (104) that calculates the degree of difficulty of driving to park in the parking space available for parking at the parking lot selected by the selection unit (102); and a presentation unit (106) that presents information with which the parking lot can be identified and the degree of difficulty.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a parking reservation system, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a recording medium.

Background Art

[0002] An example of a system for managing reservations for parking lots such as hourly rentals is described in Patent Document 1. The parking guidance system of Patent Document 1 includes an information processing apparatus that communicates with a mobile communication terminal possessed by a user of a vehicle parked in a parking lot. The information processing apparatus collects the position information of the mobile communication terminal multiple times, and each time the position information is collected, it calculates the arrival time when the user arrives at the parking lot based on the position information and the change in the position information. The information processing apparatus calculates the predicted arrival time when the user arrives at the parking lot using the average value of the calculated arrival times.

[0003] The parking lot management system of Patent Document 2 includes a parking brake control means for controlling the operation of a parking brake device provided for each parking space, a reservation reception means for receiving a reservation for a parking space, a scheduled use time estimation means for estimating the scheduled time when a vehicle related to the reservation is scheduled to use the parking lot, and a parking space securing means for securing the parking space related to the reservation. Then, when the scheduled time estimated by the scheduled use time estimation means arrives, the parking brake device control means operates the parking brake device provided in the parking space secured by the parking space securing means, thereby preventing the entry of a vehicle into the parking space.

[0004] In the parking reservation system of Patent Document 3, the parking space equipment obtains an ID from the in-vehicle device of an approaching user vehicle, converts it to a user number, attaches it to the entry request, and sends it to the user management server. The user management server then registers the user's personal information in the user information storage unit in association with the user number, receives the entry request, and forwards the request with the personal information corresponding to the user number to the parking management server. The parking management server then provides the user's mobile terminal with information on the availability of spaces, obtains the space reservation information, registers it in the parking management information storage unit along with the reservation start time, instructs the space equipment to lock the space, and if a reservation has been made with the personal information when the entry request is received, instructs it to unlock the space. [Prior art documents] [Patent Documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2019-28564 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2009-223721 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-242555 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0006] The technology described in the aforementioned patent document aimed to enable users to reserve parking spaces from their terminals, etc., in order to efficiently utilize parking spaces. However, because it did not take into account the difficulty of driving to park in the space, there was a possibility that drivers might reserve parking spaces that were unsuitable for their driving skills. As a result, the technology described in the aforementioned patent document had the problem that parking would take a long time, potentially leading to parking lot congestion and accidents within the parking lot.

[0007] One example of the object of the present invention is to provide a parking reservation system, an information processing device, an information processing method, and a recording medium that improve convenience by taking into account the difficulty of parking, in view of the above-mentioned problems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0008] According to one aspect of the present invention, One option is to choose a parking lot that has available parking spaces, A calculation means for calculating the difficulty of driving to park in the available parking space of the parking lot selected by the selection means, The system includes information that can identify the aforementioned parking lot and a means for indicating its difficulty level. An information processing device is provided.

[0009] According to one aspect of the present invention, Information processing equipment and A user terminal is provided, The aforementioned information processing device is One option is to choose a parking lot that has available parking spaces, A calculation means for calculating the difficulty of driving to park in the selected parking space, The system includes information that can identify the parking lot and a display means for displaying the difficulty level of the parking lot on the display means of the user terminal. A parking reservation system will be provided.

[0010] According to one aspect of the present invention, One or more computers, Choose a parking lot that has available parking spaces. The difficulty of driving to park in the selected parking space is calculated. The aforementioned parking lot will be identified, and its difficulty level will be presented. Information processing methods are provided.

[0011] According to one aspect of the present invention, On the computer, A selection process to choose a parking lot with available parking spaces, A calculation process for calculating the difficulty of driving to park in the available parking space of the selected parking lot, Information that can identify the aforementioned parking lot, and a presentation process that displays its difficulty level, A computer-readable recording medium is provided, containing a program to execute it.

[0012] Furthermore, other embodiments of the present invention include a program that causes at least one computer to execute the method of the above embodiment, or a recording medium that is readable by a computer on which such a program is recorded. This recording medium includes a non-temporary tangible medium. This computer program includes computer program code that, when executed by a computer, causes the computer to perform an information processing method on an information processing device.

[0013] Furthermore, any combination of the above components, as well as conversions of the expression of the present invention between methods, apparatus, systems, recording media, computer programs, etc., are also valid embodiments of the present invention.

[0014] Furthermore, the various components of the present invention do not necessarily have to be independent entities; multiple components may be formed as a single member, one component may be formed from multiple members, one component may be part of another component, or a part of one component may overlap with a part of another component, and so on.

[0015] Furthermore, although the method and computer program of the present invention describe multiple steps in order, the order in which they are described does not limit the order in which the steps are executed. Therefore, when implementing the method and computer program of the present invention, the order of the multiple steps can be changed to the extent that it does not impede the content.

[0016] Furthermore, the plurality of procedures of the method and computer program of the present invention are not limited to being executed at different timings individually. Therefore, other procedures may occur during the execution of a certain procedure, or a part or all of the execution timing of a certain procedure may overlap with the execution timing of other procedures, and so on.

Advantages of the Invention

[0017] According to one aspect of the present invention, a parking lot reservation system, an information processing apparatus, an information processing method, and a recording medium that improve convenience by considering the difficulty level of parking can be obtained.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0018] [Figure 1] It is a diagram showing an overview of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment. [Figure 2] It is a flowchart showing an operation example of the information processing apparatus of the embodiment. [Figure 3] It is a diagram conceptually showing the system configuration of the parking lot reservation system according to the embodiment. [Figure 4] It is a block diagram exemplifying the hardware configuration of a computer that realizes the information processing apparatus. [Figure 5] It is a flowchart showing an operation example of the application of the parking lot reservation system. [Figure 6] It is a diagram showing an example of a screen that the presentation unit displays on the display of the user terminal. [Figure 7] It is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of parking lot information. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing an example of the data structure of driver information. [Figure 9] It is a functional block diagram showing an example of the logical configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing an example of a screen displayed using the display mode determined by the presentation unit. [Figure 11] It is a diagram showing another example of a screen that the presentation unit displays on the display of the user terminal. [Figure 12]This flowchart shows an example of the operation of the information processing device according to the embodiment. [Figure 13] This diagram conceptually shows the system configuration of the parking reservation system according to the embodiment. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0019] Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In all drawings, similar components are denoted by the same reference numerals, and their descriptions are omitted as appropriate. Furthermore, in the following drawings, components that are not essential to the present invention are omitted and are not shown.

[0020] In the embodiments, "acquisition" includes at least one of the following: the device retrieving data or information stored in another device or storage medium (active acquisition), and the device inputting data or information output from another device into its own device (passive acquisition). Examples of active acquisition include making a request or inquiry to another device and receiving a reply, and accessing and reading data from another device or storage medium. Examples of passive acquisition include receiving information that is delivered (or transmitted, push notification, etc.). Furthermore, "acquisition" may also mean selecting and acquiring data or information from among the received data or information, or selecting and receiving data or information that has been delivered.

[0021] <Minimum Configuration Example> Figure 1 is a diagram showing an overview of an information processing device 100 according to an embodiment. The information processing device 100 includes a selection unit 102, a calculation unit 104, and a presentation unit 106. The selection unit 102 selects a parking lot that has available parking spaces. The calculation unit 104 calculates the difficulty of driving to park in an available parking space in the parking lot selected by the selection unit 102. The display unit 106 displays information that allows for the identification of a parking lot, along with its difficulty level.

[0022] <Example of operation> Figure 2 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the information processing device 100 of the embodiment. The selection unit 102 selects a parking lot with available parking spaces (step S101). The calculation unit 104 calculates the difficulty of driving to park in an available parking space in the parking lot selected in step S101 (step S103). The presentation unit 106 presents information that identifies the parking lot and its difficulty level (step S105).

[0023] In this information processing device 100, the selection unit 102 selects a parking lot with available parking spaces. The calculation unit 104 calculates the difficulty of driving to park in an available parking space in the parking lot selected by the selection unit 102. The presentation unit 106 presents information that identifies the parking lot and its difficulty level. Therefore, this information processing device 100 has the effect of improving convenience by taking into account the difficulty of parking.

[0024] The following describes a detailed example of the information processing device 100.

[0025] (First Embodiment) <System Overview> Figure 3 is a conceptual diagram showing the system configuration of the parking reservation system 1 according to the embodiment. The parking reservation system 1 includes an information processing device 100 for managing the parking lot 10, and a user terminal 50 for user U who will use the parking lot 10. The information processing device 100 and the user terminal 50 are connected, for example, via a communication network 3.

[0026] The information processing device 100 is a computer such as a server computer. The information processing device 100 includes a storage device 120. The storage device 120 may be located inside the information processing device 100 or outside of it. In other words, the storage device 120 may be hardware integrated with the information processing device 100 or it may be hardware separate from the information processing device 100.

[0027] The user terminal 50 is a terminal device operated by user U who uses the parking reservation system 1 service. The user terminal 50 is, for example, a smartphone, a tablet, or a computer 1000 such as a personal computer. In another example, the user terminal 50 may be a computer such as a car navigation system in a vehicle 30 driven by user U.

[0028] Possible use cases for the parking reservation system 1 include reserving a parking space in advance by specifying the date and time, and searching for parking near a destination.

[0029] Possible methods for using the parking reservation system 1 include, for example, installing and launching a predetermined application on the user terminal 50, or accessing a predetermined website using a browser. In this embodiment, the method of launching an application to use the service will be described as an example.

[0030] For example, user U must register in advance to use the service and obtain account information. When using the service, user U can log in to the parking reservation system 1 on user terminal 50 using their account information. Upon successful authentication, user U can use the service on user terminal 50.

[0031] <Example Hardware Configuration> Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating the hardware configuration of the computer 1000 that implements the information processing device 100. The user terminal 50 in Figure 3 is also implemented by the computer 1000. Furthermore, the functions of the information processing device 100 may be shared between the user terminal 50 and (or the car navigation device) the information processing device 100. Similarly, the functions of the image processing device 130 in the embodiment described later may also be shared between the information processing device 100 and (or the car navigation device) the image processing device 130.

[0032] Computer 1000 has a bus 1010, a processor 1020, memory 1030, a storage device 1040, an input / output interface 1050, and a network interface 1060.

[0033] Bus 1010 is a data transmission path for the processor 1020, memory 1030, storage device 1040, input / output interface 1050, and network interface 1060 to send and receive data to and from each other. However, the method of connecting the processor 1020 and the other components to each other is not limited to bus connection.

[0034] The 1020 processor is a processor implemented in components such as the CPU (Central Processing Unit) and GPU (Graphics Processing Unit).

[0035] Memory 1030 is a main memory device implemented using RAM (Random Access Memory), etc.

[0036] The storage device 1040 is an auxiliary storage device implemented as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), SSD (Solid State Drive), memory card, or ROM (Read Only Memory). The storage device 1040 stores program modules that implement each function of the information processing device 100 (for example, the selection unit 102, the calculation unit 104, the presentation unit 106, and the decision unit 108 described later). The processor 1020 reads these program modules into the memory 1030 and executes them, thereby realizing each function corresponding to that program module. The storage device 1040 may also store data from the storage device 120 of the information processing device 100, or from the storage device 140 of the image processing device 130 described later.

[0037] The program module may be recorded on a recording medium. The recording medium on which the program module is recorded includes a non-temporary, tangible medium usable by a computer 1000, and program code that can be read by the computer 1000 (processor 1020) may be embedded in that medium.

[0038] The input / output interface 1050 is an interface for connecting the computer 1000 with various input / output devices. The input / output interface 1050 also functions as a communication interface for short-range wireless communication such as Bluetooth® and NFC (Near Field Communication).

[0039] The network interface 1060 is an interface for connecting the computer 1000 to the communication network 3. This communication network 3 is, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) or a WAN (Wide Area Network). The method by which the network interface 1060 connects to the communication network 3 may be a wireless connection or a wired connection.

[0040] The computer 1000 then connects to necessary devices (e.g., displays, control panels, touch panels, cameras, speakers, microphones, etc., not shown) via the input / output interface 1050 or the network interface 1060.

[0041] Each component of the information processing device 100 in each embodiment shown in Figure 1 and Figure 9 (described later) can be realized by any combination of the hardware and software of the computer 1000 shown in Figure 4. Those skilled in the art will understand that there are various modifications to the implementation method and apparatus. The functional block diagrams showing the information processing device 100 in each embodiment show blocks of logical functional units, not hardware-level configurations.

[0042] <Overview of the operation of the parking reservation system 1 application> The parking reservation system 1 enables user U to use the service by running an application. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the application of the parking reservation system 1. For example, this flow starts when the application is launched on user terminal 50.

[0043] First, by selecting the destination input menu from the parking reservation menu, etc., the destination input screen is displayed. The method of inputting the destination is not particularly limited. The information processing device 100 accepts the destination input by, for example, searching using at least one of the following: postal code, telephone number, name, address, etc. (step S11).

[0044] When the information processing device 100 receives input of a destination, it selects a parking lot 10 with available parking spaces near the destination and presents it along with its difficulty level (step S13). In step S13, the information processing device 100 performs processing according to the procedure of the flowchart in Figure 2 described above. Available parking spaces near the destination refer to, for example, parking lots 10 that exist within a predetermined range from the destination and are unused, i.e., empty parking spaces within those parking lots 10. For example, when a destination is selected using a car navigation system, the information processing device 100 may acquire the destination and select an available parking space.

[0045] Furthermore, in step S11, the information processing device 100 may also accept input of the reservation time (start time and end time of use) in addition to the destination. In that case, the condition that the reserved time is not reserved by another user is added to the selection criteria for available parking spaces.

[0046] Figure 6 shows an example of a screen 300 that the display unit 106 displays on the user terminal 50's display. The screen 300 includes an image element (for example, an icon labeled "P" in the figure) indicating the location of a parking lot 10 with available parking spaces, and a difficulty indicator 302 that displays information indicating the difficulty level for each parking lot 10. This image element and the difficulty indicator 302 are superimposed on the map. The screen 300 further includes an image element indicating the location of a destination and a destination indicator 304 that points to the destination. The image element indicating the location of the destination is a highlighting such as hatching that represents the location of the destination. This image element and the destination indicator 304 are also superimposed on the map. In the example of Figure 6, the difficulty indicator 302 and the destination indicator 304 are shown in the shape of callouts, but are not limited to this, and various forms can be adopted, preferably in a form that allows recognition of the association with the corresponding image element.

[0047] In the example shown in Figure 6, the difficulty level indicator 302 uses characters such as "difficult" to indicate that parking is difficult, and "easy" to indicate that parking is easy. However, the method of indicating difficulty level is not limited to this. In other examples, symbols or emojis may be used to indicate difficulty level in stages. In yet another example, numerical values ​​may be used to indicate difficulty level in stages. For example, a scale from 1 to 5, where higher numbers indicate more difficult parking, or conversely, higher numbers indicate easier parking. Alternatively, in yet another example, difficulty level may be indicated by color coding in stages. For example, red may indicate very difficult parking, yellow may indicate slightly difficult parking, and green may indicate easy parking. Alternatively, in yet another example, the size of the difficulty level indicator 302 may be used to indicate difficulty level in stages. A larger size of the difficulty level indicator 302 may indicate easier parking, or conversely, a larger size of the difficulty level indicator 302 may indicate more difficult parking.

[0048] The information processing device 100 accepts the selection of the parking lot 10 to be reserved (step S15). The information processing device 100 can accept the selection of the parking lot 10 to be reserved by, for example, receiving a user's press on an icon representing the parking lot 10 on the screen 300.

[0049] Upon receiving a reservation, the information processing device 100 performs the reservation process for a parking space in the parking lot 10 (step S17). The reservation process includes measures to prevent other users' vehicles from entering a reserved parking space. Measures to prevent other users' vehicles from entering (hereinafter referred to as "entry prevention measures") include, for example, control such as driving a locking device (not shown) that uses a locking plate to lock an entering vehicle to raise the locking plate.

[0050] The following are examples of methods for determining when to implement measures to prevent entry. For example, it is preferable to continuously implement measures to prevent entry for a predetermined period including the time of the reservation and before and after it.

[0051] Alternatively, the information processing device 100 may estimate the expected time of arrival of the vehicle 30 at its destination and continue to implement entry prevention measures for a predetermined period before and after the estimated expected arrival time. The information processing device 100 can calculate the distance between the vehicle 30 and the parking lot from the location information obtained using the GPS (Global Positioning System) receiving function of the user terminal 50 of user U and the location information of the reserved parking lot. The information processing device 100 can then calculate the expected arrival time from the calculated distance. Alternatively, the information processing device 100 may cooperate with a car navigation system and obtain the expected arrival time from the car navigation system.

[0052] The predetermined period before the reservation time or scheduled arrival time is, for example, 15 minutes before, 30 minutes before, etc. The predetermined period after the reservation time or scheduled arrival time may include, for example, the usage time specified by User U at the time of reservation (30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, etc.), or a predetermined time limit (for example, 2 hours, etc.). In this case, Station car use It is preferable to notify user U in advance that there is a time limit.

[0053] Furthermore, if the time until the reservation time or the scheduled arrival time is longer than a predetermined time (for example, a certain amount of time within the parking usage limit as described above), and there are other users who wish to use the parking space during the period until the reservation time or the scheduled arrival time, the information processing device 100 may allow those other users to use the parking space. In that case, the information processing device 100 may temporarily release the entry prevention measures, allow the other user's vehicle to park, and then reapply the entry prevention measures after the other user's vehicle has left.

[0054] Furthermore, if the vehicle 30 of user U, who reserved the parking space, does not arrive even after a predetermined time has elapsed, the information processing device 100 may perform a process to cancel the reservation. The cancellation process also includes the process of removing the reserved status on the screen 300. The cancellation process also includes the process of releasing the measures to prevent entry into the parking space.

[0055] Furthermore, in the reservation process, if the reserved parking space is the last available space in the parking lot, the information processing device 100 may instruct the control device of the parking lot's bulletin board to change the display to "Full".

[0056] The information processing device 100 detects that vehicle 30 has arrived at parking lot 10 (step S19). Various detection methods are possible. For example, the information processing device 100 may register the license plate number of vehicle 30 when making a reservation and identify the license plate number of vehicle 30 that has entered parking lot 10 by processing the image captured by a camera installed at the entrance to parking lot 10. When the license plate number of reserved vehicle 30 is detected, the information processing device 100 detects that reserved vehicle 30 has arrived at parking lot 10.

[0057] Alternatively, the information processing device 100 may acquire location information of the user terminal 50 and detect that the vehicle 30 (user terminal 50) has arrived at the parking lot 10. Upon detecting the arrival of the vehicle 30, the information processing device 100 also lowers the lock plate that was locked in step S17 and releases the lock.

[0058] The information processing device 100 further processes images from cameras installed in the parking lot 10 or from cameras mounted on the vehicle 30 to identify the parking status of the vehicle 30 (step S21). This process will be described in detail in the embodiments described later.

[0059] The above is an overview of the operation of the parking reservation system 1 application.

[0060] <Example of Functional Configuration> Next, an example of the functional configuration of the information processing device 100 of the embodiment will be described with reference to Figure 1. The information processing device 100 includes a selection unit 102, a calculation unit 104, and a presentation unit 106.

[0061] The selection unit 102 selects a parking lot 10 that has available parking spaces. The selection unit 102 acquires information about parking spaces for each parking lot 10. The information about parking spaces may, for example, indicate whether parking is possible for each parking space in parking lot 10, or it may indicate whether there is a parking space available for each parking lot 10. The information about parking spaces includes information that allows a parking space to be selected based on selection conditions described later.

[0062] Based on the acquired information regarding parking spaces, the selection unit 102 further identifies whether or not the vehicle 30 can be parked there based on selection criteria, thereby selecting a parking lot 10 that has a parking space available.

[0063] The selection criteria for determining whether parking is possible include conditions relating to at least one of time and space. Time-related conditions include whether the space is currently available, available at the reserved time, etc. Space-related conditions include whether a space suitable for the size of vehicle 30 is available, etc. In this case, information regarding the parking space includes information indicating the availability of the parking space.

[0064] The selection unit 102 acquires information indicating the drive and release status of the locking device from the control device of the parking lot 10 (for example, information such as the control signal for the locking device). Based on the acquired information, the selection unit 102 may identify parking spaces where the locking device is released as available. Alternatively, the availability of parking spaces may be obtained by processing images captured by cameras installed in the parking lot 10, as described in the embodiment described later, or by cameras such as drive recorders of other vehicles in the parking lot.

[0065] Furthermore, the selection unit 102 may determine the availability of parking spaces within the parking lot 10 by analyzing the satellite images with the image processing device 130 described later.

[0066] Time-related conditions may be selectable by the user U, or they may be predetermined for each application or menu. For example, an application for finding immediately available parking spaces and an application for reserving parking spaces by specifying a date and time may be different applications. Alternatively, one application may include both a menu for finding immediately available parking spaces and a menu for reserving parking spaces by specifying a date and time.

[0067] The size of the vehicle 30 used for spatial conditions is determined based on information about the vehicle 30. As information about the vehicle 30, the user U may pre-register the type (model) of the vehicle 30, or the model may be identified and registered by processing an image of the vehicle 30, as described later. The model and size of the vehicle 30 may be associated and stored in the storage device 120 as model information. Furthermore, the information about the parking space includes the size of the vehicle 30 that can be parked in the parking space. The selection unit 102 identifies the size of the vehicle 30 from its model and selects a parking space in which the identified vehicle 30 size can be parked.

[0068] The size of the vehicle 30 includes at least one of the dimensions of the vehicle body and the height of the vehicle. Information regarding the parking space includes the size of the vehicle body that can be parked in each parking space (width of the vehicle body, height of the vehicle body (in the case of a mechanical parking system, etc.)). Furthermore, in order to prevent situations where the locking plate of the parking space hits the underside of the vehicle body and prevents locking when the vehicle height is low, or where a step in front of the parking space hits the underside of the vehicle body, the information regarding the parking space may also include the height of the vehicle that can be parked in each parking space.

[0069] Furthermore, as described above, the selection criteria may include the condition that the parking space is within a predetermined distance from the destination. In this case, the information regarding the parking space includes the location information of the parking lot 10. The selection unit 102 can use the location information of the parking lot 10 and the location information of the destination to select a parking lot 10 that is within a predetermined distance from the destination. However, when searching for a parking space that is immediately available, as described above, instead of accepting input of the destination, the selection unit 102 may acquire the current location of the vehicle 30 and select a parking lot 10 that is within a predetermined distance from that location. The current location of the vehicle 30 may be acquired from the vehicle 30's car navigation system, or location information acquired using the GPS receiving function of the user terminal 50 may be used.

[0070] Furthermore, the selection criteria may include conditions relating to the sidewalk from parking lot 10 to the destination. In this case, the information regarding the parking space may include, for example, information regarding the sidewalk between parking lot 10 and the destination. This information regarding the sidewalk includes at least one of the following: the distance of the route from parking lot 10 to the destination, the presence or absence of a sidewalk, the width of the sidewalk, whether or not there is a road crossing, and whether or not there is a traffic light at the crossing point.

[0071] The conditions regarding sidewalks may include, for example, at least one of the following: the distance of the route from parking lot 10 to the destination is less than or equal to a predetermined value; there is a sidewalk; the width of the sidewalk is greater than or equal to a predetermined value; there is no road crossing; and if there is a road crossing, there is a traffic light at the crossing point. In other words, it is preferable that the conditions regarding sidewalks include conditions that enable users to reach their destination safely and conveniently from parking lot 10.

[0072] Information regarding sidewalks may be obtained from existing road information databases or from the parking reservation system 1, or from a car navigation system.

[0073] Furthermore, the selection criteria may include the walking time from parking lot 10 to the destination. In this case, the information regarding the parking space includes the walking time from parking lot 10 to the destination for that parking space. Alternatively, the information regarding the parking space may include the route distance from parking lot 10 to the destination for that parking space, and the selection unit 102 may calculate the walking time from that distance. The selection criteria may include that the required time is within a predetermined value. Alternatively, when the selection unit 102 receives input of a desired arrival time from user U, it may select parking lot 10 as a selection criterion if the estimated arrival time calculated from the required time is within the desired arrival time.

[0074] The calculation unit 104 calculates the difficulty of driving to park in an available parking space in the parking lot 10 selected by the selection unit 102.

[0075] The calculation unit 104 calculates the difficulty level using parameters that indicate the attributes or status of at least one of the following: the parking lot 10, the roadway accessing the parking lot 10, and the available parking spaces.

[0076] The parameters include at least one of the following parameters: Various parameters include parameters indicating the width of the roadway, the number of intersections to turn right or left at before reaching the parking lot 10, whether the entry to the parking lot 10 is a right or left turn from the direction of travel towards the parking lot 10, the width of the entrance from the roadway to the parking lot 10, the number of entrances, the degree of congestion at the entrance, whether it is necessary to take a parking ticket from a machine, whether there are gates at the entrance and exit of the parking lot 10, the size of the parking spaces, the arrangement of the parking spaces, the angle of entry to the parking spaces relative to the driving spaces within the parking lot 10, whether the parking spaces are parallel parking or not, the size of the driving spaces within the parking lot 10, the availability of parking spaces within the parking lot 10, and whether the parking lot 10 is self-parking or mechanical.

[0077] Figure 7 shows an example of the data structure of the parking information 200. For example, for each parking lot 10 or each parking space, the parking information 200 stores the identification information of the parking lot 10 or parking space (shown as the parking ID in the figure), the parking lot name, location information such as the address, and the various parameters mentioned above, associated with each other. The parking information 200 is stored in the storage device 120. However, the information included in the parking information 200 is not limited to these.

[0078] The calculation unit 104 may further calculate the difficulty level using information regarding the driver's driving skills. Figure 8 shows an example of the data structure of driver information 210. For example, driver information 210 stores, for each user U, the user U's identification information (hereinafter referred to as user ID), information indicating the user U's driving skills, and the type of vehicle 30 used by the user U, all associated with each other. Driver information 210 is stored in the storage device 120. However, the information included in driver information 210 is not limited to these.

[0079] Information regarding a driver's driving skills includes information indicating at least one of the skills the driver is weak at and the skills they are good at. For example, this information may include information indicating whether a driver is good or bad at certain driving skills such as right turns, left turns, backing up, parallel parking, and U-turns. The information regarding a driver's driving skills may be registered in the driver information 210 by allowing the user U to select their weak or strong driving skills using a predetermined setting menu. Alternatively, as described in the embodiments described later, the driver's strengths and weaknesses may be identified by processing images taken while driving.

[0080] The calculation unit 104 may calculate the difficulty level using the presence or absence of at least one of the vehicle 30's autonomous driving function and autonomous parking function, and the level of the autonomous driving function. The functional level of the vehicle 30 may be determined, for example, by the presence or absence of fully autonomous driving and semi-autonomous driving functions, the presence or absence of driving guide output (display, voice), the presence or absence of voice navigation, and the presence or absence of warning sound output. The vehicle type of the vehicle 30 and the presence or absence of various functions may be associated and stored in the storage device 120 as vehicle type information.

[0081] The display unit 106 presents information that identifies the parking lot 10 and its difficulty level. Specifically, the display unit 106 displays information that identifies the parking lot 10 and its difficulty level on the display of user U's user terminal 50.

[0082] Information that can identify parking lot 10 includes image elements that indicate the location of parking lot 10 with available parking spaces, as illustrated in screen 300 of Figure 6. Alternatively, information that can identify parking lot 10 may include information about parking lot 10 with available parking spaces (at least some of the following information, such as parking lot name, parking lot address, telephone number, and homepage URL (Uniform Resource Locator)), as illustrated in screen 320 of Figure 11, which will be described later.

[0083] Furthermore, the information that can identify parking lot 10 may include information that can identify available parking spaces or sections within parking lot 10. The information that can identify available parking spaces or sections may include at least some of the following: identification information (symbols or numbers, etc.) assigned to the parking spaces, location information on a map showing the parking spaces or sections within parking lot 10, etc.

[0084] The calculation unit 104 may calculate the difficulty level using information indicating at least one of the type (model) and size of the vehicle 30. The information indicating at least one of the type (model) and size of the vehicle 30 corresponds to the information about the vehicle 30 described above.

[0085] The calculation unit 104 may calculate the difficulty level using information regarding the ease of driving the vehicle to be parked. Information regarding ease of driving includes whether the driver is familiar with the car, whether it is a rental car, whether it is left-hand drive or right-hand drive, as well as information such as the size of the vehicle, the height of the vehicle, and the height of the driver's seat.

[0086] <Example of operation> The operation example of the information processing device 100 of the embodiment will be explained below with reference to Figure 2. As described above, the flow in this figure corresponds to the processing of step S13 in the processing procedure of the application in Figure 5.

[0087] The selection unit 102 selects a parking lot 10 that has available parking spaces (step S101). For example, the selection unit 102 selects a parking lot 10 that is within a predetermined distance from the destination selected by user U. From the selected parking lots 10, the selection unit 102 further narrows down the list to parking lots 10 that have available parking spaces. From the narrowed-down parking lots 10, the selection unit 102 selects a parking lot 10 that meets the selection criteria (a parking lot 10 with available parking spaces).

[0088] The calculation unit 104 calculates the difficulty of driving to park in an available parking space in the parking lot 10 selected by the selection unit 102 (step S103). The calculation unit 104 acquires information indicating the driver's driving skill level, the type of vehicle 30, the parking lot 10, the roadway accessing the parking lot 10, and the attributes and status of the available parking spaces, and uses the acquired information and parameters to calculate the difficulty.

[0089] The display unit 106 presents information that allows for the identification of the parking lot 10 and its difficulty level (step S105). For example, the display unit 106 displays the screen 300 shown in Figure 6 on the display of user U's user terminal 50.

[0090] When user U presses, for example, the icon for the parking lot 10 they wish to reserve on the screen 300, in step S15 of Figure 5, the information processing device 100 accepts the selection of the parking lot 10 to reserve (step S15). Upon accepting the reservation, the information processing device 100 processes the reservation of the parking space in parking lot 10 (step S17). On the screen 300, an image element indicating that the reservation of the parking lot 10 selected by user U has been completed, i.e., the status of being reserved, may be superimposed at the position indicating the parking lot 10 selected by user U.

[0091] As described above, according to this embodiment, the information processing device 100 comprises a selection unit 102, a calculation unit 104, and a presentation unit 106. The selection unit 102 selects a parking lot 10 that has available parking spaces. The calculation unit 104 calculates the difficulty of driving to park in an available parking space in the selected parking lot 10. The presentation unit 106 presents information that identifies the parking lot 10 and its difficulty level. With this information processing device 100, convenience can be improved by considering the difficulty of parking. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, by presenting the difficulty level of available parking spaces, congestion in the parking lot 10 can be alleviated and accidents within the parking lot 10 can be prevented.

[0092] Furthermore, in this embodiment, even when traveling or in an unfamiliar area, if the location and condition of nearby parking lots are unknown, the display unit 106 displays the location and difficulty level of available parking spaces, allowing the user to understand the situation and utilize the parking lot 10. In addition, in this embodiment, the selection unit 102 selects a parking lot 10 with available parking spaces, and the display unit 106 displays the available parking spaces in real time. Therefore, compared to simply looking up the location of the parking lot 10 and heading there, this embodiment prevents situations such as arriving at the parking lot 10 only to find it full. Moreover, since there is no need to search for another parking lot 10 if it is full, this embodiment allows for a smooth arrival at the destination.

[0093] Furthermore, the selection unit 102 also considers the route from the parking lot 10 to the destination after parking, making it convenient for the user U, allowing them to travel safely from the parking lot 10 to their destination, and contributing to the prevention of traffic accidents.

[0094] (Second Embodiment) Figure 9 is a functional block diagram showing a logical configuration example of the information processing device 100 according to the embodiment. This embodiment is the same as the above embodiment except that when a plurality of parking lots 10 are selected by the selection unit 102, a recommended order is determined and the display mode of the parking lots 10 is determined using the recommended order. Note that the configuration of this embodiment may be combined with at least one of the configurations of the other embodiments to the extent that it does not cause inconsistencies.

[0095] <Example of Functional Configuration> In addition to the configuration shown in Figure 1, the information processing device 100 also includes a determination unit 108. When the selection unit 102 selects multiple parking lots 10, the decision unit 108 determines the recommended order of those multiple parking lots 10 using the difficulty level of each parking lot 10. The display unit 106 determines the display configuration of the parking lot 10 using the recommended order.

[0096] Furthermore, if the parking lot 10 selected by the selection unit 102 includes multiple available parking spaces, the determination unit 108 may determine the recommended order of these multiple parking spaces.

[0097] Figure 10 shows an example of a screen 310 displayed using the display mode determined by the display unit 106. Screen 310 includes the same icons as screen 300 in Figure 6, indicating the location of a parking lot 10 with available parking spaces, an image element indicating the location of a destination, and a destination display 304, and also includes a recommended order display 312.

[0098] The recommended order display 312 shows the recommended order determined by the decision unit 108. If there are multiple available parking spaces, the recommended order display 312 displays the parking space identification information along with the recommended ranking for each parking space. Alternatively, in this case, the recommended order display 312 displays only the identification information of the parking space with the highest recommended ranking among the parking lots 10, along with the recommended ranking. Table It may be shown.

[0099] Furthermore, screen 310 in Figure 10 may also include the difficulty level display 302 of screen 300 in Figure 6.

[0100] Furthermore, the display unit 106 may display screen 320 of Figure 11 on the display of the user terminal 50. Screen 320 displays a list of information on multiple parking lots 10 selected by the selection unit 102 in the recommended order determined by the decision unit 108. The list on screen 320 in Figure 11 includes, as an example, the parking lot name, difficulty level, and address for each parking lot 10. Screens 300 and 320 may be displayed side by side on the display of the user terminal 50, or they may be switched between and displayed selectively.

[0101] Furthermore, the decision unit 108 may also determine a recommended order using information about the routes to each parking lot selected by the selection unit 102.

[0102] Route information includes, for example, distance, presence or absence of traffic congestion, estimated travel time (or estimated time of arrival), difficulty of the route (for example, difficulty increases if there are many lanes, traffic volume, number of bicycles, number of pedestrians, etc.), width of the roadway, proportion of large vehicles, presence or absence of sidewalks, and presence or absence of bicycles on the roadway.

[0103] <Example of operation> Figure 12 is a flowchart illustrating an example of the operation of the information processing device 100 according to the embodiment. This flowchart includes steps S201 and S203 in addition to the flowchart in Figure 2. After step S103 in Figure 2, the determination unit 108 determines the recommended order of the multiple parking lots 10 selected by the selection unit 102, using the difficulty level of each parking lot 10 (step S201). Then, the display unit 106 determines the display configuration of the parking lot 10 using the recommended order (step S203). After that, the display unit 106 presents the parking lot 10 and its difficulty level (step S105).

[0104] As described above, the information processing device 100 of this embodiment further includes a determination unit 108. When multiple parking lots 10 are selected by the selection unit 102, the determination unit 108 determines the recommended order of the multiple parking lots 10 using the difficulty level of each parking lot 10. The presentation unit 106 determines the display method of the parking lots 10 using the recommended order.

[0105] Thus, the information processing device 100 of this embodiment provides the same effects as the above embodiment, and furthermore, the display unit 106 recommends and displays a parking lot 10 that suits the driver's driving skills, enabling smooth parking. Smooth parking can also lead to a reduction in traffic congestion around the parking lot 10 and the destination.

[0106] (Third embodiment) Figure 13 is a conceptual diagram showing the system configuration of the parking reservation system 1 according to the embodiment. This embodiment is the same as any of the above embodiments, except that it has a configuration that identifies the driving skills of the driver of the vehicle 30 by processing the images captured by the camera. This embodiment will be described based on the configuration of the first embodiment in Figure 1, but the configuration of this embodiment may be combined with the configuration of the second embodiment in Figure 9 to the extent that it does not cause inconsistencies.

[0107] <System Overview> The parking reservation system 1 of this embodiment has a configuration similar to the parking reservation system 1 in Figure 3, and further includes a camera 5a, a camera 5b, and an image processing device 130. Camera 5a is a camera such as a drive recorder mounted on a vehicle 30. Camera 5b is a camera installed in the parking lot 10. The image processing device 130 processes the images captured by cameras 5a and 5b. The image processing device 130 may also process images captured using a camera (not shown) of a user terminal 50. Hereinafter, unless there is a need to distinguish between cameras 5a, 5b, and the camera of the user terminal 50, they will simply be referred to as camera 5.

[0108] Camera 5 is equipped with an image sensor such as a lens and a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) image sensor, and is a network camera such as an IP (Internet Protocol) camera. The network camera has, for example, a wireless LAN (Local Area Network) communication function and is connected to the image processing device 130 via a communication network 3, i.e., a relay device such as a router (not shown). These cameras 5 may be equipped with a mechanism to control the orientation of the camera body and lens, zoom control, focus adjustment, etc., in accordance with the movement of the vehicle 30.

[0109] The images generated by camera 5 are preferably captured in real time and transmitted to image processing device 130. However, the images transmitted to image processing device 130 do not have to be transmitted directly from camera 5, and may be images with a predetermined time delay. The images captured by camera 5 may be temporarily stored in another storage device, and the image processing device 130 may read them sequentially or at predetermined intervals from the storage device. Furthermore, the images transmitted to image processing device 130 are preferably moving images, but may also be frame images at predetermined intervals or still images.

[0110] The image processing device 130 includes a storage device 140. The storage device 140 may be located inside the image processing device 130 or outside of it. In other words, the storage device 140 may be hardware integrated with the image processing device 130 or it may be hardware separate from the image processing device 130.

[0111] <Example of Functional Configuration> Since the information processing device 100 has a configuration similar to that of the first embodiment shown in Figure 1, an example of the functional configuration of the information processing device 100 of this embodiment will be described below using Figure 1.

[0112] The image processing device 130 identifies at least one of the type and size of the vehicle 30 by processing an image of the vehicle 30. The selection unit 102 selects a parking lot 10 that has a parking space available for parking using information indicating at least one of the type (vehicle type) and size of the identified vehicle 30. The calculation unit 104 calculates the difficulty level using information indicating at least one of the type (vehicle type) and size of the identified vehicle 30.

[0113] The calculation unit 104 uses the driver's driving history information to identify the driver's weak and strong driving skills, and identifies information related to driving skills.

[0114] The calculation unit 104 identifies the driver's strengths and weaknesses in driving techniques by having the image processing device 130 process images captured by the camera 5 of the driver's driving in the parking space of the parking lot 10. The image processing device 130 identifies, for example, the time taken to park and the number of maneuvers required through image processing. If at least one of the time taken to park and the number of maneuvers exceeds a first threshold, the calculation unit 104 identifies that the driver is not good at parking in a parking space with the characteristics of that parking space. Alternatively, if at least one of the time taken to park and the number of maneuvers falls below a second threshold, the calculation unit 104 may identify that the driver is good at parking in a parking space with the characteristics of that parking space.

[0115] The characteristics of each parking space are stored in the storage device 120 as parking space information for each parking space. The parking space information may be the same as the information indicating the parameters used when calculating the difficulty level of a parking space.

[0116] Similar to the embodiments described above, the calculation unit 104 may calculate the difficulty level using information regarding the ease of driving the vehicle to be parked. Information regarding ease of driving includes information indicating whether the driver is familiar with the car, whether it is a rental car, whether it is left-hand drive or right-hand drive, the size of the vehicle, the height of the vehicle, the height of the driver's seat, etc.

[0117] The information processing device 100 may read the license plate information by having the image processing device 130 process the image of the vehicle 30, and determine whether or not it is a rental car or whether or not the vehicle 30 is owned by the driver. As will be described later, the information processing device 100 may also identify information about the vehicle 30, such as whether it is left-hand drive or right-hand drive, the size of the vehicle body, the height of the vehicle, and the height of the driver's seat, by having the image processing device 130 process the image of the vehicle 30.

[0118] Information regarding the vehicle 30 can be used not only by the calculation unit 104 to calculate the difficulty level, but also by the selection unit 102 to select a parking space, as described above. Information regarding the vehicle 30 can be identified from the vehicle type entered by the user U, or by using an image of the vehicle 30.

[0119] For example, the application may prompt the user U to input the vehicle type through a settings menu, and based on the accepted vehicle type, the information processing device 100 may obtain information about the vehicle 30 from existing vehicle information or from the vehicle information database of the parking reservation system 1.

[0120] Alternatively, the application's vehicle registration menu or similar allows the user terminal 50 to take a photograph of the vehicle 30 using its camera, and the image processing device 130 processes the captured image to obtain information about the vehicle 30. The information processing device 100 can use the image processing results to identify the vehicle type of the vehicle 30, or its size, height, driver's seat height, etc., and obtain information about the vehicle 30. For example, the vehicle registration menu outputs guidance to the user U to take photographs of the vehicle 30 from four directions: front, rear, left, and right. The user U can then take images of the vehicle 30 according to the guidance.

[0121] Alternatively, the information processing device 100 may obtain information about the vehicle 30 by having the image processing device 130 process images captured by the camera 5b installed in the parking lot 10.

[0122] The information processing device 100 may determine the height of the vehicle 30 using the size of the tires included in the captured image of the vehicle 30.

[0123] The acquired information regarding the vehicle 30 may be stored in the storage device 120 in association with the driver information 210 of user U.

[0124] As described above, according to this embodiment, the parking reservation system 1 comprises a camera 5 and an image processing device 130 that processes images captured by the camera 5. The image processing device 130 identifies at least one of the type and size of the vehicle 30 by processing images of the vehicle 30.

[0125] Thus, this embodiment provides the same effects as the above embodiment, as well as the following effects. According to this embodiment, the type of vehicle 30 can be identified by image processing, and the difficulty level and available parking spaces can be identified. Therefore, according to this embodiment, even if the vehicle 30 is large or tall, it is possible to avoid situations where the parking space is too small to accommodate the vehicle 30 and therefore cannot be parked. This enables smooth parking, which is expected to alleviate traffic congestion around parking lots.

[0126] The embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the drawings, but these are merely examples of the present invention, and various other configurations can also be adopted.

[0127] (Other embodiments) The selection unit 102 may also use weather information for the planned parking time around the parking lot 10 or destination, and conditions regarding the sidewalk from the parking lot 10 to the destination, as conditions for selecting the parking lot 10. For example, in the case of a rain or snow forecast, the selection unit 102 may set the selection conditions to prioritize parking lots with covered sidewalks to the destination. Alternatively, in the case of a rain or snow forecast, the selection unit 102 may set the selection condition that the destination and the parking lot 10 are located in the same building.

[0128] Furthermore, the information processing device 100 may be configured to allow users to register whether or not they wish to use a parking space reserved for disabled persons. If user U wishes to use a parking space reserved for disabled persons, the selection unit 102 selects a parking lot 10 with an available parking space reserved for disabled persons, according to the registered information. In the case of user U who has not registered a wish to use a parking space reserved for disabled persons, the selection unit 102 will not select a parking space reserved for disabled persons, even if one is available.

[0129] Furthermore, in the above embodiment, a configuration was described in which operations are accepted on a screen in the input method of the operation menu in the application of the information processing device 100. However, from the viewpoint of enabling operation while driving, the information processing device 100 may also include a configuration that accepts operations by voice input. The information processing device 100 may accept the operation content by receiving voice input from user U from the microphone of the user terminal 50 and analyzing the input voice.

[0130] Furthermore, while the flowcharts used in the above description show multiple steps (processes) in sequence, the execution order of the steps performed in each embodiment is not limited to the order in which they are described. In each embodiment, the order of the illustrated steps can be changed to the extent that it does not impede the content. Also, the above embodiments can be combined to the extent that their contents do not conflict.

[0131] 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 structure and details of the present invention can be made, which can be understood by those skilled in the art within the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, in this invention, any acquisition or use of information concerning users (User U, driver, etc.) shall be conducted in a lawful manner.

[0132] Some or all of the above embodiments may also be described as follows, but are not limited to the following: 1. A means of selecting a parking lot with available parking spaces, A calculation means for calculating the difficulty of driving to park in the available parking space of the parking lot selected by the selection means, An information processing device comprising information that can identify the aforementioned parking lot and a means for displaying the difficulty level of the parking lot. 2. In the information processing device described in 1., When multiple parking lots are selected by the selection means, the system further includes a determination means for determining the recommended order of the selected parking lots using the difficulty level of each parking lot. The aforementioned presentation means is an information processing device that determines the display configuration of the parking lot using the aforementioned recommended order. 3. In the information processing device described in 2. The determination means further determines the recommended order using information about the route to each of the parking lots selected by the selection means. 4. In the information processing device described in any one of items 1 to 3, The calculation means is an information processing device that calculates the difficulty level using parameters indicating attributes or status of at least one of the parking lot, the roadway accessing the parking lot, and the available parking spaces. In the information processing device described in 5.4, The aforementioned parameters are, An information processing device that includes at least one of the following parameters: the width of the roadway, the number of intersections to which right or left turns are made before reaching the parking lot, whether entry into the parking lot is a right or left turn from the direction of travel toward the parking lot, the width of the entrance from the roadway to the parking lot, the number of entrances, the degree of congestion at the entrances, whether or not it is necessary to take a parking ticket from a machine, whether or not there are gates at the entrance and exit of the parking lot, the size of the parking spaces, the arrangement of the parking spaces, the angle of entry into the parking spaces relative to the driving spaces within the parking lot, whether or not the parking spaces are parallel parking spaces, the size of the driving spaces within the parking lot, the availability of spaces within the parking lot, and whether or not the parking lot is self-propelled or mechanical. 6. In the information processing device described in any one of items 1 to 5, The calculation means is an information processing device that calculates the difficulty level using information about the driver's driving skills. In the information processing device described in 7.6, The calculation means is an information processing device that uses the driver's driving history information to identify the driver's weak and strong driving skills, and to identify information related to those driving skills. 8. In the information processing device described in any one of items 1 to 7, The calculation means is an information processing device that calculates the difficulty level using the presence or absence of at least one of the vehicle's automatic driving function and automatic parking function. 9. In the information processing device described in any one of items 1 to 8, The calculation means is an information processing device that calculates the difficulty level using information indicating at least one of the type and size of a vehicle. 10. In the information processing device described in any one of items 1 to 9, The calculation means is an information processing device that calculates the difficulty level using information on the ease of driving the vehicle to be parked.

[0133] 11. Information processing equipment and, A user terminal is provided, The aforementioned information processing device is One option is to choose a parking lot that has available parking spaces, A calculation means for calculating the difficulty of driving to park in the selected parking space, A parking reservation system comprising information that can identify the aforementioned parking lot and a display means for displaying the difficulty level of the parking lot on a display means of the user terminal. 12. In the parking reservation system described in 11., The aforementioned information processing device is When multiple parking lots are selected by the selection means, the system further includes a determination means for determining the recommended order of the selected parking lots using the difficulty level of each parking lot. The display means of the information processing device is a parking reservation system that determines the display configuration of the parking lot using the recommended order. 13. In the parking reservation system described in 12., The parking reservation system further determines the recommended order using information about the route to each parking lot selected by the selection means, in the determination means of the information processing device. 14. In any of the parking reservation systems described in 11. through 13., The calculation means of the information processing device calculates the difficulty level using parameters indicating attributes or status for at least one of the parking lot, the roadway accessing the parking lot, and the available parking spaces, in a parking reservation system. 15. In the parking reservation system described in 14., The aforementioned parameters are, A parking reservation system that includes at least one of the following parameters: the width of the roadway, the number of intersections to which right or left turns are made before reaching the parking lot, whether entry into the parking lot is a right or left turn from the direction of travel toward the parking lot, the width of the entrance from the roadway to the parking lot, the number of entrances, the degree of congestion at the entrances, whether or not it is necessary to take a parking ticket from a machine, whether or not there are gates at the entrance and exit of the parking lot, the size of the parking space, the arrangement of the parking spaces, the angle of entry into the parking space relative to the driving space within the parking lot, whether or not the parking space is parallel parking, the size of the driving space within the parking lot, the availability of parking spaces within the parking lot, and whether or not the parking lot is self-parking or mechanical. 16. In any of the parking reservation systems described in 11. through 15., A parking reservation system in which the calculation means of the information processing device calculates the difficulty level using the presence or absence of at least one of the vehicle's automatic driving function and automatic parking function. 17. In any of the parking reservation systems described in 11. through 16., The calculation means of the information processing device calculates the difficulty level using information on the ease of driving of the vehicle to be parked, in a parking reservation system. 18. In any of the parking reservation systems described in 11. through 17., Furthermore, the camera, The system includes an image processing device for processing images captured by the aforementioned camera, The image processing device is a parking reservation system that identifies at least one of the type and size of a vehicle by processing an image of the vehicle captured by the camera. 19. In the parking reservation system described in 18., A parking reservation system in which the calculation means of the information processing device calculates the difficulty level using information indicating at least one of the type and size of the vehicle identified by the image processing device. 20. In the parking reservation system described in 18. or 19., The selection means of the information processing device selects a parking lot having a parking space that can be parked using information indicating at least one of the type and size of the vehicle identified by the image processing device. 21. In any of the parking reservation systems described in 18. to 20., The image processing device identifies the driver's driving skills by processing video footage of the driver driving in the parking space. The calculation means of the information processing device is A parking reservation system that calculates the difficulty level using information on the driver's driving skills identified by the image processing device. 22. In the parking reservation system described in 21., The calculation means of the information processing device identifies the driver's weak and strong driving skills using the driver's driving history information, and identifies information related to the driving skills, in a parking reservation system.

[0134] 23. One or more computers, Choose a parking lot that has available parking spaces. The difficulty of driving to park in the selected parking space is calculated. An information processing method that presents information that can identify the aforementioned parking lot and its difficulty level. 24. In the information processing method described in 23., The aforementioned one or more computers When multiple parking lots are selected, the recommended order of the selected parking lots is further determined using the difficulty level of each parking lot. An information processing method that determines the display configuration of the parking lot using the aforementioned recommended order and presents the difficulty level. 25. In the information processing method described in 24., The aforementioned one or more computers Furthermore, an information processing method that determines the recommended order using information about the route to each selected parking lot. 26. In the information processing method described in any one of 23 to 25, The aforementioned one or more computers An information processing method for calculating the difficulty level using parameters that indicate the attributes or status of at least one of the following: the parking lot, the roadway accessing the parking lot, and the available parking spaces. 27. In the information processing method described in 26., The aforementioned parameters are, An information processing method that includes at least one of the following parameters: the width of the roadway, the number of intersections to which right or left turns are made before reaching the parking lot, whether entry into the parking lot is a right or left turn from the direction of travel toward the parking lot, the width of the entrance from the roadway to the parking lot, the number of entrances, the degree of congestion at the entrances, whether or not it is necessary to take a parking ticket from a machine, whether or not there are gates at the entrance and exit of the parking lot, the size of the parking spaces, the arrangement of the parking spaces, the angle of entry into the parking spaces relative to the driving spaces within the parking lot, whether or not the parking spaces are parallel parking spaces, the size of the driving spaces within the parking lot, the availability of spaces within the parking lot, and whether or not the parking lot is self-parking or mechanical. 28. In the information processing method described in any one of 23 to 27, The aforementioned one or more computers An information processing method for calculating the difficulty level using information about the driver's driving skills. 29. In the information processing method described in 28., The aforementioned one or more computers An information processing method that uses the driver's driving history information to identify the driver's weak and strong driving skills, and to identify information related to those driving skills. 30. In the information processing method described in any one of sections 23 to 29, The aforementioned one or more computers An information processing method for calculating the difficulty level using the presence or absence of at least one of the vehicle's autonomous driving function and autonomous parking function. 31. In any of the information processing methods described in 23. to 30., The aforementioned one or more computers An information processing method for calculating the difficulty level using information indicating at least one of the type and size of a vehicle. 32. In the information processing method described in any one of 23. to 31., The aforementioned one or more computers An information processing method for calculating the difficulty level using information on the ease of driving a vehicle to be parked.

[0135] 33. To the computer, A selection process to choose a parking lot with available parking spaces, A calculation process for calculating the difficulty of driving to park in the available parking space of the selected parking lot, Information that can identify the aforementioned parking lot, and a presentation process that displays its difficulty level, A computer-readable recording medium that stores a program to execute a program. 34. In the recording medium described in 33., When multiple parking lots are selected by the selection process, the computer is further instructed to perform a determination process to determine the recommended order of the selected parking lots using the difficulty level of each parking lot. A computer-readable recording medium storing a program that determines the display configuration of the parking lot using the recommended order in the presentation process. 35. In the recording medium described in 34., A computer-readable recording medium storing a program that, in the aforementioned determination process, further determines the recommended order using information about the route to each of the parking lots selected in the aforementioned selection process. 36. In any one of the recording media described in 33. to 35., A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for calculating the difficulty level using parameters indicating the attributes or status of at least one of the following: the parking lot, the roadway accessing the parking lot, and the available parking spaces. 37. In the recording medium described in 36., The aforementioned parameters are, A recording medium readable by a computer storing a program, which includes at least one of the following parameters: the width of the roadway, the number of intersections to which right or left turns are made before reaching the parking lot, whether entry into the parking lot is a right or left turn from the direction of travel toward the parking lot, the width of the entrance from the roadway to the parking lot, the number of entrances, the degree of congestion at the entrances, whether or not it is necessary to take a parking ticket from a machine, whether or not there are gates at the entrance and exit of the parking lot, the size of the parking spaces, the arrangement of the parking spaces, the angle of entry into the parking spaces relative to the driving spaces within the parking lot, whether or not the parking spaces are parallel parking spaces, the size of the driving spaces within the parking lot, the availability of spaces within the parking lot, and whether or not the parking lot is self-propelled or mechanical. 38. In any one of the recording media described in 33. to 37., A computer-readable recording medium that stores a program for calculating the difficulty level using information about the driver's driving skills in the calculation process. 39. In the recording medium described in 38., A computer-readable recording medium storing a program that, in the calculation process described above, uses the driver's driving history information to identify the driver's weak and strong driving skills, and identifies information related to those driving skills. 40. In any one of the recording media described in 33 to 39, A computer-readable recording medium storing a program that calculates the difficulty level using the presence or absence of at least one of the vehicle's automatic driving function and automatic parking function in the calculation process. 41. In any one of the recording media described in 33. to 40., A computer-readable recording medium storing a program for calculating the difficulty level using information indicating at least one of the type and size of a vehicle in the calculation process. 42. In any one of the recording media described in 33. to 41., A computer-readable recording medium that stores a program for calculating the difficulty level using information on the ease of driving the vehicle to be parked in the calculation process.

[0136] 43. To the computer, A selection process to choose a parking lot with available parking spaces, A calculation process for calculating the difficulty of driving to park in the available parking space of the selected parking lot, Information that can identify the aforementioned parking lot, and a presentation process that displays its difficulty level, A program to execute. 44. In the program described in 43., When multiple parking lots are selected by the selection process, the computer is further instructed to perform a determination process to determine the recommended order of the selected parking lots using the difficulty level of each parking lot. A program that determines the display configuration of the parking lot using the recommended order in the presentation process. 45. In the program described in 44., A program that, in the aforementioned decision process, further determines the recommended order using information about the route to each of the parking lots selected in the aforementioned selection process. 46. ​​In any of the programs described in 43. through 45., A program that calculates the difficulty level using parameters indicating the attributes or status of at least one of the following: the parking lot, the roadway accessing the parking lot, and the available parking spaces. 47. In the program described in 46. The aforementioned parameters are, A program that includes at least one of the following parameters: the width of the roadway, the number of intersections to which right or left turns are made before reaching the parking lot, whether entry into the parking lot is a right or left turn from the direction of travel toward the parking lot, the width of the entrance from the roadway to the parking lot, the number of entrances, the degree of congestion at the entrances, whether or not it is necessary to take a parking ticket from a machine, whether or not there are gates at the entrance and exit of the parking lot, the size of the parking spaces, the arrangement of the parking spaces, the angle of entry into the parking spaces relative to the driving spaces within the parking lot, whether or not the parking spaces are parallel parking spaces, the size of the driving spaces within the parking lot, the availability of spaces within the parking lot, and whether or not the parking lot is self-propelled or mechanical. 48. In any of the programs described in 43. through 47., A program that calculates the difficulty level using information about the driver's driving skills in the calculation process described above. 49. In the program described in 48. A program that, in the calculation process described above, uses the driver's driving history information to identify the driver's weak and strong driving skills, and identifies information related to those driving skills. 50. In any of the programs described in 43. through 49., A program that calculates the difficulty level using the presence or absence of at least one of the vehicle's automatic driving function and automatic parking function in the calculation process. 51. In any one of the programs described in 43. through 50., A program that calculates the difficulty level using information indicating at least one of the type and size of a vehicle in the calculation process. In any of the programs described in 52. 43. through 51., A program that calculates the difficulty level using information on the ease of driving the vehicle to be parked in the calculation process. [Explanation of symbols]

[0137] 1. Parking reservation system 3. Communication Network 5, 5a, 5b Cameras 10 Parking 30 vehicles 50 User Terminals 100 Information Processing Devices 102 Selection Section 104 Calculation Unit 106 Presentation section 108 Decision Section 120 Storage device 130 Image Processing Device 140 Storage device 200 Parking Information 210 Driver Information 300 screens 302 Difficulty level display 304 Destination display 310 screens 312 Recommended order display 320 screens 1000 computers 1010 Bus 1020 processor 1030 memory 1040 Storage Devices 1050 Input / Output Interface 1060 Network Interfaces

Claims

1. One option is to choose a parking lot that has available parking spaces, A calculation means for calculating the difficulty of driving to park in the available parking space of the parking lot selected by the selection means, The system includes information that can identify the aforementioned parking lot and a means for indicating its difficulty level. The calculation means calculates the difficulty level using information on how easy it is to drive the vehicle to be parked. Information processing device that provides information on the ease of driving of the vehicle to be parked, including at least one of the following: information indicating whether the vehicle is a rental car, information indicating whether it is left-hand drive or right-hand drive, information indicating the vehicle height, and information indicating the height of the driver's seat.

2. In the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, When multiple parking lots are selected by the selection means, the system further includes a determination means for determining the recommended order of the selected parking lots using the difficulty level of each parking lot. The aforementioned presentation means is an information processing device that determines the display configuration of the parking lot using the aforementioned recommended order.

3. In the information processing apparatus according to claim 2, The determination means further determines the recommended order using information about the route to each of the parking lots selected by the selection means.

4. In the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, The calculation means is an information processing device that calculates the difficulty level using information about the driver's driving skills.

5. In the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, The calculation means is an information processing device that calculates the difficulty level using the presence or absence of at least one of the vehicle's automatic driving function and automatic parking function.

6. In the information processing apparatus according to claim 4, The calculation means is an information processing device that uses the driver's driving history information to identify the driver's weak and strong driving skills, and to identify information related to those driving skills.

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