Information provision server, information provision method, and program recording medium

Abstract

To achieve both the accuracy of detecting a mobile object around a vehicle and efficient information notification.SOLUTION: An information providing server includes: determination means for, based on primary information acquired from a plurality of sensors that sense a predetermined range of a road, determining whether or not to provide secondary information that is created with the primary information acquired from the sensors to a first mobile object traveling on the road; information creation means for creating the secondary information using the primary information acquired from the plurality of sensors when it is determined to provide the secondary information to the first mobile object; and transmitting means for transmitting the secondary information to the first mobile object.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an information providing server, an information providing method, and a program recording medium. Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a notification system capable of detecting a blind spot moving object located at a position that becomes a blind spot as viewed from a right-turning vehicle and providing information to a driver. The notification system described in this document repeatedly captures images of a plurality of oncoming moving objects traveling at a road intersection with a camera. Then, this notification system determines, based on the images, whether there is a blind spot moving object that cannot be seen from the right-turn waiting position in the intersection among the oncoming moving objects, and notifies the driver of the right-turning vehicle in the intersection of the determined blind spot moving object.

[0003] Patent Document 2 discloses a right-turn driving support device that can reduce the cumbersome feeling given to a driver by setting support information related to an oncoming vehicle traveling on an oncoming road according to the traveling situation of the oncoming vehicle when the host vehicle is waiting for a right turn. According to the description of this document, this right-turn driving support device sets a blind spot rank according to the degree to which the following vehicle becomes difficult to see due to the blind spot of the oncoming preceding vehicle, based on the relationship between the body sizes of the preceding vehicle and the following vehicle based on information of the oncoming vehicle. Then, this right-turn driving support device sets the maximum value of each blind spot rank as an oncoming straight-ahead vehicle rank flag. Furthermore, this right-turn driving support device sets an evaluation rank according to the degree of risk when the host vehicle turns right, based on the oncoming straight-ahead vehicle rank flag and a right-turn oncoming vehicle rank flag set according to the body size of the oncoming vehicle waiting for a right turn. Then, this right-turn driving support device notifies right-turn driving support information according to the evaluation rank.

[0004] Patent Documents 3 and 4 disclose an in-vehicle device that provides driving support when turning right at an intersection or the like only by a sensor mounted on the host vehicle, without using information from a roadside device or another vehicle. Prior Art Documents Patent Documents

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2008-041058 [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2011-090582 [Patent Document 3] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2002-205615 [Patent Document 4] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2006-349456 [Overview of the project] [Problems that the invention aims to solve]

[0006] The following analysis is provided by the inventors. In order to achieve or support the safe movement of a mobile object, it is necessary to accurately detect mobile objects present in the vicinity of the mobile object that are difficult for the mobile object to detect (hereinafter referred to as "surrounding mobile objects"), and to notify the mobile object of information regarding the detected mobile objects. Furthermore, when notifying the mobile object of information, it is necessary to notify the information efficiently in order to reduce the communication load on the wireless communication network and improve the efficiency of the use of wireless resources. However, the method described above as background technology has the problem that it is difficult to achieve both the accuracy of detecting surrounding mobile objects and efficient information notification.

[0007] The system described in Patent Document 1 uses a configuration in which cameras and processing computers are arranged one-to-one, and information from each camera is independently notified to the vehicle. Therefore, there is a possibility of duplication of information notified to the vehicle between cameras. In addition, because information is notified independently from each camera to the same vehicle, protocol overhead increases.

[0008] In the method described in Patent Document 2, when generating driving assistance information for right turns, external information received from infrastructure equipment outside the vehicle and on-board sensor information are used in combination. However, since the information analysis is performed inside the vehicle, there is a problem in that transmitting external information to the vehicle requires a lot of wireless resources.

[0009] In the methods described in Patent Documents 3 and 4, surrounding moving objects are detected only from sensors mounted on the vehicle itself, which may result in the detection of surrounding moving objects being missed.

[0010] The present invention aims to provide an information provision server, an information provision method, and a program recording medium that can contribute to both maintaining the detection accuracy of the surrounding moving objects and improving the efficiency of information notification to the moving objects. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] According to the first perspective, an information providing server is provided, which includes: determination means for determining whether or not to provide secondary information created using primary information obtained from a plurality of sensors that sense a predetermined range of the road to a first moving object traveling on the road, based on primary information obtained from a plurality of sensors; information creation means for creating the secondary information using primary information obtained from the plurality of sensors if it is determined that the secondary information should be provided to the first moving object; and transmission means for transmitting the secondary information to the first moving object.

[0012] From a second perspective, a computer capable of acquiring primary information from multiple sensors sensing a predetermined range of a road is provided. Based on the primary information acquired from each of the multiple sensors, the computer determines whether or not to provide secondary information created using the primary information acquired from the multiple sensors to a first moving object traveling on the road. If it determines that the secondary information should be provided to the first moving object, the computer creates the secondary information using the primary information acquired from the multiple sensors and transmits the secondary information to the first moving object. This method is linked to a specific machine, a computer capable of acquiring information from the multiple sensors described above.

[0013] From a third perspective, a computer program (hereinafter referred to as "the program") is provided to realize the functions of the information provision server described above. This program is input to the computer device via an input device or an external communication interface, stored in a memory device, and drives the processor according to predetermined steps or processes. Furthermore, this program can display its processing results, including intermediate states, at each stage via a display device, or communicate with the outside via a communication interface, as needed. The computer device for this purpose typically comprises a processor, memory device, input device, communication interface, and, if necessary, a display device, all of which are connected to each other by a bus. This program can also be recorded on a computer-readable (non-transitive) storage medium. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] According to the present invention, it is possible to realize or support the safe movement of a moving object. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0015] [Figure 1] This is a diagram showing the configuration of one embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 2] This figure shows the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] This figure schematically shows the shooting range of the camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 4] This figure schematically shows the shooting range of the camera according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 5] This is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the information provision server in the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 6] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the information provision server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 7] This is a diagram illustrating the operation of the information provision server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 8]FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of secondary information provided to a vehicle from the information providing server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 9] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing another example of secondary information provided to a vehicle from the information providing server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 10] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another example of secondary information provided to a vehicle from the information providing server according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 11] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing another example of secondary information that can be provided by the information providing server of the present invention. [Figure 12] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing another example of secondary information that can be provided by the information providing server of the present invention. [Figure 13] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information providing server according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 14] FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the information providing server according to the second embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 15] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information providing server according to the third embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 16] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information providing server according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 17] FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the information providing server according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 18] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of secondary information provided to a vehicle from the information providing server according to the fourth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 19] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information providing server according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 20] FIG. 13 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the information providing server according to the fifth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 21] FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information providing server according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 22] FIG. 15 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the information providing server according to the sixth embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 23] FIG. 16 is a diagram showing the configuration of the seventh embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 24]This diagram shows the configuration of the computers that make up the information provision server of the present invention. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0016] First, an overview of one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The reference numerals in the drawings attached to this overview are added for convenience to each element as examples to aid understanding, and are not intended to limit the present invention to the illustrated embodiment. In addition, the connecting lines between blocks in the drawings and other references referred to in the following description include both bidirectional and unidirectional lines. Unidirectional arrows schematically indicate the flow of the main signal (data) and do not exclude bidirectionality. The program is executed via a computer device, which includes, for example, a processor, a storage device, an input device, a communication interface, and a display device as needed. This computer device is also configured to communicate with devices (including computers) inside or outside the device via the communication interface, whether wired or wireless. In addition, there are ports or interfaces at the input / output connection points of each block in the figures, but these are omitted from the illustration. In the following description, "A and / or B" means A or B, or A and B.

[0017] In one embodiment, the present invention can be realized by an information providing server 20, as shown in Figure 1, which includes a determination unit 21, an information creation unit 22, and a transmission unit 23. This information providing server 20 is connected by wired or wireless means to a plurality of sensors 10 that sense a predetermined range of the road, and is capable of acquiring data (primary information) from these sensors 10.

[0018] More specifically, the determination unit 21 functions as a determination means that determines whether or not to provide a first moving object traveling on the road with secondary information created using the primary information acquired from the multiple sensors, based on the primary information acquired from each of the sensors 10.

[0019] When the information creation unit 22 determines that it is necessary to provide the secondary information to a first moving object traveling on the road, it functions as an information creation means that creates the secondary information using the primary information acquired from the multiple sensors.

[0020] The transmitting unit 23 functions as a transmitting means for transmitting the secondary information to the first mobile body.

[0021] The information provision server 20 configured as described above determines, based on the primary information acquired from each of the multiple sensors 10, whether or not to provide secondary information created using the primary information acquired from the multiple sensors to the first moving object traveling on the road.

[0022] If, as a result of the above determination, it is determined that secondary information should be provided to the first mobile object traveling on the road, the information provision server 20 creates the secondary information using the primary information obtained from the multiple sensors. The information provision server 20 then transmits the secondary information to the first mobile object. As a result, the first mobile object can obtain secondary information based on the primary information obtained from each of the multiple sensors 10. Since this secondary information is created using primary information obtained from multiple sensors 10, it can cover the area around the first mobile object from a broader perspective. Furthermore, because the primary information is aggregated into secondary information by the information provision server 20, efficient information notification is also achieved.

[0023] Various types of secondary information are conceivable. For example, information about a moving object that is difficult to detect from the first moving object may be provided as secondary information. For instance, a first moving object attempting to turn right or left at an intersection, or attempting to navigate a sharp curve, may be informed of the presence and movement of a moving object located in a blind spot, based on information obtained from multiple sensors 10. Of course, examples of secondary information are not limited to those mentioned above. For example, secondary information may be information with improved accuracy compared to primary information. Even with the same type of sensor, using multiple sensors 10 placed at different locations can yield more accurate sensing results than those possessed by the first moving object. Furthermore, multiple types of sensors 10 can be combined to provide even more accurate secondary information. The first moving object may be a vehicle, a person, or a bicycle. For example, a person or bicycle attempting to navigate an intersection with poor visibility may be provided with secondary information based on primary information obtained from multiple sensors 10.

[0024] [First Embodiment] Next, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 2 is a diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figure 2, an information provision server 200 is shown connected to a plurality of sensors, cameras 100A to 100D.

[0025] Cameras 100A to 100D are installed alongside traffic signals 400A to 400D at the intersection and are capable of transmitting camera footage (still images or videos) to the information server 200. For example, camera 100A is installed in a position to capture head-on footage of traffic coming from the opposite lane (the lane going from the bottom to the top in Figure 2) of the intersecting longitudinal roads at the intersection shown on the left side of Figure 2.

[0026] Figure 3 schematically shows the shooting range of camera 100A. In the example in Figure 3, camera 100A is pointed in the same direction as the traffic signal 400A, and can shoot the range shown by the dashed line in Figure 3. Note that in Figure 3, the shooting range of camera 100A is roughly triangular, but its range in the far direction (the base of the dashed triangle in Figure 3) depends on the performance of camera 100A and the shooting environment.

[0027] As shown in Figure 4, cameras 100B to 100D have the same shooting range as camera 100A. By arranging cameras 100A to 100D in this way, it becomes possible to photograph traffic entering and exiting the intersection from various angles and monitor it comprehensively.

[0028] Of course, the camera arrangements shown in Figures 2 to 4 are merely examples, and the number and position of cameras can be changed to suit the content you wish to provide as secondary information. Furthermore, sensors other than cameras may be used. For example, instead of camera 100A, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging), infrared sensors, millimeter-wave sensors, etc., could be used, or a combination of multiple types of sensors could be employed.

[0029] The information provision server 200 includes a determination unit 201, an information creation unit 202, and a transmission unit 203.

[0030] The determination unit 201 determines, based on the camera images acquired from cameras 100A to 100D, whether or not to provide secondary information to a moving object entering the intersection from a specific direction (for example, the bottom of Figure 2), informing it of the presence of a moving object located in a blind spot. The presence or absence of a moving object entering the intersection from the specific direction can be detected by the camera image from camera 100A. Of course, it is also possible to use a method of detecting moving objects entering the intersection from a specific direction by installing optical beacons or ultrasonic sensors in the target lane. Here, the moving objects to which the information provision server 200 provides its services can be various, including vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles, but in the following description of this embodiment, an example in which the moving object to which the service is provided is a vehicle will be used.

[0031] As a method for extracting moving objects from camera images acquired from cameras 100A to 100D, for example, a method can be employed to extract moving objects as moving objects by comparing preceding and succeeding video frames or by comparing them with a pre-prepared background image. The method for extracting moving objects from camera images is not limited to these methods. For example, a method can be employed to extract moving objects by using high-precision 3D map information (static object information) of the area (around the intersection) and removing static objects from the objects extracted from the camera images. Furthermore, various publicly known object detection techniques, such as those using deep learning technology, can be used for object extraction from the camera images and for determining the type of object (moving object). In the following description, the information provision server 200 of this embodiment will be described as identifying the type of moving object in conjunction with object detection.

[0032] Furthermore, the determination unit 201 can decide whether or not to provide secondary information based on the presence or absence of a moving object that is difficult to detect from a moving object entering the intersection from the specified direction, the type of such moving object, and the movement attributes of such moving object (direction of movement and speed). The method for deciding whether or not to provide this secondary information will be explained in detail later with specific examples.

[0033] When the information creation unit 202 determines that it will provide the secondary information to the moving object (first moving object), it uses the camera images acquired from the cameras 100A to 100D to create secondary information that informs the moving object (first moving object) of the presence of a moving object located in a blind spot. More specifically, the information creation unit 202 creates the secondary information by removing overlapping information between the camera images obtained from the cameras 100A to 100D.

[0034] The transmitting unit 203 transmits secondary information to the mobile body (first mobile body) informing it of the presence of the mobile body located in the blind spot. The method by which the transmitting unit 203 transmits secondary information to the specific mobile body is to transmit the information in response to an inquiry from a communication device mounted on the mobile body (on-demand method). The transmitting unit 203 can transmit secondary information to the mobile body via a wireless communication network. Various mobile communication networks such as LTE (Long Term Evolution), 5G, local 5G, and Wi-Fi (registered trademark) can be used as the wireless communication network.

[0035] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information provision server 200 of the first embodiment of the present invention. Referring to Figure 5, first, the information provision server 200 acquires camera images from cameras 100A to 100D as primary information (step S001).

[0036] Next, the information server 200 analyzes the camera images acquired from cameras 100A to 100D and determines whether or not to provide secondary information to a moving object entering the intersection from a specific direction (step S002).

[0037] Figure 6 shows an example of the results obtained by the information server 200 from analyzing camera images acquired from cameras 100A to 100D and extracting moving objects. In Figure 6, CAR1 is assumed to be a moving object (first moving object) entering the intersection from a specific direction. The information server 200 is assumed to be aware of the presence of vehicle CAR2, which is attempting to turn right from the opposite lane of the lane in which vehicle CAR1 is traveling, motorcycle BIKE1 located behind it, and pedestrian P1 waiting at a traffic light in front of the building in the lower left of Figure 6.

[0038] If the analysis determines that secondary information should be provided to a moving object entering the intersection (the first moving object) (Yes in step S003), the information provision server 200 creates secondary information to be provided to the moving object (step S004). More specifically, the information provision server 200 uses camera images acquired from cameras 100A to 100D to create information informing the moving object of the presence of a moving object located in its blind spot. If the analysis in step S002 determines that secondary information should not be provided to a moving object entering the intersection (No in step S003), the information provision server 200 omits the subsequent processing.

[0039] Here, we will explain an example of how the information provision server 200 determines whether or not to provide secondary information. (Method 1) For example, if, as a result of analyzing camera footage (primary information), the information provision server 200 determines that information should be provided if a moving object exists in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), which is the target of secondary information provision, it can determine that information should not be provided if no such object exists. For example, in the case of Figure 6, since a motorcycle BIKE1 and a pedestrian P1 exist in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), the information provision server 200 will determine that information should be provided.

[0040] (Method 2) For example, if, as a result of analyzing the camera footage (primary information), a moving object is found in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) which is the target of secondary information provision, and that moving object is of a specific type (e.g., motorcycle, bicycle, person, etc.), the information provision server 200 determines that secondary information needs to be provided. Otherwise, the information provision server 200 determines that secondary information does not need to be provided.

[0041] (Method 3) For example, if, as a result of analyzing camera footage (primary information), a moving object is found in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) that is the target of secondary information provision, and that moving object is approaching the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), or if that moving object is stopped, the information provision server 200 determines that information should be provided. On the other hand, if the moving object in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is moving away from the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), the information provision server 200 can determine that information should not be provided. Furthermore, in Method 3, the determination of whether or not to provide secondary information may also be made by taking into account the speed of each moving object. For example, if the speed of a certain moving object is below a predetermined value, the information provision server 200 may make a determination by considering that the moving object is stopped, regardless of its direction of movement. Thus, a method can also be adopted to determine whether or not to provide secondary information using the movement attributes of the moving objects.

[0042] Furthermore, whether or not a moving object exists in the blind spot in methods 1 to 3 described above can be determined by the following method. First, the information server 200 determines whether or not each moving object is in a blind spot based on the position information of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) and information of surrounding moving objects (objects) (and surrounding map information). For example, as shown in Figure 7, the information server 200 draws two virtual lines (dashed lines) on a map representing the general layout of the intersection, connecting the sensor position of vehicle CAR1 and the edges of the moving objects. If there are other moving objects or structures on either or both of these virtual lines (dashed lines), the information server 200 can determine that the moving object is in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1). For example, in the case of the motorcycle BIKE1 in Figure 7, since another moving object (vehicle CAR2) lies on the two virtual lines (dashed lines), the information server 200 determines that BIKE1 is in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1). Similarly, for example, in the case of pedestrian P1 in Figure 7, since a structure (the "building" in the lower left of Figure 7) lies on the virtual line (dashed line), the information server 200 determines that pedestrian P1 is in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1). On the other hand, in the case of vehicle CAR2 in Figure 7, since no other moving objects or structures lie on the virtual line (dashed line), the information server 200 determines that vehicle CAR2 is not in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1). Note that the method for determining whether or not a moving object exists in a blind spot is not limited to the above examples, and various methods can be employed. For example, instead of drawing two imaginary lines (dashed lines) as shown in Figure 7, a simpler method may be adopted in which an imaginary line (dashed line) is drawn from the center position of one moving object to the center position of another moving object, and if another moving object or structure lies in between, it is determined that the other moving object is in a blind spot. Furthermore, in the above explanation, the "blind spot" was described as the blind spot of the camera mounted on the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), but examples of blind spots are not limited to this. For example, a blind spot due to the "driver's (operator's) viewpoint" may be considered. Also, the "blind spot" is not limited to a blind spot due to "visible light," but may also be a blind spot of LiDAR, RADAR, etc., depending on the type of sensor mounted on the first moving object (vehicle CAR1).In methods 1 to 3 described above, a configuration can also be adopted in which the first mobile entity (vehicle CAR1) sends an inquiry message containing the location information of the first mobile entity (vehicle CAR1) to the information provision server 200.

[0043] Finally, the information providing server 200 transmits the created secondary information to the first mobile entity (step S005). For example, the secondary information can be transmitted to vehicle CAR1 by identifying the source communication address from the inquiry message from the first mobile entity (vehicle CAR1) and transmitting the secondary information to that communication address.

[0044] Here, we will describe an example of secondary information created in step S004 and provided to the vehicle in step S005. Figure 8 shows an example of secondary information provided by the information provision server 200 to the vehicle CAR1, which is the first mobile object in Figure 6. In the example in Figure 8, the positional relationship between the motorcycle BIKE1 and the pedestrian P1, which are in the blind spot from the vehicle CAR1, is displayed on a screen of the vehicle CAR1, providing information to draw attention. Alternatively, such a positional relationship may be displayed and provided superimposed on a map. Note that the form of providing secondary information is not limited to the form exemplified in Figure 8. For example, it may be in the form of conveying the presence of the motorcycle BIKE1 and the pedestrian P1, which are in the blind spot from the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1), by voice. Furthermore, the provision of secondary information may be in a form that can be interpreted by the in-vehicle terminal (including the case of a driver assistance device) of the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1). For example, instead of using a form that appeals to human sight and hearing through sound, such as the speech bubble with added comments shown in Figure 8, it is also possible to provide it in a form that can be interpreted by the in-vehicle terminal of the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1).

[0045] The positional relationship information shown in Figure 8 above can be created in the following way. First, the information server 200 identifies the same moving object captured in the camera images of cameras 100A to 100D and removes the duplicates. For example, if multiple moving objects of the same type and / or size are detected by multiple cameras at the same time and location, the information server 200 identifies them as the same moving object. Then, the information server 200 creates secondary information representing the positional relationship between the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) and the object identified as the same. In addition, since vehicle CAR2 in Figure 8 is an object detectable by the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), it can be excluded from the information to be included in the secondary information. In this way, duplication and unnecessary information of objects captured in the camera images of cameras 100A to 100D are removed. Similarly, when providing secondary information in a form that can be interpreted by the in-vehicle terminal of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), the same moving object can be identified and duplicates removed, or moving objects that can be captured by the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) can be excluded to create the secondary information.

[0046] Another method for creating secondary information is to aggregate information from multiple mobile objects located in blind spots from the perspective of the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1) into the same message or IP packet and transmit it to the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1). If each camera independently transmits the IP packetized information to the first mobile object (vehicle), an IP header will be added to each IP packet, resulting in a high proportion of IP headers in the total transmitted data. On the other hand, by aggregating the information into a single IP packet at the information provision server 200 and transmitting it, the proportion of IP headers in the total transmitted data can be reduced. Furthermore, aggregating and transmitting the information at the information provision server 200 is expected to reduce the signaling load on the mobile communication network, such as the establishment of wireless links and the allocation of wireless resources, compared to the case where each camera independently transmits information to the first mobile object (vehicle).

[0047] The secondary information created as described above is used in various forms in the first mobile vehicle (car CAR1). For example, it can be transmitted to an in-vehicle terminal or smartphone in the first mobile vehicle (car CAR1) and displayed on these devices to present it to the driver. Alternatively, it can be displayed using AR (Augmented Reality) on the front windshield of the first mobile vehicle (car CAR1). Figures 9 and 10 show examples of the secondary information being displayed on these terminals and the front windshield. For example, in the example in Figure 9, a message is displayed indicating that a motorcycle BIKE1 and a pedestrian P1 are present behind the vehicle CAR2 and building, which are visible as real images. In the example in Figure 10, objects representing the motorcycle BIKE1 and pedestrian P1 are displayed using AR behind the vehicle CAR2 and building, which are visible as real images. By using secondary information in this way, it is possible to accurately inform the driver of the first mobile vehicle that motorcycles and pedestrians are located in their blind spots. The objects in Figure 10 (BIKE1 and P1) may be icons, or they may be frontal images estimated from lateral images (primary information) of the motorcycle or pedestrian obtained from camera 100B. Furthermore, these objects may display information such as the speed estimated from the camera footage and the distance to CAR1.

[0048] Furthermore, secondary information can be used in forms other than those that appeal to the driver's visual sense. For example, secondary information can be input into an in-vehicle terminal of the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1) and used as information for autonomous driving or driver assistance. For example, secondary information can be provided as information that complements the dynamic map for autonomous driving.

[0049] As explained above, this embodiment allows for the efficient transmission of highly accurate secondary information to a first moving object (vehicle) entering an intersection from a specific direction. This is because the system employs a configuration that uses primary information acquired from cameras 100A to 100D to determine whether or not secondary information needs to be created, and then creates secondary information by eliminating duplication.

[0050] In the first embodiment described above, an example was given of providing secondary information to a first moving object (vehicle) entering an intersection from a specific direction. However, the applications of the present invention are not limited to this example. For example, as shown in Figure 11, due to the presence of a parked vehicle obj1, an image of a moving object (second moving object) obj2 (a pedestrian in Figure 11) may be located in a blind spot of the vehicle obj0's sensors. In such a case, the present invention can also be applied to inform the first moving object (vehicle obj0) of the presence of the moving object (second moving object) located in a blind spot of the sensors. Also, for example, as shown in Figure 12, due to the presence of a parked vehicle obj1 in a parking lot, a pedestrian obj2 may be located in a place that is difficult for the vehicle obj0's sensors to detect. In such a case, the present invention can also be applied to inform the vehicle obj0 of the presence of the pedestrian obj2. Furthermore, the first moving object may be a pedestrian or a bicycle, in addition to a vehicle. Thus, the present invention can be applied to a wide range of applications that provide information about the presence of a second moving object in the vicinity of a first moving object, which is difficult for the first moving object to detect.

[0051] [Second Embodiment] Next, a second embodiment, which modifies the method of transmitting information to a specific mobile object, will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the second embodiment, the mobile object to which the information provision server 200a provides its services can be various, including vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles. However, in the following description, we will use the example of a vehicle as the mobile object to which the service is provided. Figure 13 shows the configuration of the information provision server in the second embodiment of the present invention. The configuration difference from the first embodiment shown in Figure 2 is that an address acquisition unit 204 has been added to the information provision server 200a, and the functions of the determination unit 201a and the transmission unit 203a have been modified. The other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment, so the following description will focus on those differences.

[0052] The determination unit 201a provides the camera images (primary information) obtained from cameras 100A to 100D to the address acquisition unit 204.

[0053] The address acquisition unit 204 performs individual identification by reading license plate information from the image of the moving object (vehicle) captured in the camera images (primary information) obtained from cameras 100A to 100D. The address acquisition unit 204 then transmits the license plate information to the mobile object management server 300 located in the cloud and requests the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the in-vehicle terminal of the mobile object (vehicle) with the corresponding license plate information.

[0054] The mobile device management server 300 is a server that manages mobile device information, which links license plate information with the IP addresses of in-vehicle terminals, etc., of each mobile device (vehicle). When the mobile device management server 300 receives a request from the information provision server 200a for the IP address corresponding to the license plate information, it responds to the information provision server 200a with the IP address.

[0055] The transmitting unit 203a uses the acquired IP address to transmit information to the mobile object (vehicle) informing it of the presence of another mobile object located in the blind spot.

[0056] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 14 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information provision server 200a of the second embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the operation of the first embodiment shown in Figure 5 is that steps S105 and S106 are added after step S004.

[0057] After creating secondary information to be provided to the first mobile object (vehicle) (step S004), the information provision server 200a identifies the first mobile object (vehicle) by reading license plate information from the image of the first mobile object (vehicle) captured in the images obtained from cameras 100A to 100D (primary information) (step S105).

[0058] The information provision server 200a obtains the IP address of the in-vehicle terminal, etc., of the identified first mobile object (vehicle) from the mobile object management server 300 located on the cloud (step S106).

[0059] Finally, the information server 200a uses the acquired IP address to transmit the secondary information created in step S004 to the first mobile object (vehicle) (step S005).

[0060] As explained above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to identify the communication address without receiving an inquiry message and notify the first mobile device of the information. Furthermore, according to this embodiment, it is possible to transmit information to the first mobile device even if the in-vehicle terminal of the first mobile device does not have a function to request secondary information. In other words, in addition to the effects of the first embodiment, this embodiment has the advantage of simplifying the functions on the in-vehicle terminal side.

[0061] In the second embodiment described above, license plate information was read from camera images obtained from cameras 100A to 100D to identify the address of the in-vehicle terminal, etc. However, the method for identifying the address of the in-vehicle terminal, etc. of the first mobile vehicle is not limited to this. For example, if a server exists in the cloud that links people's facial images with addresses, a method can be adopted in which the driver is identified from the facial image captured in the camera images obtained from cameras 100A to 100D, and the terminal address of the first mobile vehicle is identified by further querying the server. Adopting this method has the advantage of being able to provide secondary information to ordinary pedestrians and cyclists other than vehicle occupants.

[0062] Specifically, a server is placed in the cloud that links a person's facial image with the address of the information terminal that the person possesses. The information provision server 200a then queries the server for the address of the information terminal that the person possesses, corresponding to the facial image. In this way, the present invention can be applied not only when the destination of the information is a vehicle, but also when the destination is a pedestrian or a person riding a bicycle.

[0063] [Third Embodiment] Next, a third embodiment, in which a camera mounted on a moving object is used as one of the sensors in each of the embodiments described above, will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the third embodiment as well, various things can be considered as the moving object to which the information provision server 200b provides its services and the moving object from which camera images are acquired, such as vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles. However, in the following description, examples will be given in which these moving objects are vehicles. Figure 15 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information provision server in the third embodiment of the present invention. The difference in configuration from the first embodiment shown in Figure 2 is that the determination unit 201b of the information provision server 200b is able to acquire camera images from cameras 100E mounted on surrounding moving objects in transit via the network. The other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment, so the following description will focus on those differences.

[0064] The determination unit 201b of the information provision server 200b acquires camera images from cameras 100E mounted on one or more mobile vehicles passing near the intersection via the network. The determination unit 201b can identify the acquisition location of the image from metadata such as EXIF ​​information attached to the camera image. Alternatively, the network side may be equipped with a function to transmit camera images to the information provision server 200b based on the location information of the mobile vehicles, so that camera images from mobile vehicles heading towards the intersection are automatically transmitted to the information provision server 200b.

[0065] As described above, the information provision server 200b of this embodiment is capable of acquiring images as primary information from cameras 100E mounted on one or more mobile vehicles passing near an intersection. This makes it possible, for example, as shown in Figure 15, to obtain images from vehicle CAR3 traveling further behind a mobile vehicle (second mobile vehicle) BIKE1, which is located in a blind spot of the first mobile vehicle (vehicle CAR1).

[0066] Thus, this embodiment, which uses cameras of surrounding moving objects as sensors, improves the accuracy of determining whether or not secondary information needs to be created, and also enriches the information to be included in the secondary information. In particular, with fixed cameras installed on roads, such as cameras 100A to 100D, the image quality may deteriorate due to backlighting depending on the position of the sun, but by using camera 100E, it is possible to prevent a decrease in judgment accuracy, etc.

[0067] [Fourth Embodiment] Next, a fourth embodiment in which the information provision server provides secondary information considering the movement status of a moving object will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the fourth embodiment as well, various objects such as pedestrians and bicycles can be considered as moving objects in addition to vehicles, but in the following description, an example in which the moving object is a vehicle will be used. Figure 16 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information provision server in the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The difference in configuration from the first embodiment shown in Figure 2 is that a movement status acquisition unit 205 is added to the information provision server 200c, and the information creation unit 202c is configured to create secondary information using the information acquired by the movement status acquisition unit 205. The other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment, so the following description will focus on those differences.

[0068] The movement state acquisition unit 205 of the information provision server 200c acquires the movement state of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) as captured by cameras 100A to 100D. Here, "movement state" refers to the state of the movement of the moving object, and includes, for example, the direction of travel and speed. The following explanation will use the case where the direction of travel is acquired as the movement state as an example. As a method for acquiring the movement state of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), a method can be adopted in which the direction of travel is estimated from the movement of the image of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) captured in the camera images obtained from cameras 100A to 100D and from the information of the turn signals. The method for acquiring the direction of travel of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is not limited to this, and various methods can be adopted. For example, if the direction of travel is designated on the lanes of an intersection (for example, a right-turn lane), a method can be used to estimate the direction of travel using the lane information in which the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is located as captured in the camera image. Furthermore, if the information provision server 200c can obtain route planning information (route information from a car navigation system) for the first mobile body (vehicle CAR1) from the vehicle's onboard terminal, the direction of travel may be estimated using the route planning information. Also, if the information provision server 200c can obtain the steering angle of the vehicle, the direction of travel of the first mobile body (vehicle CAR1) may be estimated using the steering angle. In addition, if the traffic signal light pattern at an intersection is set to specify the direction of travel (for example, a combination of a red light and a right arrow), a method can be used to estimate the direction of travel of the first mobile body (vehicle CAR1) using the light state of the traffic signal captured in the camera image or the control information of the traffic signal.

[0069] The information creation unit 202c creates secondary information using the camera images from cameras 100A to 100D, as well as the direction of travel of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) obtained as described above. Specifically, the information creation unit 202c assigns a higher priority to objects (second moving objects) in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) that are in the direction of travel of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), and creates secondary information taking that priority into consideration.

[0070] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 17 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information provision server 200c of the fourth embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the operation of the first embodiment shown in Figure 5 is that steps S204 and S205 are added after step S003.

[0071] If the information providing server 200c determines to provide secondary information to the mobile object (first mobile object) (Yes in step S003), it acquires the movement status (direction of travel information) of the mobile object (step S204).

[0072] Next, the information server 200c determines the importance level to assign to each object using the object placement and the movement state (direction of travel) of the moving object (step S205). Then, the information server 200c creates secondary information considering the determined importance levels (step S004). For example, suppose the movement state (direction of travel) of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is determined to be turning right. In this case, as shown in Figure 18, the information server 200c assigns a higher importance level to the motorcycle BIKE1, which is in the direction of travel of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), among the objects (BIKE1, P1) in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1). Then, the information server 200c creates secondary information that strongly draws attention to the motorcycle BIKE1. At this time, pedestrian P1, which has been assigned a low importance level, can be omitted from the secondary information.

[0073] According to the information provision server 200c of this embodiment, which operates as described above, it is possible to narrow down the information transmitted to the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1) compared to the first to third embodiments. As a result, it is possible to more efficiently communicate the presence of a mobile object in a blind spot to the driver of the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1) and the onboard equipment.

[0074] Furthermore, although the above-described embodiment explains how secondary information is created using the importance level assigned to an object, the use of importance is not limited to this. For example, the way each object is displayed when the secondary information is shown as an image on the in-vehicle terminal may be different. Also, the transmission method of the secondary information may be different depending on the level of importance assigned to each object. For example, secondary information indicating the presence of a high-importance object may be transmitted in a push manner without waiting for a request from the first mobile entity (vehicle CAR1) (see the second embodiment), while other information may be transmitted in response to a request from the first mobile entity (vehicle CAR1).

[0075] In the fourth embodiment described above, the direction of travel was used as the movement state, but the speed of the first moving object may also be used as the movement state. The speed of the first moving object may be obtained from a speed sensor or by analyzing video. Furthermore, if the first moving object is a vehicle and the position of its shift lever can be obtained, the speed may be estimated from the position information of the shift lever. In this way, by using speed as information as the movement state, for example, a low importance level can be set when the speed is below a predetermined threshold (such as when stopped or moving at a very slow speed).

[0076] Furthermore, while the description of the fourth embodiment above explained an example of acquiring and considering the movement state of the first moving object, instead of, or in addition to, acquiring the movement state (direction of travel, speed, etc.) of other moving objects (surrounding moving objects) may be used to create secondary information. For example, if two moving objects exist in the blind spot of the first moving object, and each has a different direction of travel and speed, different importance levels may be set accordingly. [Fifth Embodiment] Next, a fifth embodiment in which the information provision server determines whether or not to provide secondary information considering the movement status of the moving object will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the fifth embodiment as well, various things can be considered as the moving object, such as vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles, but in the following description, an example in which the moving object is a vehicle will be given. Figure 19 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information provision server in the fifth embodiment of the present invention. The difference in configuration from the first embodiment shown in Figure 2 is that a movement status acquisition unit 205 is added to the determination unit 201d of the information provision server 200d, and the determination unit 201d is configured to determine whether or not to create secondary information using the information acquired by the movement status acquisition unit 205. The other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment, so the following description will focus on those differences.

[0077] The movement status acquisition unit 205 of the information provision server 200d acquires the movement status (direction of travel) of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) as captured by cameras 100A to 100D. The method for acquiring the movement status (direction of travel) of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is the same as in the fourth embodiment, so the explanation is omitted. Furthermore, in the following explanation, the case in which the direction of travel is acquired as the movement status will be explained as an example.

[0078] The determination unit 201d uses the camera images from cameras 100A to 100D, as well as the movement state (direction of travel) of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) obtained as described above, to determine whether or not secondary information needs to be provided. Specifically, the determination unit 201d determines whether or not secondary information needs to be provided based on whether or not an object in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is in the direction of travel of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1).

[0079] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 20 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information provision server 200d of the fifth embodiment of the present invention. The differences from the operation of the first embodiment shown in Figure 5 are that in step S301, the movement status is acquired in addition to the primary information, and in step S302, the movement status is analyzed in addition to the primary information.

[0080] For example, if the direction of travel is determined to be a right turn for the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), the information providing server 200d determines that secondary information is required because, as shown in Figure 18, among the objects (BIKE1, P1) in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), the two-wheeled vehicle BIKE1 is in the direction of travel of vehicle CAR1. Conversely, if none of the objects in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) are in the direction of travel of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), the information providing server 200d determines that secondary information is not required.

[0081] According to the information provision server 200d of this embodiment, which operates as described above, it is possible to narrow down the information transmitted to the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1) compared to the first to fourth embodiments. As a result, it is possible to more efficiently communicate the presence of a mobile object in a blind spot to the driver of the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1) and the onboard equipment.

[0082] In the fifth embodiment described above, the direction of travel was used as the movement state, but the speed of the first moving object may also be used as the movement state. The speed of the first moving object may be obtained from a speed sensor or by analyzing video. Furthermore, if the first moving object is a vehicle and the position of its shift lever can be obtained, the speed may be estimated from the position information of the shift lever. For example, if the speed is below a predetermined threshold (such as when stopped or moving at a very slow speed), it can be determined that the information does not need to be provided.

[0083] Furthermore, in the description of the fifth embodiment above, an example was given in which the movement state of the first moving object is acquired and considered. However, instead of this, or in addition to this, the movement state (direction of travel, speed, etc.) of other moving objects (surrounding moving objects) may be acquired to determine whether or not secondary information needs to be provided. For example, if a moving object is in the blind spot of the first moving object, its direction of travel and speed may be acquired, and the need to provide the information may be determined accordingly.

[0084] [Sixth Embodiment] Next, a sixth embodiment in which the information provision server determines whether or not to provide secondary information considering the future movement of the moving object will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the sixth embodiment as well, various things can be considered as the moving object, such as vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles, but in the following description, an example in which the moving object is a vehicle will be given. Figure 21 is a diagram showing the configuration of the information provision server of the sixth embodiment of the present invention. The difference in configuration from the first embodiment shown in Figure 2 is that a motion prediction unit 206 is added to the determination unit 201e of the information provision server 200e, and the determination unit 201e is configured to determine whether or not to create secondary information using the information acquired by the motion prediction unit 206. The other configurations are the same as in the first embodiment, so the following description will focus on those differences.

[0085] The motion prediction unit 206 of the information provision server 200e predicts the movement of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) from its state as captured by cameras 100A to 100D. One method for predicting the movement of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is to predict its movement after a predetermined time from the image of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) captured in the camera images obtained from cameras 100A to 100D. The method for predicting the movement of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is not limited to this, and various methods can be used. For example, if the information provision server 200e can obtain information about the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) from the vehicle's onboard terminal (instrument information of vehicle CAR1 (steering angle, speedometer, GPS information, etc.)), this information may be used to estimate the movement after a predetermined time. Alternatively, if the server can obtain information about the lighting status of traffic signals at an intersection or control information of traffic signals, this information can be used to predict the movement of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1). For example, if the traffic light in the direction of travel of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is red, it can be predicted that the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) will not move for a while. Also, for example, if information is obtained that the traffic light in the direction of travel of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) will soon turn green, it can be predicted that the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) will start moving after a predetermined time. Furthermore, for example, if the first moving object is a vehicle and its travel route planning information (route information from a car navigation system) can be obtained, the movement may be predicted using the travel route planning information. Also, for example, if the lanes at an intersection are designated with directions of travel (e.g., a right-turn lane), a method can be used to predict the movement using the lane information in which the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is located as seen in the camera image.

[0086] The determination unit 201e determines whether or not to provide secondary information using the camera images from cameras 100A to 100D, as well as the future movement of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) obtained as described above. Specifically, the determination unit 201e determines whether or not to provide secondary information based on the presence or absence of objects in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1), as well as whether or not the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is stationary for a while.

[0087] Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 22 is a flowchart showing the operation of the information provision server 200e of the sixth embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the operation of the first embodiment shown in Figure 5 is that a step S501 predicting the movement of the moving object is added after step S002.

[0088] For example, if the prediction is that the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) will remain stationary for a while, the information server 200e will determine that secondary information does not need to be provided, regardless of whether or not there are objects in the blind spot of the first moving object (vehicle CAR1). Conversely, if the prediction is that the first moving object (vehicle CAR1) is moving or will start moving soon, the information server 200e will determine that secondary information needs to be provided.

[0089] According to the information provision server 200e of this embodiment, which operates as described above, it is possible to narrow down the information transmitted to the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1) compared to the first to fifth embodiments. As a result, it is possible to more efficiently communicate the presence of a mobile object in a blind spot to the driver of the first mobile object (vehicle CAR1) and the onboard equipment.

[0090] Furthermore, while the description of the sixth embodiment above explained an example in which the movement state of the first moving body is acquired and considered, instead of, or in addition to, predicting the future movement of other moving bodies (surrounding moving bodies) may be performed to create secondary information. For example, if there are two moving bodies in the blind spot of the first moving body and their future movements are different, different importance levels may be set accordingly.

[0091] [Seventh Embodiment] Next, a seventh embodiment in which the information provision server functions as a MEC (Mobile Edge Computing / Multi-access Edge Computing) server will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Figure 23 is a diagram showing the configuration of the seventh embodiment of the present invention. The difference from the first embodiment shown in Figure 2 and below is that the information provision server 200g is located at the edge on the camera 100A to 100D side of the network that transmits primary information acquired from cameras 100A to 100D, respectively, to a predetermined control server 500.

[0092] Referring to Figure 23, the configuration shows that cameras 100A to 100D are connected to the control server 500 via the base station 600, mobile backhaul 700, gateway (GW) 800, and the internet 900.

[0093] In addition to its normal base station functions, base station 600 transmits camera images captured by cameras 100A to 100D to control server 500 and information server 200g. Control server 500 uses the camera images captured by cameras 100A to 100D to perform information processing necessary for air traffic control operations.

[0094] The information provision server 200g uses the camera images from cameras 100A to 100D received from the base station 600 to perform operations similar to those in the first embodiment, create secondary information, and transmit the secondary information to the mobile device (first mobile device) via the base station 600 as needed. Therefore, the information provision server 200g functions as a type of mobile edge computing server (MEC server). The mobile backhaul 700, gateway (GW) 800, and internet 900 are configurations well known to those skilled in the art, so their description is omitted.

[0095] According to the configuration of this embodiment, it is possible to provide secondary information to a moving object (first moving object) by adding it to an existing traffic control system. Furthermore, as described above, since the information provision server 200g is located at the edge of the network on the camera 100A to 100D side that transmits primary information to a predetermined control server 500, there is an advantage in that processing delay can be reduced compared to the case where the control server 500 is made to provide equivalent secondary information.

[0096] Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and further modifications, substitutions, and adjustments can be made without departing from the basic technical idea of ​​the present invention. For example, the network configuration, the configuration of each element, and the data representation form shown in each drawing are examples to help understand the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations shown in these drawings. For example, in the embodiments described above, an example was given in which two cameras were arranged so that their shooting directions intersect at right angles, but the number and arrangement of cameras are not limited to this.

[0097] Furthermore, the first to seventh embodiments described above can be combined to construct another embodiment by combining features of two or more embodiments of which are arbitrarily selected. For example, by combining the second embodiment and the third embodiment, it is possible to obtain an information provision server that has a function to identify the information transmission destination of the first mobile body and uses images from the cameras of the surrounding mobile bodies as one of the sensors.

[0098] Furthermore, the procedures described in the first to seventh embodiments above can be implemented by a program that enables the computer (9000 in Figure 24) to function as an information provision server 200 to 200g to perform the functions of an information provision server 200 to 200g. Such a computer is exemplified by a configuration comprising a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 9010, a communication interface 9020, memory 9030, and auxiliary storage device 9040 as shown in Figure 24. In other words, the CPU 9010 in Figure 24 executes data processing programs and data transmission programs, and performs update processing of each calculation parameter held in its auxiliary storage device 9040, etc.

[0099] In other words, each part (processing means, function) of the information provision servers 200 to 200g shown in the above embodiments can be realized by a computer program that causes the processor mounted on these devices to execute the above-mentioned processes using its hardware.

[0100] Finally, preferred embodiments of the present invention are summarized. [First form] (See the information server from the first perspective mentioned above) [Second form] The determination means of the information providing server described above can be configured to determine whether or not to provide the secondary information based on at least one of the following: whether or not a second mobile body exists in the vicinity of the first mobile body that is difficult for the first mobile body to detect, the type of the second mobile body, or the movement attributes of the second mobile body, and to determine to provide the secondary information if it is determined that a second mobile body exists in the vicinity of the first mobile body that is difficult for the first mobile body to detect. [Third form] The determination means of the information providing server described above identifies objects present in the sensing range of the multiple sensors from primary information acquired from the multiple sensors, extracts the second mobile body present in the blind spot of the first mobile body from the identified objects and the positions of the first mobile body, and determines whether or not to provide the secondary information based on the information about the extracted second mobile body. The information creation means may be configured to create information that includes information relating to the second moving body as secondary information. [Fourth form] The information provision server described above can be configured to determine the identity of objects included in the primary information acquired from the multiple sensors, and to create the secondary information based on the result of the identity determination. [Fifth form] The information server mentioned above is Furthermore, the system may be configured to include an address acquisition means that performs individual identification of the first mobile entity using the primary information and obtains a communication address assigned to the first mobile entity based on the result of the individual identification, and the transmission means transmits the secondary information to the communication address. [Sixth form] The information provision server determination means described above can be configured to determine whether or not to provide the secondary information based on the location information contained in the message received from the first mobile body, and the transmission means can transmit the secondary information to the communication address of the sender of the message. [Seventh form] The sensor connected to the information provision server described above may include at least one of the sensors installed on the road or the sensors equipped on a moving object traveling on the road. [Eighth form] The information provision server described above is also capable of acquiring the movement status of moving objects traveling on the road. The determination means can be configured to determine whether or not to provide the secondary information to the first moving body using the movement state. [Ninth form] The information provision server described above is also capable of acquiring the movement status of moving objects traveling on the road. The information creation means can be configured to determine the importance of each of the second moving bodies using the movement state and to create the secondary information taking that importance into consideration. [Tenth form] The information provision server described above can be configured to use at least one of the following as the movement status: the status of nearby traffic signals, the planned route of a moving object traveling on the road, the lane information of the moving object traveling on the road, and the speed information of the moving object traveling on the road. [The 11th form] The determination means of the information provision server described above can be configured to predict the movement of a moving object traveling on the road and to determine whether or not to provide the secondary information to the moving object traveling on the road based on the result of the movement prediction. [Form 12] The determination means of the information provision server described above can be configured to predict the movement of moving objects traveling on the road, determine the importance of each of the second moving objects using the results of the movement prediction, and create the secondary information taking into account the importance. [The 13th form] The determination means of the information provision server described above can be configured to predict the movement of a moving object traveling on the road based on at least one of the following: the lighting status of nearby traffic signals, the planned travel route of a moving object traveling on the road, the lane information of the moving object traveling on the road, and the speed information of the moving object traveling on the road. [Form 14] The information server mentioned above is This server may be located at the edge of the network on the sensor side, transmitting primary information acquired from each of the aforementioned multiple sensors to a predetermined control server. [Form 15] (See the second perspective above for information provision methods.) [Form 16] (See the program from the third perspective above) Furthermore, the 15th to 16th forms described above can be expanded into the 2nd to 14th forms, similar to the 1st form.

[0101] Furthermore, each disclosure in the above-mentioned patent documents is incorporated into this document by reference and may be used as the basis or part of the present invention as necessary. Within the framework of the full disclosure of the present invention (including the claims), further modifications and adjustments to the embodiments or examples are possible based on the basic technical concept. Also, within the framework of the disclosure of the present invention, various combinations or selections (including partial deletions) of various disclosure elements (including each element of each claim, each element of each embodiment or example, each element of each drawing, etc.) are possible. In other words, the present invention naturally includes the full disclosure, including the claims, and various modifications and alterations that a person skilled in the art could make in accordance with the technical concept. In particular, with respect to the numerical ranges described in this document, any numerical value or sub-range included within that range should be interpreted as being specifically described, even if not otherwise stated. Furthermore, each disclosure in the above-mentioned cited documents may, as necessary, be used in part or in whole as part of the disclosure of the present invention, in accordance with the spirit of the present invention, and this is also considered to be included in the disclosure of this application. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0102] 10 sensors 20, 200, 200a~200g Information Server 21, 201, 201a~201e Judgment section 22, 202, 202c Information Creation Department 23, 203, 203a Transmitter 100-1, 100-2, 100A~100E Camera 204 Address Acquisition Section 205 Movement status acquisition unit 206 Motion prediction unit 300 Mobile Management Servers 400A~400D Traffic signal 500 control servers 600 base stations 700 Mobile Backhaul 800 Gateway (GW) 900 Internet CAR1~CAR2 Vehicles BIKE1 Motorcycle P1 Pedestrian obj0~obj2 Objects / Images 9000 Computers 9010 CPU 9020 Communication Interface 9030 memory 9040 Auxiliary storage device

Claims

1. Based on primary information obtained from at least one sensor that senses a predetermined range of the road, the position of an object located in a blind spot is estimated, the sensor includes a camera mounted on a moving vehicle traveling on the road, and the primary information includes an image obtained from the camera. Using the primary information, secondary information is created that indicates the presence of an object located in the blind spot, and the secondary information is an image that displays the object located in the blind spot behind the object that is visible as a real image. An information server that, when there are multiple objects whose positions have been estimated based on the primary information, displays the object with the highest priority among the multiple objects whose positions have been estimated based on the primary information, prioritizing its display over other objects whose positions have been estimated based on the primary information.

2. The aforementioned secondary information is an image that displays an object located in the blind spot behind the object that is visible as a real image using augmented reality (AR). The information providing server according to claim 1.

3. Using the aforementioned primary information, the types of objects present within a predetermined area of ​​the road are determined. Using the primary information and the type, the secondary information is created. The information providing server according to claim 1 or 2.

4. Using the aforementioned primary information, the importance level to be assigned to objects located within a predetermined range of the road is determined. Using the primary information and the importance level, the secondary information is created. An information providing server according to any one of claims 1 to 3.

5. When it is determined that the object located in the blind spot is approaching the moving body, or when it is determined that the object located in the blind spot is stationary, the secondary information is created based on the primary information. An information providing server according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

6. The aforementioned blind spot includes multiple objects, An information providing server according to any one of claims 1 to 5.

7. The predetermined area of ​​the aforementioned road is the intersection of the aforementioned road. An information providing server according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

8. A computer capable of acquiring information from at least one sensor that senses a predetermined area of ​​the road, Based on primary information obtained from at least one of the aforementioned sensors, the position of an object located in a blind spot is estimated, the sensors include a camera mounted on a moving vehicle traveling along the road, and the primary information includes an image obtained from the camera. Using the primary information, secondary information is created that indicates the presence of an object located in the blind spot, and the secondary information is an image that displays the object located in the blind spot behind the object that is visible as a real image. The aforementioned computer, An information provision method in which, when there are multiple objects whose positions have been estimated based on the primary information, the object with the higher priority among the multiple objects whose positions have been estimated based on the primary information is displayed with priority over the other objects whose positions have been estimated based on the primary information.

9. A computer capable of acquiring information from at least one sensor that senses a predetermined area of ​​the road, Based on primary information obtained from at least one of the aforementioned sensors, a process is performed to estimate the position of an object located in a blind spot, the sensors include a camera mounted on a moving vehicle traveling on the road, and the primary information includes an image obtained from the camera. To the aforementioned computer, Using the primary information, a process is executed to create secondary information, which is information indicating the presence of an object located in the blind spot. The secondary information is an image that displays the object located in the blind spot behind the object that is visible as a real image. To the aforementioned computer, A program that, when there are multiple objects whose positions have been estimated based on the primary information, performs a process to display, with priority given to, the object with the highest priority among the multiple objects whose positions have been estimated based on the primary information, over other objects whose positions have been estimated based on the primary information.

10. A vehicle capable of autonomous driving based on the secondary information created by the information provision server described in claim 1.

Images