Information providing device, information providing method, program, and recording medium

Abstract

Provided are an information providing device, an information providing method, a program, and a recording medium, which, with regard to information provision for a plurality of recommended spots existing in the vicinity of a mobile body, complete the information provision for the recommended spots before the mobile body arrives at a branch point leading to the recommended spots.　If a plurality of recommended spots are extracted by a recommended spot extracting unit 130, and a plurality of branch points are detected by a branch point detecting unit 150, a control unit 180 provides, in advance, information relating to a recommended spot that is led to by branching at the branch point having a shorter required time from the current location of the mobile body to the branch point. Further, the control unit 180 determines an information provision start timing on the basis of the required time from the current location to the branch point and an information provision time, which is the time required to provide spot information of the recommended spot, such that the provision of the spot information of the recommended spot is completed before the mobile body arrives at the branch point to the recommended spot.

Description

Information providing device, information providing method, program, and recording medium

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

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, information providing devices with a concierge function have been put into practical use, which extract and provide various pieces of information that are considered to be useful to passengers traveling in a vehicle.

[0003] For example, one concierge function of this type is a technology that, if an advertising target location exists near the vehicle's planned route, identifies the branch point when entering the advertising target location from the road facing the advertising target location, and outputs advertising information to the vehicle's occupants if it is possible to output advertising information before the vehicle reaches the branch point (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

[0004] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-165690

[0005] However, with the technology described in Patent Document 1 mentioned above, there is an issue where, for example, if there are multiple advertising target locations around the vehicle and multiple branch points are detected, or if multiple advertising target locations are detected beyond a branch point, it may not be possible to complete the provision of advertising information by the time the vehicle reaches the branch point, and smooth route guidance to the advertising target locations may not be possible.

[0006] The present invention has been made in consideration of the problems cited as examples above, and its main purpose is to provide an information provision device, information provision method, program, and recording medium that completes the provision of information on multiple recommended spots located around a mobile body by the time the mobile body arrives at the junction leading to the recommended spots.

[0007] In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 1 is an information provision device comprising: a current position acquisition unit that acquires the current position of a mobile body; a recommended spot extraction unit that extracts recommended spots that are located within a predetermined range from the current position and that are recommended to be visited by a occupant of the mobile body; a guided route calculation unit that calculates a guided route from the current position to the recommended spot; a branch point detection unit that detects roads along which the mobile body is expected to move and branch points where the guided route branches off; a required time acquisition unit that acquires required time information regarding the time required for the mobile body to arrive at the branch point; and a control unit that provides the spot information to the occupant at least by voice at an information provision start timing determined based on the required time and an information provision time that is the time required to provide spot information of the recommended spot, wherein when a plurality of branch points corresponding to a plurality of the recommended spots are detected by the branch point detection unit, the control unit determines the information provision start timing for each of the spot information so that spot information of the recommended spot corresponding to the guided route that branches off from the branch point with the shortest required time is provided first.

[0008] In order to solve the above problem, the invention of claim 7 is an information providing method for an information providing device including a current position acquisition unit, a recommended spot extraction unit, a guided route calculation unit, a branch point detection unit, a required time acquisition unit, and a control unit, the method including a first step in which the current position acquisition unit acquires the current position of a mobile object, a second step in which the recommended spot extraction unit extracts recommended spots that are present within a predetermined range from the current position and that are recommended to a passenger of the mobile object to visit, a third step in which the guided route calculation unit calculates a guided route from the current position to the recommended spot, a fourth step in which the branch point detection unit detects roads along which the mobile object is expected to move and branch points where the guided route branches off, and a fourth step in which the required time acquisition unit calculates the required time for the mobile object to travel to the branch point. This information provision method comprises: a fifth step of acquiring required time information regarding the time required to arrive at a branch point; a sixth step of the control unit providing the spot information to the occupant at least by voice at an information provision start timing determined based on the required time and an information provision time, which is the time required to provide spot information of the recommended spot; and a seventh step of the control unit determining the information provision start timing for each piece of spot information so that, when multiple branch points corresponding to multiple recommended spots are detected in the branch point detection unit, the spot information of the recommended spot corresponding to the guidance route branching from the branch point with the shortest required time is provided first.

[0009] In order to solve the above problem, the invention of claim 8 is a program for causing a computer to execute an information providing method for an information providing device including a current position acquisition unit, a recommended spot extraction unit, a guided route calculation unit, a branch point detection unit, a required time acquisition unit, and a control unit, the program including a first step in which the current position acquisition unit acquires the current position of a mobile object; a second step in which the recommended spot extraction unit extracts recommended spots that are present within a predetermined range from the current position and that are recommended to an occupant of the mobile object to visit; a third step in which the guided route calculation unit calculates a guided route from the current position to the recommended spot; a fourth step in which the branch point detection unit detects roads along which the mobile object is expected to move and branch points where the guided route branches; This is a program for causing a computer to execute an information provision method, characterized by comprising: a fifth step of acquiring required time information regarding the time required to arrive at a branch point; a sixth step of the control unit providing the spot information to the occupant at least by voice at an information provision start timing determined by the control unit based on the required time and an information provision time, which is the time required to provide the spot information of the recommended spot; and a seventh step of the control unit determining the information provision start timing for each of the spot information so that, when multiple branch points corresponding to multiple recommended spots are detected in the branch point detection unit, the spot information of the recommended spot corresponding to the guidance route branching from the branch point with the shortest required time is provided first.

[0010] In order to solve the above problem, the invention of claim 9 is a computer-readable non-transitory recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a computer to execute an information providing method for an information providing device including a current position acquisition unit, a recommended spot extraction unit, a guided route calculation unit, a branch point detection unit, a required time acquisition unit, and a control unit, the program including a first step in which the current position acquisition unit acquires the current position of a mobile object; a second step in which the recommended spot extraction unit extracts recommended spots that are present within a predetermined range from the current position and that are recommended to an occupant of the mobile object to visit; a third step in which the guided route calculation unit calculates a guided route from the current position to the recommended spot; a fourth step in which the branch point detection unit detects roads along which the mobile object is expected to move and branch points where the guided route branches; a fifth step of acquiring required time information regarding the time required to arrive at a branch point; a sixth step of the control unit providing the spot information to the occupant at least by voice at an information provision start timing determined by the control unit based on the required time and an information provision time, which is the time required to provide the spot information of the recommended spot; and a seventh step of the control unit determining the information provision start timing for each piece of spot information so that, when multiple branch points corresponding to multiple recommended spots are detected in the branch point detection unit, the spot information of the recommended spot corresponding to the guidance route branching from the branch point with the shortest required time is provided first.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing information stored in a recommended spot server connected to an information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the positions of recommended spots extracted by a recommended spot extraction unit of an information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing branch points detected by a branch point detection unit of an information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an information providing time determined by a control unit of an information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing information on the information providing time determined by a control unit of an information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a processing flow of a control unit of an information providing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 8 is a diagram showing information on the information providing time determined by a control unit of an information providing device according to a modified example of the present invention.

[0012] The information providing device according to the present embodiment includes a current location acquisition unit that acquires the current location of a mobile body, a recommended spot extraction unit that extracts recommended spots that are located within a predetermined range from the current location and that are recommended to a passenger of the mobile body to visit, a guided route calculation unit that calculates a guided route from the current location to the recommended spot, a branch point detection unit that detects roads along which the mobile body is expected to travel and branch points where the guided route branches off, a required time acquisition unit that acquires the time required for the mobile body to arrive at the branch point, and a control unit that provides the passenger with spot information by at least voice at an information provision start timing determined based on the required time and an information provision time that is the time required to provide spot information about the recommended spot. When the recommended spot extraction unit extracts multiple recommended spots and the branch point detection unit detects multiple branch points, the control unit first provides information about recommended spots to which the passenger will be guided by branching off at a branch point that has the shortest required time from the current location of the mobile body to the branch point. Furthermore, the control unit determines the timing to start providing information based on the time required to travel from the current location to the branch point and the information provision time, which is the time required to provide the spot information of the recommended spot, so that the provision of the spot information of the recommended spot can be completed by the time the mobile object arrives at the branch point leading to the recommended spot. This makes it possible to complete the provision of the information of the recommended spot by the time the mobile object arrives at the branch point leading to the recommended spot.

[0013] Furthermore, when multiple recommended spots are detected for which guide routes branching at the same branch point are calculated, the control unit of the information provision device according to this embodiment determines the timing to start providing information based on the required travel time and the total information provision time for each recommended spot. That is, when multiple recommended spots branching at the same branch point are detected, the control unit determines the timing to start providing information and starts providing spot information so that the occupant can complete provision of spot information for the multiple recommended spots and decide whether to visit the recommended spots by the time the mobile object reaches the branch point. As a result, even when multiple recommended spots branching at the same branch point are detected, the occupant of the mobile object can complete provision of information about the recommended spots and decide whether to visit the recommended spots by the time the occupant arrives at the branch point to the recommended spots. Therefore, when the occupant decides to visit a recommended spot, the occupant can smoothly head to the recommended spot.

[0014] <Example> An information providing device 100 according to this example will be described with reference to Figs.

[0015] <Configuration of information providing device 100> As shown in FIG. 1 , the information providing device 100 is configured to include at least a communication unit 110, a current location acquisition unit 120, a recommended spot extraction unit 130, a guided route calculation unit 140, a branch point detection unit 150, a required time acquisition unit 160, a providing unit 170, and a control unit 180.

[0016] The communication unit 110 is, for example, a known wireless communication module, and functions as an interface for the information providing device 100 to communicate with the recommended spot server 200 via a network N. Here, the network N is a network for mutual communication between the information providing device 100 and the recommended spot server 200, and can be, for example, the Internet. The recommended spot server 200 will be described later.

[0017] The current location acquisition unit 120 acquires the current location of the mobile object. The current location acquisition unit 120 is, for example, a GPS receiving device, and acquires the current location of the mobile object equipped with the information providing device 100, and transmits the acquired current location information to the recommended spot extraction unit 130, the guided route calculation unit 140, the branch point detection unit 150, and the required time acquisition unit 160, which will be described later. Here, examples of the mobile object mentioned above include a vehicle, a motorcycle, a bicycle, and a person.

[0018] The recommended spot extraction unit 130 extracts recommended spots that are located within a predetermined range from the current location of the mobile body and that are recommended to the occupant of the mobile body to visit. The recommended spot extraction unit 130 acquires information about recommended spots from the recommended spot server 200 via the communication unit 110, and extracts recommended spots that are located within a predetermined range from the current location received from the current location acquisition unit 120.

[0019] The recommended spot server 200 will now be described. The recommended spot server 200 stores a list of recommended spots, such as commercial facilities, restaurants, and tourist attractions, that are recommended for passengers of mobile vehicles to visit, as well as spot information for each recommended spot. As shown in FIG. 2 , the spot information can include, for example, the recommended spot name, location information, recommended point information (sights to see, recommended dishes, photo spots, etc.), and recommended spot audio guidance information (playback data, playback time information). Note that the recommended point information, event calendar information, etc. registered in the recommended spot server 200 are updated with the latest information as appropriate.

[0020] The recommended spot extraction unit 130 extracts recommended spots that are located within a straight-line distance of, for example, 2 km from the current location of the mobile object based on the location information of the recommended spots obtained from the recommended spot server 200. The recommended spot extraction unit 130 transmits the recommended spot names and location information of the extracted recommended spots to the guided route calculation unit 140 and the control unit 180, which will be described later. Furthermore, if the recommended spot extraction unit 130 is unable to extract recommended spots in the vicinity of the mobile object, it transmits information to the guided route calculation unit 140 and the control unit 180, which will be described later, that the recommended spot could not be extracted. Here, the recommended spot extraction unit 130 may extract recommended spots that are located within a predetermined travel distance range from the current location of the mobile object to the recommended spot.

[0021] The guided route calculation unit 140 calculates a guided route from the current location of the mobile object to a recommended spot. The guided route calculation unit 140 calculates a guided route from the current location of the mobile object to a recommended spot based on the current location information of the mobile object received from the current location acquisition unit 120, the location information of the recommended spot received from the recommended spot extraction unit 130, and map information stored in a memory (not shown). As shown in FIG. 3 , when recommended spot A and recommended spot B are extracted by the recommended spot extraction unit 130, the guided route calculation unit 140 calculates a guided route A from the current location of the mobile object to recommended spot A and a guided route B from the current location of the mobile object to recommended spot B. The guided route calculation unit 140 transmits the calculated guided routes to the branch point detection unit 150 (described later).

[0022] The branch point detection unit 150 detects a branch point where a road along which the mobile object is expected to travel branches off from the guided route. The road along which the mobile object is expected to travel includes at least the road section on which the mobile object is currently traveling and may also include roads along which the mobile object is expected to travel after traveling across the road section. The road along which the mobile object is expected to travel typically corresponds to a route preset by the occupant of the mobile object in the information providing device 100, or may be a road estimated to have a high probability of travel based on the departure date, time, and place of the current mobile object and the mobile object's past travel history. The branch point detection unit 150 detects a branch point, which is an intersection between a road to be entered to head toward the recommended spot and a road along which the mobile object is expected to travel, based on the guided route received from the guided route calculation unit 140 and map information stored in a memory (not shown). As shown in FIG. 4 , the branch point detection unit 150 detects a branch point P1 on the guided route A, which is an intersection between a road to be entered to head toward the recommended spot A and a road along which the mobile object is expected to travel. Furthermore, the branch point detection unit 150 detects a branch point P2 on the guided route B, which is an intersection between a road onto which the user enters to head toward recommended spot B and a road along which the mobile object is expected to move. The branch point detection unit 150 detects a branch point for each guided route received from the guided route calculation unit 140, and transmits position information of the detected branch point (intersection name, latitude and longitude information, etc.) to the required time acquisition unit 160, which will be described later. Note that if the extracted recommended spot is located along a road along which the mobile object is expected to move, the branch point detection unit 150 sets the position of the recommended spot as the branch point.

[0023] Furthermore, if the guided route received from the guided route calculation unit 140 is a route that guides the mobile body in the direction of returning along the road it has traveled, the junction point detection unit 150 does not detect a junction point corresponding to the guided route. As a result, spot information of recommended spots that require the mobile body to return along the road it has traveled along in order to arrive at the spot is excluded from the targets of voice guidance. In other words, spot information of recommended spots that can be reached efficiently by proceeding via a junction on the road along which the mobile body is expected to travel from now on is the target of voice guidance.

[0024] The required time acquisition unit 160 acquires required time information regarding the time required for the mobile object to arrive at the branch point. The required time acquisition unit 160 calculates the route distance from the current position of the mobile object to the branch point based on map information stored in a memory (not shown), current position information received from the current position acquisition unit 120, and branch point position information received from the branch point detection unit 150. The required time acquisition unit 160 calculates the required time required to travel from the current position to the branch point based on the calculated route distance and, for example, the average traveling speed of the mobile object. As shown in FIG. 4 , when the branch point detection unit 150 detects a branch point P1 and a branch point P2, the required time acquisition unit 160 calculates a required time T1 from the current position of the mobile object to the branch point P1 and a required time T2 from the current position of the mobile object to the branch point P2. The required time acquisition unit 160 transmits the acquired required times (required time T1, required time T2) to the control unit 180 (described later). Since the time required to reach the branch point varies depending on factors such as the traffic volume on the road along which the mobile body is expected to travel, the required time acquisition unit 160 calculates the required time based on traffic volume information on the road corresponding to the period until the mobile body arrives at the branch point, and transmits the calculation result to the control unit 180, which will be described later.

[0025] The providing unit 170 is, for example, a speaker, and outputs audio guidance of the spot information of the recommended spot received from the control unit 180 (described later). The providing unit 170 may further include a display device (for example, a liquid crystal panel) and display the spot information of the recommended spot received from the control unit 180 (described later).

[0026] The control unit 180 controls the overall operation of the information provision device 100 in accordance with a control program stored in a ROM or the like (not shown). In this embodiment, the control unit 180 provides the occupant with spot information at least by voice at an information provision start timing determined based on the time required to reach the branch point and an information provision time, which is the time required to provide the spot information of the recommended spot. Furthermore, when the branch point detection unit 150 detects multiple branch points corresponding to multiple recommended spots, the control unit 180 determines the information provision start timing for each piece of spot information so that the control unit 180 first provides the spot information of the recommended spot corresponding to the guidance route branching from the branch point that takes the shortest time for the mobile body to arrive at the branch point. A method for determining the information provision start timing will be described below. <Method 1 for determining information provision start timing>

[0027] As shown in Figure 5, the branch point detection unit 150 detects multiple branch points (branch point P1 / branch point P2) corresponding to multiple recommended spots (recommended spot A / recommended spot B), and this example explains how to determine the timing of providing information.

[0028] For example, as shown in FIG. 6 , when the control unit 180 receives the required time T1 (=3 minutes) and the required time T2 (=8 minutes) from the required time acquisition unit 160, the control unit 180 determines the information provision start time for each recommended spot so as to provide spot information for recommended spot A corresponding to the guidance route branching off from branch point P1, which is the branch point with the shortest required time to reach the branch point, first. Specifically, the control unit 180 calculates the expected branch point arrival time at which the mobile object is expected to arrive at each branch point based on the required time received from the required time acquisition unit 160 and the current time, and determines the information provision start time based on the calculated expected branch point arrival time and the information provision time, which is the time required to provide the spot information for the recommended spot. The above-mentioned information provision time will now be described. The information provision time includes at least the time required for audio guidance of the spot information and the time required for the occupant to consider whether or not to visit the recommended spot. Furthermore, a unique information provision time is set for each recommended spot. Specifically, the control unit 180 obtains from the recommended spot server 200 the audio guidance information (playback files) for the recommended spots extracted by the recommended spot extraction unit 130, and obtains the time required for audio guidance for each recommended spot and the time required for the occupant to consider whether or not to visit the recommended spot. These two time periods are each appropriately set for each recommended spot depending on the length of the audio guidance and the difficulty of considering whether or not to visit. As shown in FIG. 6 , the control unit 180 calculates, for each recommended spot, the total time required for audio guidance of the spot information and the time required for the occupant to consider whether or not to visit the recommended spot (occupant consideration time), and sets the calculated result as the information provision time for each recommended spot. The time required for the occupant to consider whether or not to visit the recommended spot may include the time required for the information provision device 100 to interactively confirm the occupant's consideration results.

[0029] The control unit 180 calculates the information provision start time for each recommended spot based on the calculated predicted time of arrival at the junction point and the information provision time. The control unit 180 determines the information provision start time to be a time that is the information provision time earlier than the predicted time of arrival at the junction point, so that the audio guidance of the spot information and the passenger can complete their consideration of whether to visit the recommended spot by the time the vehicle arrives at the junction point. Specifically, the information provision start time (TA) of the spot information for recommended spot A can be calculated by substituting the predicted time of arrival at the junction point P1 (TP1) and the information provision time (LA) of recommended spot A into the following equation 1:

[0030] 6 , for example, if the predicted arrival time (TP1) at branch point P1 is 10:00 and the information provision time (LA) for recommended spot A is 1 minute 20 seconds, the information provision start time (TA) will be 9:58 minutes 40 seconds. The control unit 180 similarly calculates the information provision start time (TB) for recommended spot B extracted by the recommended spot extraction unit 130, and transmits the audio signal of the audio guidance for the recommended spot acquired from the recommended spot server 200 to the provision unit 170 at the information provision start time determined for each recommended spot.

[0031] Note that the control unit 180 is not limited to the above-described method, as long as it can determine the information provision start timing based on the time required to travel from the current location to the branch point and the information provision time, which is the time required to provide spot information for the recommended spot. For example, in the above-described method of determining the information provision start timing, the information provision start time is calculated to determine the information provision start timing. However, the information provision start timing may be determined by calculating the number of seconds after which information provision should begin. As shown in FIG. 6 , when the control unit 180 receives the time T1 (3 minutes) required to travel from the current location to the branch point A and the information provision time LA (1 minute 20 seconds), which is the time required to provide spot information for the recommended spot A, the control unit 180 determines 1 minute 40 seconds later (= 3 minutes - 1 minute 20 seconds) as the spot information provision start timing for the recommended spot A. Alternatively, the control unit 180 may calculate in advance the point that the moving object will arrive at in 1 minute 40 seconds at its average travel speed, and determine the time when the moving object actually arrives at this point as the spot information provision start timing for the recommended spot A.

[0032] <Method 2 for Determining Information Provision Start Timing> A method for determining the timing for providing information when the branch point detection unit 150 detects multiple branch points corresponding to multiple recommended spots and further detects multiple recommended spots for which guide routes branching at the same branch point have been calculated will be described using Figures 7 and 8. As shown in Figure 7, a case will be described in which recommended spot A, for which a guide route has been calculated branching at branch point P1, and recommended spots B and C, for which guide routes have been calculated branching at branch point P2, are detected. Note that the method for determining the timing for providing information about recommended spot A is the same as the method described above, and therefore will not be described here.

[0033] When multiple recommended spots are detected for which guide routes that branch off at the same branch point are calculated, the control unit 180 determines the timing to start providing information based on the required travel time and the total information provision time for each recommended spot. As shown in FIG. 7 , the control unit 180 determines the information provision start time (TBC) for recommended spots B and C to be the sum of the information provision time (LB) for recommended spot B and the information provision time (LC) for recommended spot C from the predicted branch point arrival time (TP2) at branch point P2, so that the provision of information on recommended spots B and C and the consideration of whether or not to visit the recommended spots can be completed by the predicted branch point arrival time (TP2) at branch point P2 of the mobile vehicle. Specifically, the information provision start time (TBC) for the spot information on recommended spots B and C can be calculated by substituting the predicted branch point arrival time (TP2) at branch point P2, the information provision time (LB) for recommended spot B, and the information provision time (LC) for recommended spot C into the following equation 2:

[0034] 8, for example, if the predicted time of arrival at branch point P2 (TP2) is 10:05, the information provision time (LA) of recommended spot B is 1 minute 30 seconds, and the information provision time (LC) of recommended spot C is 2 minutes 00 seconds, the information provision start time (TBC) will be 10:01 minute 30 seconds. The same applies when three or more recommended spots are detected that branch off at branch point P2 and for which guidance routes have been calculated, and the information provision start time is determined to be the time obtained by retroactively adding up the information provision times of all the recommended spots from the predicted time of arrival at branch point P2 (TP2) at branch point P2.

[0035] Furthermore, when multiple recommended spots are detected for which guided routes that branch off at the same branch point have been calculated, the control unit 180 may provide spot information for recommended spots whose guided routes are shorter from the branch point to the recommended spot first. That is, when multiple recommended spots (recommended spot B and recommended spot C) whose guided routes branch off at branch point P2 have been calculated, the control unit 180 provides spot information for recommended spot B whose guided route is shorter from branch point P2 to the recommended spot first at the information provision start time (TBC). As shown in FIG. 8 , the control unit 180 starts providing spot information for recommended spot B at the information provision start time (TBC) and starts providing spot information for recommended spot C at the information provision time (TC).

[0036] Note that, since it is sufficient to complete the provision of the spot information of the recommended spot by the time the mobile object arrives at the branch point to the recommended spot, the control unit 180 may insert a predetermined interval between the pieces of spot information when the spot information of multiple recommended spots is output consecutively, etc. In this case, the control unit 180 determines the timing to start providing the information based on the time required to travel from the current location to the branch point, the information provision time, and the inserted interval time.

[0037] <Processing of Information Providing Device 100> The processing flow of the information providing device 100 will be described with reference to FIG.

[0038] As shown in FIG. 9, the current position acquisition unit 120 acquires the current position information of the mobile object (step S110), and the process proceeds to step S120.

[0039] The recommended spot extracting unit 130 extracts recommended spots that are located around the current location based on the current location information of the mobile object acquired in step S110 (step S120).

[0040] The control unit 180 determines whether or not a recommended spot that is recommended to the occupant of the mobile object to visit has been extracted based on the extraction result received from the recommended spot extraction unit 130 (step S130). If the control unit 180 receives information from the recommended spot extraction unit 130 indicating that no recommended spot has been extracted ("NO" in step S130), the control unit 180 returns the process to step S110 and continues the process.

[0041] On the other hand, if the control unit 180 receives the names of recommended spots from the recommended spot extraction unit 130 and determines that recommended spots have been extracted ("YES" in step S130), it proceeds to step S140.

[0042] The guided route calculation unit 140 calculates a guided route from the current location of the mobile object to the recommended spot extracted by the recommended spot extraction unit 130 (step S140), and proceeds to step S150. Note that if there are multiple recommended spots extracted by the recommended spot extraction unit 130, the guided route calculation unit 140 sequentially calculates guided routes to all of the recommended spots.

[0043] The branch point detection unit 150 detects a branch point based on the guide route calculated in step S140 (step S150), and proceeds to step S160. Note that if there are multiple guide routes corresponding to multiple recommended spots calculated by the guide route calculation unit 140, the branch point detection unit 150 detects branch points for each of all of the guide routes.

[0044] The required time acquisition unit 160 calculates the time required for the mobile object to arrive at the branch point detected in step S150 (step S160), and proceeds to step S170. Note that if there are multiple branch points detected by the branch point detection unit 150, the required time acquisition unit 160 calculates the time required for the mobile object to arrive at each of all of the branch points.

[0045] The control unit 180 determines the timing for providing information about each recommended spot, and transmits the spot information about each recommended spot to the providing unit 170 at the determined timing (step S170), and then ends the process.

[0046] As described above, when the recommended spot extraction unit 130 extracts multiple recommended spots and the branch point detection unit 150 detects multiple branch points, the control unit 180 of the information providing device 100 according to this embodiment provides information about recommended spots to which the mobile object will be guided by branching off at a branch point that requires a short travel time from the current location of the mobile object to the branch point. The control unit 180 also determines the timing to start providing information about the recommended spots based on the travel time from the current location to the branch point and the information provision time, which is the time required to provide the spot information about the recommended spots, so that the provision of the spot information about the recommended spots can be completed by the time the mobile object arrives at the branch point leading to the recommended spots. That is, the control unit 180 calculates the estimated time of arrival at the branch point, where the mobile object is expected to arrive, based on the travel time from the current location to the detected branch point and the current time, and determines the information provision start time to be the time calculated by subtracting the information provision time from the calculated estimated time of arrival at the branch point. This allows the provision of information about the recommended spots to be completed by the time the mobile object arrives at the branch point leading to the recommended spots. Furthermore, the information providing device 100 provides spot information in order of the recommended spots to which the driver is guided, starting from the branch point where the required travel time from the current location of the mobile body to the branch point is short. In other words, if spot information for multiple recommended spots is provided to the occupant of the mobile body at once, the driver of the mobile body may be distracted by the spot information and unable to concentrate on driving. Therefore, the information providing device 100 provides spot information for each recommended spot in order of the recommended spot to which the driver is guided, starting from the branch point where the required travel time from the current location of the mobile body to the branch point is short. In this way, spot information is provided in order starting from the recommended spot where the user has less time to decide whether to stop, and spot information for multiple recommended spots is not provided at once, allowing the driver of the mobile body to concentrate on driving.

[0047] The information provision time includes at least the time required to provide the spot information and the time required for the occupant to consider whether to visit the recommended spot. That is, if the occupant of a vehicle to which spot information of a recommended spot has been provided passes the branch point to the recommended spot while considering visiting the recommended spot, the occupant will be unable to smoothly proceed to the recommended spot. Therefore, the information provision device 100 determines the timing to start providing information so that the occupant of the vehicle can complete the provision of the spot information of the recommended spot and the consideration of whether to visit the recommended spot by the time the vehicle reaches the branch point. This allows the occupant of the vehicle to decide whether to visit the recommended spot before arriving at the branch point to the recommended spot, and once they decide to visit the recommended spot, they can smoothly proceed to the recommended spot. Furthermore, even if the information provision device 100 does not have a display that displays spot information, etc., the time required for providing information through audio guidance is ensured, allowing the occupant of the vehicle to fully understand the spot information and determine whether to visit the recommended spot.

[0048] Furthermore, a unique information provision time is set for each recommended spot. In other words, since the time required for voice guidance for each recommended spot varies from one recommended spot to another, the control unit 180 sets the information provision time to the total time required for voice guidance for each recommended spot and the time required for the occupant to consider whether or not to visit the recommended spot. This allows the occupant of the vehicle to complete the provision of information about the recommended spot and the decision on whether or not to visit the recommended spot before arriving at the branch point to the recommended spot, and once the occupant decides to visit the recommended spot, they can smoothly head to the recommended spot.

[0049] Furthermore, if the guided route calculated by the guided route calculation unit 140 is a route that guides the mobile body in a direction returning along the road it has traveled, the branch point detection unit 150 of the information providing device 100 according to this embodiment does not detect a branch point corresponding to the guided route. As a result, only spot information of recommended spots that can be visited without changing the direction of travel on the road currently being traveled is provided, so that when the occupant of the mobile body decides to visit a recommended spot, the occupant can smoothly head to the recommended spot.

[0050] Furthermore, when multiple recommended spots are detected for which guide routes that branch off at the same branch point are calculated, the control unit 180 of the information provision device 100 according to this embodiment determines the timing to start providing information based on the time required to travel from the current location of the mobile body to the branch point and the total time for providing information for each recommended spot. That is, when multiple recommended spots are detected that branch off at the same branch point, the control unit 180 determines the timing to start providing information so that the provision of spot information for the multiple recommended spots and the consideration of whether or not to visit each recommended spot can be completed by the time the mobile body reaches the branch point. This allows the provision of information for the multiple recommended spots and the consideration of whether or not to visit each recommended spot to be completed by the time the mobile body arrives at the branch point to visit a recommended spot, even when multiple recommended spots are detected that branch off at the same branch point. Therefore, when the mobile body decides to visit a recommended spot, the occupant can smoothly head to the recommended spot.

[0051] Furthermore, when multiple recommended spots are detected for which guided routes that branch off at the same branch point have been calculated, the control unit 180 of the information providing device 100 according to this embodiment provides spot information of recommended spots that are located on the shortest guided route from the branch point to the recommended spot first. This allows the spot information of recommended spots that are located at a short travel distance from the branch point and are easy for passengers of the mobile vehicle to stop by to be provided preferentially.

[0052] <Variation 1> The configuration and information processing method of the information providing device 100 have been described, but the information providing device 100 may be realized by installing application software that executes the above-described information providing method on a smartphone carried by a user. This makes it possible to provide information about recommended spots to a user who is traveling and carrying a smartphone. Furthermore, the information providing device 100 may be realized by incorporating application software that executes the above-described information providing method into the software of a navigation device installed in a mobile object (such as a motorcycle or automobile). This allows the navigation device to provide information about recommended spots and provide route guidance to the recommended spots.

[0053] 10 , in a situation where recommended spot A, for which a guide route is calculated by branching at branch point P1, and recommended spots B and C, for which guide routes are calculated by branching at branch point P2, are detected, if the information provision start time (TBC) described above is earlier than the predicted branch point arrival time (TP1) at branch point P1, the information provision time (TA) for recommended spot A is set to a time that is earlier than the information provision start time (TBC) by the information provision time (LA). In other words, if the control unit 180 starts providing information about recommended spot A at a time that is earlier than the predicted branch point arrival time (TP1) by the information provision time (LA), the information provision time (LA) cannot be completed by the information provision start time (TBC). As a result, the provision of information about recommended spot B and recommended spot C cannot be completed by the time the mobile object arrives at branch point P2. To avoid this, the control unit 180 sets the information provision time (TA) for recommended spot A to a time that is earlier than the information provision start time (TBC) by the information provision time (LA). As a result, provision of information on recommended spot A can be completed by the time the mobile object arrives at branch point P1 heading toward recommended spot A, and further, provision of information on recommended spot B and recommended spot C can be completed by the time the mobile object arrives at branch point P2 heading toward recommended spot B and recommended spot C. In other words, according to this modification, when presenting spot information for multiple recommended spots branching off from multiple consecutive branch points, even if the travel time of the mobile object between the branch points is shorter than the time required to provide the spot information, the spot information for the multiple recommended spots can be presented by the time the mobile object reaches the target branch point, and the occupant of the mobile object can decide whether or not to visit the recommended spots before the mobile object arrives at the target branch point.

[0054] <Modification 3> The processes of the recommended spot extraction unit 130, the guided route calculation unit 140, the branch point detection unit 150, the required time acquisition unit 160, and the control unit 180 of the information provision device 100 described above are high-speed calculation processes, and therefore, the processes may be executed by a server. This allows high-speed calculation processes to be executed by the server, thereby reducing the power consumption of the information provision device 100. Furthermore, when a mobile terminal such as a smartphone that runs on a secondary battery as a power source is operated as the information provision device 100, the power consumption of the mobile terminal can be reduced, thereby extending the continuous operating time of the mobile terminal.

[0055] Although an embodiment of the present invention has been described above in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and includes designs within the scope of the gist of the present invention.

[0056] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 100; information providing device 110; communication unit 120; current position acquisition unit 130; recommended spot extraction unit 140; guided route calculation unit 150; branch point detection unit 160; required time acquisition unit 170; providing unit 180; control unit 200; recommended spot server N; network

Claims

1. a current position acquisition unit that acquires the current position of the moving object; a recommended spot extraction unit that extracts recommended spots that are present within a predetermined range from the current location and that are recommended to be visited by a passenger of the mobile body; a guided route calculation unit that calculates a guided route from the current location to the recommended spot; a branch point detection unit that detects a branch point where a road along which the moving object is expected to move and the guide route branch off; a required time acquisition unit that acquires required time information regarding the required time for the moving object to arrive at the branch point; a control unit that provides the spot information to the occupant at least by voice at an information provision start timing determined based on the required time and an information provision time that is a time required to provide the spot information of the recommended spot; Equipped with the control unit, when a plurality of recommended spots for which the guided route branching at the same branch point has been calculated, determines the timing to start providing the information based on the required time and the total time of the information provision for each of the recommended spots.

2. The information providing device described in Claim 1 is characterized in that, when the branch point detection unit detects multiple branch points corresponding to multiple recommended spots, the control unit determines the timing to start providing information so that spot information of the recommended spot corresponding to the guidance route branching off from the branch point with the shortest travel time is provided in advance.

3. 2. The information providing device according to claim 1, wherein the information providing time includes at least the time required for the voice guidance of the spot information and the time required for the occupant to consider whether or not to visit the recommended spot.

4. The information providing device according to claim 1 , wherein the information providing time is set to a specific time for each of the recommended spots.

5. The information providing device according to claim 1, characterized in that, when the guidance route is a route that guides the moving body in a direction returning along the road on which the moving body has traveled, the branch point detection unit does not detect a branch point corresponding to the guidance route.

6. The information providing device according to claim 1, characterized in that, when a plurality of recommended spots for which the guided route branching at the same branch point has been calculated are detected, the control unit provides the spot information of the recommended spot whose guided route is closest to the branch point in advance.

7. An information providing method executed by an information providing device, comprising: a first step of acquiring a current location of a moving object; a second step of extracting recommended spots that are within a predetermined range from the current location and that are recommended to be visited by the occupant of the mobile body; a third step of calculating a guidance route from the current location to the recommended spot; a fourth step of detecting a branch point where a road along which the moving object is expected to move and the guide route branch off; a fifth step of acquiring required time information regarding the time required for the moving object to arrive at the branch point; a sixth step of providing the spot information to the occupant at least by voice at an information provision start timing determined based on the required time and an information provision time, which is a time required to provide the spot information of the recommended spot; and The sixth step is an information provision method characterized in that, when a plurality of recommended spots for which the guide route branching at the same branch point is calculated are detected in the fourth step, the timing to start providing the information is determined based on the required time and the total time of the information provision time for each of the recommended spots.

8. A computer included in an information providing device, a first step of acquiring a current location of a moving object; a second step of extracting recommended spots that are within a predetermined range from the current location and that are recommended to be visited by the occupant of the mobile body; a third step of calculating a guidance route from the current location to the recommended spot; a fourth step of detecting a branch point where a road along which the moving object is expected to move and the guide route branch off; a fifth step of acquiring required time information regarding the time required for the moving object to arrive at the branch point; a sixth step of providing the spot information to the occupant at least by voice at an information provision start timing determined based on the required time and an information provision time, which is a time required to provide the spot information of the recommended spot; Execute The sixth step is a program characterized in that, when a plurality of recommended spots for which the guided route branching at the same branch point is calculated are detected in the fourth step, the timing to start providing the information is determined based on the required time and the total time of the information provision for each of the recommended spots.

9. A non-transitory recording medium readable by a computer having the program described in claim 8 recorded thereon.