Information Display Terminal Using Walking Action Image for Route Guidance
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing guidance terminals in complex environments, such as station yards and department stores, fail to clearly direct users to their destinations, as two-dimensional arrows can be ambiguous, and previous solutions like landscape images require users to memorize routes, placing a heavy burden on them.
Innovation Solution
An information display terminal that uses a route guidance screen displaying an action image showing the motion towards the destination, with the destination name displayed prominently in the direction of the action image, allowing users to intuitively grasp the direction without memorization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If two-dimensional arrows are used to indicate direction, then the guidance terminal can display direction information, but the user cannot grasp the direction clearly depending on the direction to the target facility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the two-dimensional arrow representation into a three-dimensional virtual character that walks along the guidance route. This dimensional change allows the guidance system to convey directional information more effectively by showing the character's movement through space, including vertical movements like stairs and elevators, rather than relying on ambiguous 2D arrow orientations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual copy of a human character that replicates the user's intended movement along the guidance route. This virtual character serves as a visual model that demonstrates the correct path and direction, making it easier for users to understand their navigation task without needing to interpret abstract arrow symbols.
2Reliability
If landscape images of the guidance route are displayed, then users can compare memorized images with actual landscapes, but users have to memorize a large amount of information
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of displaying complete landscape images of the entire route, the patent uses a simplified virtual character that performs only the essential action of walking along the route. This partial representation provides sufficient guidance information without requiring users to memorize excessive details about the surrounding environment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the most essential element for guidance - the walking motion of a virtual character along the route - and removes unnecessary environmental details. This extraction reduces the information burden on users while maintaining the core functionality of route verification.
3Ease of operation
If icons showing user operations on facilities are displayed, then users can understand how to use facilities, but the route to the facility is not guided
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges two previously separate functions into a single integrated system: route guidance and facility usage information. The virtual character not only shows the path to the facility but also demonstrates the correct operations at the facility, combining navigational and operational guidance in one unified representation.
Data Source
AI summary
An information display terminal allows a user to grasp rapidly and surely the direction to a destination, and can guide the user to the destination without placing a burden on the user. The information display terminal is provided at a passage, and its display screen displays a route guidance screen that guides a route to the destination. The route guidance screen displays a pseudo-action image that shows the walking motion, and a destination display information image indicating a destination name such as “Subway Ticket Gate”. The action image shows the motion of walking toward the destination, but the display position does not change. The destination display information image is displayed in front of the action image in the advancing direction.