Patent Application
20180227704
The present application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-122004 filed on Jun. 17, 2015, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a portable communication terminal, a position-information sharing system, an on-board apparatus, and a program, which enable sharing of position information among group members such as friends.
In a portable communication terminal such as a smartphone, there has been provided an application (service) for facilitating meeting of members such as friends in a group at the time of their meeting by sharing position information of each other and displaying the information on a map screen. For example, in a technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1, when a plurality of members, including a user, in a group is to meet, a GPS function of a smartphone of each member is used to detect a position of a host device and transmit the detected position to a server. The server collects the position information of each member and transmits the obtained information to each of the smartphones of the members.
Accordingly, the position information of each of the members is displayed on a screen of a display device 101 of the user's smartphone, as shown in
Patent Literature 1: JP 2015-72139 A
When the position of each group member is to be displayed for meeting, the user adjusts a reduced scale of the map displayed on the display device 101 such that the positions of all the members are displayed. However, since each member gradually moves toward the waiting position P, as shown in
When the positions of the members come close and become hard to see, the user may manually adjust the map reduced scale larger. However, when the reduced scale is made larger at an early stage, as shown in
It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a portable communication terminal, a position-information sharing system, an on-board apparatus, and a program which enable sharing of position information among group members and display of position information of each member in an easily viewable state for the user.
According to one aspect of the present disclosure, a portable communication terminal, in a body portable by an owner, including: a communication device that communicates with an external portion; and a display device that displays information, is provided. The portable communication terminal includes: a host device position detector that detects a position of a host device; a position information acquirer that acquires member position information, which is position information of a portable communication terminal owned by another member configuring a group with the owner, via the communication device; and a display controller that performs a shared-position-information display process in which the position of each of the portable communication terminals owned by group members is displayed together with a map, on a screen of the display device, based on host device position information detected by the host device position detector and the member position information acquired by the position information acquirer. At a time of performing the shared-position-information display process, the display controller specifies the portable communication terminal to be displayed, and adjusts a display of the map to a predetermined reduced scale, at which all positions of the portable communication terminals, which are specified, are displayed.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a position-information sharing system including: a portable communication terminal that is owned by each member configuring a group; a position information management server that is capable of communicating with each of the portable communication terminals; and an on-board apparatus that is provided in a vehicle which each of the members is in and connectable with each of the portable communication terminals, is provided. The portable communication terminal includes, in a body portable by an owner; a communication device that communicates with an external portion, a display device that displays information, a connector that connects with the on-board apparatus, a host device position detector that detects a position of a host device, a transmitter that transmits host device position information detected by the host device position detector to the position information management server via the communication device, a position information acquirer that acquires member position information, which is position information of a portable communication terminal owned by another member configuring the group, from the position information management server via the communication device, a display controller that performs a shared-position-information display process in which the position of each of the portable communication terminals of the group members is displayed, together with a map, on a screen of the display device, based on the host device position information detected by the host device position detector and the member position information acquired by the position information acquirer, and a transfer part that transfers the member position information, which is acquired, to the on-board apparatus. The position information management server includes a receiver that receives member position information, which is position information of each of the portable communication terminals of the members configuring the group, from each of the portable communication terminals of each of the members, and a transmitter that transmits the member position information to each of the portable communication terminals configuring the group. The on-board apparatus includes an on-board display device provided in a cabin and capable of displaying a host-vehicle position on the map, a connector connected with the portable communication terminal, and an on-board display controller that performs the shared-position-information display process in which the position of each of the portable communication terminals of the group members is displayed together with the map, on a screen of the on-board display device, based on the member position information transferred from the portable communication terminal. At a time of performing the shared-position-information display process, the on-board display controller specifies each of the portable communication terminals to be displayed, and adjusts a display of the map to a predetermined reduced scale, at which all the positions of the specified portable communication terminals are displayed.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided an on-board apparatus that includes an on-board display device mounted in a vehicle in which each of the members is on board, that is provided in a cabin, and that is capable of displaying a host-vehicle position on the map, and a connector that connects with the portable communication terminal, the on-board apparatus configuring a position-information sharing system. The on-board apparatus includes an on-board display controller that performs a shared-position-information display process in which the position of each of the portable communication terminals of the group members is displayed, together with a map on a screen of the on-board display device, based on the member position information transmitted from the portable communication terminal. At the time of performing the shared-position-information display process, the on-board display controller specifies each of the portable communication terminals to be displayed, and adjusts the display of the map to a predetermined reduced scale, at which all the positions of the specified portable communication terminals can be displayed.
According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a program causing a computer to execute a shared-position-information display process, the computer being incorporated into a portable communication terminal which includes, in a body portable by an owner, a communication device that communicates with an external portion and a display device that displays information is provided. The program causes the computer to: detect a position of a host device; acquire member position information, which is position information of each of portable communication terminals owned by another member configuring a group with the owner, via the communication device; and perform a shared-position-information display process in which the position of each of the portable communication terminals owned by the group members is displayed together with a map, on a screen of the display device, based on a detected host device position information and the acquired member position information, specify each of portable communication terminals to be displayed at a time of performing the shared-position-information display process, and adjust a display of the map to a predetermined reduced scale, at which all the positions of the portable communication terminals, which are specified, are displayed, at the time of performing the shared-position-information display process.
According to the above configuration, when the shared-position-information display process is performed by the display controller, the position information acquirer acquires member position information, which is position information of each of portable communication terminals owned by the user (owner) and by other members configuring a group. Then, the display controller displays the position of each of the portable communication terminals of the group members, together with a map, on a screen of the display device.
At this time, the display controller specifies the portable communication terminals to be displayed, and adjusts the display of the map to a predetermined reduced scale, at which all the positions of the specified portable communication terminals can be displayed. Accordingly, the required position of each of the portable communication terminals of the group members can always be displayed on the map screen without deviating from the screen. In this context, the map reduced scale is automatically adjusted, thereby enabling easily identifiable display of the position of each of the members.
According to the present disclosure, it is possible to share position information among group members and display position information of each member in an easily viewable state for the user.
The above and other aspects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description made with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings:
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to
The position-information sharing system 1 includes a smartphone 2 as the portable communication terminal owned by the user, and a position information management server 3 provided in an information center and communicable with the smartphone 2 via the Internet or the like. At this time, smartphones 2 are owned by the respective members being the user and a plurality of people (e.g., friends) who configure the group. Each of those smartphones 2 has an application that is in advance installed for receiving a position-information sharing service.
The smartphone 2 includes a communicator 4 and a display part 5 in a body in the shape of a rectangular panel (not shown), where a portable operation can be performed. The communicator 4 serves as the communication device that communicates with an external portion. The display part 5 serves as a display device having a touch panel. The smartphone 2 includes in the body a controller 6 that mainly has a computer and performs overall control, a GPS receiver 7, a storage 8 that stores a variety of programs (applications) and data, a connector 9 having, for example, a Bluetooth (register trade mark) module, or the like.
The controller 6 executes an application, to achieve a function of a position information acquirer 10 as the host device position detector that detects the current position of a host device, based on a reception signal of the GPS receiver 7. Further, the controller 6 achieves a function as a user ID generation part 11 that allocates a user ID of the host device. The storage 8 also stores user IDs of the smartphones 2 of the other members configuring the group. Further, the controller 6 achieves a function of a destination setting part 15 that sets a destination where the group members are to meet, and a function of a display member determiner 16 that specifies (determines) members to be displayed at the time of performing a shared-position-information display process described later.
In contrast, the position information management server 3 includes a controller 12 that mainly has a computer and performs overall control, a communicator 13 that communicates with each of the smartphones 2 (the communicator 4), and a storage 14 that stores position information of each smartphone 2. The storage 14 stores information of the user ID of the smartphone 2 of each user and information of which group the smartphone 2 belongs to.
As will be described in action description (flowchart description), when starting the position-information sharing process (service), the position information management server 3 (the controller 12) receives (collects) member position information, which is position information of each member configuring the group, from the smartphone 2 of each member via the communicator 13. The member position information is transmitted to each smartphone 2 of the group member via the communicator 13. Hence, the receiver and the transmitter are configured by the controller 12 and the communicator 13. At this time, the position information management server 3 (the controller 12) is configured to receive and transmit the latest member position information from and to each smartphone 2 described above in a predetermined time interval (e.g., 10 seconds).
In the position-information sharing system 1, the position-information sharing process (service) for sharing the position information of the smartphone 2 owned by each member can be performed among the members configuring the group. In the position-information sharing service, a position-information sharing application (program) is executed by being activated in each smartphone 2. As illustrated in
Further, in the present embodiment, for example, it is possible to set a destination (a meeting position) P where any of the members (users) come together at the time of performing the position-information sharing process (service). In this case, the destination P can be set, for example, by such a method where the user specifies a place (i.e., a point) desired to be taken as the destination P by the operation of the touch panel, with a map screen (a host device position) displayed on the display part 5 of the smartphone 2. The information of the set destination P is also transmitted to the position information management server 3, is then transmitted to each of the smartphones 2 of all the group members for sharing, and is displayed in the shape of a pin. It is also possible to set a target meeting time on which the group members are to meet at the destination P, along with the above setting.
The controller (the computer) 6 of the smartphone 2 executes a shared-position-information display process by the following routine, at the time of performing the process (service) for sharing the position information in the group with the configuration of software (by execution of the program). First, a routine of host device position detection is executed for detecting the host device position, based on the reception signal of the GPS receiver 7. When the host device position is detected, a routine of host device position transmission is executed for transmitting the host device position information to the position information management server 3 via the communicator 4.
Subsequently, a routine of member position information acquisition is executed for requesting the position information (member position information) of each of the smartphones 2 of the other members configuring the group to the position information management server 3 via the communicator 4, to receive (acquire) member position information transmitted from the position information management server 3. In the present embodiment, the acquired member position information includes the user ID and the position information concerning each of the smartphones 2 of the group members.
Thereafter, a routine of the shared-position-information display process is executed in which the position of each of the smartphones 2 of the group members including the host user (and the destination) is displayed, together with the map, on the screen of the display part 5, based on the detected host device position information and the acquired member position information. Hence, the controller 6 configures the host device position detector, together with the GPS receiver 7, and configures the transmitter and the position information acquirer, together with the communicator 4. Further, the controller 6 functions as the display controller. The program of the controller 6 is stored in advance by being provided via a storage medium such as an optical disk or by being downloaded from an external server via a network.
In the present embodiment, as described in the next function description, the controller 6 detects the host device position and transmits the detected position to the position information management server 3 in a predetermined time interval (e.g., 10 seconds), and acquires (receives) member position information from the position information management server 3 and updates the display in a predetermined time interval (e.g., 10 seconds), at the time of performing the shared-position-information display process. Along with the above, the controller 6 is configured to display all the positions of the respective smartphones 2 to be displayed (having been specified) on the screen of the display part 5 and display the map at a predetermined reduced scale which is set so as to make the map reduced scale as large as possible (adjust the reduced scale automatically).
Next, the function of the above configuration will be described with reference to
In S3, it is determined whether the host device position information has been acquired. When the host device position information has not been acquired (NO in S3), an error display is performed in S4. In contrast, when the host device position has been acquired (YES in S3), the host device user ID and the host device position information are transmitted to the position information management server 3 in S5. Although not shown in
A flowchart of
In
In subsequent S10, a request for group position information is transmitted from the smartphone 2 to the position information management server 3. In S11, a User ID and position information (member position information) of each of the smartphones 2 of the members belonging to the corresponding group are transmitted from the position information management server 3 to the smartphone 2 having made the request. When acquiring (receiving) the member position information from the position information management server 3, the smartphone 2 executes a process for specifying the members (the user) to be displayed in S12.
The process for specifying the members to be displayed is executed in accordance with the flowchart of
When the member whose separate distance is excessively large is present (YES in S22), in subsequent S23, the member is determined as the member to be excluded from the display target on the map (displayed in another mode). In subsequent S24, the members to be displayed, except for the member excluded from the display target, are determined (specified). When the member whose separate distance is excessively large is not present (NO in S22), all the members are taken as the display target in S24.
On the other hand, when the destination P has not been set (YES in S21), in S25, a remaining distance of each member to the destination P is obtained from the member position information of each member, to determine the presence or absence of another member whose remaining distance to the destination P is excessively large with respect to the remaining distance of the closest member to the destination P. Specifically, for example when the remaining distance is not less than five times as large, and not smaller than 3 km, the remaining distance is determined to be excessively large. When the member whose remaining distance is excessively large is present (YES in S25), in subsequent S26, the member is determined as the member to be excluded from the display target on the map (displayed in another mode). In subsequent S27, the members to be displayed, except for the member excluded from the display target, are determined (specified).
In contrast, when the member whose remaining distance is excessively large is not present (NO in S25), the process proceeds to S28, and an arrival time at the destination P of each member is obtained from the member position information of each member, to determine the presence or absence of another member who will arrive excessively late as compared with the member who will arrive the earliest. Specifically, for example when the time until arrival will take not less than three times and will be delayed by 10 minutes or more, the arrival is determined to be excessively late. When the member who will arrive excessively late is present (YES in S28), in subsequent S29, the member is determined as the member to be excluded from the display target on the map (displayed in another mode).
In subsequent S30, the members to be displayed, except for the member excluded from the display target, are determined (specified). When the member who will arrive excessively late is not present (NO in S28), all the members are taken as the display target in S30. As described above, when the specification of the members to be displayed is completed, the process returns to
The process for adjusting the map reduced scale is executed in accordance with the flowchart of
When the destination P has been set (YES in S61), the destination P, the host device position, and all the specified members are displayed and the map reduced scale is adjusted so as to be as large as possible in S66. In S67, the presence or absence of the member having been excluded from the display target is determined, and when such a member is not present (NO in S67), the members are displayed as they are in S68. On the other hand, when the member having been excluded from the display target is present (YES in S67), in S69, the member is displayed in another mode which is a word balloon also in this case (referring to
Accordingly, the positions of the smartphones 2 of all the members specified to be displayed are displayed on the screen of the display part 5, and the member position information is displayed, while the map reduced scale is automatically adjusted so as be as large as possible. The process for acquiring and displaying the member position information and specifying and displaying the members to be displayed as above is executed repeatedly in the predetermined time interval (e.g., 10 seconds). Accordingly, the smartphone 2 (the controller 6) acquires the latest member position information in the predetermined time interval (10 seconds), to display all the positions of the respective smartphones 2 to be displayed except for the member extremely separated from the destination P or the host device position, while updating the display of the display part 5, and displays the map at a predetermined reduced scale which has been set so as to make the map reduced scale as large as possible.
Hence, the latest position of each of the smartphones 2 of the group members can always be displayed on the map screen. In this context, the map is adjusted so as to make the reduced scale as large as possible, thereby enabling easily identifiable display of the position of each of the smartphones 2 of the group member without the user manually performing an operation to change the reduced scale. It is a matter of course that the position of each smartphone to be displayed is not deviated from the map screen. The above position-information sharing process is completed by a completion operation performed in any of the smartphones 2, or by arrival of all the group members (all the smartphones 2) at the destination P.
As thus described, according to the smartphone 2, the position-information sharing system 1, and the program of the present embodiment, it is possible to share position information among group members and obtain an excellent effect of being able to display position information of each member in a state easily viewable for the user. In particular, in the present embodiment, since it is configured so as to allow setting of the destination P where the group members are to meet, the positional relation among each member, including the destination P, is easily identifiable by viewing the display of the display part 5, which can enhance the convenience for the user.
Next, a second embodiment will be described with reference to
At this time, a cooperative application for cooperating with the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 is installed in advance in the smartphone 2 of the user, and similarly, a cooperative application for cooperating with the smartphone 2 is installed in the vehicle navigation apparatus 22. With such applications installed, by bringing the smartphone 2 into the cabin of the automobile, the connector 9 and the connector 26 are connected by a wireless communication in a Bluetooth (register trade mark) system, and hence cooperative operations of the smartphone 2 and the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 can be executed. The connector 9 thus functions as the connector that connects the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 being another device.
In the present embodiment, as described in the next function description (flowchart description), when the shared-position-information display process is performed with the smartphone 2 and the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 in the cooperative state, the smartphone 2 (the controller 6) detects host device position information and transmits the detected information to the position information management server 3 (referring to
The vehicle navigation apparatus 22 (the controller 24) performs the shared-position-information display process in which the position of each of the smartphones 2 of the group members including the host user (and the destination P) are displayed together with the map on the screen of the display part 23, based on the member position information and host-vehicle position information (or host device position information). Also in this case, it is configured such that the displayed member position information and host-vehicle position information are updated in a predetermined time interval (e.g., 10 seconds), all the positions of the respective smartphones 2 to be displayed (having been specified) are displayed on the screen of the display part 23, and the map at a predetermined reduced scale is displayed, which has been set so as to make the map reduced scale as large as possible (adjust the reduced scale automatically).
Accordingly, in the present embodiment, the controller 24 of the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 functions as the on-board display controller. When the destination P is set by the destination setting part 27, the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 searches an appropriate route to the destination P and performs routing assistance. Along with this, the arrival-time setting part 28 calculates the time required (an expected arrival time) until the arrival at the destination (the destination P), based on the route. When information of the destination P is received (or set) on the smartphone 2 side, the information of the destination P is transmitted to the vehicle navigation apparatus 22, and a similar process is performed.
A flowchart of
As shown in
In subsequent S46, a request for group position information of each of the smartphones 2 of the other members configuring the group is transmitted from the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 to the smartphone 2. That is, information of each of the friends in the group is requested in S46. In the smartphone 2 (the controller 6), when the position-information sharing application is activated in S47, in response to the request from the vehicle navigation apparatus 22, a request for member position information is transmitted to the position information management server 3 in S48. That is, information of each of the friends in the group is requested. Then, in S49, a User ID and position information (member position information) of each of the smartphones 2 of the members belonging to the group are transmitted from the position information management server 3 to the smartphone 2 having made the request.
When acquiring (receiving) the member position information from the position information management server 3, the smartphone 2 transmits (transfers) the member position information to the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 in S50. In the vehicle navigation apparatus 22, in S51, the positions of the smartphones 2 of all the members are displayed on the screen of the display part 23, and the member position information is displayed, while the map reduced scale is automatically adjusted so as to be as large as possible.
The process for acquiring and displaying the member position information is executed repeatedly in a predetermined time interval (e.g., 10 seconds). Accordingly, the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 (the controller 24) acquires the latest member position information in the predetermined time interval (10 seconds), to display all the positions of the respective smartphones 2 to be displayed, while updating the display of the display part 23, and displays the map at a reduced scale which has been set so as to be as large as possible.
According to the present embodiment, similarly to the above first embodiment, it is possible to share position information among group members and obtain an excellent effect of being able to display position information of each member in an easily viewable state for the user. By using the vehicle navigation apparatus 22, which is the on-board apparatus connected to the smartphone 2, and allotting a part of the function, it is possible to reduce a load of the smartphone 2 and thereby perform the process with higher quality (at a higher rate), and also possible to obtain advantages, such as an increase in convenience due to the cooperation.
In the second embodiment, it has been configured such that, separately from the host device position detector of the smartphone 2, the host-vehicle position detected by the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 detecting the host device position is displayed. However, it may be configured such that the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 receives the host device position information of the smartphone 2 and displays the position of the host vehicle (the host device) based on the received information. Alternatively, it may be configured such that the smartphone 2 acquires, as the host device position, the position detected by the host-vehicle position detecting function of the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 and transmits the acquired position. It can also be configured such that the function (the function to communicate with the position information management server 3) of the position information acquirer in the portable communication terminal is allotted to the on-board apparatus.
Although not described in detail in the second embodiment, when the smartphone 2 and the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 are cooperated with each other, the process performed by the display controller (the process for specifying members to be displayed and automatically adjusting the map reduced scale at the time of position display) may be performed only on the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 side (by the controller 24). That is, on the smartphone 2 side, it may be configured such that, when the controller 6 displays the shared position information on the display part 5, the map reduced scale is set and fixed so as to be changeable by the user's operation, and the map reduced scale is not cooperated with the display screen of the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 (is made independently adjustable).
Next, a third embodiment of the present disclosure will be described with reference to
Although not illustrated in detail, similarly to the above first embodiment, each of the smartphones 32 includes in a body a communicator 4 that serves as the communication device for communicating with an external portion, a display part 5 that serves as the display device having a touch panel, a controller 6 that mainly has a computer and performs overall control, a GPS receiver 7 that configures the host device position detector, a storage 8 that stores a variety of programs (applications) and data, a connector 9 having a Bluetooth (register trade mark) module, and the like. Each smartphone 32 includes a dedicated application 32a for executing the position-information sharing process (receiving the position-information sharing service).
At this time, in the present embodiment, each smartphone 32 is connectable with another device by the connector 9 as the connector. In this context, as another device, other than the vehicle navigation apparatus 22 being the on-board apparatus described in the above second embodiment, each smartphone 32 can be connected with a bicycle navigation device 34 mounted on a bicycle, IT related information equipment such as a personal computer, and a variety of household electric appliances as IoT (Internet of Things) devices provided in a house (a TV, audio equipment, illumination equipment, an air conditioner, a water heater, etc.).
In contrast, although not shown in detail, the position information management server 33 includes a controller 12 that mainly has a computer, a communicator 13 that communicates with each of the smartphones 32 (the communicators 4), a storage 14 that stores a variety of pieces of data, and the like. The position information management server 33 (the controller 12) receives (collects) member position information, which is position information of each member configuring the group, from the smartphone 32 of each member via the communicator 13 and transmits the member position information to each smartphone 32.
At this time, the storage 14 stores a moving speed database as shown in
As described in the next flowchart description, in the present embodiment, the controller 6 of the smartphone 32 executes the shared-position-information display process with the configuration of software (by execution of the program). In this process, the host device position information is detected and transmitted to the position information management server 33, the member position information transmitted from the position information management server 33 is acquired, and the shared-position-information display process is performed in which the position of each of the smartphones 32 of the group members including the host user (and the destination) is displayed, together with the map, on the screen of the display part 5. It is configured such that the member position information and the host device position information displayed on the display part 5 are updated in a predetermined time interval (e.g., 10 seconds), all the positions of the respective smartphones 32 to be displayed are displayed on the screen of the display part 5, and the map is displayed at a predetermined reduced scale which has been set so as to make the map reduced scale as large as possible (the reduced scale is adjusted automatically).
In the present embodiment, the member position information transmitted from the position information management server 33 includes information of the moving speed, along with the user ID and the position information of each of the smartphones 32 of the group members. The controller 6 of the smartphone 32 functions as the time calculator that calculates an arrival time at the destination P, based on the moving speed of each of the smartphones 32 of the group members. At the time of performing the shared-position-information display process, the controller 6 calculates an expected arrival time at the destination P, and excludes from the display target the smartphone 32 of the member whose arrival time is determined to exceed a predetermined time (e.g., a target arrival time+a (e.g., 10 minutes)).
A flowchart of
On the other hand, when the host device position has been acquired (YES in S63), in S65, the host device user ID, information (the kind, the presence or absence) of the connected device, and the host device position information are transmitted to the position information management server 33. This process for detecting the host device position and transmitting the information is repeatedly executed in a predetermined time interval (e.g., 10 seconds). When the information is transmitted to the position information management server 33, the position information management server 33 (the controller 12) obtains the moving speed of the smartphone 32 based on the moving speed database of
A flowchart of
In subsequent S68, a request for group position information of each of the smartphones 32 of the group members is transmitted from the smartphone 32 to the position information management server 33. Then, in S69, the position information management server 33 transmits the User ID, the moving speed, and the position information (the member position information) of each of the smartphones 32 of the members belonging to the group to the smartphone 32 having made the request. When the smartphone 32 acquires (receives) the member position information from the position information management server 33, in S70, the position of each of the smartphones 32 of the group members is displayed on the screen of the display part 5, while the map reduced scale is automatically adjusted so as to be as large as possible.
At this time, in the present embodiment, in S70, the controller 6 calculates an expected arrival time at the destination P from the position (the distance to the destination P) and the moving speed of each of the smartphones 32. The controller 6 then excludes from the display target the smartphone 32 whose arrival time is determined to exceed a predetermined time (a target arrival time+α (e.g., 10 minutes)), and displays only the position information of each of the members who will arrive. This process for acquiring and displaying the member position information is executed repeatedly in a predetermined time (e.g., 10 seconds).
Since the smartphone 32 of the member whose arrival time at the destination P is extremely late is excluded from the display target, the map reduced scale does not need to be made smaller than necessary in order to display all the members, thereby enabling easily viewable display.
As can also be understood from
As above, according to the present embodiment, similarly to the above first embodiment, it is possible to share position information among the group members and obtain an excellent effect of being able to display position information of each member in an easily viewable state for the user. Since the member whose arrival time at the destination P is determined to exceed a predetermined time is excluded from the display target, the map reduced scale does not need to be made smaller than necessary in order to display all the members, thereby enabling easily viewable display.
Further, particularly in the present embodiment, since it is determined whether each user (member) is moving by automobile, moving by bicycle, or stopping home, based on the presence or absence and the kind of the connected device connected to the smartphone 32, it is possible to also obtain an advantage of being able to estimate the moving speed of the smartphone 32 of each member with sufficient certainty.
Although the smartphone 32 of the member whose arrival time at the destination P is determined to exceed the predetermined time is excluded from the display target in the above third embodiment, it may be configured for a similar purpose such that the smartphone 32 whose distance from the destination P exceeds a predetermined distance is simply excluded from the display target. In this case, the controller 6 can be functioned as the distance calculator. Since the member whose distance from the destination P is extremely large is excluded from the display target, the map reduced scale does not need to be made smaller than necessary in order to display all the members, thereby enabling easily viewable display.
Although it has been configured such that the position information management server 33 estimates (calculates) the moving speed of each smartphone 32 in the above embodiment, the moving speed may be estimated on each smartphone 32 side. Moreover, when the smartphone 32 is connected to a device such as the vehicle navigation apparatus 22, it may be configured such that the moving speed is estimated (the arrival time at the destination P is determined) on the device side. It is a matter of course that the value “α” for determining whether the arrival time is late is not restricted to 10 minutes. When the target arrival time is not set, the determination may be made based on whether the arrival time is extremely late with respect to an average arrival time of a plurality of members.
That is, a flowchart of
A member determined not to arrive by the set time (NO in S71) is determined to be notified by a list (not displayed on the map) in S72 As for members determined to arrive by the set time (YES in S71) is determined, in S73, the position of each of the smartphones 32 of the group members is displayed with the face icons I on the screen of the display part 5, while the map reduced scale is automatically adjusted so as to be as large as possible. This process for acquiring and displaying the member position information is executed repeatedly in a predetermined time (e.g., 10 seconds).
Accordingly, as shown in
Also according to the fourth embodiment, similarly to the third embodiment, it is possible to share position information among group members and obtain an excellent effect of being able to display position information of each member in an easily viewable state for the user. Further, since the member whose arrival time at the destination P will be late is displayed in another mode (the list L), the map reduced scale does not need to be made smaller than necessary in order to display all the members, thereby enabling easily viewable display.
A flowchart of
That is, the member position information is updated, for example, 10 seconds later in S81, and in subsequent S82, the presence or absence of a member excluded from the display of the map screen (a member in a position out of the range of the map displayed last time) is determined. When the member out of the display of the map screen is present (YES in S82), the member is displayed in another display mode (a word balloon display) in S83.
In this case, even when some member temporarily moves in a direction away from the destination P, the display can be continued without making the map reduced scale smaller. Hence, it is possible to share the position information among the group members, continue the display without making the map reduced scale temporarily small, and display the position information of each member in an easily viewable state for the user.
Although the smartphone has been employed as the portable communication terminal in each of the above embodiments, the smartphone is not restrictive, and it is possible to use any portable equipment with a communication function, such as a portable phone, a tablet terminal, or a portable navigation device. The connection between the portable communication terminal and the on-board apparatus or other devices is not restricted by the connection in the bluetooth system, but wireless LAN (WiFi), or a cable (USB, HDMI (register trade mark), etc.) may be used. Furthermore, a variety of changes are possible in hardware configurations of the smartphone and the car navigation, and the like, and thus the present disclosure is not restricted to each of the embodiments described above and shown in the drawings, but can be implemented by being subjected to an appropriate change in the scope not deviating from the gist of the present disclosure.
The smartphones 2, 32 correspond to an example of the portable communication terminal. The communicator 4 corresponds to an example of the communication device. The display part 5 corresponds to an example of the display device. The controller 6 corresponds to an example of each of the host device position detector, the position information acquirer, the display controller, the separate distance calculator, the remaining distance calculator, and the time calculator. The GPS receiver 7 corresponds to an example of the host device position detector. The vehicle navigation apparatus 22 corresponds to an example of the on-board apparatus. The display part 23 corresponds to an example of the on-board display device. The controller 24 corresponds to an example of the on-board display controller. The bicycle navigation device 34 corresponds to an example of the other device. The storage mediums such as the storage 8, the storage 14, the memory 25, and the optical disk each correspond to an example of a computer readable non-transitory storage medium.
The present embodiment can be formed in a variety of modes, such as a computer readable non-transitory storage medium which records a program, a program product which is kept in a computer readable non-transitory storage medium, or the like.
It is noted that a flowchart or the processing of the flowchart in the present application includes multiple steps (also referred to as sections), each of which is represented, for instance, as S1. Further, each step can be divided into several sub-steps while several steps can be combined into a single step.
While various embodiments, configurations, and aspects of the portable communication terminal, position information sharing system, on-board apparatus, and program have been exemplified, the embodiments, configurations, and aspects of the present disclosure are not limited to those described above. For example, embodiments, configurations, and aspects obtained from an appropriate combination of technical elements disclosed in different embodiments, configurations, and aspects are also included within the scope of the embodiments, configurations, and aspects of the present disclosure.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015-122004 | Jun 2015 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2016/002777 | 6/8/2016 | WO | 00 |
