JPH1155726A - Information guidance method and apparatus for mobile user and recording medium recording information guidance program - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide an information guidance method and apparatus for a mobile user and a recording medium on which an information guidance program is recorded, which can appropriately provide appropriate information according to position information, preference information, and the like of a user. . SOLUTION: The current position of an information portable terminal 21 carried by a user is represented by an access point 3 and a network 5.
Is monitored by the information guide server 7 via the
1. The local information corresponding to the current position and information of another user are provided to the user of the portable information terminal 21 by a request from the user or presentation from the information guide server 7.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a plurality of access points scatteredly provided in a service area where an information portable terminal is present, and the plurality of access points are connected to an information guide server via a network. A mobile terminal information guidance method and apparatus for a mobile user connecting to an information guidance server by wireless communication with an access point near the position where the terminal is located, and providing information from the information guidance server to the information portable terminal. More specifically, the information portable terminal is used in information guidance such as a town guide, a tourist spot guide, a facility guide, and a situation guide (people search, encounter, crowding condition information) of nearby people. Information on the surroundings according to the user's location for the mobile user who is carrying it, and the personal information of other users in the vicinity Information about the recording medium recorded with a mobile user-oriented information guidance method and apparatus and an information guidance program for providing a relative presentation from the user's request or information guidance server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional information guidance service including a mobile user, a user selects his / her own desired information (for example, information on nearby shops and sightseeing points) from information sources. It has become.

[0003]

In the conventional information guidance system, when a mobile user tries to access the information guidance server and obtain information on the surroundings, the mobile user does not consider positional information. Therefore, the user must search for information on the surrounding area by himself / herself, which is complicated and inconvenient.

[0004] Further, even if the user's favorite information is close to the user, the information is overlooked unless the user searches for the information, and it is difficult to find the user's favorite information. There is.

Further, in the conventional information guide service, static information such as shops and sightseeing spots is mainly used, and dynamic information such as what kind of person is around the user is provided. There is no problem.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above,
An object of the present invention is to provide an information guidance method and apparatus for mobile users and a recording medium on which an information guidance program is recorded, which can appropriately provide appropriate information according to user's position information, preference information, and the like. is there.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, according to the present invention, a plurality of access points are scatteredly provided in a service area where an information portable terminal exists, and the plurality of access points are provided. Is connected to an information guidance server via a network, and the portable information terminal is connected to the information guidance server by wireless communication with an access point near the location where the terminal is located, and the information portable terminal is An information guidance method for mobile users that provides information to a mobile terminal connected to an information guidance server via wireless communication with the access point, and detects a position of the detected information mobile terminal. Information including the corresponding area information, personal information about a person present around the portable information terminal, a user carrying the portable information terminal Various information including preference information to taste and gist thereof is to provide to the PDA.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the position of the portable information terminal connected to the information guide server is detected via wireless communication with the access point, and the position of the portable information terminal is determined according to the detected position of the portable information terminal. Location information to provide the portable information terminal with various information including information including regional information, personal information about a person present around the portable information terminal, and preference information that matches the preference of the user carrying the portable information terminal. Not only can the information surrounding the user of the information portable terminal be provided accurately and promptly in consideration of the information, but also the information on the person around the user and the information on the preference can be provided properly.

Further, the present invention described in claim 2 is based on claim 1.
In the present invention described above, it is essential that the information is provided by a request from the information portable terminal or a presentation from the information guide server.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, information is provided by a request from an information portable terminal or presentation from an information guide server. Even if the terminal does not request, information suitable for the user can be provided by presentation from the information guidance server.

Further, the present invention according to claim 3 is provided scatteredly in a service area where the portable information terminal exists,
A plurality of access points connected to a network, wherein an access point located near the information portable terminal performs wireless communication with the information portable terminal, and a plurality of access points via the network. A connected information guide server, and local information management means provided in the information guide server and storing and managing information including area information, facility information, and equipment information in a service area where the access point is provided. Personal information management means provided in the information guide server and storing and managing information on a person carrying an information portable terminal present in the service area, personal information including preference information of the person; Provided in the information guide server, connected to the access point via a network, Position detection means for detecting the position of the information portable terminal performing wireless communication, terminal identification information acquisition means for acquiring terminal identification information for identifying the owner of the information portable terminal whose position is detected by the position detection means, A region information search unit that searches the region information management unit based on the position detected by the position detection unit, and reads out information including the region information, facility information, and facility information according to the position from the region information management unit; A personal information search unit that searches the personal information management unit based on the position detected by the position detection unit and reads information about a person carrying an information portable terminal near the position from the personal information management unit Reading personal information including preference information of the owner specified by the terminal identification information acquired by the terminal identification information acquiring means from the personal information managing means. Preference information reading means, and searching the local information management means based on the personal information of the owner read by the preference information reading means, including the local information, facility information, and equipment information according to the personal information The gist of the present invention is to have a preference information search means for reading out information, and an information presentation means for presenting information searched by the local information search means, the personal information search means and the preference information search means to the portable information terminal. .

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the position of the portable information terminal performing wireless communication with the access point is detected, and based on the detected position of the terminal, the local information management means and the personal information management means are detected. Respectively, to obtain and present to the user the area information corresponding to the position, the facility information, the information including the facility information, and the information on the persons present around the position, and also present the terminal identification information of the user. From the personal information management means, retrieves the local information management means based on the read personal information, and includes local information, facility information, and facility information according to the personal information. Acquire preference information and present it to the user.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the present invention, the search processing by the local information search means, the personal information search means and the preference information search means is performed by a request from the information portable terminal. Alternatively, the gist is that presentation is performed by the information guidance server.

According to the present invention, the information portable terminal performs a local information search, a personal information search, and a preference information search based on a request from the information portable terminal or presentation from the information guide server. Not only if
Even if the information portable terminal does not request, information suitable for the user can be provided by presentation from the information guide server.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, a plurality of access points are scatteredly provided in a service area where an information portable terminal is present, and the plurality of access points are connected to an information guide server via a network. With
The information portable terminal is connected to the information guide server by wireless communication with an access point near the position where the terminal is located, and an information guide that implements an information guide method for providing information from the information guide server to the information portable terminal. A recording medium on which a program is recorded, wherein the position of the portable information terminal connected to the information guidance server is detected through wireless communication with the access point, and the local information corresponding to the detected position of the portable information terminal is detected. To provide an information guidance method for providing various types of information to the portable information terminal, including information including the information, personal information relating to a person present in the vicinity of the portable information terminal, and preference information matching the taste of the user carrying the portable information terminal. Is the gist.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the position of the portable information terminal connected to the information guide server is detected via wireless communication with the access point, and the position of the portable information terminal is determined according to the detected position of the portable information terminal. Information providing program for providing the portable information terminal with various information including information including local information, personal information about a person present in the vicinity of the portable information terminal, and preference information matching preferences of a user who carries the portable information terminal. Is recorded as a recording medium, so that the distribution can be improved by using the recording medium.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of an information guide device for mobile users according to one embodiment of the present invention. The information guide device for mobile users shown in FIG. 1 has a plurality of access points 3 scattered and arranged in a position detectable area 1 which is a service area of the information guide device. It is connected to the information guidance server 7 via the server.

A plurality of personal digital assistants 21 are carried by the user in the position detectable area 1, and the personal digital assistant 21 communicates with a nearby access point 3 by wireless communication. Is connected to the information guide server 7 via the network 5 and information is provided from the information guide server 7. In addition, the plurality of access points 3 are provided for each fixed area in the position detectable area 1. The position of the user who carries the portable information terminal 21 can be detected by a GPS, an ID transmitter, or the like.

The information guide server 7 includes a user position detecting means 9 for detecting and managing the position of the portable information terminal 21 carried by the user, and the local information 19 and the portable information terminal 21 relating to objects in the position detectable area 1. A position correspondence information search unit 13 for searching for local information corresponding to the position of the user using the user position information 15 relating to the position of the user carrying the user, personal information of the user and access control information 17 to the personal information, user position information 15 , A personal information search unit 11 that also includes position information in search conditions. In addition,
The regional information 19 and personal information are updated as needed, so that the latest information can be always obtained.

Although not shown in the information guidance apparatus for mobile users shown in FIG. 1, the regional information 19 is stored in the information guidance server 7 of the information guidance apparatus for mobile users as shown in FIG. It further has a local information management means 23 for managing and searching and a personal information managing means 25 for managing and searching for personal information.

The information guide device for mobile users configured as described above monitors the current position of the information portable terminal 21 carried by the user by the information guide server 7 via the access point 3 and the network 5 and the information guide server 7 The local information according to the current position of the mobile terminal 21 and information of another user are provided to the user of the information mobile terminal 21 by a request from the user or presentation from the information guide server 7.

The access point 3 for connecting the portable information terminal 21 to the network 5 by wireless communication includes a position detectable area 1 where the position of the portable information terminal 21 carried by the user can be detected by, for example, a GPS or an ID transmitter. When the access point 3 can be connected to the network from the position detectable area 1 by wireless communication, the access point 3 does not necessarily need to be disposed in the position detectable area 1.

Next, the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b). First, with reference to FIG. 2A, information guidance according to a request from a user who carries the information portable terminal 21 will be described. The user is the information portable terminal 2
1 accesses the information guide server 7 via the access point 3 and the network 5, the information guide server 7 uses the information from the access point 3 via the network 5 to determine the position of the information portable terminal 21, that is, the position of the user. Acquired from the position detecting means 9 (step S1
1). When the information guide server 7 obtains the current position of the user, the information guide server 7 searches the local information management means 23 and the personal information management means 25 based on the current position of the user, and obtains the local information corresponding to the current position of the user and the personal information in the vicinity. Then, the acquired local information and peripheral personal information are transmitted to the user's portable information terminal 2.
1 (step S13).

By performing the processing in this manner, the user does not have to search for the desired information as in the related art.
It is possible to quickly obtain information around the current position.
Also, if specified by the user, information on other areas, information that is not related to the areas, and the like can be obtained.

Next, information guidance by presentation from the information guidance server 7 will be described with reference to FIG. The information guide server 7 periodically monitors the position of the information portable terminal 21 of each user by the user position detecting means 9,
A list of users whose positions have changed is created (step S21). For the user whose position has changed, the local information management unit 23 and the personal information management unit 25 are searched for the new position, and the recommended region information according to the new position (for example, during a sale or when an event is held) The user obtains the user's favorite information (e.g., a shop or a person who is looking for a guide condition in advance) and presents it to the user's portable information terminal 21 (step S23).

Thus, the user can obtain recommended information or favorite information without missing it.

Next, an information guide device for mobile users according to another embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The information guidance device for mobile users shown in FIG. 1 is applied to information guidance in a facility on a premises using a wireless LAN (local area network), and a premises facility serving as a service area is set as a sub service area for each room. , R6, and R5.
An AN access point 30 is installed, and the plurality of wireless LAN access points 30 are connected to an information guide server 70 via a network 50.

The sub service areas R1, R2, R3,.
.., R6, a plurality of personal digital assistants 91 such as notebook computers are carried by the user, and the personal digital assistants 91 are wirelessly connected to the access point 30 in each room as a sub service area. It communicates by communication, and is further connected to the information guidance server 70 from the access point 30 via the network 50, and the information guidance server 7 provides information. The position detection of the portable information terminal 91 carried by the user is performed by checking which user's portable information terminal 91 is connected to each access point 30, and the granularity of position detection is covered by each access point. It is a sub service area unit that is each room in the area.

The information guide server 70 is a Web server 7
1. It is composed of a personal information management unit 73, a user position monitoring unit 75, a user position detection unit 77, and a facility information management unit 79. In an environment using such a wireless LAN, the user accesses the wireless LAN access point 30 in the sub service area with the portable information terminal 91,
From the wireless LAN access point 30 to the network 50
To access the information guidance server 70 via. The Web server 71 is used to access the information guidance server 70. That is, the user accesses the Web server 71 of the information guidance server 70 from the Web browser on the portable information terminal 91, and the information guidance server 70 provides the user with regional information and personal information according to the position of the user.

The user position detecting section 77 is connected to each access point 30 or is in the sub-service area which is a connectable area.
, The position of the user carrying the portable information terminal 91 can be detected. Access point 3
Since the ID (Mac address or the like) of the connectable information portable terminal can be known from 0, the user in the sub service area can be specified by the terminal ID and the terminal owner correspondence table prepared in advance. The result of position detection is managed as user position information. The position detection is performed, for example, at intervals of 30 seconds to 3 minutes, and the user position information is updated accordingly.

Table 1 below shows an example of the user location information. Each user name (user1, user2 to u
The terminal ID and the sub service areas R1, R6 to R4 in which the terminal is located are shown in correspondence with ser5).

[0033]

[Table 1] In this position detection, the granularity of the position detection is 30 wireless LAN access points (each room),
When the position detection is required in more detail, the ID transmitter such as an active patch and the sensor can be arranged finely.

The personal information managing section 73 manages the user's personal information, access control information, and searches for the personal information. The personal information is information such as a user name, an affiliation, a face photograph, a gender, an age, an address, and a hobby as shown in Table 2 below. As shown in Table 2, the access control information specifies, with a condition, permission of access from other users to individual items of personal information. Access without conditions is prohibited. The condition is a specific user, a place, and the like, and these are specified in combination by, for example, an AND condition. In Table 2, "all" indicates all areas, and "same" indicates the same area.

[0035]

[Table 2] The personal information search is a condition search for each item of personal information. For example, it is possible to search for a person who is 25 years old or older and has a fishing interest. In addition, since the access restriction is also applied in the case of the condition search, a person whose access is not permitted is included in the condition is excluded from the search target.

The facility information management section 79 manages the information of the facilities in the premises with three pieces of information of the facility name, the attribute (or keyword) for classifying the facility, and the area where the facility is located. It can be carried out. The attribute is used as a search target when the user searches for a favorite facility or when the apparatus guides user's favorite information.

Table 3 below shows the facility names and their attributes and the sub service areas R1, R1, and R in which the facilities exist.
2,..., R6.

[0038]

[Table 3] The user position monitoring unit 75 monitors the existing area data of the user position information, and when the movement of the user is detected, presents information on the new area (facility and user information) to the information portable terminal 91 of the user. The user registers guidance conditions (keywords) in advance, and when a new area moves, searches for facilities in the moved area and users in the area according to the registration conditions, and presents the result. On the other hand, the information guide device also guides the facility when a user who meets certain conditions moves. For example, if the user has registered the Internet as a guide condition,
When the user has moved to the sub service area R3, as shown in Table 3, guidance for the exhibition 3 in which the Internet is indicated as the attribute is presented.

Next, a description will be given of the guidance processing of the in-house facility by the information guidance apparatus for mobile users according to the present embodiment configured as described above. First, a process in a case where the user himself connects to the information guidance server 70 will be described. For example, as shown in FIG.
When the user 3 in the terminal 3 connects to the information guidance server 70 from the portable information terminal 91, the current position (sub service area R4) of the user 3 is obtained from the user position information 83.
Then, the facility information management unit 79 and the personal information management unit 7
3 retrieves facility information / peripheral personal information according to the user's current position (sub-service area R4), and as a result, exhibits 4 are obtained as facility information as shown in Table 3, and as the peripheral personal information, 5 is obtained and presented to the information portable terminal 91 of the user.

Next, a case in which the information guide server 70 presents to the user will be described. In this case,
It is assumed that the user 1 has registered the Internet as a guide condition in advance. First, when the user 1 in the sub service area R1 moves to the sub service area R3, the user position detecting unit 77 detects a change in the position of the user 1 and adds this user 1 to the user list whose position has changed.
The facility information management unit 79 and the personal information management unit 73 are searched for the new position information (sub service area R3) of the user 1 whose position has changed, and a recommendation according to the new position (sub service area R3) is made. Get information and user preferences. As a result, Internet-related exhibits 3 as shown in Table 3 as user's favorite information.
Is obtained, and this information is presented to the user.

[0041]

As described above, according to the present invention,
Detects the position of the portable information terminal connected to the information guidance server via wireless communication with the access point, and information including area information corresponding to the detected position of the portable information terminal; Personal information about the person doing
Since the information portable terminal is provided with various types of information including preference information that matches the taste of the user who carries the information portable terminal, the location information is taken into consideration, and regional information corresponding to the position of the user of the information portable terminal can be accurately determined. Not only can the information be provided promptly, but also information on the people around the user and information on the taste can be provided appropriately.

According to the present invention, information is provided by a request from an information portable terminal or a presentation from an information guide server. Therefore, not only when the information portable terminal makes a request, but also when the information portable terminal makes a request. Even if the information is not provided, information suitable for the user can be provided by the presentation from the information guide server.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information guide device for mobile users according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing an information guidance process in response to a request from a user carrying an information portable terminal and an information guidance process in accordance with presentation from an information guidance server in the embodiment of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a configuration of an information guide device for mobile users according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Position detectable area 3 Access point 5 Network 7 Information guidance server 9 User position detecting means 11 Personal information detecting means 13 Position correspondence information detecting means 23 Regional information managing means 25 Personal information managing means

Claims (5)

[Claims] A plurality of access points are scatteredly provided in a service area in which an information portable terminal is present, and the plurality of access points are connected to an information guide server via a network, and the information portable terminal is connected to the terminal. A method for connecting to the information guidance server by wireless communication with an access point close to the location where the information exists, and providing information from the information guidance server to the information portable terminal, for a mobile user, comprising: Detecting the position of the portable information terminal connected to the information guidance server via wireless communication, information including area information corresponding to the detected position of the portable information terminal, and individuals related to persons existing around the portable information terminal. Providing various types of information to the information portable terminal, including information and preference information matching the preferences of the user carrying the information portable terminal. Mobile user-oriented information guidance method according to claim. 2. The information guidance method for mobile users according to claim 1, wherein the provision of the information is performed by a request from the information portable terminal or a presentation from the information guidance server. 3. A plurality of access points scatteredly provided in a service area where the portable information terminal is present and connected to a network, wherein the access points located near the portable information terminal are the portable information terminals. A plurality of access points for performing wireless communication with the plurality of access points; an information guidance server connected to the plurality of access points via a network; and an area in a service area provided in the information guidance server and provided with the access point. Information, facility information, regional information management means that stores and manages information including facility information, and information on a person carrying an information portable terminal that is provided in the information guide server and is present in the service area. Personal information management means for storing and managing personal information including personal preference information; and A position detecting means connected to the access point via a network and performing wireless communication with the access point, for detecting the position of the portable information terminal; and an owner of the portable information terminal whose position is detected by the position detecting means. Terminal identification information obtaining means for obtaining terminal identification information for specifying the area information, searching the local information management means based on the position detected by the position detecting means, and obtaining local information, facility information, and facility information according to the position. Area information search means for reading information including from the area information management means; and searching for the personal information management means based on the position detected by the position detection means, and carrying an information portable terminal present around the position. Personal information searching means for reading information about the person from the personal information managing means; and the terminal identification information acquired by the terminal identification information acquiring means. Preference information reading means for reading personal information including preference information of the owner specified from the personal information management means; and the local information management means based on the personal information of the owner read by the preference information reading means. A preference information search unit for searching and reading information including the regional information, facility information, and facility information according to the personal information; and a search performed by the regional information search unit, the personal information search unit, and the preference information search unit. An information presenting device for presenting information to the portable information terminal, comprising: 4. A search process performed by the local information search means, the personal information search means, and the preference information search means,
4. The information guidance method for mobile users according to claim 3, wherein the method is performed by a request from the information portable terminal or a presentation from the information guidance server. 5. A plurality of access points are scatteredly provided in a service area where a portable information terminal is present, and the plurality of access points are connected to an information guide server via a network. Is connected to the information guidance server by wireless communication with an access point close to the location where the information exists, and a recording medium recording an information guidance program for implementing an information guidance method for providing information from the information guidance server to the information portable terminal. Detecting the position of the information portable terminal connected to the information guidance server via wireless communication with the access point, and information including area information corresponding to the detected position of the information portable terminal; Various information including personal information about a person present in the vicinity of the terminal, and preference information matching the taste of the user carrying the information portable terminal Recording medium recording the information guidance program characterized by implementing the information guidance method for providing to the portable information terminal.