# US 11,307,046 B2 · Guidance system > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 11,307,046 B2 - Document ID: US11307046B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 16/606,300 - Filed: 2018-04-12 - Published: 2020-04-30 - Granted: 2022-04-19 - Earliest claimed: 2017-04-26 - Assignees: NEC Corporation - Applicants: NEC Corporation - Inventors: Hirohisa Onuki - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US11307046B2 ## CPC - G01C 21/3647: {Guidance involving output of stored or live camera images or video streams} - G01C 21/26: specially adapted for navigation in a road network - G01C 21/3438: {Rendezvous; Ride sharing} - G01C 21/3453: {Special cost functions, i.e. other than distance or default speed limit of road segments} - G01C 21/3617: {using user history, behaviour, conditions or preferences, e.g. predicted or inferred from previous use or current movement} - G06F 16/9035: Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles - G06F 16/9038: Presentation of query results - G06Q 50/10: Services - G08G 1/005: including pedestrian guidance indicator - G01C: MEASURING DISTANCES, LEVELS OR BEARINGS; SURVEYING; NAVIGATION; GYROSCOPIC INSTRUMENTS; PHOTOGRAMMETRY OR VIDEOGRAMMETRY (measuring liquid level G01F; radio navigation, determining distance or velocity by use of propagation effects, e.g. Doppler effects, propagation time, of radio waves, analogous arrangements using other waves G01S) - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) - G06Q: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR - G08G: TRAFFIC CONTROL SYSTEMS (guiding railway traffic, ensuring the safety of railway traffic B61L; arrangement of road signs or traffic signals E01F9/00; radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for traffic control G01S13/91, G01S15/88, G01S17/88; {radar or analogous systems, sonar systems, lidar systems specially adapted for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93}) ## Abstract This guidance system is provided with: an accepting unit which acquires a guidance request including at least a destination and image data from a user terminal; a guidance unit which, on the basis of vehicle information of a vehicle recognized from the image data by image recognition, acquires vehicle related information relating to said vehicle, and with reference to the vehicle related information and the destination, derives a ride suitability indicating whether the vehicle is suitable for traveling to the destination; and a response unit which reports a response including at least the ride suitability derived by the guiding unit to the user terminal. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A server system to operate a guidance system, the server system comprising a processor configured to: acquire from a user terminal via a communication network a guidance request including at least an intended destination and image data of at least some photographed vehicle; recognize vehicle information on the vehicle from the image data by image recognition with template matching; collect from information databases vehicle-related information on the vehicle based on the vehicle information; derive a ride suitability indicating whether or not the vehicle is suitable for reaching the intended destination by referring to the vehicle-related information and the intended destination; and notify via the communication network the user terminal of a response including at least the ride suitability derived, wherein when the vehicle is not uniquely discriminated by the image recognition performed on the image data by template matching, the processor acquires, as a result of the image recognition, at least two of a vehicle type as different modes of transportation, a service line, an operating company, a vehicle position, and a vehicle-specific number, collects from the information databases the vehicle-related information on the vehicle based on the result of the image recognition including the at least two of the vehicle type as the different modes of transportation, the service line, the operating company, the vehicle position, and the vehicle-specific number in combination as a key information, recognizes uniquely the vehicle by the collected information, and derives the ride suitability indicating whether or not the vehicle is suitable for reaching the intended destination by referring to the vehicle-related information and the intended destination. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The server system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to derive, when referring to the vehicle-related information and the intended destination to derive the ride suitability, a ride suitability indicating whether or not the vehicle is suitable as a route for reaching the intended destination compared with another route. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The server system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to receive a plurality of pieces of image data for one guidance request received from the user terminal, and wherein the processor is configured to acquire the vehicle information on one vehicle from the plurality of pieces of image data by image recognition. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The server system according to claim 1, wherein, when the vehicle information is not recognized from the image data received from the user terminal, the processor notifies a sample image(s) indicating a sample of an image from which the vehicle information is recognizable to the user terminal via the communication network. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The server system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to refer to a database in which the vehicle information provided by public transportation and the vehicle-related information are associated with each other, to thereby acquire the vehicle-related information based on the vehicle information as the key information. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The server system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured to select, based on the vehicle information recognized by the image recognition, an information collection pattern in which items to be collected for the guidance request have been arranged in advance, and collect, based on the selected information collection pattern and current position information, the vehicle-related information on the vehicle. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The server system according to claim 1, wherein the processor is configured so that the intended destination is receivable in a plurality of languages from the user terminal via the communication network, and wherein the processor is configured to notify information included in the response in a language set by a user. ### Claim 8 A guidance method to be performed by an information processing system including a processor, the guidance method comprising: receiving, from a user terminal, via a communication network, a guidance request including at least an intended destination and image data of at least some photographed vehicle; performing image recognition on vehicle information on the vehicle appearing in the image data, and collecting from information databases vehicle-related information on the vehicle based on the vehicle information recognized by the image recognition with template matching; deriving a ride suitability indicating whether or not the vehicle is suitable for reaching the intended destination by referring to the vehicle-related information and the intended destination; and notifying via the communication network the user terminal of a response including at least the derived ride suitability, wherein when the vehicle is not uniquely discriminated by the image recognition performed on the image data by template matching, the processor acquires, as a result of the image recognition, at least two of a vehicle type as different modes of transportation, a service line, an operating company, a vehicle position, and a vehicle-specific number, collects the vehicle-related information on the vehicle from the information databases based on the result of the image recognition including the at least two of the vehicle type as the different modes of transportation, the service line, the operating company, the vehicle position, and the vehicle-specific number in combination as a key information, recognizes uniquely the vehicle by the collected information, and derives the ride suitability indicating whether or not the vehicle is suitable for reaching the intended destination by referring to the vehicle-related information and the intended destination. ### Claim 9 A computer-readable non-transitory recording medium having recorded thereon a program for causing a processor of a server system to: acquire from a user terminal via a communication network a guidance request including at least an intended destination and image data of at least some photographed vehicle; recognize vehicle information on the vehicle from the image data by image recognition with template matching; collect vehicle-related information on the vehicle from information databases based on the vehicle information; derive a ride suitability indicating whether or not the vehicle is suitable for reaching the intended destination by referring to the vehicle-related information and the intended destination; and notify via the communication network the user terminal of a response including at least the ride suitability derived, wherein when the vehicle is not uniquely discriminated by the image recognition performed on the image data by template matching, the processor acquires, as a result of the image recognition, at least two of a vehicle type as different modes of transportation, a service line, an operating company, a vehicle position, and a vehicle-specific number, collects the vehicle-related information on the vehicle from the information databases based on the result of the image recognition including the at least two of the vehicle type as the different modes of transportation, the service line, the operating company, the vehicle position, and the vehicle-specific number in combination as a key information, recognizes uniquely the vehicle by the collected information, and derives the ride suitability indicating whether or not the vehicle is suitable for reaching the intended destination by referring to the vehicle-related information and the intended destination.