Guidance information providing apparatus, server apparatus, guidance information providing method, and program product

A guidance information providing apparatus comprising:

• a first memory which stores network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• a second memory which stores three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• an input unit which inputs a departure place and destination;
• a guiding route search unit which searches the first memory to acquire a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• a viewpoint setting unit which sets a viewpoint position for visualizing the guiding route in the target area expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• a deformation unit which deforms the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of the guiding route in the target area expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• an information map generating unit which generates the information map by projecting the deformed three-dimensional shape data;
• and
• a presentation unit configured to present a user with the information map generated by the information map generating unit.

A guidance information providing apparatus comprising:

• a first memory which stores network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• a second memory which stores three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• an input unit which inputs a departure place and destination;
• a guiding route search unit which searches the first memory to acquire a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• a viewpoint setting unit which sets a viewpoint position for the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• a deformation unit which performs a plurality of deformation processes for deforming the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data, to obtain a plurality of route deformation candidates;
• an evaluation unit which obtains an evaluation value of visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of each of the route deformation candidates expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• an information map generating unit which generates the information map by determining route deformation for generating the information map from said plurality of route deformation candidates on the basis of the evaluation value of visibility of each of the route deformation candidates and by projecting, from the selected viewpoint position, the three-dimensional shape data subjected to the determined route deformation;
• and
• a presentation unit configured to present the generated information map.

A guidance information providing apparatus comprising:

• a first memory which stores network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• a second memory which stores three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• an input unit which inputs a departure place and destination;
• a guiding route search unit which searches the first memory to acquire a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• a viewpoint setting unit which sets a plurality of viewpoint positions candidates for visualizing the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• a deformation unit which deforms the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route in the target area expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• an evaluation unit which obtains an evaluation value of visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route in the target area expressed in the deformed three-dimensional shape data;
• an information map generating unit which generates the information map by determining a viewpoint position for generating the information map from said plurality of viewpoint position candidates on the basis of the evaluation values of visibility and by projecting the deformed three-dimensional shape data from the determined viewpoint position;
• and
• a presentation unit configured to present a user with the information map generated by the information map generating unit.

A guidance information providing apparatus comprising:

• a first memory which stores network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• a second memory which stores three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• an input unit which inputs a departure place and destination;
• a guiding route search unit which searches the first memory to acquire a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• a viewpoint setting unit which sets a plurality of viewpoint positions candidates for expressing and visualizing the guiding route in the three-dimensional shape data;
• a deformation unit which performs a deformation process for deforming the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data, to obtain a plurality of route deformation candidates for each viewpoint position candidate;
• an evaluation unit which obtains an evaluation value of visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidate, of each of the route deformation candidates expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• an information map generating unit which generates the information map by determining a viewpoint position for generating the information map from said plurality of viewpoint position candidates and route deformation for generating the information map from said plurality of route deformation candidates on the basis of the obtained evaluation values of visibility, and by projecting, from the determined viewpoint position, the three-dimensional shape data subjected to the route deformation;
• and
• a presentation unit configured to present a user with the information map generated by the information map generating unit.

A guidance information providing method to provide guidance information, comprising:

• preparing network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage, and three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• inputting a departure place and destination;
• searching for a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• setting a plurality of viewpoint position candidates for visualizing the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• obtaining an evaluation value of visibility, from each viewpoint position candidate, of the guiding route in the target area expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• determining a viewpoint position for generating the information map from the plurality of viewpoint position candidates, on the basis of the evaluation value of visibility from each viewpoint position candidate;
• generating the information map by projecting the three-dimensional shape data from the determined viewpoint position;
• and
• presenting the generated information map to a user.

A guidance information providing method comprising:

• preparing network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage, and three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• inputting a departure place and destination;
• searching for a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• setting a viewpoint position for visualizing the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• deforming the three-dimensional shape data so as to improve visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• generating the information map by projecting the deformed three-dimensional shape data;
• and
• presenting a user with the information map generated by the information map generating unit.

A guidance information providing method comprising:

• preparing network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage, and three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• inputting a departure place and destination;
• searching for a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• setting a viewpoint position for the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• performing a plurality of deformation processes for the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data, to obtain a plurality of route deformation candidates;
• obtaining an evaluation value of visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of each of the route deformation candidates expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• determining route deformation for generating the information map from said plurality of route deformation candidates, on the basis of the evaluation value of visibility of each of the route deformation candidates;
• generating the information map by projecting, from the selected viewpoint position, the three-dimensional shape data subjected to the determined route deformation;
• and
• presenting the generated information map.

A guidance information providing method comprising:

• preparing network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage, and three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• inputting a departure place and destination;
• searching for a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• setting a plurality of viewpoint positions for visualizing the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• deforming the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• obtaining an evaluation value of visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route expressed in the deformed three-dimensional shape data;
• determining a viewpoint position for generating the information map from said plurality of viewpoint position candidates, on the basis of the evaluation values of visibility;
• generating the information map by projecting the deformed three-dimensional shape data from the determined viewpoint position;
• and
• presenting a user with the information map generated by the information map generating unit.

A guidance information providing method comprising:

• preparing network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage, and three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• inputting a departure place and destination;
• searching for a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• setting a plurality of viewpoint positions for expressing and visualizing the guiding route in the three-dimensional shape data;
• performing a deformation process for the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data, to obtain a plurality of route deformation candidates for each viewpoint position candidate;
• obtaining an evaluation value of visibility, from each viewpoint position candidate, of each of the route deformation candidates expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• determining a viewpoint position for generating the information map from said plurality of viewpoint position candidates, and route deformation for generating the information map from said plurality of route deformation candidates, on the basis of the obtained evaluation values of visibility;
• generating the information map by projecting, from the determined viewpoint position, the three-dimensional shape data subjected to the route deformation;
• and
• presenting a user with the information map generated by the information map generating unit.

A computer program product storing a program for allowing a computer to function as a guidance information providing apparatus, the computer program product including:

• means for storing network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• means for strong three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• means for inputting a departure place and destination;
• means for searching for a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• means for setting a plurality of viewpoint position candidates for visualizing the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• means for obtaining an evaluation value of visibility, from each viewpoint position candidate, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• means for determining a viewpoint position for generating the information map from said plurality of viewpoint position candidates, on the basis of the evaluation value of visibility from each viewpoint position candidate;
• means for generating the information map by projecting the three-dimensional shape data from the determined viewpoint position;
• and
• means for presenting the generated information map to a user.

A computer program product storing a program for allowing a computer to function as a guidance information providing apparatus, the computer program product including:

• means for storing network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• means for storing three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• means for inputting a departure place and destination;
• means for searching for a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• means for setting a viewpoint position for visualizing the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• means for deforming the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• means for generating the information map by projecting the deformed three-dimensional shape data;
• and
• a presenting function which presents a user with the information map generated by the information map generating unit.

A computer program product storing a program for allowing a computer to function as a guidance information providing apparatus, the computer program product including:

• means for storing network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• means for storing three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• means for inputting a departure place and destination;
• means for searching for a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination on the basis of the network data;
• means for setting a viewpoint position for the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• means for performing a plurality of deformation processes for the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data, to obtain a plurality of route deformation candidates;
• means for obtaining an evaluation value of visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of each of the route deformation candidates expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• means for determining route deformation for generating the information map from said plurality of route deformation candidates, on the basis of the evaluation value of visibility of each of the route deformation candidates;
• means for generating the information map by projecting, from the selected viewpoint position, the three-dimensional shape data subjected to the determined route deformation;
• and
• a presenting function which presents the generated information map.

A computer program product storing a program for allowing a computer to function as a guidance information providing apparatus, the computer program product comprising:

• means for storing network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• means for storing three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• means for inputting a departure place and destination;
• means for searching for a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination on the basis of the network data;
• means for selecting a plurality of viewpoint positions for visualizing the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• means for deforming the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• means for obtaining an evaluation value of visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route expressed in the deformed three-dimensional shape data;
• means for determining a viewpoint position for generating the information map from said plurality of viewpoint position candidates on the basis of the evaluation values of visibility;
• means for generating the information map by projecting the deformed three-dimensional shape data from the determined viewpoint position;
• and
• means for presenting a user with the information map generated by the information map generating unit.

A computer program product storing a program for allowing a computer to function as a guidance information providing apparatus, the computer program product including:

• means for storing network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• means for storing three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• means for inputting a departure place and destination;
• means for searching for a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination on the basis of the network data;
• means for selecting a plurality of viewpoint positions for expressing and visualizing the guiding route in the three-dimensional shape data;
• means for performing a deformation process for the three-dimensional shape data so as to improve visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data, to obtain a plurality of route deformation candidates for each viewpoint position candidate;
• means for obtaining an evaluation value of visibility, from each viewpoint position candidate, of each of the route deformation candidates expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• means for determining a viewpoint position for generating the information map from the plurality of viewpoint position candidates, and route deformation for generating the information map from said plurality of route deformation candidates, on the basis of the obtained evaluation values of visibility;
• means for generating the information map by projecting, from the determined viewpoint position, the three-dimensional shape data subjected to the route deformation;
• and
• means for presenting a user with the information map generated by the information map generating unit.

A server apparatus adapted to communicate with a client apparatus, comprising:

• a first memory which stores network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• a second memory which stores three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• a receiving unit which receives a departure place and destination from the client apparatus as a request source;
• a guiding route search unit which searches the first memory to acquire a guiding route connecting the received departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• a viewpoint setting unit which sets a plurality of viewpoint position candidates to visualize the guiding route in the target area expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• an evaluation unit which obtains an evaluation value of visibility, from each viewpoint position candidate, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• an information map generating unit which generates the information map by determines a viewpoint position for generating the information map from said plurality of viewpoint position candidates on the basis of the evaluation value of visibility from each viewpoint position candidate, and by projecting the three-dimensional shape data from the determined viewpoint position;
• and
• a transmitting unit which transmits the generated information map to the client apparatus.

A server apparatus adapted to communicate with a client apparatus, comprising:

• a first memory which stores network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• a second memory which stores three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• a receiving unit which receives a departure place and destination from the client apparatus as a request source;
• a guiding route search unit which searches the first memory to acquire a guiding route connecting the received departure place and destination on the basis of the network data;
• a viewpoint setting unit which sets a viewpoint position to visualize the guiding route in the target area expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• a deformation unit which deforms the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• an information map generating unit which generates the information map by projecting the deformed three-dimensional shape data;
• and
• a transmitting unit which transmits the generated information map to the client apparatus.

A server apparatus adapted to communicate with a client apparatus, comprising:

• a first memory which stores network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• a second memory which stores three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• a receiving unit which receives a departure place and destination from the client apparatus as a request source;
• a guiding route search unit which searches the first memory to acquire a guiding route connecting the received departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• a viewpoint setting unit which sets a viewpoint position for the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• a deformation unit which performs a plurality of deformation processes for the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data, to obtain a plurality of route deformation candidates;
• an evaluation unit which obtains an evaluation value of visibility, from the selected viewpoint position, of each of the route deformation candidates expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• an information map generating unit which generates the information map by determining route deformation for generating the information map from said plurality of route deformation candidates on the basis of the evaluation value of visibility of each of the route deformation candidates, and by projecting, from the selected viewpoint position, the three-dimensional shape data subjected to the determined route deformation;
• and
• a transmitting unit which transmits the generated information map to the client apparatus.

A server apparatus adapted to communicate with a client apparatus, comprising:

• a first memory which stores network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• a second memory which stores three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• a receiving unit which receives a departure place and destination from a client apparatus as a request source;
• a guiding route search unit which searches the first memory to acquire a guiding route connecting the received departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data;
• a viewpoint setting unit which sets a plurality of viewpoint positions to visualize the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• a deformation unit which deforms the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• an evaluation unit which obtains an evaluation value of visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route expressed in the deformed three-dimensional shape data;
• an information map generating unit which generates the information map by determining a viewpoint position for generating the information map from said plurality of viewpoint position candidates on the basis of the evaluation values of visibility, and by projecting the deformed three-dimensional shape data from the determined viewpoint position;
• and
• a transmitting unit which transmits the generated information map to the client apparatus.

A server apparatus adapted to communicate with a client apparatus, comprising:

• a first memory which stores network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of a passage;
• a second memory which stores three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area;
• a receiving unit which receives a departure place and destination from a client apparatus as a request source;
• a guiding route search unit which searches the first memory to acquire a guiding route connecting the received departure place and destination on the basis of the network data;
• a viewpoint setting unit which sets a plurality of viewpoint positions for expressing and visualizing the guiding route in the three-dimensional shape data;
• a deformation unit which performs a deformation process for the three-dimensional shape data to improve visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route expressed in the three-dimensional shape data, to obtain a plurality of route deformation candidates for each viewpoint position candidate;
• an evaluation unit which obtains an evaluation value of visibility, from each viewpoint position candidate, of each of the route deformation candidates expressed in the three-dimensional shape data;
• an information map generating unit which generates the information map by determining a viewpoint position for generating the information map from said plurality of viewpoint position candidates, and route deformation for generating the information map from said plurality of route deformation candidates, on the basis of the obtained evaluation values of visibility, and by projecting, from the determined viewpoint position, the three-dimensional shape data subjected to the route deformation;
• and
• a transmitting unit which transmits the generated information map to the client apparatus.