JP2002279109A - Map-related contents providing system and method therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a map-related contents providing system and method therefor capable of providing suitable contents corresponding to a selected map. SOLUTION: A map server 200 transmits a contents index corresponding to a hierarchical map selected by a user of a user PC 100. When the user requests browsing of contents concurrently with browsing the map, the user transmits a contents display request to a contents providing server 300. The contents providing server 300 transmits requested contents to the user PC 100. Since the contents correspond to the respective hierarchical maps, the user can efficiently collect contents.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system and a method for providing a map and contents related to an area displayed on the map by using a network.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, a homepage for displaying a map of an area desired by a user and introducing information on an area displayed on the map is operated by using the Internet.

[0003]

However, in the currently operated homepage, a homepage for displaying a map and a homepage for providing local information are generally operated separately. A user who wants to collect map information of a desired area and information of the area in association with each other needs time and effort to perform map search and information search separately. In addition, although a homepage that provides maps and information in association with each other is operated, the information provided on such a homepage is limited to store information and the like. Even so, it was necessary to perform a selection operation on a plurality of maps until the store was displayed.

[0004] In any case, in the conventional information providing system, the user himself / herself must actively search for information in collecting information related to the area displayed on the map.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above problems,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a map-related content providing system and method capable of providing appropriate content corresponding to a map selected by a user.

[0006]

Means for Solving the Problems and Effects of the Invention 1) A map-related content providing system according to the present invention is connected to a user terminal via a network and displays a map on the user terminal. A map-related device comprising: a map server device; and a content providing device that is connected to the user terminal and the map server device via a network and that displays content related to an area included in the map to the user terminal. In the content providing system, the user terminal includes selection means for accessing the map server device and selecting the map and the content, wherein the map server device is hierarchized from a wide area map to a detailed map. Map information storage means for storing a hierarchical map, and content related to an area included in the hierarchical map. Content instruction information storage means for storing the content instruction information to be displayed in association with the hierarchical map, displaying the hierarchical map on the user terminal according to the selection of the map by the selection means, and associating the hierarchical map with the hierarchical map Map-related content combined display means for displaying the specified content instruction information together, the content providing device, the content storage means for storing the content in association with the content instruction information, and When the user terminal is selected, a content display means for displaying the content corresponding to the content instruction information to the user terminal is provided.

Thus, the user of the user terminal can:
In parallel with the browsing of the hierarchical map selected by the selecting means, it is possible to browse contents related to an area included in the hierarchical map. Therefore, according to the present system, it is possible to provide appropriate content corresponding to the map selected by the user.

[0008] Since the user of the user terminal can browse the content related to the area without changing the hierarchy of the hierarchical map, the relation between the content and the map can be easily grasped.

[0009] The content stored in the content storage means is selected by a user who is interested in the area, so that the degree of attention of the content is increased. Therefore, from the point of view of the operator of the content providing apparatus, it is possible to further enhance the advertising effect of the content as compared with the case where the content is posted on the homepage alone.

2) A map-related content providing system according to the present invention includes a user terminal, a map server device connected to the user terminal via a network and displaying a map on the user terminal, A content providing device that is connected to the map server device via a network and that displays content related to an area included in the map to the user terminal. Selecting means for accessing the map server device and selecting the map and content, wherein the map server device displays a map from a wide-area map to a detailed map in response to a change in display magnification. Map information storage means for storing a map; Content instruction information storage means for storing content instruction information for instructing linked content in association with the display magnification, and displaying the map on the user terminal according to the selection of the map by the selection means; Map-related content combined display means for displaying the content instruction information associated with the content instruction information, the content providing device stores the content in association with the content instruction information, and the content When the instruction information is selected, a content display means for displaying a content corresponding to the content instruction information to the user terminal is provided.

Thus, the user of the user terminal can:
In parallel with browsing the variable magnification map selected by the selection means, it is possible to browse contents related to an area included in the variable magnification map. Therefore, according to the present system, it is possible to provide appropriate content corresponding to the map selected by the user.

Since the user of the user terminal can browse the content related to the area without changing the hierarchy of the variable magnification map, the relationship between the content and the map can be easily grasped.

The content stored in the content storage means is selected by a user who is interested in the area, so that the degree of attention of the content is increased. Therefore, from the point of view of the operator of the content providing apparatus, it is possible to further enhance the advertising effect of the content as compared with the case where the content is posted on the homepage alone.

9) The content of the present invention is characterized in that it is hierarchized from whole information to partial information in a predetermined theme according to a map hierarchized from the wide area map to the detailed map. .

Thus, the user of the user terminal can:
When selecting the content related to the area displayed on the selected hierarchical map, only the necessary range of content can be browsed. Therefore, it is possible for the user to reduce the difficulty in selecting the content caused by the display of the unnecessary content, and to more quickly collect information.

The definition of terms will be described.

In the present invention, "content instruction information" refers to the U of the server on which the content is recorded.
This is a concept including information associated with RLs and file names of contents, or URLs and file names.

The "map-related content combined display means" in the "map-related content combined display means" refers to a case where a map and a content are displayed together on the same screen, a map or an outline of the map, and a title of the content or the content.・ This is a concept that includes the case where the outline is displayed together.

"Overall information" and "Partial information" in "Hierarchy from whole information to partial information in a predetermined theme"
For example, if the theme is “weather”, “whole information” means a wide range of weather information such as “weather in Kansai” and “weather in Chubu”, and “partial information” The detailed weather information in a narrower range such as "weather in Osaka" and "weather in Hyogo" when the Kansai region is set as the upper layer. As described above, the term “hierarchy from the whole information to the partial information” is a concept including a case where the information is hierarchized from general information such as a title / summary and a wide range of information to more detailed information. .

[0020]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION System Overview An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in FIG. 1, a map-related content service system as a map-related content providing system according to the present invention includes a user personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a user PC) 100 connected to the Internet 400, a map server 200, and a content server. And a providing server 300. The map server 200 stores the hierarchical map database 20
2 and a content index database 204. The content providing server 300 includes a content database 302.

The user PC 100 is for connecting the user to the Internet 400 to receive the service of the present system. The map server 200 provides services such as map display to users on the Internet 400. Content providing server 300
Is to provide services such as content display to users on the Internet 400.

2. Hardware Configuration FIG. 2 is an example of a hardware configuration of the map server 200. The map server 200 includes a CPU 20, a hard disk 24, a memory 22, and a communication circuit 26 for connecting to the Internet 400. The CPU 20 controls the entire map server 200. A service providing web server program for providing a map display service is recorded on the hard disk 24.

FIG. 3 is an example of a hardware configuration of the content providing server 300. Content providing server 3
00 is the CPU 30, hard disk 34, memory 3
2. Communication circuit 3 for connecting to Internet 400
6 is provided. The CPU 30 controls the entire content providing server 300. On the hard disk 34, a service providing web server program for providing a content display service is recorded.

FIG. 4 is an example of a hardware configuration of the user PC 100. The user PC 100 includes a CPU 10,
It includes a RAM 16, a ROM 18, a display 12, a keyboard 14, and a communication circuit 19 for connecting to the Internet 400. The CPU 10 is a user PC 100
Take control of the whole. The ROM 18 stores a program for operating the CPU 10 and a browser program for browsing the web. RAM 16 is a CPU
10 provides an area for performing data processing.

The CPU 10 of the user PC 100 accesses the map server 200 according to the flowchart of FIG. 6, and the CPU 20 of the map server 200 transmits a map page according to the flowchart of FIG. Performs content transmission and the like according to the flowchart of FIG. The details of these processes will be described later.

The hierarchical map database 202 records a plurality of map pages hierarchized from a wide-area map to a detailed map. Each map page includes content related to a region displayed on the map. The link information is embedded in the content index database 2 after being associated with each map page.
04 (see FIG. 5). The content corresponding to the link information is recorded in the content database 302.

The correspondence between the terms described in the claims and the embodiments is as follows. The user terminal corresponds to the user PC 100 of FIG. 1, the map server device corresponds to the map server 200 of FIG. 1, and the content providing device corresponds to FIG.
Corresponds to the content providing server 300. The map information storage means and the map information storage unit correspond to the hierarchical map database 202 in FIG. 1, and the hierarchical map corresponds to the map pages 701, 702, 703, 704 in FIG. The content storage means corresponds to the content database 302 of FIG. 1, and the content instruction information storage means and the content instruction information storage unit correspond to the content index database 204 of FIG. The content corresponds to a content page stored in the content database 302 of FIG. The content instruction information corresponds to the content index (link information of the content page) in FIG. 7 recorded in the content index database 204. The selection means corresponds to the processing shown in steps S609 and S611 in FIG. 6 performed by the CPU 10 of the user PC 100.

The map-related content combined display means is executed by the CPU 20 of the map server 200 in step S605 in FIG.
The content display means corresponding to the processing indicated by the symbol "."
This corresponds to the processing indicated by reference numeral 619. 3. Overview of Map-Related Content Service Processing In the present system, the map server 200 provides a user with a hierarchical map from a wide area map to a detailed map, and links of contents related to an area displayed on the hierarchical map. Information (or the content itself) is also displayed. Thereby, the user can check the content page indicating the information of the corresponding area at the same time as browsing the target map page.

FIG. 7 shows an example of the correspondence between the map pages recorded in the hierarchical map database 202 and the content pages recorded in the content database 302.
The map page 701 is a “world map”, and a click button for link information recorded in the content index database 204 is also displayed on this map screen. For example, when a button of “World Yearbook” is clicked, a page of “World Yearbook” recorded in the content database 302 is displayed. The map page 702 is a map of "United States of America" displayed by clicking a part of the world map on the map page 701, and a click button for link information is also displayed on this map screen. However, the link information displayed at this time is switched to information related to the United States, such as "United States Yearbook" and "U.S. Weather", unlike the case of the world map which is a higher hierarchy. The map page 703 is a map page 702
Is a map of "West Coast of the United States" displayed by clicking on a portion of the United States map of the United States, and map page 704 is a map of "Seattle" displayed by clicking on a portion of the United States West Coast map. .
Similarly, the link information displayed on the map pages 703 and 704 is also the link information of the content related to the area displayed on the map.

As described above, in this embodiment, the map pages recorded in the hierarchical map database 202 are hierarchized from the wide area map to the detailed map, while the content pages corresponding to those map pages are provided. Are hierarchized so as to be contents related to the area displayed on each of such maps from the upper hierarchy to the lower hierarchy. Note that an HTML file may be used for creating a map page and a content page, and a URL for connecting to a corresponding content page may be used as a content index.

Next, an outline of the map-related content service processing by the present system will be described with reference to FIG.

The user of the user PC 100 accesses the map server 200 (symbol 1). Map server 200
Transmits the hierarchical map and the related content index to the user PC 100 with reference to the hierarchical map database 202 and the content index database 204 (symbol 2). The user selects a map of a target hierarchy while browsing contents corresponding to the displayed map (symbol 3). The map server 200 transmits the content index corresponding to the selected hierarchical map (symbol 4). When the user requests content browsing in parallel with the map browsing, the user transmits a content display request to the content providing server 300 (symbol 5). The content providing server 300 transmits the requested content to the user PC 100 (symbol 6).

As described above, the user of the present system browses the map hierarchized from the wide area map to the detailed map,
At the same time, the user can browse the content corresponding to the displayed hierarchy.

4. Description of Map-Related Content Service Processing Hereinafter, map-related content service processing by the map-related content service system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

The CPU 10 of the user PC 100 accesses the map server 200 in response to a user operation (step S601). The CPU 20 of the map server 200
It is determined whether or not there is access from the user PC 100 (step S603). If there is access, a higher-level map indicating a wide area map and a higher-level map are selected from the map pages recorded in the hierarchical map database 202. Is transmitted to the user PC 100 with the content index (link information) related to the region included in the user PC (step S60)
5). Here, the “world map” shown on the map page 701 in FIG. 7 is displayed as the upper hierarchical map.

The CPU 10 of the user PC 100 determines whether or not the user has input a map display request or a content display request of another hierarchy (step S6).
07). The map display request is made by clicking a point in a box surrounding a predetermined area on the map,
On the other hand, a content display request is made by clicking a link button. If there is a map display request, CPU 10 transmits map display request information to map server 200 (step S611), and if there is content display request information, transmits a content display request to content providing server 300 (step S611). Step S609).

The CPU 20 of the map server 200 determines whether to receive the request information from the user PC 100 (Step S613). Upon receiving the map display request, the CPU 20 displays the requested hierarchical map on the user PC 100
(Step S615). For example, if the user selects and clicks on a box surrounding an area near the United States on the map page 701 in FIG.
A map page 702 of “United States” which is a lower hierarchy of “01” is transmitted. CPU 10 of user PC 100
Repeats the process of step S607 again, and determines whether or not the request information has been input by the user's selection (step S607).

CPU 30 of content providing server 300
Determines whether or not to receive the content display request information (step S617), and if received, from among the content pages recorded in the content database 302,
A content page corresponding to the content display request information is transmitted to user PC 100 (step S6).
19). The processing in step S623 is performed, for example, as shown in FIG.
In the map page 703, if the user selects "city" and clicks the link button, the content page illustrated in FIG. 8A is transmitted. In addition, in the map page 704, the user may select “Travel information” for Seattle.
Figure 8B
Is transmitted. As described above, in the present system, the user can efficiently obtain information related to the area displayed on the map page.

The user PC shown in step S609
The processing performed by the CPU 10 of 100 uses the URL of the content page as the content index embedded in the map page. FIG. 9 is a conceptual diagram showing a data structure of such a map page. FIG. 9 is an example of a case where a part of the information for displaying the map pages 701 and 702 of FIG. 7 is created by an HTML page.
With this HTML page, a “world map” is displayed, and a link button of “world yearbook” in which the content page URL is recorded is displayed. Then, by clicking a predetermined position in the “world map”, a map of the lower layer “US” (corresponding to the map page 702) is displayed. The hierarchical map database 2
The process of describing the corresponding content index (content URL) for the map page 02 may be performed by a CGI program or the like. FIG. 9 illustrates an HTML page after the content URL is described by performing such a program process.
In another embodiment, the content URL is
May be described in an HTML page.

The CPU 20 of the map server 200 repeats the processing from step S613 to determine whether or not to receive the request information again.
The CPU 30 of 00 determines whether or not to receive the display request information again by repeating the processing from step S617.

By repeating the above processing, the user P
When the user of C100 finishes browsing the desired map or content, CPU 10 of user PC 100 disconnects connection with map server 200 and content providing server 300, and the map-related content service processing by this system ends.

5. According to the map-related content service system as described above, the user of the user PC 100 concurrently browses the map page to be selected and, at the same time, browses the content page related to the area included in the hierarchical map. Can be browsed. Therefore, according to the present system, it is possible to provide appropriate content corresponding to the map page selected by the user.

Further, since the user can browse the content page related to the area without changing the hierarchy of the map page, the relation between the content page and the map can be easily grasped. In particular, when the information included in the content page is related to information specified by the position of a building, a place name, or the like, the user can efficiently check the content of the content while referring to the map page. Necessary information can be collected and searched.

Further, since the content is displayed in association with the map, the content can be selected by a user who is interested in the area displayed on the map, so that the degree of attention of the content increases. Therefore, from the side of the operation of the content providing server 300, the degree of attention of the content, the advertising effect through the content, and the like can be further improved as compared to the case where the content is posted on the homepage alone.

Further, as exemplified in FIG. 7, in the present system, predetermined themes such as “history”, “weather”, and “yearbook” are outlined according to a hierarchical map from a world map to a city map. The content page hierarchized from more specific information to more detailed information is displayed. Thereby, the user of the user PC 100 can check only the information of the detail level in a necessary range and an appropriate depth.
Therefore, it is possible for the user to reduce the difficulty in selecting the content caused by the display of the unnecessary content, and to more quickly collect information.

In this respect, in the conventional map display system, the user himself / herself must actively search for information in collecting information related to the area displayed on the map. For example, when checking "travel information" in the United States, even if the entire map of the United States or a single city map is displayed, the map display and travel information are not associated with each other. You will have to search for another home page that contains travel information yourself. In addition, even if the homepage that displays such information is linked to the homepage that displays the map, to display the travel information of the destination area again on the homepage where the travel information is posted You need to make multiple selections. In any case, the map displayed and the content related to the area displayed on the map are not mutually associated, and it is said that efficient and appropriate content is provided to the user. I couldn't say it.

On the other hand, according to the present embodiment, for example, a user who is planning to travel to any city on the west coast of the United States can confirm the terrain of “west coast” displayed on the map page 703 in FIG. Clicking on the "city button" displays the content of "city on the west coast" shown in FIG. 8A, so that rough information on each city can be obtained.
Further, if the user is interested in “Seattle” by the general information, while checking the detailed terrain of “Seattle” displayed on the map page 704 in FIG.
By clicking “Travel Information”, “Travel Information” shown in FIG. 8B is displayed, and detailed information for a travel plan such as “Restaurant” and “Tourism” can be obtained. At this time, the location of the restaurant or the hotel can be easily confirmed on the map page 704. As described above, in the present system, it is possible to provide appropriate content corresponding to the map page selected by the user.

6 Other Embodiments In the present embodiment, the map server 200 includes the hierarchical map database 202 and the content index database 2.
4, the content providing server 300 includes the content database 302. However, the present invention is not limited to this. As another embodiment, the content providing server 300 may include the content index database 204. Also, instead of the map server 200 and the content providing server 300 being separate servers, one server
0 and the content providing server 300.

In step S605 in FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, the CPU 20 of the map server 200 displays the map page and the content index together (see FIG. 7), but the present invention is not limited to this. . As another embodiment, the CPU 20 may display a map page and a content page together instead of the content index. In addition, instead of a content index such as “weather” and “yearbook” as shown in FIG. 6, as a link button for displaying a list of all contents corresponding to the hierarchical map,
A button such as “to the web page” may be displayed together.

In the present embodiment, the map page recorded in the hierarchical map database 202 and the content page recorded in the content database 302 are separated, but the invention is not limited to this.
As another embodiment, the content of the content may be recorded together with the map page itself. As such an embodiment and an example, in each map page of FIG. 7, in addition to the click button, information of, for example, "history of the world" and "United Nations" is recorded as text information as "encyclopedia" information. Like that.

In step S605 in FIG. 6, the upper hierarchical map is displayed first in consideration of the user's convenience in map search. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a place name, station name, A hierarchical map of a region corresponding to a postal code or the like may be displayed first.

In step S623 in FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, the CPU 30 of the content providing server 300
Although the content is displayed on one screen (see FIG. 8), the present invention is not limited to this. As another embodiment, the CPU 30 may embed and display the text information of the content in a part of the map page displayed by the map server 200, or may display the map page and the content page in separate frames. Good. This allows the user of the user PC 100 to simultaneously check the map page and the content on one screen, so that the correspondence between the content content and the map can be more easily grasped. FIG. 9 shows an example in which the map page is described in an HTML page. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the map page may be described in another language such as perl.

In step S609 of FIG. 6, in the present embodiment, the CPU 10 of the user PC 100 transmits the content display request information directly to the content providing server 300, but the present invention is not limited to this. In another embodiment, the map server 200 may temporarily intervene a content display request from the user PC 100. In performing such processing, for example, when the map server 200 receives a content display request from the user PC 100, the map server 200 requests the content providing server 300 to transmit a content page to the user PC 100 by a CGI program or the like. What should I do? In this case, in the data structure of the map page illustrated in FIG. 9, instead of the content index, the URL of the map server 200 itself and the content using the content URL as a parameter may be recorded. If the map server 200 mediates the content display request, the CPU 2 of the map server 200
0 makes it easy to centrally manage authentication processing, access log management, and billing processing for content access by the user PC 100.

In the present embodiment, the map page shown in FIG.
Of the map page 701 etc.
However, it is not limited to this. Other map pages may be for all maps of Japan. Also, the map page is recorded on a CD-ROM and the CD
-It may be recorded in the hierarchical map database 202 using a ROM as a medium, or may be downloaded via the Internet.

In this embodiment, the maps recorded in the hierarchical map database 202 are hierarchized into four layers. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other numbers of hierarchies may be used. In addition, the map page is not limited to the hierarchical structure as shown in the embodiment, but may be a process of changing the display magnification of the map (for example, a process of inputting a display magnification, or a process of enlarging or reducing a display on a map) ), A map from a wide area map to a detailed map may be displayed. In this case, the content page related to the area displayed on the map and the map page as the variable magnification map may be recorded in association with the numerical value of the display magnification or the input of the enlargement / reduction processing.

In the present embodiment, the contents illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8 are exemplified as the contents, but the contents are not limited thereto. Other contents include, for example, news, world movements (international economy, chemical technology, military and disarmament, important domestic and foreign diaries), international organizations, current status of countries, heads of countries,
Minister, town information, entertainment, bulletin board related to the city, circle information, chat, TV program introduction,
It may include book information that introduces a certain city, nature and landscape information by moving images and still images, and music data (including data for ringing melody of mobile phones) that record ethnic music and the nation related to the area. it can.

The correspondence between the map page and the content page in the present invention is not limited to the one exemplified in the present embodiment. In another embodiment, the theme of the content page and the manner of displaying the map page are associated with each other. It may be. For example, when a content page on the theme of “industry” is displayed, each city on the map is displayed in a different color, such as “iron and steel” or “chemical”, for each major business type. You may make it correspond with a map page and a map page in which the graph of the breakdown of industrial production of each city is displayed together. As a result, the correspondence between the contents of the content and the display of the map page is further clarified, so that the user can collect information with high utility value.

The operator of the content providing server 300 that manages the content page may create the content on its own, or may copy the content created separately and recorded on the CD-ROM to the CD-ROM as a medium. May be recorded in the content database 302 or downloaded via the Internet.

[0059] The map or content provider obtains effective marketing information for tourist agencies and content creators by collecting information on access logs (locations and themes frequently viewed) of maps and content. You can also.

In addition, for the purpose of organizing information unique to the user using the present system, the selected content may be archived on a map, that is, the content may be recorded in association with the map. As a result, the user can easily grasp which area / point on the map the acquired content is related to, and can utilize the information for organizing information.

In the present system, the user selects a map page first, and then selects and obtains content, but the present invention is not limited to this. In another embodiment, on the contrary, the content may be selected first, and then the map page associated with the content may be displayed. For example, the content is searched for under the theme of “World Heritage”, and then a map page corresponding to the content selected from the plurality of contents displayed as the search result is displayed. This allows the user to
Content and corresponding maps can be easily collected. Such efficient collection of contents is made possible by a unique feature of the present system in that contents are associated with each of the hierarchized maps.

In this embodiment, the CPUs 10, 20, 30
Are stored in the ROM 18 and the hard disks 24 and 34, respectively. These programs are stored in a CD-ROM in which the programs are stored.
And install it on a hard disk or the like. In addition to the CD-ROM, a program such as a floppy (registered trademark) disk (FD) or an IC card may be installed from a computer-readable recording medium. Further, the program can be downloaded using a communication line. Also CD
-By installing a program from ROM, instead of indirectly causing a computer to execute the program stored in CD-ROM,
The program stored in the ROM may be directly executed.

The programs that can be executed by the computer include those that can be directly executed simply by installing the program as it is, and those that need to be converted into another form (for example, those that have been compressed). , Decompress, etc.), and also include those executable in combination with other module parts.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a map-related content service system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a map server 200.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a content providing server 300.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of a user PC 100.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an outline of a map-related content service process according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a process of providing map-related content according to the embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing the configurations of a hierarchical map database 202 and a content index database 302 and their correspondence.

FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are diagrams illustrating examples of content pages according to the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a case where a part of a map page is created by an HTML page.

[Explanation of symbols]

 400 Internet 100 User terminal 200 Map server 300 Content providing server 202 Hierarchical map database 204 Content index database 302 Content database

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06T 1/00 200 G06T 1/00 200E 11/60 300 11/60 300 G09B 29/00 G09B 29/00 A F G09F 19/00 G09F 19/00 Z F term (reference) 2C032 HB05 HB31 HC13 HC24 HC27 5B050 BA06 BA17 CA05 CA06 CA07 CA08 DA10 EA19 FA02 5B075 KK07 KK13 KK33 KK38 MM11 ND03 ND06 P23P48Q13 ND20N13PP48N13N48 UU14

Claims (12)

[Claims] 1. A user terminal, a map server device connected to the user terminal via a network and displaying a map for the user terminal, a network connected to the user terminal and the map server device, A content providing apparatus for displaying, to the user terminal, content related to an area included in the map, wherein the user terminal accesses the map server device and A selection unit for selecting a map and content; the map server device includes: a map information storage unit configured to store a hierarchical map hierarchized from a wide area map to a detailed map; Instruction for storing content instruction information indicating the content to be associated with the hierarchical map Information storage means; map-related content display means for displaying the hierarchical map to the user terminal in accordance with the selection of the map by the selection means, and also displaying the content instruction information associated with the hierarchical map. A content storage device configured to store the content in association with the content instruction information; and when the content instruction information is selected by the selection unit, the content corresponding to the content instruction information is stored in the content providing device. A map-related content providing system, comprising: content display means for displaying the content to a user terminal. 2. A user terminal, a map server device connected to the user terminal via a network and displaying a map to the user terminal, and a user terminal connected to the user terminal and the map server device via a network. A content providing apparatus for displaying, to the user terminal, content related to an area included in the map, wherein the user terminal accesses the map server device and A map information storage unit that stores a variable magnification map that displays a map from a wide area map to a detailed map in accordance with a change in display magnification; Content instruction to indicate content related to the area displayed at each display magnification in the variable magnification map Content instruction information storage means for storing information in association with the display magnification, and displaying the map on the user terminal in accordance with the selection of the map by the selection means, and the content instruction information associated with the hierarchical map Map-related content combined display means for displaying information together, the content providing device, content storage means for storing the content in association with the content instruction information, when the content instruction information is selected by the selection means Is a content display means for displaying the content corresponding to the content instruction information to the user terminal. 3. A map server device for displaying a map, wherein the map server device includes a map information storage unit that stores a hierarchical map hierarchized from a wide area map to a detailed map, and is included in the hierarchical map. Content instruction information storage means for storing content instruction information indicating an area-related content in association with the hierarchical map, displaying the hierarchical map in accordance with the selection of the map, and displaying the hierarchical map associated with the hierarchical map A map server device comprising: a map-related content combined display means for displaying content instruction information together. 4. A content providing device for displaying content related to an area included in a map, wherein the content providing device stores the content in association with content instruction information for designating the content. A content providing apparatus, comprising: storage means; and content display means for displaying a content corresponding to the content instruction information when the content instruction information is selected. 5. A recording medium on which a program for causing a map server device for displaying a map to function is recorded, wherein the program hierarchizes the map server device from a wide area map to a detailed map. Map information storage means for storing the hierarchical map, content instruction information storage means for storing content instruction information indicating content related to an area included in the hierarchical map in association with the hierarchical map, and responding to the selection of the map. Recording means for displaying the hierarchical map and displaying the content instruction information associated with the hierarchical map together with a map-related content display means. 6. A recording medium recording a program for causing a content providing device to display content related to an area included in a map, wherein the program stores the content providing device in the following content: Content storage means for storing the content corresponding to the content instruction information, and content display means for displaying the content corresponding to the content instruction information when the content instruction information is selected. A recording medium on which a program for functioning as a content display device is recorded. 7. A program for causing a map server device for displaying a map to function, the program storing a hierarchical map in which the map server device is hierarchized from a wide area map to a detailed map. Map information storage means, content instruction information storage means for storing content instruction information indicating content related to an area included in the hierarchical map in association with the hierarchical map, and storing the hierarchical map in accordance with the selection of the map. A program for causing the apparatus to function as a map server device, comprising: map-related content combined display means for displaying and also displaying the content instruction information associated with the hierarchical map. 8. A program for causing a content providing device to display content related to an area included in a map, wherein the program includes the following content providing device: A content storage unit that stores the content instruction information in association with the content instruction information, and a content display unit that displays the content corresponding to the content instruction information when the content instruction information is selected. Program to let you. 9. A map information storage unit for storing a hierarchical map hierarchized from a wide area map to a detailed map, and content instruction information for instructing a content related to an area included in the hierarchical map corresponding to the hierarchical map. And a content instruction information storage unit for storing the data. 10. The content according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the content corresponds to each hierarchical map hierarchized from the wide area map to the detailed map, from the entire information to the partial information in a predetermined theme. Characterized by being hierarchized. 11. A map-related content providing method for displaying a map and contents to a user by a computer system, comprising: a hierarchical map hierarchized from a wide area map to a detailed map; and a region included in the hierarchical map. Is stored in advance, the selected hierarchical map is displayed for the user, and the content related to the area included in the hierarchical map is also displayed to the user. When the display of the displayed hierarchical map is switched to another hierarchical map, the display of the content displayed together is switched to the display of content related to an area included in the another hierarchical map. How to provide map-related content. 12. A map-related content display method for displaying a map and contents by a computer system, comprising: map information for displaying a map from a wide area map to a detailed map; and contents related to a region included in the map. Are stored in advance, and when displaying a wide-area map, the content related to the area displayed in the wide-area map is also displayed. When displaying a detailed map, it is displayed in the detailed map. A map-related content display method characterized by displaying content related to a particular region together.