Nissan Motor Company Limited

Masayasu Iwasaki

Hiroshi Tsuda

Okihiko Nakayama

Norimasa Kishi

Masaki Watanabe

Kiyomichi Yamada

Yoshitaka Yatsugi

Brian R Grom

Akio Kosaka

A bird's eye view commonly used in a flight simulation is applicable to an apparatus and method for navigating a vehicle running on a set route of travel to a set destination using a (color) display unit according to the present invention. The bird's eye view of a road map surrounding a present position of the vehicle has a viewing point placed at a predetermined position on an upper sky in a direction opposite to the set destination with the present position of the vehicle as a reference and has a line of sight looking down over the road map so that a part of the road map surrounding the present position of the vehicle can be viewed in an extended scale form and the remaining part of the road map remote from the present position and nearer to the set destination can be viewed in a gradually reduction scale form.

Apparatus and method for navigating vehicle to destination using display

In an apparatus and method for guiding a vehicle occupant from a present position of the vehicle to a destination to which the vehicle occupant desires to reach, optimum routes of travel from the present position to respective intersections surrounding the present position of the vehicle are already searched and stored when the vehicle stops at the present position of the vehicle with a vehicular ignition switch turned off. Then, when the ignition switch is turned on and the vehicle occupant sets the destination, the optimum routes from the set destination toward the present position are searched on the basis of the road map data and result of search of the optimum routes of the respective intersections surrounding the present position of the vehicle. When the optimum route from the set destination to the present position of the vehicle is searched, the display unit superimposes and displays the present position of the vehicle and the optimum route to the destination on the road map so as to quickly start the guidance of the route from the present position to the destination. In the embodiment, if the set destination corresponds to one of registered points of locations, the present position and the optimum route to the destination are immediately displayed on the road map after the destination is set.

Apparatus and method for guiding vehicle occupant to travel from present

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Sagamihara, Japan

Masayasu Iwasaki