Alpine Electronics, Inc.

Noboru Yamazaki

Makoto Abe

Takashi Ichikawa

Manabu Kusano

Mitsuru Suzuki

Takahiro Oshika

Norimitsu Nishikawa

Takeru Mishima

The navigation device includes a detour exploring portion configured to explore a detour to avoid a section in which a traffic hazard occurs using map data at a level lower than a predetermined level when a traffic hazard determining portion determines that the traffic hazard occurs on the guidance route, and a display control portion configured to zoom the detour to match a scale of the detour to a currently designated scale, and synthesize and display the detour on a map image. The navigation device maintains the display of the wide area map and synthesizes and additionally displays a detour, for example, to pass through a road such as a narrow street included in a detailed map on the map image such that the user can receive, at a glance, a detour to easily bypass the section in which a traffic hazard occurs.

Navigation device and control method for displaying detour

The invention provides a map display device and map display method that enhance the information density of displayed road names while maintaining legibility of a map image. First, the map drawing unit draws, to an image storage unit, a map image of roads and so forth in a desired scale, by using the background layer of a first hierarchy corresponding to the desired scale. Second, the map drawing unit draws place names and facility names by using the character layer of the first hierarchy to superimpose them on the map image. Third, the map drawing unit extracts the road names that do not overlap with the map characters of the place names and facility names on the map image by using the character layer of the first hierarchy, and superimposes them on the map image at the normal character size. Fourth, the map drawing unit extracts, by using the character layer of a second hierarchy corresponding to a scale level smaller by one step than the desired scale level, road names that do not overlap with the map characters of the other road names, place names, facility names and so forth on the map image, and superimposes them on the map image at a smaller character size. Finally, the map drawing unit superimposes the vehicle position mark on the map image.

Map display device and map display method

A device includes a character-data rotating section that rotates a regular-position character by a predetermined angle with respect to a reference point that is the center point of the background area of the regular-position character by using regular-position character data having a rotation angle of 0&#xb0; and a center-point matching processing section that horizontally and/or vertically enlarges the background area of the rotated character data to cause the center point of the rotated character and the center point of BMP data to match each other even with respect to rotated character data. Thus, when multiple pieces of character data are arranged so that the center points thereof lie on a reference line, not only are the center points of the characters aligned along the reference line, but also bottom portions of the characters aligned with respect to the reference line.

Method and device for generating character data, method and control device for displaying character data, and navigation apparatus

An audio apparatus contains a plurality of playable files stored in a database and organized in folders. The folders can be listed in a manner understandable at a glance even when viewed on a small display area and when the hierarchical structure shows a minimum level of detail. A folder selection section selects a folder from a database, and a directly-under-folder detection section detects if a playable file exists directly under a folder selected. A folder-under-folder detection section detects if a playable file exists directly under any folder located under the selected folder assuming no playable file exists directly under the selected folder.

Audio apparatus media folders and files organization

The invention provides a navigation device and a facility image display method, whereby a user can recognize various types of information about a facility from the image corresponding to the facility. The navigation device includes road information, etc., used for drawing map images; facility information including the nodes of the facilities and a plurality of attributes of the facilities; a buffer memory that stores data of icon images corresponding to each of the plurality of attributes of the facilities; a map drawing unit that draws a map image on the basis of the road information, etc., and draws any of the icon images corresponding to the plurality of attributes of the facilities contained in the facility information, at a position in the map image corresponding to the node identified in the facility information; and an image synthesizing unit that causes a display unit to display the drawn image.

Navigation device and facility image display method

There is provided a navigation system which enables efficient driving in a lane where advancing or leaving relative to other lanes of the road is restricted, such as for a carpool lane. Map data including road information regarding advancing/leaving points in a road having a carpool lane is read from a DVD and stored in a data buffer A route search processing section used the map data stored in the data buffer to perform route search processing, taking the availability of the carpool lane into consideration. When route guidance using the carpool lane is performed, a carpool lane guide section performs predetermined lane change guidance visually and/or orally, at a timing when the advancing/leaving point at which the route is to be changed approaches within a predetermined distance from the position of the vehicle.

Navigation system

A destination information retrieval method is provided. When &ldquo;airports&rdquo; is selected as a desired destination from a category list, a list of airports is provided. When a desired airport is selected from the provided airport list, it is determined whether the desired airport has a plurality of airport terminals. If a plurality of airport terminals is present, the airlines that utilize the desired airport are retrieved, and a list of the retrieved airlines is provided. When a desired airline is selected from the provided airline list, the airport terminal on the desired airline is displayed in a display window, while a map of the target airport and the vicinity is displayed with a cursor located at the center.

Growing community of inventors

Iwaki, Japan

Noboru Yamazaki