Information presentation system of visual field agreement type, and portable information terminal and server for use in the system

Abstract

A plurality of known markers is disposed in a specific district. A marker detection section detects the known markers existing in the image photographed by an image pickup device. A position/orientation relation calculation section identifies the detected known marker to calculate position and orientation relations between the identified known marker and the image pickup device. An associated information obtaining section obtains predetermined information associated with the identified known marker. An information processing section processes the obtained predetermined information based on the calculated position and orientation relations. A display device superimposes and displays the processed information on the photographed image. At least the image pickup device and display device are disposed in a portable information terminal, and the other sections are disposed in a server which can perform radio communication with the portable information terminal.

1 . A portable information terminal comprising:
 an image pickup device configured to photograph an image;   a display device configured to display the image photographed by the image pickup device;   a marker detection section configured to detect a known marker existing in the image photographed by the image pickup device;   a position/orientation relation calculation section configured to identify the known marker detected by the marker detection section in a plurality of known markers disposed in a specific district to calculate position and orientation relations between the identified known marker and the image pickup device;   an associated information obtaining section configured to obtain predetermined information associated with the known marker identified by the position/orientation relation calculation section; and   an information processing section configured to process the predetermined information obtained by the associated information obtaining section based on the position and orientation relations calculated by the position/orientation relation calculation section,   wherein the display device superimposes and displays the information processed by the information processing section on the image photographed by the image pickup device,   wherein the associated information obtaining section includes a leading section configured to transmit information for arbitrarily promoting leading to a specific facility or division in the specific district to a user's portable information terminal positioned in a division having high density or an arbitrary portable information terminal, based on the confirmed density at a current time or in response to a manager's request of the server, and   the portable information terminal displays the information in the display device, when the information promoting the leading is received.   
     
     
         2 . The portable information terminal according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an input device configured to perform various types of instruction inputs by a user of the portable information terminal,   wherein a facility which is able to be reserved exists in the specific district, and   the associated information obtaining section includes:   a function of a communication section configured to perform a radio or cable communication with the reservable facility; and   a function of a reservation section configured to acquire information indicating a use situation of the facility by the communication section in accordance with an operation of the input device by a user of the portable information terminal, to display the acquired information indicating the use situation in the display device, and to transmit a request for making or canceling the reservation of the facility to the facility by the communication section in accordance with the user's operation of the input device.   
     
     
         3 . The portable information terminal according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 an input device configured to perform various types of instruction inputs by a user of the portable information terminal,   wherein a sales facility which sells articles that are able to be purchased by a user of the portable information terminal exists in the specific district, and   the associated information obtaining section includes:
 a function of a communication section configured to perform a radio or cable communication with the sales facility; 
 a function of an article information storage section configured to store list information of the articles; and 
 a function of a purchase section configured to display the list information of the articles stored in the article information storage section in the display device in accordance with an operation of the input device by the user of the portable information terminal and to transmit one of a purchase reservation of the selected article to the sales facility and a transfer request of the selected article to a predetermined pick-up position in the specific district by the communication section, in accordance with the article selection by the user's operation of the input device. 
   
     
     
         4 . The portable information terminal according to  claim 3 , wherein the associated information obtaining section further functions as a card number storage section configured to store a credit card number of a user of the portable information terminal so that a purchase cost of the article is collectively paid via a corresponding credit company by the stored credit card number. 
     
     
         5 . A portable information terminal comprising:
 an image pickup device configured to photograph an image;   a display device configured to display the image photographed by the image pick-up device;   a marker detection section configured to detect presence of any of a plurality of known markers distributed in a specific district existing in the image photographed by the image pickup device;   a position/orientation relation calculation section configured to identify the known marker detected by the marker detection section to calculate position and orientation relations between the identified known marker and the image pickup device; and   an associated information obtaining section configured to obtain predetermined information associated with the known marker identified by the position/orientation relation calculation section, the associated information obtaining section radio-transmitting the obtained predetermined information to a server together with the position and orientation relations calculated by the position/orientation relation calculation section and allowing the server to process the transmitted predetermined information based on the transmitted position and orientation relations,   wherein the display device radio-receives the processed predetermined information from the server and superimposes and displays the information on the image photographed by the image pickup device,   wherein the associated information obtaining section includes a leading section configured to transmit information for arbitrarily promoting leading to a specific facility or division in the specific district to a user's portable information terminal positioned in a division having high density or an arbitrary portable information terminal, based on the confirmed density at a current time or in response to a manager s request of the server, and   the portable information terminal displays the information in the display device, when the information promoting the leading is received.   
     
     
         6 . A server which is able to be connected to a portable information terminal including a display section by communication, said server comprising at least one of:
 a marker extraction section configured to extract a specific marker photographed in an observation image acquired by an image input section attached to the portable information terminal or disposed in the portable information terminal;   an orientation calculation section configured to use the marker extracted by the marker extraction section to calculate orientation information of the image input section;   an information presentation section configured to display predetermined information based on the orientation information calculated by the orientation calculation section in the display section of the portable information terminal to present the predetermined information; and   a contents storage section configured to store information to be presented as the predetermined information,   wherein the server transmits and receives necessary information with the portable information terminal including the sections excluding the sections disposed in the server or with the sections of another server,   wherein the contents storage section includes a leading section configured to transmit information for arbitrarily promoting leading to a specific facility or division in the specific district to a user's portable information terminal positioned in a division having high density or an arbitrary portable information terminal, based on the confirmed density at a current time or in response to a manager's request of the server.