A computerized, on-road, vehicle service handling method involves, while a user is driving a vehicle between first and second locations, receiving a fault condition signal from an on-board diagnostic system; automatically transmitting information to multiple vehicle service locations ahead of the vehicle, including vehicle and fault information and an individual estimated time of arrival (ETA) based upon current location and speed; receiving individual service responses including at least a parts and labor cost estimate, and at least one appointment time after the ETA; receiving a selection by the user of at least two of the provided vehicle service locations and an order of preference thereof; sending payment information to the first vehicle service location; receiving a communication either accepting or rejecting, and, if accepted, automatically directing the user to the first vehicle service location, but if rejected, sending the payment information to a next preferred vehicle service location.

Advantages of both conventional and digital maps can be obtained by utilizing a physical map as a type of input to any of various processing devices. In various embodiments, a user can capture an image of a physical map that includes at least one location of interest. The captured image can be matched with stored map information to obtain location information corresponding to the captured image. The location information can be used to provide any of a variety of types of functionality to the user, such as providing navigation directions to that location, displaying information about attractions around that location or statistics about that location, etc. The user in some embodiments can annotate the map to provide additional input, such as areas of interest, exclusion regions, and/or proposed driving routes.

A navigation method and system, a map data management cloud and data update method thereof, wherein the navigation method includes: a map data management cloud receiving a navigation request from a mobile terminal, wherein the navigation request includes: requesting for route information of the navigation; the map data management cloud obtaining an optimal route according to the navigation request and collected real-time route condition information; wherein the real-time route condition information includes: route condition information, uploaded by at least one mobile terminal, collected during navigation processes of the at least one mobile terminal; the map data management cloud sending the optimal route to the mobile terminal which sends the navigation request, thereby providing real-time navigation data and improving navigation efficiency.

A use index IDX indicative of a degree of use of external charging is calculated and transmitted to a vehicle external system. The vehicle external system provides a service or imposes a penalty based on the use index IDX. In a case where the degree of use of external charging is determined to be low based on the use index IDX, if the vehicle external system provides a non-preferential service or imposes a heavy penalty as compared with a case where the degree of use of external charging is determined to be high, a driver or an owner of a vehicle takes an action by which the use index is determined to indicate, a high degree of use of external charging. As a result, the use of external charging can be promoted.

A driving route matching method, apparatus, and storage medium. The method includes: obtaining a route to be retrieved, the route including a retrieval start point and a retrieval end point; performing a search in a database of existing routes, and selecting the existing routes passing through grids within a predetermined range around the start point as routes available for the start point; performing a search in the database of the existing routes, and selecting the existing routes passing through grids within a predetermined range around the search endpoint as routes available for the end point; calculating intersections of the routes available for the start point and the routes available for the end point, and using the routes in the intersections as candidate routes; and screening the candidate routes according to detouring distances. The driving route matching method and apparatus enable a remarkable improvement in the efficiency of driving route matching.

An information processing apparatus disclosed controls a road surface marking apparatus capable of forming a desired road surface marking by changing the pattern of light emission of a plurality of light emitters provided on the surface of a road. The information processing apparatus has a controller. The controller obtains emergency information relating to the occurrence of a disaster and determines an affected area that is affected by the disaster on the basis of the emergency information. The controller changes a marking formed by a road surface marking apparatus provided on the road surface in the affected area into a specific marking that indicates the type of the disaster, an area to which people should evacuate, or an evacuation route.

A control method for an information processing apparatus includes acquiring information indicating a first facility set as a destination of a user, and information indicating a reference time associated with the first facility, acquiring information indicating an estimated arrival time at which the user is to arrive at the first facility, and notifying a proposal to change the destination based on the reference time and the estimated arrival time.

A trip planning system may receive, from a user device, trip data identifying a starting point and a destination point for a trip and feature data identifying weights for trip features. The trip planning system may determine a geographical region of interest based on the starting point and the destination point. The trip planning system may receive viewpoint data identifying viewpoints located within the geographical region and may calculate, based on the feature data, viewpoint relevance scores for the viewpoints. The trip planning system may determine, based on the viewpoint data and the trip data, paths for the trip and driving times for the paths. The trip planning system may calculate an optimized path, from the paths, based on the viewpoint relevance scores and the driving times associated with the paths. The trip planning system may perform one or more actions based on the optimized path.

A method executed by a terminal apparatus includes transmitting and receiving one or more instant messages among a plurality of users, acquiring a period for sharing positional information among the plurality of users, the period being determined based on a meeting time for the plurality of users that is acquired from the instant messages, activating a function of sharing positional information among the plurality of users, when the period starts, and deactivating the function when the period ends.

A driver assistance device mounted on a vehicle includes a communication unit; an output unit; an input unit configured to detect user input; and a control unit configured to perform driver assistance with use of a point on a map as a destination. The control unit is configured to i) execute a connection process to connect the driver assistance device to a terminal device wirelessly via the communication unit, ii) output identification information on the terminal device as an image or a voice via the output unit after the driver assistance device is wirelessly connected to the terminal device, and iii) execute a setting process to set the point determined by the terminal device as the destination for the driver assistance in a case where the control unit detects specified user input via the input unit after outputting the identification information on the terminal device.