Patent ID: 8060301
Filing Date: 2011-11-15
Classification: G01C

Abstract:
1. A vehicle navigation apparatus comprising: a voice collecting unit configured to collect voice uttered by an occupant of a vehicle; a voice transmitting unit configured to transmit the voice collected by the voice collecting unit to a facility outside the vehicle; a destination information receiving unit configured to receive destination information from the external facility, the destination information being generated at the external facility based on the voice transmitted by the voice transmitting unit; and a destination extracting unit configured to extract a destination from the voice collected by the voice collecting unit by subjecting the voice collected by the voice collecting unit to voice recognition; wherein the vehicle navigation apparatus issues a first guidance based on the destination extracted by the destination extracting unit following the collection of the voice by the voice collecting unit, until the destination information is received by the destination information receiving unit, wherein the vehicle navigation apparatus issues a second guidance based on the destination information received by the destination information receiving unit, wherein the first guidance and the second guidance are based on the same voice uttered by the occupant of the vehicle, wherein the first guidance is visual or audible instructions issued by the navigation apparatus to the occupant to instruct the occupant how to guide the vehicle from a current position of the vehicle to the destination extracted by the destination extracting unit, along a first route, and wherein the second guidance is visual or audible instructions issued by the navigation apparatus to the occupant to instruct the occupant how to guide the vehicle from the current position of the vehicle to the destination based on the destination information received by the destination information receiving unit along a second route.