Patent ID: 7031830

Claim:
A guidance information providing apparatus comprising: a first memory which stores network data including line segment data representing a passage in a target area of route guidance in an information map and point data representing a connecting point of the passage; a second memory which stores three-dimensional shape data representing a three-dimensional shape of the target area; an input unit which inputs a departure place and destination; a guiding route search unit which searches the first memory to acquire a guiding route connecting the input departure place and destination, on the basis of the network data; a viewpoint setting unit which sets a plurality of viewpoint position candidates for visualizing the guiding route in the target area expressed in the three-dimensional shape data; an evaluation unit which obtains an evaluation value of visibility, from each of the viewpoint position candidates, of the guiding route in the target area expressed in the three-dimensional shape data; an information map generating unit which generates the information map by determining a viewpoint position for generating the information map from the plurality of viewpoint position candidates on the basis of the evaluation value of visibility and by projecting the three-dimensional shape data from the determined viewpoint position; and a presentation unit configured to present the generated information map to a user.