Patent ID: 7636628

Claim:
A map information display apparatus that displays a map for a mobile object, said map information display apparatus comprising: a display unit configured to display an image that includes the map and an estimated transit time of a point on the map; a candidate obtainment unit configured to obtain a plurality of candidate points each of which is a candidate for displaying an estimated transit time; a selection unit configured to select at most a predetermined number of candidate points from among candidate points, of the plurality of candidate points, that are included in a part of a map area of the map displayed by said display unit; an estimated time calculation unit configured to calculate an estimated transit time of each of the selected candidate points; and a display control unit configured to cause said display unit to display the image that includes the map and a combination of the each of selected candidate points and the estimated transit time calculated for the each of selected candidate points, wherein said candidate obtainment unit includes an event history storage unit in which event history information is stored, the event history information associating types of events with points at which the types of events occurred, each of the types of events being a predetermined change occurring as the mobile object travels, and each of the points being a candidate for displaying a transit time, said selection unit includes: an impression value calculation unit configured to count, for each of the types of events, the number of event occurrence points at which the each of types of events occurred using the event history information, and to calculate a higher impression value when the number of event occurrence points is smaller, as an impression value which shows a degree of impression a user receives from the each of points; and a division unit configured to divide the map area of the map displayed by said display unit into the plurality of group areas each of which is larger than a predetermined size, and said selection unit is configured to select, for each of the plurality of group areas, at most the predetermined number of points in decreasing order of impression value from among points that are included in the each of plurality of group areas.