Apparatus and method for guiding vehicle occupant to travel from present position of vehicle to set destination through display unit

摘要

In an apparatus and method for guiding a vehicle occupant from a present position of the vehicle to a destination to which the vehicle occupant desires to reach, optimum routes of travel from the present position to respective intersections surrounding the present position of the vehicle are already searched and stored when the vehicle stops at the present position of the vehicle with a vehicular ignition switch turned off. Then, when the ignition switch is turned on and the vehicle occupant sets the destination, the optimum routes from the set destination toward the present position are searched on the basis of the road map data and result of search of the optimum routes of the respective intersections surrounding the present position of the vehicle. When the optimum route from the set destination to the present position of the vehicle is searched, the display unit superimposes and displays the present position of the vehicle and the optimum route to the destination on the road map so as to quickly start the guidance of the route from the present position to the destination. In the embodiment, if the set destination corresponds to one of registered points of locations, the present position and the optimum route to the destination are immediately displayed on the road map after the destination is set.