Parsing Walking Directions Using Sidewalk Networks

This paper proposes an advanced method of geocoding for walking directions in documents using daily local expressions. Walking directions are usually described in casual expressions, but not in regular ones like address. Thus, it has been considered practically impossible to geocode walking directions. However, sidewalk network databases in major cities of Japan have been available for human navigation services with GPS-equipped mobile phones since 2003. The databases can be expected to enable more advanced geocoding for larger scale natural language expressions. We first introduce the core schema of sidewalk network databases. Then, we explain a structure of walking directions in Japanese, and propose FRS (Formal Route Statement) to represent and process walking directions by means of a computer. Finally, prototype systems which have been developed based on our proposed framework are presented.