Vehicles and their control methods

Abstract

This application relates to a vehicle and a control method thereof. A vehicle that effectively prevents the driver from eavesdropping on passengers' voices may include: a driver's seat with a headrest speaker configured to output sound; a front passenger seat; at least one rear passenger seat; a microphone configured to detect the voice of a passenger sitting in at least one rear passenger seat; and a controller configured to generate a masking curve based on the passenger's voice and to output a masking sound corresponding to the masking curve by controlling the headrest speaker.

Description

[0001] Cross-references to related applications

[0002] This application is based on and claims priority to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0096283, filed on July 31, 2020, with the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. Technical Field

[0003] This invention relates to a vehicle and a method for controlling the same, and more particularly to a vehicle and a method for controlling a headrest speaker of the driver's seat to prevent the driver from hearing the voices of passengers in the rear seats. Background Technology

[0004] Vehicles are capable of transporting people or objects to their destination while traveling on roads or tracks. By rotating one or more wheels mounted on the vehicle body, a vehicle can move to different locations. Such vehicles can include three-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicles, two-wheeled vehicles such as motorcycles, construction machinery, bicycles, and trains that travel on rails laid out on tracks.

[0005] In addition, vehicles perform navigation, telephone, audio, radio, broadcasting, text messaging, and internet functions, and recently, they have been equipped with various software programs to perform even more complex functions.

[0006] The demand for vehicles by drivers or passengers is increasing daily, and in order to comply with this demand, the level of interlocking technology between vehicles and external terminals such as smartphones is also increasing.

[0007] In the case of luxury vehicles, the actual buyer sits in the back seat, and the vehicle is frequently driven by a driver hired by the actual buyer.

[0008] At this point, when the actual buyer in the rear seat of the vehicle is having a conversation with a third party, including the driver, that includes important information, the conversation may be exposed to the driver.

[0009] The information included in this background section is intended only to enhance the understanding of the general background of this disclosure and is not to be construed as an admission or any form of implication that the information constitutes prior art known to those skilled in the art. Summary of the Invention

[0010] One aspect of this disclosure is to provide a vehicle and a method for controlling the same, wherein the vehicle prevents the driver from hearing the passenger's voice by controlling a headrest speaker located in the driver's seat based on the voice of a passenger located in the rear seat.

[0011] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a vehicle includes: a driver's seat having a headrest speaker in its headrest, the headrest speaker being configured to output sound; a front passenger seat; at least one rear passenger seat; a microphone configured to detect speech of a passenger sitting in at least one rear passenger seat; and a controller configured to generate a masking curve based on the passenger's speech and to output a masking sound corresponding to the masking curve by controlling the headrest speaker.

[0012] The controller can be configured to determine at least one peak sound pressure level included in the passenger's speech and generate a masking curve with the frequency corresponding to the peak sound pressure level as the center frequency.

[0013] The controller can be configured to amplify the sound pressure of the masking curve at a frequency corresponding to the peak sound pressure with the highest sound pressure among at least one peak sound pressure.

[0014] The controller can be configured to control the volume of sound output to the headrest speakers based on the sound pressure level of the passenger's voice.

[0015] The vehicle may also include a camera configured to photograph a passenger, and the headrest speakers may include a left speaker disposed on the left side of the headrest of the driver's seat and configured to output sound, and a right speaker disposed on the right side of the headrest of the driver's seat and configured to output sound, and a controller may be configured to adjust the volume of the sound output to the left and right speakers based on the position of the passenger as photographed by the camera.

[0016] When a passenger is positioned behind the passenger seat, the controller can be configured to adjust the volume of the sound output to the right speaker to be higher than the volume of the sound output to the left speaker.

[0017] The vehicle may also include a camera configured to capture images of the driver located in the driver's seat, and the headrest speakers may include a left speaker disposed on the left side of the headrest of the driver's seat and configured to output sound, and a right speaker disposed on the right side of the headrest of the driver's seat and configured to output sound, and a controller may be configured to determine the position of the driver's ear captured by the camera, and increase the volume of the sound output to the left or right speaker as the driver's ear moves away from the left or right speaker.

[0018] When the sound pressure level of a passenger's voice may be less than or equal to a preset sound pressure level, the controller can be configured to output the masking sound corresponding to the masking curve generated before a preset time by controlling the headrest speaker.

[0019] When the sound pressure level of a passenger's voice may be less than or equal to a preset sound pressure level, the controller can be configured to increase the volume of the sound output to the headrest speakers.

[0020] The vehicle may also include a display device disposed in front of the driver's seat, and when the vehicle is stopped, the controller may be configured to output an image including the shape of a person's mouth by controlling the display device.

[0021] The vehicle may also include: a camera configured to capture images of the driver in the driver's seat; and a display device disposed behind the driver's seat or behind the passenger seat, wherein the controller may be configured to recognize the driver's eyes based on images obtained from the camera and to output a warning via the display device when the driver's eyes are closed for a preset time.

[0022] The vehicle may also include: a pressure sensor configured to measure the force applied to the headrest of the driver's seat; and a display device disposed behind the driver's seat or the passenger seat, and the controller may be configured to output a warning via the display device when the force measured by the pressure sensor is less than or equal to a preset magnitude.

[0023] The vehicle may also include: an AVN device; a memory configured to store frequency bands input from the driver, and a controller configured to set the frequency band of sound output from the AVN device to the frequency band stored in the memory, and to reduce the sound pressure of the masking curve in the frequency band stored in the memory when sound is output from the AVN device.

[0024] The vehicle may also include a transceiver configured to receive preset commands from a passenger's terminal device, and a controller configured to output masking sounds only when the transceiver receives the preset commands by controlling the headrest speakers.

[0025] The controller can be configured to output a preset voice by controlling the headrest speaker when the transceiver receives a preset command.

[0026] According to one aspect of the present invention, a method for controlling a vehicle is provided, the vehicle comprising: a driver's seat having a headrest speaker in its headrest configured to output sound; a front passenger seat; at least one rear passenger seat; and a microphone configured to detect speech of a passenger sitting in the at least one rear passenger seat, the method comprising: receiving the passenger's speech from the microphone; generating a masking curve based on the passenger's speech; and outputting a masking sound corresponding to the masking curve by controlling the headrest speaker.

[0027] Generating a masking curve based on passenger speech may include: determining at least one peak sound pressure level in the passenger's speech; and generating a masking curve using the frequency corresponding to the peak sound pressure level as the center frequency.

[0028] Generating a masking curve using a frequency corresponding to the peak sound pressure as the center frequency may include: enhancing the sound pressure of the masking curve with a frequency corresponding to the peak sound pressure with the highest sound pressure among at least one peak sound pressure.

[0029] The control method may also include controlling the volume of the sound output to the headrest speaker based on the sound pressure level of the passenger's voice.

[0030] The control method may also include adjusting the volume of the sound output to the left and right speakers of the headrest speaker based on the passenger's position. Attached Figure Description

[0031] These and / or other aspects of this disclosure will become apparent and more readily understood from the following description of embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings:

[0032] Figure 1 This is a view showing the interior of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0033] Figure 2 This is a control block diagram of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0034] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of a vehicle control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0035] Figure 4 An example of a masking curve generated based on a passenger's voice is shown.

[0036] Figure 5 The volume of sound output from the headrest speaker according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0037] Figure 6 The volume of sound output from each of the right and left speakers according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0038] Figure 7A and Figure 7B An example of a masking curve generated between syllables and the syllables of the passenger's spoken speech is shown.

[0039] Figure 8 An image output to a display device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown.

[0040] Figure 9 The illustration shows a driver eavesdropping on passengers' voices.

[0041] Figure 10 An example of a warning output to a display device when a driver eavesdrops on a passenger's voice is shown.

[0042] Figure 11 An example of a message output to a passenger terminal device is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0043] Throughout this specification, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements. Not all elements of embodiments of this disclosure will be described, and descriptions of those well-known in the art or overlapping with each other in the embodiments will be omitted.

[0044] Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments of this disclosure, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described below. Although this disclosure will be described in conjunction with exemplary embodiments thereof, it should be understood that this description is not intended to limit this disclosure to those exemplary embodiments. On the other hand, this disclosure is intended to cover not only the exemplary embodiments thereof, but also various alternatives, modifications, equivalents and other embodiments that may be included within the spirit and scope of this disclosure as defined by the appended claims.

[0045] Throughout the following description, the same reference numerals refer to the same elements. This specification does not describe all elements of the embodiments, and there is no overlap in general content or implementation within the field of this disclosure to which the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure pertain. Terms such as “unit,” “module,” “member,” and “block” can refer to hardware or software. According to an embodiment, multiple “units,” “modules,” “members,” and “blocks” may be implemented as a single component, or a single “unit,” “module,” “member,” and “block” may include multiple components.

[0046] It will be understood that when an element is referred to as “connecting” another element, it can be directly or indirectly connected to the other element, where indirect connection includes “connection via wireless communication network”.

[0047] Furthermore, when a component "comprises" or "includes" an element, the component may further include other elements without excluding them, unless otherwise specifically described.

[0048] The terms first, second, etc. are used to distinguish one component from another, and the component is not limited by the terms mentioned above.

[0049] Unless they have a distinctly different meaning in the context, the singular form includes the plural form.

[0050] Unless otherwise stated, the reference numerals used in the operation are for descriptive convenience and are not intended to describe the order of operations, and operations may be performed in different orders.

[0051] In the following description, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0052] Figure 1 This is a view showing the interior of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 2 This is a control block diagram of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0053] For ease of explanation below, driver's seat 11 is defined as the seat in which the driver can sit, the seat adjacent to driver's seat 11 is defined as passenger seat 12, the rear seat of driver's seat 11 is defined as first rear seat 13, and the rear seat of passenger seat 12 is defined as second rear seat 14.

[0054] Reference Figure 1 According to embodiments of this disclosure, a driver's seat 11, a passenger seat 12, a first rear seat 13, and a second rear seat 14 can be arranged inside the vehicle 1. However, the number of seats is not limited to this, and all seats arranged behind the driver's seat 11 or the passenger seat 12 can be collectively referred to as rear seats 13 and 14.

[0055] Reference Figure 1 and Figure 2 The vehicle may include a microphone 100 for detecting the voices of passengers in the rear seats 13 and 14, a camera 200 for capturing images of the driver in the driver's seat 11 and / or the passengers in the rear seats 13 and 14, a pressure sensor 300 for measuring the force applied to the headrest of the driver's seat 11, a transceiver 400 for communicating with an external terminal device 450, a memory 500 for storing various information, a controller 600 for controlling the headrest speaker 700 and / or the display device 800, a headrest speaker 700 disposed in the headrest of the driver's seat 11 for outputting sound, and a display device 800 for visually outputting various information.

[0056] The microphone 100 according to embodiments of this disclosure can be provided without limitation, as long as it is located in a position capable of acquiring voice signals from passengers in the rear seats 13 and 14. For example, the microphone 100 can be positioned behind the driver's seat 11 and / or behind the passenger seat 12.

[0057] The microphone 100 can receive the voice signals of passengers located in the rear seats 13 and 14, perform processing such as amplification and noise removal, and send the processed passenger voice signals to the controller 600.

[0058] The camera 200 according to the embodiments of this disclosure can be provided without limitation, as long as it is capable of capturing the positions of the driver in the driver's seat 11 and / or the passengers in the rear seats 13 and 14. Furthermore, the number of cameras 200 can be multiple. For example, the camera 200 may include cameras disposed on the front and upper sides of the driver's seat 11 for capturing the driver and / or cameras disposed at the rear of the driver's seat 11 for capturing the passengers in the rear seats 13 and 14.

[0059] Camera 200 can obtain facial images by capturing the driver's face, and can process the obtained facial images and send them to controller 600.

[0060] In addition, the camera 200 obtains images of the rear seats 13 and 14 by capturing images of the space between the rear seats 13 and 14, and can process the obtained images of the rear seats 13 and 14 and send them to the controller 600.

[0061] Therefore, camera 200 can refer to any component capable of acquiring images of the driver and / or passengers. For example, camera 200 can employ a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) image sensor or a charge-coupled device (CCD) image sensor.

[0062] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the pressure sensor 300 can be disposed in the headrest of the driver's seat 11 and can measure the force applied to the headrest. The pressure sensor 300 can be configured to cover all areas of the headrest in the horizontal direction and can measure the force applied to the headrest.

[0063] The pressure sensor 300 can send data and / or information about the force applied to the headrest to the controller 600. For example, the pressure sensor 300 can send data such as the point of application and the intensity of the force applied to the headrest to the controller 600.

[0064] Therefore, the pressure sensor 300 can use all types of sensors to measure the force applied to the headrest.

[0065] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the transceiver 400 can send various data and / or information and / or commands to the external terminal device 450 through communication with the external terminal device 450, and can receive various data and / or information and / or commands from the external terminal device 450.

[0066] In this configuration, the external terminal device 450 may include a passenger terminal device located in the rear seats 13 and 14. For example, the external terminal device may include the passenger's smartphone.

[0067] For this purpose, a transceiver 400 can be implemented using communication chips, antennas, and related components to access a wireless communication network. That is, the transceiver 400 can be implemented as various types of communication modules capable of short-range or long-range communication with external terminal devices 450.

[0068] The memory 500 according to embodiments of this disclosure can store various types of information input by a user. For example, a driver can input a specific frequency band through the AVN device of vehicle 1, and the memory 500 can store the frequency band input by the driver.

[0069] The AVN device of vehicle 1 outputs sound in various frequency bands and allows the driver to select the sound that is easiest to hear, thereby receiving a specific frequency band from the driver.

[0070] In addition, the memory 500 can store various types of information required to control the vehicle 1, such as various sound processing algorithms and image processing algorithms for extracting specific objects from image data.

[0071] Thus, memory 500 can be implemented as at least one of the following non-volatile storage devices: cache, read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), and flash memory or volatile storage devices (e.g., random access memory (RAM)) or storage media (e.g., hard disk drive (HDD) or CD-ROM) to store various types of information. However, this disclosure is not limited thereto, and any type capable of storing various types of information can be used as the type of memory 500.

[0072] According to embodiments of the present disclosure, the controller 600 can control various components of the vehicle 1, such as the headrest speaker 700, the display device 800, and the transceiver 400, based on passenger voice received from the microphone 100, driver and / or passenger images obtained from the camera 200, information and / or data received from the pressure sensor 300, commands received from the transceiver 400, and various information and / or data received from the memory 500.

[0073] For example, the controller 600 can generate a masking curve based on the passenger's voice signal received from the microphone 100, and control the headrest speaker 700 to output a masking sound corresponding to the masking curve.

[0074] The controller 600 may include: at least one memory storing a program for performing the operations described above and the operations described later, and at least one processor executing the stored program. When multiple memories and processors are present, they may be integrated on a single chip or located in physically separate locations.

[0075] The headrest speaker 700 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include: a left speaker 700L, which is disposed on the left side of the headrest of the driver's seat 11 for outputting sound; and a right speaker 700R, which is disposed on the right side of the headrest of the driver's seat 11 for outputting sound.

[0076] The headrest speaker 700 can output various sounds according to the control signal of the controller 600, or it can output sounds from the AVN device.

[0077] A loudspeaker for this purpose may include components such as a voice coil and an amplifier, which adjusts the volume of the output sound by regulating the amount of current supplied to the voice coil.

[0078] In addition, the left speaker 700L and the right speaker 700R can output different volumes of sound according to the control signal from the controller 600.

[0079] The display device 800 according to embodiments of the present disclosure may include: a first display device 800F disposed in the visible area of ​​the driver and / or a second display device 800B disposed in the visible area of ​​passengers located in the rear seats 13 and 14.

[0080] For example, the first display device 800F may include the AVN device of vehicle 1, head-up display, etc., and may include displays set in the cluster.

[0081] Additionally, the second display device 800B may include an AVN (Rear Seat Entertainment System (RSE)) located at the rear of the driver's seat 11 and / or the passenger seat 12.

[0082] The various components of the vehicle 1 according to embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above. These various components of the vehicle 1 can be freely modified within the general technical scope. Hereinafter, a control method for the vehicle 1 using the various components of the vehicle 1 will be described in detail.

[0083] Figure 3 This is a flowchart of a vehicle control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 4 An example of a masking curve generated based on a passenger's voice is shown. Figure 5 The volume of sound output from the headrest speaker according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 6The volume of sound output from each of the right and left speakers according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 7A and Figure 7B An example of a masking curve generated between syllables and the syllables of the passenger's spoken speech is shown. Figure 8 An image output to a display device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 9 The illustration shows a driver eavesdropping on passengers' voices. Figure 10 An example of a warning output to a display device when a driver eavesdrops on a passenger's voice is shown. Figure 11 An example of a message output to a passenger terminal device is shown.

[0084] Reference Figure 3 The microphone 100 can detect the voice signals of passengers located in the rear seats 13 and 14 and send them to the controller 600, and the controller 600 can receive the voice signals (1000) of the passengers from the microphone 100.

[0085] The microphone 100 can be activated when the vehicle 1 is started, but under certain circumstances it can be activated according to a control signal from the controller 600.

[0086] For example, the controller 600 can only activate the microphone 100 when a preset command is received from the transceiver 400. (See reference) Figure 11 When a passenger uses terminal device 450 to make a call to a third party or receive a call from a third party, the passenger can set a private call mode through terminal device 450.

[0087] Terminal device 450 can send preset commands to transceiver 400 of vehicle 1, and transceiver 400 can receive preset commands from terminal device 450 and send them to controller 600.

[0088] When a preset command is received from transceiver 400, controller 600 activates microphone 100 and generates a masking curve based on the passenger's voice received from microphone 100.

[0089] That is, the controller 600 can only control the headrest speaker 700 and output masking sound when the transceiver 400 receives a preset command.

[0090] Additionally, when the transceiver 400 receives a preset command, the controller 600 can output a preset voice message by controlling the headrest speaker 700. In this case, the preset voice message could be a message requesting the driver to rest their head on the headrest. For example, the preset voice message could be something like, "Put your head on the headrest."

[0091] Return to reference Figure 3The controller 600 can generate a masking curve (1100) based on the passenger's voice signal received from the microphone 100.

[0092] Specifically, the controller 600 can determine at least one peak sound pressure level in the passenger's speech and generate a masking curve in which the frequency corresponding to the peak sound pressure level is the center frequency.

[0093] Reference Figure 4 There may be three frequencies, f1, f2, and f3, corresponding to the peak sound pressure level included in the passenger's speech. The controller 600 can determine the peak sound pressure level included in the passenger's speech and use the three frequencies f1, f2, and f3 corresponding to the peak sound pressure level as center frequencies to generate a masking curve MC.

[0094] When analyzing a passenger's speech signal in a frequency band, peak sound pressure level can represent the inflection point of the sound pressure level.

[0095] Normally, human speech consists of a fundamental frequency and harmonics, with the fundamental frequency having the strongest energy.

[0096] Therefore, generating a masking curve with the fundamental frequency as the center frequency is the most effective method.

[0097] Therefore, the controller 600 determines the frequency f1 corresponding to the peak sound pressure with the highest sound pressure among at least one peak sound pressure included in the passenger's voice as the fundamental frequency, and can increase the sound pressure of the masking curve MC at the frequency f1 corresponding to the peak sound pressure with the highest sound pressure among at least one peak sound pressure.

[0098] Subsequently, the controller 600 can output an electrical signal corresponding to the generated masking curve MC to the amplifier of the headrest speaker 700, so that the headrest speaker 700 outputs a masking sound (1300). In this case, the volume of the masking sound output to the headrest speaker 700 can be adjusted (1200).

[0099] Specifically, the controller 600 can control the volume of the sound output to the headrest speaker 700 based on the sound pressure level of the passenger's voice.

[0100] Reference Figure 5 Passengers can set the volume of the sound output to the headrest speaker 700 to any of "low, medium, and high", and the controller 600 can adjust the volume of the sound output to the headrest speaker 700 based on the passenger's settings.

[0101] For example, assuming the passenger's voice has a sound pressure level of 60dB, when the volume of the headrest speaker 700 is set to "low," the sound output to the headrest speaker 700 can have a volume of 63dB, which is 3dB higher than 60dB. When the volume of the headrest speaker 700 is set to "medium," the sound output to the headrest speaker 700 can have a volume of 66dB, which is 6dB higher than 60dB. When the volume of the headrest speaker 700 is set to "high," the sound output to the headrest speaker 700 can have a volume of 69dB, which is 9dB higher than 60dB.

[0102] That is, regardless of the volume setting of the headrest speaker 700, the controller 600 can control the headrest speaker 700 so that the volume of the sound output to the headrest speaker 700 becomes greater than the sound pressure level of the passenger's voice.

[0103] As another example, the controller 600 receives images of the rear seats 13 and 14 from the camera 200, determines the position of the passengers based on the images of the rear seats 13 and 14, and then adjusts the volume of the sound output to the left speaker 700L and the right speaker 700R based on the position of the passengers.

[0104] Specifically, when a passenger is seated in the first rear seat 13, which serves as the driver's seat 11, the controller 600 can evenly adjust the volume of the left speaker 700L and the right speaker 700R. Furthermore, refer to... Figure 6 When a passenger is in the second rear seat 14 (i.e., the rear seat of passenger seat 12), the controller 600 can adjust the volume of the sound output to the right speaker R to be higher than the volume of the sound output to the left speaker 700L.

[0105] This is because when the passenger is in the second rear seat 14, the driver's right ear is closer to the passenger, and the passenger's voice transmitted to the driver's right ear is greater than the passenger's voice transmitted to the driver's left ear.

[0106] As another example, the controller 600 can receive an image of the driver from the camera 200, determine the position of the driver's ears based on the image, and then adjust the volume of the sound output to the left speaker 700L and the right speaker 700R based on the position of the driver's ears.

[0107] Specifically, when the driver's ear is close to the left speaker 700L or the right speaker 700R, the controller 600 can reduce the volume of the sound output to the left speaker 700L or the right speaker 700R, and when the driver's ear is far away from the left speaker 700L or the right speaker 700R, the volume of the sound output to the left speaker 700L or the right speaker 700R can be increased.

[0108] Therefore, the passenger's voice can be effectively isolated from the driver's voice.

[0109] Human speech typically possesses characteristics distinct from ordinary sounds. While the frequency of ordinary sounds does not change over time, the frequency of human speech varies considerably.

[0110] Based on this phenomenon, humans can gather a great deal of information by recognizing changes in the frequency of speech over short periods. That is, there are time intervals between syllables in speech, and humans can effectively identify rapid frequency changes within these intervals.

[0111] When the above phenomena are taken into account, when the headrest speaker 700 outputs a masking sound during the intervals between syllables of speech, the driver cannot recognize the content of the passenger's conversation.

[0112] Reference Figure 7A and Figure 7B When the sound pressure of the passenger's voice is less than or equal to the preset sound pressure, the controller 600 can control the headrest speaker 700 to output a masking sound corresponding to the masking curve MC1 generated before the preset time t1.

[0113] Specifically, when the sound pressure of the passenger's voice received at a specific time point t2 is less than or equal to the preset sound pressure m, the controller 600 can generate a masking curve MC2 that is the same as the masking curve MC1 generated at a time point t1 before the specific time point t2, and can control the headrest speaker 700 to output a masking sound corresponding to the generated masking curve MC2.

[0114] According to the above implementation method, the time period during which the sound pressure of the passenger's voice is less than or equal to a preset sound pressure is defined as the interval time between syllables of the voice, and a masking sound corresponding to the masking curve previously generated within the interval time period is output. By doing so, the passenger's voice can be effectively isolated from the driver's voice.

[0115] Although not in Figure 3 As shown in the figure, however, in addition to preventing the passenger's voice from being heard, the vehicle 1 according to the embodiments of the present disclosure can also prevent the driver from recognizing the voice information by providing visual information to the driver.

[0116] For example, the controller 600 receives data related to the speed of the vehicle 1 via CAN communication, and when the vehicle 1 stops, it can control the first display device 800F to output an image including the shape of a person's mouth LS.

[0117] Reference Figure 8The image output through the first display device 800F can be examined. The image including the mouth shape LS can represent a video of a scene where the mouth shape LS changes from time to time. The image including the mouth shape LS can be pre-stored in the memory 500.

[0118] When vehicle 1 stops as described above, the driver can be visually disturbed by displaying random human mouth shapes, thereby effectively blocking the passenger's speech.

[0119] Furthermore, the vehicle 1 according to the embodiments of this disclosure can prevent safety incidents related to conversation content by paying attention to passengers.

[0120] For example, when the driver closes their eyes, they can focus on the passenger's voice. Therefore, the controller 600 identifies the driver's eyes based on the image of the driver obtained from the camera 200, and outputs a warning via the second display device 800B when the driver's eyes close for a preset time.

[0121] Additionally, refer to Figure 9 When the driver removes their head from the headrest, the distance between the driver and the headrest speaker 700 may increase, potentially causing leakage of the passenger's voice. Therefore, when the force measured by the pressure sensor 300 is less than or equal to a preset value, the controller 600 can output a warning via the second display device 800B.

[0122] When the force measured by pressure sensor 300 is less than or equal to a preset value, it may mean that the driver's head is separated from the headrest.

[0123] In this case, the warning output by the second display device 800B can be a visual warning or an auditory warning.

[0124] Reference Figure 10 You can check examples of warning messages output through the second display device 800B.

[0125] On the other hand, when the driver outputs a masking sound from the headrest speaker 700 while driving the vehicle 1, the driver may not be able to recognize the warning sound output from the AVN device due to the masking sound.

[0126] To prevent this, the driver can pre-input the frequency band most easily heard by the driver via an input device in vehicle 1, such as an AVN device, and the memory 500 can store the frequency band input by the driver. The controller 600 can set the frequency band of the sound output from the AVN device to the frequency band stored in the memory 500, and can reduce the sound pressure of the masking curve in the frequency band stored in the memory 500 when sound is output from the AVN device. That is, the controller 600 can generate a masking curve in which the sound pressure is reduced in the frequency band stored in the memory 500.

[0127] Therefore, even when a masking sound is output from the headrest speaker 700, the driver can easily hear sounds such as warning sounds output from the AVN device.

[0128] On the other hand, the disclosed exemplary embodiments can be implemented in the form of a recording medium for storing computer-executable instructions. The instructions can be stored as program code, and when executed by a processor, a program module can be generated to perform the operations of the disclosed exemplary embodiments. The recording medium can be implemented as a computer-readable recording medium.

[0129] Computer-readable recording media include all types of recording media in which instructions can be decoded by a computer. For example, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), magnetic tape, magnetic disk, flash memory, optical data storage devices, etc., can be present.

[0130] As described above, exemplary embodiments of the disclosed invention have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will recognize that changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present disclosure, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

[0131] According to this disclosure, it is possible to effectively prevent drivers from eavesdropping on passengers' voices.

[0132] Additionally, if a driver intentionally tries to listen to the voices of passengers in the rear seats, a warning can be issued to the passengers to prevent accidents.

Claims

1. A vehicle comprising: A driver's seat, wherein a headrest speaker is provided in the headrest of the driver's seat and the headrest speaker is configured to output sound; Front passenger seats; At least one rear passenger seat; A microphone is configured to detect the voice of a passenger sitting in the at least one rear passenger seat; The controller is configured to generate a masking curve based on the passenger's voice and to output a masking sound corresponding to the masking curve by controlling the headrest speaker; A camera is configured to photograph the passenger; The headrest speaker includes: A left speaker, located to the left of the headrest of the driver's seat, is configured to output sound; and The right speaker is located on the right side of the headrest of the driver's seat and is configured to output sound; and The controller is configured to adjust the volume of the sound output to the left and right speakers based on the passenger's position as captured by the camera.

2. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein, The controller is configured to determine at least one peak sound pressure level in the passenger's speech and generate the masking curve using the frequency corresponding to the at least one peak sound pressure level as the center frequency.

3. The vehicle according to claim 2, wherein, The controller is configured to amplify the sound pressure of the masking curve at the frequency corresponding to the peak sound pressure with the largest sound pressure among the at least one peak sound pressure.

4. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein, The controller is configured to control the volume of the sound output to the headrest speaker based on the sound pressure level of the passenger's voice.

5. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein, When the passenger is seated in the at least one rear passenger seat, the controller is configured to adjust the volume of the sound output to the right speaker to be higher than the volume of the sound output to the left speaker.

6. The vehicle of claim 1, further comprising another camera configured to capture images of the driver seated in the driver's seat. in, The controller is also configured to determine the position of the driver's ear as captured by the camera, and to increase the volume of the sound output to the left or right speaker as the driver's ear moves away from the left or right speaker.

7. The vehicle according to claim 1, wherein, When the sound pressure of the passenger's voice is less than or equal to a preset sound pressure, the controller is configured to output a masking sound corresponding to the masking curve generated before a preset time point by controlling the headrest speaker.

8. The vehicle according to claim 7, wherein, When the sound pressure level of the passenger's voice is less than or equal to the preset sound pressure level, the controller is configured to increase the volume of the sound output to the headrest speaker.

9. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising a display device disposed in front of the driver's seat. in, When the vehicle is stationary, the controller is configured to output an image including the shape of a human mouth by controlling the display device.

10. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: The camera is configured to photograph the driver sitting in the driver's seat; as well as The display device is located behind the driver's seat or behind the front passenger seat. The controller is configured to identify the driver's eyes based on images obtained from the camera, and to output a warning via the display device when the driver's eyes are closed for a preset time.

11. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: A pressure sensor is configured to measure the force applied to the headrest of the driver's seat; as well as The display device is located behind the driver's seat or behind the front passenger seat. The controller is configured to output a warning via the display device when the force measured by the pressure sensor is less than or equal to a preset value.

12. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: Audio / video / navigation devices; as well as The memory is configured to store the frequency band input from the driver. The controller is configured to set the frequency band of the sound output from the audio / video / navigation device to a frequency band stored in the memory, and to reduce the sound pressure of the masking curve in the frequency band stored in the memory when sound is output from the audio / video / navigation device.

13. The vehicle according to claim 1, further comprising: The transceiver is configured to receive preset commands from the passenger's terminal device. The controller is configured to output the masking sound by controlling the headrest speaker only when the transceiver receives the preset command.

14. The vehicle according to claim 13, wherein, The controller is configured to output a preset voice by controlling the headrest speaker when the transceiver receives the preset command.

15. A method for controlling a vehicle, the vehicle comprising: A driver's seat, wherein a headrest speaker is provided in the headrest of the driver's seat and the headrest speaker is configured to output sound; Front passenger seats; At least one rear passenger seat; A microphone is configured to detect the voice of a passenger sitting in the at least one rear passenger seat; A camera configured to photograph the passengers; The method includes a controller configured to generate a masking curve based on the passenger's speech and to output a masking sound corresponding to the masking curve by controlling the headrest speakers, wherein the headrest speakers include: a left speaker disposed on the left side of the headrest of the driver's seat and configured to output sound; and a right speaker disposed on the right side of the headrest of the driver's seat and configured to output sound. The controller receives the passenger's voice from the microphone; The controller generates a masking curve based on the passenger's voice. The controller controls the headrest speaker to output a masking sound corresponding to the masking curve; and The controller adjusts the volume of the sound output to the left and right speakers based on the passenger's position as captured by the camera.

16. The control method according to claim 15, wherein, Generating a masking curve based on the passenger's voice includes: Determine at least one peak sound pressure level of the passenger's speech; and The masking curve is generated using the frequency corresponding to the at least one peak sound pressure level as the center frequency.

17. The control method according to claim 16, wherein, Generating the masking curve using the frequency corresponding to the at least one peak sound pressure as the center frequency includes: enhancing the sound pressure of the masking curve using the frequency corresponding to the peak sound pressure with the largest sound pressure among the at least one peak sound pressure.

18. The control method of claim 15 further includes controlling the volume of the sound output to the headrest speaker based on the sound pressure level of the passenger's voice.

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