Image display device

Abstract

The invention provides an image display device capable of reducing the sense of incongruity of a rear image of a vehicle of a driving simulator. A video display device includes: a display unit that displays a partial region within a video of a virtual scene behind a vehicle of a driving simulator on an electron mirror of the vehicle; an estimation unit that estimates a viewpoint position of a driver riding the vehicle; and a control unit that controls the range of the partial region in the video on the basis of the relationship between the position of the electron mirror and the line-of-sight direction corresponding to the viewpoint position.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to an image display device. BACKGROUND

[0002] For example, in Patent Literature 1, the following is described: in a driving simulator, when it is determined that a driver is observing the rear by means of a rearview mirror of a vehicle, an image in which a viewpoint is placed on a reflecting surface of the rearview mirror is projected to a prescribed region of a screen in the rear of the vehicle.

[0003] Patent Literature 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP A) No. 2007-323001

[0004] However, according to the above description, since the image of the screen straight ahead of the reflecting surface is reflected in the rearview mirror regardless of the posture of the driver, there is a possibility that a sense of incongruity is generated. SUMMARY

[0005] In view of the above, the present application was achieved in view of the above problem, and an object thereof is to provide an image display device capable of reducing a sense of incongruity of a rear image of a vehicle of a driving simulator.

[0006] The image display device of the present application has: a display section that displays a part of a region in an image of a virtual landscape in the rear of a vehicle of a driving simulator in an electronic mirror of the vehicle; an estimation section that estimates a viewpoint position of a driver who rides on the vehicle; and a control section that controls a range of the part of the region in the image in accordance with a relationship between a position of the electronic mirror and a line-of-sight direction corresponding to the viewpoint position.

[0007] According to the present application, it is possible to reduce a sense of incongruity of a rear image of a vehicle of a driving simulator. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0008] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram in plan view showing one example of a system of a driving simulator.

[0009] Figure 2 (a) of is a plan view showing one example of a display region before a posture of a driver is changed.

[0010] Figure 2 (b) of is a plan view showing one example of a display region after the posture of the driver is changed.

[0011] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing one example of an image display process.

[0012] EXPLANATION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

[0013] 1…image display device; 2…vehicle; 3…projector; 4…screen; 20…electronic rearview mirror (electronic mirror); 21, 22…electronic side mirror (electronic mirror); 13…rear image display section (display section); 14…viewpoint position estimation section (estimation section); 15…display region control section (control section); S…driving simulator; Pa, Pb…viewpoint position; La, Lb…line-of-sight direction; DR…driver. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] (System configuration of driving simulator)

[0015] Figure 1 is a configuration diagram in plan view showing one example of a system of a driving simulator S. The driving simulator S is used, for example, for driving practice of a user, evaluation of driving ability, or game use. The driving simulator S has an image display device 1, a vehicle 2, a projector 3, and a screen 4.

[0016] The projector 3 projects an image of a virtual landscape in front of the vehicle 2 onto the screen 4. The screen 4 has, for example, a substantially semicylindrical shape. The projector 3 is mounted, for example, on a ceiling or the like above the vehicle 2.

[0017] The vehicle 2 has a vehicle body that simulates an actual car and is disposed in front of the screen 4. Inside the vehicle 2, there are provided a driver's seat D, an electronic rearview mirror 20, electronic side mirrors 21, 22 on the left and right of the vehicle body, an in-vehicle camera 23, a sensor 24, a speaker 25, and a vibration generating device 26.

[0018] The electronic rearview mirror 20 and the electronic side mirrors 21, 22 are examples of electronic mirrors. In the electronic rearview mirror 20 and the electronic side mirrors 21, 22, a part of a region in an image of a virtual landscape behind the vehicle 2 is displayed.

[0019] The sensor 24 detects an amount of operation of a steering wheel, a shift lever, an accelerator, a brake, and the like (not shown) by a driver of the vehicle 2. The speaker 25 generates a simulation effect sound corresponding to the amount of operation by the driver. The vibration generating device 26 is disposed at a lower portion of the vehicle body and causes the vehicle body to vibrate in correspondence with the amount of operation by the driver.

[0020] The in-vehicle camera 23 photographs the driver who is riding in the vehicle 2. An image of the driver is used by the image display device 1 for estimation of a viewpoint position of the driver.

[0021] The image display device 1 displays images on the screen 4, the electronic rearview mirror 20, and the electronic side mirrors 21 and 22 by outputting image data to the projector 3. The image display device 1 is a computer including a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), and the like. The image display device 1 can also be implemented by one or more servers, for example. The image display device 1 causes the CPU to operate in accordance with a program stored in the ROM.

[0022] The image display device 1 has a vehicle position determination section 10, an image acquisition section 11, a front image display section 12, a rear image display section 13, a viewpoint position estimation section 14, and a display area control section 15 as software functions formed by the operation of a program. The vehicle position determination section 10, the image acquisition section 11, the front image display section 12, the rear image display section 13, the viewpoint position estimation section 14, and the display area control section 15 can also be implemented by hardware such as an integrated circuit, respectively. In addition, the image display device 1 has an image database (image DB) 16 that is stored in advance in a nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM).

[0023] The vehicle position determination section 10 acquires an amount of operation of the user in analog from a sensor 24 of the vehicle 2. As the amount of operation, for example, the angle of a steering wheel, the gear position, the accelerator opening degree, and the like can be given. The vehicle position determination section 10 determines the position of the vehicle 2 in a virtual driving map in accordance with the amount of operation. As the position, for example, the virtual latitude and longitude can be given.

[0024] The image acquisition section 11 acquires image data from the image DB 16 on the basis of the position determined by the vehicle position determination section 10. The image data includes an image of a virtual scenery in front of the vehicle 2 projected to the screen 4 and an image of a virtual scenery behind the vehicle 2. The image DB 16 stores images of sceneries at various places in a driving map created in advance by computer graphics technology.

[0025] The front image display section 12 displays an image on the screen 4 by outputting image data of the front of the vehicle 2 to the projector 3. The rear image display section 13 is an example of a display section that displays each of the electronic rearview mirror 20 and the electronic side mirrors 21 and 22 by outputting image data of a partial area (hereinafter referred to as a display area) of an image of the rear of the vehicle 2 to each of the electronic rearview mirror 20 and the electronic side mirrors 21 and 22. Independent images corresponding to the respective positions are displayed on the electronic rearview mirror 20 and the electronic side mirrors 21 and 22.

[0026] The viewpoint position inferring section 14 is an example of an inferring section that infers the viewpoint position of the driver who is riding in the vehicle 2. The viewpoint position inferring section 14 acquires the image of the driver in the vehicle from the in-vehicle camera 23, and infers the viewpoint position by, for example, detecting the position of the head of the driver from the image using a motion capture technique. Note that, as the motion capture, a method of optically detecting a marker that is attached to the driver in advance can also be used. Alternatively, the viewpoint position inferring section 14 can detect the position of the head of the driver from the image using a displacement gauge or the like instead of the motion capture.

[0027] The display region control section 15 is an example of a control section that controls the range of the display region of the electronic side mirror 22 in the image of the rear of the vehicle 2 in accordance with the relationship between the positions of the electronic rearview mirror 20 and the electronic side mirrors 21 and 22 and the line-of-sight directions corresponding to the above-described viewpoint positions. The display region control section 15 independently controls the display regions of the electronic rearview mirror 20 and the electronic side mirrors 21 and 22. Hereinafter, the control method of the display region will be described taking the electronic side mirror 22 on the right side of the vehicle body as an example.

[0028] (Control method of display region)

[0029] Figure 2 (a) of FIG. 10 is a plan view that shows an example of the display region 50 before the posture of the driver DR is changed. Note that, Figure 2 (b) of FIG. 10 is a plan view that shows an example of the display region 51 after the posture of the driver DR is changed. Figure 2 (a) of FIG. 10 and Figure 2 (b) of FIG. 10 show a schematic view of the driver's seat D viewed from above and a view of the entire image 5 viewed from the right rear of the vehicle 2. As an example, in Figure 2 (a) of FIG. 10 and Figure 2 (b) of FIG. 10, a tree is reflected on the left side of the image 5, and a flower is reflected on the right side of the image 5.

[0030] The in-vehicle camera 23 transmits the image obtained by photographing the driver DR to the image display apparatus 1. The viewpoint position inferring section 14 detects the head H of the driver DR from the image of the driver DR using, for example, a motion capture technique, and infers the viewpoint positions Pa and Pb from the head H. The viewpoint position inferring section 14, for example, infers the three-dimensional coordinates of the center of the left and right eyes of the head H as the viewpoint positions Pa and Pb.

[0031] The display region control section 15 calculates the virtual incident angles ain and bin and the reflection angles arf and brf of the image 5 with respect to the mirror surface in the case where the electronic side mirror 22 is assumed to be a normal mirror from the line-of-sight directions La and Lb corresponding to the viewpoint positions Pa and Pb. The line-of-sight directions La and Lb are calculated as the directions from the viewpoint positions Pa and Pb toward the center of the electronic side mirror 22.

[0032] For example, the incident angle ain and the reflection angle arf are angles at the outer end portion of the electronic side mirror 22, and the incident angle bin and the reflection angle brf are angles at the inner end portion of the electronic side mirror 22. Here, the incident angle ain and the reflection angle arf are the same, and the incident angle bin and the reflection angle brf are the same.

[0033] The display region control section 15 calculates the range of the display region 50, 51 in the image 5 as the field of view range corresponding to the line-of-sight direction La, Lb, based on the incident angles ain, bin and the reflection angles arf, brf. For example, in the case where the driver DR is seated in the normal posture on the driver's seat D, the display region 50 on the right side of the image 5 including the flower is obtained as the field of view range corresponding to the line-of-sight direction La. Also, for example, in the case where the driver DR is seated in the inclined posture on the driver's seat D due to vibration of the vehicle body or the like, the display region 51 on the left side of the image 5 including the tree is obtained as the field of view range corresponding to the line-of-sight direction Lb.

[0034] Therefore, in the electronic side mirror 22, the display region 50, 51 in the image 5 is displayed in accordance with the line-of-sight direction La, Lb of the driver DR. Thus, the driver DR can observe the image 5 of the rear which changes in accordance with the posture from the electronic side mirror 22 as with the usual mirror. Therefore, the image display device 1 can reduce the sense of incongruity of the image 5 felt by the driver DR.

[0035] Here, the incident angles ain, bin and the reflection angles arf, brf in the two-dimensional coordinate system when the vehicle 2 is viewed from above are exemplified in the present example, but actually, calculation based on a three-dimensional coordinate system is performed. Also, the electronic side mirror 22 is exemplified in the present example, but the same calculation process can be applied to the other electronic side mirror 21 and the electronic rearview mirror 20 to display the image with reduced sense of incongruity. In this way, since the image display device 1 can independently calculate and display the image of each of the electronic side mirrors 21, 22 and the electronic rearview mirror 20, the sense of incongruity of the image can be reduced and the sense of immersion of the driver DR can be increased. Also, it is not necessary to provide a screen for displaying the image of the rear.

[0036] (Image display process)

[0037] Figure 3 is a flowchart showing one example of the image display process. The process is repeatedly executed, for example, at a certain time period.

[0038] First, the image acquisition unit 11 acquires rear image data corresponding to the position of the vehicle 2 (step St1). Next, the viewpoint position inference unit 14 acquires an image of the driver inside the vehicle 2 (in-vehicle image) from the in-vehicle camera 23 (step St2). Next, the viewpoint position inference unit 14 detects the driver's head based on the in-vehicle image and using motion capture technology (step St3). Next, the viewpoint position inference unit 14 infers the viewpoint position based on the position of the head H (step St4).

[0039] Next, the display area control unit 15 calculates the virtual angle of incidence and angle of reflection of the image 5 relative to each of the electronic side mirrors 21, 22, and the electronic rearview mirror 20, based on the line of sight corresponding to the viewpoint position and the positions of each of the electronic side mirrors 21, 22, and the electronic rearview mirror 20 (step St5). Then, the display area control unit 15 independently determines the display area within the image 5 for each of the electronic side mirrors 21, 22, and the electronic rearview mirror 20 based on the angle of incidence and angle of reflection (step St6). Next, the rear image display unit 13 displays the display area within the image 5 on the electronic side mirrors 21, 22, and the electronic rearview mirror 20 (step St7). Image display processing is performed in this way.

[0040] The above embodiments are preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, they are not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

Claims

1. An image display device, wherein, have: The display unit displays a portion of the virtual scenery behind the vehicle in the driving simulator on the vehicle's electronic mirror. The inference unit infers the viewpoint position of the driver riding in the vehicle; as well as The control unit controls the extent of the portion of the image based on the relationship between the position of the electronic mirror and the line of sight corresponding to the viewpoint position.

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