Method for a vehicle entertainment system

Abstract

A method for a vehicle entertainment system, the method comprising: - determining a distance between the vehicle (30) and another vehicle (40), - displaying a symbol (3) for the vehicle (30) and a symbol (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) on a display device (1) of the vehicle (30) as a function of the distance between the vehicle (30) and the further vehicle (40), - detecting an actuation of a user control element (8) after the symbol (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) has been displayed on the display device (1), - receiving an actuation signal from the further vehicle (40), wherein the actuation signal from the further vehicle (40) indicates that a user of the further vehicle (40) has actuated a user control element (8) of the further vehicle (40) due to a display of a symbol for the further vehicle (40) and a symbol for the vehicle (30) on a display device (1) of the further vehicle (40), and - performing an operation in the entertainment system if the operation of the user control element (8) was detected before the operation signal was received from the further vehicle (40).

Description

The present invention relates to a method for an entertainment system of a vehicle and to a corresponding entertainment system.Longer journeys using a vehicle, such as a passenger car or a truck, may be of little interest in particular for a passenger in the vehicle, since the passenger generally has no tasks to fulfil and is thus idle. Therefore, at the beginning of distribution of vehicles, games of entertainment have been devised which can be performed in the vehicle. In this context, for example, a game is known in which an approval place or an approval area is guessed or looked up on the basis of the number plate. One game popular in the United States of America is the so-called "Bunch buggy". The participants keep looking for a hatch car of the type "Comfort" and the one who first discovers, bumps or clews ("punch") another participant in the arm and calls "punch buggy!" with respect to the nickname of the hatch car Comfort. Moreover, in vehicles for entertainment of occupants, entertainment systems are used which reproduce music or video, for example.US 2011 / 0 102 459 A1 describes a simulation method comprising receiving a first signal having a geographical destination address part, an element information part and a destination location corresponding to the element, determining an arrival time of the element at the destination location based on the element information part and providing an arrival indicator based on the destination location and the arrival time.US 2007 / 0 111 672 A1 describes a method for communication between vehicles, comprising: obtaining a notification of an incoming communication transmitted from a second vehicle in a first vehicle, receiving a selection of an option for accepting the incoming communication from a first user, receiving the incoming communication from the second vehicle via an antenna and a transceiver coupled to the first vehicle, receiving a response to the incoming communication from the first user, and transmitting the response from the first user to the second vehicle.US 2012 / 0 038 489 A1 describes a method that allows a user of a vehicle to initiate a spontaneous call to a nearby vehicle without knowing the phone number or other specific contact data of the nearby vehicle based on identification characters of the nearby vehicle visible to the user of the first vehicle, such as the color of the nearby vehicle, the model, and the manufacturer of the vehicle.U.S. Pat. No. 6,292,747 B1 describes a heterogeneous wireless network for information for travelers.JP 2007-15 460 A describes an obstacle position display system. It is an object of the present invention to provide further entertainment possibilities for occupants of a vehicle.This object is achieved according to the present invention by a method for an entertainment system of a vehicle according to claim 1, an entertainment system for a vehicle according to claim 11 and a vehicle according to claim 13. The dependent claims define preferred and advantageous embodiments of the invention.According to the present invention, there is provided a method for an entertainment system of a vehicle. In the method, a distance between the vehicle and a further vehicle is determined and an icon for the vehicle and an icon for the further vehicle are displayed on a display device of the vehicle depending on the distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle. For linguistic discrimination between the "vehicle" and the "other vehicle", the "vehicle" will also be referred to as the "own vehicle" hereinafter. After the icon for the vehicle and the icon for the other vehicle are displayed on the display device, an operation of a user operation element is detected. In addition, an actuation signal is received from the further vehicle. In the further vehicle, the user of the further vehicle is also displayed a symbol for the further vehicle and a symbol for the vehicle on a display device of the further vehicle. The actuation signal from the other vehicle indicates that the user of the other vehicle has actuated a user operator of the other vehicle based on the display of the icon for the other vehicle and the icon for the vehicle. In the entertainment system, a predetermined operation is performed when the operation of the operation member has been detected before the operation signal is received from the other vehicle. In other words, the users of two vehicles are each displayed on corresponding display devices of the vehicles the own vehicle and at least one further vehicle, provided that the further vehicle is within a predetermined distance from the own vehicle. Then, it is true for the users of the vehicles to operate a user operation element as quickly as possible. The operation of the user operating element is transmitted to the respective other vehicle and an operation is carried out in the entertainment system of the vehicle in which the user operating element was first operated. Performing the operation may include, for example, incrementing a counter or optically or acoustically outputting. Thus, an electronic form of the "bunch buggy" game is realized between occupants of different vehicles. This allows occupants of the vehicles to be maintained and engaged in.According to one specific embodiment, the method furthermore determines position information of the vehicle and transmits the position information to the further vehicle. When the operation of the user operation member in the vehicle has been detected, an operation signal is transmitted from the vehicle to the other vehicle. The operation signal indicates that the user has operated the user operation element based on the display of the icon for the own vehicle and the icon for the other vehicle on the display device. The position information and the actuation signal can be transmitted from the vehicle to the further vehicle, for example, via a so-called car-to-car communication. This makes it possible to ensure rapid communication between the vehicles.According to a further embodiment, the method further receives type information from the further vehicle. The type information comprises a manufacturer and model designation of the further vehicle. On the display device of the vehicle, the symbol for the further vehicle is displayed depending on the distance and the type information. For example, only certain types of vehicles that may participate in the entertainment game may be displayed on the display device. In addition, the manufacturer and model designation of the further vehicle can be additionally displayed on the display device in conjunction with the symbol for the further vehicle.According to a further embodiment, an acoustic or optical signal is output in the vehicle if the actuation signal has been received from the further vehicle before the actuation of the user operating element has been detected. In this case, the driver of the further vehicle was faster and a corresponding display in the form of an acoustic or optical signal can be output in the own vehicle. Moreover, for example, another counter may be incremented when the operation signal has been received from the other vehicle before the operation of the user operation element in the own vehicle has been detected. A user of the vehicle can thus determine, via the counter and the further counter, how often he himself first detected a further vehicle and has struck virtually via the user operating element and how often he was slower than a user of a further vehicle and has thus been struck virtually by a user of a further vehicle.In a further embodiment of the method, position information is received from the further vehicle and the distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle is determined on the basis of the position information of the further vehicle. As described above, the communication between the vehicle and the other vehicle can be performed via car-to-car communication, so that a rapid response required for the entertainment game can be ensured. By the vehicles exchanging their position information with one another, it is possible in a simple manner in each vehicle to display the own position and the positions of the further vehicles on a map, for example.In yet another specific embodiment, directional information is displayed as a function of the position information of the other vehicle. The direction information indicates a direction in which the other vehicle is located relative to the own vehicle. The directional information can be displayed, for example, by driving a plurality of lighting devices arranged in the interior of the vehicle in sequence as a function of the position information of the further vehicle. If, for example, a plurality of horizontally arranged lighting devices are arranged in a dashboard of the vehicle, these can be activated in sequence in such a way that a direction toward the further vehicle is indicated by the course of the lighting.In a further embodiment of the method, the symbol for the further vehicle is displayed in two different ways. The icon of the further vehicle is displayed in a first manner when the distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle is between a first threshold value and a second threshold value. The symbol for the further vehicle is displayed in a second manner if the distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle is less than or equal to the second threshold value. If the distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle is greater than the first threshold value, the symbol for the further vehicle may not be displayed at all, for example. An actuation of the user operating element is detected after the symbol for the further vehicle has been displayed in the second manner, i.e. when the further vehicle is at a distance of less than or equal to the second threshold value. In other words, the further vehicle is only displayed if it is within a distance to the vehicle which is less than the first threshold value. If the distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle is between the first threshold value and the second threshold value, wherein the second threshold value is smaller than the first threshold value, the symbol for the further vehicle is displayed, but an actuation of the user operating element is ineffective. Only when the distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle is less than or equal to the second threshold value and the further vehicle is thus relatively close to the own vehicle is an actuation of the user operating element detected. The first threshold value may be, for example, several hundred meters, for example 500 m, whereas the second threshold value is only, for example, 50-150 m. This can take account of the fact that the virtual initiation of the further vehicle according to the game rules of the "bunch buggy" game is only allowed when the further vehicle is within view.The present invention further relates to an entertainment system for a vehicle. The entertainment system includes a communication device for transmitting information between the own vehicle and another vehicle. The entertainment system further includes a display device for outputting information to a user of the vehicle. The display device can be arranged, for example, in a dashboard of the vehicle, so that it can be viewed by a driver of the vehicle as well as, in particular, by a passenger of the vehicle. The entertainment system further comprises a user control element, which can be operated by the user, in particular a passenger, of the vehicle, and a processing unit, which is coupled to the communication device, the display device and the user control element. The user control element can comprise a separate pushbutton, for example, or can be realized, for example, by means of a touch-sensitive surface on the display device by displaying a corresponding user control element on the display device. The processing unit is capable of determining a distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle and of displaying on the display device an icon for the vehicle and an icon for the further vehicle depending on the distance between the vehicle and the further vehicle. An operation of the user operation member is detected by the processing unit after the icon for the vehicle and the icon for the other vehicle are displayed on the display device. An actuation signal is received from the further vehicle via the communication device. The actuation signal indicates that a user of the further vehicle has actuated a corresponding user operating element of the further vehicle on the basis of a display of an icon for the further vehicle and an icon for the vehicle on a display device of the further vehicle. When the operation of the user operation member of the own vehicle has been detected before the operation signal is received from the other vehicle, an operation is performed in the entertainment system, for example, by incrementing a counter or outputting an optical or acoustic signal. The entertainment system can be configured to carry out the method described above or one of its embodiments and therefore also comprises the advantages described in connection with the method.According to the present invention, there is finally provided a vehicle comprising the above-described entertainment system.The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing icons for vehicles on a display device of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 shows a dashboard including a display device of a vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 shows a vehicle and another vehicle according to an embodiment of the present invention.The present invention relates to a method for an entertainment system of a vehicle. In the method, an American children's game known for the 60 years, which is referred to as "bunch buggy", "bunch bug", or "bevel bug", is converted into an electronically assisted game between vehicles for the entertainment of vehicle occupants. In the original children's game, one party of the game has reached or augmented another party to the arm as soon as he has viewed a specific type of vehicle, in particular a so-called people's car beatle, and at the same time this party has called "Slug bug!" or "Bunch buggy!" with reference to the nickname of the people's car beatle "Bug".In the implementation of this game in an electronic variant according to the invention, vehicles which allow a tapping or kneeling according to the child game, a so-called "bunch", are displayed on a display device of the vehicle when they are within a predetermined distance from the own vehicle. The punchable vehicle thus detected can be virtually pushed via an operating element of the vehicle. If a plurality of punchable vehicles are present, one of the vehicles may be selected and powdered via, for example, a touch screen on the display device. The control element for punching can be, for example, a so-called soft key, i.e. a virtual control element shown on the touchscreen of the display device, or a separate control element, such as a button, for example. For each pushed vehicle, a corresponding counter may be incremented. Conversely, the host vehicle can be pushed by other vehicles, as a result of which, for example, a further counter is increased in the host vehicle.Within the scope of the present description, the term "bunch" is used interchangeably for a virtual kicking or stupling of a vehicle or, more precisely, of an occupant of a vehicle in the sense of the previously described child game. In the electronic realization of the child game according to the invention, the occupants of different vehicles arrive against one another as participants of the game. A puddle of a vehicle thus corresponds to a virtual puddle of an occupant of another vehicle. For each bunch of a vehicle, a person gets positive points and each time a vehicle is powdered from another vehicle, the occupant of the powdered vehicle gets negative points. The aim is to increase the number of positive points and to keep the number of negative points as low as possible.FIG. 1 shows an output of an entertainment system on a display device 1. the display device 1 can be configured, for example, for outputting graphical information in a color representation. On the display device 1, the position of the own vehicle is displayed as an icon 3 on, for example, a map display 2. Further vehicles which can be spun according to the rules of play are displayed as symbols 4, 5 on the map display 2. In the children's game, the participants have lagged each other once corresponding vehicles have been viewed. To simulate this, for example, only vehicles within a predetermined distance may be powdered. For this purpose, for example, a first distance ring 6 and a second distance ring 7 can be displayed on the display device 1 concentrically with respect to the symbol 3 of the own vehicle. If a vehicle of a certain type, for example the vehicle denoted by the symbol 5, is located between the first distance ring 6 and the second distance ring 7, it can be already displayed but not yet be pushed by the occupant of the own vehicle. Vehicles outside the first removing ring 6 are not displayed. When the vehicle is within the second range ring 7, such as the vehicle represented by the symbol 4, the vehicle is punchable and may be shown highlighted, for example, flashing or with a particular color. In order to punch a vehicle, an occupant of the vehicle actuates a user operating element 8, which is shown, for example, as a so-called soft key on the display device 1. An actuation of this user control element 8 can be detected, for example, by means of a touch-sensitive surface of the display device 1, a so-called touchscreen.Corresponding outputs as described above in connection with FIG. 1 are also displayed on corresponding display devices of the vehicles represented by icons 4 and 5. The vehicles represented by the symbols 3, 4 are at a distance from each other at which the vehicles can be pushed mutually. The vehicle represented by the symbol 5 is currently still outside the bunch range of the vehicle 3, but within the bunch range of the vehicle 4. If the user operating element 8 in the vehicle 3 is first actuated, a day point counter 9 is incremented, for example. In addition, an overall counter 10 can be incremented. Another counter 11 may indicate how many times the own vehicle has been powdered within a predetermined period of time and how many times an occupant of the own vehicle has powdered another vehicle within the predetermined period of time. If a plurality of punchable vehicles are within the punchable distance 7, as might be the case for the vehicle 4, for example, the vehicle to be punched can be selected via the touch-sensitive surface of the display device 1 and then be pushed by actuating the user operating element 8.FIG. 2 shows an interior of a vehicle including the display device 1. the display device 1 is disposed in a dashboard 12 of the vehicle. Alternatively, the display device 1 can also be a component of a combination instrument 13. In the dashboard 12, a linear lighting device 14 is provided in the region of the passenger. The lighting device 14 is also referred to as ambient lighting. The illumination device 14 can consist, for example, of a plurality of successive linear sections which can be switched on or off selectively or whose luminous colour can be adjusted. In addition to the display on the display device 1 already described in connection with FIG. 1, the display device 1 and / or the lighting device 14 can also be used to output a directional indication to a puncable or puncured vehicle. For this purpose, for example, a line 15 can be displayed on the display device 1, which line is substantially in extension of the linear shape of the lighting device 14. For example, when a puncured or punchable vehicle is located to the left or right of the own vehicle, a running light indicating the direction to the vehicle may be generated by suitably activating the line 15 and the lighting device 14.FIG. 3 shows two vehicles 30, 40. Each of the vehicles 30, 40 comprises the display device 1 described above, a processing unit 16 and a communication device 17. the communication device 17 is used for transmitting information between the vehicles 30, 40. In addition, the communication can also take place via infrastructure components connected in between, such as a mobile radio communication network, for example. Each of the vehicles is also capable of determining its own position, for example, via a global positioning system (GPS). The vehicle 40 transmits its own position and the own vehicle type to the vehicle 30, for example, via its communication device 17. the vehicle 30 receives this information via the communication device 17. the processing unit 16 processes the received information and displays the vehicle 40 as an icon 4 on the display device 1, as was described above in connection with FIG. 1. The type information of the vehicle can be used, for example, to enable only specific vehicle types to participate in the game and thus also only vehicles of specific types to be displayed on the display device 1. If, as shown in FIG. 1, the vehicle 40 is located within the distance 7 from the vehicle 30, this vehicle can be pushed by actuating the user operating element 8. A corresponding display of the vehicle 30 with respect to the vehicle 40 may be displayed in the vehicle 40 on the display device 1 of the vehicle 40 and a corresponding operation of a user operating element 8 in the vehicle 40 may be detected. As soon as a user actuation is detected in one of the vehicles 30, 40, this user actuation is transmitted as an actuation signal via the communication device 17 to the respective other vehicle. The processing unit 16 now checks whether the own user control element 8 has been operated before an operation signal has been received from another vehicle. If this is the case, an occupant in the own vehicle was faster than an occupant in another vehicle, and the scorers 9-11 can be adjusted accordingly. In addition, other operations may be performed in the entertainment system, such as driving the lighting device 14 as described in connection with FIG. 2, or optical or acoustic signals may also be output indicating to the occupant that he has responded faster than an occupant of another vehicle. Conversely, if the actuation signal of another vehicle was received before the own user control element 8 was actuated, the point counters 9- 11 can be adjusted accordingly and, in addition, corresponding optical or acoustic outputs can be output which indicate to the occupant that he reacted more slowly than an occupant of another vehicle.

Claims

Method for an entertainment system of a vehicle, the method comprising: - determining a distance between the vehicle (30) and a further vehicle (40), - displaying an icon (3) for the vehicle (30) and an icon (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) on a display device (1) of the vehicle (30) depending on the distance between the vehicle (30) and the further vehicle (40), - detecting an actuation of a user operating element (8) after the icon (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) has been displayed on the display device (1), - receiving an actuation signal from the further vehicle (40), wherein the actuation signal indicates from the further vehicle (40), a user of the further vehicle (40) has actuated a user operating element (8) of the further vehicle (40) on the basis of a display of an icon for the further vehicle (40) and an icon for the vehicle (30) on a display device (1) of the further vehicle (40), and - carrying out an operation in the entertainment system if the actuation of the user operating element (8) has been detected before the actuation signal has been received by the further vehicle (40).The method of claim 1, wherein executing the operation in the entertainment system comprises incrementing a counter (9-11).The method according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising: - determining position information of the vehicle (30), - transmitting the position information to the further vehicle (40), and - transmitting an actuation signal from the vehicle (30) to the further vehicle (40) when the actuation of the user operator (8) has been detected, wherein the actuation signal indicates that the user is driving the user operator (8) based on the display of the icon (3) for the vehicle (30) and the icon (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) on the display device. (1).Method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising: - receiving type information from the further vehicle (40), wherein the type information comprises a manufacturer and model designation of the further vehicle (40), wherein the step of displaying the symbol (3) for the vehicle (30) and the symbol (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) comprises displaying the symbol (3) for the vehicle (30) and the symbol (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) on the display device (1) of the vehicle (30) depending on the distance and the type information.The method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising: - outputting an acoustic or optical signal in the vehicle (30) if the actuation signal has been received from the further vehicle (40) before the actuation of the user operating element (8) has been detected.The method of claim 5, further comprising: incrementing a further counter (11) when the actuation signal is received from the further vehicle (40) before the actuation of the user operator (8) is detected.The method according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising: - receiving position information from the further vehicle (40), wherein determining the distance between the vehicle (30) and the further vehicle (40) comprises determining the distance between the vehicle (30) and the further vehicle (40) based on the position information of the further vehicle (40).Method according to claim 7, further comprising: - displaying direction information depending on the position information of the further vehicle (40), wherein the direction information indicates a direction in which the further vehicle (40) is located relative to the vehicle (30).Method according to Claim 8, wherein the directional information is displayed by actuating a plurality of lighting devices (1, 14) arranged in the interior of the vehicle in sequence as a function of the position information of the further vehicle (40).Method according to any of the preceding claims, wherein displaying the symbol (3) for the vehicle (30) and the symbol (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) comprises: - displaying the symbol (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) in a first manner if the distance between the vehicle (30) and the further vehicle (40) is between a first threshold value (6) and a second threshold value (7), and - displaying the symbol (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) in a second manner if the distance between the vehicle (30) and the further vehicle (40) is less than or equal to the second threshold value (7), wherein the actuation of a user operating element (8) is detected after the symbol (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) has been displayed in the second manner.Entertainment system for a vehicle, comprising: - a communication device (17) for transmitting information between the vehicle (30) and a further vehicle (40), - a display device (1) for outputting information to a user of the vehicle (30), - a user operating element (8) which can be operated by the user of the vehicle (30), and - a processing unit (16) which is coupled to the communication device (17), the display device (1) and the user operating element (8) and is configured to determine a distance between the vehicle (30) and the further vehicle (40), an symbol (3) for the vehicle (30) and an symbol (4, 5) for the further vehicle. (40) on the display device (1) depending on the distance between the vehicle (30) and the further vehicle (40), to display an actuation of the user operating element (8) after the symbol (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) has been displayed on the display device (1), to receive an actuation signal from the further vehicle (40), wherein the actuation signal from the further vehicle (40) indicates that a user of the further vehicle (40) has actuated a user operating element (8) of the further vehicle (40) on the basis of a display of a symbol (4, 5) for the further vehicle (40) and a symbol (3) for the vehicle (30) on a display device (1) of the further vehicle (40), and to execute an operation in the entertainment system when the actuation of the user operating element (8) has been detected, before the actuation signal has been received by the further vehicle (40).The entertainment system of claim 11, wherein the entertainment system is configured to perform the method of any of claims 1-10.A vehicle comprising an entertainment system according to claim 11 or 12.

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