Method and arrangement for increasing the feeling of safety in a rideshare vehicle, rideshare vehicle and computer program product

Abstract

A method for increasing the sense of security of a passenger in a rideshare vehicle (10), comprising: - Recording values of passenger emotional parameters (SI), - Evaluate the recorded values to determine the occurrence of a change in feeling (SII) and - performing an activity (7) upon occurrence of a change in feeling (SIII), wherein the activity comprises requesting confirmation from the passenger before stopping the rideshare vehicle (10) and / or requesting confirmation from the passenger before opening doors of the rideshare vehicle (10).

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a method and a system for increasing a passenger's sense of security in a rideshare vehicle. The invention further relates to a rideshare vehicle and a computer program product.

[0002] The term "ridesharing" refers to the shared use of a vehicle, e.g. a passenger car, by several passengers between two locations. In addition to the long-established ride-sharing services in which a driver offers free seats in their vehicle to passengers, more recent developments are aimed at more personalized offerings. For example, there are service providers that accept ride-sharing requests, including the desired start and destination locations and a start time. Based on several such ride-sharing requests, a route is compiled that can bundle as many ride-sharing requests as possible. The compiled route can be operated using conventional vehicles or autonomous vehicles. Variations of this basic principle are possible and are described, for example, in US 2017 / 0 316 533 A1.

[0003] What the rideshare services described above have in common is that passengers who don't know each other share a vehicle. This can lead to unpleasant situations. For example, passengers already in the vehicle may feel anxious or frightened when the vehicle stops for them to disembark, e.g., in an unfamiliar area, and / or when additional people want to board the vehicle.

[0004] To avoid such unpleasant and potentially dangerous situations, US 2017 / 0 316 533 A1 describes a passenger emergency button, the activation of which can trigger reactions such as requesting assistance, establishing a voice connection, initializing a security camera, etc. Furthermore, the passenger can enter information about the situation, such as the extent of the emergency, a description of the situation, etc.

[0005] Using the passenger emergency button requires active intervention by the passenger. However, this can be inconvenient in certain situations, for example, if other passengers in the vehicle should not be aware of the subjective assessment of a situation as dangerous, or even dangerous, for example, if pressing the passenger emergency button is not possible.

[0006] US Patent No. 10 147 325 B1 discloses a method in which passenger profiles are created and compared to select compatible passengers for a shared journey. Potentially unpleasant situations can be avoided in this way. However, creating passenger profiles requires extensive data collection and a far-reaching intrusion into the passenger's privacy. Furthermore, unpleasant situations can only be successfully avoided if the identified passenger profiles provide reliable information. It is not possible to react to spontaneously occurring situations because the passenger profiles are checked before the journey.

[0007] US 2017 / 0 330 044 A1 proposes temperature monitoring of passengers to monitor their activity. If, for example, an increase in body temperature is detected, this could indicate a stressful situation. Depending on the analyzed body temperature, various measures can be taken, e.g., issuing a warning signal, notifying other people, changing vehicle settings, etc. The disadvantage of temperature monitoring, however, is that body temperature changes relatively slowly and, consequently, spontaneous changes in the situation only lead to a temperature change and the resulting measures after a time delay. Furthermore, body temperature is not a reliable indicator for the occurrence of stressful situations, since such situations do not necessarily result in a change in body temperature.

[0008] DE 10 2014 219 692 A1 discloses a method for detecting a hazardous situation in a vehicle interior. To achieve automated detection, it is proposed that a sensor signal be generated that is dependent on a condition prevailing in the vehicle interior, and that a hazardous condition be determined using the sensor signal and a hazard function.

[0009] DE 10 2019 201 695 A1 discloses a method for biometric sensor fusion for classifying the condition of a vehicle occupant. A neural network is used to determine the stress or arousal level of a vehicle occupant.

[0010] Against this background, it is the object of the present invention to provide possibilities with which the disadvantages described above can be reduced or even eliminated.

[0011] This problem is solved by the subject matter of the independent claims. The dependent claims contain embodiments of these inventive solutions.

[0012] The basic idea of the invention is to use various emotion detection technologies to detect sudden changes in a passenger's emotions and thus be able to detect the occurrence of critical situations. If a critical situation occurs, for example, when the vehicle approaches a starting or destination point, the passenger can be asked for confirmation before the vehicle stops despite the critical stop or before a vehicle door is opened.

[0013] Active passenger intervention to detect a critical situation is not necessary, as the detection of a sudden change in mood can be automated and used as a passive trigger. Activities desired by the passenger can therefore be anticipated and, if necessary, initiated without requiring any active action from the passenger.

[0014] A first aspect of the invention relates to a method for increasing a passenger's sense of security in a rideshare vehicle. The method comprises detecting values of the passenger's emotional parameters, evaluating the detected values to determine the occurrence of an emotional change, and performing an activity upon the occurrence of an emotional change. The activity includes requesting confirmation from the passenger before stopping the rideshare vehicle and / or requesting confirmation from the passenger before opening doors of the rideshare vehicle.

[0015] A rideshare vehicle can be understood as a shared vehicle designed to transport several people, also referred to here as passengers. The rideshare vehicle can be designed as an autonomous vehicle, i.e. a self-driving vehicle that can perform all safety-critical functions for the entire driving process itself, so that control by a driver is never necessary. Such an autonomous vehicle controls all functions from start to stop itself, including all parking functions. A manual mode can also be provided, in which a human driver controls all or some of the vehicle's functions. If a driver controls some of the vehicle's functions themselves, the vehicle is considered a semi-autonomous vehicle.

[0016] In a first step, the passenger's emotional parameter values, i.e., one or more values of one or more emotional parameters, are recorded. This means that the passenger's emotional parameters are detected, whereby specific emotional parameter values are obtained directly or indirectly. For example, the heart rate can be detected as an emotional parameter, whereby heart rate values are obtained directly. Alternatively or additionally, the passenger's facial expressions can be detected as an emotional parameter, whereby corresponding emotional parameter values are obtained indirectly using image analysis.

[0017] In a further process step, the recorded values of the emotional parameters are evaluated to determine the occurrence of an emotional change, e.g., a change in the passenger's stress level. The conditions that must be met for an emotional change to occur can be variably specified. For example, a maximum heart rate can be specified, above which an emotional change occurs. If multiple emotional parameters are evaluated, a predefined algorithm, a lookup table, etc., can be used to determine whether an emotional change is present. The emotional change can be either positive or negative.

[0018] The following methods can be used to determine the occurrence of a change in emotion: statistical and correlation analyses; artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques.

[0019] If a change in mood is detected, at least one activity is performed in a further process step. The activity can depend on the type of change in mood. In other words, a different activity can be performed for a positive change in mood, e.g., a reduction in stress levels, than for a negative change in mood, e.g., an increase in stress levels.

[0020] These activities increase the passenger's sense of security, as they know that in situations where they feel unwell and, consequently, an increase in stress levels occurs as a change in their emotions, one or more activities will be performed automatically. By requesting confirmation from the passenger before stopping and / or opening doors, the passenger is given the feeling of being able to exert influence in certain situations and control the situation. This can also contribute to an increased sense of security and make the travel experience more pleasant.

[0021] The described method can be partially or fully computer-implemented. This advantageously allows for automated execution of the method, i.e., independent of the passenger's actions. Active passenger intervention is thus not necessary, and the method can also be carried out in situations where active passenger action is not possible.

[0022] Optionally, the procedure can be carried out only when certain preconditions are met, e.g., when the rideshare vehicle approaches a stop for boarding or disembarking passengers. This avoids constant monitoring of passengers or limits it to particularly critical moments. This can be advantageous in terms of compliance with data protection regulations and contributes to increasing acceptance of the procedure.

[0023] Depending on the various implementation variants, the activity can be selected from a group comprising: issuing a warning signal, establishing a communication connection. Of course, multiple activities can also be performed.

[0024] According to further embodiments, the emotional parameters can be selected from a group comprising: heart rate, change in heart rate (heart rate variability), respiratory rate, change in respiratory rate, facial expressions, gestures, posture, pitch of voice, temperature of the skin surface in the facial area, eye movement, skin conductivity, and voice volume. "Eye movement" can be understood as a movement of the pupils in the eye, which can be detected using eye tracking.

[0025] Values of one or more of the above-mentioned emotional parameters can therefore be recorded and evaluated in order to determine the occurrence of an emotional change and, if necessary, to initiate the implementation of an activity.

[0026] The selection of vitality parameters, i.e. heart rate, change in heart rate, respiratory rate, change in respiratory rate as feeling parameters has the advantage that these values can be determined reliably and quickly, so that the procedure can be carried out quickly and with high reliability.

[0027] Facial expressions, gestures, posture, tone of voice, eye movements, and voice volume as emotional parameters have the advantage that they can be captured using camera or voice sensors, and these sensors can also be positioned remotely from the passenger. The temperature of the skin surface in the facial area can be detected using an infrared camera sensor, so that in this case, too, the sensor can be positioned remotely from the passenger.

[0028] According to further variants, the change in feeling can be an appearance of a feeling of anxiety and / or insecurity.

[0029] Identifying these changes in mood and the actions that can be taken as a result have a particularly positive effect on passengers' sense of safety. This can increase acceptance of using rideshare vehicles.

[0030] According to further embodiments, the method may comprise detecting and evaluating values of emotional parameters of each passenger of the rideshare vehicle, determining the occurrence of emotional changes for each passenger, and comparing the determined emotional changes, wherein the activity upon the occurrence of an emotional change is only performed if more than one of the passengers shows an emotional change.

[0031] Preferably, the method can be carried out based on values of emotional parameters of all passengers of the rideshare vehicle.

[0032] By taking into account the emotional parameters of several or all passengers in the rideshare vehicle, conflicting activities can be avoided. Optionally, emotional changes in specific passenger groups, such as children, women, and / or elderly passengers, can be taken into account. This can ensure that a majority or even all passengers have a sufficiently high sense of safety.

[0033] According to further embodiments, if an activity is carried out, a request for another rideshare vehicle can be issued.

[0034] Requesting an additional rideshare vehicle can be preferentially performed when the change in feeling is the onset of a feeling of anxiety and / or a feeling of insecurity. For example, if the onset of a feeling of anxiety results in the driver requesting confirmation before stopping or opening doors, an additional rideshare vehicle can be requested to transport the people responsible for the feeling of anxiety or insecurity with as little delay as possible and to reduce waiting times. This can contribute to increased acceptance of rideshare vehicles.

[0035] A further aspect of the invention relates to an arrangement for increasing a passenger's sense of security in a rideshare vehicle. The arrangement comprises sensors configured to detect values of the passenger's emotional parameters and output sensor signals, a processing unit configured and configured to receive the sensor signals, determine the occurrence of an emotional change based on the received sensor signals, and output a control signal upon the occurrence of an emotional change, and an action unit configured to receive the control signal and execute an activity after receiving the control signal. The activity comprises requesting confirmation from the passenger before stopping the rideshare vehicle and / or requesting confirmation from the passenger before opening doors of the rideshare vehicle.

[0036] The arrangement may be suitable for implementing the method explained above. Therefore, the above explanations for the method also serve to describe the arrangement. The advantages of the arrangement correspond to those of the method and its corresponding embodiments.

[0037] According to different embodiments, the sensors can be selected from a group comprising: camera sensors, a heart rate sensor, a breathing rate sensor, a voice sensor.

[0038] Camera sensors can capture facial expressions, gestures, posture, and / or the passenger's gaze. The temperature of the skin surface in the passenger's facial area can be measured using an infrared camera sensor. Heart rate and respiratory rate sensors are used to detect the passenger's vitality parameters. A voice sensor is used to detect the voice of one or more passengers, allowing the detection of pitch, tone, peculiarities in the voice (e.g., stuttering, whispering, etc.), and / or volume.

[0039] According to further embodiments, the action unit can be selected from a group comprising: a warning signal output module, a communication module, a confirmation module.

[0040] The warning signal output module can be used to issue a warning signal, e.g., in the form of an acoustic or visual warning message. The communication module can be used to establish a communication connection, e.g., with a police authority, emergency services, family members, etc. The confirmation module is used to request confirmation, e.g., before stopping the rideshare vehicle and / or opening the rideshare vehicle's doors. To perform the confirmation, the confirmation module can have an input interface and / or a voice input unit to accept verbal confirmation.

[0041] Another aspect of the invention relates to a rideshare vehicle with an arrangement as described above.

[0042] Therefore, the advantages of the described arrangement are also achieved with the rideshare vehicle. All statements regarding the arrangement can be applied analogously to the rideshare vehicle.

[0043] For the definition of a rideshare vehicle, please refer to the above explanations. Rideshare vehicles are preferably autonomous vehicles.

[0044] Another aspect of the invention relates to a computer program product comprising instructions that cause one of the arrangements described above or the rideshare vehicle described above to carry out one of the methods described above.

[0045] A computer program product can be understood as a program code stored on a suitable medium and / or accessible via a suitable medium. Any medium suitable for storing software, such as a non-volatile memory built into a control unit, a DVD, a USB stick, a flash card, or the like, can be used to store the program code. The program code can be accessed, for example, via the internet or an intranet or via another suitable wireless or wired network. Consequently, a computer-readable medium includes such program code.

[0046] The invention is explained below by way of example with reference to the accompanying figures based on preferred embodiments, wherein the features presented below can represent an aspect of the invention both individually and in various combinations. They show: Fig. 1 a flow chart of an exemplary method; Fig. 2 a schematic representation of an exemplary arrangement; Fig. 3 is a schematic representation of an exemplary rideshare vehicle; Fig. 4 a flow chart of another exemplary method; and Fig. 5 a graph illustrating the change in stress level.

[0047] Fig. 1 schematically illustrates the flow of an exemplary method for increasing a passenger's sense of security in a rideshare vehicle 10. After the method has started, SI values of the passenger's emotional parameters are recorded in a first method step. For example, the heart rate and its changes can be measured, the passenger's voice pitch can be analyzed, and facial expressions, gestures, and posture can be recorded using a camera sensor. Furthermore, it is possible to alternatively or additionally consider the respiratory rate, changes in respiratory rate, the temperature of the skin surface in the facial area, eye movement, skin conductivity, and / or the volume of the voice.

[0048] In a further process step SII, the recorded values are evaluated to determine the occurrence of a change in emotion, particularly a sudden change in emotion, i.e., a change in emotion within a few seconds or minutes. In other words, it is determined whether or not a change in emotion is present. For example, the occurrence of a feeling of anxiety and / or a feeling of insecurity can be detected. These changes in emotion are accompanied by an increase in stress levels and may occur more frequently if the rideshare vehicle approaches a stopping point, as this can trigger feelings of anxiety and / or insecurity in the passenger, e.g., due to the approach of unwanted persons.

[0049] If it is determined in step SII that there is no change in emotion, the process returns to step S11 and the values of the emotion parameters are recorded again. If, however, it is determined in step SII that there is a change in emotion, the process proceeds to step SIII.

[0050] In method step SIII, an activity is performed. For example, confirmation may be requested before stopping the rideshare vehicle 10 and / or confirmation may be requested before opening the doors of the rideshare vehicle 10.

[0051] The procedure can preferably be carried out completely automatically, so that active intervention by the passenger is not necessary, by using the occurrence of the change in feeling as a passive trigger for carrying out the activity.

[0052] This referring to Fig. The method described in section 1 can be carried out, for example, by means of the Fig. 2 schematically illustrated arrangement 1. The arrangement 1 has three sensors 2a, b, c, which are designed to detect values of the passenger's emotional parameters and output corresponding sensor signals 3a, b, c.

[0053] In the exemplary embodiment, sensor 2a is designed as a vitality parameter sensor that can detect, for example, the passenger's heart rate and / or respiratory rate and any changes therein. Sensor 2b is a camera sensor that can detect, for example, gestures, facial expressions, posture, eye movements, and / or the temperature of the skin surface in the facial area of the passenger. Sensor 2c is designed as a voice sensor to detect the passenger's voice pitch and / or volume.

[0054] The sensor signals 3a, b, c from the sensors 2a, b, c are transmitted to a processing unit 4, which is configured and designed to receive and evaluate the sensor signals 3a, b, c in order to determine the occurrence of a change in sensation based on the received sensor signals 3a, b, c. If the processing unit 4 detects the occurrence of a change in sensation, a control signal 5 is output.

[0055] The control signal 5 is received by the action unit 6, which executes an activity 7 based on the control signal 5. The action unit 6 can, for example, be a confirmation module that requests confirmation from the passenger before stopping the rideshare vehicle 10 or opening the doors of the rideshare vehicle 10.

[0056] In Fig. 3 shows a rideshare vehicle 10 with an arrangement 1. For an explanation of the arrangement 1, reference is made to the explanations of Fig. 2. The rideshare vehicle 10 is preferably designed as a partially or fully autonomous vehicle. It can, for example, be a passenger car that can be powered by an internal combustion engine and / or an electric motor.

[0057] Fig. 4 shows a flowchart of another exemplary method. In the first method step S1, the rideshare vehicle 10 approaches a stopping point where passengers can board and disembark. In method step S2, the step S1 of the Fig. 1, values of the passenger's emotional parameters are recorded. For this purpose, vitality parameters of the passenger S2a, such as heart rate and / or respiratory rate, are recorded. Furthermore, in step S2b, the passenger's gestures, facial expressions, and / or posture are recorded using camera sensors, and in step S2c, the passenger's voice pitch is recorded using a voice sensor.

[0058] In the following step S3, the step SII of the Fig. 1, the values acquired in step S2 are evaluated to determine the occurrence of a change in mood, particularly a sudden change in mood. For this purpose, the passenger's stress level and its temporal progression can be determined. Fig. Figure 5 shows an example of a passenger's stress level. By determining the stress level at two points in time T1 and T2, a change, in particular an increase, in the stress level ΔStress can be determined. If the change in the stress level ΔStress exceeds a predeterminable threshold, it can be assumed that a change in emotion relevant to the method has occurred. Thus, if it is determined in step S3 that a change in emotion has occurred, the method proceeds to step S4; otherwise, the method returns to step S1.

[0059] In process step S4, step SIII of the Fig. 1, an activity 7 is performed. This can, for example, be requesting confirmation from the passenger(s) before opening the doors of the rideshare vehicle 10 at the stopping point. The confirmation request can be made via voice output and / or a visual signal.

[0060] The passenger(s) can confirm the opening of the doors, for example, by pressing a button or issuing a voice command. Alternatively or additionally, passengers can be asked to look toward a display indicating the next stop to confirm.

[0061] In method step S5, it is checked whether all passengers agree to open the doors to allow additional passengers access to rideshare vehicle 10. If this is the case, the method returns to step S1. Otherwise, the method continues to step S6.

[0062] In step S6, another rideshare vehicle 10 is requested to pick up the passengers whose access was denied. The rideshare vehicle 10 that executed the method continues its journey without stopping at the stopping point and opening its doors. The method then returns to step S1. List of reference symbols 1 arrangement 2a, b, c Sensor 3a, b, c sensor signal 4 Processing unit 5 Control signal 6 Action unit 7 Activity 10 rideshare vehicles SI to SIII process steps S1 to S6 process steps T1, T2 time points ΔStress Change in stress level

Claims

[1] A method for increasing the sense of security of a passenger in a rideshare vehicle (10), comprising: - Recording values of passenger emotional parameters (SI), - Evaluate the recorded values to determine the occurrence of a change in feeling (SII) and - performing an activity (7) upon occurrence of a change in feeling (SIII), wherein the activity comprises requesting confirmation from the passenger before stopping the rideshare vehicle (10) and / or requesting confirmation from the passenger before opening doors of the rideshare vehicle (10). [2] Method according to claim 1, wherein the activity (7) is selected from a group comprising: issuing a warning signal, establishing a communication connection. [3] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the feeling parameters are selected from a group comprising: Heart rate, change in heart rate, breathing rate, change in breathing rate, facial expressions, gestures, posture, tone of voice, temperature of the skin surface in the facial area, eye movement, skin conductivity, voice volume. [4] Method according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the change in feeling is an occurrence of a feeling of anxiety and / or a feeling of insecurity. [5] Method according to one of the preceding claims, comprising: - Recording and evaluating values of emotional parameters of each passenger of the rideshare vehicle (10), - Determine the occurrence of emotional changes for each passenger, - comparing the determined changes in emotion, whereby the activity (7) is only carried out if a change in emotion occurs and more than one of the passengers shows a change in emotion. [6] Method according to one of the preceding claims, comprising: - if an activity (7) is performed, issuing a request for another rideshare vehicle (10). [7] Arrangement (1) for increasing the sense of security of a passenger in a rideshare vehicle (10), comprising: - sensors (2a, b, c) designed to detect values of emotional parameters of the passenger and output sensor signals (3a, b, c), - a processing unit (4) configured and designed to receive the sensor signals (3a, b, c), determine the occurrence of a change in feeling based on the received sensor signals (3a, b, c) and output a control signal (5) upon the occurrence of a change in feeling, and - an action unit (6) configured to receive the control signal (5) and to execute an activity (7) after receiving the control signal (5), wherein the activity comprises requesting confirmation from the passenger before stopping the rideshare vehicle (10) and / or requesting confirmation from the passenger before opening doors of the rideshare vehicle (10). [8] Arrangement (1) according to claim 7, wherein the sensors (2a, b, c) are selected from a group comprising: camera sensors, a heart rate sensor, a breathing rate sensor, a voice sensor. [9] Arrangement (1) according to claim 7 or 8, wherein the action unit (6) is selected from a group comprising: a warning signal output module, a communication module, a confirmation module. [10] Rideshare vehicle (10) with an arrangement (1) according to one of claims 7 to 9. [11] A computer program product comprising instructions that cause an arrangement (1) according to any one of claims 7 to 9 or a rideshare vehicle (10) according to claim 10 to carry out a method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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