Method and device for displaying a plurality of applications for a vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for displaying a plurality of applications for a vehicle comprising a display (11), a touch screen (12) and a touch-sensitive control member (13), - controlling displaying, on said display (11), of a first application, - controlling displaying, on the touch screen (12), of a second application and of a strip (101) of command keys intended to control the first application, and - in response to the detection of a gesture, by the control member, controlling a function of the first application on the display (11).

Description

DESCRIPTION Title: Method and device for displaying a plurality of vehicle applications The present invention claims priority from French application 2210005 filed on 30.09.2022, the content of which (text, drawings and claims) is incorporated herein by reference. technical field

[0001] The invention relates to the display of a plurality of vehicle applications on a plurality of screens. Technological background

[0002] Document FR3070327 describes the integration of a touchpad into the vehicle's center console, that is, the central part of the vehicle's interior between the driver's and passenger's seats, where the gearshift lever is typically located. This touchpad, accessible to the user regardless of their seat position and configured for compatibility with automated driving modes, allows the display screen to be controlled with simple finger swipes. As is known, the display screen is then configured to show buttons for accessing a range of functions via icons, which are, for example, surrounded by a halo of light when selected. Repeated finger movements on the touchpad allow the user to switch between icons.Such a touchpad differs from a touch display screen where finger swipes allow direct access from one page to another.

[0003] However, such a system is not entirely satisfactory. In particular, it is not always easy to fully control the display screen with a touchpad. Summary of the invention

[0004] One object of the present invention is to offer a more ergonomic solution for controlling a display screen.

[0005]

[0006] To this end, the invention relates to a method for displaying a plurality of vehicle applications comprising a display, a touch screen and a touch control element, - to command the display, on the screen, of a first application, - to display, on the touchscreen, a second application and a strip of control buttons intended to control the first application, - in response to the detection of a gesture, by the control unit, command a function of the first application on the display.

[0007] With this invention, the driver has multiple display devices at their disposal with which they can interact. The display can be controlled via the touchscreen and the touch control unit. This allows for greater freedom in positioning and sizing of the display. The invention links two display devices to the touch control unit. The display (which may be non-touchscreen) displays content and is controlled via the touch control unit. The touchscreen displays content and can be controlled independently via touch. The touchscreen also displays additional touch-accessible controls related to the display on the screen. The user can therefore perform a number of tasks using the various control units available.

[0008] Advantageously, the display method according to the invention further comprises the following steps: - to display a third application on the screen, - in response to the display of the third application on the display, command the display of a strip of control keys intended to control the third application.

[0009] These features allow for contextualization of the touchscreen display. When a new application is displayed, the control buttons shown on the touchscreen are updated to adapt to the new application.

[0010] Advantageously, since the application has a plurality of functions, the functions accessible by the touch control device are distinct from those accessible by the control buttons.

[0011] Advantageously, the first application is chosen from: a navigation application, a phone application, a media player application, a weather application.

[0012] Advantageously, the control keys are displayed temporarily.

[0013] Advantageously, the control buttons are displayed in a part of the touchscreen closest to the driver

[0014] The invention also relates to a computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, lead the computer to implement the process according to the invention.

[0015] The invention also relates to a display device for a plurality of vehicle applications, said device comprising a memory associated with at least one processor configured for the implementation of the steps of the process according to the invention.

[0016] The invention relates to a vehicle comprising a display, a touch screen, a touch control element, a device according to the invention. Brief description of the figures

[0017] Other features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the description of the non-limiting embodiments of the invention below, with reference to the accompanying figures, in which:

[0018] [Fig. 1] illustrates a vehicle passenger compartment according to the invention;

[0019] [Fig. 2] schematically illustrates a display device for a plurality of vehicle applications, according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] [Fig. 3] illustrates an example of displaying an application on the display, according to the invention;

[0021] [Fig. 4] illustrates an example of displaying control keys on the touch screen;

[0022] [Fig. 5] schematically illustrates the display of a plurality of vehicle applications, according to a particular embodiment of the present invention.

[0023] Figure 1 shows a vehicle interior 10 according to the invention, comprising: a display 11, a touch screen 12 and a touch control element 13.

[0024] Display 11, for example, is a non-touchscreen display located on the dashboard. Alternatively, display 11 is a head-up display device, generally referred to by the acronyms HUD (Head-Up Display), which projects information into the driver's field of vision in front of the vehicle.

[0025] The 12-inch touchscreen is, for example, of the TFT LCD type (for "Thin Film Transistor Liquid Crystal Device") or of the OLED type (for "Organic Light-Emitting Diode").

[0026] The touch control unit 13 is, for example, a touchpad, located on the vehicle's center console, that is, in the central part of the vehicle's interior between the driver's and passenger's seats, where the gearshift lever is usually located. It could also be a touchscreen. The touch control unit 13 is accessible to the user regardless of their seat position. It allows the user to control the display 11 using simple finger swipes.

[0027] The device according to the invention provides a graphical interface in the vehicle. It is specifically configured to control the display on the display 11 and the touch screen 12 and, in particular, to control the display of an application on the display 11.

[0028] Figure 3 shows an example of an application displayed on screen 11. In this example, the screen displays a navigation application that includes a map background with roads and a vehicle symbol. Some road segments have a different appearance (for example, a different color) to indicate to the user the correct route.

[0029] Figure 4 shows an example of the display of control buttons 101 on the touchscreen 12. In this example, the control buttons are aligned horizontally. Alternatively, this arrangement could be vertical. The control buttons 101 allow the user to control the navigation application displayed on the screen 11. These control buttons allow users to, for example: stop navigation, report a hazard, view alternative routes, change the map display (switching from a two-dimensional - 2D - to a three-dimensional - 3D - view), and select a new destination. The remaining portion of the screen 102 (i.e., the portion not displaying the control buttons) is used to display an application and / or elements of a graphical user interface.

[0030] According to one feature of the invention, the application displayed on the display 11 is chosen from: a navigation application, a phone application, a media playback application or a weather application.

[0031] For a media playback application, control unit 13 allows, for example, skipping to the next or previous track, playing or pausing, and / or selecting a source. The touchscreen buttons 101 allow changing the FM / AM band, adding tracks to favorites, repeating a track, and / or shuffled playback.

[0032] For a phone application, control unit 13 allows navigation through a contact list and / or calling a contact. Keys 101 allow access to voicemail.

[0033] For a weather application, control unit 13 allows navigation through a list of cities. Keys 101 allow changing the temperature unit, adding a city, and displaying the destination temperature.

[0034] With reference to figure 5, the process according to the invention comprises the following steps.

[0035] In a first step, the device commands 301 to display, on the display 11, a first application.

[0036] In a second step, the device commands 302 the display, on the touch screen 12, of a second application and a strip 101 of control keys intended to control the first application.

[0037] In a third step, in response to the detection 303 of a gesture, by the control organ, the device commands 304 a function of the first application on the display 11.

[0038] In another step, the device commands 305 to display, on display 11, a third application.

[0039] In a subsequent step, in response to the display of the third application on the display 11, the device commands 306 to display a strip of control buttons intended to control the third application. This updates the control buttons 101 so that they are capable of controlling the third application displayed on the display 11.

[0040] According to one feature of the invention, the application comprising a plurality of functions, the functions accessible by the touch control element 13 are distinct from those accessible by the control buttons 12.

[0041] Figure 2 schematically illustrates a display device 2 for a plurality of vehicle applications, according to a particular and non-limiting embodiment of the present invention. Device 2 corresponds, for example, to a device embedded in the vehicle, such as a computer.

[0042] Device 2 is, for example, configured to implement the steps of the process described opposite Figure 5. Examples of such a device 2 include, but are not limited to, embedded electronic equipment such as a vehicle's on-board computer, an electronic control unit such as an ECU (Electronic Control Unit), a smartphone, a tablet, or a laptop computer. The elements of device 2, individually or in combination, can be integrated into a single integrated circuit, into several integrated circuits, and / or into discrete components. Device 2 can be implemented as electronic circuits, software (or computer) modules, or a combination of electronic circuits and software modules.

[0043] Device 2 comprises one (or more) processor(s) 20 configured to execute instructions for carrying out the steps of the process and / or for executing instructions from the software embedded in Device 2. The processor 20 may include integrated memory, an input / output interface, and various circuits known to those skilled in the art. Device 2 further comprises at least one memory 21, for example, volatile and / or non-volatile memory, and / or includes a memory storage device that may include volatile and / or non-volatile memory, such as EEPROM, ROM, PROM, RAM, DRAM, SRAM, flash, magnetic disk, or optical disk.

[0044] The computer code of the embedded software(s) including the instructions to be loaded and executed by the processor is, for example, stored on memory 21.

[0045] According to various specific and non-limiting embodiment examples, device 2 is coupled in communication with other similar devices or systems and / or with communication devices, for example a TCU (Telematic Control Unit), for example via a communication bus or through dedicated input / output ports.

[0046] According to a particular and non-limiting embodiment, device 2 includes a block 22 of interface elements for communicating with external devices, for example, a remote server or the cloud, other nodes of the ad hoc network. The interface elements of block 22 include one or more of the following interfaces:

[0047] - Radio frequency (RF) interface, for example of the Wi-Fi® type (according to IEEE) 802.11), for example in the 2.4 or 5 GHz frequency bands, or Bluetooth® type (according to IEEE 802.15.1), in the 2.4 GHz frequency band, or Sigfox type using UBN (Ultra Narrow Band) radio technology, or LoRa in the 868 MHz frequency band, LTE (Long-Term Evolution), LTE-Advanced;

[0048] - USB interface (from the English "Universal Serial Bus" or "Universal Serial Bus" in French);

[0049] - HDMI interface (from the English "High Definition Multimedia Interface", or "High Definition Multimedia Interface" in French);

[0050] - LIN interface (from the English "Local Interconnect Network", or in French "Local interconnected network").

[0051] Data, such as a startup request, is loaded to device 2 via the interface of block 22 using a Wi-Fi® network such as IEEE 802.11, an ITS G5 network based on IEEE 802.11p or a mobile network such as a 4G (or 5G) network based on the LTE (Long Term Evolution) standard defined by the 3GPP consortium, including an LTE-V2X network.

[0052] According to another particular and non-limiting embodiment, the device 2 includes a communication interface 23 which enables communication with other devices (such as other computers in the embedded system) via a communication channel 24. The communication interface 23 corresponds, for example, to a transmitter configured to transmit and receive information and / or data via the communication channel 24, such as a signal representing a gesture made on the touch control element 13. The communication interface 23 corresponds, for example, to a wired network of the CAN (Controller Area Network) type, CAN FD (Controller Area Network Flexible Data-Rate), FlexRay (standardized by ISO 17458) or Ethernet (standardized by ISO / IEC 802-3).

[0053] According to a particular and non-limiting embodiment, the device 2 can provide output signals to one or more external devices, such as a display screen 25, touch or non-touch, one or more speakers 26 and / or other peripherals 27 (contact sensor) via output interfaces 28, 29 and 30 respectively. According to a variant, one or more of the external devices is integrated into the device 2.

[0054] In summary, display 11, for example, is a non-touchscreen located at the back of the dashboard on the central axis. It is controlled by touchscreen control 13, which is a remote control type touchpad. Finally, a touchscreen 12 completes the triptych on the central axis of the cockpit.

[0055] Screen A allows for the display of multiple content items (or applications), which can be cycled through sequentially using the touch control 13. The user can thus choose to display navigation, media, weather, contacts, or news on the screen 11. Thanks to the touch control 13, the user can also perform several very simple and direct actions: changing pages, zooming in / out on the navigation map, skipping to the previous / next track, navigating the contact list, etc. These actions are direct and performed via gestures on the touch control 13. They do not require selecting an interface and then clicking to confirm the action, as is the case with current systems incorporating this type of control.

[0056] The touchscreen 12 also displays content and can be directly manipulated by touch. It is not controlled via the touch control 13. A section of the interface is dedicated to the contextual display of controls 101 related to the content displayed on the screen 11. Thus, if the screen 11 displays navigation, the contextual area 101 highlights navigation controls, accessible by touch. When the user changes the display of the screen 11 via the touch control 13 and decides to display media, the contextual area 101 updates and displays media controls. And so on.

[0057] There is therefore a contextual operation between the display 11 and the touch screen 12, through this display area 101. There is also a complementarity of interactions between the direct gestures that can be performed via the touch control element 13 and the actions available by touch in the contextual area 101.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Method for displaying a plurality of vehicle applications comprising a display (11), a touch screen (12) and a touch control member (13), - command (301) the display, on the display (11), of a first application, - controlling (302) the display, on the touch screen (12), of a second application and of control keys (101) intended to control the first application, - in response to the detection (303) of a gesture, by the control member, control (304) a function of the first application on the display (11).

2. The display method of claim 1, further comprising the following steps: - command (305) the display, on the display (11), of a third application, - in response to the display of the third application on the display (11), command (306) the display of a strip of control keys intended to control the third application.

3. Display method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the application comprising a plurality of functions, the functions accessible by the touch control member (13) are distinct from those accessible by the control buttons (12).

4. Display method according to the preceding claim, in which the first application is chosen from: a navigation application, a telephone application, a media playback application, a weather application.

5. Display method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the control keys (101) are displayed temporarily. he 6. Display method according to one of the preceding claims, in which the control keys (101) are displayed in a part of the touch screen (12) closest to the driver 7. Computer program comprising instructions which, when the program is executed by a computer, cause the latter to implement the method according to one of the preceding claims.

8. Device (2) for displaying a plurality of vehicle applications, said device (2) comprising a memory (21) associated with at least one processor (20) configured for implementing the steps of the method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

9. Vehicle comprising a display (11), a touch screen (12), a touch control member (13) or a device (2) according to the preceding claim.

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