Method for managing a list of items using a multifocal head-up display of a motor vehicle

Abstract

A method for managing a list of items using a multifocal head-up display of a motor vehicle comprises the steps of: displaying (37) on the head-up display the list of items, each item having a priority in a discrete scale of priorities, each priority of the scale having been previously associated (31) with a focal length of the head-up display and each item being displayed with the focal length associated with its priority; acquiring (39, 41) an order from a user to modify the priority of an item; displaying (43) the item having its priority modified by the head-up display with the focal length associated with the modified priority. A system for managing a list of items using a multifocal head-up display of a motor vehicle and a motor vehicle comprising the system are also described. Figure to be published with the abstract: Fig 3

Description

Title of the invention: Method for managing a list of items using a multifocal head-up display of a motor vehicle Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to a method for managing a list of items using a multifocal head-up display of a motor vehicle, a computer program product, a system for managing a list of items using a multifocal head-up display of a motor vehicle and a motor vehicle comprising such a system. State of the art

[0002] The head-up display (HUD) is a technology originating from aeronautics and which is beginning to spread in the automotive industry. Through different mechanisms, it involves projecting information at the height of the windshield, which allows the driver to read it without taking their eyes off the road. This therefore offers a safety gain.

[0003] A head-up display consists of three main components: an imaging unit, an optical module, and the projection surface. The light first hits the optical module, the centerpiece of the head-up display system. The so-called collimator is where the simple, yet precise physics lies. An aspherical lens or mirror splits the diverging LED light into parallel rays. Due to the limited mounting space, multiple lenses and foldable mirrors are used.

[0004] In head-up display technology, the projection surface is also called a combiner. It is a semi-transparent mirror that allows ambient light to pass through and reflects the light from the head-up display, thus creating a common view of the surroundings and the head-up display. If the combiner is integrated into the windshield, it is called a windshield head-up display. If it is made as an external plastic plate inserted between the driver and the windshield, the system is called a head-up display combiner.

[0005] Currently, the vast majority of head-up displays are single-focus, meaning that all the information is projected at the same focal length, which gives the driver the impression of reading this information in a plane.

[0006] However, automotive equipment manufacturers have begun to develop multifocal head-up displays, i.e. displays capable of projecting information at different focal distances, which gives the driver the impression that this information is more or less distant. The article by Lv, Zhenlv, Juan Liu and Liangfa Xu. “A Multi-Plane Augmented Reality Head-Up Display System Based on Volume Holographic Optical Elements With Large Area. » IEEE Photonics Journal 13 (2021): 1-8. describes such a system.

[0007] However, it is noted that, regardless of the display, the driver is often faced with an overabundance of information and has difficulty identifying important or urgent information in all the information displayed. This disadvantage is further increased when the head-up display is also used for augmented reality.

[0008] There is therefore a real need for a method and a system for managing a list of items using a head-up display of a motor vehicle which resolves all or part of the aforementioned drawbacks. Description of the invention

[0009] To resolve one or more of the drawbacks cited above, according to a first embodiment, a method for managing a list of items using a multifocal head-up display of a motor vehicle comprises the steps of: • display on the head-up display of the list of items, each item having a priority in a discrete scale of priorities, each priority of the scale having been previously associated with a focal distance of the head-up display and each item being displayed with the focal distance associated with its priority; • acquisition of an order from a user to modify the priority of an item; • display of the item having its priority modified by the head-up display with the focal distance associated with the modified priority.

[0010] Thus, the user can easily see the level of priority, or importance, of the information displayed.

[0011] Particular characteristics or embodiments, usable alone or in combination, are: • the highest priority on the scale is associated with the shortest focal length; • the lowest priority is associated with the longest focal length • the priority scale includes as many priority levels as the display head-up at available focal lengths; • changing the priority of an item consists of giving it the highest priority; • if another item is associated with the highest priority, the priority of this item is decreased; and / or • the acquisition of the order is done by voice command or motion sensor.

[0012] In a second embodiment, a computer program product comprises program code instructions for implementing the above method when the program product is executed on a computer.

[0013] In a third embodiment, a system for managing a list of items of a motor vehicle comprises: • a multifocal head-up display adapted to display each item having a priority in a discrete scale of priorities, each priority of the scale having been previously associated with a focal length of the head-up display and each item being displayed with the focal length associated with its priority; connected to • a sensor adapted to acquire an order from a user to modify the priority of an item; and • the display being further adapted to display the item having its priority modified with the focal distance associated with the modified priority.

[0014] In a fourth embodiment, a motor vehicle comprises a system according to the third embodiment. Brief description of the figures

[0015] The invention will be better understood on reading the following description, given solely by way of example, and with reference to the appended figures in which: • [Fig. 1] represents a multifocal head-up display according to one embodiment; • [Fig.2] represents a system for managing a list of items using a multifocal head-up display according to one embodiment; and • [Fig.3] represents a flowchart of a method for managing a list of items using a multifocal head-up display according to one embodiment. Methods of implementation

[0016] The embodiments presented below refer to a motor vehicle, a car. However, those skilled in the art understand that these are also usable with other types of vehicle such as vans, vans, etc.

[0017] The terms “front”, “rear”, “top”, “bottom”, “transverse” are understood in relation to the vehicle.

[0018] With reference to [Fig.l], a multifocal head-up display 1 comprises, in one embodiment, a light source 3 capable of sending three different light signals to three motorized mirrors 5, 6, 7 which return the light rays to a combiner (not shown). The three light rays with different paths are focused in such a way that the focal length appears different for each ray. Thus, a driver will have the impression of reading information in three different planes 8, 9, 10.

[0019] Another embodiment (not shown) of a multifocal head-up display comprises a single mirror, but as many light sources as there are viewing planes.

[0020] The choice of a particular embodiment depends on the technical characteristics sought, such as greater or lesser responsiveness of the display, as well as its cost.

[0021] With reference to [Fig. 2], a motor vehicle 11 comprises a device 13 for collecting information in the form of a list of items to be displayed on the head-up display 1. The device 13 is, for example, a sensor connected to a driving aid or a database containing recorded information. In the example of the figure, the device 13 has retrieved a list of accessible radios by scanning the appropriate frequency bands.

[0022] The device 13 is connected to a classifier 15 of the information in a discrete scale of priorities, each priority of the scale having been previously associated with a focal distance of the head-up display. The classifier 15 is also connected to the multifocal head-up display 1.

[0023] The device 13 and the classifier 15 can be integrated as functions of a controller 17.

[0024] The controller 17 may, for example, be integrated into the vehicle control system 11, such as an advanced driver assistance system, commonly called AD AS (for "Advanced driver-assistance Systems" according to English terminology) which makes all driving decisions based on the environment and the programmed destination. The motor vehicle is then referred to as an autonomous motor vehicle. But it may also be a centralized vehicle management system including, or not, driving aids.

[0025] The transfer of data between the different elements is preferably carried out by a CAN (for “Controller Area Network” in English) or LIN (for “Local Interconnect Network” in English) type data bus.

[0026] Depending on the priority of each item, it is displayed with a different focal length. For example, symbolized by a bold font, item ABCD is displayed at a shorter focal length than the other two items.

[0027] The head-up display 1 is also connected directly, or via the controller 17, to a sensor 19 intended to acquire an order from a user of the vehicle. 11. For example, the sensor is a menu navigation device integrated into the switch, a voice command or a camera adapted to analyze user movements.

[0028] The operation of the system is as follows, [Fig.3].

[0029] In a prior step 31, a priority scale is defined which associates a focal length of the head-up display with each priority. For example, the scale is discrete and comprises three priorities: a high priority corresponding to information requiring the user's attention, a medium priority for important information, but having no degree of urgency and a low priority for simple information requiring no particular action from the driver. In this example, a short focal length is associated with the high priority, a medium focal length with the medium priority and a long focal length with the low priority. Thus, for the driver, the high priority information will appear visually closer than the medium priority information which, itself, will appear visually closer than the low priority information.

[0030] Depending on the information contained in the list of items to be displayed, these classification rules may vary. In the illustrated example of a list of radios, it is possible to decide that there are only two priority levels, the highest level corresponding to the selected radio station currently being broadcast and the other level corresponding to the list of other radio stations. The person skilled in the art thus knows how to create different priority scales depending on the nature of the information to be displayed.

[0031] The device 13 collects, step 33, a list of items to be displayed on the head-up display. In the illustrative example, this is a list of radio stations available for broadcasting.

[0032] This information is classified, step 35, in the discrete priority scale. As indicated above, all radios are classified with the same priority level except for the radio currently being listened to which has a higher priority.

[0033] It is then displayed, step 37, by the head-up display with the focal distance associated with the priority selected for the information.

[0034] Thus, by having different focal distances for the items in the list according to a classification rule, the user has an ordered view which allows him to quickly understand the organization of the items.

[0035] Using the sensor 19, the user navigates, step 39, in the list of items. The priority of the currently selected item is then modified, step 41, typically by increasing it, which modifies, step 43, the display plane of the item so that the item appears in the display plane associated with its new priority.

[0036] In the illustrative example, 3 priority levels are defined, in decreasing order: a priority corresponding to the radio currently being selected by the user via sensor 19, a priority corresponding to the radio currently being broadcast and a final priority for all other radios. Thus, as the user navigates through the list of radios, the currently selected radio appears in the foreground and then switches back to the background when the selection moves to another radio.

[0037] It is therefore understood that the association between an item and its priority is a dynamic element which will vary depending on the actions of the user via the sensor 19.

[0038] [Fig.2] illustrates a system according to certain embodiments. The breakdown presented has an educational purpose to highlight the different functions. However, it is understood that each block can be implemented using different means or their combinations, such as hardware components, software, one or more computers and / or electronic circuits. Each of the components can include at least one computer or a control-command unit. At least one memory can be included in each component. The memory can include computer program instructions or software code.

[0039] The computers can be implemented by any type of data processing device, such as a central computing unit, a signal processing processor, an application-specific integrated circuit, a programmable gate array, etc. The computers can be implemented as a single controller, or a plurality of controllers or computers.

[0040] The different modules are connected to each other by data links adapted to the environment. These can be wired or wireless.

[0041] For software, the implementation may include modules or units distributed in the form of procedures, functions, etc. The memories may be any type of storage circuit. They may be part of the processor circuit, or separate from it and connected via electrical data links. These may be non-volatile type memories, hard disks, random access memories, flash memories, etc.

[0042] The program product may be downloadable from a communications network and / or recorded on a computer-readable medium. It may be directly executable by a processor or be in the form of a high-level language requiring one or more intermediate operations to be executable.

[0043] Thus the program instructions stored in the memory and processed by the computers can be any type of program code, for example, a compiled or interpreted program written in a suitable programming language.

[0044] The computer program instructions stored in the memory are such that, when executed by the computer, the latter performs one or more of the steps of the methods described above.

[0045] The invention has been illustrated and described in detail in the drawings and the preceding description. This should be considered as illustrative and given by way of example and not as limiting the invention to this description alone. Numerous alternative embodiments are possible.

[0046] The embodiment describes a scale with three priority levels. It is understood that the number of levels may vary depending on different aspects of ergonomics, costs, etc. However, it must include at least two priority levels and preferably, there are as many priority levels as there are focal lengths available on the head-up display.

[0047] In terms of ergonomics, it is desirable to associate a high priority with a short focal length to highlight the item having the high priority. However, depending on the type of information to be displayed, it is possible to modify the association between the priority scale and the focal lengths.

[0048] Often when an item is selected to have the highest priority, it is desirable to lower the priority of other items associated with that priority so that the selected item is particularly highlighted by the display.

Claims

Claims

1. Method for managing a list of items originating from a driving aid using a multifocal head-up display of a motor vehicle comprising the steps of: • displaying (37) on the head-up display the list of items, each item having a priority in a discrete scale of priorities, each priority of the scale having been previously associated (31) with a focal distance of the head-up display and each item being displayed with the focal distance associated with its priority; • acquiring (39, 41) an order from a user to modify the priority of an item; • displaying (43) the item having its priority modified by the head-up display with the focal distance associated with the modified priority.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the highest priority of the scale is associated with the shortest focal length.

3. A method according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the lowest priority is associated with the longest focal length.

4. A method according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the priority scale comprises as many priority levels as the head-up display has available focal lengths.

5. A method according to claim 1, 2, 3 or 4, wherein changing the priority of an item is to give it the highest priority.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein if another item is associated with the highest priority, the priority of that item is decreased.

7. A method according to any preceding claim, wherein the acquisition of the order is done by voice command or motion sensor.

8. Computer program product characterized in that it comprises program code instructions for implementing the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7 when the program product is executed on a computer.

9. System for managing a list of items of a motor vehicle (11) comprising:

10. • a multifocal head-up display (1) adapted to display each item having a priority in a discrete scale of priorities, each priority of the scale having been associated (31) beforehand with a focal distance of the head-up display and each item being displayed with the focal distance associated with its priority; connected to • a sensor (19) adapted to acquire an order from a user to modify the priority of an item; and • the display being further adapted to display the item having its priority modified with the focal distance associated with the modified priority. Motor vehicle (11) comprising a system according to claim 9.

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